Thursday, November 27, 2008

Mumbai Massacre

It's is too early to know who really is behind the terrorist attack in Mumbai, but it does not appear to have the hallmarks of an Al-Queda operation, specifically large explosive devices, primarily car or truck bombs, in highly visible symbolic public edifices.

Until more information comes out, my deepest sympathy to the families of the dead, to the wounded, and prayers for those still held hostage.

My strongest support to the Indian government in battling the terrorists.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Grappling with Reality

One of President-elect Obama's characteristics that give me great comfort is that the is fully engaged with reality. No more of George Bush's religious fantasies. No more of Bush's wishful thinking. No more of his idiocy. Obama will make many mistakes, to be sure, but both his mistakes and his successes will result from an assessment of facts, or the facts as they are known.

Monday, November 24, 2008

All the Right Moves

Barack Obama has not committed a false step since becoming president-elect. The country is on the precipice of economic disaster. We are fighting two wars in woe-begotten lands. Yet Obama shows what he has shown all along: a cool rationality and appreciation of the complexities that await him when he finally shoulders the mantle of the presidency.

Politically, he reached out to John McCain to show one and all that the war has ended and that it truly is time to bind up the nation's political wounds. Any speculation that McCain would soon find a place in Obama's cabinet were just that, speculation, baseless and uninformed. But the image of the two former combatants sitting side by side and making uneasy conversation showed that the self-righteousness of the Bush administration was over. I suppose if Obama could talk to McCain so soon after the calumnies that the Republicans dumped on him, then the president-elect should have no problem talking with some of the nastier fellows on the world scene such as Putin and Ahmadinejad. Besides, he could always tell al-queda's Al-Zawahiri, "Your mother!"

On the economic front, Obama has taken several important actions to address the critical state of the nation's and world's economies. He has put in place what seems like a first rate and experienced team whose focus is on action rather than ideology. The president-elect is not promising the immediate alleviation of the economic woes that afflict us but he is promising immediate attention during the interregnum and, once he takes office, immediate action. It is far more important at this juncture that he addresses the psychology of the recession than the policy of recession. For the latter, the appropriate time is January 21, 2009. The markets have apparently given their imprimatur to both his appointments and his statements regarding where he intends to lead this nation, his ideas for job creation, infrastructure repair, and the survival of American industry.

Obama is setting the bar very low regarding the impact that he will make during the mythic first 100 days of his adminstration. He has stated that the economy will get worse before it gets better. This may well be true, but knowing that he is working on ideas, and that he will be prepared to implement polices in less than 60 days already begins to lift the gloom that was beginning to take on an unbearable and palpable physicality.

So the enormous impact of president-elect Obama can be stated simply: We have not yet turned a corner but we know things will get better.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Economic Self-Flagellation

Yes, the mortgage crisis revealed the house of cards that so many of the banks had constructed. Yes, the economic crisis revealed the lack of proper regulation and transparency that leads to confidence in the markets. Yes the stock market is down from its high from about a year ago (just when I made a major investment! Note to readers-when I buy, you should sell!). Yes, unemployment is rising.

But talk of a new "Great Depression" that is rampant in the media is just bizarre. First, consider that the government is taking some action to increase market liquidity and, without doubt, government actions to restore stability to the markets will be much more aggressive once the new Democratic administration and congress are both in place in January. On both legal and philosophical bases, the concept of government intervention in the marketplace is light years ahead of where it was in 1929.

People who have actually lived through the Great Depression must be both concerned and, at the same time, somewhat amused at the current panic, and panic, an irrational fear- is exactly what we are witnessing. During the Depression more than 20% of American were unemployed, while at present the rate is 6% and growing. During the Depression hundreds of banks failed, but according the the FDIC, here ONLY TEN BANKS HAVE FAILED SINCE SEPTEMBER 2008, many have been acquired by other banks. Further, during the Great Depression, the FDIC did not exist, and people actually lost their life's savings. Today, the FDIC insures deposits up to $250,000.

One must ask if the media are blowing this economic crisis out of proportion? Are we actually in a severe recession, brought on by unwise practices in the mortgage and investment sectors? And will aggressive action by the Obama administration mitigate the impacts of this recession?

