Random post-election Thoughts

On Guy Fawkes Day (no one blew up any parliaments or capitols to my knowledge), I have some random and disjointed observations on this historic election.

Good gods, did anyone catch any Fox "News" coverage last night? Brit Hume looked like he was reading an obituary when he announced that Ohio went to Obama. He was positively giddy in that spot compared to when he had to announce that California's polls closed, sealing the election. I, on the other hand, cracked open the good hooch when Ohio was called:


The victory and concession speeches were a study in contrasts. Not the candidates; they both said what they were supposed to say. The audiences could not have been different. Obama's crowd was excited and positive. McCain's crowd was still shouting the tired old campaign attack slogans. Real classy, folks.

Prop 8 passed in California. This is a sad day for equal rights because it bans same-sex marriage after it had been legal since June. The losing side has already filed the legal challenge. Incidentally, the "Yes" crowd was organized largely by the Mormon Church in Utah. In response, I did my part by donating a few bucks to the "No" campaign.

After I voted, I spent a couple of hours calling people in Iowa to remind them to vote. The volunteer center was full of positive energy and wonderful people.

We won't have McCain to kick around anymore. :-(

My four-year-old niece nailed it perfectly. She told my sister (a first time voter) to vote for Obama because McCain doesn't smile enough. Actually, Zoey, McCain does smile, but the smile is a bit creepy and might give you nightmares.

Speaking of nightmares, our long national nightmare is over Jan. 20, 2009. What a great birthday gift.

Lee Greenwood was just appointed to the National Arts Council for a six year term by (god lord is he still) President George W. Bush. Thanks for the update, Rachel.

Is it possible that Sarah Palin was unaware that Africa is a continent, not a country? You betcha.

Joe Biden won his race for U.S. Senate. He also won some other election. What was it again?

Also in the Senate, it looks like indicted Senator Ted "Tubes" Stevens won reelection. WTF? Well, he and his Incredible Hulk tie should be gone soon enough. There are three other close Senate races still out there: Minnesota, Oregon, and Georgia. That filibuster-proof margin is looking unlikely. It was always a pipe dream, though. Joe Lieberman (DINO-Conn.) will probably be stripped of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee for his blatant support of McCain. That may send him to the GOP Caucus.

I voted in DC yesterday. There were horror stories about long lines. DKos came up with a new acronym: SITFL. "Stay in the F*cking Line." While I was walking home I passed a young lady who asked me if I had just come from voting, which I had. She looked down the street and saw a bunch of people milling about. "Is that the line?" I was happy to tell her it was only the electioneering folks and that there was not much of a line. I think this lady would have given up if there was a line.

North Carolina still has not been called, but Obama still has a narrow lead.

Finally, Nate Silver and Sean Quinn have jobs forever if they want them. Their website, fivethirtyeight.com predicted the popular vote would go 52.4-46.3 in favor of Obama. Actual results? 52.3-46.3. Do you think this is bragging just a little bit?

I just have to type this: President elect Barack Obama and Vice President elect Joe Biden. Soon to be first lady Michelle Obama and soon to be second lady Jill Biden.

That felt good.

Chris

Is she really going out with him?

I was for Mike Gravel before I was for Barack Obama. Now I'm back to undecided and it looks like Obama Girl is wavering, too. Check out Mike's lobbing effort to the folks at Barely Political. This video is probably not safe for work unless the boss has a good sense of humor.

I'm impressed that any politician is willing to learn the Soulja Boy Dance for a Youtube video. Maybe this will put Gravel in the driver's seat for the Libertarian nomination. The Liberations will nominate someone to run for president at their May 25 convention. Both the Libertarians and Democrats are meeting in Denver this year. The Democrats will need a little more room which means the Libertarians will go largely ignored by the media.

We media consumers are fortunate, though to have thorough coverage of this rapidly developing non-story from Fox "News" channel. Check it out:

Check out how Cavuto talks over Gravel on almost every statement. Notice how at the end, Cavuto won't even acknowledge Gravel's talk of possibly even *gasp* winning the election. Meanwhile, Cavuto does not interrupt Amber at any point in the clip. Regardless of the presentation, this important story is getting the coverage it deserves. *snark*

Gravel has had my support since it dawned on me that he was the guy who read the Pentagon Papers into the Congressional record. At least he gets credit for helping to end one bad war. Unfortunately, he probably won't get a chance to help end the Iraq War.


Check out who wrote the forward. And yes, Citizen Nader is running for President again. My prediction: If Gravel secures the nomination, he will pull more support than Nader.

Chris

Dude, where's my pig?

This story is from the “okay, sometimes sh*t happens” file.

Roger Waters did his best for the good guys at last weekend’s Coachella Music Festival. Waters spray-painted the legendary inflatable pig with the slogans “fear builds walls” and “don’t be led to the slaughter.” On the underside was an explicit endorsement of Senator Obama.

On point one, Waters is right. Fear builds walls. Consider this:

Exhibit A: The Berlin Wall (fear of capitalism freedom)
Exhibit B: Israel’s Wall (fear of freedom fighters terrorism err…a whole population of people who have a legitimate grievance against the only democracy in the Middle East)
Exhibit C: America’s Southern wall (fear of fear of losing jobs brown people)
Exhibit D: Pink Floyd’s The Wall (fear of the Rest of the World)

On point two, we have already been led to the slaughter...twice. Let’s not make it thrice.

Back to the show in California…According to all reports, Rogers was great. Unfortunately, the biggest problem with giant inflatable floating pigs is that they have a maddening tendency to float off into the night sky. Check it out:

Personally, I loved Waters’ reaction. As he watched his inflatable animal drift away, he simply said “That’s my pig.”

At least they found the pig and a couple of lucky homeowners will be getting an unexpected economic boon. The remnants of the pig landed on two people’s property. They will split the $10,000 reward for the return of the pig. It turns out finding Roger Waters’ pig is better than the Bush economic stimulus package.

Why can’t I ever find Roger Waters’ pig?

Chris

P.S. The next post will be about the train wreck that passed for a legitimate interview in the No Spin Zone this evening. In case you missed it, BillO interviewed Senator Clinton this morning and showed clips of the interview on his show. In a desperate attempt to boost his ratings, BillO decided to only show 15 minutes (plus commercials) of his interview with Hillary Clinton this evening. The rest of the interview will presumably air tomorrow. The rest of the show was dedicated to analysis of the interview from the likes of Dennis Miller. Ugh. Stay tuned, if you can stomach it.