Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Kinda funny, easy on the eyes, retro feel.

Super Tuesday seems like a million years ago, doesn't it?









Happy Thanksgiving!


Have a slice of turkey.







It's nice to have someone in charge that sounds like he's in charge.

Today's Obama Presser. About half way in he defends his cabinet picks, whom some have labeled "rehash from Clinton era." As usual, his reply is thoughtful and articulate. Where did they find this guy? Most of the 20 minutes focuses on his forming of an economic task force and the public's concerns over the situation.



Meanwhile, George Bush is busy elsewhere:



I see two turkey's in this picture. The one being held is about to be pardoned. The other with the goofy smile should be in jail.







William Shatner furious over new Star Trek.

As seen in this off the record video, you can see his obvious rage at being replaced by a younger, non-toupee'd verson of himself. Utterly shocking.



See the whole new trailer here: startrekmovie.com







Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Ann Coulter proves existence of God


It's being reported that right-wing wing-nut Ann Coulter has broken her jaw, and has had it wired shut.

This obviously means only one thing. God exists and is back to the punishing evil.

Here latest rant (in writing) continues to claim that the poor right wing "I'm a victim" culture is under attack by the "liberal media."

Of course, if this is true, then the media and God are on the same side, attacking Ann Coulter.

Image above is of Ann posing for a calendar called "Make Mine Mink" which has other like-minded conservative women showing their distain for any form of life that does not look white, thin lipped and heartless.

Enjoy the silence.







Monday, November 24, 2008

Bored reporters crawling up Obama's ass on his church attendance


From the usually useful Politico:

"President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors.

On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym."


Are you kidding? Are we really going to dig on Obama's religious views again? I don't care if he EVER goes to Church. I mean EVER. EVER. Ever.

W's Church record is probably perfect... and that was helpful, huh?

Let's stay on topic, people: ECONOMY, WAR, CIVIL RIGHTS, ENVIRONMENT.







President for 60 more days, Bush tearing apart protection for America's wilderness


Our favorite fuckwad is busy ignoring the economy to do some more corporate giveaways.

Originally posted on the fantastic blog ecorazzi.com/:

George W. Bush is working hard, ya’ll! Bet you never heard that sentence uttered before! But it’s true! As he gets ready to leave office, Bush is actually finally working at record speed… to dismantle at least 10 major environmental safeguards protecting America’s wildlife, national parks and rivers. AWESOME!!!!!

“There are probably going to be scores of rules that are issued between now and January 20,” said John Walke, a senior attorney at the National Resources Defence Council. “And there are at least a dozen very controversial rules that will weaken public health and environment protection that have no business being adopted and would not be acceptable to the incoming Obama administration, based on stances he has taken as a senator and during the campaign.”

Now it’s common for a president to try and pass these “midnight regulations” before leaving office, but never before has a president fought so hard for deregulation - not regulation.

Included in some of the new rules are a provision that would free industrial-scale pig and cattle farms from complying with the Clean Water Act so long as they declare they are not dumping animal waste in lakes and rivers. Because corporations are ALWAYS honest! Mountain-top mining operations will also be exempt from the Clean Water Act, allowing them to dump debris in rivers and lakes. This rule is still under review. Coal-fired power plants will no longer be required to install pollution controls or clean up soot and smog pollution. Sexy!

To read more about how Bush is murdering the planet in his last five minutes, visit Guardian.Co.Uk!







Thursday, November 20, 2008

Sarah Palin Does TV Interview While Turkeys Are Slaughtered In The Background

Happy Thanksgiving from "Sarah from Alaska."

On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in her hometown of Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. After the pardon, Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being BEHEADED in the background!

Seemingly oblivious to the slaughter going on over her shoulder, Palin carries on talking for over three minutes. Watch the video below to see for yourself. BE WARNED: It's kind of gruesome.



Originally on HuffPo







Decision to oust Dingell must be right, cause Republican Boehner is pissed


A good sign:
House Republican Leader John A. Boehner didn't have a vote in the contentious race for chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, but that didn't stop him from leveling a pretty harsh assessment of the result.

