election snark...

here are some jokes to start off the weekend with a snicker... kk... ;D

courtesy of "the onion" (fake newspaper)
Bush: "Can I Stop Being President Now?"
WASHINGTON - In a press conference held yesterday morning on the White House lawn, President Bush formally asked the assembled press corps and members of his own administration, if in light of the recent election, he could stop being president now. "So, it's over right? Can I stop being President now? Bush said, after striding to the podium in a Texas Rangers cap and flannel shirt, carrying a fully packed suitcase. "Let's just say I'm done as of now. Presidency over." When informed by Washington Post reporter David Broder that his presidency would continue through early January, Bush stared at him quizzically, sighed, and shuffled silently back into the White House...

on late night tv...

"At the end of the night, the electoral vote count was 349 for Obama, 148 for McCain. Or as Fox News says: 'too close to call.' " ---David Letterman

"People were worried about the Bradley effect. Apparently, it was not nearly as strong as the Bush effect." ---Jay Leno

"You know who I blame? The Large Hadron Collider. It is the world's largest and highest particle accelerator. You may remember we were warned that it could create a black hole and destroy the Earth. Consider this: it launched in mid-September, when John McCain was leading in the polls. I believe it jolted us into a parallel universe that was exactly like our own, only Barack Obama is president and the Phillies are world champions." ---Stephen Colbert

"Yesterday, first lady Laura Bush called Michelle Obama and invited her and her young daughters to the White House. Laura Bush told Mrs. Obama, 'While I give you a tour, the girls can watch SpongeBob with the president.'" ---Conan O'Brien

"We're all very happy except Sean Hannity, who is too busy in the bathroom crying." ---Fox News's Chris Wallace on The Daily Show

"People all over the world are celebrating Obama’s victory. Sarah Palin watched the Russians celebrating from her house. ... Sen. John McCain’s concession speech was beautiful. It was dignified, and it was classy. And I think the reason for that is he didn’t let Palin say anything." ---Craig Ferguson

"President Bush called Barack Obama to congratulate him. ... Obama thanked Bush for his call and for all he did to help Obama get elected." ---Jimmy Kimmel

our blue nation...

a stunning site. (blue represents people who voted more than 50% democratic, red represents the republicans and conservatives) this is the actual breakdown of how people voted on tuesday. while FOX, CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS pundits on EVERY US tv station continue to try to say America is a conservative "center-right" nation - the facts bear out that we are actually moving LEFT, LEFT, LEFT every day... it just never ceases to amaze me how willing the republican party is to IGNORE REALITY and opt for their idea of a puritanical fantasy land...

i don't think i ever realized the extent of how much the US media was distorting the TRUTH until i lived in Korea for a while... i think that should be some sort of requirement of every US Senator and Representative. go travel and live in other countries! get out of podunk county in AlaBAMA and actually TALK to people around the world! who woulda THUNK it? and for the love of God - stop trying to elect people who have NO PERSPECTIVE or GENERAL KNOWLEDGE of the world!!!

yesterday, i read that Sarah Palin's staff did not know where to begin in helping her prepare for her debates and interviews. she evidently does not know ANYTHING about anything! case in point: she thought Africa was a country not a continent. she could not name the countries that make up North America. she thought the 1st amendment should protect HER from being criticized by the media. sorry to say this, gals, but she is POWERFUL stupid. she would've made Bush look like a genius... and that, my friends, would NOT be an easy task! ;D

yer probably wondering what has me all worked up this morning... i think it was just watching the morning news and realizing that although Obama won a DECISIVE victory in an election where the Repubs were running on a campaign of racism, deceit, and a whole host of dirty tricks - the conservative media seem to have taken away the message (not that the country wants a real change) but that they failed because they just didn't get "dirty" enough... that disappoints me deeply... also the news that by some ridiculous twist of fate, there is still a chance that Sarah Palin may come back in some form - either as a nominee for president in 2012 or as a Senator representing Alaska since one of her mentors and colleagues in crime has already been CONVICTED of multiple violations of ethics laws... it's like a bad movie, seriously... anyway, i hope the Repubs study that map carefully... and now that such a large percentage of people have participated in this election, and found that their vote actually DOES make a difference, i really hope the participation in our democracy continues...

more thoughts from 538...

this is a post from one of my favorite websites: www.fivethirtyeight.com where i LIVED during this LONG political campaign, particularly during the tough moments when every single US network was reporting that the election was going to be just like 2004... there were posts where Nate Silver, a now famous blogger, just wrote one word: breathe!!! and i knew there were probably millions of US citizens saying to themselves - "okay... Nate says this is going to be okay... breathe... get a grip!" (as i refreshed my electoral college widget for the billionth time!)... and it just reminded me of ALL the amazing things that were happening around the country simultaneously with volunteers and organizers and ordinary people who waited in line for 8+ hours to vote (which is totally WRONG in a democracy, by the way)... The voter fraud and impossible voting conditions just has to STOP... anyway, i digress... read this... ;D it's pretty entertaining...

