It's Happening, People, In Real Time

Recently, I've abandoned my safe, cautiously optimistic stance for the riskier full-throated glee in re: the election. I've suspected since February that Obama would win this thing and—given the type of year it is—possibly in a landslide. Well, possibility gives way to probability with each passing day. Here are the latest causes for cheer:

• Obama pops above 50 in Florida.
• His Ohio numbers look good, too. 

• McCain's playing defense West Virginia.West Virginia!

• Purple state senators are distancing themselves from him.
• Troopergate report findings and all of the other Bible Spice problems. (Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish has been at the forefront of taking Palin on and his Odd Lies Of Sarah Palin series of posts are not to be missed. He's up to at least 17 documentable falsehoods.)

• Xenophobic, guilt-by-association attacks are failing.
• National poll averages from Pollster, 538, and RealClearPolitics (a rightward leaning site)

It's true anything can happen and dynamics change relatively quickly in politics. But sometimes trends are too entrenched to be turned around quickly and all of the momentum is with Obama and down-ticket Democrats this year. It may still end up being a close race, but it's shaping up to be a rout.

Update: McCain's on defense in other Red states, as well. 

Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain is circling the wagons.

The Republican presidential candidate, with few prospects in Democratic-leaning states, is struggling to hold on to the states George W. Bush won in 2004.
…

Results of McCain's Kitchen Sink Strategy

About the same as when Clinton tried it…



h/t: Daily Dish

Flash: Pope Catholic, Bears Shit In Woods, Sky Blue!

PALIN FOUND TO HAVE ABUSED POWERS IN TROOPERGATE SCANDAL.... A bipartisan legislative panel investigating Sarah Palin's Troopergate scandal voted unanimously this evening to release a report documenting its findings. Lo and behold, Palin was found to have abused the powers of her office and, despite her claims otherwise, fired the state public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, in because he refused to fire the governor's ex-brother-in-law.

Couldn't have happened to a nicer lady.

Full report here (pdf).

Cute

"My Dogs greeting me after returning from 14 months in Iraq"

Could Never Happen Here

Right?

The time has come to ask: What might happen to our country if we elect a black Muslim terrorist president?
Dave and Hilzoy have noted some concerns on the part of our friends on the Right that Barack Obama may not actually be what he appears to be -- a centrist Democrat with the most mild of reformist impulses -- but rather a secret radical Manchurian monkey boy, who has spent decades hiding all of his actual beliefs and allegiances, in order to better destroy our very way of life.

This is an interesting theory, which it seems to me they are far too quick to dismiss as barking paranoia, of the classic American style. In the alternative, I'd like to suggest what some might consider a worst-case scenario for an Obama administration -- but one that will seem all too plausible to anyone who is familiar with the ideology and techniques of the Left.

Predictions: Within a few months of Obama's election, a couple of major U.S. cities will be the sites of a huge terrorist attack that kills thousands of Americans. The Obama administration will use this as an excuse for violating our civil liberties on an unprecedented scale, by setting up Gulag-style detention centers, where people will be held for years without any access to the legal system. Some of these people will be, I predict, actually tortured, as we all know the Left is completely dedicated to the idea that the ends justify the means, and that it has no respect for The Rule of Law.…

Read the whole thing. It's spot on. And sad.

"If He Needs More Experience, I Could Give It To Him"

Hilarious!

A Dangerous Game

I have to say that, while I probably shouldn't be, I'm actually surprised by how virulent the rage and violent the language has become at McCain and Palin rallies over the past week. I knew it would get ugly, as it always does, but this, this is new—it's becoming dangerous. 

Look, Republicans have always had these tendencies. The language they've used and the policies they've supported have always been divisive and harmful (at least in my lifetime). For a generation, the party's corporate wing has courted and slept with the religious wing nuts to their gain and country's detriment. Limbaugh, Hannity, et. al have been around for decades encouraging the troglodytism which helped feed such a relationship. But the party leaders themselves have usually couched their terrible ideas in coded language. They've usually put a sheen on their destructiveness and kept the passions of their less-hinged members somewhat dampened.

To see such blatant and brazen courting of violent passions as we've seen from the Republicans' rallies lately coming from the national campaign is a little surprising and very unnerving. I suppose we should all be thankful that they've stripped the artifice away and are just going full-bore ahead as the ugly nativist/xenophobic types they are. 

But it's a dangerous game McCain and Palin are playing. Thinking conservatives are abandoning the campaign by the hour, but the hard core, angry, white, white-hot base of their party is scared and prone to violence. Assassinations and political unrest don't happen in a vacuum and M-P, in their unwillingness to confront their angry throngs, are abetting the creation of an violent atmosphere. 

*** 

But, hey, I'm a lib, why take my word for it? Here's an open letter, posted in full, to McCain from a lifelong Republican and former supporter:

McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred
By Frank Schaeffer October 10, 2008
John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.


You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post-9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.

John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.

We will hold you responsible.

Frank Schaeffer is the author of "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back." 

Happy Birthday, John

As a palette-cleanser from the past several posts, and in honor of John Lennon's birthday. He'd have been 68 this year.

Thanks, John.

"He's Got The Bloodlines"

The wha?!? Woo, it's getting hot out there and McCranky and Bible Spice are doing their dead-level best to whip their short bus-riding base into a xenophobic frenzy (not that they needed much encouragement). Have a peek:

Bloodlines

Sidewalk to Nowhere

Mad…As a Hatter

Don't know about you guys but I'm filled with White Pride.

Do You Know Who I Am?!?

The Penguin gets cranky...

Writing for the Daily Beast, Michael Kinsley relays a disturbing story about John McCain from Jeff Dearth, former publisher of the New Republic, when Dearth and McCain attended a magazine industry conference at a casino hotel in Puerto Rico in 2005:

Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone's hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain--"very likely distracted by one of the many people who approached him that evening," Jeff says charitably--apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a "regular," reached out and pulled McCain's arm away. I'll let Jeff take over the story:

"McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: 'DON'T TOUCH ME.' The woman started to explain...McCain interrupted her: 'DON'T TOUCH ME,' he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. 'DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO?' McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the 'bring it on' position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. 'Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,' the pit boss said to McCain. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM."

This being Puerto Rico, the pit boss might not have known McCain. But the senator continued in full fury--"DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"--and crisis was avoided only when Jeff offered to change places and stand between McCain and the woman who had touched his arm.

Read Kinsley's full piece here.

Funny Michigan News

From Politico:

Michigan mess
The fractious Michigan Republicans may not be doing McCain-Palin any favors by keeping the story that he's abandoned the state alive. They're now petitioning for a Palin visit.

