Welcome to DC, Mr. and Mrs. Obama

So, I had a "thing" yesterday. My good friend Jenn, my new friend Ted, and I braved the crowds and the cold to catch the Inauguration. It was inspiring to join with a million or more people to celebrate the dawn of a new era. We welcomed the Obamas and Bidens to the White House with open arms. We also gave Bush and Co. the boot.

Happy as I am, there is this hollow feeling in my gut. We won't have W. and Cheney to kick around any more. It is also worth noting that Cheney was in a wheelchair yesterday. Supposedly, he pulled a muscle moving a box. He should have called me. I would have been happy to move him out. Incidentally, Cheney will be drawing an annual pension of $132,451. I hope that is enough to keep him out of politics.

As for the Inauguration, the crowds were really as large as the media tell you, but we encountered very few problems other than the First Street crowd. There were no major arrests or incidents. Some people with standing room only tickets (the Purple Tickets) did not get in. After an initial bad decision, we headed down toward the Washington Monument and caught the ceremony on one of the giant screens. After the ceremony, we took in the sights and snapped a few pictures for some folks on the Mall. It was an incredible experience.

The people were all all happy and positive. We met people from Belarus, Montreal, Vermont, Indiana and Utah. That's just the ones I remember off hand. We also ran into two gentlemen who know an administrator from my tiny undergraduate school in Pennsylvania. We even got on to Indian Television after walking behind a news crew.

Today, President Obama signed executive orders freezing salaries for senior staffers, making the federal government more open (documents are presumed to be open to the public rather than closed as they were under W.), and placing more restrictions on former staffers lobbying the government. Change has even come to the White House website.

Just one more rant: always tip your server. We got talking to a waiter/bartender at a great bar downtown. This guy worked almost non-stop between Sunday and Tuesday and was getting tips of a few bucks on bills of $100 or more. Don't do that to your server.

Rants over. On to the pictures:

That's Jenn, Ted and me. Thanks for the picture, Jenn.

The unions seem to be happy. This is the headquarters of the Teamsters.

Have you ever wondered how MSNBC got those crowd shots behind the talking heads? Now you know. I have not a clue who was in there, but this was a live shot and we were probably on MSNBC, too.

Bono! This was from Sunday's concert. We didn't get down to the actual concert, but it was shown on the big screens on the Mall. Then President elect Obama spoke during the show. On the Mall, almost everyone stopped and paid attention to his words.

The Boss! He'll be at the Super Bowl, too. Not a bad way to start the year.

The Washington Monument, Jan. 18. The end of an error.

The Washington Monument, Jan. 20. The beginning of an era.

Some wrong turns are worse than others. This was First Street on Tuesday. It took an hour and a half to get through this crowd. Happily, there were very few rude or uncooperative people in this mass of humanity.

This was a better crowd to be in. Yes, the crowds go back many blocks. This shot is looking north on 18th Street.

Really. There were a lot of people. This is a shot on the Mall after the ceremony.

Baby, it was cold outside.

The Inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States...Brought to you by Best Buy. The profiteers were out in force. Some dude tried to sell me a Barack Obama air freshener.

Moving Day! There was an unique protest this year. Send a box to the White House to help W. move out. This was the result. These people tried to get me to help load the boxes, but I had a previous appointment.

It's not the best angle, but this is Biden getting sworn in. BTW: did you catch Chief Justice John Roberts screwing up the oath for Obama? How about Biden's dig at Roberts today?

Indeed...

But there is plenty of errors to be undone. These people are calling for the closure of Gitmo. The new Administration is off to a good start on that one.

Speaking of a good start, that is Bush's helicopter leaving town. Don't let the door hit ya where evolution split ya.

Just one more. Here's the big moment, screw up and all.



Yes, we did.

Chris

Update: I forgot about this one. We had record ridership on the Metro today, with only one major mishap. A lady fell onto the tracks. A volunteer from the Houston transit authority helped rescue her. That's what it was all about this weekend.

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

Health care and Centralia: An Analogy

Here is a diary that is cross-posted at Daily Kos.

One of yesterday’s heart wrenching diaries that was rescued last night inspired me to write just my third diary. As someone who lived three long years without health insurance, this has been gnawing at me for a while. My university recently forced me to purchase its student health care plan. It is not very good coverage, but at least I have something in case I get hit by a car trying to cross Nebraska Ave. Bonus: no health questions. Every student is approved.

I would prefer to have full socialized medicine, but that is not going to happen. As a viable alternative, I am supporting Senator Obama’s health care reforms. At the core, the proposal is to offer affordable health insurance to all Americans, regardless of preexisting conditions. This diary will make that argument by comparing health insurance to a town that died from short-sightedness.

We are all familiar with the dismal state of health care in the United States, but knowledge of Centralia is largely limited to Pennsylvania folks and coal company executives. As we are all well aware, 45 million Americans, including a lot of children, do not have any health care. have not seen numbers on under-insured people. Centralia, on the other hand, is a town that has been burning down for the last 46 years.

I know that we have a lot of Pa. people here at Daily Kos. Coal company executives? Probably not so much. As you read this, though, consider this question: Would you prefer to see your tax money pay for a few hundred dollars in early remediation or thousands and millions of dollars to fix a serious situation?

