Still Alive

On the slim chance that anyone reads this blog, here's a message. I'm still alive. Busy with work, and school, and life in general, but still alive. There will hopefully be new stuff soon.

Senate Race Update: 1 down, 2 to go

Okay, this is old news, but I've been busy. Mark Begich has won the Alaska Senate race. On Thursday, Ted Stevens said goodbye to his lengthy career in the Senate. Every other senator that spoke gave him glowing praise, as well. In fact, many of his colleagues who had rallied for his resignation gave very moving tributes to Stevens.

Anyway, Mark Begich, a relatively conservative Democrat, will take over for Alaska. This gives the Democrats (including Lieberman) a 58-42 advantage in the Senate. This means that we still need Franken to win the recount in Minnesota and Martin to win the runoff in Georgia.

As of right now, it appears that Franken has cut into Coleman's lead slightly. However, the end appears to be nowhere in sight, as counting is not expected to be finished and reported until December 5th. Then litigation begins. This one may not be decided until next year.

In Georgia, both candidates are still trying to raise money and jockey for position. The runoff will be hold on December 2, with turnout expected to be much lower than that of the general election. It is arguable whether this favors Chambliss or Martin. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

The positive here is that Begich pulled off the victory in Alaska. Besides the obvious Democratic win, there are other advantages to this. Had Stevens been elected, and then subsequently expelled from the Senate, there was talk of Sarah Palin taking over his seat. Needless to say, that could have been disastrous. Entertaining, but disastrous.

Quotes of the Week

Seth Meyers on SNL's Weekend Update:

It's official, for the next four years, it will be pronounced nu-cle-ar.

Barack Obama met with Hillary Clinton on Friday to see if she would be interested in a role in his administration. "Of course," said Hillary. "I'll take president."

Kathleen Parker, in a column entitled "Giving Up on God.":

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Conan O'Brien:

The Republican party is considering naming the first African-American chairman in their party's history. Isn't that incredible? That's big news. First African-American, yeah. Yeah, unfortunately, Republicans are having a hard time
finding an African-American who's white.

And since it's been a busy week towards the end of the semester, and I have spent more time reading my textbooks than the newspaper, here's a letter that I wrote to the Waco Trib:

One thing that this year’s election has proven is that the White House can be won without the South. With the exception of North Carolina, Virginia and Florida, southern states were largely irrelevant in the presidential race. Even without these southern battleground states, Barack Obama would have won the presidency hands down.

Some of us are quite eager to “join the Union,” as Dwight Allman, associate professor of political science at Baylor, put it. Others, judging from the blatant racism that has been apparent in Central Texas since the election, are clearly hell-bent on maintaining the world’s image of Texans as a bunch of reckless, arrogant rednecks.

Part of what makes our country so great is that we can disagree with each other and not have civil war break out in the streets. What we cannot do is continue to try to resuscitate the South as it was during the actual Civil War.

A co-worker told me the other day that the South would “rise again.” Without getting into the unspeakable violence that happened in the years following the Civil War, I wonder why there are some who insist on deepening the divide that has already split this nation.

Despite the chance for a fresh start, there are some seemingly “average” people who have chosen to participate in old-fashioned Southern racism rather than listening to reason. It is evident that we have not yet reached total racial equality. To move into the 21st century, along with the rest of the nation, we must let the Old South’s legacy of racism and hate die quietly and find a way to come together.

Palin Book Deal?

Apparently, there are rumors that Sarah Palin is close to being offered a book deal. While I seriously doubt that she would actually be putting pen to paper-- imagine a book longer than War and Peace that never made a single point-- she could make millions from this.

So, that got me thinking. If Palin were to "write" a book, what would the title be. I have some suggestions:

The Audacity of False Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming My Dignity

Dreams from Joe the Plumber: A Story of Fake Plumbers and Socialism

To Kill an Elephant

Of Moose and Men

The Five People You Meet at Neiman Marcus

Sarah Palin and the Order of the Dead Elephant

Her Eyes were Watching Russia (From Alaska, of course.)

The Sour Grapes of Wrath

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Mavericks

Much Ado About Nothin', You Betcha!

The Maverick, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

2012 (Think 1984...she will describe how Obama will destroy society by 2012, and why we should elect her to fix it.)

And here are a few that have already been taken, but would have been perfect:

A Confederacy of Dunces

Things Fall Apart

The Comedy of Errors

Three Senate Races Still Unresolved

As of today, there are still three Senate races that are undecided.

The most surprising undecided race, to me at least, in the Alaska Senate seat. For a while, it looked like Ted Stevens was going to pull it off. Now, however, Mark Begich is leading by a slim, but growing margin. According to Alaska's Secretary of State's Division of Elections, Begich has 138959 votes and Stevens has 137937. As of yesterday, Begich was up by 1022. Counting will resume on Tuesday, and it seems that the precincts which have not been counted are likely to go for Begich. Hopefully, we will know one way or the other then.

In Minnesota, a recount is looking inevitable. Norm Coleman, with 1211565 votes, holds a 206 vote lead over Al Franken, who has 1211359, according to Minnesota's Secretary of State. For right now, Coleman and his supporters are claiming victory, but, with the number of contested votes that are likely to be re-examined, things could change. Unfortunately, this one will probably not have a final result until the middle of December.

Georgia's race between Saxby Chambliss and Jim Martin is headed for a run-off. Out of 3,752,579 votes in the general election, Chambliss got 1,867,090, Martin got 1,757,419, the Libertarian candidate got 128,002, and write-in candidates got a whopping 68. Since neither Chambliss nor Martin got a majority of the vote, Georgia voters will have to try it again on December 2. Chambliss beat Martin by 109,671 votes in the general election. Hypothetically, if everyone who voted in the general election came out for the run-off, and almost all of the third-party voters voted this time for Jim Martin, he would pull it off. However, I think turnout will be significantly lower for this election, and I'm afraid that many of those who show up will be the Chambliss faithful. Obama gave a lot of down-ballot races a huge boost, so if Obama voters don't show up for Martin, I don't think he has much of a chance. We shall see, however. Check out Jim Martin's official site for ways to help.

If the Democrats take all three of these seats, we will reach the magic number of 60. With wins by Mark Udall in Colorado, Kay Hagan in North Carolina, Jeff Merkley in Oregon, Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, Mark Warner in Virginia, and Tom Udall in New Mexico, the Democrats hold 57 seats, counting Lieberman, which is another story in itself. Depending on how these races turn out, and how the Lieberman issue is dealt with, the Democrats may still be looking at a 60- seat majority when the new Senate comes to order.

Quotes of the Week

Dwight D. Allman, associate professor of political science at Baylor, in a letter to the Waco Trib:

The Civil War is truly over. It’s time for us all to join the Union.

Conan O'Brien:

This is true, according to a new report, I was reading this today in the paper, thousands of pregnant mothers in this country are planning to name their baby Barack. That's true. Yeah, after hearing this, Sarah Palin told Bristol, "Don't even think about it."

Keith Olbermann, on Proposition 8 passing in California:

If you voted for this Proposition or support those who did or the sentiment they expressed, I have some questions, because, truly, I do not understand. Why does this matter to you? What is it to you? In a time of impermanence and fly-by-night relationships, these people over here want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option. They don't want to deny you yours. They don't want to take anything away from you. They want what you want—a chance to be a little less alone in the world.

