I recently finished Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals and it is an incredibly good read. The book begins on May 18, 1860, the day when the Republican Party was set to select their Presidential candidate, and shows the demeanor of the four potentials: William Seward, Salmon Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln. After this chapter ends she begins a multiple biography detailing the lives of the the four main rivals. For the next ten chapters she deftly details these men’s lives from their beginnings all the way until the election of Lincoln. Throughout she also sprinkles in the lives of other notable people: Mary Todd, Stephen Douglas, Edwin Stanton et. al. She does this by focusing each chapter on a period of time and then splitting the chapter into four pieces. Although it may sound awkward it works well and the reader is carefully guided through with her strong narrative. To further help the casual reader she has removed all footnotes and instead has opted for extensive end notes (while the historian in me misses the footnotes the end notes are extensive enough that most people won’t miss them but will probably be glad that they are gone). Her prose is clear and concise and she deftly weaves multiple story lines together so that the reader can follow along easily.
She tries her best to get to the facts about who Lincoln was and what he believed, and she does this by using, not only his words and actions, but those of his rivals. One of the main strengths of this book is that you can see how all of these men’s opinions about Lincoln changed as they got to know and appreciate his talents. One person in particular, Edwin Stanton, dismisses Lincoln as a “long armed ape” upon his initial meeting with him; but years later, after working with Lincoln through the Civil War, he becomes so distraught at his assassination that he has trouble functioning. This happens time and again throughout the book, and even more stunning than their changes of opinion is that Lincoln took all of these slights without bearing any animosity towards these people. One of the worst characters was Salmon Chase (I really grew to dislike him) who was way too sanctimonious and kept working against Lincoln, even while he was on the cabinet. However, Lincoln kept taking the high road because Chase’s talents were needed for the war.
In honor of the Governor’s hair-brained scheme to put taxes on iTunes downloads (and possibly other DLC), and a host of other dumb taxes, I am posting this SNL skit about him. I mean there is a $15.4 billion budget gap. So raising taxes on small stuff like digital content and soda is a bit like McCain’s claims that if we vetoed all ear-marks we would magically have a budget surplus. 15.4 billion is a big number and means that there is inefficiency in your government, so fix that shit first, and that most (if not all) of the gap is going to have to be made up with broad reforms to the way things are done on a daily basis in government. Proposals like this just piss people off because they know that instead of looking in the mirror you are just trying to squeeze some more money out of everyday people. One more thing if you appoint Caroline Kennedy as Hillary’s replacement then you should be impeached, because she has the same amount of experience as Sarah Palin.
Updated – 4:38
Ok here is a commentary from Paterson explaining why he wants to raise taxes on sugary drinks. Basically it boils down to taxing a substance like soda in the hopes of preventing people from drinking an excess of soda, and hopefully to curb the rising rates of childhood obesity. Now in theory I shouldn’t care because I rarely ever drink soda, but I do have a huge problem with this. This is just another instance of the government stepping in and taking on a role that does not belong to them. Since when is it the governments job to tell people what to eat and drink. It takes away the responsibilty from the parents and essentially absovles them of being shitty parents. The government should be finding a way to put responsibility and blame back on the parents instead of taking more upon itself.
Another point I want to make is the taxing of iTunes and possibly other digital downloads. This is a terrible idea also because the government and corporations have been fighting to get digital piracy under control, and they have been making success over the last few years–specifically with iTunes. However, start throwing extra taxes on these legitimate downloads and it will have the same effect as the Coercive and Townshend Acts did, namely drive people back to piracy. Dumb ideas, government needs to look in the mirror and start trimming the fat off of some of their programs, and they need to modernize and get hip with the digital age.
Via Paris 2e (here and here) it looks like some group in Paris has been biting off of Shepherd Fairey’s Obama campaign poster. For all of their professed dislike of American things they sure are quick to parrot the cooler aspects of Americana, and I guess translating ‘Yes We Can’ into french was too arduous of a task.
In other news Obama unveiled his National Security team today and the big three of Hillary Clinton, General James Jones, and Robert Gates are really impressive. It’s good to see people in the administration who aren’t ‘Yes Men.’ None of these people will have any problems telling Obama that they disagree with him and offer dissenting views or alternatives. That being said I think they will all work hard for the President despite any disagreements they may have. It’s just reassuring to see capable people being nominated for cabinet positions again.