Centralia was once home to a thriving coal mining industry and about 1,200 residents. In fact, a major anthracite coal vein runs under the town. (Just a little plea here: please no flames regarding Global Warming. That’s not the point here.)

In the spring of 1962, the town decided that the old dump next to the cemetery could use a good cleaning up. Memorial Day was fast approaching and the dump was looking unsightly. In those days, dumps caught on fire all the time and extinguishing said fire was difficult.

Ironically it was also tradition to intentionally set dumps on fire. This had the dual benefit of clearing out some of the trash in the dump and giving the firefighters practice extinguishing dump fires. (Again, let’s not get into a discussion about the resulting air pollution. This was eight years before the first Earth Day.)

The problem was that somewhere deep inside the dump was an exposed coal vein. The fire in the dump spread to the coal seam. No one noticed that day. A few months later, someone asked the borough council whether the fire was out. No. The fire was still burning and it was burning right underneath the town.

The first bid to put out the fire was $175. Naturally, that was in 1962 dollars, but still not a huge amount. One of the local boys offered to bring in the backhoe and dig out the burning coal. Problem solved? Not so much. The bid was rejected as being too expensive. Besides, mine fires are not uncommon in coal country. This one should burn out, too, the people reasoned.

Well, the fire didn’t burn out. It got worse. Much worse. By the 1980s, people noticed dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in their homes and gasoline tank thermometers were recording temperatures of nearly 800 degrees as the fire raged underground.

The federal government has since paid $42 million into relocation efforts (there are still a few diehards who won’t leave). Additionally there have been some efforts to put the fire out that ran into the millions of dollars. Despite all of the (mostly half-hearted) efforts, the fire burns on and might burn for thousands of years. Hopefully, the fire does not reach the nearby towns of Ashland (two miles) and Mount Carmel (six miles).

So what does a dead coal mining town in Pennsylvania have to do with health care (aside from the mental and physical health questions surrounding the holdouts)?

Consider this:

Imagine you have a minor throat infection that could be cleared up by a prescription antibiotic. If you have no insurance, you are looking at about a $100 visit to the doctor. If you are lucky, the local Walmart will sell you the antibiotic for $4. (I have a lot of problems with Walmart, but their $4 drug program is not one of them.)

Unfortunately, if you don’t have health insurance, you probably don’t have the extra $100 to go to the doctor. Without the prescription, you can’t get the $4 antibiotics. You just lie in bed and hope to get better tomorrow.

You don’t get better; you get worse. Now you are heading to the emergency room before you die. Afterwards, you are looking at a bill of several thousand dollars. Add a few hundred more if you have to call an ambulance. Public assistance (via tax dollars) will cover some of the cost, but you will probably be stuck with a huge medical bill. You may have to declare bankruptcy and ruin your credit. This is all the result of a minor throat infection that would have cost $104 to cure.

I could make the utilitarian argument and say that we have the responsibility to help out our fellow humans. Instead, I am making the financial argument. It is more rational to pay a lower amount to solve a problem early than to may a lot of money to solve a problem later. That's second grade math and logic.

Using the same argument, I would rather that my taxes pay for a $175 plan to extinguish a mine fire instead of several million to relocate people and maybe extinguish the fire decades later.

That is why I am supporting Obama’s health care plan. He would like to open the health care plan that covers members of Congress to everyone who would like to join in. Additionally, Obama wants to take on the insurance companies and force them to stop denying insurance for preexisting conditions. It would also be nice if certain groups, (all women for example) were not charged higher rates than others.

These are the things that will encourage people to go to the doctor early and not run up huge bills at the emergency room. It might mean some up front costs, but the long-term benefits are obvious.

This proposal is not as good as being able to walk into a clinic in Britain and not pay a ha’ penny for treatment, but it’s a start. That’s more than anyone else has offered.

I owe my great friend, Jenn a major tip of the hat for her extensive research on the Centralia topic. (I hope she had fun protesting Palin and supporting Biden in Williamsport.

Chris

This person scares me

Ummm... yea... Whatever Michelle



(Sorry about the commercials if there are any. NBC has to pay the bills, too.)

In fairness, Matthews did kind of steer Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-Minn 06) into her answers. The point is that she answered them like she did. If you don't have the time or inclination to watch this, Bachman a (Republican) member of our Congress suspects that there might be some anti-American members of Congress.

You can tell who they are because they are Liberals.

I can't wait for the Army-Bachman hearings.

Thank you, Ralph Stanley

I'm a bluegrass fan. That means I like real country music, not the current country crap that is essentially pop music with a southern twang coupled with the occasional nationalist rhetoric.

Well, one of the legends of bluegrass has announced his endorsement and I could not be happier.



Thank you, Ralph Stanley.

Chris

Train wreck

From DKos poster kdoug and presented without comment.

He posted it on Saturday, but I only posted today. I didn't have a chance to ask permission to repost. If anyone has a problem, let me know and I will take it down.

Chris

Football and financing or "Why aren't the youth outraged?" (Updated)

I am a huge football fan. I love the game as much as I love to follow the game of politics. This week's news is almost as shocking as this evening's USC-Oregon State game. This is my favorite game of the season because it features the Trojans and the Beavers! "And the Trojans penetrate the Beaver defense and score."

