Exciting the lizard brain VII

Spot picked up this link from Informed Comment today:

The Republican vice presidential candidate [Sarah Palin] attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally [?] encouraged white supremacists to go even further.

The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.

Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"

The article, in the U.K.'s Telegraph, states:

Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: "Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues."

But sow the wind and reap the whirlwind, Sarah:

Irate John McCain aides, who blame Mrs Palin for losing the election, claim Mrs Palin took it upon herself to question Mr Obama's patriotism, before the line of attack had been cleared by Mr McCain.

That claim is part of a campaign of targeted leaks designed to torpedo her ambitions, with claims that she did not know that Africa was a continent rather than a country.

The advisers have branded her a "diva" and a "whack job" and claimed that she did not know which other countries are in the North American Free Trade Area, (Canada and Mexico). They say she spent more than $150,000 on designer clothes, including $40,000 on her husband Todd and that she refused to prepare for the disastrous series of interviews with CBS's Katie Couric.

Crediting Palin with the loss is perhaps a little generous, but she certainly didn't do the ticket any good.

Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin,Barack Obama,John McCain,racist gunmen,divas,whack jobs

Stop me if you've heard this one before

The Republican candidate in a very tight race first urges his opponent to get over it and just concede. Then his team files a lawsuit to stop ballots from being counted. (warning: pdf file) GOP attack dogs accuse Democrats of doing what they were first accused of doing. Other GOP henchmen insist that by waiting for the statutorily mandated recount that will be conducted according to rules long in place, Democrats are "cast[ing] doubt on our process, or worse, creat[ing] chaos."

Can a Brooks Brothers riot be far behind?

Drinking Liberally Election Night Party!

Technorati Tags: Drinking Liberally,election night parties,Barack Obama,John McCain,331 Club

The grasshopper takes a field trip

With Sigmund Spot.

Today, grasshopper, ve vill take za trip around za 'net to zee how za Republicans are coping with za loss of za presidency and several House and Senate seats. Za short answer is not well.

Will we get snacks at the end, Sigmund Spot?

Maybe grasshopper, if you behave!

So, vere to go first? Ah, let's look right here at za Cucking Stool and a comment left after za election by za adam smith. It reads, in part:

This country is definitely center-right. Obama basically won on a conservative platform: tax cuts, market driven health care, work hard, be patriotic, he talked tough on Pakistan, used private campaing [sic] financing, used Rove-created micro-marketing tactics, he was for bailing out wall street (which will haunt him), etc. That platform is definitely right of something.

You zee, grasshopper, za cognitive dissonance must be killing za adam smith. He's za conservative, and now he will have za Democratic president. What to do? What to do? Za adam smith's head is hurting!

In situations like zis, za patient will try to eliminate za cognitive dissonance. Here, za adam smith can do one of two tings: 1: he can change za attitude toward za Democrats, or 2) he can decide zat za Democrats are conservative. Za adam smith chooses number two.

But, hoo boy, not all conservatives zink zat way! Take our friend za Katie, who writes today:

We've just elected a Democratic Congress and a president whom the non-partisan National Journal has named as America's "most liberal senator."

Ja, zat Katie is a curious case. Here, she is za case of denial and za displacement.

How's that, Sigmund Spot?

Vell, first of all, she writes:

Hold up, folks. We're not headed into uncharted territory here. Over the years, America has experienced countless zigs and zags in economic and social policy, but has repeatedly proven its ability to right itself and avoid long-term damage. When liberal politicians in power over-reach, as they usually do, we can count on common sense to provide a corrective.

Katie cannot quite believe zat ve finally purged ourselves [Siggy is za naturalized citizen] of za worst grifters and imperial hucksters ever! She zinks ve vill come to our senses and "right" ourselves. Zat's za denial.

Za column is also full of za digs at liberals:

In this electoral climate, anyone with a "D" after his name - even a potty-mouthed comedian - could be competitive in a race for high elective office.

Zis one is more subtle. Za President-Elect is enjoying za feelings of good will,  so it would be churlish, even for za Katie, to heap too much on Barack Obama. So, she finds another, more convenient, and safer target, za Al Franken.

