Who knew?
Muppets get Farked...
January 23, 2009
January 16, 2009
Preserve, protect, and defend
Much has been written about the crimes of the Bush administration, and the emerging Washington consensus, predictably, is to let sleeping criminals lie, and move on. Given how many people who comprise that consensus are complicitly involved in some of the aforementioned crimes, it is little surprise they want the rest of us to forgive, forget, go forward.
Paul Krugman reminds us why we cannot allow that to happen.
Paul Krugman reminds us why we cannot allow that to happen.
Let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. It’s not just torture and illegal wiretapping, whose perpetrators claim, however implausibly, that they were patriots acting to defend the nation’s security. The fact is that the Bush administration’s abuses extended from environmental policy to voting rights. And most of the abuses involved using the power of government to reward political friends and punish political enemies.
January 12, 2009
Teh stoopid, it spreadz
"Academic freedom".
Heh heh.
"Teach the controversy".
HAHAHAHAHA!
Oklahoma was one of the few states that went more Republican in the latest election (McCain pulled his highest vote percentage in any state here), with the Retro-dumbass party securing both houses for, I believe (correct me Jim, if I am wrong) the first time in state history.
And right out of the gate, they fail to disappoint.
Creationism by every other name.
Living in the reality based community is fraught with difficulties. One of them is not taking the bait when legislation like that is proposed. I suppose it is my fault for believing that the entire creationism debate as it relates to public schools is settled law. It is, but apparently that doesn't matter to the forces of know-nothingism.
The anti-evolution legislative pushes are particularly annoying because they are, at heart, so profoundly dishonest. In the guise of presenting a legitimate alternate scientific theory to challenge the enormous body of work that makes up Darwinian theory we get proposed laws that would enforce a religious orthodoxy on school children. It is obviously done in the service of a wider effort to subvert public institutions in the name of a Christianist political attempt to remake our country in their likeness. Legislators who engagfe in this sort of behavior are, to my mind, wholly illegitimate.
It is cowardly. If those Christianist ideas are so valid, then come out in the open, propose legislation that really endorses those views, that this country ought to be ordered on principles conceived primarily through a ridiculously selective, literalist reading of the bible. I recall reading a Catholic writer some time ago saying, and I paraphrase, "the Bible is the Word of God, not the words of God". If a government that rigidly follows a specific reading of the bible is so right and just, then package that legislation appropriately, and let's have the discussion they want to have and do so out in the open. Advocate for theocracy, state the case, have the debate.
It would bring this nonsense to a very quick close. Which is exactly why we have this sort of clumsy, but frightening thought control legislation instead, because its proponents know they have a losing argument otherwise.
Heh heh.
"Teach the controversy".
HAHAHAHAHA!
Oklahoma was one of the few states that went more Republican in the latest election (McCain pulled his highest vote percentage in any state here), with the Retro-dumbass party securing both houses for, I believe (correct me Jim, if I am wrong) the first time in state history.
And right out of the gate, they fail to disappoint.
Creationism by every other name.
Living in the reality based community is fraught with difficulties. One of them is not taking the bait when legislation like that is proposed. I suppose it is my fault for believing that the entire creationism debate as it relates to public schools is settled law. It is, but apparently that doesn't matter to the forces of know-nothingism.
The anti-evolution legislative pushes are particularly annoying because they are, at heart, so profoundly dishonest. In the guise of presenting a legitimate alternate scientific theory to challenge the enormous body of work that makes up Darwinian theory we get proposed laws that would enforce a religious orthodoxy on school children. It is obviously done in the service of a wider effort to subvert public institutions in the name of a Christianist political attempt to remake our country in their likeness. Legislators who engagfe in this sort of behavior are, to my mind, wholly illegitimate.
It is cowardly. If those Christianist ideas are so valid, then come out in the open, propose legislation that really endorses those views, that this country ought to be ordered on principles conceived primarily through a ridiculously selective, literalist reading of the bible. I recall reading a Catholic writer some time ago saying, and I paraphrase, "the Bible is the Word of God, not the words of God". If a government that rigidly follows a specific reading of the bible is so right and just, then package that legislation appropriately, and let's have the discussion they want to have and do so out in the open. Advocate for theocracy, state the case, have the debate.
It would bring this nonsense to a very quick close. Which is exactly why we have this sort of clumsy, but frightening thought control legislation instead, because its proponents know they have a losing argument otherwise.
January 5, 2009
To The Gallows!
As money is that which Americans worship most fervently, why are crimes against it not eligible for the death penalty?
Failing that sort of radical, outsize (and dubious) remedy, here is Michael Lewis with a pair of fine articles detailing where the failure points are, and how to repair them:
Failing that sort of radical, outsize (and dubious) remedy, here is Michael Lewis with a pair of fine articles detailing where the failure points are, and how to repair them:
THERE are other things the Treasury might do when a major financial firm assumed to be “too big to fail” comes knocking, asking for free money. Here’s one: Let it fail.The entire thing is worth reading, and part two can be reached from the end of part one.
