Ghana's opposition leader, John Atta Mills, became Ghana's new President-Elect a few hours ago. His National Democratic Congress Party narrowly defeated rival, Nana Akufo-Add's New Patriotic Party, to wrest control of the government.
And guess what his platform was?
Get ready to hear that phrase a lot around the world. Except in Cuba, and North Korea.
I forgot to post one of the most wonderful bits of news for those here, who know my regard for Governor Sarah Palin.
She became a granny on December 27, 2008.
Her eldest daughter, Bristol, the girl who was smeared by a million disgusting tongues when her mother was a Vice-Presidential candidate, gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston -- continuing the tradition of his uncle Trig's three-barrelled Christian names before his surname, a common practise in Britain, but unusual for the two-named Americans -- was born in Palmer, Alaska and weighed in a very healthy 7 lbs 4 oz.
(I was 7 lbs 1 oz, and almost 22 inches long. My mother, when they put me in her arms the first time, remarked that she felt she was given a torpedo to hold)
His auntie Colleen Jones remarked:
"The baby is fine and Bristol is doing well. Everyone is excited."
Other than that, there has yet been no official word from Governor Palin herself, and I don't blame her. I would give no one, let alone the mentally diseased like Andrew Sullivan, any kind of satisfaction after the unbelievable rumours attached to both her and her daughter's pregnancies.
I knew politics was dirty, but just how much, and to what extent it was amongst each respective's Party's supporters, came as one of the greatest eye-openers of my life. Though an Historian, who has read her fair share of scurrilous rumours of every kind, I confess, I didn't know such malice existed, directed towards a practically newborn baby, until then.
I can only pray that little Tripp (whose name reminds one that of the super-snoop Democrats love to hate, Linda Tripp) doesn't have to undergo the same rank foulness directed towards his mother, uncle, and grandmother.
We live in hope in 2009.
ADDENDUM: Actually, after stating that this birth was a private family matter, Governor Palin has issued an official communiqué in the State of Alaska website:
Governor Sarah Palin Welcomes Her First Grandchild
December 31, 2008, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin has welcomed her first grandchild, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, born to Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston on December 27.
“We are over the moon with the arrival of this healthy, beautiful baby,” Governor Palin said. “The road ahead for this young couple will not be easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. Bristol and Levi are committed to accomplish what millions of other young parents have accomplished, to provide a loving and secure environment for their child. They are both hard workers, they’re very strong, and have faith they’ve made the right decision in setting aside their own interests to make this child their highest priority.”
Palin added, “When Bristol and Levi first told us the shocking news that she was pregnant, to be honest, we all at first looked at the situation with some fear and a bit of despair. Isn’t it just like God to turn those circumstances into such an amazing, joyful blessing when you ask Him to help you through?”
Bristol Palin said she “obviously discourages” teen pregnancy and knows that plans she previously made for herself will now forever be changed. “Teenagers need to prevent pregnancy to begin with – this isn’t ideal. But I’m fortunate to have a supportive family which is dealing with this together. Tripp is so perfectly precious; we love him with all our hearts. I can’t imagine life without him now.”
Bristol begins her final semester of high school next week where she’ll get her last credit needed to graduate. She looks forward to continuing her record of good grades and high achievement. Levi is continuing his online high school work in addition to working as an electrical apprentice on the North Slope.
Bill McAllister, the governor’s office communications director, adds: "The governor's office previously declined to comment to honor the family's wishes that the event remain as private as possible. However, the high volume of press inquiries, along with some erroneous information that was published, prompted the governor to make a statement."
In a phone interview, the Governor said that the rumours about Levi and Bristol being high school dropouts were awful, and hurt their chances for future employment.
They were, and I quote, "working their butts off".
No other politician in America is this refreshingly frank. May none of them ever change.
Governor Sarah Palin is about to become a grandmama any moment now.
As Bristol faces the prospect of a mother-in-law constantly jonesying for some Oxy, she awaits the birth of her first child, a son, any time after the due date of December 20.
(I was thinking about just how incongruous it would've been to have a Vice-President who is a grandmother, whereas the First Lady who is 20 years her senior, is no where close to being one -- and one of whose past times includes "drifting")
Chuck Heath, Palin's gritty father who raised her field dressing moose and training for marathons in -40F degree weather, gave an interview to Grandparents.com about this.
Just listening to him talk about the general topic of Sarah Palin, and the tremendous outpour of affection she engendered throughout the world, makes me smile.
Grandparents.com: How's the family getting ready?
Chuck Heath: For Bristol's baby? Oh, I don't know. [There's] all kinds of gifts laying around the place — all kinds of baby stuff. I’m in a room right now just full of baby stuff — more than she'll ever use.
GP: From all over the country?
CH: All over the world. I'd say a half-dozen foreign countries. In Sarah's mailroom, there's 87 boxes — big boxes of mail that haven't even been opened. I've been answering letters all day, all week. We figure there's over a hundred thousand pieces here. And we'll never get it done. We're just inundated.
GP: This has been a wild ride for your family, hasn't it?
CH: It completely changed everything here. [We're] just a common, ordinary family — I'm a retired teacher, my wife's a retired school secretary, and I hunt and fish. And here all this comes. I'm not complaining; it's just different. ... All of a sudden [we] jumped into the mayhem. We're very supportive of our daughter and her family. Very supportive. Anything she wants to do or undertake, we're backing her.
GP: And it probably hasn't died down yet, has it?
CH: No. She [Sarah] is getting ... oh, hundreds of letters weekly. I was in her office yesterday, and last week she had over 200 requests for interviews. Over 200. And these were small interviews, radio, talk shows, things like Oprah, David Letterman, things like that.
GP: What are they specifically asking?
CH: Well, like David Letterman ... they want her on the show. There are open invitations from several of them — even open invitations from O'Reilly and from Oprah and things like that.
