Yesterday's New York Times

Yesterday's Times had a front page story on Sarah Palin's slow collapse from popular governor to retiring, less popular governor. Ooh, I said to myself, this should be interesting, and after reading about the manner in which George Bush, Jr's presidency may have damaged the current administration's ability to turn things around for the US, and how civil unrest continues in Iran, I began the Palin article with real eagerness.

I should have known better, because what happened was not at all new. The Sarah Palin story, it quickly became evident, is the same story as everyone else has - a human being trying to do the right thing (based on her understanding of 'right'), and not always succeeding. And running into the real life that happened while she was off making other plans. the press, always eager to leap at the shallowest of controversies, didn't help; though it isn't their job to help. Her daughter's personal relations didn't help, though again, catering to her mother's political career shouldn't be the at the top of Bristol Palin's list of priorities - Bristol Palin should live her life for Bristol, not Sarah, Palin. Many people seem to have forgotten that.

But the point of all of this is that, much as I am relieved that Sarah Palin is not our Vice President, and as much as I suspect that she had more to do with John McCain's losing the election than Joe Biden did with Barack Obama's wining the election, she is a human being, and as long as I'm able to keep that perspective, it's hard to wish her ill. Nor do I want to wish her ill. Though I do wish her out of the spotlight.

And out of politics.

President Bush has left the White House

For my thesis, I'm researching some of President Bush, Jr's emergency management writings. I can no longer find anything he wrote at the White House website (www.whitehouse.gov), though they state that "many files associated with the previous administration have been removed from this server."

I guess Bush is now the previous administration.

Change.gov

The office of the President-Elect has its own website. They've already begun. Check it out at: http://change.gov/

Gun sales are up

The news is reporting that gun sales are up, including assault rifles, as some people are worried that a democratic President, coupled with a Democrat-controlled Congress, will place new limits on gun sales.

Where have these people been for the last few months? Do they really think that the government's priority is suddenly going to become gun control come January 20th?

And honestly, who really has a need for an assault rifle, anyway?

History in the making

Sometimes you know that you're in a historic moment. If you had asked me a year ago if it was possible for the United States to elect an African American President, I would have said "no, too many people aren't there yet." Racism isn't over. But if President Obama does a decent job, it will become weaker.

Of course, there's the rub. Obama does not have an easy task. He's made a lot of promises, and there are large expectations. How he'll be able to meet those expectations is beyond me; the country is broke. Even if it wasn't, the expectations are so high that I don't know that it's possible for anyone to meet them. And no doubt there are any number of people waiting and hoping he will fail, because he's black, or Muslim (he isn't), or because he eats baby seals for breakfast (he doesn't). Some people seem to have forgotten what it means to be an American. Or perhaps they never knew.

I give President-elect Obama real credit for saying, last night, that everyone is going to have to work together, and make sacrifices for the United States to succeed. He's absolutely right, and President Bush, Jr's biggest mistake may have been to pretend otherwise. Working together, the nation, and the world, can pull through.

Americans are fascinated with World War II. Then, the enemies were clear, and everyone worked together to defeat them. If the US can recapture that spirit - if only it can recapture that spirit. In the next several months we'll know.

Today's front page

Obama wins the Presidency, as seen around the world: http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default_archive.asp?fpArchive=110508

The 4th of July, the 1st Tuesday in November

I find it curious that we celebrate the day we declared our independence with parades and fireworks, but don't do the same on the day when we exercise it.

Magazine election poll

I was at a news stand last night and took a look at all of the magazines that I could find.

# of covers with a picture of Barak Obama: 8
# of covers with a picture of John McCain: 0

Apple votes 'no' on 8

LA Times reports: http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-fi-apple25-2008oct25,0,4625386.story?track=rss

Go Apple!

Obama, behind the scenes

The 1st photo's a magazine cover, but scroll down: photos of Sen Obama show the man behind the candidate: http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0810/callie-bp.html

Found at http://ethanhein.tumblr.com/post/55893696/callie-shells-photos-of-obama

How many people have incomes over $250,000?

