Dumbest. Ad. Ever.

CNN: Studs Terkel died today at age 96

Honor Turkel's memory by voting for change.

God Bless America

Politico has the fascinating story behind this house.

Damn Kids!

This is a big problem.

I am convinced that Sen. Obama peaked two days ago. The polls will get tighter in the coming days, which is fine as long as people under thirty vote in disproportionate numbers. Obama will not win without a strong youth vote.

What you must do:

1. Tell your friends to vote.
2. If you vote absentee, fill out your ballot now - then mail it ASAP.
3. Tell your friends to vote.
4. If you can vote early in your state, GO. Do not wait until Tuesday. The massive GOP voter suppression effort will not be ready until election day.
5. Tell your friends to vote.
6. If you must vote on election day - FOR THE LOVE OF JEBUS - DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE.
7. Tell your friends to vote. Tell your friends to vote. Tell your friends to vote.

What's keeping Palin from being president?

Listen carefully to the music in this ad and tell me what you hear.

I'll give you a hint.  It rhymes with bart meat.  And while we're at it, I think I detect an arrhythmia.

Nate, Rachel, and Tina

My three favorite, unexpected players in this election:

Nate Silver

Rachel Maddow

Tina Fey

Are there others in this category?

Assassination/Mass-Murder Plot Disrupted

The ATF gives us some insight into the strategy of McCain's grass-roots values-voters.

Tim!

Dear Readers:
Please welcome Tim as a new contributor to this blog. I've known Tim since before anyone had heard of Monica Lewinsky. He is a great friend of our family, and was kind enough to perform my marriage ceremony.

Tim will soon earn a PhD in Philosophy from one of our nation's finest universities. He is a secular-Jewish-socialist patriotic American from the proud, blue midwest. I'm sure he will bring a fresh perspective to this blog.

Thanks Tim!

A Question for John McCain

Sarah Palin has more executive experience than you do.  Do you believe that Sarah Palin is more qualified to be president than you are?

Video: Obama Supporter Mugged, Mutilated (just kidding)

Coldplay Endorses Obama on SNL

Coldplay did a four-song set on SNL tonight. The performance was an instant classic. Two notes:

1. History will draw a direct line from The Beatles to U2 to Coldplay.
2. On tonight's show Chris Martin wore a hand-made Obama armband, and gave the Senator a shout-out after his third song.
   

"We Can Do It"

Your Morning Schadenfreude

Ten days from the election, and this is what the McCain campaign is talking about.

BREAKING: Hoax!

KDKA in Pittsburgh reports the following:

"A Pittsburgh police commander says a volunteer for the McCain campaign who reported being robbed and attacked near a bank ATM in Bloomfield has confessed to making up the story. Police say charges will be filed. More details to follow."

Her original description of the "attacker" was a "6-foot 4-inch, 200-pound black man, with medium build and short black hair."

What was her motivation for lying? You do the math.

Barack Obama for President

It is one of the great ironies of history that the most important popular revolutions have come not at the hands of oppressive, homicidal, iron-fisted tyrants (e.g. Hitler, Stalin, Mao), but rather under the feet of fortunate sons who were inept, frivolous, and cloistered (e.g. George III, Louis XVI, Nicholas II). The promise of American democracy has been that we would avoid both outcomes.

If America were a true meritocracy, George W. Bush would be an Assistant Regional Manager for a small paper distribution company in Scranton, PA. Instead, he became Leader of the Free World. Nearly eight years later, cronyism and corruption are the hallmarks of our executive branch. The intricate constitutional consensus developed over the past 232 years is under daily assault by the administration. We spend $10 billion a month on a war in Iraq that we never should have started, while we starve a war in Afghanistan that must be won. The gap between rich and poor widens each year. Our infrastructure is collapsing. Worst of all, a great American city is in ruins while its refugees continue to search for new lives.

As you read this, our global economy has fallen off a cliff. The real estate market has imploded. Major banks are failing. Insurance giants will be next. The gears of our credit-lubed economic system have ground to a halt. Sober citizens are opening “mattress funds”.

We are - by all accounts - leaderless. The American experiment is now combustible.

The unpredictable, uncontrollable forces of revolution could be sparked any day by either a temporary suspension of ATM withdrawals, racial violence, or a lethal confrontation between citizens and the state. It is a great stroke of luck that at this fragile moment in history we expect a new leader to emerge on November 4th.

Our democracy has been brought to its knees by a Republican revolution that was pioneered by Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay solidified it. George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove brought it to its logical conclusion. In response, Democrats have nominated Illinois Senator Barack Obama – a man with the temperament, wisdom and life-experience that this moment in history requires. He may find that the damage is too severe to reverse in four years, and will consequently be voted out of office in 2012. But it is just as likely that he will rise to the occasion, and lead us out of the abyss. Such a triumph would earn him a place beside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt. I would not be surprised by the latter outcome. He has the courage and character to provide a New Deal for a New America.

