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Two For Obama. In Other News, Dana Hunter Suffered Heart Failure…

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They did it. They really did it.

My parents, my conservative parents, including my “Rush Limbaugh conservative” stepmother and my McCain-admiring father, got their mail-in ballots over the weekend. My stepmother, of course, was dead-set on Obama. My father not so much. I figured they’d probably end up canceling each other out.

But my father, who has not voted for a Democrat for president ever, voted for Obama.

Then he proceeded to search the ballot for other Democrats running for national office, and voted for them. “If we’re going to do this thing, we’ve got to do it right,” he solemnly informed my stepmother. He wanted to make sure that Obama had a solid Democratic majority to back him up.

It was the war that did it. He doesn’t really agree with Obama on anything else, but quibbles over economic and domestic policy didn’t matter when set against the fact that McCain wants to keep us indefinitely in a useless war, and start other useless wars on top of it.

My dad’s a Vietnam vet. He knows a little something about the price of useless wars.

Still.

Holy shit.

The way Obama’s going, we could end up with de facto one-party rule in this country. The Cons could find themselves reduced to nothing but background noise. All of the smart conservatives are heading Obama’s way. And for the most part, it’s not a protest vote. They really like him. Even my father, who doesn’t like Obama’s liberal tendencies, seems to respect him.

If Obama manages to do with his first term what I think he’s going to do, you’re going to hear the term “Reagan Democrats” replaced with “Obamacans.” I guarantee it.

Yes. We. Can.

Two For Obama. In Other News, Dana Hunter Suffered Heart Failure…
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Ready on Day One? Oh, Puh-leeze

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If we were to select a president on preparedness alone, there would be no contest:

So, how are the transition teams doing? Sam Stein has a fascinating report, which tells us quite a bit about how the two candidates’ operations approach their responsibilities.

…Sen. Barack Obama has organized an elaborate well-staffed network to prepare for his possible ascension to the White House, while Sen. John McCain has all but put off such work until after the election.

The Democratic nominee has enlisted the assistance of dozens of individuals — divided into working groups for particular federal agencies — to produce policy agendas and lists of recommended appointees. As evidence of their advanced preparations, officials provided a copy of the strict ethics guidelines that individuals working on the transition effort are required to sign.

John McCain, by contrast, has done little. Campaign spokespersons did not respond to requests for elaboration. But one official with direct knowledge, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, expressed concern with McCain’s approach. The Arizona Senator has instructed his team
to not spend time on the transition effort, according to the source, both out of a desire to have complete focus on winning the election as well as a superstitious belief that the campaign shouldn’t put the cart before the horse.


Look, I realize it may sound premature to work on a transition before an election, but this is pretty important work. Presidents need staffs who can take over a massive executive and complicated branch bureaucracy on Day One. Failing to take this seriously now may make the nation vulnerable come January.

The Obama campaign seems to be a model of discipline and organization: “Obama’s transition effort has been organized into roughly a dozen teams of six to eight people to plot out the approach for each agency, according to a Democratic official. The ethics code governing the process prohibits staff from working on subjects that could be deemed a financial conflict of interests, either to that member or that member’s family.”

The McCain campaign has no ethics policy in place for the transition, and the head of the team has reportedly held a few conference calls.

One approach is deeply irresponsible. The other approach is Obama’s.


I just want to ask two small questions here: if McCain isn’t taking his chance at the presidency seriously, why should we? Why the fuck would we want to elect a man who displays this extreme lack of interest in his responsibilities?

When your drive to win and your craven superstition keep you from ensuring you’re prepared to step into the Big Man’s shoes, I think that states quite clearly that you’re not cut out to lead this country.

Ready on Day One? Oh, Puh-leeze

"2008 Was the Year"

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AFL-CIO’s Richard Trumka speech on combating racism, the necessity of unions to unite, and the vision of the future if we elect Obama is some pretty powerful stuff:

I don’t think we should be out there pointing fingers in peoples’ faces and calling them racist; instead we need to educate them that if they care about holding on to their jobs, their health care, their pensions, and their homes — if they care about creating good jobs with clean energy, child care, pay equity for women workers — there’s only going to be one candidate on the ballot this fall who’s on their side… only one candidate who’s going to stand up for their families… only one candidate who’s earned their votes… and his name is Barack Obama!