The Democrats have answered with a petition to bring Tina Fey to Michigan.

A Knuckledragger Surge

Looks like the California anti-marriage equality proposition's (Prop 8) campaign has reversed momentum and is gaining ground. Click here for more info on the No on Prop 8 campaign. Click here to contribute. It'll be a sad day indeed, if homophobes can win in California.

"My Fellow Prisoners"

Josh at Talking Points Memo has an interesting catch from a recent McCain stump speech:

Take and double take:

Late Update: For what it's worth, my own hunch is that McCain's just gotten so in the habit of peppering his speeches with gratuitous POW references that it's hard to keep the two things separate.

Latter Update: Longtime TPM Reader GG says I'm being too kind: "If a Dem had made that statement (my fellow prisoners) and in that context, the repubs would loudly proclaim the man mad as a hatter and unfit for the presidency. And judging from other recent actions, he may very well be unfit and it would not be a service to the country to gloss it over."

Who Sarah's Been Palin Around With

Turnabout being fair play and all, I thought this is worth airing:

She's Not Going Back

Gore's 2000 campaign manager, Donna Brazile, tells it how it is.

The McCain-Palin Base

Makes you proud, dudn't it?

h/t: Daily Dish

Another Post-Debate Thought

President Obama. President Barack Obama. 

Get used to saying it, my friends™. Savor it. Roll it around on the tongue. Imagine Bill-O and Hannity cringing every time they hear it. Because this thing is over.*

™ Trademarked phrases registered to John McCain.

* With the ass-covering caveat that anything can happen, of course, like That One™ drinking the blood from a freshly sacrificed baby for instance.

Breaking News!

I've decided to support a new candidate this election:

Post-Debate Thoughts

Don't have the energy for real analysis, so just some random thoughts and observations. 

I like these town hall debates. The format is just far more interesting than standing at lecturns. So naturally, I think this was a much better debate than last month's. Both candidates held their own. No knockout punchs, no campaign killing gaffes. 

I think Obama was much better in this format than at the last debate. He strode around the hall confidently and was at ease talking to the questioners. His answers were generally more coherent than McCain's and he tied them back to the everyman more frequently and fluidly than McCain. 

Also, Obama had a physical advantage, however unfair that may be. He has a much smoother and more confident gait. He's taller. McCain moved in strange staccato motions. He wheezed at times. Sounded old. 

Funny, it seems as though they traded far more shots than at the last debate. I had one eye on CNN's live debate dial tracker and early on the dials went way down whenever either of them invoked the other's name to attack them. Yet it also seems like it was more substantive debate. They more or less answered the questions and clashed over the issues and their records. 

McCain had several awkward moments, though they were almost strangely endearing. He made some of his usual lame jokes, though not nearly as many (or as bad) as last month. At one point, apropos of nothing, he told Brokaw that he wasn't on his list for Treasury Secretary. At another, he claims he knows how to "get bin Laden"; doesn't clue us in. Worst awkward moment: he points to Obama and calls him "that one". That line was just odd and slightly creepy, especially given the violent tone of McCain and Palin rallies lately.

Obama had a few awkward moments himself, but also had some strong moments. He nailed McCain on the "bomb, Iran" thing. Had a great line with "Yeah, I don't understand why we attacked a country that had nothing to do with 9/11." Wants to crush al Qaeda and go after bin Laden. 

On health care: McCain says health care is a responsibility; Obama says it's a right. 

About those dial tracks: Independents tracked with Democrats more often, and liked Obama more than McCain. This is a good thing. That said, all I learned was that partisans are predictable and independents are fickle. Oh, and the sun rises in the east.

On style and substance, I give Obama the win on this one. I bet the polls agree. 

That One

How McCain refers to Obama at one point about half way through. Weird. 

Okay, So I Lied.

We're twenty minutes in and McCain sounds winded. He keeps gasping on inhales in between sentences. Will this be a subconscious indicator of age and ill health and damage his chances?

No Debate Live-Blog

Will not be live-blogging tonight. Be back after the debate for analysis. 

It's about to start. Enjoy.

Train In Vain

Speaking of Bible Spice…

The Spice Of Life

John Cole of Balloon Juice has been one of my favorite conservative bloggers for years now.

And like many intellectually honest conservatives, he has publicly chronicled his rapid and complete disillusionment with Republican Party after finally awakening to the fact (obvious to liberals for years) that their party had been taken over by theocratic radicals and anti-democratic charlatans. (Despite being a self-described conservative and having little love for Democrats, he's actually pretty socially liberal.) He cheers for a large and nasty defeat for his former party and has even registered as a Democrat so he could vote for Obama in the primaries. 

All of which is a long way of introducing the guy responsible for the best political neologism of the election cycle, his nick name—brilliant for its concision in getting right to the heart of the matter—for McCain's intellectual giant of a running mate: 

Bible Spice. 

Hanh!!

I'm just saying...

Past Is Prologue, Indeed

Take a few minutes to watch this video. There are three candidates at this table. Two of them sound like sane adults. Alaskans voted for the third. Yes, there's an institutional advantage for Republicans up there, but still, it begs the question: What the hell were they thinking (or drinking) in 2006?

Do We Havta?

I say, let her go.

Notes From The Ground

From Sean at 538.com:

Let’s be clear. We've observed no comparison between these ground campaigns. To begin with, there’s a 4-1 ratio of offices in most states. We walk into McCain offices to find them closed, empty, one person, two people, sometimes three people making calls. Many times one person is calling while the other small clutch of volunteers are chatting amongst themselves. In one state, McCain’s state field director sat in one of these offices and, sotto voce, complained to us that only one man was making calls while the others were talking to each other about how much they didn't like Obama, which was true. But the field director made no effort to change this. This was the state field director.

…

The McCain offices are also calm, sedate. Little movement. No hustle. In the Obama offices, it's a whirlwind. People move. It's a dynamic bustle. You can feel it in our photos.

Up to this point, we’ve been giving McCain's ground campaign a lot of benefit of the doubt. We can’t stop convincing ourselves that there must – must – be a warehouse full of 1,000 McCain volunteers somewhere in a national, central location just dialing away. This can’t be all they’re doing. Because even in a place like Colorado Springs, McCain’s ground campaign is getting blown away by the Obama efforts. It doesn't mean Obama will win Colorado Springs, but it means Obama's campaign will not look itself in the mirror afterward and ask, "what more could we have done?"

You could take every McCain volunteer we’ve seen doing actual work in the entire trip, over six states, and it would add up to the same as Obama’s single Thornton, CO office. Or his single Durango, CO office. These ground campaigns bear no relationship to each other.