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past week, you have heard about the $700 billion bailout of the financial section. Talk about someone getting screwed.

The ultra simple version is that deregulation allowed financial institutions (these are not your community banks; think Ditech) to give mortgages to people who did not have the means to repay the money, especially when the interest rates started to balloon after those initial years of "low, low financing." These loans were then purchased by the nation's largest financial institutions.

The inevitable happened right before the election. The repayments stopped coming in and the largest financial institutions were left holding the bag. The problem is that these institutions have grown so large that they control whether or not Americans (at least the ones who do have the means to repay the loans) can get lines of credit. That means the American economy will grind to a halt if these outfits fail. 1929?

Now W. and Congress are looking for a $700 billion bailout. Oh, and we have to do it soon so that the members of Congress can back back to their districts and do some last minute (okay, last 40 some days) campaigning.

Where did that $700 billion figure come from? Apparently from someone's backside.

"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."

Why is this such a problem? Well, W. managed to piss away the Clinton-era budget surplus and run up a deficit of something around $11 trillion. Now, in his last few months in office, Our Fearless Leader has Decided to just add another three-quarters of a trillion dollars to that total. What does he care? It's our children who will have to repay this money. By the way, this debt is held by other countries like our main economic competitor, China. We might as well learn Mandarin, because that may well be the language our CEOs will be speaking.

Back to the football intro. My favorite football column is Tuesday Morning Quarterback by Gregg Easterbrook. He is an incredibly intelligent guy who also writes for ESPN during the season. Click here (and scroll down to the subhead titled "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!) and read his full argument for why youth should be rising up over this.

So what was John McCain's reaction? He suspended his campaign to (eventually) head back to DC just in time for the bailout deal to fall through. We are all wondering whether this "suspension" means he will show up for tomorrow's debate. Of course, this was all a smokescreen. If Obama follows his lead, he looks like he is following McCain's lead and looks weak. If Obama continues campaigning, McCain can accuse him of putting politics before the crashing economy. Never mind that McCain has been Mr. Deregulation. And a key figure in the Keating Five.

John Stewart's reaction:

Wow. We're the midst of a crisis. I better stop talking to people about what I am going to do.

To his credit, Obama is having none of that nonsense and has pointed out that a president might actually need to juggle several issues at once. He plans to go on with the debate.



And to make the progressives feel better, here is the most current electoral college map.


That's some really good news for the good guys. And please check this site out. These guys really know what they are talking about. Forget about the national polls. Nate and Sean look at the data state-by-state because this is a state-by-state election. The aggregate the various polls, throw out the outliers and show us all how the polling is going in each state.

It's looking like this race might come down to Virginia. However, if swing voters see the McCain campaign suspension as the final jumping the shark moment, we might easily add Nevada, Ohio, Florida, Indiana Missouri North Carolina, and Montana.

That is if no one has foreclosed on the polling stations in the heavily Democratic districts.

Chris

Update: The debate will go on with both McCain and Obama and McCain has already declared victory in this evening's debate. Sad but true.

For fanboys and geeks only

This is basically and inside joke for anyone who is both a geek and a political junkie. Mightygodking has boiled this entire political season down to a simple set of Magic: The Gathering cards. And the gods bless him for it. Here is my favorite (because MSNBC finally gave her a show):


Now, if they would only give the same billing to Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. Maybe that's asking too much.

The rest of the set is definitely worth it. I snorted beer through my nose at the "Ron Paul" card. Another good one is the Freeper holding a sign reading "Get a brain! Morans." I think he meant to tell us Lefties to "get a brain, morons." I might be wrong, though. Those of us with an education might be too intelligent to understand that the Republicans know how to run this country.

btw: The New York Giants borrowed some of their money to build a new stadium from Lehman Brothers. That went well. Bonus: McCain was for deregulation before he was against it. Also, check out this video. Try to spot Obama making a funny:



Chris

"Enough!"

I’m finally (kinda) settled here in the nation’s capital. I’m living in a poor and very friendly and welcoming part of town. These are the people who are not benefiting from our current administration. This brings me to Senator Obama’s acceptance speech last night.

It is no secret that the Bush administration has not been an economic boon to the lower and middle classes. Here’s the key quote from the link:

The tax cuts have conferred the most benefits, by far, on the highest-income households — those least in need of additional resources — at a time when income already is exceptionally concentrated at the top of the income spectrum.

Back to the Senator from Illinois. This is a guy who passed on a high-paying law career to do community work in Chicago. I will leave it to the Traditional Media to gush over how great the speech was. Instead, this post will mainly focus on the specific policy points he outlined. However, I can’t resist my favorite snark of the night. Referring to “Maverick” McCain’s record of voting in line with Our Fearless Leader 90 percent of the time, Obama said:

What does it say about your judgment when you thought George W. Bush was right more than 90 percent of the time?