...less than five percent of the population: http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/hhinc/new05_000.htm

So, if Obama is proposing to raise taxes only on those making over $250,000, over 95% of people wouldn't see an increase to their tax rate.

Interactive electoral college map

The LA Times has an interactive map of the US, where clicking on states makes them blue, red, or undecided, and totals the electoral votes as you go: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-votemap,0,2338623.htmlstory

Electoral votes, a currentish view

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:McCainObamaMatchupTWINtop.svg

At present, the map at the above location gives Obama 270 electoral votes, and McCain 155 votes, if only the states where there is a >5% difference are counted. If Obama holds onto the 21 states he has, the election is his.

BUT: It's not over yet.

The polls are very tight

"Cthulu has tapped into a well of public desire for gibbering uncertainty..."

Term limits

New York's Mayor Bloomberg wants to run for a third term. The city has a term limit of two terms, though, so if he's going to run again that term limit will need to be overcome, and there seem to be some powerful emotions in the people opposed to that change. "It's undemocratic!" they say. "The people have spoken: they voted for the term limit. Overturning it is undemocratic."

This is a democracy, yes: if you don't want him to have a third term, then don't vote for him.

Don't know where to vote?

Try this search: where to vote site:.gov (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=RoS&q=where+to+vote+site%3A.gov&btnG=Search) and scroll down for your state or locality.

For general info that applies to all states, and links to state offices try http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/Register.shtml. If I can find a grand list or locator I'll put it up. -B

It begins

BBC online reports that voting in the US presidential election is getting underway.

And I thought we had till November.

"Why I Will Not Vote for Sarah Palin."

From Why I Will Not Vote for Sarah Palin.

"I will no more vote for Sarah Palin because of her gender than I would defend Not voting for her on the basis of gender....

"I am not a supporter of Sarah Palin because her politics are backward thinking, anti-progressive, destructive and demeaning."

The rocket's red glare

This weekend a friend and I went up to her old camp in Vermont. Every 4th of July, they have a big get together, with fireworks over the lake and a bonfire.

The fireworks show was nice, but not particularly noteworthy until it occurred to me that there might be a real connection between the fireworks that we set off in celebration of the Fourth and the rockets whose red glare illuminated our flag at Fort McHenry back in 1814.(1) And it appears that there is (no big surprise). Congreve rickets, which the British used, came in several types. The incendiary type may have been the most prominent, but other versions existed, including one with an exploding head, designed to send metal balls or shrapnel into the opposing troops, and a type with a parachute, whose purpose was to illuminate the battlefield or send signals. I can't find any evidence of this, but it may have been this type of rocket that illuminated the flag. Or it may have been the incendiary rockets' glow as they flew through the air, I don't know.

What's the point of this musing? Perhaps it's that the meaning of things gets lost over time. We remember that things are important, but can't seem to remember why. The Fourth of July is about winning our independence from King George, really. And it goes farther than just the Fourth: Christmas isn't really supposed to be about gifts, (nor is Chanukah, for that matter), the site of the World Trade Center is not a place to smile for the camera (you're standing where thousands of people died, remember?), and isn't Easter supposed to be about something other than marshmallow peeps? I'll refrain from mentioning the true meaning of Labor Day (I've forgotten), but how about Memorial Day? That's supposed to be the day when we remember those who died for our country or, as has been the truth lately, died for our president. I am reminded of humanity as depicted in WALL-E (SPOILER ALERT!), a mindless group of people who are not really sure why they're doing much of anything, though they seem to think that they're doing enjoyable things. (END SPOILERS). We do what's been done; why, we don't know. Given that we've forgotten, why do we continue?

(1) Before anyone starts sniping, I am aware that the attack on Fort McHenry occurred during the War of 1812, not the Revolutionary War. That's not the point.

Impeach the President?

Say it ain't so: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/11/kucinich.impeach/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

I was led to that link by Mighty Cthulu, from whom I will now be getting my political news.