In addition to pollsters not including cell phone users in their polls, I think this will be one of the big stories post election. Obama's ground game—his state by state organization, field offices, GOTV effort—is just massive…and excited. McCain's going to get a "thumpin'."

More Post-Debate Analysis

You know, when you take the political framing off of last night and don't think about how she played to the Republicans' Christianist base, it's hard to escape the fact that Palin is just clearly out of her depth as a veep candidate. I don't care too much about experience, frankly, but she has shown in past five weeks an utter lack of interest in any of the subjects she ought to be at least somewhat fluent in. Last night merely reinforced that impression—but then, reading note cards would do little to dispel it.

Given the major problems facing this country right now, she is just too unserious a candidate for a position that's too important. It's become increasingly cledar that McCain's choosing her was a sign of desperation, showing his own lack of seriousness as a candidate—not to mention his contempt for anyone with a higher than 8th grade education.

****

And I'm still beating the drum about how impotent Ifill was as a moderator. She allowed herself to be worked by the Repubs (as in working the refs) and it showed. 

Thankfully, others with a much larger audience have the same take. Here is Sullivan's:

Were the candidates allowed to bring scripts in with them? And was Ifill told not to ask open-ended questions. Most of her questions helpfully contained within them all the facts necessary to answer them. [This bothered me too, though no on e else seemed to notice.] The intimidation of Ifill worked: she was clearly desperate not to be accused of asking anything that caould be called "gotcha". She was useless in actually prying information out of the candidates, which is to say useless at doing her job.

Exactly. 

That's My Wife!

Am I lucky or what?

Don't Think Of Anything

A couple years back professor of cognitive linguistics George Lakoff wrote Don't Think of an Elephant, a book popularizing the concept of frames, or metaphor systems, and showed how Republicans had successfully used them to dominate the past 30 years of political life in this country. 

I think his thesis goes a long way to understanding why it seems we live in two disparate countries and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in understanding American politics. But that's beside the point of this post. 

This post is about the title of Lakoff's book and the challenge it presents. About why it's impossible to not think of something you're instructed not to think about. Here's an excerpt from a post at a neuroscience blog I've just discovered, The Frontal Cortex: 

The Perverse Imp
What causes this insomniac process? If I had to venture a guess, I'd go with a theory put forth by Dan Wegner, a social psychologist at Harvard. In one experiment, Wegner asked people to not think about a specific thing, like a white bear. He tells them that this is their only goal. So what happens? As you can imagine, everybody starts thinking about white bears. The second we try to suppress a thought that same thought becomes impossible to avoid. We fail to achieve our goal.

Why is it so hard to not think about white bears? The answer returns us to the intricate connection between our consciousness awarness, the part of our brain that establishes and maintains goals, and our unconscious, the part of our brain that gives us feedback about whether or not we are making progress towards our goal. According to Wegner, whenever we try not to think about something, this cortical setup backfires. Because our unconscious brain continually checks to make sure that we are not thinking about white bears (this is our goal), we end up thinking about white bears. Before long, the brain is trapped in a recursive mental loop and we can't think about anything but white bears. We have fallen victim to what Edgar Allen Poe called "The Imp of the Perverse." (Wegner calls this an "ironic process" of mental control.)

Cool stuff, eh? Check out the rest of the blog. It's great.

Post Debate Poll Snapshots

Cool. The insta-polls are giving Biden a clean win. CNN and CBS both have him at 50+%. And everybody, but everybody, thinks Ifill did a terrible job. (Well, every blogger and pundit, I've read anyway.) I thought so, too, though some of you point out she was constrained by the debate parameters. Perhaps, but still… 

On the other hand, by not challenging Palin, she may have given her enough rope to hang herself with. Doggone it.

Update: Been over to Huffington Post and see that some do think that Ifill did a good job. There you go. 

Update II: Some hard numbers. 

CBS NEWS/KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS POLL
(Uncommitted Voters who watched the debate)

46% of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Joe Biden was the winner. 

21% thought Sarah Palin won, 33% thought it was a draw... 98% after the debate saw [Biden] as knowledgeable (79% before the debate).

CNN/OPINION RESEARCH CORPORATION POLL
DEBATE WATCHERS
Who Did the Best Job In the Debate?

Biden 51%
Palin 36%

QUESTION Regardless of which candidate you happen to support, who do you think did the best job in the debate - Joe Biden or Sarah Palin?

Thank God, It's Over!

Because I cannot stand that woman's voice. And her "folksy" schtick.

My instant post-debate analysis is that by normal standards, Biden wiped the floor.

But let's be real—sane people watch debates differently from the crowd Palin's appealing to. Palin did come on strong to begin with. Sounded like she was holding her own. Was fairly aggressive. But as time went on she sounded more and more out of her depth. Endlessly repeating talking points, talking circles and blowing smoke. She was better than those Couric interviews, but how couldn't she be? Did she win by not totally screwing up? Maybe. 

Biden really came alive during the second half of the debate. He really played the night well. Never did he seem condescending, sexist, or overbearing. So test passed there. He attacked McCain and his record and judgement strongly and only once attacked Palin directly. He was firm in his beliefs and positions and 

Overall, perhaps it's a draw in terms of moving votes. I find it difficult to judge objectively. But psh come to shove, I'd had to give it to Biden on points.

Update: Oh, how could I have forgotten? The winks. Palin actually winked at us. At least twice. Utterly creepy. May this campaign ruin her career forever.

Veep Debate Live-blog, part 2

Palin just blew what could have been an effective (though bs) line calling Obama's plan to withdraw from Iraq a "white flag of surrender." Attacks Biden from switching a position.

Biden defends well, while attacking McCain, but sounds a bit angry. Palin hasn't said a thing of substance, but is killing on style. We will go after bin Laden if we have actionable intelligence.

Palin sounds as if she's holding her own. But what has she said? Dear god, I cannot stand her voice! My ears hate me right now. Just spent several minutes blowing smoke. Where's Ifill?

Biden calls Bush Admins Middle East policy an abject failure. Strong.  

Palin smoke, smoke, smoke.

Biden gets all rhythmic and hammers McCain. But, frankly, he didn't say anything either.

Palin: She loves her some "nucular". She's sounding chatty, nervous almost. 

Ifill is letting her get away with murder. Moderate, Gwen. Moderate. 

This is a much feistier debate than last week's. 

Biden sounding good and strong. Ooh, reminds people of Obama-Lugar nuclear bill. Good stuff.

Palin rebuts Biden's points. Biden sighs audibly. Don't do it, Joe!

