Obama will spend election night in Grant Park for what one hopes will be a victory celebration.
Ben Bernanke endorses Obama.
And Ta-Nehisi Coates notices how much Barack Obama looks like his grandfather.
In other news, John McCain is still a giant asshole.
Obama Bites
Bush To Keep Guantánamo Open
Seriously? What can even be said about this douchenozzle anymore? Ninety more days. Ninety more days.
And may the next administration do the right thing, and close this prison, no matter "how complicated it is."
Daily Kitteh
Olivia—as will be confirmed by Space Cowboy, who's personally seen her in action—basically vogues her way through life doing one adorable pose after the other. Sit and look cute. Flop to the side and look cute. Roll on her back and look cute. Run around in a circle and look cute. Motion. Pause. Vogue. Cuteness. This is her perpetual cycle.
It is interrupted approximately six times a day by Livsy knocking something off some surface with her insanely gigantic tail, which was fashioned out of leftover rope from the HMS Surprise.
Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch, #100
And so we reach triple digits with plenty of time to spare. Sigh.
Some dude in Maine has put up a 15-foot sign (image here, for those who can't view the video) outside his house, juxtaposing images of Barack Obama in Somali garb and John McCain in his military gear, beneath the question: "Who do you want running the US Military?"
[Transcript below.]
Oh, to be in New Gloucester, Maine, so I could have that debate with Mr. Horr. My opening shot across his bow would be: "Barack Obama's heritage is not, in fact, Somalian—which kind of blows a giant fucking hole in your whole 'showing him embracing his heritage' claptrap. Care to comment, megadouche, or shall we just end the debate here and you can kiss my fat pink ass while I torch your billboard o' bullshit?"
This election really can't end soon enough.
[H/T to Renee.]
Unidentified Offscreen Voice: Just more impressed with the sign's size, more than anything.[Obama Racism/Muslim/Unpatriotic/Scary Black Dude Watch: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, Twenty-Five, Twenty-Six, Twenty-Seven, Twenty-Eight, Twenty-Nine, Thirty, Thirty-One, Thirty-Two, Thirty-Three, Thirty-Four, Thirty-Five, Thirty-Six, Thirty-Seven, Thirty-Eight, Thirty-Nine, Forty, Forty-One, Forty-Two, Forty-Three, Forty-Four, Forty-Five, Forty-Six, Forty-Seven, Forty-Eight, Forty-Nine, Fifty, Fifty-One, Fifty-Two, Fifty-Three, Fifty-Four, Fifty-Five, Fifty-Six, Fifty-Seven, Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, Sixty-One, Sixty-Two, Sixty-Three, Sixty-Four, Sixty-Five, Sixty-Six, Sixty-Seven, Sixty-Eight, Sixty-Nine, Seventy, Seventy-One, Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, Seventy-Five, Seventy-Six, Seventy-Seven, Seventy-Eight, Seventy-Nine, Eighty, Eighty-One, Eighty-Two, Eighty-Three, Eighty-Four, Eighty-Five, Eighty-Six, Eighty-Seven, Eighty-Eight, Eighty-Nine, Ninety, Ninety-One, Ninety-Two, Ninety-Three, Ninety-Four, Ninety-Five, Ninety-Six, Ninety-Seven, Ninety-Eight, Ninety-Nine.]
Reporter VO: If it's attention Robert Horr was looking for, mission accomplished. The sign outside his home stands about 15 feet tall. It asks: "Who do you want running the US Military?" Pictured are John McCain in a Navy flight jacket, with the words "Retired Captain US Navy," and Barack Obama with the words "No US Military Service." The picture of Obama is apparently based on a real photo that surfaced earlier this year. It shows him wearing ceremonial Somali elder garb during a trip to Africa in 2006.
Robert Horr: I'm not saying he's a Muslim; I'm not saying he's not a Muslim. I'm saying that's his heritage. And you should embrace your heritage. If this sign makes you nervous because of that, then maybe you should reevaluate who you're voting for.
