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11/28/2008

I hope everyone had a very nice Thanksgiving. No matter how much in-law fighting there may have been, no matter how dry the turkey was, no matter how much your kids created havoc and mayhem, no matter how far you had to drive/fly/boat/swim/walk/hitch, no matter how many of those $49 digital cameras you missed out on this morning, your day-after-Thanksgiving was definitely better than this poor shmuck's, since you didn't get trampled literally to death while working your crappy Walmart Temp job at 5:00 in the morning.

Message to America: There is not a TV, computer, digital camera, Wii, Nintendo DS, "Guitar Hero" game or pair of $8 Wranglers in the world that are worth trampling some poor man to death for.

What I cannot wrap my head around is the complete disbursement of any hint of rational thought, and it's replacement by the most primeval variety of herd mentality, for people to show up and see 2000 people waiting in line to get into the store, and then stay for the show. Correct action when faced with a throng of thousands waiting to get into a Walmart: Get back in your car, go to the nearest Dunkin Donuts and have some breakfast. Then go home and go back to bed.

Correct action for those of you too stupid to get out of line - take a downer. Smoke a joint. Follow the guy in the line behind you who said "screw this!" Anything that will keep your stupid self calm and out of trouble.

For those of you who were smart enough to leave, but didn't, or who started the melee that caused this man's murder - do the rest of us a favor and go kill yourselves now, because you're 'purt near useless as human beings. This guy didn't deserve to die a horrendously bad death because of your utterly unrealistic and all-consuming desire for a big screen tv.

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11/26/2008

I know I'm jumping into this fray late, but what the heck. I've heard enough. The republicans in my day-job office have been going on and on about how "those damned unions destroyed GM, Chrysler and Ford!" "Those workers make $70/hour!" "Those damned union workers make $70,000 a year!"

Where do they get this hogwash? Where else. Fox. Oh, and the New York Times.

Thank you, Keith Olbermann, for helping to debunk this myth on tonight's Countdown.

I seriously cannot tell you how many insufferable times in the past week that I've heard hysterical republican cries of "It's all the Union's fault!! Those greedy workers! Those extra greedy pensioners!"

Really? The CEO's of the Big 3 went before congress last week. Know how they got there? PRIVATE JET. These guys didn't think this was such a big deal. They don't get it. The republicans didn't get it 11/4/08, and these guys don't get it now. You do NOT go to Congress to beg money for your failed companies, and take private jets to get there. You demonstrate a profound detachment from reality. You have been way too wealthy for way too long. You need to be poor for awhile, to remind you that you are not the masters of the universe. You are CEO's of companies which you have failed. Know how you failed? By putting all your eggs in the SUV basket. That's how you failed. Ok, there were other reasons, too. Such as, the only decent looking car that Ford has put out in years is the new Mustang. But it doesn't get good enough mileage, and therefore is useless in this brave new greener-thinking world. You had one of the best-selling vehicles of all time: The Ford Taurus. It was roomy, comfy, had plenty of options, got decent mileage, didn't look terribly ugly and the price was right. And, for those of us who have kid-gear to haul around but don't want a SUV that won't fit in a parking space or the garage or only gets 3 MPG, you had the Taurus station wagon. I have to wonder if the Ford CEO ever gets out in public, on public streets, and looks around. You can't throw a dead cat without hitting a Taurus wagon. That should have told them something. So, what did they do? Got rid of the Taurus. Called a different car the 500. Then, when that didn't sell because buyers were looking for the Taurus, you renamed the 500 the Taurus and tried to pass it off. It wasn't the same - it did not have the qualities of the Taurus, and the price was higher. Then you got rid of the wagon model completely, and replaced it with a completely worthless and over-priced "crossover" called The Edge. These are a couple of reasons why Ford failed. GM = Yukon and Suburban. Big, gigantic, gas guzzling mistakes. Trucks that just don't run very well. Chrysler. Chrysler was once helmed, when it was about to fail in 1979, by Lee Iacocca. Lee requested government help, and got it. But Lee didn't fly a private jet to get to the begging table, and he voluntarily cut his salary to one buck a year. Big difference. The current CEO of Chrysler is obviously no Iacocca.

I heard the UAW rep flew coach on an airline. See the difference? Who's the greedy bastards in this little drama?

I think the bailout is necessary, because if these 3 actually let themselves die, millions of jobs are at stake - and not just the people who directly work for the Big 3 in this country. We're talking suppliers, shippers, etc. etc. etc. Chapter 11 is an option, but a poor one in my opinion.

However, while the bailout should happen, in my most humble opinion, a "no strings attached" bailout is certainly not necessary. No, this bailout deserves to have 6 inch think chains wrapped around it and secured with a padlock the size of a canned ham. CEO's take minimum pay. A buck a year sounds good. But I'm a generous person - make it a 5-spot. No bonuses until the bailout LOAN is paid back, in full, with interest. If they still blow the money on private jets and hookers, they do not pass GO, and they do not collect another red cent. At which point, since they didn't want to follow the new green rules and re-tool for fuel alternatives and efficiency, then we come to Plan B:

The next bailout, and the Big3's workers, should just be transferred directly to start-up companies working on cars that use alternative fuel sources, and that way we can work our way toward independence from oil, and have a little satisfaction at the same time. Or maybe that is what should happen now.