"This decision sends a troubling signal from a Majority that has promised to govern from the center," Boehner said in a statement from his office.

"They moved away from Chairman [John] Dingell [D-Mich.] because he is committed to approaching energy and environmental issues in a manner that protects American jobs," Boehner continued. "It is a disturbing sign that the leaders of the next Congress will be making decisions based not on what is best for the country, but for well-funded special interests whose priorities are far different from those of the vast majority of Americans."

Mr. Boehner, if we kill the planet, what is the fucking point of someone keeping their job? You had 8 years on the bully pulpit to fix it all up. Too late to stroke the shaft of the free market on this one.

FULL STORY on POLITICO







Flawlessly logical: Waxman wins powerful Chair

Above: Queen to King's Level One.

Like my favorite Vulcan, Obama seems to be good at playing 3-dimesional chess. This from Politico:
California Rep. Henry A. Waxman on Thursday officially dethroned longtime Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, upending a seniority system that has governed Democratic politics in the House for decades.

The ascension of Waxman, a wily environmentalist, recasts a committee that Dingell has chaired since 1981 with an eye toward protecting the domestic auto industry in his native Michigan. The Energy and Commerce Committee has principal jurisdiction over many of President-elect Barack Obama's top legislative priorities, including energy, the environment and health care.

Waxman’s win is a big victory for environmentalists who want a more aggressive stance on global warming from the committee, and the vote showed the powerful hand of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Waxman ally, even though she officially remained neutral in the race.

The ousting of the ultimate Old Bull — just three months before Dingell was set to become the longest-serving chairman in the House — is also a shot across the bow for other senior lawmakers who have enjoyed a comfortable and unchallenged ride in their chairmen’s seats.


And the news of Dingell being dethroned has allegedly sent stocks lower today, another sign that big-business was hoping to keep him around. Sorry guys. It's hurts less if you just rip the band-aid off fast.

Read full Politico article here.







Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Waxman and Dingell both handily lose Congressional beauty contests, but one will soon be very powerful


This is a small machination in the Democratic caucus that could be very meaningful to making some real progress in Washington. Henry Waxman (California) is trying to unseat long time Democratic juggernaut John Dingell (Michigan) for chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Dingell has held that Chair for quite a while.

As I understand it, this critical position is key in making sweeping changes on environmental issues. Dingell, who seems to be catching on to the climate crisis, has nonetheless been in ardent opposition to auto industry regulation (including seatbelts, airbags, and fuel efficieny). Beholden to Michigan auto workers/voters and well funded by the auto industry, he may continue to hold back progressive legislation. He has been called the "go to" guy for the auto lobby.

In a recent interview on Frontline called "Heat", Dingell denies these allegations.

All that being said, he's not an overall bad guy. He's pushed for regulation and health care in his own right. He's just been a dumb ass on auto regulation.

Waxman, on the other hand, is a bulldog on reform, from what I can see. I believe he has been sent on a secret mission from Pellosi and Reid to unseat (or at least scare) Dingell to help the Obama agenda.

Here's some Bloomberg reporting on it:



Click here to see an clip from the excellent "Heat" Go 2:40 in for the part on Dingell.







TIP OF THE HAT: Cornel West


Princeton Professor/philosopher/critic/activist Cornel West is an impressive fellow. I've only started to learn about him, but I like what I hear very much. In today's Democracy Now! radio program, Cornel easily slid back and forth through a variety of topics including Obama, civil rights, and economics.

In particular I admired points he made concerning Obama's election and while supporting him, he's not giving him a blank check by any means. He doesn't expect Obama to just go and fix things while we passively watch. Rather, it is the American people who need to push Obama forward to make the kinds of real change that he may be intellectually capable of achieving, even when the political survivalist in him will settle for less.

He strikes me as intelligent, practical and an idealist. And anyone who can make it to 55 and keep his idealism is worthy of respect just for that!

I enjoyed his interview, and you may to: INTERVIEW

And here's a short clip from another source that is interesting as well, also discussing Obama and some insight into the whole Reverend Wright issue that became cannon fodder during the election.



West's website HERE.







