perpetual memory loss

Get the fuck out Bush!!

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.

Oh yeh…

AMERICA FUCK YEH!!

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!

VOTE!!

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.

The McCain campaign seems hell-bent on continuing their fallacious attacks against Obama.  It’s one thing to bring up policy differences and debate the validity of differing ideologies, but McCain doesn’t seem to want to do that.  Instead he has decided to employ Rovian tactics of lying with the hopes that if it is said enough and with enough conviction people will believe it is true.  His new ad attacking Obama for wanting to teach kindergartners about sex is just that, an outright lie.  Here is the link to FactCheck.org article that calls out McCain.

YouTube Direkt

Here is another video worth watching.

YouTube Direkt

Update 5:23

Here is a story from Obsidian Wings, showing a comic book used by the Boy Scouts to help young kids understand what inappropriate touching is.  Same thing the bill Obama voted for was meant to do.

Things have been a bit crazy with school starting lately–all kinds of boring drama–and I haven’t really gotten back into the school and blogging groove yet, but that will be changing. Anyways there has been all kinds of crazy drama going on in the political world so I figured I would post some political cartoons from the last few days via the Washington Post.  By the way, I love how this guy draws Obama and McCain.

Here’s a couple of videos that make light of this whole Sarah Palin veep pick.  Personally I think this is akin to suicide for the McCain campaign, but who knows sometimes these long-shots pay off.  It’s just that I think her negatives far outweight any of her potential positives.  One of the worst parts about this picks, from McCain’s standpoint, is that it takes away his argument against Obama’s experience.  Her youth and inexperience combined with his age and proclivity for cancer make for one potentially devastating ticket.  If he died in his first year or two the effects would be catastrophic and would make the Bush Administration look like FDR’s.  If McCain wanted to pick a women I’m sure he could have found a more experienced candidate, but maybe he just has a penchant for the beauty queens–Cindy McCain better watch her back.  Also it is never good for your veep pick to be embroiled in scandal on the first day.   Besides now I am going to have to listen to commentary about how her kid has Downs Syndrome and that somehow qualifies her for the VP.  Lastly, she has almost no opinion on the important foreign policy issues of our day: nuclear proliferation, Iraq, terrorism, Russia etc.  Doing a search for her on LexisNexis and EBSCO brings up nothing.  The closest she has come:

Alaska Business Monthly: We’ve lost a lot of Alaska’s military members to the war in Iraq. How do you feel about sending more troops into battle, as President Bush is suggesting?

Palin: I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe. Every life lost is such a tragedy. I am very, very proud of the troops we have in Alaska, those fighting overseas for our freedoms, and the families here who are making so many sacrifices.

Not exactly the deep thoughts I was hoping for out of a veep candidate, besides the fact that this is a blatant attempt to pander to women, and win their votes.  The only problem is that most of Hillary’s supporters won’t vote pro-life just out of spite.  I will re-iterate that is, in my opinion, political suicide, and that McCain’s campaign is effectively over.  Anyways enjoy the videos.

Update 3:25

Found a couple good commentaries on the Palin decision.  First is from Obsidian Wings, one from James Fallows of The Atlantic, and the other is from Sensico.

For those of you–like me–who missed this speech last night, here it is in full.  It is a good speech that hits on a lot of the key points that Obama needs to really cement over the next few days.  Namely their background, and how they have worked hard to get to where they are.  They are not elites, but instead are the poster children for the limitless possibilites that are available here in America.  I find it funny that the guy who is faithful to his wife and family, and worked extra hard to get where he is is called an elite.  While the guy who only got into the Naval Academy because of his name, cheated on and subsequently divorced his wife because she was disfigured, and can’t remember how many homes he owns is seen as the regular joe.   I’ll never get it.  Anyways here the speech.

YouTube Direkt

The other day I wrote:

I am beginning to think, however, that no matter what went down Obama was going to be screwed regardless.  It was a no-win situation, if he went McKrang would have attacked him for making the wounded troops part of his campaign, and since he didn’t McKrang attacks him for not having the time to visit the troops.

Surprise, surprise I was completely correct.  Although it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the motives of the McKrang campaign.  Via businessweek:

What the McCain campaign doesn’t want people to know, according to one GOP strategist I spoke with over the weekend, is that they had an ad script ready to go if Obama had visited the wounded troops saying that Obama was…wait for it…using wounded troops as campaign props. So, no matter which way Obama turned, McCain had an Obama bashing ad ready to launch. I guess that’s political hardball. But another word for it is the one word that most politicians are loathe to use about their opponents—a lie.

Something that has been brought up repeatedly is that McKrang keeps bringing up Obama, and attacking him, but yet he spends little or no time going over what he would do as President.  We all know he will continue to press for staying in Iraq, but he has yet to define himself in other areas or really to define himself positively.  He is constantly running negative, and this is a year where negative politics are probably not going to cut it.  There are too many things that are going bad in the country and the world that the last thing people want to listen to from politicians is more negativity.  If McKrang keeps this up it is going to hurt him badly–just like it did for Hillary.

McKrang! Strikes Again.

Ok so I have been trying to create a nickname for McCain, and today out of the blue, as I was thinking about this blog I wanted to write about him, it came to me, McKrang.  I think it’s perfect as his sums up his personality, and his temperament, but you may disagree with me, which is ok.  However if this nickname blows up, well then, I will be taking full credit for it, because I do not believe I have seen it anywhere.

Ok now onto the actual topic that I wanted to discuss.  This week Obama canceled his trip to Landstuhl military base in Germany to go see wounded troops there.  The McKrang camp contends that Obama would rather go to the gym or travel around sightseeing than actually visit wounded troops.  The truth, however, is different than what McKrang states.  Via The Daily Dish:

“A Pentagon spokesperson confirms to me that because of longstanding Department of Defense regulations, Pentagon officials told Obama aides that he couldn’t visit the base with campaign staff. This left Obama with little choice but to cancel the trip, since the plan to visit with campaign aides had been in the works for weeks. [...]”

We have longstanding Department of Defense policy in regards to political campaigns and elections,” Pentagon spokesperson Elizabeth Hibner told me. “We informed the Obama staff that he was more than welcome to visit as Senator Obama, with Senate staff. However, he could not conduct the visit with campaign staff.”

After being told this, the Obama campaign announced yesterday that it had decided it was “inappropriate” to make the visit as part of a campaign trip.

It’s unclear how Obama could have made the visit at all, given the Pentagon’s directives. No Senate staff was on the trip, and the Obama camp says they received the Pentagon’s directives on Wednesday, after they were already abroad.”

So it seems that the Obama camp, and the Pentagon had a little bit of a snafu.  I am beginning to think, however, that no matter what went down Obama was going to be screwed regardless.  It was a no-win situation, if he went McKrang would have attacked him for making the wounded troops part of his campaign, and since he didn’t McKrang attacks him for not having the time to visit the troops.  Personally I understand where Obama is coming from on this one, but I would think that it would have been better for him to kick the media, and all his advisers to the curb, and just make a visit on his own.

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