She's Hot for The One

I think Mother Nature has a crush on Barack Obama.

Official NWS forecast for Election Day:

Philadelphia, PA: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.
Pittsburgh, PA: Sunny, with a high near 65.
Cleveland, OH: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Akron, OH: Sunny, with a high near 66.
Indianapolis, IN: Sunny, with a high near 67.
Gary, IN: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.
Jacksonville, FL: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 73.
Orlando, FL: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.
Tampa, FL: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79.
Miami, FL: Mostly sunny, with a high near 84.
Denver, CO: Partly sunny, with a high near 60.
Las Vegas, NV: Mostly sunny, with a high near 70.
Charlotte, NC: Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.
Raleigh, NC: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.
Reston, VA: Sunny, with a high near 65.
Richmond, VA: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.
St. Louis, MO: Mostly sunny, with a high near 73.
Kansas City, MO: Mostly sunny, with a high near 71.
Minneapolis, MN: Chance of showers, high near 63.
Madison, WI: Partly sunny, with a high near 62.
Detroit, MI: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65.
Albuquerque, NM: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68.
Des Moines, IA: Partly sunny, with a high near 64.
Nashua, NH: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.

Line of the Day

Once again, I must tip my hat to the Rude One:

And, in what is presumptively a nation with separation between church and state, who the fuck cares what "God" thinks? Until that fucker runs for office, fuck what God has to say.

I hate homophobes, too. Go get 'em, Rudelicious.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

Back on the Wagon

I fell off.

Stupidly.

The result was exactly as expected.

No more.

Wow

I just read someone's admission that he corrects his child's facts regarding whether or not dinosaurs and people lived at the same time. The child is correct in stating that dinosaurs lived before people did here on earth. He told the child he was wrong and pointed the child to some passage in the Bible that supposedly supercedes all scientific/geologic evidence produced in the 2000+ years since as proof.

I find that to be a form of child abuse. Even my very religious mother...hell, even the moribund, corrupt, and totalitarian Vatican...weren't/aren't that batshit crazy.

I feel very sorry for that child, growing up without useful knowledge. Either he will be ignorant forever or he will figure out that his parents lied to him repeatedly and willfully his entire life. That can't make for a happy adult either way.

Wish I'd Said That

I've been thinking about a more macro political post the last few days to rev up the old political science major chops by analyzing the position that the Republican Party finds itself in the wake of this election season. What are the reasons for their position in the eyes of the public? What does the party stand for at this pivotal point? Who is providing the intellectual heft? What choices exist for a path forward? What is their standing with the public? How will the party deal with its expats, the Buckleys, the Frums, the Powells, the Sullivans or is cutting them loose the best way to solidify a consistent GOP message?

Turns out I was wasting my time. Fiddling around online, I clicked on a Salon article by Gary Kamiya that lays out the Republican dilemma in a succinct, intelligent, persuasive way my exact thoughts (though my were in no way as clearly thought out and organized). So read it and know that I wholeheartedly concur.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/10/28/gop_shipwreck/index.html

Anticipation

Stopped at the local State Store at lunch. Lo and behold, guess what was on sale and what I bought a bottle of to put in the fridge to cool for the next 7 days?

I don't think this jinxes anything. Nope, I seriously don't.

Mmmmm. Dom. I haven't had any Dom in ages. In fact, since the Clinton years.

Jack Murtha Knows

Despite the drubbing he's taken for his remarks about the racial fears of Western PA denizens, he's right. Racism runs rampant here, in ways that make it sound like we're nothing but crackers from the least-educated, most ignorant parts of the white South.

And here's the first MSM reporting about Western PA, my actual county, and the town in which I was born (Aliquippa) that sounds like someone actually "got" how people think around here. I think Obama will have a tough time pulling it off in Beaver County. If he does, it will only be because of the unions, who have done a heroic job of trying to get people past their racism.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27393361/

Just goes to prove once again, what an unsual household in which I was raised. It was truly the exception and not the rule in any way.

I Love This Dog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEaFK2v6PbM

Sicko

"A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow."

http://kdka.com/

Just one of the many symptoms of the immorality of the politics of fear. That this obviously mentally/emotionally troubled woman felt she could tell such a story to cover up whatever it is that really happened is result of painting Democrats and Obama supporters as un-American.

I don't feel sorry for her one bit, but I hope she gets the help she so obviously needs.

Edited to add:

This may just be the best wingnut reaction to this story of the day. Courtesy of the Doughy Pantload's Corner blog, who was running with this story yesterday as if Obama himself had mugged the woman:

I have a debilitating cold and am now going to bed for a while.

