Tax The Rich

This post at Firedoglake makes so much sense that the change it proposes will never actually be implemented, but it is definitely worth a read and some thought.

The best, simplest thing Obama could do to make the economy work for everyone is make sure that the executive class doesn't have incentives to create bubbles and does need to keep their jobs for life, just like ordinary people. Once they do, they'll suddenly be much less likely to say "hey, this is really really risky, but who cares, I'll be rich and the government will pick up the tab."

Really, you need to read the whole thing to understand what he's talking about. Go, it's brief and to the point. You'll most likely find yourself nodding your head in agreement and wondering why we can't make this proposal a reality.

Irony Free Diet

This is just incredible. These people are as clueless and as tone-deaf as Turkey Slaughterin'? What Turkey Slaughterin'? Sarah herself. I mean... "articulate"? The woman can't form a coherent sentence! And yet these people all saw fit to contribute to this spot thanking her for her... I don't know. Conservative values. Smugness. Vapid put-downs and repetition of boilerplate Republican talking points. Something.

I'd just like to add my own note of thanks, though, for being the biggest fucking idiot on the planet and helping to doom the Republicans' chances of winning the the White House again for many years to come. Thank you, Sarah Palin!

New Blog In Town

I've been asked to participate in a brand new group photo blog, and being the shameless attention-seeker I am, of course I said yes. It's just getting started, and it's called Pixels at an Exhibition. The other participants are our friend (and occasional commenter here) MD from Pennsylvania, known online as ahab, and If I Ran The Zoo creator Tom Hilton (known online as Tom Hilton). Both of them are excellent photographers, and I'm flattered to be included in this enterprise. Props to Tom for the idea, and for setting it up. Check it out if you're interested in looking at other peoples' pictures. We'll try to keep it fresh, amusing, regularly updated and not too overwhelming.

Momentary Brainwashing

From Truthdig (and also today's SF Chronicle).

Tuning Out the Braindead Megaphone

By David Sirota

If you’re having trouble remembering what the recent election was all about, rest easy: You’re probably not going senile – you’re likely experiencing the momentary effects of brainwashing.

For weeks, your television, newspaper and radio have been telling you America is a “center-right nation” that elected Barack Obama to crush his fellow “socialist” hippies, discard the agenda he campaigned on, and meet the policy demands of electorally humiliated Republicans.

This is the usual post-election nonsense from the Braindead Megaphone, as author George Saunders famously calls our political and media noise machine. When George W. Bush wins by 3 million votes, the megaphone blares announcements about a conservative mandate that Democrats must respect. When Obama wins by twice as much, the same megaphone roars about Democrats having no mandate to do anything other than appease conservatives.

It’s confusing, isn’t it? We hazily recall backing Obama and his progressive platform. Yet, the megaphone’s re-educative shock treatment aims to wipe away that memory and conjure eternal conservatism from our spotless minds.

Luckily, we have polling to maintain our sanity.

Public opinion surveys show most Obama voters knew the Illinois senator was a progressive when they cast their ballots – and those votes for him weren’t just anti-Bush protests, they were ideological. According to a post-election poll by my colleagues at the Campaign for America’s Future, 70 percent of Americans say they want conservatives to help this progressive president enact his decidedly progressive agenda.

Sensing the enormity of these numbers, Obama seems ready to back a “big bang” of far-reaching initiatives. “We can’t afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign,” he said in his first radio address as president-elect.

Based on advertisements, Obama identified no more important priority than guaranteeing health care for all citizens. As the Campaign Media Analysis Group reported, he devoted more than two-thirds of his total television budget to ads that included health care themes. Consequently, a Pew poll found 77 percent of Americans said health care would be a decisive concern in their presidential vote.

The moral case for universal health care is obvious. In the world’s richest country—a country that builds lavish sports stadiums and showers Wall Street with trillion-dollar bailouts—18,000 people die each year because they lack health insurance. We permit this annual massacre while our wasteful system exacerbates our debt and saps our economic competitiveness by forcing us to spend more money per capita on health care than any other nation.