I wanted to wait a bit and digest yesterdays events before I wrote up my feelings. So first off unless you live in a cave you know that Obama won. I’m exceedingly happy that he won, since he was who I was pulling for. His campaign was the first campaign that I have ever been interested enough in to donate some of my not-really-hard-earned-skrilla.
I sat around for most of last night waiting and waiting for the results to come in, and hoping for the best. Most of the tension came early in the day as once the results came in there wasn’t much drama. McCain got trounced, and one of the main reasons was the Palin-monkey. I could have handled a McCain administration sans Palin, but with her I would have been worried about McCain’s health 24/7. In the hours after Obama was elected all I really felt was a bit of shock and tons of relief. Relief that the election was finally over, and relief that Bush’s stank will soon be over. I woke up this morning still tired but feeling much happier than I have in months. I attribute this to knowing that Bush’s reign is almost over, and with it I feel like there is the light at the end of the tunnel in Iraq. This war plagues my thoughts on a daily basis, and I spend so much energy thinking about the war, the deaths, the monetary costs; and then that transposes itself into my burning–like the duel Tattooine suns burning–hatred for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al. On this one issue Obama gets no lee-way at fucking all. I will give him the benefit of the doubt of a lot of issues, but on Iraq there is none, for me. On all the other issues I will be patient, vigilant, and actively involved in making my views known to my representatives. Obama will have my goodwill and full support, but I won’t give him a free pass.
Another outcome of last night is that finally being built up year after year the youth vote finally showed up. We had a decisive effect on the election helping to tip the scale, and I think the better candidate won, but that remains to be seen. Ask me in four years. Even more encouraging was the fact that the voter turnout was higher than any election in the last century, as over 130 million people voted. Some regions of the country saw up to 90% of their registered electorate vote. Amazing numbers.
McCain last night gave in my view his best speech of the campaign, and it reminded me of why I wanted him to win in 2000. The money quote:
I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.
This was an important note for McCain to make especially since his rallies have been extremely angry and volitile lately. Like John Wayne said after Kennedy won “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.” Wise words for all of us to take to heart, and you can’t argue with The Duke.
Combine that speech with his appearance on SNL a few days earlier, and you have a couple of the best moments of the McCain campaign. Unfortunately, I think he was swayed by the neo-cons on his staff and the religious right. He sold his soul to the worst elements of his party and I think that if he had run a more moderate campaign like the old McCain, and if he would have picked a real VP, things could have been much different.
Obama’s speech last night wasn’t quite what I expected but it was a good, solid, conciliatory speech. This was the quote that struck me:
And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those who would tear this world down – we will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security – we support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright – tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope.
Hopefully I can come off saying this without sounding like a groupie, but Obama winning is important. The first minority president of a major western nation. Where else could this happen. Not many places, but we are the first, and I think that speaks volumes about our nation. The only nation on Earth that wasn’t founded on race or ethnicity, but with an idea. The idea that everyone is free, and that free people can govern themselves. Some of the founders didn’t think that our republic would last 20 years let alone the 232 we have lasted. It has been painful for me to watch the standing of our country fall precipitously over the last few years. Watching the current administration conduct a war like two virgins fucking in the dark, learning about our government conducting torture in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, learning about the administration spying on innocent Americans without a warrant. These types of injustices have been hard to watch, and have lost us all kinds of respect throughout the world. With that loss of respect I’ve had to listen to all these wanna-be leaders around the world talk shit just because we are a bit down on our luck, and no one’s manning the helm. Well last night the world got put on fucking notice. America’s back bitches. Regardless of what you think of Obama, we all witnessed history last night. I really feel that our founders would have been exceedingly proud of what happened last night, especially Alexander Hamilton.
Will Obama make everything alright, well shit no of course not, but we have done something, once again, that sets a benchmark for the rest of the world follow. So if that allows me to gloat, and gives volume to my constant assertions that this is the best fucking country in the world, then so be it. I don’t need the validation, but for a few months at least the rest of the world will have to again acknowledge that yes America is the shit. No one knows how these next four years will work out, but I can say with certainty that it will be better than the last eight. I hope that the republican party crawls out of the cave they have been in and take a good long hard look in the mirror. They need to come home to the true principles of conservatism–limited government, individual rights, modest foreign policy, etc–because this country needs two parties. We don’t need the neo-cons, we need real conservatives, because while I am hopeful about Obama, I am not hopeful about Pelosi and Reid.
