I am a terrible person...

Because I am cackling that on Ted Stevens' 85th birthday, he appears to have lost his bid for reelection after felony convictions.

If we're including Joe Lieberman, which it appears we are, that makes 58 seats for the Dems.

Recount under way in Minnesota, and runoff in Georgia. What can you do to help? Well, in addition to the things we've already posted, it appears that on my.barackobama.com, you can make phone calls to Georgia voters from your home. I've used their phonebanking tool, and it's insanely easy. So please do make a few calls. Have a party, have some friends over, have some beer and help get rid of Saxby Chambliss. We really could get to 60.

Elections ongoing

It still ain't over until...

Well, according to this post over at Bitch, Ph.D., it might end up in the courts.

I'm by no means unbiased here. Norm Coleman is a dangerous wanker, one of the few political figures I actually hate. He was my hometown mayor, he's in a sham marriage and talks about family values, and his hypocritical stands are matched by canny triangulation.

He's engaged in a full court press. With Alaska gone D, and Georgia close, this might be THE filibuster breaker. The Star Tribune, the onetime liberal Minneapolis daily, is drinking Normade, and Minnesota Public Radio, the most aristocratic of public radio stations, is pushing RNC lines.

Please call the Franken campaign and get them to wake up. Call MPR and write the Star Tribune. Maybe this will work out, but the Right is putting more pressure on the Secretary of State's office than the other side. Minnesota has a good process that should be run without interference. If Coleman wins the recount clean, well then we kick him around for 6 more years, but if he succeeds in sending it to the courts, then we're still in 'Right Wing Judicial Coup' territory.

Links available over there.

Also, over at my.barackobama.com, you can find a phonebanking tool for voters in Georgia for the recount.

Don't forget these because we won the big one.

Georgia!

Ok, so Georgia went for McCain.

But here's the real kicker. Saxby Chambliss, best known as the complete scumbag who ran campaign videos comparing veteran Max Cleland, who left three limbs in Vietnam, with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, did NOT get 50% of the vote to retain his Senate seat.

This means there's a runoff election.

Jim Martin is another Vietnam-veteran Democrat, and in a post-Obama world, we could snag another seat here. Chambliss, a Republican incumbent in a state that went for McCain, couldn't get a majority.

Help Martin out. Saxby Chambliss is one of the most odious bastards in the Senate.

Election Gossip

A few other people have linked to this, but check out this great insider info from the campaigns that Newsweek is publishing.

Among the highlights:

The debates unnerved both candidates. When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, "I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'."

You do have to wonder how the candidates put up with this shit. And did Brian Williams actually think that was a good question? The punditocracy is not the best and the brightest, though they certainly think that about themselves.

McCain also was reluctant to use Obama's incendiary pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as a campaign issue. The Republican had set firm boundaries: no Jeremiah Wright; no attacking Michelle Obama; no attacking Obama for not serving in the military. McCain balked at an ad using images of children that suggested that Obama might not protect them from terrorism. Schmidt vetoed ads suggesting that Obama was soft on crime (no Willie Hortons). And before word even got to McCain, Schmidt and Salter scuttled a "celebrity" ad of Obama dancing with talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres (the sight of a black man dancing with a lesbian was deemed too provocative).

I'm not buying into the rehabilitation of McCain's reputation that he and so many others are already engaging in. However, is their any doubt that Bush and Rove (or Lee Atwater for that matter) would have used this stuff all the way? Although I would not call McCain's campaign classy in any way, it could have been worse.

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin during the campaign, and aides kept him in the dark about the details of her spending on clothes because they were sure he would be offended. Palin asked to speak along with McCain at his Arizona concession speech Tuesday night, but campaign strategist Steve Schmidt vetoed the request.

This stuff is hilarious. Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus. Wow. There sure is a lot of hatred of Palin coming from the McCain team.

Newsweek is promising more of this kind of thing. It's quality insider gossip.

Election Night/Drinking Time

Just opened my first beer, for no other reason than I wanted one.