If today’s opposition party nominee were named John Kerry, Michael Dukakis, or Walter Mondale, we would be assured of a historic landslide. Instead, Senator Obama carries a fragile lead over Republican John McCain. We are still anticipating a close election, but if Obama loses only one word will be needed as an explanation: Racism.

Those who allow prejudice to undermine their self-interests are victims of our criminal history. Our nation’s birth was a devil’s bargain. The cancer of slavery grew until it was painfully cut away, but our sickness has festered. Poor blacks versus poor whites; poor whites versus poor Hispanics; and now poor Hispanics versus poor blacks. All the while, the rich and powerful feed their excesses with our labor while they exploit our divisions.

Will we continue to toil and squabble below deck, or will we break free of our chains and seize control of the ship of state?

Will we always be enslaved by America’s original sin, or will we baptize ourselves?

Will we silently mourn the rotting corpse of America as it sickens the entire world with its stench, or will we resurrect its finest ideals and be born again?

Will the young continue to pay the debts of a narcissistic, decadent and failed generation, or will we allow a new era of leaders to build a more humble, human, and honorable nation?

These are the stakes. This is our moment. November 4th is Judgment Day for America.

Elect Barack Obama for President.

McCain's Map

In a network interview, McCain identified the bad parts of the country...



Didn't Republicans say they would never forget 9/11?

Don't be like Mike

Thanks to the folks at moveon.org

Senior Moments

I couldn't agree more.





And, for old time (2 week) sake....

David Sedaris on Undecided Voters

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

-David Sedaris in the October 27 New Yorker.

$150,000

The Republican party has spent $150,000 on Sarah Palin's wardrobe. That doesn't include $4,716.49 for "hair and makeup" in September alone. John Edwards must be so jealous.

"Liberals Hate Real Americans"

First Palin told us about the "Pro-American" parts of America.

Then, Rep. Bachmann (R-MN) called for an investigation of "Anti-American" members of Congress.

Then, Republican John McCain's spokeswoman told us about "Real Virginia" (you know, the racist part).

Now, Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC) tells us that "liberals hate Real Americans".

Like Bachmann, Hayes is fighting to keep a closely-contested seat. You can donate to his opponent here.

Women, Children Find Slashed Tires After Rally

Voter intimidation has started in North Carolina.

Obamalantern

Look what my lovely wife made...

McCarthyism on the March

From Minnesota to Orange County, the rotting corpse of the GOP is really starting to stink.





Petition your member of Congress to censure Michele Bachmann.

Racism on the March

We believe that the best of America is not all in Washington, D.C. We believe... We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.

-Republican Sarah Palin, October 16, 2008

Is this the currency of "real America"?

Are these the supporters that McCain said Wednesday that he is so "proud" of?

2008 General Election Seattle Voter's Guide

A lot of blood has been shed so that each of us may vote. Don’t be a fucktard. Vote as soon as possible.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 4, 2008.


STATE MEASURES:

Initiative Measure No. 985 (“Congestion Relief”):
This measure exists to promote the career of anti-tax wacko Tim Eyman. It will make auto traffic worse while robbing public transportation. VOTE NO

Initiative Measure No. 1000 (Death with Dignity):
This measure follows Oregon’s successful example, allowing people who are suffering painful terminal illnesses to self-administer lethal medications. Keep the evangelicals out of our death-beds. VOTE YES

Initiative Measure No. 1029 (Certification for home health care providers):
This measure is something that every sane person can agree on. VOTE YES


KING COUNTY MEASURES:

Charter Amendment No. 1 (Elected Elections Director):
This is a scheme concocted local Republicans to undermine our county’s democracy. VOTE NO

Charter Amendment No. 2 (Prohibiting Discrimination):
Housekeeping measure. VOTE YES

Charter Amendment No. 3 (Regional Committees):
This would diminish Seattle’s influence over King County governance. VOTE NO

Charter Amendment No. 4 (Additional Qualifications for Elected Officials):
This is a profoundly undemocratic proposal. Voters have the responsibility to decide who is "qualified". VOTE NO

Charter Amendment No. 5 (Establish Forecast Council and OEFA):
These new advisory groups will provide our county’s elected officials with more accurate timely financial and budgetary data. VOTE YES

Charter Amendment No. 6 (Budget Deadlines):
Will give the County Executive and County Council twenty extra days to review proposed budgets before voting. VOTE YES

Charter Amendment No. 7 (Charter Amendment by Citizen Initiative):
This will double the number of signatures required to put crack-pot initiatives on our ballots. VOTE YES

