Pardoning a real turkey

In Thanksgiving Tradition, Bush Pardons Scooter Libby In Giant Turkey Costume

The National Security dream team

More roll-outs for the Obama Administration expected next week:

[Current Defense Secretary Robert Gates] is expected to be rolled out immediately after the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend as part of a larger national security team expected to include Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, as Secretary of State; Marine Gen. Jim Jones (Ret.) as National Security Adviser; Admiral Dennis Blair (Ret.) as Director of National Intelligence; and Dr. Susan Rice as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

This according to ABC News. OK, so keeping Gates on for another year, as ABC reports, may not be a dream, but am I the only politigeek who is thrilled by the notion of Susan Rice stepping into the United Nations Building as our next ambassador? We can at least agree, can we not, that she sure beats the hell out of John "Lose-10-stories-of-the-building-and-it-wouldn't-make-a-difference" Bolton.

Starting to remember what quality leadership feels like? Me too. =D

Prop. 8 as the death-rattle of religious paternalism

Rather than a show of strength by the religious right, the entire movement behind Prop. 8 may very well be a last strike by a disintegrating power structure. So says author Richard Rodriguez in this great interview on Salon. (As further evidence of the disintegration of that structure, I submit today's Florida court decision, finding in favor of a gay foster couple petitioning to adopt their foster sons, and finding Florida's legislative ban on gay adoption unconstitutional.)

One of Rodriguez's key points is that, in their battle with gay marriage, churches have chosen make the sin more important than the family, have chosen to expel gays even as that expulsion breaks the family structure, both in terms of gay parents and gay children.

Here are some key portions of the interview:

American families are under a great deal of stress. The divorce rate isn't declining, it's increasing. And the majority of American women are now living alone. We are raising children in America without fathers. I think of Michael Phelps at the Olympics with his mother in the stands. His father was completely absent. He was negligible; no one refers to him, no one noticed his absence.

The possibility that a whole new generation of American males is being raised by women without men is very challenging for the churches. I think they want to reassert some sort of male authority over the order of things. I think the pro-Proposition 8 movement was really galvanized by an insecurity that churches are feeling now with the rise of women.

...The pro-8 campaign calls itself the Protect Family Movement, even though the issue of family was the very reason gays needed to have marriage. There are partners in gay unions now who have children, and those children need to be protected. If my partner and I had children, either through a previous marriage or because we adopted them, I would need to be able to take them to the emergency room. I would need to be able to protect them with the parental rights that marriage would give me. It was for the benefit of the family that marriage was extended to homosexuals.

...Now these churches are going after homosexuals as a way of insisting on their own propriety. They are insisting that they have a role to play in the general society as moral guardians, when what we have seen in the recent past is just the opposite. I mean, it's one thing for the churches to insist on their right to define the sacrament of marriage for their own members. But it's quite another for them to insist that they have a right to define the relationships of people outside their communities. That's really what's most troubling about Proposition 8. It was a deliberate civic intrusion by the churches.

Obama's political capital

It was the linkage of these two concepts that, for me, really epitomized the arrogance of the Bush Presidency: "mandate" and "political capital". After winning ("winning") the 2004 election, Bush used these words together in a way that really was completely decoupled from reality.

So imagine my delight when I found a new example of what political capital really is.

On Fresh Air this morning, Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid spoke about the perception of Barack Obama by world leaders. Even before assuming the Presidency, Obama enjoys immense popularity in Europe and elsewhere. There is a prevalent feeling that the Obama Presidency represents a new hope for positive relations with the United States. Rashid said that, in his meetings with world leaders, across the board the sentiment is the same: "We can't say no to Obama."

This isn't just chumming up to the Europeans. These good relations have a tangible effect that the Bush Administration apparently wrote off from the get-go. Already, Rashid points out, Denmark and Sweden have become more supportive of the U.S., sending for the first time combat troops to Afghanistan in support of the coalition efforts there. Certainly other NATO allies will be called to contribute more, as well, once Obama takes office. That means less pressure on American forces and less expenditure of American blood.

That, my dears, is political capital. Not capital born of an electoral mandate (though certainly Obama's 6% margin of victory blows Bush's squeaker elections out of the water) but capital born of identity. Barack Obama commands political capital across the globe by virtue of who he is, how he thinks and what he says.

In a world that is now so fragile, that is capital we can spend.

And, while we're at it, let's just celebrate that we're entering into an era where, once again, words and phrases will be expected to comport with reality.

