Bill Maher on The Huffington Post

Shannyn Moore: Keith Olbermann Broke Up with Me

2008-11-19T04:14:43Z

Like it's not bad enough. I've been hearing loons talk about secession up here my whole life. In Alaska, the three top ballot seats: President, Senate and House of Representatives, have candidates on the ballot from the secessionist Alaska Independent Party. In two of the three, the AIP holds at least 4% of the vote. The felonious Ted Stevens looks like he has convinced over a hundred thousand Alaskans what he couldn't convince 12 jurors of a few weeks ago.

Now, Keith Olbermann has the temerity to ask if it's too late to sell Alaska back to the Russians. Repeatedly. America's liberal boy-wonder is breaking up with me. He's not the only one suggesting putting Alaska up on eBay, but I can only handle one break up at a time. Consider this partner counseling; the circle of truth; the trust tree.*

I'm like many Alaskans, just not the one you've been forced to get to know lately. I know what newspapers I read. I know Africa is NOT a country. I know Stephen Harper is the Prime Minister of Canada, and I know he has T.V. perfect hair. I know who makes up NAFTA - which I thought was a crock when it passed. My favorite birthday present this year was the return of Habeas Corpus in a 5-4 US Supreme Court decision on June 12^th.

I've never been to New York City, but I wanted to puke in my mouth watching the Republican National Convention's "9/11 Tribute to Fear." I wasn't born in the 60's, but I know what race baiting is. I know the public executions of JFK, Malcolm X, MLK, and RFK-all in a five year span-drove the American progressive movement into a coma for nearly 40 years. A once empowered, liberal generation sat like Terry Schiavo watching balloons float by; Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush I, Bush II. Wars, the corporate job-exporting economy, the perilous environment, expanded human rights violations, erosion of civil rights, The US Constitution compromised; none of it registered due to blunt force trauma on the American psyche.

Barack Obama's voice blends many of those faint martyred messages cut short; human rights, hope, justice, peace, change. His inspirational urgency moved a generation politically paralyzed to stand up again. New generations learned to walk, on their own power, to change their futures. This promise is precarious. People my mother's age hold their breath, pray he is safe, and bravely look forward from a painful past. I know, it takes one lone crazy, living in the apartment over his grandma's garage; walls covered with "Pin-up Palin" shots who doesn't need much more than a wink, a "pallin' around with terrorists", and her silence while "supporters" answered "terrorist!" and "kill him!" to her question of "Who is Barack Obama?" Even now, she's still talking about "associations."

I was born here, Sarah Palin was not. I don't have a fabricated "Fargo" accent that sounds like I make casseroles with tater tots and mushroom soup. Many brilliant, artistic, articulate and cultured citizens call Alaska home. On November 4^th, you got to shake your shoes of our Governor. You sleep easier now. Gone are the train wreck fantasies that kept you up at night; a 3am phone call and she, a heart beat away from the "nukular" codes. You now invest casual interest as you would a People magazine while waiting for dental work. BUT, SHE'S BACK HERE AND READY TO RULE!

Progressive Alaskans have a target on their backs for speaking out about her archaic philosophies and faith-based policies. January's 2009 Legislative Session may see a bill allowing the aerial hunting of the exotic, but endangered species; "Alaskan Liberal." I have a public creed of "painting a red state blue, one stroke at a time," and you're dumping me, Keith? Really?

Many suffer from PTSD-Post Traumatic Sarah Disorder. It comes with a long list of political collateral damage and shrapnel wounds. The McCain-Palin campaign sent Belmont level horsepower to Alaska to throw the Governor's "enemies" under the Straight Talk Express Bus. NYC would have spit; Alaska gagged and swallowed.

This afternoon, the AP just called Alaska's Senate race for Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. But for two weeks, it looked like we elected a felon. Ted Stevens has been a senator since before I was born. People here are torn between nostalgia and history. No matter where you travel in-state, you bump into establishments named after him; The Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport; Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute; Ted and Catherine Stevens Center for Science and Technology Education and the Stevens Family Chalet at the Hilltop Ski Area in Anchorage. Many can't imagine Alaska without him, but I can!

I can imagine Ted making license plates wearing an orange jumpsuit! My friend, Phil, says Stevens' punishment should be overseeing the re-naming of all his institutional namesakes. I'm a recovering commercial fisherman, and I know he sold us out. His confirmation of "conservative" judges paved the way for the recent Baker vs. Exxon case that robbed many Alaskan fishermen of damages incurred by the 1989 Valdez Oil Spill. The R.A.T.S. (Roberts, Alito, Thomas, and Scalia) saw fit to cap the award at ten cents on the dollar after 19 years. Translation to Exxon: four days profit for environmental terrorism-the cost of doing business. Translation to Alaskans: F*@# YOU! Bend over, we're driving.

The only thing Uncle Ted liked better than the Patriot Act was the Military Commissions Act. His "Incredible Hulk" tie trumped the Constitution more than once. I broke up with him a long time ago. Do I seem bitter?

Mark Begich is Senate seat-worthy. I begged him to run for higher office when he was a weekly guest on my local radio show. I called him the "Fairy-God Mayor" for making many of my municipal dreams come true. During one of our weekly chats, I asked the Mayor what he liked on his pizza. (I have a secret theory people order up their life like they do pizza.) He said, "Oh, just put it all on there. If I don't like something, I'll pick it off." I loved that answer; low maintenance and not afraid to try it all. (BTW, according to my theory, if you don't like pizza you may need some hotline help.)

Part of wanting Mark to run for higher office was nostalgia for his father's brilliant political career tragically cut short. Congressman Nick Begich was lost in a plane crash with Louisiana Congressman Hale Boggs in October of 1972. A few weeks later, though presumed dead, Congressman Begich beat his challenger Don Young by 12.4%. A special election was then called which Don Young won. He still holds the seat today.

Truth be told, I wanted a Begich to take the seat back from Don Young, who squandered it. Seeing Mark Begich take the Senate seat has more historic healing for many old time Alaskans than seeing Stevens retain it.

Not to get too "professor" on you, Keith (think hair up, glasses, short skirt, high heels. Oh wait, never mind!) I want you to know what you're ready to cut loose.

First Alaskans thrived in a frozen land for thousands of years and left no foot print. In 1867, Russia gave you a hell of a deal at 1.9 cents an acre. The Klondike Gold Rush was a quick pay back, and gave Charlie Chaplin some great material.

The last shot of the Civil War was fired by the CSS Shenandoah on June 23, 1865, 10 weeks after Lee's surrender. Go figure, it was in Alaskan waters and CSN Captain, James Waddell hadn't heard the War was over. That was awkward.

Homesteading pioneers farmed, fished and flourished. In 1922, a Tlingit Chief, Charlie Jones was jailed for voting. His protest gave way to Native Alaskans getting the right to vote two years before Native Americans. In 1944, years before the civil rights movement in the States, Roberta Schenck, a Native woman refused to budge from her seat in the "White's Only" section of a movie theatre in Nome. She was dragged out and jailed. Schenck was Alaska's Rosa Parks. Because of her bravery and the moving testimony of Elizabeth Peratrovich, on Feb. 16, 1945, Territorial Governor Ernest Gruening signed an anti-discrimination law. Against the argument that the law would not eliminate discrimination, Peratrovich said, "Do your laws against larceny and even murder eliminate those crimes?"

We decriminalized abortion before Roe vs. Wade. Our privacy laws are the strongest in the country. A man told me he moved here after studying the Alaska Constitution at law school; it could have been Section 22 that allowed Alaskans the right to possess marijuana.

During WWII the Japanese occupied the Alaska islands of Kiska and Attu for almost two years. Because of the harsh conditions endured, frost bite became worthy of a Purple Heart. 1958, the Inupiat Village of Point Hope protested the nuclear detonation of Project Chariot to create a port on the North Slope. As a "thank you," the Federal Government transported and buried the contamination from the 1962 Nevada Test Site to the Chariot location. Cancer rates among villagers are staggering. Where's Erin Brockovich when we need her? In 1988, Homer, Alaska voted to officially become a "Nuclear Free Zone" in response to proposed nuclear subs. That same town -- my home town -- 20 years later, had the only known "spontaneous" Obama headquarters in the country. You're welcome, Keith.

Alaska is one of the best things about America. We are the last frontier. What once was wild in America still is here. I still catch my breath; the northern lights over Denali can trump a full moon; a phosphorescent glow in the wake of my row boat; bears fishing salmon out of Brooks Falls; glaciers bigger than cruise ships.

It's wrong to be hard on you for not knowing Alaskans aren't all Palinbots. After the last week or so, it would be fair to wonder if we suffer from Reality Deficit Disorder when it comes to Ted Stevens and the Rule of Law. It's easy to want to knock sense into my neighbors who have ignored our history; so rich with strength, true with characters, and patriotism that deserves to be called American.