Not as chaotically as Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail. If a failing firm is deemed “too big” for that honor, then it should be explicitly nationalized, both to limit its effect on other firms and to protect the guts of the system. Its shareholders should be wiped out, and its management replaced. Its valuable parts should be sold off as functioning businesses to the highest bidders — perhaps to some bank that was not swept up in the credit bubble. The rest should be liquidated, in calm markets. Do this and, for everyone except the firms that invented the mess, the pain will likely subside.
This is more plausible than it may sound. Sweden, of all places, did it successfully in 1992. And remember, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury have already accepted, on behalf of the taxpayer, just about all of the downside risk of owning the bigger financial firms. The Treasury and the Federal Reserve would both no doubt argue that if you don’t prop up these banks you risk an enormous credit contraction — if they aren’t in business who will be left to lend money? But something like the reverse seems more true: propping up failed banks and extending them huge amounts of credit has made business more difficult for the people and companies that had nothing to do with creating the mess. Perfectly solvent companies are being squeezed out of business by their creditors precisely because they are not in the Treasury’s fold. With so much lending effectively federally guaranteed, lenders are fleeing anything that is not.
Rather than tackle the source of the problem, the people running the bailout desperately want to reinflate the credit bubble, prop up the stock market and head off a recession. Their efforts are clearly failing: 2008 was a historically bad year for the stock market, and we’ll be in recession for some time to come. Our leaders have framed the problem as a “crisis of confidence” but what they actually seem to mean is “please pay no attention to the problems we are failing to address.”
December 18, 2008
Coherence
A very coherent point lost in all the drama about the choice of Rick Warren to perform the invocation at the inauguration.
Barack Obama has always claimed his religious faith is one of the most important things in his life, and essential to his identity. It's therefore all the more disappointing that his choice of Rick Warren reflects a particularly American brand of incoherence and hypocrisy when it comes to public displays of supposed religious belief.Read the entire post - well worth it.
The incoherence is reflected by behavior -- such as choosing Warren to give the invocation -- that seems to affirm two propositions:
(1) Religious beliefs are enormously important.
(2) The actual content of those beliefs is irrelevant.
December 3, 2008
Concussion
Concussion.
I had recently thought of it as being beaten about the head and shoulders with a wad of conservative talking points.
Or what happens if you are actually brave enough to watch an entire hour of Bill O'Reilly's hate fest on Faux Newz.
No longer.
Yesterday while crushing down a bunch of left over cardboard boxes in our garage, I stepped on one that has that lovely waxy sheen over pretty colors advertising some product crucial to everyday life (in this case a mat that goes under a desk chair) and personally redefined concussion to something akin to its medical meaning.
That slick, shiny box flew out from under my feet and I went momentarily airborne, levitating horizontally above the hard concrete floor of the garage for what seemed like a full second to my time-dilated senses. I could envision in that long interregnum exactly what took place next: my butt, then my back, then neck and finally my head hit the floor with a truly sickening *thwock* noise, the kind of sound that makes the stomach churn just to hear it.
I lost just a hint of time after impact, until I became aware that my seizure response dog, Rufus, was frantically licking my face and covering my body with his. When later asked by the doctor if I had lost consciousness, I tentatively said yes, then measured the period missing by the amount of dog slobber I was covered in, which, fortunately, was not much. Perhaps a minute, likely even less time passed before I was aware that my head really fucking hurt, got the dog off me, and tried to regain my feet. I was horribly dizzy and my vision blurred. My head was completely numb and a large knot was already forming on the top part of the back of the skull. I was nauseous for a few minutes.
I had a phone with me (habit when outside or in the garage for any length of time) so called Rachel. I'd be hard pressed to recall what exactly I said to her, but she lit out from work right away. The fact I was able to stand and talk seemed reason enough not to call 911 and all that entails.
We went to St. John's Urgent Care which is associated with my doctor in the same complex. I was the only person there, so they got me in quickly. Medical history, poking and prodding, lots of questions, Darvocet and Flexeril, a neck brace plus X-rays followed, along with a lot of waiting around. Thanks to the brief period of unconsciousness I not only had to have the X-rays but also a CT scan. Though they had a machine there, it was not operated after 5pm so I was out of luck. Off we went to St. Francis Hospital emergency center.