More about us baby-eating Democrats

Seriously, every time I hear this crap I want to punch someone. Are conservatives so self-absorbed that they believe this? I know a couple of Republicans who make me feel like they really, in their heart-of-hearts, think this way:

Barone: Media mad that Palin didn't have an abortion

Political analyst Michael Barone has an interesting explanation for the media's coverage of Sarah Palin. In a talk he gave Tuesday, Barone said:

The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby. They wanted her to kill that child. ... I'm talking about my media colleagues with whom I've worked for 35 years.

Barone has apologized for his remarks, which had prompted some attendees to head for the exits. In an e-mail to Politico, Barone said he "was attempting to be humorous and ... went over the line."

― Alex Koppelman

UPDATE: If you would like to write to Barone's home publication, US News & World Report, to tell them what an irresponsible ass he is, please do so here.

The First Family and multi-generational living

I was struck and intrigued upon hearing MSNBC's Nora O'Donnell report that Michelle Obama's mother would be moving into the White House with the new First Family.

In fact, Michelle Obama's mother has assisted in much of the child rearing while the Obamas were on the road campaigning for Papa Obama. And what is notable here is that, while the Obamas can certainly afford nanny care, they choose family care.

Yet another indication of the "realness" of President-elect Obama and his family: they can afford professional childcare, would probably appreciate the value of a teacher-nanny, but see more value in incorporating the extended family. The Jolie-Pitt family also went public recently with their multi-generational approach to rearing their burgeoning brood, with Pitt's parents living with the family to assist at the birth of new twins.

In our society, it seems like multi-generational child rearing has been squarely in the conversational domain of religious right-ists and evangelicals. It was resigned to a "family values" issue. In the spirit of taking "family values" away back from the religious right and restoring it to all of us who love our families...

Multi-generational child rearing isn't just free childcare for strapped families. It reinforces the family's own values, traditions, beliefs and customs in a way that no one or two parents alone can quite accomplish. In a culture that homogenizes our kids via television and mass marketing tie-ins - and, don't get me wrong, there's a valid role for a culture that reinforces our sameness and a commonality of language - grandparents are able to change the focus and introduce kids to new activities and hobbies, old family stories, a different voice of authority to deal with, and a reinforcment of what matters to your family.

It seems like a gimme, but its a model we haven't seen very much in our social limelight. It will be fun to see in the White House over the next 4-8 years.

Bush Admin's bait and switch

See this big shiny thing here?! Over here! The humongous $700 billion "bailout bill" that is going to scare the crap out of you?? Pay close attention to it! Very close!

... And don't notice this $140 billion bank giveaway that we're going to do while you aren't looking.

This gem from yesterday's Washington Post made me so angry I had to wait until today to even write anything about it. Here are some key details about what the Administration took from our Federal coffers and gave away to our shambles of a banking system:

The financial world was fixated on Capitol Hill as Congress battled over the Bush administration's request for a $700 billion bailout of the banking industry. In the midst of this late-September drama, the Treasury Department issued a five-sentence notice that attracted almost no public attention.

But corporate tax lawyers quickly realized the enormous implications of the document: Administration officials had just given American banks a windfall of as much as $140 billion.

..."It was a shock to most of the tax law community. It was one of those things where it pops up on your screen and your jaw drops," said Candace A. Ridgway, a partner at Jones Day, a law firm that represents banks that could benefit from the notice. "I've been in tax law for 20 years, and I've never seen anything like this."

More than a dozen tax lawyers interviewed for this story -- including several representing banks that stand to reap billions from the change -- said the Treasury had no authority to issue the notice.

...No one in the Treasury informed the tax-writing committees of Congress about this move, which could reduce revenue by tens of billions of dollars. Legislators learned about the notice only days later.

DeSouza, the Treasury spokesman, said Congress is not normally [my emphasis] consulted about administrative guidance.

Because, you know, the circumstances we're now in are just, you know, normal.

Lieberman's role shaking out

Today was the first of several expected meetings between Senate majority leader Harry Reid and Benedict Arnold Senator Joe Lieberman.

I say that with some tongue in cheek. Lieberman's role in the party has been the subject of much hot speculation, and I have my own opinions about why the party should not go after Lieberman with so much blood-lust.

Politico's John Bresnahan reports on the meeting that it looks as though Lieberman will be stripped of his charimanship on the Homeland Security Committee and perhaps be given a new subcommittee chairmanship as some compensation.