Charter Amendment No. 8 (Nonpartisan Elections):
Removing party identification from county election ballots will help Republicans infest our government. We need to know what sort of people we are voting for. We need to protect real Seattle values. VOTE NO


FEDERAL:

President and Vice President of the United States
Full endorsement coming soon…
Vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden


CONGRESSIONAL:

U.S. Congressional District 7
Jim McDermott is a national treasure. We are lucky to have him as our Congressman.
Vote for Jim McDermott (D)


STATE EXECUTIVE:

Governor
Gov. Gregoire isn’t the most inspiring politician, but she has proven that she is a capable manager with the right values. Her opponent, Republican Dino Rossi, wins Washington State’s George W. Bush Award for Dangerous Stupidity.
Vote for Christine Gregoire (D)

Lt. Governor
Lt. Gov. Owen is a total douche bag, but we can’t afford to have a Republican hag one heartbeat away from the Governor’s mansion. I sadly endorse Mr. Owen.
Vote for Brad Owen (D)

Secretary of State
Sec. Reed is about to become the first Republican I have ever supported. His opponent would do a fine job, but I greatly admire Mr. Reed. He has courageously fought against both parties to successfully defend our new Top 2 Primary system. The poli-sci wonk deep inside of me knows that future generations of Washingtonians will benefit greatly from Sec. Reed’s efforts.
Vote for Sam Reed (R)

State Treasurer
Mr. McIntire’s education and experience overwhelms that of his opponent.
Vote for Jim McIntire (D)

State Auditor
Mr. Sonntag has a proven record we can rely on.
Vote for Brian Sonntag (D)

Attorney General
Ladenburg will fight to protect our reproductive rights and civil liberties.
Vote for John Ladenburg (D)

Commissioner of Public Lands
The current Commissioner is a tool of the logging industry. His challenger, Mr. Goldmark, reminds me a lot of proud former western governors John Kitzhaber (D-OR) and Cecil Andrus (D-ID).
Vote for Peter J. Goldmark (D)

Superintendent of Public Instruction
We all know that after twelve years of promises, it’s time for a change. Mr. Dorn understands our schools and how to be an effective change-agent in Olympia.
Vote for Randy Dorn

Insurance Commissioner
We need a Commissioner who will protect consumers. Mr. Adams is in the pocket of insurance lobbyists.
Vote for Mike Kreidler (D)


LEGISLATIVE:

Legislative Dist. 36, State Representative Pos. 1
Mr. Carlyle is too friendly with big-business, and he is out-of-touch with the character of 36th district voters. He's much better suited to represent voters on the other side of Lake Washington. Mr. Burbank knows how to get things done in Olympia, and he's an old-school liberal who reflects real Seattle values.
Vote for John Burbank (D)

Legislative Dist. 46, State Representative Pos. 1
Mr. White wants to use your vote as a stepping-stone for his own ambition. If elected, Mr. Pollet would be entirely focused on representing our proud liberal values. Mr. White would be focused on his campaign for higher office.
Vote for Gerry Pollet

Legislative Dist. 46, State Representative Pos. 2
Rep. Kenney is a powerful fighter for our district. Keep her in the Capitol!
Vote for Phyllis Kenney


JUDICIAL:

King Co. Superior Court, Judge Position 1
Vote for Suzanne Parisien

King Co. Superior Court, Judge Position 22
Vote for Holly Hill

King Co. Superior Court, Judge Position 37
Vote for Jean Rietschel


CITY OF SEATTLE:

Proposition No. 1 (Pike Place Market rehabilitation)
Our market brings in a shit-ton of tourist dollars, but it’s the last place you would want to be during the next earthquake.
VOTE YES

Proposition No. 2 (Parks Funding)
Our wonderful parks are an investment in strong property values. This is the worst time for us to neglect that investment.
VOTE YES


SOUND TRANSIT:

Proposition No. 1 (Mass Transit Expansion)
The last light rail measure was defeated by the holier-than-thou eco-Nazis at the Sierra Club. They have finally come on-board for what may be our last chance to expand train service beyond UW and SeaTac. If this measure fails, we will need to quickly throw every dollar we can at buses.
VOTE YES

Meth Addicts for McCain

The McCain-Palin mob:

"My Fellow Prisoners"

Palin Wins!

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately, Dear Readers, but I've been busy sprucing up our bunker over at the compound.

So here's how they did...

PALIN: America's Sweetheart wowed the country by demonstrating fluency in conversational English. She also had the courage to ignore the moderator's questions and speak bullshit directly to the American people.

BIDEN: The Senator from Delaware showed the sort of professionalism, graciousness, and knowledgeability that is unlikely to impress small town Americans.