Here's hoping tonight is a night of toast after toast.....

Dixville Notch

The vote in one town doesn't matter.

However, Dixville Notch, New Hampshire fulfilled its usual role today as the first place to vote in the nation.

In 1988, Bush beat Dukakis in Dixville Notch 34-3. In 2004, W beat Kerry 19-7.

Today, Obama beat McCain 15-6.

If Dixville Notch at all represents shifts among small-town voters, this is going to be a very long night for McSame.

If You Haven't Already Voted, What Are You Doing Reading This Blog???!!?!?!?

To echo Sarah, go vote today!!! Be it for Barack Obama, John McCain, Charles "Chuck" Baldwin, Cynthia McKinney, Brian Moore, Ralph Nader, Bob Barr (and his moustache), or somebody else - just please go vote. I know it's cliche, but as somebody who's spent a fair amount of his time reading about dictatorships, voting is something Americans really do take for granted, so get out there and exercise the right our government still hasn't denied us.

And in the anecdotal portion, I spent only a half-hour in line this morning waiting to vote (though it was 7AM), and it went quickly and smoothly (apparently, in New York, we don't vote on ballot initiatives or tax issues or sherriff or anything with the general election - maybe that will come next year with the mayoral and city council elections). There were no problems, everybody seemed to be in a good mood, and some election monitors even showed up to see how things were going. And I realized that this was the first time I ever voted on Election Day (previously having voted absentee in 2000 and early voting in 2004), making today even more exciting.

Anyhow - VOTE!

Counting Absentee Ballots in Albuquerque

Here are some images of the counting of Absentee ballots in Albuquerque from this afternoon. There aren't very good because I was not allowed to take pictures in the actual area where people were working. In the second picture, you can see a bunch of people behind a fence. That is where the four machines that count the absentee ballots are located. The county hopes to finished counting all the ballots tonight, and as you can see, this is a massive operation. 

I've heard from several friends that absentee ballots aren't counted unless the race is close, or that they don't count them until the election is over. I'm not sure these somewhat crummy pictures are convincing evidence that these rumors are false, but they are.

New Mexico's Election Process

(This is long, but I need to make up for not posting in the last several weeks!)

Last week I attended two poll worker training sessions in preparation for some Election Day observations I will be involved in tomorrow. I thought it might be interesting to outline exactly how elections are run here in New Mexico, since I’ve come across a lot of people recently that are not only really skeptical of the election process, but just have no idea what happens. While my training was limited to Bernalillo County (where Albuquerque is located), the process across the state is theoretically similar and the same training materials are used state-wide. The only exception is some minor changes to the process in Albuquerque because of its size. Tomorrow, I will be part of a team observing elections in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, which includes Las Cruces, Hatch, Anthony, and a number of other small towns in Southeastern New Mexico, and I hopefully will be able to do some live blogging about what we are observing and how much the observed process differs from how the election should be run. There will also be teams observing in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Farmington, so if anything interesting happens in those areas we will be in touch and I hope to be able to blog about those areas as well.

Background

In New Mexico we have paper ballots where we fill in a bubble for each choice we make. A sample ballot can be seen here. It is a lot like a scan-tron, and after an individual fills in their ballot, it is then fed into the voting machine, called an M-100 Voting Tabulator. The voting machine is nothing more than a big metal box, with a scanner on the top. There is an electronic zip disk (yes, they actually still use zip disks) that includes the code for each precinct inserted into each scanner, which allows the scanner to read the ballot and record the votes correctly. When the machine is turned on, a zero tape is printed out that shows all the counts for each race and ballot question are at zero. When the polls close, another tape is printed out that includes the results for all races and questions.

At each precinct, there is an election board that is made up of a presiding judge, and a number of poll workers. Each election board is supposed to be balanced between Republicans and Democrats. I attended both the presiding judge training, and regular poll worker training.

