SysPref

On a Mac...

Use option-UPVOLUME or option-DOWNVOLUME to quickly open the Sounds preference pane.

Use option-UPBRIGHTNESS or option-DOWNBRIGHTNESS to quickly open the Displays preference pane.

Psssst

I can't explain it. I should hate them by now. But I don't.

MC

How does Amanda Marcotte title a post on Robert Novak proving himself an even bigger asshole? With my new favorite phrase:

Megawatt Choadery.

"Plastic Error Multipliers"

Retweet.

True Fault

How will it help for wingnuts to go after blue collar retirees?

Self-Sufficiency

Glenn on "Nepotistic succession in the political class":

One of the most encouraging aspects of Barack Obama's success -- and, for that matter, the ascension of someone like Sarah Palin or Bill Clinton -- is the pure self-sufficiency and lack of family connection behind it.  But even pointing that out demonstrates how meritocratic self-sufficiency has almost become the exception rather than the rule.  That we now treat Presidents like Kings and expect them to exercise similar powers is consistent with the broader trend whereby we are ruled by a Versailles on the Potomac, with all the bloated, decadent insularity that implies.

Family Life

Shorter Eric Dondero:

Libertarian Republican: Penn. Gov. Ed Rendell outs fellow Dem Gov. Janet Napolitano, caught saying "she has no family," at Governor's Conference

Being unmarried means you're lesbian - not that there's anything wrong with that. And lesbians have no families.

Update: As Marmot noted here, if you're not reading Eric's comments over at the post, you're really missing out! While explaining why whipping up a frenzy of speculation about the private life of a member of the government is *not* inconsistent with his "libertarianism," Eric writes:

LOOKS MATTER IN LIFE AND MOST ESPECIALLY POLITICAL LIFE!!!!!!!

This is why Sarah Palin is the absolute greatest candidate that the Republican Party has ever produced.

Context

I talked about Kristol's rant on how we're not hating Islam purely enough for his tastes when we talk about the Mumbai tragedy, and Matt Eckel at Foreign Policy Watch speaks clearly on the same topic:

I'm not quite sure where to start here. Yes, Nussbaum does focus on violence directed against Muslims in India by Hindu nationalists - violence that has been horrific, large-scale, organized, systemic and woefully persistent - because it provides some context to the situation in region. It doesn't justify the attackers. It ought not evoke empathy for them. It is, though, an aspect of the ethno-religious conflict in South Asia that people should consider when they try to make sense of what's going on there. Professor Nussbaum does her readers a service in illuminating it. "Islamist terror" and "Jihadism" aren't the end-all-be-all-catch-all enemies of humanity. They are phenomena that thrive in particular places and grow out of particular circumstances. If we want to curb their spread, an understanding of those circumstances might not be amiss. Oh, and by the way, comparing the situation of Indian Muslims to that of some minorities in the United States isn't liberal self-flagellation. It's context.

My emphasis.

People More Knowledgeable

NextGenGOP attempts to figure out ways to make the Republican Party/Brand appeal to Latinos:

5. Propose economic, education, and health care plan alternatives to the Democrats:

Just like the rest of Americans, Latinos said their number one concern this election was the economy and just like many Americans, Latinos may be willing to give big government solutions to our economy a try. If we do not offer them an alternative, then why wouldn’t they support big government? We need to be the small government party but that can’t be it. Opposing Democratic proposals that would make matters worse does not solve the original problem. We have to propose market-oriented solutions to our market-related problems. On education, Latinos in poorer communities would naturally support voucher programs to make sure their studious children get the best education possible. But vouchers alone are not an education program. Most Democrats oppose charter schools, we should support them. Most Democrats oppose competitive teacher pay, we should support it. Education is indeed the civil rights issue of our time and instead of just proposing to throw more money at the problem, Republicans who are well versed in real education solutions and work to implement them will undoubtedly earn the respect of Latino families. In regards to health care, I honestly do not know what Republicans can offer to counter Democratic proposals that would appeal to Latinos but I am sure people more knowledgeable than I on the subject can figure it out.

In other words...

We should totally come up with something different than what the Democrats say, and it should probably just rely on the market to fix everything, including our "market-related problems," but for the life of me I have no idea what that would be.

Zappa and Parents

Awesome photo of Frank Zappa with his parents.

Part of the newly-release LIFE magazine collection on google, and originally noted by the highly-recommended swissmiss.

Click-through for the full-size version!

Brooks Is Making Me Crazy

David Brooks shakes his head and says that nothing major changed in the 2008 elections, as regards foreign policy. The big change, he says, already happened a few years ago - and was effected by Condi Rice, Robert Gates, and George mother-fucking-W Bush. He's up on stage waving his hands around, trying to convince us that what we chose was something the previous administration already figured out, and that Obama's highest goal can be to continue these late-game shifts in policy.

Obama and his team didn’t invent this approach. But if they can put it into action, that would be continuity we can believe in.

If you've had enough of this bullshit, go read "Requiem for a Maverick" by Matt Taibbi, where he refuses to be cowered by the Republican attempts to write a non-embarrasing version of the history of this election, to somehow soften the American people's clear request to NOT BE GOVERNED BY THEM ANYMORE.

