I feel like tonight is Christmas Eve. I'm so excited and nervous all in one!

It's funny, the people who still support Bush go on regularly about how awful the "left-wing" Dems are, how the world will end if they're elected and so on. On issues of legitimate substance (Iraq/Imperialism, Taxes/Spending) there's almost no difference.

For example, Obama wants to leave a skeleton crew in Iraq and go to Pakistan while McCain wants to keep everyone where they are. Dems traditionally tax, spend & regulate, but Bush2 has spent more and issued more regulations than any President ever. Big fucking whoop.

There's no pol, save for Ron Paul, that comes anywhere close to representing my views, which in short is leaving people the fuck alone. This is because 1) Every pol gets paid by companies who make money by doing exactly the opposite and 2) Most of the people who want to become pols in the first place are usually not the sort of people who tend leave people be.

So it goes...

This is really sad news...

Obama's grandmother died of cancer. Just one day before he was about to be elected President. I really wish she had been able to see that.


http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4A26GV20081103


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's grandmother died of cancer, he said in a statement on Monday, a little more than a week after he interrupted the White House campaign to say goodbye to her in Hawaii.

"It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer," Obama said in a joint statement with his sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng. "She was the cornerstone of our family, and a woman of extraordinary accomplishment, strength and humility."

Dunham, 86, helped raise Obama from the age of 10 while his mother was working in Indonesia, and Obama took an emotional 22-hour trip to Hawaii to visit her on October 23 and 24.

Obama said afterward his grandmother had been flooded with cards, flowers and well-wishes from around the country, and he regularly thanked crowds at his campaign rallies for their prayers.

"Our family wants to thank all of those who sent flowers, cards, well-wishes and prayers during this difficult time," the statement said.

"It brought our grandmother and us great comfort. Our grandmother was a private woman, and we will respect her wish for a small private ceremony to be held at a later date," the statement said.

Dunham had followed Obama's presidential bid with great interest, and her death comes one day before U.S. voters will render their verdict in the race between Obama and Republican John McCain.

Obama affectionately called her "Toot" -- short for "tutu," the Hawaiian word for grandmother -- and frequently spoke of her on the campaign trail.

Dunham had recently broken her hip but the campaign had refused to comment on reports she was suffering from cancer.

If it was anything like when my Dad passed the extra few days wouldn't have mattered. I just hope that she was able to recognize him when he went to see her.

The way you have answered similar questions previously did not come across this way. You said that the election results would not prove the polls correct. I think the problem is that the answer was based on the question of whether a matching percentage win by Obama would prove you wrong. I think my question was more accurate to what people want to know regarding your ability to admit if you were wrong or right. :)

This is unbelievable...

A complaint filed by the California GOP:

I agree. You'd think somebody in the Obama campaign would have been smarter than to let that happen.

(actually I figure somebody somewhere was smarter than that & had enough sense to make some sort of campaign appearance while there)

Well, I see no reason to take the complaint as 100% fact, especially when it comes from complete and utter shitheads that have the nerve to file it when they did.

I can imagine McCain calling California "What the fuck are you guys doing?" Some of these state branches really have no clue.

Please, spare the world your angst.

Did Obama take the day off? Did his campaign staff? Then why in the fuck should anyone else? If they had the info & there's a legitimate concern then it's fair game & they would have been remiss not doing so.

Sadly, so can I.

They should have thought, "Will bringing this to court today be beneficial to my side of the campaign? And if it isn't, did Obama do something wrongful enough to risk my party looking like unsympathetic creeps?"

If they are really concerned about this issue they should have brought it up after the campaign, because they will only make the McCain camp look worse with this.

Sorry, but if it isn't a day where Obama takes off then the opposition damned sure shouldn't. Business as usual cuts both ways.

And FTR I'm not suggesting that Obama did anything wrong by continuing with his schedule.

Jon, your opinion here doesn't surprise me one bit. I'm not one of the people around here that get shocked when you say something crazy. You have your opinions, they are wildly different than mine, and I fully respect that. So I guess what I'm saying you're kinda wasting your time on this one.

That's fine, I've long since lost hope in you regaining any semblance of reason, but I've got as much right to defend the move as you have to criticize it.

I'm a bit bemused by the fact that you apparently thought I had reason at some point. I'm not aware of any position of mine that has wildly changed since I joined FOFC.

And of course you have that right. What I meant was you're wasting your time with the cute "Yeah, I'm shocked" irony bits.

Im sure you were equally pissed learning about the state of AK paying for Palin's kids to take trips with her on business when the kids weren't even invited right? Just want to make sure it's equal in your disdain eventhough Im sure it is.

Don't worry, these things happen all the time. McCain has pending lawsuits as well. If anything comes of it it will just be a small fine.

With all due respect.
This is why the GOP is behind in the poles, it is just more preaching to the choir.
While the republicans think this is fair game, it looks heartless to most everyone one else and those are the ones McCain needs to swing his way.

And that sort of lack of logic, reason, or common sense is why I don't have any faith in the nation recovering from tomorrow's embarrassing disaster, we're simply too far gone.

Bzzt. Read again Flash.

Did I comment on the claim itself? Nope.
Did I comment on the expenditure? Nope (other than to say I expected it would eventually be tied to something that made it allowable).

My comment was focused on the nauseating whining about the timing of a claim being levied with the appropriate body.