Prior to Election Day and Opening the Polls

Presiding judges are required to attend a 4-hour training session prior to each election. The training I attended included about 100 people, and I would say about half of them had served before as presiding judges. The training session includes a video presentation of how to set up and take down a precinct, what the voter ID law is in New Mexico, what to do in case of emergencies or problems in the precinct, how to deal with provisional ballots and absentee ballots, and how to use the M-100 voting machine and the automark system, which is a voting assistance machine for those with special needs. There was a wide variety of people at the training, definitely on the older side, but also a lot of people in their 30s and 40s. Poll workers attend a two-hour training that is very similar to the presiding judge training, but since poll workers have less responsibilities than the judges, there is less to cover. Presiding Judges are given a list of the poll workers that will be working at their precinct during the training, and are supposed to be in contact with the poll workers prior to Election Day. It does seem that for the most part, judges and poll workers do not know each other before Election Day, since a lot of people do not actually work in their own precinct.

Much of the training session was taken up by question and answer, and some venting by a lot of the judges. Our voter ID law does not seem to be very popular among the presiding judges and poll workers, so it will be interesting to see how this is applied. (You can read the Voter ID law here. Also the provisional ballot process, which allows anyone to fill out a ballot on election day regardless of registration status or if they are in the correct location, is complicated and seems to be fairly disliked by election workers. Most provisional ballots end up getting thrown out, but it does allow for a more open electoral process and is a good safeguard against inadvertently disenfranchising a voter because of a clerical error or some other problem. It is somewhat of a problem that lot of the judges, and poll workers as well, seem to only grudgingly accept their responsibility to apply the law as it is supposed to be, and will likely mean that the application of Voter ID laws and the allowance for filling out a provisional ballot is not going to be universally applied across New Mexico. But, I’ll get to see this first hand tomorrow, so hopefully I’m wrong!

In the week leading up to the election, county clerks begin delivering the voting machines  and polling booths to each individual precinct. In Bernalillo County, the Sunday before the election, presiding judges pick up the ballots and other administrative materials they need to set up their precinct on Election Day. All of this material is received in a locked ballot box, which they have to bring with them to the precinct. Polls open at 7am, so all judges and poll workers have to show up at 6am to set up the precinct. Setting up the precinct involves setting up tables, putting together the polling booths, turning on the voting machine, and setting up the Automark system. They also are required to post all the typical signs one sees at a precinct on Election Day. No campaigning is allowed within 100 feet of the polls, and the poll workers are required to determine where that designated 100 feet is, and to make sure throughout the day that that barrier is maintained.

Election Day Voting

Once polls open at 7am, voters identify themselves and sign off on the list of registered voters. Poll workers also have a second list that is checked off by a second poll worker, to ensure accuracy and help balance out the number of voters with the number of ballots cast at the end of the day. After a voter has identified themselves, they receive a ballot and a voter permit card. The voter permit card includes the ballot number and the voter’s number on the registration list. Each ballot is numbered, but this portion of the ballot is torn off prior to being given to the voter. The numbering of the ballots and the voter permit cards is necessary in order to make sure ballots are not lost and all ballots are accounted for at the end of the day. As long as the ballot stub with the number is torn off, there is no way to attach a permit card to a ballot after the fact to figure out how any individual person voted. After a person has filled out their ballot, the voter is supposed to put the ballot in the voting machine. Poll workers are allowed to help in inserting the ballot, but only if asked. Once a ballot has been given to a voter, no poll worker is supposed to touch it unless asked for help. This also applies to voters who make a mistake on their ballot and need a new one, those who vote provisionally, and those who fill out an in-lieu-of absentee ballot. However, I’ve heard there is wide variation in how poll workers handle ballots, and it has already happened to one person on our observation team where a spoiled ballot was “disappeared” by a poll worker in an early voting location, even though the voter him or herself is supposed to place it in a special envelope and seal it.

