What's the matter with you? I think your brain is going soft with all that comedy you are playing with that young girl.

I made the mistake of tuning in to the news just long enough last night to hear that the Massachusetts results are the result of Obama coddling his base and "overreaching."

The narrative from the DLC/ Blue Dog wing of the party is that because liberals refused to compromise the democrats lost their 60 supermajority. A supermajority, I might add, that was clear to anyone paying attention months ago that we didn't really have.

Judging by the comments of "progressive" bloggers like Josh Marshall and Ezra Klein much of Brown's election falls squarely on the shoulders of liberals who continue to make "the perfect the enemy of the good.

I don't pretend to speak for all liberals, but here's how I see the breakdown on some of the major issues confronting the country and why it becomes clear that many, many of us have become completely disillusioned with the democratic party.

HEALTH CARE
OPTIMUM POSITION: Single payer health insurance provided to all legal citizens financed through higher taxes on the wealthy, drug importation allowed.
COMPROMISE POSITION: Government provided national public option coupled with insurance company regulation that would broaden coverage and drive down prices to those in private insurance plans.
LOW-BAR: Medicare expansion coupled with new insurance company regulation.

IRAQ
OPTIMUM POSITION: Immediate withdrawal of all but a handful of token troops, close most permanent bases.
COMPROMISE POSITION: Lengthy (several years) withdrawal of all but a handful of token troops, close most permanent bases.
LOW-BAR: Token withdrawal of troops leaving tens of thousands of soldiers in Iraq and no base closures.

BANKING/ FINANCE
OPTIMUM POSITION: Glass Steagall reinstituted, Banking and Lending institutions separated again, assets of major financial institutions seized and nationalized, executives and decision makes shown the door or prosecuted.
COMPROMISE POSITION: Some re-regulation of finance including controls on executive compensation.
LOW-BAR: Executives called before congress to have their hands slapped every few months but pretty much get to continue on unabated with ruining the economy.

GAY RIGHTS
OPTIMUM POSITION: Repeal of DOMA and DADT. Major speech towards gay rights and push to nationalize gay marriage.
COMPROMISE POSITION: Repeal of DADT.
LOW-BAR: Lip service to gay rights issues.

ECONOMY
OPTIMUM POSITION: Major federalized jobs program with investment in future industry such as green jobs and rebuilding infrastructure. Major and immediate credit card regulation. Mortgage and bankruptcy relief.
COMPROMISE POSITION: Stimulus package build around appeasing concerns of faux deficit hawks rather that what's needed. Token credit card regulation.
LOW-BAR: Weak stimulus package and focus on re-inflating housing bubble rather than addressing core problems with economy.

On almost every issue Obama and the democrats have been weak, spineless corporate suck-ups that weren't even to meet the compromised low-bar for most of the members of the democratic party. As absurd as that is when you put it in the context of 30+ years of proven failure of conservative economic policies, coupled with a clear electoral mandate then Obama's failure to make progress on much of anything important is almost surreal in it's breadth.

Look; if this was a corporation and we were shareholders we could sue the leadership of the democratic party for malpractice. They'

Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!

I watched the speech last night and came away convinced more than ever that we made the right choice in November.

Besides Obama's great ability to communicate complex economic issues in easily understandable terms, I got a kick out of how much of his speech was composed of subtle and not-so-subtle attacks on the opposition. He put Republicans in the position of having to choose to cheer against economic recovery, ending the war in Iraq and making sure CEOs pay their fair share.

When Obama mentioned the deficit and Republicans started catcalling he immediately pointed out that he would be tackling that "that deficit that I inherited." He put the jerks in their place.
Indeed- you could tell from Jindal's response to Obama's speech and the Republican talking points in response to the speech that they simply do not have a solution to Obama. If Republicans weren't being propped up by the Fourth Estate they would be completely irrelevant at this point.

Are we supposed to take a political party seriously when the biggest criticism they can level at the President's take on the state of the union is that the President lied when he said "The nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it." You guys can't see how ridiculous and petty that is? C'mon, really?

This isn't nitpicking, it's picking micro-organisms of nits themselves.

Putting aside the triteness of the "it was Karl Benz not Henry Ford who invented the automobile" line of argument, do you really want to put your political party in the position of advocating that it wasn't an American that built the auto industry, that the United States really isn't number one? That's a political winner.

If I didn't hate those knuckleheads so much I might actually feel sorry for their clueless asses.