Reporter VO: Just to make sure you don't miss it, he has lights for nighttime viewing. But exposure doesn't seem to be a problem. People driving by slow down, sometimes stop to take it all in. Some are clearly disgusted. Others give it a big thumbs-up. Sam Hirsch calls it a misrepresentation.
Same Hirsch: It bothers me because it's a very distorted view of who Barack Obama is.
Some Dipshit: What do I think about the sign? I like the sign. I think it says a lot. And I think running the military should be someone with military experience.
Reporter VO: New Gloucester town officials have told Horr that it's too big for a political sign, but he says so far they haven't ordered him to take it down. Besides, Horr says, it's a nonpartisan sign, designed to inspire debate.
Horr: Anybody who wants to come by and stop, they're more than welcome to. I encourage them to pull off the road and park on my lawn; I have chairs set up; I'm open for the debate.
Reporter VO: And if you're driving down Gloucester Hill Road, you'll know where to find him.
Sludge
Boehlert's got a good one today about the waning influence of Drudge since the economic collapse. Definitely recommended reading.
And, if you're anything like me, you'll be left bitterly wondering why it is that we can't have a functioning economy and a responsible press simultaneously.
Bitterly and rhetorically wondering, that is—because the painfully obvious answer is that the most influential members of the press prefer to have fun, until they're affected in their own damn 401(k)s.
Shell Game
As if being duped into registering as Republicans wasn't enough, there are more shenanigans going on as people try to vote early, this time in West Virginia. We've heard of this happening before, and it's time for the return of our old friend, the Mighty Morphin' Power Votes. Watch your vote mutate from Democratic to Republican in the blink of an eye! (All bolds mine)
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.How interesting that this is happening in "isolated" counties where Republicans are in charge. But, of course, it has nothing to do with them, or their machines...
This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for "Barack Obama" kept flipping to "John McCain".
In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.
They also blamed voters for not being more careful.Oh, of course, how silly of me. The problem is stupid, sloppy voters, not machines. Except when it is the machines:
"People make mistakes more than machines," said Jackson County Clerk Jeff Waybright.
Shelba Ketchum, a 69-year-old nurse retired from Thomas Memorial Hospital, described what happened Friday at the Putnam County Courthouse in Winfield.It's our old friend, the electronic voting machine with no paper trail. Hello! So awful to see you again! But I'm sure this is just a case of an older, easily confused voter, right? Right?
"I pushed buttons and they all came up Republican," she said. "I hit Obama and it switched to McCain. I am really concerned about that. If McCain wins, there was something wrong with the machines.
"I asked them for a printout of my votes," Ketchum said. "But they said it was in the machine and I could not get it. I did not feel right when I left the courthouse. My son felt the same way.
Ketchum's son, Chris, said he had the same problem. And Bobbi Oates of Scott Depot said her vote for incumbent Democratic Sen. John D. Rockefeller was switched to GOP opponent Jay Wolfe.And the hits just keep on coming. If your vote is wrong, it's your fault. And you can't change it. And you can't prove it. You should have been more careful.
"I touched the one I wanted, Rockefeller, and the machine put a checkmark on the Republican instead," Oates said of her experience Thursday.
She said she caught the mistake, called over a worker in the county clerk's office and was able to correct her vote. But she worries other voters may not catch such a mistake.
When asked if she is sure she touched the box for Rockefeller, she said, "I'm absolutely positive."
"My son Chris said, 'Mom, I didn't vote for the people who came up on that machine. I wanted to go back and vote again. I called the lady at the polls and she said it was my fault because of the way I was punching the buttons.'This is, of course, infuriating. Particularly because we've gone through all of this before. Twice. If you're like me, and you believe that the last two elections were stolen, then you're probably, shall we say, tense regarding the voter fraud issue. Sure, this is a handful of votes in over 400, but I would like to point out that these are the people that noticed their votes changed. And as much as they scoff and insist that everything's safe, it must be voter error, and TRUST THE MACHINES, DAMMIT, we can't just sit back and assume everything is okay.
