Go Forth and Vote

I suppose I can go “froth” (from frustration) and impatiently wait to vote since Oregon doesn’t have its primary until May.

Nevertheless, I eagerly await the results of the 24 states that do vote today.

It’s Mardi Gras, people!!!! Laissez les bon temps rouler! Forget about those primaries for a while and go have a beer. Or some paczki. Or a beer AND some paczki.

Dee, where I come from (heavy Czech area of Nebraska) those are called Kolaches. Very yummy.
I shall go fifth and vote tonight. Where do those Virginians get off getting it done during the day? Us here in “Most Wonderful Highest Voting Percentage Best Schools Blah Blah Blah” Minnesota get together at 7, and vote at “8 Sharp”(that is what it said in the local newspaper). Maybe that’s a reference to Al Sharpton, but I doubt it.

Paczki–I tried one from the supermarket a few weeks ago, and it was dry and a little tough. Did I get a bad batch? Aren’t they supposed to be airy, like raised doughnuts?

I deeply regret that I am not voting in today’s CT primary. I changed my registration to Green last year, in my disgust with the DNC. I was going to change it back so I could vote in the primary, but I got there too late–the deadline was back at the beginning of November.

Comment on Edwards campaign on Josh Marshall’s website:

One Last Whack At Edwards
The Politico’s Roger Simon identifies “the heart of the collapse of Edwards’ campaign” as “his inability to sell himself as an authentic champion of the poor — and I am not just talking about his expensive haircuts.”

Yeah, because that’s what American voters have always been looking for: an authentic champion of the poor. Come on.

–David Kurtz

I would add that it might just be that Edwards was a candidate ahead of his times, as has been Al Gore at least since he wrote EARTH IN THE BALANCE.

Or inexcusable, SeattleDan. They have to have had very little actual understanding of what they were a part of if they abandoned it, like those who were in it only for the drugs, sex, and rock ‘n roll (sincerely hoping not to come off as some kind of holier-than-thou, but the latter two plus my Jim Beam and Ben Franklin’s favorite beverage were all I wanted, even as I sometimes envied the grin on many of my friends’ faces).

Tom Engelhardt on Super Tuesday (and Obama):
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174890/the_spectacle_of_campaign_2008

Dee, this Fat Tuesday totally snuck up on me. I was just thinking, “Say, I wonder if Dee is interested in getting pagzki from Sanitary Bakery - or, better, from any churches around here that might be selling them?” Unfortunately, I had that thought on Friday. A little late in the game.

“Laissez les bon temps rouler!” indeed David:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QJNA6t_v40

I should be going 40th or so with our May Primary. Oh, and I was only in it for the rock & roll since I was too young for the sex and drugs (at least until I hit college, but then the better portion of les bon temps had already roulerd on.)

Happy Mardi Gras! Now who’s gonna give me some beads.

Wow. I thought Huckabee was funny on “Wait, Wait,” but wow, he’s a little freaky-deeky when he’s patting himself on the back.

Thank you all. Made up my mind.

I took my nine-year old daughter to vote with me and she had a ball. She inked the ballot, and since we agreed about the candidate, she felt like she got to vote. She was so thrilled, and is now at her mom’s going berserk over election returns.

I’m thrilled.

A good thing about McCain’s lead…

No, I don’t want him President. Yikes! But all those demagogic right wing pundit puppets–Rush, Bill, Ann–have visibly lost influence. Look how hard they’ve tried to blow McCain down. And look how few people listened. Cool, huh?

Sorry. Mea Coulter. Mea maxima Coulter.

Hey, guys! Chris got out an apology while he could still write!

That’s a good sign. She didn’t go immediately for his elbow or wrist.

Maybe Chris will survive this after all!

We’re pulling for you, Chris!

(I’d keep my head down for a bit, Chris, if I were you.)

(Yes! Definitely!)

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com

Yup. Weirdly, if you go to the site, blaring attack headlines should give you the distinct impression that John McCain is actually Bill Clinton circa 1998.

Come to think of it, I’ve never see them together at parties. Huh.

Again, y’all might have seen this already, but some interesting numbers: (thanks to Time.com’s swampland blogs and Jackson Dykman)

TOTAL VOTES CAST
Clinton: 50.2% (7,427,942)
Obama: 49.8% (7,370,023)

Wow…yeah, I’d say it’s a close race.