The ironic thing is that the destruction of the Republican Party was a two-part process. Their president, George W. Bush, did most of the work by making virtually every mistake possible in his two terms, reducing the mightiest economy on Earth to the status of a beggar-debtor nation like Pakistan or Zambia. This was fucking up on a scale known only to a select few groups in history, your Romanovs, your Habsburgs, maybe the Han Dynasty, which pissed away a golden age of Chinese history by letting eunuchs take over the state. But John McCain and Sarah Palin made their own unique contribution to the disaster by running perhaps the most incompetent presidential campaign in modern times. They compounded a millionfold Bush's legacy of incompetence by soiling both possible Republican ideological strategies going forward: They killed off Bush-style neoconservatism as well as the more traditional fiscal conservatism McCain himself was once known for by trying to fuse both approaches into one gorgeously incoherent ticket. It was like trying to follow the recipes for Texas 10-alarm chili and a three-layer Black Forest chocolate cake in the same pan at the same time. The result — well, just take a bite!

We don't want you. Go tell your stories to your fellow rejectees.

Everything He's Got

Digby:

Perhaps the" real "Chris Matthews has emerged now that MSNBC has been made safe for progressives. Or, conversely, maybe the real Chris Matthews is actually an opportunistic, hypocritical jackass who should be shunned from any kind of Democratic politics for as long as he lives. Your mileage may vary depending upon whether you think enthusiastically sucking up to the GOP on television for the past decade is something that should be forgotten.

I won't bother to write the book on Matthews again, but as one who has been chronicling his televised rhetorical atrocities for years, let's just say his record speaks for itself. The amount of damage he did, going all the way back to the Clinton years and up until just about five minutes ago is considerable. He is as unacceptable as a Democratic high official as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, perhaps less so because of the fact that he is, by all accounts, a whore who has made millions of dollars a year destroying Democrats, while privately assuring his friends and associates that he doesn't really mean it. At least Rush plays for his own team with everything he's got.

Yeah, just another quote from the Hullabaloo site today. Busy.

Technique

Dday:

I know that, in official Washington, the road to salvation for any fresh-faced Democrat looking to succeed is to punch a hippie.

What To Do About Monsters In Your "Tribe"

Juan Cole quotes the BBC:

The Muslim community in Mumbai says it doesn't want the gunmen who attacked Mumbai to be buried in the Muslim cemetery, on the grounds that they are not Muslims.

A spokesman for the Muslim council said, "These terrorists are a black spot on our religion, we will very sternly protest the burial of these terrorists in our cemetery . . ."

Certainly the perpetrators are criminals from the point of view of Islamic law. The Qur'an forbids murder (qatl) and the classical jurisprudence on jihad forbids the killing of innocent noncombatants, sneak attacks, or the undertaking of military action without the authorization of duly constituted Muslim authorities.

And Bill Kristol stomps his feet and complains that we're not blaming Islam enough:

Consider first an op-ed article in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times by Martha Nussbaum, a well-known professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago. The article was headlined “Terrorism in India has many faces.” But one face that Nussbaum fails to mention specifically is that of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Islamic terror group originating in Pakistan that seems to have been centrally involved in the attack on Mumbai.

This is because Nussbaum’s main concern is not explaining or curbing Islamic terror. Rather, she writes that “if, as now seems likely, last week’s terrible events in Mumbai were the work of Islamic terrorists, that’s more bad news for India’s minority Muslim population.” She deplores past acts of Hindu terror against India’s Muslims. She worries about Muslim youths being rounded up on suspicion of terrorism with little or no evidence. And she notes that this is “an analogue to the current ugly phenomenon of racial profiling in the United States.”

So jihadists kill innocents in Mumbai — and Nussbaum ends up decrying racial profiling here. Is it just that liberal academics are required to include some alleged ugly American phenomenon in everything they write?

Bill ends his post by quoting a father of a National Guard in India killed by the gunmen at the Taj Motel, saying "He died for the nation." Bill, sitting on his ass in his office, not content with the death and destruction his influence has already caused in the US and in the world at large, has the gall to write:

Patriotism is an indispensable weapon in the defense of civilization against barbarism.

You rotten squirt of pus.

I hate these security questions. Here's a list of options I had recently on a bank website.



I'm not married, so that knocks out many of them, leaving me to decide what year I'm into on any given day I'm trying to log in.

Bush Shoring Up Legacy

Finish already!

WASHINGTON — The Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job.

The rule, which has strong support from business groups, says that in assessing the risk from a particular substance, federal agencies should gather and analyze “industry-by-industry evidence” of employees’ exposure to it during their working lives. The proposal would, in many cases, add a step to the lengthy process of developing standards to protect workers’ health.

Public health officials and labor unions said the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses.

Lots of damage coming in the last <60 days.

The Labor Department rule is among many that federal agencies are poised to issue before Mr. Bush turns over the White House to Mr. Obama.

One rule would allow coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys. Another, issued last week by the Health and Human Services Department, gives states sweeping authority to charge higher co-payments for doctor’s visits, hospital care and prescription drugs provided to low-income people under Medicaid. The department is working on another rule to protect health care workers who refuse to perform abortions or other procedures on religious or moral grounds.

Auto-Pilot

Yglesias:

Presumably the reason the top executives at a giant financial services firm get paid such extravagant salaries is that it’s their job to be prepared for the stuff that “nobody” is prepared for. If the idea is just that you make money while the market goes up, and then when the market goes down the government steps in to rescue you, probably a lot of people could do the job. And if a lot of people could do the job, there’s no need for compensation packages to run into the tens of millions of dollars.

