Bastard of the Day
Reverend Jeremiah Wright is overdue for this award. He can say whatever he wants, but I wish he'd shut the hell up until mid-November. Whatever his objectives, I can't see how sabotaging Barack Obama's campaign will help achieve them.

Obama is really getting screwed regarding religion. Early in his campaign, he got labeled as a Muslim. That didn't stick well enough, so now he's being tightly coupled to Reverend Wright and his controversial statements. Muslim or Christian, Obama gets hammered regardless. He might have better luck as <gasp> an atheist.

Labels: bastards, election08

- posted by David Johnsen @ 12:59 PM 0 comments

 
I Love Vermont
Specifically, I love Brattleboro and Marlboro:

Voters in two Vermont towns approved measures Tuesday calling for the indictment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for what they consider violations of the Constitution. More symbolic than anything, the items sought to have police arrest Bush and Cheney if they ever visit Brattleboro or nearby Marlboro or to extradite them for prosecution elsewhere -- if they're not impeached first.

Way to take the bull by the horns, folks. I'm glad somebody is willing to do what the Democrats in Congress will not. The best part of the article is this poorly crafted retort from a Republican National Committee spokesperson:

"It appears that the left wing knows no bounds in their willingness to waste taxpayer dollars to make a futile counterproductive partisan political point," said Blair Latoff. "Town people would be much better served by elected officials who sought to solve problems rather than create them." [emphasis added]

You mean problems like the Iraq War that Bush created even though Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 and wasn't hiding weapons of mass destruction? Just replace "town people" with "all Americans" and for once, the RNC and I agree on something.

Labels: election08, US politics

- posted by David Johnsen @ 2:48 PM 0 comments

 
Bastard of the Day
Damn it, Ralph Nader, do not screw up another election for the Democratic Party. Running a hopeless campaign for president is not the way to spark debate. Siphoning just enough Democrats over to your side so that the conservatives who have been destroying this country can steal another victory is not taking the high ground, no matter how pure your motives.

I agree with many of Marty Kaplan's thoughts about Nader's candidacy:

But despite Nader's wishful thinking, we don't have a parliamentary system. Any votes he attracts will be drained from the Democratic nominee and conceivably cost an Electoral College victory; they will not result in a new government being forced to enter into a coalition with his supporters. Nor, I think, will his presence in the race reframe the issues, refocus the choices, or push the envelope of the campaign...

What troubles me, though, and what his bid throws a spotlight on, is how hard it is for anyone in America to shape the national conversation on anything. One way or another, it takes big money -- the fortune to run for office, the cash to buy full-page ads in newspapers, the bankroll to own a network, the marketing budget to create a celebrity's star power.

Nader's ideas aren't bad; I agree with many of them. Like Kaplan, I wish we could debate Nader's "issues like single-payer health insurance, labor law reform, Pentagon waste, corporate crime, 'the illegal occupation of Palestine,' and impeachment."

But Barack Obama reminded me that Nader went a little too far in 2000: "He thought that there was no difference between Al Gore and George Bush, and eight years later I think people realize that Ralph did not know what he was talking about."

Had I been blogging in 2000, I don't think I would have called Nader a bastard before the election. Gore seemed likely to win anyway, so I didn't mind Nader and the Greens trying to draw attention to some issues. I could not imagine there were enough dolts in the United States to elect someone as obviously unqualified as George W. Bush. Of course, I was wrong.

Being much more politically involved and astute now, I don't want to see a replay of 2000 this November. That's why I'm calling Nader a bastard at the first opportunity. And if he doesn't go away, I'll probably do it again.

Labels: bastards, election08

- posted by David Johnsen @ 7:49 PM 0 comments

 
This is What We're Up Against
From Crooks and Liars, here's a little video showing multiple generations of ill-informed Christian fanatics who vote Republican and why. Ugh.

Hat tip to Freewheeling Spirit.

Labels: election08, religion

- posted by David Johnsen @ 5:33 AM 0 comments

 
Voting in Obama Country

• Outside our local polling place... Two gray-haired women were walking past the campaign sign-saturated street corner, and one said to the other with a laugh, "You don't see any Clinton signs around here!" Obama took almost 73% of the vote in Chicago.

• Voting mid-day with no waiting is one of the best perks of working from home.

• I didn't vote in the most hotly contested local race, State's Attorney. I couldn't make up my mind so I skipped it with the intention of going back to it. But by the time I finished, I forgot about it. Oops!

• On the way home from voting, I was discussing Mayor Daley's endorsement of Obama with my wife, a police officer for 11 years. I said, "Of course, he endorsed Obama. If you have a local guy with a shot at the presidency, how could you not support him?"

  "Oh yeah, I guess he'd make sure we get taken care of," she said. "I hadn't thought of that."

  I looked at her incredulously. "Really, you never thought of that? Geez, no wonder you never get promoted!" A Chicago police officer should always be conscious of clout.

• Aside from Obama, almost everyone I voted for lost. All the incumbents I opposed held their positions. I picked the three Sierra Club selections for the Metro Water Reclamation District, but even in that eight-way race for three spots, the best I did was fourth with Mariyana Spyropoulos. The one incumbent I cared about, Judge Laura Bertucci Smith, finished third out of five. She was the only candidate from any race who bothered to knock on our door this winter, even though our neighborhood lies across the river from the rest of her subcircuit (my wife doesn't like it when I call her "the babe judge," but she is attractive).

