Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Headline you won't read in the NY Times

Obama and two aides interviewed by Fitzgerald in Blago Bribery

You'll never read that.
But you should have.
As the Wall Street Journal points out:

Federal prosecutors investigating alleged corruption by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich interviewed President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top advisers last week in connection with the case, according to a memo released Tuesday by the Obama transition team.


Let's review:
Obama, and 2 of his advisors, were interviewed by Fitz. Why? Well, certainly, it was because there was no improper contact between any of the advisers and Blago on the many taped conversations they didn't have.

I'm sure that Fitz was just asking them to confirm that they really didn't talk to Blago at all about a deal. I imagine the conversation going something like this:

FITZ: We have you on tape telling Blago absolutely nothing. Is that true?
OBAMA ADVISOR: Yep. I handed him a list of senate candidates that I felt were acceptable.
FITZ: But you asked for nothing in return. We have tapes of that not happening. Correct?
OBAMA ADVISOR: Stop badgering me! Yes, we did nothing!
FITZ: Look... I can't help you unless you continue to deny offering him anything. I'm not going to waste my time interviewing you - knowing that I have nothing on you - unless you tell me that all of my tapes are substantially correct.
OBAMA ADVISOR: Look, cop; I don't know what you're holding back. I just know what I said. Yeah... those conversations were proper, and I never asked for quid pro quo! Is that what you want me to say???
FITZ: I want you to say it only, and only, if my tapes are correct!
OBAMA ADVISOR: Arrrrgh! You got me! I didn't offer him anything! Oh man... I knew that I was in trouble when I came in here! That's why I've been offering interviews for the past week, because there was no improper contact!

The weird thing is that I know that somewhere out there, there are Obama fans who think that's how it went.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Number 6.1

Another link with the Clintons...
...Bettie Currie is working behind the scenes for Obama.

The last time we saw Bettie Currie, she was hiding gifts underneath her bed that had been exchanged between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
I'm sure her work with Obama does not reflect anything negative on him, whatsoever.

Obama / Clinton WH counter
6.1

President Elect Sidesteps

Obama didn't want this reporter to "waste his question"...



It reminded me of this guy.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Obama's administration picks: Little Known Facts

I'm amazed at how the media has portrayed Obama's picks as 'centrist'.
Thanks to Time magazine, and a few other sources, I hope to dispel that myth.

U.N. Ambassador: Susan E. Rice

You might know that Susan has Jamaican parents.
You probably know that she worked as Assistant Secretary for African Affairs under Clinton, starting in 1997. -Or that she worked for the Brookings Institution on issues of "global poverty and inequality."
But did you know who her hubby is?
Age 44, Rice is married to Canadian journalist Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. They met in college when she was a freshman and he was a senior and are the parents of two children.
Hmmm.
Think that Clinton's former spokesperson, Stephanopoulos, is going to be harsh on her?

People who worked for Clinton - who now work for Obama - Counter:
1

Energy Czar Carol Browner.


If you've read a lot, you know that the Energy Czar Browner used to work as a Legislative Director for then-Senator Al Gore, a lifelong environmentalist.

You might know that she was the director of the EPA under Clinton, and was the longest serving administrator in that position. Or that she protected us against that horrible water borne killer Cryptosporidium. (If you've ever taken a food safety class, as I have, you know how bizarre it is that the EPA felt a need to take action over something like this.)

What you probably don't know is that up until recently, she worked for the Albright Group; a management consulting firm with some pretty hefty political ties, including former Clintonite Madeline.

But did you know that she used to work for Citizen Action, an environmental action group?

I understand completely that many people want someone in the department of energy who will be responsible. But putting an environmentalist in charge of energy, is like putting a vegetarian in charge of issuing hunting licenses. Their core beliefs run counter to their job description.

Anyway, back to our Clinton/Obama WH Counter:
2

I forgot to add...

Secretary of State, Hillary

Clinton/Obama WH Counter:
3

Attorney General, Eric Holder

Eric is the third member of the Obama administration to have ties to the Caribbean, with parents from Barbados. (I'm always amused when an Irish guy feels a need to hire a bunch of Irish guys to work for him. Similarly, Obama's picks amuse me.)

What you might know?
That he worked at Covington & Burling LLP, or that he was originally hired by Reagan in 1988 to be an associate judge.
He was then hired by Clinton in 1993 to be a US Attorney.

What you don't know about Holder?
That he was the guy who approved of Marc Rich's pardon. Marc Rich was a 'fugitive billionaire' who had fled the country. His wife had lobbied hard for his pardon. The day before George Bush took office, Holder reviewed the pardon and wrote that he was "neutral to favorable" about the pardon. Clinton signed it, and the rest is history.