GP: So do we know if (Bristol's having) a boy or a girl?
CH: It's a boy.
GP: Do you have a name yet?
CH: I don't think so. Bristol's here — let me ask her.
(At this point, Mr. Heath can be heard calling into another room: "Do you have a name for your baby yet?" He speaks back into the phone and says: "Oscar, she said. No, I'm just kidding. They don't have a name for it yet.")
GP: What kind of grandmother do you think your daughter will be?
CH: My daughter will be a great grandmother. She's a great mother — great daughter, great mother. I don't know about how much time she can spend, she's so busy. But she'll get her licks in. Don't worry.
GP: That's the hard part of being in the public life, isn't it? Where you have to try to juggle your public life with your family life. Has that been difficult within your family?
CH: Well, she [Sarah] takes her kids with her as much as possible. She just got back from Juneau last night and she had her daughters and Trig with her. Track, her oldest boy, is in Iraq. In fact, she's been criticized for dragging her family around with her. I think it's the greatest thing in the world.
GP: What are some things you all like to do in your spare time as a family?
CH: We don't have any spare time. [Laughs.] Well, in our spare time in the winter, as a family, we do a lot of snow-machining and skiing. I don't know about the skiing this year, but we'll do a lot of snow-machining. Her husband, Todd, is a world champion snow-machine racer. Won that Iron Dog four times. In fact, he's getting prepared for it right now, even though it's two months away.
GP: So you have a very active family life then?
CH: Sarah's kids have all participated in sports all through their high school career. They snow-machine, they hunt, and they fish.
GP: With a new baby coming into your life, what are the things you'd like to teach your new great-grandchild?
CH: I hope he's a normal, happy, healthy kid. My wife, Sally, is just looking forward to taking care of him. She's one of those good grandmother types. The grandkids and the kids come first. [Laughing] I come second.
Oscar, heh. It reminds me of when Princess Diana was to have a child and the word on the street was that it would be called, shock-n-awe, Oliver.
It's something about those "O" names that make them sound so funny. Hmm, "O" names...
Did you see or read this about the already-mentioned ABC "This Week" interview, with John McCain? Because I didn't.
Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would not necessarily support his former running mate if she chose to run for president.
Speaking to ABC's "This Week," McCain was asked whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could count on his support.
"I can't say something like that. We've got some great other young governors. I think you're going to see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our Republican Party," he said.
He then mentioned governors Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Jon Huntsman of Utah.
McCain said he has "the greatest appreciation for Gov. Palin and her family, and it was a great joy to know them."
"She invigorated our campaign" against Barack Obama for the presidency, he said.
McCain was pressed on why he can't promise support for the woman who, just months ago, he named as the second best person to lead the nation.
"Have no doubt of my admiration and respect for her and my view of her viability, but at this stage, again ... my corpse is still warm, you know?" he replied.
His corpse is still warm? What on earth?
I have a small, very small amount of sympathy left for John McCain, and honestly, I think he just blew it with me, forever.
Now I know why a man like McCain would feel so at home with a treacherous Democrat like Joe Lieberman -- because they are both backstabbers to their own Parties.
This is probably what other people sense, such as Kathryn Jean Lopez who wrote:
(It would also be insane for anyone to endorse anyone for president four years out.) That and maybe he wants to leave the door open to endorse Obama in four?
If a then-President Obama is remotely doing well with the economy, I predict here and now that even if Sarah Palin runs in 2012 (no, wait, ESPECIALLY if Sarah Palin runs in 2012), that Senator John McCain will endorse, campaign for, and probably give the keynote speech at the DNC for Obama.
I still honour his service, his sacrifice, and his sense of duty, but as a politician, he's just like the rest -- an opportunist.
Ugh, I want my donations back...
ADDED: Remember? This was part of the 'McBush' smear by the Democrats this past election. But maybe, they were seeing it the wrong way.
If I were a person getting hugged by John McCain, I'd look out for my back.
Of all the people I had to give a political donation to, it had to be to John McCain. Here is how he repaid me and his fellow Republicans, today, on ABC's "This Week":
On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked: “The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, has been highly critical of the way President-elect Obama has dealt with this.
"He's had a statement every single day, saying that the Obama team should reveal all contacts they've had with Governor [Rod] Blagojevich. He says that Obama's promise of transparency to the American people is now being tested. Do you agree with that?”
McCain replied: “I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary. You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody — right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary. And so, I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me.”
The next sounds you hear are me knocking my head against my keyboard. Why did I vote for such a man, tell me?
Was I drawn to him because of his "reformer" mantra, when instead, I should've seen a scold and a sell-out?
I genuinely thought he could bring reform to the Republican Party (both Parties need it badly), and in choosing a running-mate with similar credentials in Alaska, I thought this would be an excellent start at cleaning the Augean stables that is Washington. This is why I voted for him, but since November 4th, I have felt only disgust and pity at my own perfidy of my values.
I'm not alone. Commenter Knox left this cri de coeur in another thread, "John McCain is Al Gore":
I was so disgusted by McCain at the end of the campaign, I had a full-blown case of McCain Derangement Syndrome. I think you're right, I think he couldn't stand being the Media's bad guy. He's much happier back in the senate, back-stabbing republicans just often enough to retain his "maverick" status. (And McCain constantly referring to himself as a "maverick" is just his version of the Gore name-drop.)
What a conundrum that someone who's been through what he has, and at his age, still sees the world through the lens of a popularity contest! And now he's back on the talk-show circuit, on Letterman, no less, who has been positively vicious to SP. What a cool guy.
Looks like I still have some of that MDS!
I'll piggyback on Knox' excellent idea that the "maverick" mentions are McCain's versions of Gore's name-dropping habit: both share the need to be seen as "better than thou" -- in Gore's case, better connected than most people; in McCain's case, better than most Republicans.
