Step 1: We Admitted We Were Powerless Over the Democrats ; That Our Party Had Become Unmanagable

The Politico polls a bunch of hooked-in people to get their opinions on the GOP's road to recovery.

The Terrorist Speaks!

One of Barry's "associates" will be interviewed on ABC tomomrrow morning...

Letter to the Editor

Frequent reader, gadfly, and attempter at keeping Dan honest, 'Chode' sent me this letter today and gave me permission to re-post it. He submitted it to the editor of the Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

At the risk of stepping in on a well-written letter I should probably just leave as it is for the reader, I'll only offer that I largely agree with him and he has a slightly different flavor of my argument to some right winger friends the other day here in Cleveland. They were bent out of shape about news reports that Barry might use executive orders to reverse some of Shrub's decisions on stem cells (among others).

While I don't pretend to be a scientist, I appreciate and respect the viewpoint some hold on stem cells, but I'm disturbed about their terribly narrow definition of what constitutes a "respect for life." It seems to me that there are so many more egregious affronts to life and to pretend that abortion and stem cells constitutes the most important parts of it is either dangerously ignorant or cynical.

Sorry for editorializing so much...this stands well-enough on its own.

After briefly catching up on today's news, both online and in the local print, one thing jumped out at me as particularly disturbing. The article titles said it all: "Bishops Fire Shots At", "Bishops Warn", and the "Bishops Plan to Forcefully Confront" Obama over abortion. It became clear that the formal representers of our faith, who are meeting in Washington DC this week, are preparing to douse the embers of real progress on issues of social justice in favor of continuing to fight the old fight and of playing the old games.

Not only are the bishops pursing a faulty strategy of confrontation rather than partnership with the President-Elect, they fail to understand the sentiment and attitudes of lay parishioners from around the country--particularly young Catholics. Many of us see much more pressing issues such as poverty, injustice, war, and disease as much more urgent issues for the clergy--and the Church-- to be focused on. These are issues on which the Church can provide a valuable leadership role, and where there is broad consensus for action. The Church should be focused on the very real needs of people, rather than the political squabbles of yesterday.

Sincerely,

(Chode)

George W....A Real Hands-On Guy

Sorry, Ladies...He's Take (Well, Actually Dead)

It's been a little while since I've posted some homegrown videos/slideshows of the bootlegs, so tonight is as good a time as any.

This is from New Years Eve, 1969 at the Boston Tea Party. It's the Good Old Grateful Dead doing Big Boy Pete.

They only did it a few times (including at my dear Loyola's Rambler Room) and this is one of the times with Pigpen...enjoy!

G.O.P Dog Days?

I generally don't have a hell of a lot of use for William Kristol.

During the campaign, he spawned silly rumors like the imminent arrival of Mike Murphy in Team McCain that never happened.

He's a regular panelist on Fox News Sunday and has the awful habit of finding himself more charming than just about anyone else on the panel or off does.

But this morning in the Times, he comes through with a mildly clever observation about Barry's dog talk...and how it might not bode well for conservatives.

Up until now, many of the swing voters who decided to go black did so on the hope of competence rather than because of some seismic ideological change in the country. But in talking about the dog, he added the deadly element of empathy for dog lovers and parents throughout the country.

If Barack can bring not only competence to the table, but also a healthy dose of "I feel your pain," it could be a long few years for the Republicans in the wilderness.

Job Search

Yeah, maybe what I do currently just isn't socially meaningful enough...maybe I should go work for Barry and Joe...

The Odd Couple has a transition website up. Will need to explore this later on, but they do have some kind of job application forum.

Transparency is good.

Beatles Break Time

Just burning off some tunes for the week and came across a marvelous 17-disc compilation, The Ultimate Get Back Collection. I've no idea how someone got their paws on this studio material, but it's mindbending if you're into listening to The Beatles, horsing around, doing cut after cut of certain songs in ways that never made the album.