"I want a paper ballot. I think it was very bad when they did away with paper ballots. I wish you had something in your hand that is a record of how you voted.
"I never felt that way before. It was early voting, so we went over there to get it over with. We won't do that again," Ketchum said.
This is why I get insane every time I hear ACORN mentioned on the news; because it couldn't possibly be more obvious that this is a simple shell game, a misdirection magic trick to keep everyone hysterical about fake "voter fraud." While we're watching their right hand waving the ACORN handkerchief, the left hand is swiping votes away. And it's working. ACORN organizers have received death threats, and offices are being vandalized*, all over a ridiculous fraud scare that isn't even true. The myth has gotten completely out of control.
I can't find the post right now (so I'm probably paraphrasing really poorly, sorry John), but John Cole opined that this whole ACORN nonsense is partially being created by the Right so when McCain does lose, they can claim a stolen election, and use that theme to delegitimize the Obama Presidency for the next four years. I agree with that completely, but I think the larger purpose is smokescreen. Mirrors. Nothing up my sleeve, and watch me pull a Presidency out of my hat. Let's remember where the real evidence lies.
Third time's (not) the charm.
UPDATE: Salieri in comments points to this in Texas:
Kaufman's office was informed early Monday that some of the first voters had cast straight-ticket Democratic ballots only to discover that the machines had recorded their presidential vote as Republican.
DeLeon said the equipment was tested and found to be working properly, but he suggested that voters should double-check their selections before submitting the vote.
So, he says this once; we're supposed to believe that voters have heard and received this message, and will actually do it?
(h/t to Flewellyn in comments for the orignal story, and *John Cole.)
Action Items
• See Ginmar about a case that needs more attention.
• Help the Red Queen raise funds for a home for her and the Kid. Every little bit makes a difference!
• Demand diversity from NBC.
Wow
The Obama-Biden ticket maintains its strong lead in the race for daily newspaper endorsements, by 112 to 39, an almost 3-1 margin, picking up 70 or more papers in the past three days…By comparison, John Kerry just barely edged George Bush in 2004, 213-205. Clearly, there are a lot of endorsements yet to come, but it's wildly unusual to see such an obvious rout at any time during an election.
We have also added up the circulation of the papers endorsing each candidate. Here Obama leads almost 4-1: 13.4 million to 3.7 million.
Relatedly, Bob Geiger points out that McCain's judgment, or lack thereof, specifically with regard to choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, is routinely cited in newspapers' endorsements as one of the reasons they didn't endorse McCain.
That she has energized the conservative Republican base and alienated just about everyone else exposes how markedly disconnected from the American mainstream that base really is.
The irony, of course, is that they don't believe in dinosaurs.
Pathetic
Tires slashed during Obama rally: "Someone slashed the tires of at least 30 vehicles parked outside the Crown Coliseum on Sunday during a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, authorities said. …Lynne Steenstra said she thought that the slashings were scare tactics designed to keep her and others from supporting Obama. Even though it cost her roughly $120 to get her Dodge Caravan towed and fixed, Steenstra said the act would not intimidate her from voting. 'It hasn't deterred us one bit,' Steenstra said. 'It has only encouraged us more'."
Bear found dumped at WCU with Obama signs: "A dead bear was found dumped this morning on the Western Carolina University campus, draped with a pair of Obama campaign signs, university police said. Maintenance workers reported about 7:45 a.m. finding a 75-pound bear cub dumped at the roundabout near the Catamount statute at the entrance to campus, said Tom Johnson, chief of university police. 'It looked like it had been shot in the head as best we can tell. A couple of Obama campaign signs had been stapled together and stuck over its head,' Johnson said."
Fucking assholes.
Voters Contend They Were Duped into Registering as Republicans
by Shaker Lena Dahlstrom, a crossdresser from the San Francisco Bay area who also performs as a drag queen under the stage name "Joie de Vivre."