Someone must have told Obama about his little maneuver at the Battle of Tanaab



This could be the new Attorney General – Eric Holder.

On the bright side, he seems experienced and may uphold the Constitution. On the downside, he lost the Millennium Falcon in a game of cards.

STORY HERE. Sounds like a good guy.

UPDATE: DAMN! WONKETTE BEAT ME TO IT. And they got 1600 comments, one of which was funnier than my Lando joke, so I stole it for the post title. Thanks Wonkette commenter "superfecta"!







Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Obama buyer's remorse?


We're going to have to get over our deep skepticism of the Executive branch long enough to give the guy a chance.

I think I got mental whiplash while listening to one of my favorite public radio stations yesterday.

Where the news from the week before was still basking in the heady afterglow of the Obama Election Orgasm (OEO), Monday was one dreary review after another criticizing Obama's administration picks... both real and imagined. Reporters and pundits were panning his selections for his transition group, in particular, including leaving Robert Gates in the Secretary of Defense position — a Bush pick (replacing Donny Rumsfield). Other Washington insiders that Obama is rumored to be eyeing have equally caught scorn from the left-wing. "Where's the change we can believe in?", someone growls. "The administration isn't diverse enough!", another warns. The reversal of lovefest to Bushesque disapproval was jarring.

Is this Obama buyer's remorse?

After thinking about this awhile, I have come to conclusion. We all need to shut the fuck up... for just a little while.

I know we've all become a bit wonkie lately. It seems like people have never been so engaged in politics. Since when did we start discussing Washington staff picks like Yankee trades? While generally his is a great thing, and this level of involvement may have help keep us all out of trouble in the past 8 years, we also need to strike a balance between star-struck fawning and healthy criticism.

We all picked Obama, and we don't want him to fuck it up. If he does turn out to be just another assembly line political hump, many will have their fragile new idealism crushed forever. But at the same time, we have to let the guy we picked to make the best choices to execute his plan.

In short... we need to trust our government. Ouch. That felt wrong to type, but it's true. We need to give him some time to figure out all the angles – political and personally – to set up a viable cabinet and staff. We may not like all these people. Some, like Gates, may have some history we don't care for. But there is a new person in the Big Chair. We put him there.

So let's protect that fragile sense of hope — and watch what Obama does carefully — without damning his Presidency 2 months before it even starts. There will be plenty of time to hold his feet to the fire.

After all that has gone before, giving Obama a chance to sink or swim may be the hardest thing we've ever done.







Daffy Duck wins decisively over Bugs Bunny, Bunny demands recount

Some exciting results in Florida's write-in for President Results:

234 HILARY CLINTON
174 RON PAUL
23 NONE OF THE ABOVE
23 JESUS
21 MIKE HUCKABEE
14 MITT ROMNEY
8 COLIN POWELL
6 GOD
6 LEFT BLANK
5 UNDECIDED
4 AL GORE
4 BISHOP V.M. MCLAUGHLEN
4 FRED THOMPSON
4 OBAMA
4 RUDY GIULLIANI
4 STEVEN COLBERT
3 DONALD DUCK
3 DONALD FOY
3 MICKEY MOUSE
3 T. BOONE PICKENS
2 BILL COSBY
2 BILL McMILLON
2 BILL NYE
2 CHUCK NORRIS
2 CONDOLEEZA RICE
2 FRANK HARDEN
2 FRANKLIN GRAHAM
2 LOU DOBBS
2 PAGO POSSUM
2 SARAH PALIN
2 SEANATOR BROWNBACK
2 GARY BENZENBERG
2 GEORGE W BUSH
2 JOHN EDWARDS
2 LEE GODDARD
2 TIM TEBOW

Among those getting a single vote: Abstain, Against All, Alfred E. Newman, Bill Clinton, Bill O'Riely, Bill Richardson, Bobby Bowden, Bugs Bunny, May the best man win, Me, Morgan Freeman, Mr. Bill, Newt Gingwrich, None (Anarchy), Oprah, Pat Buchannan, Ralph Nader, Hilary Bush, Homer Simpson, Jay Plotkin, Jimmy Carter, Joe the Plumber, John Doe, Lieberman, Theodore Roosevelt, They Both Suck '08, Tiger Woods, Tommy Chong, Truman, Weird Al Yancovic, William Crosby and Willie Nelson.