The ER in any hospital is always a somewhat alarming place. I've been in a couple for my own medical problems and to take others for theirs. The worst was probably the night my friend Chris R. drove his 1970's era Lincoln ocean liner into a telephone pole in Virginia, breaking his nose and collar bone (annihilating both car and pole - the latter only stayed standing thanks to the heavy. demolished car still holding it upright). Marty and I were there for many an hour as Chris slept, passed out despite the pain of his nose and collar bone, as the ER doctors ran tests and also dealt with a more lethal car crash that came bursting through the doors after we arrived. That night also included the delicious irony of Chris being essentially let off the hook for a certain DUI by the improbably named Officer Bacon of the Fairfax police, something I've laughed about over the years whenever this particular incident comes up.
St. Francis wasn't terribly busy, though there was a decent crowd in the waiting room. I got checked in for the CT, waited, and was called in under 5 minutes. We were taken to a trauma room, seen by a nurse (where my blood pressure and temperature were taken for the second, though not last time for the night), had to recount the details of the fall yet again, then were made to wait. Rachel and I listened to the flow of chatter around us as nurses and the ER doctor attended to other patients. Judging by discussions amongst staff about visitors coming and going, there seemed to be either a lot of new people on rotation or a recent policy change concerning who could or should accompany a patient into the ER area.
Eventually the doctor stopped by, looked over my chart, assured me the wait for the CT would not be long but the time before it could be read might be, thanks to a shift change in progress. A little while later a nurse stuck her head in, asked if I was there for the CT. An affirmative response prompted her to ask us if we could wait at the end of the hall in the small seating area there. I said yes, then, as she walked away, I saw a woman who had previously been vomiting noisily in another room collapse into the hallway and onto the floor. The nurse didn't see her, so I said "excuse me" loud enough to be heard, and pointed to the prone body "That woman has collapsed". She called for help and went to attend to her. We moved to the end of the hall, where I was called shortly for the CT.
Being an epileptic I am more than familiar with the joys of CT and MRI machines. The latter are a particular favorite of mine. Trapped head first in a cool plastic and metal cocoon, head caged in place, with barely enough room for my shoulders and arms to lie in a relaxed state, I am bombarded by the weird post-techno beat of the machine as it produces high resolution slices of my broken brain. It is an entrancing, ever changing symphony of differently pitched knocks, hums, and repetitive low frequency tones and warbles most likely recreated in the outside world by a spastic child and an old ARP 2600 synthesizer. The earplugs prevent hearing damage, but nothing can drown out the sheer volume of the bone jarring trance generator that performs as a side effect of the near-magical workings of the MRI. Every time I'm in one of these monstrosities I totally zone out to the unique bursts of machine music.
Of course, I wasn't scheduled for an MRI. :)
The CT took about five minutes. A full MRI of the brain lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to a full hour, so I was pleased and relieved. It was also cool to be able to see the imaging elements spinning rapidly over head. More visually entertaining than the spare white plastic tube of the MRI.
It all came up clean, of course. The doctor at urgent care was pretty certain it would turn out that way, as was I, after the initial shock and pain of the fall had subsided. The short span of unconsciousness, the nausea, and the blurred vision combined to force the doctor, as a cautionary procedure, to order the extra tests. The necessity of it all doesn't in any way blunt the mind numbing waiting that accompanies any trip to the ER, unless you are mortally injured or in some other way in danger of immediate death or permanent harm. That waiting is punctuated by the blood pressure machine puffing up on my arm and restricting the flow of blood to my hand every ten minutes, by the bodiless pronouncements coming from the PA (including a recorded voice issuing a prayer for the hospital, its visitors, staff and patients as visiting hours came to a close), and the sporadic visits from nurses, hospital staff or the doctor.
That waiting time left me to wonder about the disposable nature of so many things in the hospital chain - even fingertip pulse takers have been made disposable, with the electronics embedded in flexible plastic, fitted over the finger, and plugged into a monitor. I understand about issues of sterility, but that seemed especially wasteful. The amount of trash generated by any given hospital in a single day must be enormous. And each time will appear in a full accounting of my little trip through the belly of the medical beast.
I can't wait for the bills for my portion to arrive.
Today my neck is stiff as the cardboard that tried to kill me, and my back, a chronic source of pain and trouble, is protesting most loudly about my garage escapade. The minor cognitive oddities that dogged me last night have passed completely, so all that is left is to heal the muscles of my neck and back, and I am honestly thankful I got away without a major injury.
The sound of my skull bouncing off the concrete will stay with me for the rest of my life.
So I'm whole, but concussed.
I had recently thought of it as being beaten about the head and shoulders with a wad of conservative talking points.
Or what happens if you are actually brave enough to watch an entire hour of Bill O'Reilly's hate fest on Faux Newz.
No longer.
Yesterday while crushing down a bunch of left over cardboard boxes in our garage, I stepped on one that has that lovely waxy sheen over pretty colors advertising some product crucial to everyday life (in this case a mat that goes under a desk chair) and personally redefined concussion to something akin to its medical meaning.
