Archives for Category "Democrats"
November 30, 2008
Tab Dump
Well, I didn't manage to finish off NaBloPoMo very well. Oh well. Here's a few things clogging up my browser tabs at the moment:- Ten Myths Conservatives Believe about Progressives. And how to rebut them at the dinner table.
- Climate change impacts are happening faster than the models predict. We are in deep doo-doo. Tim O'Reilly writes about why he loves Twitter. I especially appreciated:
I don't know who first used the term "ambient intimacy" but it's a great description of what begins to happen on Twitter. I know not just what people are thinking about or reading, but enough about what they are doing that our relationship deepens, just like real-world friendships. People who follow me on Twitter learn that I'm making jam or pies, or gardening or riding my bike or feeding the horses, things that I'd never (or rarely, since I'm doing it here) share on my blog. I know a lot more about many of my professional contacts that makes them more into friends. And in the case of my family, who keep their updates private and visible only to a limited group of real friends, we can keep in touch in small ways that mean a lot. I get special moments of my wife or daughters' day that we might not have shared otherwise. It's truly lovely.
Now - three and half weeks until Christmas and I've done almost no shopping or prep at all. We are definitely having a tree for the boy's first Christmas, though. So, you know, send him presents. ;-)
<=> | in: Democrats / Federal Politics / General Musings / Journaling / Parenting
November 5, 2008
Still Stunned
I am still stunned that after nearly electing George W. Bush twice, this country has elected Barack Obama. Happy about it, but stunned. There is loads of commentary around the web - much more eloquent than anything I could come up with at the moment. (One selfish thought I had was that at least we don't have to move - another 4 years of a crazy Republicans in the executive branch and I don't think I could have stayed in town.)Steve Benen asks the question I always wonder about - what would it take to get those who like to proclaim that the U.S. is a 'center-right' country to think otherwise. What kind of evidence would be sufficient? How would we know if the country shifted away from being 'center-right' (whatever-the-f-that-means, anyway)?
Would a Democratic Congress do it?And John Scalzi provides a useful reality check, lest anyone expect truly great progress under Obama.
How about a Democratic President with a Democratic Congress?
How about a Democratic President, Democratic Congress, and a Democratic majority among the nation's governors?
How about a Democratic president, Senate, House, governors, and polling data showing Americans support universal healthcare, are pro-choice, oppose the war in Iraq, and support the Democratic agenda on everything from the environment to the minimum wage to international diplomacy?
Your next president is going to disappoint you. Barack Obama does not fart cinnamon-scented rainbows. He is not trailed by angels and unicorns. Reality does not reshape itself to his wishes. Dude’s a human being, and a politician, and he’s going to have to work with other human beings who are also politicians. Per point 2, some things you want him to do he won’t be able to do, and some of the things you want him to do he won’t want to do, so they won’t get done. He will make mistakes. He will make errors. He will be caught flat-footed from time to time. He will be challenged by antagonists, foreign and domestic, who will have an interest in seeing him faceplant. He will piss most people off. His approval rating will drop below 50%. He is going to disappoint you. Get used to the idea.Simply halting the various insanities of Bush-Cheney will be very welcome. After that, I'd put energy, infrastructure, and fixing our horrible health care system as areas where I'd like to see some real effort. Obama was a Constitutional law professor, and notwithstanding his FISA stance, I have some hope that he knows and understands the value and importance of civil liberties and human rights.
Here's the text of Obama's acceptance speech. I thought it was very good.
This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.
So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.
<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics
November 4, 2008
Fired Up! Ready to Go!
Barack Obama was in Manassas, Virginia last night. (Making Light notes the historical symmetry of that.) We didn't go, but there are reports that about 90,000 people showed up. Here's a clip of the end of his speech there:<=> | Comments: 1 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics / Weblogs & Citizen Writing
November 1, 2008
Pre-Election Quick Post
Somehow in and amongst all of the infant care and sleep-deprivation, I never managed to blog the things I wanted to during my leave. So it goes. But I did want to jot down a few quick notes before the election next week, just to get them out of my head. In no particular order:- There was never any chance that Hillary Clinton was going to try to screw up the Democratic convention. Similarly, the people who thought that McCain's pick of Palin would appeal to disaffected Hillary supporters demonstrated how little they think of women. I wasn't a Clinton supporter, but after observing the way she and her candidacy were treated, I have much less confidence in the Democratic party when it comes to women's issues. Of course, watching Democrats compare Howard Dean to Osama bin Laden during the last cycle was a good way to have a lot less patience for the whining this cycle about Clinton's hardball tactics.
- Barack Obama is a superior candidate and will make a decent President, but he's not demonstrated to me that he's any kind of great progressive. I expect to be disappointed a great deal during the next 4 years if he wins. That's far better than the alternative, however.