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11/25/2008

President Karzai said to a visiting UN security council delegation that world leaders need to set a time frame to end the Taliban rule-by-default, beef up security, and end the war in Afghanistan.

On November 12, a school in Kandahar was attacked by the Taliban. They rode motorcycles past a school, and sprayed acid into the faces of 15 schoolgirls and teachers. Today, Nuskaal, a 23 year old female teacher who also was burned by acid in the attack, is calling for vengeance. Nuskaal's parents wanted her to quit teaching. She refused, and said "I am not afraid."

Karzai calls for public executions of the 10 arrested "militants." Nuskaal wants to see these 10 taliban males to first be sprayed in the face with acid, then publicly hung. And the Bee says RIGHT ON, SISTER! I'm a liberal apprentice, but I'm not completely anti-death penalty. Sometimes, vengeance needs its outlet.

The Taliban denied today that they had anything to do with the attack, that none of their members were involved, despite the fact that the Taliban has been waging war on women in Afghanistan for too many years with bombings, mutilations, stoning deaths for imaginary offenses and the cages they call "burqas".

When is the last time anyone remembers the Taliban denying they took part in any heinous crime? The last time I checked, they actually take credit for everything, whether they had anything to do with it or not. This tells me that this incident, and the righteous indignation and cries for blood vengeance from Nuskaal, could signal the end of the Taliban stranglehold on Afghanistan, if the cards are played right.

The Taliban does not want women educated, or allowed to step out in public. In the limited Taliban mind, women are a thing to be feared. They are something to be hidden at all costs, to be kept down and out, to be squashed under the bootheel of fanatical male despotism.

I have to disagree with PE Obama. I do not believe that increasing the American or coalition troop level in Afghanistan will do anything to help the Afghanis solve the Taliban problem. What I do think will work is this:

Pull out of the country any women over the age of 12 who want to fight, who are sick and tired of living in a taliban-created shithole, who do not want their mothers and sisters and daughters to have to live under despotic Taliban rule. Train them for 6 months in the arts of ground warfare. Send them back into Afghanistan wearing camo and combat boots and armed to the teeth with state of the art American rifles and artillery and set them loose on the Taliban, with some backing from US soldiers already there. In short, liberate the women just enough, and back them up just enough with heavy artillery and air support, so that they learn to liberate everyone else.

Some will pooh-pooh this idea, because they think women aren't capable of the carnage of war that would be necessary to succeed in such an endeavour. Bullpucky - Afghan women have been living under the strain of extreme domination for years. I know that while not all will join, enough will to scare the Taliban back into their caves for next 3 generations. Women were incremental to the resistance armies against the Nazis during WWII. Women dressed as men and fought like amazons during the American Civil War. Queen Boudica. Other badass female warriors throughout history. And, lest I forget, Judith, heroine of the Apocrypha, whose image I keep enshrined at the top right of my blog page. They all point the way.

Once the Taliban have lost their only hold on the country - when the women no longer fear them, they will have nothing left but to fail. All they offer is extreme patriarchy, which is, and should be considered to be, unacceptable in this age. The only method they have to hold that patriarchy is extreme fear. Once other women, like Nuskaal, determine that they will not be afraid, that they will improve their lots and the lots of their daughters and female friends and female relatives, that they will not be a gender of slaves, the Taliban will have lost its power and can be destroyed. Or it can assimilate. I imagine that the women will give them a choice, when the smoke from the battle clears.

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11/23/2008

The Apocalypse is upon us, friends. The seas are rising, wildfires will scourge California, the Republicans are saying now that Obama is a Reaganite, dogs mating with cats, general higgledy piggledy and Hootie has made a country album.

Not a crossover album, like Bon Jovi's "Lost Highway." Nope, Darius Rucker (AKA Hootie, from Hootie & the Blowfish) has made a formulaic, canned, nothing good about it but the studio band, country album. The only thing missing is Badonkadonk. The world is coming to an end.

I was in my early 20's in the 90's, when Hootie and the Blowfish were the hot band. Granted, it was formulaic, semi-high fructose pop, but it wasn't bad. In fact, it was quite listenable.

"Hootie and the Blowfish" is now "Hootie and the Jug Band." Nashville: Land of the Quick Buck - even if you can't carry a tune, it's ok - they have a bazillion pitch correctors and "free lance" song writers just pumping out the "My truck broke down, my girlfriend is cheating on me with my brother, my dog died, my mobile home got foreclosed on, but by god I'm a red-blooded American" song to fit any voice or body type.

OY!