And come November we are going to elect him president.

And after he’s elected we are going to hit the ground running so that, years from now, we’re going to be able to tell our grandchildren that 2008 was the year this country finally turned its back on men like George Bush and Dick Cheney and John McCain

We’re going to be able to say that 2008 was the year we started ending the war in Iraq so we could use that money to create new jobs building wind generators, solar collectors, clean coal technology and retrofitting millions of buildings all across this country

We’re going to be able to look back and say that 2008 was the year the tide began to turn against the Rush Limbaughs, the Bill O’Reillys, the Ann Coulters and the right wing hate machine.

I can drink to that.

(Tip o’ the shot glass to Platypus at Daily Kos)

"2008 Was the Year"

Republicans for Obama

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There was Rep. Jim Leach, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention. There was Jim Whitaker, an Alaska mayor. Former Senator Lincoln Chafee. Former Senator Lowell P. Weicker Jr. Former Rep. John Anderson. Mayor Lou Thieblemont of Camp Hill, PA. They all have one thing in common: they’re Republican politicians (sometimes now former Republicans) who endorsed Obama.

There’s room for more:

Former GOP governor Linwood Holton today endorsed a Democrat for president for the first time and is going to stump critical areas of the state for him.

Linwood Holton is the hero of moderate Republicans in Virginia. He defeated the segregationist Democrat for governor and fought GOP rightwingers. Holton is widely regarded as the father of the Republican party in Virginia. When Richmond public schools were ordered integrated Holton enrolled his children in the AA school close to the governor’s mansion and walked them to school.

He supported his son-in-law Tim Kaine for governor but has never supported a Democratic presidential candidate.

Hot damn. Maybe this will make me old dad feel better about switching party allegiance.

As I was researching this, I ran across boatloads of Republicans throwing their support to Obama. Prominent Republicans, staunch conservatives, who went for Obama for the same reason I did: because this country needs him.

Google “Republicans Endorse Obama” and you’ll come across a lot of good Republicans talking about how they’re supporting a liberal because they believe that salvaging this country transcends liberal vs. conservative. They know Obama’s got the right grasp on the economy and foreign relations. They went for him for the same reason I did: because they know he’ll do right by America. They know he’ll rescue our standing in the world. They know that after eight years of neocon bloodshed, America needs a man who can pull us back from the brink of catastrophe. They, like me, believe Obama is that man.

And they’re willing to hit the campaign trail to tell voters that very thing. I think that’ll hold some water with those right-leaning independents and undecideds. It makes a difference when someone with the same political inclinations as you says, “Vote for this Democrat. Never mind that he’s liberal. We need him in charge.”

Just listen to what former Reagan adviser Dr. Larry Hunter says, after hoping Obama will reneg on every liberal policy he’s espoused on the campaign trail:

But here’s the thing: Even if my hopes on domestic policy are dashed and Obama reveals himself as an unreconstructed, dyed-in-the-wool, big-government liberal, I’m still voting for him.

These past eight years, we have spent over a trillion dollars on foreign soil – and lost countless lives – and done what I consider irreparable damage to our Constitution.

If economic damage from well-intentioned but misbegotten Obama economic schemes is the ransom we must pay him to clean up this foreign policy mess, then so be it. It’s not nearly as costly as enduring four more years of what we suffered the last eight years.

(Psst., Larry – I hate to tell you this, but in light of what happened to the markets today, it may be time for a New Deal Democrat and an “activist government.” Just sayin’.)

Strong stuff. I’ve believed for a long time now that Obama bridge that chasm between Republican and Democrat without betraying everything liberal Democrats stand for. Who knows? Maybe folks like Dr. Larry will swallow their bitter progressive pill in the interests of America and find out they like it.

Hey. I can but dream.

So we’ve got staunch Republicans swinging for Obama in respectable numbers. These aren’t Democrats-in-disguise: they’re the real McCoy. The fact that a liberal candidate won them over by the power of his vision is pretty damned impressive.