If not giving Saint Obama a free pass on this is already causing heartburn, I can only imagine how much angst we'll see over the next four years.

We have our November Surprise!!!

Alaska's Personnel Board finds that Gov. Sarah Palin did not violate ethics law by trying to get her ex-brother-in-law fired.

Wow, I'm sure this clears up everything. It's good to see that she did not do.. wait.. you're telling me this has all been done before... by whom? A bipartisan group? That she did act unethically? Then why did Palin ask for this investigation on this.. oh.. it's done by a board Palin put into place.. ah.. that explains a lot.

(Please try to avoid the dripping sarcasm from my post)

you at least got me to laugh tonight by buzzing me :)

Are you saying that there are enough ultra conservatives to elect McCain all by your self?
Have at it....

Otherwise you need moderates and independents, which are disgusted by the GOP trying to take political advantage over a funeral.

:+1:

RIP. :(

I figure most people here know where I stand politically, though I must say, McCain's VP pick is a large part of the reason he won't be getting my vote. The other, somewhat shallower reason, is that I don't think he's the same person he was in 2000, when there was a very good chance I'd have voted for him. I'm not sure if it's because he's playing the game, trying to woo those on the far-right, or if it's because he's actually changed, but some of his positions (and his VP choice) scare me. Actually, his VP choice is somewhat insulting to educated women, IMO, but that's a personal thing. Either way, I feel he's changed since 2000, and I won't be voting for him.

/tk

And if they're more disgusted by that than they are by the worthless sack of shit he's running against then they weren't going to vote for him anyway. So where's the vote loss in that exactly?

From the CBS poll today.

Ok, let's settle down! After all, after tommorrow, it's over....

Well, until the first republican announces that he's running in 2012. so.. June, July 09 at the latest?

:devil: :rant: :devil:

RCP has Obama up nationally by 7.3% today. To put that in perspective, since 1960, we've had four elections that did not involve a sitting president and they had the following popular vote spreads:

2000	0.5%	Bush 43
1988	7.8%	Bush 41
1968	0.7%	Nixon
1960	0.1%	Kennedy

Op-Ed Columnist - The Republican Rump - NYTimes.com

Interesting article from Paul Krugman today:

But the G.O.P.’s long transformation into the party of the unreasonable right, a haven for racists and reactionaries, seems likely to accelerate as a result of the impending defeat.

This will pose a dilemma for moderate conservatives. Many of them spent the Bush years in denial, closing their eyes to the administration’s dishonesty and contempt for the rule of law. Some of them have tried to maintain that denial through this year’s election season, even as the McCain-Palin campaign’s tactics have grown ever uglier. But one of these days they’re going to have to realize that the G.O.P. has become the party of intolerance

All the news reports I read say the board was chosen by her predecessor.

Not that it matters, ANY outcome, of ANY group would have a predictable reaction from the closed-minded liberals who can't see anything except Obama = correct 100% of the time, Palin/McCain = wrong 100% of the time.

I wonder how long the honeymoon period last for Obama. At this rate I say he gets 6 years before the gloss wears off.

:rolleyes:

More like, the bipartisan group had already issued a six hundred or so page paper (in a state that's what, 56/44 R at best, 60/40 R at worst?) indicating that Palin HAD acted unethically, about a month ago? Kinda like closing the barn door after the horses and the rest of the walls have been sucked into a tornado, don't you think?

I find it ironic that the GOP is always looked up as intolerant, yet I can't remember an anti-affirmative action black person or a pro-life woman who received any tolerance from the left (both are fairly significant portions of society).

It will be interesting to see how "tolerant" Obama and the democrats are on opposing viewpoints in the next 2-4 years - especially in regards to things like the fairness doctrine, gun control, domestic drilling/energy production and school vouchers. It's all fine to rip on Bush for being intolerant when you are out of power, the key is are you willing to be tolerant of opposing viewpoints once you are in power (esp with super majorities in both houses).

It's a human decency thing. You'd never understand.

i don't want them to be tolerant on stupid things though (i.e. domestic drilling)

There won't be any. Even if Obama is really looking to make changes and try to increase cooperation between the parties, the rest of the government is still filled with the same assholes that have always been there. With a supermajority, Republicans will be the vocal minority, most likely watching in horror as the Democrats pass their pet projects at will.

Did he say he's a Rangers fan or something?

Obama supports an eight team college football playoff. I'm ready to vote for change.

Something we can agree on ;)

Interesting. It appears that the Minneapolis Star Tribune is endorsing Norm Coleman for Senator, even as they endorse Obama for President:

kare11.com | Twin Cities, MN | Star Tribune endorses Barack Obama, Norm Coleman

Well, it's time... (I'll modify slightly the traditional starting message for the Indy 500 for this Election 270)

Gentlemen, and Mrs Palin.. START YOUR ELECTION!

First town weighs in on election at midnight - CNN.com

(20 voters in New Hampshire are casting the first votes of election day right now.

They'll also be the first election precinct to close, the law states they can close once all eligible voters have voted

Ha, Dicks-ville. I guess if you don't want to be up at midnight to vote in that town you get thrown out of town.

Wow, Dicks-ville hasn't gone Democrat in 40 years and Obama creams McCain there.

what was the count, TC?

15-6 Obama.

interesting

It's OVUH, baby!