But za most obvious coping strategies on display come from za Shot in za Dark. Both Mitch and JRoosh are involved in za fantasy zinking. First is za Mitch, who zeems to zink zat za Bile Duct 1280 radio is za reason zat Kline, Paulsen, and Bachmann won. Here's za fantasy zinking:

A week ago, the Three Tenors of Talk came to town.  They got out an avalanche of the base; the Patriot expected perhaps 1,500 people, maybe; we drew almost 3,000, and were turning people away at the door by the time we were ready go get going last October 28.

A conservative Republican electorate that was widely reported as “despirited” going into that week came out afterward and, to quote Minnesota’s great sage, “shocked the talking heads” at 425 Portland a week later. 

Where does the core of AM1280’s demographic live?

In the Third, the Sixth and the Second Districts.

Ve also call zis za delusions of grandeur!

And zen, ve have JRoosh, who blames stock market declines after the election on za Barack Obama:

That's right Mitch, the Market didn't exactly endorse Obama's victory. In fact, Barack Obama made history two days in a row: the largest post-election stock market plunge in history.

Never mind zat za stock market has been making record plunges for several weeks and has lost six zousand points in za last year. And never mind zat za recent declines have happened at za time zis was announced:

Stocks slumped amid a poor outlook for the retail and automobile industries and worries about the state of the labor market.

You have to vunder vut za JRoosh does for a living!

Vell, zat's enough for now.

Do we get treats, Siggy?

You were too squirmy, grasshopper. Sorry.

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama,coping mechanisms,Katherine Kersten,Patriot 1280,stock market declines

It's not dragging on and no one needs to man up

Two quick things for the jackals in our local media:

1- An automatic recount that runs according to a clearly defined and detailed process does not "drag on".
2- Al Franken does not need to do the "right thing" or "man up" by saying that he wants to end the recount.

I write this because we are going to see a replay of 2000 when it comes to the way our media clowns cover the recount. There is a time line. There is a process. There is even a manual to use as a guide. Yet somehow, during the next few weeks we'll hear and read one narrative after another that is picked up from either a cocktail party or a green room which suggests that Franken is somehow demeaning the will of the people, hurting the healing process, or some other made-up bullshit nonsense.

The election was close enough to generate an automatic recount. Every vote needs to be properly counted.

NO Drinking Liberally Thursday

We had a Drinking Liberally election night party, remember? If you don't remember, you probably had a good time.

Winona County

I think Winona county's election results speak pretty well to what happened in Minnesota last night.

Independence	DEAN BARKLEY	2782	10.22
Republican	NORM COLEMAN	11314	41.55
Democratic-Farmer-Labor	AL FRANKEN	12753	46.83

Republican	JOHN MCCAIN AND SARAH PALIN	10970	39.28
Democratic-Farmer-Labor	BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN	16307	58.39

Republican	BRIAN J. DAVIS	8185	31.00
Democratic-Farmer-Labor	TIM WALZ	17190	65.10

If you want to cry over Franken's spilled milk, this is where you do it. All he had to do was ride Walz and Obama's coattails to victory...in a county with a working class college town, no less.

Initial Thoughts

What a night. First of all, I'd like to crib a line from Charlie and remind everyone that Sarah Palin just got community organized. Secondly, well...I don't have any grand theme going here so let's just roll with some bullet points:

• No one wanted to talk to Joe the Plumber. People saw through that hard-right dog whistle like a newly washed window. Perhaps he will enjoy his Obama tax cut.
  
• Barack Obama won this election because he ran one hell of a campaign. Period.
  
• When pundits talk about Obama riding a tsunami to victory, or when they talk about how John McCain did the best he could in such a "hostile" political environment, remember that Republicans did this to themselves. There were no headwinds; only self-inflicted wounds. Also remember that Barack Obama ran one hell of a campaign.
  
• I voted for Norm Coleman. If Rush Limbaugh decides to run for office some day, perhaps he can use Franken's campaign as a model. The nomination of Al Franken was every bit as ridiculous as Sarah Palin's selection as VP. I get that he ostensibly plays for my preferred team, but I refuse to vote for a talk radio entertainer. He's a nominal ally and my vote for him would be simply for the letter in front of his name, not the guy who spent the better part of the last decade "balancing" out the Sean Hannitys and Mike Gallaghers of the world. Sometimes I think super-partisans and/or super-ideologues lose sight of the fact that some of their choices make it very hard for independents and swing votes to see any substantial difference in policy when the style looks similar to everything they hate in politics. More and more Americans believe that the two parties look very much alike. Candidates like Franken do no favors for progressive policy.
  