Seems like a fair trade. Lieberman needs to be taken out of his leadership role in the party, not for endorsing John McCain, but for so viciously attacking Obama and repeating untruths and distortions that served the GOP interest. That is not party leadership behavior. However, the party I respect is a party that respects the right of its members to follow their conviction and support those outside of the party whom they truly believe would best serve the country. While I disagree with Lieberman's views on Obama to the strongest possible degree, it is right for the party to make a place for him under its tent as long as he shares the core party values.

The ineptitude of Palin

In a first of what will probably be many, many revelations about the unfortunate pick of Sarah Palin as running mate, this interview between Fox News' Shepard Smith and Carl Cameron is particularly stunning.

Among the accusations put forth by the McCain campaign:

• Palin did not know Africa was a continent, but thought it was a country.
• Palin did not know which countries are in NAFTA. (That's the North American Free Trade Agreement. You could probably guess the countries, could you not?)
• Palin was prone to blame and anger.
  
• Palin refused to prepare for her disastrous Katie Couric interview.

While many on the right who are devoted to the notion of Palin for Pres in 2012 are swearing revenge against McCain staffers who spread these stories, it seems to me that the McCain campaign would have no interest in exaggerating how bad their veep pick was. Check it out:

This historic moment

Before I move on to obsess about what we need to do next as a nation, I should pause to acknowledge just what this moment means.

It wasn't just about Barack Obama's election last night. It was about the day. It was about the process. It was about the illiterate black man to went to his polling place with help from a friend to cast his vote. The middle aged man in Los Angeles who waited for hours in line to vote because, as he said, this time his vote mattered. It was about my 18-year-old cousin, a white girl from an exurb who voted for the first time yesterday and will never know a time when a black candidate wasn't entirely possible.

But it was very much also about The Win. About the young woman who fell to her knees and sobbed upon hearing the news and whom a cameraman, to his credit, held on for solid minutes as this moment sank in to all of us who understood. About the children of all colors who will know as absolute fact that they can be anything they want to be in America. About those few who fought in the darkest days, men like John Lewis and Jesse Jackson, who had no real right to think that they would ever see this day and who, thankfully - so thankfully - were there to usher it in and remind us what the human cost of this journey has been.

We are a better country today. We are the fulfillment of our promises. And we are poised to make it mean something.

Now get to work.

Another Senate seat in the blue column

According to the Oregonian tonight, Jeff Merkley (D) wins Gordon Smith's (R) Senate seat. You'll recall that Smith garnered national attention running ads that failed to mention that he was a Republican and went further, touting his work in the Senate with Barack Obama.

Turns out that ain't blue enough for Oregon, even in an election where, surprisingly, many Republicans held on to their Senate seats with incumbents largely hanging on to their seats, despite Congress' nadir approval ratings.

Zombies for Obama

Feeling a little empty now that the election is over?


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Bill Ayers speaks

The man who was quite possibly the most disciplined character of this political season, "unrepentant terrorist" Bill Ayers, finally spoke to a reporter yesterday. And - would you believe it? - turns out he's actually... repentant. Could ya have guessed? Could ya? Huh?

Here are some choice bits:

"Pal around together? What does that mean? Share a milkshake with two straws?" Ayers said in his first interview since the controversy began. "I think my relationship with Obama was probably like thousands of others in Chicago. And, like millions and millions of others, I wish I knew him better."
...

Asked Tuesday if he wishes he had set more bombs, Ayers answered, "Never."

He also said he had regrets.

"I wish I'd been wiser," he said. "I wish I'd been more effective. I wish I'd been more unifying. I wish I'd been more principled."

Change has finally come

Now let's get to work.

Here are the results as they come in:

What if this was your FIRST TIME?

A message from my 18-year-old cousin, sent from her iPhone, on this, her first election day:

I officially voted!!

Obama, no on 8 and 4!!!!

Imagine if this was the first vote you'd ever cast. Pretty special. Let's not forget how historic today is and how important it will be to say that you were a part of it.

No matter what, the lefties are winning

Fun Fact:
Whether John McCain or Barack Obama wins this election, our next President will be the third consecutive left-handed President.

Perspective from one who's seen voting

Another election day story, this one from Christiane Amanpour on her blog, In the Field:

This election will change the world

Posted: 1613 GMT

NEW YORK — Finding myself in New York City this U.S. election Day, I saw scenes that reminded me of the first democratic elections I covered in Afghanistan in 2004, or Iraq in 2005.