Here comes the piggyback:
Gore invented the internet, and McCain invented Blackberries.
Okay, neither men really thinks this (and it was McCain's advisor who merely suggested the Senator helped usher in legislation for the latter, not the Senator himself), but it goes to our joint point that they want to be seen as separate, other, and special. These claims make both innovators who should then reap their rewards in popularity.
Incidentally, Senator Robert Dole wanted to be seen as a funny, nice guy. Senator John Kerry wanted to be seen as the Vietnam vet with a conscience.
The winners of each of those Presidential contests, namely Clinton, Bush, and Obama all share one thing in common -- they go for the jugular, and aren't afraid to play hardball. I don't know about you, that's precisely what I want in my President, and I think now that Americans sensed that even if some would never admit it out loud.
As for McCain's comments, Macsmind puts forward a suggestion a little more forcefully, and with less emotion, that I:
One of the big reasons McCain lost is because he’s gotten “soft”. Because he didn’t “go there”, we’ve got the most inexperienced - and now most questionable - person to ever get to the White House. If he’s lost the stomach to play in the rough and tumble of politics that asks for accountability, then perhaps it’s time to for him to retire.
Ironically, by trying to squelch Republicans' disgust over this Illinois corruption scandal, John McCain is enabling the very thing he has purported to dedicate his career to -- reform.
But you see, what's more important is to be seen as WORKING with Democrats, not reforming politics, really and truly.
Fantastic. Why do I see this only now? I feel used.
Remember when I mentioned that the post-campaign firesale over at the McCain-Palin HQs could be a disaster waiting to happen.
Given the slapdash nature I observed in the Miami version, I feared something might let slip in one of the Dells or Blackberries being flogged to raise money after the failed Presidential run.
And so it was...
The D.C. Fox stationbought up two of those super cheap $20 Blackerries, and got a hidden trove of information as a freebie!
We saw laptops ranging between $400 and $600 with logins like “WARROOM08.” We couldn’t log on without a password, but staffers assured us the hard drive would be zapped before it was sold, and the computer would probably work.
The hottest item? Blackberry phones at $20 a piece. There were only 10 left. All of the batteries had died. There were no chargers for sale. But people were snatching them up. So, we bought a couple.
And ended up with a lot more than we bargained for.
When we charged them up in the newsroom, we found one of the $20 Blackberry phones contained more than 50 phone numbers for people connected with the McCain-Palin campaign, as well as hundreds of emails from early September until a few days after election night.
We traced the Blackberry back to a staffer who worked for “Citizens for McCain,” a group of democrats who threw their support behind the Republican nominee. The emails contain an insider’s look at how grassroots operations work, full of scheduling questions and rallying cries for support.
But most of the numbers were private cell phones for campaign leaders, politicians, lobbyists and journalists.
We called some of the numbers.
“Somebody made a mistake,” one owner told us. “People’s numbers and addresses were supposed to be erased.”
“They should have wiped that stuff out,” another said. But he added, “Given the way the campaign was run, this is not a surprise.”
We called the McCain-Palin campaign, who says, “it was an unfortunate staff error and procedures are being put in place to ensure all information is secure.”
But we wonder-- Did we get the only Blackberry with personal campaign information in it? Or did you get one too?
What that Democratic pol's son in Tennessee didn't unearth when he hacked into Governor Palin's email account, might soon be laughable compared to the goodies inside these gadgets.
Ugh, please. Amateurs. And they thought they could run our country?
IN THE COMMENTS:Chickenlittle makes mention of my prescient predictions on Sundries, which I assure you is not an everyday thing with me. I'm not about to become a gypsy Tarot-reading soothsayer any time soon.
But I would like to draw your attention to one of my favourite predictions. It's particularly topical, and I still stand by it.
Way back on October 16, 2005, I predicted that Oprah would run for the US Senate one day. This passage gives me the chills.
Prediction:Oprah Winfrey will run for a Senate seat from Illinois one day.
Possibly for Dick Durbin's seat, or even Barack Obama's seat, should either make a serious bid for the US Presidency in 2008, or more to the point, 2012, one year after Oprah's contract is set to expire.
Barack Obama's seat would be doubly meaningful, not because she harbours any anti-Obama sentiments, au contraire!, but because it's the seat once held by Oprah's old friend, Carol Moseley-Braun.
Although Miss Winfrey's first political contribution on record is to a Republican, Susan Engeleiter's Wisconsin senatorial bid in 1988, to which Oprah contributed U$1,000, her second was to Carol Moseley-Braun (ten more Benjamins), in 1992.
Moseley-Braun famously went on to lose her bid for re-election to Peter Fitzgerald, who, in turn, opted not to run for his seat in 2004...which Barack Obama then won.
It's coming home, mama, it's coming home.
What do you think?
During the recent Blagogate news, my mind wandered and I thought, what if Obama is unseated due to a yet-uncovered (Chicago corruption/Acorn) scandal, and we get President Biden, who then chooses as his Veep, Hillary Clinton?
Were you watching David Letterman tonight? His guest star was the umbilically-tied, Senator John McCain -- the man who a short month ago, received my vote to be Commander-in-Chief.
I watched queasily.
The thing with John McCain is that, of course, he's a decent man. He's self-deprecating, and he's got a strong grip on reality. He's engaging, up to a point, as well.
But the problem is that I finally realised something that perhaps all those of you reading this out there, have known for a while: John McCain likes to be liked.
That would be fine, but there's a catch. He especially likes to be liked by the in-crowd.
Media, personalities like Letterman, he plays to all of them, including to the listening audience. All the while, of course, wagging a finger of reproof to his Party comrades if they act, think and speak, shock!, like Republicans.
