News Flash: World Unfair, Unbalanced

Deborah Howell is back at the counting game in her Washington Post Ombudsman's column this morning, carefully measuring every "positive" or "negative" Obama story the Post ran during the campaign to see if it was balanced by a similarly slanted story about McCain. I don't know whether she actually buys this foolishness or whether it's part of her job to pacify rubes who might buy the paper, but that's really beside the important and disappointing fact that this facile view of news and of the world exists within the upper echelons of American journalism.

I'm not going to waste a lot of time on this today, and not just because Howell simply repeats all of the errors I critiqued in her nearly identical column of last week. No, I'm not going to waste time on it today mostly because Deborah Howell is a dolt. This passage from early in her column today demonstrates that she doesn't even know the difference between news and opinion:

The op-ed page ran far more laudatory opinion pieces on Obama, 32, than on Sen. John McCain, 13. There were far more negative pieces (58) about McCain than there were about Obama (32), and Obama got the editorial board's endorsement. The Post has several conservative columnists, but not all were gung-ho about McCain.

So "several conservative columnists" Broder, Will, Applebaum, Krauthammer, Cohen, Gerson, Hiatt, Hoagland, Ignatius, Mallaby, Marcus, Novak, Samuelson, Dana Milbank and Kathleen freaking Parker! didn't love JohnnyMac well enough. And this has exactly what to do with a news bias against the Republican?

Whooo-kay. But life (and especially Saturday morning) is too precious to waste any more of it on utter nonsense. Good luck with your special little world, Deborah.

Change I Can Believe In

From the Obama-Biden transition team's online job application form:

The Obama-Biden Transition Project does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or any other basis of discrimination prohibited by law.

For the first time, sexual orientation and gender identity are both included in a federal non-discrimination policy. The times, they are a-changing' -- for the better.

[edited for clarity -- thanks to KRK in comments at No More Mister Nice Blog]

The More You Know

The more likely it is that you are smarter than the editors of the Boston Globe. This has been bugging the crap out of me. It accompanied an anodyne story that I could have written about how Howard Dean's 50 state strategy won the election. It was the only graphic they offered. Of all the pictorial representations of this historic election this is the only one that actually blows out brain cells and leaves you significantly worse off than you were before. Its a fascinating and important map of the popular vote by county. In other words, a large county where the popular vote went McCain 10 people to eight was dyed bright red, and took up more visual space, than an urban area in a blue state whose color reflects a popular vote of millions of people. They could have used this or they could even have just given you the overall popular vote totals as a number. Instead they offered this overwhelmingly red map, in which Texas deserts seem more important than blue state cities. Anyone remember how they tried to obfuscate the fact that Bush lost the popular vote in 2000? That's when we heard a lot about the "number of counties" that supported him as though empty square miles vote.

aimai

Can Anyone Translate This?

Right v. Left [Jonah Goldberg]

I'm off to Fla. Talk to ya this afternoon. A thought, from my column:

As a matter of practical politics, contemporary liberalism amounts to a coalitional ideology, while conservatism remains an ideological coalition. The Democratic Party is the party of various groups promising to scratch each other’s backs. Gay rights activists and longshoreman coexist in the same party because they promise support on each other’s issues.

The Republican Party is different. It says to voters, if you believe seven, eight or even 10 out of the 10 things we believe, you should be a Republican. Obviously, there are coalitions on the right and ideologues on the left, but I think the generalization remains valid.

File this under Whuhhhh?

aimai

Before Sunrise

The Bay Bridge from just south of the Ferry Building.

Friday Random Ten

Spot 1019 - Bonehead
Adam West - Vehicle
Tornados - 7-0-7
Byrne & Eno - Strange Overtones
Big Dipper - Mineral Man
Dengue Fever - Sleepwalking Through the Mekong
Talking Heads - First Week...Last Week
Shriekback - Nerve
Nazz - Open My Eyes
Eno - St. Elmo's Fire

Sort of a Byrne & Eno theme there. Any theme for your list?

Numbers Are Fun Until Someone Loses an Eye

How many times now have I told Special Ed: "For the love of god, man, stay away from numbers! Numbers are not a toy for kids; they're for grown-ups who know how to use them. If you keep playing around with them you're just going to hurt yourself." And does he listen?

Nope:

In 2004, Bush beat John Kerry by winning 62.04 million votes. In 2008, Obama won 62.443 million, a gain of only 400,000. In 2004, Kerry garnered 59.028 million votes; John McCain only got 55.386 million. That means this election saw 3.24 million fewer votes than four years ago. Far from being more energized, the nation appeared to be more apathetic.