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11/22/2008

The Vatican reported in its newspaper that it forgives John Lennon for once, famously and in-, saying that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Well, it was true, wasn't it? That was mighty big of the Vatican, I'll give them that, as it did take several hundred years for them to forgive Galileo for the ultimate crime of showing that we puny little humans on this little ball out in a far flung arm of the milky way galaxy are not the literal center of a universe that we now know has no center.

I'm not so forgiving. Oh, I can be, for sure. I forgave Bill Clinton for the horror of Rwanda when his administration fell all over themselves to call it anything but a genocide and therefore abrogating their requirement to act according to the rule of law. However, I forgave Bill for that misstep that left a stain on the human species when he seemed to express genuine regret for the way the genocide was handled on this side of the Atlantic. I tend to forgive easily, if true regret is in evidence. I felt that what I saw on 60 minutes several years ago was true regret. Of course, if I were a Rwandan who managed to live through that particular night-terror, I might not be so forgiving.

I cannot be so forgiving of the Vatican, though. After all, they still tell their parishioners in Africa that it is a sin to wear condoms. Meanwhile many millions have died of AIDS, and many millions still stand to die of AIDS, and many more millions will contact AIDS and die. And die badly. AIDS death is not pretty, but death never is, despite the general so-called "conservative" notion that people should die with grace and dignity. We don't die that way. We tend to die raving, pleading and defecating. Only the lucky die quietly in their sleep. The Vatican, with its ponderous 16th century whims and notions, is complicit in the AIDS epidemic in Africa. They refuse to change their stance to meet practicality in modern times for their followers. For that, I can not forgive them.

The Vatican refuses to acknowledge that it has a severe problem with pedophile priests who prey upon those they would hold themselves up as protecting. For that, I cannot forgive the Vatican.

The Vatican believes that it saves souls. It does not give a damn about the body or the mind. For that, I cannot forgive the Vatican.

And don't even get me started on the Baptists.

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11/19/2008 Al Qaeda makes me LOL. Seriously, what's more funny than when a fundamentalist crackpot with eyeglasses straight out of 1982 who yammers on about house negroes and then wonders why Obama shed his muslim roots? Must be the glasses that turned Obama off to fanatical Islam when he was only a child, as it couldn't possibly be the sheer nastiness and pathetic male insecurities of men like al Zawahiri.

BBC News thinks that this new "scare" tape might backfire, though - Obama seems to be pretty well liked all over this great big earthy world. Frankly, the Erkel glasses don't do it for me.

Al Qaeda Schmal Schmaeda. We've got our own looney-tunes to deal with. Wonder if Zawahiri has ever met Fred Phelps?

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11/19/2008

For crikey's sake, woman, make up your mind! Do you want to be Secretary of State or not??

According to the NYT, "The adviser described Mrs. Clinton as flattered by President-elect Barack Obama’s interest but said she was agonizing over the decision. Mrs. Clinton likes being her own boss and is reluctant to give up the independence that comes with that, said the adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the process was at a delicate stage."

Oh, for pete's sake, woman, this is not the Senior Prom and you're holding out for a better date!

Also, you don't work for yourself. You work for the people of New York State, who put you in that Senate Seat to begin with. You are NOT self-employed. You are NOT independent. You ARE a Civil Servant. That Senate seat is rented to you by THE PEOPLE for 4 years. When those 4 years are up, that lease can be revoked, as the republicans learned on November 4. Don't forget that little fact.

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11/17/2008

A year and a half ago, 32 students and professors lost their lives to a deranged gunman at Virginia Tech. That was a truly, terribly, bone-numbingly sad day for all of us here in Blue Virginia. The fallout is almost over, the records of the police and campus security responses have mostly been released to the public, the settlements with the state have been made by most of the victims' families and hopefully we can put it behind us.

Except, now groups of students across the country wish to be allowed to have concealed-weapons permits so they can lock and load and be the hero when crazy shit goes down, when somebody mad-as-a-hatter is walking around blowing people away like some personal remake of a Terminator movie. They want to be able to protect themselves and others.

There are a couple of problems that I see with this scenario. One, Federal crime statistics still show that one of the safest places to be is on a college campus (alcohol, rapes and drugs must not count).

The second problem is this: I have had the concealed-weapons permit, had my fingerprints filed with the local police, state police and the FBI. I spent a total of about 5 hours in a weapons training class. I could shoot, and was really pretty good. Good enough that I managed, on my 2nd time ever firing my .38 special, to group a nice set of chest shots, and a decent head shot. However, most of the other people in my training class couldn't have hit a '38 Buick if it was parked on their foot.

