A more interesting map of the 2008 Presidential Results

 Here is a rescaled map of the U.S. based on population proportions. You can find more maps that better represent the results here, as well as an explanation on how this was made.

Neo-Confederates for Obama?

I don't even know what to make of this. There can't be that many self-identified Confederates who support Obama. But it is kind of mindblowing.

Via Civil War Memory

Why I Support Barack Obama

I thought I would give the all-important Erik Loomis presidential endorsement to one Barack Obama. Here's why.

1. I am excited about the imposition of sharia law on the United States.

2. I am a socialist.

3. I want to engage in class warfare against the rich.

4. I hate white people.

5. I want to commit race suicide.

6. I hate America.

7. I hate real Americans.

8. I want black men to rape white women.

9. I want God to damn America.

10. I want a secret cabal of ex-Weatherman to run the nation.

11. I want him to lead the anti-American wing of Congress into power.

12. I am an anarchist.

13. I am a member of the PLO and I want death to Israel.

I am sure there are other reasons too. As I continue to read right-wing media, I will remember what they all are.

Shorter Ralph Nader: Forget about Issues, I've Got Records to Set!!!

I don't know which is more embarassing/hilarious: that Nader wants this to show up in the Guinness Book of World Records (way to be concerned about the issues there, Ralph!), or that 2/3 of America is apparently unaware he's running again.


And people say he's only an egomaniac who is more concerned with himself than with any real establishment of a legitimate third party.....

So, Exactly What Kind of Questions IS Sarah Palin Good At Answering (Besides Scripted Questions)?

Of all the delightful parts of this story, there's one portion that leaves me confused:

A Palin associate defended her [over allegations she's "going rogue], saying that she is "not good at process questions" and that her comments on Michigan and the robocalls were answers to process questions.

Um....what the hell is a "process question?" Is it a question that was formed in a process in which Palin could never take part (and therefore not be prepared for the answer)? Is it a question that requires basic cranial processes to work normally? Just what is a "process question?"


Given how Palin's history of "answering" questions has played out over the last 2 months, it's hard to see "not being good at process questions" as anything other than a jargony euphemism for "she lacks the basic brain functions and/or mastery of the English Language necessary to answer simple questions." And when your own "associates" are saying that, that's not a good sign.

Latin American Dictators, Counterrevolutionary Groups, and John McCain in the 1980s

It's no secret by now that John McCain has kept and still keeps company with unsavory characters, to put it mildly. Additionally, by now, it's highly unlikely that anybody who hasn't made up their mind about the election yet will be persuaded by any of this. Still, this month has seen a few stories come up with a couple of damning stories involving McCain and Latin America in the 1980s.

First, there was a report on McCain's role with the U.S. Council for World Freedom. The USCWF was a direct offshoot of the World Anti-Communist League, the latter of which "had ties to ultra-right figures and Latin American death squads" and that was charged with, among other things, anti-Semitism. As the article states, although the USCWF claimed to purge these elements from their own organization, it still "claimed to support "pro-Democratic resistance movements fighting communist totalitarianism." And during the 1980s it became a vehicle for the Reagan administration to prop up some of the more totalitarian, anti-communist efforts in Central America," most notably in financially aiding the Contras to the tune of more than $5 million. The USCWF became one of the main means for the Reagan administration to illegally fund the Contras, circumventing Congress. That McCain was involved with this board is thus problematic not only because he, as a member of Congress at the time, was involved with a group that was directly helping Reagan to violate the Constitution; it's also troubling because, as Stein says, "it firmly associates him with a foreign policy that was, at the time and still, controversial." And this is all involving a man who's claiming to be better prepared and on the moral high ground over his opponent in terms of foreign policy.

Additionally, the story about McCain's 1985 "friendly meeting" with Pinochet, revealed in declassified embassy records has been making the rounds this week. As Boz points out, that McCain met with Pinochet in and of itself isn't necessarily an issue today; many politicians met with Pinochet. But there are problems that Boz raises:

First and foremost, McCain disagrees with the view I set in the above paragraph. He's made his disagreement with Obama's willingness to meet with "dictators without preconditions" a major part of his foreign policy. Has his policy changed since the time he met Pinochet, did he believe Pinochet to be a US ally in 1985 (by '85, even most Republican leaders had turned against Pinochet), or was there some sort of precondition to this meeting that we remain unaware of?