Veep Debate Live-blog, part 1

Here we go...

Clearly, Ifill is biased toward Biden. I can tell already, can't you? See, first question to Biden.

Palin upon shaking Biden's hand: "Can I call you Joe?" The eyes roll. 

Biden thanks Ifill then begins answer. Ties financial crisis to Bushies. Solid start. Has he botoxed his forehead? Draws contrast between tickets. Focus on the middle class.

Palin starts talking about kids' soccer. "See, I'm being folksy." Shouts out McCain's virtues.

So far, they both look good. 

Biden is nice. Palin lies about McCain's "fundamentals of economy are sound" comment. Lies about Obama's record. She's on a "team of mavericks" okie-dokey.

Gwen calls them both out on non-answers.

Palin: "Darn right, it was predator lenders." Shucks. She's looking straight into the camera as she speaks. Effective. 

Biden reminds of McCain's poor judgement. Reminds of McCain's deregulating impulses. He's speaking to Ifill, now goes to camera. Ugh. First human interest story. 

Palin: "Darn right, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah." Attacks Obama's record again. 

My prediction: "Darn right..." is the soundbite take away from the night. 

Biden defends Obama. Both attack top of the ticket. Okay, finally Biden goes after Palin. 

Palin attacks gently admonishes Biden and media elite and "wants to talk straight to the American people." Groan.

Biden: Fairness. Middle class, middle class, middle class. Fairness. Middle class, middle class, middle class. Attacks McCain's tax plan. 

Palin: Basically, calls him a socialist. She's such valley girl. Oooo, she said "budget neutral." "I used jargon, don't I sound smart?" Defends McCain's health care plan, while using old "government in charge of 1/6 of economy talking point.

Biden: I'll see your middle class background, with my middle class background. Attacks McCain's plan. Looks straight into camera. Ends with "bridge to nowhere" diss. 

Biden: May have to trim foreign assistance. Sort of answers, then pivots to attack McCain. 

Pizza break. Be back later.

45 Minutes To Go

Not long now before the veep debate. I'm fully expecting Palin to perform better than she has in her interviews. In fact, I'm expecting her to "win" the night, just by beating the expectations created by those interviews. 

I hope Biden is able to outshine her and not do anything damning, but here's the beauty: Palin can rock, Biden can suck ass, and it won't, in all likelihood, affect the election. Historically, veep debates don't make a damn bit of a diff to how the election turns out (think Bentsen-Quayle). This year has been full of surprises, but I don't think this will be one of them. 

So, my prediction for the night is, Palin holds her own and it gets called as a win for her. And a week from now, no one cares. 

McCain Pulls Out

Of Michigan, that is. To focus his resources on Wisconsin, Ohio, and...wait for it...Florida—a state that appeared safe for him for much of the year. 

McCain pulling out of Michigan
John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.

McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush.

My cautious optimist is fighting an increasingly losing battle against my flat-out triumphalist. I need to remember it's not over yet...and Obama my still lose. LOL.

More Of This, Please

AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka exhorts union members to vote for Obama.

Palin's Poetry

Slate has a hilarious article on Palin's inadvertent knack for poetry. One example (taken from exact quotes):

"Befoulers of the Verbiage"
It was an unfair attack on the verbiage
That Senator McCain chose to use,
Because the fundamentals,
As he was having to explain afterwards,
He means our workforce.
He means the ingenuity of the American.
And of course that is strong,
And that is the foundation of our economy.
So that was an unfair attack there,
Again based on verbiage.

(To S. Hannity, Fox News, Sept. 18, 2008)

Compare And Contrast

Pre-debate warmup.



Which isn't to say Biden is necessarily going to clean her clock. She's proved she does have a sting to her...

God, she's grating, eh? But that old footage begs the question: is she really dumber than a doorpost or has she been playing rope-a-dope lately? I guess we'll find out tomorrow night.

Welfare Whiteys

Don't judge them too harshly…

The Morning After

More Debate Reax from the blogosphere:

Why Obama Won Big
Nate Silver is a must-read. This is a fascinating nugget:

The CBS poll of undecideds has more confirmatory detail. Obama went from a +18 on "understanding your needs and problems" before the debate to a +56 (!) afterward. And he went from a -9 on "prepared to be president" to a +21.

The more it sinks in, the more I think Obama actually knocked it out of the park last night. He is, in some ways, the inverse McCain. McCain is all drama and explosions but then ... the air smells like damp, finished fireworks smoke. Obama seems calm and cautious but then ... you realize he cleaned your clock.

A few more morning after thoughts: the body language matters. McCain couldn't look at Obama as if he is offended by even having to share a stage with him. But Obama engaged him directly several times. Check the photo below. Even when shaking hands, McCain looks away. This is, in fact, a sign of insecurity.

********

So Angry
McCain's unwillingness to make eye contact with Obama through the debate seems to be getting picked up by a lot of observers. Here's an interesting exchange on the subject between Chris Matthews and the Post's Eugene Robinson ...

*********

I took a million notes during the debate....
... but let me boil it down to this:

When the details of this encounter fade, as they soon will, I think the debate as a whole will be seen as of a piece with Kennedy-Nixon in 1960, Reagan-Carter in 1980, and Clinton-Bush in 1992.

In each of those cases, a fresh, new candidate (although chronologically older in Reagan's case) had been gathering momentum at a time of general dissatisfaction with the "four more years" option of sticking with the incumbent party. The question was whether the challenger could stand as an equal with the more experienced, tested, and familiar figure. In each of those cases, the challenger passed the test -- not necessarily by "winning" the debate, either on logical points or in immediate audience or polling reactions, but by subtly reassuring doubters on the basic issue of whether he was a plausible occupant of the White House and commander in chief.

*********

And a bunch from The Daily Dish.

Obama Takes The Night

Well, I thought last night was tie and therefore went to Obama, but it looks like the lion's share of viewers give Obama a win. Most importantly, Independents favored Obama to McCain by a large margin. Even Fox's focus group preferred him. 

Works for me. 

The Polls Say Obama Won

That was my impression too. I was much more impressed with Obama's performance than many other bloggers. Here's the CNN poll:

Thinking about the following characteristics and qualities, please say whether you think each one better described Barack Obama or John McCain during tonight's debate:

• Was more intelligent: Obama 55%, McCain 30%
• Expressed his views more clearly: Obama 53%, McCain 36%
• Spent more time attacking his opponent: McCain 60%, Obama 23%
• Was more sincere and authentic: Obama 46%, McCain 38%
• Seemed to be the stronger leader: Obama 49%, McCain 43%
• Was more likeable: Obama 61%, McCain 26%
• Was more in touch with the needs and problems of people like you: Obama 62%, McCain 32%

There's more here.

