One year ago, there was political nervousness of the highest order over the much-anticipated Iowa caucuses. Now, we are nervously anticipating a Black President.
Baseball season extended well past October '08, directly into a mindless Pepper game for the hottest bailout fatigued Senate seat in the country. There are 1.2 million concerns and geo-theatre warfare. Seconds until 2009 and the Clintons will help tick them away. Times Square seems weird this time.
BOOM! It is here in flailing glory. The worst year since 1931 is over. So we hope.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Friday, November 7, 2008
Election leftovers
After the last two Presidential Elections, this was relatively painless. As soon as the polls closed on the West Coast Obama was declared the victor. It wasn't even close. Obama's lead was too large to even consider challenging. McCain gave a great speech and sounded like his old self again. Palin took her family back home to Alaska and is undoubtedly reading books about the rest of the country in preparation for her pending candidacy for President in 2012.
Surely, the Apocalypse will then be upon us. In the meantime President-elect Obama has been preparing for his transition into the White House. No vacation with family just yet.
The battle for Congress the Democrats won out, but they also fell short of their iron-clad majority, including a filibuster-proof Senate. Minnesota is still undecided between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, but that would still leave the Senate Democrats short of 60 by 4 votes.
Washington State's election was also less protracted than four years ago. Gregoire made some big advances in King County (which was a surprise) and pulled off a victory. Had he won, Rossi probably would have been a rising star for the GOP. Especially since he was a challenger in a Democratic year. Lucky for us he's no Sarah Palin. Democrats are no doubt breathing easier now that Gregoire will be returned, it is still amazing that she was in this much trouble in the first place. Also surprising is the amount of incumbents returned to the legislature. They were mostly democrats to begin with, but few incumbents lost and one longtime democratic Senator, Marilyn Rasmussen, appears to have lost to her GOP challenger.
Other issues around the country were controversial. The ballot measures banning gay marriage all passed. Colorado wasn't really a surprise, but California banning gay marriage is a little surprising. California is home to the two largest gay population cities (San Francisco and Oakland) and is a supposedly "liberal" state. MSNBC found that minority communities are not accepting of gay marriage, especially the African-American community.
Rounding out the results of the ballot initiatives in Washington, Sound Transit passed, Eyman's transportation initiative failed, and physician assisted suicide passed.
Surely, the Apocalypse will then be upon us. In the meantime President-elect Obama has been preparing for his transition into the White House. No vacation with family just yet.
The battle for Congress the Democrats won out, but they also fell short of their iron-clad majority, including a filibuster-proof Senate. Minnesota is still undecided between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, but that would still leave the Senate Democrats short of 60 by 4 votes.
Washington State's election was also less protracted than four years ago. Gregoire made some big advances in King County (which was a surprise) and pulled off a victory. Had he won, Rossi probably would have been a rising star for the GOP. Especially since he was a challenger in a Democratic year. Lucky for us he's no Sarah Palin. Democrats are no doubt breathing easier now that Gregoire will be returned, it is still amazing that she was in this much trouble in the first place. Also surprising is the amount of incumbents returned to the legislature. They were mostly democrats to begin with, but few incumbents lost and one longtime democratic Senator, Marilyn Rasmussen, appears to have lost to her GOP challenger.
Other issues around the country were controversial. The ballot measures banning gay marriage all passed. Colorado wasn't really a surprise, but California banning gay marriage is a little surprising. California is home to the two largest gay population cities (San Francisco and Oakland) and is a supposedly "liberal" state. MSNBC found that minority communities are not accepting of gay marriage, especially the African-American community.
Rounding out the results of the ballot initiatives in Washington, Sound Transit passed, Eyman's transportation initiative failed, and physician assisted suicide passed.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
A Black Man in a White House: President Elect Barack Hussein Obama
“We will, and always will be, the United States of America.”
-President Barack Obama
Sweet Jesus, he did it.
This moment is for my Father who grew up during Jim Crow; who ordered burgers out the back door of a restaurant; who entered Truman's newly desegregated U.S. Army and stayed there for 30 years. This is also for my Mother who is a Korean immigrant, who has not been back to her homeland since she left almost 30 years ago; who faced high odds and a rigid glass cieling in corporate America; who overcame a language barrier by listening to country music. For me, this moment is for my son who will live in a markedly different reality than his father and grandfather experienced.
-President Barack Obama
Sweet Jesus, he did it.
This moment is for my Father who grew up during Jim Crow; who ordered burgers out the back door of a restaurant; who entered Truman's newly desegregated U.S. Army and stayed there for 30 years. This is also for my Mother who is a Korean immigrant, who has not been back to her homeland since she left almost 30 years ago; who faced high odds and a rigid glass cieling in corporate America; who overcame a language barrier by listening to country music. For me, this moment is for my son who will live in a markedly different reality than his father and grandfather experienced.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Iraq
The Iraqi government has stated that it wants US troops out of Iraq after 2011.