That was yesterday. The count as of 5:00 pm today: Obama 64,629,649; McCain 56,887,996. And (still) counting. So, Obama getting only 400,000 more votes from Bush? Not so much. Fewer voters than 2004? Not so much.

Comparing final totals from a previous election with still-being-counted numbers from the current one? Not smart. It can tempt you to draw all sorts of idiotic conclusions...like this one: More...

How do we know that it’s a base turnout rather than a tsunami of opinion to Democrats? For one thing, Dems didn’t pick up a boatload of new seats in the House, and they may underperform expectations yet in the Senate. They did gain some strength with independents, but only gaining between 11-20 seats in the House tells us that they found votes in districts they already control, more than finding converts....

It does reflect a certain brittleness about Obama’s support that may not be evident in the flush of his Electoral College victory. That doesn’t mean he can’t broaden his appeal after winning office, but it does mean that he primarily won among friendlies and not through appeals to bipartisanship.

Or, you know, maybe not:

The Democrats appear to have built a majority across a wide, and expanding, share of the electorate -- young voters, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities, and highly educated whites in growing metropolitan areas. The Republicans appear at the moment to be marginalized, hanging on to a coalition that may shrink with time -- older, working-class and rural white voters, increasingly concentrated in the Deep South, the Great Plains and Appalachia.

To see this illustrated graphically, check out this map--especially slide 3, comparing counties where Democrats increased their totals over 2004 with those where Republicans increased their vote totals. Bottom line: tomorrow's GOP is the party of Appazarkia.

Bonus math factoid: electoral votes Obama won by more than 5%? 278.
That's broad-based expansion of the party we can believe in...even if Special Ed can't.

92

A Movable Threat

Like most Americans, I ignored the winger chain emails I received throughout the election season warning me of a Muslim, socialist, terrorist-palling, baby-killing, tax-hiking Hussein Obama running for president. But the election is over now, and the message I received today from a particularly virulent, Obama-hating, oldster Bethlehem, PA gal is just plain good advice:

PUT YOUR CAR KEYS BESIDE YOUR BED AT NIGHT
Tell your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your parents your Dr office, the check-out girl at the market, everyone you meet.
Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.
More...
This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this:
It's a security alarm system that you probably alre ady have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won't stick around...

After a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that. And remember to carry your keys while walking to your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there .....

This is something that should really be shared with everyone. Maybe it could save a life or a sexual abuse crime.
P.S.

I am sending this to everyone I know because I think it is fantastic. Would also be useful for any emergency, such as a heart attack, where you can't reach a phone. A lady has suggested to her husband that he carry his car keys with him in case he falls outside and she doesn't hear him. He can activate the car alarm and then she'll know there's a problem.

Please pass this on even IF you've read it before. It's a reminder.

Sleep with your keys and don't let the smoking gun of a 3am bump in the night be determined to send your colors running into a mushroom cloud. God Bless America.

I'm actually coming around to Rahm as COS

Because of articles like this. David Corn, who I love personally, is almost a bellwether for myopic beltway thinking and if he thinks Rahm is too "partisan" and too aggressive you can bet your boots that he's a great choice for COS. The only reason David doesn't like the choice is that apparently David thinks that Obama's job is to reassure older white virginian swing voters that he won't actually try to, you know, do shit he'll just throw his arms around his Republican congresspeople and tell them that its ok that they fucked up for the last eight years. G-d forbid Obama and his staff should try to push through an actual legislative agenda.

David, David, David. More... No one in the real world knows what the Chief of Staff Does, let alone who Rahm Emmanual is. Really, no one knows. And no one cares about the whole "bipartisan" shtick. If some older white guys said it to you at a rally in Manassas you know what it means? Nothing. If they actually meant that Obama should try to get legislation passed what they really ought to have said is that they want *more* partisanship, because bipartisanship with republicans really is just a form of date rape and we are perpetually the date who got slipped the roofie. But in any event those dudes in Mannassas don't know how the sausage gets made. Most voters don't.

The fact that Boehner is against it should be enough to make any thinking Democrat lean towards it, even if I personally don't like Rahm or his conventional political instincts, tendency to grandstanding, and anti progressive history. If he faithfully and agressively pursues Obama's legislative agenda that is good enough for me.

Lest We Forget

The Daily Show reminds us there's another group of Americans that thought they'd never see the day...

