We lost. It's time to move on. I'm on hiatus from all things political for awhile.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
Lewis Carroll
Honestly, I'm worn out. I'm worn out from the election, my job, my health and just this entire year. So the time has come to talk of many things. The holidays are approaching and I refuse to spend another holiday season in misery. I did schedule a day off the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as well as Christmas week. The boss will have to get over it. I want to enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas for a change. Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is 3 weeks from today and Christmas is like 43 days away.
I suggest my friends and family do likewise. Life is too short to dwell on crap you can't change. And if it's something you CAN change, then change it. No point in being miserable for the rest of your life.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Obama's First Pick
Obama has selected Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff. Who is Rahm Emanuel? He's currently a Democratic Congressman from Illinois. Like Frank Nitti under Al Capone, he rose to fame as Clinton's enforcer. Here's a sampling of the what this man is made of:
For years, Emanuel was the political brains of Bill Clinton's White House. Intense to the point of ferocity, he was known for taking on the most daunting tasks -- the ones no one else wanted -- and pulling off the seemingly impossible, from banning assault weapons to beating back the Republican-led impeachment. "Clinton loved Rahm," recalls one staffer, "because he knew that if he asked Rahm to do something, he would move Heaven and Earth -- not necessarily in that order -- to get it done."
Friends and enemies agree that the key to Emanuel's success is his legendary intensity. There's the story about the time he sent a rotting fish to a pollster who had angered him. There's the story about how his right middle finger was blown off by a Syrian tank when he was in the Israeli army. And there's the story of how, the night after Clinton was elected, Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting "Dead! . . . Dead! . . . Dead!" and plunging the knife into the table after every name. "When he was done, the table looked like a lunar landscape," one campaign veteran recalls. "It was like something out of The Godfather. But that's Rahm for you."
Of the three stories, only the second is a myth -- Emanuel lost the finger to a meat slicer as a teenager and never served in the Israeli army. But it's a measure of his considerable reputation as the enforcer in Clinton's White House that so many people believe it to be true. You don't earn the nickname "Rahmbo" being timid.
Emanuel got his political education working as a fund-raiser for Mayor Richard Daley's re-election campaign in Chicago, where he learned how to twist arms and knock heads. Donors were used to giving $5,000 -- but Daley needed more. "Rahm took it up a notch," Daley's brother William recalled several years ago. "He told many of them they easily had the ability to give twenty-five grand." When contributors didn't pony up, Emanuel would tell them he was embarrassed that they'd offered so little and hang up on them. The shocked donor would usually call back and sheepishly comply. In thirteen weeks, the thirty-year-old raised $7 million -- an unprecedented sum at the time. His fund-raising skills eventually earned him a job in the Clinton campaign.
Unlike past DCCC chairmen, who simply dispersed money without demanding anything in return, Emanuel approaches the job with the sensibility of a Mob bookie. He forces candidates in the most competitive races who receive money to sign what he calls a "Memo of Understanding," delineating exactly how many fund-raising phone calls and appearances they will make in exchange for the committee's support. To seal the pact, Emanuel then signs the memo himself. "I want to make sure everybody is doing everything they're supposed to be doing," he says.
For their part, bloggers and grass-roots activists support Emanuel in no small part because they hope his combativeness will rub off on his more timid colleagues. "He understands the importance of having a good relationship with Net roots," says Markos Moulitsas, who runs the influential blog Daily Kos. "If nothing else, he knows that we exist and it's not as confrontational a relationship as we had with past DCCC regimes." Nor is Moulitsas put off by Emanuel's centrist politics. "We don't give a shit," he says. "I think there's growing understanding that we can't sit and fixate on who's a moderate and who's a liberal when we're in the minority. We can worry about that when we're in the majority."
That's a view Emanuel wholeheartedly shares. "We get into this stupid argument every four years: centrists vs. leftists," he says. "That is not the argument today. It is change vs. status quo.
Scared, yet?
For years, Emanuel was the political brains of Bill Clinton's White House. Intense to the point of ferocity, he was known for taking on the most daunting tasks -- the ones no one else wanted -- and pulling off the seemingly impossible, from banning assault weapons to beating back the Republican-led impeachment. "Clinton loved Rahm," recalls one staffer, "because he knew that if he asked Rahm to do something, he would move Heaven and Earth -- not necessarily in that order -- to get it done."