You know what, Johnny? You can keep Lieberman and the pathetic few PUMAs. We’ll just hang on to the higher-quality defectors, thanks.

Republicans for Obama

Hope, Humor and Harmony

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Today, Seattle was bright and sunny, but I felt like crawling into bed with the covers over my head for a good long snivel. It was all I could do to make it through work.

This country is falling apart. The banking industry is collapsing. Bush is determined to scorch the earth as he retreats. My fellow Americans are being snookered by the two biggest, most dangerous cons since Bush/Cheney. FEMA’s fucking over the Gulf once again, and all the media really wants to talk about is fucking bullshit. Oh, and Russia’s flexing its muscles, Venezuela and Bolivia chucked out our ambassadors, and it’s clear that their newfound disrespect for America can be laid firmly at Bush’s feet. If McSame and Sarah “Bush-Cheney Hybrid” Palin get elected, it looks like a few countries might get disgusted enough to start a whole new Cold War – unless they plump for hot, instead. I doubt McLame would do much about it – after all, since the RNC was over, he decided that watching a Nascar race was more important than grandstanding in the Gulf. Funny how Republicons only remember to be compassionate conservatives when the cameras are watching.

And that’s just today.

So I almost couldn’t bring myself to blog. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, curl up in a miserable little ball, and cry into the cat. That is a tricky proposition, because my cat exhibits sympathy for about 2.4 seconds before she attempts to rip my face off for getting her fur wet. If she was a human, she’d probably be a Republicon.

I planted arse in chair, wrapped myself in a blankie, and read on. Because it’s a chilly night, the cat plonked herself down on me and started purring. She only tried to remove limbs twice. And then I started to find precious hope, humor and harmony.

Glenn W. Smith chats at Firedoglake about being “In Molly’s Back Yard: Resisting Rove.” He’s right:

For years we embattled Texas liberals used to gather in my late friend Molly Ivins’ Austin back yard on the “Final Friday” of each month. For a few glorious hours – if the whisky held out, it would be many glorious hours – hopes ran high and hearts ran wild.

These last couple of weeks of Democratic anguish and anxiety make me think of those evenings at Molly’s, where morale stayed so high even the ducks weren’t down. I’m certain there were ducks.

[snip]

We were then and we are now the Undaunted. Because we have to be. Them that daunt, die. Somebody probably said that once at Molly’s. Probably more than once.

Texas liberals are, um, very familiar with Karl Rove. We have a couple-decade head start on the rest of you, though the last eight years might count double.

Here’s a reminder that a key Rove strategy is the demoralization of his opponents, and it’s a strategy learned well by John McCain’s top lieutenant, Steve Schmidt. This year, they’re at it again. We have to resist it.

Go read the whole post. He’s right, he’s absolutely right, and we have to fight this. We have to be the Undaunted. That was what carried Barack Obama to victory in the primaries, after all: that invincible feeling, that utter faith in the power of us. It’s still there. For fuck’s sake, McCain’s slipped so far that even Rove’s saying he’s gone too far. Yes, we can defeat this fuckwit and save this country. Not just by electing Obama, but by sweeping Democrats into power and giving the Cons the swift boot to the ass they so richly deserve.

So there was a little fire in my belly. But it wasn’t enough. I needed some lighter fluid:

First of all, all of the undecided voters I talked to like Palin. They like her a lot more than they like McCain. They are compelled by her energy and her looks and her demeanor. A couple were pro-life, and McCain’s selection of Palin had turned them from “leaning Obama” to “undecided.”

BUT, by far the MOST important issue for all of them is the economy. These people are disgusted by oil company profits, disgusted by high gas prices, disgusted that relatives of theirs are losing their jobs and unable to find new ones. They KNOW that the system is unfair, that corporations are bleeding this country dry while they are suffering.

When I spoke to them about Obama’s tax plan (the elimination of income tax for many seniors, the tax breaks for middle-class people and the increase for corporations and the rich) – EVERY UNDECIDED VOTER I TALKED TO WENT FROM UNDECIDED TO LEANING OBAMA.

