The Day After Election

I was not surprised at the outcome of the general election last night though I will admit that I was a non-believer just a few short months ago. I was then convinced that Hillary Clinton was the stronger candidate. In the weeks that followed the Democratic National Convention brought me to the point of believing.  I have been immersed in Democratic Party politics for many years and what I witnessed down the stretch was perhaps the closest think I've seen to a perfect election campaign.  I am well aware that there were a number of things that led to a favorable climate for Democrats, but that said, there was no way this election would just fall into our laps.

After eight years of a president that has taken this country to a number of new lows and brought himself to a status of insignificance, America is not willing to settle something less than they believe they deserve. Ready for change, Barack Obama became the change that a majority of Americans could believe in.

The laundry list of problems facing the new president is daunting. It's almost enough to thank maybe the Democrats would be better letting the GOP claw itself out of the hole it dug for us. But more of the same is what you get when you keep trying things the same way. Democrats would be letting the country down if the cowered from the tasks ahead.

There are a number of things that went through my mind last night as Obama was giving his victory speech at Grant Park in Chicago.  There was the irony of the history of Grant Park and the demonstrators and police clashing there in 1968 during the Democratic National Convention. I also thought about the fact that in spite of several who have tried, America has never elected a Vietnam War Veteran President and this is likely the last one who will be of the age to try.

Last night was transformative in so many ways and the election of the first African American to the nations highest office is but one of those ways. It is clear to me that the polls clearly show broad support across various demographic groups. Gender, race, religion, age... clearly the fifty state strategy showed a log of confidence in the candidates message. In fact for all of the McCain charges about Obama on taxes, his support among those earning over $200,000  a year was substantial.

America is ready to turn not just a page in it's history but move on to a whole new story. Obama and the nation face multiple serious issues immediately. Obama is not a magician.  Before the election he made it clear that economic turmoil  we face will temper some of what we can undertake immediately. What I believe will benefit our country is a more inclusive attitude in the oval office. Do you recall Bush pledging to bring this nation together after the 2000 election was over? Well, I suppose he has in one respect.  It is out of the catastrophic failures in foreign policy, economic policy and loss of American standing around the world that he has brought us together.

Americans have rejected the many failed policies of the past eight years. They have expressed the view that hope is desirable to fear.  That they will not easily buy into wild charges of campaign-bait rhetoric.

After the past two elections with razor thin margins and periods of uncertainty, it was refreshing to learn the outcome by 10:00 p.m. central time. The election gods smiled upon us.

Technorati Tags: Thoughts on Obama victory

 

 

McCain Camp: Let's Push Back Biden-Palin Match-Up, Too

Yes folks, according to ABC News....  the headline above is theirs and relates to the following: 

The McCain campaign told ABC News on Wednesday that John McCain wants to postpone Friday's presidential debate until Thursday, Oct. 2.

The Arizona senator would like the vice presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, which is currently scheduled to take place on Thursday, Oct. 2 in St. Louis, Missouri, to be scheduled for a later unspecified date.

So I guess that gives them more time to work on Palin who's eyes looked like a frightened puppy when she took a whole four questions from the press today.

 

Technorati Tags: John McCain,Sarah Palin,Presidential Campaign,Presidential Debate

Art & The Elections

If you are an artist or feel the arts are important in the fundamental education of American children then consider this information passed along from Kelli Russell Agodon on her blog about the presidential candidates:

Barack Obama- favors an Artist Corps in the Schools. An "Artist Corps" of young artists would work in low-income schools and their communities to bring exposure of the arts into the educational process of these students. The results of which are of course more job opportunities for artists, but most importantly this would effectively integrate positive art experiences in the education system in this country. In so many school districts art has had to take a back seat to other subjects. It's important to reach these students when they are young because otherwise they are not likely to learn to appreciate art on their own as adults. [read more in depth]

John McCain - his record is one disfavoring the promotion of the arts publicly. In 1999 he was one of 16 senators who supported the Smith-Ashcroft amendment which would have eliminated funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Fortunately this amendment failed. He tried again in 2000. He was one of 27 senators who voted to reduce the National Endowment for the Arts budget by $7.3 million. Again, "Maverick McCain" and the others were unsuccessful. It should be noted that the National Endowment for the Arts is not just a glitzy art organization, but has been a positive vehicle for promoting literacy programs in America for people of all ages. [ I thought I'd be fair and link any specifics from McCain's campaign here, but his official site seems void of any reference to the Arts]

Pass this information on to other artists that you know. There is a lot at stake in this election.

