The honeymoon goes on

The sleep deprivation is just starting to win out over the Election Day high, but with headlines like this from Friday's New York Times, even late night election viewing/problem set doing/computer coding can't keep a spring out of my step.

Obama Victory Alters the Tenor of Iraqi Politics

Iraqi Shiite politicians are indicating that they will move faster toward a new security agreement about American troops, and a Bush administration official said he believed that Iraqis could ratify the agreement as early as the middle of this month.

“Before, the Iraqis were thinking that if they sign the pact, there will be no respect for the schedule of troop withdrawal by Dec. 31, 2011,” said Hadi al-Ameri, a powerful member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a major Shiite party. “If Republicans were still there, there would be no respect for this timetable. This is a positive step to have the same theory about the timetable as Mr. Obama.”

In Rare Turn, Iran’s Leader Sends Letter to Obama

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran sent an unusual letter congratulating President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday for his victory in the American presidential race, even though the two nations have had no diplomatic ties for nearly 30 years... this is the first time an Iranian leader has congratulated the winner of an American election, at least since the Iranian revolution.

None of these developments represent magical fixes, and it's important to remember that President-elect Obama will be coming into the White House facing an economic crisis and two wars. But it's just so heartening to see how this change is making it easier for other countries to engage with us, so that there exists at least a hope for progress.

Barack Obama was your new jetpack

There's been a lot of talk about the repercussions of electing an black president (as it appears we are about to). Will it be an inspiration for black people, bad for black people, or even good for white supremacists?

Jonathan Messinger sees a stranger problem. Like hovercars and jetpacks, black presidents have been a common shorthand in science fiction.

As many have said before, the function of a black president in film and TV has largely been used to signify some sort of alternate reality. It often shows up in various forms of science-fiction or fantasy, whether we’re talking about The Fifth Element or O Presidente Negro. Now, if Obama wins, I’m guessing that we’ll have to see science fiction turn to gay presidents for their alt-universe qualities. I look forward to it.

GOTV gets dirty

...and I'm not talking about mudslinging.

Circlet Press, a publisher that describes itself as the "intersection of erotica and science fiction, fantasy, and futurism," has decided that there may yet be a way to get apathetic voters engaged with politics: offer them free porn.

Email a copy of a receipt from a campaign contribution, and Circlet will send you a sci-fi themed, erotic novel. Now's a little late to be mounting a last minute fundraising drive, so it's unclear how much of a difference Circlet thinks it can make. Since it's McCain who's in desperate straits, he's best hope there really are a number of sci-fi fans out there, ready to campaign for Tigh/Roslin rather than sticking with Roslin/Airlock. Either way, it should be a fun demographic dust-up.


(h/t to i09)

Liveblogging the last debate

10:07: "I think [the Supreme Court] has made a lot of bad decisions... I'm a federalist, let the states decide." Sounds like the Supreme Court is going to get a turn in the bathtub, once McCain finishes drowning the government.

10:04: I believe McCain just equated cosmetic surgery with organ transplants.

10:01: Yes, McCain, it's surprising that Obama is claiming to be levying a fine of $0 on Joe, the much maligned plumber, but use your words to express your disbelief. Holding perfectly still with your mouth open and blinking rapidly is a little too literal.

Barring any big moments, I'm signing off. Looks like it will be status quo ante bellum, with Obama's coolness playing well opposite McCain's agitation.

9:47: Look, I'm a fan of nuclear power, much more so than for "clean" coal, but "No problem" is a little flip, McCain

9:33: Obama talks about the "Kill him" remark, McCain takes umbrage that Obama doesn't recognize that "the best people in the world" come to his rallies. Then he says he's quite put out about the t-shirts people wear at Obama rallies.

9:25: People yell "Kill him" at Palin rallies because Obama didn't agree to Town Hall debates?

9:24: Obama said McCain never breaks with Bush on economic issues. McCain responds with a list of non-economic breaks.

9:23: The FoxNews line got the only laugh of all three debates.