After The End of the World

My pet Jew "Democrat for McCain" has rolled up his tent and slunk away. When you click on the link you get to a defunct blank page and no breadcrumbs to his new endeavour "Conservative Democratic Jews for Hysterical anti Obama stuff." I wonder if the fact that I was his only reader, and I was poking him with a sharp stick, affected anything? Meanwhile, elsewhere in the hysteriosphere, my pet Christian mommies are giving it all up to the lord.

History has been riddled with wicked men. But God forbid His own people weaken the power of His name now! We need to hang out in truth...so that we become truth for the world! More...

"Greater is He that is in you, than He that is in the world."

Let us gather up some of the pluck of the writer of "Onward Christian Soldiers"

"Some trust in chariots and horses, but we will trust in the name of our God."

Stop looking at what some man is threatening to do or not do. Get your eyes off of him and put them on the ONE who can grind Him to dust in a Word...Don't forget who you are!!!

Stand for truth, set your face to Him like flint, and what is there than man can do to you?

Let's show our children, our neighbors, our relatives that there is something behind the Christianity we claim.

"And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

When we walk through our lives with confidence that doesn't make sense, peace that defies logic and joy that confounds the world, then our Lord can nod and say, "Well done. For I have not given you a spirit of fear, my child. Thank you for preaching to the world the power of My name."

I'm a little unclear what happens when He Who Must Be Obeyed fails to "grind that man" into "dust" but I think I can assure you that it won't change a thing. G-d may fail to smite the wicked on her say so, but she remains certain that he would if he could.

aimai

Email from Abroad

We've stayed in touch with a couple of German friends we made on a 1996 trip to the amazing medieval town of Cesky Krumlov, in the Czech Republic's Bohemian countryside. A table shared, a few pilsners traded, a drinking contest pursued the next evening over medieval-style dinner in an unspoiled castle (actually not too cheesy), and we became lifelong friends, emailing one another to keep up with big personal or international news.

Their English is limited, our German extremely weak, so we have to get by on emotional broad strokes. Anyway, I hadn't heard from them in a long while, but I got this yesterday and thought I'd share it:

Dear [ahab] and Mary,

my congratulations to your new president. I'm very happy. And I think you are too.


Best wishes for you and your country

Martina

Her husband, Hans, kicked my ass in the drinking contest. Then helped Mary carry/drag it back to my hotel. That's a drinking buddy I can believe in.

Correlation is Not Causation--But Shouting "Kill Him" is, in fact, a Threat

Edited to add this quote, in its glorious entirety, is from Mark "I see no black people" Hemingway at the NRO.

Obamaweek Strikes Again [Mark Hemingway]

From Newsweek's "special election project":

The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied.

Funny, I always thought correlation is not causation. But clearly, Palin was stoking hatred. Thanks for keeping it classy, Newsweek. You never fail to dissapoint [spelling error in the original. Not that I'm pointing any fingers of blame since I'm not a master speller either.] with your partisanship and general sloppiness.

--aimai

I Can't Get No Satisfaction

I woke up the morning of the first Wednesday in November, 1960, to find my parents had slept on the hide-a-bed in the living room, in front of our only TV. They were awake before me, still waiting for the results of the JFK-Nixon presidential election. That taught me early -- I was five -- that these things matter.

Since then I've learned that it's not just what happens, but how it happens. This morning, we wake up with not just the taste of victory in our mouths, but the taste of hard-earned victory. Tears of joy are mixed with tears of exhaustion. After years of hoping justice would fall into our laps, this country got up off its collective ass and went after it.

Read more...

Like Tom, I wish my parents had lived to see this day, not only to see a black president elected, but to see Americans rise up and answer the call to service like they and many others did after that famous march in Selma, Alabama.

I spent the last few days organizing the election-day sign-holders at our three town polling places for all the (Democratic) campaigns. It wasn't the most important thing that got done, but it freed up other folks working on the local and national campaigns to concentrate on the nuts-and-bolts work of organizing the GOTV phone calls, poll watchers, etc. On Sunday, I was in Loudon, New Hampshire (New England's version of NASCAR country), going door-to-door for the Democratic ticket. Yet my effort was nothing compared to the work some of you and the people around us have put into this day.

People not only from Massachusetts, but from California, Chicago, and every corner of the country came to New Hampshire -- the state where John McCain revived his primary campaign, if you'll remember -- to relentlessly knock on doors and make phone calls, and they've been doing this for the last few months. New Hampshire went for Obama by a ten-point margin, and Democrat Janine Shaheen took the Senate seat by almost 8 percentage points.

