Labels and Politics

From Laugh Lines:

How bad must the G.O.P. feel right about now? It portrayed Obama as a socialist, a communist, a Muslin, and a friend of terrorists, and the majority of American voters said, “Y’know, we’re O.K. with that, as long as he’s not a Republican.” – Jerry Smith

Obama, Japan

The town of Obama, Japan, goes nuts celebrating its namesake's victory in the 2008 election. Tourism in the town is up 20% since the town linked itself to the candidate.

People all over the world are happy about the election result. Here is a related story about the reactions from all over the world:

Mr. Obama “brings the narrative that everyone wants to return to — that America is the land of extraordinary opportunity and possibility, where miracles happen.”

Post-Election Free time

This is exactly how I feel post-election:

I guess I still check fivethirtyeight.com anyway, just in case.

I love you, America

I remember how I believed the country would right itself during the 2004 election. That election left me stunned. I began to worry that there was so much corruption abounding that Democrats might not experience a fair election ever again. I simply couldn't believe they had lost. I figured that somehow, someway, the election must have been stolen. I didn't want to believe Americans could be capable of such an eggregious election decision. I was completely embarrassed.

Following the mid-term 2006 elections, I was actually shocked that the Democrats won seats. I know, that result was projected, but still, I figured that there would be chicanery and at best, they would make no progress. I began to realize that perhaps the electoral system wasn't completely rigged after all. This result gave me some hope about 2008. Maybe some Americans were waking up.

And now, my hope has been pretty durn-tootin' well restored. I know that Obama only won by a few percentage points as far as the popular vote is concerned. Really, the overall number of people voting differently from the 2004 election is pretty small, but just enough to make a huge difference. I know there is still a lot to be done, and I'll blog about that later, but I was getting a little teary eyed watching the acceptance speech. Beautiful.

And Heel yea! NC is blue!

Endorsements

I've been thinking about what the most devastating endorsements would be. My dad told me about a recent Will Ferrell skit where he is dressed as George Bush endorsing John McCain, and the McCain character is trying as hard as he can to escape. If Republicans really want to win the election, they should have had George W. Bush endorse Obama.

Nicholas Kristof points out a recent "endorsement" of John McCain by an Al Qaeda-affiliated website.

"Liberals hate real Americans"

Here are the most interesting paragraphs from a Gail Collins piece in the NY Times:

Opening for a McCain rally in North Carolina last weekend, Representative Robin Hayes said he wanted “to keep the crowd as respectful as possible.”

In order to pursue that goal as efficiently as possible, Hayes then announced that “liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.” This was an especially unfortunate turn of phrase given the fact that he had begun his remarks by saying he wanted to “make sure we don’t say something stupid.”

All this was a direct outgrowth of Sarah Palin’s own comments in North Carolina, in which she praised the “pro-America” areas of the country. But Hayes had clearly been absent for the day in scurrilous campaign school when they explain that you aren’t supposed to specifically name the anti-American parts.

Meanwhile, over on MSNBC, Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was launching into the Obama/terrorist spin when she suggested that the news media should investigate “the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America.” So far, the only person who’s felt the impact of her call to reinvent McCarthyism for a post-Communist planet has been her opponent, a hitherto totally ignored Democrat named Elwyn Tinklenberg, who was stunned to discover in the following days that he had received close to $1 million in donations.

McCain Rallies:

Some quotes from a NY Times article:

When a man told him he was “scared” of an Obama presidency, Mr. McCain replied, “I want to be president of the United States and obviously I do not want Senator Obama to be, but I have to tell you — I have to tell you — he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.” The crowd booed loudly at Mr. McCain’s response.

Later, a woman stood up at the meeting, held at Lakeville South High School in a far suburb of Minneapolis, and told Mr. McCain that she could not trust Mr. Obama because he was an “Arab.”

Mr. McCain replied: “No, ma’am, he’s a decent family man, a citizen, who I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about.” (He did not correct her false depiction of Mr. Obama.) At that, the crowd applauded.

...

Crowds in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have repeatedly booed Mr. Obama and yelled “off with his head,” and at a rally in Florida where Ms. Palin appeared without Mr. McCain, The Washington Post reported that a man yelled out “kill him.” At the same rally, a racial insult was hurled at an African-American television cameraman.

...

At one point, after a voter told him he wanted to see a “real fight” at the debate and the crowd responded with a roar, Mr. McCain replied, “We want to fight, and I will fight, but we will be respectful.”

Then he added, “I admire Senator Obama and his accomplishments, I will respect him.” The crowd interrupted Mr. McCain to boo, but he kept talking. “I want everyone to be respectful and let’s make sure we are, because that’s the way politics — —”

At that point, Mr. McCain was drowned out by applause.

It appears that McCain is putting some effort into explaining to his supporters that Obama is a respectable person, which I appreciate. His television ads don't seem to do that though. Frank Rich writes that things have gotten way out of hand.

Heart Risks

A little post from the Wall Street Journal comparing McCain's and Obama's risk of a cardiac event in the next 10 years. This particular post says it is the risk of "death or heart attack":

McCain: 

17% - if he is taking blood pressure medications for kidney stones and not blood pressure, as his doctors claim.

22% - if he is taking blood pressure medications for blood pressure problems.

Obama:

1% - if he is not smoking, as he claims.

3% - if he is sneaking cigarettes.

So, as you can see, there is a big difference in health risk. Age is largely the reason for the huge difference. I have seen a couple other numbers thrown around, which don't appear on a well-known journal, but I'll note one anyway.