Every election season, the Republicans crank up the scare machine about voter fraud—and the voter registration drives by ACORN in particular. And let's be honest, paying contractors per signature is pretty much guaranteed to lead to some of them to pad their wallets by registering Mickey Mouse, or registering the same voter multiple times. Which is not a Good Thing—although it's important to point out there's a big different between voter registration fraud and voter fraud. The former is annoying for voter registrar offices who have to prune the voter lists and expensive for groups like ACORN who are paying for bogus signatures, but it's not like Mickey Mouse is going to show to vote on election day, nor is someone who's been triple registered at the same address be able to vote multiple times. (In fact, allegations of fraudulent voting by individuals has pretty much been debunked.)
But funny how the Republicans have been noticeably silent about how a California firm hired by the Republican Party is being investigated for allegedly tricking voters into re-registering as Republicans.
The company, Young Political Majors (or YPM) has a trail of bait-and-switch fraud complaints stretching across the country. Oh and the best part: YPM's owner is being personally charged with fraudulently registering to vote in California, so that he would appear to meet a legal requirement that all signature gatherers are registered California voters.
From the Los Angeles Times, which broke the story:Voters contacted by The Times said they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters. Some said they were told that they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Others had no idea their registration was being changed....
Nor is YPM alone. Two years ago, Orange County's district attorney changed a dozen workers for another petitioning firm with falsely registering voters are Republicans.
Elections officials and lawmakers have launched investigations into the activities of YPM staff in Florida and Massachusetts. In Arizona, the firm was recently a defendant in a civil rights lawsuit. Prosecutors in Los Angeles and Ventura counties say they are investigating complaints about the company. The firm, which a Republican Party spokesman said is paid $7 to $12 for each registration it secures, has denied any wrongdoing and says it has never been charged with a crime....
The Times randomly interviewed 46 of the hundreds of voters whose election records show they were recently re-registered as Republicans by YPM, and 37 of them -- more than 80% -- said they were misled into making the change or that it was done without their knowledge. The document those voters thought was an initiative petition has no legal implications at all....
It all sounds familiar to Beverly Hill, a Democrat and the former election supervisor in Florida's Alachua County. About 200 voters -- mostly college students -- were unwittingly registered as Republicans there in 2004 by YPM staffers using the same tactic, Hill said."
"It is just incredible that this can keep happening election after election," she said...
Civil rights activists recently filed a lawsuit in Arizona accusing YPM of deceiving residents to get signatures for a ballot measure that would have prohibited affirmative action by that state. The lawsuit was dropped after supporters of the measure pulled it from the ballot.
In Massachusetts, former YPM worker Angela McElroy testified at a legislative hearing in 2004 that she had tricked voters into signing a ballot measure to ban gay marriage. She said she told voters they were signing in favor of a measure to allow alcoholic drinks to be sold in supermarkets.
But unlike registering Mickey Mouse to vote, falsely changing someone's party affiliation has real-world consequences. Unless voters catch the change, they may be ineligible to vote in their intended party's next primary election.
Pot meet kettle.
Yes We Can (Hold Babies)
Related to immediately preceding child-related sappiness, go look at this website immediately. [Via Maven.]
If you don't melt into a huge puddle looking at the egregious amounts of zomg cuteness, then you have a heart of stone.
(I'm looking at you, Deeky.)
Snaps
Last night, as I was looking through the daily photo dump from the various wire photographers, I found an inordinate amount of great pictures from Barack Obama's rally at Legends Field in Tampa, Florida, yesterday. Loved this shot of him getting off the plane, his tie caught in the wind:
…and this snap of hands reaching to touch Obama's (his is the one with the black watchband):
And there were some terrific shots of Obama and Hillary Clinton together, reminiscent of the pictures from Unity:
This picture of a woman moved to tears watching Clinton and Obama take the stage is just great:
And I laughed at a goofy pic of Obama being given a Mickey Mouse cap at the beginning of the day, then blubbed at the pic of him lonesomely walking up the stairs of his place as he left to visit his ailing grandmother:
But my favorite picture of the day, in a day with many fine pictures, was this one of a little boy holding a flag and standing beside someone wearing a shirt emblazoned with Obama's image:
Something about the image of that wee chap, with his sticky-out ears like Obama's and his solemn expression, just compels and moves me utterly.