Besides not being able to shoot, I have another problem with letting college kids carry weapons on campus. Noone who has not been in the military or other security forces and who has not been through the intense training they are subject to, knows really how they will react when faced with another Glock pointed at their fellow students' heads, or how they will react when faced with that 9mm pointed at their own. From personal experience, I do not believe that most people will fight. Most will flee, or they will freeze. Call it the 3 f's - flee, fight, freeze. Most people. Not all. Some will fight, some will put themselves in the way of someone else and take the bullet, but most will simply freeze, at least momentarily. And when some wackjob is walking around blowing holes in anything that moves, that momentarily would probably mean the end of the wannabe hero. I truly do not believe that most people who carry guns are capable of actually using it if they need to. Adrenaline rushes are not part of a controlled weapons training course for the purposes of securing a concealed-weapons permit. All you have to do is show you can use the weapon. I never even had to go through refresher courses, but I did let my license lapse when I realized that having a gun in the house was probably more dangerous than not having one. Statistics was definitely on my side.

Another problem I have with college kids carrying concealed weapons on campus - alcohol. Ask any hunter whose buddy has mistaken him for a dear in road-crew orange, and he can tell you that liquor and guns just don't mix well. Ask anyone who was in a shootout after leaving the nightclub just as a couple of drunk assholes decide to play Gunfight at the OK Corrall, and they can tell you - liquor and guns just don't mix. Now, I don't know about you, but I did quite a bit of drinking in college. I saw a few testosterone-fueled fights. I saw a couple of estrogen-fueled fights. Guns don't mix well with liquor or testosterone or estrogen.

Probably about the best scenario I can see coming out of this is some kid does manage to be the hero. Or he manages to be a partial hero, with a little "friendly fire" thrown in for bad measure. The worst scenario is that someone shoots his buddy after having too much beer, and has to live with it. Or his girlfriend after having a fight. Or someone shoots her boyfriend after catching him with another girl.

Guns just do not have any place on the campus of a school of higher learning. In fact, they're pretty much useless in just about every other place, also.

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11/15/08

PE Obama has released the first of what Change.gov, the Transition website, says will be weekly radio and YouTube addresses to the nation, invoking the essence of FDR's famous Fireside Chats during the depths of the Great Depression.

The Bee thinks that weekly "chats" are a wonderful idea to resurrect. In fact, conversations in this house several months ago when it became clear that PE Obama would certainly be a contender for the Democratic nomination, consisted quite a bit of "I want to see more transparency from the White House, and weekly "fireside chats" a-la FDR would be a great idea. Well, Mr. Obama must have been listening, because it looks like we're going to get them.

I would like a bit more substance, as this weeks address was mainly composed of campaign platform, but know what? I'm a patient person (ok, not really, but I can be when it counts), and I'm willing to give the PE some time to settle in. How much can I legitimately expect, when the man is still a couple of months from inauguration? I can rest assured, though, that the bully-network of Limbaugh, Beck and the rest of the Chatting Kathy Dolls will be screaming "See! No Substance!"

To which I reply: Remember the movie Highlander? There can only be one at a time. Unfortunately, the President is Bush until January 20, 2009. I wouldn't mind, though, if Bush stepped down tomorrow and Obama took over on Monday.

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11/12/2008

Ok, I will admit, I've had a good time ragging on Sarah Palin. She just makes it all so easy - she even made, vicariously, SNL funny again for awhile. But for the past couple of days, she's been all over the news. She was yammering on yesterday's Today Show about running for President in 2012 if "God wills it."

(loud and gutteral groan). That's bad enough. Today, Palin tells CNN that "she would be honored to help President-elect Barack Obama in his new administration, even if he did hang around with an 'unrepentant domestic terrorist.'"

Uh, Mrs. Palin, I don't think PE Obama has asked you to, dear.

And I doubt he ever would. PE Obama seems to favor people who actually...think. Novel concept, I know, that thinking thing.

Oh, and by the way - I am blogging in my pajamas right now - but not in my parents basement. Rather, in the living room of my own home while watching you on the 40" Samsung which was paid for by...myself. I just threw a shoe through it, though, so I might have to go out and buy myself another tv. Did I mention that I am a mother? And I work full time outside the home? And that I make more money than my husband, and he's perfectly happy about that? Oh, and that when I had my baby, I actually went to a hospital, rather than put myself and my baby in danger of DEATH by running around all over the freaking continent while in labor? Did I mention that I don't think it's so damned cool for a woman to have an infant, much less a special needs infant, up at 11:00 at night to trot him across the stage, his poor head flopping away on the spindle that is an infant's neck? Did I mention that I don't think it's cool to trot your pregnant teen daughter across the national stage, wage a shotgun wedding to her redneck boyfriend while all the time crowing about her "choice" when you would gleefully deny that choice to anyone else's daughter? Did I mention that you, Mrs. Palin, need some diction and speech classes if you are going to even ever consider running this country in any fashion? And do you know what? If it had not been for the massive mistake of choosing you, John McCain probably would have really given PE Obama a run for his money, so all the blame games of saying "it's the media's fault, it's the bloggers' fault, it's the RNC's fault for not letting me have more air time to embarrass them further, and in short, it's everyone's fault but my own" just don't fly. Come'on, Saturday Night Live didn't even need to change their script to have a howlingly funny show about you - they used your answers to Katie Couric nearly VERBATIM. That means they didn't have to change much of your dialogue - I wouldn't want anyone accused of being elitist for using big words, you betcha.

