Jack & Jill Politics

EVENING THREAD IS UP

This fella they're reporting that's been chosen for Treasury Secretary...Ali says he speaks Chinese..LOL

That says it all, right there.

TruthSeeker: Annnnnnnd, I believe Japanese.; Major in Asian Studies.

Tim Geithner - Wiki

Girllllll! :>) :>)

rikyrah: Trying ta post his schedule for 2-day:


8:00 AM
8:29 AM

Obama leaves his Hyde Park home via motorcade.
8:35 AM

He arrives at the Regents Park apartment building for his morning workout.
9:00 AM
9:38 AM

Obama arrives back home to change clothes.

He is expected to next head to transition headquarters where he will be for an hour or so before leaving to make a quick local stop, details to come.
10:00 AM
10:08 AM

Obama leaves his Hyde Park home in his motorcade.
10:21 AM

He arrives at transition headquarters downtown.
11:00 AM
12:00 PM
1:00 PM
1:24 PM

President-elect Obama leave his transition headquarters. His motorcade is heading to a lunch stop called Manny's. He is expected to order and greet some patrons.
1:29 PM

Obama arrives at Manny’s cafeteria and deli with Valerie Jarett.

PHOTO More...

He orders corned beef sandwiches, greets the restaurant’s owner Ken Raskin, and signs a photo of himself with Mayor Daley after he won his Senate election in 2006. Restaurant patrons swarm Obama and congratulate him on the election.
2:00 PM
3:00 PM
4:00 PM
5:00 PM
6:00 PM
PreviousNext
November 2008

http://www.politico.com/politico44/

There's a clip on his trek to get lunch! :>)

Obama MakesPublic Stop In Chicago



CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama made his first public appearance in 10 days on Friday at a Chicago lunchtime institution.

Obama arrived at Manny’s Cafeteria and Deli around 12:30 p.m. and ordered three corned beef sandwiches. He was accompanied by his newly named senior adviser and close friend Valerie Jarrett.

“Rahm Emanuel sends his regards,” Obama told the deli’s owner, Ken Raskin, whose late father founded the Chicago institution. “I ordered him his corned beef.”

Obama worked the restaurant full of enthusiastic patrons for about 15 minutes, but he declined questions from reporters about Congress’ decision to put off approving a plan to salvage the fledgling auto industry.

Asked by reporter what he ordered, the president-elect said, "We got the corned beef."

Asked then, "What do you think about the auto industry?” Obama smiled and said, "I got the corned beef.”

He then turned and continued working an elated group of people, who abandoned their plates of macaroni and cheese, blueberry pie, corned beef and chocolate chip cheesecake to get near the president-elect. They had their cell phone cameras out and offered Obama their congratulations.

"I love you," one of them told the president-elect.

"I love you back," Obama said.

Another woman hugged him.

He shook their hands and thanked them for their well-wishes before paying his $48.34 bill for the corned beef and two cherry pies.

Outside, Obama shook hands with members of the crowd that had gathered to wait for his exit, then went to his motorcade’s black Chevrolet Suburban before turning around and shaking a few more hands. He then headed back to his transition headquarters downtown.
Read more stories in Politics '08.


Whoooo! Hoooo! :>) :>)

Mr. President-Elect OBAMA!!! :>) :>)

rikyrah: BREAKING NEWS: SCHOOL SELECTED - SIDWELL. [MSNBC - 1:58 pm]

I guessed Sidwell. It is a great school and they will take good care of the girls.

Val: Ding! Ding! Ding! U R A WINNER!! :>)

BUT, I 'ont know the prize!! :>) :>)

Maybeeeee, it's a SONG:

ABC -1-2-3 (Jackson 5)

ENJOY!!! :>) :>)

I was thinking Georgetown Day, but Sidwell is a good choice and more security conscious as well.

Damn GLH, you're too good. I was about to post this!

T.

T: PLEASE CONSIDER THIS 2 B A CO-POST!! O.K.?

I was headed out the door and I came back. :>) No skills. :>) Just timing. :>)

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd, SHARING!! :>)

This is great news! Congrats to Malia and Sasha on their new school!

Lighter note:

Anyone gonna watch 24: Redemption this weekend?

Had to pack the kid off to the grandparents to make sure I'm not interrupted.

My hubby LOVES 24....thanks for reminding me so now I can remind him...I don't watch televison as much so I forgot all about it.

It's borderline conservative porn....but I do love it so.

Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money Canceled

Well, that's 2 hours a week I have back (Daisies and DSM)

I'd rather watch Pushing Daisies, than COON NEWS NETWORK'S DL HATELY1

That sucks about DSM. How am I gonna get my weekly Blair Underwood fix now?

If you have cable, you can catch him on "In Treatment" on HBO.

Dayum, but I loves me some Blair Underwood. That brotha as smooth as the POTUS (incoming one, not Bush).

And he's also on "The New Adventures of Old Christine" with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.