Fred Barnes, on Barack Obama:

For the time being anyway, he's a colossus astride the continent, the most commanding political presence since Ronald Reagan. ...He's the star. Republicans are extras. If they attract attnetion, it's likely to be because they've done something the media considers outrageous or dumb.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R- Wyoming):

We've got to stop being the angry white guy party.

Melivin R. Volkert, Hillsboro resident, in a letter to the Waco Trib:

Some folks in these parts like to expound in local public venues on what
wonderful Christians they are. They suggest if other folks were to vote like they do, perhaps they could win the favor of the Lord as well.

Any time a platform based on hope and promise defeats a platform based on hate and fear, it should be celebrated by Christians around the world.

God blessed America after eight years in the wasteland.

Rachel Maddow, on Mark Begich taking the lead over Ted Stevens in the Alaska Senate race:

So, we're not going to elect a convicted felon to the Senate? One glass ceiling not broken in this election, I guess.

What my favorite bigots have been up to...

With all the attention surrounding the actual candidates this year, I almost forgot about some of my favorite crazy people. I mentioned in an earlier post that I hadn't heard much from Ann Coulter. None of the newspapers that I read publish her anymore, and, during the election, I did not care enough about her to go online. However, since there isn't much going on right now, I thought I would scope out the reaction of some of my favorite crazies to Obama's election.

Ann Coulter. Such a sore loser. She is a bit upset over the Obama, victory, but mainly because the Republicans blew it. Wow, she almost sounds like a Democrat. Anyway, Coulter is planted firmly on the Palin bandwagon (of course), think Colin Powell's endorsement was meant to be be sarcastic, and refers to Obama only as "B. Hussein Obama." Here's more of what she had to say:

After showing nearly superhuman restraint throughout this campaign, which was lost the night McCain won the California primary, I am now liberated to announce that all I care about is hunting down and punishing every Republican who voted for McCain in the primaries. I have a list and am prepared to produce the names of every person who told me he was voting for McCain to the proper authorities.

Ok, now she sounds like a Republican again. I was getting worried...

Fred Phelps. The pastor of Westboro Baptist "Church" is an anti-homosexual nutjob who is mostly known for picketing soldiers' funerals. Some trademark picket signs that the church uses are: God Hates Fags, You're Going to Hell, Thank God for Dead Soldiers, AIDS Cures Fags, and Priests Rape Boys. He is so extreme that it is impossible to take him seriously, but people do. He mostly hides behind the First Amendment (as is his right), but federal and state laws have been enacted to keep him and his crazies a certain distance away from cemeteries.

The Westboro Baptist Church's website (godhatesfags.com, ironically) is another joke that uses inflammatory language and twisted Bible verses to get the point across. The main message is, big surprise, that God hates fags.

Anyway, according to Wikipedia, Phelps is a Democrat that supported Al Gore. Another joke. But anyway, I expected the response to Barack Obama's win to be less than positive. Since no one really takes this man seriously anymore, I haven't seen him on the news or anything, but he has preached several sermons in which Obama is mentioned.

Of course, they believe that Obama is the anti-christ and Phelps even calls him an "evil, black Nimrod."

Ted Nugent. He is one of the few "columnists" that I physically cannot stand to read. I can handle Ann Coulter, I can handle Michelle Malkin, hell, I can even watch Bill O'Reilly from time to time. Ted Nugent, however, pisses me off. He writes blatantly racist crap in the Waco Trib all the time, and they still refer to him affectionately as "Nuge." It makes me shudder.

Here are samples from a recent column where he outlined who has a soul and who does not:

It is soulless to purchase blingbling, tobacco, booze and more, then claim that you can't afford a sandwich and an apple for your kid's school lunch — then to ask the government to waste some more tax dollars on your so-called needs.

Let me translate. The term "blingbling," as used here by this ignorant bastard, is code for "I'm about to start bashing black people."

You have no soul, Barack Obama, to borrow a page from Mao Tse-Tung to "take those profits . . ." from an American corporation and redistribute it to your blingbling-infested, irresponsible constituents.

I'll translate for the ignorant redneck once again. "Blingbling infested, irresponsible constituents," in Nugent's world, equals black people. After all, don't we now know that only black people voted for Obama?

I haven't seen an official response to Obama's election yet, mayne Nugent in too busy purchasing guns and stockpiling food, but here is some of what he wrote a couple of days before Election Day:

...the good governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has proven to be a bureaucrat-stomping, status quo-destroying political warrior. Everybody I know is genuinely moved by her defiance of the old-guard politicos.

Ah. How did I know that he would be a Palin fan?

People who are too cowardly to associate their names with their opinions. I use my real name on this blog, and that might be stupid, but at least I am willing to stand up for my opinions. Sarah Palin kinda had a point when she said that the anonymous bloggers who bashed her continually were cowards. Here are more examples:

• A noose is hung from a tree at Baylor University.
• An Obama cutout is hung from a tree on the University of Kentucky campus. (for the record, I disapprove of the person who hung a cutout of Sarah Palin and depicted John McCain in flames as Halloween decorations, as well).
• Anti-Obama graffiti is found on Purdue's campus.

Why are so many of the cowardly incidents happening on college campuses? Young people are supposed to be the tolerant ones. You have a right to free speech, but you cross the line when you threaten someone. Nooses hanging from trees, especially in the South, are threats. I've said this before.

Some people have this gut reaction to Obama that they cannot quote describe. It's not that they disagree with his politics, but there's just "something about him." That's the official answer, anyway. How about, from now on, we just call it what it is: good old-fashioned Southern racism. You can complain about our next president all you want, and you have a right to hate him based on his skin color, I suppose. I disagree with this vehemently, and I think it makes you less than a person, but I can't help how you feel. Just stop using euphemisms and admit that you are racist. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, after all.

Doc Anderson on Dr. Phil

State Rep. Charles "Doc" Anderson, Waco's favorite Republican veterinarian, will appear on the "Dr. Phil Show" today at 3:00. He filed a bill Monday to ban the drug Salvia, and will discuss its effects on the show.

Salvia is a hallucinogenic drug that is currently legal in Texas, and can be purchased over-the-counter here in Waco and other parts of Texas. I don't know much about it, and have obviously never used it, but check out Wikipedia for more information.

Honestly, I'm a little apathetic about drug related issues, becuase I don't do drugs, and have never really been affected by them positively or negatively. I tend to think that marijuana should be legalized, just becuase I have know a lot of people who smoke weed that lead productive lives, and are not "hooked" or tempted to try harder drugs. I do think, however, that if it ever was legalized, employers should be able to ban its use among their employees. I also believe that jail sentences for crack and powder cocaine should be standardized because sentences for crack, which is mostly used by low-income minority users, are much harsher. I am definitely not a warrior against drugs, but I don't want to see rampant drug use, either.

Salvia seems to me like a mix between marijuana and LSD, depending on which side you ask. Anderson has proposed before (unsuccessfully) that salvia "dealers" could pay up to $100,000 in fines and receive up to life in prison. His current bill (House Bill 126, if you care to know), if passed, would make it a Class A misdemeanor for use or possession, with escalating penalties for subsequent convictions or large amounts.

Honestly, I really have no opinion on this issue. My one complaint is that we have other things to worry about beside the recreational use of a drug that doesn't really seem to be a widespread problem. However, State Reps have already filed bills on incendiary issues such as abortion, immigration, education, and taxes, so I bet we'll be seeing what is important soon enough.