[...]

I don’t, personally, believe that there’s anyone like that out there. So nobody should be blamed for failing to live up to that hype. But people can be blamed for participating in the hype and profiting from it.

New Wingnut Scapegoat: Space Travel

Digesting my Tofurky, I found myself in the presence of one Michael Bresciani, complaining about stuff:

While everyone from Barack Obama to John Doe is decrying genocide in Darfur, Americans are still killing the unborn at the rate of 4000 per day. In fact more people die at the hands of abortion clinic doctors in one week than in the entire 8 year long Iraq war.

Where fetus=people and people≠Iraqis.

Should I mention that the soldiers in Iraq at least had a choice?

Feel free.

We debate teachers pay but don't spend too much time asking why our kids have the highest suicide rate in the world and the lowest academic averages. More than fifty thousand children disappear each year and over 800,000 people are sold into slavery yearly around the world and many of them right here in America. Millions of Americans use dangerous addictive drugs and recreational drugs and have created the largest demand for such substances in the entire world. Why don't they just do positive things instead or go plant a tree?

Turning the eyes away from the horrific in America is not much different than ignoring the smoke bellowing out of the Nazi prison camp cremation ovens. You can put the thought out of the mind but the stench still assaults the nostrils. No amount of positive thinking or celebrating a new president makes us any less culpable.

While the "why don't they do positive things?" gambit's pretty sweet, this Abortion-to-Nazism flow is fairly run of the mill stuff for Alan Keyes' RenewAmerica crew. However, the reason his article caught my eye comes near the end, when he lists why we fail.

I have watched as America has replaced the knowledge of God with just about everything they can conger up; evolutionary doctrine, secularism, political correctness, sexual revolutions, Hollywood claptrap, perversions, visions of space travel to the stars just to name a few. What we have as a result of all this is a nation that thinks it can plant a tree, talk to its enemies, do a little positive thing everyday and all will just be fine.

Well, spank my spacesuit! That's a new one for me.

And I like the flip-flop on the value of planting trees.

to write a song, you just have to sit down and do it

From an interview with Nick Cave at CHARTattack:

Has it gotten easier or harder to write after so many years?
It just depends. It doesn't get harder. It doesn't get easier, either. The process is to just sit down and write the songs. There's no other process.

Truth of the matter is that to write a song, you just have to sit down and do it. They don't magically appear. I don't wake up after a lost weekend and find out I've written an album. I just sit down and write the stuff. Always have. I assume most people have to do that. I don't know what other musicians do. But I don't see how anybody else does it.

Feds Say

BREAKING NEWS!

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal authorities have received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al Qaeda may have discussed targeting transit systems in or around New York City, the Department of Homeland Security said.


Al Qaeda suicide bombers could target New York City subways, federal security officials say.

"These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives" on subway or passenger rail trains, according to a joint DHS and FBI statement issued Tuesday.

"We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season," the statement said.

To which I say: NO SHIT SHERLOCK.

Isn't this why we've had our bags checked for 7 years upon entering the subway? Isn't this why there are machine guns all around the city now?

Was anyone over the last 7 years not operating under the assumption that there was "aspirational planning" for an attack on crowded places like subways?

Sounds like this is just regular ass-covering.

However, [CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson ] said, it also would be possible for al Qaeda deliberately to plant false information.

"They would love to sort of create fear when they're not actually capable of creating a strike. ... I've seen it myself, in Afghanistan."

You don't say? Sown fear? Has anyone seen a climate of fear created any closer than Afghanistan?

Least Likely

Ta-Nehisi, in an article addressing concerns on the left over Obama appointments, lays out what really matters to him.

Look, it all comes down to this. I believed Obama was the candidate least likely to fly over an American city in the midst of destruction, and appear days later only to tell his point-man he'd done a great job. The most important thing for me is for the leadership of this country to throw off anti-intellectualism and get down to business. I won't ever know the most intricate details of government policy, and smite me should I ever write like I do. But as a voter, and I guess as a blogger, I knew I wanted someone in the White House who would be able to process all of those details--I wanted someone who was an intellectual, who had a supple mind, and saw no contrast between being a thinking man, and loving Monday Night Football. It's small, but it's what I wanted. And it's why, so far, I'm not terribly disappointed. When it comes down to it, man, I just wanted shit to work again.

This is also extra true:

Man, when Joe Leiberman says "bipartisan" I feel like someone is cursing at me.

razer

Great stuff by a "Russian artist by the nickname razer" over at concept ships.

Wingnut Understanding

John Cole summarizes:

Wingnut- “Homosexuals are filthy sodomites who should not have access to marriage.”

Evil gay person- “Nonsense. I demand the same rights as you and will fight for them.”

Wingnut- “Why won’t you respect my right to free speech?”

And there you have the wingnut understanding of the Constitution.

Dweeb

Eric Dondero of the goofy Libertarian Republican is a veteran of the Gulf War, so I guess he thinks that makes these words not seem crazy:

Free Health Care is nice, but what most Vets really want is Booze and Broads
Sure, give Vets the health care, and the GI Bill, though I must admit, the psychological counseling for many is a bit on the wimpy side.

But beyond that, give Veterans tickets to the Jets games, and the Washington Redskins. Treat 'em to a private reception with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleading squad.

You wanna help Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? Buy them a bunch of free meals and beer at their local Hooters.