Recessions, for whatever reason, are an inevitable part of the business cycle. As someone who has lived through previous recessions, it seems to me that that a recession is exactly what we are living in today. After previous recessions passed, many economists said that government interventions had no real effect on the outcome of the recession. What is important is the the positive psychological impact that occurs when it seems that the government cares about the people and is trying to do something to alleviate conditions. I believe that whatever Obama's policies might be, the psychological impact will exceed the political impact and that the recession will be over in two years. Any thoughts?

Narrow Minda, Broad Lawns

The writer H.L. Mencken called the broad expanse of America "the land of narrow minds and broad lawns".

I saw this on Eric Alterman's "Altercation" blog and couldn't resist sharing ti here. let me know if this makes you shudder, too.

Name: Andy

Hometown: Carrollton, GA

Eric,

A student in my freshman world geography course came by to visit me yesterday. Initially, she was concerned about whether she would be able to earn a B in the course and regain her scholarship. As we talked, she let slip her profound despair over the larger "stuff happening" in the economy, which was leading her to view choosing a major as a futile exercise. What's the point?

As she explained, "This is happening because we have turned away from Christ, and he's not to be caught off guard by that. And now, 'many people' believe that we have elected the anti-Christ as our leader." When I asked, she explained that Obama's "Muslim upbringing," charisma, and "promises to do big things" revealed his true identity. She appeared stunned to hear that Obama is and was raised a Christian. Nevertheless, she continued, the only way out of the world financial crisis is for Christians "to drop to their knees."

I asked her if she thought Christians could, in that way, improve the job market by the time she graduated in five years. "No," she said, "I shouldn't even be here by then. I'm a true-believer, and we're supposed to not be around when the Antichrist comes. He'll reveal himself."

Yikes, what a depressing meeting on my daughter's first birthday.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

60s Redux?

I know a lot of people are saying Obama is the new John Kennedy, but this business of bringing back the 60s may be going a bit too far. In the past few days I've seen too many guys in their early 20s sporting brush cuts and wearing those silly almost brimless hats and skinny ties that we wore in those days. This is just bad fashion. Or anti-fashion.

Paul Krugman

Is it just me or have you noticed the absence of Paul Krugman from the Times lately? Did I miss some notice that he was taking a vacation? Or perhaps he is being vetted by the Obama people for a position in the administration. I can see him heading up the Council of Economic Advisers.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

New Directions for Saudi Arabia?

Last week, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah held an inter-religious conference in New York City. A participant in that conference said King Abdullah conveyed several important thoughts that would indicate a change in Saudi policy;

1. The King recognized that Saudi policy for the past century had been ineffective and had led to unnecessary conflicts.

2. The election of Barack Obama, an African-American, to the Presidency revealed the United States to be the democracy that we had always claimed to be.

3. The Kingdom was funding less extreme forms of Islam outside Saudi Arabia proper to tamp down the fires of radical jihadism.


The King's remarks seem to indicate a marked change in policy from that adhered to previously by rulers of Saudi Arabia. However, Abdullah is 84 years old, and it is not possible to surmise who long he might live and to what degree his course change can take hold before he dies. Undoubtedly, a new leader will arise from the House of Saud, and it is uncertain whether he will follow the course set by his predecessor. That being said, it is extremely interesting to hear a Saudi King remark about the negative impact of the extreme Wahhabi Islam that the Kingdom has bought off for the past century in order to maintain power there.

Finally , it is interesting to hear the King remark about the election of Barack Obama in the glowing terms he used. While some pundits are comparing Obama to Franklin Roosevelt based on the current economic crisis, Obama's influence can be far more wide ranging, so that he is really compared to John Kennedy insofar as the positive feelings that erupted worldwide after his election.

But positive feelings go only so far when one is confronting adversaries, and less then true friends may be more than willing to stand aside while the United States continues to bare the full weight of the battle against totalitarians, or as a friend of mine once put it, "I'll hold your coat, let's you and him fight."

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Best Real News Headline Ever!

From the MSNBC.com website we have this gem.

Helicopters collect whale snot from blowholes


My previous favorite was the famous New York Post headline which described a decapitated body in ecdysiast's bar:

Headless Body in Topless Bar

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Pardoner-in-Chief

President-elect Obama is throwing his arm around Sen. Joe Lieberman to keep Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from 86in the Connecticut senator from the Democratic Party.

As reported by MSNBC.COM,here, Obama is more interested in creating a sense of bi-partisanship than in engaging in intra-party squabbling. Although it is a noble gesture by Obama, his move puts Reid in an unenviable position for how is he to maintain party discipline when he can't boot a Democrat who spoke in favor of the Republican candidate at the Republican convention.