I'll be honest, it's a little hard to write today. I suspect a lot of you may be feeling the same complex set of emotions at the end of a political season so seismic that most of us will remember it as long as we live. We will tell our children and grandchildren what we saw and felt. There are a million post-mortems in the data to discuss, and we will love bringing that to you. But it's a day of happy and exhausted stupor, and of personal post-mortems. Brett and I didn't leave Grant Park until past 2 am, and didn't wind up having so much as a single beer (to be remedied tonight in Chicago with one Mr. Nate Silver). Instead we passed out, woke up dazed, and stumbled to a coffee shop. 14,211 miles is a lot of driving, and our bodies crave regular beds.We suspect we're not alone. Right now, organizers, full-time volunteers, campaign staff, and everyone else who gave single-minded effort toward November 4 are waking up and saying to themselves and each other, "what do I do with myself?" Their cars are messes, their rooms disaster zones, and they've been cut off from friends and family for God knows how long.This was by far the longest and biggest election season in US history, and there is so much left to process. The elation that Democrats feel is mixed with the hangover of carrying so much emotional electricity in the body for so long. Its discharge is necessarily going to leave an exhaustion behind.We feel it too. There will be moments in the coming days, randomly standing in line at the grocery store, driving down the street in contemplation, the sight of a door you knocked, catching a certain song, a glimpse of Chuck Todd, hearing someone tell a story... where these emotions will just come bursting through, the enormity of it all. Just think of how much effort went into this. How much sacrifice. How many things had to go right. How many people had to want it so badly, and how the masterpiece of a campaign structure that David Plouffe and cohorts engineered allowed all that effort to be channeled into the right places to maximize efficiency. More than anything else, this experience was shared. I think I can safely speak for Nate and Brett when I say we loved sharing this year with you, our readers. We're determined to continue to provide innovative political analysis in the coming weeks, months, and years. This remains a labor of love. Thanks from us to you.
-- Sean Quinn

UPDATE: amazingly, the MOST accurate statistics of all the thousands of polls that were done did come from Nate Silver at 538. his predictions were accurate almost down to the tenth of a point! (52.4% Obama, 46.3% McCain) while other polls continued to over-sample republican responses and say the race was "neck-and-neck" throughout - Nate helped a lot of people to continue to "keep hope alive" and work to get people to the polls... I'm sure it had a real impact on people - since we "Dem's" are so used to having elections stolen right out of our hands... way to go, Nate!!

the day after...

still in shock. feeling a whole bunch of emotions... people were still celebrating this morning at work. i heard that last night, there were fireworks in Berkeley (on campus) and in San Fran people were literally dancing and crying in the streets... it was probably like world cup times a factor of 10 all over the country... even though we're facing some hard times ahead - it was so amazing to just see that outpouring of love and joy spilling out every where you turned...

my morning coffee, though, was rudely interrupted by the right-wing spin doctors trying to minimize the significance of this event on tv. tucker carlson was literally WHINING like a baby. on CNN, everyone was trying to say that it was all about race - even though exit polls have already shown that Obama dominated in just about every category across backgrounds, age groups, incomes, and ideologies... i think he was just BETTER in so many ways - and ran an incredibly smart campaign. his people mobilized a force of nationwide volunteers to be reckoned with, and they utilized the internet in so many innovative ways. i was proud, just to be a part of it, even in small ways... so goooo-bama! hope we can ride this wave of hope for a while...

today's U.S. presidential election...

here is some thoughts about today's vote that made me realize that this election is REALLY changing the American people... i've never seen this kind of excitement and participation in my lifetime...

How Long Are You Willing To Wait In Line To Vote? by BarbinMD
Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 06:50:03 AM PST
Yesterday, CNN's Jack Cafferty asked viewers how long they'd be willing to wait in line to vote. Here are some of my favorite answers:
-My whole day is devoted to this one moment in history, I never want to look back and regret that I was not involved in one of the most important moments in United States history.
-Considering that there are some that wait ....and sometimes fight a lifetime for the opportunity to vote, I will wait happily for as long as it takes to vote for my chosen candidate. I urge everyone to do the same!
-You take your pick: A few hours, or a few years. I’ll be voting tomorrow. Guaranteed. I’ve already waited 8 years. One day is nothing.
-Even though I’m 9 and 1/2 months pregnant and Obama will win California with or without my vote, I’ll wait in line as long as it takes. This election is too important to miss, and I don’t care how long and uncomfortable the wait is - I’m voting. It would be a lot more uncomfortable for me to sit by for the next four years knowing that I let my voice go unheard. -I think if the veterans can do 3 one year tours of duty in Iraq, I can wait on line 24 hours if it will help get them home.
-I am prepared and willing to wait all day. I have cleared my calendar to make sure I can spend the whole day. And the time I don’t spend waiting or voting, I will spend poll watching and holding signs. This is far too important not to make a personal sacrifice to make sure my vote counts. And, as an Army wife, one day of work loss is meaningless compared to the days my husband has and will spend on deployment. To all within the sound of your voice: Get out and vote!
Those are just a few from hundreds of comments of people who are motivated and then some. What about you? How long are you willing to wait in line to help elect Barack Obama? VOTE PEOPLE!!!

day before the 2008 election...

i'm really on edge today... after 8 years of the WORST American president in history, i'm worried that somehow the repubs might pull some nationwide voter fraud that allows "mc-pain" to get in the door... judging from the "liberal" blogs i've been reading - it seems as though many democrats feel the same way... already 80,000+ complaints have been lodged against the republican party!

i'm just really thankful that Obama worked as a constitutional lawyer and community organizer. it seems as though his campaign is really on top of it this year! i also think it's a major sign that ordinary citizens like me felt compelled to get in the political process this year. this weekend, i went to volunteer at Obama headquarters and was struck by the sight of a truly diverse group of people - everyone from senior citizens to high schoolers spilling out on to the sidewalks and neighboring cafes working to "get out the vote." it was an awesome sight!

it's a really icky cold rainy day today in berkeley... but i know that it's much worse in other parts of the country and world, so i'll try not to complain. just can't wait until the moment when Obama is declared the next US president...