Anyway, I'm too lazy to make a slide show for you right now, so here's I've Got a Feeling from The Rooftop Performance.

Enjoy!

Crap! I May Have Screwed the Pooch!

There are a number of arguments against Obama...

Socialism? I don't care. We're socialist enough, Hillary.

A black guy in the White House? Stifle yourself, Archie. No one cares about that anymore.

A White Sox fan? Well, maybe I can see why I should have had a troubled conscience over this.

But there's one consequence I didn't fully consider when casting my vote.

Dang.

Let Sarah Be...For Your Own Good

I didn't expect that I'd ever be defending Sarah Palin...from (using my John McCain airquotes) "Republicans," no less, but it's the position I find myself in this morning.

Some staffers, who apparently share the integrity gene with the mountain goat, have decided to throw the Governor under the bus, accusing her of a full range of nonsense caused by her being a stupid hillbilly, basically.

I don't dispute the claims they made about her nor would I excuse them for a Vice President were they true, which I suspect most are.

But if this woman was so incompetent to not know that Africa is a continent, not a single country, it was practically criminal of them to not be screaming bloody murder during the campaign to get someone so unfit for office off the ticket.

I understand the motivation to protect the bossman and can even appreciate some degree of deceptiveness in said pursuit, but this scheme is just so ill-thought-out because at the end of the day, if you believe their claims about Palin, the loss was all McCain's fault...just like he said in his speech.

Jesse Jackson in "The Question is Moot"

This may very well be my favorite SNL bit of all time...I finally found it.

Bill O'Reilly is an Idiot

Getting ready for work here and have Bill's show on from last night.

He had Howard Wolfson in for an interview and popped off about how Howard Dean must be locked in a basement and that he's been completely unheard of since the election, being that he's kind of a nut.

Yeah, Bill, he's been under wraps except for a speech he gave at the National Press Club yesterday that was shown live on CSPAN.

Idiot.

Highlights and Low Lifes From Tuesday's Elections

I guess I paid attention to the same bigger issues/races that most other people were on Tuesday night, but here's my little take from the roller coaster we just got off of...


The Big Enchilada- Like anyone else, whether for or against his candidacy, I extend congratulations and a skeptical eye towards Barack Obama. I could have done without the shots of race-baiting bigot, Jesse Jackson and self-centered attention whore, Oprah Winfrey, weeping for the cameras in Grant Park, but it is what it is and they are who they are. I was talking with a friend out west last night and, while we come from different parts of the spectrum, we both had a similar experience in the voting booth. I stared at my paper ballot before turning it into the machine, not quite believing what I was doing, but on Jerry's good name, it never even crossed my mind that I was voting for a black guy. Obviously, I know Barack is black, but the big "whoh!" moment of it all didn't really occur to me until Tuesday night when a panting Keith Olbermann made the call. This was a big moment for the country, one which I didn't really give a lot of thought to when deciding who to vote for, and that's probably both a good and generational thing.

And I'll side with Joe Scarborough and others who think it's time we taunt the liberal European countries with this one. While they often like to look down their pointy noses at the crass, racist America with our imperfect present and more imperfect past, I have to ask where their President/PM of African descent is if they're so damned enlightened.

But now it's time for the guy to get to work and, as I've said, I'm skeptical of him. While I'll concede the possibility that, in his heart, the guy is every bit the bleeding heart/pinko that some claim, I also think that he's a pragmatist above that. The guy is smart and wants to retain power. He would not have gotten where he is without those qualities. And he must know that he won't be able to get the legacy and time in office he wants if he governs like a left-wing loon, so I think his alleged/reported tapping of Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff is telling. Barry's heading to town to get shit done. His biggest challenge could actually be fighting back the beady-eyed, angry liberals who've been waiting to stick it to the GOP for the last eight years.