This is the man who shushed an entire audience of well-wishers and campaign backers in the Arizona Biltmore, who dared to boo Mr. Obama during his concession speech but made light of the disgraceful campaign workers backstabbing of his running mate, on a followup Letterman appearance.
(Since we're on the topic, by the way, was it me, or did you think that was an extremely well-crafted defeat speech? Too much so? I wonder how the victory version would've sounded -- not nearly as polished and well-thought out, I would say, and therein lies the rub with John McCain. I wonder just how much he wanted to win. Maybe he just wanted to look honourable and not be seen as a roadblock to history, lest his legacy suffer)
Tonight, McCain made a sneaky little mention of how Letterman disapproved about his selection for Vice-Presidential running-mate, and he let the waves of audience laughter ride and ride, as he smirked in obvious pleasure at the reaction. I almost paid a visit to the porcelain god after watching this.
That's when I realised, like many Republicans, I have arrived at a certain amount of peace about the election's result. I desperately dislike what Barack Obama stands for, but I wasn't at all happy about what John McCain stood for either. That man is everything but a conservative.
Joe Wurzelbacher made headlines this week again, echoing a lot of my discomfort about John McCain's positions. He said he spoke at length to McCain about the bailout, and that the Senator's answers "appalled" him. He felt so bad, he wanted to get off the bus. Didn't we all...
Incidentally, click on this LA Times story about Joe's forthcoming book. One of the biggest problems I have with those on the Left is that they are unabashedly condenscending about the blue-collar, the undereducated, anyone they perceive to be unworthy.
This piece nails this attitude almost in caricature form. This attitude will only get worse, because these people believe there is a vanguard who are entitled to be leaders in every field. Should you not fit that mold, you do not merit even respect for your viewpoints. After 4 years of this, I think Americans will begin to take a close look at why such an attitude is allowed free reign in our society, because it stinks. It's not entirely un-American (look at the Founding Fathers, not a proto-NASCAR dad amongst them), but it still reeks of elitism.
By now you're wondering about the blogpost title. It's simple.
Last year, Vice-President Al Gore paid a visit to the University of Miami, and of course, I was there. Just two days before, he had won the Oscar for Best Documentary, and his Nobel Prize laurels were in the offing. I confess I half-expected him to bring the statuette with him, and hold it aloft for the audience to roar in approval over.
It turns out that this bit of flourish, which didn't happen, was just about the only non-self-serving thing he didn't do throughout the nearly interminable two-hour presentation.
Here is a Youtube video I filmed during it.
Actually two-and-a-half hours. Yes, I was startled to find him do a live version of "An Inconvenient Truth" right there, and then take questions afterwards. A lot of us left well before he finished, and you know I am not one to cut tail and run at any happening.
It's just that the man is an utter bore.
That we all knew, and obviously, I was prepared for it.
What I wasn't prepared for is Al Gore's need to prop himself up as popular, all the time. During the whole event he name-dropped, he let us into his glamourous life, and just made himself out to be a big-shot the whole time.
In a way, it was fascinating to watch this unfold. Psychologically, I mean.
After all, it's one thing for ordinary schmoes to name-drop.
We know why they do it -- they want people to realise that they have been brushed with greatness, in the form of notable individuals. I do it myself sometimes, but hopefully with more comedic intent.
But why does a man like Al Gore, son of a Senator, himself a Senator and Vice-President, with an Oscar and a Nobel Prize on the mantelpiece, have to do it?
Here's an example of what I mean.
He peppered his Incovenient Truth presentation with anecdotes about how hip he was.
Did you know he uses a Mac? Not only does he use a Mac, but he told us that he sits on the Apple Board of Directors, and recounted of a lunch he had the other day with Steve Jobs. You know why he let drop that? Because had some tips on how to make the Power-Point-like application Apple uses, which he was using at that moment, more user-friendly. You know what happened? They took his advice, changed the app for him, and therefore for all of us. Woo.
Let's count the ways Gore boosted himself in this one anecdote.
- He's not an evil, capitalistic Windows user. He's an eco-friendly, liberal Mac user. Admirable!
- He sits on the Apple Board. He's not just an user, but he's the ultimate Apple insider!
- He can have lunch with the genius behind the magic, Steve Jobs, just because he's Al Gore!
- He can give advice to said genius, and he runs with it! He's a fellow genius!
Oh, there were so many things I can tell you that he said...
That his daughter was a "Futurama" writer, and that he and Matt Groening hung out together at his home. That Mark Knopfler gave him a tip about a song, which he downloaded, and which he wished us, the audience, to take note of. That he and Tipper had been hosted by the King and Queen of Spain, and did we know that the Queen was a pescetarian. He just couldn't relax, you know? He had to inject himself constantly into his anecdotes, by way of giving us a hidden nugget of knowledge that we were not privy to, but that he was.
It blew my mind the things I heard. I kept thinking, "Wow, this man is needy. He NEEDS to be liked".
Nothing is more disgusting to me, than such people. I find them absolutely pitiful, even dangerous. You know why: they go with the flow and rarely stand for anything, because untrendy positions make people hate you. Not just people, though. The RIGHT people. All the others really don't count for them.
And that's where John McCain and Al Gore bifurcate.
They are both the sons of Washington privilege. They grew up in remarkably similar households frequenting the same corridors of power, went to similar boarding schools (though McCain's was a more peripatetic childhood), had similar high-achieving dads who they wanted to out-do. Both in a sense did, though arguably not in their own minds.
They are both part of that creampuff vanguard of people raised to lead.
That's not Joe Wurzelbacher. That's not Sarah Palin. That's not a lot of people in that audience at UM, though a few probably thought they were, by mere virtue of the fact that they "get it". They too want to be liked, and to hobnob with Steve Jobs, and to have a guest appearance with David Letterman, sharing yuks about the little people who don't know better.