I admit that the concept of "party discipline" is alien to the Democrats, but if Reid can't toss Joe out of the party, he has to take the rogue Dem to the woodshed for a sound trashing. Admittedly, Joe votes almost a straight Democratic line on all the issues except the Iraq war, but he committed the unpardonable sin of speaking bad about another Democrat and in campaigning for the Republican. Of course, Joe will lose his committee chairmanships, and perhaps come January his office will be a former janitor's closet, but despite Reid's desires, Joe Lieberman will still sit with the Democrats.

It seems that Barack Obama has just issued his first pardon, and he hasn't yet taken the oath of office.

Veterans Day II

I attended the Veterans Day parade in New York City today. It was a beautiful, sunny, crisp day, perfect for a parade, and more perfect to honor the veterans. As usual, the parade was sparsely attended, nothing like the ethnic parades that jam the rich residential part of Fifth Avenue. The veterans parade is relegated to a lower part of Fifth, more gritty and commercial, and no crowds press against the barricades that line the street.

Of course they had fresh troops there looking great and marching to the music. But also there were a lot of real vets there, older, more stooped but trying to walk tall. A few of the vets rolled by in wheelchairs with less than half their bodies. Some were transported in buses.

There is a difference between seeing the young and healthy guys who are fresh from boot camp march up the avenue while the older guys who have suffered so much and can only roll. The dead feel no pain. Those so grievously wounded feel nothing but pain.

It was a good day for a parade.

Heard it Through the Grapevine

I love this interregnum between administrations. More rumors than you can imagine pop up as to who will to named to which cabinet post. The other day a friend called me and said, "Did you hear that XXX will be named to YYY position?" I told him to forget that he had ever heard that rumor and to take two aspirin and call me in January.

The rumors pop up for the usual reasons for these things. People are afraid of the unknown future and they want to exercise a degree of control over their lives. All of the names are, of course, nonsense, and they have as much of a chance of being correct in their assumptions as those unlimited number of monkeys pounding away at that unlimited number of typewriters who eventually write Shakespeare.

Names hit the rumor mill for a variety of reasons. Some are placed there by people who want to inject an idea for a possible position. Some are released by those famous "unnamed sources" to see how they would play in the media: would they be shot down like so many clay pigeons at a skeet range or would they fly like the real ones? Some rumors come from too-active minds who think they have all the answers.

One of the more interesting rumors about is that President-Elect Obama will ask Current Secretary of defense Gates to stay on for at least one year. One source of this particular rumor is the Republican inspired and oft-cited belief that Democrats just don't or can't "get" the army-navy-air force thing and that they would rather weave hemp quilts down by the riverside.

While Secretary Gates has proved to be far better in his job than his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, there is no reason to believe that a Democrat can't do the job. One Democrat fully capable of handling the position is former former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn, but Nunn is 70 and that could be a deciding factor for Obama.

I believe that Obama is the kind of person who will hold his cards close to the vest and that we will know who he has in mind when he makes an announcement. The one thing that concerns me is whether Obama will chose a cabinet based on race and gender so that it "reflects" America, as his confidant, Valerie Jarrett, said recently. In other words how far will he go in designing a cabinet for appearance over functionality?

Until you hear names coming directly from the president-elect's mouth, it is better to follow the advice in that old r&b song:

Believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear.

Supersize It!

From a friend:

Say what you will, but remember this.......Today, you could buy a share of GM and a share of Ford for less than the cost of a Big Mac meal.......

Ford $1.80
GM $2.92
_____
$4 .7 2

Veterans Day

We salute all those who fought for our freedoms. More important, we remember and honor those who died for our freedoms.

We hope that the day will soon come, when the longing expressed in the ancient words of the prophet Isaiah achieve fulfillment:

they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Election 2008- Winners and Losers

The rush of election night is over. It was a wonderful and cleansing experience, more from the sense that George W. Bush will be leaving the most powerful political office in the world and that he will not be replaced by a political clone, which is what the otherwise estimable John McCain morphed into with his desire to capture the Bush/Rove constituency.

The election of Barack Obama is not the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. Nor have we been blessed by the presence of the person Oprah Winfrey has declared to be "The One."