I'm disappointed about Prop. 8, which we'd been tracking here as well. But considering for a moment those things I could directly influence, and on a strictly personal level, this election provided a watershed moment in the story that began that Wednesday morning in 1960:

For the first time in my life, every mark I made on the ballot came up a winner.

This includes all the candidates for office from president to state senator (full disclosure: My congressman and state rep ran unopposed) and all three state ballot initiatives; all went the way I voted. There was even a candidate I helped that I couldn't vote for -- a Democratic state rep candidate whose district includes part of my town, but not the part I live in -- whose victory I could savor with the others.

It doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, on a day when the entire country has experienced an historic moment and has great, new possibilities before it.

But for me as a voter, it's been a long time coming, and damn, it feels good.

Never Thought I'd Say This but: Read the Whole Newsweek thing

I always think of Newsweek as news for your dentist's office--slightly less awful than the drill, slightly more pleasant than the mouth rinse. But this teaser for their "How'd the black guy do it???" series is astonishing.

On the Weekend At Bernie's that was the McCain Campaign?

On the Sunday night before the last debate, McCain's core group of advisers—Steve Schmidt, Rick Davis, adman Fred Davis, strategist Greg Strimple, pollster Bill McInturff and strategy director Sarah Simmons—met to decide whether to tell McCain that the race was effectively over, that he no longer had a chance to win. The consensus in the room was no, not yet, not while he still had "a pulse."

On Palin and the Clothes?

One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Read the whole thing.

Alaska Gives the Finger to the Rule of Law

With 99% of the votes counted, convicted felon Ted Stevens (R-AK) appears to have won re-election to the US Senate. I wish I could say I'm surprised.

Del asks in a comment at my place if this means Palin v. Begich in a special election. Well, of course the Senate will have to boot Stevens first. Or he'll have to resign. Mitch McConnell was talking big last week about a forcible removal, but that was back when he was in a tight re-election fight. Now that he's pulled out a squeaker*, and no longer has to distance himself from the Republican party, he may change his tune.

If Stevens goes to the Big House, will he still try to hang on to his Senate seat? I almost think I'd prefer that to Sen. Palin.

****

* Yes, I do consider 53-47 to be a squeaker when you're the incumbent Minority Leader and your state went 58-41 for McCain.

Snarky Thought

Do you suppose Republicans have finally figured out what a community organizer does?

Rainbow

At Rockaway Beach in Pacifica. Literal or metaphorical--make of it what you will.

Bittersweet

America is a better country than it was yesterday; California is a worse state.

I wish our folks had lived to see Obama win. Last night MSNBC had John Lewis on, and he talked about the hundreds of thousands of civil rights workers in the '60s who had helped to make this election possible. Mom and Dad were among those hundreds of thousands, and they would have been thrilled beyond measure to see this victory. Not the final victory, not the promised land, but an enormous step in that direction.

And Proposition 8 was a step backwards. Our folks spent 25 years fighting for equality; they would have been so disheartened to see the voters of California reject it. Today, hundreds of thousands of Californians who for a little while had equal rights are again second-class citizens.

What Ebert said

Roger Ebert, on Obama's victory:

Our long national nightmare is ending. America will not soon again start a war based on lies and propaganda. We will not torture. We will restore the rights of freedom of speech, freedom of privacy, and habeas corpus. We will enter at last in the struggle against environmental disaster. Our ideas will once again be more powerful than our weapons. During the last eight years, the beacon on the hill flickered out. Now the torch will shine again.

Boogie Nights

Just now in the video intro to CNN's 8am hour: black crowds gyrating and ululating. Also a Special Text Question, or some such thing:

Should Bill Clinton play a role in an Obama administration?

Lock and load.

That was some lottery ticket

Yes we can.

I cried like a baby during Obama's acceptance speech. Sobbed.

I cried because there is hope, because we can save this country, because things might get a whole lot better.

I cried because that man, and that family, in the White House, just being there, it's going to change things. Because I'm not old enough to remember Camelot, but this must be something like it. That his very presence shifts things. And I'm here for it.

Yes we can. More...

I feel all the things he was speaking about last night. That I can absolutely go back to being angry at a too-centrist Democratic president, as I was for eight years under Clinton, and how glorious those years seem now, and how willing I am for that, to fight for better, for more progressive, in a context where change is possible, where my voice can be heard. And truly, I will write letters and make phone calls and maybe do more, and instead of feeling 'all those bastards are the same,' I feel that my more-progressive-than-Obama voice can be heard, and is in play. (I mean for one thing, holy shit, Prop 8 passed? We have a long way to go.)

Yes we can.

