From one adult to another

words matter

A lot of ink has already been spilled critiquing Obama's inaugural address. Some were hoping for more inspiration, on par with his speech at Sunday's Lincoln Monument Concert. Others felt that the historic nature of an African-American becoming president was far more significant than his words. What impresses me is that Obama spoke to us as adults. He respected us enough to be honest about the challenges ahead.

Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done...

44

don’t let the perfect
be the enemy of the good

Voltaire's words came to mind the day after Obama's election. A controversy had broken out over this cartoon when it appeared on the front page of The Chicago Reader. Most of the criticism was dominated by accusations of racism. Would the paper have run a similar cartoon for a white president-elect? YES ... especially if s/he had come from The Windy City. Why? Because such a sentiment is a clear example of our homegrown skepticism. Sure, we're proud as hell that a neighbor is now the leader of the free world. And with the 2016 Olympics a long way off when will the 2nd City get to outshine NYC and LA again?

But we're also well aware of the fact that our politicians are often world-class knuckleheads. After all, our honeymoon with the limelight lasted for only about a month. Now we're trying to explain how the same state that produced a Yes We Can president also produced a What's in it for Me governor.

Obama isn't Blogo.
But neither will he be our messiah.

He doesn't appear to be a bad family man.
But neither will he be the father of our country.


He isn't a quitter.
But he'll be no Jack Kennedy,
no FDR, no Lincoln.

Nor MLK
for that matter.

And he isn't afraid of the 21st century.
But he won't fix your computer.

What will Obama be? What's the best we can hope for? He'll be our country's first, and perhaps our only, black president. He'll be thoughtful. He'll be charismatic. But in the end he'll inevitably disappoint. He is an elected politician after all. He will break his promises. He made about 500. And no doubt, there will be scandals. In either case, we'll have the only right citizens really possess in a democracy: the right to vote for someone else in 2012. So The Chicago Reader's front page should be taken as a neighborly but skeptical reminder:

If you screw this up Obama
we won't re-elect you.

Last day

mission
accomplished

George W. Bush
2001 - 2009

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Barack Obama: Path to the Presidency

Barack Hussein Obama
2009 - ?

Obama holiday message

I am my
brother's keeper

These are also tough times for many Americans struggling in our sluggish economy. As we count the higher blessings of faith and family, we know that millions of Americans don't have a job. Many more are struggling to pay the bills or stay in their homes. From students to seniors, the future seems uncertain.

That is why this season of giving should also be a time to renew a sense of common purpose and shared citizenship. Now, more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans - that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper. Now, we must all do our part to serve one another; to seek new ideas and new innovation; and to start a new chapter for our great country.

Sunday in the park with Barack

...in Cleveland

With apologies to my good biking buddy, I should've posted this a week or two ago:

In earnest, the journey began Sunday afternoon, November 2 at 12:15. But, in all honesty, the impetus was Friday evening after it was announced that Barack Obama would be holding a rally in Cleveland, and Bruce Springsteen would be there to serenade the crowd. When I stumbled into the kitchen Saturday morning I found a note from my wife about the rally, and the special guest, and an attached note from oldest son telling all who read it that we will be attending.

Now, attending political rallies is nothing new to me, I grew up in a political household with a father very active in politics. Attending rallies, rubber-chicken dinners and election night parties (I even managed to sneak into reserved congressional seating for Jimmy Carter's inauguration - that's a story for another time) was second nature. Besides, the thought of taking my sons to a political event was very cool, almost as cool as the excitement of their wanting to attend. The bonus: wife and kids are fans of both Obama and Springsteen.

The rally was scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. but we were urged to get there by two to get into Mall B. The rally was to take up a public park in Cleveland known as Malls A, B and C. – B was the inner sanctum in front of the podium. Taking into account that we would probably drive into traffic and have to find parking we decided to leave the house at 12:15. Adding to the complications was a Cleveland Browns football game (the stadium is located on Lake Erie and a few hundred yards from Mall C on the north side) and the Circus (playing at the basketball arena, approximately six blocks from the south end of Mall A).

This was beginning to look like a very exciting Sunday afternoon.