That slick, shiny box flew out from under my feet and I went momentarily airborne, levitating horizontally above the hard concrete floor of the garage for what seemed like a full second to my time-dilated senses. I could envision in that long interregnum exactly what took place next: my butt, then my back, then neck and finally my head hit the floor with a truly sickening *thwock* noise, the kind of sound that makes the stomach churn just to hear it.
I lost just a hint of time after impact, until I became aware that my seizure response dog, Rufus, was frantically licking my face and covering my body with his. When later asked by the doctor if I had lost consciousness, I tentatively said yes, then measured the period missing by the amount of dog slobber I was covered in, which, fortunately, was not much. Perhaps a minute, likely even less time passed before I was aware that my head really fucking hurt, got the dog off me, and tried to regain my feet. I was horribly dizzy and my vision blurred. My head was completely numb and a large knot was already forming on the top part of the back of the skull. I was nauseous for a few minutes.
I had a phone with me (habit when outside or in the garage for any length of time) so called Rachel. I'd be hard pressed to recall what exactly I said to her, but she lit out from work right away. The fact I was able to stand and talk seemed reason enough not to call 911 and all that entails.
We went to St. John's Urgent Care which is associated with my doctor in the same complex. I was the only person there, so they got me in quickly. Medical history, poking and prodding, lots of questions, Darvocet and Flexeril, a neck brace plus X-rays followed, along with a lot of waiting around. Thanks to the brief period of unconsciousness I not only had to have the X-rays but also a CT scan. Though they had a machine there, it was not operated after 5pm so I was out of luck. Off we went to St. Francis Hospital emergency center.
The ER in any hospital is always a somewhat alarming place. I've been in a couple for my own medical problems and to take others for theirs. The worst was probably the night my friend Chris R. drove his 1970's era Lincoln ocean liner into a telephone pole in Virginia, breaking his nose and collar bone (annihilating both car and pole - the latter only stayed standing thanks to the heavy. demolished car still holding it upright). Marty and I were there for many an hour as Chris slept, passed out despite the pain of his nose and collar bone, as the ER doctors ran tests and also dealt with a more lethal car crash that came bursting through the doors after we arrived. That night also included the delicious irony of Chris being essentially let off the hook for a certain DUI by the improbably named Officer Bacon of the Fairfax police, something I've laughed about over the years whenever this particular incident comes up.
St. Francis wasn't terribly busy, though there was a decent crowd in the waiting room. I got checked in for the CT, waited, and was called in under 5 minutes. We were taken to a trauma room, seen by a nurse (where my blood pressure and temperature were taken for the second, though not last time for the night), had to recount the details of the fall yet again, then were made to wait. Rachel and I listened to the flow of chatter around us as nurses and the ER doctor attended to other patients. Judging by discussions amongst staff about visitors coming and going, there seemed to be either a lot of new people on rotation or a recent policy change concerning who could or should accompany a patient into the ER area.
Eventually the doctor stopped by, looked over my chart, assured me the wait for the CT would not be long but the time before it could be read might be, thanks to a shift change in progress. A little while later a nurse stuck her head in, asked if I was there for the CT. An affirmative response prompted her to ask us if we could wait at the end of the hall in the small seating area there. I said yes, then, as she walked away, I saw a woman who had previously been vomiting noisily in another room collapse into the hallway and onto the floor. The nurse didn't see her, so I said "excuse me" loud enough to be heard, and pointed to the prone body "That woman has collapsed". She called for help and went to attend to her. We moved to the end of the hall, where I was called shortly for the CT.
Being an epileptic I am more than familiar with the joys of CT and MRI machines. The latter are a particular favorite of mine. Trapped head first in a cool plastic and metal cocoon, head caged in place, with barely enough room for my shoulders and arms to lie in a relaxed state, I am bombarded by the weird post-techno beat of the machine as it produces high resolution slices of my broken brain. It is an entrancing, ever changing symphony of differently pitched knocks, hums, and repetitive low frequency tones and warbles most likely recreated in the outside world by a spastic child and an old ARP 2600 synthesizer. The earplugs prevent hearing damage, but nothing can drown out the sheer volume of the bone jarring trance generator that performs as a side effect of the near-magical workings of the MRI. Every time I'm in one of these monstrosities I totally zone out to the unique bursts of machine music.
Of course, I wasn't scheduled for an MRI. :)
The CT took about five minutes. A full MRI of the brain lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to a full hour, so I was pleased and relieved. It was also cool to be able to see the imaging elements spinning rapidly over head. More visually entertaining than the spare white plastic tube of the MRI.