Obviously, I am overstating this to make a point. I don't really think every single person there thinks like this.
But I find it...appalling...that there are enough of those who do.
I do not trust, I do not respect, and I do not wish to be governed by those who wish to be liked.
Give me a tough old coot who tells everyone to take their weak piss tea and go home, to boo all they want against their foes, and to tell David Letterman to apologise for being such an egocentric idiot already, and not just fall on his "mavericky" "honour" sword all the time, and I'll be as happy as a clam being led by such a man.
And, with regret, that is not and was not John McCain.
That's how today I am a member of the loyal opposition to President-Elect Barack Obama. Not happy, mind you. Not at all. But at peace.
This long-drawn out guessing game about whether Senator Clinton will become our next Secretary of State (pending Senate confirmation) belies the talk that Democrats have their act together.
Here's the deal:
You do not, under any circumstances, float out Hillary Clinton's name for Foggy Bottom consideration, unless you are absolutely sure the lady will accept the position.
I've heard all kinds of conspiracy theories about all the implications. The big one is this:
- Obama and Hillary both wanted to come out smelling like roses, he by offering his major rival a meaty position; she by denying it to work on her health care dream.
I didn't think this made sense in the beginning, and I still do not. Why tie yourself to a man who is possibly an one-termer, whilst on his end, he would give untold ammunition to the woman all too eager to play a prominent world role?
(In case you wonder if I think she's more capable than Richard Holbrooke, of course not. But you have to understand that diplomacy is about leverage, not knowledge. She brings a caché to the role that other nations would have to sit up and take notice)
Senator Ted Kennedy has this very day appointed her to a committee exploring insurance coverage, and one doesn't do that if you feel she's not long for the Senate (or that her time will be otherwise engaged).
Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Edward Kennedy named fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton to lead a working group on insurance coverage in the effort to write health-care legislation.
Sure, Kennedy could've appointed her merely as a tribute, and it's still possible she'll accept the Secretary of State job, but this entire overture has just looked...loosey-goosey.
This whole situation reminds me of President Clinton scrambling to fill his cabinet. It's amateur hour, all over again, ugh. This lack of professionalism about Democratic Presidents that makes most Republicans cry out in frustration. Most don't mind being in opposition, so long as we know the country is in steady hands: our enemies are less likely to attack if they perceive strength, however mistaken some think it is.
Now, if she walks away, it'll compound the feeling of wishy-washiness that Democrats were unable or unwilling to kick out Joe Lieberman from the Homeland Security post, even after much gnashing of teeth against him.
Are you kidding me? I am grateful to Joe for his support, but this is just spineless. If I had been in charge, and he had pulled a Zell Miller in 2008, he would've been out of his post long ago.
Who knows, maybe it might've motivated him and John McCain to secede from their Parties, and form their own...call it the Joe-Mac Party. We'll throw in Lindsey Graham for free.
As Republicans stare with horror at the Big Government last breath of the Bush Administration, with bailout this, and rescue plan the other, we look to the other side with genuine hope that things will improve.
From my vantage point, we're all going downhill and someone has jimmied with the brakes. Halp us John Karri.
UPDATE: Oh God. The guy who finessed the Marc Rich pardon (and is opposed to the death penalty) has been tapped as the nation's first black Attorney General.
IN THE COMMENTS: Arrgh. Jal makes a good point about Holder.
Holder also had a part in the pardon of the FALN terrorists by Clinton.
Nice, huh.
FALN. Marc Rich. Susan McDougal. Dan Rostenkowski. Roger Freaking Clinton too!
Actually, Holder is now looking like a fiasco to me. Like his putative boss, his record is anti-gun, and he was the Assistant AG charged by Janet Reno to handle the Elian Gonzalez case.
Yikes, That Looks Tense, Uncomfortable And Awkward
No. Not this.
THIS.
Body language notwithstanding, Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, will enter our national lore as Grandma-in-Chief (First Grandma?). She'll be moving into the White House with her charges, Malia and Sasha.
You know, I rather like that.
I'm so sentimental towards my own late maternal grandmother, and of course, I love extended families living together. It's the Old World in me.
I haven't read accounts of this announcement yet, but I recall that the last elderly relative of the First Family to actually live in the White House, was President Harry S Truman's mother.
A funny story is told about her, in England. When then Princess Elizabeth paid her first official visit to the US, the President's mum requested to be introduced to her in her White House digs. But in her confusion, the old bird told the future Queen, "Oh, I am so happy your father was re-elected" -- presumably about Winston Churchill.
I don't think that's a concern with Marian Robinson. She looks sharp and steely. Clearly, Michelle inherited much of her looks, too. They could be the twins of pout.
Hopefully, a nice sunny vista overlooking the mall or the Rosegarden will put her to rights.
Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson!
P.S.: Incidentally, I heard the McCain-Obama meeting described on PBS as "that most American of things".
Presumably, only in the US, with their history of silky smooth transitions and gracious concessions, would a vanquished opponent meet with the conquering one, after the election.
Yeah, right. Because in Britain, the new Prime Minister eats the severed tonsils of his defeated opponent at dinner.
IN THE COMMENTS:Chickenlittle wants more info on the circumstances of the Obama photo.
BTW, do you know the circumstances of the Obama/Robinson photo? It looks like they're awaiting bad news in a hospital. If so, then I'll STFU. But if they're watching election returns or something, it makes me grin. Please do tell.
It's as you suspected, Chickenlittle. Then Senator Obama and Mrs. Robinson are in their hotel, awaiting election returns near Grant Park.
Actually, if you look closely at the photo, the pose may be distant, but they are actually holding hands in a supportive gesture. Since the outcome of the election was never in any doubt, this must've been in the first few minutes after polls closed.