And if you're a young hot female, take a Vet out for a few drinks at the local Tavern or Disco. Tell that non-serving grad student dweeb boyfriend of yours to stay home cause you've got a little "something to do for your country" tonight.

But most of all, just thank them for the VICTORY in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't thank the Vets for "their service," no thank them for VICTORY over our enemies abroad. Acknowledge that they won, and won bigtime. Give them a big slap on the back and tell them as loud as can be heard in a crowded airport, "You guys kicked some 'f'ing A-rab ass."

It's not politically correct. But it's what most Vets want.

Update: Eric showed up to verbally spar with us in the comments.

Mam

This is my favorite of Shaq's first week of using twitter.

Smear

As the Minnesota recount is tightening, Erick Erickson at RedState is losing his shit, claiming:

It's like Robert Mugabe is in charge or something.

Victim

This kind of shit from Peter Kirsanow at NRO is what we mean by poisoning the discourse:

Jonah, the better dictionaries are in the process of updating the definition of racist to reflect contemporary usage:

Racist—n.,adj. 1. Any person who performs any act, holds any belief or makes any statement that negatively reflects upon or adversely affects Barack Obama or his policies, positions, interests, conduct, associates, or holiness. 2. Any act, belief or statement that negatively reflects upon or adversely affects Barack Obama or his policies, positions, interests, conduct, associates, or holiness. Synonyms: conservative; Republican; red state; rural; churchgoer; gun owner.

Yes, Peter, that's what racism is.

All they have is denial, blindness, divisiveness, pearl-clutching.

Why Should We Believe Them Now?

DarkSyde dissects and debunks the rightwing talking point (a "zombie lie") that "In the 70s, all the scientists were predicting a new ice age, so why should we listen to them now?":

For a few years, back in the 70s, the Ice Age claims took on a life of their own and echoed around in a subset of pop culture. Eventually reality and observation caught up to and killed it. It lay mostly dormant for thirty years until, a few years ago, the old story was lovingly exhumed by industry and right-wing PR hacks, and jolted dramatically back to life. It lives today only as a zombie lie in the heads of doubters, near impossible to kill, no matter how many times it's put down.

Particular Nasal Stress

Are you brave enough to venture into the dark caverns of the mind of Victor Davis Hanson? As illustrated in a piece he calls "Ten Random, Politically Incorrect Thoughts?"

Let us peek in at #6:

Something has happened to the generic American male accent. Maybe it is urbanization; perhaps it is now an affectation to sound precise and caring with a patina of intellectual authority; perhaps it is the fashion culture of the metrosexual; maybe it is the influence of the gay community in arts and popular culture. Maybe the ubiquitous new intonation comes from the scarcity of salty old jobs in construction, farming, or fishing. But increasingly to meet a young American male about 25 is to hear a particular nasal stress, a much higher tone than one heard 40 years ago, and, to be frank, to listen to a precious voice often nearly indistinguishable from the female. How indeed could one make Westerns these days, when there simply is not anyone left who sounds like John Wayne, Richard Boone, Robert Duvall, or Gary Cooper much less a Struther Martin, Jack Palance, L.Q. Jones, or Ben Johnson?

Be bold!

People Would Like It

I learn the truths of the world from digby:

[Republican Senators] have to block health care reform because people will like it. And if government produces, the entire GOP worldview is lost.

Good Luck With That

The party leaders.

Fake America

Fucking Michael Goldfarb talks about the Palin/turkey thing:

Another Palin Rorschach test. Watch the video and see if you're from real America or fake America. As a real American, it's clear to me that these turkeys had it coming, and, personally, I admire a woman who can keep her wits about her even in the face of such horrific violence. In retrospect, they might have slaughtered animals during the Couric interview just to keep things on an even keel.

Favorite and Least Favorite

Gabe from Penny Arcade what he likes and doesn't like about the new Xbox Dashboard:

So I grabbed the new Xbox dashboard last night. My least favorite new feature is the one were it locks up my box when I try and look at my friends list. Then I have to restart and it freezes again. Then I do that about seven more times before I throw my controller and play WOW. I liked how in the old Dashboard I could use it without it breaking my Xbox. Maybe that's just me.

I'm considering a 360 this xmas season, so I have to start paying attention to these Very Important Things.

Ship of Fools

The Economist is not amused:

The Republicans lost the battle of ideas even more comprehensively than they lost the battle for educated votes, marching into the election armed with nothing more than slogans. Energy? Just drill, baby, drill. Global warming? Crack a joke about Ozone Al. Immigration? Send the bums home. Torture and Guantánamo? Wear a T-shirt saying you would rather be water-boarding. Ha ha. During the primary debates, three out of ten Republican candidates admitted that they did not believe in evolution.

Body Language

Incredibly telling video clip - what the world thinks of GWB, and what Bush thinks of himself.

Not much.

Zieglerese

Nate Silver interviews crazy person John Ziegler:

Nate Silver: Would you consider Obama a Christian?

John Ziegler: You'd have to ask him. There was never any evidence that he was a Christian until he decided to join the church of a racist hate-monger for political purposes.

NS: Would you not believe Barack Obama if he told you he was a Christian?

JZ: Does he believe that Jesus Christ was the son of God who died and was raised from the dead later?

"The Bloggers"

Amen, Atrios:

I've been amused by the frequency at which "the bloggers" has become a new journalistic shorthand for "slightly unreasonable and noisy people on the internets" who the journalist can then courageously disagree with.