MORE:
Now keep in mind, this is just among those voting for Obama or Clinton. If you add in Edwards and Uncommitted, etc., the percentages would change slightly, but the point is the same. That breakdown looks like this:

Clinton: 48.7%
Obama: 48.4%
Edwards: 2.7%
Uncommitted: 0.17%
Biden: 0%
Richardson: 0%%

To compare current engagement by those currently voting democrat vs. those currently voting republican:

Total votes cast in 21 GOP contests yesterday among McCain, Romney and Huckabee:

McCain: 43.1% (3,611,459)
Romney: 35.4% (2,961,834)
Huckabee: 21.5% (1,796,729)

Put another way, the Clinton/Obama race drew 76% more voters than the McCain/Romney/Huckabee race. (if you just look at the states that had primaries/caucuses for both parties, Democrats outnumbered Republicans 73%)

I believe that’s the enthusiasm It’s Pat was talking about.

Didn’t have no paczkis in or in the vicinity of the orange groves of the 50s, which used to be measured in sections in Central Florida, or at UF in the early 60s, so I’m at a complete loss, but with a name and ethnic pedigree like that, they’ve got to be good. There’s a day honoring them, or is it just coming off lent in the prevailing ethnic sin of gluttony in da neighborhood? I definitely like DeNiro - Game. Set. Match.

Meanwhile, damned exciting numbers, Ds vs. Rs showing up at the voting sites. Should really get that girl dancing, Acronym Jim (oh, Lobster, the Repukelicans will run an anti-Obama ad with this girl saying to Obama, “thumb-and-pinkie me.” Merd.

I hope the other big story from SuperTuesday–the horrible freak weather–left y’all & yours in good shape.
And what of the small sub-hedlines I’ve been seeing about a strike settlement soon? Details? Decent terms? HONK.

…but with a name and ethnic pedigree like that, they’ve got to be good.

Well, maybe, David. So what’s your take on haggis and deep fried Blutwurst? These are real get-down-soul-food for Scots and Germans. Catchy names with ethnic pedigrees, but none for me, thanks.

Of course, we’re all about politics here, so what about Hillary lending her own campaign $5,000,000 so the wheels don’t fall off the Clinton bandwagon? That can’t be a good sign. Countdown reported that the Obama organization raised over $4,500,000 in donations, just today.

If you want a real twist on the meatless Friday thing, consider the muskrat. When the French first came to the area around Detroit, they found this creature like no other they had seen before. Kind of like a large water rat. But — it lived in the water! Like a fish! So it must be kosher for Fridays, right? The local bishop agreed and since that time muskrat dinners during Lent have been a tradition in the downriver area. It’s pretty nasty stuff, but there are those who love it.

And just for old times sake, I’m giving up chocolate for Lent. A little self-denial is a good spiritual exercise.

I sure am glad this decision is not entirely up to me. Robin Morgan has written a very persuasive essay in support of Hillary.

http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/020108.html

dee, in your current religious dilemma between chocolate and austere sacrifice - well, I know which one I’d choose and still sleep happy at night. Cheers, mate.

cooper — it’s pronounced exactly as it’s spelled. I fail to see the problem.

I’m with you, cooper. And don’t even get me started on Gaelic or Welsh. People shouldn’t be using the Latin alphabet if they aren’t going to use it properly–they should be using a different alphabet entirely, so that we have a clue.

People shouldn’t be using the Latin alphabet if they aren’t going to use it properly–they should be using a different alphabet entirely, so that we have a clue.

Oh yeah and that’s served us ‘Merican English speakers so well. Tell me again how to spell (or pronounce) mnemonic, pneumonia, buffet, lead, read, contest, desert, primer, slough, schism … I’ve been saying things wrong my whole life - and this is the only damn language that I have any ‘command’ of. Sad.

Sharon, my impression of the Welsh language is that the only time they use a vowel is to spell “Welsh”. The rest of their language seems to be a random hurling of consonants.

Now *that* was pedantic!

Sharon, thanks for the link about Hillary. Much of it echoes* what I said on the previous post about the woman-hating abuse that Hillary receives.

* If “echoes” is the right word, since neither one of us had read the other and Robin puts it much more eloquently. And she has more room to make her point. Don’t you just hate really long blog comments that you have to scroll to read? I’ll stop now.

Seriously off topic, but the latest from Scott Ritter. Here’s the final paragraph, plus the link to the article. Oh, yeah, any victory of Smilin’ John McCain over the reactionary talkshow headgivers is pyrrhic, at best, especially since he is the most dangerously neocon on foreign policy of the lot. And the odds are Huckabee will be his running mate, so what victory?

Kielbasa ‘n horseradish to end Lent? Sumbitch, wish I could be there. What kind of beer?

Here’s the paragraph:

If there is any winner in all of this it will be the Sunni resistance, or at least its leadership hiding in the shadow of the American occupation, as it continues to exploit the chaotic death spiral of post-Saddam Iraq for its own long-term plan of a Sunni resurgence in Iraq. That the Sunni resistance will continue to fight an American occupation is a guarantee. That it will continue to persevere is highly probable. That the United States will be able to stop it is unlikely. And so, the reality that the only policy direction worthy of consideration here in the United States concerning Iraq is the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of American forces continues to hold true. And the fact that this option is given short shrift by all capable of making or influencing such a decision guarantees that this bloody war will go on, inconclusively and incomprehensibly, for many more years. That is the one image in my crystal ball that emerges in full focus, and which will serve as the basis of defining a national nightmare for generations to come.