Further down the CNN article, we see this rather disturbing statement: "Among Republicans, though, Palin's rating remains high, with 86 percent of Republicans questioned in the poll holding a favorable opinion of her. " Evidently they're only calling the yahoos in "real america" - Liberty University. Must be. I cannot allow myself to believe that 86% of republicans are so plug stupid.

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11/11/2008

The Obama transition crew has put the lobbyists on notice. According to MSNBC.com, "President-elect Obama, who said lobbyists would not run his White House, signaled Tuesday that lobbyists could serve in his transition so long as their activities do not involve areas of policy they have tried to influence in the past year."

Let's see: Yesterday, we learned of plans to close Gitmo, which is good. The day before, we learned of plans to undo hundreds of Bush Administration policies and executive orders, and that is a good thing. Today, we learn that PE Obama has put the lobbyists on notice, and by placing a 1 to 2 year relatedness moratorium on them, he has effectively kicked them out of the Transition Team. They cannot serve in any capacity or provide finances that has anything to do with anything they lobbied for in the past year. You were a paid lobbyist for Exxon last year? Oh, so sorry, you cannot be on the energy policy team and don't even think about greasing someone's palm. Maybe we can find a place for you - oh, well, maybe you could walk the new puppy at 3 a.m. So you lobbied for Pfizer last year? Well, we can't put you on the healthcare reform team and you better not be found greasing any palms, but maybe we can find something for you - Hey! You could polish the new basketball court!

What I want to see next: Congress do the something similar. Now, I know there are plenty of non-profits who do good work, so here's what the Bee proposes. Lobbyists may make appointments with various legislators, and meet with them in order to make a case to persuade the legislator of whatever it is the lobbyist wants to convince them of. However, there will be no parties, no gifts, no trips, no lavish luncheons (and it pains me to say luncheon, it just sounds so hoity-toity), no college educations on the sly for children of senators and house congressmen and no money. Did I mention money? No money. Not one red dime donated to a congresspersons' campaign. Nada. Zip. And let's back it up with jail time, shall we? Say, if money changes hands in order to influence a congressional member in any way, shape or form, it's jail time for both. If a lobbyist cannot persuade a congressional member with the gift of gab, then perhaps said lobbyist needs to find another line of work. Or rethink the customer who hired them in the first place.

Oh the times, they are a-changin'.

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11/9/2008

President-Elect Obama, you are my hero. The Washington Post yesterday reported that PE Obama is poised to reverse over 200 Bush Administration actions and executive orders on everything ranging from assaults on the environment to fiscal deregulations.

Talk about keeping the cat in the bag - Obama has had 4 dozen aides working for months putting together a list of Bush Fiascos to reverse, on such issues as Stem Cell Research, reproductive research, climate change, you name it, he's going to reverse it if it even has the slight odor of politicization about it. He wants to eliminate the "global gag rule" imposed by Bush that says that clinics in third world countries which receive US Federal funding cannot even hint to a woman that she has the option of abortion, even in countries where it is perfectly legal. I could cry. I could simply cry.

Accordingo to the WaPo, "The team is now consulting with liberal advocacy groups, Capitol Hill staffers and potential agency chiefs to prioritize those they regard as the most onerous or ideologically offensive...."

What's not to like about this guy? He started his dismantling of the long dark night of the Bush Administration long before he was even elected. With Bush making many more "executive decisions" and "policies" in the next few weeks during the lame-duck congress, PE Obama's list will probably grow exponentially.

He will do it in a bi-partisan manner, though, says the WaPo: " A spokeswoman said yesterday that no plans for regulatory changes had been finalized. "Before he makes any decisions on potential executive or legislative actions, he will be conferring with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, as well as interested groups," Obama transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said. "Any decisions would need to be discussed with his Cabinet nominees, none of whom have been selected yet."

I could just cry. I just might. Slap a pair of tits on me, I'd be a woman. The eight year nightmare is over. I just might have to bawl like a baby.

Well, I am a woman, so I guess I can get away with it. For a couple of minutes. In the bathroom. With the door locked.

Honestly, if this is all that PE Obama ever does while in office, he's already worth his weight in gold. I"m sure he will do much, much more, and most of it will be good, if not great.

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11/7/2008

In 1861, the Southern states began to secede from the Union after Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States of America. Despite all of the pro-southern sympathetic "histories" since the war ended, the war was fought over slavery. South Carolina feared that Lincoln would free the slaves, so they seceded. Other states immediately followed suit, the first shots were fired, and by its end in 1865, over 600,000 soldiers were dead as well as untold civilians. After war's end, the freed slaves were left to their own devices by a government which no longer had a President Lincoln at it's head. They were left to their own devices with the long arm of the former slave-master hanging over their entire lives and livelihood. Well into the 20th century, the grandchildren of former slaves were not allowed by white society to sit in the front of bus, to drink from the same water fountain, to live in peace, to prosper, to educate themselves or their children. Jim Crow was the nightmare they lived in.

