I guess the Palin effect was at work at my daughters school today. For their "International Day" they featured the following countries....England, Germany(sang 99 luftbaloons), Italy, Mexico(kids had mexican goatees) and Africa.

Libya and Ghaddafi is too easy.

I'd have more if they didn't have names I couldn't remember. I knew Equatorial Guinea has an absolute nutcase. Liberia has a woman. Just can't ever remember their names.

That one would challenge a lot of people if they were asked to spell it, especially since it's supposed to be pronounced "chang-a-rye"

I remember there was a kid in my high school freshman world history class who thought Africa was a country. Everyone in the class thought it was incredibly dumb even then and he was mocked for weeks about it. Lets hope Palin was just mis-quoted or made a harmless verbal gaffe. I can't imagine a national political candidate really not knowing the difference.

Someone in my office expressed disbelief, but I can see it. People talk about "Africa" like it's one place all the time.

I blame Toto.

Way to many hours spent playing that game. 286xt. Ah, good times.

Here is a gaffe she made in writing, in response to a questionnaire sent to the 2006 Alaska Gubernatorial candidates:


Unfortunately, it wasn't written until 1892, and "under God" was not added until 1954.

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

By the way, what level of school are we talking about here?

Just realized that Obama got the North Carolina electoral votes. That is amazing.

In looking back, it appears that Pennsylvania was never in play. Even if it McCain had chosen Ridge, it still would have been a blue state in the end. Same thing for Minnesota and Pawlenty.

It also appears that the race ended up being predictable since Obama won by the same margin he was up after the primaries in early June. I suppose it got interesting for a few weeks but I don't think the outcome was in any doubt since we knew that the Dems would increase their turnout from 2004 (up by 2-3%) while Reps would have trouble getting their 2004 turnout numbers.

It was good enough for Eisenhower, it's good enough for us.

It also looks like Obama will win one EV in NE.

Tell MBBF that.

It was interesting until the market melted down, which was the final albatross around McCain's neck.

Quit patting yourself on the back like that, Flasch. You're going to be sore in the morning.

oh, I thought you'd be directing the attention to MBBF since Im not patting myself for being right since I never predicted anything. If you paid any attention at all instead of pressing the button on your Flasch radar, I was simply questioning his statements about the invalidity of polling mechanisms (until they fit his needs). The polling mechanisms used by the pundits, on the whole, tended to be right....not me. MBBF just happened to be wrong. Thanks for playing though and hopefully MBBF will claim his inaccuracies for credibility sake. I mean how can we trust his statements regarding such things as, say, game consoles, going forward ;)

Considering what the (CNN) national exit poll shows, that's not really surprising (in hindsight).

Decided before September (60%) - 52%-48% Obama
Decided in September (14%) - 54%-46% Obama

That's 3/4 of voters making their decision before we reached October. Only in the final week ( last 7 days & last 3 days) does McCain have an advantage with voters, but those folks only made up 7% of the total. And then on election day it swings back to Obama for a 50-45 edge on the final 4%.

And my own suspicion would be that people tend to under report when their decision was actually made (many many pages ago I believe someone cited a study that talked about this tendency), so in the absence of some major event in the final month or so, the election was probably over while the weather was still hot.

This really cracked me up.

4th grade, public. Of course they sang something from the Lion King for africa. The class representing England sang Yellow Submarine. Wasn't that about an acid trip or something?

I'm most offended by the missing apostrophe.

At this point, I'm not sure, but I think Flasch is just copy/pasting his quotes in this thread. Hasn't he already used this one four times since Tuesday night?

A Butler Well Served by This Election - washingtonpost.com

Good read.

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but I thought it was funny...

Palin made her comment about "Pro-America parts of the country" in Greensboro, NC, which is in Guildford County.

Obama won Guildford County 59-41.

Libertarian OpEd from our local paper

I think the first head to head debate happened around the same time, which IMO gave people a reason to get comfortable with Obama (ala Reagan in 80). The combination of the two clinched it.

good editorial there bucc.

I really do hope for the country's sake that the libertarian side eventually emerges dominant in the Republican party. I may not agree with them on a lot of fiscal issues, but at least that side backs up its positions with logic and reason.

Reading that editorial reminds me of how odd it was to me in 2004 that so many libertarians were voting for Bush. I know Kerry wasn't a great candidate, but Bush was even further from the libertarian ideal! Big government, reduced domestic liberty, AND interventionist foreign policy!

I am officially an Independent, but ideology wise probably am closer to Libertarian than anything else. I voted Kerry in 2004, not because I liked him.. I actually didn't like him much. I just learned after voting for Bush in 2000 that he wasn't what he campaigned as and what he ended up being was everything about the Republican party that I did not like, and none of the things about the Republican platform that I do like.