The Debate

Well, that was a lackluster debate. A few sparks, but not much that was informative. McCain was a better debater than I thought he'd be. Obama was so-so. It's never been his strength, I guess. 

Obama did do a good job of tying McCain with Bush several times and did appear and sound sufficiently presidential. He held his own on foreign policy despite McCain's contempt toward him. 

McCain was much stronger on the economy than I'd expected. Didn't really appear presidential though. 

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few days, but I think it's basically a wash. Though MSNBC peeps are giving it to McCain, at least on points. 

Debate Live-Blog, part 8

McCain filibusters segment change. Obama corrects McCains attacks on him. 

Cross talk. 

Likelihood of another 9/11 attack. 

McCain: Nation is safer, but not safe. Worked across the aisle. Invokes Loserman and their work on bipartisan commission and the wonderful Dept. of Homeland Security. Wants restrictions against torture. Now, he does?

Obama: We're safer in some ways. But....mentions transit and ports. Mentions suitcase bombs. More al Qaeda. Supports missile defense shield. What??? News to me. Yipes. Brings up America's standing in the world. Greatest country on earth, yada, yada. 

McCain is back to talking about withdrawal from Iraq and other defeat talk. When he lowers his volume and raises pitch to underscore his points, he makes my ears bleed. 

Obama again ties McCain to Bush administration. Reminds us that bin Laden is still running free. 

McCain: I've been involved in everything over the years! Everything. Now calls Obama stubborn and ties him with Bush! Major jui-jitsu, Daniel-san. Embraces veterans. Reform. Prosperity. Peace. Now he's talking so that Americans can understand him. Ungha. Buhnga. Boo. 

Obama invokes his Kenyan father. This is a good idea? Hmm. 

McCain: You may not know this, but I was a POW! 

Debate Live-Blog, part 7

On to Russia.

Obama: Their actions in Georgia were unacceptable. Can pronounce those crazy country names. Affirm fledgling democracies. Won't return to Cold War posture. 

McCain: Attacks Obama; calls him naive. Another lame joke (Looked into Putin's eyes and saw three letters: a K, a G, and a B). Got he should just stop with the dumb jokes. Tougher language on Russia than Obama. Ties it all in with oil pipeline. 

We now know both of them can pronounce mutli-syllabic Slavic proper nouns. 

Obama and McCain basically agree. Obama defends against McCain "naive" attack. Must have foresight and judgement. He warned administration about a situation. Did he? Who knows? 

Dammit, he's conceded the offshore drilling point. Nuclear and clean coal, too. Smart politics, but disappointing. More focus on green energy please. Knocks McCain on voting against alternative energies. Mentions climate change.

Next segment...

Debate Live-Blog, part 6

On to Iran.

McCain says Iran is existential threat to Israel and region if Iran gets nukes. We can't allow second holocaust. Pander to Jewish community. Takes on Russia. Proposes league of democracies to impose pain on Iran's regime. Warns us about Iranian threat. Boo!

Obama does believe Rev. Guard is terrorist organization. Correctly points out that Iraq War has strengthened Iran. Cannot tolerate a nuclear Iran. Panders to Jewish lobby himself. Wants to engage in tough diplomacy with Iran. Repeat when I am president of the United States for, what, the sixth time? Excellent. 

McCain stumbles over Ahmadinejad's name. Thinks talks with him will lend him and his anti-Semitism legitimacy. Invokes Reagan and Kissinger. Wants preconditions. 

Obama defends. Claims Ahmadinejad's not most powerful person in Iran. Doesn't back down on preconditions. Points out that Kissinger agrees with him on the point. Uses Bush's approach to N. Korea as to underscore his point. Nails McCain on his Spanish president comments from last week. 

McCain tries lame zinger in response. 

Obama claims McCain is mischaracterizing his position. 

McCain gets in a good zinger. 

Finally some sparks.

Debate Live-Blog, part 5

Apparently, McCain has a record. He keeps telling us so anyway. Ugh, the inevitable and execrable story of the little guy imploring him to do something or other. 

Obama counters with his own human interest story. C'mon guys. 

Obama reiterates importance of judgement. Blames Bush admin. for taking our eye off ball again with Afghan., Iraq, Pakis., etc. Attacks McCain for talking about muddling through Afghan. 

McCain starts to sound pissed.  

Debate Live-Blog, part 4

Oooh, Obama nails McCain with record of voting with Bush 90% of the time on the "orgy of spending". Good segment. 

McCain uses "miss congeniality" for second time. Used that one already grandpa.

On to Iraq...

McCain begins will odd Palinesque response. Brings it back to success of surge. Cloaks himself in Petraeus's garb.

Obama goes back to initial question of whether we belong in Iraq to begin with. McCain and Bush reference again. Keep that up. "We took our eye off the ball." Looks directly into the camera and says "We must use military wisely." Good stuff. 

McCain attacks Obama for not going to Iraq and not holding a hearing. Obama defends, praises military and Petraeus. Attacks mismanagement of the war. Addresses McCain directly and attacks. Repeats "You were wrong" three times. Brings judgement into it. 

McCain claims Obama doesn't know diff between tactic and strategy. Claims surge is strategy instead of tactic. Claims Obama cut funding from troops.

Obama defends himself, attacks McCain's own funding opposition. Reminds people of timetable. Ties bin Laden's freedom to McCain. Wants to capture and kill bin Laden and "crush" al Qaeda.

They argue about Adm. Mullens. 

McCain: Surge is strategy. Obama: Surge is tactic. McCain: Strategy. Obama: Tactic. Etc., etc. 

Obama wants more troops in Afghanistan—two to three brigades. Again calls Iraq a strategic mistake, underlining strategic verbally. Nice touch. Bush and McCain again in failure in Afghanistan. 

McCain admits mistake in leaving Afghanistan in 1980. Doesn't want to talk about attacking Pakistan.

Obama defends his statements on Pakistan, attacks McCain's temperament. 

Debate Live-Blog, part 3

So far, I think McCain is looking better. Yipes.

Obama talks energy independence, health care, and education, in re: adjusting plans because of financial crisis. He's back to looking at moderator too much. We're out here, Barack, right here. 

McCain zings Obama (hard to reach across the aisle from so far to the left); Obama laughs. Good, it serves him well.

Lehrer tries to hold their feet to the fire as they talk circles. Obama is getting in some good specific points, though. 

Can't keep this up. Will check back in later for overall assessment.