What is even more delicious about Blair Underwood is that he and Obama go way back....I was reading an article from last year discussing Obama's time at Harvard Law School...and after his historic selection as the first black President of the Law Review, he and Underwood were said to have had lunch and became friends.

Blair Underwood is like a fine wine - he aged very well in his chocolateness....Yum Yum!

Bronx Mowgli Wentz: Ashlee Simpson Has Baby

This child will hate the parents from the moment they set foot into school

He will grow up, divorce his parents like Drew Barrymore did in "Irreconcilable Differences" and legally change his name to something THAT MAKES SENSE.

I think the Hollywood crowd try to outdo themselves with naming their offspring; in their quest to be unique, they have become downright foolish, hanging these names on these poor children and not realizing their children have to answer to that foolishness.

Okay, RANT OVER.

Where's Bill Cosby?

Eating his Jell-O Pudding.

See it's ok for Ashlee Simpson to name her kid "Bronx" or that magician to name his kid "Moxie Crimefighter" or Gwen Stefani to name her kid "Zuma."

Heck it's even ok for Sarah Palin to name her kids Track, Bristol and Trig.

But Heaven forbid if black parents name their kids unusual names. I mean, how are you gonna be black and run for president with a name like "Barack Obama?"

I kinda liked Bristol for a girl, but Track and Trig - those names are kinda whack.

I posted that for you.

And I gotta admit, you let me down a little....

Oh no, why? LOL

I don't know. Maybe it was the Obama reference.

:)

rikyrah: BREAKING NEWS: [MSNBC - 12:15pm]

1. Possibly: TIM GEITHNER - TREASURY SECRETARY- to be named on Mon. 11/24/08

2. Possibly: BILL RICHARDSON - COMMERCE SECRETARY- to be named soon.

Yeah...no Summers

Yeah! Geithner is a good choice.

Lawrence Summers would have struggled through confirmation. If I were a senator, I would have raked his ass over the coals.

This is good news to my ears... One of the things that has infuriated me more than the invasion of Iraq itself is that the contractors (of the military-industrial complex bush/Cheney created) were able to get away with their wrongdoing while US servicemembers are held to a different standard and prosecuted for their wrongdoing, as they should be.


Contractors in Iraq could face charges in earlier incidents

By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Private security contractors operating in Iraq could face Iraqi prosecution for acts committed when they supposedly had immunity from Iraqi law, U.S. officials said Thursday.

A new U.S.-Iraq security agreement doesn't specifically prevent Iraqi officials from bringing criminal charges retroactively in cases such as the September 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians by contractors protecting a State Department convoy, officials told security company officials during meetings in Washington Thursday.

The news caught company officials by surprise.

"We are still trying to make sense of it," said Anne E. Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Blackwater Inc., whose security guards have been involved in some of the most controversial incidents in Iraq, including the Sept. 16, 2007, shooting at al Nisoor Square in Baghdad.

An order signed in 2003 by L. Paul Bremer, then head of the Coalition Provisional Authority that governed Iraq, granted private security guards immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law. In the ensuing years, private security contractors became critical to U.S. operations in Iraq, guarding State Department convoys and undertaking other critical military missions.

Contractors were often involved in controversial incidents, including the killing of a bodyguard to Iraqi Vice President Adil Abdel Mahdi.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki insisted that they be accountable to Iraqi law under the new security deal.

For more of the article.....

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/56255...

You know, I'm of the opinion that we just pull Blackwater and the rest of the PSCs out of Iraq. What the hell; State's Diplomatic Security guys and the Pentagon can handle security of their own people, right?

Wrong. There's not enough of them.

Yes, private security contractors should be held accountable...to our own laws. What the hell kind of message does this send? That you can be prosecuted by some second guesser somewhere who has no clue about what you do and the guidelines you do it under?

A lot of the Blackwater guys are ex-Special Forces, or have extensive military/police backgrounds; they're not kids who got drummed out of the military and went chasing money.

The problem is they were never held accountable to ANY laws.

Many things have gone wrong in Iraq... and it is widely known that some ot the main perpetrators of the Abu Ghraib abuse were contractors....the Iraqi victims have actually singled them out....but where's the justice? We know the names of the few military members who were brought to trial, which you and I both know were part of a bigger failure.....but where is the day of judgment for the "khaki pants" wearers?

D., I have many stories to tell you about military member's firsthand account of this war...and believe me they are NOT pretty when it comes to the role of contractors in Iraq, their waste, abuse, and incompetence. Also, during the early stages of the invasion, Feb 2003 til 2004, there were great discrepancies between the living conditions of our troops and the contractors...let me just say...some were living it up like Beverly Hills and others were in Compton.

One example...I know some troops who had to take showers with feces backing up in the stalls...and it went on for MONTHS---so um, who was supposed to fix it....oh I forgot, it was the same useless hacks who didn't think much of the electrical problems that killed over a dozen troops.

If I ever get back to Va, I'll tell you about what heard from the horse's mouth, you know the real shit that the media or administrations don't want us to know about.