The progressive history of Alaska is buried under the "new" wave of oil workers and rapture watchers. McChurches promise to Super Size your Jesus. They haven't noticed the miracle of "curing a gay guy" wasn't mentioned in the works of Christ. Sarah Palin cut the red ribbon and the prayer asked God's blessing on "all those who enter" the Wasilla Wal-Mart. I hope God does bless those who work there; they'll need it since they have no health benefits.

Women with "the bigger the hair the closer to God" up-do, line up to live the American dream of buying flag lapel pins and sequined "I Heart America" t-shirts made by un-aborted children in China. They punctuate their purchase with a personalized credit card owned by a company in Abu Dhabi. Men drive by in the newest "Ford Compensator 350", towing a trailer loaded with ATVs. Rush Limbaugh blaring when the Lee Greenwood CD gets too teary; something about "Where at least I know I'm free." Yellow ribbon magnets claim to support the troops; the same troops who are fighting to make sure the gallon of gas moving him all of 9.4 miles, stays cheaper than a latte.

I too, through my elitist patriotic lens, mock them. I realize how easy it has been to see a regressive, fundamentalist, socially-crippled Alaska. I get it, the jokes have written themselves; in Braille, smoke signals, etch-a-sketch. Alaska has issues galore; who doesn't? Are you going to break up with Kentucky as well?

So, Mr. Olbermann and others (you know who you are, Bill Maher), before you break up with Alaska, let's have a reality check. The known examples of Alaskan Spirit have vaporized in the wake of the "Great White Shopper from the North." I hate to think "That Woman" would come between us. But the truth is, we are what America used to be. We are the Oregon Train with iPods. We are Lewis and Clark with hybrid snowmachines. We are Sacagawea with a Garmin. We are Yellowstone on steroids. We are Davy Crockett with a helicopter. (OK, I've gone too far.)

Not to play the blame game, but in the spirit of transparency you only get in therapy*, the colonization of your 49^th State by Global Enterprise has gone largely unnoticed. Again, not your fault, Northern Exposure was filmed in Washington State. We could use some help fighting to insure the wild Salmon runs of Bristol Bay stay pristine against the Pebble Mine. Your aid would be appreciated in keeping our wolves and bears safe from aerial "hunting." And were your voices lifted with ours in a message to Exxon, maybe our fishermen would have been able to maintain their industry despite an environmental disaster.

Keith. I can call you Keith, right? It would be easier to hear your rejection if you hadn't kept many Alaskans sane with your "You, Sir" rants. Bill Maher's New Rules encourage me to write my own. Chris Matthews exhausts me with explanation, but I get it. Rachel Maddow is still talking to us...she's strangely fascinated. But you -- Sir -- are singled out as chief dumper. It's only fair. I was getting ready to go to Anchorage's Election Central, when I heard your voice break slightly; Barack Obama was the projected 44^th President of the United States. I realized I'd held my breath for 8 years. I cried; in relief, in triumph, for hope, for healing, for history. I felt American.

"You, Sir" took many politically battered, Alaskans; your American brothers and sisters through a keyhole in time. Since then, "You, Sir" keep on the queries of how to dump Alaska every time Sarah Palin stumbles. "You, Sir" should kick Russia's ass if they even look cross at us. (Well, talk to them first...then get our back.) "You, Sir" are joking, and to an extent, so am I.

We should make up. I'd like that.

We need your help, your respect and maybe some flowers.

*think: Will Farrell's therapy scene in Old School.

Michael DeJong: Green Week

2008-11-18T13:40:17Z

Green Week for NBC-Universal-Bravo launches with green themed programming. Their website - www.greenisuniversal.com - invites individuals to "Green Your Routine" by taking on simple environmentally sound actions until they become a habit.

Their "Green Your Routine" feature offers easy, practical and economical ways to become green just by changing routines to alter the individual impact we each have on the environment.

Simple stuff like supplying your own reusable tote bags when shopping for groceries, drinking from a ceramic coffee mug at home and at the office, using reusable water bottles instead of the disposable single-use variety, walking, riding a bike or carpooling to destinations, printing on both sides of the page, turning the water off while brushing your teeth, taking shorter showers as opposed to long and wasteful luxurious baths, unplugging computers at night... the ideas are only limited to the scope of your imagination.

The 'Green Your Routine' campaign features tips and suggestions from celebs like Julia Benz, Coolio, Ann Curry, Dana Delany, Tom Hanks, Jane Krakoswki, Bill Maher, Howie Mandel, Christopher Meloni, Debra Messing, Moby, Denis Quaid, Al Roker, Brook Shields, Tori Spelling, Meredith Viera, and Brian Williams - among others - talking about the way that they walk the walk.

Perhaps by "Greening Your Routine' we'll reclaim the environment, put big business in its place and make it safe again not just for our children, loved ones and pets, but for everything that climbs and crawls, flies or swims. Think of it as a way of being one with the Universe on a daily basis, and doing your part to make the world a safer, cleaner, more beautiful place.

[For the sake of full disclosure, I write as "Mr. Green" for the "Ask Mr. Green" column on the NBC-Universal-BRAVO eco-web site, www.GreenIsUniversal.com.]

Tina Dupuy: The Obama Administration vs. Political Comedy

2008-11-18T13:14:30Z

Is political comedy in trouble? Will there be no funny in the future with an Obama administration? Is Barack Obama bad for comedy?

Disregard all the non-comedians' fears that Saturday Night Live will go the way of Circuit City. Ignore all the yammers about how Barack Obama is bad for the professionally funny. Forget them all. These are the same prognosticators who said irony was dead after 9/11. Yes, they said that. The terrorists killed irony. Try even saying that without utilizing sarcasm.

"Where's the funny in Barack Obama?", asked the Canadian Press on November 9th. Politico asked the day after the election, "Can 'The Daily Show' survive Barack Obama?" Gawker called the Obama presidency a "Crisis of Comedy".

So Barack Obama, about to be the most powerful man on the face of the planet, just wiped out all human stupidity? There's the joke right there.

George W. Bush was bad for comedy. First, he hated dissent. Dubya said that the terrorists on 9/11 were cowards. Bill Maher, noting it was absurd to say that flying yourself into a building was cowardly, said so on television. Maher was fired from single digit channels for pointing that out. Banned to pay cable for eternity. Bush's then press secretary, Ari Fleischer, told the nation they needed to watch what they say. And people took note - they started watching what they said. Was that good for comedy?

Ron Suskind's piece in Esquire had a chilling disclosure of the way Bush operates:

According to senior administration officials who learned of the encounter soon after it happened, President Bush looked at the man. "I don't ever want to hear you use those words in my presence again," he said.
"What words, Mr. President?"
"Bad policy," President Bush said. "If I decide to do it, by definition it's good policy. I thought you got that."
The adviser was dismissed. The meeting was over.

Questioning Bush was banned within his inner circle and anywhere else it popped up. His dissenters were taken down. Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson wrote an op/ed questioning Bush's statement in the 2003 State of the Union Address about Iraq's desire to purchase yellow cake uranium in Africa. Then as a repercussion his wife Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA spy by longtime Karl Rove crony Bob Novack. And thus ended her career. They went after an op/ed author's wife? Was that good for comedy?

There was a notion among people in the United States that no matter how dumb Bush appeared to be - he was the only one who was going to keep us secure so criticizing him was an affront to our safety. I was touring the country as a stand up during the first Bush term. It was not good for comedy. Bush jokes were not welcomed. Not just in the red states - but in general. He was what everyone was going to the comedy show to escape: the know-nothing boss with your livelihood hanging in the balance of his incompetence.

But it was the fumbling of Hurricane Katrina that broke the levee of criticism. It was just shortly after Bush's narrow re-election and suddenly ineptitude and cronyism looked like a bad thing. Then it was over. Bush's number's never recovered. Congress was lost to the liberals and Bush was a punchline. Every dumb thing he said was a gem. The whole country was waking up from a stupid stupor. And they wanted Bush jokes and they got them. Late night television, comedy clubs, blogs - bathroom stalls - they were everywhere. Bush was good for comedy for a couple minutes but then he still had three and a half whole years left in office.

Two years after Katrina, George Bush became akin to airline food and Viagra jokes: cliche and overdone. But we were given a gift - the longest presidential campaign in history. A full two years of Bush-free (the Democrats) and Bush-lite (the Republicans). Think of all the Kucinich and Mormon jokes we had. Fred Thompson! Remember Fred Thompson ran for president? His whole campaign was like Darth Vadar sleeping through his alarm, "Wake up Darth! There are millions of voices crying out in terror that could be suddenly silenced - but you have to wake up!" Tom Tancredo ran for president after saying we should bomb Mecca. Nice foreign policy dude! These guys were gold. There was a candidate named Huckabee, a governor from Arkansas that lived in a triple wide trailer when the governor's mansion was under construction. Gold!