It's so fucking trite to say we do things for "the children," and I yawn and moan and roll my eyes when the candidates invoke children and families and children and families and children and families over and over until I want to vom. But when I look at that picture, I think about all the horrible shit that McCain and Palin and all their nasty surrogates and degenerate supporters have been throwing at Obama, and I think about the racism watch, and I think, "That's who it's for. Right there." That boy, and his sisters and brothers and friends and cousins and classmates.
It's not for myself that I want to leave the world a little bit better than I found it, after all.
I like that picture. It whispers to me of progress to come.
Obama Leaving Campaign Trail to Visit Ailing Grandmother
Sad news for Senator Obama, as his grandmother, of whom he's said, "She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me," takes a turn for the worse:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is canceling nearly all his campaign events Thursday and Friday to visit his suddenly gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother in Hawaii, a spokesman said.Blub. I'm just wishing really hard right now that she has the chance to see him win.
Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Obama's plane that Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise Obama, was released from the hospital late last week. But he said her health had deteriorated "to the point where her situation is very serious."
..."Sen. Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has always been one of the most important people in his life, along with his mother and his grandfather," Gibbs said. "Recently his grandmother has become ill and in the last few weeks her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious. It is for that reason that Sen. Obama has decided to change his schedule on Thursday and Friday so that he can see her and spend some time with her."
Citing the family's desire for privacy, Gibbs would not discuss the nature of Dunham's illness. It seemed likely that she was close to death, as Gibbs said that "everyone understands the decision that Sen. Obama is making." Dunham turns 86 on Sunday.
Random Morrissey
Because, for no real reason that I can explain, I've had this song stuck in my head for the last couple hours. So, here, I thought I'd infect you, as well. Happy singing:
You're The One For Me, Fatty
Question of the Day
Suggested by Shaker Quixotess: What besides feminism/politics do you like to rant about?
Deer proliferation in our town. Seriously. Don't get me started.
Perspective
In his endorsement of Barack Obama, Colin Powell referred to the photograph of the headstone marking the grave of Cpl. Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan at Arlington National Cemetery.
...it gave his awards--Purple Heart, Bronze Star--showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death. He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn't have a Christian cross, it didn't have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith. And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life.
It sort of puts "Joe the Plumber" into perspective, doesn't it?HT to SFDB.
Man Grabs Women's Breasts; Hilarity Fails to Ensue
by Aunt B. of Tiny Cat Pants
In a nutshell, Pith in the Wind is the blog of The Nashville Scene (which is supposed to be our alternative weekly, but I've yet to figure out what non-normative Nashvillians the paper thinks it speaks for and to) and Tracy Moore is writing at Pith about the man who is running around the Vanderbilt University neighborhood grabbing women's breasts and running off.
Things in this part of town are very tense. I walked two blocks to lunch today and passed three police cruisers and two officers on foot. There is a real fear that the man's behavior will escalate (though, of course, what he's doing is bad enough).
How are they handling it over at Pith?
Well, it's a veritable smorgasbord of ridiculousness. Shall we run down the menu?
1. Check out the title of the post—"Fat, Pathetic Dude Grabs Boobs, Runs." I think this is a two-fold problem. One part of the problem is that, as of the time I'm writing this, this guy is still on the loose, so women in the neighborhood need an accurate physical description of him. The information Moore gives us is this: "A man in his early 30s with 'brown hair with a scruffy mustache and a beard' who weighs between 200-230 pounds." Let me just point out that, without giving us any idea how tall the perpetrator is, we can't know if he's fat. A guy who's 6'4" and weighs 220 pounds is going to look a lot different than a guy who's 5'4" and weighs 220 pounds.
But now, Moore has given us "fat" as a descriptor. We should, then, be on the look-out for a fat guy. But what if he's not fat? What if he's tall or muscular? Now woman are looking out for the wrong type of man.