That said, if morality alone prompted solutions, this problem would have been addressed long ago.

Overcoming inertia on such a thorny issue requires budget pressure—which Obama definitely faces. While some claim the deficit should preclude bold health care legislation, it’s the other way around. The Congressional Budget Office says America’s fiscal gap is “driven primarily by rising health care costs,” meaning a fix is an imperative.

“People ask whether (Obama) has the fiscal breathing room to push health care reform,” economist Jared Bernstein told The Washington Post. “He doesn’t have the fiscal breathing room not to do health care reform.”

Additionally, as with everything in Washington, a political motive is needed for action – and even conservatives acknowledge Democrats have such a motive when it comes to health care.

Fifteen years ago, Republican strategist William Kristol warned that the Clinton administration’s universal health care proposals represented “a serious political threat to the Republican Party” because, if passed, they “will revive the reputation” of Democrats as “the generous protector of middle-class interests.”

As we all remember, Democrats failed to capitalize on the health care opportunity. But Kristol’s prophecy was correct then, as it is now. With huge Democratic majorities in Congress come 2009, only the Braindead Megaphone is in Obama’s way.

David Sirota is a bestselling author whose newest book is “The Uprising.” He is a fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future and a board member of the Progressive States Network—both nonpartisan organizations. His blog is at www.credoaction.com/sirota.

© 2008 Creators Syndicate Inc.

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Got Dashikis?

There are going to be some changes made now that Obama has been elected president. Better get with the program, peoples.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

The Joementum Rolls On

Joe Lieberman gets to keep his DHS Committee chairmanship. This is not particularly surprising, especially with Spineless Harry Reid leading Senate Dems these days, but it is awfully disappointing. Like many of you, I'm sure, I sent emails and such to my Senators urging them to strip Joe of his chair position for the vile things he said and did while campaigning for his buddy McCain. Bad enough that this so-called "Independent Democrat" was actively campaigning for the Republican, but the attacks he made on Obama went way beyond the pale.

The only bright spot is that the people of Connecticut seem to be fed up with the little weasel, and this will surely be his last term in office as their Senator. Unfortunately, he's still got four more years there to fuck things up for everybody.

52% Yes; 100% Wrong

On Saturday, November 15th, there were rallies all across the country in support of equal marital rights for all. This activity comes mainly in the wake of the passage of Proposition 8 here in California, but it is rapidly becoming a national cause (as well it should). It is one thing to say that this battle will eventually be won -- and it will -- but it's important to realize that the only way to get to that point is to make our voices heard now.

It is simply beyond me why there are people out there who feel offended or threatened by people who love each other and want to make a lifelong commitment to each other as a means of expressing that love. This is something that we as a society should be encouraging and facilitating, not trying to prevent. It is, purely and simply, a matter of equal rights. Everyone in this country should have the freedom to enter into a marital contract with the person that he or she loves, and the only people who should have any say in the matter are the two who are directly involved. Anything else is discrimination, and there are no two ways about it.

Here are a few pictures that I took at the San Francisco rally at Civic Center. You can see more of my pictures here, and there are many, many more pictures from rallies all around the country here. To learn more about the movement for marital freedom, check out the website Join the Impact. As always, you can click on the pictures below for a larger version.

Looks About Right

Thanks to my pal Gruver for this little graphic. This seems to sum up the Prop. 8 situation quite well, don't you think?

Reject H8

Keith Olbermann spells it out very eloquently in a Special Comment on last night's edition of Countdown:

Random Flickr Blogging

(I've got a cold and am feeling pretty shitty right now, so I'm only doing one today, and late at that. Apologies as necessary.)

Learned the hard way not to try to apply mascara while riding without a helmet on the back of a motorcycle.

(Original image, #0416, posted here. Random Flickr Blogging explained here.)

A Letter The Chronicle Won't Print? Oh, My!