Currently, as I write this, Bush jokes are stale. Most of the country has forgotten he's still in power. Last April, I was at a book conference and one of the speakers without realizing it referred to Bush as 'our former president'. That's nine months before his term in the White House expired. He's not good for comedy.

Comedy - or at least political satire - speaks truth to power. It's much better when that power isn't tapping your phone without a warrant and suspending habeas corpus.

The Bill of Rights: Good for Comedy.

So relax, don't believe the hype - political comedy won't suffer under an Obama Administration. The question is: Will an Obama Administration suffer under political comedy. That'll test mettle.

Bill Maher's "Religulous" Out Of Oscar Contention

2008-11-18T08:40:45Z

Bill Maher's documentary exploring religion, "Religulous," is out of Oscar contention after being left out of the final 15 list released by the Academy in the Best Documentary category.

Other notable snubs: "Dear Zachary," "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" and "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired."

Instead, the final 15 are:

"At the Death House Door"
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"Fuel"
"The Garden"
"Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts"
"I.O.U.S.A."
"In a Dream"
"Made in America"
"Man on Wire"
"Pray the Devil Back to Hell"
"Standard Operating Procedure"
"They Killed Sister Dorothy"
"Trouble the Water"

The film was directed by Larry Charles and has made almost $13 million on a budget of just $2.5 million since its October 1 release.

Arianna Huffington: Guest Hosting for Rachel Maddow Tonight: the Lineup is Coming Together

2008-11-17T01:59:13Z

Thank you for all of your great suggestions for tonight's Rachel Maddow show, which I'll be guest hosting. They've been incredible and, as you can see from the emerging lineup, we're listening: Google CEO Eric Schmidt will join me to discuss the ways Obama can harness the Internet to make his administration more effective. Bill Maher will discuss the day's top stories. Newark mayor Cory Booker will weigh in on the impact the economic crisis is having on America's inner cities. And FiveThirtyEight.com's Nate Silver will crunch the latest numbers in the still-pending Senate races. Click here for some real time video of me behind-the-scenes at the show -- and be sure to tune in tonight at 9 pm on MSNBC.

Bill Maher: New Rule: Move On

2008-11-12T13:14:50Z

Mitchell Bard: How Nice Is It to Finally Have a Smart President?

2008-11-11T17:06:30Z

The week that has passed since Election Day has been a blur. There was worldwide joy over Barack Obama's victory. There were also many words of caution that if Obama and the Democrats didn't play their cards right, things could turn ugly very quickly (some guy named Mitchell Bard wrote such an article the day after the election).

But now, with some time having passed, my ability to focus is slowly returning to normal. The first realization that has emerged through my election-induced fog has been: What a nice change it will be to have a president who is smart and cares about competence. See, no matter what happens in the future, whether the Obama presidency is a roaring success or gets stymied in enacting its goals, we will still be able to point to our president and say, "Yeah, we elected a really bright guy." Which is a huge improvement over the last eight years, when we had to look at our president and say, with a groan, "Did he just say that? Is he back on the bottle?"

For me, the first jolt was Obama's press conference on Friday (you can watch it and read the transcript here). As I watched, I smiled at finally being able to see a president speak with knowledge, intelligence, subtlety and depth of thought. Again, regardless of political ideology, whether you think Obama's policies are exactly what America needs to get back on track or a one-way ticket to disaster, Obama's intellect is what you would hope for in a president, especially after eight years of a "decider" mangling the English language (not to mention every issue he tackled).

The press conference offered many moments that made me happy. Obama's well publicized answer to a question about the family's impending puppy acquisition was funny and illuminating, and his tone and thoughts on the problems facing the country were of a level we haven't seen since the Bush brood took over the White House.

But one passage of his introduction stood out to me as a great example of how nice it is to have someone with intelligence in charge. Obama discussed aid to the automobile industry in a way that not only demonstrated a command of the issue, but that also showed the tact and skill to be absolutely clear on his position without being unduly harsh on those who would disagree. And, of course, in doing so, he made it far more likely that he could actually get something accomplished. Obama said:

"I would like to see the administration do everything it can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted. In addition, I have made it a high priority for my transition team to work on additional policy options to help the auto industry adjust, weather the financial crisis, and succeed in producing fuel-efficient cars here in the United States of America."

Translation: We're not throwing money away on loans and grants to an industry that is stuck in the past -- aid that will only prolong an inevitable death -- but if the industry wants to modernize and change course to be a positive force as part of a forward-thinking energy plan, then we absolutely will help. In an nutshell, there is money for modernization and retooling, but none to maintain the status quo.

In style and substance, it was the perfect statement. The auto industry is a tricky problem to take on. Politically, Democrats have to be supportive or risk votes in what has been an increasingly reliable blue state. And the industry is responsible for providing millions of jobs at a time when unemployment is on the rise. At the same time, high oil prices, increasing oil demand, and foreign policy and environmental concerns have conspired to place urgency behind finding alternatives to oil as an energy source, something the auto industry has not been willing to address. And the American car-makers have been on a long, slow slide for some time now, with its executives unwilling or unable to do anything to reverse the tide.

Obama handled this complicated, contentious and difficult problem in a graceful and effective way. Republicans who accuse Obama of being beholden to traditional liberal special interests (like unions) can't say he was toeing anyone's line in this case. But at the same time, those on the left who demand energy reform will have to be behind this kind of initiative, even if it rankles the union constituency. And Obama delivered his stance with a positivity that looked to find a solution, not to call out an industry that has failed miserably in adjusting to the new realities of world energy production and consumption (a future that has been inevitable for decades).

I was so impressed with how Obama handled the issue, and I was even more impressed that he brought it up himself, rather than wait for a question from the press.

Quite a change from Bush's simplistic pronouncements like, "They hate us for our freedom," no?

And it's not just Obama, but the people who surround him. The new anti-anti-intellectual wave (yes, I meant to write that) that Obama is carrying with him to Washington was apparent as I watched his transition team member and long-time friend Valerie Jarrett on Meet the Press on Sunday (you can read the transcript of the show here). Tom Brokaw, knowing that many viewers didn't know much about Jarrett, began the interview with a quick "Meet the Press version of a baseball card" of her. The mini bio noted that she graduated from Stanford University and the University of Michigan Law School (and her daughter is at Harvard Law School), worked as a deputy chief of staff for the mayor of Chicago, and currently serves as the CEO of a real estate development company.

As I watched Jarrett speak with knowledge and insight on the Obama family, the transition, and potential members of the new administration, I was struck by the difference between the people Obama has surrounded himself with and the parade of unqualified and under-educated cronies and ideologues that made up the Bush administration. I immediately flashed back to Bill Maher's "new rule" in April 2007 about the importance of competence, and how Bush's anti-intellectual, political, competence-disdaining approach to staffing was epitomized by Monica Goodling, who was the number three person at the Justice Department before she resigned as part of the U.S. Attorney scandal. As Maher pointed out, Goodling was 33 and had no prosecutorial experience, even though she was charged with overseeing the performance of the more than 90 U.S. Attorneys around the country (who, in turn, managed thousands of lawyers under them). It seems Goodling's qualification for the job was that she attended Pat Robertson's law school, Regent University School of Law, which is ranked in the last tier of schools in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. Maher reported that 150 Regent graduates were hired by the Bush administration.

Goodling was emblematic of Bush's sea of crony appointees. There were so many embarrassing appointments, but these three jump out at me: He put Michael Brown, the judges and stewards commissioner of the International Arabian Horse Association, in charge of FEMA, with disastrous results after Hurricane Katrina; he tried to appoint his buddy Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, even though she was a commercial litigator with a law degree from Southern Methodist University (nothing to be ashamed of, but not a resume for a Supreme Court justice); and he placed the overmatched political lackey Alberto Gonzales in charge of the Justice Department, resulting in the least independent, most politicized Justice Department in modern history.

And now, here was Jarrett, on top of her game, and the contrast was unmistakable. And the qualifications of the numerous names kicked around for cabinet posts in an Obama administration were equally impressive when weighed against Bush's choices.

George Monbiot wrote an article in the U.K. paper the Guardian last week that sought to explain why the U.S. has such an anti-intellectual streak to its politics, despite producing some of the greatest universities and research institutions in the world. When I read the article for the first time this morning, it crystallized all that had made me angry about the Bush presidency, and it helped accentuate what a breath of fresh air listening to Obama has been in comparison.

For the last eight years, I have bemoaned the growing idea in the United States that presidential candidates can be "too smart." I was sickened by the idea that the electorate seemed to demand mediocrity as a way of ensuring that a president could understand its concerns. As I wrote after the vice-presidential debate, I don't want a president who is "just like me," I want someone better. Watching Barack Obama this week, it occurred to me that, just maybe, America has decided to value intelligence over relatability, and competence over fear mongering. And that makes me very happy, no matter what the upcoming months and years hold for the new president.