Second, additional documents indicate McCain and his wife stayed on the farm of a Pinochet ally for three days prior to the meeting, vacationing and fishing. That's not exactly an ideal circumstance to then meet with a dictator and demand better human rights or the release of political prisoners.

Finally, no attempt to publicly call for democracy? No public repudiation of Pinochet's human rights record? No meetings with pro-democracy opposition leaders (like Ted Kennedy did around the same time McCain met with Pinochet)? Why did McCain stay so quiet back then? [Answer: because Pinochet fought the "communists." - Mr. Trend.]

Certainly, neither of these stories will change much in the election, nor should they necessarily - there are manifold reasons why not to vote for McCain besides these. Still, they do reveal a really troubling side to his past activities that do give an important insight into how he might potentially deal with Latin America and in his foreign policy relations more generally.

The $150,000 Clothing Budget

I can't believe I am saying this, but I actually sympathize a little bit with Sarah Palin on this $150,000 clothing budget thing. Unfortunately, women in public life are judged on how they dress. And considering that her real national constituency is right-wing males like Rich Lowry who see her as a sex object as well as a political figure, it was not unreasonable for the Republican Party to make these expenditures. Plus, it is totally legal. If Obama or McCain don't look super great all the time, it's not nearly as big a deal as if Palin had a bad fashion day. Plus, those guys do look good. They wear expensive suits and clothes.

So this is a total double standard. Frankly, it's sexist.

However, there is one important caveat. And this is where I lose most of my sympathy with Palin. She based much of her appeal around the bullshit political construction that she was like you and me. This is completely absurd. She almost nothing in common with regular people. She is like W in this way. One of the most frustrating things about the 2000 election was the whole "who do you want to have a beer with" thing. It wasn't just that it was an asinine question; it was that the obvious answer was Gore. Bush is a stupid asshole frat boy. He's like a guy in a beer commercial. You think you might want to have a drink with this person. Until you meet him. Then you realize that he is a jerk. Gore on the other hand might actually have something interesting to say and would probably want to chat with you a little. And he probably has better taste in beer.

Obviously, Palin's background is less elite than Bush, but she still lives a lifestyle that is far distant from that of "average" Americans, whatever that means. So the significance of the clothing budget is not the clothes themselves. It is the exploding of the bullshit media narrative the Republicans constructed around her.

Life in New York - Electoral Politics

The Times has an interesting article about a very strange phenomenon here in New York: a street with four houses displaying McCain signs.

That may not sound weird anywhere else, but, politics, as with so many other aspects of life, in New York is definitely different. Here we are, 13 days away from the election, and I have yet to see any McCain-Palin signs or buttons or anything. About a month ago, I saw my first and only "McCain-Palin" bumper sticker; it was surreal, because my first two simultaneous thoughts were, "Oh, so that's what their layout looks like," and "How bizarre is this? It's September, and I hadn't seen any propaganda for McCain-Palin!" And the kicker to the bumper sticker? I saw it on a car from Jersey - not even a New York resident. (And I love the fact that, in the article, the Olson family had to go to New Jersey to get their McCain signs, too).

That's politics in New York. There are of course people who will vote for the Republicans here this election; after all, Vito Fossella was elected, and this is the home of Giuliani and Bloomberg (though to be fair to the latter, he at least became independent; to be unfair to him, he's also seeking to remove term limits, a move even Giulani didn't push for in the wake of 9/11, even if Giuliani did postpone elections). Still, you really don't see people waving around McCain-Palin propaganda on the streets or in front of their homes here. I've never been in a place during an election where I could remain so unaware of Republican voters and trends. That's not necessarily bad, but it's not necessarily good, either, because it makes it really easy to think that things are going great for liberals in the country if you don't pay a lot of attention to other regions' elections. In a lot of ways, you can't avoid a bit of the insularity that many people in the country accuse New York of having, but when there's so much going on in your own city, it's easier than you'd think to not focus so much on Pennsylvania, Georgia, Idaho, or Arizona.

Shorter Sarah Palin: Making Alaska Pay for My Kids' Flights Also Is Not a Breach of Ethics!