It all came up clean, of course. The doctor at urgent care was pretty certain it would turn out that way, as was I, after the initial shock and pain of the fall had subsided. The short span of unconsciousness, the nausea, and the blurred vision combined to force the doctor, as a cautionary procedure, to order the extra tests. The necessity of it all doesn't in any way blunt the mind numbing waiting that accompanies any trip to the ER, unless you are mortally injured or in some other way in danger of immediate death or permanent harm. That waiting is punctuated by the blood pressure machine puffing up on my arm and restricting the flow of blood to my hand every ten minutes, by the bodiless pronouncements coming from the PA (including a recorded voice issuing a prayer for the hospital, its visitors, staff and patients as visiting hours came to a close), and the sporadic visits from nurses, hospital staff or the doctor.
That waiting time left me to wonder about the disposable nature of so many things in the hospital chain - even fingertip pulse takers have been made disposable, with the electronics embedded in flexible plastic, fitted over the finger, and plugged into a monitor. I understand about issues of sterility, but that seemed especially wasteful. The amount of trash generated by any given hospital in a single day must be enormous. And each time will appear in a full accounting of my little trip through the belly of the medical beast.
I can't wait for the bills for my portion to arrive.
Today my neck is stiff as the cardboard that tried to kill me, and my back, a chronic source of pain and trouble, is protesting most loudly about my garage escapade. The minor cognitive oddities that dogged me last night have passed completely, so all that is left is to heal the muscles of my neck and back, and I am honestly thankful I got away without a major injury.
The sound of my skull bouncing off the concrete will stay with me for the rest of my life.
So I'm whole, but concussed.
November 27, 2008
Talk About Torture
The notion that there will be so much love and reconciliation in Washington (as evidenced by the Lieberman vote recently, and other nauseating trends) that nothing will be done to address the criminal activities of the Bush administration makes me ill.
Glenn Greenwald cuts through the bullshit:
A further interesting point is this one, made by Jonathan Turley on the Rachel Maddow show. Turley points out that the Bush administrations murmurs that pardons are unnecessary because the Justice Department torture memos sufficiently cover anyone who then participated in such actions from legal liability in fact calls the Democrats bluff on this issue:
Glenn Greenwald cuts through the bullshit:
All of this underscores a crucial fact: a major reason why the Bush administration was able to break numerous laws in general, and subject detainees to illegal torture specifically, is because the media immediately mimicked the Orwellian methods adopted by the administration to speak about and obfuscate these matters. Objective propositions that were never in dispute and cannot be reasonably disputed were denied by the Bush administration, and -- for that reason alone (one side says it's true) -- the media immediately depicted these objective facts as subject to reasonable dispute.
Hence: "war crimes" were transformed into "policy disputes" between hawkish defenders of the country and shrill, soft-on-terror liberals. "Torture" became "enhanced interrogation techniques which critics call torture." And, most of all, flagrant lawbreaking -- doing X when the law says: "X is a felony" -- became acting "pursuant to robust theories of executive power" or "expansive interpretations of statutes and treaties" or, at worst, "in circumvention of legal frameworks."
* * * * *
All of that is what has created the warped Beltway consensus that Bush officials who broke the law, committed war crimes and other felonies, should be absolutely immunized from the consequences of their crimes. That's because when government officials commit "crimes," they're not actually crimes -- they're mere "policy disputes among people in good faith." Only "incendiary" liberals believe that government officials who break the law should be subject to accusations as shrill and extreme as: "they committed crimes."
A further interesting point is this one, made by Jonathan Turley on the Rachel Maddow show. Turley points out that the Bush administrations murmurs that pardons are unnecessary because the Justice Department torture memos sufficiently cover anyone who then participated in such actions from legal liability in fact calls the Democrats bluff on this issue:
TURLEY: What the administration is doing is they know that the people that want him to pardon our torture program is primarily the Democrats, not the Republicans. The Democratic leadership would love to have a pardon so they could go to their supporters and say, “Look, there’s really nothing we could do.”I think this is about accurate. Those in power are predisposed to aid one another when it comes to questions of legality and liability. In this case, it is pathetic that the alleged beacon of democracy is less inclined then a third world country recently out from under the boot of brutal dictatorship to prosecute its own leaders for actions that are clearly, without question, war crimes.
Well, the Bush administration is calling their bluff. They know that the Democratic leadership will not allow criminal investigations or indictments.
November 17, 2008
Intelligible
It is mind blowing that I find it such an enormous relief that the new president is intelligent, articulate, curious and answers questions directly. The fact that he understands the questions asked instead of responding to an unasked query with a non sequitur talking point is also noted.
Pretty sad commentary on the current resident that these qualities come across as extraordinary in the leader of our country, rather than a prerequisite for the job.
Watch the Obama 60 Minutes interview:
Watch CBS Videos Online
Pretty sad commentary on the current resident that these qualities come across as extraordinary in the leader of our country, rather than a prerequisite for the job.