Friends and enemies agree that the key to Emanuel's success is his legendary intensity. There's the story about the time he sent a rotting fish to a pollster who had angered him. There's the story about how his right middle finger was blown off by a Syrian tank when he was in the Israeli army. And there's the story of how, the night after Clinton was elected, Emanuel was so angry at the president's enemies that he stood up at a celebratory dinner with colleagues from the campaign, grabbed a steak knife and began rattling off a list of betrayers, shouting "Dead! . . . Dead! . . . Dead!" and plunging the knife into the table after every name. "When he was done, the table looked like a lunar landscape," one campaign veteran recalls. "It was like something out of The Godfather. But that's Rahm for you."
Of the three stories, only the second is a myth -- Emanuel lost the finger to a meat slicer as a teenager and never served in the Israeli army. But it's a measure of his considerable reputation as the enforcer in Clinton's White House that so many people believe it to be true. You don't earn the nickname "Rahmbo" being timid.
Emanuel got his political education working as a fund-raiser for Mayor Richard Daley's re-election campaign in Chicago, where he learned how to twist arms and knock heads. Donors were used to giving $5,000 -- but Daley needed more. "Rahm took it up a notch," Daley's brother William recalled several years ago. "He told many of them they easily had the ability to give twenty-five grand." When contributors didn't pony up, Emanuel would tell them he was embarrassed that they'd offered so little and hang up on them. The shocked donor would usually call back and sheepishly comply. In thirteen weeks, the thirty-year-old raised $7 million -- an unprecedented sum at the time. His fund-raising skills eventually earned him a job in the Clinton campaign.
Unlike past DCCC chairmen, who simply dispersed money without demanding anything in return, Emanuel approaches the job with the sensibility of a Mob bookie. He forces candidates in the most competitive races who receive money to sign what he calls a "Memo of Understanding," delineating exactly how many fund-raising phone calls and appearances they will make in exchange for the committee's support. To seal the pact, Emanuel then signs the memo himself. "I want to make sure everybody is doing everything they're supposed to be doing," he says.
For their part, bloggers and grass-roots activists support Emanuel in no small part because they hope his combativeness will rub off on his more timid colleagues. "He understands the importance of having a good relationship with Net roots," says Markos Moulitsas, who runs the influential blog Daily Kos. "If nothing else, he knows that we exist and it's not as confrontational a relationship as we had with past DCCC regimes." Nor is Moulitsas put off by Emanuel's centrist politics. "We don't give a shit," he says. "I think there's growing understanding that we can't sit and fixate on who's a moderate and who's a liberal when we're in the minority. We can worry about that when we're in the majority."
That's a view Emanuel wholeheartedly shares. "We get into this stupid argument every four years: centrists vs. leftists," he says. "That is not the argument today. It is change vs. status quo.
Scared, yet?
What Happened?
The country elected a Socialist as president last night. When the country goes to pot (and it will), don't look at me. I voted for McCain. So why did McCain lose? Here is my assessment:
- McCain was a bad choice. With all due respect to Senator McCain, he has the personality of dish rag. We needed someone with charisma. Someone like Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson. Instead we picked McCain because people felt sorry for him for losing to Bush in 2000 and it cost us.
- Media bias. It's hard to compete when ALL the media favors a candidate to the point where they conceal and lie for him.
- No clearly defined message. While Obama promised "Hope" and "Change," McCain/Palin never latched on to a catch phrase or a plan that made them different from Bush/Cheney.
- Voter fraud. I have no doubt that a lot of dead people and convicted felons were allowed to vote along with Mickey Mouse, Pluto and the Dallas Cowboys. Let's face it: this election was stolen from the get go.
- Obama's questionable finances. Along with voter fraud, Obama suddenly had $600 million from unknown sources. Makes you wonder which enemy countries threw money into his campaign. So Obama bought and stole the election.
There you have it. Why the GOP lost. It's going to be a long four years. However, I live in a solid red state and they'll take our guns from our cold dead hands. All of you on the coasts are welcomed to saddle on up and ride this way. We'd love to have you.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Election Day 2008
Well, it's here. For some reason this song popped into my head:
Anyway, don't forget to vote.
Anyway, don't forget to vote.
