One of the really nice things about being a pessimist, is you get to be really happy when you are wrong. I thought surely the
voter fraud we saw in 2000/
2004 would re-emerge, and kill this thing. As some analysts have said, while there was a lot of independent voter fraud, the big movers and shakers just weren't into it - the Rove machine itself gave up almost a year ago.
I *hope* the Republican party will take the right message from this defeat. That they need to drop anti-Christian Right maniacs, such as Sarah Palin, like hot potatoes, they need to move away from terrorist propaganda, and back to being the fiscal conservative party that once made them so great, and had me voting for them a lot more often - instead of this Dixiecrat sh*t.
Sadly, I suspect it'll have the opposite effect. The extreme right are the sort of folks who, when proven wrong, only defend their position more fiercely. Likely many will feel the only change that needs to be made is that they need to spend more money.
And I feel sorry for McCain. Between Bush and his handlers - he was really just screwed by his own party. I often feel that he and Ron Paul are the last sane members of said party (McCain's foreign policy aside). McCain
originally wanted Joe Lieberman as his running mate - and he might have won with that. It would have got him all the Dixiecrats remaining amongst the Dems, and all the Jewish vote, surely (not to mention had the entire Middle East shitting bricks). Sadly, his handlers overrode him, then got him that religious nut-case Palin, who could only get him the extreme anti-Christian Right, and extreme pocket-mining demographic. However, I suppose the inability to ignore your party when you
know they are wrong shows a lack of leadership (but how it ever got to be a pick between Palin and Lieberman is beyond me.)
This also may simply be karma for an old white man who spent so much of his career trying to stop Martin Luther King's birthday from being recognized by his state.
I must say, I got a little misty eyed at the election party last night. For the first time in nearly a decade (dare I say it?) I can almost see a glimmer of hope for my country. Yes, I fully realize Obama is only going to kick out the current pile of sh*t government to bring in fresh new pile of sh*t, but still… I can almost see that glimmer. It's been so long that I think I've forgotten what it looks like.
Even if Obama does get shot, the sh*t kicking will still happen, and that was my primary goal for voting for him - I wanted more to change in the sh*t sundae than the cherry on top.
On the downside, it looks like, unbelievably, that Proposition 8 will pass in California (there's some 5% debate going on still). So gays will be labeled non-human, and are to be
killed on site, by law, in our state. I really can't believe nearly 50% of Californians hate gays that much. Even with Obama in, I really don't think there's much hope that we'll defeat prejudice in this country anytime soon, especially that backed by hate-filled religious nut cases who despise the teachings of their savior.
Prop 5 failed as well - so even though we've more folks per-capita in jail than any place in the world (even
China), we're still going to keep putting pot heads in jail - so we can train them to become
real criminals. *sigh* - I think I need to move back to MA.
Those are plants. Or not so much a plants as a fabrications as the "reporter" was in on it.
Been on the youtube, and debunked, for awhile now (well before Howard got ahold of it). Funny joke though.
…although it's certainly true a lot of folks vote for uninformed reasons. Just look at Joe the plumber (who famously supports McCain, supposedly on the basis of taxes, when Obama would clearly be the one to save him cash)! Not to mention the 67% of folks Gallop polled in the (then) red states who believed that Obama was an Arab and/or a Muslim.
(Nevermind everyone who bought the lies about Ayers, Acorn, and Iran.)
Now we just have to hope Bush doesn't pull a NSPD-51 and stop him from being inaugurated.
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"Gay Catholic is to screwed, as Black Republican is to hung." - Political SAT
Thothie