Atlas Collapses and Dies

Who is John Galt?

A philosophically empty con man loser.

*******************************************

One of the beauties of this financial meltdown with its accompanying spotlight on its architects has been the complete and total implosion of the fucking stupid, greedy, value-lacking, completely discredited philosophy of Ayn Rand. Yesterday, hearing the biggest Randian asshole, Greenspan, admit, with astonishment, what can only be characterized as the utter defeat of the empty "philosophy" of "self-regulation" is just one of the many moments this election in which I have felt utterly vindicated in my decades-long cry in the wilderness against what they call the "free market." I have spent the last 30 years of my life listening to blithering idiot Rand cultists obnoxiously and ignorantly claim the victory of so-called rational individualism over the philosophies of Kant and Santayana. I wish I had all those bloviating, self-centered imbeciles right in front of me now so I could shove their faces in the pile of shit they've foisted on the rest of us in their disgusting, selfish race to create their own secret society where only they are the "haves" and the rest of us are just pieces of garbage tossed out the window of their objectivist limosines.

Good riddance to bad garbage. I always hated that bitch.

Rats? Meet Sinking Ship

http://joinrudy2012.com/

I'm a big fan of schadenfreude lately, I must guiltily admit.

Beautiful

This brought me to tears this morning. In a good way. TNC doesn't do a post a minute, but, man, when he puts those fingers to the keyboard with his whole soul? No one in the blogosphere writes with such beauty.

http://ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/10/i_hope_this_is_in_good_taste.php#comments

All That Needs to Said About Joe the Plumber

Hats off to the Rude Dude:

But once Wurzelbacher started granting interviews and started appearing on Fox "news" to install his faucets of wisdom, well, then it's welcome to the party, motherfucker, and all bets are off.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

Fun!

http://youniverse.com/statement/module/PersonalityModule/New_Personality_module

My Mood: Sofisticat

You're romantic in your outlook with a bit of taste for the exotic. You love feeling the sea breeze in your hair, sun on your skin...You always take the first dip. When it comes to art, you tend to have a traditional approach. You are passionate about history and true classics. Truly great art stands the test of time. For you, music is all about joining in; a bit of self expression. It's always on your mind and it lets you let off steam.

My Fun: Thriller

You're insatiable! Your thirst for affection never drops. You've got a high sex drive, and appetite for lurve...For kicks, there is nothing like a little affection to give you a buzz. There's always so much flirting to be done! When it comes to holidays, you reckon they should always be indulgent - a very special treat and chance to recharge your batteries in luxurious surroundings, as well as spending quality time with family and friends. What turns you off? Vanity in a world gone mad. You favor a natural look. Fantastic, not plastic.

My Habits: Back to Basics

Simple pleasures make your day. You love relaxing, unwinding, and living a pampered life. Your choice of drink reflects refined classic taste. You deserve to unwind at the end of the day and nothing hits the spot quite like your favorite tipple. As for the home, you're a bit of the traditionalist. It's not just about function - style is a definite priority.

My Social: Fun

You don't like to take things too seriously. For you, friendship is all about enjoying yourself and seeing the funny side of life. You have a strong sense of justice and human rights. When you think of freedom - you think of democracy, one of your most treasured possessions.

Pretty crazy that it has me pretty much totally right on. See what it comes up with for you.

The Hypocrisy Always Astounds Me

We have spent the last two weeks hearing nothing but how ACORN is akin to a commie front trying to steal the election.

Funnily enough, though, certain people who were shrilly concerned with ACORN's self-reported fraudulent voter registration forms are not showing the same amount of concern regarding a GOP registration group's fraudulent registrations and changes of registration for which there has been an actual arrest.

Wonder why that would be?

Edited to add:

Not to mention, little talk about the Michigan GOP's settlement of the lawsuit brought against them for trying to disenfranchise voters:

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2008/10/20/mi-republicans-admit-to-illegal-foreclosure-scheme-surrender-to-democrats/

Oh, and for my friend Dingus, who wonders exactly why I am so strident...take a little walk through this blog post and its comments. And perhaps you'll see why. I believe we're fighting a war. And these people are the enemy.

http://wwwwakeupamericans-spree.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-in-new-england-conflicting.html

An Explanation, Not an Apology

Seems some of my friends just can't see where my anger over this particular election comes from or why I am so insistent and pushy about it all and why just I can't admit how John McCain is an admirable person and we can all just agree to disagree and go off and sing "Kumbaya" around the campfire, holding hands.