Obama the Dictator

Rep. Paul Broun, of Georgia, has said that he is afraid that Obama will be a dictator, and that he is planning to use a Gestapo-like police force to help him achieve dictatorship. From the Associated Press:

Broun said he was not fear-mongering but wants to warn people that the
nation could be going down that path.

How is saying that Obama is leading down the same path the Hitler led Germany not fearmongering?

Broun goes on to say:

We can't be lulled into complacency. You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I'm not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I'm saying is there is the potential of going down that road.

That's like saying, "I'm not gonna compare Obama to Hitler, but hey, this guy's a lot like Hitler."

Obama did say that he supported civilian support for our military, to help in postwar construction, but he was talking about using reserve units. This idea has been supported by W. himself. Has anyone,besides maybe this idiot, ever considered the Army National Guard to be a Gestapo-like police force? Probably not.

Then he begins to rant about gun control. It has been widely reported that gun sales are way up, because rednecks are losing their damn minds, thinking Obama's going to take their guns away. Obama supports "common sense" gun laws, which means he'll probably only focus on assault weapons and concealed handguns.

Ok, here's my position on gun control. If you are a hunter and use hunting rifles for game, great. You shoot for sport, fine. If you feel that you need protection, and are trained to use a handgun, go for it. Get a license if you carry it with you. But why does any law-abiding citizen need an assault rifle? There may be perfectly valid reasons for this, but I can't think of any.

So, Broun will continue the fearmongering, yes, it is fearmongering, that was such a vital part of the Republican campaign. Most of the rest of us will get behind our new president and wait for a new day to come.

Liberal Wish List

I keep reading about the long legislative liberal wish list that Obama faces at the start of his term. Sorry for the alliteration.

Some of the items on the list include:

Repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Besides the discriminatory nature of this policy, can we really afford to kick qualified people out of our armed forces based solely on their sexual orientation? It seems that most military personnel are not opposed to the idea of gays serving openly in the military. Even if some are not accepting of this idea, we all have to work with people that we may not necessarily agree with. Diversity should be encouraged, not outlawed.

Extending voting rights to some ex-convicts. This is not an issue that I feel strongly about, but I'm not sure that we need to disqualify people from voting just because they have a felony conviction. I do feel that if convicted felons are allowed to serve in the U.S. Senate (this means you. Ted Stevens), that it is hypocritical not to allow them to vote. OK, I suppose that, in principle, we do not want murderers picking our next president, but people make mistakes. I'm not an expert on voting laws from state to state, but it seems that it varies. If ballots include elections for both federal and state positions, this needs to be standardized.

Offering paid sick days to more workers. This is not really something that applies to me. I have a job that offers personal days and vacation time, and I am generally satisfied with that. I wouldn't argue against more, but I don't really need it. However, if we want to get people off of welfare and keep them working, this is important. For example, you cannot receive most government-assistance, such as food stamps, if you make too much money, so the people that utilize these services do not usually have great jobs. They are often employed by places that do not offer benefits or paid days off. So, what happens to a single mother, working at a fast-food restaurant, when she has to take her sick child to the doctor? If she is able to keep her job, she loses a day's worth of pay. I don't think I even have to say that many people cannot afford to lose a day's pay. I couldn't, and I'm single with no kids. Offering sick days to more people can help them get back on their feet and stay there.

Closing the wage gap between men and women. Women still make less than men. Unless all women are doing a truly sub-par job at whatever they do, this is unacceptable. Pay should be based on performance, not gender.

Overruling state restrictions on abortion. Laws concerning abortion vary from state to state. Some consider state restrictions to be a way of chipping away at the validity of Roe v. Wade. Some states require parental consent or notification, others don't. Some states are trying to ban abortion in all cases except in "extreme cases" where the mother's life is at stake. My argument is that the government has no grounds to ban abortion until they stand up for sex education. Not the abstinence-only programs, but programs with an emphasis on birth control and prevention of STDs.

Extending a hate crimes bill to cover crimes against gays on the basis of sexual orientation. I've heard the argument that every crime is a hate crime, but a person should not fear for his or her life because they are a member of a certain demographic. People are murdered everyday, but most of the time it is random or because of a personal conflict. I am not minimizing the loss of any life, but a person should be able to walk down a street without fear of attack based on skin color, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. James Byrd was not killed at random, nor was Matthew Shepard. Those were hate crimes.

Expanding access to birth control and family planning. The best way to reduce the number of abortions performed is to offer more family planning services. Abstinence-only programs do not work. I hate to play the Bristol Palin card, but it applies. Furthermore, rich young women can afford to travel across state lines to bypass state abortions laws, the poor cannot. So, in states where birth control is downplayed and abortion is heavily restricted, we will continue the endless cycle of poverty.

Standardizing sentencing for crack cocaine vs. powder cocaine. The fact is, crack is a problem in inner cities. So, most users of crack cocaine are poor and black. The sentences for crack use are stiffer than those for powder cocaine, the drug of choice for rich cocaine users. So, poor, black drug users spend more time in jail than rich, white offenders. Plus, without being able to afford a decent lawyer, jail sentences can be even longer. I'm not condoning drug use, but we should make the consequences equal for all offenders.

Providing a path to citizenship for those living in America illegally. Scare tactics will never work to solve our immigration problem. If you threaten to deport a person, do you think they will cooperate? No matter how you feel about illegal immigration, it is impossible to scare them into leaving. We need to secure our border, work with immigrants, and develop a system to help them gain citizenship. Also, we need to address why illegal immigration is such a big problem. Building a big ass fence is not the answer, and it will not work. To quote Arizona governor, Janet Napolitano, "you show me a 50-foot wall, and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder."

Advancing stem cell research. Bush has repeatedly shot down efforts to expand stem cell research in the U.S. Look, scientists are not playing Frankenstein here. They are trying to cure Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other devastating diseases. Instead of funding stem cell research, we are funding a war that has yielded resulted in real lives lost, men and women who had families and friends, not just embryos sitting on a shelf, unwanted, in a fertility clinic somewhere, waiting to be discarded.

Protecting the environment. Bush is widely considered to have been the worst president, environmentally, ever. He has basically treated the environment as a giant neverending landfill. We need to do better.

Sarah Palin goes through her closet...

It seems that Sarah Palin has been getting down to business since returning to Wasilla. She's been going through stacks of clothes trying to determine what's hers and what belongs to the RNC. It seems that she has been urgently trying to get this matter resolved. Here's what her father, Chuck Heath, had to say:

She was just frantically ... trying to sort stuff out. That's the problem, you know, the kids lose underwear, and everything has to be accounted for.

The problem, you know, is that kids lose underwear? I don't even know what the hell that means, but I get it. Palin is trying to make sure that her image is not tarnished further by returning everything that was bought for her. I wonder if she would have been so frantic if this had not developed into such a major controversy. I guess we'll never know...

Also, Palin said that the failed policies of the Bush administration are the primary reason that the Repulicans lost the election.

I think the Republican ticket represented too much of the status quo, too much of what had gone on in these last eight years, that Americans were kind of shaking their heads like going, wait a minute, how did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration? How have there been blunders with war strategy under a Republican administration? If we're talking change, we want to get far away from what it was that the present administration represented and that is to a great degree what the Republican Party at the time had been representing.

First off, congrats to Governor Palin for improving her grammar some. I could mostly understand what she was saying here. Secondly, it is just me, or does she sound a bit like Barack Obama here? Finally, is this whole wardrobe scandal not indicative of just what has gone wrong in the last eight years? Spending $150,ooo on clothes during a campaign is not a good sign. If a candidate manages a campaign poorly, is it wrong to assume that they may handle the presidency poorly, as well?