Most of it I've already heard; I have people still over there as contractors now.

I'll agree with you on the issue of contractors doing shoddy work on facilities; by all means, they need to be prosecuted (if not just outright shot).

And I don't disagree that some of the PSCs might have overstepped their bounds at one time or another.

What I don't want to see is a bunch of good people scapegoated for the actions of a few. And if wrongdoing was done by American citizens carrying out a job that the American government paid them to do, then that same government needs to be the one that prosecutes them.

Hypothetical: let's say Iraq in '10-'11 (after we've left) invokes sharia, and then decides to start issuing indictments for Americans. Would you be okay with that?

D., this is my thing...many contractors, not all, have been enjoying the privilege of ambiguity whereas contractors are "American employees" when it is in their company's interest (like receiving immunity) ....

but foreign workers in another instance (when skirting tax issues, since many are shell companies operating in places like the Cayman Islands, and are thus "foreign" though they operate off of US tax dollars)....

Say what you want.. but that is some straight up bullshit...and some contractors have come back to be burned by this ambiguity ie. coming back sick and injured and unable to draw benefits because it has been decided that you worked for a "foreign" company in that instance, so they can't receive compensation.

My feelings....many contractors have walked a fuzzy line...and be real, some folks got away with some shit....you reap what you sow ...and I am of the opinion--- they should have established those guidelines in place a long time ago...now thier future is uncertain, but hey, they've been operating under an "uncertain" protocol all along.

And about indictments against Americans...as long as the servicemembers are protected, I don't give a shit---I say start at the top....didn't Saddam die for crimes committed in the 1980s which did not involve any Americans---Oh by the way, wasn't it the 1980s when Rumsfeld famously took photos with his friend Saddam Hussein.

Maybe I'm just not taking as extreme a view.

For those proven guilty of wrongdoing, there should be punishment. Since the PSCs operate under American guidelines, then we should be the ones to hold them accountable.

Yes, something should have been formally established a long time ago...but you don't throw the book at the guys doing the job because no one kept an eye on them.

We can agree to disagree...the larger problem for me is the US is NOT even holding them accountable....and that IS criminal.

The whole Iraq fiasco is criminal.

Oh and BTW...last paragraph of the article:

"Representatives of 172 contracting companies were invited to Thursday's briefings on the agreement. The companies provide a wide array of services, such as security and laundry, and their 173,000 employees outnumber the 150,000 U.S. military personnel now in Iraq."

So let it be known when thse Republicans/conservatives talk about funding and how votes against the war hurts our forces...there are more contractors than military personnel.....and contractors get paid 2-5 times MORE than our servicemembers...and are quite frankly less qualified in most instances.

A LARGE portion of the $10 billion per month is funding the military-industrial complex of the Halliburtons and Blackwaters...and you know who is buddies with the CEOs of these companies...Bush, Cheney and em are laughing their way to the bank after they leave office....

Don't believe me...watch the documentary "Iraq for Sale."

Off topic question: does anyone know about the graphic on the right sidebar, "I am a community organizer" I followed the links to Baratunde's flickr set, but didn't find a source for the image. My sister fell in love with it when she saw it on JJP, and wants to buy it if it's a poster or even a postcard. Thanks.

did you ask Craig Hickman? He has it on his site too, I think.

http://craighickman.blogspot.com/

rikyrah: P-E Obama records a RADIO AD for Martin in GA:

PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA's RADIO AD for Martin (GA)

I'll get the audio.

GreenLadyHere & Rikyrah, here's thelink for audio of Barack's AD:

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/longislan...

spirit: THANK YOU! :>)

rikyrah: O.K. "WHYCOME" Andrea -"I'm still hatin'- Mitchell is stumbling over the word - BOURGEOISIE!??? She said that IT was "HARD TO PRONOUNCE!"

Is she related to the UN-VETTED ONE? :>) :>)

She MUST NOT read JJP! Hmmmmm!

GLH, it's hard to speak with a forked tongue. ;-)

Sepia: LOL! :>) Good ONE! :>)

Ha! Look up bourgeosie in Webster's Dictionary and there's a picture of her and Greenspan.

These people crack me up.

MsKitty: TRUTH! LOL! :>)

GreenLadyHere, The BOTOXED ONE is trying to divert attention away from Alan Grin-and-spare-us! You know all that knowledge as an Economist he bestowed upon all his BOURGEOISIE co-horts!

Spirit: LOL! :>) TRUE DAT! :>)

Trust, but verify (as I got this through Free Republic):

NY School is renamed for Obama.

Well, why the hell not?

A town in Japan is named after Obama.

Something I could never figure out: is the town REALLY named for him? Or do they just share the same name?

Really, the Navy angle is starting to bug me more than anything.

USS Barack Obama; the Big O.

The town isn't named for Obama. Obama means "little beach" in Japanese. The town has been around since 1951.

Obama, Japan. You can look it up on Google. I shyt you not.