In Flasch's defense, 2 of them were probably Flasch, and 2 of them me. :)

Maybe Nader was right afterall (re: corporate welfare). We already gave so much to the farm corporations, defense firms, oil industries, financial sectors and now automakers. Who is lined up behind them? Why do Pelosi, Reid and the Bush Administration continue to think that federal monies grow on trees?

And 2 of those couldve been DT's :)

This would be the strategy that suggests the easiest way to pay down the national debt is to cause massive hyper-inflation so that $10 trillion becomes more like $10 million. Also seems to be the strategy for the housing market.:crazy:

Jon gets a call from a friend about the election.

This is a pretty cool little map. This is showing democratic and republican gains from 2004 to 2008 county by county in Georgia. When someone was asking if it were possible that increased home ownership by minorities might have changed the demograpics a bit, well yeah. Noticed those dark blues around Atlanta. That is a 20 point shift in very populous counties.

In that case.....I've still got room on my credit cards. To the mall!

If Obama governs as the centrist he ran as, he'll probably do fine. If he goes hardcore to the left, to match his past voting record, I think he's a one term president like Jimmy Carter. Unlike Clinton, Obama REALLY is taking over an economy in its worst state since the 1970s and perhaps since the Great Depression, and if the rumblings I hear about a rash of upcoming defaults on major commercial loans are true, we haven't seen anything yet. That's what happens though, when a nation's "prosperity" is built on borrowed money and speculation.

If Pelosi and Reid are smart, they will govern as moderates for the immediate future. However I don't see it...I think they go full steam ahead and try to implement huge new government programs and regulations that keep the economy flat, and grow inflation and unemployment. If things continue to go south or stay flat, they've got no one left to point the finger at. If we're still in Iraq and Afghanistan (angering the Democratic base) or we haven't pursued increased domestic energy supplies if/when OPEC gets its act together and foreign oil and gas prices skyrocket again (angering everyone), then the Democrats could find themselves swept out of power again just as quickly as they regained it.

And if the Dems do try to make a grab for everyone's 401K money to dump it into Social Security, like they've been looking at in Subcommittee meetings, I'll lead the next revolution myself. :)

Without even watching the cartoon, you triggered a realization that I hadn't had yet -- outside of the internet or my own family, I don't think I've discussed the election results with a single person I know. In every case, I think anyone I would have had those conversations with was already as resigned to the outcome as I was and is pretty much in the same state of mourning. It's like there's been no need to rehash the subject or something but I hadn't really thought about that until now.

Incidentally, the Georgia Senate race is now showing Chambliss with 49.77% of the votes counted, just short of the amount needed to avoid a runoff with D challenger Jim Martin.

There's still 28 counties who have not reported their absentees & in those Chambliss has pulled 54% of their votes but there's less than 425k votes combined (already counted) in all those counties so figuring the total votes available (1.952% based on the change between Wednesday & Friday), & the average margin in each, he should end up at 49.78% and we'll have a runoff in early December to decide the seat. And that number will actually fall a bit once qualified write-in candidates are added to the total votes cast, as those are not included in the current tally.

Thanks for reminding me :)

I've seen the new blitz of commercials from Saxby using the words Obama in big letters. Jim Martin wants to tax everyone more and will support OBAMA'S tax hikes on the lower and middle classes, and even tax your business. I want to lower your taxes, Jim Martin wants to raise them.

Very annoying since I still can't figure what Saxby has done in 6 years (probably 15+ if you include the House) and he still has yet to tell me what he wants to do other than push his fair tax proposals that never even made it out of committee with Republicans in charge.

'Course, on the other hand, Martin's commercials seem to be featuring Obama prominently too, so that seems pretty fair.

Without a doubt. I was mentioning it's funny that he was trying to use it to stir up his support. I don't think either will be effective. Turnout will go down, Saxby ends up doing nothing for another 6 years by a 5-7 point margin (at the least). Like I've said earlier, Purdue should be vulnerable and maybe even Isaackson (sp) shortly.

I don't really think Johnny would have too much trouble getting re-elected, he hasn't really planted a bullseye planted on himself best I can tell.

Purdue, of course, can't seek re-election (term limits) but the GOP field to replace could turn out to be very weak, so much so that I'd say the office would almost certainly be in play.

The field from above (including Isaakson, Westmoreland, even Kingston's name has come up) seems a lot stronger to me & would cause me a lot less heartburn than the likes of Cagle (who I will not vote for), Richardson (see Cagle), Handel (who I like but seems to draw fire), and I'm really not confident in Oxendine although I have nothing particular against the guy off-hand.