Closing the Polls

Polls close at 7pm. Poll workers are supposed to identify the last person in line who was there by 7pm and allow those still in line to vote. After all votes have been cast, poll workers print out the results from the voting machine, and start breaking down everything that had been set up at the beginning of the day. A number of different results tapes are printed out and mailed to different locations, including the county clerk, the secretary of state, and the district attorney. The results are also supposed to be posted at the precinct in a visible location so voters can come and see how their precinct voted. The ballots are taken out of the M-100 voting machine and placed into a locked ballot box. There are two keys to the ballot box, and once it is locked at the precinct, each key is mailed to a different location and cannot be opened without a court order. Any provisional ballots, in-lieu-of ballots, and absentee ballots that were handed in at a precinct are not supposed to be placed in the ballot box, but in previous elections they were, which really delayed the election process in New Mexico because a number of court orders were required to open up ballot boxes. In the trainings, the trainers really stressed not to put anything in the ballot box besides ballots from the M-100, so hopefully it is less of a problem this time around.

Throughout the day, there may be a number of ballots that were unreadable by the M-100. In some cases, voters made a mistake on their ballot and voted twice for a single race, and so the machine rejected the ballot. Voters are allowed to fill out a new ballot if they want to, but in some instances they refuse. These ballots are placed in a special slot in the M-100 machine and have to be hand-counted at the end of the night after the polls close. In this election, the hand-counting tally sheets are six pages long. Hand-counting ballots is extremely time consuming and much less accurate than machine counting. However, these ballots are counted at the precinct, and the results of any hand-counted ballots are delivered to the county clerk on election night as well. (They are, however, not posted at the precinct along with the machine results).

After the polls have been closed, the machine turned off, and all ballots counted, the poll workers have to balance out the number of voter signatures on the registration list, double-check it against the second registration list, and make sure the number of voters matches the number of ballots counted by the machine, plus hand-counted ballots. They also have make sure the number of voter permit cards matches the number of voters and ballots. Any remaining unused ballots are to be destroyed on site, after the numbered stubs are removed. The ballot stubs are saved to account for all ballots that were provided to each precinct. The poll worker trainings really did not emphasize saving the ballot stubs, and the printed training materials do not mention retaining these stubs. It is an important part of the process to make sure ballots do not end up missing.

The presiding judge is then required to take the ballots to the county clerk, where all the paperwork is checked over by county clerk employees to make sure everything is in order. In Albuquerque, there are drop zones across the city where judges take the ballots, but I think in most other places, the ballots are returned to one central location where the ballots are stored.

Feel free to ask questions in the comments, I'm sure I left out a lot!

 

Election Predictions

With a day to go, here are my election predictions:

Obama 356
McCain 182

Of the contested states, I have Obama winning Nevada, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and in a bit of a surprise, North Dakota. There hasn't been a lot of polling of North Dakota but what there is suggests a real chance for an Obama win.

I do have McCain holding on by tight margins in Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Indiana, and Georgia. I don't think West Virginia will be particularly close at all.

Senate: Democrats pick up 8 seats. I do think Franken will seal the deal in Minnesota although it is hard to say.

I also think that Saxby Chambliss will win a plurality but fail to win 50%, forcing a runoff against Jim Martin in December, a race that will be for the 60th Democratic seat.

I really don't see the Kentucky or Mississippi races falling our way.

House:

Democrats pick up 23 seats. I don't necessarily buy the huge gains some are hoping for. People seem to be relatively satisfied with their own representative, even as they hate Congress as a whole. There will be some gains, but not overwhelming.

Liveblogging the Election

To build on Sarah's post below, I'll probably be liveblogging the election obsessively as I freak out not only about the presidential race but also every Senate and House race. And probably a bunch of ballot measures around the country and local Texas races.

So I hope you'll join me in comments.

I'll probably try to play around with all this new-fangled technology Sarah is talking about too, both to see what she is saying and to try and comprehend what the kids are up to these days.

Election Time!

I don't think that anyone who reads this blog needs a reminder to vote on Tuesday, if you haven't already, but just in case you need one: DO IT.

I probably won't be updating much because I'll be out knocking on doors and hanging out at the polls watching for shenanigans. I hope you'll be doing the same. Especially if you're a lawyer or legal type. They always need more people to ensure people can vote.