If a report my home-state's legislature issued had already found me guilty of a breach of ethics in public office (despite my flat-out lie that the report said I wasn't guilty), I don't think I'd really be billing my home-state for my kids' flight expenses on PR jaunts around the country. After all, I'm pretty sure that 7-year-old Piper Palin is not conducting any "official state business" by attending hockey games or anything.

Quick Political Snark

As regular readers to our blog must be aware by now, Obama's latest supporter is clearly racist.

More Media Snark

Boy - CNN is making it too easy today, though this time is much more serious. In an election in which racial tensions are running high already, is it really necessary to put up a headline like this? I understand the article's point (that Obama's candidacy could lead to even more African-American votes, and every vote will matter in this election). I don't agree with that point; it's not like African-American votes aren't usually important, nor is it exactly fair to vaguely portray African Americans as people who normally don't turn out to vote, but are doing so for Obama this time, but hey, whatever - I guess you just ran out of white micro-demographics to break down how whatever tiny little fraction of the (white) population will "swing the election.

But for the love of God, if you are going to run such a story, could you at least try to avoid headlines that will scream to the racist and/or nutty, "Don't like the potential new president? Well, if he wins, you can blame the n----s!!!"

Palin, Petitions, Pulling out, Polling down...

Just for the record, I'm not angling for a job at Variety.

The McCain-Palin campaign's recent decision to suspend operations in Michigan was widely reported this past week, as was the latest poll that shows Obama with a very healthy 16 point lead (Rasmussen's October 8th poll).

Michigan Republicans are feeling a little abandoned and have started a petition to convince Sarah Palin to come back to Michigan.

No to be outdone, the Michigan Democratic Party has started a petition to bring Tina Fey to Michigan.

As my good friend and frequent commenter Sator Arepo might say, "an hilarious development".

Ball Game?

I fear calling ball game on the election, but barring something terrible or some sort of massive white backlash, this election is over.

The debate was a snoozer, but Obama won every snap poll. This was McCain's last real chance to blow away the public. Instead he put them to sleep.

There is now a real possibility of Democrats reaching 60 seats in the Senate.

Crush them. Crush them like bugs.

Note: Before someone accuses me of being anti-insect, I want to point out that I just mean to crush them like gross bugs that crawl up the pipes into your shower, not cute bugs that you see outside and are pretty colors. No one with my level of mavericktude would make an all-encompassing claim about bug killing.

Political warfare with the Wayback Machine

On the heels of Erik’s post about McCain and the Keating 5... if McCain is going to keep with his flailing campaign’s new mud-slinging-about-things-from-back-in-the-day strategy (or stuff Sarah Palin just decides to make up, Gad love ‘er), he be better be prepared for some karmic retribution.

I would suggest going back to 2006, when McCain chose to defend his immigration policy by insisting that American workers wouldn’t pick lettuce in Yuma for $50.00 an hour. Here’s the video; and the ensuing report from the Arizona Daily Star.

Were I David Plouffe, I’d be running this video non-stop in Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, and Indiana. First of all, if one has even been inside a factory in the Midwest or the South in the summer, it is at least as hot as Yuma, if not hotter. And the people that work in these factories, if they are lucky enough to work at all, get paid much less than $50.00 an hour (which is a $96,000 yearly base salary). Most Americans would pick lettuce for $50.00 an hour—the problem is no one is paying close to that for that kind of work. What most Americans will not do it is pick lettuce for $4 or $5 or $6 an hour, and with the way things are now, the most economically disadvantaged amongst us would do even that, just to keep a modest amount of food on the table.

Pay a living wage and you’ll find all the hard workers you need. I suggest watching the video—it’s classic pissed-off J-Mac looking like he’s going to fly off the handle and throttle someone.

It's About Time!

I have been wondering for months--why no discussion of John McCain as one of the Keating Five? If McCain is going to try and fight the 60s all over again and bring up Obama once passing former Weatherman Bill Ayers in the street, why not look to the past and show a real-life shady connection.

John McCain thinks his ethics are unimpeachable. The problem with thinking that is that you aren't the judge of your own ethics. Others are. And when you were a central figure in one of the most important congressional corruption scandals of the 20th century, you might want to lay off the self-righteousness a little bit.

Finally, the Obama campaign is attacking McCain's connection to the Keating Five, though it is in some sort of documentary that no one will watch except people who are already Obama's supporters.

I'd like to see some commercials run on this issue, especially if McCain's sleazy attacks start having an effect in the polls.

