A simpler government?

I think once Obama takes office, we'll miss the smooth days of the Bush presidency, when we always knew he meant what he said. Like this.

Interesting times

The votes are still being tabulated, but it's a certainty: The race for president of the United States, between experienced Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, and tough-prosecutor turned 9/11 stalwart Rudolph Giuliani has finally been decided.

Wait, what? I thought they were supposed to be the candidates. Isn't that what everyone was saying when this race kicked into high gear what, a year ago? Interesting how things change.

One note of irony: John McCain said, in his concession speech, that he will never surrender.

Vote

please.

Yet another celebrity speaks out

... but at least this one's funny. Transcript over at JustJared, via FunnyOrDie:

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

Financial meltdown

Yesterday I read a commentary on the economy by a professional mistress, and it was actually one of the more insightful and useful views of the financial situations. Today I'm back on Fark and discover a post by a Farker named Geekette that really summarizes what's going on in Congress now:

Our nation is retarded. We continue to buy into these false 'tax breaks' that are actually deferrals while we borrow from other countries what we need to run our government as if we never have to pay it back, then we proceed to spend even more money like a college kid with their first credit card.

You want to fix it? Let's pony up and pay our damn taxes NOW, pay off our debt, and reduce spending on pork. Pork, by the way, is not infrastructure, or health programs or education programs, or other truly necessary programs, but cronyism-induced cash-orgies for industries with the most lobbyist money.

Can we send congress to a few credit-counseling seminars and have them cut up their magic credit cards?

The rest of the discussion is here, on a story that a Fark headline writer neatly summarized: "Senate to amend bailout bill to include a massive tax cut. So we're going to fix the financial problems by increasing our spending and decreasing our revenue. Economics professors slap foreheads, wipe hands on pants"

Palin, revisited

Two posts in one day -- starting to think this blog is coming alive again.

The New York Times article on Sarah Palin is a must-read for anyone eligible to vote in the November presidential election.

I'm won't try to summarize it, offer links to the many discussions/debates/serieses of rants going online, whatever. Please read it if you can vote.

Why Obama's race got much tougher

David Paul Kuhn, a Politico writer, has written about 5 reasons why McCain has pulled ahead -- highlighting everything from Palin's ability to make the Republican core excited to the Wal-mart shoppers' opposition to Obama. The last I found particularly interesting -- Kuhn's even using the same political guru in 1992 who helped use the economy as a linchpin to get a Democrat into office against a Republican ... and now a poor economy is being held against the Democrat who's running against a Republican with similar outlooks as the officeholder. It's worth a read -- and a fair bit of thinking.

This race never fails to get more interesting.

Innnteresting

Is Keith Olbermann right that, among other things, the point of the Republican 9/11 video to honor its victims ... was really about terrorism?

It's the economy, stupid

So many political choices are made based on economic decisions, and they're rarely informed economic decisions. This year, folks are talking a lot about national security experience ... as if Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld's decades of public service had somehow benefited the country in a way that no amateur could ever dream of.

So I found some interesting economic tidbids, too. Click on each chart for more information.

Hypocritical bastards

It's sad when it takes a comedian to point out the hypocrisy in staked political claims.

Marrying rich?

One of the latest mini-"scandals" is that John McCain can't say, off the cuff, how many homes he actually has. Of the roughly 300 people in America, it's a fair bet that maybe 280 million can actually talk or otherwise communicate under their own power, and probably no more than a handful of those 280 million people would ever have the slightest problem telling you, without thinking about the question, just how many homes they own.

Is McCain too rich? Is McCain senile? Is he out of touch? Or is this just a latest smear job of a hard-working guy who means well? Oh, that depends entirely on whom you ask.

The Wall Street Journal offers an introduction to HouseGate.

But it'll be interesting to see how this issue gets spun by both sides -- Obama already has an ad -- but particularly by some of the "conservative" establishment. Glenn Greenwald has sort of a pre-emptive strike going on how another politician was attacked for being such an enthusiastic real estate investor. Will people be jumping to McCain's defense? Will any of the people who levied similar attacks four years ago weigh in on this one?