Also, go download Greg Palast's "Steal Back Your Vote" investigative comic, because Palast is my hero and protecting our democracy is both his and my passion.

I'll try to toss things up on Tumblr as they happen, and no doubt will be twittering.

Can Obama (or Anybody) "De-Nixon-ify" the U.S.?

Watching the Obama half-hour program tonight, I admit, I was pretty excited, not that he's going to be president (we still have to vote), but that there's any politician like him right now. I'm far from a giddy, emotive person, yet I've been excited about Obama, as a politician and then as a candidate, since his 2004 Democratic Convention address. I have repeatedly admitted that this is the first time in my life I've ever been excited about voting for anybody, and it will be the first time that I vote not against a candidate, but for one.

Tonight, hearing just the first two minutes, where Obama expressed how people still have hope, in spite of the economy and the wars and all the things facing the country, a thought crossed my mind. Is it possible that Obama, or any other politician, may be able to "de-Nixon-ify" the U.S. public's attitude towards politics? What I mean by this is, ever since Watergate, the public attitude towards American politics and politicians has been one of cynicism, skepticism, sarcasm, whereas that hadn't always been the case. For all the legacies Nixon left, no doubt the most impressive one to me is how his administration fundamentally shifted the way we the American people view politicians today.

Will it be that any politician, Obama or somebody else, might be able to reverse the damage that Nixon to our image of politics and politicians? What do others think - will Watergate be "undone" somewhere down the line? Or are we too partisan at this point for anything to be "undone" or improved?

The States

Here's a question--what is going on in state elections? According to this Times article, Republicans think they can win in a lot of the state legislatures. I don't know how true this is, the reality is that not only do I not know, I don't even know how to know. All these national political websites seem to be ignoring the states. I haven't seen a single thing on either Kos or 538.com on any state races. Even the governor's races, which are really important.

Obviously, the national elections are more important and the focus on the Netroots have been on these races. But one thing the Republicans know is the value of low-level down-ballot races. School boards. Judges. County commissioners. Things like that. The left has never focused on these races to much extent. For all the talk of the grassroots, we haven't done a very good job at actually building from there to bigger races.

This really matters because of congressional realignment in 2010. In Texas, we need to flip 5 House seats. That might happen. But if Republicans are making gains in other states, that's a problem. And if they win governorships, that's even worse. Hopefully, one place the Netroots can build in the next 2 years is to a greater focus and publicity machine for these state and local races.

Senate Races: New Hampshire

(posted at my blog a few days ago, sharing with you guys)

Like everyone else, I've been wrapped up in the presidential election. Pennsylvania doesn't have a governor's or Senate race this year, and Philly is such a Democratic lock that the primaries back in the spring pretty much decided who the state reps will be. If I get outside of Philly I see Patrick Murphy signs everywhere (which make me happy), but I've realized how little attention I've been paying to some of the really fun congressional races this weekend when I was in New Hampshire.

In addition to the Obama signs (and yes, McCain/Palin signs), I saw loads of bright green Jeanne Shaheen signs. Jeanne Shaheen is the former 3-term Democratic governor of New Hampshire and she's challenging John Sununu for the Senate. She would become New Hampshire's first woman senator.

Emily's List has a rundown on Shaheen on the issues. Opposed to the Iraq war, pro-choice--those should be enough for any of us, right? But Shaheen is also a former public school teacher, committed to public education, and lost the Senate race to Sununu back in 2002 by only 19,000 votes. In addition, Democratic GOTV phone banks were jammed by Republican operatives on election day--two were convicted and served jail time.

Sununu is an old familiar name in New Hampshire--John Sununu Sr. was governor. The current Sununu is an anti-choice hawk who has taken tons of money from oil companies (no surprise there, right?)

Plus, Jeanne Shaheen is a fun name to say.