That's all.
Can we get some of that money back now?
They don't want us there. The American people don't want to be there. The only person that wants to keep us in Iraq is John McCain.
That's all.
Can we get some of that money back now?
They don't want us there. The American people don't want to be there. The only person that wants to keep us in Iraq is John McCain.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Less than a week
There has so much to comment on recently it is hard to say where to begin. The Presidential race seems to have swung so far to Obama that Buchanan is already hyperbolizing President Obama's 1st 100 Days. The "global financial crisis" is still in full swing and the first *GULP* billions should be on its way out of the Treasury and to the banks. And for the first time since 1958 the Federal Funds Rate is 1%.
What is most interesting at this point is watching the GOP cannibalize itself as people begin abandon the sinking John McCain campaign. Even Sarah Palin, who seems to be drawing bigger crowds than the top of the ticket, has been positioning herself outside of the McCain camp, taken stands on issues that have not been on message. It seems that Sarah Palin's presidential ambitions are not going to wait until after the election, she is positioning herself to run for the GOP nomination in 2012 (yet another sign of the coming apocalypse?). The McCain camp has traded the "maverick" tag for "diva" and called her out in public on it.
The choice of Sarah Palin has undone the McCain campaign. Perhaps the oddball choice of Alaska governor wasn't as smart as initially thought. Tom Ridge would have made McCain far more competitive in Pennsylvania and actually give them a chance at winning.
Back home in the "other" Washington the Governor's race is especially close. Rossi has hit Gregoire on traffic, sex offenders, and now has an ad of her endorsing a state income tax. Stick a fork in her, she is done. Gregoire managed to get touched by all three of the third rails in WA politics. She has no response to any of it other than the comparison to the Bush administration.
We'll have to see. It's not helping Gregoire out much that I can tell. We'll have to see about Burner and the legislative races. Personally I do not believe that Obama's enthusiasm gets to the bottom of the ticket. Rejection of that kind of partisanship is part of the reason he has done so well and a big part of the appeal to the younger independent voters that he has drawn.
What is most interesting at this point is watching the GOP cannibalize itself as people begin abandon the sinking John McCain campaign. Even Sarah Palin, who seems to be drawing bigger crowds than the top of the ticket, has been positioning herself outside of the McCain camp, taken stands on issues that have not been on message. It seems that Sarah Palin's presidential ambitions are not going to wait until after the election, she is positioning herself to run for the GOP nomination in 2012 (yet another sign of the coming apocalypse?). The McCain camp has traded the "maverick" tag for "diva" and called her out in public on it.
The choice of Sarah Palin has undone the McCain campaign. Perhaps the oddball choice of Alaska governor wasn't as smart as initially thought. Tom Ridge would have made McCain far more competitive in Pennsylvania and actually give them a chance at winning.
Back home in the "other" Washington the Governor's race is especially close. Rossi has hit Gregoire on traffic, sex offenders, and now has an ad of her endorsing a state income tax. Stick a fork in her, she is done. Gregoire managed to get touched by all three of the third rails in WA politics. She has no response to any of it other than the comparison to the Bush administration.
We'll have to see. It's not helping Gregoire out much that I can tell. We'll have to see about Burner and the legislative races. Personally I do not believe that Obama's enthusiasm gets to the bottom of the ticket. Rejection of that kind of partisanship is part of the reason he has done so well and a big part of the appeal to the younger independent voters that he has drawn.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
That One
“Mr. DuHaime rejected comments made last week by a Pennsylvania Democrat, Representative John P. Murtha, who told The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, speaking of his home base, that ‘there is no question that Western Pennsylvania is a racist area.’
Mr. McCain referenced Mr. Murtha’s comments in his third stop of the day, at Robert Morris University here, when he said, ‘I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama’s supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately.’ As the crowd booed, Mr. McCain became tangled up in the rest of his remarks. ‘And you know, I couldn’t agree with them more,’ he said, to silence…”
-Elisabeth Bumiller & Jeff Zeleny; New York Times
Fourteen days ago Senator John McCain referred to Senator Barack Obama as “that one” in a debate in front of, at least, 90 million onlookers. The day prior to that, Senator McCain posed a simple question to a foaming crowd if we really know who the “real” Obama is. A worm in the crowd had an answer to that: a terrorist. The bellicose comment seemed to catch McCain briefly off-guard—that for a nanosecond he couldn’t believe what he has become: an angry threatened pol who will do anything to win. Joe Every-man is not on the good side of public perception. Death threats--Wallace, this rhetoric on both sides should end.
