America elects first black President

Jesse Jackson openly weeping (after a few months ago saying he wanted to cut Obama's balls off).

I wonder what Dave Chappelle thinks.

How fascinating and historic that the same communities that were the most pissed off and tragically heartbroken at the assasination of Martin Luther King Jr.... now... 40 years later they are the most joyful and energetic areas in American tonight.

Harlem, South Central Los Angeles, south Chicago, Washington D.C., Atlanta, etc etc

For me personally, Tennessee voted %60 for McCain (i.e. against Obama). That makes this Presidency the most unpopular ever in my home state.

ITS THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

This is it.

I've been pulling for Obama since January/February of 2007. This will be the fourth semester of law school when the Obama possible victory was probably the most interesting sub-plot of my life (besides UT football of course).

1. The black turnout has been as high as 99% in some early voting in North Carolina. The effect this Obama presidency will have on black people will truly be historic. It will create a divide between those who realize and admit Obama's election has turned a new page in African history in America, and those that do not. The latter group will be those either stuck in the past, or who simply refuse to shed off the "victim-martyr" cloak. The latter group, IMHO, will have lost a great deal of credibility.

2. I hope there are not riots or looting in black areas. We've seen in many cases where a sports team wins (Chicago, Los Angeles) there will actually be rioting/looting in some of the poorest urban, mostly black areas of the city. I just hope that doesn't happen here.

3. Will McCain somehow steal this election? This time, the outrage will simply be unbelievable. If McCain somehow wins Pennsylvania (barely, just like W. won Florida in 2000, and Ohio in 2004), then I can completely understand rioting, burning and looting in the streets. That would be the THIRD time in as many Presidential elections when the dirty bastard lying rotten GOP has STOLE an election. People should riot because at that point, with the polls in PA showing a 10 pt lead, if McCain somehow won, in my mind, it COULD ONLY be because of something illegal. And that is just cause for rioting. A founding father of this nation said it better than I ever could, "When in the course of human events...."

4. Will Obama help me personally? Will he give more options to people who can't find work and are stuck with 50,000 plus student loans? Will he help people who work at small law firms that don't have a health care plan? Will his plan of allowing everyone to join the Federal Employees health care plan go through? Will Obama create more legal services jobs, governmental jobs, adminstrative agency jobs, that will help young lawyers find jobs? Will he lower the standard for forgiveness of debt, or create new programs to help people in non-profits get forbearance?
I don't know, but I know he's more likely to do any of those things than McCain.

God bless Barack Hussein Obama and God bless the United States of America.

Obama's grandpa

Barack's 85 year old granny fell very sick yesterday.

Barack is going to suspend his campaign to fly by to Hawaii to be with her.

She and Barack's white grandpa raised him.

Barack's story is possibly the greatest American story ever told up to the present day.

He even beats John Kennedy.

It is truly miraculous.

And he even looks like his white grandpa in a very unique way.

(Hint: The ears.)

OUR HERO

Obama campaign grassroots hero of the day

Just worked tirelessly for 4 days in Western Carolina (Heath Shuler country)

Three cheers

hip hip hooray

Obama has been SURGING in the polls for weeks now.

People are simply fed up with rising gas prices, food prices, unemployment, national debt, bailouts for huge corporations, the Patriot Act, spying on Americans, Karl Rove and everything he represents, and the general evil and shenanigans of the twenty-first century Republican party.

It is time for a change.

We are the ones we've been waiting for!

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA

He said it

Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan 1987-2007

Colin Powell is a true American hero and statesman. In explaining his pick for Obama, Powell said that McCain is using tactics such as implying Obama is a Muslim.

Powell replies, "Obama is not a Muslim; he is a Christian and has been so for many years. But so what if he were [a Muslim]?"

Powell goes on to talk about the above photograph of one Corporal Khan's mother at his Arlington gravesite, and how Powell was moved by the sacrifice shown by this young Muslim American army corporal.

The ultimate sacrifice: His life.

Corporal Kareem Khan was 14 years old on 9-11. He told his family he wanted to fight in the U.S. Army against the terrorists. He was killed in battle, but not before earning the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Colin Powell has reminded us all of what it means to be an American.

I hope Obama will appoint Powell to a high position of power.

Economy troubled?

