Seriously, America?

The black guy? You chose the black guy?

The effete, elite, nose-in-the-air egghead?

The guy who seemingly prefers lattes to brewskis?

You chose the intellectual black guy over the grizzled, experienced, "straight-talkin'" war hero?

Yea, you did. Thank you.

This mad dog democrat is now nothing more than another hopeful American.

And that marks the happy *end* of this half-assed blog.

But the start of something so much better.

Change the World Today!

WASSUP 2008 - Best Viral Video of 2008

"Why the Republicans Must Lose"

Via Andrew Sullivan (originally published in REASON):

The Republican Party has exiled its Goldwater-Reagan wing and given up all pretense of any allegiance to limited government. In the last eight years, the GOP has given us a monstrous new federal bureaucracy in the Department of Homeland Security. In the prescription drug benefit, it's given us the largest new federal entitlement since the Johnson administration. Federal spending—even on items not related to war or national security—has soared. And we now get to watch as the party that's supposed to be "free market" nationalizes huge chunks of the economy's financial sector...

While I'm not thrilled at the prospect of an Obama administration (especially with a friendly Congress), the Republicans still need to get their clocks cleaned in two weeks, for a couple of reasons. First, they had their shot at holding power, and they failed.

They've failed in staying true to their principles of limited government and free markets. They've failed in preventing elected leaders of their party from becoming corrupted by the trappings of power, and they've failed to hold those leaders accountable after the fact. Congressional Republicans failed to rein in the Bush administration's naked bid to vastly expand the power of the presidency (a failure they're going to come to regret should Obama take office in January). They failed to apply due scrutiny and skepticism to the administration's claims before undertaking Congress' most solemn task—sending the nation to war. I could go on.

As for the Bush administration, the only consistent principle we've seen from the White House over the last eight years is that of elevating the American president (and, I guess, the vice president) to that of an elected dictator. That isn't hyperbole. This administration believes that on any issue that can remotely be tied to foreign policy or national security (and on quite a few other issues as well), the president has boundless, limitless, unchecked power to do anything he wants. They believe that on these matters, neither Congress nor the courts can restrain him.

That's the second reason the GOP needs to lose. American voters need to send a clear, convincing repudiation of these dangerous ideas.

Daddy's Home

A great portrait about Obama in the deadwood edition of TIME, by Joe Klein. It's called "Why Obama is Winning."

The last paragraph is telling:

If he wins... there will be a different challenge. (Obama) will have to return, full force, to the inspiration business. The public will have to be mobilized to face the fearsome new economic realities. He will also have to deliver bad news, to transform crises into "teachable moments." He will have to effect a major change in our political life: to get the public and the media to think about long-term solutions rather than short-term balms.

Obama has given some strong indications that he will be able to do this, having remained levelheaded through a season of political insanity. His has been a remarkable campaign, as smoothly run as any I've seen in nine presidential cycles. Even more remarkable, Obama has made race — that perennial, gaping American wound — an afterthought. He has done this by introducing a quality to American politics that we haven't seen in quite some time: maturity.

He is undoubtedly as ego-driven as everyone else seeking the highest office — perhaps more so, given his race, his name and his lack of experience. But he has not been childishly egomaniacal, in contrast to our recent baby-boomer Presidents — or petulant, in contrast to his opponent. He does not seem needy. He seems a grown-up, in a nation that badly needs some adult supervision.

Not Worried Anymore

I have been an Obama supporter since his 2004 speech at the DNC convention. I was one of those early zealots who turned to their spouse and matter-of-factly said, "That guy's our next president."

As such, I was often nervous during his primary debate appearances. I was not unaware of the candidate's downsides: I worried about the egghead label, about the occasional snootiness. When the BHO campaign unveiled its own version of a Presidential seal, I cringed at the delusions of grandeur. I also worried that Ye Olde "Liberal Label" would still work its cynical, cringe-worthy magic on an under-informed electorate.

I don't worry anymore.

Obama has proven to be keenly adaptable. Some douchenozzles call that a sign of wishy-washy weakness; I see it as a strength. But then, I believe in Evolution; I believe that adapting to circumstances and shoring up weaknesses is a sign of fortitude and intelligence.

I also worry less and less about the intractable ignorance of "Joe Sixpack" voters. There will always be a core group of jingoists whose exclusion from the wealth of the nation causes them to reflexively vote against their own interests. Read Nixonland for more on that topic. Anyway, those folks are plumb stupid (as noted on The Daily Show last night).

Any voter with a modicum of brains is finally seeing the light, thanks to intense worries about the Economy. They are literally being forced into enlightenment; thus the momentum towards Obama's column.

This is why you're seeing fewer and fewer posts from me.

I'm not so worried. I am not so pissed off anymore. I am optimistic.

I TRUST the Obama campaign to navigate these next few weeks, through the slanderous seas.

And more than ever I also TRUST that he'll make a fine president.

How are you feeling?

Outdated but Hilarious

A Great Country Acts Great When It Matters

From James Fallows (and AMEN, brother!):

"(It) looks as if the United States is in one of those moments where the capacity to get serious and face big problems is sorely tested.

"In the short term, a worldwide financial panic and crisis. Just beyond that, the real economic and social problems that come when large numbers of people lose their jobs, their businesses, their investments, their homes, and even larger numbers become fearful about what might happen to them. And then, when we get a minute to think, profound global energy and environmental challenges, security concerns that range from loose nukes to terrorist organizations, plus a couple of ongoing wars and ever-rising medical costs. Just as starters. The United States is still incredibly rich, powerful, and productive. But the current situation is no joke, for America or the world.

"In these circumstances, and with a presidential election four weeks away, is it conceivable that candidates will waste time arguing whether one of them has been in the same room with a guy who had been a violent extremist at a time before most of today's U.S. citizens were even born? (William Ayres was a Weatherman in the late 1960s. Today's median-aged American was born around 1972.) Of course, it's not only conceivable: it's the Republican plan for this final push -- "turning the page" on economic concerns and getting to these "character" and "association" questions about Barack Obama.

"Grow up. If John McCain has a better set of plans to deal with the immediate crisis, and the medium-term real-economy fallout, and the real global problems of the era -- fine, let him win on those. But it is beneath the dignity he had as a Naval officer to wallow in this mindless BS. I will say nothing about the dignity of a candidate who repeatedly winks at the public, Hooters-waitress style. A great country acts great when it matters. This is a time when it matters -- for politicians in the points they raise, for journalists in the subjects they write about and the questions they ask of candidates. And, yes, for voters."

Brilliant!