If you didn't know better, and I asked you to describe this photograph of a rather runty Renate Kuenast being held up by Jürgen Trittin, celebrating their victory in Germany's Green Party's congress, how would you describe the scene?
Doesn't it look like something out of the Wombles set?
I just can't take anyone seriously who would be mistaken for Great Uncle Bulgaria, or a modern-day Tinky-Winky.
Seriously, though, Germany has tried to do their best to counter Barack Obama's rise to power, in their own, still rather vanilla way. Meet Cem Ozdemir, the Green Party's new leader* and the first ethnic Turk to gain such a foothold on power in Germany.
*He and Claudia Roth are co-leaders.
If you think that's not of note, think again. In Germany, the Greens are a major political force -- perhaps the most of all the Green Parties around the world.
As proof of that, I need only show you the Green Party candidate for US President in 2008, the always lively, Cynthia McKinney.
Maybe President-Elect Obama can reach out, and find her a place in his Team of Rivals cabinet?
This Thanksgiving Day, the "Our Country Deserves Better PAC" will be coming out with a television ad thanking Governor Palin for her 2008 run for Vice-President.
She made the word "shoutout" famous in a political setting, but now, she's getting a little shoutout of her own. Nice.
EDIT: Well, boo. I cannot get the video code to work, so that it doesn't constantly load (even with Peggy Gero DaValt's tips).
Seriously, people, has Germaine Greer nothing better to do than to deconstruct Michelle Obama's Grant Park dress? It's of such amusement to me, akin to Gloria Steinem weighing in on Sarah Palin's jeans, that I have decided to post on it.
First, this is what the renowned Aussie feminist had to say in the Grauniad:
If Michelle Obama's such a great dresser, what was she doing in this red butcher's apron?
The one sour note to resound through the jubilation at the election of Barack Obama was an undercurrent of fear and loathing of the dress Michelle Obama wore on election night. Most newspapers were too high-minded to refer to it, but reaction trickled through the internet and surfaced in USA Today, where a poll revealed that twice as many people hated the gown as thought it irrelevant or OK: "It looked as if someone out trick-or-treating has thrown a can of red paint on her." It was dubbed "firework fashion", "definitely a lava-lamp look with a volcanic nod to her husband's Hawaii". "It looked like it was made from velvet, satin, Spandex and Elmo muppet fur!" One blogger complained that she could hardly listen to Obama's speech "for fear of that dress"; another accused its Cuban-American designer of duping his hapless client into wrapping herself in the Cuban revolutionary flag.
Elmo muppet fur! I mean, where do you start?
First off, that "one sour note" probably says it all. There were about 57 million Americans that were hardly jubilant on November 4, but I suppose they don't count for Greer and Co.
Secondly, "most newspapers were too high-minded" to mention the dress? Uh, no. Most newspapers are not fashionista rags who attempt to double as legitimate news reporting, like Vogue and even Vanity Fair. Mentioning this dress alongside an historic election would've struck a strange note, not a sour one. Their coverage is not a question of being high-minded, though, so much as hidebound.
Thirdly, most newspapers have given the Obamas fawning coverage. Not just fair coverage, mind you, but lickspittle, bottom-sniffing, botty-wiping, i-love-you-mannnn! coverage.
The stain that was mainstream media coverage of the Obama candidacy in 2008 will go down as one of the great travesties of our time (it'll come back to bite them, as assuredly as why they did it -- because media felt complicit in not fully investigating the claims made by President Bush ahead of his Iraq venture. This was payback).
It's almost inconceivable that the Grey Ladies would've said the least negative thing about the Obamas at the moment of their triumph, let alone mentioning the world-wide giggles about Michelle Obama's dress.
Here I have to confess yet again that I do not see what the whole fuss is about. As I mentioned, the dress didn't make an impression on me, in real-time.
It would be too convenient of me to now claim that I find the dress insufferably bad. In truth, now that I have had a chance to look at it properly, it doesn't look terribly smart, and the design is OTT, but I am smirkful that one blogger complained she couldn't pay attention to President-Elect Obama's speech for thinking about the monstrosity wrapped around his wife's bod. Come on, really?
Can you imagine if live-blogging had existed in 1961?
"Oh, that's a great line, "Ask not what your country can do for you" O.M.G! What is Jackie Kennedy wearing?! Is that a poodle on her hands! That's not a muff, that's a chinese dinner gone Pete Tong!"
Of course, I myself have never shied away from making snarky comments about the way women dress. But then, I'm not a legendary feminist writer opposed to reducing women to frills and frippery like fashion commentary.
Greer didn't just skewer the mother. She commented on the kiddies too.
At no time would what she wore be more significant than on the night of November 4 2008, when, win or lose, the eyes of the world would be upon the Obama family as the four of them processed on to the stage in Grant Park, Chicago. If Michelle had dressed herself and her daughters for defeat, she could hardly have chosen anything more saturnine. Seven-year-old Sasha was dressed from head to foot in black: black dress, black hose, black shoes. Ten-year-old Malia was just as black about the legs, but her dress was blood-red. Any colour is better than pink, but these robust choices hardly strike one as girly. The girls' odd outfits were clearly chosen as foils to their mother's dress, which was all black with an eye-burning red panel that splattered itself down the front like a geometrical haemorrhage, held in by a criss-cross sash of black.
The red extended upwards almost to the neckline, and downwards to mid-thigh, petering out top and bottom in a sort of cast-off splatter. The effect of the strong contrast was to turn a mere frock into a poster in the most disturbing colours known to man, the colours of chaos. The juxtaposition of a rectangle of red on a black field is what we might expect to find on a flag or a shield. Coral snakes and venomous spiders signal their destructive potential by the display of similarly violent contrasts.
Come on Germaine, they're just kids, and I for one thought their dresses owed something to Bakst and his onion-domed orientalism, which ushered out the funereal Victorian era, and propelled it into giddy modernity.