Let's be clear. Obama was not originally my candidate. I have had misgivings about him. But he ran a brilliant race which certainly speaks to his managerial skills, and an inclusive race. And in his speech, as he gave it back to us, as he said it's our victory, well, I believed him.

Yes. We. Can.

(Yes we can cross-post.)

No, Really, They Wouldn't

Not to be missed: John Derbyshire rants himself into a hysterical froth of rage and dyspepsia and K. Lo takes the palm sunday award (the catholic version of "No, Really, I'll just sit here in the dark") with this post:

And They Don't Even Know There's a McCain Voter on the Block [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

From the 11th Floor at NR World Headquarters, every few minutes a crowd of (drunk) people pass by screaming about Obama, sometimes with the sweetest of words. I imagine they'd be louder and more colorful if they knew I was listening.

imagine away, K'lo! Imagine away!

The Long Climb Back to the Barbecue Pit Has Begun

Roy Nails it, liveblogging last night he had this to say about McCain's concession speech:

McCain's concession featured many encomiums to Obama, which might have seemed more gracious were the gang of angry honkies he addressed in Phoenix less frighteningly surly; their truculent response -- boos, grudging applause, and random bellows -- made it seem as if McCain were exercising crowd control rather than delivering a valedictory. That aside, McCain was clearly moved, a little tight of jaw, and annoyed, all of which were his right and well within his character as he has displayed it. His best moment was his humorous reference to "the most challenged campaign of modern times," in which he showed both pique and perspective. The rest was boilerplate, which was his duty, and, as always, he rose to it.

The most notable feature of this speech, which demonstrated McCain is eager, as always, to return as a hero to the Senate and didn't believe a word of his own campaign hype, is that little miss Tundra pudding of 2008 wasn't allowed to say a word to *her* dissapointed fans. The John McCain resuscitation tour began last night, and perhaps Sarah! 2012, but she wasn't allowed to solidify her fan base. Bonus question--when did they tell her that the plan was to be all gracious to the terrorists 'n their palls? Was it five minutes before they sewed her lips shut and threw her out on stage?

aimai

got back from polls at 10:30

popped the champagne we didn't drink for gore and for kerry. totally smashed and totally astounded.

aimai

Can't Stand It Anymore

Been drinking. Voted! In the Keystone State.

Has everyone seen this Kevin Drum post on why it was good we lost four years ago?

Pay me what you owe me, life. Phillies, shmillies.

Showtime

Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Trivia is up

With transparently obvious theme.

I Voted!

Below is my semi-live blog of the experience. Let us know how it went for you in comments!

****

6:38 -- I arrive at my polling place to find the parking lot nearly full. I don't usually vote first thing, so I don't know if this is typical. Dear Husband, who almost always votes before work, says it's not. The white van with the Sarah! sticker is there. Yikes! I'm probably the 70th person in line.

More...

6:45 - Can't see the end of the line behind me now; it's wrapped around the building. Everyone is quiet. This is a heavily Republican precinct. A man in front of me jokes that he'll vote for whoever hands out free coffee. I wouldn't mind some coffee. My choice to wear shorts in anticipation of the 75° predicted high was not the best, in retrospect. Good thing I have a sweatshirt. And comfortable shoes. Prissy woke me up at 4:30 this morning; I hope Obama puts this away early tonight.

6:51 - I balance purse, book, and a tiny mirror and slap on some eye makeup. Need to look good for such a historic occasion. See a few people I know and wonder how they're voting. The guys in front of me discuss the virtues of SUVs and trucks.

6:58 - Will they open on time?

6:59 - Doors open! This has always been an efficient polling place; we'll see if it is today. I search the line and finally see one black face. I'm close to the door, but the poll workers are calling in different alphabetical groups to fill in the shorter lines. A man in front of me points out an 18-year-old voter in line behind us, remembering that the age requirement was still 21 when he was 18. A-C, N-R, and E-H go ahead of us, but the wait isn't long.

7:10 - I'm inside, about 10 back in the I-M line. There's a dad behind me explaining the process to his 6-year-old son, telling him that he'll get to vote in a presidential election in 12 years. Cool! My hands are shaking. Good thing I didn't have that coffee after all.

7:18 - I get my ballot and look for a place to mark it. Get a seat at a table and pull out my sample ballot. Can feel the people around me going, "Oh, shit, she's going to take forever." I'm so worried about spoiling the ballot. I carefully trace each oval and then fill it in completely with my black pen, trying to make sure I don't color outside the lines. I write in my pal John Crenshaw for Congress -- as usual, Bachus (R-of course) has no oppositon. I write in Dan Weinrib for county tax assessor as he should have been the Dem candidate. I even vote on all the ridiculous constitutional amendments we're forced to consider here in Alabama with our crappy, outmoded, Constitution...I try not to peek at my neighbor's votes, but just as I stand up, I see another ballot marked for Obama. Think about giving a total stranger a high five, decide it wouldn't be prudent.