Clinton / Obama WH Counter:
4



Homeland Security Secretary: Janet Napolitano



Time magazine's profile of Napolitano is remarkable in one way; they say that she has a "nuanced approach" that has pleased both sides on the issue of immigration. But a link to their previous article on Napolitano reveals this quote:
Last November angry voters passed Proposition 200, which in part provides that undocumented aliens receive no state welfare benefits that they are not entitled to. Napolitano opposed it, as well as several bills that targeted illegal immigrants.

Read the complete article, because I can't quote it here without violating copyright. It also points out 'immigration reforms' that Janet created on her own, but it seems clear from the article that she's not taking a centrist position.

Back to what you probably do know:
She was appointed as a US attorney general by Bill Clinton.

What you don't know:
In 1991, represented Anita Hill in Hill's sexual harrassment lawsuit against then-Supreme Court nominee (and now Justice) Clarence Thomas

You can say many things about Janet, but you can't say that she's a centrist.

Obama / Clinton WH Counter:
5

Whew! My fingers are getting tired from writing all of those numbers.

Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel


Yeah, that's Blagojevich to the right of him. So let's start there.
Did you know that Rahm and Obama were both chief strategists for Blago's run for governor in 2002?
From the New Yorker:
Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama’s, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory. He and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. “We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.” A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. “There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists.”

Rahm was also a chief advisor to Bill Clinton. Before that, he worked as a fundraiser for Mayor Daley of Chicago. Which means he worked for 3 crooks that we know of.
But hey... I'm positive that Obama is completely different from Rahm's previous clients.


Oh, and Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal, according to the ABC news story of the same name.
Emanuel was named to the Freddie Mac board by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and resigned his position when he ran for Congress in May, 2001.
During the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to the SEC, Freddie Mac substantially misrepresented its income to "present investors with the image of a company that would continue to generate predictable and growing earnings."
Neat.
But he's clean as snow. Chicago snow.

Clinton / Obama WH Count:
6

This is where I have to take a break. But I'll be back for round two of 'what you probably don't know' about Obama's cabinet.

TSG 'change' mug shots, Obama, and Change

I was talking to a friend of mine, who is black, about the Obama shirts that so many people are wearing. We were both annoyed by how many people were jumping on the bandwagon.

Although he voted for Obama, he had reservations about the people who were going over the edge in their support without knowing who they were voting for.


His biggest complaint had to do with guys in his neighborhood who were selling drugs while wearing Obama t-shirts. As he rightly pointed out, they clearly missed the message.

The Smoking Gun has a montage of mug shots from 2008 on their web page. Most recently, they selected their favorite ones with the icon of change on them:
I think that there are a lot of people out there who are just wearing the t-shirts to "look cool," and have no real intention of changing the way politics are done.

This week, Obama said that he can't release his internal report declaring that his staffers had no 'improper contact' with Blago.
I'm curious if, despite his insistence, a member of his staff will join the mug shot list, above.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Ohio official resigns in Joe the Plumber case

I need to catch up on some news here.
Most importantly?
The slime who investigated Joe The Plumber with government resources, Helen Jones-Kelley, resigned from her state position in Ohio. Helen used to work as the department of Job and Family Services director.
From the AP story on Yahoo:
Gov. Ted Strickland suspended Jones-Kelley for a month without pay after the Ohio Inspector General's office found in November that she improperly used state computers to find personal information on Samuel Wurzelbacher. The investigation also found that she conducted improper political fundraising activity for now President-elect Barack Obama.

Its bad enough that our civil servants use their government time to raise money for their chosen candidates. (Which seems like an infinite circle to me, of someone getting hired to raise money, so that more government robots can get hired.)
What's worse is to see that they used that government time (and government private resources) to snoop into the background of political opponents. That kind of slimy dealing makes me want to bring back tar-and-feathering of criminal officials.

Monday, December 15, 2008

The silver bullet that connects Obama to Blago?

Can someone help me out on this?
I believe, if I'm right, that this connects the Obama camp directly to Blago.

But you tell me if I'm wrong.

This is from the criminal complaint.
Its right after the part of the complaint where Blago says "f' em" about the Obama camp, if they don't want to deal. That note is note 104.
This is note 105, right after that:

Later on November 11, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Advisor A.
Advisor A indicated that he will stay “on top” of getting the Senate Candidate 5 information leaked to the particular Sun Times columnist. ROD BLAGOJEVICH again raised the idea of the 501(c)(4) organization and asked whether “they” (believed be the President-elect and his associates) can get Warren Buffett and others to put $10, $12, or $15 million into the organization. Advisor A responded that “they” should be able to find a way to fund the organization.