I motivated the troops at 11 a.m. then left to gas the car and air the tires. When I returned the oldest son was beginning to have second thoughts. He had stayed out late with friends and had a lingering headache from lack of sleep. My wife, not wanting to let this opportunity to experience history slip away, reminded him that he was related to explorers (there is a family line to Ernest Shackleton, the great Antarctic explorer, in the deepest, darkest recesses of my mother’s family) and that he “buck it up and follow in the footsteps of his ancestors.”

At 12:20 we embarked upon our journey.

We took back routes into Cleveland anticipating jam-ups on the highway but found ourselves pleasantly surprised at the lack of traffic. Our first choice of parking downtown at the Tower City parking garage turned into a reality and helped further the plans of dinner at the Hard Rock Café (located in Tower City) after the rally. Now we just had to find where we were to be to get into the rally. It was 1 p.m.

Upon leaving Tower City we were immediately met with a long line of waiting participants snaking back five city blocks from the center of town; six city blocks from Mall B. We proceeded to the end of the line and waited patiently. Sometime around 2 p.m. the line began to move as we were herded towards the park and the center of the rally. Indeed the line moved slowly. By 2:30 we had moved all of one block. As 2:45. approached a police officer drove slowly down Ontario Avenue and informed all of us in line that Mall B was filling up fast and that we would not be able to get into the rally center. He directed us to Malls A or C where large screens and speakers had been set up. Glancing up and down the line of thousands waiting to see The Senator and The Boss the officer concluded by saying, “This is a beautiful thing.”

Being the intrepid adventurers we are, we took to the streets in search of an open spot for viewing, pausing only to purchase three Obama buttons before finally landed in Mall A roughly 50 yards back from the large screen. The time is now 3 p.m. and anticipation is heavy as more crowds began to move into the outer lying Malls for a chance to see the candidate and the performer, and a chance to witness history.

It was a beautiful thing, people of all races and ages; veterans wearing their colors; parents holding their children; my wife and I with our two sons. At 3:30 p.m. things started up. All the local dignitaries gave their speeches (people like Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, mayor of a town with more population and a larger budget than the state of Alaska, and he can see Canada from city hall). Then visiting dignitaries stood up for their opportunities. Anticipation for the big moment was high. We waiting for the big arrival.

And we waited.

We waited for an hour with nothing but canned music (memo to DNC and Obama organizers: I know you want to build the moment but don’t keep the faithful waiting with canned music). However, surrounded by thousands of like-minded people is infinitely better than waiting with McCainiacs on the lunatic fringe, or whacko Palinites.

Around 4:45 p.m. we noticed spotters and sharpshooters on the rooftops. A Helicopter circled the airspace about the malls and the blimp (for the football game) disappeared. A small jet (about 727 size) swooped in to land at the lakefront airport and we assumed The Boss had arrived; shortly thereafter another jet, larger and with the O logo on the tail landed. At 5 p.m. Springsteen took the stage and started with Promised Land. Halfway through the set he sang the famous Woody Guthrie favorite This Land is Your Land and the whole crowd sang along. I may have even been a little misty thinking about how I wanted my country back from the Neocons who stole it through fear.

Then six songs and a half hour into the set The Boss sang The Rising. We all understood the hidden message and the place exploded as the man of the hour and his family strode across the stage at song’s end. It was now 5:30 p.m. My back and neck were aching, and my feet were sore from standing for 4-and-a-half hours but I wasn’t about to leave, nor was I going to move back and sit down. I had come to listen to Obama, and listen I would.

A good orator is a good orator, and a bad one is, well, a bad one.

Obama is inspiring. When he speaks he exudes confidence and hope. McCainiacs and Whacko-Palinites will counter with there being more to leadership than words but sometimes leadership is just words. A good leader surrounds him- or herself with people who understand those words, and will put them into action. It’s a matter of knowing the right words for the moment; it’s knowing when to use tough words and when to use consoling words; most of all it’s knowing when to hold your words, not fly of the handle and deliver words you (and the whole country) ultimately regret. At this point I’m using metaphors, but I’m trusting you can make the leap of faith. Let it suffice to say that when I listened to the man it instilled in me the confidence that he knows how to lead us out of the malaise now known as the Bush Presidency.