7:24 - I'm done! My ballot is #98 on the optical scanner (the other one has a count in the 90s as well). I get my sticker and head outside. The line is much shorter now; the before-work rush is done. Now it's all over but the waiting.

I have my reservations about Obama. I definitely have my reservations about some of his internet supporters. He won't be perfect; he'll track too much to the middle for my taste. I don't know if he'll ever address the blatant, nasty sexism that was on display during the campaign. But at the same time, I'm awed by the experience of voting for the man who will likely be the first African-American president of the United States. It's chill-bump territory.

Take My Country -- Please

Shorter David Brooks: "Good luck, Dems, eating the shit sandwich we've left you."

(Sorry for all the scatology today.)

2008 Voters Guide: Get the Chicken!

This has probably been done to death on the blogs, but for our record here's David Sedaris writing in The New Yorker:

...I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?"

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

Miraculous Exoneration

Surprise, surprise -- Sarah Palin is innocent! According to James V. Grimaldi, blogging at the Washington Post:
More...

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate to Republican presidential nominee John McCain, did not violate state ethics rules in allegedly trying to fire her former brother-in-law from the state troopers, an investigator for Alaska's State Personnel Board concluded in a report released on the eve of the election.

The finding of the State Personnel Board is the opposite of that found by an investigator for the Alaska legislature. He found last month that Palin abused executive power when she and her husband engaged in a campaign to oust Mike Wooten, her former brother-in-law, from the state police force.

Over at the NY Times, Palin's lawyer spins the new findings as if they are an appeal ruling overturning the first investigator's findings:

With regard to the Legislature’s investigation by Stephen E. Branchflower, Mr. Van Flein wrote, "Mr. Petumenos determined that the Branchflower report’s findings that Governor Palin abused her power had no legal basis and that Governor Palin did not violate the Ethics Act as Mr. Branchflower incorrectly asserted."

But of course the second investigation was a parallel to the first, only it was conducted by three political appointees directly under Palin's control.

This is sure to be big news among wingers and other fools, but the timing is about as smooth as the rest of this clumsy-ass McCain campaign. It's impact should be limited to giggles in poll lines tomorrow.

A Message from David Byrne

In my e-mail today:

Pardon the bulk mailing. I Can't Vote. I am an immigrant with a Green Card and, therefore, I am not eligible to vote in a federal election. FYI - I can get drafted (luckily, Daniel Berrigan burned my draft board's records) and I pay taxes, yet I cannot vote for President. On Election Day, I see my neighbors heading to the nearby elementary school to cast their ballots. The voting booth joint is a great leveler; the whole neighborhood - rich, poor, old, young, decrepit and spunky - they all turn out in one day.

But most of you can vote. What can I say? The Republicans have made us less safe than before 9/11, bankrupted this economy, started an illegal war they can't - and don't intend to - finish, removed what sympathy (after 9/11) and respect the world had for the US, and have robbed US citizens of many of their basic rights. Global warming? What's that? Science and education? Investment in our future? No, thanks - we'll stick with a good 'ole hockey mom. Ignorant, and fucking proud of it, as is always the case.

Although it looks like a shoo-in, it ain't over 'til Florida. And there are plenty of racists in this country who will vote against their own best interests. So please, get to your local elementary school, post office, town hall, or whatever, and cast your vote and make this a country we can all be proud of. We can get out of this mess, and life can be better than it is.

Damn, I love that guy. And incidentally, he and Brian Eno have a new album.

QOTD: Not Sugar-Coated Edition

JMM:

Palin wasn't simply unprepared for intense scrutiny of a national campaign. The woman is an ignoramus of almost unprecedented magnitude in the annals of national politics.

That about sums her up.

Sympathies to the Obama Family

Barack Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died. I know she had been very ill, and I would never want to prolong anyone's suffering, but I had so wished that she would live to see him elected President tomorrow.

My heart goes out to Barack Obama and his family. It is hard to lose a family member under any circumstances, particularly one who stepped in as a parent. and I know tomorrow will be bittersweet for them.

Here's a link to the statement from the Obama family.