I won't quote the whole thing. But go read it.
Now further down, note 107, on page 68:

On November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Advisor B. ROD
BLAGOJEVICH discussed with Advisor B his idea for a 501(c)(4) organization. Advisor B stated that he likes the idea, but liked the Change to Win option better because, according to Advisor B, from the President-elect’s perspective, there would be fewer “fingerprints” on the President-elect’s involvement with Change to Win because Change to Win already has an existing stream of revenue and, therefore, “you won’t have stories in four years that they bought you off.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that he likes the 501(c)(4) idea because he knows it will be there in two years when he is no longer Governor, whereas Change to Win might not be.


Now you tell me:

How the heck is it that this hasn't made the papers yet? What'd I miss?

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Obama/ Blagovich connection

A lot of us knew that Blagojevich was slime. That was pretty easy to see.
But others took to Blagojevich fairly quickly. Guess who was associated with him?
The same guy who had a fundraiser by Ayers, and a racist preacher:

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary that year, then-state sen. Obama endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. But after Blagojevich won, Obama came around enthusiastically.

That, according to ABC news. Its worth noting that Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel had connections too. But, if the article is to be believed:


At the same time, meanwhile, Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.
According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory.


Just so that you understand:
Obama & Rahm were both aides to Blagojevich. But if we are to believe Obama fans, Obama didn't know about this at all.
He was completely in the dark of how corrupt Blagojevich was.

Monday, December 08, 2008

It wasn't quite the change they pictured

Normally, I'd like to rest easy knowing that the left isn't happy.
But when the left is David Corn, of Mother Jones, I don't know what would make him happy. Che? Chavez?
From his editorial in the WP:
It's no surprise that many progressives are -- depending on whom you ask -- disappointed, irritated or fit to be tied. Sure, Obama's appointments do represent change -- that is, change from the widely unpopular Bush-Cheney status quo. But do these appointments amount to the kind of change that progressives, who were an essential part of Obama's political base during the campaign, can really believe in?

David,
You'll be relieved to know that us conservatives still think his appointments are really really left.
If you don't believe me, check out his speechwriter, in the photo below.

No, I'm not kidding. That really is his speechwriter groping a cardboard cutout of Hillary.

And yeah... that's kind of the change that I pictured Barack would bring.

Politico has some questions for Obama

Most of their questions I think are legitimate. But the first one really has me puzzled:
“Are you going to get off the sidelines before you're sworn in and, if not, what do you say to those in your own party who are waiting for you to show some leadership?”

Since when did that matter?
Every incoming administration that is different from the last is going to have a strong following of people who hope that things will 'change' to their vision.
However, unlike Obama, the president-elect normally doesn't do weekly addresses.
Obama does.
Which begs the asking: What does he think he's doing?
Didn't he have an idea of what he was going to do, as president, when he ran?
Wasn't he supposed to tell us then?
If he did, then what is the point of all of these press conferences? Unless, of course, its to change what he promised when he ran for president?

List of Obama broken Obama promises

Provided, of course, that he's being honest about breaking his promises.

  • He said he was going to tax the wealthy.
  • He said he was going to put windfall profits taxes on big oil.

Already, he's reversed those two promises.

Former promises he's broken?
  • When he was running for the Democratic primary, he said that warrantless wiretaps should not continue. Then he won the primary, and figured out a compromise on wiretaps.

Promises I'm willing to bet he breaks?
  • Obama will not pull out of Iraq starting the first day he gets into office.
  • He will not open the gates on Guantanamo bay.

More broken promises to come. I promise that.

Obama promises to make economy worse

Sorry, I'm pretending like I'm a Bush hater, and Obama is Bush.
But this is what Obama said, from AP:
"The economy is going to get worse before it gets better," he said twice in the early moments of the interview, taped Saturday in Chicago.


I thought that it was the president's fault that the economy was bad?
I thought that once he became president, he could fix things?
Oh man. I'm so... disillusioned? Surprised?

Chang (ing light bulbs)

I forgot to add this to the mind-boggling logic of our president elect. From Politico:
ENERGY: “[W]e will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.”

We're going to put people back to work changing out light bulbs?
Uh... if that isn't a 'make work' job, what is?