Thank You, Rosa.

If I'm sure of anything today it's that wherever Rosa is she's smiling. Thank you, Rosa for making today possible. Thank you for your courage to take those steps towards the front of that bus. Thank you for pushing America to be America.

"Let America be America Again" by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed-- Let it be that great strong land of love Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me, Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope, Tangled in that ancient endless chain Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land! Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need! Of work the men! Of take the pay! Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil. I am the worker sold to the machine. I am the Negro, servant to you all. I am the people, humble, hungry, mean-- Hungry yet today despite the dream. Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers! I am the man who never got ahead, The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream In the Old World while still a serf of kings, Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true, That even yet its mighty daring sings In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned That's made America the land it has become. O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas In search of what I meant to be my home-- For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore, And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea, And torn from Black Africa's strand I came To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me? Surely not me? The millions on relief today? The millions shot down when we strike? The millions who have nothing for our pay? For all the dreams we've dreamed And all the songs we've sung And all the hopes we've held And all the flags we've hung, The millions who have nothing for our pay-- Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again-- The land that never has been yet-- And yet must be--the land where every man is free. The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME-- Who made America, Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain, Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose-- The steel of freedom does not stain. From those who live like leeches on the people's lives, We must take back our land again, America!

O, yes, I say it plain, America never was America to me, And yet I swear this oath-- America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death, The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies, We, the people, must redeem The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers. The mountains and the endless plain-- All, all the stretch of these great green states-- And make America again!

Seems we're all so busy trying to beat the other fellow in making things go faster and look shinier and cost less that Christmas got lost.

Wouldn't it be ironic that as one of Bush's last official acts as President he finally did the right thing for once and acted to bail out automakers?

I won't hold my breath.

But if we had any doubt that Republicans were going to put aside their partisan bullshit for the good of the country after the results of the last election I think the events of this week pretty much dispelled them.

We began the week with Republicans pushing the Clinton rules back into place in the media with the Blagojevich story. Apparently, just as it was in the 90s, innuendo from conservatives once again equals fact. Guilty until proven innocent and all that.

Watch for a strong push from congressional Republicans in the next session to replace Fitzgerald with a special prosecutor willing to dig into more than just this pay to play Illinois stuff. These fuckers play for keeps. Deja vu all over again.

Then we had Republicans take a shit on working Americans as they worked to bust the UAW. The headlines surrounding this are ridiculous. "Senate Bails on Auto Bailout: What Next?" Are you kidding me? How about "Senate Republicans Give American Economy the Andy Dufresne Treatment" as a more accurate headline?


Don't even get me started on this "Corker is a hero" bulshit. He was the Chief Obstructionist. He was an excuse. He was a tool. Nothing more.


Once again I hold out hope that Obama, Reid, Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leadership will finally come to their senses and realize you cannot deal with these people in good faith. They are going to filibuster, and scream and clench their tiny little fists in faux rage at every step of the process as we try to set to work fixing the messes that they made.


Ignore the petty little fuckers. Utilize legislative solutions that work around them. Put everything, including health-care reform into ominbus budget bills that can't be filibustered. If they intend to filibuster then for God's sakes make them really filibuster.


But let's stop pretending Republican Senators care about this country because they don't. Not in the slightest.

It's a perfect moment. A soft light, a scent in the air, the quiet murmur of the city. A surge of love, an urge to help mankind overcomes her.

I haven't slept much this week.

Part of it's been work. We are absolutely nuts at work. It's been early mornings and late nights almost every day.

Another part of it is my son. He got hit in the knee in the last few minutes of the last football practice of the season. I've been worrying that it was a torn ACL and the inevitable surgery in that case. (Thankfully an MRI showed it was his ACL but it was strained, not torn.)

But what's really been keeping me up at night has been the weight of last night's election. I suspect that, like many of you, it's been a little overwhelming when you step back and consider what just happened in the context of this nation's history. The results may have been fate accompli for over a month now, but that doesn't make it any less stunning. Judging by all the tears I saw last night, including on the face of one Tom Brokaw, I think that's a fair assesment.

I had a number of family and friends call me after Obama was declared the winner to share this moment. My best buddy since grade school was one of those people. We're both Ducks who earned undergraduate degrees in history from that great university.

It's difficult to put how we were feeling into words but we both came to the conclusion that Obama's win felt a lot like the fall of the Berlin Wall. The sense that what we were watching unfold live was a historical event of such magnitude that whole chapters of history books will be dedicated to it in the future and the realization that history marches slowly, inescapably forward.