Report from the Gimp

Yesterday my knee which I had been favoring much of the week took a painful turn for the worse. Early yesterday it felt as though gout had set in. I've once before had a bout with gout several years ago. If you've never experienced gout it would be difficult to adequately describe it but suffice to say it is excruciatingly painful. Staying off it and ibuprofen has been my course of action. Tonight it is less painful and I am moving around with a little more ease. This has however put a bit of a crimp on my three day weekend. Spending much of it in and around bed, staying off my feet is not exactly what I had in mind. My wife did make me a delicious breakfast which I ate in bed.

I have worked on some writing yesterday and today but it gets a bit monotonous and thus becomes a distraction at certain points. Still, it is writing so that is progress.

The news of John McCain's selection for Vice President is interesting if not unsettling given her lack of any foreign policy experience and the fact that she has extremely limited governmental experience period. I believe there is no reason to fear a woman in the White House, I originally supported Hillary, but Sarah Palin would not be the same. This is a woman whose only other experience besides her short tenure as Governor of Alaska was city council and mayor of Wasilla, Alaska; a town that has a total area of about 12.4 square miles and a population estimated at about 6,700.

With hurricane Gustav likely to make landfall on the Louisiana coast by tomorrow morning, I have to think McCain has done the right thing by suspending much of the Republican Convention business in light of the hurricane. Thoughts and prayers go out to all those who find themselves again within the path of this powerful storm.

Who's the Bimbo Now John McCain?

Paris Hilton Responds to John McCain

Time to get real

Reportedly speaking in a condescendent tone, Sen. John McCain challenged Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday to travel to Iraq with him to better understand the war. I challenge Senator McCain to visit the real world and come out of President Bush's delusion.

STOP THE PRESSES!

STOP THE PRESSES! McCain: U.S. can win Iraq war within 4 years

• And he assumes we believe this?
• And he assumes we are willing to drain another $500- 600 billion (of unbudgeted $) there?
• And he assumes we all feel safer because of this?
• And he assumes we have the military personnel to maintain that kind of presence?
• And are willing to lose another two to five Americas every day X 1460 days?

GREAT - FOUR MORE YEARS OF A MORON IN THE WHITE HOUSE!

Blogger, McCain, Iraq, et al

I'm not posting my day 8 NaPoWriMo draft poem yet.... because it has yet to be drafted, but we are at day 8 of the month and blogger still has my NaPoWriMo blog (created just for this April project) hostage because "I may be in Violation." Somehow, I think this should like make me feel dirty or something. I don't. In fact I'm feeling really pissed. I wake up each morning and it's starting to feel like it's dragging on into.... gee I don't know, the same place the Iraq war is going- infinity.

There, now see what you did blogger? You got me started on the war. And speaking of the war, the military top brass will be up on the hill today to update us on the current situation in Iraq.

Here in Kansas City, Sen. John McCain delivered a speech on Iraq. ABC World News said last night McCain "accused Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton today of a failure of leadership for promising to withdraw US forces from Iraq." McCain "told the Veterans of Foreign Wars that promising withdrawal from Iraq without considering the consequences is in his words, 'the height of irresponsibility.'" NBC Nightly News said McCain "delivered a glass-half-full message about progress in Iraq." McCain was shown saying, "We are no longer staring into the abyss of defeat. And we can now look ahead to the genuine prospect of success."

This brings me to the question I'd like McCain to answer. Exactly would "success" in Iraq look like. It's interesting that both McCain and the Bush Administration have dropped the term, "victory" that has been used for so long. We were told over and over the Democrats wanted to "lose" the war and the Republicans wanted to "win" it. When pushed to describe what a "victory" or "win" in Iraq would constitute rather than define that elusive term, they have now chosen the term success. It question remains. What would success in Iraq look like. What would be the benchmark that we could look at and say, yes, we are there? The fact of the matter is McCain can't look the American people in the face and tell us what it is because he hasn't figured it out himself.

Because he can't define it, he can only use evasive terms about the future. We are suppose to accept that because there was a downward turn in violence during the surge, "we're closer". Closer to when and What?
The violence has picked up. It's Iraqi against Iraqi violence and America in right in the middle. Now they want to freeze troop levels at pre-invasion levels. Our military presence has weakened our readiness for American defense elsewhere.