And apparently I have a problem in explaining my very good and sound reasons for saying, "Bullshit."

So I'll put this link here and say that, while it doesn't go into the half of the many reasons I think the current GOP and John McCain are pond-sucking scum who should be tossed into a large pot of boiling oil and then flayed with a cat-o-nine-tails before their genitals are sliced off and they are drawn and quartered*, if you pretend I'm Glen and you are Ana Marie Cox then perhaps you'll understand how I hear you when you say that stuff.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html

*Hopefully, sarcasm isn't being lost on anyone. But I no longer assume that.

Edited to add:

And just to make it perfectly clear that all of this has nothing to do with being some sort of uncritical, unquestioning, dewey-eyed worshipper of all things Barack, know also that I found this post from a reader at the Dish today. That reader also sees what a petty man McCain truly is (but is very nice and oblique in how he says it), but puts into words very well my hesitations with Obama. He's not perfect. Far from it and I'll be happy, once he's president, to point out each and every flawed policy or action. But I have no doubt whatsoever that, however flawed he may be, his flaws pale in comparison to McCain's or any other current headliner of the GOP.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-roots-of-mc.html#more

That Would Be Nice

My tax savings under Obama's tax plan? $500
My tax savings under McCain's tax plan? $0

That pretty much says it all.

Now go calculate yours:

http://taxcut.barackobama.com/

Tired, or I Am a Hard Working Middle Class American

Man, I'm tired.

What a summer and fall I've had at work. Largest freshman class in about 15 years. The University's decision to leave the FFEL federal loan program and put all our marbles into the Direct loan program in a three month window. New federal loans sprung at the last minute. The collapse of the private alternative educational loan market just as the fall semester began. A doubling of the campus scholarship endowment. Creating a new database for our summer freshman orientation programs. An overhaul in our campus student worker program. And the start of the new recruitment year and high school financial aid nights. Lastly, we managed to get all but two students registered before our snapshot date.

I don't know if anyone outside of my work environment, or even most within that environment, understand the difficulty and complexity and stressfulness under which I've been working since March. It has been very professionally fulfilling and confidence boosting that I've managed it as well as I have and I'm proud of myself.

And the fact that I've managed it at the same time that I've also had a pretty damn busy and interesting personal life is quite satisfying, I must say.

Bwahahahahahahahahahaha!

http://www.eisenstadtgroup.com/2008/10/15/joe-the-plumber-wurzelbacher-related-to-charles-keating-oops/

If this is true?

EPIC FAIL!

Vindicated

http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/10/15/news/doc48f6128d24004210022010.txt

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/15/10043/208/540/631035

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2006/06/end-of-america.html

http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/news/story/top-tampa-gop-figure-circulates-joke-about-killing-obama/

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_buck16.3d67d4a.html

I left that other place the other day because I had been villified for saying that the racists and haters have taken over the GOP. Even my "friends" took me to task, said I was too fond of hyperbole, that I like starting forest fires, that I can't for a minute be polite.

You know what?

Fuck you. Fuck every motherfucking one of you. Fuck you again. Fuck you forever. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Go fuck yourself.

Oh, and did I mention?

Fuck you.

They are exactly who I thought they were. And anyone who calls that an exaggeration is no better.

And one last edit. This is from Balloon Juice, summing up all the garbage in one nice little package: http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=12540

FWIW, the fuck yous are not aimed at any one person. They are aimed at those who insist that there is some sort of equivalence between this racist stuff the GOP is putting out and simple negative campaigning. Negative campaigning is part and parcel with politics. However, since 1980, there has been a concerted effort to demonize Democrats in such a way as to make them out to be traitors. Don't believe me, believe the death bed confession and repentance of the architect of this effort, Lee Atwater. The logical conclusion of such an effort, especially with the unexpected appearance of the first African American Democratic presidential candidate, is exactly what we are seeing in this campaign. It is the cancer of the modern GOP. If they are smart, they will do what must be done with all cancers. Cut it out with determination and ruthless efficiency. Bombard it with radiation. Drown it poisonous with chemicals. Whatever it takes to get rid of the sickness that threatens to kill.

In Today's Campaign News...

Big meeting tonight for GOTV efforts for November 4 at Beaver County for Obama from 7-9pm. I hope I get assigned something where I get to come into contact with kids. Or even better, as a poll watcher. But wherever they send me, I'll go with joy in my heart.

Huge debate party at 9pm at the IBEW hall. Think I'll go for at least part of it. I hope they have beer. But no drinking games this time. I got crushed last debate. I had "my friends." It wasn't pretty. I was pretty much drunkenly screaming "You're not MY friend, asshole!" at the tv that last half hour or so.