Watch the Obama 60 Minutes interview:
Watch CBS Videos Online
November 14, 2008
Creative Destruction?
Whiskey.
Tango.
Foxtrot.
Read this now.
The guy writing it makes some of the players out to be more heroic than they really are. Shorting a market you find reprehensible is full participation in reprehensible activity.
Still, a fascinating peek into what happened. This also explains some of what these financial instruments actually are. Which is a terrifying realization.
Regulation cannot come too soon, but I suspect nothing will actually happen.
Tango.
Foxtrot.
Read this now.
The guy writing it makes some of the players out to be more heroic than they really are. Shorting a market you find reprehensible is full participation in reprehensible activity.
Still, a fascinating peek into what happened. This also explains some of what these financial instruments actually are. Which is a terrifying realization.
Regulation cannot come too soon, but I suspect nothing will actually happen.
November 5, 2008
How Soon They Forget
Epic fail on the part of CNN last night. Threatening us all with the "one party rule" cudgel, they fail to name the last president who had control of both house of Congress.
Hint: he is still in office for a few more weeks.
Fucking idiots. Watch them run as hard as they can from an eight year legacy of sucking up to the Bush administration. Gotta coddle your only source of fucking news...
Campbell Brown: For those people who have been worried about the possibility of one party controlling Congress and the White House, the last president to do that, of course, was....?
John King: Ah, that was Bill Clinton, and...
Brown: Jimmy Carter! Jimmy Carter had... Bill Clinton had Democrats in the House and in the Senate?
King: Very briefly.
Brown: Very briefly. [Crinkles her nose] Didn't go so well.
King: No it didn't.
Hint: he is still in office for a few more weeks.
Fucking idiots. Watch them run as hard as they can from an eight year legacy of sucking up to the Bush administration. Gotta coddle your only source of fucking news...
November 4, 2008
Back
Just got back.
Mostly old folks at our polling place. About a ten minute wait - no biggie at all. Rachel waited for almost 30 minutes early this morning.
Heard lots of people saying that it was busier than they could remember ever seeing it - and the election volunteers, some of whom have been doing this a long time said they had more turnout already today at this polling place than in all of 2004. When you consider there was a gay marriage ban amendment on the ballot then, plus the fact that it is just after 2pm here, that is pretty amazing.
Mostly old folks at our polling place. About a ten minute wait - no biggie at all. Rachel waited for almost 30 minutes early this morning.
Heard lots of people saying that it was busier than they could remember ever seeing it - and the election volunteers, some of whom have been doing this a long time said they had more turnout already today at this polling place than in all of 2004. When you consider there was a gay marriage ban amendment on the ballot then, plus the fact that it is just after 2pm here, that is pretty amazing.
Off To Vote
It is a beautiful day here in Green Country - 74 degrees, sunny, with a good 25mph wind. My polling place is a church at the end of my street (about 5 blocks away), and since Rachel voted early this morning and has late meetings tonight, Rufus and I will be walking through the sunshine and drifts of leaves to cast my vote. Despite the fact this is some of the reddest territory in the US and my votes will have little to no impact at all on outcomes, I'm happy to cast them anyway. My way of making sure the door hits those bastards in the behind on the way out.
And, while Barack Obama is not my ideal candidate in purely political terms, he is closer than anything we have had at the national level in a very long time. Add in an ability to think clearly and make rational arguments (even for policies I may ultimately disagree with) and an obvious curiosity about the world around him, and you have the makings of what hopefully will be a very good president. Unlike 2004, I cast this vote as an affirmative act, not a purely defensive one.
Y'all have a great day.
And, while Barack Obama is not my ideal candidate in purely political terms, he is closer than anything we have had at the national level in a very long time. Add in an ability to think clearly and make rational arguments (even for policies I may ultimately disagree with) and an obvious curiosity about the world around him, and you have the makings of what hopefully will be a very good president. Unlike 2004, I cast this vote as an affirmative act, not a purely defensive one.
Y'all have a great day.
November 3, 2008
Polling addendum
A lot of seizures lately, so my brain is mostly mush. The post below reads like mush. No apologies from me - seizures are part of my milieu, and the brain bruising they cause (and the short circuiting of my already minimal English language skills) is part of this life of mine.
I also forgot to mention that I am shit eating grin happy to vote tomorrow, because the end is nigh for the thugs and criminals who looted the national treasury on behalf of their friends, set environmental policy back 20 years, started two wars on a foundation of intentional lies while ratcheting up the powers of the national security state. So even though my vote will not count but for the local issues questions on my ballot, I am casting it joyfully as my way of saying "fuck you assholes" and seeing them out the door.
Though too far short of impeachment and war crimes trials, I'll take it.