Yeah, it's a no-shytter.

This would be where I start looking for towns named McCain, but....oh well.

D: This is, more than likely, the FIRST in many such naming/re-naming. :>) :>)

WELL DESERVED!!! :>) :>)

Contrast this to:

Few clamoring to name things after current president

By Ken Herman
WASHINGTON BUREAU
Thursday, November 20, 2008

WASHINGTON — Former President George Bush has an aircraft carrier, an airport in Houston, a turnpike north of Dallas and the George Bush Center for Intelligence (the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.).

Lincoln has a tunnel. Washington has a bridge and a state. Hoover has a dam. Madison has a Square Garden.

President Ronald Reagan has nearly 100 things named in his honor, including a ballistic missile test site, a New Hampshire mountain and a bust at a McDonald's in Alabama.

President George W. Bush has an elementary school, a Waco-area road and highways in Ghana and Georgia (the country, not the state).

Time will tell what else will bear the name of a president who, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp., is less popular now than President Richard Nixon was when he resigned. Know of much named for Nixon?

The most recent effort to name something for Bush was not meant as a tribute. Bush critics in California wanted to change the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant. Sixty-nine percent of voters gave it a thumbs down on Nov. 4, killing the idea.

It's not the first time an attempt to name something for Bush has failed. Efforts to put his name on the airport and a road in New Haven, Conn. — Bush's birthplace — died in the state's Legislature.

The reigning champion of getting things named for a president says Bush is a tough sell. Grover Norquist heads the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, whose goal is to get something named for Reagan in each state, every county and every formerly communist country.

To date, there are 95 dedications to Reagan, including things in 26 states and nine foreign countries.

"The most likely things for Bush will be done in Texas, just as there are more things named for Jimmy Carter in Georgia than in other states and more things named after Truman in Missouri," Norquist said. "States are proud of their presidents."

Correct, says Allison Castle, spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"Much like Texas has done for former President George H.W. Bush, Gov. Perry believes Texas will find similar ways to honor President George W. Bush," she said.

THERE IS MORE.

BWAHAHAHA! [RESPECTFULLY]

President-Elect Obama!:>)

It is well deserved. I just hope it doesn't get out of hand (like with MLK), cause that kinda cheapens it.

I can't see the Navy having a Big Bush and a Little Bush (connotations aside); I don't think there's that many ships named for father and son (USS John McCain being the exception, which is named for the living McCain's father and grandfather). Presidents typically get carriers (terrible thought: USS Barack Obama?), but Carter only got a sub.

What is even a more terrible thought .... GWBush on a carrier --the 43rd failure....he needs to keep his "(NON) Mission Accomplished" ass away from any more carriers...

Dad got a carrier; I think Son will have to settle for a destroyer.

My gift to you all. Have fun. ;)

Yes, because schools all across Virginia named after "Robert E. Lee" or "Stonewall Jackson" or "Patrick Henry" or "Jefferson Davis" cheapened those names, too.

Town, you must live near me>

I still have to ignore the street signs when I'm driving on Jefferson Davis Highway (Route 1) and any housing division with the name "Plantation" in it, too.

I can remember in elementary school in Va when they used to call King's day "Lee-Jackson-King Day"...now you know that was some bullshyt..

Especially throwing those slave-owners in there when MLK was supposed to have the entire day to HIMSELF.

Town: VIRTUAL 'DAP'! :>) :>)

Actually, I don't disagree with that.

There's a point where it just becomes a "cool name," devoid of any significance.

D: WHERE'S the POINT? How many?? Does this include SCHOOLS COLLEGES, UNIVERSITIES, PARKS, STREETS, SOCIAL CLUBS, BABIES, LIBRARIES, and "STEP TEAMS"?? :>) :>)

Now, I'm askin' for CLARITY. :>)

Annnnnnnd, I'm "STANDING DOWN." :>) :>)

Step teams is excessive. Babies will start getting out of hand.

If/when he gets a carrier, I'm gonna start drinking again.

And I'm just waiting for some HBCU to build Barack Obama Stadium.

D: -ummm, I'm trying to do some research on YOUR assertion - "cause that kinda cheapens it."

This may take several entries. :>)

Schools Named After Presidents

NO MLK.

Schools Named After Presidents

The increasing prominence of social activism and multiculturalism makes it surprising that more schools aren’t named after contemporary social activists or ethnic heroes. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s name adorns only 121 out of almost 100,000 public schools nationwide.

I think this does it. DATA/EVIDENCE. :>)

In general, I'm learning that there are FEWER SCHOOLS being NAMED AFTER PRESIDENTS. O.K.

Stand down; I was referring more to streets/parks.

MLK Ave in DC runs through some of the worst areas in town. I'm not sure how that does its namesake justice (though I'm certain it wasn't always that way, and I'm aware of the hell that would have to be paid to change it).

D: I was referring more to streets/parks.