It is clear the McCain cadre gave the green light to race-bate this contest and caricature Mr. Obama as the mysterious otherman. This is the last resort, you see. Pat Buchanan volunteered his thoughts on the matter in saying, “he has to go there, or he will lose this election.” The spirit of Lee Atwater is alive and well in modern Republican politics.
The General Election has spiraled into the darkest of depths at similar speed to that of the stock market crash. Attitudes are vicious. There is now an element of hate and fear coming from Senator McCain's campaign that is careening out of control. The conservative intelligencia (Peggy Noonan; Bill Kristol; Christopher Buckley; George Will, and now, Colin Powell) have all rejected where McCain is going, in particular his nod to someone who equates seeing Russia from American soil to sound foreign policy experience. Senator McCain’s crowds have changed. They are not reflective or even remotely reminiscent of the bipartisan quasi-conservative lot that attended his primary experience.
What a difference a year makes.
Meanwhile, his opponent convenes an economic panel and a foreign policy panel to talk through the difficult issues we face.
Mr. McCain referenced Mr. Murtha’s comments in his third stop of the day, at Robert Morris University here, when he said, ‘I think you may have noticed that Senator Obama’s supporters have been saying some pretty nasty things about Western Pennsylvania lately.’ As the crowd booed, Mr. McCain became tangled up in the rest of his remarks. ‘And you know, I couldn’t agree with them more,’ he said, to silence…”
-Elisabeth Bumiller & Jeff Zeleny; New York Times
Fourteen days ago Senator John McCain referred to Senator Barack Obama as “that one” in a debate in front of, at least, 90 million onlookers. The day prior to that, Senator McCain posed a simple question to a foaming crowd if we really know who the “real” Obama is. A worm in the crowd had an answer to that: a terrorist. The bellicose comment seemed to catch McCain briefly off-guard—that for a nanosecond he couldn’t believe what he has become: an angry threatened pol who will do anything to win. Joe Every-man is not on the good side of public perception. Death threats--Wallace, this rhetoric on both sides should end.
It is clear the McCain cadre gave the green light to race-bate this contest and caricature Mr. Obama as the mysterious otherman. This is the last resort, you see. Pat Buchanan volunteered his thoughts on the matter in saying, “he has to go there, or he will lose this election.” The spirit of Lee Atwater is alive and well in modern Republican politics.
The General Election has spiraled into the darkest of depths at similar speed to that of the stock market crash. Attitudes are vicious. There is now an element of hate and fear coming from Senator McCain's campaign that is careening out of control. The conservative intelligencia (Peggy Noonan; Bill Kristol; Christopher Buckley; George Will, and now, Colin Powell) have all rejected where McCain is going, in particular his nod to someone who equates seeing Russia from American soil to sound foreign policy experience. Senator McCain’s crowds have changed. They are not reflective or even remotely reminiscent of the bipartisan quasi-conservative lot that attended his primary experience.
What a difference a year makes.
Meanwhile, his opponent convenes an economic panel and a foreign policy panel to talk through the difficult issues we face.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Day After
Wall Street is rebounding from yesterday's precipitous drop of 777 points. An terms of market capitalization As of this moment the Dow Jones Industrial Average is back up 342 points.
The plan that was turned down by Congress would have authorized the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to start buying up some the subprime securities and bad loans that are gumming up the books of financial institutions.
The House of Representatives failed the measure by a vote of 205-228 that would have authorized $700 billion to start buying back some of the bad loans and securities. Is this a Wall Street bailout or a Main Street? People on Wall St have been saying this is to save Main Street, and the people on Main Street just see where the money is going. The money is going to Wall Street firms and banks. The minority blamed the majority for being partisan when the bill did not pass.
And the market is up 376. Could Paulson and Bernanke being playing up the risks of inaction to cause panic? A day in the life of a stock trader must be very long indeed.
There is no doubt that having some benevolent entity take the bad loans off the books would help someone. Isn't that why pencils have erasers?
The plan that was turned down by Congress would have authorized the Secretary of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to start buying up some the subprime securities and bad loans that are gumming up the books of financial institutions.
The House of Representatives failed the measure by a vote of 205-228 that would have authorized $700 billion to start buying back some of the bad loans and securities. Is this a Wall Street bailout or a Main Street? People on Wall St have been saying this is to save Main Street, and the people on Main Street just see where the money is going. The money is going to Wall Street firms and banks. The minority blamed the majority for being partisan when the bill did not pass.
And the market is up 376. Could Paulson and Bernanke being playing up the risks of inaction to cause panic? A day in the life of a stock trader must be very long indeed.
There is no doubt that having some benevolent entity take the bad loans off the books would help someone. Isn't that why pencils have erasers?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