Second, since there's nothing from the description to actually indicate that the guy is fat, why is it important for Moore to call him fat? I think it's because we're back to that old canard that the only guys who "need" to run around grabbing women's breasts are guys who otherwise couldn't get women. And, of course, we're all supposed to get that no woman would ever actually consent to being with a fat guy, so what other choice does he have?
2. Women need to cover up in order to protect ourselves. "Just a quick reminder to cover up the jugs if you're 'hanging out' around Vandy's campus." I think the problems with this are readily apparent to even the newest feminist, but let me reiterate—this guy is running around assaulting women. He needs to stop or be stopped. This will happen when and if he changes his behavior or the police catch him. It will not happen just because women around campus change our behavior.
3. You probably no longer have "Viable Boob Relevance" after 23. "All the leering, scanning, glancing and sizing up gets old by the time you're 13, and yet, you've still got at least 10 more years of viable boob relevance to go." Apparently, some folks still believe that only young, sexy women are "worth" assaulting.
4. Having boobs and/or a vagina gives you power over men. I don't know if there's an actual resurgence of this idea or if I'm just noticing it more, but I keep seeing this idea that, because heterosexual men are sexually attracted to women, women therefore have power over heterosexual men. And I'm trying to understand that maybe it feels this way to some heterosexual men (and, in Moore's case, some women), but in terms of my own experience, when those men feel that you have some power over them, that's when they feel compelled to assault you in order to prove their dominance, to prove that you don't actually have that power. Seeing Moore joking about 13 year old girls having power over men just serves to illustrate how ludicrous the idea is.
5. Some men just can't help themselves. "Sure, any properly socialized man knows boob-grabbin' is ridiculously out of line, and yet, the world is littered with ample bosoms. Take a weak manchild, his mind already a couple melons short of a fruit salad, tempt him with whimwhams everywhere he goes, and what do you expect?" I keep waiting for men in general to get outraged by this idea that they're monsters that have to be "properly socialized" in order to behave, otherwise, they'd just run around succumbing to their every urge, hurting people willy-nilly without consideration for anyone's feelings but their own. But I think that level of misandry is hard to face. It's tossed out there so casually, like it's just a fact (and serves well the men who do want to behave monstrously, so there's reason to continue to perpetrate it). Still I hate it and wish more men would see it for the deep insult it is.
I get that Moore is trying to be funny. I'm even going to go so far as to say that someone (though clearly not Moore) could write something very (bitterly) funny about a guy who goes around grabbing boobs. But I think the reason her post comes across as mean-spirited and not funny is that she doesn't actually succeed in lampooning the perpetrator.
In her attempt to skewer him, she hits women, fat people, and men in general, but he remains unscathed.
That bugs me. But it bugs me more coming from the "alternative" paper. I mean, seriously, how is any of that an alternative to what we see in the media every day?
The Momentum, He Is Feeling It!
McCain is all "woot!" about his stupid campaign:
"We're very happy with the way the campaign is going," McCain said on the "Fox News Sunday" program. "I've been on enough campaigns, my friend, to sense enthusiasm and momentum, and we've got it."Well, all right then.
Thing is, this weekend, Iain and I went to see "W," the new Oliver Stone biopic about Bush (Four Word Review: "Yawn. Save your dosh."), and there's a scene in which footage of Josh Brolin delivering the "We're going to war in Iraq" speech to the nation is intercut with real footage of Congress from that broadcast. When it cut to a scene of McCain—who wasn't doing anything, just sitting there—the whole audience started laughing.
Mind you, before the movie started, Iain and I noticed that we were by far the youngest people in the theater, except for one pair of black women, who I believe were a couple and were about our age (mid-30s), and a youngish Latino guy who'd come with his elderly mom. Everyone else was significantly older and white. And, ya know, in Indiana.
And just at the mere sight of McCain, they all burst into laughter.
That can't be good.
For him.
Heh.