• That being said, the Strib's handling of the Senate race was pathetic. I wish I could cancel my subscription twice. I'm not saying that they affected the race one way or another--how would I know such a thing? Rather, that they seem to not know how to actually report on politics.
  
• Norm got my vote because I don't believe in leaving major races blank on my ballot and because I believe that third parties are for perpetual attention seekers and people who should be legally bound to a conservator for all their worldly affairs, as they are too stupid to be allowed to operate on their own. Third parties do not offer alternatives. Let me make a silly analogy to explain what I mean. Instead of choosing Coke over Pepsi, 3rd parties simply propose mixing the two together. You see, they aren't offering anything different; they just don't have the resources, the will, the motivation, or skills to get hired by PepsiCo or Coca-Cola and they want you to believe that their hackish concoction of nonsense is something other than what you can readily find in the 2 major brands on your own and without their help. Dean Barkley is a clown. His big claim to fame in this election was sitting in between the guy on the left and the guy on the right and then tossing off a few Rodney King "can't we all just get alongs" when it was time for him to speak. The reason why he could say these things is because he had nothing at stake. He was never in danger of winning this thing so he sat in "the middle" and dutifully played his part like a good little purple monkey stuck between the red Coleman and the blue Franken. I can tell you exactly what Dean Barkley would do if he were an incumbent with a 40% share of the vote. He'd fight like hell for his seat. It's not just Barkley. "Independence" Party candidates littered the stage last night with their sanctimonious calls for decency, kumbaya, and other assorted bullshit that occupies the time of people who don't have a prayer of winning. Listen, we all know that bi-partisanship is what people call for when they can't get what they want. Doesn't tri-partisanship, by definition, have to be even more absurd? Our ridiculous media doesn't help either. It's bad enough that our political coverage is run according to manufactured ideas of balance; it's even worse when our lazy reporters let the candidates do most of the balance-manufacturing for themselves. Also, please don't mistake my distaste for 3rd parties as sour grapes. I voted for Norm. I did so because of the reasons listed above (Franken = Rush Limbaugh) but also because I believe that he is such a turncoat that he will be acceptable on issues that are important to me. If he survives this legal scare, Norm will have seen the light. Norm is a front runner and a coward. It is in his nature to latch on to his new Democratic overlords as quickly as possible. He should vote in my interests on torture, the war in Iraq, the environment, and energy. I bet he'll even vote for some Democratic-appointed judges.
  
• Funniest moment of the night: Watching ABC call Ohio for Obama and then cut to their reporter on the scene at McCain Ohio HQ to hear him offer up something to the effect of "I'm not sure people here know that Ohio has gone for Obama. They have a different station on here at GOP HQ and they haven't called it yet." Of course, we all know what channel they had on at GOP HQ. We also know that Fox News was WAY out in front on many of the races last night...except one...the one that pretty much made it an Obama win. I just thought it was a touching little moment of a reporter having to deal with a crowd that was purposefully detached from any non-GOP reality. If ever you needed a funnier symbol of how purposefully uninformed Fox viewers are...well, this is pretty hard to beat.
  
• I won't pretend to know what went on in the 3rd CD, but I do know this: Ashwin Madia always struck me as Andrew Borene pt.ii. I think you're going to see an increase of Republican vets running as Democrats because they think it will be an easier path to office than going through the GOP. Madia would have been a good IP candidate. Maybe he can cut the false pretenses and go that route the next time around.
  
• I'd really like to know how every Republican in the country got the "this country is center-right" talking point all at the same time.
  
• This country is not center-right.
  
• John McCain never was, is, or will be a straight-talking Maverick. He wasn't wronged by George Bush in South Carolina in 2000; he was up to just as much funny business as Mr. Bush and he lost. This time around, he was the same guy. In a month or two when he makes the rounds on teevee to tell the world that his campaign did all sorts of things that he really didn't want to do, our media baboons will go on and on about how honorable of a man the "real" John McCain is and how he was forced into doing some terrible things because of this little game we like to call politics. Nonsense. McCain has always been a media creation; even more so than what some on the hard right think about Obama. Mark my words: Some media Neanderthal will literally say that he ran a terrible campaign and flip-flopped on so many issues because he's honorable. I don't know how they'll do it, but it is bound to happen.
  