Just consider for a second that the Berlin Wall represented from it's formation in 1961 both literally and metaphorically; the immeasurable power of the totalitarian GDR and Soviet states. These states had absolute control over the lives of their citizens. They controlled what you saw on the news, what you did for a living, what you wore, where and who you could worship and even what you could wear. History ground those "invincible" states and their wall into dust.

History's progress is unstoppable.

I went on a little rant to that effect a couple of days ago at Fran's place. We tend to get caught up in fighting those who, through their actions, try and lean up against the monolithic march of history to try and stop its progress. We (because I most certainly include myself) seem to tend to get caught up in the indignity of those that insist that man doesn't contribute to global warming, or that a woman should never be President or that lesbian and gay Americans shouldn't enjoy the same rights as everybody else.

These are worthy fights but I do think it doesn't hurt us to step back and consider the bigger picture once in a while. Those people that voted on Proposition 8 in California yesterday are not going to win this battle, regardless of the results of that vote. They are fighting history, and just as assuredly as history eviscerated that ugly cement wall in Berlin and the governments it represented or elected an African-American man to the highest office in the land when a little over a hundred years ago he wouldn't even be considered a citizen of this country, history will roll over them as well. It's simply inevitable.

The writing is on the wall.

We're friends 'til the end, remember?

This video is pretty sappy but it still choked me up. Charles is an 86-year old Obama volunteer has lived through the Depression, World War 2, Civil Rights and just recently lost his wife of 69 years. Charles won* a drawing at the office to meet Barack face to face.



(* If I was the one pulling the name out of the box I would've called out "Charles" regardless of which name was on that card. I suspect this may of been in play, but it's not important to the fact he got to meet Barack.)

Don't let the ghosts and the ghouls disturb you, love.

Today I'm going to share with you a brief moment of outrage in what is really becoming a season of hope, so please bear with me.

Through the last several weeks as the McCain supporters have gotten more and more desperate we've watched their racism come out out into the open. We've all seen pictures of the McCain supporters who've taken stuffed Obama monkeys to his rallies. A couple of weeks ago on a Fark thread I ran across this picture--

The funny thing is the guy that posted that picture through a hissy-fit when he was called out on the racist nature of his little photoshop.

Today we have this horrible story being pushed by FOX in which a white woman was supposedly mugged at an an ATM by an Obama supporter who "carved" a backwards "B" on her face when he found out she supported McCain. Because political discussions are always the first topic of conversation during a mugging.

We can debate until we turn blue whether or not Clinton supporter Geraldine Ferraro's comments in the primaries that Obama was only doing as well as he was because of the fact that he's black was a racist comment, but it seems to me that even at it's worst Ferraro's comment pales by comparison to the racist crap coming out almost daily from the Joe the Racists on the political right.

The themes that come to the surface again and again are that African-Americans can't be trusted with the vote or they pull shenanigans (Acorn,) that African-Americans are savage animals that can't control themselves (monkeys) and that African-American men are a threat to white women. Blacks with political power are a danger to God-fearing, white Americans.

None of this is new. As we've watched this racism expressed at McCain rallies and through the actions of his supporters it's brought to mind a movie I saw many years ago in college. (There's very little with me that doesn't bring a movie to mind as you can tell by my schtick with this site.)

D.W. Griffith's 1915 film "The Birth of a Nation" was considered up until the 1960's to be one of, if not the, greatest American films. This despite it's patent racism and story centered around the idea that the Ku Klux Klan were heroes fighting unruly African-American mobs in the Reconstruction Civil War South. In fairness the regard the film was held in didn't stem from it's racist theme, but from Griffith's innovative use of editing and production technique.

There's much to be offended by in this film but here's the scene from that movie that left me nauseous.

It should be noted that the NAACP protested the film upon it's release and, just like the racists of today, D.W. Griffith was publicly hurt by the criticism leveled his way. Like today's jackasses comparing Obama or his supporters to monkeys he just didn't see why people would be offended by his film.

Are you saying it's from the future?

Sometimes my dreams aren't very exciting. For instance last night I dreamed that I was reading a newspaper. Only thing interesting was that the paper was from the future. November 5th to be exact.

OBAMA WINS!

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois was elected the 44th President of the United States yesterday in an historic election marking the first time an African-American will assume the nation's highest office.