Digby's Class

It's Learn The New Rightwing Freakout, featuring Digby!

This week: something about "card check" or "secret ballot":

This past election I noticed a new catch phrase. The minute a conservative breathes the word "card check," his or her supporters completely lose their minds. When he ratchets it up saying "lose your right to a secret ballot" they come completely unhinged with even more energy than they unleash when someone says "we're going to beat the terrorists." It's just weird.

This is just the snarky intro. She delves into the details in the article.

No Obstacle

Ta-Nehisi Coates:

But for some reason, this one just isn't getting my hackles up. Maybe it's because of how I see Lieberman. He is, no doubt, self-aggrandizing, sanctimonious and self-interested. But I don't see him being an obstacle to Obama, mostly because I can't see how it would be in his interest.

I think that's true. It reminds me of the presidential debates (I think it was in the 2nd one when I felt this most strongly, when McCain was weakened by his inept theatrics about the bailout), when I wanted to see Obama whip McCain around a bit and nail him on the many things he was mishandling and the shameful attacks he was guilty of at the time - but Obama stood above that.

It still seems surreal to me that the Democrats will let back in a person that campaigned for their opponent for Prez, but I agree that we shouldn't linger too long on this. It's that constant fear that Democrats will not be "strong" enough, that they'll always capitulate, that I think underlies a lot of our frustration with the results of the Lieberman thing.

That - and restlessness to see accountability - "actions have consequences" - come back into, um, vogue.

No Idea?

It's shit like this, from "Libertarian Republican" Eric Dondero, that I find in my "nuts" category of blogs:

Libertarian Republicans should treat Obama exactly the way his supporters have treated George W. Bush these past few years, with the same nastiness, cynicism and disgust.

It's the old "Stupid or Lying?" question.

It seems inconceivable that someone would have no idea why we all hated GWB, that we just "decided" to do so cuz he was a Republican or something. Maybe Eric's just touchy because of the dispiriting election. Which is fine. The losing side in 2004 did a little venting of its own.

But I have a hunch that he's really blind to the reasons. Perhaps a jog to your memory?

Humility and Realism

Obama on 60 Minutes:

Well, I don't tell my mother-in-law what to do. But I'm not stupid. That's why I got elected president, man.

You might say the world doesn't need anymore "mother-in-law" jokes, but I got a good feeling out of this one. And it's a bit like his line at the Alfred E. Smith dinner when, asked of his greatest weakness, he said:

I'm a little too awesome.

Reeling

Michelle Obama is talking about the importance of being settled before getting a dog, being "responsible," and my mind is reeling over how incredible it is to have intelligent, thoughtful people in the White House.

Baby Mop

Brilliant.



(via Friendly Atheist)

View From Malia

Malia Obama, the morning after her father was elected President of the United States, as she was being walked into her school with her mother and folks in the school were cheering:

THAT's embarrassing.

I Am The Middle

Greenwald is talking specifically in this post about Marty Peretz's assistant, Jamie Kirchick, but it's still a valuable, concise description of a common technique to watch for:

As we've seen many times and in many contexts, one of the most empty-headed, trite and deceitful pundit techniques is to take one's own viewpoint and, without an iota of polling data or other empirical support, attribute it to the "average/ordinary/moderate American" and then, with deep concern, warn political leaders that they will harm themselves politically -- will alienate the fair-minded moderate voters -- if they don't follow that view.

Hugging The Panda

New words from dday:

Maybe I shouldn't make so much out of it, but I'm instituting this feature into my writing: any time a conservative delivers obvious misinformation, they will be heretofore described as "hugging the panda." And when you're in an argument with one of them, over whether this is a center-right nation or whether tax cuts increase revenue or whether the social safety net hurts poor people, remember that these are the kind of people who not only think a teddy bear is a panda, but who insist it even when they are told they are wrong.

Gibson

They don't call him William Gibson for nothing:

The single most useful thing I've learned from science fiction is that every present moment, always, is someone else's past and someone else's future.

Want You We Did Not

Palin speaks like Yoda.

For the Record

When Palin complains about bloggers in their parents' basement, it's funny to see how many bloggers feel the need to actually state publicly that they don't live in their parents' basement.

Numbers Machine

Short but entertaining piece in the Times about political statistical analyst Nate Silver. I especially like this bit from his father Brian:

“When we took him to preschool one time, we dropped him off, and he announced, ‘Today, I’m a numbers machine,’ and started counting,” Brian Silver said. “When we picked him up two and a half hours later, he was ‘Two thousand one hundred and twenty-two, two thousand one hundred and twenty-three...’ ”

Getting fired up at the World Series Parade

Apparently, this was a video that got a blog started that I read, It's Nice That.

It's pretty much one of the Top 5 videos of all time.

Surfing

Bow down before T Rex.

Salivating

This is why we mock you, and describe you as "you're beyond satire." Because you say things like

[W]ell it looks like Comrade Obama is salivating over the thought of having us pay for overseas abortions again.

Cool Hand at the Tiller

Near the end of the final presidential debate, I rushed to my computer and tried to buy the domain coolhandatthetiller.com (it was one of those what-decade-are-you-from? moments in McCain's language). It appeared to be available, and I put in my purchase, and waited waited waited for the acquisition to go through. Sadly, the purchase failed, and it appeared that someone had bought it just a few minutes before me.

