Author: Brian

Sen. John McCain looks… stunned… in this exchange from tonight’s debate:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao5V66m5FaA&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&fs=1]

Stunned! Flummoxed! Befuddled! Aghast!

I just play this over and over and over again.

(No, I didn’t actually watch the debate. My mind’s made up already. I hope all y’all out there still trying to figure out that you need to vote for the Democrat this time, for the good of us all, of the economy, the Constitution, and our standing in the world community watch this clip and remember that the economy always does better under Democratic presidents – always.)

Update: I’ve found a video that gives a bit more context to the question Sen. Obama is responding to and changed it. And, seriously, I can’t stop watching McCain blink. He just blinks and blinks and blinks. I try very hard to only ever refer to politicians by their formal title. I’d have to go back and check, but I don’t think I’ve ever even slipped and referred to our current President by anything other than “President Bush” or “George W. Bush”. If I have, I apologize for letting anger and frustration cloud my debating skills.

But, man… watching that video of Sen. McCain… so hard not to poke a little fun at that expression on his face. Wow. He’s, just… wow.

And Sen. Obama is one cool cat. Hot damn, it’s gonna be good having him in the White House.

The best part of this video is finally (finally!) hearing Hayden Pantatrooper pronounce her own last name, settling a bet between Ken and me.

The second-best part is hearing Hayden use the word “fucked”. Several times.

PS: It’s a political video. Just warning all y’all.

(h/t to Atrios)

more animals

If you’re living in Oregon and you’re not registered to vote by 5PM today, you’re a dummy. Yeah, I said it. Get out there and register! Here’s the Oregon Secretary of State page that has all the info and links you need.

Starsky says “G’wan… do it.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra70O9nps6E&hl=en&fs=1]

I know, living in Oregon, it may feel like voting is a forgone conclusion – despite the traditional media thinking Oregon is a “battleground state” or “leaning Democratic” (ha, ha!) it’s almost a lock that Oregon will go for Sen. Obama. Yes, it’s important to vote for President… but there’s other, downticket races that are much closer than the Presidential race. I would urge my friends to vote Jeff Merkley, Democrat, against the Bush rubber-stamp incumbent Gordon Smith. Merkley spoke out against the $700 billion bailout package (Gordon Smith voted for it; Oregon’s other US Senator, Ron Wyden, voted against), and Merkley also was strongly opposed to the FISA rewrite that gave the telecom companies retroactive immunity and gave Bush cover to continue his up-until-then-illegal surveillance of American citizens on American soil.

My friends living in Darlene Hooley’s old district (OR-05, map of the district found here) would be well-advised to vote for Kurt Schrader against Republican Mike Erickson. Schrader is a veterinarian and state senator from Canby. He seems like a regular joe and he says his priorities are bringing the troops home from Iraq (but apparently, not Afghanistan) and health care for all Americans.

Having larger majorities in Senate and the House will help keep Barack Obama on the progressive side of the political spectrum and will ensure that legislation is passed that will help all Americans – not just the super-rich.

Electing more Democrats to the local legislature will position Oregon nicely for the upcoming census – which means it’s redistricting time. Again, an important goal is making sure that district lines are drawn fairly and evenly, and the chances of that are better with more Democrats in the state house. It’s also better, I should add, when more voters and citizens participate in the process and keep up pressure on our representatives. Don’t just vote once every four years and consider your duty done; get involved year-round.

Dear Republican co-workers in the next cube over, please stop pushing the lie that the current economic collapse was caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac giving out too many loans to “low income” Americans. It’s not true, and as McClatchy points out, both the Federal Reserve Board data and the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets disprove that lie pretty conclusively.

The financial collapse was triggered by lax lending practices by private lending institutions; only one of the top 25 sub-prime lenders was subject to Federal guidelines against discrimination. It’s pretty simple, really. And if I’m using too many big words, when I say “lax lending practices” I mean that the private lenders weren’t being regulated, nor were the regulations being enforced. Hmmm… deregulation… who pushed for that? Oh, right, that was a Republican thing. And who enforced (or didn’t) the regulations? Oh, right, that would be the President.