WHEW! THANKS for CLARIFYING. 'cause I gave up mind-reading the FIRST TIME it did NOT WORK! :>)


BTW What does "STAND DOWN" mean?? J.K. :>) :>)

LOL...generally, it's mil-speak for "relax from a high state of readiness." I saw your brain starting to turn way too fast..... :)

D: I knew that. My brother was in the Navy - 27 yrs. [Anchors Away!] :>) :>)

Annnnnd, RESPECTING YOUR SERVICE 2! :>)

THANK YOU! :>)

Weren't they supposed to name a sewage treatment plant in San Francisco after GWBush....How fitting...I know that's mean..but who cares...his policies have stunk :)

Yep, I reported it right here on this blog.

No word as to whether or not the resolution passed, but I would imagine it would sail through!

iMonie, if it smells, it stinks!

Monie: YES. :>) Look up thread. I highlighted it. :>)

BWAHAHA!!

Aaaah mannnn, I thought the voters would come through and name the plant after him.....now ThAT would have a been a desrving tribute...it's still mean, I know!!

Monie: Sorry to bring the news. :>) :>)

I think it's perfectly ok to saturate our culture with Barack Obama' images, name, etc. We ain't playing Casper the Ghost here.

Black folk have lived with images of everyone else's in histrory. Hell, let's name an airport after him too. If Ted Stevens can have one, so can Barack .Obama

rikyrah: On the TRANSITION TRAIL/APPOINTMENTS:

Marine general may head National Security Council

President-elect Barack Obama is close to landing James L. Jones, the well-known retired Marine Corps general, as his national security adviser, sources said.

Jones is a former Marine Corps commandant and was head of U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, with the title of Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.

The national security adviser heads the National Security Council, the part of the White House structure that deals with foreign policy. It varies in influence from presidency to presidency. Befitting his past, Jones would be given a commanding role, the sources said.

Jones also was considered for secretary of state and secretary of energy. He currently is president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy. From his official biography: “At the request of the U.S. Congress, Jones recently chaired the Independent Commission on the Security Forces of Iraq.”

Others under consideration for the position include Jim Steinberg, the deputy national security adviser under President Bill Clinton, and Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni.

Susan Rice, senior campaign national security adviser and State Department and National Security Council official under Clinton, is also mentioned but may be in line for another position.
Read more stories in Politics '08.

James L. Jones
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

President-Elect Obama! :>) First Lady Michelle !:>)

GEN Jones' commission report was well accepted across the board, if I remember correctly. I don't think he'd be a bad choice at all.

GEN Zinni's very intelligent, but I could never figure out if he was angling for a political career or the JCS chairmanship. He's a lot outspoken, but damn if he doesn't know the Middle East well (and he knew it before becoming CENTCOM).

Either one of these would be good choices; they've both "been there and done that" recently. This is probably the one time where pulling in a Clinton alum wouldn't be beneficial.

That's my two cents.

D: THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your input. When it comes to this topic, I appreciate YOUR views/expertise! Seeeeee. . . . :>)

President-Elect Obama! First Lady Michelle! :>)

A good reference on Zinni is Battle Ready (written with Tom Clancy).

Apparently there's another book that he wrote himself, but I haven't read it.

Books on/about/by GEN Zinni

D: THANK YOU! :>)

Ashlee Simpson Names Her Child After the Bronx

This poor kid is never going to have a day's peace in the schoolyard.

Baby's first words:
"You talkin' to me?"

No you didn't put a DeNiro reference in here as that poor baby's first words. ROFL

That does it. I'm naming my first child Detroit.

Hell, I might as well name my first kid Houston. It's where I was born and it's not that far fetched.

My ex-boyfriend's youngest son (he's about 20) is named Senegal. When I commented on it, he said to me "At least Dad didn't totally lose his mind and name me 'Zimbabwe'".

pjamma: Would the spelling be: DeeTroit? -OR- D'TROIT?

Inquiring teachers want ta know?? :>) :>)

Don't forget about Brooklyn Beckham, first child of Posh and David. Allegedly, that's where junio was conceived. Look out Da Bronx (NYer here) and De-troit.

LOL

Well, there's a blogger named Lower Manhattanite.

pjamma: LOL! :>) I'm STILL trying to convince my children that it is a GOOD idea to RE-NAME them "BARACK & MICHELLE." :>) :>)

O.K. So what IFFFF they are GROWN! :>) I 'on't care! :>)

MisKitty, only if he's living in The Bronx.

Obama and Malcolm X: Far From opposites
http://newsone.blackplanet.com/nation/obama-and...

Hey y'all,


I've been trying to keep track of the diversity in Obama's Administration. Here's what I've found:

Native Americans repping on the Obama Transition Team
Obama names SEVEN (niiiiice!) openly gay people to Transition Team

Please let me know if you find a list for women, people with disabilities, African Americans (so far I have Jarrett and Holder, am I missing anyone else?), and Latinos (oh Lord, please let Richardson be SoS *crosses fingers*). I appreciate any help.


