Fred Bramante, Member of McCain's New Hampshire Leadership Committee and 2008 Alternate RNC Delegate, Endorses Barack Obama for President: "His endorsement marks the first time nationally that a delegate or alternate delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention has publicly announced their decision to support Sen. Obama."
lol your party hates you
[H/T to Shaker MaryB.]
Oof
The World Watches With Bated Breath
The Economist, which today endorsed Barack Obama, has on its site a Global Electoral College Map, showing how the world would vote if it could.
Obama is currently crushing McCain 9,048 electoral votes to 324. The only indubitably red nation in the world is Iraq.
Not exactly a scientific model, but it's still pretty interesting. Explanation is here.
Yes We Can (Answer Letters)
[Please note new "Blub Alert" icon—and consider yourself duly warned.]
Shaker Constant Comment just sent me this story, which, had it happened to me when I was 7, would have been like my birthday, Halloween, and Christmas all rolled into one:
A little more than a month [ago], teacher Joyce Ben-KiKi had [7-year-old Aron Mondschein and his second-grade classmates] each send letters to a famous person as part of a language arts lesson. Ben-KiKi wrapped the exercise around well-known children's book character "Flat Stanley," so along with the letters, the children each tucked a Flat Stanley figure they had made into each envelope.Two other boys in the class also wrote letters to Obama, and they received replies shortly afterward.
"I told them not to expect a letter back," Ben-KiKi said. "I told them these people are very busy and most likely will not write back."
The list of recipients was impressive: Yankee third basemen Alex Rodriguez; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Olympic gold medalist Mark Spitz; Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain. [Aron wrote his letter to Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama.]
Obama was the only one to write back.
…Obama's three-page letter to Aron described Flat Stanley's visit with him and his staff in Washington, D.C. It chronicled their busy day together, which included coffee with constituents, a Senate committee meeting and a trip to the gym. It also had historical facts about the U.S. Capitol, details of Obama's job and a confession from Obama.
"Sometimes I get a little nervous before talking in front of a crowd, but Flat Stanley helped me practice the speech," Obama wrote. "He made me recite it in front of him and then even gave me some advice so the speech would go smoothly. Flat Stanley is really a great coach."
Amy Mondschein, who is Aron's mother, says she and her husband rarely talk politics at home, except to teach Aron "that everybody has a choice in the election, and we have to respect that. It's their right to like whichever candidate they do and that's the way it is in the United States. That's why we live here." He excitedly told her the other day: "Mommy, when I'm 18 I get to vote."
Given this post, you can imagine how I feel about that.
[As an aside, this should go without saying, and yet probably doesn't: I'm not presuming Obama actually took time himself to write the letters, although he probably did sign them. I'm crediting him with running a campaign in which stuff like this gets paid attention to. It's not always the case. Hillary Clinton also has a great reputation for details like these, as another example. I don't know and have never spoken to anyone involved in Obama's campaign, but I do know some people who work for Clinton, and I obviously know some people who worked for John Edwards, and there are serious efforts made within campaigns who prioritize responsiveness to respond to as many people as possible.]
Caption This Photo
Mac and Cheese
Joe Wurzelbacher, also known as 'Joe the Plumber', with Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, waves during a McCain campaign stop in Sandusky, Ohio, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2008. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Sunday School, Thursday Edition: Bible Stories With Deeky: Moses and the Golden Calf, Parts 1 & 2
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away there once was a boy named Moses. He survived a very late-term (fourth trimester) abortion at the hands of a Muslim and enemy of freedom named The Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was a pro-abortion baby-hater and advocate of same-sex marriage. Needless to say, he had no business being around children, so Moses's caretaker (Grandma Moses) chucked him in the Nile. Because he loved the baby Jesus and prayed a bunch, Moses was not eaten by crocs, but instead rescued and made an honorary Egyptian.
That was all cool until God got a wild hair and decided to start giving a shit about the Israelites and commanded Moses to lead them to the Promised Land. The Egyptians didn't like this idea because they were lazy and didn't like to do anything themselves and had made all the Jews their slaves. "Sucks to be you," said Moses and told Yul Brenner they were gonna book. Yul was pissed and asked Allah to stop them, but Moses's God was bigger than Yul's God and He put the serious smackdown on the Egyptians.
God unleashed the Ten Plagues™ on Egypt which included: rivers of blood, raining frogs, prop comics, stubbed toes, and halitosis. God even killed all the Egyptian babies, just to show he wasn't fucking around. (As if raining frogs wasn't proof enough.) God's pro-life street cred was not tarnished by that last one. This was later made into a movie starring Hilary Swank.