New Hampshire is close to my heart--as I stated below, a lot of my family still lives there and every time I go to visit, I obsess over its beauty and small-town-USA perfection. The tiny downtown where my grandmother lives has a Thai restaurant, a coffee shop, and the best used bookstore (also with an amazing selection of records) that I've ever been to. I don't go there without coming back with gems: bell hooks, this time, and this book as well. Couple that with a train station and a Dunkin' Donuts, and I'm good to go. If the town were a little less white, it'd be heaven.

The "live free or die" state has been a swing state for a while now, and that's part of the reason I love it. I actually adore the fact that a McCain sign is next door to an Obama sign, and the division between neighbors isn't ethnic or income-based. I like that New Hampshirites take their early primary seriously, and even though as Jon Stewart pointed out, they're "cold white people," they care about voting.

So Jeanne Shaheen's lead in the polls makes me happy. And I hope it grows, and that she heads off to the Senate in January.

What Is Wrong With My Generation?

According to the Daily Kos tracking poll, the only age group McCain leads is the 30-44 group.

What is wrong with my age group? This is not new. A big reason for the Republican dominance from 1994 to 2006 was that young voters were much more conservative than they usually are. What is up with this? I could totally feel this in college. Even at the University of Oregon in the early to mid 1990s, one of the most liberal public schools in the nation, there was a definite rightward feel, particularly within student elections. Old left-leaning student-funded programs were cut and the place felt like it was changing. I guess this is some kind of reaction to the 1960s, but it is shocking to find that my age group is more conservative even than senior citizens.

I Knew Joe Six-Pack American, I Grew Up with and Was Good Friends with Joe Six-Pack American, and you, Madam, are NO Joe Six-Pack American

Dear Sarah Palin,

I realize that you are trying to relate to the "average, blue-collar" American, and that it has been your party's tact to gain votes by coming off not as an intelligent, capable leader, but as someone anybody could "have a beer with" for awhile (see: 2000 elections, 2004 elections).

However, "Joe Six-Pack American" could not lose $20,000 in the recent stock market collapse and still be OK. If "Joe Six-Pack American" can even afford to sink at least $20,000+ in the stock market, and even if "he" did sink $20,000+ in the stock market, "he" most certainly could not afford the loss of said $20,000 in the way that you apparently can.

So please - if you're going to try to show how you're just like everyday "Joe Six-Pack American," please refrain from using your own "real-life" experience that has nothing to do with Joe Six-Pack American's daily experiences. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mr. Trend

Brazilian "Sci-Fi" in the 1920s: America Would Try to Elect a Black President Someday!

Rob pointed me to an interesting article Slate ran on a 1926 "sci-fi" book by one of Brazil's more renowned authors and intellectuals, Monteiro Lobato. The novel had remained out of print, but this year's election has made it timely and relevant in Brazil again:

O Presidente Negro envisions the 2228 U.S. presidential election. In that race, the white male incumbent, President Kerlog, finds himself running against Evelyn Astor, a white feminist, and James Roy Wilde, the cultivated and brilliant leader of the Black Association, "a man who is more than just a single man ... what we call a leader of the masses."

I've never read this book (nor any by Monteiro Lobato), but if it did in fact come out during the primaries, when I was still in Brazil, I'm sorry I missed out. The parallels the article draws between Lobato's book, and particularly the way in which McCain picked Palin "hoping, some critics say, that women will vote as a gender bloc, transferring loyalties to whichever party has a woman on the ticket," are fascinating, and it's an interesting article. Certainly, it's a bit unfair to condemn Monteiro Lobato for his view on women from the perspective of today, given that the book came out in 1926 (do we hold Shakespeare, or Cervantes, or Hardy, or Tolstoy, or even early Faulkner, to the same gender standard we have today? Then why hold Monteiro Lobato to it?); you don't have to approve of that view today, but to hold authors of the past up to the gender views of today is anachronistic and useless. Still, overall, the article is an interesting read.