Finally, it does seem that Palin's supporters have their priorities straight. The most pressing question on one Wasilla citizens's mind is this:

What's our vision for her hair?

Way to focus on what's important.

Molly Ivins Called It

"You know, that young man could be president some day."

This is what the late Texas liberal said of Barack Obama at the 2004 DNC, where he burst onto the national scene.

I had not really gotten into politics by then, and I never really appreciated Molly Ivins while she was alive. However, since I have caught the political bug, I have read quite a bit of what she wrote, and I am saddened that she did not live to see what transpired Tuesday night.

Since she's no longer around to comment on history being made, here is a collection of some of my favorite Molly Ivins quotes:

Next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please pay attention.

God, we should have listened.

We always said that if Hollywood ever needed somebody to play the role of God Almighty, they ought to get Barbara Jordan.

That's from a PBS tribute to Barbara Jordan, shortly after her death in 1996:

What you need is sustained outrage...there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.

How true.

Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel -- it's vulgar.

That's why I took so much pleasure in the mass mocking of Republicans this year. It was well deserved.

It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.

It is my hope that "we the people" will one day include everyone. We have took a big step forward, as well as a step back this week.

Any nation that can survive what we have lately in the way of government, is on the high road to permanent glory.

No joke.

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there.

That's from the last column she wrote before she died in 2007.

I believe all Southern liberals come from the same starting point -- race. Once you figure out they are lying to you about race, you start to question everything.

I couldn't agree with this more. I always remember learning about black history in February, but it was a very watered down version. It was not until very recently that I started digging deeper for the truth. To all of you people who still sport the rebel flag, know this: the South has an ugly and shameful past. You might want to think twice about clinging so desperately to it.

In 2004, Molly Ivins's prediction of a President Obama may have been far-fetched, but on Tuesday, we made it happen. Honestly, I am still in awe of what has happened.

Falls and McLennan County Election Results

Here is a summary of the election results for Falls County, where I live. Pay attention to the numbers in red; we'll get to them in a minute.

President
John McCain: 59.35%
Barack Obama: 39.62%
Margin: 19.73%

U.S. Senate
John Cornyn: 59.17%
Rick Noriega: 39.28%
Margin: 19.89%

U.S. Representative, District 31
John Carter: 59.75%
Brian P. Ruiz: 38.56
Margin: 21.19%

Railroad Commissioner
Michael Williams: 49.76%
Mark Thompson: 47.54%
Margin: 2.22%

Supreme Court, Chief Justice
Wallace Jefferson: 49.73%
Jim Jordan: 47.14%
Margin: 2.59%

Supreme Court, Place 7
Dale Wainwright: 48.64%
Sam Houston: 47.94%
Margin: 0.7%

Supreme Court, Place 8
Phil Johnson: 52.32%
Linda Reyna Yanez: 44.72%
Margin: 7.6%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
Tom Price: 50.26%
Susan Strawn: 47.06%
Margin: 3.2%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4
Paul Womack: 53.16%
J.R. Molina: 43.81%
Margin: 9.35%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9
Cathy Cochran: 81.91%
William Strange (Libertarian): 18.08%
Margin: 63.83%

State Representative, District 57
Jim Dunnam: 86.03%
Neill Snider (Libertarian): 13.96%
Margin: 72.07%

10th Court of Appeals, Place 2
Rex Davis: 53.50%
Richard Ferguson: 46.49%
Margin: 7.01%

Now for McLennan County.

President
John McCain: 60.19%
Barack Obama: 39.16%
Margin: 21.03%

U.S. Senate
John Cornyn: 61.31%
Rick Noriega: 37.31%
Margin: 24.00%

U.S. Representative, District 17
Rob Curnock: 39.96%
Chet Edwards: 59.29%
Margin: 19.33%

Railroad Commissioner
Michael Williams: 56.70%
Mark Thompson: 40.88%
Margin: 15.82%

Supreme Court, Chief Justice
Wallace Jefferson: 57.60%
Jim Jordan: 40.36%
Margin: 17.24%

Supreme Court, Place 7
Dale Wainwright: 55.25%
Sam Houston: 42.73%
Margin: 12.52%

Supreme Court, Place 8
Phil Johnson: 58.18%
Linda Reyna Yanez: 39.84%
Margin: 18.34%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3
Tom Price: 56.47%
Susan Strawn: 41.07%
Margin: 15.40%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 4
Paul Womack: 58.26%
J.R. Molina: 39.64%
Margin: 18.62%

Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 9
Cathy Cochran: 87.76%
William Strange (Libertarian): 12.23%
Margin: 75.53%

State Representative, District 56
Doc Anderson: 86.56
David Meine (Libertarian): 13.43%
Margin: 73.13

State Representative, District 57
Jim Dunnam: 92.11%
Neill Snider (Libertarian): 7.88%
Margin: 84.23%

10th Court of Appeals, Place 2
Rex Davis: 59.79%
Richard Ferguson: 40.20%
Margin: 19.59%

Ok, that was the boring part, I promise. I need to say this before I go any further: I am not a statistician or a political analyst by any means, but I need to do some math.

You see, there are some numbers that stick out to me. Alright, the average margin of victory of Republicans over Democrats in Falls County is 9.285%. In McLennan County, it's 18.19%. For these averages, I excluded races in which a Republican or Democrat was running against a Libertarian because, no offense to Libertarians, but these races were, and usually are, blowouts.

It is my opinion that the down-ballot results are a pretty good way to tell how a county is divided, as far as political parties go. The fact is, most voters are not all that educated on who is running for office, other than the folks at the top of the ticket. Furthermore, I believe that the most "unknown" races are judicial elections. After all, presidential candidates, senators, and representatives know that they must keep their constituents happy to either win office or remain there, so they stay pretty visible througout the campaign season.

So, let's look at the numbers for the judicial races. In both counties, Republicans won every race. In the three Supreme Court places, and the three places on the Court of Criminal Appeals, all six Republican incumbents remained in office. In Falls County the average margin of victory for Republicans in judicial races was 5.08%. In McLennan County, it was just about 17%.

Alright, I am going to try to make this make sense. I am not trying to say that all voters in McLennan or Falls County are uneducated, but I can tell you that there was virtually no campaigning done here for the Supreme Court and none at all for the Court of Criminal Appeals. So, unless you made a point to research the candidates, there would be no way to know much about them. So what's an uninformed voter to do? I can think of three things.

One, vote straight ticket. Two, vote for candidates that you have heard of somewhere before. Three, vote for those who have nice-sounding names.

I think that a little bit of all of these things happened. Falls County is the perfect example of this. We are a small, poor county that does not receive much attention from "outsiders." With so few voters, there's really no reason to campaign here; it wouldn't have a big enough impact. So, when I see election results from my county, I wonder why people voted the way they did.

My argument is that most voters voted straight-ticket along party lines, unless there is something about a candidate that a voter deems unacceptable. The races that I think are most indicative of the political alignment of Falls County were: Railroad Commissioner, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Place 7 of the Supreme Court, and Place 3 of the Supreme Court. These elections were all decided by margins between 0.7 and 3.2 percent, with Republicans holding a slight advantage.

What about the other judicial races? The Democrat lost Place 8 of the Supreme Court by 7.6 percentage points, and Place 4 of the Court of Criminal Appeals by 9.35 percentage points.