• That being said, McCain would have fared much, much, much better had he chosen Tim Pawlenty as his running mate. I think he could have pulled it off with T-Paw on the ticket. Palin was that bad of a choice.
  
• I believe that Palin will fade away from the national political scene. There is no way a major party can survive with a person like that near the top. I know she sets off all sorts of conservative dog whistles, but to the rest of us, she's about as appealing as an honest-to-god pit bull with lipstick.
  
• Despite his dishonorable campaign and his massively hypocritical concession speech ("My friends, it's time to embrace the scary black Muslim socialist as an example of all that is great with America"), and despite his flip-flop on the issue in question, Barack Obama should immediately enlist McCain to help him close Gitmo and end torture. He should also appoint McCain to head up a Senate task force to eliminate waste in DoD spending.
  

Well, that's about enough for now. It will be interesting to see how the Senate race plays out as well as how smoothly the transition goes. I need to let the Obama victory sink in a bit more before I write about that. It still hasn't really hit yet. I was more ready to write about the stuff I hear on GOP talk radio than I was about President-elect Barack Hussein Obama.

Barack the President

Neat! Precincts!

Spot learned about a neat election results mapping project that will be up at 'CCO teevee's website after the polls close tonight. It will show Minnesota election results by precinct - there are apparently 4,100 of 'em - with a color code. A neat trick. You'll be able to see the maps by going to the linked 'CCO website.

The maps are navigable and can bee zoomed in and out, right down to the precinct level. If you want to see what it'll look like, boys and girls, you can check out a specimen map constructed out of data from the Klobuchar - Kennedy race from a couple of years ago. Go over there, click around. Find your own precinct, even if you live in a dense urban area.

Here's just a picture of the entire state:

The app's author, Matthew Pettis, will be on the station's webcast coverage tonight, and he will be interviewed tomorrow morning on WCCO television during the morning show, 5 - 7 AM.

Technorati Tags: WCCO TV,election map

Go Vote

We're off working today to protect your vote, so likely no posting.

So go out and do it!

Drinking Liberally Election Night Party!

If you're looking for a great party place to watch the election returns, Spot recommends that you come on down to the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis. We'll have discounts on some food and drinks and a projection screen to watch the returns. We'll start whenever you show up, but Spot may be poll watching until the polls close.

The event is sponsored by:

The 331 Club (www.331club.com)
Minnesota Independent (www.minnesotaindependent.com)
Twin Cities Daily Planet (www.tcdailyplanet.net)
Goodnight Bush from Little, Brown and Company (www.goodnightbush.com)

Robin tells Spot there will be some give-aways of the book Goodnight Bush starting around 7:30.

Technorati Tags: Drinking Liberally,election night,331 Club,Minnesota Independent,Twin Cities Daily Planet,Goodnight Bush

One day more

Go vote tomorrow. It's never mattered more.

McCain's Women's Clinic

Spot's been busy today talking to people, but before the day is out, here's number six in the Brave New Films' seven videos for seven days series:

Technorati Tags: John McCain,Brave New Films,Robert Greenwald

"His ideology is completely different than what democracy stands for."

Joe the Plumber, ladies and gentlemen. He also said that there are "too many questions with Barack Obama and his loyalty to our country." Maybe he should be campaigning with Michele Bachmann.

Spot On

One of the more interesting aspects of the "changing" political climate is the development of ostensibly "liberal" Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys. Of course, guys like Olberman are just another shade of the same front-running, loose-with-the-facts, access-uber-alles, nonsensical garbage that has been detailed on sites like The Daily Howler for years.

Should Obama win and Democrats carry large margins in the House and Senate, it will be absolutely necessary that they are held accountable and that a pompous Democratic supporting media doesn't pop up as a ready-made echo chamber.

The big wet kiss of death

Technorati Tags: Dick Cheney,John McCain

Dear Mitch,

Spot was going to send Mitch an email, but he decided to share this with the boys and girls.

Mitch gets mad at Spot, well, fairly often. This doesn't especially surprise Spot, because it is usually because Spot has tweaked Mitch a little.

A little, Spot?