Voting lines in New York wrapped right around the block.

Scenes that reminded me of the historic election in South Africa in 1994 when a black man, Nelson Mandela, was elected president thus ending generations of white minority rule known as apartheid.

Or 1998 in Iran when women and young people turned out en masse to elect the first ever reform president, the moderate cleric Mohammad Khatami.

The enduring motif from those elections were the massively long lines at the polling centers. Men and women standing patiently, sometimes for hours, to cast their first ever vote for a hopeful secure future.

And that’s what I saw this morning in New York City as the polls opened. As I rode my son to school by bike, we passed a public school-turned voting center that made us gasp.

There were lines wrapped right around the whole block.

People were waiting happily, patiently, with their take-away coffee cups, snapping pictures of each other, recording what they clearly believed was their role in this historic democratic drama.

I asked some whether they had ever stood in line so long to vote here in the U.S. “Never” they said, smiling. TV and radio report similar long queues across the country.

Remember, the U.S. is never known for its high voter turnouts.

Everywhere you look the mood smacks of history…almost a foregone conclusion. Even New York City’s right-wing leading tabloids, are calling it for Obama.

These past few days, people riding in elevators, walking the corridors of their workplace, hopping in cabs or taking care of their kids, have all been discussing their plans for today, election day: Planning not just to cast their own vote, but to help shuttle the elderly, and cajole new young voters to the polls.

Meantime cable and broadcast TV networks can barely contain themselves: Newspaper articles quote news executives all but saying they will be able to call the election as soon as polls close early evening.

No election has electrified the U.S. like this since 1968. But the whole world wishes it could cast a vote in this one. Whatever happens, this U.S. election will change the world. Stay tuned.

John Cusack on The Big Lie

I'm crushing on him harder than the time he held up a boom box in the rain.

Check out John Cusack's capitalist critique on the Huffington Post. Here's a choice bit:

So define the big lie: free marketers want free markets. Not so, the facts say. They are the biggest welfare freaks on the planet.

These men and keepers of the faith would lecture us with a straight face on the evil socialists/ communists/terrorists /vampires/space aliens who would dare "redistribute wealth" by amending the tax code. Two wars and the only shared sacrifice they want is more tax cuts for the rich and for the U.S. citizenry to continue shopping. As Sidney Falco said, you gotta give it to them, their gall is gorgeous.

Fox News and the Halloween election

Hah! Just turned on Fox News to catch the tail end of this statement:

"...And he is the only Black Panther we've found watching the polls here so far."

"Thanks, Adam. And we'll keep watching that story."

I'm SO glad that Fox News is keeping an eye on the scary Black Panthers this election. Because, you know, it was like 1978 the last time they were relevant in this country's politics. But you gotta keep an eye on these 60s radicals, man.

Fox News. Fairly relevant?

OK - this one made me cry...

This is what it's all about, no?

Huge turnout -- bigger than I’ve ever seen at our polling place. Lots and lots of young African-Americans. People with their children in tow. Taking photos with cellular telephones and video-cameras to document what everyone agreed was a wonderful sight to see. Great to see.

When I finally made it through the 2-hour-long line and nearly to the voting booth, an older African-American man in front of the line kept letting people go in front of him. When he told me to go ahead, I said, “Don’t you need to vote too?” He told me that he was going to need help and that a woman with whom I guess he’d been waiting had agreed to help him. So he was waiting for her. She happened to be in the booth next to me and so I heard them talking when he went up to vote. It was clear very quickly that he could not read. She helped him to make his choices. I couldn’t help but overhear who was his choice. It was a great thing to see that he was so determined to vote -- most likely for the first time in his life. I think change has already happened to some extent…

Again, courtesy the War Room at Salon.com

The good mood in Philly

This anecdote on last night's Biden rally in south Philly, courtesy Gabriel Winant for Salon.com's War Room:

A series of local pols warmed up the crowd, starting with Bob Brady, a hulking sausage of a congressman. The former carpenter kicked off the rally with a series of union-guy shout-outs: "Jimmy! Harry! Guy! Johnny Doc! Manny! Ronny! Tony!" before, with a joke about hiding his knuckles, handing off the lectern to a nun and walking backstage to smoke a cigarette with a cop. A series of local luminaries followed, including Mayor Michael Nutter, Gov. Ed Rendell and Maryland's governor, Martin O'Malley.