There are serious questions aside from the obvious Military ones. None of the massive expenditures on this war are part of any budget. For five years we have waged a grossly expensive military operation on credit. $12 billion a month is what it's costing presently, and that is not including costs to benefits and medical care for returning veterans that will be continuing for many years. When we are asking ourselves, are we safer because of this war? I think we have to ask, what the cost to our security is if we are economically crippled because of it?

Meanwhile, a related breaking story of interest: Draft agreement could allow US troops to remain in Iraq 'indefinitely'

Oh, and how about the special Pulitzer for Bob Dylan, citing the mark he has made on our culture over decades. Isn't that an interesting bit of news?

The Endorsement

Here we have George "W" Bush and the GOP Presidential nominee for 2008 John S. (W, II) McCain.

What McCain brings to the table is a slightly more effective version of the same disastrous Bush policies. There is not much more to say.

Memo to John McCain

When Senator John McCain said yesterday to win the general election he must convince a war-weary country that U.S. policy in Iraq is succeeding. If he can't, "then I lose." But no sooner than he uttered those words he quickly backed off, "Let me not put it that stark, Let me just put it this way: Americans will judge my candidacy first and foremost on how they believe I can lead the country both from our economy and for national security. Obviously, Iraq will play a role in their judgment of my ability to handle national security. If I may, I'd like to retract 'I'll lose.' But I don't think there's any doubt that how they judge Iraq will have a direct relation to their judgment of me, my support of the surge. Clearly, I am tied to it to a large degree." For many Americans, myself included, it would be a mammoth undertaking to reverse the notion that this war was and remains a failed war.

You see, most of us, if we've not had out heads buried in the sand, or someplace else, realize a few truths about Iraq that will not change tomorrow, next week or next year. Those truths go something like this:

1. The war was not only unnecessary, it was unwarranted. The lies that the Bush administration fed the American people are so blatant that only the narrow mindset individuals cannot see that one after another the stated reasons were false.
2. The war has not made us safer and has in fact detracted from pursuit of Osama Bin Laden (you remember him don't you).
3. The was has stretched our military commitments to dangerous levels.
4. Some $500,000,000,000 of non-budgeted expenditures later, we are in an economy that requires extraordinary measures prevent economic crisis and we will be passing this ongoing cost for the war to our children and their children.
5. The problems in Iraq [caused by this failed policy] are no longer military but political and require the Iraqi people to start working together to achieve success.
6. The unknown cost of this war is not the casualties or monetary price tag, but the loss of American respect and prestige around the world. How long will it take us to recover that respect and what are the sacrifices that will have to be made in foreign policy as a result of the war?

Memo to John McCain. Seventy-five percent of all Americans killed in Vietnam were lost after Lyndon Johnson privately acknowledged what most Americans already knew. The war was lost. Like Vietnam, Iraq was not a war lost by the military it was lost because it was a failure of policy. There were no real justifications to go there and once there, we had no strategy to win anything, only destabilize. As we approach the 5 year anniversary of this war you need to "get it" because what Americans want to do is to get over it and move on.

John McCain Panders on His Own Principals

When presented with an opportunity to a choose between voting to extend the Army field manual's prohibition on torture to the CIA and pandering to the right wing of his party, John McCain chose pandering over his principles.

[Note McCain in a Republican presidential debate on Nov. 28, 1007]

McCain said that the Army Field Manual should be the gold standard for interrogations: I would hope that we would understand, my friends, that life is not 24 and Jack Bauer. Life is interrogation techniques which are humane and yet effective. And I just came back from visiting a prison in Iraq. The army general there said that techniques under the Army Field Manual are working and working effectively, and he didn’t think they need to do anything else. My friends, this is what America is all about.

[Now comes the defining vote]- "I made it very clear that I think that water-boarding is torture and illegal, but I will not restrict the CIA to only the Army field manual," and with that McCain votes against torture restrictions and flips on the issue.

Now just as a side note. I've had a great deal of respect with John McCain in the past. Not saying I agree with him on many issues, but I have generally believed him to be an individual of high integrity. That said I find this issue, which he has for so long professed to be a high principal of his, to have vanished so quickly. Perhaps this is just the first of many flip-flops.