The potential for high-profile hypocrisy is absolutely stunning on this one. Let's see who crosses the losing line first.

Edit: Oh, boy, did I post entirely too soon. It didn't take long.

Rush Limbaugh, circa 2008:

This house business, this is such a nonstory. The rich elitism now is almost entirely found on the left. From the Jay Rockefellers to the John Kerrys to the Pelosis. I mean Pelosi is a multimillionairess with her husband. She's got all kinds of homes. This business that they're still focusing on McCain on this, just classic, just classic the way the media just pumps this stuff up and tries to make a story out of it to try to help Obama, because it's such a nonstory.

And then there's a different point of view in 2004:

Then John Kerry's daddy is his wives. (laughter) I mean, he's a gigolo. Everybody knows this. There's nobody in our party really has much respect for this guy and you can see it last night, but I can't say that. I mean, you got sugar daddy wife back then. You got sugar daddy wife now. He worked his way up from a blue blood to a platinum American Express card, and it doesn't have his name on it.

So remember, the rich elitist people are only problems when they're rich elitist liberals.

It's amazing that some attacks can stand, like the one about Obama being a celebrity. Guess what? The attack dogs on the right have found a way to portray Obama as a bad guy for being popular and inspirational among potential voters. That there Anonymous Liberal suggested a speech for Obama:

So remember, when John McCain and his surrogates call me a "celebrity," they're not insulting me; they're insulting you. They're insinuating that you are a mindless groupie rather than a concerned citizen, a fan rather than a voter.

Will these attacks and counterattacks work? Perhaps. Time will tell. It's a shame that politics has gotten so in the gutter that the most positive things have become methods of attack, the most potentially inspirational things have been turned into a drawback, a chance to involve more voters is a some sort of horrible fad -- when they're those evil liberals.

Here's to hoping American voters recognize this sorta crap for, well, the crap that it is. Judge candidates on true things -- their ability to organize and lead, their positions on specific issues, their experience, all of that, all the things of substance. But, America, please don't let some slimy misguided attack ad turn good into bad.

Ouch ouch

It's amazing what amateurs can whip up -- and sometimes, how the simplest things are the best:

Damn

You can argue about the politics, tactics, training, religion, logistics and anything else that led to this story. It just made me want to say, "Damn."

When politics reality

A question for consideration: Is McCain getting a free ride on his criticism of Obama with regards to the surge?

The surge came at the same time as a significant change in both tactics and strategy. The previous tactics and strategy had actually been creating insurgents and discontent -- as happens when you sweep up every single fighting-age male and put them in jail without consideration as to whether they're actually guilty, and then treat them as such in subpar prisons without legal representation that would allow them to question their consideration. (See, for example, the book "Fiasco" for how badly this backfired.)

Is violence down in Iraq? Absolutely, and that's to be celebrated and praised. Is it due to the surge or the change in leadership, tactics and strategy? I don't know if that question's been addressed. McCain's attacking Obama as being opposed to the surge, which he was; but McCain also got to say Iraq would be a walkthrough.

Independence

Presidential hopeful John McCain has outlaid his plan for withdrawing the United States from its addiction of foreign oil. Well, not really a plan.

I think that if we’re dependent on any thing outside the United States of America, it has to, it has to enter into any calculations that we make. I mean if we’re dependent on something from some part of the world, then that has to be part of our calculation that we make. But I, it’s obvious that we are dependent on oil from the Middle East and that is something that we have to become independent of, because it’s very unstable part of the world.

Yeah. No plan. Just some stammering.

Is it useful to quit sucking the foreign oil tit? Damned straight. Is McCain the guy to get us there? Oh, hell no.

Maybe the answer is nuclear power for most power generation, which could free up natural gas for transportation until electric cars become practical.

Or we can try McCain's route, which is some stammering and no plan. Don't worry. Vote for the guy and we'll be in Iraq 100 years, but we won't need to be. And we'll have our own oil. And a pony!