Don't Cry for Joe the Plumber. He'll Be Fine, Just Fine

Guess they didn't pay him for all his charity work for McCain? He's broke, but still doesn't like Obama's tax policy--this time because it won't be generous *enough* to help all those poor people Obama isn't talking about. And he's proposing to become some kind of "community organizer" or at least personalized nigerian charitable scam in order to "spread the wealth." This is not a parody, and frankly I can't make any more fun of it than it makes of itself. More...

Immediately becoming a media sensation, Wurzelbacher hasn't been doing any plumbing work these days. He said while he is looking forward to the notoriety of being Joe the Plumber dying down somewhat, he doesn't want the newfound fame to disappear altogether.

"Obviously I gotta keep out there to a degree. That way this can take off and some real help can happen," he said. "The federal government is really not going to be able to affect, really, people on a community level, whereas the Joe the Plumber persona, which is hard to even relate to that because I don't know it doesn't feel like me, but if (it) can bring money to people and you know help out" then it will have been useful.

Wurzelbacher said he doesn't want Obama, or anyone else, at the federal level dictating how to spend his money [that he doesn't have] especially when that dictation comes from people whom Wurzelbacher sees as less than generous.

"Americans have always been great at giving to charities. We give more than any other country in the world. Let's direct it here more at home. Obama at the federal level, he is going to dictate and take more out of my pocket and tell me who to give it to? You know I am a pretty nice guy, you know I give to charities, I give to my church. You know, Joe the Biden, what he gave -- $3,000 last year -- and this guy makes millions? Come on, you know, that's just ridiculous." [So, Joe the Biden would be too cheap to take enough money from Joe the Plumber's pockets?]

Wurzelbacher said he knows he is "not speaking for all Americans" but does feel that he has some cause to use his recent publicity to maximum effect.

"The reason why I feel somewhat able to do it is because the letters and phone calls I get, and I get a ton of them. ... Democrat or Republican I am getting incredible feedback. So, authorized by the American people to speak for them? No. But a lot of people coming up to me and saying keep doing it, keep doing it. Civic duty is not a punch line with me. That's how I was raised and that's why I keep doing it."

But charity isn't Wurzelbacher's sole goal. Sharing the wealth also means helping himself. To that end, he's working with writer Tom Tabback on a book about American values.

"Everyone came at me to write a book. They had dollar signs in their eyes. '101 Things Joe the Plumber Knows' or some stupid s--- like that. Excuse me, I am sorry," he said. "You know I will get behind something solid, but I won't get behind fluff. I won't cash in, and when people do read the book they will figure out that I didn't cash in. At least I hope they figure that out." [Because nothing says authentically "Joe" like allowing some guy to ghost write some kind of book product, you aren't sure what kind, with some kind of message, but you aren't sure what message, under a name that isn't even your own.]

The book, called "Joe the Plumber -- Fighting for the American Dream," is to be released by a group called PearlGate Publishing and other small publishing houses.

"I am not going to a conglomerate that way we actually can get the economy jump started. Like there is five publishing companies in Michigan. There's a couple down in Texas. They are small ones that can handle like 10 or 15,000 copies. I can go to a big one that could handle a million or two. But they don't need the help. They are already rich. So that's spreading the wealth to me," he said. ["That's spreading the wealth to me, he said" Yes, punctuation matters. I think that's the cutest line in the whole darned cuddly little essay.]

How Far We've Come

MARIAN ANDERSON.1939.LINCOLN MEMORIAL.MUSICAL HISTORY! FILM.

[via FoxyTunes / Marian Anderson]

Making calls that make a difference

I volunteered with MoveOn.org to make phone calls, and I've ended up calling from home to recruit volunteers. Basically calling other MoveOn members in swing states (I'm in New York, a "not swing" state) and asking them to come into their local offices and give time up to and including Tuesday.

Here's the thing: Everyone's saying yes.

You make phone calls, maybe you reach half or fewer of the people you call. Answering machines, like that. But of the people I've spoken to? About half have signed up. Half! Have you ever done any calling, for anything? Half is crazy. Half is someone reaching over to you and stuffing money in your pockets just for shits and giggles. You can't believe how good it feels.

Everyone's excited. And there's a counter at the top of the screen, showing how many calls have been made. It moves blindingly fast. I started mid-week at 800,000 at the top of my screen, and now it's over 2 million. And everyone is saying yes I frickin can.

Yes. I can.

If you live in a swing state, volunteer. If you don't, call voters in swing states. Here's something from the script I've been reading to people: "No matter what the polls say, we need all hands on deck."

(And no, I haven't seen a movie all week.)