California Prop 8- Shame on the voters of California for choosing to put a ban on gay marriage in their Constitution. Before anyone gets smart with me, I realize that they probably have the right to do so (current ACLU challenges notwithstanding), but it's just in such bad taste. I won't waste my free space here recycling the full laundry list of arguments for gay marriage, but for the life of me, I can't see why it's worth their share of $74M to build the case for why two people can't just spend their lives together. For years, the rap against gays was that they're just a bunch of pleasure-seeking hedonists so then when it turns out that they want to settle down just like anyone else, the argument shifts. I'm neither a theologian nor an expert on what God believes, but my guess is that he's got bigger trout to fry.

Connecticut 4th District- As has been well-noted, New England now has no GOP representation in the House of Representatives since Chris Shays lost his seat. While smarty pants guys like Chuck Todd and Michael Barone might be able to correct me on this, this is probably the starkest regional imbalance in federal representation for either of the two major parties. The GOP is becoming the party of stodgy old white men and it's just not good for its future. Anyone who's interested in this might pick up Grand New Party. I guess the first big shin-dig will be today, when a bunch of 'thinkers' get together at the home of rabble rouser Brent Bozell to plot a comeback strategy.

Minnesota Senate- The Senate race in the Land of 10K Lakes is still going on. I've blogged here before of my visceral dislike for Norm Coleman so I'm really rooting for them to make up for the few-hundred votes short Alan Franken is before the recount.

North Carolina Senate- While the race had more history than took place in the last week of the campaign, Liddy Dole's "Godless" ad spoke volumes about the GOP's tactics. The Democrat party is not above deceptive, tasteless ads, but this one just hit a lot of people in the gut and I'm actually happy she lost, if for no other reason than as punishment for pulling such a ridiculous stunt.

Selah.

Campaign Addicts Confront the Morning After

The Wall Street Journal hits the spot...even though I have a few more hits coming from the Senate race up in Minnesota, which is headed for a recount with a less-than 1% difference as of this morning.

Cabinet Speculation

HuffPo has a little rundown of the conventional wisdom leaders for the various visible cabinet positions in the Obama Administration.

This Car's Owner Must Be Happy Now

This interestingly-adorned vehicle was parked out in front of the house this afternoon...and I'm sure you're impressed how I managed to get my neighbor's trash bag in the bottom corner of the pic.

Barry Better Be Ready

Well, I cast the vote the way I intended. While I know that some friends who used to think I was a bit of a goof probably think I'm more of a goof now. It is what it is.

Be that as it may, I don't think I came into this thinking that the guy will multiply the fishes, turn water to wine, etc. He seemed to be the lesser of two evils.

But now I'm starting to think about all these 'fired up and ready to go' people who are going to be gathering in Grant Park tonight and I'm a bit worried. It seems implausible that Barack will be able to deliver anything close to the 'change' some of these newbies are expecting.

Assuming tonight goes the way the talkies are hinting, he's going to be getting quite a few more gray hairs...

Some Election Day Music

Conventional wisdom seems to be that Indiana will be the first good indicator of how it's going tonight and if the Mac has a chance...

If Barry cleans his clock in the Hoosier state, it's hard to envision a scenario where McCain pulls it off.

Here's some wonderful Louis Armstrong, doing Back Home Again in Indiana in 1959.

In Cuyahoga County, Voting's OK, Smoking's Not

Did my civic duty...

Archie Bunker on the Democrat Party

It's About 4AM...CNN is Already Running Live Election Coverage

Just doing my voting cheat sheet now...I've not paid much attention to downballot stuff, so sorting thru that now. I think I'll be cool and save it on Google Docs, so I can look at my little spreadsheet in the booth. The Plain Dealer actually had a pretty nice voter guide to use and go through the whole ballot, with links to their endorsements on the various office-seekers and referendums. I didn't go with them all the time, and could have had some usability suggestions, but it was still pretty useful.

My only beef with it was that it wanted you to check who you want so you could email your results back to be printed out. While I get the overt use of it, you start the process with entering your address so they're doing a de facto poll. I just copied the information out and pasted it into my own sheet.