The Evil Bush Mash-up

Someone worked hard on this. It's creepy, an yet... refreshingly candid! :-)



And one more for the lighter side:









I just read this on "The Internets": CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER IN THE NEW CABINET

No more "Internets"?

No more "I used The Google"?

No more "The Internet is a series of tubes"?
"In preparation for his visit to Google headquarters today, presidential candidate Barack Obama released a nine-page statement outlining his plan to improve technology (if elected). His first order of business would be to appoint a Chief Technology Officer, a new government official who makes sure Obama's ideas are put into action."

Can I get a "WOOT" in the house?

READ IT BABY!











Monday, November 17, 2008

You can not be a part of Obama's new Administration

Don't feel bad, neither can I. I wouldn't pass the muster based on Obama's questionnaire given to all potential Administration staff. Just this blog alone would screw me.

On the bright side, anyone locked in an attic since birth may be able to get a good gig.



It's a shame that some otherwise intelligent, qualified people will need to be left behind in order to minimize giving red-meat to the opposition.







Obama's first international "online summit" leads to first critical disaster

Click to view this leaked screen shot from a bi-lateral "online summit" with other international leaders. It went terribly.

I though he'd have better judgement that this.



This is a 23/6 exclusive. What a disaster.







Saturday, November 15, 2008

Friday, November 14, 2008

A Rip-Off You Can Believe In

As a website designer, I find the power of design to sell a product endlessly facinating. In many cases, a clever design can take a old clunker of a product and give it a fresh face without having to make the product any better.

Case in point: Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has a new website that looks oddly familiar:



Doesn't it remind you of something? Maybe this:



In my business this is called a very technical term. We call it a fucking rip-off. But it does something powerful, politically. By knicking Obama's design, Netanyahu presents himself visually as being like Obama. Now, I seem to recall Netanyahu's past, and I don't think he's a fresh corruption free politician who brings change... but he can play one on the Internet.

“Imitation is the greatest form of flattery,” noted Ron Dermer, one of Mr. Netanyahu’s top campaign advisers.

How do you say "BULLSHIT" in Hebrew?

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: NEW YORK TIMES







No Communion For Obama Supporters, Says South Carolina Priest


Despiration of Church and State, anyone?

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina Roman Catholic priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion, and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil."

The Rev. Jay Scott Newman said in a letter distributed Sunday to parishioners at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Greenville that they are putting their souls at risk if they take Holy Communion before doing penance for their vote.

REST OF THIS INSANITY

Priest's response letter to his flock

Painting by Chris Woods without his permission.







Get Your War On: Obama Bandwagon

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.








Hitting the ground running...


by Chan Lowe







Thursday, November 13, 2008

Why John, why?


During the election, I spent a lot of time saying "Where's the old John McCain from 2000?" Like a lot of other people, I saw a distinct change in McCain over the Bush years, culminating in his fear-mongering, Palin-picking, uninspired Presidential run. After he lost the election, I thought that he was now free of Bush and the Republican far right he had to pander to. Soon, he would regain his footing as the Senator/Elder Statesman and spend the rest of his political career free to live up to his reputation as a "straight-talker".

But that seems all but lost as the first post-election political event he attends is campaigning for Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

Back in 2002, when Chambliss ran attack ads portraying his Democratic challenger, Vietnam Vet Max Cleland, as weak and unpatriotic, McCain called the ads "disgusting" and "reprehensible." A brave, non-partisan defense for a fellow Viet Nam veteran. Chambliss received five student deferments and avoided serving in Vietnam.

"I've never seen anything like that ad," McCain, a Vietnam prisoner of war, said in 2003. "Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to a picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield, it's worse than disgraceful, it's reprehensible."

But that McCain seems to have disappeared for good in 1999 after Bush gutted him for the Republican nomination, and with nothing left to lose, he doesn't seem to know his way back to the Straight-Talk Express.

But why, John? What are you doing it for?