I will continue to feel happy, hopeful, and relieved for the next 75 days until Bush gets the fuck out. Then the real work of putting this country back together starts. But until then I will sit back and celebrate the history made, and the fucking awesomeness of America. Speaking of celebrating here is a video I got from The Daily Dish of a celebration going on here in the ‘fake’ America last night:
For me that was one of the worst aspects of the McCain campaign, and a slap in the face to everyone I know who doesn’t live in the ‘real’ America, but yet served their country honorably. It’s not often that you see a group spontaneously break out into singing the American anthem. I love that video, and it sends chills up my spine. I wish I was there for that moment. I have to say I truly, deeply love country, our flag, and our anthem. Even though at times the Marine Corps was unbearable, if the need ever arose, I am still willing to die for my country and the ideals of our Constitution.
After that it will be time to get to work, because as the old saying goes politics is a contact sport not a spectator sport. So I implore everyone to keep your enthusiasm up, stay in touch with your representatives, and let them know where you stand on the issues as they come up. One last thing since I’m on the East Coast and it is relatively close by, I’m thinking of going to the inauguration this year. If you are planning on going let me know.
Hopefully many of you have voted, or are getting ready to vote. Either way here is a great video to help pass sometime until the results start coming in. On a side note why does there always seem to be problems in Florida? Get your act together Florida. Stop being the poster-state for dysfunction. Also why is it that Election Day isn’t a national holiday? I don’t get that, and hopefully it is something that gets changed in the next few years. Well enjoy the video. Go Lando!
Hey all you people out there need to go vote tomorrow–especially you 18-30 year olds. Every year you bitches cop out, get all lazy, and stay home. Don’t be fags. Get the fuck out and vote tomorrow. Do you people realize how lucky we are that we don’t have to do shit to vote. We are born with the right to vote. All throughout history people have been fighting for the right to vote, and we live in a time where we get it as a birthright. This is one of the most important things you can do, so don’t fuck it up.
Also you women out there are getting pretty lazy too. I mean how can you get disenfranchised when you have only had suffrage for 88 years. Not even a whole century and yet I hear about so many women who don’t vote, and aren’t even registered. Seriously if you don’t vote then you have no reason to complain for the next 4 years. One more thing if you’re voting for Nader do yourself a favor and tie a millstone to your next and jump into a large body of water. If you’re voting for McCain the election has been moved to November 11. To find a polling station near you go here.
What if John McCain’s campaign ads, instead of being lame and toxic, were instead made by John Woo, Kevin Smith, and Wes Anderson. Well wonder no more.
Tina Fey once again channeled Sarah Palin last night and it turned out to be one of the only good skits on SNL. While hilarious it is sad and a bit cringe inducing that part of the skit just used the actual words of Palin. Palin is so terrible that she basically creates parodies of herself as she speaks. Hard to believe she is a real, honest to God VP Candidate. If she crashes and burns as most think she will in next weeks debate, then she is going to push women candidates a few gigantic steps back in the GOP. I hope it’s not true, but I have a feeling that she will become an excuse and a reason for the party elites not to pick more national level female candidates. Anyways here’s the video, enjoy.
Comedian Doug Stanhope has a new project, namely saving Bristol Palin from a dreary life in a loveless marriage. He has established a fund for her so that she can emancipate herself from her parents, and do what she wants with her life. Money quote:
Rather than sit back and impotently bemoan Bristol’s tragic, lonely circumstance, it is time for us – the silent majority – to unite behind this poor, imprisoned woman and save her from both a tyrannical household as well as the horrible nightmare of a forced childbirth.
These are not empty words. I, Doug Stanhope, am offering you, Bristol Palin, the sum of 25,000 dollars so that you can abort your child and move out of that draconian home. I have also set up a PayPal link so that others around the world can help increase this amount to ease the burden of starting out on your own at such an early age.
Check out the rest of the site here. In the event that Bristol doesn’t take him up on his generous offer, he will be giving the money to some other under-privileged teenager. While you are there peruse the guestbook. Abortion rights make people crazy, and it’s fun to read the back and forths.