Carol Hoenig: Ignorance No Longer An Excuse

2008-11-08T18:34:46Z

In his run for presidency and her run as his sidekick, Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin liked to take jabs at then Senator Barack Obama's eloquent speeches, as if talking intelligently meant being an outsider. They tried to use it as a red herring in reaching out to the "commoners" so that they wouldn't see the lack of substance in McCain's campaign. It was as though they wanted Americans to embrace their ignorance. Fortunately, ignorance lost on Tuesday.

Bill Maher spoke about ignorant Americans on his show last night without apology. I couldn't agree more, but before anyone takes umbrage, the first definition in my dictionary for the word ignorant is "lacking knowledge." With that in mind, most of us are ignorant about something. Yet, when that something is as important as the welfare of our country, we must work to gain knowledge so that we know the difference between manipulation and truth telling. The thing is, this becomes very difficult when most Americans get their "news" from pundits who have their own agenda. When these pundits are given a platform, many listeners assume what they say must be accurate: Obama wasn't patriotic because he didn't don an American flag pin. Obama hung out with terrorists. Obama was a Muslim. And this is where ignorance was obvious since many believed that being a Muslim was equal to being a terrorist.

So, yes, ignorance abounds. But whose fault is it? Making education a priority is a start in order to combat that lack of knowledge. Students need to be inspired to learn about the world so that they know that Africa is a continent and not a country. Somehow Sarah Palin missed that geography lesson. She also seemed to miss out on how to communicate with grace and dignity since in defending herself following McCain's and her loss, she referred to her campaign aides as "jerks." Finger pointing aside when it comes to that expensive wardrobe and those numerous missteps, what is glaring here is that the United States was not being put first in the selection of Sarah Palin as McCain's VP pick. Those campaign aides may indeed be jerks, but more seriously, if they knew how unprepared Palin was to be not only the VP, but a heartbeat away from being the president, they are devious manipulators purposely having kept the American public ignorant. But it cannot just be the campaign aides' fault that we are ignorant.

Even though it has been hijacked for quite some time now, in spite of the numerous cable "news" channels, the media also has much responsibility. Americans have to work extremely hard to get an unbiased report. And most Americans are too tired after a long day's work trying to pay the bills to have to sort out just who is telling the truth. Besides, these hard-working Americans sometimes just want to be entertained when they can finally collapse in front of the television. Often the pundits who spew opinions as though their words were truth fill that need to stay in touch with what's going on in the country while providing that entertainment. Unfortunately, that is much of the problem. However, I now have reason to believe that the welcome change will cross many different avenues while pundits' accusations will need to be proven and politics will no longer be run by secretive and self-serving politicians, starting with the presidency. If President-elect Obama remains true to his word, we will be in this together, which means that we have been given a responsibility to be less ignorant and gain the knowledge needed to move forward so that we are the United States of America.

Erica Heller: How Do I Thank Thee, Sarah Palin?

2008-11-08T11:08:51Z

(With profound apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

How do I thank thee for running, Sarah Palin? Let me count the ways.

I thank thee to the depth and breadth and height my Democratic, Obama-loving, unemployed soul can reach, still exhausted mightily from the interminable weeks of horrific suspense, waiting to find out if what we were witnessing was a monumental comedy or a catastrophic, world-ending horror-movie.

For letting Katie Couric peel back the layers early on and show that "There is no there there." For not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is or being able to name any Supreme Court cases. (For a second there, I really thought you might say: "Howzabout 'Stop In the Name of Love?'")

For winking during the debate as if twin 747s had flown into your eyes.

For not believing in evolution, for being as narrow-minded and mean-spirited as Scrooge on Christmas, for assuming that all American IQs were no higher than your shoe size, for thinking you could do a Houdini with shockingly expensive couturier fashions, for making the great Joe Biden, a distinguished, solid, national treasure, look and seem even more treasurable.

For honestly believing that real life in our great land had become just one big reality show and that overnight, without benefit of wisdom, knowledge, intellect, experience, ethics, conscience or the merest trace of substance, you wouldn't get voted off the island, could/would dance better than anyone else or be selected the next American Idol rather than the next American Midol.

Oh, how I thank you now for running, Sarah Palin. My mirth is bottomless!

I thank you for Ted Stevens, for thinking you could run the Senate, for defiantly refusing to show us your medical records, for thinking you could somehow look cool on SNL, for providing exquisite fodder for Keith, Rachel, Jon, Bill Maher, Richard Lewis and other mondo-brilliant minds everywhere who managed to spin your transparent mendacity and fomented hatred into gold, as we all watched and waited, breathless, astonished, that you, so unworthy and unfit, even came close. That you were ever even picked and taken half-seriously, you who wouldn't know NAFTA from NAMBLA, didn't know that Africa is a continent and not a country, allowed yourself to be pranked by a couple of impish and astute Canadian comedians, and probably thinks your next check-up is with Diet Dr. Pepper.

What a lesson it's been. America is great enough, free enough, to let someone like you run. But also smart enough to let you lose.

So, I thank thee for running, Sarah Palin, and for helping us last Tuesday to dodge the surreal, existential and yes, perhaps the greatest historical bullet of our lifetime. (As has, no doubt, our pre-natal paragon, Levi "Shootin' Shit" Johnston.)

Now, if only those poor Alaskan wolves could be so lucky.

Joshuah Bearman: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

2008-11-07T14:48:30Z

Like everyone, I have spent the past two days in a daze as the full consequence of the very fact of Obama's election materializes. I was in the biggest swing state, Florida, which redeemed itself for the past two disasters by turning blue. I went to the infomercial rally, saw a samba band praise McCain, and had martinis with Roger Stone. I posted some of those experiences as dispatches here, and then turned it into one epic essay for the LA Weekly. For anyone who wants to relive the magic of the greatest historical moment of our lives, here is my report from the ground:

SET THE CONTROLS FOR THE HEART OF THE SUN

1. DO OVER

Last time I was in Florida for an election was four years ago. Steve Elliott and I covered the entire campaign, starting with Dean's scream in the snows of Iowa to the final stretch in the biggest swing state, where we joined by half a dozen journalist friends. We stayed at the house of Larry Davis, a well-known Democratic attorney in Broward County. Larry had seen 2000 up close, when he worked with Gore's legal team. But it was Ohio that sunk John Kerry. He conceded at 3 a.m. When we woke up Wednesday, we didn't bother to watch Kerry's speech. We drove to beach and slipped into the water.

Floating beneath an azure sky, we felt the specter of a second Bush term lurking behind the swaying palms. "It just doesn't seem real," Steve said. Kerry had been down in the polls but gaining, and everyone thought he could scratch out a last minute squeaker. The warm waves felt like a ritual bath, but not enough to wash away the impurities of the entire nation. "I don't know," Steve said, "if I have the strength to get back to shore."

The next four years were everything we feared.

Then came the fight for post-Bush America, launching the most intense political drama of our time. We all know what happened: John McCain, left for dead, survived his primary and then waited for the Democratic dust to settle, from which emerged a 44-year-old half-black man named Barack Hussein Obama. From the start, incredibly, Obama was winning. Let's be clear as to why: Obama had better ideas, inspired millions of people, and ran a better campaign. In response, McCain jettisoned his independent pedigree to run a cynical campaign, best embodied by his vice presidential pick, Sarah Palin. When the economy soured, Obama opened a big lead. The Republicans panicked. They uncorked their foulest potions. Fear spread among Democrats that the Republicans would destroy a chance for the country to redeem itself. By now, everyone was consuming news in multiple formats for six hours daily. It felt like you could stop someone on the street and ask, "What's the latest on that Quinnipiac poll out of Ohio?" And they'd respond, "Well, it's tighter, but the likely voter model is screwy and there's some really good news in the cross tabs." In the back of everyone's minds lurked the question: Can they win again? "It feels like the Apocalypse," my friend Starlee said as final hour drew near. "Gog and Magog are lining up on the battlefield."

This is what brought me back to Florida, a week before the election. I'm with Steve Elliott again, along with several friends who were here last time. We're back at Larry's Davis' house. Everything's the same, except different. History repeats itself, Hegel observed, to which Karl Marx, in The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon, famously added "the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." It's fitting that the renewed Republican bugaboo should offer the most succinct possible précis of Bush's eight years. But that farce is almost done. And history will not be repeated. Steve and I had been surprised by Obama's electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, and thought: If only that guy were running. Here we are.

"It's like a Do-over," Steve says. "You know that date with your high school crush, the one that went awry, and you always wished you could go back, say the right things, and live the life together that fate always intended? This is going to be like that. But better."