I also forgot to mention that I am shit eating grin happy to vote tomorrow, because the end is nigh for the thugs and criminals who looted the national treasury on behalf of their friends, set environmental policy back 20 years, started two wars on a foundation of intentional lies while ratcheting up the powers of the national security state. So even though my vote will not count but for the local issues questions on my ballot, I am casting it joyfully as my way of saying "fuck you assholes" and seeing them out the door.
Though too far short of impeachment and war crimes trials, I'll take it.
Polling
According to the National Weather Service it is 79 degrees here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, hardly a fall day despite the leaves blanketing lawns up and down my street, which means it doesn't feel much like voting season to me. Yet tomorrow I go to the polls to register my votes for president, senator, congressperson and a few local races and issues. Though I live in the heart of red country (it still makes me chuckle, in this season where Barack Obama is routinely, and wrongly labeled a socialist that the color most often associated with that political persuasion is identical to that color used to code the most conservative states) and my vote will not in any way affect the outcome of the presidential race, I am still very much looking forward to casting my vote tomorrow anyway. Oklahoma may well turn out to have the widest margin of victory for John McCain, but in my own head I am adding my voice to millions of others in saying "enough" to those who have run this country into banana republic territory.
Similarly, the Senate race here is rather pathetic. This is the home of James Inhofe, one of the more rabid right wingnuts to ever occupy a seat in the US Senate. The last polls I could find indicate he is leading Andrew Rice anywhere from 16-22 points, so my vote there will also make no difference, but I'll happily cast it anyway. As for the 1st district, it seems John Sullivan will win re-election rather easily. Again, I'll happily cast a vote against him, even if it seems futile.
I've only been surprised by two things this election season. The first is one I am happy to have been wrong about. Very early on, in conversations with friends, I was asked if Obama could win the Democratic nomination, and if so, the presidency. I said "no", and emphatically on both counts. My reasoning is simple, and now utterly discredited. I felt Clinton had the money, the name recognition, and the organization to handily take the nomination. I also felt that there are plenty of very conservative democrats out there who would find voting for a black man difficult, if impossible to do. I presumed, wrongly, that people would get into the polling booth and say "hell, no, I'm not voting for a black man".
And I am deliriously happy to have been proved a dunderhead about this. Nevertheless, that same reasoning was part of my calculation should Obama manage to swing the nomination. In a general election against McCain, a man many Democrats have come to admire and consider a middle of the road, bipartisan kind of guy (which he certainly is not), those same conservative democrats would be peeled away to vote Republican, and it could comfortably not be about race at all, but rather a better fit with an alleged Republican reformer. Those who did find race to be a show stopper could talk themselves into McCain by buying into the centrist talk.
Again, it would seem, I am going to be wrong as all hell. and again, I am overjoyed that is the case. I am still not sure what any of this proves when it comes to politics and race, given the incredible blunders of the McCain campaign since the general election got underway, but it has altered the extent and depth of my cynicism about America.
The second surprise relates to the rather nasty campaign McCain has run. I fully expected there to be plenty of surrogates to bring back the ghosts of Ayers and Wright, and the inevitable "surrender to terrorists" meme that was so popular in 2004. And those things all materialized, right on cue. The distinction this time that turns this sort of standard issue Republican ugliness into something extraordinary was the extent to which these attacks came directly from the mouths of the Republican candidates for president and vice president. I admit to a bit of shock at how easily McCain and Palin both fell into a comfortable groove with the "palling around with terrorists" charge, the casual pronouncements about the lack of patriotism on the part of Obama, the rabid zeal with which they both attempted to paint the Democratic nominee as not only unfit for office but potentially treasonous. It was pretty revolting and I really was surprised that so much of it originated with the candidates themselves, and not the usual semi-anonymous surrogates, which would at least allow the pretense of disassociation.
So I've been completely wrong about how this campaign would turn out, and I am content to be so. I still have very serious problems with the Democratic party and its behavior in the Bush years. And to those lefties who feel Obama is going to be some sort of hard charging progressive liberal, all I can say is, get right with what he really is, politically, or those of you who remember 1992 will experience all over again that sense of betrayal when it turned out Clinton was not a real friend of the left, but a corporatist centrist. Obama, who is intelligent, thoughtful, and quick on his feet is the far better choice in this election, and I cast my vote for him unequivocally. I do so, however, in recognition that he is very much a Democratic centrist, and not a committed progressive liberal.
Similarly, the Senate race here is rather pathetic. This is the home of James Inhofe, one of the more rabid right wingnuts to ever occupy a seat in the US Senate. The last polls I could find indicate he is leading Andrew Rice anywhere from 16-22 points, so my vote there will also make no difference, but I'll happily cast it anyway. As for the 1st district, it seems John Sullivan will win re-election rather easily. Again, I'll happily cast a vote against him, even if it seems futile.