Finally at 6 p.m. Obama finished, the crowd exploded in applause and cheers, and my family departed for the Hard Rock Café. After standing on concrete for more than five hours I wasn’t sure that I could move my stiff body out of the teeming thousands and to the restaurant but the overpowering desire for a glass of beer is a motivation to action second only to the inspiring words of Senator Obama.

It was a good night, a great event, and a grand time with my family.

Just as a footnote: estimated crowd size for the Cleveland Obama rally was 80,000. Sarah Palin held a rally in Canton, OH (also part of NE Ohio and 60 miles south) where she only drew 3,000.

Don’t forget to exercise your right to vote because, in my opinion, if you don’t vote you don’t have the right to bitch.

The election that was

final words...

Thanks to
Welcome Back America!

Obama wins!

now the
work begins

And this from eastside9's blog at yesterday's Talking Points Memo:

I Didn't Vote For Obama Today

I have a confession to make.

I did not vote for Barack Obama today.

I've openly supported Obama since March. But I didn't vote for him today.

I wanted to vote for Ronald Woods. He was my algebra teacher at Clark Junior High in East St. Louis, IL. He died 15 years ago when his truck skidded head-first into a utility pole. He spent many a day teaching us many things besides the Pythagorean Theorem. He taught us about Medgar Evers, Ralph Abernathy, John Lewis and many other civil rights figures who get lost in the shadow cast by Martin Luther King, Jr.

But I didn't vote for Mr. Woods.

I wanted to vote for Willie Mae Cross. She owned and operated Crossroads Preparatory Academy for almost 30 years, educating and empowering thousands of kids before her death in 2003. I was her first student. She gave me my first job, teaching chess and math concepts to kids in grades K-4 in her summer program. She was always there for advice, cheer and consolation. Ms. Cross, in her own way, taught me more about walking in faith than anyone else I ever knew.

But I didn't vote for Ms. Cross.

I wanted to vote for Arthur Mells Jackson, Sr. and Jr. Jackson Senior was a Latin professor. He has a gifted school named for him in my hometown. Jackson Junior was the pre-eminent physician in my hometown for over 30 years. He has a heliport named for him at a hospital in my hometown. They were my great-grandfather and great-uncle, respectively.

But I didn't vote for Prof. Jackson or Dr. Jackson.

I wanted to vote for A.B. Palmer. She was a leading civil rights figure in Shreveport, Louisiana, where my mother grew up and where I still have dozens of family members. She was a strong-willed woman who earned the grudging respect of the town's leaders because she never, ever backed down from anyone and always gave better than she got. She lived to the ripe old age of 99, and has a community center named for her in Shreveport.

But I didn't vote for Mrs. Palmer.

I wanted to vote for these people, who did not live to see a day where a Black man would appear on their ballots on a crisp November morning.

In the end, though, I realized that I could not vote for them any more than I could vote for Obama himself.

So who did I vote for?

No one.

I didn't vote. Not for President, anyway.

Oh, I went to the voting booth. I signed, was given my stub, and was walked over to a voting machine. I cast votes for statewide races and a state referendum on water and sewer improvements.

I stood there, and I thought about all of these people, who influenced my life so greatly. But I didn't vote for who would be the 44th President of the United States.

When my ballot was complete, except for the top line, I finally decided who I was going to vote for - and then decided to let him vote for me. I reached down, picked him up, and told him to find Obama's name on the screen and touch it.

And so it came to pass that Alexander Reed, age 5, read the voting screen, found the right candidate, touched his name, and actually cast a vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Oh, the vote will be recorded as mine. But I didn't cast it.

Then again, the person who actually pressed the Obama box and the red "vote" button was the person I was really voting for all along.

It made the months of donating, phonebanking, canvassing, door hanger distributing, sign posting, blogging, arguing and persuading so much sweeter.

So, no, I didn't vote for Barack Obama. I voted for a boy who now has every reason to believe he, too, can grow up to be anything he wants...even President.