Monday, November 3, 2008
24 Hours To Go or My Election Rant
Dear Fellow Americans:
We have 24 hours until we find out whether or not the American people are as naive and stupid as I think they are. Yeah, I said it. We live in a country full of co-dependent wussies who expect someone else to take care of them. Thanks to the Baby Boom generation and their sense of entitlement, we are posed to elect an unqualified Socialist as president. Why? Because the American people are lazy and apathetic. They think that they "deserve," free health care; they "deserve" money from the "rich" because they weren't ambitious enough to get off the couch; they "deserve," someone to pick up the pieces when they make a bad decision.
This country wasn't founded on the idea that the government will take care of you. It was founded on the idea that every person should have the opportunity to succeed regardless of social status or religious background. People came to America to fulfill their dreams of prosperity, not because they thought Uncle Sam would take care of them. People are still trying to get into this country for one reason. They know here they will have a chance to succeed.
However, we are now poised to elect someone who is against those ideals. Someone who doesn't encourage independence but dependence on government handouts. Obama isn't what this country was founded on and his election means we will turn our backs on our heritage.
Many of you will be voting for him solely because of his race. You believe that electing a black man to the presidency will somehow absolve your white guilt. I feel no white guilt. I had nothing to do with slavery or Jim Crow. We fought a war in which a half million Americans died to set slaves free. We passed Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s to level the playing field. Our debt has been paid. If this is the reason for your vote, shame on you. You aren't looking at Obama has a man but as a BLACK man. That makes you a racist. Period.
Tomorrow I will be voting for McCain/Palin. Not because I agree with everything they say or believe in. I find people who expect candidates to be EXACTLY like them to be naive. I don't like Sarah Palin's view on birth control. I don't like John McCain's, "Can't we all just get along," shtick. However, I think these two are the safer choice. I know that has CIC, John McCain will protect my boyfriend. I can't say the same about Obama. Except as a brief stint as Senator, Obama has never served this country. McCain has and has suffered for America. He knows what it's like to be at war. Obama does not.
Should Obama win, the American people will get exactly what they want and it will ruin this great country. Guilt is no reason to elect someone to the most powerful position on Earth. Neither is fear or anger. Vote your common sense.
MCCAIN/PALIN
We have 24 hours until we find out whether or not the American people are as naive and stupid as I think they are. Yeah, I said it. We live in a country full of co-dependent wussies who expect someone else to take care of them. Thanks to the Baby Boom generation and their sense of entitlement, we are posed to elect an unqualified Socialist as president. Why? Because the American people are lazy and apathetic. They think that they "deserve," free health care; they "deserve" money from the "rich" because they weren't ambitious enough to get off the couch; they "deserve," someone to pick up the pieces when they make a bad decision.
This country wasn't founded on the idea that the government will take care of you. It was founded on the idea that every person should have the opportunity to succeed regardless of social status or religious background. People came to America to fulfill their dreams of prosperity, not because they thought Uncle Sam would take care of them. People are still trying to get into this country for one reason. They know here they will have a chance to succeed.
However, we are now poised to elect someone who is against those ideals. Someone who doesn't encourage independence but dependence on government handouts. Obama isn't what this country was founded on and his election means we will turn our backs on our heritage.
Many of you will be voting for him solely because of his race. You believe that electing a black man to the presidency will somehow absolve your white guilt. I feel no white guilt. I had nothing to do with slavery or Jim Crow. We fought a war in which a half million Americans died to set slaves free. We passed Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s to level the playing field. Our debt has been paid. If this is the reason for your vote, shame on you. You aren't looking at Obama has a man but as a BLACK man. That makes you a racist. Period.
Tomorrow I will be voting for McCain/Palin. Not because I agree with everything they say or believe in. I find people who expect candidates to be EXACTLY like them to be naive. I don't like Sarah Palin's view on birth control. I don't like John McCain's, "Can't we all just get along," shtick. However, I think these two are the safer choice. I know that has CIC, John McCain will protect my boyfriend. I can't say the same about Obama. Except as a brief stint as Senator, Obama has never served this country. McCain has and has suffered for America. He knows what it's like to be at war. Obama does not.
Should Obama win, the American people will get exactly what they want and it will ruin this great country. Guilt is no reason to elect someone to the most powerful position on Earth. Neither is fear or anger. Vote your common sense.
MCCAIN/PALIN
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