HUMAN: What do you do?
OBAMA DRONE: I work for the government making the world less energy dependent.
HUMAN: Oh, you change out light bulbs?
OBAMA DRONE: That's not all I do!
HUMAN: What else?
OBAMA DRONE: I fill out paperwork, and report on the improved efficiency of the building.
HUMAN: That accounts for 15 minutes of your day. What do you do with the rest of it?
OBAMA DRONE: The point is that I'm working, and I feel better about myself. What do you do for a living?
HUMAN: I have a real job. I work at McDonalds. I feed people in a very short amount of time. Because of me, they have more time to be productive, and create more wealth in our society... you useless fucktard.

Obama sets plans for Mega Spending

Hold onto your wallet. From Bloomburg:

Obama, in his weekly radio speech today, said his plan to create or preserve 2.5 million jobs will also include making public buildings more energy efficient, repairing schools and modernizing health care with electronic medical records.

“We won’t just throw money at the problem,” he said. “We’ll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve -- by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world.”



Of course, the best way to create wealth is to have the government do it.

Right?

(I'm joking.)

PS- Everything that Obama said about our deficit being too big? You can kiss that rhetoric goodbye.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Weekly address from the office of the president elect???

You gotta hand it to the fans of Obama: there is nothing he can do that will shake their love.

In a new standard of presumptiveness, Obama has been having regular press conferences from the 'Office Of the President Elect'... which is a bullshit office.
But now he's taking it one step further.
Obama is releasing weekly addresses from the office of the president elect.
Say what?

Keep in mind, previous president elects haven't even held regular press conferences. So why would Obama do this?
Unless he:
1) Incredibly insecure about the job
2) Already thinks he's in power
or
3) Wants to pretend like he's in charge

Any of those three things are creepy. I want you to watch the video above, and realize its not his job yet.
Man, I understand that he was elected. I greatly respect democracy, even when I don't agree with the outcome of an election.
But only because I respect an orderly transition of power.

Obama is trying to skip past that transition thing. You know, where he waits to be inaugurated?

Obama's followers have always creeped me out.
I wish that Obama wouldn't do the same.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Obama hires the woman who called Hillary a monster?

If anyone was wondering about Obama's ethics and morals, I think this one will kind of give you a clue as to what he's going to do once president.

Last Spring, an Obama advisor by the name of Samantha Power was forced to resign after she called Hillary Clinton a "monster".
That should be the end of the story. But its not.
You see, Obama rehired her for the transition process.
Guess what part of his government she's helping with?

According to the Washington Post:
Power is listed on Obama's transition Web site as part of the team reviewing national security agencies. Her duties, according to the site, will be to "ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in."


Good for WaPo for doing this report.
Of course, if it were Bush doing such a thing, it would be healines for a week. But hey... we all know that Obama gets a buddy pass.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Mama voted for Obama?

As I get older, I appreciate my parents more and more.
My parents were absolutely brilliant about letting us kids form our own opinions.

Its weird when I think about it, because I don't remember my parents ever telling me what party they favored. I knew that my mother came from "democratic" upbringing, because her father was a precinct captain for the Daley administration. I also knew that she didn't like Daley. At all.
My dad was even more mysterious about his political affiliation. I strongly believe that he was a conservative based on the arguments he would have with friends... but I never remember him stating who he supported.

My parents made it clear to us at an early age that they wanted us to think for ourselves. They didn't try to push us kids into any political party, which was brilliant.
Again, I only realized this as I get older, because I talk to people who had parents who tried to force their political points of view on them.
I love them and miss them all the more as I write this. Because now I understand that not all parents give their kid that much leeway.
Which leads me to this little chunk of indoctrination:

The slime who wrote this book is Jeremy Zilber, who apparently doesn't trust kids to think for themselves. He must believe in early indoctrination. He also wrote "Why mommy is a Democrat" and "Why daddy is a Democrat".
(I wonder if any part of that book contains the lines "Because mommy and daddy want free shit from the government, and they don't think that they'll ever have to pay for it.)

This is my favorite part of the indoctrination. Its where you teach kids to mistrust old people:
It says "now some mamas voted for a man named John, some mamas voted for a mastedon."
Because, you know, its really important for kids to understand at an early age that old people just don't understand, and have never been young before. And stuff.

Its sad to me that some people will buy this book. Its even sadder to think that there are parents out there that won't trust their kids to learn from their examples.
I'm not a Republican because my dad told me to be one.
I'm a Republican because I learned what it was to be a man of substance from him. I saw him work hard towards nobility and retain a love for the founding fathers. I learned patriotism from him. Not the flag waving, but a respect for liberty and democracy, which he practiced by not forcing his beliefs on me.
My father also taught me, by example, what it means to be an independent thinker.
My mother taught me the compassion of actually volunteering, and not expecting other people to do stuff for you. She taught me that I'm responsible for my actions. That I shouldn't pass the buck.