2. INSANE IN THE McCAIN

Broward County, which includes Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale, is Florida's largest concentration of Democratic voters. It's the state's blue firewall. "We can make up for half the other counties combined," Larry says. We happen to arrive in Florida the same day as Obama's first big Broward event, the aptly titled Sunrise Rally. Tonight is Obama's vaunted informercial, during which the cameras will switch live to the 20,000 supporters currently streaming into the BankAtlantic Center. Outside, people had been lining up to see Obama since 6am. As the cars rolled past, a small but valiant detachment of McCain volunteers perched itself on the median, hoping to stem the tide.

"Do you see our plane?" the head volunteer said, pointing.

Above, an orange open cockpit stunt plane circled with a banner: DON'T SPREAD MY WEALTH VOTE McCAIN!

"No communism!" they yelled at passersby.

Exciting: my first glimpse of real, live McCainiacs. They are all nice to me, but vehement in their utter loathing of the press and anyone dumb enough not to realize that Obama represented some kind of creeping putsch. My notepad attracts a lot of attention, as everyone takes turns trying to convince me, the liberal elite media, how deranged the liberal elite media are. "They have such a distorted view!" Then it's on to a nuanced discussion of the issues, like: "MAN, I TELL YOU OBAMA IS SOCIALISM!"

One of the protestors, a self described "Jewban" named Elaine, wore a red sweater with three buttons. One of them said: DEMOCRATS 4 McCAIN.

"So you're a Democrat?"

"No. I'm just wearing this. The office gave it to me."

The next button announced that: MARTIN LUTHER KING WAS A REPUBLICAN.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked.

"No. They gave me that one too."

"I think that's not correct."

"I don't think so either."

Two of Elaine's three pieces of flair are falsehoods pinned to her by the McCain campaign. Sound familiar? Then came Al, the organizer of this outing, who liked to yell: "Use your brain, vote McCain!"

"You see how rude they are?" He asks me. "They flip you off, they don't know nothing. These people are so stupid. And they're voting!"

"So you think stupid people shouldn't vote?"

Yes, that's right, he affirms, especially not these stupid Obama people. Then he turns to a car to yell, "GO BACK TO RUSSIA!"

Behind me, a guy named Seth looks like a theme park McCain: black suit, rubber mask, waving indiscriminately with a fixed smile. In homage to his candidate, Seth even mimics the stiff arms and double thumbs up. A nice touch. But every so often the mask has to come off.

"This thing gets really sweaty," he says, holding the slightly disturbing rubber shell of McCain's face in his hand.

"It's a pretty good likeness," I say.

"I'm going use it for Halloween too!" Seth replies.

"Pretty scary."

"Yeah. And my wife will be Sarah Palin."

"Double scary!"

"I know. I can't wait."

3. THE STONE ZONE

In 2004, the GOP fielded massive teams of lawyers to mount challenges at Democratic polling precincts on Election Day, throwing out "suspect" ballots and generally gumming up the works. One day, we discovered GOP staffers posing as gay pride protestors at a heavily religious polling station in an attempt to make churchgoing black voters uncomfortable.

But this time, there are no signs of voter suppression. "I think it's already over down here," says Larry. The nail in the coffin, he says, was Florida Governor Charlie Crist's emergency extension of early voting hours on Tuesday. "That means even he thinks its over."

Looking for potential leads on dirty tricks, Steve and I tracked down legendary Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone. Stone, who lives in Miami. loves talking to the press. Stone cuts an odd figure among Republican operatives; he learned hardball from his hero, Nixon -- his self-professed political creed is WWND: What Would Nixon Do? -- and has since worked for Bob Dole, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. He also has a dyed blond buzz cut, lifts weights, and is candid about his libertine ways, including a 1996 scandal in which he had to resign from Bob Dole's presidential campaign for soliciting group sex in a magazine ad. Not too long ago, Stone had a tattoo of Tricky Dick's face on his back.

"I'm with Charlie Crist on the voting," Stone says over martinis at a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. "You can't be afraid of democracy. You have to compete in the arena of ideas and let people vote." This is relatively surprising coming from the guy who, rather infamously, claims to have organized the so-called Brooks Brothers riot in 2000 wherein a mob of well dressed Republican partisans stormed the Miami-Dade clerk's office and shut down that county's recount, thereby helping to precipitate the legal (rather than electoral) resolution of the election.

Stone is a charismatic and deeply fascinating figure, one who relishes his sinister reputation. Above us is Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler, the law firm where Stone bases his operations. Stone tells us that Rothstein owns this restaurant. He's at the next table, in fact, surrounded by colleagues and friends, all well-fed guys in two-thousand dollar suits, smoking cigars, flirting with the unnaturally tan blondes in satin corsets who staff the place. It is an almost mythical portrait of fat cats, Florida-style. All they need are hundred dollar bills for lighting their contraband Cubans.

Stone offers a scathing review of McCain's campaign. His argument: don't have lobbyists run your campaign (not because of the political implications but because they don't know how); don't campaign by committee; start with one message and build on it over time. Like many conservatives, Stone is disappointed that the McCain of 2000 was usurped by the unrecognizably petty and fake McCain of 2008. "The whole reason for his candidacy was his centrist reformer image," Stone says. "They systematically erased that advantage. No one cares about all these attacks."

Even worse, according to Stone, is what the campaign means for the Republican party. "McCain had an opportunity to redefine the GOP as a centrist party with conservative roots," Stone says. "Instead they went for the base and ceded the moderates." The blame, he says, lies with Rove and Bush. Stone hates both, and not just because of their botched administration. "We're supposed to be the party of freedom and liberty," he says, "and they want to detain people illegally and torture them?" Stone's libertarian leanings are why he's voting against Proposition 2, a state ballot initiative to ban gay marriage in Florida. "Life is short," he says. "If gay people want to marry and be happy, why shouldn't the be?"

About his adopted state, Stone likes to quote Somerset Maugham: "a sunny place for shady people." As we talk, more dark-suited men appear at the restaurant. They all hug Stone, or give him a kiss on the cheek. They whisper in each others' ears. One of them is said to be a local crime boss. The whole thing feels like a cut scene from Grand Theft Auto, Vice City, and I half expect Roger to give me a mission: Listen kid, Colonel Cortez is getting to be a real pain my ass. Go to Starfish Island, get my boat, find the Cortez, and take care of 'em. Instead, Roger tells vivid stories of his own political missions over the years, including the ground war in Florida in 2000.

I ask Stone if he regrets the Brooks Brothers riot. He has never made such an admission, although his detractors might argue that he didn't play a big enough role for any remorse. Whatever Stone's contribution to the disaster of the past eight years, it clearly troubles him because he pauses for the first time in our conversation. Finally, Stone says, "Of course I do. I think about it every day."

There may be pride buried in that guilt, but I think Stone means it. Like a blond, Nixon-tattooed Raskolnikov, Stone wants to confess. All those dead soldiers weigh on him, he says. It's hard to live with that. There's dirty tricks and there's dirty tricks. If he could have do-over, he would probably take it. It's not that he likes Obama -- but this year, he says, will be different.

4. I HAVE A DREAM

I remember all my dreams. Every night. With a head full of politics, it was just a matter of time until my subconscious created its own version of Oliver Stone's "W," as happened last night. It was a jumble of three fuzzy acts that I'm going to guess are very different from the actual movie, which I didn't see. But here's the strange part: the night before I dreamt a trailer for my own version of "W," an unprecedented (for me, anyway) sneak preview of the following night's feature. And I must commend my subconscious, because this trailer was an incredible compelling piece of cinema, that I can't stop thinking about and will there for briefly share:

SCENE: George and Laura are together in a dark study. There is a fire in the fireplace. It is a quiet moment. George reclines in Odalisque repose on a tooled leather settle. It may be the real George Bush or the Josh Brolin George Bush; either way, he is definitely younger, less grey, less troubled.

He is also naked. As is Laura, who is on the floor, with her hair mussed. Privates are tastefully obscured, as their feet nearly touch at the center of the scene, framing the fireplace in the background. The rich darkness of the study and illumination from the fire make it look like an oil painting. The trailer begins on the fireplace, actually, and the camera slowly pulls back to reveal the scene of post-coital lovers. There is clever, counter-thematic music supervision, the way Sofia Copolla set Marie Antoinette repairing to the Trianon to New Order. We heare "Six Different Ways" by The Cure. The whole thing is strangely beautiful, this intimate moment from before lives were ruined. As if to say: at least they loved each other. And that's all anyone can have in the end.