• Getting election results online is unnecessarily complicated. Chicago has an election Web site, but so does Cook County. For countywide offices, one must add the city's numbers to the county's numbers (which are only for the suburbs). Even more confusing are races like Laura Bertucci Smith's Sixth Judicial Subcircuit of Cook County. One might think that since the judgeship is a county position, the results would be on the county site. Actually, since this subcircuit is wholly within Chicago, results are only on the city's site. The Chicago Tribune doesn't help matters by directing people to the county's site "for more information" about countywide races without mentioning the city's site. Since the Tribune didn't put out consolidated totals for the Metro Water Reclamation District, I had to add up numbers from both sites for all eight candidates to figure out who won.

• Finally, to anyone who might say this was "only a primary," I say, "You're not from here, are you?" The overwhelming majority of city and county offices are held by Democrats, so on the local level, the Democratic primary is more important than the general election.

Labels: election08

- posted by David Johnsen @ 10:33 PM 1 comments

 
DJWriter's Endorsement for President
Over at the Huffington Post, Bob Cesca says, "It's Time For Progressive Bloggers To Choose A Candidate." After all, there are only two candidates left now, and they will most likely continue duking it out through the remainder of primary season. Besides, the Illinois primary is Tuesday.

I was impressed with Bill Richardson's broad, balanced credentials, but he's long gone. I was impressed with Dennis Kucinich's staunch progressivism (besides, he was our best hope for a really hot First Lady), but he never had a prayer. I was impressed with John Edwards' populist position against corporatism and his willingness to discuss class (America's 800-pound gorilla), but damnit, he's gone, as well. <insert rant about our broken primary system here>

Now the race is down to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Unlike a lot of men, I don't have anything personal against Hillary (and as a First Lady, she was much more interesting than Stepford Laura). But Bill had a problem (I'm not talking about infidelity), and by all accounts, Hillary shares it: triangulation, a willingness to move toward the right to win votes. Bill sold out the Democratic Party's traditional core values with initiatives like welfare reform and NAFTA. Hillary is likely to do more of the same, but after the destruction wrought upon our nation by the current administration, we need something more than centrist triangulation. I am also disturbed by the dynastic implications -- including George H.W.'s tenure as VP, there has been a Bush or a Clinton in the White House since I was 10 years old!

So that leaves Obama. I think he is our best shot at real change. We need somebody to set this ship back on course. We need somebody to shake things up because this is not the America we want or deserve. Obama has the ability to stir up the people, and Americans need some stirring these days. I hate to invoke JFK, but remember how he called Americans to service? Bush's election and especially his re-election show that too many Americans have become apathetic. If any candidate can re-engage Americans with their country, Obama can.

Labels: election08

- posted by David Johnsen @ 5:40 PM 4 comments

 
Pro-Choice Water?
A few minutes ago, I got one of those loathesome automated political campaign calls. But this one was rather perplexing. A woman who described herself as a nurse (I think she gave her name, but I forgot it) wanted me to know that Mariyana Spyropoulos supports a woman's right to choose. Okay, I was already planning to vote for her anyway since she has picked up some meaningful endorsements.

But wait a minute... Spyropoulos is running for commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. So I have to ask... What does abortion have to do with wastewater treatment, and why should that affect my vote? Frankly, that phone call is giving me second thoughts -- why are Spyropoulos supporters so desperate that they are dragging a completely irrelevant hot-button issue into the campaign? It's too bad the call was a recording because I really wanted to ask that nurse what her point was.

UPDATE 02/04/2008 - Today we got another automated call reminding us of Spyropoulos' position on abortion! After a weekend of reflection since the first call, it still didn't seem even remotely relevant.

Labels: election08

- posted by David Johnsen @ 4:17 PM 0 comments

 
Holy Moses -- She Nailed It
Writer Jennifer Moses explains very well why a Hillary Clinton presidential bid is a bad idea. I don't personally have anything against Hillary, although she doesn't strike me as the natural and charismatic leader that Bill was (okay, and as a liberal I think she's leaning too far toward the center for my tastes, especially with her unwavering support for the Iraq War). But Moses highlights what I've been telling everyone who asks (or doesn't): Hillary cannot win the middle. There is the great opportunity for Democrats in 2008 because many moderate Republicans are fed up with their party's recent shenanigans. However, the right wing noise machine spent the 1990s demonizing Hillary so well, positioning her somewhere to the left of Fidel Castro, that those voters would never switch sides for her. And contrary to what feminists might argue, it has nothing to do with her being a woman -- it's all about her being Hillary Clinton.

What scares me is that Hillary could easily win the primaries to become the 2008 Democratic nominee. I fear that shortsighted primary voters are going to condemn us to four more years of a Republican White House. At this rate we'll be lucky to survive the current administration without a devastating economic collapse, but that's a topic for another blog entry.

Labels: election08

- posted by David Johnsen @ 11:28 PM 0 comments