9:21: The more defensive and desperate McCain looks, the better off Obama looks. As long as he stops smirking.

9:19: If McCain is proposing dropping the tariff on sugarcane ethanol, he must really be pulling out of Iowa

9:17: An across the board spending freeze?!? Really?!? So we, what, just stop paying Medicare doctors if treatment rates go up?

9:17: McCain is sill shilling for PUMAs.

9:15: Obama going through the budget line-by-line is still a laughable idea. Plus, without a line-item veto, it's hard to see what he'll accomplish.

9:14: Good to have someone point out that the $700 billion isn't meant to be a gift.

9:11: McCain hates redistribution. But if he keeps characterizing it as "spreading the wealth around" I fail to see how that's an effective attack.

9:08: "Senator McCain, do you want to ask Senator Obama a question?"
"No."
Wait, really? I'm calling an Obama win right now. What a terrible first impression.

The numbers are in, and the libertartians are losing

Mostly, I get my distilled datasets from FiveThirtyEight.com's sabermetric analysis, but there's something pretty thought-provoking at the end of the NYT/CBS poll that was just released.

The poll shows a 51-39 split for Obama and McCain, respectively, when third party candidates are counted. The real interesting data comes when you look at who's defecting for third parties.

	Democrats	Republicans	Independents
Barr/Root	0	0	2
Nader/Gonzales	2	2	4
Other	0	0	1

I'm not exactly what message the GOP is supposed to get when more partisans are deserting for Ralph Nader than for the Libertarian candidate and Ron Paul write-ins put together. Not abolishing government in favor of reducing it to the size where they can drag it into the bathroom and restrain it with a governmentally mandated seatbelt, perhaps?

That's hardly the worst of it for the Republicans.

	Republicans
McCain/Palin	81
Obama/Biden	11

One in ten registered Republicans are planning to defect to the Dems. That's five times as many as are planning to shift to Nader, and, if you want to get cute, infinitely many as are going to vote for Barr at this level of significance. So what message is the GOP establishment supposed to take home? Be more like the Democrats?

All these guys are doing a fine job planning the revolution, but, even with McCain in crisis, no one's really fleeing the two-party system. And, even as an ardent Obama supporter, I can't say that a world where dissatisfied voters just ping-pong back and forth between the two established parties is one I really enjoy living in.

So, libertarian-leaning, crunchy, or pomo- conservatives, what now? Bow your heads and pray "Next year in the Ballot-Box, not the blogosphere?" Cause from where I'm standing, this year is as much a failure for you as for the GOP.

[I realize the formatting is fouled up, by my HTML skills have proven insufficient. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to comment.)

She came, she dimpled, she conquered

I know it was unreasonable to expect Joe Biden to not drag out all of his wonky answers, even when contrasted with Palin's quick, folksy remarks. I know it was unreasonable to expect Joe Biden to anticipate that Palin's flag pin would be that much bigger and sparklier than his. I even know it was unreasonable to expect Joe Biden to do the smart thing and say he'd cut government subsidies to rather than raise taxes on Big Oil and Big (Evil) Corporations.

But for the love of anything, was it really unreasonable to expect Biden to look out at the audience, not at Gwen Ifill! Do the Dems just hate winning, or do they really not see the need to give any kind of media coaching?

Why won't someone tell the Dems it's not deceptive to use a little lipstick?

Real Sarah Palin facts

40% of registered voters have a favorable impression of Sarah Palin.
38% of registered voters have a favorable impression of Joe Biden.

It's a little surprising that McCain's August Surprise isn't any more popular than Joe "clean and articulate" Biden, but it gets worse.

17% of registered voters have a unfavorable impression of Joe Biden.
30% of registered voters have a unfavorable impression of Sarah Palin.

Her high unfavorables don't matter so much as long as she turns our the evangelicals, but she's not likely to turn independents or PUMA. And she's not boosting the "maverick McCain" storyline, either: 75% believe McCain picked her solely to win the election.