5. LAST DANCE

It's 11:59 and there's no sign of the big dog. We're another Bank Center, the Bank United Center at University of Miami. It's Sunday night, thirty or so hours until the first polls open, and this will be McCain's last appearance in south Florida. McCain is supposed to go on at 12:15, but he's flying in from New Hampshire, the fourth of five campaign stops that started at 6 a.m. Now they're saying close to 1am. At this point, McCain's arrival time doesn't matter, since the auditorium has turned itself into a swinging Latin dance party over the past several hours. There's an enormous band stand, where a pack of horns, full percussion section, and Grammy winner Albita have been lost in a half-hour Samba Odyssey dedicated to their candidate: Don-de es-ta Sen-ior Mah-Cain!

On the floor, costumed dancers work a rhythmic swing while waving pom poms and McCain/Palin signs. Gorgeous women twirl in floor length skirts. Lithe young men do fancy footwork. All for the love of the GOP. The Cubans are the last constituency under the Republican tent with any pizzazz. I run into a friend who's on McCain's plane and asked him if this anything like other McCain events. He asks if I am joking. This is clearly the most fun you'll ever have at a McCain event. It's as if they collected all the life left in the GOP, put it in this room, and lit the fuse for one last party. And it is, in truth, a rocking party.

"It feels like it could descend into an orgy at any minute," my friend Steve Elliott says.

Dance floors can play tricks on your mind. It's true that if you squint in here, you might be fooled into thinking that the GOP isn't collapsing into a parochial, eschatological, white dwarf. But the only reason this warm-blooded Caribbean crowd is rabid for McCain is the ever-fresh psychic wound of Fidel Castro, a half century before. For them the socialism charge has really taken hold. Half the t-shirts in sight read: BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR: CUBA GOT 'CHANGE' IN 1959. Accessorizing the anti-Socialism slogans are the "Joe" (as in the Plumber) stickers, worn by nearly everyone in the room. "Come to think of it," Steve says. "I hope was wrong about that orgy."

At quarter to one, McCain appears, with his lineup of the usual suspects: Cindy, Tom Ridge, and Joe Lieberman. They smile as McCain lays into his speech, which is not a speech at all but a hit parade of the kneecappers that have bubbled to the surface of his incoherent campaign: Biden's "crisis" comment; drill here, and drill now; Obama will (gasp) engage in diplomacy; Redistributionist-in-Chief; "spread the wealth," replete with finger quotes; measuring the drapes; Mac is back; oh, and don't forget our good friend Joe the Plumber!

Similar to his general campaign, McCain offers no overarching message whatsoever on the stump. It reminds me of the quarterback running for class president in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure who takes the stage and just yells: SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES! Whereas Obama's speeches apply themes to a well-crafted argument, McCain strings together a bunch of hopeful zingers, some of which fall flat even among friends. After all, no one gives a fuck about $18 billion in pork barrel spending when the deficit this year will be a trillion dollars.

That may be why McCain keeps it short, jumping to the battle cry that has marked the end of his speeches since he accepted the nomination in Minneapolis. "I'm not afraid of the fight," he says. "I'm ready for it, and you're going to fight with me!" As always, he whips the crowd into a furious crescendo. "Stand up," he yells as the roar drowns him out. "Fight! Stand up and fight!"

It is a rousing performance: the old soldier, mortally wounded, still rallying his troops. Despite McCain's disastrous candidacy, I feel a little bad for him. "He was misled by his strategists," said one supporter in the crowd nearby. "Obama was just better at it." Where McCain went wrong, as we know, will soon be the subject of many detailed post mortems. I've always thought McCain could have run an honorable campaign and left the political stage a hero. Instead, he'll be remembered as a tragic footnote, the malevolent foil of the grand political drama called Barack Obama.

"Don't feel bad for the guy," Steve says. "He knew the stakes. He's a dice shooter, and he put his chips on the line when he went Rovian in July." After that, Steve says, the odds collapsed around two outcomes: "President or asshole. And we all know the odds on that one."

But here, in this room, the glory of the moment obscures that inevitable reality. Now I understand why McCain stepped up his campaign schedule in the last days. It must be exhilarating to be loved in failure. Who wants to hear bad news from your strategists and pollsters when you can have your spirits lifted for another few minutes by a crowd of thousands? Soon, however, those crowds will be gone, and McCain will have to face himself. As will the party. Until then, the rallies are their mutual escape. "When I'm elected President..." McCain bellows. I guess Republicans do believe in hope after all.

6. POISONING THE WELLS

The Pompano Beach McCain field office, like almost everything else in Florida, is housed in a strip mall. There's a guy waving a flag out front, but inside traffic is light. We've been hearing about empty McCain offices, sapped of enthusiasm, but this one has a few true believers left. "We're still high on the rally down in Miami last week," says one of the volunteer coordinators. "There were a lot of Hispanics there, and it was good to hear them sing the Star Spangled Banner." Then she adds, "Oh, you know else was there? The Jewish. They turned out in droves."

Then we meet Tim McClellan, the Northeast Broward Regional Field Manager. Tim is a nice guy, forthright and friendly, which you don't usually find in any political office during a campaign. He's also gone through the political Looking Glass. After we ask a few questions about bread and butter Republican issues like terrorism, Tim quickly segues to crackpot conjecture that Obama is not a citizen. "

"That's a debunked internet rumor," I say. "Obama produced his birth certificate."

"But there's no seal on his birth certificate and the font is wrong."

This twist in the persistent rumor is being promoted, at this very moment, by a lunatic fringe blogger named Pam Geller at a rally in Palm Beach. Obama's birth certificate has been verified by the State of Hawaii and multiple news organizations. But that's not good enough by Tim. For him, the better source of fact is a lawsuit by Philip J. Berg, a longtime paranoiac gadfly who has also filed lawsuits demanding "the truth about 9/11." Berg has filed so many lawsuits, as it happens, that the very lawsuit Tim cites was thrown out as frivolous. Nevertheless, Tim says, he expects that "the US Supreme Court will prove that Obama's not a citizen."

Context will help understand why this is shocking. Tim is a paid McCain staffer questioning the citizenship of the Democratic presidential candidate. Such a thing would have never have happened in 2004. Bush's campaign, for all its faults, had discipline. First off, had you wandered into a Bush field office with a notebook someone would have taken you down with a flying tackle. And you certainly wouldn't have been able to quote the local honcho straying way off message. But my encounter with Tim illuminates drives home something even more troubling: he's not off message. With McCain swinging at shadows, like ACORN, Rashid Khalidi, and the liberal media that won't tell the truth, the entire Republican apparatus has devolved into an insidious rumor mill. The sub rosa dirty work that once was the province of 527s is now official material. Some time around six weeks ago, the party held hands, took a deep breath, and stepped off the cliff.

We visit several McCain visibilities nearby, and not one supporter is interested in the issues. They want to talk about "Obama's shady associations"; how his money was raised by the PLO; and the minorities who took down the economy via Fanny and Freddy. Not a single Florida Republican seems to sense any irony when they complain that Obama, who is seven points ahead nationally, will probably "steal the election."

Spending some time among the rank and file makes you realize that the last two weeks have not been about winning this election, but making the country ungovernable. It was McCain himself who ominously warned that the "fabric of Democracy" is threatened. If this true, it's backwards: democracy has been at least moderately damaged by McCain, one of whose own advisors recently acknowledged, after being unable to point to any actual instances of voter fraud, that the whole charge is a "perception" meant to "plant seeds of doubt." I guess its the lesson McCain learned from Vietnam: if we can't have the country, no one can. Let's burn it down -- and poison the wells for good measure.

But the scorched earth isn't working. Obama's still ahead. It may even backfire: resurrecting the culture war and wrapping it in paranoid delusion has stripped the Republican party to its radioactive core. Remember Rove's "permanent Republican majority" of four years ago? That dream is long gone. It is almost tragic to watch the "intellectuals" on The Corner who contort themselves into a rage in defense of Sarah Palin. If that's whom they choose as the standard bearer for the cause of Edmund Burke, William F. Buckley, and Leo Strauss, fine. The game is over. It's that brand of politics that caused Colin Powell, the most popular Republican nationwide, to frame his earth-shattering endorsement of Obama inside a detailed un-endorsement of what his own party has become. "I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion," Powell said, that "[Obama] might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

7. GOODBYE DARKNESS, HELLO LIGHT

In 2004, Obama made his a pitch for national unity on behalf of John Kerry. "Now, even as we speak," he worried, "there are those who are preparing to divide us -- the spin masters, the negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of 'anything goes.'" Little did he know just how far "anything" would go. But even then, Obama had an answer. "I say to them tonight, there is not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America...There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and there are patriots who supported the war in Iraq. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

Obama's rhetoric is stage-crafted, well-honed, political theater, but it is political theater in the service of a grand idea -- an idea enshrined in our national motto. Not "In God We Trust," which came along in 1954, but the original one: E Pluribus Unum. To hear words like these invoked with real conviction is an utterly new experience for people my age. Cloaked in protective irony, we never talked about things like and "hope" and "service" and "country" and mean it. Believing in things used to make us uncomfortable.