Debate Live-Blog, part 2

Ugh. McCain botches his "paternity/criminal issue" bear joke. Second reference to age. Not good. 

Obama, for all of his strengths, is not a great debater. Good news: McCain is worse. 

So far, this lacks the electricity of the primary debates, but hey, it's early yet. 

Split screen as McCain talks. Obama looks angry rather than thoughtful. McCain should stop with the jokes. He sounds like everyone's lame grandfather. 

Oh, Obama has just interjected with an objection. Smile more, Barack. His makeup sucks. Hate to mention it, but in this arena it all makes a diff. 

McCain is on a roll with a diatribe against earmarks. Sounding fired up and understandable. On to his pander list. 

Obama looks directly into camera and says 96% of us will get a tax cut. Starts drilling into McCain's facts and loopholes. Nails McCain on his tax plan.

McCain makes good use of metaphor. Nails Obama on voting for earmark-laden bill. 

Obama fires back using big oil as a bludgeon. 

Debate Live-Blog, part 1

Obama gets the first question about the financial crisis. So far, so good. I'd heard on NPR earlier that he's been drilling methodically for this debate, practicing making his answers more concise. You can see it. He's also looking directly into the camera more than usual. 

McCain's response is lame so far, beginning with a gratuitous nod to Ted Kennedy who entered the hospital earlier today. Sounds crass and fake to me. 

Ooh, now Lehrer invites them to cross talk for five minutes. Who nows, maybe it could get interesting. 

Obama more or less dodges direct question, but starts in on the causality of the situation, hammering the conservative ideology. 

McCain "hopes" to vote for the plan. Begins going on about Eisenhower and accountability. "Somehow" greed and corruption are rewarded today in Washnigton and Wall St. Somehow? He's been a huge part of it for 26 years. 

Obama calls McCain out of the "fundamentally sound" remark. Lehrer awkwardly insists Obama address McCain directly. Weird. 

Now, Lehrer asks McCain to address Obama directly. He doesn't. This debate experiment isn't going to work. 

It's On

The first presidential debate of 08 has just begun. Woo hoo!

George W. Bush: Liberal Hero

Really. He and his cronies continue to ruin the Republican "brand," and the country reaps what 30+ years of trickle-down policies have sown—their rancid, social Darwinistic ideology and neo-conservative strategies are thoroughly discredited and will likely remain so for at least a generation. 

One more piece of anecdotal evidence (and I've seen scores of these types of e-mail throughout the past year) from U.S. News & World Report: 

Economic conservatives may be horrified at the thought of a trillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street, but the GOPers on Wall Street seem horrified that they are being left to wither on the vine by Washington. Take a look at this email I just got last night from a money manager:

I am a lifelong ( 51 years old) "rock-ribbed" conservative.... What an eye opener this week has been! I now realize what a blowhard Newt truly is by advocating the GOP bail on the Paulson Plan. As a professional money manager I can tell you I am shocked, dismayed and depressed that the Speaker would excoriate the GOP to abandon this plan which is URGENT and necessary to avoid a financial catastrophe that once commenced may be irreversible. The level of ignorance of financial and economic reality displayed by the Speaker, Rep. Boehner, Sen. Shelby , et al, has been frightening and sad. I thought the GOP had a better grasp of such matters than the Dems. Apparently not. And if this has been pure election gamesmanship as I suspect? The willingness to play politics with the U.S. financial markets is appalling and disgusting.

I am a huge Reagan fan and admirer. I have voted GOP every election since 1976. Until now. Today. September 25, 2008. As soon as I finish this email I am going to try and get my $1000 McCain/Palin credit card donation back as I will not be voting GOP this year after watching this circus and the theatres passing as leadership displayed by the GOP. I am embarrassed to have been an erstwhile supporter of this gaggle of self-serving jerks. I hope the GOP lose their asses come November. They shall deserve it.

I'd ask what took him so long, but, hey, he's a conservatives, and they're slower to move than the rest of us (and they need to feel the pain in their wallets). Welcome to reality, my friend.

"Vote For McCain…

…to me you're a shit stain." 

Sarah Silverman exhorts Jewish kids to visit their grandparents and convince them to vote for Obama.


The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

Yes, she's proud of herself.

I'm Back

Wow, has it really been nearly a month since my last post? Let me retroactively say that I felt the need to suspend this blog until this financial crisis gets taken care of. 

But now that John McCain's on it, I can get back at the wheel. So for your viewing pleasure, I'd love to call your attention to an excerpt of a recent interview with McCain's choice for veep. Enjoy.

Okay, that's harsh. But decidedly not unfair. As you'll see from these excerpts from Katie Couric's interview with Palin yesterday:

"I'll try to find ya some and I'll bring 'em to ya." Ahem. You know, Couric has taken a beating over the years for being a lightweight, but look how she draws Palin out with her light touch. Nice.

But wait, there's more:

In the spirit of bipartisanship, I'd like to say I'm sure we can all agree that reducing taxes must accompany tax reductions. 

Watch CBS Videos Online

Still wondering why McCain needed to create the distraction of "suspending" his campaign yesterday?

I Have A Dream

Well, yesterday was the anniversary of one of the most moving speeches in American history:

Oh, and by the way, speaking in front of 84,000 people, Obama didn't do too badly himself:



Unsurprisingly, the best analysis of the speech comes from Andrew Sullivan, who's gotten Obama from the get-go:

It was a deeply substantive speech, full of policy detail, full of people other than the candidate, centered overwhelmingly on domestic economic anxiety. It was a liberal speech, more unabashedly, unashamedly liberal than any Democratic acceptance speech since the great era of American liberalism. But it made the case for that liberalism - in the context of the decline of the American dream, and the rise of cynicism and the collapse of cultural unity. His ability to portray that liberalism as a patriotic, unifying, ennobling tradition makes him the most lethal and remarkable Democratic figure since John F Kennedy.

What he didn't do was give an airy, abstract, dreamy confection of rhetoric. The McCain campaign set Obama up as a celebrity airhead, a Paris Hilton of wealth and elitism. And he let them portray him that way, and let them over-reach, and let them punch him again and again ... and then he turned around and destroyed them. If the Rove Republicans thought they were playing with a patsy, they just got a reality check.

He took every assault on him and turned them around. He showed not just that he understood the experience of many middle class Americans, but that he understood how the Republicans have succeeded in smearing him. And he didn't shrink from the personal charges; he rebutted them. Whoever else this was, it was not Adlai Stevenson. It was not Jimmy Carter. And it was less afraid and less calculating than Bill Clinton.

