Thursday, November 6, 2008
I think it is emblematic of how sick everyone is of the current administration that stories about the historic nature of the election barely lasted a day before pivoting to stories about “The transition.” Every paper leads with stories about who is managing President-Elect Obama’s transition and who might be in his inner circle. Because of the financial crisis, most of the speculation is on who might be named Obama’s Treasury Secretary. Some are worried that Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s pick for Chief of Staff, will be too partisan a figure for an administration that promised to deliver change by bridging the partisan divide. If you are a Republican, you can argue that this pick demonstrates what you have been saying all along: Obama is a fraud. If you are a Democrat, you should point out that over the last 8 years bipartisanship has come to mean “Democrats doing what the Republicans want.”
Apparently, the Washington DC social set is excited that we might have a cool President again. Well, if not cool at least one who goes to bed after 9 pm.
Kenya is going a little nuts. The country, which is where President-elect Obama’s father was from, has declared today a national holiday. Kenyans have taken to calling Obama “our son” and babies being born all over the country are being named Barack and Michelle. It feels pretty good that America is cool again.
One major dark spot for liberals and progressives in Tuesday’s election was the passing of a constitutional amendment in California banning gay marriage. Proposition 8 has halted all same-sex marriages in California, though it will not revoke marriages already performed. Quotes from gay marriage opponents in the story are typically nonsensical. Look to see a reversal of this back on the ballot in a few years.
Monday, January 28, 2008
The news this morning is all Presidential campaigns all the time. In case you missed it, Sen. Obama won this past weekend’s South Carolina primary in a landslide. Today Senator Ted Kennedy will announce he is endorsing Obama’s candidacy and will vigorously campaign for him. Senator Kennedy is the brother of former President John F. Kennedy and one of the most senior members of the Democratic party. the Presidential candidates, his endorsement was the most sought after. If you want to sound all insidery, speculate on the roll Bill Clinton’s recent negativity and attacks on Sen. Obama may have played in driving this endorsement. All of this is part of the lead up to next week’s Super-Duper-Tsunami-God-Damn-Lots-of-People-Vote Tuesday. Polls right now show Senator Clinton with leads in most of the major states, but it will be close.There is also a primary in Florida tomorrow. But the only person who really cares is Rudy Giuliani.
Perhaps because he is sad that everyone forgot about him, or perhaps because he is Constitutionally required to, The President will address s joint session of Congress and the nation tonight for his 8th and final State of the Union address. Early reports say that the speech will focus on the war and the economy. Which seems to me like saying the Patriots are going to focus on playing offense and defense this weekend. While you might feel compelled to watch, it will be epicly boring. Later today we are going to post a 2.0somethings State of the Union drinking game to make doing your civic duty more fun.
Riots sprung up anew in Kenya this weekend. At this point, the riots are more about reprisals and ethnic differences than they are about the election results.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards were this weekend, and since the Actor’s Guild is loosely affiliated with the Writer’s Guild, they were protest-free. Most of the coverage of the event demonstrated that entertainment reporters are uncomfortable when things get vaguely political. There is a very good chance that this was your only chance to get your annual awards show fix. The Golden Globes were already pwned and the Oscars will probably get picketed.
Monday, January 21, 2008
In scanning through today’s headlines, I found two stories that made me cringe. First, Support our Shoppers! is an example of a good column with a tortured lead for absolutely no reason. Also, Chuck Norris has gone negative. I just can’t handle stuff like this on a Monday.
In other campaign related news, the Republican race is concentrating on Florida, the nation’s schlong. Since there is no clear front runner, Florida could act as a “high noon” of sorts and we could finally start to see candidates dropping out. This is especially true for New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has yet to win a single state and has said that Florida will be his big win. Democrats are now focusing on South Carolina, and apparently, Sen. Barack Obama is black.
Since Washington can’t do anything, some states are taking it upon themselves to try to reduce global warming emissions.
Today’s foreign affairs story that is kind of depressing: Apparently much of the violence in Kenya after the recent elections were planned and premeditated.
Looks like it is going to be the Patriots and the Giants in the Superbowl.