And this from my in-box, early this morning:

Garth --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

A partisan moment...

just
vote

and an
American moment

If I should need to name, O Western World, your powerfulest scene and show,

'Twould not be you, Niagara - nor you, ye limitless prairies - nor your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,

Nor you, Yosemite - nor Yellowstone, with all its spasmic geyserloops ascending to the skies, appearing and disappearing,

Nor Oregon's white cones - nor Huron's belt of mighty lakes - nor Mississippi's stream:

This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now, I'd name - the still small voice vibrating -America's choosing day,

(The heart of it not in the chosen - the act itself the main, the quadrennial choosing,)

The stretch of North and South arous'd - sea-board and inland - Texas to Maine - the Prairie States - Vermont, Virginia, California,

The final ballot-shower from East to West - the paradox and conflict,

The countless snow-flakes falling - (a swordless conflict,

Yet more than all Rome's wars of old, or modern Napoleon's): the peaceful choice of all,

Or good or ill humanity - welcoming the darker odds, the dross:

- Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to purify - while the heart pants, life glows:

These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,

Swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails.

Walt Whitman
1819-1892

Palin's final robocall?

c'est la vie

Whew ... we've finally made it to the last day of the longest, most expensive, and utterly most surprising presidential campaign in US history. Just one more day until those warmly personal emails from Obama and his surrogates stop clogging our in-boxes. Just one more day until the Republican robots cease and desist their beseeching phone calls.Not surprisingly, everyone is exhausted, especially Ms. Palin's campaign staff. So they should be forgiven, if not wholly understood, for their brief lapse in judgment over the weekend.

On Saturday, after four days of scheduling challenges, they put through an international phone call to the unsuspecting Neiman Marxist ... from French President, Nickolai Sarkozy. Only, it wasn't. It was actually a prank call by Les Justiciers masqués or The Masked Avengers. Sebastien Trudel and Marc-Antoine Audette are the well-known talk show of Montreal's CKOI radio station. During the call, lasting around minutes, Palin and the pranksters discussed politics, pundits, and the dangers of hunting with current vice-president Dick Cheney. How far was Palin taken in? Judge for yourself:

SP Assist = Sarah Palin's Assistant
MA = Masked Avengers
SP = Sarah Palin
FNS = Fake Nicolas Sarkozy

Ring

SP Assist: This is Vexy [??].
MA: Hello, Vexy [??]. This is Johnny Hallyday, I'm with president Sarkozy on the line for Governor Palin.

SP Assist: One second please, can you hold on one second please?
MA: No problem.

SP Assist: Hi, I'm going to hand the phone over to her.
MA: Okay thank you very much I'm going to put the president on the line
SP Assist: Ok he's coming to the line.

SP: This is Sarah.
MA: Okay, Governor Palin?

SP: Hellloooo...(long drawn out, like Well, hellooooo)
MA: Just hold on for President Sarkozy, one moment.
SP [To someone in the room]: Oh, it's not him yet, I always do that. I'll just have people hand it to me right when it's them.

FNS: Yes, hello, Governor Palin? Yes, hello, Mrs. Governor?
SP: Hello this is Sarah., how are you?

FNS: Fine, and you, this is Nicolas Sarkozy speaking, how are you?
SP: Oh...so good, it's so good to hear you. Thank you for calling us.

[Note: Sarkozy does not speak fluent English.]

FNS: Oh, it's a pleasure.
SP: Thank you sir, we have such great respect for you, John McCain and I, we love you and thank you for spending a few minutes to talk to me.

FNS: I follow your campaigns closely with my special American Advisor Johnny Hallyday, you know?
SP: Yes! Good!

[Note: Hallyday is a French singer and actor.]

FNS: Excellent! Are you confident?
SP: Very confident and we're thankful that the polls are showing that the race is tightening and--

FNS: Well I know very well that the campaign can be exhausting. How do you feel right now my dear?
SP: Ah, I feel so good. I feel like we're in a marathon and at the very end of the marathon, you get your second wind and you plow to the finish--

FNS: You see, I got elected in France because I'm real and you seem to be someone who's real as well.
SP: Yes, yeah, Nicolas, we so appreciate this opportunity.