On to the policy. I was impressed with the promises for the middle and lower classes. Here’s the specifics. Obama wants to:

-- Rewrite the tax code to actually benefit the middle class and small business.
-- End our dependence on Middle Eastern oil within the decade, primarily through renewable energy sources. It’s sounded like JFK’s challenge to put a man on the moon in ten years.
-- Improve education. He and Michelle achieved what they have because of the opportunities they had to get a world class education. I am going to a prestigious college on almost nothing as well, so I have a vested interest in this one.
-- Affordable health care. This is not socialized medicine. It is offering the uninsured the same plan that members of Congress are offered. Obama also wants to change the laws so that the insurance companies cannot turn down or charge ridiculous rates to people with pre-existing conditions.
-- Mandatory paid sick and family leave. Do you really want your waitress to come in sick because the alternative is losing her job?
-- Protection for worker pensions when their companies go belly-up ala Enron.
-- Protect social security
-- Equal pay for equal work, “because I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as your sons.”

How to pay for it? Let’s try closing corporate tax loopholes and going through the budget line by line and eliminate wasteful spending.

Next, Obama put the kibosh on these lame patriotism attacks. “We all put country first.” YES!

Then there were the social issues. We hear about them because they are easy to report on. Obama suggested that we need to unite in common effort. Instead of arguing about abortion, let’s try reducing unwanted pregnancy. We can uphold the second amendment while keeping AK 47s away from criminals. Same-sex couples should have the right to visit hospitalized loved ones. We can find a common ground on immigration. These are not the important issues facing this country. These are the issues activists scream most loudly about. As the Senator said:

Let’s not make a big election about small things.

Brilliant. Just a few other observations about the DNC.

Michelle Obama was great and the kids were so cute. I missed the speech, but it great to see Senator Kennedy in top form. Hillary Clinton showed real grace conceding the nomination and moving on. She probably has a lock on any post she wants in an Obama Administration. Guam was amusing when they cast four of their nine votes for Obama and the other three (?!?) for Clinton. 4+3=9? Okay. John Kerry pointed out that McCain opposed the immigration bill proposed by McCain. Al Gore believes in recycling, but electing McSame is one recycling program he won’t sign up for. Joe Biden’s “Freudian slip” was hilarious.

And my two favorite quotes from people not running for president:

If he’s (McCain) the answer, the question must be ridiculous.

New York Governor David A. Patterson

That’s not a maverick. That’s a sidekick.

Pennsylvania Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. on McCain’s voting record.

Yes, I’ll suck it up and watch the soon-to-be loyal opposition’s party next week, too. Stay tuned and hope that another major hurricane does not hit the Gulf Coast this close to McCain’s 72nd birthday.

Chris

A few weeks off

Sorry about the delay in posting anything new.

I am in the middle of a major move to Washington D.C. this week. Once I get settled, I will resume writing. Here's a few quick thoughts, though.

For now, I am hearing that Obama will announce his running mate soon. How's this for new style campaigning. If you have signed on to www.barackobama.com or have added him as a friend on a social networking site, you can get an alert the second the decision is made.

Here's hoping that Russia and Georgia settle their differences before this war expands to a wider conflict.

You know your presidential campaign is in trouble when you get pwned by Paris Hilton.



"I'll see you at the debate, bitches."

Finally, buy energy saver light bulbs and tire gauges.



Chris

Update on public financing

This is pretty cool. I actually got quoted on another blog. Check it out:

Obama declines public financing

This is the newest addition to the blogroll.

Presidents and war records

Sunday on Face The Nation, retired Gen. Wesley Clark made the accurate, if in-artfully stated, argument that John McCain’s military service does not necessarily qualify him to be the next leader of the free world. Specifically, he pointed out that flying his plane around and getting shot down does not qualify him to be president. Additionally, he pointed out that McCain’s command experience was not in combat, for what little that’s worth. And this from a retired general who ran for president.

Here is the exact quote:

Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.

He was responding to this question:

I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean...

But there's more from Clark:

I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands of millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war.

To his credit, Clark is not backing down. But, that’s beside the point.

Naturally, the Right are having a hissy fit because they see those comments as an attack on McCain’s war record. (Never mind the effective Swiftboating of John Kerry. Nothing to see here; please move along.) Meanwhile, Barak Obama has distanced himself from Gen. Clark’s assessment so that it doesn’t look like they are advocating a questioning of McCain’s record. (Indeed, Obama has gone to lengths to highlight McCain’s service while still disagreeing with the GOP’s presumptive nominee on pretty much every issue.)

This non-issue does raise an interesting question, though. Is there a correlation between past military service and performance as president? Using Wikipedia I identified the 27 of 43 presidents who had some military service. (Note: normally, I do not like to use Wikipedia as a source, but this was the quick and dirty way to get the information.)

First, though, a quick question. Is this your idea of a great leader...

Or is this more like it...

Here are the presidents who had any kind of military service:

George Washington: Revolutionary War; general of the Colonial Army
James Monroe: Revolutionary War; soldier in the Colonial Army, fought with distinction at the Battle of Trenton
Andrew Jackson: Seminole War/War of 1812; army commander, led the defense of New Orleans weeks after peace was signed (neither side got the memo because no one had invented the Internet yet)
William Henry Harrison: Various wars against Native American tribes; commander of government forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe
John Tyler: War of 1812; member of volunteer military company
Zachary Taylor: War of 1812/Black Hawk War/Second Seminole War; served in various capacities.
Millard Filmore: Peacetime; Served in New York militia
Franklin Pierce: Mexican-American War; brigadier general of volunteer units
James Buchannon: War of 1812; Served in a volunteer dragoon unit in the defense of Baltimore
Abraham Lincoln: Black Hawk War; elected captain of an Illinois militia unit
Ulysses S. Grant: Civil War; General of the Army of the Potomac
Rutherford B. Hayes: Civil War; colonel of 23rd Ohio regiment
James A. Garfield: Civil War; brigadier general in the Army of the Cumberland
Chester A. Arthur: Civil War; quartermaster in New York
(Grover Cleveland: none; paid a Polish immigrant to fight in his place during the Civil War.)
Benjamin Harrison: Civil War; brigadier general in the Army of the Cumberland
William McKinnley: Civil War; army captain
Teddy Roosevelt: Spanish-American War; army captain, commander of the famous Rough Riders
Harry Truman: World War I; commander of a battery unit, later a colonel in the National Guard
Dwight D. Eisenhower: World War II; five star general, commander of allied forces in Europe
John F. Kennedy: World War II; navy lieutenant, commander of PT 109, highly decorated but later admitted that he probably did not deserve the medals.
Richard M. Nixon: World War II; Lt. Commander in the navy (Pacific Theater)
Gerald R. Ford: World War II; Lt. Commander in the navy (Pacific Theater)
Jimmy Carter: Korean War era; lieutenant on the early nuclear submarines, only president to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy
Ronald Reagan: World War II; served state-side making propaganda films for the military
George H.W. Bush: World War II; navy pilot (Pacific Theater)
George W. Bush: Vietnam era; Texas and Alabama Air National Guard. Just a few notes about George W. Bush: He protected the skies over Texas during the war. He probably even showed up for duty. Meanwhile, people like John McCain (pilot and long-time POW), and Bush’s two main opponents for the presidency Al Gore (military journalist), and John Kerry (Swiftboat commander) and millions of other Americans actually went to Vietnam. More than 58,000 died there.

I hardly need to go to the trouble of quantifying these findings. Just one caveat: leadership skills developed in the military are certainly useful for future political leadership. Conversely, it is up to the individual to translate military leadership to civilian leadership.

That said, some of our greatest military leaders were also great presidents (Washington, Monroe). We have had some real losers with exemplary (Grant), mediocre (Nixon, Buchannon), and nearly non-existent (Bush 43) military records. There were some superb military leaders who had controversial records in the Oval Office (Jackson, T. Roosevelt). Some who had limited military experience (Truman, Kennedy) are regarded as some of the best presidents. We had one (F. Roosevelt) who had no military experience, but led the country to victory in World War II. There is one example (Eisenhower) who had an historic military record, but did very little as president. Two veterans (Harrison, Garfield) did not live long enough to establish their presidential legacies. Personally, I have a lot of respect for Chester A. Arthur as well. He went from being a crooked political appointee to the president who reformed civil service.

To reiterate Gen. Clark's statement on a philosophically logical level, he implied that military service does not necessarily qualify one to be president. However, that logic does not apply in the reverse. Past military service does not necessarily mean that the soldier is not qualified to be president. The two roles (as I have demonstrated) are mutually exclusive.

As for the brain dead media narrative of the whole Clark statement, FAIR's assessment, is right on target. As usual, the media (who have been accused of being McCain's main constituency) always need a new controversy. FAIR's article details how Clark's statements were taken out of context and bent to fit the media's need for a new controversy. My favorite is Fair's statement that the media pounced on this a lot more quickly than the Swiftboat nonsense.

Chris

Obama rejects public financing

Senator Obama announced yesterday that he will not accept public financing, and the spending limits that go with it, for his 2008 Presidential bid. He is the first major candidate to reject such funding since the system went into effect in 1976 in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

This is a reversal -- a flip-flop if you will -- from his previous position. Originally, he said he would take the money if his opponent does so as well. In this Washington Post article, Howard Kurtz notes that the late, great Tim Russert told Obama Feb. 27 "you may break your word" on public financing. Obama responded that he would discuss the issue with Senator McCain after the primaries. Now the McCain people are saying that those discussions never really amounted to much.

Kurtz continues on to criticize the media of largely letting this "reversal" slide. Just one example is the New York Times, which headlined with "Obama, in shift, says he'll reject public funding" (emphasis mine).

He then goes on to make the point, quite correctly on the surface, that Obama makes a fallacious argument. In his video, Obama make the point that Republicans have mastered the art of using largely unregulated 527 organizations as surrogate attack groups. That is a valid argument (remember the Swiftboaters), but the Democrats were fairly successful as well. I ended up as a member of MoveOn.org (mostly because I wanted Dave Matthews tickets). However, 527s have nothing to do with public financing other than they are completely independent of those funds. Furthermore, the blogosphere, both on the left and right, are doing the 527s' jobs largely for free during this election cycle. People who reflexively forward e-mails like this one are feeding the beast as well.

On the other hand, one always has to question how closely the campaigns (illegally) work with the 527s. Not accusing, just sayin'.

Interestingly, it was Senator McCain's 2002 reform act that prohibited the national parties from using soft money for issue advertising. The point of the reform was to limit the influence of large donors. The 527 exemption, of course, rendered the reform largely pointless as they were well financed and effective. The attacks and issue advertising still happen, they are just not blatantly from a particular campaign or party.

Regardless, I am tentatively supporting Senator Obama's decision on this issue. For one thing, a significant portion of the funds he has raised have come from individuals donating small amounts of money. He is rejecting lobbyist and PAC money, including small donations from non-profit lobbyists like this person.