Well, okay sometimes a lot. Your insistence on accuracy gets annoying sometimes, grasshopper.

Spot's latest little shot at Mitch and the rest of the boyz at the bile duct known as Patriot 1280 involved their Resentment Radio Fest at Orchestra Hall. Never has that place been subjected to such such dissonant strains: Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, and Michael Medved. But it obviously got Mitch's juices flowing:

No lack of energy [in the crowd].  Sorry, Sorosphere; after weeks of declaring the election already won, it’s just not sinking in with all of us plumbers and hockey moms.  Suffice to say that even if Mac loses, 2010 is going to make 1994 look like a Camp Wellstone sing-along.

Does this sound like a call to bi-partisanship to you, boys and girls?

It sounds like a call to violence, Spotty.

Yes, it did sound that way to Spot, too. In fact, Mitch describes how Prager, especially, was able to work the crowd into quite a lathered state! It's a good thing there weren't any godless liberals milling around on the streets after the Rally! Who knows what might have happened?

Anyway, it reminded Spot of some soirées that took place in places like Nuremberg and Berlin in the thirties, and Spot intimated as much with a picture.

Mitch says this was way over the top. No Mitch, it was close to the top, but not over it.

But that's not even the point of this post.

The gravamen of Mitch's complaint, as it often is, is that Spot writes with a pseudonym. But you can check back, Mitch or anybody else, and Spot has never written about anything that Mitch hadn't already posted about on Shot in the Dark. Sure, Spot makes up little stories about what he read, because they are more memorable and perhaps make the point better than a straight critique. It is obvious to persons of even modest intellect that these stories are made up. Spot's readers seem to think so.

Spot has never written about the "twenty years ago" dreck that Mitch seems so intent on inflicting on his readers, nor any other aspects of Mitch's undoubtedly colorful life. And unlike Mitch, Spot has never made little word plays on Mitch's blog name, like Shot in the Head, or Shit in his Hat, at least until now.

Mitch's problem is that Spot is too "abstract" to make ad hominem attacks against him. Like the ones that he does against Spot's friends Eva and Avidor. Like the ones that all the common vulgarians at the Patriot 1280 rally would like.

Perhaps someday, Mitch, you will tell Spot why you disagree with his commentary, instead of railing about how unsatisfying it is to merely call him an asshole.

Technorati Tags: Shot in the Dark,Mitch Berg,pseudonyms,Patriot 1280

Brave New Films #5

This is the fifth in a week of films recommended by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films:

Technorati Tags: John McCain,temprament,Robert Greenwald,Brave New Films

A first for John or Barack

I was out raking leaves last night waiting for trick-or-treaters while Wifeypoo (zombie), Kid-A (genie), Little V (cowgirl), and a pack of friends roamed the neighborhood looking for diabetes-inducing amounts of sugary sweets when my McCain-supporting neighbor (with gigantic lawn signs) stopped by for some coffee and Bailey's (adult treats) and a re-load on candy (it was a busy night).

We got to talking and drinking and we came to two conclusions about the election: a) everybody is ready for this damn thing to be over with and b) the first action of the new president should be something that Americans of all stripes can agree to and support. What is this magical issue? The closing of Guantanamo and a crystal-clear legislative and executive rejection of torture.

For those of you unfamiliar with how we became a nation that tortures human beings and holds them without granting them their most basic legal rights, I highly suggest reading The Dark Side, by Jane Mayer, and Angler, by Barton Gellman.

The rejection of the Bush-Cheney policy of torture will raise several issues:

1. What do we do with the Guantanamo detainees? We most certainly broke numerous international and US laws in their detainment and when they are granted their day in court they will have no shortage of reasonable defense tactics.
   
2. When will all of the OLC memos be made public?
   
3. When will John Yoo be brought to justice and who else will be held accountable?
   
4. What is the legislative answer to this problem?
   
5. How will we restructure our intelligence-gathering apparatus to ensure that something like this never happens again?
   

There are plenty of other issues and questions that will be raised by the rejection of Bush-Cheney torture. These are just the first 5 things that came to mind. Whatever happens, I can think of no greater and more effective way for the new president to separate himself, his administration, and we the American people from the last 8 disastrous years than to explicitly, effectively, and completely reject the Bush-Cheney policy of criminal torture.