By 7pm on Tuesday, it's becoming clear that Obama might deliver on his promise from 2004. It's about time. Everyone has been anxious-giddy-excited-nervous- hopeful all day. This morning, Steve had to tear himself away from the computer. "I keep looking for the one blog that will tell me the future and calm my nerves," my friend Starlee says. "But it just doesn't exist."

"I know he's ahead in the polls," Steve says as we all gather with Larry and Janet and several other friends. We're in the same. "But I can't stop worrying."

"Don't worry," Larrys says. "We got 'em,"

"Those are the precise words you used last time," Steve says.

We're in the same place where we watched those returns. Seeing as what happened with exit polls in 2004, we mostly ignore them, but sense good vibes. Soon enough, numbers arrive: McCain's Pickett's charge into Pennsylvania is a bust. Ohio goes decisively blue. Florida's looking good. Then: Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado. The electoral math is a fait accompli, but we don't quite expect the announcement to come so sharply at 11 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, when the last continental polls closes, the networks return from break, and the entire west coast lights up blue. Obama is now the "American President Americans have been waiting for." Our scene, I'm sure, is just like millions across the country. Cheers, tears, and clinking of beers.

By the time John McCain makes his concession speech, we've already forgotten about him. Oh right -- that guy! McCain, I now realize, was always irrelevant. The election was a referendum on the American experiment. In a time of peril, we faced a stark contrast: reason or superstition, tolerance or tribalism, progress or prejudice. The results are in, and they are positive. We made the right choice. In a fucking landslide even.

Early the next morning, we go to the same beach from 2004. The same azure sky, same gently swaying palms, same waves. The enormity of an Obama presidency sinks in. Commentators have already started reaching back through time to define the significance of the moment. The Reagan chapter of history is closed. The civil rights movement reached its mountaintop. The culture war sat up in its coffin, said boo, and retreated to its final resting place. The North finally won the Civil War.

Hyperbole, all. But why not take it a step further? Floating out there in the Atlantic at dawn, I declare the election to be nothing less than the triumph of light over darkness. Yeah, that's what it was. A Manichean confrontation. As at Dunkirk, or in the fires of Mt. Doom. So when you turn on the television tomorrow and they tell you that McCain lost because he changed messages, or couldn't organize his team, or raised too little money, don't listen. Because that's not what happened. What happened was good faced evil, and finally won. The waves make this thought go down easier. The spell is broken. The nightmare is over. And at the horizon, where the ocean meets the sky, the sun is rising over Obama's America.

Rick Siegel: With Thanks To Those Who Brought Us Here

2008-11-05T15:24:04Z

As would be expected when something as unlikely as an African American becoming President of the United States, many deserve our gratitude.

Thanks to General Electric, who despite being entrenched as a corporate leader of the military industrial complex, gave a voice to MSNBC, giving progressive thinkers a place to turn to learn they did not stand alone.

Thanks to Time-Warner, who similarly gave us Bill Maher, and CBS for the campaign gifts of David Letterman, and through Comedy Central, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert.

Likewise, thanks to Arianna Huffington for creating the site: not just so you can read this post but for creating a web-home for progressive thought, comment and humor.

Thanks to the Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, for showing that however institutionalized, even the staunchest Republican thinkers can still vote with their conscious, intellect and sense of right.

Thanks to John Kerry and those in the 2004 Democratic National Committee who, in choosing him to deliver that convention's keynote address, plucked an Illinois State Senator running for the U.S. Senate from obscurity and into the national spotlight.

Thanks to Al Gore or whoever did invent the internet, and to Steve Jobs and all those who helped popularize the home computers, which together led to the grass roots effort to raise unprecedented moneys and the first true 21st century political campaign.

And thanks to the Tiger Woods, Chris Rocks, Michael Jordans, Oprah Winfreys, Magic Johnsons, Walter Paytons, Denzel Washingtons, Bill Cosbys and their like who through their talents and personalities showed it was okay to welcome black people into all of our living rooms and hearts.

Most important, thanks to Branch Rickey. To those who do not know, Mr. Rickey did not just break baseball's color barrier, but explained to Jackie Robinson how he had to act in order to succeed. "I want a player," Rickey told Robinson, "with guts enough not to fight back."

Obama followed the Rickey game plan to a tee. His behavior was exemplary, perfect, cautious. He never pointed to color, never accepted it as an issue while all those around him did. He didn't tit for tat, but instead took the hits and continued moving forward: always on message, always with honor and grace. My guess is that I'm not the only one thanking Mr. Rickey. I'd be surprised if the Senator and his staff never mentioned the need to follow the stoic, strong-shouldered strategy of the Brooklyn Dodger patriarch.

Relatedly, last but obviously not least, thanks to President-elect Obama. Not just for leading this nonviolent coup of everyday, ordinary Americans overthrowing a military industrial junta, but for recognizing that the work has just begun: muting the overwhelming cheers of "Yes We Did" by punctuating his outline of the challenges ahead with reminders that "Yes We Can."

Now let's go do it.

Jon Wiener: The Undecideds: What's Their Problem?

2008-11-04T13:01:41Z

Undecided voters--"or, as I call them, morons," Bill Maher says--remained a stubborn five or six percent of the electorate as the polls reported final results yesterday. Obama and McCain each have spent tens of millions on TV ads to persuade them, and thousands of hours of door-to-door canvassing to talk to them face to face.

What's their problem? The undecideds have been staring at the menu now for almost a year--why haven't they made up their minds?

In fact the "undecideds" include at least four different groups:

1. The cross-pressured: people with conflicting political interests--upper-class white women from Republican families who are pro-choice; older white union members who don't want a black president.

2. The cynical and alienated: people who say "all politicians are alike; they're all liars; the system is rigged."

3. The inattentive and the ignorant: people who don't pay attention to politics, who say they aren't interested.

4. The deceivers: people who really have decided--but won't tell the pollsters.

Each of these groups is likely to follow a different trajectory today:

The cross-pressured are the principal target for both campaigns, but for at least some of them, economic pressures push them towards Obama.

The cynical and alienated are likely to vote for a third party, or not at all.

The inattentive and ignorant may be moved by the enthusiasm and passion of the Obama campaign and its focus on the economy and health care.

The deceivers seem to me to be more likely to be secretive McCain supporters than Obama people.

So today it's hard to see any decisive movement one way or the other from the undecideds, but we may see some movement towards Obama.

Nevertheless, their votes could be crucial in states where the leading candidate had less than 50 per cent in the final polls. In Florida, for instance: Pollster.com, which aggregates the poll numbers, ended up with Obama at 48.3 and McCain at 46.1. That means 5.6 of likely voters were undecided the weekend before Election Day. If 71 per cent of the Florida undecideds went for McCain, he'd win 51.1 per cent of the popular vote - and of course all of Florida's 27 electoral votes.

The situation is similar in the final polling for Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina, where Obama is ahead but didn't reach the 50 per cent mark.

Still, there's nothing that requires the undecideds to make up their minds. Despite the tens of millions the campaigns have spent to win their votes, many will probably stay home today. If that happens, Obama probably wins most of the swing states, where he was ahead in the final polls.

Beverly Wettenstein: Joe the Plumber Vs. Lilly Ledbetter

2008-11-04T10:30:49Z

Supreme Injustice: Vote for More Ledbetter Decisions or Better Led Decisions

Why is Joe the Plumber the media darling and Lilly Ledbetter, today's real-life Rosie the Riveter, and maverick reformer Supreme Court advocate for working women, ignored by the press?

All the media -- print, broadcast, cable, hard news, tabloid, Internet -- was quick to create the latest in a line of celebritease in the regular guy guise of Joe the Plumber. He was mentioned more than 20 times in the last presidential debate. Barak Obama did cite Lilly Ledbetter and her Supreme Court case to ensure women earn "equal pay for equal work" and pledged to make it a priority. Have you seen her press coverage?

John McCain chose Sarah Palin to represent the working class. Palin's current net worth is more than $1 million dollars. Does she speak for women -- or to women? Is she Rosie, the Riveting Speaker, with the Rose-colored Glasses, or Rosie the Riveter, Working Woman?

Palin talks about "everyday Americans who are running our factories." Isn't that Lilly Ledbetter, the twenty-year veteran of a Goodyear Tire factory who was underpaid and denied retribution by the Supreme Court and the Senate?

McCain sought to connect with the working class and claim his moJoe with his new BFF and wing man. Joe the Plumber is now a key player in his campaign entourage. He is featured in every speech and in the media. Will Joe the Plumber be in the McCain kitchen cabinet?

Why has the media ignored Ledbetter, the real American working woman and advocate for equal pay? Why has the media glorified Joe as the spokesperson for the average working person? Early fact-checking revealed he isn't a licensed plumber and he isn't as flush as he claimed. His prospects for buying the two-man plumbing business he works for may, ineed, be a pipe dream, with no draining tax consequences. Joe now has an agent, is consulted on air about foreign policy by Fox News and compares with Bob the Builder for public awareness.