So, Moses and the Israelites wandered the desert for forty years. There was no MapQuest back then. And even though God had no problem raining fire and locusts down on an entire country, He couldn't be bothered to give Moses a fucking compass.
While camped out near Mt. Sinai, God turned into a burning bush, and told Moses to come visit him up at his ski cabin in the hills. He had something for him. Moses put his son in charge while he was on vacation, which turned out to be just like that movie Risky Business, where all hell breaks loose while Dad is away.
Moses's son Aaron went around the village and demanded everyone give him their bling so he could melt it down into a statue of a calf. This was not socialism, by the way. The Israelites worshipped the Golden Calf, and when Moses got back, boy was he pissed! As it turns out, that was at the top of The List of Very Bad Things he had just been given by God. Moses then smashed the Golden Calf and killed everyone who had worshipped it. "Sucks to be you."
The moral of this story: Worshipping God = Good. Worshipping Idols = Bad. (Also, Don't fuck with God, he kills babies.)
Fast-forward 9,000 or so years.
Nouveau-Israelite, God Channel TV host and biblical scholar Cindy Jacobs attempted to prove you can serve God and Mammon. How? By worshipping a Golden Calf. Like Moses, God speaks directly to her, and He recently said "Nevermind all that shit I wrote in the Ten Commandments, get a bunch of people down to Wall Street, tout de suite. I need you to get your prayer on. And I hate gays."
The ever-obedient Jacobs put together the Day of Prayer for the World's Economies, which culminated with the laying of hands upon Wall Street's Golden Bull yesterday. (See image here.) God responded with a 2% increase on the Dow Jones.
Hallelujah.
Demockrasee
I just got back from voting. Yay, me.
The library that I went to obviously wasn't prepared for today. I wouldn't say there was chaos, but the line wound around the library in a really ridiculous fashion, and when you finally got to the room with the voting machines, everything was a mess. Still, I waited patiently (glad I brought a book) for two hours, and cast my vote.
Electronic voting machine.
Ugh.
The little paper printout on the side reassured me a little bit, but I just have too much mistrust for these things to feel completely relaxed. However, upon returning to my office, Melissa had sent me this link that made me feel better.Yesterday we posted a quick round-up of the various voter-suppression schemes being pushed by Republicans in swing states around the country. And after looking at the list, one thing quickly becomes clear: most of the efforts have failed.
It's a nice little list of various vote suppression schemes that aren't working, so if you need a little pick-me-up, check it out. This isn't to say, of course, that all of them are failing, so we must remain alert and ready to stop this whenever it happens. Examples:
Meanwhile, hilariously, Michelle Malkin (no link, you know where to find her if you must) is continuing to gripe about voter fraud, but her big issue is this evil, sinister, horrible, vote suppressing button available at The Gap:
This button, by the way, was designed by John Waters.
Sometimes life is beautiful.
Update: I just looked at some of the comments on Malkin's post about this button, and I started laughing so hard at this one that I had to step out of my office for a moment:Did anyone else notice that there is red on the top of the button and many stars as well? Perhaps i’m off on a limb, but is it possible they are sending subconscious communist propaganda?
I wish I could buy John Waters a drink, right now.
Here is a picture of two men who hate each other.
So the media keeps telling me. And I believe it—because they look like they will tear each other's throats out any moment now…!
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., speaks with former president Bill Clinton at a rally at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
(More like: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and former president Bill Clinton grin like they're hopped up on goofballs from a combination of exhaustion and ZOMG we might actually win this thing.)
Money Well Spent?
The Obama campaign reportedly paid around $3 million to air their 30-minute commercial last night. So how'd it work out?
The combined overall household rating for Senator Barack Obama’s Wednesday night infomercial, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 21.7.$3 million to reach more than 1 out of 5 households across the country sounds like a pretty good investment. (I'm kind of surprised it was that cheap—although politicians do get the bargain-basement ad rates.)
I've read a few people complaining about the expenditure—in almost every case the rhetorical is about how many hungry children that could feed. Well, $3 million could indeed feed lots of hungry children, but a McCain administration would undoubtedly, like the Bush administration, create millions more hungry bellies, under the age of 18 or not, across the nation. So, in the long view, the investment makes sense, if it helps Obama beat McCain—and if Obama's going to pursue policies that reverse that trend (which is probably the one thing I feel most comfortable trusting he'll do).
None of that changes my belief that presidential campaigns should be 90 days with a maximum expenditure of like 30 bucks. (Okay, maybe a little more than that.) But within the current state of campaign law and practice, it was justifiable. Reasonable within an unreasonable paradigm. And, by the way, perhaps the greatest incentive for the GOP to start seriously advocating campaign reform, now that there's a Dem on the scene who's gaming the system more successfully than they are. Oh, the irony.