I really hate all these damned referendums they have us voting for.

Isn't that what officeholders are for?

Archie Bunker had an interesting way of figuring out who to vote for.

"Tory, Feldman, O'Reilly, Nelson... That's an Italian, a Jew, an Irishman, and a regular American there... what I call a balanced ticket."

Here's to Al Franken's Campaign

No one can fill the shoes of the man who was my Senator for the time I lived up in the frozen tundra, but it's really a shame that Norm's boney ass has been sitting in Paul's chair for the last few years...I hope he's swiftly removed tomorrow night.

Here's Paul Wellstone's last floor speech before he checked out...hard to watch this without getting choked up. Love his policies or hate them, the man believed every word that came out of his mouth and apologized for none of it. We should only be so lucky to have a few more like him...

Screw you and the horse you got your teeth from, Norm.

Cold Feet

I'm really stuck now...as decided as I thought I was, now I am starting to get cold feet about voting for Barry.

I know it's just one vote and part of me feels like I'm being too melodramatic about it, but I'm very far from thrilled with casting a vote for Barack. The things that drew me to his candidacy...the perception that he's a thoughtful guy and a smart organizer remain. I don't think he's prone to rash decisions. He seems like a measured guy.

What pulls me back from jumping right in the deep end, though, is the fear that he's some kind of serious-ass bleeding heart that will explode spending and won't be able to offset the costs of any domestic plans by getting out of Iraq a whole hell of a lot sooner than McCain.

McCain's no angel and I really question his judgement...from fearing that he'll jump the gun and go after the next towel head that pisses him off to the knowledge that he picked someone like Palin to join him on the ticket. She's clearly a natural campaigner and the textbook case of an overachiever, but in McCain's own words, the real job of the Veep is to be able to take over and as much of a verbal loose cannon as Biden is, I think that these two individuals are best-suited for very different kinds of activities at 3 in the morning.

I trust Joe more than someone who can't name a newspaper she reads. Sue me.

I'll probably end up going with Barack, but I really need to sleep on this one. Luckily, I can see the polling place from the front door, so can wait till the lines are short.

Funniest Thing I've Read in Personal Correspondence Today

from liberal, friend, co-worker and occasional reader, DB...


What's funny is when I see comments online from people who actually live in socialist countries who think that Americans are morons for calling Barack a socialist. Maybe people just use "socialist" the same way that I use "dumbass" to describe Palin.

I Hate Illinois Nazis

An interesting Obama endorsement.

RIP, Studs Terkel

I was really bummed to hear that old Studs Terkel died yesterday.

He wrote one of my all-time favorite books, and one you should pick up, Working. It's just a collection of interviews with people about their jobs...everyone from the mailman to the CEO to the prostitute. It's such an eye opener, if you're ever tempted to think that the frustrations and challenges you have on your job are unique to you.

He also did a really cool interview with Jerry Garcia I remember hearing on Minneapolis' KFAI back in the day when Area 51 was still on the air, but I do not have a copy of it.

Nifty Google Earth Election Presentation

Some smarty pants got all US election results, by county, back to 1980, into Google Earth.

This is pretty cool to play with.

To me, Google Earth is like a whole hunka potential. To date, I've just kind of played around with it, and found using it like a Flight Simulator is fun, but have not done much useful with it yet...same for its iPhone app which was released this week. But I think it will only be a short amount of time before my Birks are knocked off by it.

Mark Ambinder's blog at The Atlantic is where I saw this mention first.

With These Words, Paul Krugman Won My Admiration

As some know, one of my biggest pet peeves is the refusal of most people to acknowledge that "data" is the plural of "datum." (Hey, we all have our little quirks.)

So it's technically incorrect to refer to "this data."

Since the sin has been committed often enough, it's loosely-acceptable to practice incorrect English, but thank God the New York Times is kickin' it old school.