Obama will face hard choices from the moment the parades end on January 20th. He will have to lead this nation and the world from the brink of an economic abyss not seen since the Great Depression. He will have to set a course between Scylla and Charybdis as he finds a way to deal with global warming at a time when American industry is failing. He will have to balance the reality of a government dead broke from the insane economic policies of his predecessor while he tries to implement a full panoply of social welfare programs. As VP-Elect Joe Biden quiet accurately stated, this president will be tested and tried by our many enemies shortly after he takes office. Obama is often compared to President John Kennedy. The question that must be asked is whether Obama will prove to be the Kennedy who allowed himself to be mugged by Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna, or will Obama prove to be more like the Kennedy who coolly dealt with the Cuban Missile Crisis and averted nuclear war?

So despite the post-election giddiness that currently prevails at home and abroad, perilous times are upon us. But perilous times are always upon us: war, depression, war, the threat of nuclear annihilation, war, racism, economic failures. It never ends, nor will it ever end.

But there are some clear winners and losers that will emerge from this election, and I believe the winners are worthy of celebration. Let's take a look:

WINNERS:
The Constitution of the United States
The Rule of Law
Science
Reason
Education
The Middle Class
Rush Limbaugh and right-wing talk radio. They will have plenty to talk about for the next four years.
Rational market regulation

LOSERS:
The evil myths of the Nixon / Atwater / Rove / Schmidt Republican political machine
Creationism
Right Wing Evangelicals
Laissez-faire investment markets


We could have done a lot worse.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Army of Dawn III

The mission is over. The battle is decided. Victory is sweet.

Hail to the Chief

Barack Obama, your life is no longer yours.

You are now enveloped in the formidable security bubble that the Secret Service controls, a bubble designed to protect you. Yet, the same bubble will isolate you from the very sources of your strength.

Barack Obama, you now carry on your shoulders the hopes and burdens of the people of this nation. You will age beyond your years. Barack Obama, you now carry on your shoulders the weight of the hopes of so many people of the world. The burden will be unbearable at times.

Barack Obama, sleep well tonight. It might be the last time you sleep well for many years.

John McCain, American

In a concession speech of incredible grace, John McCain finally reveled the man who could have been the President-Elect this evening. McCain reached out to Barack Obama, a man who was his opponent, not his enemy, and he tried to teach his followers, finally, that a difference in politics is not dishonorable or traitorous.

Well done, John McCain. If you had made some different decisions, and had some better luck, you would have made the last speech tonight.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

9:25 PM EST November 4,2008

MSNBC has just projected that OHIO and its 20 Electoral VOtes will fall to Barack Obama. If true, Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States of America. As President John Kennedy once said,"The torch has been passed to a new generation."

As a nation we can not ignore our history, but we are no longer constrained by it.

The Army at Dawn II

Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK
Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK
Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK

The ancient Shoup voting machines that New York City uses record each voter's choices.

Into the booth walks a middle aged black man with his 10 year old son.
Ka-CHUNK-the big red handle is pulled to the right.
Snik-snik-snik-snik- as the small lever next to each candidate's name is pulled down.
Ka-CHUNK and the big red handle is pulled back to the left and the vote is recorded.
The man and his son walk out, smiles on their faces big enough to reflect history.

Into the booth walks a young black woman.
Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK
She backs out of the machine, looks a bit puzzled, turns around and smiles. It was her first vote.

Into the booth walks an elderly white woman.
Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK
Mere seconds pass and she exits. She has done this many times.

Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK
Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK
Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK

The six voting machines for six election districts in this part of the Bronx, New York are singing.

At 8:00am, I stand on line in the basement of a large apartment building. I am voter number 115 and there is a long line behind me for my district. The poll workers says that the polls were open at 6:00am and the lines were more than 100 feet long.

Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK

An elderly man shuffles out from behind the machine's curtains and I walk in. I have never missed voting in an election. I have been accused of being an idealist. I plead guilty.

Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK.

I have made my choices. I know I am now a part of history. Yes, a minuscule part of history, but a part of it nonetheless.

Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK

Sometimes democracy sounds funny.

Ka-CHUNK-snik-snik-snik-snik-Ka-CHUNK

I smile.

Monday, November 3, 2008

The Armies of the Dawn

Like armies throughout history, this one will begin to stir at first light. It will prepare itself for the day of battle and march forward with determination to do its duty.The issue will be decided by night.

OK. A bit of overwriting, but it contains more than an element of truth. After almost two years of intra and inter political party battling, after almost two years of seeing the worst and, rarely, the best of our politicians, tomorrow morning, what appears to be an almost unprecedented number of American voters will march to the polls and stand for hours to use the only weapon they possess, their vote, to change the government of this country. Not with bullets, and not with bombs, and not with murders and kidnappings, the government of what is still the most powerful nation on earth will peacefully transform itself yet again.