Why were these particular races determined by a larger margin than seemingly equivalent elections? Example: what voter knows the difference in candidates of Place 2 vs. Place 8 of the Supreme Court? My argument is that some voters voted not only along party lines, but along racial lines, as well. The candidates that lost by the larger margins were Linda Reyna Yanez and J.R. Molina. Molina was widely described as an unfit candidate, but Linda Yanez was praised and endorsed by major state newspapers.

Let's do some more math. In races (including for president, excluding Libertarians, in Falls County only) where there was no well-known minority or candidate with an "ethnic-sounding" name, the Republican margin of victory was 3.38%. This seems to indicate that the county is pretty well evenly divided along party lines. However, in the presidential election and in races where a candidate with a Hispanic name, the margin was 15.6%. For the record, even though this seems more apparent in Falls County, the margin for a race without a minority in McLennan County was 15.51% and, for races with a minority Democratic candidate, it was 20.51%.

Also for the record, I did not factor Michael Williams's, Wallace Jefferson's or Dale Wainwright's race into this. They are all black Republicans, but, as there was so little campaigning done around here, it is doubtful that voters knew this. Also, they were incumbents and easily won their races.

So, while I am definitely not a "numbers" person, I recognized a trend. I may be reading too much into this, but I have seen so much racism in the days since the elcetion that these results jumped out to me.

Is there an solution to this problem? Probably not. Until racial sterotypes and prejudice are eliminated, and people make it a point to become informed, I doubt that we will see voters voting solely on the issues. There will always those who vote based on the way a person's name sounds. In all fairness, it seems that Democratic judge Sam Houston received a modest boost in numbers, likely because of his name. On the other hand, it also appears that Susan Strawn lost by a larger number than some of the other judicial candidates. Was it maybe because people voted for the male candidate over the female? We'll probably never know.

In conclusion, though there is nothing official about these observations, it is a sad commentary on the state of racial relations in Texas. I'm not black, and I will never understand what it is like to be black, but I am saddened by the reaction that I have witnessed in Central Texas to Obama's election, and I will not stop trying to fix it. I keep harping on the race issue, but let me say this once and for all: racism didn't end with Obama's election. We may have made progress, but there is still a long way to go.

This is a must read

From the Washington Post:

A Butler Well Served by This Election

Here are some snippets:

For more than three decades Eugene Allen worked in the White House, a black man unknown to the headlines. During some of those years, harsh segregation laws lay upon the land. He trekked home every night, his wife, Helene, keeping him
out of her kitchen. At the White House, he worked closer to the dirty dishes than to the large desk in the Oval Office. Helene didn't care; she just beamed with pride.

Allen worked in the White House kitchen and as a butler through eight administrations, and never missed a day of work.

First lady Nancy Reagan came looking for him in the kitchen one day. She wanted to remind him about the upcoming dinner for West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. He told her he was well ahead in the planning and had already picked out the china. But she told him he would not be working that night. "She said, 'You and Helene are coming to the state dinner as guests of President Reagan and myself.' I'm telling you! I believe I'm the only butler to get invited to a state dinner."

The couple was proud to finally be able to vote for a black candidate for president, and had planned all of their Election Day activites.

They talked about praying to help Barack Obama get to the White House. They'd go vote together. She'd lean on her cane with one hand, and on him with the other, while walking down to the precinct. And she'd get supper going afterward. They'd gone over their Election Day plans more than once.

"Imagine," she said.

"That's right," he said.

This was not to be, however.

On Monday Helene had a doctor's appointment. Gene woke and nudged her once, then again. He shuffled around to her side of the bed. He nudged Helene again. He was all alone.

"I woke up and my wife didn't," he said later.

Some friends and family members rushed over. He wanted to make coffee. They had to shoo the butler out of the kitchen.

The lady whom he married 65 years ago will be buried today.

The butler cast his vote for Obama on Tuesday. He so missed telling his Helene about the black man bound for the Oval Office.

One of these things is not like the others...

So far, so good.

Photos from Matador Pulse and Yahoo!

Karl Rove to speak in Dallas

While reading the newspaper, I see an ad featuring my least favorite Pillsbury Doughboy lookalike. Apparently, Karl Rove is set to speak at the Dallas/Fort Worth Committee for Heritage Lecture on Novemberr 11. This is sponsored by the Heritage Foundation.

Is it just me, or does this sound like a white supremacy group?

I know the Heritage Foundation is a "conservative think-tank" officially, but something about the word "heritage" being associated with the lovely headshot of Rove that I am looking at doesn't sit right with me. It reminds me of people who make homemade porn, and label the tapes with something really boring, like "Quilting with Edna" or something like that (no offense to any quilters out there).

Why Baylor's in the news...

Here's a hint: It's not because they won a football game.

The day after the election, there were reports of a few racially-charged incidents at Baylor University. Apparently, a noose was found hanging in a tree on campus. Also, several students had a bonfire with Obama signs in a barbeque pit near the dorms. Finally, perhaps fueled by the first two incidents, a shouting match between what I have heard described as a group of white students and a group of black students resulted in police being called. No one was injured, but one student described the confrontation as being "filled with hate."

First of all, I do not think that burning Obama signs in a barbeque pit is inherently racist. I could potentially envision bitter and immature people burning Hillary Clinton signs if she had ended up as the Democratic nominee and eventual president-elect. These students may have had racial motivations for burning the signs, but this was not made clear. However, this does nothing to improve Baylor's image, or Waco's either, for that matter. Waco will be forever associated with the Branch Davidians, Daivd Koresh, and Mount Carmel. Waco citizens will have to deal with this stigma forever.

As for the shouting match between students, I do not know how it started or what was said, but tensions have been running high since the election. Campus police seem to have handled the situation well, and no one was hurt. Racial slurs may have been thrown around, but, consitutionally, we have the right to free speech. I will revere the right to free speech until I die, with one exception that I have mentioned before: speech that incites violence.

A noose hanging from a tree on the day after we have elected our first black president is not a prank or practical joke. It is a threat. Baylor needs to investigate this incident, and take swift and decisive action. The person who did this, if they are a student, should be expelled. The atmosphere around the Waco area has been tense enough for the past couple of days, and an incident like this could be enough to cause the situation to ignite. There is nothing funny about lynching, which has been a tragic part of Waco's not-too-distant past.

In 1916, Jesse Washington was lynched in Waco for the rape and murder of a white woman. Whether he actually committed the crime or not is questionable. In 1916, this did not matter. A trial was held and Washington was convicted. On his way to jail, he was swept away by a mob of Waco citizens. He was then hanged and burned to death. One person who was there later wrote:

The boy was beaten and dragged to the suspension bridge spanning the Brazos River. Thousands roared, "Burn him!" Bonfire preparations were already under way in the public square, where Washington was beaten with shovels and bricks.Fifteen thousand men, women, and children packed the square. They climbed up poles and onto the tops of cars, hung from windows, and sat on each other's shoulders. Children were lifted by their parents into the air. Washington was castrated, and his ears were cut off. A tree supported the iron chain that lifted him above the fire of boxes and sticks. Wailing, the boy attempted to climb the skillet-hot chain. For this the men cut off his fingers. The executioners repeatedly lowered the boy into the flames and hoisted him out again. With each repetition, a mighty shout was raised.

This incident has become known as "The Waco Horror."

Washington is believed to have still been alive in this photo.

This image was made into a postcard that said, "This is the barbecue we had last night...Your son, Joe."

This is what a noose hanging from a tree at a college campus in the South, in Waco, represents. Baylor needs to take a stand.