A state-by-state breakdown of those returns gave the President-elect more than 345 electoral votes, a commanding victory in the Electoral College, which requires 270 for election. His victory included states such as North Carolina and Virginia given to choosing Republican candidates in the last several Presidential elections.

Mr. Obama's victory speech in Springfield before a raucous crowd of thousands was frequently interrupted by chants of "yes we can!" Mr. Obama roused the crowd with a speech that included the promise that "yes we will."

In a break with tradition there apparently was no concession phone call from Mr. Obama's rival John McCain, nor any formal announcement of concession from his camp. Long time associates of Mr. McCain said this wasn't surprising given Mr. McCain's strongly competitive nature.

WORLD REACTION POSITIVE

Much of the world reacted positively to the news that Barack Obama had won the Presidential election. In Europe, where President George W. Bush enjoyed a contentious relationship with leaders, spontaneous celebrations of thousands of citizens broke out in the streets of Paris, Berlin and other European capitols.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a statement saying "the German government values it's relationship with the United States under President Bush is looking forward to working with President Obama on the many joint challenges facing our two nations."

Average Europeans were less circumspect in their reaction to Mr. Obama's victory. On the Champs-Elysées Charles Faure was part of a group of several thousand French youth waving American flags at passing cars. "It's like you haven't seen an old friend in a long time," Mr. Faure said. "Suddenly he is back at your door and it's wonderful."

KENYA CELEBRATES IT'S 'FAVORITE SON.'

Throughout the nation of Kenya celebrations broke out in cities and villages. In the small village of Alego, from which Barack Obama's father hails, the town square was crowded with dancing and singing villagers. 70-year old Robert Akello took a break from dancing to proclaim "this is big miracle."

RELIEF AT BAHRAIN AIR FORCE BASE

At an "election party" at the Bahrain Air force Base in the Kingdom of Bahrain most of the soldiers interviewed would not state whether they'd voted for Mr. Obama or his rival John McCain. Nevertheless the spontaneous cheering that erupted in the room as the networks declared Mr. Obama the winner provided strong evidence of the preference of these troops.

One soldier who was willing to go on record admitted he had cast his vote for John McCain. "I didn't vote for Barack because I think McCain had more experience," said Corporal Steven Kelly. "But I can live with this."

CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS JOYOUS

Reached by phone at his Rainbow Coalition headquarters Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson said "I never thought we'd reach the top of the mountain," he said. "Words can't express how I feel right now but I wish Martin and Coretta and Rosa were here to see this."

MARKETS RISE ON NEWS

World markets which had lost 54% in the last few months reacted strongly to the news of Mr. Obama's victory. The Dow Jones Industrial gained 1256 points on closing with the NSDQ rising over 400 points. "Normally the markets don't like political change," said one Wall Street Analyst. "But in this case a little shakeup is just what the doctor ordered."

DEMOCRATIC SUPER-MAJORITY PLANS QUICK ACTION

On capitol hill Democratic House and Senate Leaders were quickly coming to terms that the election of Obama along with the now 60 vote majority in the Senate meant that they were able to force legislative action with any Republican support.

In Washington D.C. Senator Hillary Clinton made a statement in front of supporters that at times sounded like a victory speech of her own. "Now that we made sure we have a Democratic President I'm going to make sure we have a Democratic agenda," she said. "That means fixing the economy but it also means we do something about health care."

REPUBLICAN MOOD SOMBER

The mood among Republicans at the news that they were completely shut-out of federal government power for the first time in 25 years was somber. One elected official who declined to be named for this article said "you'd like to try and put a happy face on this but it's pretty clear voters don't like us."

Republican appointees in Federal agencies who would soon be without jobs were even more apocalyptic. "In the past this wouldn't be a problem because we would be able to find a job in the private sector easily after working for Bush," said Interior Department Manager Gramm Wellington III. "With the economy the way it is I'm actually having to send out resumes. If things stay they way they are I might have to move back in with my parents."


What say we make these headlines a reality?

I think I must have one of those faces you can't help believing.

My thoughts on last night's debate-

At times McCain came across like some sort of manic, egomaniacal, beardless garden gnome.

If there was one thing we all could agree on after the last debate that would improve McCain's performance it would be body language. I haven't the slightest doubt that McCain recieved tons of advice to not let his disdain for Obama show on camera. McCain ignored that advice (or couldn't control himself) as he was a full on dick once again.