I've only been surprised by two things this election season. The first is one I am happy to have been wrong about. Very early on, in conversations with friends, I was asked if Obama could win the Democratic nomination, and if so, the presidency. I said "no", and emphatically on both counts. My reasoning is simple, and now utterly discredited. I felt Clinton had the money, the name recognition, and the organization to handily take the nomination. I also felt that there are plenty of very conservative democrats out there who would find voting for a black man difficult, if impossible to do. I presumed, wrongly, that people would get into the polling booth and say "hell, no, I'm not voting for a black man".
And I am deliriously happy to have been proved a dunderhead about this. Nevertheless, that same reasoning was part of my calculation should Obama manage to swing the nomination. In a general election against McCain, a man many Democrats have come to admire and consider a middle of the road, bipartisan kind of guy (which he certainly is not), those same conservative democrats would be peeled away to vote Republican, and it could comfortably not be about race at all, but rather a better fit with an alleged Republican reformer. Those who did find race to be a show stopper could talk themselves into McCain by buying into the centrist talk.
Again, it would seem, I am going to be wrong as all hell. and again, I am overjoyed that is the case. I am still not sure what any of this proves when it comes to politics and race, given the incredible blunders of the McCain campaign since the general election got underway, but it has altered the extent and depth of my cynicism about America.
The second surprise relates to the rather nasty campaign McCain has run. I fully expected there to be plenty of surrogates to bring back the ghosts of Ayers and Wright, and the inevitable "surrender to terrorists" meme that was so popular in 2004. And those things all materialized, right on cue. The distinction this time that turns this sort of standard issue Republican ugliness into something extraordinary was the extent to which these attacks came directly from the mouths of the Republican candidates for president and vice president. I admit to a bit of shock at how easily McCain and Palin both fell into a comfortable groove with the "palling around with terrorists" charge, the casual pronouncements about the lack of patriotism on the part of Obama, the rabid zeal with which they both attempted to paint the Democratic nominee as not only unfit for office but potentially treasonous. It was pretty revolting and I really was surprised that so much of it originated with the candidates themselves, and not the usual semi-anonymous surrogates, which would at least allow the pretense of disassociation.
So I've been completely wrong about how this campaign would turn out, and I am content to be so. I still have very serious problems with the Democratic party and its behavior in the Bush years. And to those lefties who feel Obama is going to be some sort of hard charging progressive liberal, all I can say is, get right with what he really is, politically, or those of you who remember 1992 will experience all over again that sense of betrayal when it turned out Clinton was not a real friend of the left, but a corporatist centrist. Obama, who is intelligent, thoughtful, and quick on his feet is the far better choice in this election, and I cast my vote for him unequivocally. I do so, however, in recognition that he is very much a Democratic centrist, and not a committed progressive liberal.
October 19, 2008
Some Sensible Words
Colin Powell is, in my view, a war criminal. His dishonest performance in front of the United Nations was the final push that a lot of fence sitters needed to agree to invade Iraq. The fact that he knew he was telling a very Big Lie constructed of hundreds of small ones annihilated any credibility he had, in government, and in public life.
On Meet The Press Powell endorsed Obama, a move that had been predicted for months. Turns out his comments just outside the studio were more interesting than those spoken in front of a national TV audience. His comments about taxation are particularly useful, and bear repeating amidst the constant insanity of tax-cutting-because-we-can mania. Too bad he didn't choose to say those on the air.
On Meet The Press Powell endorsed Obama, a move that had been predicted for months. Turns out his comments just outside the studio were more interesting than those spoken in front of a national TV audience. His comments about taxation are particularly useful, and bear repeating amidst the constant insanity of tax-cutting-because-we-can mania. Too bad he didn't choose to say those on the air.
October 18, 2008
"Liberal" Is Equivlaent To "Traitor"
This Representative from Minnesota is quite special.
The money quote:
The money quote:
What I would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out, are they pro-America or Anti-America? I think the American people would love to see an expose like that.Joe would be so proud!
October 16, 2008
Maverickism
I'm confused.
If John McCain is truly the maverick we are bludgeoned into believing he is, why was it left to Bill Kristol the choice of Sarah Palin as running mate?
Much has been said and written about how McCain failed the very first executive test as a presidential wannabe: the choice of vice presidential candidate. Palin was a truly odd, and now obviously reckless choice, but at least we believed McCain himself had made the pick.
Curiouser and curiouser.
If John McCain is truly the maverick we are bludgeoned into believing he is, why was it left to Bill Kristol the choice of Sarah Palin as running mate?
Much has been said and written about how McCain failed the very first executive test as a presidential wannabe: the choice of vice presidential candidate. Palin was a truly odd, and now obviously reckless choice, but at least we believed McCain himself had made the pick.
Curiouser and curiouser.
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