Warm Fuzzies and Quotes of the Week

Since so much of my attention has been focused recently on the negative reaction to Obama's election, I need to redirect my thoughts to what has happened.

Obama won. Americans went to the polls and picked our next president by a large margin. No recounts, no intervention from the Supreme Court. He won this thing fair and square.

So, since I've been on the defensive pretty much since the results came in, here is a collection of things that have inspired me, made me laugh, or caused me to think.



Barack Obama, in his victory speech:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen; by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the very first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different; that their voice could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled – Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been a collection of Red States and Blue States: we are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

Michael Gerson, former Bush speechwriter:

I suspect I will have many substantive criticisms of the new administration, beginning soon enough. Today I have only one message for Barack Obama, who will be our president, my president: Hail to the chief.

Rudy Giuliani, on whether he would support Obama:

You know what happens tomorrow morning when this is all over, or tomorrow afternoon, or whenever, or tonight? We all become Americans, and we support Barack Obama or John McCain 100 percent. Because if they fail, we fail.

Brian Williams, calling the election:

11 PM on the East Coast. We're back on the air and we have news. There will be young children in the White House for the first time since the Kennedy generation. An African-American has broken the barrier as old as the republic; an astonishing candidate, an astonishing campaign. A seismic shift in American politics.

Iman Bibars, Egyptian women's activist and, often, "sharp" critic of the U.S.:

When Obama won, I felt it was the return of the American Dream. I just cried
through the whole thing, because it gave me hope that the good guy will win, in
a world where good people don't normally win.

What some folks call impossible is just stuff they haven't seen before.
--What Dreams May Come.

And Men Have Lost Their Reason...

Let me preface what I am about to say with this statement: I support freedom of speech. The First Amendment has kept me out of a lot of trouble. As a liberal voter in a solidly red state, my opinion is not often shared by my neighbors, coworkers, or even family members. Free speech is an essential right in American, and while I may disagree, sometimes vehemently, with you, I respect your right to say what's on your mind.

The one exception to this liberty is when a person abuses their right to free speech to incite a riot or violent activity. For example, we all know that it is widely accepted to be wrong to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Another example that I have witnessed in the last 24 hours is promoting, encouraging, or condoning violence against a public official, namely our President-elect, Barack Obama.

I work in a small-town grocery store to pay my way through college. Today, the day after we elected our first black president, the sheer hatred that I saw coming from so-called "good" people absolutely floored me.

I lost count of how many times I was forced to listen to racial epithets and violent tirades. You see, I cannot afford to lose my job. I was stuck, behind a counter, as person after person took shot after shot at everything I believe in.

One lady referred to yesterday as "The Day America Died." I think she might have been right, not because we elected Barack Obama to be our next president, but because of people like her refuse to move on. It is because of people like this ignorant woman, who probably couldn't give one valid reason for using this phrase, other than that it was likely to incite anger, that we cannot get over our differences.

I have engaged in plenty of name-calling and mudslinging throughout this campaign, trying to gain support for my candidate. I admit that. I have gotten into heated arguments over issues and policies. What I did not do was attack McCain's patriotism or his service to our country. I believe that McCain tried to keep his campaign focused on tangible issues (healthcare, taxes, Iraq, etc.), but it was impossible. A group of his supporters, not all of them, but the group that has bullied our nation into submission the last eight years would simply not let this be a clean fight. We were bombarded attacks on Obama's character. He's a Muslim...He's a Socialist...He kills babies...He pals around with terrorists. These are all incendiary accusations that are meant to invoke fear. There is no truth here, but these allegations can be spun to look suspiciously like the truth. For example, 23 percent of Texans believe that Obama is a Muslim. Minimal research shows that this is untrue. However, a closed mind does not wish to dig deeper. Barack Obama doesn't sound like he comes from around here, so he must be a Muslim. The Socialist label? How many people who have called Obama a socialist even know what the hell socialism is? My guess is not many.

I have defended Obama's ideas and proposed policies. The election is over and decided, and I will rest my case for a while. What I cannot abide is this unadulterated hatred that has become apparent in the past day or so. When I woke up this morning, Obama's victory speech was still fresh on my mind, and I thought we might actually see change for the better. After a long day of dealing with bigots, however, I am disheartened. I do not know what the day after was like in other more progressive states, or parts of my state, but it was a sad day for my part of Texas today.

Yes We Did

I just got back from watching history.

There will be time for analysis and criticism later. For now, I just want to reiterate how proud I am to be an American. As I watched Obama give his victory speech tonight, I couldn't help but feel that my future, all of our futures, had somehow depended on this election.

Looking at the crowd at Grant Park in Chicago was awe-inspiring. Actually, it was just inspiring. People of all ages, races, and ideologies gathered to watch history. As Obama thanked his supporters, I forgot all about the partisan sniping and attacks of the past few months. Obama praised John McCain as a great American, and I believed him. I decided that all of the complaints that I have about this election, the Republican Party, and politics in general could wait until tomorrow. I sincerely hope that we can all get behind Obama to make America, as my hero Barbara Jordan once put it, "as good as its promise."

There is one thing that cannot wait until tomorrow, however. I cannot abide the contined racism and fearmongering that some sore losers are still participating in. As the night progressed, and an Obama victory seemed inevitable, I began to get phone calls and text messages from people that I know who are small-minded bigots.

"I wonder if there might be an assassination attempt tonight," one wrote. Another, "Lol he is winning because of sympathy vote his mom died of cancer [sic]." One more, "I swear if Obama wins, someone is gonna hang him!!"

As much as listening to Obama speak tonight makes me feel like I should be better than stooping to the level of racist and ignorant people, I cannot emphasize strongly enough that this is unacceptable. I want to go on one of my usual foul-mouthed tirades, but I cannot. My only consolation is that one day, you people will burn in hell I saw tonight that there is still good in this country, and that if we work together, we can change things for the better.

Election Night Notes

I'm going to post notes throughout the night, while I am near my computer. I'm going out for a while to watch the results over pizza and beer, but here's what's going on now.

McCain is projected to have won Kentucky. No surprise there. Obama has Vermont. Again, not a surprise. So far: Obama 3, McCain 8.

In the Senate, Lindsey Graham (R) and Mark Warner (D) are projected winners.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina are all still early to call.

Kay Hagan has a slight advantage over Liddy Dole in North Carolina. I hope Hagan can pull this one off.

Jay Rockefeller (D) keeps his Senate seat in West Virginia. So fars, the Democrats have a net gain of one seat.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
McConnell (R), Chambliss (R), and Shaheen (D) are leading in their respective Senate races. If this holds, it will mean the net gain of another seat for the Democrats.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South Carolina has been called for McCain, as predicted. So far, there have been no surprises and no drama. We do get to watch McCain talk on a plane though, but we can't hear a word he is saying. It's kinda nice. Obama 3, McCain 16.
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Obama has Pennsylvania! He also New Hampshire, Delaware, D.C., Illinois, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey. McCain gets Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Pennsylvania is a huge win for Obama. It was a blue state in '04, but we needed to keep it that way. Florida and Ohio are still too early to call. God, this is nerve-wracking.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Texas, Mark Thompson is currently leading Republican incumbent Michael Williams for Railroad Commissioner. Maybe he will prove me wrong.

Ok, I'm going to go out for a while to calm my nerves... Go Obama!

The suspense is killing me!