(Cross-posting that makes a difference)

A Short Campaign Play in One Act

My neighbor, g-d love her she's the one who got me to be warden of our precinct this year, was phonebanking for Obama into Pennsylvania last night. She gets an elderly woman.

My Neighbor:

"Hello, my name is ____ and I'm calling for the Obama campaign."

Elderly Woman ( dropping her voice).

"Did you know that he's black?"

My Neighbor:

"Yes, I knew that."

Elderly Woman: ( confidingly)

"Well, you know, I was raised to kind of think those people weren't as good as us."

My Neighbor (Politely):

"How's that working out for you?"

Elderly Woman:

"Not well, actually."

Just imagine a thousand, thousand, one act plays like that, all over the country.

Of Lipstick and Legacies

A couple of the big lefty bloggers commented this weekend on this piece from the Washington Post:

Others inside and outside the administration, however, say the upbeat talk masks disappointment and frustration among many White House staffers, who believe Bush's reputation has been unfairly maligned for a series of calamities -- from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to the financial crisis -- that were beyond his control and that he handled well. GOP nominee John McCain's escalating attacks on Bush's tenure have added to the irritation, these people said.

"Everybody kind of wanted to spend the last 100-plus days doing some legacy things, and the financial crisis has thrown a wrench into that," said one prominent Republican who regularly talks with senior White House officials.

"You have a combination of no legacy stuff, a horrible economic mess and the likelihood that Obama is going to win," this person added. "There is a real sadness there."

But of the posts I saw, no one made the obvious point that this stuff is the Bush legacy. The financial crisis, 9/11, (the botched response to Katrina) and the rejection of the GOP at the polls in 2006 and again tomorrow haven't occurred in a political vacuum. These events are correlated, with Bush at their dead center.

Note to Bushies: "This pig is unlipstickable" is not your premise; it's our conclusion.

Now That's Some Imagey Writing

But all the organs of the conservative movement followed Bush over the cliff—as did John McCain.

The Old Guard Apparently is Drowning in Its Own Fluids

Shorter Richard Brookheiser:

Lincoln, mormons, warfare, footballs argh! Don't vote for the young guy!

Sunday Sierrablogging

Lake 10,700, west of McGee Canyon and south of Evolution Valley (that's The Hermit poking up in the background), Kings Canyon National Park.

Nutpicking: Anatomy of a Smear

How long before "Obama orders followers to tattoo themselves with the number 666/a bar code/a swastika" is in common circulation in a right wing email?*** oh, see below for an update

From Mark Steyn:

This may be a Jewish thing but... [Mark Steyn]

So writes a Democrat for McCain, who notes that the Obots recommend memorializing your service to the cause by getting numbers tattooed on your forearm. As Mr Warsch adds:

No wisdom, no memory, no historical perspective.
God save us from these people.

Ignorance is O-bliss.

From the Democrat for McCain Site:

Admittedly, this may be a Jewish thing, but aren't you frightened of people tattoo-ing numbers on your forearm to memorialize your service to "The One"?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/29/212558/98/530/646276
It's creepy, and it shows no knowledge of or respect for the Holocaust. No wisdom. No memory. No historical perspective.
God save us from these people. They're crazy.

And from the Original Kos diary:

That's why it was such a surprise the day I found my desire to win was stronger than my fear, and made 204 phone calls. I gritted my teeth every time I dialed. But I did it. So I got myself a souvenir, to remind me I can push myself further than I thought I could go. [Image of the number 204 tatooed on arm]

There's a lot to love about doing GOTV. Maybe you have a cool canvass partner, maybe a walk through a neighborhood of pretty houses on a beautiful day. Maybe you have one of those incredible conversations with someone on their doorstep -- maybe an immigrant proudly tells you in halting English that he is now a citizen and is so excited to get to vote for the first time, maybe you actually change someone's mind, or even just plant an idea you can see they'll be thinking over for a while. Maybe there's the thrill of finally getting to log onto Daily Kos and tell your friends you, too, were out there working to elect Democrats.

But even if you can't find a way it's fun, if you really believe we need Barack Obama to be president, need 60 in the Senate, need a progressive majority in the House that isn't constantly undermined by the Republican-Blue Dog alliance, then you need to find a way to push yourself.

*** Here we go--couldn't find a link to her blog but here is her comment on the Democrats For McCain site:

To the OP: Thanks for posting this. Being half-German, I was horrified to see that particular photograph.
I linked to it alongside Senator Obama's proposed civilian militia idea on my own blog. [emphasis mine]
What you said, summed up what I feel so harrowingly. It's creepy.