Mmm, feeling warm. And this, this line from that phonebanking post is mesquite fucking charcoal on my growing fire:

These people don’t want to hear us rip anyone apart. They want to know that Obama has a plan.

Some people in this country actually want to discuss issues? They’re persuaded by people talking policy? Oh, fuck, yeah! We’re blazing, now!

Bring on the naptha:

I attended the “Change We Need” rally in Manchester, NH, on Saturday morning.
(See Part I of the photojournal here,
and Part II here.)

I saved some of the best photos for last. Just look at the crowd he draws–8000 diverse people, believing in the “Change We Need.”

As Barack told us in his new stump speech, John McCain may have lobbyists, but he has us.

Damn skippy he has us! Go, us! That’s what I remember from this spring – that solidarity, that brilliant, beautiful sensation that we the people have the power and the passion to lift this country up. We can do this. Of course we can. We’ve done it for over two hundred years.

But to lift up a nation, we need to uplift ourselves. Which is why I spent so much time tonight playing with this. I think tomorrow I might make Chevy Generals, do some shots of Claw Washout, and get thoroughly, shit-faced Mole Valdez. Hell, yes!

Take that, Ladel Torque Palin! Texas and I fart in your general direction!

Now, now, the fire’s burning hot enough to grill up some nourishing, fresh hope. I’m serving it up hot and savory. We just need some music to round out the meal. Not just any music, my friends, but an opera-oratorio based on Charles Darwin. Science, my friends, has finally gone classical, thanks to the inspired efforts of Tristero:

After a year and a half of near-daily composing, I have finally finished The Origin, an opera-oratorio inspired by the life and works of Charles Darwin. It was a challenging, and very enjoyable, project and will premiere February 9, 2009 at the State University of New York, Oswego – that’s 3 days before Darwin’s 200th birthday!

[snip]

The texts used in the Origin are taken entirely from the writings of Charles Darwin – with a brief cameo by his wife, Emma. They were compiled and arranged by poet Catherine Barnett and myself. Most of the words come from The Origin of Species; the so-called “transmutation notebooks;” Darwin’s autobiography; The Voyage of the Beagle; and his letters (you can find a huge selection of Darwin’s writings at this incredible site). My purpose was to celebrate Darwin’s thought and life in music, concentrating specifically on the writing and ideas in The Origin of Species.

This is just awesome beyond words. Darwin finally has his day.

So shall we, my darlings. So shall we.

There’s hope. There’s humor. There’s harmony.

It’s enough to give this nation a fighting chance.

Hope, Humor and Harmony

Don't Be Deceived – McCain Doesn't Give a Rat's Ass if You Drown

jacob

With McCain busy using Hurricane Gustav as an excuse to play Commander-in-Chief, I think it’s important for us to remember a few things.

This time round, he rushed to the Gulf Coast so he could feign concern for ordinary Americans and get in some good photo ops. And he might snow a few suckers who don’t understand what he’s doing.

Let me put this in plain terms: he cares because he wants to get elected.

While Obama’s doing the right thing and staying out of the way, using his email list and website to raise funds and monitoring the situation without diverting attention from the emergency response, McCain’s busy grandstanding.

And he’s hoping Americans have a very short-term memory:

Here is what John McCain and George Bush were doing on August 29, 2005, when 1836 Americans started to drown in their own sewage:


What a difference an election year makes.

Lest you get snookered by McCain’s “rapid response” into thinking he’s doing Gulf Coast residents some kind of favor, consider this:

And let’s hope that Mr. McCain doesn’t jet into the disaster area in Gustav’s aftermath. The candidate’s presence wouldn’t do anything to help the area recover. It would, however, tie up air traffic and disrupt relief efforts, just as Mr. Bush did when he flew into New Orleans to congratulate Brownie on the work he was doing. Remember the firefighters who volunteered to help Katrina’s victims, only to find that their first job was to stand next to Mr. Bush while the cameras rolled?

I hear he visited an emergency preparedness center in Mississippi. I’m sure that wasn’t at all disruptive to the preparation efforts.