FNS: You know, I see you as a president, one day, you too.
SP: [Muahaaa...weird laugh], maybe in 8 years. Haha

FNS: Well, ah, I hope for you. You know we have a lot in common because personally one of my favorite activities is to hunt too.
SP: [Giggle]o h very good, we should go hunting together.

FNS: Exactly! We could go try hunting by helicopter, like you did, I never did that.
SP: [Giggle]

FNS: Like we say in France on pourrait tuer des bebe phoques, aussi.

[Translation: We could also kill some baby seals.]

SP: [Giggle] Well I think we could have a lot of fun together as we're getting work done, we can kill two birds with one stone that way.

FNS: I just love killing those animals. Mm, mm. Take away a life, that is so fun!
SP: [Hahahaha]

FNS: I'd really love to go as long as we don't bring your Vice president Cheney, hahaha.
SP: No, I'll be a careful shot, yes.

FNS: You know we have a lot in common also except that from my house I can see Belgium. That's kind of less interesting than you.
SP: Well, see, we're right next door to other countries that we all need to be working with, yes.

FNS: Some people said in the last days, and I thought that was mean, that you weren't experienced enough in foreign relations, and you know, that's completely false, that's the thing I said to my great friend, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stef Carse.

[Note: That is not the name of the prime minister of Canada. The prime minster of Canada, since January 2006, is Stephen Harper. THIS is Stef Carse.]

SP: Well, he's doing fine, too, and yeah when you come into a position underestimated, it gives you the opportunity to prove the pundits and the critics wrong. You work that much harder-

FNS: I, I was wondering because you are also next to him, one of my good friends, also, the prime minister of Quebec, Mr. Richard Z. Sirois, have you met him recently? Did he come to one of your rallies?

[Note: There is no prime minister of Quebec, though there is a premier. His name is Jean Charest. Sirois is a Canadian humorist.]

SP: Uh, haven't seen him at one of the rallies, but it's been great working with the Canadian officials in my role as governor; we have a great cooperative effort there as we work on all of our resource development projects. You know I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife, oh my goodness, you've added a lot of energy to your country, even, with that beautiful family of yours.

FNS: Thank you very much. You know my wife, Carla, would love to meet you. You know even though she was a bit jealous that I was supposed to speak to you today. [Hahahaha]
SP: [Hahahha] Well give her a big hug from me.

FNS: You know my wife is a popular singer and a former top model and she's so hot in bed. She even wrote a song for you.
SP: Oh my goodness! I didn't know that.

FNS: Yes, in French, it's called de rouge a levre sur un cochon, or if you prefer in English Joe the Plumber, [sings] It's his life, Joe the Plumber..."

[Translation: Lipstick for a pig (or cochonne meaning "slut").]

SP: Maybe she understands some of the unfair criticism but I bet you she is such a hard worker, too, and she realizes you just plow through that criticism like

FNS: I just want to be sure, I don't' quite understand the phenomenon "Joe the Plumber," that's not your husband, right?
SP: Mmhmm, that's into my husband but he's a normal American who just works hard and doesn't want government to take his money.

FNS: Yes, yes, I understand, we have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France, it's called, "Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit, oui."
SP: Right. That's what it's all about, is the middle class, and government needing to work for them. You're a very good example for us here.

FNS: I seen a bit about NBC even Fox News wasn't an ally, an ally, sorry, about as much as usual.
SP: Yeah that's what we're up against.

FNS: I must say, Governor Palin, I love the documentary they made on your life, you know, Hustler's "Nailin Palin."
SP: Oh, good, thank you. Yes.

FNS: That was really edgy.
SP: [Laughs] Well good.

FNS: I really love you. And I must say something, so, Governor, you've been pranked.
By the Master Avengers. We're two comedians from Montreal
SP: Oohhh have we been pranked? And what radio station is this? [tries to force herself to sound nice but you can tell she's pissed]

FNS: This is for CKOI in Montreal.
SP: In Montreal? Tell me the radio station call letters
[SP leaves phone, continuous griping in background, sounds like, "For chrissakes...that was ??? Just a radio station prank...chrissakes..."]