I have a particularly masochistic streak sometimes, so I was listening to local right-wing radio, of which we unfortunately have an abundant supply in Virginia. A woman called in and asked "What about the African-American's lives have changed this week, what is so different from how their lives were this time last week??"

A black man can finally look his child in the eye and say "You can grow up to be President someday, if you work hard, if you care hard, if you love hard and if you believe hard in yourself." This was not true Monday November 3. On November 4, 2008, we saw the beginning of the change. Barak Obama not only broke through the glass ceiling, he shattered it into a billion pieces and scattered all the old enmity and hurt and heartache to the wind. I believe he just might do great things as President, but even if he doesn't, then winning is his legacy. Winning against a republican machine that sincerely thought that no matter what nastiness they dreamed up, they would win. After all, George Bush won when the Swiftboat "Veterans" impugned John Kerry's Vietnam war record, even though Bush had a record of draft-dodging and going AWOL from the Air National Guard. They figured it would be easy to beat the black guy.

They will say that it is racism for African Americans to vote 95+% for Barak Obama, they say "they only voted for him because he is a black man." Barak Obama accused John McCain several times, in regards to the economy, of 'not getting it.' Mr. Obama was correct on so many levels. The republicans have the long knives out for each other this week, laying blame for their loss, when they just don't get it. They just don't get that, after 8 years of one of the most horrendously bad, just awful, terrible, worms and rotting-flesh presidents this country has ever had the displeasure of knowing, they had no business winning. But they don't seem to understand that their entire so-called "conservative" ideology has been repudiated, rebuked, thrown into the trash-bin by the American People, black, white, hispanic, asian, young, old and everything in between who rallied behind a man they didn't know well, but who seemed to be a genuine human being, a good and decent man, a good father, a good husband and all of those qualities that have become increasingly rare in the American political scene. A lot of people said "I like him, I will vote for him, but I don't believe he can win, because he is black." It was easy to have that cynicism, because of this country's history. Since Tuesday, though, it isn't so easy to carry that cynicism. Now, all of a sudden, anything is possible. I can legitimately tell my daughter "someday you can be President." This was not possible on November 3. All of a sudden, it's a little easier to dream of a better future for those of us who work so hard just to provide the basics for our families.

Enough of these people did vote for him, even though they thought he couldn't possibly be President of a country that only 30-odd years ago repealed the last of the Jim Crow laws. In Virginia, it was only 41 years ago that with the ruling Loving v Virginia that the law which made interracial marriage a criminal offense was finally repealed. Enough people voted for him because they believed in him, and in his message, even though they knew he was running against high odds, against an entrenched party which would not let it's power go so easily.

A friend in Britain said that an acquaintance mentioned to her that "...having a black pres can only be a good thing because now there can be no claims of discrimination."

Claims of so-called "reverse discrimination" are unfounded and false, and let me tell you why:

Tell them Barak Obama did not get elected just because he is black. Being African American was just an added, and utterly wonderful and amazing, benefit. He got elected because he was the far better choice for the job. He got elected because the Americans of all colors and backgrounds have finally decided they have had enough with the endless wars, enough with the stripping bare of the Constitution, enough with the contrived divisions, enough with the hate and fear and greed placed before us as an icon on an altar to worship. We will not worship those icons.

Tell them that the people who voted for him did it to give the republicans a notice: If you pander to the extreme far right wing and their vicious brand of insanity and tyranny, we will all reject you. If you pander only to the wealthy, we will reject you. If you truly believe that poor people are poor because they are lazy, or undeserving, we will reject you. If you believe that war is the best option for dealing with countries we don't agree with, we will reject you.

The right wingers here will still cry their false "foul" and will still call it discrimination because African Americans voters, to the tune of at least 95%, voted for Barak Obama. African-Americans know, possibly better than anyone else, that the republican party only represents the filthy rich. If you do not have the hard cold mountain of cash to fund their campaigns, then they do not care if you live or die. If either Kerry or Gore had had the energy, savvy, tenacity, organization, enthusiasm, intelligence and simply unflappable calmness of Barak Obama, they themselves could have rallied the country around them, but they didn't have those qualities. Virginia seceded from the confederacy for this man - black and white, we seceded. North Carolina seceded from the confederacy for this man. 160 years after the fighting was over, we finally ended the Civil War for this man. Tell them that. And tell them that we're saying to all those who voted for McCain: If you want a seat on the train putting this country back on the right track, you're welcome to join us. We'll be happy to have you. Otherwise sit down, shut up, and get out of the way of true change for the better. Know this, though: To all the republicans who figured out that your party is a sham and a fraud, and jumped ship to join us, we thank you for your help, and we welcome you with open hearts.