What do you think?
Action Item
Shaker LizardOC emailed me that there was a DOS attack on the No on 8 website, which is the main informational and fundraising portal for the No on 8 campaign.
I'm getting to the No on 8 website just fine now, but it's a good reminder about the reality that activism isn't free. It costs money to maintain a website—never mind the costs of the extremely important campaign it's supporting to protect marriage equality in California.
So, if you can, go to No on 8 or Equality California's No on 8 donation page and make a donation.
Teaspoons ahoy!
UPDATE: Also give some love to Vote No on Prop 102 in Arizona, Vote No on Act 1 in Arkansas, and Vote No on Amendment 2 in Florida! (Thanks, Shaker LibraryPrincess!)
Spying and Terrorism are Hilarious
John McCain is a huge jackass. I know that's like the hugest "duh" of all time at this point, but I'm running out of ways to convey my well-earned contempt for him.
For those who can't hear the audio at the link, here's a transcript of the relevant bit:
Reporter: Senator McCain's day began with a round of interviews on some of Miami's popular Spanish-language radio stations. One of the hosts, Enrique Santos, told McCain he was planning to cast his ballot the next day and remained undecided.Of course it was. Because spying on American citizens and terrorism are fucking hilarious. Just like bombing Iran, murdering Jon Stewart, calling Hillary Clinton a bitch, domestic violence, and rape are fucking hilarious.
McCain: We have surveillance cameras, and we'll know how you vote, okay? [laughter] So, you, uh, I would suggest, if you vote the wrong way, you hire someone to start your car tomorrow morning. [laughter]
Reporter: That was a joke.
Quite an awesome sense of humor that guy's got.
[H/T to Shaker Denise in comments.]
Daily Kitteh
Shaker Darla's friend Elaine rescued a mother and her kittens recently and is committed to finding all five kittens good homes. She's already paid for the first round of shots, and is desperate to find adoptive parents for these little dolls, so if you're interested, and are near (or can get to) the Madison, NC area, email me and I'll put you in contact with Elaine. (UPDATE: Elaine also adds she'd be willing to drive 3 hours one way to meet someone with a kitten.)
Hi there! We were born under a bush next to Elaine's front door. My mom is scared of humans, so she picked out a really nice bush for us to hide under. When the humans in the house found us, they got very nervous and were afraid we might be eaten by a nasty opossum. So they saved us and put us in a warm bed on the porch.
Now the humans feed us from a bottle three times a day to give my mom a break. And she does the rest. My mom is starting to trust the humans more, because she realizes they are here to help us grow strong and healthy. She sits close to the humans now, and watches over us as they try to feed all 5 of us with just two bottles. It can get a little messy sometimes.
Like all kids, though, kittens grow up fast and our mom can't take care of us forever. We need to find humans who love fluffy, adorable kittens and will raise them as their own. We promise to use the litter box, leave your Christmas ornaments on the tree, and purr in your ear every night. Will you help us? Unlike our mom, we are not afraid of humans. We love to cuddle. We will love you.
If you can take one of us home, email Liss.
Quote of the Day
He said, "I’m tired of these judges who want to follow what the Founding Fathers said and the Constitution. I want judges who have a heart, have an empathy for the teenage mom, the minority, the gay, the disabled. We want them to show empathy. We want them to show compassion." - Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) on Barack Obama's judicial appointment philosophy.
In the first place, I can't find any record of Barack Obama saying any such thing.
And second, it's not "the gay," Senator. It's "teh gay." If you're going to bash us, at least get it right.
Dora the Voter
North Charleston Woman Uses Last Moments In Life to Vote:
Very little was missing in Dora Fitzgerald's 93 years of life, she had a marriage of 65 years and family that spreads generations, but politics was never a passion until the final year of her life.Mrs. Fitzgerald was born before American women had the right to vote. That women born pre-suffrage and children of slaves are voting in this election, it really underlines how immediate that history still actually is, and why this election has been fucking awesome for so many people.
"She was very moved for Barack Obama's passion for fixing things, and his articulate way of delivering his message and she just decided she was going to vote for him," said her daughter, M. Fitzgerald. …"She said I don't know if I'm going to live that long, but I plan on sticking around to vote for him."
Fearful that November was too long to wait, her daughter sent for an absentee ballot. It arrived last week.
"She made her mark, and we put it in the envelope, my brother and I walked to the mailbox, it was 11 o'clock Wednesday morning and I said 'Mom it's in the mail, you've done your thing, Barack's going to win,' and she kind of smiled and it was kind of a deep sigh, a sigh of relief, and in less than an hour later, she died," said M. Fitzgerald.
…Mrs. Fitzgerald was born in 1915 and according to her family, she voted in 19 presidential elections.