MA: Hello? If one voice can change the world for Obama, one Viagra can change the world for McCain.
[Man's voice in background: hang up, hang up.]
SP Assist: Hi, I'm sorry, I have to let you go. Um, thank you.

The banking crisis

75 years ago...

And in the capable hands of then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

You people must have faith; you must not be stampeded by rumors or guesses. Let us unite in banishing fear. We have provided the machinery to restore our financial system, and it is up to you to support and make it work.

It is your problem, my friends, your problem no less than it is mine.

Together we cannot fail.

A February surprise?

a time of testing

Jason Sudeikis as Senator Joe Biden on Saturday Night Live:

Mark my words. If you take away nothing else from what I say here today, or indeed, in this entire campaign, remember this. If Barack Obama is elected, we will have a crisis. And when this crisis hits, and it will, in the second week of February, we may do some weird things. We may cede Florida back to Spain, or Alaska to the Russians. We may blow up every nuclear power plant in the country. We may set fire to Washington D.C.. We may round up all French-Canadians. But don't lose faith. It's all part of a plan. (see someone else in the crowd) Hey! There's Pat Reardon, a great assistant D.A. here in Greene County! Good to see ya, Pat!

Nuff sed

stick with it...

Vote smarter

straight talk?

Pissed off in Kansas

or pissed on?

Former US Representative, Jim Slattery, is running for the US Senate against the Republican incumbent, Pat Roberts. State polls have him running far behind Roberts. So it isn't all that surprising that this new TV ad gets down and dirty by hosing Roberts's close associations with the oil industry.

It's gonna' be close

Obama wins
even while McCain
takes the battleground states

The map above comes from Electoral Vote. It's an interactive website that tracks the daily changes in the electoral college vote-spread between McCain and Obama. Each day it uses an algorithmic aggregation of national and state voter polls to create the map. The states are then designated as Strong, Weak, or Barely Democrat or as Strong, Weak, or Barely Republican. As with North Caroline, states can also be designated as Exactly Tied. So if the election were held on 8 October 2008 Obama would win with 274 electoral votes to McCain's 174.

<p><strong>><a href='http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/'>2008 Election Contest: Pick Your President</a></strong> - Predict the winner of the 2008 presidential election and enter to win a $500 prize.</p>
The Washington Post posts a similar map called Pick Your President. Rather than estimating the daily vote-spread, it allows you to do so; which I've done above. Using the Electoral Vote map, I gave the Strong and Weak states to the respective candidates. Then I gave the Barely and Tied states to McCain. The predicted outcome still favors Obama but is much closer with his 277 electoral votes to McCain's 261. That's one reason why I believe that the Obama campaign is working in more states than McCain. They want to win by as large a margin as possible. This would lessen the risk of the situation that Gore faced with Bush in 2000. A small margin would raise the specter of a another Supreme Court resolution of a presidential election.

Maybe Ohio...

but not in
America!

Critical masses (revisited)

biker bailout?

Yesterday while I was winging my way back from D.C., the US Senate passed H.R.1424, commonly referred to as the $700 billion economic bailout plan. More precisely it's

[a] bill to provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy and financial system and protecting taxpayers, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide incentives for energy production and conservation, to extend certain expiring provisions, to provide individual income tax relief, and for other purposes.

Among a wide range of benefits, for those of us who are not bankers, is Sec. 211: Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters in Title II - Transportation and Domestic Fuel Security Provisions:


Qualified bicycle commuters will be eligible for an annual reimbursement covering all reasonable expenses incurred during the calendar year ...


These include the purchase of a bike as well as improvements, repair, and storage, if you commute regularly between your home and workplace.


If passed by the US House of Representatives, this section will apply to taxable years beginning after 5 December 2008.

UPDATE

The US House of Representatives has voted
by 263-171 in favor of the $700bn plan.

Puppet government?

thank you
NYTimes

Palin & Hillary

thank you,
SNL!

Knock down, drag out

John "The McCainiac" McCain faces
Barak "The Terrorist Fist Jabber" Obama