My parents would have never bought me that book.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

They still want impeachment? What?

I really thought that the moonbats couldn't get more surreal.

I mean, once you start wearing a t-shirt with the face of the incoming president on it, then you're clearly going over the edge. But wait... there's more...
From Rochelle Riley in the Detroit Free Press:

For economy's sake, Pelosi needs to push for impeachment now


I want you to read over this sterling logic of Rochelle:

But Congress is running out of time to finally make the Bush administration own up to its actions for eight years. If Congress isn’t careful, the president who already has issued 171 pardons could also pardon every appointee and employee he has ever had – and their dogs. And then Americans will never find out what happened to our country over the past eight years.


For those of you who are having trouble reading between the lines: Rochelle has no idea what crime you could charge the administration with. But she really, really, really wants someone to find out what it is.

Democrats have been hounding GWB for 8 years, trying to figure out something to charge him with. Outside of being a conservative, which they still want to be a crime. GWB, unfortunately for them, has not committed an actual crime.

Rochelle; get a life. Please.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Post Election Report: Part 3: Change and Hope

In an earlier post, I wrote about Branding.
I never thought that Barack would become president.

I'm from Chicago. I thought that once people knew who he was, they wouldn't buy what he was selling.
I was horribly horribly wrong. People bought Change and Hope in droves. On T-shirts, watches, buttons, and anything you could put that slogan on.

So now its left to me, post-election, to explain why I thought it was lame. Do you know what Jimmy Carter's slogan was? Of course, he wasn't the only one to use the Change mantra. Officially, Bill Clinton's motto was "Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow." But he used Change to a much lesser degree... He also pushed the fact that he was the boy from Hope... and it caught on... Politico even got hold of this election memorabilia: So when I saw these posters: It wasn't exactly like I was seeing anything new. It was just rhetoric, recycled.
I also found this photo, that kinda summed up Change and Hope:

I have a hope for Democrats in 2012: and it is that they can finally change their rhetoric.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Nominate me?

If, and only if, you think what you read here is worth reading...

I'd love it if you'd click on the link above, and nominate me for a hidden gem. Quite frankly, I think its the only category that I'm really eligible for.

But if you've found what I've said here to be valuable/interesting, then please click on the link above and nominate me. If someone has already nominated me, then click on the + sign near my blog name, and it will add one to my nomination.

As always, I appreciate everyone who drops by and reads me. Its interesting to know that someone is out there, reading my semi-coherent ramblings.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Ohio and Joe the Plumber

Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles said his office is now looking at a half-dozen agencies that accessed state records on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher.


That's the man known as Joe The Plumber, to you and I.
Anytime civil servants are using their access to our records to forward the career of a politician, it should alarm you. But when they are using it to attack an individual who asks questions of them, it should bother you even more.

These were Democrat flunkies doing this. Make no mistake. And the members of the Democrat party should be on the side of the little guy. But they never have been.
I just wanted to make that point.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Countdown to official media bias

There is no media bias.

There is no media bias.

There is no.... oh, who are we kidding?

This was on the Chicago Tribune website, on most of their pages:



Countdown to Inauguration:










Quick, everyone: what do you think the chances would be of them having a 'Countdown to Inauguration" counter if McCain won?

Oh, and I know that it says that there is something like 4,000 days to the inauguration. If I understood java better, I'd try to figure out why its doing that. I have no idea. Really. Please. That's not the point.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Post Election Report: Part 2, Branding

The day after the election I was talking to a friend of mine who is a Democrat. I was trying to put my finger on what it was that I found so creepy about being in Grant Park on election day.

I've written before about the 7 ft. tall image in Barack's campaign office of his own face.
[Editors note: this image is from AP. The rest are my own.]

I thought it was weird. I still do. But it was the candidate's decision to put it there.
A candidate for president can be incredibly arrogant at times.

What's different about Barack's followers (its the only word I can think of that fits) is that they do things that are even more creepy. Like... they wear his face on their t-shirts.
I'm going to make a great over-arching horrible generalization. Ready for it?
When any populace starts wearing a politician's face on their shirts, its bad news. For everyone.
This guy was one of at least 30 people that I saw selling t-shirts that night. (I'm being conservative in my estimation.) Good for him celebrating the last vestiges of capitalism.
For some reason, I liked the gentleman above instantly. I think its because, unlike most of the crowd, he's an older dude. I can understand how an older black man would feel the history of the moment, whether he liked the candidate or not.
This dude was making bank. He literally had stacks on these posters and he was selling the "Hope" rhetoric as fast as he could roll them up. One guy bought 3 posters for his friends.
I want to - I need to - repeat that.
A guy bought 3 posters of a politician for his friends.