First off, Colin Powell endorsed Obama today. First, Powell criticized McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, saying that the qualifications for the job of vice President is basically the same as President, and Palin is not ready. Second, Powell said America does not need ANY MORE conservative Supreme Court justices (which intrigues me as a student of the judiciary... I wonder which issues Powell is referring to??). Thirdly, Powell described a President Obama as "electrifying for the world." Fourthly, Powell said it was not about race.

(To read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27265369/ )
---------------------------------
The economy... what gives?
Are we screwed?

A poster at Paul Krugman's blog pointed out that from its peak in 1929, right before the fall which started the Great Depression, the stock market did not recover in real world dollars back to its 1929 peak... until... until... any guesses?.... 1954.

25 years later.

So, let me get this straight. The market peaked at 14,000 in 2007, coinciding almost precisely with my entrance into the white collar world... and if history repeats, this "market correction" might not actually correct itself until the year 2032???

President Bush said yesterday, "In the long run, the American people can have confidence that our economy will bounce back."

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/we-are-all-dead/

--------------------------
In the paranoid conspiracy theorist segment of my blog, let me just tell you my latest theory: Big business was 100% behind the so-called "war on terror".

Why do I say this?

One reason: A NYT article points out that one-third of the FBI was PULLED OFF of "white collar crime" detail, to be transferred to the 'war on terror'. Now, these multi-millionaire criminal CEOs are totally OFF THE HOOK.

So for the last few years, these robber baron CEOs have been raiding the till and there's just not enough FBI men to investigate. Even when the FBI KNOWS that crime is taking place.

Apparently, all the FBI men are too busy listening to FISA phone taps.

I just hope those phone taps are for real criminals, and not to find out exactly who is supporting the Republicans or not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/washington/19fbi.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

GREED is not irrelevant

This from RCP website:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/bailout_blues.html


"As one of my more knowing correspondents put it: "Wall Street loves money but hates free markets, because free markets distribute economic benefits to those who earn them, rather than to those best able to seize them."

The capitalist investment bankers stand accused, rightly, of having invented brilliant kiting schemes -- ultimately to deliver credit to customers who hadn't earned it. Their "greed" is irrelevant -- everyone is trying to make money. The point is that the schemes themselves were basically unsound. The lesson is that when home ownership is considered a "right" instead of a privilege, it is not only the housing market that goes bottom up."

---------
That first paragraph is SPOT ON.... and then the bastard basically says, "Well, we can't blame the bankers, boys will be boys, its not their fault that they have absolutely no scruples, morals or any inkling of risk restraint."

THEIR 'GREED' IS NOT, IS ABSOLUTELY NOT IRRELEVANT. THEIR GREED IS THE DEFINING FEATURE OF ALL MODERN, MATURE CAPITALIST STATES, AND THEIR GREED IS EVIL.

We must be EVER VIGILANT against that greed. And not blame the poor minorities for the fact that the GREED is running the show and won't even allow any modest and reasonable oversight or regulations.

Tuppence in the bank (DOW dropped 300 points today blues)

Sometimes I have moments of genius... watch this youtube.

Tuppence, prudently, thriftly invested in the Dawes, Tomes, Mousely Grubbs Fidelity Fiduciary Bank...

Bankruptcies! Debtor sales!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt9JpYRulSk

Compare this to the current situation. Wall Street and men getting 9 million dollar "golden parachutes" are asking for $700 billion dollars from the American taxpayer to bail them out.

These investment firms (such as AIG) purposefully and cold-bloodedly and "with malice aforethought" made incredibly RISKY and FOOLHARDY investments, thinking that the housing market would continue to go up at an accelerated rate forever (which anyone knows just simply does NOT happen... everyone knows the market goes in CYCLES)... and as a direct result (I"m not even mentioning the snake-oil ARM loans pushed on poor urban and elderly people... I'm not even mentioning these... its scary to think how much those are a part of it) the banks now have what Paul Krugman called "toxic paper", i.e. the worthless subprime loans.

Krugman belives that the huge banking lobby is basically trying to RAM the 700 billion through Congress, and basically force the American taxpayer to BUY THE TOXIC PAPER for its face value.

Profits are privatized; losses are made public and force-fed down the unwilling and powerless gullets of the American people.

Wow.

America.

Again, America has jumped the shark in 2008.

The creepy, unprecedented, bizarre media shut-down continues

...an aide told the journalists on board that all Palin flights would be off the record unless the media were told otherwise. At least one reporter objected. Two people on the flight said the Palins greeted the media and they chatted about who had been to Alaska, but little else was said.