As an interesting historical note, the article mentions the book "predicting the U.S. government's use of eugenics, a racist ideology that had attracted a following in Brazil at the time Lobato was writing (and, later, in Germany)." While this is technically true, it deserves a major clarification. There were generally two schools of thought on eugenics: the Comte-ian school, and the Lamarckian school. In the vein of Comte's positivism, Comte-ian eugenics as it applied in Brazil believed in racial improvement through racial mixing. In other words, Brazilian positivists and eugenic theorists in the first three decades of the twentieth century held that, if enough European blood were "mixed" with the African and indigenous blood in Brazilians, then Brazilian society as a whole would evolutionarily improve.


By contrast, the eugenics used in the United States from the 1910s-1930s and in Germany under Hitler were extreme applications of Lamarckian ideas on evolution. As they were applied in the U.S. and in Germany, this meant the complete removal of "unwanted" elements from the society, rather than the reduction of the unwanted's "negative" characteristics via mixing. Thus, practice of eugenics in the U.S. witnessed things like the forced sterilization of developmentally disabled individuals, and reached its highest, most extreme expression in the Holocaust. This is not to say that Brazil did not have individuals and intellectuals who also promoted Lamarckian eugenics, far and away the current that dominated the rhetoric and theorization of eugenics and "race-improvement" were from the Comte-ian school of thought. Thus, while it is parsing, it's important to point out that the vision of eugenics Monteiro Lobato discusses in O Presidente Negro, in which "white leaders then mastermind the end of the black race in America, using a senseless and tragic sterilization technique," is not indicative of Monteiro Lobato's vision of positivism and eugenics, but of how eugenics in the United States were actually practiced in Monteiro Lobato's time.


So while the article is correct in describing eugenics as a "racist ideology" that had some following in Brazil, it also had followings in the U.S. Acknowledging that eugenics in any form is a pretty abhorrent thing, it took far more sinister characteristics in the U.S., where governments openly prevented "undesireables" from being able to reproduce, versus Brazil, where the goal was more generally to try to racially improve via "race-mixing" with European immigrants, a goal which worked far better in theory than in practice up until the 1930s, when intellectual currents changed and Brazilians found a way to be proud of the indigenous and African elements in their "blood." But that is for another post...

Bailout, etc.

Read this this morning. Some interesting tidbits in there.

Among them:

For the first time, the federal government will limit the compensation of some top corporate executives to $500,000 annually -- directly in the case of big banks that participate heavily in the new program and through limits on tax deductions for everyone else. There will be tough restrictions on golden parachutes and clawback provisions for bonuses based on profits that later disappear.

Of course, commie that I am, I think $500,000 is still way too much.

Also:

Finally, the legislation contains several mechanisms for the government to recoup all of its money, and perhaps even turn a profit, by collecting insurance premiums, demanding stock from participating banks and, should all else fail, slapping a new tax on the financial services industry beginning in 2014.

Somehow, I don't believe that.

I wish I had studied economics more. I wish I had a better suggestion, but let's face it: our economy is dependent on too many huge corporations that do nothing in essence but shuffle money around. We don't make things anymore, we've got ridiculous trade deficits, we in essence have nothing to offer but bombs and threats.

For all of McCain's tough talk on Russia and China, the fact remains that we can't be threatening large countries that own huge chunks of our national debt with much of anything. We can't bulldoze them into compliance--we can't even get Iraq and Afghanistan to do what we want.

I think this is the end of US global dominance no matter how we slice it--and that in itself doesn't bother me. The question is, can we just gently accept that, start to compromise and deal with other countries on a level, or are we going to freak out like spoiled children, provoke or start more wars, and end up collapsing in a bloody heap?

Somehow, I think the answer hinges on this election.

Scary shit, eh?

(Cross-posted)

A Slogan for Palin?

If only Americans knew enough about old vice-presidential candidates to use such a slogan:

Sarah Palin. Combining the gravitas of Dan Quayle, the skeletons in the closet of Thomas Eagleton, and the beliefs of Dick Cheney.

To me that's pretty damning. But I realize that like 2% of Americans under the age of 35 know who Eagleton is and not as many more as we'd like to think know who Quayle is.

Oh well. I like my slogan.