But I'm sure McCain and his staffers probably skipped over most of those numbers in favor of this one:
59% of voters believe McCain won't bring change to Washington. That's only five percentage points lower than the percent that believe Obama will bring change.

But, hey, what's to change? "The fundamentals of our economy are strong"

[All stats from today's NYT]

Word of the Day: Antimetabole

(h/t to Juliet Lapidos of Slate)

Antimetabole (according to Dictionary.com: An`ti*me*tab"o*le\, n. (Rhet.) A figure in which the same words or ideas are repeated in transposed order.

At the conventions alone:

We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. - McCain

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change. - Palin

People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power. - B. Clinton

Great antimetabole of the past:

You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man. - Frederick Douglass

Ask not what your country can do for you —- ask what you can do for your country. - JFK

Fantastic rhetorical device, and I'm so delighted to be able to put a name to it.

What the Left does right

I'm a week late commenting (and complimenting) Sarah Vowell's op-ed which appeared in the Week in Review section of last Sunday's NYT. Here is how it begins:

ON Monday night at the Democratic National Convention, Caroline Kennedy introduced a tribute to her uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, by pointing out, “If your child is getting an early boost in life through Head Start or attending a better school or can go to college because a Pell Grant has made it more affordable, Teddy is your senator, too.”

To my surprise, I started to cry. Started to cry like I was watching the last 10 minutes of “Brokeback Mountain” instead of C-SPAN. This was whimpering brought on by simple, spontaneous gratitude.

Vowell relied on Pell Grant's to get through college. The grant wasn't enough to pay her way or to let her get out of working. It simply meant she had to work ten fewer hours a week.

Ten extra hours a week might sound negligible, but do you know what a determined, junior-Hillary type of hick with a full course load and onion-scented hands can do with the gift of 10 whole hours per week? Not flunk geology, that’s what. Take German every day at 8 a.m. — for fun! Wander into the office of the school paper on a whim and find a calling. I’m convinced that those 10 extra hours a week are the reason I graduated magna cum laude, which I think is Latin for “worst girlfriend in town.”

I recommend reading the whole article, which is moving and well argued. The Pell Grant Vowell recieved changed her life, without representing too large a fiscal burden for the government (Vowell has since paid back her Pell Grant many times in the form of the increased income taxes she pays on her increased income).

The Pell Grant program is one of the best governmental programs I can think of. It's not a hand-out or a "special right," it just helps hard-working, motivated students clear one bureaucratic hurdle so they can succeed on their own merits. Government governs best when it clears obstacles out of the way of hard-working people who are doing the right thing but just need a boost.

So next time you go knocking the Dems, think about a world without Pell Grants. It's a world that makes it that much harder for poor students to go to college and compete academically with their peers, a world that makes it harder for children to escape the misfortunes or poor decisions of their parents. It's a world in which Assassination Vacation was probably never written.

I don't think any of us prefer that world.


UPDATE: I've just noticed that both posts that I've tagged "verklempt" are about Teddy Kennedy. Just mentioning.

Pandering? For me? You shouldn't have!

Science Debate 2008 prepared a list of 14 questions for the candidates, and today, Barack Obama's answers went up (h/t i09). Among the highlights:

As president, I will lift the current administration’s ban on federal funding of research on embryonic stem cell lines created after August 9, 2001 through executive order, and I will ensure that all research on stem cells is conducted ethically and with rigorous oversight . . . I believe that it is ethical to use these extra embryos for research that could save lives when they are freely donated for that express purpose.

Specifically, I will implement a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary: 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. I will start reducing emissions immediately by establishing strong annual reduction targets with an intermediate goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

And my favorite:

[I will] strengthen the role of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) by appointing experts who are charged to provide independent advice on critical issues of science and technology. The PCAST will once again be advisory to the president. (emphasis added)

Needless to say, PCAST got booted under Bush.

I'd rather leave (Bristol's) baby in the corner

...because I'd rather talk about this.

Arguing that religious faith is pertinent inasmuch as it relates to character is one thing, but (according to this NYT profile her mayoral campaign took it way too far.