Well, I went and checked the domain this morning, to see if the owner had done anything with it.

Apparently so: coolhandatthetiller.com/

Until

Cole:

Chill out for a few weeks until he actually does something. Relax. We won. Savor it.

Too Awesome

Okay. Am I on candid camera? Our president collects Spiderman and Conan comics.

Illiteracy

I did not know the extent of it:

There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate. And their numbers are growing by an estimated 2 million a year. But even those who are supposedly literate retreat in huge numbers into this image-based existence. A third of high school graduates, along with 42 percent of college graduates, never read a book after they finish school. Eighty percent of the families in the United States last year did not buy a book. 

New Game

(via Monoscope)

The Country

Palin is a true kindred spirit to GWB.

I don't know what she knows, but it doesn't matter when she explains herself like this:

If there are allegations based on questions or comments I made in debate prep about NAFTA, about the continent versus the country when we talk about Africa there, then those were taken out of context.

(via TNR)

Homie

You know what's disgusting? Watching rightwing bloggers using what they think is "black talk" when, in the midst of an article, they want to slip in a casual, conversational tone addressing Obama.



Witness Kevin McCullough:

Several hundred disenfranchised Obama campaign staff took to protesting right outside the doors of the local Obama office in Indianapolis. Some shrieked and screamed at the media, "I want my money today! It's my money. I want it right now!" Some of the 375 unpaid staffers were offered a $30 pre-paid Visa. (Word to Mr. President Elect, don't ever, ever, EVER promise fly credit and then walk, it's just not square homie.)

Why

While reading this George Will over at Townhall, I noticed a sidebar poll, and cast my vote in it.

The poll is revealing not only in the range of choices offered, but significantly in that only 5% believe that the Republicans lost the 2008 elections because "The American people do not agree with its issues and positions." That option is bold in this screenshot b/c it is the option I chose.



In their mind it's always that "we're weren't as totally awesomely ourselves as people want us to be." Never a need to soul-search.

(To be honest, I wasn't doing a lot of soul-searching about my values and beliefs after the 2004 loss)

Reversals

Don't tell me there's no difference between Republican and Democrat, that they're both pawns of big business:

Obama himself has signaled, for example, that he intends to reverse Bush's controversial limit on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, a decision that scientists say has restrained research into some of the most promising avenues for defeating a wide array of diseases, such as Parkinson's.

[...]

The new president is also expected to lift a so-called global gag rule barring international family planning groups that receive U.S. aid from counseling women about the availability of abortion, even in countries where the procedure is legal, said Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, he rescinded the Reagan-era regulation, known as the Mexico City policy, but Bush reimposed it.

I'm wondering if he'll lift the ban on showing military coffins.

Still Dumb

FOX News, on Obama's statement that a nuclear-armed Iran is "unacceptable":

Is this a message to pacifists that want him to sit around the campfire and sing "kumbaya?"

The host also said that if he adds troops to Afghanistan, he's "gonna get a taste of Cindy Sheehan." You're still demonizing a mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq?

Overall Message

Media Matters has an example, in the person of serious boob Brent Bozell, of exactly what the hypocrisy is that we're seeing in especially denialist parts of the Right.

For months and months they claimed OBAMA IS A SOCIALIST, A CRAZY LIBRUL!, and now they're claiming that the public elected Obama as a conservative or even "center right."

When To Stop Reading An Article After the First Sentence

Michael Reagan:

Why McCain Lost

Barack Obama is president-elect of the United States because the Republican Party and John McCain handed him the presidential election on a silver platter.

Really, Michael? That's how it looked to you?

Lots of Advice

Part of being in charge means Obama doesn't have to get your permission.

Still

David Neiwert:

I don't know how many talking heads I've heard claim that "America is still a center-right country" in the past few days, but if it were a drinking game, I'd have alcohol poisoning.

(I saw this quite in a post called "The Great Repudiation," in David's RSS feed, but the post doesn't seem to be up at the site as of this moment)

20081104_Chicago_IL_ElectionNight0985

20081104_Chicago_IL_ElectionNight0985, originally uploaded by Barack Obama.

Barack Obama, election night!

Ha. My president (elect) has a flickr site.

Influence

Jane:

With 4.5 million members, MoveOn is now bigger than [the] NRA.  Maybe our leaders should think about that for a while.

How Single Women Do What They Do, by Neil Boortz

Found a new "nut" blog, this one called Libertarian Republican, who proudly gives us this little gem, a quote of Neal Boortz explaining why single women voted so strongly for Obama.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say there are two factors at play. Unmarried women didn't like Sarah Palin – maybe they were intimidated by her ability to be a woman, a mother of 5, a governor, and be able to handle a shot gun. And unmarried women are eager to suckle the government teat. They feel insecure. They don't have a husband to provide ... so the government becomes their husband. Not a bad deal, I guess. The government provides you with the safety net you would normally get from a good marriage, and you're free to mess around pretty much as much as you want! They are just begging to be the beneficiaries of government and all the mediocrity it has to offer.

Note: according to the Wiki, Neil Boortz's radio program is ranked seventh in overall listeners in the US, with 4.25+ million per week. Cripes.

Sack

Lieberman is the saddest of all sacks.

Extra

Regarding that totally batshit insane article in the WSJ today about how shameful it is the way we treat GWB, see also John Cole, who also quotes Krugman.