Faced with perhaps the clearest set of choices between two competing political philosophies, the American people will determine the course of this nation for the next four years. Already, this has been a campaign without precedent as one major political party has nominated a black man as a candidate while the other party has nominated a woman for vice president.

Tomorrow evening, millions of Americans will be glued to televisions as they watch the results roll in and as they root for their candidate to win. Victors will be crowned. Losers will concede. In both cases, some will perform in their rolls with grace, some less so. All will accept the decisions of the voters.

On January 20th, in Washington, D.C. oaths will be taken, cannons will fire and soldiers will march. But those cannons will be firing salutes, not shells. And those soldiers will be on parade, not on heir way to do battle.

Such is the transfer of power in this nation.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Swimming In Obama's Acetylcholine

Last night The Radical Moderate was granted unfettered access to a space between an axon and a dendrite in Barack Obama's mind. The following is an unedited recording of what we heard.

Damn, I am so tired , and so jazzed up that I can't stop. Who would have thought I would be in this position a year ago. Who could have thought it? Only with a handful of heavy duty drugs, man. Miss my mom . Wish she could have been here to see this. She would be laughing her ass off. Hope granny lives to see it. How cool. Hope she can come to Washington to see the inaugural. Too much to hope for but she can see it on TV.

Two days. I've got to keep his up for two more days. Then got to keep them from trying to steal it. I've got lawyers ready in Ohio and Florida if the Republicans try to pull the same shit they always do. Damn, folks are standing in line six hours to vote for me. Fuckin' incredible. I know I have this thing wrapped up if there are no surprises. Please, Please, Russia, don't get stupid and invade some place again. That'll just make folks afraid and vote for McCain. I've got this thing wrapped up. Dear God! I'm gonna be president of the UNITED FUCKING STATES OF AMERICA! I wonder what it will be like. That Secret Service bubble is gonna strangle me, but they sure as shit don't want to see some whacko off me like Kennedy. Those two nut-bars in Tennessee, man , I'm sure there are a lot of others like them who don't want to see a "nigger" president. I've seen some of those things going around the internet. Hell, if Colin Powell had the balls, he would have been the first black president, but his wife didn't want to go through all this shit. Michelle's been great about all this. So have the kids. I owe them a lot.

Let's see, Let's see, what do I have to do next? I'm blasting McCain all over the fuckin' map. Even have him trying to cover his ass in his own home state. My infomercial was a hit. Monster hit. Home Run with bases loaded.And that guy can't even read a teleprompter. Cleaned his clock in the debates, too!

let's see... I've got the northeast sewn up. I've got the West Coast. Looks like I'm dead certain in all the states Kerry carried in 04. I've got tons of money and I'm attacking John here it hurts most.. Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia. Man, what a trip if I beat him in Arizona. I'm attacking in the South. Blacks are gonna turn out like never before for me. Florida. Don't know. The Jews still don't trust me, and I think the "youth vote" will never show up. Might lose Florida, but it will be close. Pennsylvania. I need Pennsylvania. If I get Penn a lot of others are going to fall into place.If I get Penn, I don't need Ohio. I'll send Joe Biden there. They love him there. He was born there. I'll send him to every frikin' diner and outhouse. I'll have him knock on every door he can find. Hillary. They love her there, too. I'll send her around. I'll hit Philly and Pittsburgh to get those big crowds pumped up and to get the media. Don't need Missouri, but it's too close to give it up. Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada. Gotta get there and hit them hard. I need Colorado and either New Mexico or Nevada and I win.

I'd love to get a landslide. Just blow the doors off the Republicans. Get a mandate and run with it. Shut up Rush and those assholes. Come to think of it, they would love to see me elected. It'll keep them in business for another eight years.

Economy sucks. We can get it together. I've got Volker, I've got Buffet, I've got Rubin. Heavy hitters! Like the '27 Yankees. I can be like Roosevelt and get us moving. Kids will read about me. Trippy!

Two days left. gotta keep running. Those radio guys say I'm measuring the drapes in the White House.. Damn I'd love to measure the bed there. Wonder what it would be like to nail Michelle in the Lincoln Bedroom. Trippy! Couple of blacks doin' the nasty in the Lincoln Bedroom. Bet old Abe would laugh his ass off.