We are on the right side of history. We will have our day in the sun again. We are living the Rev. King's dream. Abraham Lincoln said "A house divided against itself cannot stand." We have spent the past eight years divided against ourselves, but that day is over. We will be unified in our efforts to rid this country of all of the old shackles of racism and fear. Yes we can.

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11/5/2008

Virginia seceded from the Confederacy last night. It was an awesome sight to behold.

A special shout out to my buddy Nancy: Nancy, darlin', if you're watching, here's the Victory Speech you missed last night. Enjoy!

Sleep peacefully, world at large, because tomorrow the work begins.

To all the republicans to whom President-Elect Obama reached out to last night: If you want on board this progress train, we'll be happy to have you. If you just want to sulk and grouse and impede progress, then just shut up, sit down and stay out of the way.

Congratulations, Mr. Obama - we look forward to having you and yours in the White House in January.

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11/4/2008, 11:45 p.m.

And Virginia went Blue for the first time in 44 years.

Life is good. Now the real work begins.

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11/4/2008

Virginia hasn't been a battleground, really, since the Civil War. Tonight, I believe we'll be a contender.

I was at the polls at 5:30 this morning, and already the line was snaked around the elementary school and down the parking lot. I waited, in the rain, for about 2 hours, but had a nice time chatting with two ladies behind me.

I voted. Guess who for? Come'on, take a guess....

During a break at work, I was talking to a republican buddy from another company. He was bitching and moaning that he drove by his precinct, and left when he saw the line was too long. "I had to get to work by eight!" he said. Ok, fair enough. So I said "Go when you get off work at 5."

He looks at me like I'm nuts, and says "But I have company coming to dinner at 7:00!!" Really made me want to say "fine, if you're too lazy to get up earlier, or you're just going to make a bunch of excuses, like it's raining, or the line's too long, then please keep on going on, because for every one of you whiney-assed republicans who think that the world should make your lives easy and stress-free who don't go vote, it makes it that much easier for the sane people to take the reins back."

Of course I didn't say it. The guy is still a friend, and I figure once Obama wins, and he realizes that it's not the apocalypse after all, he'll detract the stick from his rump.

You know, what struck me as funny: the only people today throughout my own workplace and a couple of other companies in the building who were belly-aching over the rain and the long lines were the republicans. We dems seemed to be having a high-old time exercising our civic duties.

On that note: watch out for news tomorrow of precinct problems in Henrico County, Virginia - I heard several stories from several different precincts where the machines were breaking down by 7:00 a.m.

This is the Bee, signing off to scarf some Taco Bell before the East Coast polls close and the results start rolling in. Cross your fingers, cross your toes, spit on your old granny's dead frog and settle in for a wild and bumpy ride.

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11/3/2008

At 6:00 tomorrow morning, the polls open. The Bee will drag her tired self out of bed at 5:30 (ok, I'm up that early anyway) and trot around the corner to hit the booth. History will either be made, or the future will be lost, tomorrow.

Living in Virginia, I have never been contacted by a campaign before. Not a peep from Clinton. Not a word from Gore. Kerry? Fuggedaboudit.

In the past 3 days, I have received approximately 8 phone calls. Michelle Obama called me - alright, it was a robocall, but still, ya'know, how cool is that? She called to remind me to vote Tuesday. Danny Glover called, too, to tell me to not believe the flyers floating around Virginia telling all us "gullible" democrats to vote Wednesday. Ok, that was a robo-call too, but how cool is that? I also received 6 calls from live people, reminding me to vote. And would I be voting for Barak Obama? Yep, sure will be. You don't have to worry about the Bradley Effect here. We're an evolved family.

Tonight, someone left a door-hanger on the front door. "Remember to vote on November 4th." It was an Obama hanger.

This guy has got it going on, no doubt about that. A staunchly republican co-worker today even had to admit that "that one" has run a hell of a campaign. Oh, My, and I just saw a clip on MSNBC of Karl Rove praising the campaign work that Obama has managed. Will the world end tonight??

It's nice to be noticed again, down here in now-pink Virginia.

On a sadder note, our condolences to Barak Obama and his family on the loss of his grandmother. We wished as well that she could have lasted for another day or so, to possibly see her grandson as president-elect.

This is the Bee, signing off, hopefully to return Wednesday singing a happy song and doing a snoopy-dance.

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11/1/2008

Shirley Nagel of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, who hung a sign that said "No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters."

Crikey, woman, get a life. They are children. This is really the way to sow the seeds of unity in your neighborhood. Don't be suprised when your front yard is TP'ed tonight. We'll all just say "Oh, well, everybody has a choice" - to be an asshole, or to be decent to children trick-or-treating on halloween. And you, Shirley, since you excercised the latter of those choices, shall face your lumps just like the little whipper-snappers whose moms and dads support "that one." Thy house shall be toilet-papered from the rafters to the foundation. And maybe there will be an egg or two involved, too.