Sorry to see you go so soon, John. You died too soon.

Here's the Chambliss attack ad.









THE YES MEN STRIKE AGAIN!


The Yes Men, a small group of performance artists/activists/pranksters have struck again! They managed to distrubute a million fake copies of the New York Times with headlines from the future. Read below an excerpt from HuffPo:
New York City woke up this morning to find that some committed satirists had delivered unto them a remarkably well-rendered facsimile of the New York Times, filled with earnest and hopeful headlines from the future -- specifically July 4, 2009 -- in which the Iraq War is over, Bush is indicted for treason, and columnist Thomas Friedman has confessed: "I have no business holding a pen, at least with intent to write."

These guys are really sensational. They have posed as members of the World Trade Organization in the past, and have infiltrated WTO conferences to give absurdist presentations in a dead pan style so professionally that the audience actually believes their evil schemes. With dead seriousness they propose to, say, take the shit from western McDonald's customers and reprocess it to make reconstituted hamburgers to sell to the third world (tagged "reBurger"). They have also given lectures proposing that slavery should be reconsidered as a valid and cost effect means of improving corporate profits, or use human corpses as a source of renewable energy.

It's an odd form of protest, and it's awesome. Big tip of the hat to The Yes Men.

You can see the online edition of their New York Times rip off here. It's amazing in it's detail and well written.

Here's the article.

UPDATE: And an interview with them.

Here are a few excerpts from their pranks. They film most of them, some of which can be seen on an excellent documentary.

McDonalds Hoax: reBurgers


Exxon Hoax: Vivoleum








Bailout money to GM? Let them die.


I have grown increasingly resentful of General Motors, who have proved time and time again that they lack any sense of decency or business acumen. From purchasing public transportation in the 1930s in order to dismantle it and replace it with gas guzzling buses, to scrapping the electric car, GM – in concert with the oil industry - have helped to keep Americans chained to the internal combustion engine. They keep politicians in both parties well funded to make sure the status quo is kept, and oppose progress at every turn.

Now, after years of mismanagement and insatiable greed, they pull out their hats to the Government for MY TAX MONEY so they can stay afloat. What's worse, they hold a gun to the economy while doing so, saying that if we fail to give them the money, millions of American's will lose their jobs and the economy (all ready weakened by greed) will further collapse.

I say, let them die. I'd rather put my taxes to bailing out those workers than keep a sick dog like GM alive. Same goes for the other American car makes who are swarming around Washington trying to get some free money.

Capitalism demands they collapse, and throwing good money at them prolongs the suffering.









Wednesday, November 12, 2008

This quote may explain the love of Obama.

“I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.” — Billy Joel

It will remain to be seen if President Obama is merely competent (which after Bush would make him appear to be a genius) or something that meets our hopes and expectations. Fingers are crossed.







Naomi Klein: Economists "Bob Rubin and Larry Summers have got to go"

She's the author of "Shock Doctrine" speaks out. She's wickid smaht. This gist here is that it's great we have a competent politician like Obama in office, but we need to be sure we keep the pressure on him to do his job right. Plus she's cute. Jay would make passes at activist economists who wear glasses.









The Boogieman who almost destroyed America


You don't hear much about him anymore, but you know his work. Lee Atwater, more than any other person, defined the "anything goes" rules in political campaigns that have tainted the country since the mid 80's.

Lee was fundamental in getting Bush Senior elected, was a pal of George Junior and taught Karl Rove his methods. His winner-take-all mentality stopped at nothing to get his candidates elected — racism, fear and outright lies were all in his tool box. He also was a master at tricking people into voting AGAINST their own interests, using faux patriotism and "values issues" to short circuit people's common sense. Ever wonder why a poor farmer in Kansas would vote Republican?

These tools served him and his politicians well, stealing an election for a young Karl Rove (and teaching him how to do it for others), shamelessly destroying Democratic Presidential candidate Michael Dukakis (1988), and early targeting of Bill Clinton. Rove continued to use the Atwater playbook to get George W Bush into office by bogging John McCain down in lies about a "black baby" he supposedly was trying to hide.