Above all, he took on national security - face on, full-throttle, enraged, as we should all be, at how disastrously American power has been handled these past eight years. He owned this issue in a way that no Democrat has owned it since Kennedy. That's a transformative event. To my mind, it is vital that both parties get to own the war on Jihadist terror and that we escape this awful Rove-Morris trap that poisons the discourse into narrow and petty partisan abuse of patriotism. Obama did this tonight. We are in his debt.

Look: I'm biased at this point. I'm one of those people, deeply distressed at what has happened to America, deeply ashamed of my own misjudgments, who has shifted out of my ideological comfort zone because this man seems different to me, and this moment in history seems different to me. I'm not sure we have many more chances to get off the addiction to foreign oil, to prevent a calamitous terrorist attack, to restore constitutional balance in the hurricane of a terror war.\

I've said it before - months and months ago. I should say it again tonight. This is a remarkable man at a vital moment. America would be crazy to throw this opportunity away. America must not throw this opportunity away.

Know hope.

Skunked!

Poor, Bella. As we were out for our usual 2 a.m. walk last night, I noticed her bolt after something. She normally doesn't go after anything at night, but it's not unheard of either. I figured she was after a raccoon or a neighborhood cat. I called her back to me and she came pretty quickly—I was pleased she responded so well. But within ten seconds I was hit with a brick wall of olfactory nastiness and realized she didn't come back quickly enough to avoid being sprayed by a skunk. 

Let me tell you, this is a thing to avoid. I generally don't mind the smell of skunk from a distance, but up close, at ground zero, it is one of the most repellent and nasty scents I can imagine. A combination of burning rubber and boiling acid. It's interesting, though, a split second before I could track what I was smelling, I had a repulsion reflex. It's like my body knew to recoil before my brain registered what it was recoiling from. 

Anyway, I began running to get away from the smell. Once away, I double-checked, and she had indeed been hit. It was a pretty chilly night last night and I didn't really want to make her stay outside, but she was so nasty with the funk, I couldn't bring her into the house. Even my clothes smelled a bit and they didn't get any of the skunk's oil directly on them. Unclear how best to handle it, I woke Annie up. She'd dealt with this before and I thought she'd know what to do. We agreed not to bring her in, so we put her bed out on the patio with a couple of towels for padding and warmth. I felt terrible about her sleeping in the cold, but our house would reek for days if she'd come inside. 

This morning Annie got some cleaning stuff from the Grange and I showered Bella: first I washed her with skunk odor removal stuff, then I rinsed her off. Then I shampooed her, and gave her another rinse. Then some more odor removal stuff and another rinse. Then another shampoo and another rinse. Though it was dramatically reduced, the smell wasn't completely gone even then. But I'd run out of the odor removal stuff, so we let her outside to dry off and play in the sun. 

Twenty minutes later, I bent down to pet her… and immediately pulled away. She still had enough of the skunk smell on her to keep my distance. 

I suppose it's lather, rinse, and repeat again tonight. Poor thing.

*******

Speaking of odiferous and repellent, here's some video footage of PUMAs and other assorted bright lights who claim to be or have been Hillary supporters who just can't—can't, I tell you—support Obama. Enjoy! 

And this:

Kudos to Matthews for not letting this troglodyte get away with a baseless and tired smear. (Notice how xenophobes like her use the word Muslim as a weapon. FOX-tastic!)

And then there's this, which just defies words:

Well, It's Official!

Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president. 

It's official: Obama is the nominee
DEMOCRATS have made history by nominating Barack Obama as the first black presidential nominee of a major US party.

“It is with great pride that I announce Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president of the United States by acclamation,” House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the convention.

“I have been asked to inform you that Senator Obama accepts the nomination,” she said, adding the Illinois senator would deliver his acceptance address at the Invesco field tomorrow.

A state by state roll-call vote was dramatically suspended when Hillary Clinton appeared on the floor of the convention and called for Obama to be nominated by acclamation.

The motion was immediately put to the floor and carried.

Though the vote at the Democratic National Convention offered no surprises, its historical importance was undeniable.

It capped the longest, closest US primary race in memory as Senator Obama, a political newcomer, defeated Senator Clinton, the former first lady whose victory once seemed all but assured.

It also meant that Senator Obama, the son of a black Kenyan father and a white American mother, is now one victory from becoming president of a nation where, just decades ago, many blacks were denied the vote.

Here's video of the climactic moment on the floor:

Finally, The Drought Is Over

The long slog between the last primary battle and the Democratic convention is finally—finally—over. August is never my favorite month, but this year was especially painful, having to deal with a combination of no actual political news and a relentless wall of pseudo-news stories decrying the disunity and disarray among the Democrats. 

But thankfully, the end of August is near, the convention is underway, and the real general election season is about to begin!

Michelle Monday. And, what a great couple of days to be a liberal! Yesterday, Michelle Obama did a fabulous job of introducing herself to the American people, most of whom haven't really been paying attention. She came off as smart, warm, funny, and caring. She hit all the notes she needed to and put the lie to the stupid "angry black woman" trope the Hannitys and O'Reillys of the world have tried smearing her with. Best of all, she was real. 

Check it out if you haven't seen it:

Hillary Tuesday. And as if that wasn't good enough, tonight Hillary knocked it out of the park with a speech that was both gracious, commanding, and spunky. She threw her support unequivocably behind Obama and exhorted her supporters to do the same. She took a few big pieces out of McCain and—by referencing the Underground Railroad and Seneca Falls, as well as other seminal watershed moments in the advancement of human rights— reminded everyone of just why it is they're liberals/progressives/Democrats in the first place. An absolute A+ of a speech.

As an aside, I have to say it was a relief. I was tough on Hillary throughout the primary partly because I judged Obama to be a better choice for president, but also because I found many of her tactics beyond the pale. Mid-primary I was livid with both her and Bill and found myself re-examining my judgment in supporting them for so many years. In fact, they became personae non grata to me. Well, tonight wiped the slate clean. I'm proud to have her as a leader in the Democratic party. 

The speech isn't online yet, but I'll post it when it is. It's definitely worth watching.

* By the way, as Hillary mentioned in her speech, today, August 26, is the anniversary of the day, back in 1920, that women finally won the right to vote in this country. 

Update: As promised, here's part 1 of Hillary's speech last night.

Parts 2 and 3.

Aging, Death, Mortality and Angst: Happy Birthday, Dad!