So far his Transition Team is turning out be AMAZING on this front. I am well aware that although Bush had a diverse Administration, it means nothing if they do not bring with them the courage to be ethically guided. As I said in a post response awhile back, I think the majority of the Bush Administration are guilty of crimes against humanity.

My focus is on looking to see how Obama addresses his amazing opportunity to bring people to the forefront who have been ignored, or who would be otherwise overlooked. Please, if you find anything send me some links.

Thanks bunches!

Clinton got the nod for SoS. I have a post up on the blog discussing it.

If true, Obama missed a prime opportunity to put a Latino in a high ranked position in his Cabinet. While I realize he do what he do, I don't know if Obama's stubborness won't come back to bite him in the ass on this pick.

Two African-Americans on his staff - well, if he put too many of us in his Administration, Sean Klannity starts squealing about how "racist" Obama is.

So much for "Don't Ask Don't Tell." Why do politicians promise things they have no intention of delivering?

April:
"Obama: I'll end don't-ask, don't-tell
By Michael Saul
Daily News Political Correspondent
Friday, April 11th 2008, 4:00 AM"

Today:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/21...

I'm sorry, but you seemed to have linked to an article that states this particular issue will be delayed because of the foundation that needs to be laid first for this administration.......did you link this one by mistake?

No. Didn't link by mistake. Just another brutha throwing us under the bus. Now that he's got our vote.

The Washington Times?
Like, whatever.

This is the Washington Times so take it with a grain of salt.

Because that's the nature of politics.

He's walked back on this, his stance on the war....what's next?

Um, besides, D.

He's NOT president yet... There is this small matter of a 'transition'.

There is plenty of time for the numerous issues President -Elect Obama will deal with.

Oddly enough, a lot of conservatives are happy with what's going on. Obama isn't turning out to be the hardcore liberal we expected.

Yet.

Like you said, there's still time.

I never expected Obama to be a hardcore liberal. A simple read of his proposed policies during the campaign could nip that notion in the bud.

Which is why I don't understand all the hysteria in the left blogosphere (except for JJP...we're all sane here LOL). Obama never pretended to be a hardcore liberal, people just saw what they wanted to see. At best he's a centrist with liberal leanings, key word here being centrist. I'm way to the left of Obama and will likely be cussing him out on a regular basis this time next year, but I voted for him anyway because he's the best chance to get this country out of the toilet.

I think a lot of this handwringing is because people miss the adrenaline rush and constant drama of the campaign, and they haven't figured out how to channel their energies yet.

....and to quote JJP's second-favorite FNC commentator (O'Reilly), there's a couple "far left loons" here....

:)

And that's the thing that gets me: I think a lot of people on the far, far left (the DU/DKos crowd) really expected Obama to sweep into office and spend the first few days undoing every Republican policy since Bush 41.

Now that they realize that'd be a really stupid course of action, they're getting pissed off (hell, marches are already planned, and not by conservatives!).

Any time you put that much faith in one person, all you get is disappointment.

Any time you put that much faith in one person, all you get is disappointment.

That's really the perspective you have to take otherwise you spend four years in a state of reaching for the Maalox. It's helps that I'm a die-hard cynic as well, though at the moment I'm trying to get my cynic card back because I'm still riding on the whole "Hope" message thing.

The whole outlook is interesting to me because I expected people on my side of the street to want to go out, march, protest, and generally raise hell.

Instead, we've been taking a general "wait and see" attitude, while the people you'd think would be happy now are even more pissed off.

The problem is the "first few days" is still 2 months away....let PE Obama take the oath first, then maybe we can start criticizing. I'm just hoping he won't stay on vacation as much as GWBush did his first nine months in office.

He is still building his team and likely conferring with people.

You should probably read the article before commenting on it.

Read it about 6 am on my way up to DC, actually.

My comment was a reflection of the fact that people-namely, Obama's supporters-are getting pissed off because he can't/won't/isn't able to make all the changes they demanded of him immediately (if at all). Hell, the anti-war crowd is pissed because Obama's putting people in his cabinet who voted for the war, like that could be avoided.

But, to make you feel better, I'll just say this: "change you can believe in" doesn't translate into "change you can believe in immediately."

Better?

Let the guy become President then judge if he has gone back on promises.

Hey, he's going in a direction I can live with.

His supporters, though....not so much.

His supporters need to chill.

pjamma: Co-sign!

LOL.

Conservatives have been telling them to "chill" for years.

Oh...so you were just agreeing with the fabrication of the article by Jonster...okkkkkk

Where do you get off calling me a liar? Check yourself.

http://forum.cheatengine.org/files/ethug_572.jpg

Uh oh....You better watch out Miranda. ;-p

Wasting your time here.

Or what?? LIAR

Simple question Miss Thing. How about a straight answer. Where you get off calling me a liar, b*tch?

not cool Jonster. Very disrespectful.

Comments, yes, but name-calling like that gets you flagged and possibly banned. Any time a poster calls one of our regulars a Bitch gets a flag and turned over to the Blog Administrators because we don't tolerate that nonsense on this blog.