If you want to know what it's like to live in Putin's Russia, the Republican party is giving you a good taste. This is the most appalling dereliction of duty by the press that I have ever seen in my adult life. If they had any integrity, they would stop covering her at all under these conditions. We're now well into the second week in which someone who could be president of the United States next January has not been available to the press.

Socialism for the RICH

I want to move to Europe sometimes. They seem so rational and honest.
----------------
CEO: Fannie/Freddie Bailout Makes America 'More Communist than China' Rogers Holdings chief tells CNBC Europe U.S. brand of socialism is meant only for the rich.

By Jeff Poor Business & Media Institute9/8/2008 5:24:06 PM

Has America created its own variety of communism with the U.S. Treasury Department’s bailout of two beleaguered government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE)? According to Rogers Holding CEO Jim Rogers, the answer is yes.

“America is more communist than China is right now,” Rogers told CNBC Europe’s “Squawk Box Europe” September 8. “You can at least have a free market in housing and a lot of other things in China. And you can see that this is welfare for the rich. This is socialism for the rich. It’s bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters."

Rogers, known for launching the Quantum Fund with left-wing heavyweight George Soros, said the bailout was not benefiting homeowners or helping average citizens improve their standing for a home mortgage.

“It’s not bailing out the homeowners who are in trouble, by the way,” Rogers said. “It’s not bailing out people who want a mortgage – it’s just bailing out financial institutions. This is not my idea of the way things are supposed to be, but if that’s what America wants, you know, it can elect people who are going to do it. I think it’s a mistake.”

The Rogers Holdings CEO had little confidence that Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, Ill., or Republican vice-presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, would be able to do anything to steer Fannie or Freddie on a more stable path.

“This is a big huge mess and neither one of them has a clue as to what to do next year,” Rogers said. “Bank stocks around the world are going through the roof, that’s because they’ve all been bailed out. You don’t see the homeowners in Kansas going through the roof because they’re not being bailed out.”

Rogers had previously called for Fannie and Freddie to be allowed to go bankrupt. “They should not be bailed out,” he told “Worldwide Exchange” July 15. “This is outrageous. Who are these people who are taking our money and doing this and ruining America?”

“Let the patient go bankrupt,” he said. “We have courts in America; they will be reorganized.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were “wove a mantle of invincibility” through lobbying according to a September 8 Wall Street Journal “Deal Journal” blog post. According to the Journal’s Heidi N. Moore, the mortgage giants had $170 million in lobbying bills in the past decade and spent $3.5 million on lobbying just in this year’s first quarter, spreading their largesse among 42 outside lobbying firms.

Earlier on September 8, CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer called the bailout “a homerun plan” on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
----------
Jim Cramer lost all credibility with his "brilliance" concerning Bear Stearns.

The link below:
http://businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20080908171808.aspx

The LION

The greatest legislator in the history of the United States, and the greatest senator of the twentieth century. The biggest supporter of Obama. Words run out and fail. The man, the myth, the "Liberal Lion", Edward Kennedy.

A simple prayer from Barack Obama

JERUSALEM - An Israeli newspaper's decision to publish a handwritten prayer left by Barack Obama in the cracks of Jerusalem's Western Wall drew criticism Friday as an invasion of his privacy and his relationship with God.

In the note, placed at Judaism's holiest site Thursday, Obama asks God to guide him and guard his family.

"Lord — Protect my family and me.
Forgive me my sins,
and help me guard against pride and despair.
Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just.
And make me an instrument of your will," reads the note published in Maariv.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080725/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_obama_s_note

South Carolina Senator Kevin Bryant

This is exactly why I get pissed off when I meet someone who is half-way intelligent, and yet still is a Republican. Face facts, people. On the whole, Republicans are liars. Bottom line.

-------------

"It was meant tongue in cheek," [Bryant] said, adding, "I've got some questions about Senator Obama's ties to -- such as his comment that we should negotiate with Iran. Iran's a country that would like to destroy Israel, that bothers me. But is this picture appropriate? I don't know." He let out a loud laugh. "It's gotten a lot more attention than I would have expected."
Does he think Obama is actually has terrorist ties? "I don't think he's tied to terrorists, no. I do think he's probably more sympathetic to nations that allow terrorism than I would prefer. And that's why I posted it. Am I saying that him and Osama work together? No, I'm not saying that at all."