The traditional turning points that had decided municipal elections in this town of less than 7,000 people — Should we pave the dirt roads? Put in sewers? Which candidate is your hunting buddy? — seemed all but obsolete the year Ms. Palin, then 32, challenged the three-term incumbent, John C. Stein...

“Sarah comes in with all this ideological stuff, and I was like, ‘Whoa,’ ” said Mr. Stein, who lost the election. “But that got her elected: abortion, gun rights, term limits and the religious born-again thing. I’m not a churchgoing guy, and that was another issue: ‘We will have our first Christian mayor.’ ”

“I thought: ‘Holy cow, what’s happening here? Does that mean she thinks I’m Jewish or Islamic?’ ” recalled Mr. Stein, who was raised Lutheran, and later went to work as the administrator for the city of Sitka in southeast Alaska. “The point was that she was a born-again Christian.”

Palin wasn't just skillfully using the wedge issue for personal gain; it appears that questions of faith make too big a difference in her governing:

In her speech to the Wasilla Assembly of God in June, Ms. Palin said it was “God’s will” that the federal government contribute to a $30 billion gas pipeline she wants built in Alaska.

Her religious rhetoric is not just a veneer to sugarcoat policy choices, it is the basis of those choices. Time is reporting that:

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

Please let me know when the talking heads leave Bristol alone and start discussing these choices. When faith trumps facts on issues of public policy, you're damn right it's a character issue.

Palin Supports Teaching Intelligent Design in Science Class

Palin's remark is reported in full at the Anchorage Daily News

That's all

Why Hillary's speech doesn't matter as much as you think

I know those PUMA people are raising a stink and vowing to vote for McCain, and McCain's new ad "Passed Over" certainly implies that he's courting them. It's possible that some of those voters will stay home, but it is inconceivable that they will defect to McCain.

Obviously, it makes no sense to switch sides if you believe in Hillary's positions, since Obama's are virtually identical, but some die-hards are claiming that they (and womankind) have been disrespected by Obama and the DNC and at least McCain is behaving better than that.

The video below (a mock-up I whipped together in ten minutes, so please don't complain to me about artistry), would disabuse them of that notion pretty darn quick if it were remade with actual production values by a group not directly orgainized by Obama.


So, although I'm hoping Hillary sells it tonight, I'm not too fussed.

Joe Biden is really growing on me

He's just been very personally endearing this week. First, there was this article in the New York Times:

After Senator Barack Obama tapped him on Saturday to be his vice-presidential running mate, Mr. Biden introduced Jill Biden to the world this way:
“My wife, Jill, who you’ll meet soon, who’s drop-dead gorgeous..."
That was classic Biden. He’s still said to be head-over-heels in love with her after more than 30 years of marriage, and proud, if slightly intimidated, by her multiple degrees... After [Jill] defended her thesis, she arrived home to find signs in the driveway. One said: “Congratulations Dr. Jacobs-Biden.” The other: “Dr. and Senator Biden live here.”

Then, tonight at the convention, during Teddy Kennedy's speech, they kept cutting to Biden, whose eyes were welling up with tears in perfect sync with my mother's.

And now look at me, I'm all verklempt.

Obama is done Biden his time

ABC is reporting that a special Secret Service detail is on its way to Biden's house, so that's that. I'm pretty happy. Biden does have a tendency to put his foot in his mouth, but he's a smart guy and will shore Obama up on the experience gap.

Plus, I'm totally charmed by this story from David Brook's column today, titled "Hoping it's Biden:"

Biden’s most notorious feature is his mouth. But in his youth, he had a stutter. As a freshman in high school he was exempted from public speaking because of his disability, and was ridiculed by teachers and peers. His nickname was Dash, because of his inability to finish a sentence.

He developed an odd smile as a way to relax his facial muscles (it still shows up while he’s speaking today) and he’s spent his adulthood making up for any comments that may have gone unmade during his youth.

Mystery solved! (I've been wondering about that smile since 2003) And I certainly admire his determination.