On the other hand it sounds counterintuitive, but Obama has actually raised almost three times as much money as McCain. From CNN we learned yesterday that Obama has raised $272 million to $98 million raised by McCain. The public funding available later in the campaign amounts to a little more than $84 million. If Obama continues to raise money like this, the $84 million will be a paltry amount of money in comparison. Why take a lesser amount of taxpayer money that comes with spending restrictions when you can spend a greater amount of donated money without restriction?

One last point to make. Opponents of campaign finance reform frame this as a free speech issue. They think that contribution limits have the effect of limiting their influence on the campaign. Well, no s**t. For one thing, it is not like the lobbyists and political action committees don't already have plenty of influence already. For another, shouldn't the voice of the common person, the one who can only afford a $25 contribution, count as well? Does it sound more democratic to allow the wealthiest people to continue to have an inordinate amount of influence in politics? Not from the perspective of a poor person.

Chris

Update: Talking Points Memo is reporting that MoveOn.org has ended its 527 activities in response to Senator Obama's wishes that such groups not spend money on his behalf. The practical upshot is that the campaign gets to control the message. Of course, this does not apply to the blogosphere.

Fight the smears

As a former full-time journalist, I have a vested interest in reporting the truth. For that reason, I want to prominently promote Senator Obama's new initiative to fight the right wingnuts' smear campaigns against him. Check it out:

FIGHT THE SMEARS

Don't believe everything you read in a forwarded e-mail. In fact, you are more likely to be correct if you are skeptical of the outrageous comments. To reiterate:

Senator Obama is not a Muslim.
Senator Obama does not refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Michelle Obama did not use the term "Whitey" on tape.
Senator Obama was born in Hawai'i and is not hiding his birth certificate.
Senator Obama's books do not contain racially inflammatory remarks.

Amazingly, Pew found that about one in ten people think the Senator is a Muslim despite the controversy about the (Christian) Rev. Wright. Only a truly spiritually confused person can be both a Christian and a Muslim. All I can say is "Yikes!" and "where's the logic?"

Please help spread the word.

By way of full disclosure, this was the thing that finally convinced me to donate $25 of my economic stimulus check to the Obama campaign. Spend it well.

Chris

Vice Presidency ponderings

Generally, the vice presidency ain't worth a warm bucket of spit until a John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, or Leon Czolgosz comes along. In fairness, Darth Cheney has managed to make the job worth his time by taking the lead on various issues. It almost seems like we now have a co-presidency, which has its own set of good and bad points. I'll save that debate for the What Happened review. Scott McClellan offers some interesting insights into the current powers of the vice presidency.

Regardless, it is time to debate who gets the consolation prize from the primaries. I will allow the GOP to debate their choice because they are going to go with *insert boring white guy's name here*. The pressing matter here is who Senator Obama will pick. Here are my top choices:

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. His state has been leaning Democrat and has five electoral votes. More importantly, he would attract the Hispanic vote that generally went to Senator Clinton. He might also bring a bit of rationality to the illegal immigration debate.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius. Kansas has six electoral votes that have been same GOP for a long time. However, Kansas did elect a female Democrat as governor. For a bit more about Kansas politics, check out this book. Gov. Sebelius has the potential appeal of a female (who isn't Hillary) on the ticket. Her appeal might also extend into other parts of the Midwest and tip a few other close contests there.

Virgina Senator Jim Webb. A darling of the Democratic party, Webb is a champion of the working class, much like John Edwards. He is a bona fided Vietnam hero with credentials that far exceed those of John Kerry (and he did not testify at the Winter Soldier hearings, for what it's worth). He's also a Southerner, which should help and might even secure 13 electoral votes from Virginia. However, he has some liabilities like a history of insensitive comments on race (and his running mate would be a Black man?); he's a former Republican; and *gasp* he has tattoos. Here's a really good article comparing Webb's pros and cons.

Obama should probably go with a governor or former governor so that he can claim some executive experience in his administration. Legislating is a whole different game than being the chief executive.

One other name I want to throw out there is Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Sure, he was a Hillary supporter. Yes, he is prone to the more than occasional gaffe. Here in Pa., we understand that that's just Ed being Ed. The problem is that the rest of the country does not understand that, nor does the rest of the world. I think he would do a fair to good job as VP, but I am in the minority on this one. Additionally, Pennsylvania is probably going to vote Democratic anyway (if for no other reason than Gov. Ed wants us to do so {LOL}).

In any case I have every confidence that the Obama camp will do this right and get a good candidate.

And speaking of doing things right, Obama picked three people to head up his VP search committee. One member has resigned over the merest indication of impropriety and does not want to be a distraction to the campaign. Cheney, on the other hand, was the chairman of Our Fearless Leader's VP search committee. Guess who they picked. (see paragraph six.)

Chris

Random Thoughts

A few random thoughts today.

First, my copy of What Happened arrived today. A book review is coming soon.