For those following the McCain/Obama race closely, you saw some of the same race/fear baiting tactics being used to smear Obama. Ironically, McCain knowingly hired yet another disciple of the Atwater/Rove school — Steve Schmidt.

The impact of Atwater and his progeny can't be underestimated. The ability of spin and negative ads to swing voters and create media "echo chambers" (where false stories saturate the news until they are accepted) has been used again and again. It's a triumph for American that the majority of voters have finally caught on in this election and didn't get suckered in again.

An excellent movie has just been released called Boogieman, which traces Atwater's life and political impact. It's hard to find in theaters, but it's playing on PBS's Frontline for free, and also available on DVD. It really helps put the last few elections into context, and explains how we got someone like George Bush into office.

Atwater died slowly of a brain tumor in 1991, but supposedly tried to repent his sins, asking many of those he wronged for forgiveness.

Check out the website for the film here.

Below is Atwater's manipulative masterpiece... burn in hell, spinboy.



Here's a review with some clips:








Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Happy Veteran's Day


This one's for the troops. That mouth is illegal.







Monday, November 10, 2008

50 things you don't know about Obama


Here's a few as noted by The Telegraph:

He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics

He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers

He uses an Apple Mac laptop

He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't

He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia

He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father

Here's the whole list.







"God Hates Fags" people to protest at Obama's Grandmothers Funeral


Westboro Baptist Church, the super douche-bag/religious nut-jobs/publicity whotes led by Fred Phelps and the WBC plan to picket the funeral of Madelyn Payne Dunham, aka Barack Obama's grandmother. Below is a part of their press release:
Yes. Dying time is truth time, and reflection time, and time for meditating on the weighty issues of life: getting right with God, life, death, Heaven, Hell, sin, righteousness, judgment to come, etc. Obama says his grandmother Dunham raised him, and, her "influence on his manner and the way he viewed the world was substantial." If so, then she has much to answer for as she stands before the Lord. Obama says he will use the White House as a Bully Pulpit to advance the cause of murdering more babies and same-sex marriage. "God hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by Christ." Acts 17:31.

I've written a few times about the WBC before. These are the same a-holes that protested during soldiers funerals who died in Iraq. In light of gay-rights setbacks in several states last week, I think it's appropriate for God to make his opinion known once and for all about homosexuality...

Dear God...

If you approve of homosexuals, please drop an asteroid onto these people as they protest this old lady.

If you approve of homosexuals, please drop TWO asteroids onto these people as they protest this old lady.

Thanks Lord, we'll be counting.


Sidenote: A group called Patriot Guard often come out to shield the families of the fallen soldiers from protestors like this. Sound like heros. Learn more about them at http://www.patriotguard.org or on wikipedia.







So George... um... how about those approval ratings... DAMN!







Chuck Norris to Obama: Now you work for me


Verbatim From Ecorazzi
Chuck Norris sure likes him some republican party! In case you’ve forgotten, earlier this spring Norris campaigned for presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Most recently, Chuck’s been spending his time working FOR Prop 8 in California to help ban gay marriage.

Chuck recently shared a poem he received with the world, echoing his feelings about the presidential election. The poem goes:

When all of a sudden/There arose such a noise/I peered out of my window/ Saw Obama and his boys.

They had come for my wallet./ They wanted my pay/ To give to the others,/ Who had not worked a day!

He snatched up my money /And quick as a wink /Jumped back on his bandwagon/ As I gagged from the political stink.

He then rallied his henchmen,/ Who were pulling his cart./ I could tell they were out /To tear my country apart!

They took off for his cause, /And as he flew out of sight,/ I heard him laugh at the nation, /Who wouldn’t stand up and fight!


Norris also took it upon himself to write a letter to Barack Obama suggesting 4 ways that Obama might get the opposition to “respect him.”
READ THE LETTER: Obama, now that you work for me...







So we're 5 days in and I'm still fat... wasn't Obama supposed to fix all this?


I know you all love him, but it seems to me like President-Elect Obama isn't doing jack shit.

I've been following Politico's minute-by-minute archive of everything Obama says, does, thinks and farts***, and frankly I'm not impressed.