Editor --

Finally, the election is over. In the wake of the crushing defeat and repudiation of all they've stood for over the past eight years, the GOP faithful are now setting their sights on 2012, with Sarah Palin as their standard bearer (Palin gone, anything but forgotten, Chronicle, 11/7). As a Democrat, I promise to personally get down on my knees every single day between now and then and pray to every God whose name I can remember that Governor Mooselini really is the Republican presidential nominee in 2012. I can't think of a single potential candidate I'd rather see an incumbent President Obama face than her.

Love,
Generik

(h/t to my good friend nashtbrutusandshort for "Mooselini")

Neener, Neener, Neener

From today's Salon.com:

How wrong they were

"He cannot win," and other chestnuts. Remembering an election season full of fabulously wrongheaded predictions.

Nov. 06, 2008 |

Bill Kristol, "Fox News Sunday" -- Dec. 17, 2006

"If [Hillary Clinton] gets a race against John Edwards and Barack Obama, she's going to be the nominee. Gore is the only threat to her ... Barack Obama is not going to beat Hillary Clinton in a single democratic primary. I'll predict that right now."

Karl Rove, "Fox News Sunday" -- Aug. 19, 2007

On Hillary Clinton: "The Democrats are going to choose a nominee. I believe it's going to be her. That's their business…But I think she's going to be the nominee."

Peter Mulhern, Real Clear Politics -- Oct. 1, 2007

"In this case conventional wisdom is not just wrong but comically so. [Fred] Thompson will win the Republican nomination for two reasons. First, he's a very impressive candidate. Second, there's no realistic alternative. He will win the general election for the same two reasons."

Ann Coulter, "Hannity & Colmes" on Fox News -- Dec. 20, 2007

"I think it's probably going to be Romney for the Republicans, Hillary for the Democrats."

Jonah Goldberg, National Review -- Jan. 4, 2008

"I think it's worth imagining a certain scenario. Imagine the Democrats do rally around Obama. Imagine the media invests as heavily in him as I think we all know they will if he's the nominee -- and then imagine he loses. I seriously think certain segments of American political life will become completely unhinged. I can imagine the fear of this social unraveling actually aiding Obama enormously in 2008. Forget Hillary's inevitability. Obama has a rendezvous with destiny, or so we will be told. And if he's denied it, teeth shall be gnashed, clothes rent and prices paid."

Rudy Giuliani, the Washington Post -- Jan. 12, 2008

"We'll win Florida. It's an unconventional strategy, but I've never followed conventional wisdom before; it's always worked."

Hillary Clinton, ABC News -- April 3, 2008

A source with "direct knowledge" of Hillary to Bill Richardson concerning Obama: “He cannot win, Bill. He cannot win."

Pat Buchanan, MSNBC's "Hardball With Chris Matthews" -- May 21, 2008

On McCain's vice-presidential choice: "My guess is he's going to win Florida by himself. And Charlie Crist, of course, would seal it, but McCain will win it by himself. Jindal is a tremendously popular figure with conservatives. He's a traditionalist Catholic, Chris. But I just don't see McCain going to Louisiana. I agree with Norah on that. I think Romney is somewhat more likely because I think McCain is going to go north."

Rudy Giuliani, MSNBC's "Road to the White House" -- Aug. 6, 2008

"And when you look at the serious questions that face us, whether it's energy or the economy, or the war on terror, I think John McCain's experience ends up being something that will win the race for him."

President Bush, Republican National Convention -- Sept. 2, 2008

"We live in a dangerous world. And we need a president who understands the lessons of September 11, 2001: that to protect America, we must stay on the offense, stop attacks before they happen, and not wait to be hit again. The man we need is John McCain … When the debates have ended and all the ads have run and it is time to vote, Americans will look closely at the judgment, the experience, and the policies of the candidates -- and they will cast their ballots for the McCain-Palin ticket."