This kind of thing really split me in half. On one hand, I'm thrilled that the man above was able to make his living for the next month by selling people useless shit. That's what America is about.
On the other hand...
What is it about the people in Grant Park that has made them so insecure in themselves that they trust in someone that they've never met to make their lives better???


This is America, folks. You can literally accomplish anything you set your mind to.

The guy above is proof of the 'land of opportunity.' He's selling images of a president-elect!
Then there was this giant horrible painting, above. It was put up across from the big video screen, in the un-ticketed part of grant park. At around 7pm, there were scores of people, like the ones above, taking photos of themselves in front of the giant painting.

Think that's weird?
It gets weirder.
What are all of these people photographing, post-Barack-election?
They are photographing the sign. -And themselves in front of the sign. -And their friends in front of the sign. The sign that says "Obama Presidential Rally Parking."

Anything that said 'Obama' or 'Barack' was selling. -And that doesn't even include the Official Obama Store, below.

I haven't even talked about the Obama watches that I saw. But I might as well include the light-up buttons, that you can put on your hat.

There were tables of merchandise that people had trucked in.
It was a marketing wet dream.

That's when it hit me.
The word is Branding. I learned about it in college in a marketing class. It basically refers to the ability to sell something by making people feel good about the product.

If you're good at Branding, then people want to buy your product based on name recognition. If you're really good at Branding, then people talk about your product in glowing terms.
If you're brilliant at Branding, then people start to wear your brand. If you're wearing a Guinness t-shirt or own a Coca Cola clock, you're a product of branding. Someone spent gazillions of dollars to make you think that you're cool for wearing and buying their stuff.

Which is why its creepy to see so many people vote based on great branding.

By the way, when I wrote this post, I wanted to make sure that I was using the term correctly. While doing a web search, I ran across this article. Tragically, they cock-blocked my point by getting there first:
Like any great brand, Obama has built up a bond of trust with the American people. His election has also given the US the opportunity to reestablish its moral leadership around the world. But like any brand, he has to deliver now on his promises, both actual and perceived. In the current economy, that will not be easy.


In my marketing class, they taught us that good branding needs to be followed up by a product that delivers. Otherwise, the brand will fail.

I'm not sure if that's going to be true with Obama. Already, both his campaign and his supporters are suggesting that if he isn't able to deliver, it will only be because of Republicans.

In political terms, this is called innoculating your candidate from the opposition.

From this point on, when Republicans take positions that are... well, Republican, Obama supporters will tell us that conservatives are just trying to make Obama fail, rather then support the policies that they've always supported.

This creates a president that truly has unlimited power.
That was what I found creepy about the tens of thousands of people that I ran into in Grant Park and on Michigan Avenue. Its what's been disturbing me for the past few months, as Obama-fever ran past critical mass.

So many Obama supporters identify so strongly with their candidate through branding, that they can't separate themselves from the candidate. Thus, if you attack the candidate, you are attacking them.

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned my friend who is a Democrat, who voted for Obama. He's also a black man who has become annoyed with Barack supporters. He told me something that has given me much... er... hope, to use the most over-used word of 2008.

My friend said that he was annoyed with the people wearing the t-shirts too. Not because they were "supporting" Obama, but because there were so many people that - to him - seemed to be jumping onto the bandwagon. That they were trying to be cool by showing their friends how not-racist they were.
My friend then told me about how he took a subway train home that night. A "white suburban girl" sat next to him, and then pulled her purse close to her as she sat down. He couldn't help but think to himself that she had probably just came from Grant Park that night.

If the people in Grant Park want to prove to me that they really do believe in Change, I'd love it if they would start with themselves.
You are in charge of your destiny. Not your president.
If you want to prove how you aren't a product of branding, then please stop wearing those stupid T-shirts. Stop doing the group-think, and get out of the line of lemmings.
Change your own lives, and stop being a complete jerk to the people who aren't in Grant Park.

Change isn't a slogan.
Its what you're capable of all on your own.

Post Election Report: part 1, Two Americas

In Barack's America, there really are two Americas.

On November 4th, 2008, I voted for McCain. Then I went down to Grant Park.
My sister suggested that I should go down there and record history.

At first, I balked at the idea. I didn't want to add to the spectacle. I didn't want to be another camera down there recording the coronation of Barack. But then I started looking at it another way:
20 years from now (provided I'm still alive) I'm going to be asked by a younger generation how it was that so many people became obsessed with a presidential candidate.