What's insightful about the Palin jumping the gun on Ayers story, is what they talk about in regards to why she started to get irritated and some of the ill stuff that happened to Bristol after the media came out with the pregnancy story.

Palin just another example of the problem with the whole McCain campaign, lack of discipline. You have two choices when you run a campaign, you can run on issues or you can make it personal and attack.

If you are going to make it personal and dirty just to win an election, then do it smart. McCain used Ayers in a "smart" way on occasion (and so did Palin if I recall) by saying that Obama had a history of being around radicals. The whole line of "palling around with terrorists" was never going to fly with middle of America and the smartest among McCain's campaign knew it.

Have to agree with Jon. Saxby was only vulnerable because the Dems were pissed at how he ran his campaign against Max Cleland. Even Dems in the state of GA respect Isakson, even though he is very right wing.

To drag up a word overused in the campaign, this is invariably the problem with "maverick"s running for President. They've usually made their reputation on being somewhat contrarian and I doubt they really take much thought into a campaign being disciplined as their rep has been built on not being disciplined.

No. But Biden does seem to have an interesting grasp on history...as per his conversation involving the start of the Great Depression, FDR, and television. :)

Perhaps the most overblown historical gaffe ever. Sad from a VP if it wasn't a temporary brain fart? Sure. But who knows what he was thinking when he said it. I think in 80 years a VP candidate should get some leeway if they mistakenly say Clinton was in office during the 9/11 attacks.

Wow, there's really an effort for the government to take over 401Ks? Are the democrats trying to completely destroy the economy? I'm hoping this is some kind of joke..

Apparently this comes from subcommittee testimony and possibly McDermott and Miller are looking at it. I don't make many predictions, but I guarantee this will never happen.

I should also add that the plan suggested wouldn't take any 401k money, but would eliminate the tax break for IRA contributions and require a mandatory contribution from Americans for a government run retirement account.

wont happen, red herring.

In the words of Dubyah "Read My Lips" Senior, never say never.

hxxp://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/25/83/58.php

lots of shit is talked about in the halls of congress and in meetings and id say less than 20% ever comes to fruition...this would get hardly enough support to be even talked about in a substantial way. wont happen..

Lets at least wait until there's a bill before freaking out.

We've already taken significant steps toward nationalizing the mortgage and banking industries...under a Republican administration, no less...what's so far-fetched about the Democrats, who now control everything, making a grab at one of the last great bastions of untapped cash? Especially considering we now have about 3 trillion in new debt.

or a gop congress running up a deficit in stark contrast to their platform....I see where youre going that anything is possible. ok. We should still wait until we're actually talking about anything other than vapor, right?

But by then, it could be too late (speaking generically about onerous bills). If hypothetical vapor bills like this or the Fairness Doctrine ever comes up, are you absolutely sure it won't pass because there will be outrage from both sides? Obama may be against such bills, but Presidents sign bad bills all the time because it will be politically expedient to do so (i.e., I'll sign this if you pass this).

you guys should really stop feeding the troll (SFL Cat)

It won't matter anyway once Obama sets up his dictatorship.....

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i...BlHOwD94CCDU00

all im saying is, as worded above, 'take 401k, make it mandatory, dump it into gov't run retirement (sic), penalize private IRA's' wont sell. Now tweak it, change it, add some gravy, remove some ligaments, call it the 'Katrina vs. Iraq retirement protection against drilling while coal, clean, nuclear works bill' and they can try to sell it...but on it's own it's IMO, a red herring for some on the right to cry foul and scream, "See! we told you!"....nothing's happened yet to have anyone judging anyone post election, good or bad.

lol Obama's been Godwin-ed

I find it troubling that Obama is getting a puppy. Isn't that exactly what Napoleon did to terrify all the other farm animals?

Gold :D

SI

Hey, don't Geauxdwin this thread!

You know who else liked puppies?

That is unbelievable.

And this is a Congressman who said those things?

Sigh.

Jerry "The King" Lawler

Although I'm pretty sure you'd realize it if you thought about the district, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the layout of our congressional districts here in Georgia ... that's not just any Congressman, that happens to be my Congressman.

:D

Maybe he'll be a candidate for Purdue's vacancy. You already mentioned the congressman who called the Obama's uppity and then gave an embarrassing interview on the Colbert Report. Then again, most Georgians probably can't even spell Colbert Report. Just say the blacks and libs are gonna change yer flag and you get in.

Nah, Broun doesn't seem interested in being governor. Besides, we need him in Washington worse than anywhere else at the moment (not exactly like we have the votes to spare there right now).


At least the majority of Georgians were smart enough not to vote for Obama.

They like their country ass backwards, this should be obvious to all.

Bush was quite often compared to Hitler.