Ok, I voted. I've tried to get everyone that I know to vote, which is a risky move, considering that i live 20 miles south of Waco, Texas, and that most people that I know are hard-core Republicans. There really is nothing meaningful left to be done. All I can do now is sit here, listen to the same old stories on the news, and wait.

Can't we just close the polls now and find out who our next president is? Well, I probably shouldn't joke about that, or I might give the Republicans a new voter suppression method...

I Voted

I just got back from voting, and things went pretty smoothly. I had a whole 3 people in front of me. Don't be alarmed. Turnout wasn't low, I just live in a tiny county (Falls county, if you care to know).

I did not vote straight ticket, because I get some strange satisfaction in actually voting for an individual that I have researched and read about. It's like taking a test that you have really studied for.

Anyway, I have to admit that I did not vote for every Democrat on the ballot. There were a couple of races that I was really torn over. I was the dreaded undecided voter. It's not quite as dramatic to be undecided over railroad commissioner or a judge for the Court of Criminal Appeals, however.

So, here's how it went.

At the top of the ballot, there was no question as to who I was going to vote for. Obama/Biden all the way. Ditto on our Senate race. I support Noriega. Although he may not have the experience that Cornyn does, should we really consider experience as a Bush yes-man a positive thing?

For U.S. House, I voted for the Democrat, Brian P. Ruiz, over incumbent John Carter. For State House, I picked Democratic incumbent, Jim Dunnam, who was opposed only by a Libertarian candidate.

There was little anxiety over my Texas Supreme Court picks, as I had decided a while ago to support Jordan, Yanez, and Houston. My only reservation is that current Chief Justice, Wallace Jefferson, a Republican, seems to be doing a resectable job. However, I find it unacceptable that the Texas Supreme Court is currently composed of 9 Republicans and 0 Democrats. We need to even things up a bit.

For the Court of Criminal Appeals, I wholly support Susan Strawn against Tom Price for Place 3, but I was torn over the other Democrat, J.R. Molina. Almost all descriptions of him lead me to believe that he may not be fit to hold office. The incumbent, Paul Womack, has been described in much the same way. I considered voting for the Libertarian candidate for Place 4, Dave Howard, but he really did nothing to let us get to know him. In two questionnaires that I read, he failed to provide a response. So, I voted for Molina just for the sheer fact that the Court of Criminal Appeals is just as unbalanced as the Supreme Court. They also need to even things up. For Place 9, I voted for the Libertarian William Strange, because there was no Democratic candidate, and, no offense to any Libertarians out there, but he doesn't sound like a nutjob.

Another race that I was torn over was for Railroad Commissioner. The incumbent is Michael Williams, a Republican. His opponents are Mark Thompson (D), a therapist for the blind and disabled, and Dave Howard (L). The Democrat, Thompson, is running for Railroad Commissioner because he feels that the commission has done nothing to improve pipeline safety. Every major Texas newspaper that I have read has endorsed Williams, and I honestly felt like I couldn't criticize Sarah Palin for being unqualified if I voted for someone who had never worked in the energy industry. With all of the criticism that the Democrats have been taking about blindly following Obama because of his lofty rhetoric and desire for change, I didn't want to vote for someone based on anything other than his or her qualifications. So (gasp!) I voted for a Republican.

For the 10th Court of Appeals, I voted for Democrat Richard Ferguson over Republican Rex Davis, who has signs EVERYWHERE. Ferguson has worked for the court for about three years, and, once again, will bring a balance of opinion to our court system.

The final races are the county races, and it is likely that no one cares about Falls County. But, I did add two more Republicans to my total here, as I voted for one unopposed Republican constable who has done a good job, and I picked the Republican incumbent for county commissioner, who also seems to do a good job.

More Crazy from the State Board of Ed

Cynthia Noland Dunbar, a member of the conservative gang on the Texas State Board of Education, recently wrote an article for the Christian Worldview Network. She began by saying, "Can we truly even imagine an America under an Obama Administration? I sincerely believe that an Obama Administration would ultimately mean one thing…the end of America as we know her."

Ok, so she's going for the Republican-invoking-fear thing. That's great. Also, the accusation that Obama is going to destroy American really only appeals to the uneducated, and since Dunbar is a member of the State Board of Education, she knows just how badly the board has failed, and that there are a whole lot of uneducated people in Texas.

Next, she says, "I cannot understand how we can potentially elect a man who most likely has violated the Constitution in his very attempt to serve as Commander and Chief."

I'm going to agree with Rachel Maddow here, and say that a Republican complaining about the violation of the Constitution can be compared to Colonel Sanders fighting for chicken rights.

Dunbar's argument is that Obama is not an American citizen because of time spent in Indonesia as a child. This fits right in with the whole Republican strategy of trying to make God-fearin' real Americans afraid of the foreigner socialist that is trying to take all their hard-earned money.

She then goes on to say that the courts will do nothing about this because of "our own militant leftist Judicial Branch." Excuse me? Bush has appointed only the most hard-core right-wingers to serve on the Federal bench during his administration. Dunbar needs to look no further than our own state to see that the judicial branch is definitely not militantly leftist.

Dunbar continues to ramble on and on about how if Obama is elected, the country will naturally be under martial law, but offers no evidence or even possible scenarios to back this up. It's pretty much, Obama is elected, and then, boom, martial law.

She closes with this: "I fear for our great nation and her potential demise should we as Americans elect Sen. Obama. I shall take no joy in saying 'I told you so' if Obama gets elected. But just for the record, remember, 'I told you so.'"

Alright, this is the person who helps decide what your children will learn. How blind are we that we will elect a person who seems mentally unstable and full of hate to serve in a position that affects kids? Unfortunately, Dunbar's seat is not up for election this year, but when it is, we need to get her out of there.

My Maps...

Okay, this is what I would like to happen. It may be a bit of a stretch in some states, but this is my prediction:Looks pretty good, right? But take away the "too close to call" states of Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, and North Dakota, and here's what you get:

We're still okay, but what if McCain gets other battleground states, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, and Virginia?

This is why it's so important to get out there and vote. This thing is not over, it could still go either way. While the last map is probably a stretch for the Republicans, it is possible. So vote, people!

I used the Scenario Builder from CQ Politics to make my maps. If you want poll numbers and more, check out:

CQ Politics

The Cook Political Report

Tomorrow is the Day!

It is hard to describe how I am feeling right now. In less than 24 hours, I will cast my vote (I know, I should have voted early...) in what has been called the most important election of any of our lifetimes. The only thing that I can think of to compare this feeling to is the feeling that I used to have on the night before Christmas as a kid.

But now I am an adult, and things don't get me quite as excited as they used to. I consider myself cynical, jaded, and over-analytical, and yet, I am inspired.

Some say that it is all a con, this "Yes We Can" message. They say that we are being fooled by a man who is offering false hope for change. We are accused of either not knowing or ignoring the facts, and voting for our candidate based on his oratory skills or his skin color.

Whatever you think about Barack Obama and his supporters, you must admit this: We have come a long way. There was a time in our (very recent) history when Obama, as a black man, or Hillary Clinton, as a woman, could not even vote. Now, in 2008, both candidates very viable to be the leader of the free world. That is a step in the right direction.

What about those who refuse to step into this milennium? There are still people, lifelong Democrats, who vehemently oppose Barack Obama. Some people that I know consider themselves yellow dog Democrats but are voting for McCain. When I ask them why, they cannot come up with an answer. I don't think I am alone in assuming that their opposition is race-based.