According to a Dr. McDougall, McCain's heart risk is 27% (apparently assumes diuretics are for blood pressure), and Obamas remains 1% and 3%. McDougall also says that "Over the next 4 years a man of 72 years has a probability of dying of 16% and over 8 years, 38%.  At age 47 a man has a 2% probability of dying of within 4 years, and 5% within 8 years." I haven't verified these calculations, nor can I vouch for the veracity of the website, but common sense says that a 72 year old with various health problems is at much greater risk of dying or further health problems than a healthy 47 year old.

All that said, for what it's worth, McCain's doctor says that he is in "excellent health." From what I can tell (which is admitedly limited), he is holding up well during the brutal campaign season, which I imagine would be difficult for anybody.

The Great Schlep

A video on why you should tell your Jewish grandparents living in Florida to vote for Obama.

Lipstick on a Pig

Stephen Colbert cuts through the truthiness:

Republicans Storm Back in Polls

I remember checking this 2008 Election simulator a couple months ago, and Obama was winning 90+% of the simulations, and I believe as high as 98%. Wow, have times changed. VPs were chosen, conventions were had, and generally, the attacks have gotten more and more slimy. On the Republican side, it looks like something is working. Now Obama is now winning 61% of simulations. Many states that were considered toss ups, like NC, are now "leaning Republican." There are still nearly two months before the election, but Democrats are already panicking. Fundraising is coming up short, while Republicans are going strong.

Anyhow, here is an interesting youtube video looking at John McCain's recent ads:

Oh the Hypocrisy

Jon Stewart Lays Down Some Truth

DNC Acceptance Speech

I just watched Obama's 2008 presidential nomination acceptance speech. I thought it was decent, but frankly, it paled in comparison to his 2004 convention speech. The 2004 speech was about the American dream; how people can be accepted and thrive in the US, and how that opportunity is unique, and how that opportunity is a source of pride for our nation. Basically, the speech focused on positives of America and it's potential. Barack talked about the unity of all Americans; we're all in this together. It's impressive to watch how the crowd grows more and more excited as they hear the speech. I remember reading an article about it a day later proclaiming "A Star Is Born," talking about how Obama made an incredible impression. I watched the speech and was impressed with how well he captured the moment. Re-watching the speech now, I found it fascinating to see that he talks about hope, a word which has become synonymous with his campaign this year.

The 2008 speech, however, didn't quite stir me. Sure, I liked the platform planks, his plans for energy independence, getting out of Iraq responsibly, offering college education to those who serve their communities, and many more. I liked that he did mention the American dream. But I suppose that what turned me off were all of the negative comments about McCain and Bush. I think that the hope and positive message in the 2004 speech were what made it so special. I found the shots at McCain to be unnecessary and out of place. A lot of them were from old information, like bring up his economic advisor's "nation of whiners" comment. That was from months ago. If people are undecided or voted for Bush or McCain at some point in the past, but are curious and happen to be tuning into the DNC, they're probably going to be turned off to hear the candidate bashing the other candidate. I think that there is plenty of room for criticizing other candidates, but doing it while the national spotlight is on you isn't really the best timing. I think it'd be fine if Obama created a youtube channel and posted videos of John McCain contradicting himself, saying stupid comments, and generally making himself look bad. Or if he put such ads on television for voters to see. I think that's a better place to criticize someone. But if the country is tuning in for a convention, and times are bad, I think they're going to want hope and encouragement more than seeing the blame game old cracks on Bush. Some people don't appreciate it when you say mean things, but I think appreciates inspiration. Anyway, I'm mostly rambling at this point and I only heard his speech live, so I should think a little more before I write anything else.

Here is the 2004 speech in case you haven't seen it in a while:

Part 1:


Part 2:

How The Democrats Can Blow It....in Six Easy Steps

A nice little piece from Michael Moore:

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights and pro-choice. They don't like war. They want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal health-care system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: They support the death penalty.

via Crooks and Liars and Rolling Stone

Energy Policy

Crooks and Liars had an interesting post about the Republican response to Obama's energy policy.

A Comparison of Bush and Obama

As Obama spoke to over 100,000 cheering people recently in Berlin, I couldn't help remember what happened when President Bush spoke in Germany. A couple days before I arrived in Germany in 2005, Bush had visited. Though I didn't hear much about it in the US, once I got to Germany, I heard that thousands of people showed up to protest his official visit. I have a feeling that these protests were only minimally covered in the American media as I spent some time searching and had a difficult time finding an article about it in English. As reported in the German magazine Spiegel, about 12,000 people protested to show their displeasure with the American president. Turns out that Germans have built a tradition of protesting Bush on every visit he made over the last six years (article in English), until his visit this past June, when the Germans gave up. American foreign relations has come a long way in the last few months.

Education in America

I just wanted to direct you to a good piece by David Brooks in the NY Times about the slide of education in America over the last 40 years. He terms it "The Biggest Issue." Let's hope he really considers it the biggest issue when he votes this November:

If you look at Barack Obama’s education proposals — especially his emphasis on early childhood — you see that they flow naturally and persuasively from this research [on the importance of early childhood education]... McCain’s policies seem largely oblivious to these findings. There’s some vague talk about school choice, but Republicans are inept when talking about human capital policies.

New Yorker and Obama

Lost in all of the hoopla surrounding this week's controversial New Yorker cover is the fact that the article inside about Obama is quite interesting. The sprawling article discussing Obama's entrance into and ascension in Chicago politics, which is a topic I've heard little about. It hasn't always been easy for the golden boy, and he even lost a congressional race. But, as far as I can tell, he has seemed to be pretty ideologically consistent throughout. I'd recommend reading the physical magazine rather than the piece online just so that you don't have to stare into a computer screen for too long.

Jesse Jackson and Obama

Oh news anchors:

via: NY Times humor

Warning: yet another Obama post

I found this article by Bob Herbert to be pretty representative of a lot of the concerns I've had (along with many others) about Obama lately. As Herbert sums it up, "the Iowa caucuses seem a very long time ago."