Because sometimes you just need something silly to smile about

Does it help?

There is a lot of (understandable) anger out there at the passing of proposition 8 in California. No one likes to be told they are a 2nd class citizen. Especially at the ballot box. And especially in an election which saw the shattering of another barrier.

But I have to question the wisdom of focusing most of the anger on just one community (blacks) that seems to have voted for the proposition in disproportionate numbers. Even if the exit polling on this is accurate (and we all know how exit polling can be misrepresented), at worst the support for this proposition in the black community was probably just enough to make the victory margin.

But here's the thing that makes me pause: does it make sense to blame the 2% who make up  a 51-49% victory margin when there is another 49% who are equally to blame for it? Instead of focusing anger on one small group, wouldn't it be more productive to find out how to win back 2% out of ALL the 51% who voted for it?

It is so easy to give in to frustration and despair. I've done it at times myself. But does it help? That's what I have to keep asking myself.

Socialism for me but not for you

I agree with thereisnospoon. This is one of the best explanations for the Republican economic fraud, and it comes from a Republican!

War Analysis

A better explanation of why FOX is trying to destroy Palin now.

Short version: The rich need shock troops to help them get into positions of power, but they don't want any of those troops to actually be in positions of power. Palin is to much of a loose canon for them to trust (as is Huckabee), so she must be destroyed now before she can cause irreparable harm.

The problem the GOP has is that they don't really have anyone, at least not yet, who can both carry out the real agenda of the rich while successfully stringing along the troops (as Nixon and Reagan and Bush did).

Mitt Romney? The troops will never go for a Mormon. It's that simple. His only chance to get the nomination is through a process of attrition (kind of like how McCain got it).

I don't know the backbench of the GOP well enough to know if there is an up-n-comer who could fulfill that role. I've heard whispers about Jindal down in Louisiana, but nothing else.

Interesting Times.

The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy is kaput!

Gawker has a much more comprehensive report on the growing Civil War, including signs that the fighting was starting even before the election was over.

It's good to be a leper

If the wingnuts are serious about purging the party of anti-Palinites then maybe the would be "lepers" might actually see it as a favor.

The GOP Civil War Begins

It only took a day but the first shots of the war have been heard. Right wing blogs are on the war path and the subject is one dear to their hearts: Sarah Palin.

Michelle Malkin and her fellow travelers defending the honor of Sarah Palin against anonymous McCain aides who are "smearing" Palin with all sorts of innuendo. The latter are getting an assist from FOX news and there are rumors that Mitt Romney's people are spreading it as well. The latter would move this spat beyond the blogs and FOX and McCain staffers into the more viable mainstream of the GOP.

RedState has announced Operation Leper, a plan to "[track] down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin to Carl Cameron and others."

We intend to constantly remind the base about these people, monitor who they are working for, and, when 2012 rolls around, see which candidates hire them. Naturally then, you'll see us go to war
against those candidates.

It's finally entertaining to read right wing blogs. (memeorandum link so you can follow the action).

That didn't take long.

Gallup, not wasting any time, already has a daily tracking poll on Obama's favorability (I assume they will start a job performance one on Jan. 20th).

I see it has already cratered from his high of 62 on Nov. 2nd to his lowest ever of 60 on Nov 4th.

Ralph Nader doesn't get it

And it says something that it's FOX news that is pointing this out to him.

God Bless Markos

He is pissed that Prop 8 looks to be passing in California. But instead of giving into despondency or looking around for someone to blame, he sees this as an opportunity to gird our loins and try even harder next time.

I admit, I was feeling run down yesterday, crawling across the finish line after a long marathon. Losing the Prop 8 battle has re-energized me. I'm ready for a rematch in 2010.

Perhaps the best solution, and one mentioned before, is to give all couples civil union licenses. Gay or straight, it's irrelevant. Then leave the "marriage" thing up to individual churches. They can decide if they want to be bigots or not.

But I doubt that happens anytime soon. So it's more likely that we'll get to do this all over again in 2010, fighting and arguing and spending tens of millions of dollars over whether it's still okay, in this day and age, to discriminate against an entire class of people. If nothing else, there will be more of us, and less of them in two years:

...

That's why the Mormon Church and their bigoted allies are so desperate in this fight. Young people aren't afraid of the gays. They're on the losing side of history.

And I'm not just ready for this fight, I'm eager for it.

The logic of voting for Ted Stevens

Some people are wondering if Alaskans are insane for voting for a convicted felon for Senate. Well, I just heard an interesting theory on that. Many Republicans may have decided that, while they know Stevens is a crook and should (and will) be bounced, they don't want Begich, his opponent, to take advantage of Stevens' misfortune. They also know that if (and when) Stevens is kicked out, a special election will be held to replace him. Therefore, if Republicans want a "fair" election, the best choice is to vote for the crook and wait for that special election.

The importance of symbolism

There were many symbolic moments in this election, not the least being the election of a black man to the Presidency. Rod Dreher points out one of my favorites:

2. Modern liberalism began its implosion with riots in Chicago's Grant Park at the 1968 Democratic Convention. Tonight, modern liberalism is reborn at Chicago's Grant Park, where a black Chicago Democrat will celebrate winning the presidency.

The Obama campaign understands the significance of imagery, so I'm sure they appreciated this point long before I caught on to it last night. They also must have had a similar thought when they chose to have the last campaign rally in Manasass, Virginia, site of the first battle of the Civil War.

Well played.

Failure to Blow Election Stuns Democrats

Being a recovering ADD (Anxious and Defeatist Democrat), I can really appreciate the humor of Andy Borowitz.

Update:

Also, this from The Onion: "Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress"

Campaign Post Mortems

Now come the inevitable stories about "what was really going on" during the campaign. These are the stories that journalists have known about for months but didn't report for various reasons (promises to the campaign in exchange for access, security reasons, etc.). Newsweek is one of the first with a whole slew of fascinating revelations:

1. Both the Obama and McCain campaigns were seriously hacked in August, most likely by foreign agents trying to discover policy plans of the future administration.

2. Palin's shopping sprees were even bigger than previously reported and, despite her pleas of innocence, were entirely instigated by her and her family.

3. The Secret Service reported a sharp increase in threats to Obama as the campaign swung into October.

4. McCain's advisers believed they had already lost the race even before the last debate but decided not to tell McCain.

5. Palin launched the Ayers attack before the McCain campaign had actually made the decision to go with it.

Expect more in the coming days.

What Obama wins

Courtesy The Onion

WASHINGTON—African-American man Barack Obama, 47, was given the least-desirable job in the entire country Tuesday when he was elected president of the United States of America. In his new high-stress, low-reward position, Obama will be charged with such tasks as completely overhauling the nation's broken-down economy, repairing the crumbling infrastructure, and generally having to please more than 300 million Americans and cater to their every whim on a daily basis. As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind. The job comes with such intense scrutiny and so certain a guarantee of failure that only one other person even bothered applying for it. Said scholar and activist Mark L. Denton, "It just goes to show you that, in this country, a black man still can't catch a break."

Whither Harriet Christian?

Barack The President

That's President "That One" to you.

Missing the point

What about better government Andrew?

I'm going to post this Lewis Black video again because I think he said it best.

If we have the greatest country in the world then we should have the greatest government. All these debates about big government vs. small government, higher taxes vs. lower taxes, and more regulation vs. less regulation miss the point. The argument should be over a system that works vs. a system that doesn't work. The debate should be over what exactly "works" means in that context. And the policies should be designed to meet those goals.

All the rest is ideological bullshit.