And what religion does Bryant think Obama practices? "That's a good question. I don't know."

Invasion, occupation, yes; troops no

"I support the invasion and occupation but i do not support our troops"

I'd like to ask those currently trumpeting their support for the troops a question: Have you ever actually met any of these soldiers in person? Well, I have, and believe me, they are no more impressive than any other low-level functionary of a large institution.

In all honesty, my soul swells with pride at the thought of the military-strategy papers and cost-analysis reports in which the troops are represented as numerical figures. But, as for the men and women—well, in almost every respect, they are average. Although they are no less intelligent than any other American, it is certainly fair to say they lack the ability to devise the complex strategies and tactics to manage their own divisions, much less grasp the nuanced reasons for their deployment.

It is ridiculous that my "heart" is somehow morally or ethically obliged to "go out" to the troops. In fact, had the troops not been put to productive labor by the sheer might and institutional authority of the U.S. military, a good number of them would be sitting around bars, drinking and gambling. In short, we shouldn't view the troops as objects of sympathy, because their very contribution to our society is their ability to carry out simple commands on a battlefield.

Allow me to pursue this from a more personal angle. I have a son in the military. If I may say so, we've never gotten along particularly well. Frankly, he's been a bit of a disappointment to his mother and me. Nevertheless, he is our flesh and blood and always will be, and we wish him no harm. So I speak from a position of personal experience when I say that, while I do not wish death for any of the troops, death tolls should not be our greatest concern. All that matters is the pursuit of the foreign-policy goals of this great land, the land I love. America.

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman

Basically, Siegelman was the one Democrat in Alabama whom Republicans could never defeat at the ballot box, so Karl Rove used every means at his disposal to ruin Siegelman, from attempting to secure photos of marital infidelity (he committed none) to, ultimately, turning the Department of Justice into a political wing of the Bush-Cheney Administration bent on destroying Democrats by pressing trumped-up corruption charges against him.

-----------------
"Kagro X" at DailyKos wrote:

"If they can railroad the actual governor of a state into prison and have pretty much nobody really sit up and take notice, what does that say about the extent of the damage to the country? Not just the DOJ (which is a goner), but about the supposed watchdogs of the media, who've been in large part either cowed into silence, or distracted by an endless stream of shiny objects?

Seriously, this means they can do this to anybody.

But worse than that, it means that anybody who finds themselves under scrutiny by the federal government now has license to charge that they're being politically targeted. Because if this can happen as Horton describes it happening, all bets are off. It has all the ingredients of the complete and total undoing of all federal law enforcement capability for the foreseeable future."

---------------

And here's what Don Siegelman himself has said:

"I think this will make Watergate look like child's play when it is fully investigated, not so much this case because certainly it's not about me. It's about restoring justice and protecting our democracy and, because this case shows the lengths to which those who are obsessed with power will go in order to gain power or retain power, it has attracted the attention of the national press. ...

It's much bigger than me because it's not just my case. This was not an isolated incident. This was a pernicious, political plan that was set in motion by Karl Rove to further his espoused dream of establishing a permanent Republican majority in this country, and what he left out was by any means necessary.

It is clear to me — and I think to those who have been investigating, and that's why they're so hot about this case — it is clear that Karl Rove abused his power and misused the Department of Justice as a political tool to win elections, and that is something that would happen in a police state. That is something that we might have read about in history books as happening in Russia, but it is not something that should be allowed to happen in the United States of America.

Hillary or Obama?

Obviously... this is a hard one.

As a fed-up progessive... my heart is with Obama.

As a reality-based pragmatists, whose still believes in the ole realpolitick, Hillary seems more electable in the general.

America is not a true democracy, at least when it comes to the Presidency. All that matters in the Presidency is the electoral college math. In fact, as of 2008, if a candidate were to win the popular vote in the 11 largest states, that person would be President, even if the national popular vote were a landslide for the other guy.

The website www. electoral-vote.com clearly shows Hillary winning the electoral vote, because she is beating McCain in a few crucial states (and Obama is losing to McCain in those same states); Ohio, PA, FL, MO, NJ, and Wisconsin.

So, therefore I'm torn.

Can Obama truly ignite the youth vote?

Are Hillary's victories in certain states the result of Rush Limbaugh's "Operation Chaos", and should they therefore be ignored?

Will McCain, as I suspect, not want to attack Obama on the Jeremiah Wright issue?

Its nervewracking.