John McCain--A Corrupt American.

Go Dr. Ralph!

I am really surprised to hear that bluegrass legend Dr. Ralph Stanley is recording commercials for Barack Obama that will be shown in southwest Virginia. Bluegrass musicians are hardly known for their political liberalism, particularly those who grew up in Appalachia. For example, Ricky Skaggs was an active campaigner for Pat Robertson in 1988, when Skaggs had switched over to country and was one of the biggest music stars in the nation. Ira Louvin was a noted racist. Etc. Etc.

If I had ever thought about Stanley's political leanings, I just would have assumed he was a right-winger. But I guess I am wrong. He doesn't just Democrats, their race doesn't matter to him. And this from an old man from rural Virginia. Awesome.

The Compromises of Canvassing

I enjoyed Jennifer Steinhauer's article on Democrats canvassing for Barack Obama in Elko, Nevada. It's actually possible that I am the only person who reads this blog who has been to Elko because it is truly in the middle of nowhere. This is not a particularly nice place.

Steinhauer followed around the canvassers and caught this interesting discussion:

“I don’t want to sound like I’m prejudiced,” she (the person being canvassed) continued. “I’ve never been around a lot of black people before. I just worry that they’re nice to your face but then when they get around their own people you just have to worry about what they’re going to do to you.”

Ms. Vance skipped no beats. “One thing you have to remember is that Obama, he’s half white and he was raised by his white mother. So his views are more white than black really.” Ms. Mendive looked tentative. “Well, that’s true.” Ms. Vance said she was so used to looking at Mr. Obama, “I don’t see the color of his face anymore.”

I am really torn by this strategy. Should we be using racism to promote Obama by reinforcing the value of "white" characteristics over "black" characteristics? I cringed when I saw this.

On the other hand, I have been in these kind of situations, particularly back in my union organizing days. You have an objective--get the person to do the right thing. You are willing to say almost anything to convince them to vote in a way that will benefit them and other people. It's really hard to be in that position. In a close election, whether it is a union election or in a battleground state in a presidential election, you need every vote you can get, even if you have sometimes you feel like you are betraying a little of your soul to get them.

A Few Questions Concerning McCain's Rhetoric

Why does John McCain keep calling himself a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican?" What is he even trying to say with this? Does anybody actually care about, or even know what a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican" would be? Does Teddy have any significance or meaning to Americans today? Or should I just start making old jokes and "he's so out of touch..." comments about McCain?

(And I'm being serious here - does anybody have any insights on to what purpose this all might serve?)

Science, Obama and McCain

No presidential candidate offered to show up for the Science Debate at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute in April, but both candidates made it a point to visit evangelical pastor Rick Warren to answer questions on faith and moral values. It’s pretty clear where the candidates’ priorities are, and a little disheartening, considering stem-cell research promises to cure life-threatening diseases, and a rapidly warming world threatens life itself.

While the candidates may not be focusing on science, scientists certainly are keeping a close watch on them. McCain and Obama stare out of the cover in the latest issue of Nature, a prelude to a series of articles on the two rivals’ positions on everything from research to wireless Internet.

And boy, is there reason for it. The current administration has made a mockery of science by tailoring the EPA’s reports on global warming and manipulating endangered species lists to achieve its own political ends; NIH funding has seen a sharp decline from its glory years. It falls to the next American president to decide if stem cell research will be given the green light it needs, and whether mandatory greenhouse gas regulations will be instilled.

It is not hard to guess which of the two contenders in this race is more sympathetic to science. Well, it isn’t hard in any race, but this season, the difference couldn’t be starker. And not so much for McCain’s lack of support for science (after all, he’s proposed increasing NIH funding and voted to remove restrictions on stem cell research) as for Obama’s detailed positions on various issues dealing with scientific advancement in this country.

While Obama’s science advisory committee is a who’s who of academicians and scientific experts, McCain’s is a list of the usual suspects: political strategists, congressional staff, and corporate leaders. Obama intends to appoint a chief technology officer to oversee cross interactions, information sharing and improvement of technology among the various governmental departments. In addition he has proposed to counter the digital divide in America by expanding broadband access. One has only to look at his Web site to determine that the Illinois senator (and his advisers) know a thing or two about technology: the clean lines, abundant features, the seamless harmony, and the ease of use reflect a tech-savvy designer. As Noam Cohen deduced in an analysis – far too frivolous by New York Times’ standards – Obama would be a mac in the world of computers.