Since the Federal Reserve Board data shows that the primary timeframe for private sub-prime loans was 2001-2007, when the Republicans ran both houses of Congress, and President Bush sat in the White House.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac don’t loan money themselves, either, my fine Republican co-workers. They purchase loans that were pre-qualified by those private lending institutions. You know, the ones that were giving away loans to anyone and everyone, then passing the shitpile on to others. If those private institutions are lying to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and there are no penalties for lying, clearly the moral responsibility lies on those institutions, right? And if poor people who, under normal circumstances, would not qualify for home loans were given those loans anyway, again, the blame lies with the lenders.

But the lenders are still escaping the consequences for their actions in creating the bubble. Must be nice to be rich these days. I mean, the people who were given loans they couldn’t afford are still on the hook for paying those loans off. And taxpayers get another hit by paying for the $700 billion bailout on top of that.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no love for the current Congressional leadership pushing through the bailout. But that’s a whole ‘nother issue.

Oh giggling Republican co-workers, whispering conspiratorially in the next cube over as you watch some YouTube mash-up that, in your mind, implicates Speaker Pelosi and Rep. Barney Frank in causing the current crisis… you are so wrong. So sadly wrong.

So stop trying to blame the current crisis on Democratic Congresscritters who had no power in the last 8 years, stop trying to push the blame back onto President Clinton, and, honestly, seriously, stop trying to blame this on poor people. It just sounds… well, ignorant… when you do that.

To anyone still on the fence between electing Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama, here’s a comparison of their tax plans.

I don’t know about you, but I could use an extra $1042.00/year. That’s nearly a whole extra paycheck for me.

And before you scream that now’s not the time to be reducing taxes, notice how Sen. Obama’s tax plan increases taxes on the upper class rather dramatically. That will actually bring in more revenue to the government. The Bush tax “cuts” simply shifted the tax burden down on the middle and lower class (that’s you and me, bub) – and McCain has pledged to continue those tax “cuts”.

Oh, but, hey, McCain supporters and surrogates say: look – scary Muslims over there! Don’t think about the economy!

Ha. Like those of us who work for a living can ever really ignore the economy.

I’m a little bit on edge today. Not a superstitious sort, but since almost everyone else is, I’m afraid people will realize it’s Monday the 13th and that it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With me as the target.

I need music this morning. So far, I’ve heard:

1. Cheap Trick, “Just What I Needed”
2. Queens of the Stone Age, “Go With The Flow”
3. The Offspring, “Denial, Revisited” (about which I’ve blogged before)
4. Eddie Money, “Take A Little Bit”
5. AC/DC, “Shake A Leg”
6. The Killers, “Change Your Mind”

I’m just playing whatever’s on my iPhone all shuffle-like. It’s a tonic for a crappy morning. My Republican co-worker (about whom I’ve blogged before), who normally rants to Ken, was poking around my cube because Ken isn’t here on Mondays. But since I have, in fact, laughed in my Republican co-workers’ face when he’s tried to spout his bullshit at me, he’s much more cautious. He just saw me in my scarf and asked me if I was cold.

“Uh-huh” I mumbled without making eye contact. He got the message.

I spent maybe 15 minutes hunting down a spare set of speakers that I could plug my iPhone into. Luckily there’s metric tons of unused computer crap around here, because my team is the one that collects all the unused computer crap around here. The only speakers I could find had a mini-plug that wouldn’t fit into the recessed iPhone jack, which is to say it had a perfectly normal mini-plug just like 99.9% of all mini-plugs made. Silly Apple! Making their iPhone so damned sexy that it only takes a special “standard mini-plug”. So I had to carve off some plastic on the plug. Then I was missing my power cord, so I had to borrow Ken’s. He’s not here on Mondays (smart boy). Then I spent a few minutes making sure the cords were wrapped and put away nicely (I keep all my cords neatly bundled for aesthetics).

And now, I’m set for some boring ass work. Yay. Mondays.

Kevin called me this morning just minutes after I had woken up and asked if I wanted to join him and his boys for breakfast at the 24-Hour Hotcake House.

I did (want to join him and his boys for breakfast at the 24-Hour Hotcake House). So I did (join them for breakfast etc., etc., yadda yadda).