Here’s the link for the article:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19302.htm

Q. What’s the difference between me and Mitt Romney?

A. I didn’t have to spend 35 million bucks to find out that I’m not going to be President.

My opportunistic mayor was the head of Romney’s CT campaign. Now he’ll have to go back to thinking about Danbury and looking for more ways to alienate the immigrant population, in between thinking about his next opportunity to grab some coattails to D.C.

You are right about one thing: Barack Obama will be a wonderful President…IN ABOUT 10 YEARS. That is about how long it will take him to exchange some of his amazing arrogance for a dash of much needed humility. And only age and experience can do that. And if he is going to talk about “change”, he can’t continue do it rhetorically he must do it specifically. Change can potentially be very bad! And I loved Joel Stein’s line from this morning’s paper: “Here is a man so soft that Oprah is endorsing him.” And let’s face it, there is nothing about him that is of the typical American black experience. He was born in Hawaii to wealthy parents, lived in Indonesia for much of his life, went to fancy private schools and then Harvard. I don’t deny him his privilege or his unique experience, but he cannot continue to keep comparing himself to blacks from the South Side when he never was one. It’s a lie. He lives in Hyde Park. And that is where the comparisons end. He was and is a very privileged man. And that’s ok. But he should use the fact that had those opportunities as his basis for “change”, not a fabricated story to stir more white guilt. I love you Adam, but I can’t believe you voted for Obama. He just ain’t there yet. And on a more important level, America has alot of diplomatic bridges to try and rebuild around the world since W has burned them all. And people like the Clintons, pure and simple. We have had enough arrogance over the last 8 years, and until Obama can show some humanity and humility, I don’t think he is going to be able to get us very far. Oh, and one more thing, can you really put your trust in a man who says “I don’t do paperwork.”? As President of the United States, that’s your job for god’s sake! Not to mention the fact that that statement sounded scarily “Bushlike” to me. So, anyway…can we still play poker next weekend?

A friend thought that McCain would pick Lieberman as his running mate. This would attract independents and really piss off the right.

Schism, school, schedule, they only look wrong if you are used to German pronunciation. (Which is why people pronounce my name wrong all the time).

I don’t know what it is about mayors and national elections. Our mayor is currently stumping for Hillary as her consultant on Urban Affairs, while behind him Oakland sizzles in a crime wave - armed robberies, drive by shootings, general mugging, tires slashed, etc. Ron Dellums had a good reputation (at least I thought so) as a liberal legislator, but I didn’t vote for him as mayor because I didn’t think he had the smallest clue what actually running a city entailed, and holy God, was I ever right! When a ten-year-old boy, taking a piano lesson, was paralyzed from the waist down by a random bullet from a loser robbing the gas station across the street (a gas station where I personally regularly fill up and run the car through the car wash), Dellums was in Iowa with The Campaign, and I don’t think he even issued a comment.

What’s so hard about “Murray”? OK, I probably don’t pronounce the “a.”

Sharon, have you noticed that many people pronounce “mnemonic” as if it were spelled “pneumonic”? Silly people who can’t pronounce these words as they’re actually written.

Don’t get me started.

Seriously, where’s the outrage over the Bush administration declaring that waterboarding isn’t torture? And Romney saying that he’s withdrawing to prevent a Democratic victory and subsequent “surrender to terrorists”?

Ann, I know what you mean - after Felberpalooza, I realized that the whole weekend I was only pronouncing one of his “r’s”. But Murray is a gentleman and a gracious host and never pointed that out. Probably, assumed it was my southern accent.

Gina T,

I think you’re confusing one point. It doesn’t matter whether Obama came from the standard American black experience or not, it matters only that he went to Chicago and worked as an organizer, and that he understands what it means to be black in America. And the fact that being half white is physically masked to the point that he would always have been seen, and reacted to, as black when he was growing up puts him squarely in the black American experience.

I don’t know what he’s doing in his campaigning that prompted your comment, so you might well be justified in criticizing his campaign strategy. I still want him to reference LBJ as the most transformative president in American history on the issue of civil rights, and a hell of a lot more significant than RWR, whose primary skills were in retelling the American story as ersatz cowboy caca and making white Americans comfortable with their two-dimensional racist backlash.

RWR was more authentic than is Dubya, but it’s horseman as ersatz cowboy versus cowardly struttmeister as ersatz cowboy.

Metastaphorically joined at the anal sphincter, as it were?