Shorter Robert D. Novak

No Mandate for Obama and No Lopsided Congress

There's no mandate for Obama.

Ambivalence

Obama, as quoted in a tape obtained by Newsweek:

There's a certain ambivalence in my character that I like about myself. It's part of what makes me a good writer, you know? It's not necessarily useful in a presidential campaign.

I think I'll buy a copy of Newsweek this week.

This is part one of a seven-part in-depth look behind the scenes of the campaign, consisting of exclusive behind-the-scenes reporting from the McCain and Obama camps assembled by a special team of reporters who were granted year-long access on the condition that none of their findings appear until after Election Day.

(via Michael Crowley)

First Time

I'll feel free to quote the entirety of Fafblog:

As of last night, Barack Obama has now become for the first time in American history the very first African-American to be elected Jesus. Now everything will be better forever HOORAAAAAAY! Except if you're gay.

There is actually a bonus image worth your time at the actual link.

I Knew It

I knew I shouldn't, but I did. I went ahead and bought the new Cure album.

Only listened once through so far, but it's not doing a thing for me. I had to quickly get back to Pornography.

Show By Example

Hinderaker:

The Democrats will get their turn at the plate and be forced to take responsibility for their actions.

Hopefully we'll be able to live up to the example shown by our predecessors.

What A Morning

I originally saw this at a post at SadlyNo (which appears to be down this morning), but this copy of it I found at Pandagon.

Shapiro Says "Leave Bush Alone!"

Stunning article of wingnuttery from Jeffrey Shapiro, called The Treatment of Bush Has Been a Disgrace:

According to recent Gallup polls, the president's average approval rating is below 30% -- down from his 90% approval in the wake of 9/11. Mr. Bush has endured relentless attacks from the left while facing abandonment from the right.

This is the price Mr. Bush is paying for trying to work with both Democrats and Republicans. During his 2004 victory speech, the president reached out to voters who supported his opponent, John Kerry, and said, "Today, I want to speak to every person who voted for my opponent. To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust."

Those bipartisan efforts have been met with crushing resistance from both political parties.

Have you ever seen GWB speak during the years of, I don't know, 2003-2007?

The treatment President Bush has received from this country is nothing less than a disgrace. The attacks launched against him have been cruel and slanderous, proving to the world what little character and resolve we have. The president is not to blame for all these problems. He never lost faith in America or her people, and has tried his hardest to continue leading our nation during a very difficult time.

Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House.

Unbelieveable. And part of Shapiro's legacy.

(title via Scott McNulty on Twitter)

Alaskan Choices

Josh Marshall is unimpressed with Alaska:

3:33 AM ... Okay, I don't know what to say. But the Anchorage Daily News is saying Rep. Don Young (R-AK), who wasn't satisfied with breaking laws but actually violated the constitution, is probably going to get reelected. And it's looking like his fellow scofflaw and now convicted felon Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) might be on his way to victory too. Now, bear in mind, ensuing imprisonment might force an early departure from the senate. But then who would appoint his replacement? Sarah Palin. Too horrible to contemplate. The polls were not looking good for Stevens. It really seems like a red Palin tide may have brought her fellow abusers of office home. To fully unify this great nation, maybe we need to take the Alaska Independence Party up on their offer.

One Of These Things

By Patrick Moberg, via FFFFOUND.

My Father

Dad, via email:

There's joy in Mudville. McCain/Palin has struck out.

Obama Is Like Japanese Torturors

Mark Steyn stays classy:

I extend my congratulations mainly in the same sense that elderly British veterans of my acquaintance like to express their admiration of the marvelously innovative ways their Japanese captors found to torture them. The President-elect ran rings round our side, and found many novel ways to torture us.

It's a funny post straight through. He complains that more attention was not focused on ACORN, Wright, and Obama's aunt - and blames people who supported McCain early and then changed their mind.

Good Bride

I mentioned last night that if there's a God, there will be an audio leak of the congratulations phone call that Bush made to Obama last night.

Considering bits like this (from the transcript), I want it even more:

Laura and I called to congratulate you and your good bride.

"Hume Swoons"

Michael Crowley caught some great expression from Fox News curmudgeon Brit Hume:

It really is fun to watch those people out there jumping up and down. You know, there's something about jumping and down I think that's good for the soul. You know, it's a universal sign of joy. [Laughs gleefully]

Goodbye

Jane Hamsher:

2:09 [am] --  via email -- "In front of the White House, thousands are singing "na na na na, na na na na, hey HEY goodbye"

Another Thing

Three words for you: Supreme Court appointments.

Bill Kristol will be fighting for his legacy this week, trying to claim that Palin was NOT a drag on the ticket - even though it's obvious to everyone.

Win Some, Lose Some

Not all went well last night. Look at this disgusting map of the anti-gay vote in California.



The LA Times still hasn't called it, but it's not looking good.

Shorter Redstate

Congratulations President-Elect Obama:

Does this mean we can get rid of affirmative action now?

OBAMA!!!!!

Tomorrow will begin a brand new tone of Chelicerata.

Truly incredible night.

Easy Mouse Life

Another awesome mac tip.

To have your bluetooth mouse automatically connect to your mac when you turn it on, click and hold the mouse for 4 seconds after turning it on. This works, at least, for the Apple mouse.