Signs of decay

I'm getting old and signs of decay are everywhere! Madonna's turning 50 and looking like shit. Isaac Hayes is dead at 65. Prince just had a hip replacement. The famous Wall Arch in Utah's Arches Nat'l Monument has collapsed. Kids are younger all the time. Youth has become this exclusive club that I've been kicked out of and have no chance talking my way back into. My skin is losing elasticity and my hair's turning gray and I have to monitor cholesterol levels. I fucking hate it!

**********

Happy birthday, Dad!

Today was my dad's—James Benjamin Altemus'—birthday. It's weird, the more time that goes by between now and his death, the less I think of him. This feels like a betrayal somehow. Like I'm a shitty son. Of course, I don't feel like I should constantly mourn him or obsess over him, but I figured I'd think of him more often than I do. 

When I do think of him lately, it's connected with mortality. Much to my embarrassment and frustration, I've become obsessed with my own mortality since his demise. It's like he was this buffer between me and death and now that he's gone, the buffer's gone. I'm next in line.

Now, I loved my dad. I've grieved his death. I've missed him. I've talked to him. I've imagined his presence. And I've honored him and his memory. But for the first time since his passing, it occurred to me yesterday I'm angry with him. (No one's ever accused me of being excessively rational.)

Really, though, I'm pissed that I'm left with this burden, this knowing that I'm going to die. That I can't run from it, hide from it, trick it somehow. That no matter what I do, I'm on a train that has only one destination and there's no getting off. 

Look, I've known this in my head since my early teens. But to really know it in your bones, in your gut, is a whole other thing. And ever since dad shuffled off his mortal coil four years ago, I've been deeply, irritatingly intimate with the knowledge. I've been slimed and I can't wash it off. 

Some background

It started when I realized he was dying. After a week in the hospital with little improvement after a nasty bout of flu kicked his ass, we moved him to a nursing home. He was clearly on his way out. I found myself unable to sleep through the night. I'd wander my house and think about going to the home to be with him. I think I must have believed I shouldn't sleep, lest I miss any time to spend with him, even if I wasn't in the same room. Actually, I don't know what I was thinking. I never felt more connected to him and more selfless than in those three weeks that he took to complete his dying process.

My obsession with mortality reached its nadir about a year ago or so. I found myself unable to sleep soundly several nights of the week and was on my way to becoming an insomniac. Worse, while I lay awake (or after I arose to putz around) I would focus on my eventual death. I was experiencing angst that would make a teenager blush. Serious, brutal existential angst. A recognition that sometime, whether tomorrow or in 70 years, I would be no more. And whether I was an Einstein or a homeless bum didn't matter. What difference does it make how I affect this world? I'm still going to be gone. The pieces of consciousness that make up my personality will be no more. 

And this drove me crazy. I writhed in psychic anguish. I felt I was staring into a black abyss that would consume me, if not now, then eventually. I realized that underneath all of my belief in spiritual possibilities, I—or at least a big chunk of me—was an atheist. I was furious, sad, lost.

It was absurd. 

Moving forward, then back

This winter, for reasons that stretched back farther and deeper than my newfound (though profound) mental discomfort, I started a course of antidepressants. A pleasant and unexpected side effect was that the anguish died down and I was able to sleep full nights again. And such had been the case until about a month or so ago. 

Though, not feeling the sheer agony and brutal fear that I felt last year, I've been once again focusing on my decay and death. (It seems though, that this time I have company, as Beck's latest album, Modern Guilt, is infused with the themes.) Anyway, it's back. And I'm sick of it. 

Because obsessing over aging and dying isn't doing me a damn bit of good. It's not making me a better person or giving me wisdom or helping me to enjoy life more. To the contrary, it depresses the hell out of me. The worst part is that I'm losing my sense of optimism, my sense of spirituality. No, the worst part is knowing that this is part of my birthright as a human being. This is pedestrian. I mean, who among us hasn't blanched at the thought our death? Which religion or spiritual sect or set of rites isn't birthed from the realization that our flesh will turn to dust and we will cease to be? How fucking tedious and useless.

What I want, what I'm craving right now, is the sense of limitless possibilities that I once had. The ability to disregard thoughts of mortality and just live. I'm not sure how to get back to that or how to redirect my thoughts away from the dead end they've been hanging out in lately. I'm not sure that I can.

**********

All that said, I still want to recognize my father for his warm heart, his integrity, his gentle nature. So, happy birthday, dad. I love you. I owe you my life and I thank you for it. 

Now, I've just got to figure out a way to get out of my head and live it. 

Schooled By Opus

Point taken, penguin. 

Lemony Pledge

Watch how Obama handles this somewhat disturbed heckler. Can you imagine the current occupant handling him with such humor and grace?

News To Warm The Cockles…

Of our little blue hearts. 

US Shifting Blue

The New York Times has a new piece on the national trends away from the GOP, both registration-wise and at a local electoral level. What's most interesting to me is that there's absolutely no attempt at forced balance in the article. There's not one "GOP consultants say..." to be found, which is refreshing. It's content to report the facts, even if they are all bad for the Republican Party.

Check out these registration statistics:

In several states, including the traditional battlegrounds of Nevada and Iowa, Democrats have surprised their own party officials with significant gains in registration. In both of those states, there are now more registered Democrats than Republicans, a flip from 2004. No states have switched to the Republicans over the same period, according to data from 26 of the 29 states in which voters register by party. (Three of the states did not have complete data.)

In six states, including Iowa, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, the Democratic piece of the registration pie grew more than three percentage points, while the Republican share declined. In only three states — Kentucky, Louisiana and Oklahoma — did Republican registration rise while Democratic registration fell, but the Republican increase was less than a percentage point in Kentucky and Oklahoma. Louisiana was the only state to register a gain of more than one percentage point for Republicans as Democratic numbers declined. [...]

Among the 26 states with registration data, the percentage of those who have signed on with Democrats has risen in 15 states since 2004, and the percentage for Republicans has risen in six, according to state data. The number of registered Democrats fell in 11 states, compared with 20 states where Republican registration numbers fell.

In the 26 states and the District of Columbia where registration data were available, the total number of registered Democrats increased by 214,656, while the number of Republicans fell by 1,407,971.

What's interesting is that this shift is not seen as merely a function of the enthusiasm generated by the presidential primary. In fact, it's been a trend that's been evident for several years, which in itself speaks to the likelihood that the shifts we're seeing are sustainable in the long term.

Read the whole post here.

"It's LIke, These Guys Take Pride In Being Ignorant"

Well, that's exactly what it is and has been for the past 30 years.

Apologies for such light posting lately. Just haven't been much into it. Been busy restructuring my business and learning new skills. But when I saw this I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share it. 

I just love how he laughs at these buffoons, who are so deserving of derision. More of this please, Barack.