In the past 5 days since his election, he's had a press conference, given a radio address, met with several economic leaders, picked a chief of staff, spoke with the President of Russia, spoke with the President of Poland, launched a transitional team (with website), and is meeting up with President Bush tomorrow to organize transitional matters.

And he also took his wife out for dinner.

So what gives? I thought he was going to fix everything? I voted for him because he was "The One." Some fucking messiah he turned out to be. Look, I know he was doing a non-stop campaign for 21 months and gave about a million speeches, and for most of us we'd be spending between now and mid January curled up in the fetal position sobbing... but this is GODDAMN OBAMA... I didn't vote for this guy to get sleep, dammit!

I'm totally disillusioned. Go Palin 2012.



*** Obama doesn't fart. Only mortals fart.







Sunday, November 9, 2008

Secret Operation "SMOKE EM OUT" – Sneaking up on terrorists worldwide since '04


I'm about to support a policy of George Bush... what in the name of Joe the Plumber is going on here?????

I know many would say "How dare we execute a military operation in a sovereign country?", but this is one of the few things Bush has done (on or off record) I'm down with.

Summary of New York Times article:
"WASHINGTON — The United States military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials.

In 2006, for example, a Navy Seal team raided a suspected militants’ compound in the Bajaur region of Pakistan.

But as many as a dozen additional operations have been canceled in the past four years, often to the dismay of military commanders, senior military officials said. They said senior administration officials had decided in these cases that the missions were too risky, were too diplomatically explosive or relied on insufficient evidence.

Shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Bush issued a classified order authorizing the C.I.A. to kill or capture Qaeda militants around the globe. By 2003, American intelligence agencies and the military had developed a much deeper understanding of Al Qaeda’s extensive global network, and Mr. Rumsfeld pressed hard to unleash the military’s vast firepower against militants outside the combat zones of Iraq and Afghanistan."
Sounds good to me. If Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, etc can't get these people on their own, they should be happy for us to do it, providing it's targeted with good intelligence. In many cases, eliminating Al Queda does all off us a big favor. So maybe we piss off a few countries, but on the plus side, we don't blow up a whole bunch of innocent children with cluster bombs and pay through the nose to rebuild a country we destroy. I mean, hell, they can see our battleships coming... they can't see some Navy Seals with night scopes.







Saturday, November 8, 2008

Who is this old coot?

Since we are all thinking about Presidents, here's a great little list of them to bop through (with nice watercolors of each). It's amazing how many of these dudes I didn't recall. I have some reading up to do about John Tyler. And who's this Bush guy? Looks smart!

PRESIDENTIAL PORTRAITS

They also have a nice quiz... I got 53% (I guessed a lot)

QUIZ







Obama To Quickly Reverse Bush Actions on Environmental, Social Issues?


I was a bit concerned hearing about some of the deregulation that Bush is trying to pump out in the last weeks of his administration. These include some treats for the coal industry.

I feel a bit better now, cause Obama seems to be on it. For example, President Bush denied California the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles. The president-elect says he will overturn that decision. Here's the summary:
Obama Positions Himself to Quickly Reverse Bush Actions on Environmental, Social Issues

By Ceci Connolly and R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 9, 2008

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse the president on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues, according to congressional Democrats, campaign aides and experts working with the transition team.

A team of four dozen advisers, working for months in virtual solitude, set out to identify regulatory and policy changes Obama could implement soon after his inauguration. The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive, said a top transition official who was not permitted to speak on the record about the inner workings of the transition.

The list of executive orders targeted by Obama's team could well get longer in the coming days, as Bush's appointees are rushing to enact a number of last-minute policies in an effort to extend his legacy.


WHOLE ORIGINAL STORY







Friday, November 7, 2008

Is it too early to start ragging on Obama?

Look, I think Obama is awesome. I have high hopes for him, and I never thought I would ever have high hopes for any politician ever again. That said, he's got some wacky stuff going today during his otherwise brilliantly informative and encouragingly proactive economic press briefing today,

Here's the gold nugget. He caught him self saying something silly half way through this line:

"In terms of speaking to former presidents, I have spoken to all of them that are living."