When the original Star Trek was on the air William Shatner used to get jealous of all the fan mail Leonard Nimoy was recieving. He devised little things to draw attention to himself while the camera was rolling. His strange, stilted speech pattern was one of those things. Another was to have his back turned to the camera when they materialized on the transporter and then spin around quickly. That's what John McCain's weird behavior reminded me of.

McCain was even working the refs during the debate. When Obama was speaking you could see McCain gesturing to Brokaw in the background trying to get Brokaw to cut Obama off. Keep it classy, John.

One of the commentators on CBS after the debate said McCain "moved stiffly" around the stage. I believe the correct word is "doddered."

We often posit that people who are still undecided at this stage of the game are dumbasses. After listening to the comments of of the panel of regular undecided voters on CBS I would have to say we're underestimating their dumbassery. Morons, the lot of 'em.

Obama looked, acted and felt like the President of the United States.

God will not damn a poor lunatic's soul. He knows that the powers of evil are too great for those with weak minds.

It's bad enough that these students at local Christian college George Fox University hung an image of Barack Obama in effigy but the wingnut responses to this incident in the comment section are priceless.

Americans should be outraged at the biased coverage in this election. This story about a bunch of crazy kids makes the headlines and there isn’t a single mention about the Gwen Ifill scandal.

It's just not fair that the media cover this clear act of racism over our wingnut tantrum du jour.

If the effigy had been John McCain, this incident would not have made the news, and nothing would have been done to the students. Seems Barky is always going to get a pass based on race. God Bless America.

Since McCain's about as white as Thurston Howell I don't think we need to worry about racist students hanging an effigy of him.

No doubt what these students did was wrong but where is the outrage when the same thing is done to an image of our soldiers ?

True. We save our outrage for what you assholes did to our ACTUAL soldiers by sending them off to a pointless war in Iraq.

The stupid--- it burns!!

Look at me, Damien! It's all for you.

At first I was a little torn by this story involving a Fifth Grader who was suspended for failing to remove his anti-Obama t-shirt at the school's instructions. I believe very strongly in the First Amendment, even if it's being abused.

But what becomes clear after reading more on this is that the boy's father Dann Dalton is a Grade-A prick.

Dalton was among a group of anti-abortion protesters who marched through an Arapahoe County neighborhood to protest a Planned Parenthood doctor in July 2000, according to a Colorado Springs Gazette story. The protest came in response to a law passed that week by the Arapahoe County Commission that banned “targeted picketing” outside the physician’s home. The picketers, led by Bob Enyart, had been gathering at least once a month in the doctor’s cul-de-sac.

Mr. Dalton argues that this is simply a First Amendment issue with his son Daxx's constitutional rights being violated by the district. The district argues that the rules are in place to keep the focus on *gasp* school by disallowing any sort of speech or behavior that would be disruptive.

Considering Mr. Dalton's own history of lunacy I don't see how the t-shirt can be anything else than an attempt by Dalton to use his son to disrupt the school. His efforts to try and hide behind his son as well as the constitution ring hollow in this instance. He's yelling fire in a crowded theater and then whining when the theater throws him out.

Alright, Leroy, who is the one and only master?

I haven't much if anything about race in this election even though the issue's been hanging out that, surfacing occasionally in the primary and threaded subtextually through much of McCain's "celebrity" attacks on Obama.

I certainly think that race and racism, just like the sexism Hillary Clinton's faced, are important. It's just that as important as those issues are to me the more immediate issues for me in this election are ending the war in Iraq and restoring the constitution to this country.

In those moments where I step back and consider what the Clinton and Obama candidacies have represented for the Democratic party and the country as a whole, I'm a more than a little bit stunned at the implications. I get the same sort of feeling of awe that I got when I watched those Berliners partying on top of that giant spray-painted cement wall twenty years ago. We are watching history unfold in real time.

Last night the Democratic party nominated an African-American guy to be the President of the United States. I could sit here and complain that it took far too long (it surely did) and that the Democratic party regularly lets us down on every issue from privacy to national security (it sure does) but, for now, I'm going to bask in the fact that we got something really, really right.

I've read a number of people over the last year express similar sentiments; that they'd never expected to see this in their lifetimes. Put me in that category. I've never been so happy to be so wrong.

Don't even get me started as to what would happen if Obama actually wins the Presidency. I'm fairly certain my head would explode.


(On the Last Dragon quote - R.I.P. Sho'Nuff who died last week. I chose that quote because of the line directly after it in which our hero Leroy answers "I am." He then proceeds to kick Sho'Nuff's ass.)