You'll note that even La Greer mentions the spidery connotations of Mrs. Obama's dress. That's something my own mother mentioned, as we watched her.
Personally, if I were Michelle Obama, I'd rather be connoted with a black widow spider, regardless of venomous allusion, than a muppet.
To my slight bemusement, even my very serious father had an opinion on Michelle's dress, after being told by me about Greer's article.
"She looks like she just took off Sweeney Todd's apron."
Though he and my mother are avid fans of FashionTV, I've never known him to evince the slightest comment on women's fashion.
P.S.: It's true that Narciso Rodriguez is not like many Cuban-Americans politically (he's a big fat liberal and anti-Bush, but then what do you expect from a Cubanazo from Newark), but it shows a distinct lack of knowledge about him to suggest he would be duping his client to make a "Cuban revolutionary" statement.
That's more Vera Wang.
ADDED: Michelle Obama = ET? If her critics are right, and her red/black number was pregnant with code, perhaps it was the foreshadowing of an exoplanet, Formalhaut B? ...B for Barack!
At a local bookstore: the books display just before the Presidential election.
I was going to buy a book there on entering (a specific translation of The Prince by Machiavelli), but I left without doing so. Business and political bias do not mix. I refuse to be insulted, and then to cough up my hard-earned money for the privilege.
1 Vice President/President of the Senate - Joseph R. Biden
2 Speaker of the House of Representatives - Nancy Pelosi
3 President pro tempore of the Senate - Robert Byrd
4 Secretary of State - Hillary Clinton
I personally think Senator Clinton is poised to become the new Senator Ted Kennedy, and to become the absolute doyenne in Congress, even outstripping Nancy Pelosi in time. As such, why would she give up such a long-standing power base for a mere cabinet position?
But for a woman who will not challenge in 2012, because it would be political suicide within the Democratic Party to go against Barack Obama* as incumbent, and will be 69 in 2016, maybe hovering around the wings is the only chance she's got.
*Curiously, my analogy to her being the new Senator Kennedy does have a strange twist. The last person to challenge an incumbent President Carter for the nomination, from his own Party was indeed Ted Kennedy. As that 90s tune had it, "Things that make you go ahhh".
Republicans: Thank Your Lucky Stars For Sarah Palin
I am off to bed, as I prepare for a full day of Republican Governors Association reporting tomorrow.
As I watched local and national coverage of Palin, in this media post-election barrage about her, I was struck by how easily she has re-insinuated herself into the national narrative. The gal didn't miss a beat, did she?
Then I wondered if the other Republican governors at the convention, perhaps with their own Presidential ambitions in the coming years, were beginning to get annoyed or jealous about the attention this woman was drawing to her. After all, she was part of a losing ticket. The Party of Lincoln should be more than just about Sarah Palin, don't you think?
Well, not exactly.
Take away all the ego from the situation, which is difficult, but necessary given the post-election blues, the other Republicans attending the conference should feel absolutely blessed to have this woman amongst them.
This includes, may I add, Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, who more than a few people suspect, wants to run for the Presidency in 2012.
Why?
Because by all rights, the Republicans after November 4, 2008 should be dead. Lifeless. No heartbeat. Some are even declaring them a spent force politically for at least the next 20 years.
Clearly, these are partisans, and probably youthful ones at that, who think a win means a sea-change in American worldview, hoping against hope that Barack Obama will do for Democrats what Ronald Reagan did for Republicans in 1980 -- he made Liberal a dirty word.
For them, they think Barack Obama will make "Conservative" a dirty word.
No chance.
You've heard this a million times since the election, but this country is still a centre-right country. The election elevated the most Leftist man ever to seriously make a run for it from a major Party, but gay marriage was voted down in all three States where it was also on the ballot. New gun owners are being born by the thousands this year, in part due to their distrust of Obama (a fear that gun laws may be tightened). Americans still overwhelmingly believe in God. And just for added kicks, they believe in patriotism, and are deafeningly pro-military.
Barack Obama's repudiation was not a striking down of Conservatism, but a reaction to 8 years of George W. Bush, the economic meltdown, and the chance to make an once-in-a-lifetime historic choice. Do you doubt it? Consider this.
- People whose best pocketbook interests were not served by a Leftist inside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, voted for him in droves. He will raise their taxes, but they didn't care.
- People who wanted to "punish" an anti-immigration platform, did so by voting against the guy who was their champion -- John McCain.
- People who were religious, rural and blue-collar voted for an urbane, snobby chap who said they clung to guns and Bibles, and whose own religious background was shepherded by a Christian pastor who spewed black supremacist hatred to his face for 20 years.
Looking at these facts, is it a small wonder that Democrats think the Republican Party is on life support?
But it's not. You know why it's not? In part, in very large part, because the personal magnetism of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.
When tickets lose, usually the losers disappear from television for a good long while. Nothing marks one as cruelly in America, as being associated with losing the Presidency. Jimmy Carter was a joke the moment he lost the election. Even the Iranians laughed at him by refusing to release those 444 hostages on his watch, and he was the sitting President not the challenger!
John Kerry and John Edwards weren't seen for months after their loss. Journalists pounded their campaign for their lack of standing for anything, even before Kerry's Faneuil Hall speech was over.
That should have been what happened to Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. In fact, it's half-true.
John McCain retired to his Arizona ranch to grill Brats and ribs for almost a week, and the only reason he reappeared on the scene, a full 6 days later, was to explain his campaign's trashing of his running-mate. If not, he could've continued grilling until well into January without a peep wanted or needed.
In the strangest way, if it hadn't been for those nefarious leaks which McCain did very little to strike down, maybe Sarah Palin wouldn't have been as ubiquitous on our sets this week. If they had wanted to bury her, they should just have ignored her and let the last image of her be the woman misty-eyed next to McCain on the Arizona Biltmore dais.