George Allen, the "Today" show -- Sept. 24, 2008

"I think Virginians are really getting fired up for this ticket of McCain and Palin … but the key issues of Virginia: national security, energy security, lower taxes, and that's why I think ultimately John McCain will win here in Virginia."

Hugh Hewitt, Townhall.com -- Oct. 3, 2008

"So, despite the rapture of college students and the registration of the homeless in Ohio, the common sense of Americans will override curiosity about Barack Obama and infatuation with his celebrity, and trust John McCain to pilot the country for the next four years ... America is a great and good nation, and it will not turn itself over to a party in the grip of its hardest left cadres, its most corrupt machine and its least experienced nominee ever. Especially not when it has a man of enormous courage and proven devotion and sacrifice at the ready to lead through difficult times."

Tom Ridge, CNN -- Oct. 28, 2008

"I believe we need to prevail in Pennsylvania for John to win. And I think we will … I think John made an excellent choice. I've been with Gov. Palin. I've seen her energize the crowds. I know how the Republican Party and the base feels about her. John wasn't looking for a candidate to help in one state, he was looking for a candidate to help in all 50. I think he found that running mate."

Rush Limbaugh, interview with London Telegraph and on his radio program -- Oct. 31, 2008

To London Telegraph: "I think [Obama has] been dead in the water since the primaries. He is going to need to be up 10 to 12 points to win by 3 or 4 … Don't forget that Hillary winning was a foregone conclusion, too. If the polls had been right it would have been Giuliani versus Hillary. That's why polls a year out are worthless."

On his radio program: "My gut hadn't been giving me any indication on this race, but it started talking to me last night … Barack is headed back to Iowa. That should be a lock; it’s a dead heat … Florida, Ohio and Nevada look like pretty good McCain certainties here. Obama still has to run ads in California."

McCain advisor Charlie Black, as reported in Time -- Nov. 2, 2008

"McCain is in a good position to win every red state ... Plus he is probably going to win Pennsylvania and Iowa."

Carl Cameron, Fox News -- Nov. 3, 2008

"When you look at what's happened in the polls in Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida -- they believe that they've strengthened. Essentially, the conservative districts in those states are now secured. That they still have a little bit of work to do, particularly in the much-vaunted GOP ground game: knocking on doors, making phone calls, lots of e-mails to shore them up entirely. But most of the red states they think they're now safe in ... In places like Pennsylvania, Ohio and Missouri expect a late night. No quick calls tomorrow.

Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review -- Nov. 4, 2008

Shortly before Pennsylvania was called for Obama on Election Night, Lopez wrote on the Corner blog: "Barone … throws serious cold water on the Pa. calls."

Ed Morrissey, Washingtonpost.com -- Nov. 4, 2008

The Hot Air blogger predicted that John McCain would win 51 percent of the popular vote and beat Obama in the electoral vote 273-262. He also predicted that Al Franken would receive only 36 perecent of the vote in the Minnesota Senate race.

Dick Morris

Morris released a book in October 2005 titled "Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race."

History

There's been a line going around the Internet lately -- I don't know where it originated -- that goes like this: "Rosa sat so Martin could walk so Obama could run so our children could fly."

I am so overcome with emotion right now it's all I can do to type these words. Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States of America. This country fucking ROCKS!!!!

Reading Is Fundamental

For those of you who have already voted, sit back and enjoy this video. For those of you who have not yet voted, watch this video carefully, then go out right away and cast your ballot.

GOTV

Hey, what are you doing reading this? Have you voted yet? You need to go vote!

There is a metastasized cancer on the presidency, and since brave Speaker Nancy Pelosi* took impeachment off the table two years ago, we have only one course of action to try to effect a cure. What you need to do is get out there and make your voice heard, make your vote count. What are you waiting for? Get to your local polling place and cast your ballot! I'll wait. There's not much going on here anyway right now. Go on.

GO.

VOTE.

I voted last Friday, myself, and I'm glad I did. You'll be glad you did, too, if you haven't already. Now go, get outta here, vote, dammit!!

*for whom I did not vote, for that very reason