Stupidity

Dear College Football Voters (Especially Ones Who Want a Playoff),

The University of Texas beat the University of Oklahoma on a neutral field. Please vote accordingly.

Thank you,
Sane people everywhere

Good News Everyone! (And not in the Professor Farnsworth sense)

So today my Congressman, John Dingell was tossed out of his chairmanship of the House Energy committee. So why am I celebrating the loss of power for my congresscritter? Well, obviously I didn't vote for the guy if I'm celebrating, but why not?

First of all, John Dingell has been representing parts of southeast Michigan for nearly 54 years. I have a problem with that in general so I'm already not a fan. But Dingell in particular is loathesome for extra special reasons. In particular, he is bought and paid for by the auto companies. For some things, like the auto company bailout I'm mildly in favor of, this is a good thing.

However, as chair of the House Energy committee, it's a disaster. For his entire 50 years, and in particular since we realized that oil was not a limitless resource (originally in the 70s, and again lately) he's blocked all kinds of legislation that would improve CAFE standards or move us towards a genuine energy policy. Fortunately, our newly progressive Democratic overlords led in particular by the President-elect, Nancy Pelosi, and Henry Waxman our new Energy chair, ousted his sorry ass today in a close vote among the Democratic caucus. Yay!

Waxman in particular is awesome. Last seen battling the forces of evil and investigating damn near every aspect of the Bush Administration, he was before that a damn fine legislator. It seems likely that the United States will finally have a real energy policy, and that's a change we can all believe in.

Alaska can stay in the union!

Link

Also, I'm the worst blogger ever, sorry!

Brain shut off post-election, content should be forthcoming. Hopefully.

Wooooooooo

I guess I predicted this, but still to quote Atrios:

Holy Fucking Shit!

Why he's winning

I understand times are hard. This won't be easy. The storm hasn't quite passed yet. Sometimes the skies look cloudy, and it's dark, and you think, "the rains will never pass." But here's what I understand: that as long as all of us are together, as long as we're all committed that there's nothing we can't do. That's why we started off this campaign saying "yes we can." That's why we understood that Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old, rich, poor it doesn't matter we're all Americans. That our destiny will be shaped by us! And this young generation that's out here, the young people of America! Understand that the clouds, these too will pass! That a brighter day will come! That if you are willing to work for us, if you're willing to roll up your sleeves, if you're willing to lock arms and march, and talk to your friends, and talk to your neighbors, make a phone call, do some organizing, yes do some community organizing then I promise you, Fredericksburg, we will win Virginia, we will this general election, and you and I together will change this country and change the world! God bless you and God bless America.
-Barack Obama in a driving rainstorm, Fredericksburg Virginia

Change We Can Believe In

From here

Charlotte, N.C. - There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization.

I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again.

I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the South and I'm definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.

I am the dreaded swing voter.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

At the Obama headquarters, we stood in a group to receive our instructions. I wasn't the oldest, but close, and the youngest was maybe in high school. I watched a campaign organizer match up a young black man who looked to be college age with a white guy about my age to canvas together. It should not have been a big thing, but the beauty of the image did not escape me.

Instead of walking the tree-lined streets near our home, my wife and I were instructed to canvass a housing project. A middle-aged white couple with clipboards could not look more out of place in this predominantly black neighborhood.

We knocked on doors and voices from behind carefully locked doors shouted, "Who is it?"

"We're from the Obama campaign," we'd answer. And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.

Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.

Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted.

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day's work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."

It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.

I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.

Hat tip: Simon