From his editorial on the economy today...

So these data are basically telling us what happened before
confidence collapsed after the fall of Lehman Brothers in mid-September, not to mention before the Dow plunged below 10,000.

"What Are You, A Bunch of Jesus Freaks?"

I just wanted a good, cheap way to pull out one of Ted Turner's golden oldies as a subject line.

But seriously, here's the ad of the week, brought to you by your friends at the NRSC...remember cute little Liddy Dole? Our little gal is all growed up and plays hardball in North Carolina. She's behind in the polls, so had to go all Jesus-in-the-temple-with-the-moneychangers on her opponent.

Personally, I find it a little bit annoying when anyone, pro-, anti- or ambivalent when it comes to the Lord decides to talk about their own religious beliefs in support of their candidacy. Keep it between you and your God; I'm happy for you.

But making implications about someone else's religious beliefs really puts you on the Musings Shit List.

It's Bizarro Election Season!

Remember the Seinfeld episode where everything turned backwards, ala Bizarro Superman on them? Elaine got the really responsible friends who read ("Books, Jerry...Books!") and the whole bit?

That's what's happening now.

This year, all of a sudden, Obammies are the ones effectively equating political donations with protected speech and playing fast and loose with scrutinizing their donors while the GOP had a Come to Jesus Moment and all of a sudden find this and voter registration shenanigans to be highly offensible.

Who woulda thought...

Comrade Palin

I continue to be amazed at how otherwise-smart friends of mine will insist that, unlike McCain and Palin, Barry is a "socialist," implying that their ticket is not.

I won't carry on about how they're all for some form of a progre$$ive tax, but why no one pushes back hard on Sarah about her demonstrated record of socialism in Alaska is completely beyond me.

Sure, there's the rap about how the press is very pro-Obama, and I have to admit that the coverage does appear to lean his way, too, but if the press completely had it out for the McCain ticket as is claimed, why aren't they pouncing on how she redistributed the wealth from the oil companies in her state like this?

Why I'm Voting for Barack Hussein Obama

I've never voted Democratic in a real, major election in my life. The first time I was eligible to vote was the 1992 Republican Primary and I cast it for Patrick J. Buchanan. My high school class elected me Most Conservative...whatever the hell that means. I briefly volunteered for the McCain campaign in 2000 in Minnesota...at a time when his campaign was already over after the dirty Bush tricks in South Carolina that year. John Kerry annoys the hell out of me and I voted to re-elect Shrub in 2004. I'm no activist, but my voting has been roughly predictable during my adult life.

Despite some misgivings, which I'll try to put on the tubes below, my plan at the moment is to vote for Barack Obama. Routine events between now and next Tuesday probably won't change this, but I reserve the right to change my mind if some bombshell, literally or figuratively, happens to pop up.

Both sides of this campaign committed sins. McCain's people, both direct and surrogate, have fanned ugly flames. They've come just short of calling Obama a terrorist and implied that he's un-American. These claims are demonstrably false and over the line when it comes to claims I've seen in my lifetime. Obama, suggestions of fringe websites notwithstanding, is not wearing sandals and carrying a glow over his head. He's benefitted from John Lewis' accustions of Wallace-like campaigning and ran Spanish-language ads chocked full of lies.

These are par for the course and pretty predictable given the novel demographics of this election. While I think McCain's sins were worse, I'll call this a draw.

One of the big criticisms I hear from friends and Sean Hannity is that Obama is a Socialist who will have to raise taxes in sphincter-stretching ways to pay for all his ambitious social programs. With the liklihood of November producing a filibuster-proof Democratic majority in the Senate, I see where they're coming from with the fear of taxes, but the claims of "Socialist" are utterly ridiculous, coming from supporters of a guy who also favors a progressive tax structure.