- It really puzzles me when people refer to the last few election cycles and claim that the Republican party is a party of ideas. Umm, no. They are the party of anti-ideas, if anything - all about tearing down and destroying ideas and institutions that others have worked on. Really, the notion that ranting about taxes and Social Security, working to suppress the vote, and shouting "small government" all the while dog whispering to closet racists and religious wackos is about ideas completely devalues the term. Of course, Republicans are also good at screwing with language, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
- Four years ago when Obama gave his speech at the DNC, and people started salivating about the possibility of him running for President. I just shook my head. I told TheGuy: If this country elects Barack Obama after nearly electing George W. Bush twice, than we are truly a schizophrenic nation. I still think that.
- Speaking of the stolen elections in 2000 and 2004, it's going to be weird to hear the phrases "the President" and "Mr. President" and not feel queasy - again, assuming Obama wins by a large enough margin that it can't be stolen. I tried not to write those phrases very often when referring to the Occupant, and for several years I think I managed to not ever refer to Dubya as the President.
- Recovering from the Bush Administration's malfeasance - a disastrous eight years by virtually any metric - is going to take a long time. My kid, and his kids (if he has any), will still be paying for what Dubya and Cheney and all those who enabled them have done. I've already apologized to TLG several times for this - even though I never voted for them. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who votes for McCain-Palin is now doing harm to my child and his future. I was ticked off at those who enable the rightwing wackos before, but when it comes to TLG, MamaBear's claws really come out. Grrrrrr.
- Obama would not be able to accomplish what he's done without Howard Dean's 2004 campaign and subsequent work at the DNC. I don't think Dean is given nearly enough credit, generally (although given that Obama is keeping Dean on at the DNC, at least for now, there's some hint that he's aware even if others aren't). There was an article I read recently about the Obama campaign in which the only reference to Dean was to say that they used Meet-Up. Bzzt. Fail. There was a lot more innovation to the Dean campaign than Meet-Up, and Obama (good for him) is capitalizing on it. Digby's got a short piece about this, but there's a lot more to be said. Not that Dean's the type to go out and demand credit. Paul Begala and the rest of those annoying Democrats who sneered at the 50-state strategy can kiss mah grits!
- Virginia's going blue baby. If Virginia goes for Obama, TheGuy and I will take our share of the credit thankyewverymuch. We are after all part of the population boom that's moved here to "communist" northern Virginia in the last decade. The only place I've seen McCain lawn signs around here was in a pretty hoity-toity part of Alexandria. Elitist swine. (Haha.)
-
David Sedaris on undecided voters:
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”
To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.
I mean, really, what’s to be confused about? - Oh.. there was more.. but this is enough for now, I guess...
<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics
October 14, 2008
Tabs Tabs Tabs
More tabs:- Sports make for happy families? Sure (but so do other things) - but with everything so organized and scheduled, there's no opportunity for pick-up games. Nevertheless, as soon as TheLittleGuy is wobbling around on two legs, we're going to be schlepping him to the fields at the rec center and saying "run around, run around!" I have a whole entry (in my head) about my concerns about the nature deficit for children.. one of these days.
- How to Fight a Rumor - Hint: don't just ignore it.
- Michael Berube is blogging again, and has a snarky open letter to "conservatives." Read the whole thing. A snippet:
Folks, I don’t think you understand how we truly feel about you. We mock you and tease you, I know, and you hate us for it. But we don’t hate you back. Really, we don’t. We’re secular pluralists, after all, and we know we have to find ways of sharing this planet with people who can’t stand secular pluralists. We really just want you to leave us alone. Still, we have our limits. The way you’ve behaved over the past decade or two leads us to believe that you’ll do whatever it takes to make the next decade or two a living hell for everyone who’s sincerely trying to clean up all the messes you’ve made. And we just can’t be bothered with that nonsense right now. This is too important.
- Digby on the possibility of some progressive shock doctrine. If only Obama and other Democratic leaders would seriously consider these kinds of ideas.
- Digby and Avedon on how Republicans really don't respect you at all - they talk a good game, but when it comes right down to it, they hold the vast bulk of the citizenry in contempt.
They don't respect you and they don't want to have to pretend they do. They want you to show them deference and they know you won't do that if you feel like a free person in a free society who doesn't have to take crap from some petty tyrant who thinks you should feel honored to kiss his ring. Republicans are pissed off because it's so hard to get good help these days - help that knows they are just the help, that knows their place, that uses the servants' entrance and calls them "sir" and doesn't question them. A strong middle-class - that is, a secure workforce - gets bolshy and tells abusive employers to bugger off, and the ruling class doesn't like that.
- A bit more from Merlin Mann on redoing 43 Folders with a re-oriented focus:
This is now a site for people who want to finish things that they care about — but who still occasionally need help, inspiration, and the courage to push all the bullshit off their work table. This is about clearing that space every day, and then using it to do cool stuff that makes you proud.