Every speaker made sure to emphasize how important it was that voters stay in line Tuesday, no matter how long the wait might be. Rendell in particular captured the spirit of the night.

"I don't care if you're in line for two and a half hours. Don't bitch about it," the governor said. "Do you remember when South Africa got the vote for the first time? People stood out in the heat for five and a half hours to vote for Nelson Mandela. Why? Because their country's future was on the line ... Make a party out of it. Sing songs. 'Kumbaya,' you name it. 'Philadelphia Freedom.' Whatever. Have fun."

To hear a crowd of south Philly carpenters and electricians cheering wildly for Nelson Mandela and "Kumbaya" seems as good a measure as any of the kind of Democratic Party that looks poised to win the White House Tuesday.

Sweet.

Obama wins Dixville Notch, NH 15-6

The first results are in at 9:11pm Pacific time on Nov. 3rd:

The historic (since 1960) first polling place in the nation, little Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, is Obama territory, preferring Barack Obama more than 2-1 over McCain.

Let them be the first of many. Cheers everyone!

Happy Election Day!!!

More on the Socialist Republican state of Alaska

Some great mock-ads courtesy of KalVoid. (Thanks!)


PRIVATIZE THE PROFITS • SOCIALIZE THE LOSSES

What I'll be looking at tomorrow night

One day out from the election, here's what I'll be watching for:

1) Pennsylvania and Ohio. Obama has solid leads in polls from both states. If those polls are accurate, and if undecided voters break for Obama even by 1/3, he's got those states.

2) Virginia. With Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia in his pocket, Obama could take a lot of losses for the rest of the night and still come out way ahead. With Pennsylvania and Virginia only in his pocket, Obama could afford to lose Florida and Ohio by picking up some of the smaller Bush states like Colorado, Nevada, and Iowa.

Why I'm not betting on Florida: its just too unreliable. For two reasons. First, the polls show the state within a couple of points. Yes, all across the country black voters have been turning out in record numbers for Obama, and that would theoretically boost Obama's chances in Florida. But - I'll be blunt - I don't trust those votes to get counted either accurately, fairly or in a timely manner in Florida. They just don't have a good track record.

Why Democrats are afraid: the Bush campaign teams were ruthless in their voter suppression and disenfranchisement efforts. For a large part of my adult lifetime, that has been the reality of our electoral fight. We fear complacency on the part of our voters who have, historically, been unreliable, and we fear a fix where the fight is close and crucial, like Ohio and Florida.

The Obama campaign has given us some reassurance. By widening the ground game so that the election does not hinge on two states, the campaign has, perhaps, spread the field too wide to be meddled with.

So we go forth unto election day filled with cautious optimism.

And in California we have a nauseating anxiety in our stomachs, waiting waiting waiting - hoping - to see Prop. 8 defeated. My friend the minister-in-training says he's out trying to spread the word: pro-8 is NOT pro-gay. We wish him God speed in the fight to keep discrimination out of our constitution.

Exurbs' '08 Election Guide

Get it here and dork out on Tuesday night.

Includes state-by-state map with poll close times in battleground states, hotly contested Senate and House races, and a do-it-yourself electoral vote predictor. If I could think of a drinking contest, I would.


Page 1 - Electoral projection map of states, battleground poll closings



Page 2 - Hotly contested Senate races, part I.



Page 3 - Hotly contested Senate races, part II.



Page 4 - A couple of interesting and hotly contested House races.



Page 5 - Are you a bettin' man? ... or gal?

The climate going in to Tuesday

Well, the predictions are now coming in and, while we like to ridicule the pundits, the fact of the matter is they pay attention to the details. Drumroll, please...

Barack Obama to take 340 electoral votes at least.

But here's the interesting thing: in the last 50 or so years, that's not a very commanding total. Ronald Reagan won reelection in 1984 525 to Mondale's 13. And George H.W. Bush won his presidency over Michael Dukakis 426 to 111. Nixon beat McGovern 520 to 17.

In fact, Republicans have regularly stuck it to Democrats. The last time a Democrat was able to cross even the 400 electoral vote threshold was LBJ in 1964 over Barry Goldwater (486 to 52).

It seems highly unlikely at this point that the Dems will get their fillibuster-proof 60 seat majority in the Senate. They may have up to 58 seats come Wednesday.

The takeaway: yet again, all of this points to the fact that Democrats need to see this election as an opportunity to build on a movement. They risk squandering the opportunity if they look on their wins as an unequivocal mandate.