By then, the shiny sheen of celebrity will come off of Obama. It happens with all public figures that are worshiped. JFK was the one exception, and only because he was assassinated before he could fall from grace.
We have little film from leaders who were truly worshiped, and even less film of the people who worshiped them. I went down to Grant Park with the intention of interviewing those people who loved Barack. I wanted to get their actual opinions down on video. I fully admit, I wanted to embarrass them with their lack of substantial answers.

There was only one problem. It was dark by the time I got there. So much for interviews.

That didn't stop me from taking some photos and making this cogent observation at the entrance to Grant Park.
Below is a video that I took. The images themselves are not as important as what you'll hear.




This is where the Barack faithful were sorted.
You see, Barack's campaign staff had Grant Park divided into two Americas: the ones with tickets, and the ones without.
This is far different from the 'one America' that Barack had talked about.

In this photo, I'm on the side of the have-nots. I didn't have the golden ticket to see Barack.
In the future, you can think of this as being a 'red-stater'.

I kinda felt this was symbolic, and ironic.
Obama went to Berlin to give his speech near the famous wall that was taken down, the one that divided Berlin for such a long time.
-And here his campaign had built their own little wall; One to divide grant park into two distinct social groups.

First, there was a line of wooden police horses. Then the security guys. And if you got past them, you still had to make it over the fence. Unless you had a ticket. The people that you can barely see on the street in the background had tickets.

I know what you're thinking: "But wait... they couldn't fit everyone into one place to watch the speech. There simply wasn't enough resources to accommodate everybody. They had to divide it into a ticketed area, and non-ticketed area."

Which is the point.
Stick with me for a moment.
The promise of Universal Health Care is that everyone should be able to have the same health care. Right? No matter what your problem, you'll still be covered. Right?

Don't get me wrong. As an older guy, I find that a tempting con to buy into. Except... its just not possible.

We just don't have the resources to give everyone everything. We never will.

It doesn't matter if you're talking about sports cars, or yachts, or health care without limits, or a rally in Grant Park: there is a finite amount of resources that you have to draw from.

So that was my first observation of the night: watching the two Americas in progress and marveling that the Democrats didn't seem to mind at all.

Particularly when these cats were stalking the event.
Now I need to start by giving the Democrats who were at Grant Park a lot of credit. The vast majority of dems either walked straight past these guys and went to the video screen in the background, or politely took their flyers and nodded. Like you should to any aging hippies who are spouting 40 year old stale communist rhetoric.

But here's the point: these guys thought that Obama was the first step to a better socialist tomorrow. Its the kind of thing that should make Democrats go "Errr... wait. You think we're forwarding your cause by electing Obama?"

I'm going to do these guys a 'favor' by linking to their website and quoting them voraciously. Keep in mind, these guys think that Obama is headed in their direction, but that he doesn't go far enough.

You couldn’t miss it on Election Night. People actually pouring into the streets to celebrate the election of a president. Emotions ran high, and tears flowed.

And in the days after: people talking to friends and strangers alike of hope. Hope for a coming era of change from the horrors of the Bush years. Hope for overcoming racism. Hope for a new era of service to the common good.

Hope—hope that is founded on the real possibilities for fundamental change in this world—is indeed precious. Dedicating your life to something higher than the ethic of “I-want-mine” is so vital that the future of humanity actually depends on it. And overcoming—truly overcoming—the divisions of society based on inequality and oppression must be at the heart of any real movement for social change.

Note the important part of the second paragraph, above: "Hope for a new era of service to the common good." Like the "America Serves" program that Barack proposed, where each high school student is required to do 50 hours of 'mandatory voluntary' work.

Change.
To a socialist state that you can believe in.
To two Americas, divided into those who have the ration tickets, and those who don't. Please empty all of your valuables out of your pocket. Only those who have acceptable items will be allowed into the park.
Enjoy the new freedom.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Obama workers surprised that they didn't make as much as they were promised

I wish I could explain to everyone how this is going to be a giant parallel in their future.

"It should have been $480. It's $230," said Imani Sankofa.

"They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90," said Charles Martin.

The workers were hired by Vote Corps; an organization that was formed to get out the vote.

However, many of them were not paid the full amount. The campaign has told them that they will get checks in the mail. Which kind of sounds familiar.

Telling your students who the best candidate is

I had teachers like this when I was in grade school and high school.
Heck... they're pretty much what turned me into a Republican. When I saw them browbeat other students into their position, I saw what they were really about.


I'm older now, and teachers like the one in that video can't affect me directly any longer. But when I see a video like that, it re-ignites the part of me that was angry then.

This is what bothers me the most:
If you're a really good teacher, and you also happen to be right about your opinion, the students will come to the same conclusion. You don't have to lead them, inch by inch, into your lair.
I hate that.