So, even though we still have our Civil War holdouts, Texas especially, we are making progress. No matter which way the election goes tomorrow, we have made our mark on history. People have stood together and proclaimed that things are about to change. Politics will no longer be the "good ol' boys club" that it always has been. Some of us, who have never been interested before, are paying attention. We have learned that we have a voice and that there are people to speak for us.

No matter what happens tomorrow, things are going to change.

We'll Miss You, Sarah

Well. it's almost done. An election that has been two years in the making is about to come to a close. In just a little over a day, voters will go to the polls and potentially make history. The odds are looking good that Barack Obama will be elected as the next President of the United States. Without being overconfident, I am filled with hope for the direction in which our country is headed. However, there is one thing that makes me a little sad.

Where will Sarah Palin go?

Will she return to Alaska and fade back into obscurity or will she stick around, as some are predicting, to keep her name in the hat for 2012? I, for one, hope that she goes back to moose hunting in the Arctic. However, there is a part of me that will miss her and all of her Palinisms.

You see, I wanted to like Sarah Palin. Maybe it's the fact that she is a woman, and since there are so few women in positions of power that I subconsciously want her to succeed. But I supported Obama over Hillary, so I'm not one to vote for a woman just "because." It might have something to do with her hockey mom image, and the resolve that it must take to raise a disabled child, I don't know.

So, yeah, what's left of the small part of me that wants to conform, wants to like Sarah Palin. However, the rest of me roots for the underdog, the "other." Sarah Palin may claim to be a Washington outsider, but she stands for everything that is wrong with our current government. She is a bully, she is ignorant, and she is unwilling to listen to those who give her advice, trying to keep her from making a fool of herself. Though Sarah Palin looks like an All-American mom, she goes against everything I believe in, and that is why I cannot like her.

That being said, Sarah Palin's path to GOP glory has been about the most hilarious thing that I have ever seen. She puts George W. Bush to shame in the mis-speaking department. As a tribute to the woman that I will thoroughly miss making fun of, here are some of my favorite Palin moments.

1.) Tina Fey. First, there was the "Nonpartisan Message" from Sarah Palin (Tina Fey) and Hillary Clinton (Amy Poehler). At the time, I thought it was one of the funniest things that I have ever seen. Then came the spoof of the Couric interview, followed by the Vice Presidential debate, and the meeting between the real and the fake Palins. There was also the QVC spot with fake Palin and fake McCain. Tina Fey has OWNED Sarah Palin, you betcha. Check out NBC.com for videos of the hilarity.

2.)The interview with Charlie Gibson. This is the first time we had the chance to become acquainted with Palin's uncanny knack for answering questions without actually answering them, or even really understanding them. For example, consider the question, asked by Gibson, "When I asked John McCain about your national security credentials, he cited the fact you have command of the Alaskan National Guard and Alaska is close to Russia. Are those sufficient credentials?" Simple yes or no question. Her reply? "But it is about reform of government. And it’s about putting government back on the side of the people. And that has much to do with foreign policy and national security issues." Ok, she mentions about four different talking points, and yet, no answer. Not all of us are sheep, Governor. And, of course, this interview is where Tina Fey's famous line, "I can see Russia from my house" is derived from.

3.)The Couric interview. Much like her first major interview, this was pretty much a disaster for the Republicans. Here, we learn that Palin reads all of the newspapers, not some, but "all of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." Also, she defended Alaska's proximity to Russia as foreign policy experience.

4.)Alaskan women hold an anti-Palin rally. I found this on Snopes. Apparently, there are some women in Alaska who are not big fans of their governor. Check out the page to see pictures. My favorite signs are "Hockey Mama for Obama" and "The Alaska Disasta." I love it.

5.)Thanks, but no thanks. We all know that Palin supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it but, by God, she stuck to her story as long as possible.

6.)Say it ain't so, Joe! Palin's excessive usage of first names or nicknames sometimes strikes me as being condescending (Can I call you Joe?). It reminds me of Bush (You're doing a heck of a job, Brownie). Anyway, this debate was full of this fake familiarity. Here's a snippet from her debate with Biden:

"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education and I'm glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? I say, too, with education, America needs to be putting a lot more focus on that and our schools have got to be really ramped up in terms of the funding that they are deserving. Teachers needed to be paid more. I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad who is in the audience today, he's a schoolteacher, had been for many years. My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate."

Gotta love it.

7.) Palin Goes Rogue!!! A slew of McCain aides recently came out semi-publicly saying that Palin has become unmanageable, and will not stick to her script. She has disagreed with McCain over pulling out of Michigan and the robocall issue. Here's what one so-called McCain supporter said:

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone. She does not have any
relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else. Also, she is
playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party.
Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the
beginning and end of all wisdom."

Wow, divas trust only unto themselves. I'm sure that's in the Bible somewhere...

8.) The Palin-McCain White House? At one rally, Palin reversed the order of the names on the ticket. Freudian slip, perhaps?

9.) A special place in hell... Palin misquoted Madeline Albright as saying, 'There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women." So, I'm going to hell? Great, first Palin says that I'm not a real American, now I'm going to hell. This definitely hasn't been my year...

10.) The wink. No matter what she says, the wink seals the deal. For Palin-supporters, the wink is reassuring, and makes them feel comfortable with her. For the rest of us, the wink means, here we go, another four years of this...Bush's giggle has been too much, four years of McCain's leadership alongside Palin's wink might just kill me.

That's all for tonight, but I have a lot more coming tomorrow, on Election Day Eve. I am going to have trouble sleeping until the results are in. The excitement (and worry) is just too much.

2 Days...

Here are some random thoughts and questions with two days to go:

• As much as I appreciate the extra hour that comes with Daylight Savings time, I bet the candidates and the press enjoy it so much more. It has been a long, hard battle for both sides.
• How are there still undecided voters? We have been inundated with information, debates, facts, lies, and negative ads for months now. Make up your damn mind, the suspense is killing us.
• If Ralph Nader ruins this for us, I think he should be forced to be Bush's new roommate when he leaves Washington.
• Where has Ann Coulter been? I mostly read Texas newspapers, but even before they stopped printing her stuff, she was all over talk shows and the news. The only time that I have heard her name mentioned this year was in the tragic case of Ann Pressley, the anchorwoman who was beaten to death in her home in October. Pressley played Coulter in "W."
• If Sarah Palin really donates all of her campaign clothes to charity after the election, we are about to start seeing some really sharp dressed poor people.
• Dick Cheney endorsed McCain yesterday. Isn't that a little bit like getting Satan's stamp of approval? Obama said, "I'd like to congratulate Sen. McCain on this endorsement, because he really earned it. That endorsement didn't come easy." Wow, I wonder if you actually have to shoot somebody to win Cheney's endorsement.
• I never really appreciated Bill Clinton until he was gone. It's been kinda fun having him around again. I'm sure, of course, that all of his supporters are getting tired of having to lock up their daughters, but, hey, everyone has to sacrifice.
• McCain was just on "Larry King: Live." Topics included techniques for keeping punks off your lawn, the best brands of prune juice, and their lives during the Civil War. Those were the days.
• This election could help bring back "Celebrity Death Match." Of course, there's Obama vs. McCain. but think of the other possibilties. Colin Powell vs. Joe the Plumber. Hillary Clinton vs. Sarah Palin. Michelle Obama vs. Cindy McCain. Bill Clinton vs. Ted Stevens. Oprah vs. Elizabeth Hasselbeck. The possibilities really are endless.