I Simply Can't Help It

I keep posting and posting because I just can't stop. Every day, almost every hour, I see and hear things I never thought I'd live to see or hear. I keep thinking I'm living in a dream and I'll soon wake up and it will be January 1, 2007 again. Because I just.can't.believe.the.stuff.I'm.seeing.

Today's Exhibit A?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-14/sorry-dad-i-was-fired

I'm flabbergasted.

While we all take a moment to let that one sink in, can I just say that, much as I have a deep distrust and dislike of the woman, Tina Brown is about as good at capturing the zeitgeist of our society and finding a way to be the one to dispense it as anyone is or ever has been. It didn't take me more than a day or two of resistance before I bookmarked The Daily Beast, both on the desktop and the Blackberry.

I'd also like to admit my deep and abiding crush on John Cole. There's something about those repentant Republicans with whom I still have many points of disagreement that get me hot. Plus he's a Steeler fan. Mmmmmmmmmmm.

Quote of the Day

From MASON in the comments at TPMElectionCentral:

Next up: Republican leaders send a strongly worded message to Obama asking that he please refrain from working McCain's puppet strings. That is their job, and they want it back.

Edited to add a post of the day:

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

I swear I'd polish that man's knob any time he wants if he keeps writing stuff like this.

Edited again to say:

Sure am glad that the market and the Nobel Committee finally kneed Paulson in nuts hard enough that he caved on his rich friends' bailout in favor of the one called for by Krugman, Roubini, deLong, and Soros for several weeks to no avail until yesterday. Guess those dirty fucking hippie commies know a bit more about credit markets and financial panics than the Masters of the Universe. Another well-deserved nail in the coffin of that ratfucker Milton Friedman. Long live John Maynard Keynes!

How The Credit Crisis Has Hit Home Here

Alternative educational loans, those instruments that used to be fairly rare but are now used as a funding option for about 23% of the students on my campus and which are simply private eduational loans with no government protections, are harder to get and current approvals are no guarantee that the lenders will actually disburse the money.

My university has recently alerted campus student aid officers like me that two major alternative lenders have informed the main student aid office that any loans currently approved but not disbursed will not be disbursed. Those students are, at this moment, scrambling to find other lenders to cover balances that they had done everything right to cover weeks ago.

And what might be their difficulties with that?

First, we have received numerous emails from lenders who are continuing to lend that the credit checks for both students and their co-signers will be a much more rigorous review and will result in many more denials in addition to much higher fees and interest rates for those approved but with the lowest credit scores for approval.

Second, the list of alternative lenders that we used to give to students has decreased from about 30 different lenders to 11.

John McCain

Coward. Racist enabler. Complete piece of shit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v1i8PbU_9M

And the image above from a McCain supporter, Libertarian Conservative, at Political Byline.

Now tell me about how equivalent criticisms about McCain and Palin are. Assholes.

What I Am Doing Instead

First, I must get the congrats out of the way.

Kudos to Krugman: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/business/14nobel.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I'm no economist and I hung on for dear life in my college econ classes. But I have a general understanding of all the major theories, if not the nuts and bolts. In much reading (or, more accurately of my feelings, "slogging" might be a better verb) on economics and the various competing theories over the 30 years or so of my adult life, the two who always seemed to make the most sense (common and theoretical) to me have been Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz. Good to see that they both now hold a Nobel. Even more to Krugman's credit, he is the first economist to gain the prize alone since, I believe, around 2000. The prize usually goes to a team or multiple winners. NYT and Princeton are in ecstasies about now.

That out of the way...

I have volutarily decided to step out of OT for the remainder of the election and, perhaps, until after the inauguration. Perhaps, depending on how I feel about it at that future point, for longer still. I am sure to lurk, I will probably still pm those who I still care about, and I will stay amused at the lack of anyone willing to say that reality is...well...reality except for a poor, villified few. But the high school atmosphere and level of discussion and discourse has finally gotten to me enough that I refuse to participate. I may or may not change my mind later, but I'm done until after the election for sure. I'm sure it makes me an elitist bitch, but I don't mind at all being an elitist bitch. I didn't spend all that money, sacrifice, and time on education and independent information gathering on wanting to be a regular Joe nor did my mother raise a shrinking violet who backs down when she is right.

So, if you got one of my pm's, this is where you'll find me from now on. And for those who don't know me as anything other than a political animal, the archives should be an eye opener. LOL!