We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition: A man confronts you, he is the enemy.

A bunch of other miscellaneous stuff---

Pop star Madonna pisses off John McCain. As would be expected conservatives are throwing a hissy fit. How those guys can see themselves as muy macho while they whine like children who've just had their favorite toy taken away every time someone looks sideways at their candidate just escapes me.

-----------------------------------------------

I watched some of the convention last night. A few observations--

It can't be emphasized enough that the talking heads suck. Most of the rest of the progressive blogsphere has talked about how the chattering hosts were simply clueless about everything they consider themselves "experts" on (I laughed out loud last night at a comment Charlie Gibson made about being a "political junky.")

My personal annoyance was how apologetic the media seemed at having to cover the dirty old democratic convention in the first place. Having to show Michelle Obama's biographical video sent the ABC hosts into a tizzy of warnings that the video was produced by democrats and they promise to show videos produced by republicans at the GOP convention next week. Never has the conservative domestication of the media been more apparent. Those guys are afraid of their own shadow.

------------------------------------------

Kennedy's speech had me in tears. I couldn't shake the feeling this is the last time we're going to see that guy in action. The Kennedy's have become nothing but a punchline to the right in this country but to me they're still heroes.

-----------------------------------------

Shut up about the Clinton/ Obama spat already. There's no there, there. The media want to create a damned story line where none exists.

------------------------------------------

Michelle Obama's speech had me AND my oldest daughter in tears. It's too bad she had to devote part of it to explaining to the audience why she loves America. In a rational world that wouldn't even be in question. We don't live in a rational world.

-------------------------------------------

I'm hoping that tonight and tomorrow night are the nights they trash McCain. Because he must be trashed. No mercy. Cobra Kai!

You always said it couldn't happen here... Then one day we woke up and we were living in a Fascist state.

This won't be true simply for the fact I want very badly for it to be true.

"I have thought for over a year now that Senator Russ Feingold will be Obama's VP."

I can't think of anything else that would shore up the progressive base of the party in the same way as picking Feingold for the VP spot on the ticket would. I know that for me personally Obama could make a pilgrimage on his knees to the blessed shrine of Saint Ronnie of Simi Valley and I wouldn't bat an eye if he'd tapped Feingold.

Pros of Feingold pick

• It would shore up a Democratic base shellshocked by the FISA flip.
• Senate voted 99-1 for the Patriot Act. Feingold was the one sitting senator who gave a damn about liberties.
• It would position a true progressive candidate for the 2016 election.
• McCain-Feingold. "My old pal John went very wrong after that as he now skirts the campaign laws rather than writing them."

Cons of a Feingold pick

• Rumor is there's some dirty laundry surrounding his last divorce.
• He wouldn't be in the senate any more and he's pretty much all we got.
• The Right would go apeshit. Actually this might be a "pro."

Oh please, oh please, oh please...

You know, there's only been one man in my whole life who's ever made me happy. Do you know that?

Just a quick observation on the state of the presidential race even though I'm trying hard to avoid political news.

I did see some of the coverage of Obama's trip overseas, McCain's sniping at same and the media's reaction to all of that and all I can say is that I am now convinced that Barack Obama should not under any circumstances debate John McCain.

Don't get me wrong. Barack Obama is light years more intelligent than John McCain. He understands the issues backwards and forwards. If it was just you, I and these guys sitting down at a kitchen table and discussing issues Barack would wipe the table the geezer.

No, the problem isn't Barack Obama. The problem is the media. Specifically the media's interest in changing the narrative of the presidential race as it's developed to this point. A narrative that favors Obama, despite their best efforts to keep the race close.

The media is looking for any opening to roll out the "McCain is the Comeback Kid" stories they've had saved on their laptops since the general election began. The conventions and debates are going to provide opportunities for that. The actual results of both won't be important. What's important is that the media will be able to seize on any small circumstance of either, magnify it and twist it into something greater and push hard to put John McCain back in this race.

It's not like anything substantive is discussed in the debates anymore anyway. Obama should just say no.

To make a living people do many things God doesn't do.

I'm just going to do post covering all the stuff that's been on my mind and "clear the decks" in in a sense.

WEASELS - We were never going to win on FISA. If you think about it it's been Democrats that have allowed this to come close to passage each time until the netroots screamed bloody murder. I don't have a shadow of a doubt that party leaders decided after the last go round to spike it until the presidential primaries were over in order to give whomever our nominee was cover. Disgusting.