- Really, really Not Safe For Work (lots of nasty language - you've been warned). Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart send a letter to John McCain about his campaign's use of one of their songs. Ouch.
- For anyone who hasn't seen it yet - Keating Economics. The Obama campaign explains John McCain's unethical behavior from the 80s, for those who've forgotten or were too young to notice.
- A Suzanne Vega song was the basis for improving the mp3 compression scheme. She listened and thought a little bit of the warmth was lost.
<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Democrats / Economics / Entertainment / Federal Politics / Health & Food / Music / Parenting / Personal Organization / Religion & Politics / Republicans / Technology
October 8, 2008
Another Tab Dump
We watched the debate (ha - what a laughable term for these things) the other night and kinda-sorta-liveblogged it over at rc3.org. It's the only way to make them tolerable. Good for a few chuckles. I've still got loads of tabs open in my browser from the last few weeks. Will try to jot down a few more of them here just so I can say that I'm sort of weblogging. Heh.- I've said it a hundred times - you should just read Digby every single day. Digby is by far the best political analyst around. A few days ago she discussed George W. Palin:
She isn't a politician at all. She's a caricature of a politician, as he is. They are both figureheads who represent something important to voters who believe that the biggest problem in the world is that pointy headed elites are incompetent because they lack comm on sense. And the funny thing is that it's the product of one of the harshest conservative criticisms of liberalism over the years ---- the self-esteem movement. Both George W. Bush and Sarah Palin are self-esteem symbols, put forth to prove to people who have been convinced that liberal elites are ruining everything, that the world would be better led by someone just like them. It's the ultimate social promotion.
- Also on the topic of Palin, Echidne and Katxena discuss the complexities of dealing with people's reactions to her. As with Hillary, there's just so much sexist junk to wade through even though there are plenty of contrasts to Hillary from a policy perspective. Katxena:
I keep hearing comments about how great it is that she doesn't dress like most female politicians, eschewing pantsuits and solid reds and pinks -- to which I respond that it would be really great if we would stop talking the clothes of female politicians. I also hear comments that it's disrespectful of her to refer to her opponents as Joe and Barak, when they go out of their way to refer to her as governor -- to which I respond that she's got to demonstrate that she's at their level, that she's part of their club.
Echidne:Yet she IS the first Republican female vice-presidential candidate and this allows her to be viewed by the sexists among us as the best women can offer (or at least the best Republican women can offer). It allows the sexists among us to make fun of all women in the disguise of making fun of only Sarah Palin. And trying to differentiate between these two intentions is almost impossible.
Note that my post is not intended to denigrate Sarah Palin's qualifications. A country which has had eight years of George Bush and his qualifications and found them just fine shouldn't suddenly get all red-faced and furious about her qualifications or the lack of them. But Palin is not the kind of an individual who is picked to be the First in a new and important arena, certainly not if the intention is to have her break the path for other women to follow (always assuming that she'd let them). Yet there she is. - That One '08 - While I didn't see the snubbed handshake in the second debate the way most seem to have (I thought McCain was putting on a show of introducing Obama to his wife), I did find his reference to Obama as "that one" in the debate to be rather jarring. Plenty of people are apparently finding it racist as well.
- Flu Season approaches - Making Light reminds everyone to get your flu shots. I think I may try to get mine this weekend, actually - if we can squeeze it in. And here and here is some helpful info on making flu pre-packs for yourself and everyone in your household. We've fallen off a bit in keeping our emergency stores up-to-date, but a flu pre-pack seems manageable.
<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Democrats / Federal Politics / General Musings / Health & Food / Religion & Politics / Republicans
June 17, 2008
Quick Update
Meta and Journally:Yes, I am still pregnant. No, I am really, really not happy about it. Yes, comments are broken on this site right now - send email instead. There's a full moon coming, so maybe TheLittleGuy will want to come out to see. If he doesn't, the doctors will probably want to evict him, and none of us really want to start down that path. Sigh. Oh, not that I'll ever have time to write again, but I have much to say about the politics and ideologies of pregnancy and birth. I'm sure the politics and ideologies of parenting will be even more fun. Goodie.
Politics:
Hillary was never going to take it to the convention and all the shrieking ninnies who thought she would destroy the Democratic party in pursuit of her own evil feminine ambitions really need to get over themselves. Barack is not the great progressive savior some seem to think he is, but he'll do - better than most. John McCain is completely unacceptable. I hope that Obama does not choose Webb for VP because Virginia needs to keep a non-insane Senator for a little while longer. Other than that, I don't care who he picks, as long as it's not someone like Hagel or Chafee.
Apocalyptic weather and such:
My spouse's home city is suffering under a 500-year flood. We've had wave after wave of severe thunderstorms here. There have been Metro derailments, houses burning down near friends of ours, water outages with 'boil everything' orders a few miles north of us. It's feeling pretty apocalyptic, I must say.
<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics / Journaling / Parenting