The Problem With Today's Media

Moral Equivalence – defining distinct and conflicting moral behaviors in similar terms.
An author who suggests that one act of serious wrongdoing does not differ from a minor offence commits the fallacy of moral equivalence. Many people say that “all sins are equal in God’s eyes,” which effectively equates ethnic cleansing with stealing a pencil. Our laws make many precise distinctions amongst the various types of violent crimes. Motives are different, and so these criminals are held accountable accordingly.

EXAMPLE 1

An anti-smoking moralist barks: “Smoking cigarettes is nothing short of suicide – the smoker is willingly killing himself.”

National anti-smoking campaigns often avoid the moral argument because the public understands that smoking is a personal choice that probably will not impact one’s morality. To suggest that smokers are immoral is faulty thinking, usually combining other fallacies (such as false causality and red herrings) If you know any smoker who is “a good guy” and a non-smoker who is a jerk, you can easily use these examples to refute this fallacy. Additionally, the fallacies of equivocation, slanting, and loaded language apply here too.

EXAMPLE 2

A wily politician argues: “Yes, I used illegal money to fund my campaign … but so did my opponent!”

This type of moral equivalence fallacy is called the “tu quo” argument (“But you’re one too!”). Similar to the bandwagon fallacy, this type of reasoning assumes that a candidate should be allowed to break the law because others have set a different moral standard. This would retain the clean candidate’s campaign a better competitive advantage since his opponent was breaking the law all along. This example is akin to changing the rules in the middle of a game.
NOTE: a tu quo differs from the bandwagon appeal here because the politician changed his moral standard (deciding to use illegal funds after all) as a response to his opponent’s illegal operation. We jump on a bandwagon because it feels good, but people fall into moral equivalence when they shift their moral attitudes for selfish reasons. It is also a form of distortion, and we see it often from our children and politicians. Two wrongs do not make a right.

What Kos Said

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/10/9/11055/1670/758/624699


See, here's the deal -- we're going to win the White House, we're going to win big in the Senate, and we're going to rack up big gains in the House. Republicans know this and are preparing for the worst. Now think of 2004 -- we really thought Kerry was going to pull it off. Remember that? And remember how utterly devastated we were when Bush pulled it off? The pain was so much worse because we expected to win.
So with conservatives bracing for the worse, they won't experience the kind of pain we did. Not unless we deliver a defeat even worse than their worst nightmares. And I'll be honest with you -- I want them to hurt as much as we did. I want their spirits crushed, their backs broken.
So the way we do that is we deliver a defeat worse than they ever imagined. We do that by winning states that have no business turning Blue -- like North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, and so on -- states that were easy Bush victories in 2004. We do that by electing a 60-seat supermajority in the Senate. We do that by defeating their leadership, like Mitch McConnell in the Senate. We do that by defeating their heroes, like wingnut go-to hero John Shadegg. We do that by making sure a record number of Americans reject conservative ideology, leaving it utterly discredited.
The day after the election, I want to see an electoral battlefield littered with defeated Republicans, their ranks demoralized, their treasury in heavy debt, and no real leadership to take the helm. I want a vacuum so complete, that a bloody leadership battle between the neocons, theocons, and corporate cons shakes the GOP to its core, and leaves it fractured and ill-equipped to stymie the progressive agenda, much less ramp up for an even bleaker (for them) 2010.
Guys, that's why I don't worry about complacency. We're not out to win this thing. We're out to crush them. And that's going to require a level of engagement beyond anything you've ever done before. It'll mean more phone banking, more canvassing, more donating. Work on this site keeps me from working the phones or walking precincts (my wife has helped out on those fronts), but I've surrendered a significant portion of my income, way more than my family can really afford, on behalf of the cause. We've all got something to offer, whether it's time or money, and now's the time to offer what we can.
One of my favorite cyclists likes to say, "Leave everything on the road", meaning that when he crosses the finish line, he will have burned every last ounce of energy in his body. If he falls short? No regrets because he gave it his all, every last bit of it.
We can't have regrets on Election Night, thinking that some Democrats came up short because we failed to leave everything on the road. We can't have a Jim Martin or a Bob Lord or a Darcy Burner or whoever come inches from victory, knowing that maybe we could've done just a little bit more to help them cross the finish line victorious. Even if all you can give is $5 to one candidate, or one afternoon phone banking, it still matters. There's a lot of us, and a lot of little gestures adds up to a whole lot of action.
We are approaching a historic night, and one that can radically transform the direction of our country.
Donate your time, donate your money.
Leave everything on the road.