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11/1/2008

Last night a little boy trick-or-treating in Sumter, South Carolina, was shot to death, and his father and brother wounded when a CONVICTED FELON SHOT THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR WITH AN ASSAULT RIFLE. Should I repeat that? A convicted felon with an assault rifle, a slackjaw who thought he was being robbed by...Batman? Spiderman? Diego?

The guy left his porch-light on. On Halloween. Then we're supposed to believe he thought that the trick-or-treater he pumps THIRTY rounds into might be a robber?

That dog don't hunt. This guy needs the death penalty, because he's either too damned stupid to keep living in a civil society, or he's too damned mean. And what I really do NOT want to hear is the NRA prattling on about their so-called second amendment rights to carry assault rifles.

So, a mother has lost her 12 year old to an assault rifle in the hands of - let me say it again - A CONVICTED FELON.

Another mother lost her 8 year old son to the stupidity of the moron at the Gun Show in Massachusetts gave him an UZI - A LOADED UZI sub-machine gun - an ASSAULT RIFLE to play with. What I do NOT want to hear is the NRA prattling on about their imagined second amendment rights to let 8 year olds play with locked and loaded Uzis.

In the Fredericksburg, Virginia, area just a couple of days after September 11, a man bought a handgun to "protect his fambly." His 3 year old found it, loaded, in a dresser drawer and shot himself to death with it.

How much more of this do we all need to see on the evening news before we all decide that, as a civilized society, guns have no place? The NRA crows "but only the criminals will have guns." Then take the guns away from the ciminals too. Yes, it is just that simple. The guns can be confiscated, or bought. When Richmond Virginia implemented Project Exile, the crime rate dropped 40%. Other countries have banned gun possession, and seen their violent crime rates drop accordingly. Why not us? Because the "gun rights" groups are so completely bass-ackward that they actually believe the garbage they spout daily about second amendment "rats."

On the campus of Virginia Tech, in my homestate of Virginia, the carnage was unconscionable after, on April 16, 2007, a severly crazy student shot and killed 32 students and teachers and wounded many others. His handgun purchase was legal - because he had never been convicted of a crime or judge mentally incompetent by a court of law. Idiots in Virginia were calling local news stations opining that "oh, if only a student had been given the right to carry a concealed weapon on campus, someone could have taken this guy out." Wrong, and let me tell you why. I used to carry myself in my younger and dumber days, until I saw the light and decided that a home with a gun and a child was a nuclear combination. I had a license to carry. I took the requisite gun safety course. The class lasted about half a day, and there were probably 8 of us in attendance. I saw what poor shots the other people were. The instructor was suprised when, my first time firing a .38, out of a chamber holding 5 rounds I put 4 fatal shots into a paper target. 1 head, 3 chest. The other people would have had trouble hitting the side of a barn 10 feet from them. Now, this was under controlled circumstances, without the adrenaline rush of being "in a tight situation." Odds are good that if another student had been carrying, rather than taking down the shooter, they would have instead 'friendly fired' their fellow students. Or frozen and forgot they had the gun. I do not believe that most people are capable of quick thought and quicker action during a time of extreme duress. We humans have a nasty herd instinct, and it's not often that I personally have seen the fight or flight instinct really engage in a human. I used to work for a law firm that was situated in a wood-framed glorified house. My department was on the second floor. We had a mild earthquake - nothing major, but with earthquakes, I don't believe in taking chances. It took me about 2 seconds to figure out why my computer monitor was dancing around - and I jumped up and yelled for the rest of the department to get downstairs. They sat and looked at me like deer in headlights, and didn't have a clue what to do. I yelled again, and that got them moving. I was picked on by the attorneys for that one, for "overreacting" - earthquakes in Virginia? Yeah, stupid, earthquakes in Virginia. Just the little tremblors, but know what? Buildings in Virginia aren't typically built to withstand any earth movement, particularly not wood-frame buildings with 20 tons of file cabinets and photocopiers on the second story. Do the math.

My point is, again, under duress and extreme stress situations, police and military sometimes "miss" and shoot their own partners. Sometimes they freeze. They are trained long and hard for their jobs. Am I supposed to believe that some yahoo who took a half-day gun safety training class and couldn't hit the barn is going to save my life in a bad situation? I think more likely they will miss and shoot me or mine instead.

The NRA is completely wrong about those of us who feel that guns need to be at worst severly restricted and at best outright banned. It's not the guns that scare us, it's the idiots who carry them, the idiots who sell them and the morons who crow about their 'rats' while at the same time denying others the right to live their lives in peace and without fear that some chowderhead in the mall will drop his pistol out of his ankle holster and accidentally shoot our children with it. This happened in the mid-90's at Virginia Center Commons Mall just north of Richmond. By pure luck noone was killed, only a busted glass case in the jewelry section of Penney's. But only by pure luck was noone killed. Unfortunately the 8 year old in Massachusetts, and the 12 year old in South Carolina this week, were not so lucky. The 32 at Virginia Tech were not so lucky. Enough is enough.

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