Second, it's finally over. Senator Obama is now officially the presumptive Democratic nominee. His speech was great as usual. Senator Clinton did not concede (say what?) but hopefully her next move will serve to strengthen the party. Senator McCain's speech was a bomb (not da bomb) from all (but one) accounts. My only real gripe is that I wish the networks would have waited until after the Montana polls closed to make the announcement. This is the first time in a long time that the Democratic primaries/caucuses in every state mattered. Give them a few hours to make this thing official. There is no glory in being the first to report the glaringly obvious.

Third, I am now fully supportive of some sort of universal health care. The reason for the brief post is that I had to visit the doctor this morning. I paid $86 for the doctor to look in my throat and write a prescription. On the other hand, Walmart's $4 prescription plan is one of the few things about the company that I can agree with.


Fourth, go Pens! They played a heckuva game that went to triple overtime. They trail the series 3-2, but are playing at home next.

Fifth, we present a man who probably wouldn't know his arse from a hole in the ground if there was crap oozing from one and a sign next to the other reading "caution: hole in the ground." New York Times columnist David Brooks asserted that Senator Obama will have trouble relating to "downscale" people (whatever the hell that means) because he would not fit naturally at the salad bar at Applebees. Reality calling David Brooks: Applebees does not have a salad bar.

Oh, and Senator Obama is the least wealthy of the candidates. As a community organizer in Chicago's Southside, I am guessing that he has meet with quite a lot of "downscale" people.

Finally, I am glad that I am too old to be drafted. Looks like Israel is trying to push the United States into another war, this time against Iran. It's not the first time this issue has reared its ugly head. Please, Mr. President do not get us into another bad situation and leave it to your successor to clean up after you.

Chris

Israel, Syria talking peace

If you recall, Our Fearless Leader recently bashed Senator Obama for his highly controversial reality-based announcement that he would be willing to meet with the leaders of nations with whom we don’t necessarily agree. According to W., such a move is tantamount to Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement of Adolph Hitler in Munich in 1938. He made these ridiculous comments in front of a foreign (in fairness it was the Israeli) legislature. (In fact, the first draft of this post was titled “Godwin’s Law violation update.) Incidentally, talking to other world leaders is not the same as ceding half of another sovereign nation. Speaking of throwing someone under the bus….

Now we are learning that the Israelis have been negotiating with the Syrians for (if Al Jazzeera is to be believed) about a year. The main sticking point from the Israeli perspective is Syria’s barely veiled support of Hezbollah, the political party/army/terrorist group that has been one of the many thorns in the side of the Middle East’s only legitimate democracy. Granted, Hezbollah is dedicated to the destruction of the state of Israel. The animosity goes back to the 1948 founding of Israel when Europeans unilaterally declared that sovereignty of Palestine would be transferred from the current occupants to the Jewish people. Here is a link to a powerful interview about the impact of this decision on the Palestinian people. It sounds an awful lot like land theft to me.

Regardless, this is how negotiations work. Both sides bring their extreme demands to the table and they concede on points until they come to a resolution. Perhaps Hezbollah would be more reasonable if Israel were to RETURN (not cede) the Golan Heights and Shebaa Farms to Syria and discuss the status of some Lebanese prisoners being held in Israel. That might just convince Syria to end their support for Hezbollah and stop the killings by both sides.

Currently, Turkey is coordinating the negotiations between Israel and Syria. All things considered, it would probably be for the best if the United States were to let our NATO ally take the lead on this.

Of course, W. and the other Neocons contend that such foreign policy liberalism is irrational and only realism works. It’s almost as if they want us to be constantly at war with someone. That’s good news for the defense industry. Not so good for people like this. But as we all know, negotiations never, ever, ever, ever, ever resolve anything. Err… never mind. Keeping in mind, too, that Bush and Co. negotiated on the Libya thing. Jest sayin’

It should go without saying that peace talks in this region seem to fail more often than they succeed, but a single failure is not a reason to give up entirely. Syria is the only state bordering Israel that has not yet signed a peace agreement. Hopefully, this is another major step to a true peace in the Holy Land. Also, here’s hoping we can get this worked out sometime before Jan. 20, 2009.

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.

Making your presidential campaign stand out

Now that Pennsylvania is done mattering for the moment, I thought I would post something of very little intellectual value. I got this as an e-mail forward from a co-worker. I appreciate it because it nails all of the candidates and takes a couple of cheap shots at Our Fearless Leader and friend along the way.

h/t to Lin

By Hart Seely
Posted Monday, April 14, 2008, at 12:34 PM ET

Hey there, Zeke, I'm calling on behalf of the Obama for President Yokel-Outreach Hotline, offering you a chance to climb out of your bitter, dead-end hole and do something right for once: Vote for Barack Obama! Now, before we get started, call Charlene in from the pen, and let's put down the gun …

***

Hi, I'm calling on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton. Sorry to wake you at 3 a.m., but that's exactly the point we're trying to make …

---

***

Hello, I'm calling on behalf of Senator John McCain. Please don't hang up. Oh, God, please, don't hang up! He'll scream at us again. He gets that look, you can't talk to—OHMYGOD, HE'S COMING …

***

Hi, I'm calling for President George W. Bush. According to our records, you are one of the 15 percent of the American public who believes this country is moving in the right direction. Because of that, we've been authorized to give you this one-time chance to buy $10 Rolexes from our special online value store …

***

Hi, I'm calling from the American Polling Institute. Would you approve of an intra-presidential race marriage between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama?