(Yes, including by at least one Congressman: FOXNews.com - In Meeting With Atheists, Rep. Ellison Compares President Bush to Hitler - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum)

I think that's just our political climate now.

With Obama it's bigger news though, and I'm sure, more "unbelievable".

molson, no fair bringing up something that happened before 2008. You do realize that history does not exist?

For the record, I brought up Broun's comments because I find them pretty darn amusing. Not unbelievable at all. Also not much different than what the other side has done to Bush.

I think it's actually good to have people like that in congress, so people like Jon can have representation :) (And I wasn't surprised at all to learn that this guy is Jon's congressman... he represents the district well I assume)

Didn't bother clicking the link, but I assume that was Keith Ellison? What is he doing meeting with Atheists? Isn't he busy trying to institute Sharia Law as the only Muslim congressman?

So, Lindsey Lohan mentioned how excited she was to 'have the first colored president'? That's fabulous on so many levels for all the wrong reasons.

don't get it

"colored" is not the preferred nominclature.

I didn't know Obama was a comic book fan. That's pretty sweet. He's one of us!
Obama Collects Comics? 50 Things You Might Not Know About The President-Elect


• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics
• He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball
• His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili
• His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini
• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father
• He is left-handed -- the sixth post-war president to be left-handed
• He has read every Harry Potter book
• He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali
• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream

Paging Major General Sherman.

Paging Major General William Tecumseh Sherman to the Information Desk, please.

:D ;)

Why is it when Bush is about to leave office that he becomes a gracious and classy person to his Democratic rivals? All that I've read seems to indicate that Bush has been more than open and welcoming to Obama; informing his advisers about the national security threats very early in the process, months prior to the election and now a mere week after the election has him to the WH. I just read that he invited Obama to a G-20 summit, which Obama declined (but sent a team) because he said there should only be one President at it.

So, what's with this bipartisanship?! It can't just be because of legacy (in that case, he'd be friendly to the other side 2 years ago).

I imagine he's tired & ready to go home. Easier to hand over anything & everything than to worry about it any more.

With all his vacations you'd assume he was well rested ;).

I think HW and W Bush are/were good guys at heart that were capable of more bipartisanship than they ever showed, they were both surrounded(HW going back to Nixon cronies and W with Rove ect) by Republicans that were all about unilaterral thinking and bloody politics.

I can see that (I always thought of W as a decent person, but a crap President), but in the end, they chose to surround themselves with those people and W picked to follow Cheney/Rumsfeld rather than Powell/Rice.

Also, every out-going President does this. There is no reason to bitter at the new guy. It just creates bad press, and maybe slows down your Library donations (which is what most out-going Presidents are obsessed about).

Well, when a President has acted so bitter towards the opposition during his term, this seems rare.

And it isn't just what every outgoing President does. Bush has seemingly gone above and beyond the call of duty by trying to do it as early as possible to make the transition as smooth as it could possibly be.

President Bush mentioned that President Clinton was very welcoming and gracious during the transition in '99-'00. I think it made an impression.

What he said. Bush Sr was actually very nice to Clinton, Jimmy Carter had a reception for Reagan, etc, etc. It really isn't unusual at all.

Opening the gates this early, OTOH, is. Also inviting the President-elect to international summits. Not even mentioning inviting Obama's team in prior to the election to brief them just in case Obama won.

It'd be pretty hilarious and insane if an out-going president wasn't gracious.

And more info that seems to indicate that the "Palin doesn't know Africa was a continent" crap is likely to be a complete hoax:

A Fake Expert and a Phony Think Tank Fool Bloggers and the Mainstream News Media - NYTimes.com

Interesting snippet from the NYT piece "But the truth was out for all to see long before the big-name take-downs. For months sourcewatch.org has identified Martin Eisenstadt as a hoax. "

Bet "sourcewatch" feels real useful right about now.

Bush is as excited as anyone to have somebody competent in the job.

re: bush being classy - I also think it's a result of the "fraternity of the presidency" if you want to call it that. namely that it's a very select group and it's got to be a huge emotional burden and there's only a few people alive at the time who know what a demanding position it is, so once somebody else has been chosen by the people to join the fraternity it's almost viewed as the last + most important duty to prepare your successor

LOL, but a lot of hits for this now... especially from MSNBC and TNR... and maybe Carl Cameron ;).

I think it's a lot easier to be gracious after your second term. Losing and then being gracious ala Bush1 or Carter seems much more difficult.

And it should be said that while Presidents may appear and act gracious to their successors, often staffs don't act the same way. There have been stories about the way the Ford staff and the Clinton staff acted in their final days that were not so flattering.

One of the CNN programs had a picture of Bush and Obama and asked for contibutions as to what Bush was saying. I liked:

"When can you start?" :)