I got off right about the time you wrote "So much for "Don't Ask Don't Tell." Why do politicians promise things they have no intention of delivering?"

And then linked an article that clearly did not support your rhetoric...so liar liar pants on fire....and please..I welcome the "bitch" moniker...so thanks!

I do apologize. I was completely out of line.

You're going way too far with that!

Okay, I don't like Miranda, but that's going a little too far.....

Just let it go.

You're right D. Madame Miranda, apparently you are unaware that impugning the integrity of fellow posters when you yourself are uninformed, or just plain wrong, is unacceptable and does not serve your integrity on this message board. Please refrain from this behavior in the future as it irritates the black bourgeoisie. Thank you so much, and have a nice day.

Actually, the article's pretty real. I got it through CNN this morning, and it's up on the Time's website.

Maybe you should read it before commenting.

Better yet....since I'm not in the mood to have any pointless arguments today, how 'bout we call this one and start over?

Ummm...I wasn't questioning the article's existence.....maybe you should read with comprehension.

My friend, obviously you have way too much time on your hands today.

Pot??

Kettle!!

(at this point, I have to find the humor in this)

You shouldn't have to look to far, your posts are always funny! Don't slight your ability to amuse! LOL

Why, you must have found something productive to do. Haven't heard from you in a bit.

Had to get the hair right before Happy Hour in about 30 minutes.

Well, go. Drink! Enjoy!

But go. Not really feeling you today.

Justice58: -Er, -um Did you REQUEST this SONG?

LOOK IN MY EYES (The Chantels)

The CHANTELS - THEN

The CHANTELS - NOW

ENJOY!! :>)

Thanks GreenLady,

You're good! They're beautiful ladies!

Justice58: U R welcome. :>)

IFFFF U keep this between U & I, I'll let you know that I STILL HAVE THE 45rpm of this song FROM MY SCHOOL years!! :>) :>)[calculator?:>)]

The secret is safe with me! I'll never tell!

Justice58: O.K. :>) :>)

I can't wait to see them dancing at the Inaugural Galas.

I wanna see him hold her close, whisper in her ear! :) Woo Hoo!

Justice58: I'm CONVERTING to a FLY! :>) :>)

Love the pic!

MLK been looking a bit on the chunky side in the various cartoons. Imma need for the brotha lay off the cheese grits and sausage in Heaven. :-P

And with that, I'm bouta hit up IKEA for breakfast tomorrow. Cheese grits, sausage and eggs for $1.99. Free coffee if you get there by 9:30.

All Ikea's? Do they really serve grits in the Emeryville, CA location? If so, I am there. I do need some new lamps.

Pjamma, I'm an Oaktown girl, and I've yet to see grits served in the Emeryville IKEA.

Here in the South (even though its Northern VA) grits are a staple.

I had to spend three weeks living at the Herdon, Va Embassy Suites for work and I was so excited that they had grits on the breakfast bar. The bad thing was only one of the cooks knew how to make them right (or how I like them) and half the time they were soupy. I hate soupy grits.

Sounds like a plan - and I haven't been to IKEA in a minute...LOL

Say what?!?! They just opened a new IKEA's in Brooklyn awhile back...I think I need to mosy on over and see what I can come out with. That's a heck of a good deal!!!!

Fair warning: I think the cheese grits are only here in Atlanta. But I could be wrong.

Gotta cross my fingers :)

RonnieB, we've got them here in Minnesota to. Folks who visit from out of town love going to MOA and hopping next door to Ikea.

Naw, we got them here in Virginia, too.

What!?!? IKEA?? I need to check that out...$1.99?!? oh, yeah...i need to check that out.

Credit Amnesty

Now that white Americans have bad credit too, perhaps it's time that our government hit the "Reset" button on consumer credit rating and scoring. Credit amnesty for a one-year period at an individual, business and national level.

Think about it; financial businesses are getting fresh starts by virtue of the trillion dollar bailout. Why should they have the opportunity to start over, only to participate in the same old scam that is credit scoring? I say, if financial institutions get a re-do, then so do consumers.

LOL, Ronnie, great minds think alike. Just like the government wouldn't do anything about crack cocaine, and HIV until too many "regular" Americans started getting hit with the deal, I expect when people can't be consumers anymore, watch someone in Commerce roll out a plan to give everyone a clean slate on their credit reports so that people can buy houses, cars, and other big-ticket items that can't be bought outright unless you're Bill Gates.

Co-sign. Despite what one may think about the legitimacy of these bailouts, we've never seen corporate welfare so clearly. In the end, the economy will still need consumers so they should get some assistance as well.

A poster flippantly commented yesterday on my blog that the automakers needed to go through Chap 11 to get rid of "legacy costs", and I just about lost my mind.

YOU DON"T THROW PEOPLE"S REAL FUCKING MONEY AWAY LIKE THAT!