November News

By news about the...past:

Official: Saudis Foiled 2003 Terror Plot, Previously-Undisclosed Plan To Blow Up Airliner Over U.S. Revealed By Saudi Arabian Newspaper:
(AP) Saudi Arabia foiled a terror attack against the United States five years ago, a Saudi official said Sunday.

The official said the 2003 plot, which was first reported Sunday in Al-Watan newspaper, was one of 160 foiled terror plots the kingdom announced last month that it had foiled. At the time, authorities provided no details about the alleged plots.

It was unclear why Saudi authorities never publicly revealed the alleged 2003 plot previously and why it first surfaced in Al-Watan, which is government guided, on Sunday.

No comment.

Pattern

The AP headline and lead are:

In Final Days, Dirty Tricks Rear Ugly Head
Efforts To Confuse Or Scare Voters Once Again Appear As Election Day Nears.

Unless you read it, you wouldn't know that every single example of "dirty tricks" therein are pro-McCain, anti-Obama.

Isn't that a pattern worth mentioning in such a story?

"The Outcome Is Up To God"

From an article on McCain supporters praying for victory:

While politicians are making their final pitch to voters, religious Americans from across the political spectrum are appealing to a higher power on the candidates' behalf.

"We have just days to pray that someone who upholds the sanctity of life and marriage between one man and one woman will win," said Pam Olsen, co-pastor with her husband of the International House of Prayer in Tallahassee, Fla.

Olsen, who personally supports Republican John McCain, is organizing a marathon of prayer, fasting and Bible reading at the Capitol starting Saturday until the state's polls close.

"The outcome is up to God," she said.

Really? So if Obama wins, you'll be upfront announcing that God has chosen Obama, and that you will support him 100%?

Actually, I give credit to Rev. Adam Hamilton, quoted later in the piece, for actually presenting such an example of separation of church and state.

But many pastors are warning against asking God for a specific outcome.

The Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the 12,000-member United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., has urging his congregants simply to pray for help choosing the right leader for the country. Author of the book, "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality and Politics," Hamilton said no one knows "who God's person for the hour is."

And considering the state of the economy and the other daunting problems facing the U.S. and the world, Hamilton said churches would do better to focus on asking God to help whoever succeeds President Bush.

"Who wants this job right now?" Hamilton said. "Whoever wins this election, we're going to have to pull together to pray for them."

Jonah Says Whom to Ignore

Faced with the statistic that college newspapers have endorsed Obama over McCain 63 to 1, wise man Jonah Goldberg says college students are stupid and should be ignored.

Obama is the flavor of the moment and college newspaper editors are as prone to faddishness as college kids generally. I find it hilarious how much respect many readers have for the intellectual chops of these kids. Having been to dozens of campuses this year alone, let me tell you that college newspaper workers (I was an editor myself) are not a superior breed of student. Some are impressive. Many aint. Most are just younger versions of grown-up journalists, only more liberal, more self-important, more emotional and more resentful that people don't care enough about what they have to say.

Burn

Obama's a bad-ass:

"My girls were doing some trick or treating and, you know, Malia and Sasha each year, every year they’ve got trouble deciding what they want to be for Halloween," he said.

"But John McCain didn’t have that problem," Obama said. "Just like every year, he’s going as George W. Bush."

Gunmaker For Obama

When folks claim that Obama will "take away your guns," ask them about Dan Cooper, founder and former-president of Cooper Firewarm. Dan was forced to resign after an internet freak-out resulting from his expression of support for Obama.

Cooper, who said he usually votes Republican, told the paper in the interview he planned to vote for Obama "probably because of the war. And also because the Republican Party has moved so far right in recent years."

Cooper said Thursday he had submitted his resignation to the board.

"There is nothing on this earth I will not do for my employees ... When the Internet anger turned on these innocent people, I felt it was important to distance myself from the company so as not to cause any further harm," he said.

Does Dan not understand that Obama wants to shut down his industry?

This pops the bubble of the Obama-Takes-Your-Guns story.

It Rhymes, You See

CNN Political Ticker:

As Palin wound down her remarks, a group in the rear of the audience began a noisy chant of "John McCain! Not Hussein!" — but the governor did not appear to hear or acknowledge them.

One Thing

David Usher, President of the "American Coalition for Fathers and Children, Missouri Coalition," breaks it down for us:

[McCain's] shortcomings pale in comparison to Obama. We have all heard that Obama's best friends to this day are feminists, Marxists, white-haters, and revolution-for-the-hell-of-it bomb-slingers and constitutional anarchists. A fair amount of this is actually true in the present-day sense.

Sure we are mad at Bush for some things. Much of our anger should be directed at Congress — from whence legislation flows. The vast majority of insane federal social legislation was created by Democrats (while Republicans often avoided the issues).

We are very upset about the breakdown of our financial systems triggered by the home loan crisis. To this end, McCain deserves very high marks: he opposed loose loan legislation enacted by Democrats giving home loans to the poor, unemployed, and single mothers who simply cannot afford them.

But these are all externals. They have little impact on responsible Americans who work hard and do not live on credit.

We must look forward to titrate the future consequences of our vote. After a great deal of contemplation, it seems my vote boils down to one thing: my inheritance.

And who's to blame here, really?

That's Obama's theme — Marxist redistribution — mob rule modeled on Chicago south-side Daley-machine ward scumbags who never worked a day in their lives (and on weekends hang out in holy-rolling white-hating welfare churches elevating personal irresponsibility into an excusable religion).