ET TU, BARACK? - A professor of constitutional law that doesn't understand the constitutionality of ex post facto law. It feels so great to see him trying to hide behind the skirts of the Dodd amendment to pull retroactive immunity. The chances of that passing are about as good as me flapping my wings and flying. Filibuster or die Mr. Obama.

DEVIL'S BARGAIN - With FISA in mind we get to vote for the President that will appall us regularly in the tradition of George W. Bush or the President that will disappoint us regularly in the tradition of Bill Clinton. Yay democracy!

THIS LITTLE PIGGY - Swinebread has outed himself as a looming papa. I know Mr. and Mrs. Swinebread in real life and I can tell you that little boy (they know) is going to have GREAT parents. Can't wait to meet the little bugger.

PALACE COUP AT FABER - Overdroid took advantage of the fact I was on vacation to utilize his long forgotten administrative rights to throw a wild Tom Tommorrow party at my blog. Lucky for me the damage was minimized when Overdroid got a spur of the moment job teaching improv to trial lawyers at Pepperdine at an event hosted by the infamous Ken Starr. I am not making that up.

LIKE A PACK OF WILD DINGOS - Ever watched one of those nature programs where a pack of dogs take down a gazelle? That's sort of what Franiam does with James Dobson. She doesn't even leave enough meat on the bones for the jackals.

SEVEN DIRTY WORDS - I have little to add to all the great eulogies of George Carlin but I admired the guy for the simple fact that he lived by nobodies rules but his own. He didn't broker bullshit and he didn't suffer fools. He'll be missed greatly.

TOLD YOU SO - Don Imus is a racist. Anybody with half a brain that listened to his show could tell you that. People with half a brain don't listen to his show so there you are.

IS HE PLUGGED IN? - I'm surprised John McCain is offering a prize for car battery. If anything I see him hoping they develop a better battery for pacemakers.

GOOD NORTHWEST POL - Oregon Representative Peter DeFazio has reintroduced his windfall profits tax on the oil industry bill. Among other things his bill would allow oil companies to avoid the tax if they spent some of any windfall profit on researching alternative energy sources or increasing refining capacity. It would also ban the export of any oil obtained on U.S. soil. Naturally the oil companies are against his bill.

BAD NORTHWEST POL - Washington state congressman Brian Baird who I listened to in an interview this morning. Among other acts of wankery he completely ignored a caller's point on FISA that the domestic spying had begun before 9/11 and argued that the surge was a success. Vancouver dems do us a favor and get rid of that asshole.

WORSTEST NORTHWEST POL- Senator Gordon Smith is a lying asshole. Smith says he's "one of the first to stand up to George Bush and other Republicans to end this war." Yeah, four years after the fact when he grew a spine. Shame on you Elizabeth Furse for going along with this crap.

I DID NOT KNOW THAT - Liberality hates flooding and rap music. If you rap about flooding she'll probably punch you in the face.

HELTER SKELTER- Joe the Troll wonders if Charles Manson associate Susan Adkins deserves freedom because she has six months to live. Only if she carves a little peace sign into her forehead.

COOL! - If I use a list of links to link to a dr. zaius list of links will it collapse the universe? I hope so.

I told you I had a lot on my mind.

You're despicable.

Yesterday the despicable John McCain attacked Barack Obama for supporting Jim Webb's G.I. Bill.

There could be many reasons outside of the obvious political reasons for McCain's actions around this bill and his refusal to support it.

Matt Yglesias points out that even if you take McCain at his word that his stance against increased benefits for veterans it doesn't look good for the aging Senator. He's he either against expansion of benefits because they cost too much (a position that doesn't fit with his regular support of pouring money into the bottomless pit that is the Iraq war) or he's against expansion of benefits because he truly believes it will hurt retention in the armed forces. In other words his dream of 100 years in Iraq will be threatened.

In either case how does McCain not come off as anything other than a batshiat crazy jerk here?

It's injustice I hate, not the Normans.

If I had to reduce down all the stuff that's important to me in this presidential election to one thing it would be that we elect a democrat to replace and undo legacy the most destructive presidency in the history of the Republic.

At the core of my being that's the thing that drives me.

To that end who we picked to be the actual candidate was secondary. Sure, I had my preferences. I supported Kucinich then Edwards then Obama. But in the end the actual candidate was just a vessel towards my dreams of ending the stupid war in Iraq and restoring constitutional government to the United States.