The strawberry hotcakes were delicious. The bacon was delicious. The single scrambled eggs were delicious. Wait! Did I mention the strawberries on the hotcakes? I did? OK. How about the whip cream? I didn’t? The whip cream was delicious, too. And the boys were cute and Kevin was funny and it was all good.

Then we went to the LEGO Store out and Washington Square. Whoa. LEGOs everywhere.

Then Kevin dropped me back at home. Thanks, Kevin!

Now I’m surfing around, trying to get the motivation to go for a long run. I found this silly wallpaper and set my desktop to that. Yeah. Crazy. I

I watched Britney’s “Womanizer” video and, y’know, she’s kinda hot again. How’d that happen? The song is typical repetitive synth-pop but I’m sure I’ll be hearing it in dance clubs and strip clubs for years to come.

And that’s what I’m doing today.

Sorry I’ve been un-bloggy. Another long week.

I’m tired. Will likely hide all weekend. Right now I’m curled up on the couch, with Alex Trebek hosting another round of “Jeopardy” in the background. I had a simple sandwich for dinner. Tomorrow I will likely get up early and go for a nice long run, and then eat something, and then hide some more.

Maybe I’ll watch teevee. Maybe I’ll go see a movie. Maybe I’ll read a book, or books.

But I’m betting I won’t be doing anything very productive.

It’s a hide-y weekend.

I got a fundraising letter from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is dedicated to the goal of electing more Democratic Senators to U. S. Congress. The letter was signed by Sen. Harry Reid, the Majority Leader for the Democratic Caucus in the Senate.

The very first sentence nearly made me fall out of my chair:

Dear Friend,

Contribute today!

The difference between real change and more of the same is a filibuster-proof Senate. Without it, Barack Obama’s hands will be tied.

(Emphasis in the original)

Did they think I was stupid, or simply unaware? Obviously I’m getting their form letters because I have donated to them in the past. Obviously I’ve donated to them (and other Democratic and political candidates and organizations) because I pay attention.

And because I pay attention, I know well the reasons the filibuster has been so effective in the last two sessions of Congress.

Like Sen. Joe Biden said in the recent Vice-Presidential debate, I am not questioning their motives, but rather, their judgment.

So I sent them the following letter:

I know Sen. Reid is unlikely to actually read my reply, but I could not let this email pass without comment. So to the probably-unpaid intern who gets my reply, here’s my thoughts, for what it’s worth.

I only got as far as the very first sentence of Sen. Reid’s plea for donations before I did a spit-take. He’s hoping for a “fillibuster-proof Senate”?

The Senate of the 110th Congress has seen an unprecedented number of filibusters by the supposedly-minority party, yes, that much is true. A quick Google search finds an article (link to PDF) stating that 94 cloture votes were taken by July 22, 2008 in the 2nd Session of the 110th Congress alone. It points out that because of the painless filibuster, issues like energy credits for alternative energy, “cap-and-trade” on limiting greenhouse gases, lower prescription prices for seniors, and assistance for victims of pay discrimination and, most tragically, an end to the needless deployment of troops in Iraq, were all blocked by the minority party. All issues supported by the majority in Congress, as well as the majority of America.

But one of the major reasons the Republicans have succeeded in using the filibuster to such great effect is because Senate leadership under Sen. Reid have allowed Republicans to have painless filibusters – filibusters where all Republican leadership needs to do is signal their intentions, and the Majority party rolls over and moves on to the next issue.

Imagine if Republicans were forced to, y’know, actually filibuster – stand on the Senate floor and defend their blocking strategy, preventing passage of legislation supported by the majority of voters, as well as a majority of Congress. Imagine that. That, alone, would limit the number of cloture votes needed by the minority party. And that, alone, would allow more beneficial and needed issues to be addressed.

It’s not that more Democratic Senators are needed to prevent filibusters.

It’s obvious that what is needed is Democratic leadership to act like leaders.

I thought that Sen. Reid was a fighter. It appears he’s lost his nerve, at least to me.

I have donated to the DSCC in the past, but now I donate my time, money and energy to specific Senatorial candidates who show the determination to fight for the betterment of all and the preservation of our Constitution.

DSCC gets not one more dime from me until the Democratic caucus learns to fight.