Of course, that wouldn't have happened anyway. Media knew a ratings star when they saw her, and that certainly describes Sarah Palin.
She received offers to host a Fox News show almost immediately. Even porn kings laid down before her a $3 million offer if only she would star in her own version of Nailin' Palin. And when her appearance at the governors conference in Miami was confirmed, the usual 30 press passes issued for the event, quadrupled.
They weren't quadrupling for Tim Pawlenty or even our sainted star of the future, Bobby Jindal, guys. The only reason for this astounding increase, is that feisty little lady from Alaska.
Palin is the ticket out of political Siberia for Republicans. The savvier amongst them realise that.
So long as she is, with media slobbering over themselves to dedicate "What will she do now?" shows about her, and with a very nervous Liberal opposition on blogs masking their unease as bitter hatred, she will continue to elevate her fellow Republicans.
By every standard, after such an election which was portentous with anti-Republican sentiment, no Republican politician should remotely be spoken of for weeks.
This should be Obama Time. All Obama. 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
It's not.
No doubt even Palin won't be able to keep up the white hot intensity of the klieg lights on her as she has this week, but the fact that she has been the centre of attraction during the key first days after an historic win by President-Elect Obama, speaks volumes.
Sarah Palin isn't done. She hasn't been vanquished. In fact, Palin Time is ticking along nicely.
Republicans, thank your lucky stars for Sarah Palin, and her ability to give you a happy, hopeful face, instead of that long Kerry face of defeat.
I was thinking the other day about Mike Huckabee being touted as a potential front-runner ahead of Sarah Palin for the 2012 nomination.
Why is it that mainstream media take him more seriously than the Alaskan, when they are remarkably close in terms of rural appeal? What makes shooting caribou a step too far from even fried squirrel?
Maybe it's the fact that he was once Governor of Arkansas that makes him more knowable. Sure, the knock on him is that he comes from a hick State, but so did Bill Clinton.
Don't underestimate the power of belonging to the Lower 48, with or without fried squirrels.
When Bill O'Reilly asked Diane Sawyer for the name of the current RNC chairman, she went blank. "It could be Ziggy! Who cares!", quoth the cable star.
That neatly sums up the problem with the lack of Republican Party leadership this last election cycle; namely, there was none. Whereas the Democrats had bombastic Howard Dean, last seen shouting "Yeah!" at pitches teacup poodles would wince at, the Republicans offered...Mike Duncan.
Trust me, don't feel bad if you didn't know his name either. I had to Wiki for the name, despite the fact that he sent me copious emails during the Presidential election.
So when it was announced that Newt Gingrich was first interested in being RNC chair, I found it puzzling since I'm fairly sure he wanted to run for the nomination in 2012. I think Newt is effective with his 'take no prisoners' attitude and we need a person as forceful as he at the moment. That's when I heard that Michael Steele was throwing his hat in the ring for RNC chair too. Oh oh.
Apparently, Newt has since stepped away from the position, leaving it to Steele. I wonder if Gingrich was ever really interested, or was the idea so much palaver from media. It never really made sense.
But Michael Steele totally makes sense.
He is, as I have mentioned on Sundries before, one of the most perfect gentlemen ever to be birthed on earth. I am completely on his side, most especially since he is Sarah Palin's champion, and it'll be crucial for her future to have such a defender at the RNC, given Romney's ascendant star.
The ex-Lieutenant Governor wrote his prescription for GOP healthiness in the Wall Street Journal, "Listen. Adapt. Be Positive" including these sane words.
"Our challenge lies not in beating Democrats, but in uniting around a message that solidifies our ranks and attracts new people to our cause. We have to listen to what Americans are telling us about their hopes, desires and needs, and then translate that message into proposals for meanginful action squarely grounded in values we Republicans have always stood for."
Yes, all right. Your inevitable "Senator McCain's first post-election interview with Jay Leno" post.
The military who were part of the audience gave him the best welcome I've seen since I saw McCain at the Univ of Miami. I want to be gracious, and I genuinely am thankful for his service, his valour and overall career, but right now, my emotions are still raw.
(HuffPo had two 2 minute excerpts on their site, but so far, I haven't found the full segment on Hulu)
Did you watch McCain on Leno? What impression did he give you about the whole Palin situation?
Straight from the lips of one of the greatest Americans who ever lived.
When times get tough, and there are supercilious Presidents intent on tearing down the fabric of our great land, come back to this post and take courage from the words spoken therein.
Slogans don't nourish the American soul. Belief in America does.
Believe it or not, I'm off to watch Changeling instead of staying at home and catching Senator McCain on Leno.
In many ways, I feel uninterested in his own election post-mortem, doubtlessly which he will make into some kind of joke to a pliant Leno. What is he going to say anyway? That he gave it his all or that he was up against a candidate for the ages?
Neither response would leave me satisfied. He ran a shambolic campaign, with a half-hearted attitude that a true Conservative would never have had versus an incomprehensibly compromised man.
To top it all, he never passed up the opportunity to chastise Republicans for sentiments he considered dishonourable, but sat by for a solid week whilst the lady who prevented his ticket to have been SLAUGHTERED (we're talking 10-15 million votes against, instead of 8 million), to be criticised wholesale by some anonymous campaign flunky.
I still believe he's a good man, a great American hero, but as a politician, I am so over John McCain.
I don't want to spoil the film for you, so I'll use vague terms to describe this, but I thought the 'baddie' was far more effective and a much better actor than, as an example, "There Will Be Blood"'s 'baddie' (the preacherman, played by Paul Dano). It's difficult to get the mannerisms of the age to reflect a demented pathology, and Jason Butler Harner reminded one of a sociopathic Dick York. Angelina's lips continue to irritate though.