I also like the sign. Looks like some designer spent about 20 hours getting it just right. Maybe a bit pompous?

Sorry dude, you had 2 days of a honeymoon. Time to start the ragging!







Thursday, November 6, 2008

FiveThirtyEight got it right



Electoral projectionists at fivethirtyeight.com did an excellent job this year. Below is the actual voting result (almost complete, there may be an electoral vote in Nebraska in play) versus their projection the day before.

Nicely done. I only went to their site about 3 bazillion times last month!







At least one Republican is happy today









Great moment: Stewart and Cobert give the word

Watch Cobert... I think he tears up at the end. After the daily catharsis I've enjoyed with these two over the years, I was glad I heard it from them first. The best news shows on cable.









Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Bittersweet victory


It's a great day for America, at least that's what the majority of voting American's seem to think. I'm proud that Obama is the new President, and the (at least partial) triumph over African American racism that goes with it.

But before we get too wrapped up in our evolved union, we're seeing that once more, prejudice moves from one group to another.

California Proposition 8 seems to have passed in California, one of three initiatives to in the country to ban same-sex marriage. Similar items seems to have passed in Arizona and Florida. Fortunately, an initiative to amend the Connecticut Constitution (a sneaky precursor to banning same sex marriage there) failed.

AP REPORTS: "Even as black voters overwhelmingly backed Barack Obama - a gay-rights supporter - in the presidential race, 70 percent of them voted against gay marriage, compared with 47 percent of white voters."

Despite these statistics, even bloggers in the gay community are the first to point out that the majority of supporters were over 65 and white, and was heavily supported by the Mormon and Catholic Church.

A sad irony in light of the fantastic victory they enjoyed.

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Tuesday, November 4, 2008

BARACK OBAMA IS THE NEW PRESIDENT

What better moment would there be to play this clip...









Dixville Notch, NH first town to turn socialist


DIXVILLE NOTCH, N.H. — Democrat Barack Obama came up a big winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch, N.H., where the nation's first Election Day votes were cast and counted early Tuesday.

Obama defeated John McCain 15-6. Independent Ralph Nader was also on the ballot, but received no votes.

The first voter, following tradition established in 1948, was picked ahead of the midnight voting and the rest of the town's 21 registered voters followed suit in Tuesday's first minutes.

Town Clerk Rick Erwin says the northern New Hampshire town is proud of its tradition, but says the most important thing is that the turnout represents a 100 percent vote.

President Bush won the vote in Dixville Notch in 2004 on the way to his re-election.

WELCOME TO THE PARTY, COMRADES!







Monday, November 3, 2008

Super Obama

Yeah, it's a corny premise, but check it out. It's funny.









Long wait lines to vote = Poll Tax


MSNBC's Rachel Maddow makes an excellent point regarding the long lines at voting stations, saying they are the equivalent of a "Poll Tax" (a abondoned practice of charging a fee to pay for your right to vote which ended in the 1960s). She says that many of those working class folk do not have the time to stand in long lines, especially as they do not get the day off.

It is inspiring to see people so dedicated to vote, but the facts that she cites on the 100,000+ voters in Ohio who gave up while in line is quite disturbing. Those votes could have changed some bad history.

Hope everyone does what they can to hang in line. I promise I will.



We're in for a bumpy Tuesday!







Saturday, November 1, 2008

Woman only gives out Halloween candy to McCain Supporters

Kids in this suburban Detroit neighborhood were taken aback after a McCain supporter refused to give them candy because they were the children of Obama supporters.

Fear and anxiety bring out the worst in people. Is it just a racial thing? I'm more inclined to think that this has more to do with the McCain/Palin fear wagon at work. You can only play on people's anxiety so long. It's hard to believe McCain doesn't understand the trouble he is causing Obama in the event he does win. Country First my ass.









I can't... take... it... any... more...

Please, make it stop... I can't take this election for another second...

I promise to only blog about 80s band reunion tours. Just don't let Palin become Vice President.












Elementary school kid sums up the election

Click to zoom up. It's worth the read. He has more political insight that many adults.