[H/T to Shaker CJ_in_VA.]
Dire
McCain loses Thatcher voter (!) Anne Applebaum, prompts George Will to go off on him, and can't even secure the endorsement of Francis Fukuyama; says Emptywheel: "That's right, the guy who literally wrote The End of History has figured out that Barack Obama is history in the making." Zoinks.
Though I'm not sure anything makes McCain look more destined to lose than his own campaign preemptively scapegoating their veep nominee for a loss that has yet to happen.
On the Campaignvertisement
I've got a new piece up at The Guardian's Comment is free America about Obama's broadcast last night:
[R]ealizing that millions upon millions of people, more than I ever would have imagined at the outset of this thing (and how pleased to have been wrong I am) across the nation were concurrently noting his presidentialicious deportment, I considered how genuinely amazing it is that in less than a week, America could have its first-ever African-American president-elect. The enormity of it enveloped me as I watched – and letting myself be overcome with (dare I say it?) hope, felt thrilling and scary and silly and profound at the same time, and most of all reckless.Read the whole thing.
As I am a progressive, a feminist, and typically a Democratic voter who voted for Bill Clinton just because I hoped to have Al Gore as my president someday (sob), one could say I've become rather adept at managing my political expectations – a self-defence mechanism exacerbated by the grim steeliness required to manage the despondence induced by eight interminably long years of wretched Bushery. The resulting abnegation of unfettered hopefulness has meant that it's really only been in the past couple of weeks I've allowed myself to contemplate the increasingly likely possibility of a President Obama.
Now that the rigid containment of my expectations, in preparation for and fear of yet another Republican administration, starts to slack with the encouragement of enticing polls and the promising echoes of what sounds suspiciously like a death rattle emanating from the McCain campaign's general direction, there emerges a glimmer of Hope.
Are You Experienced?
The latest McCain ad asks,
Would you get on a plane with a pilot who has never flown? Would you trust your child with someone who has never cared for children? Would you go under with a surgeon who has never operated?The job of President of the United States is unique. So by their logic, the only person qualified to be elected president is a former president.
By the way, given John McCain's history of crashing jets, using the pilot analogy is probably not a good idea.
HT to TPM...and Jimi Hendrix.
(Cross-posted.)
David Tennant leaving Doctor Who
Sad news for some Doctor Who fans:
Tennant stepped into the Tardis in 2005, and will leave the role after four special episodes are broadcast next year.There's a video interview at the link. The person who get tapped to be the next Doctor will have some big shoes to fill.
He made the announcement after winning the outstanding drama performance prize at the National Television Awards.
"When Doctor Who returns in 2010 it won't be with me," he said.
[...]
Tennant will appear in a Christmas special, titled The Next Doctor, before filming four more specials in January.
"They'll be the four last stories that I do," he said.
Hmm
and made a huge mess on the office floor?
Hmm?
Might you know anything about this, Livsy?
You can run, but you can't hide, Sophs.
Seriously.
Don't think I don't see you, Tilsy.
This is a three-puss job if ever I saw one.
Another Reason to Vote for Obama
Well, now I know where a lot of people are going to be spending eternity: in Pitchfork City. According to Janet Porter, you cannot be a Christian and vote for Barack Obama, and if you do, you're going to Hell.
To all those who name the name of Christ who plan to willfully disobey Him by voting for Obama, take warning. Not only is our nation in grave danger, according to the Word of God, so are you.Actually, I guess for those of us who don't call ourselves Christian -- at least on her terms -- we don't have anything to worry about; it's only the Christians like her that have to plan on sweatin' to the oldies with Old Scratch if they vote for Mr. Obama. And it looks like it lets the Jews and the Muslims and the Hindus and everybody else who doesn't meet her rather un-Christian standards (what was that bit about "judge not lest ye be judged"?) off the hook, too. Hey, free pass, everybody!
[...]
To those who call themselves by the name of Christ who ignore what God says about life and marriage, who and are clinging to a fantasy of economic gain, think again.
Obama will use your tax dollars to kill innocent children, and then he'll take your paycheck and use it to "spread the wealth around."
[...]
Be forewarned: If you willfully disobey God on life and marriage because of race or false hope for the economy, you will usher in the kind of change that brought the Soviet Union to collapse.
[...]
If the word of God matters more to you than your perception of personal gain, Joel 2:12 issues a call to repentance I pray you will heed:"Now, therefore," says the LORD, 'Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning'" (Joel 2:12).Then obey Him in the voting booth and out of it. If not, do us all a favor and quit calling yourself a Christian.
I wonder; when God calls Ms. Porter, what name shows up on the Caller ID?
HT to Pam.
(Cross-posted.)