***

Hello there, I'm calling from the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C. This call, like all your phone calls, is being monitored, not just for quality control but to learn what you're up to …

***

Hello, I'm calling on behalf of Senator Hillary Clinton, the most experienced candidate running for president. As you know, Hillary has overcome terrible tragedies and … (sniff) … sorry … forgive me … I just get emotional whenever I think of what he did to her …

***

Hello? Hello? I'm calling from Septuagenarians for John McCain, and we're hoping that you'll support our … hello? Hello? I think I did something wrong again. Hello? I touched something, and the screen changed. Hello?

***

Hello! I'm calling for Senator Barack Hussein Obama who—praise be to Allah!—shall bring the sword of justice to the infidels as our next president.

***

Hello, this is Dick Cheney. I'm talking to you from a secure bunker deep within the earth. Through a blend of science and the dark, mystical arts, I have transferred my brain into pure energy, and I am speaking to you now, mentally, though it may seem like it's coming through the phone…

Okay, I thought it was funny. Others disagree...


Chris

I'm really not that bitter

As a resident of a small town in Pennsylvania, I finally felt like a candidate was speaking to me last week. I’m talking, of course, about Senator Obama’s “bitter” comments on April 6.

Here’s the relevant sentence that the other candidates and the media have been repeating ad nauseam:

So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Am I bitter? I’ve got a whole list of things about which to be bitter. I’ll get to those after a brief preface. I do not cling to:

Guns. I have always lived in rural Pennsylvania but I do not hunt. On the other hand, it is reassuring to know that gun ownership is an option.

Religion. Rather tough for an agnostic with pagan leanings.

Anti-immigration stances. If the United States had the immigrations laws currently championed by the right in the mid-1800s, the Irish half of my family would probably not be here. I can only support deporting violent felons.

Anti-trade sentiments. At least not in principal. If NAFTA and other free trade agreements are going to succeed, then trade must be both free and fair. That means all parties must have equitable labor, environmental, and monetary policy standards prior to implementation. If people in developing countries have the opportunity to succeed at home, they would not be itching to come here.

That said, here are a few issues that have made me bitter and which I feel an Obama Administration will begin to address:

I am bitter that those of us opposing the Iraq War were shouted down five years ago. Despite revelations that we were right, the war drags on.

I am bitter that a rash of unwise loans are sinking the economy.

I am bitter that the Right Wing, with the help of the media, have convinced the American public that the most pressing issues are abortion, ID/creationism, same-sex marriage, and whether or not the Ten Commandments are posted at the county courthouse.

I am bitter that a woman’s right to choose is constantly under attack.

I am bitter that the traditional media prefer to cover the easy political scandal stories rather than the tough policy debates.

I am bitter that some folks had to live survive in flooded New Orleans for more than a week before federal aid arrived.

I am bitter that someone convicted of selling a dime bag of grass can end up with a felony record and not be able to get a job or student financial aid. Meanwhile those with assault, theft, or sexual assault misdemeanor convictions are not even questioned about their records.

I am bitter that gasoline is currently selling for $3.40 per gallon but the oil companies are posting record profits.

I am bitter that an uninsured person can go bankrupt from a single emergency room visit, something that is unheard of in Switzerland.

I am bitter that the people who agree to harvest fruits and vegetables at near slave wages are decidedly unwelcome here.

I am bitter that people living on almost no income are seeing the price of food double and triple.

I am bitter that global climate change is still called a “myth.” Even if 99 percent of scientists are incorrect, efforts to combat climate change have the side benefit of weaning us off of fossil fuels.

I am bitter that there are still people who honestly believe that Obama is a Muslim bent on destroying America. By extension, I am bitter that true patriotism requires a lapel pin (and the rule only seems to apply to Democrats).

I am bitter that I live six miles from a CAFO and have to worry about a manure leak getting into the water table.

I am bitter that it is nearly impossible to find a product that is truly made in the USA. Here’s one exception that I know of.

I am bitter that half a century after the beginning of the civil rights movement, we still have pervasive racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Islamism (okay, I just made that one up), and a whole host of other bigotries.

I am bitter that homeland security could be monitoring my every move for no good reason.

I am bitter the United States is the most powerful country in the world, but we have absurd high school drop out rates.

I could come up with a lot more, but that should suffice for now. After a bit of consideration, maybe “bitter” is the wrong word. I’m mad as Hell and I’m not gonna take it any more. What we really need is some kind of change. That’s why I’m voting for Senator Obama on Tuesday, not just because The Boss told me to.

On a related note, Rolling Stone put Obama on the cover of their March 20 edition. If you remember the old Dr. Hook song, “I’m gonna buy five copies for my mother.” (She’s voting for Hillary.) h/t to Pam for the magazine

I’m not saying that Senator Clinton will not address my concerns, but I do think that Senator Obama will confront them head-on. I am also convinced that he will surround himself with advisors who might gasp disagree on key points and avoid groupthink mentalities.

Remember that Earth Day is Election Day in Pa. Vote and save the world all in the same day.

Chris

By way of full disclosure, I originally supported Mike Gavel for president, but I got sick of jousting at windmills.

Update: I added a link to the sentence about why I am bitter with the media covering "the easy political scandal stories." I wrote the post before watching the train wreck that passed for a debate last night.