Steve Benen has an excellent point to make:

John McCain doesn’t have a background in emergency response or disaster relief. None of the people working on the ground answer to him directly, so it’s not like he can give orders or manage the response. Indeed, there’s literally no reason at all to think McCain will be in a position to help recovery efforts in any substantive way.

Yet he gets the press while the prudent Obama, who’s actually doing the right thing, gets ignored. There’s something deeply wrong with a country that wants more sizzle than steak. There’s something pathetic about an electorate that thinks McCain cares more for people than press when it’s actually the other way round:

This is a bit of a pattern for McCain. Earlier this year, he showed up for post-flood photo ops in Iowa, even though the Governor asked him not to come and tie up local law enforcement (Senator Obama chose to honor Governor Culver’s request).

This is the same man piously spouting the party line about disaster relief. He has a funny way of showing his concern, considering he not only diverts attention from rescue and recovery operations so he can get good press, he voted down Katrina relief efforts.

There’s something hellaciously wrong with a country that falls for the “Republicons care!” schtick when the evidence is overwhelming that they only care when it’s election time:

As Salon’s Eric Boehlert reminds us, on the eve of George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election bid the Bush Administration had bodies and supplies and other forms of support lined up in advance of the hurricane season in Florida, the state that put Bush over the top in 2000 and one expected to be close again that fall. A year later, once the votes were in, the nation witnessed the Administration’s lagged, pathetic Katrina-style response and the McCain-Bush cake-cutting revelry. Clearly, the Republicans can do a heckuva job when they want to.

Indeed, now that it is election season again, notice the response. First, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney conveniently use Gustav as a way to avoid St. Paul, and the GOP convention schedule is scaled back; second, John “Country First” McCain rushes to the Gulf Coast. These are the appropriate responses, sure. But more telling are the twin precedents of 2004 and 2005, for they reveal not that the GOP has learned its lesson, but rather that too many Americans have not learned theirs: Republicans respond differently when it is election season.

So, unless we plan to hold elections every fucking year, we’d best not be putting Republicons in charge of the disaster response again.

Don’t go for glitter. Go for gold.

Housepainting after Katrina

Filling sandbags in Illinois

Don't Be Deceived – McCain Doesn't Give a Rat's Ass if You Drown

The Most Dangerous Politician Ever

jacob

No, it’s not McCain. Or Palin. ‘Tis Obama, and he’s dangerous because of a speech.

Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday night was indeed phenomenal, but I hadn’t thought of it as dangerous until I read Kevin Drum’s take:

Tonight Obama made a start on a campaign that’s based not just on talking points (though there will be plenty of those), but on a sustained assault on modern conservatism and a sustained defense of modern liberalism.

But it was only a start. He needs to keep pressing both halves of that game plan, even if it means occasionally saying some hard things. If he takes a few chances and does that, though, he’ll not only win, he’ll win with a public behind him that’s actively sold on a genuinely liberal agenda. This is why conservatives have so far been apoplectic about his speech tonight: if he continues down this road, and wins, they know that he’ll leave movement conservatism in tatters. He is, at least potentially, the most dangerous politician they’ve ever faced. [emphasis added]

*blink*

Wow.

Damn.

Really?

Fuck yes!

The more I see of this man, the more I see the Democratic Party falling in behind him, the more I see even Republicans stepping up to join him, the more I start to believe Kevin’s right. I’ve never heard people speak of a politician this way. Not this full-throated roar of acclamation. Not this thrill. Not to this degree.

Throughout history, a rare handful of human beings have inspired people to rise up, to envision a better world and then throw everything they have into building it. I think Obama’s that man for our era. I don’t know for sure yet – won’t know until I’ve seen him govern. But the enthusiasm, the sense of renewal, tell me that he’s got the potential to be someone very special indeed.

Dr. King was such a man. JFK was such a man. FDR was such a man. Our Founding Fathers were such men.

Every day, it seems increasingly more likely Obama is such a man.

No wonder the Republicons are shit-scared and throwing out every smear they can manufacture. No wonder they had to present a shiny gimmick as McCain’s VP pick. No wonder they’re terrified.

Well they should be.

“The most dangerous politician they’ve ever faced.”

What a ring that has!

The Most Dangerous Politician Ever