Damn, I am so tired! Two days. Two Days!

The Sins of John McCain

The Radical Moderate was granted unique access to Sen. John McCain's synapses last night. The following is an unedited recording of the thoughts that passed along the neuron trail.

Ahhh, I need another bourbon. Been battling this thing for what, two years now, and what do I have to show for it? This pissant Obama, nothing more than a junior senator is kicking my ass all over the country. What the hell has Obama ever done in his whole life? Another frikin lawyer. A community organizer. what the hell is a "community organizer"? How many years was he a state senator in Illinois? seven, five? and the damned people make out like he is frikin' Abraham Lincoln. makes me sick. He hasn't done shit. I've been a Senator for twenty six years. Twenty six years! I worked with Teddy Kennedy on immigration reform. Got the Republicans pissed at that. I worked with that liberal Paul Feingold on campaign finance reform. they call it the McCain-Feingold Bill. Got everyone pissed at me for that. Told the Republicans that global warming was real. Got laughed at for that from the shit kickers. That's what being a maverick is all about. That's the real deal. And they all make it out like I'm just channeling some old TV show. Now this pissant comes out of the senate cloakroom like some frikin' saviour and everything that I've done gets trashed.

Steve Schmitt. I'll kick his ass good when this thing is over. I wanted Joe Lieberman as my VP but he said No, the base wouldn't allow it and we could pick up women who would have voted for Hillary. I should have told him to fuck the base cause Joe was a guy I trusted. And women who voted for Hillary weren't going to vote for me anyhow. I worked with Joe for years, traveled the world's danger spots with him. He always covered my six. If I had picked Joe they all would have seen I was serious about solving all of our problems. I would have been hero, reaching across party lines to make this country great again. But I listened to that asshole Schmitt, and I wound up with this babe moose hunter who talks in tongues and is half a step away from being indicted in Alaska for some shit she pulled there. She even scares the shit out of me. I should have listened to my heart and picked Joe. Damn, did I screw the pooch on that one.

I can't fuckin' believe this Obama guy. He hasn't done shit. I've given my life to this country. My father gave his life for this country. My grandfather dedicated his life for this country. And this guy comes out of nowhere and says "change" and the people have a frikin' orgasm.

Bush. George Fuckin' Bush. His ass gets kicked, too. Not only is he totally incapable of fighting a war, but he has that other asshole, Rumsfield, as his SecDef. One's a born idiot, the other just acts like one. Boy, did they make Iraq a total cluster fuck. When they finally put together the surge, the Arabs saw we were serious and started to come around. But that Rummy wanted to fight the war on the cheap and we almost got our heads handed to us. And Bush, that idiot, has that attention deficit disorder thing. He couldn't leave well enough alone and take care of Osama and the Taliban first before overextending us to Iraq. Warfighters! Shit! And that Bush is a lying son of a bitch too. Said I had an illegitimate black kid in 2000 in South Carolina and that cost me the primary there. He knew I adopted a kid from Mother Theresa's orphanage, but the gutless wonder lied about it. He says he was a fighter pilot. My ass! No fighter pilot would dream of giving up a chance to strap into a jet, but this guy skated his duty. And then he gets to be president, and he didn't even win the popular vote. Then I kiss his ass for eight years to get credibility with the party. But when I hugged that son of a bitch on stage... damn.. I kissed his ass for eight years. Voted for his stupid programs 90% of the time cause I still wanted to be president..and I can't even get him on stage with me because of the shit storm that he is leaving. What a laugh. And now that things started to look good in Iraq after the surge, cause I was right, it gets buried in the back pages while Bushie has to fuck up the economy and give the Dems the issues that they are strongest at. Damn, the Vietnamese tortured me, but Bush fucked me twice! And what's worse is, I let him. Man, I just bent over and asked for it. I really was a maverick in 2000 and loved my "Straight Talk Express". But I sold my soul for my chance in 2008. For what?

Pennsylvania! I gotta beat him in Pennsylvania! The polls close early enough there and if I can get Pennsylvania, it won't look like such a sure thing. I gotta stop the avalanche in Pennsylvania. I'll campaign like hell in the middle of that state. Even Carville says it's like Alabama and I sure ain't gonna lose Alabama! Then I'll take Florida and Ohio and Missouri. I'll go for Colorado. Shit, three days to go. This kid is killing me.

Ahhh, damn. I need another bourbon. Three days.