Who is Lilly Ledbetter you may well ask? Ledbetter is today's Rosie the Riveter, the World War II icon to represent working women, Norma Rae and Erin Brockovich wrapped in one brave maverick reformer advocate for women's "equal pay for equal work."

Briefly, Ledbetter worked at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant in Alabama for almost twenty years. She worked as an area manager from 1979 until she took early retirement in 1998, when the plant closing was announced. In 1996 she received a "Top Performer" award. Ledbetter was the only woman supervisor in her unit. She received an anonymous note revealing the higher pay of her colleagues. Throughout her career she had been paid less than younger, less experienced and more junior male workers for the same job. She was earning less than $4,000 a month -- 15% less than the lowest-paid male area manager and 40% less than the highest-paid area manager. With this "proof," she filed a suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). A jury found that Goodyear discriminated and awarded her back pay and punitive damages amounting to $3 million.

Goodyear appealed the case up to the Supreme Court and got a reversal of the jury verdict by one vote. On May 29, 2007, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. reversed 40 years of legal precedent on "equal pay for equal work."

Now victims of pay discrimination must file a lawsuit within 180 days of the first paycheck discrepancy, even if the victim is not aware until later. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her dissent, noted that the Opinion is "one that tossed aside precedent and logic."

Ledbetter received no back pay and no court costs. In retirement, she has become a dedicated, outspoken advocate for other women to earn "equal pay for equal work." I hope a film is made of her life story and she reaps the rewards. I see working women heroine actresses Charlise Theron, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep or Sally Field playing her role.

When Obama mentioned Ledbetter in the final debate, McCain muttered that it would create "a trial lawyers dream." He and opponents claim that trial lawyers could take advantage of women who allege discrimination. The EEOC reports discrimination charges filed by women in 2007 reached almost 25,000. Ledbetter was brave as the sole woman and filed her suit after taking early retirement. Most class action cases are filed by lawyers on a contingency basis. Certainly, they only accept a case with evidence of discrimination and they only collect if they win.

When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act on June 10, 1963, women earned 59 cents for every dollar earned by men. Today white women earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by men; African-American women earn 66 cents and Hispanic women earn less. In Europe women earn 16 percent less than men for equal work.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion and extended affirmative action to the hiring of women as well as minorities.

The House of Representatives passed the corrective Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Senate has stalled. McCain agrees with the Supreme Court decision. Palin concurs with McCain and the Supreme Court. Will Palin and the women senators who support the Supreme Court decision accordingly accept lower salaries in sympathy with real American working women?

Let's cut the lipshtick and bull and focus on the real issues that makeup legislation affecting all women and their families. For the first time in history, a majority of adult women are single, separated, widowed or divorced. Women are the head, or sole provider, of almost 13% of all households. More than 10 million single mothers live with children under 18.

Here's a shoutout to all working women and especially young women beginning their careers. According to the Supreme Court decision, and Senate support, you should ask to see the paychecks for all your coworkers the first day on a new job. You have 180 days to determine if your first paycheck is discriminatory. Or, like Ledbetter, you will be underpaid for the rest of your career with the company and in retirement. Ledbetter was instructed not to discuss salary with coworkers upon hiring. Companies have strict policies about salary secrecy and offenses could be cause for firing.

The reality for women who do not have lifetime appointments and public salaries like the Supreme Court justices and senators -- or access to a multimillion dollar family fortune -- is you are dependent on a paycheck. Lilly Ledbetter's lower salary throughout her career at Goodyear -- a misnomer -- predetermined her reduced 401(k), pension and Social Security in retirement. As women move up the career ladder, base salary is just a portion of the total executive pay package that may include stock options, travel and expense allowance, bonus, etc.

Tori Spelling ditched the "90210" spinoff when she learned that she would be earning less than her former castmates. Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, seeks IRS exception from its nonprofit status to keep top salaries of the league's employees secret. Salary secrecy is management's great American tradition of doing business.

Women need income before worrying about paying income tax. I'm less concerned about the BlackBerry/Pinkberry voters. I care about the women for whom Goodwill hunting describes shopping for family necessities.

The media has focused on Ivy League-educated women who opt out of the workforce. I call this the "Ivy Leave" option and it is available to only a few women. Most women have to work to support their families or are forced back to work when confronted with the dreaded Ds: death, divorce, disease and downsizing (think Bare Stearns).

The next president may appoint up to three new Supreme Court justices. The appointment of life-tenured judges can become a president's and Congress' most consequential legacy. Five of the nine Supreme Court justices are 70 or older and justices serve on average 25 years. The 5-4 Ledbetter decision may be a precursor of how future legislation will impact working women and their families.

The Supreme Right to Shoes

When I speak around the country on "A Woman's Place in the 21st Century," young women tell me they don't vote because they don't see a connection between politics and their own lives. I respond, "How many of you own at least one pair of athletic shoes?" They all raise their hands.

I inform them that athletic shoes for women weren't manufactured until there was a mass market created by the Supreme Court 1972 Title IX ruling, requiring equality in education, including athletics.

Kathrine Switzer, as K. Switzer, crossed the finish line in the Boston Marathon in 1967. She had to order athletic shoes from abroad. Pioneer women runners wore men's or canvas shoes. Quite a feat!

The Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) finally allowed women to enter sanctioned marathons in 1971. Women were officially allowed to compete in Boston in 1972, and in the New York Marathon on an equal basis in 1973. Switzer won the New York race in 1974. A champion for women runners, Switzer was instrumental in having the first women's marathon in the 1984 Olympics.

Following the passage of Title IX, the number of sports available to college women had doubled by 1984. Joan Benoit admitted that she would not have won her way to victory in the 1984 inaugural women's marathon if she had not won a scholarship to North Carolina State under Title IX. Benoit set the world record in the Boston Marathon in 1983.

In 2007, almost 15 million women participated in running; more than 4 million females participated in races and 165,000 participated in marathons. In 2004, almost 140 million pairs of women's athletic shoes were sold in the US with sales figures of almost $5 billion. Today athletic shoes and clothing have become the uniform for even the most sedentary women. Sarah Palin is said to run three miles every other day.

Speaking of athletic shoes, I used to think high-top sneakers were ugly. That is until I fractured my ankle and had to wear them every day. I still appreciate the support they give me. I think of that when I'm evaluating the candidates for the national, state and local offices. Style vs. substance. Who will support me and all women?

Since the enactment of Title IX, opportunities for girls has increased by almost 1000 percent at the high school level. Today more than 3 million girls are participating in high school athletics.
College athletic scholarships for women were nonexistent before Title IX. Today more than 170,000 female student-athletes participate in intercollegiate athletics, up from 30,000 in 1972 before legislation was passed.

In 2006, $600 million in scholarships was awarded to female student-athletes in NCAA Division I colleges, including basketball (4,550 coeds), soccer (more than 6,000 coeds), softball (almost 5,000 coeds) and track and field (more than 7,000 coeds).

Ginger and Fed: Dancing with the Stars Wasn't Equal

Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. Only she had to do it backwards, in high heels, in a tight long dress, for lower salary. In her autobiography, Rogers said, "In my case, there's no question that the discrepancy in treatment and remuneration was due to my gender. When Fred Astaire made his demands to the front office, his requests were honored, while mine were attributed to 'greed' or 'ego.'" Plus, she had to spend more time in hair and makeup and costume fittings. Rogers had to negotiate hard to get her equitable paycheck. After much foot-dragging by the studio executives, she stood her ground and won a better contract and a percentage of the profits.

Carrie Bradshaw ("Sex and the City") cultivated an extensive shoe collection and never voted. More than 35 million eligible women did not vote in the 2004 election. Less than 47% of the women aged 18 to 29 voted in 2004. Nearly 20 million unmarried women did not vote in 2004. Women comprise the majority of all voters and the majority of swing and undecided voters. Compare how much time you spend shopping for shoes -- and how much time you spend shopping for your elected officials. Turn out. Don't tune out on Election Day.

Eleanor Roosevelt was 36 when she was allowed to vote for the first time. Remember her and Lilly Ledbetter and all the maverick reformer women and men who fought for your right to vote and fair pay and equality. Vote based on the candidates' agenda, not gender.

"Celebrate Women Every Day!" is the motivational message in my speeches on "A Woman's Place in the 21st Century," "A WOMAN'S BOOK OF DAYS Journal" and writings. Sarah Palin has reached milestones for women as the first woman governor of Alaska and the first VP candidate on the GOP ticket. She's shown American girls that they may grow up to run for VP and that men do make passes at girls who wear glasses.

Please contact your senators to support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act and tell your friends.

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