Anyway, I really felt for this girl in the video. I hope she knows that she was right, and her teacher was wrong.

British journalist volunteers for Obama

The headline is that a British journalist got drunk and told his paper 'f you'.
The rest of the article is the important thing to me.

Mr Smith, who also calls himself Steve Zacharanda in the hit video which was viewed almost 20,000 times in 48 hours, had taken a week's holiday to go to Miami to volunteer for the Barack Obama election campaign.


Yet another case where a journalist is not showing any bias

Creepy, Creepy change

Obama put up a website called "Change.gov."
Are you ready to hear what you are in for?

America Serves

The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean Energy Corps, and Veterans Corps. Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year. Obama will encourage retiring Americans to serve by improving programs available for individuals over age 55, while at the same time promoting youth programs such as Youth Build and Head Start.


Did you catch that?
You are required to serve 50 hours of 'community service' (as defined by the Obama administration) if you are in middle school or high school.
If any of this sounds like something that you should have seen coming, you should have seen it coming. If you're a kid in middle school who has been wearing an Obama button, welcome to the wonderful world of mandatory volunteering!

Take a look at this, which is the New Party's agenda. As I've written before, the New Party was a group that Barack belonged to briefly that was a social democrat (socialist) group in nature. Here are a few of their agendas:
A society in which we all take seriously our responsibilities as parents, workers and citizens.


And...
Communities in which residents, neighborhood organizations, businesses, police, and local officials cooperate as equal partners to provide a safe and secure environment in which to live and work and study.

The New Party was smart enough not to say things like "required volunteerism." But I'd love it if everyone would go to that link, above, and read through their agenda. Then check the things off as Barack brings them up.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Zombie connects the dots with the weather underground

ZombieTime is one of my favorite blogs. Along with genuinely funny articles, he occasionally does some in depth research.

This one on the Weather Underground and Obama is absolutely incredible. He helps connect the dots. Its for people who don't understand why its important to know who Obama's friends are.

This isn't just about one degree of separation. Its about who you hang out with and who you identify with.

McCain keeps asking LA Times for the video

In case you missed it, there was a radical named Rashid Khalidi who worked in academic land. He is a Palestinian who frequently spoke in favor of the PLO, and was honored in a banquet. Obama attended the event and had praised him. The LA Times covered the story, but won't release the 2003 video.
I repeat... this happened in 2003.
The LA Times won't release the video, citing concerns about their source.
Interesting...

One of the best arguments against Obama

Here is a YouTube video entitled "Dear Mr. Obama":
Its done really well, and has garnered just a little bit of attention. It runs less then 2 minutes, so its worth it to watch.
I found it via this BBC piece on the YouTube phenonimon during this election. Certainly, YouTube has changed the way that we view our candidates... making it easier to see the latest arguments, and allowing everyday people to show their points of view.

Huffington Post writer kills lover

Carol Ann Burger is suspected to have killed Jessica Kalish by stabbing her 222 times with a screwdriver.

From the Palm Beach Post:
Burger, who on Oct. 7 was tapped to cover the election for the Web site, The Huffington Post, still sometimes felt sad and isolated. Kalish, whom Burger had married in Massachusetts in 2005, had met another woman.
Here's the politically incorrect piece of trivia to note:
This may be the first gay couple that was legally married to be involved in the murder/suicide thing.

Producers, Writers, and Directors make fun of MSNBC

I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't read it in this source.
The
Hollywood Reporter wrote recently on an event where everyone pretty much made fun of MSNBC.
Olbermann was criticized by many who attended Monday's luncheon sponsored by the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event was dubbed "Hollywood, America and Election '08."

Bloodworth-Thomason and others seemed especially critical of the way MSNBC -- and other media -- has attacked Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while demeaning her supporters.

Man... you have to be doing something wrong when Mrs. Bloodworth-Thompson thinks that you are stumping too hard for liberals. That's like Rush telling you that your radio station leans too far to the right.
Here's my favorite clip from the story:
Pollster Frank Luntz, a regular guest on the Fox News, joked that MSNBC is "the only network with more letters in its name than viewers."

Nice.

Who are the members of Slate voting for?

The magazine Slate decided to poll its writers and editors, and find out who they wanted to vote for. The results of that poll?
Barack Obama: 55
John McCain: 1
Bob Barr: 1
Not McCain: 1
Noncitizen, can't vote: 4

The link includes their justification of their reasons for voting (or not voting) that way. Its hilarious, from a Republican point of view. Its worthy of Newsweek, Vanity Fair, or Mother Jones.