Add to that the scrupulous way in which the supposed novice to national politics has run his campaign – a true, Internet-style, power-distributive, bottom-up democratic approach. Josh Green of The Atlantic calls him this year’s hottest Silicon Valley start-up. The campaign’s use of the Internet to rally support certainly has to go in the books as one of the top reasons for Obama’s success, right alongside inspiring speeches, enviable charisma and good judgment.

Obama has spoken about conducting “online fireside chats” as president, has proposed a Google-like database for all federal money spent, and suggested putting non-emergency legislation online for five days for people to vote on. Most notably, in a Q&A with Nature (which McCain refused to participate in), Obama spoke of the necessity to invest in basic research, which can reap great medical rewards in the long run, despite the fact that specific projects are often unpredictable. Scientists often have trouble getting their heads around this unfortunate fact of science, with the NIH itself insisting on applicative proof and potential benefits when approving funding for research projects.

In addition, Obama has categorically stated that he will lift the ban on stem-cell research. That he has more than a cursory grasp of the subject is evident from the fact that he has distinguished between embryonic and adult stem cells and reinforced the versatility of the former. Obama’s endorsement of the America Competes Act, intended to increase research budgets and his proposal to use science and technology to address issues such as health care and climate change are reassuring to any proponent of science.

For a person who rarely refrains from invoking the name of god at the stump, he is quite firm in his rejection of teaching creationism in schools. “I do not believe it is helpful to our students to cloud discussions of science with non-scientific theories like intelligent design that are not subject to experimental scrutiny,” he said to Nature. Joe Biden, also well known for his religious beliefs, but true to form, has been slightly more blunt on the subject of intelligent design. “I refuse to believe that the majority of people believe this malarkey,” he has said more than once. Biden has not so subtly questioned Palin’s position on stem-cell research despite the affliction of her youngest child with Down syndrome.

It is positions such as this, in addition to her refusal to believe that global warming is man made, that make Palin's presence on the Republican ticket more terrifying than it already is. McCain may not check email or the Google, but at least he gave a perfunctory nod to the Darwinian theory before launching into an ode to the hand of god in the Grand Canyon.

To his credit, and possibly to his political detriment, McCain has been more vociferous than most republicans on issues of energy policy, including removing tariffs for biofuels, and endorsing the cap-and-trade approach for emissions regulation. With regard to medical research, he has twice voted to remove restrictions on stem-cell research and proposed increased NIH funding.

However, the addition of Sarah Palin to the ticket erases any confidence the scientific community had placed in the senator from Arizona. If there were danger that McCain might toss science into the proverbial frying pan, then Sarah Palin would not hesitate to drop it directly into the fire.

North Koreans are how much shorter than South Koreans?

So now we've had our first debate. We watched it on Fox (Fox 11 Los Angeles, not Fox News on cable), which was interesting for the post-debate spin. Of course, McCain won according to them. The point that one guy brought up was that McCain referred to Obama as "Senator Obama" and Obama called McCain "John". The "analysis" was something about how that would hurt Obama amongst people from the South.

The spin is pretty gross; I think it would be more responsible for presenting networks to have no "analysis" directly after the debate. Just show the debate and cut back to regular programming. The "analysis" will be there on the cable news networks and the internet if people want to hear it.

What matters more, though, is the public perception of who won (not that the debates made a difference in 2004; John Kerry, according to public polling, "won" the debates). The polls that have come out indicate an Obama win-- 51% vs. 38% in the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. The CBS poll had it at 39% (Obama won), 24% (McCain won) and 37% (tie). The best news for Obama could be the following: 60% of respondents said that Obama was ready to be President, which is a 16% improvement over pre-debate polls on the same question.

I can't wait to see how Fox will frame the Palin "win" next week.

(In case you missed it, here's a link to a transcript. Also, Jim Lehrer is fantastic; most of these network media honks could learn a lot from his professionalism and integrity. Luckily, we get Gwen Ifill, another real professional, for the VP debate. Hard to imagine people like Lehrer and Ifill are in the same profession as hack asshats like Gibson, Kristol, Stephanopoulos, etc).