However, we should have learned by now that the legislative promises of candidates rarely go the way they plan. No one knows what's going to happen in the coming weeks, let alone years, that could change this. Framing Clinton as being far too interventionist, Shrub ran on a "humble foreign policy" plank in 2000, but produced nothing of the sort. Situations on the ground dictated a reassessment of this position. So while Obama is a little bit too meddlesome in his orientation towards domestic social engineering for my ideal tastes, I also don't consider his current plans as a done deal, pal.

So what am I left with to judge these clowns on? It's my impression that Obama is more of a thinker than McCain. Some of the weight I'm putting in this assessment is a natural emotional reaction...when you move on in relationships, jobs or other things, you often want to overcompensate for previous deficiencies. I have no evidence that Bush posesses any more intellectual curiosity than a jellyfish, so Obama's insistence on speaking in full sentences and appreciation for the fact that the world is a complex place is...mighty refreshing to me.

I'm not arguing that McCain is a dolt, but he sometimes has a knee-jerky response to issues that's good for soundbites on the news (kudos to him) but also make me wonder what's going on upstairs and if he really thinks that everyone falls into either the good or evil camps. Surely both have members, but is there a middle ground where others reside? I'm pretty sure Obama thinks so, but I'm not so sure about the other guy. His worldview and approach to understanding that world is what attracts me to his candidacy.

Obama's been criticized as naive when it comes to how he'll deal with foreign and domestic policy. "He's too wet behind the ears," they say. While I'll guarantee mistakes during his first months in office, I don't believe he's anything but a shrewd politician. He somehow managed to bring down the mighty Clinton machine and deftly navigated the last few years without being pinned to many serious policy position flaws. This is a guy willing to make the correct sacrifices to achieve his ends. If our interests are his, which I believe they are, these are good habits for someone in charge. I don't need someone who's always got his heart on his sleeve when he's dealing with some of the bozos in the world.

I'm intentionally not addressing some of the more scurilous charges and implications from his dealing with Ayers and Wright. They merit no more than these two sentences.

It looks as if the Democrats could win the Presidency and enough of the Congress to leave no doubt who's to credit and blame for what goes on in Washington. I'm fed up enough with the Republican party to switch the course I've traveled for my entire voting life and it's not a choice I've made lightly...I'll be watching closely to see how my investment pays off.

Republican Party, you chased me and my reliable vote away. Your insistence on pandering to the lowest common denominator lately just worries and disgusts me. Appeal to my brain, not only the base animal instincts you've been going after lately. I hope that some time in the wilderness helps you learn the error of your ways, reinvent yourself and come back and deserve my vote again.

One Thing I Will Miss When the Dems Get Their Majority...

...is seeing Ted Stevens wearing his Incredible Hulk tie when he has a big battle in front of him.

Don't make him angry. You won't like him when he's angry.

OK, So Let Me Get This Right

The new chant now is, "Use your brain, vote McCain."

That's catchy.

The thought is that if you were smart, you'd look at the kind of spending McCain advocates and that which Barry is behind.

This seems to make sense.

The real rallying point is how Barry wants to stick it to a few people on the top of the food chain and "redistribute" their wealth.

Ignoring the hard fact that taxes are basically redistribution devices in and of themselves, I can see why you would be against this if you were either very rich, had a heightened sense of economic morality or both.

Barack the sissy was against the Iraq war from the beginning. Now, he was not holding elected office at the time, but there's at least a clear public record of his stance.

Rambo, on the other hand, was all for it.

To date, this war has cost us about $600B and is not exactly slowing down anytime soon.

Please don't tell me about fiscal responsibility unless you were against this war to begin with or can demostrate to me how remaining there is in some way cost-effective.

It's really trashy to pretend that you give a shit about spending, John. You remind me of someone who has an overflowing toilet that's left feet of sewage flooding the house, but instead of taking care of that problem, you insist on dusting the earmarks off the window sills to prove your cleanliness.

The Term We'll All Be Sick of One Week From Today...If Not Already

Closing Argument