Along the way my fellow Democrats did something incredible which I'm proud to be associated with: they narrowed the field down to a woman and an African-American man thus assuring that whomever the Democratic nominee would be that individual would be making history.

But just because I recognize this fact and respect the importance of such to the individual constituencies within the party to which this possibility represents the fulfillment of a dream I'm still left with the number one thing that's important to me being the election of the democrat as the President of the United States. In this sense it's less important to me that we're making history rather than the Bush presidency IS history.

We could argue about tactics and electability with regards to Clinton vs. Obama vs. McCain until we were blue in the face but I would like to say that, from a purely strategic level, I agree with Rachel Maddow that a nomination fight that goes to the convention will mean with absolute certainty that John McCain is elected president. A convention fight means a Bush third term.

John McCain has carefully cultivated a public persona which the help of a pliant press in which he's a moderate, centrist politician. The Democratic candidate for the presidency is going to have to break that image down and show McCain to be the lying, dishonest, corrupt, warmongering pol that he is. This is going to take some time. Two months isn't enough.

Put aside everything else that's taken place this primary season and take away this central fact: the candidate that decides to take the primary fight to the convention will be hurting the chances that we will elect a democrat as president in November.

They'll be hurting the chance that we'll end the war in Iraq.

They'll be hurting the chance that we'll bring some balance back to the federal courts.

They'll be hurting our chance to slow global warming and our dependence on foreign oil.

They'll be hurting our chance to restore the constitution to it's rightful place as the backbone of our government.

They'll be ensuring that we get courts that refuse to protect the rights of women to make their own decisions over their own bodies, a Civil Rights Department that believes it's mandate is to protect the rights of corporations when threatened by employees and a Justice Department that believes torture and detainment without representation actually fit within the framework that the founders built this country on.

Finish the voting and work out a solution to Florida/ Michigan at the Rules & Bylaws Committee meeting on the 31st but then end this damn thing. The consequences are too great to play political games.

We need a Democrat to be the one sworn in come January.

Or we'll all be history.

If you think that Mick Jagger will still be doing the whole rock star thing at age fifty, well, then, you are sorely, sorely mistaken.

Oh for God's sakes.

Gavin over at Sadly, No! catches wingnuts blowing smoke out of their asses for the umteenth bazillion time over the 75,000 person count of people who went to see Barack Obama speak in Portland last weekend.

Apparently those people were there to see the rock band The Decembrists instead.

Question: Didn’t 75,000 people show up to hear him in Oregon?
Answer: Not really. A free rock concert preceded his appearance, News Busters reported. Oops.

I didn't make it to last Sunday's rally but I did make it a similar rally for John Kerry at the exact same location in 2004. The Kerry rally was on a weekday and drew only 50,000 people.

Kerry was accompanied by actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Jon Bon Jovi who sang "Livin on a Prayer" acoustically. I've always suspected that the majority of those people at that rally were actually there to see DiCaprio or Bon Jovi rather than the guy they hoped would replace George Bush. Now these conservatives sleuths have confirmed my suspicion.

(50,000 fans of "Titanic.")

(These Coast Guard guys kept yelling "I'm king of the world!" at DeCaprio.)

(Bridge trolls dig Bon Jovi.)

(Secret Service Snipers had Bon Jovi t-shirts on.)

(Even John Kerry was there to see Bon Jovi.)

INCONCEIVABLE.

We didn't make it down to the Obama rally yesterday as we simply ran out of time to do all the other stuff we had to do this weekend. I was at the Kerry rally in 2004 which was also at the waterfront and drew 50,000 people. No where near Obama's 75,000. :-)

Not to take anything away from Obama but I do think the eventual democratic nominee would've seen these sort of numbers here. The Portland/ Metro area is about as blue as it can get. It also was a confluence of a whole number of different things that came together perfectly for this event including the weather which has been unseasonally crappy for the last month.

A couple of picks I stole from Kos that I like below. This one reminds me that we may have kids in the White House again. It's been a long time since we had that.

Here's the rally from what looks like the top of the bridge or a copter. They do a Blues festival and Cinco de Mayo celebration at that area of the waterfront every year. A little bit further down the waterfront we have the Navy ships and fair for our Rose Festival. Portland really is beautiful.

I can't decide if I want to be the the girl or the Chihuahua in this picture. I'll probably go with the dog but it's a toss up.