There are a whole, whole lot of black people who work at these companies. "Good jobs" is what I used to hear my aunts say about my relatives up there at family reunions, as in "he couldn't make it - he's got one of them good jobs at GM".

There are legions of us who work in these places who are the first or second generation to work at a job that paid more than minimum wage for twenty or thirty years. Many of them have always lived by the Golden Rule, and have done all the right things - lived within their means, saved money for retirement, even invested in stocks, including GM stock.

Guess whose stock disappears when their company emerges from Chapter 11 proceedings?

If this isn't a civil rights issue,i don't know what is - because we are the employees most vulnerable to market risk, with large positions in company stock, bought with real money, deducted from our paychecks.

Meanwhile, the fat ass mofos on Wall Street, the ones who cried broke a couple of months ago, but have suddenly lost the ability to function once they got what they wanted, are going to MAKE MONEY on this event, bankrolled with money out of your pocket, my pocket, and the pockets of these people whose stock is about to evaporate into thin air. That you better believe.

Foot Soldiers With No Guns And No Bullets

I don't believe that people should lose their company "encouraged" investments.

That said I don't think there should be a bailout. I think the companies need to restructure and lay off the people they need to. Our economy is based on supply and demand. If people aren't buying cars then there is no need to keep people employed to make the cars. Also, they probably don't need as many back office people. Streamline. It does not make sense to employ people for the sake of employment. If however demand increases then hire more people.

If there is a bailout then a company initiative should be no outsourcing. Manage production in the US. I do not support using my tax dollars paying for a company to send business overseas.

rikyrah: I had lost this case for a minute. GOOD NEWS! :>)

Georgia death-row convict Davis gets new hearing

A federal appeals court has agreed to take up the case of a Georgia man on death row for allegedly killing a police officer despite strong doubts about his guilt, legal sources said Thursday.

Troy Davis, 40, is to get a new hearing on December 9, said the court, which has postponed his scheduled execution for the murder nearly 20 years ago of a white policeman.

The federal appeals court can either confirm the death sentence or send the case back to a lower court.

Davis, who is African-American, has maintained his innocence and several witnesses at his 1991 trial have since recanted. His lawyers have taken his case all the way to the Supreme Court.

In September, the high court halted Davis’s execution two hours before he was scheduled to die as it considered his request for a new trial.

But last month, the court refused to consider the constitutionality of executing a person when there is new, substantial evidence to show he was not guilty of the crime, thus opening the way for the state to reschedule his execution.

Nine people who testified in Davis’s 1991 trial have recanted, saying they were pressured by police in the aftermath of the shooting. The murder weapon was never recovered and there was no DNA recovered at the scene.

AFP

PRAYING for him and his family.

Free Mumia!!

rikyrah: Friday, NOVEMBER 21, 2008 -DAY -60 - On His - "JOURNEY TO JANUARY!"

1. WORD(s) of the DAY: TRANSITION TRAIL Continues/APPOINTMENTS

2. HEADLINE(S):

a) Waxman Takes Over Energy Panel

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Henry Waxman will become chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, ousting the more business-friendly Rep. John Dingell in a contest that highlighted the determination of House Democrats to enact a sweeping, activist agenda.

Mr. Waxman's victory ensures that the committee will move in a more liberal direction, especially on energy and climate change. The California Democrat's ascent caused immediate consternation in the already-reeling automobile and coal industries.

SKIP
Mr. Waxman is widely expected to make passage of climate change legislation a top priority next year. Last month, he joined more than 150 other House Democrats in outlining "principles" for such legislation, including emissions reductions of at least 15% by 2020.

"We have an opportunity that maybe comes only once in a generation," Mr. Waxman said, following a 137-122 vote of House Democrats that was not as close as many expected. "I think that the Democratic caucus agreed with me that we must meet that challenge and move forward."

b) In Crisis, Opportunity for Obama

As the economic signs grow ever more grim, so do the problems facing the incoming Obama administration.

That's one way of looking at things. Here's another:

As the economic signs grow ever more grim, the opportunities for the Obama administration to drive through its agenda actually are getting better.

Therein lies the opportunity for President-elect Barack Obama. His plans for an activist government agenda are in many ways being given a boost by this crisis atmosphere and the nearly universal call for the government to do something fast to stimulate the economy.

This opportunity isn't lost on the new president and his team. "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste," Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama's new chief of staff, told a Wall Street Journal conference of top corporate chief executives this week.

He elaborated: "Things that we had postponed for too long, that were long-term, are now immediate and must be dealt with. This crisis provides the opportunity for us to do things that you could not do before."

THERE IS MORE.

c) Washington's Woodstock

Hollywood celebrities, Web activists and jet-setters from around the world are preparing to turn the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 into a mix of Woodstock and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 speech on the National Mall.

SKIP
But for many attendees, parties will take a back seat to witnessing to history, Mr. Midkiff says. "As long as they're on the Mall, their story will be how they felt it. It won't matter that they saw it on a Jumbotron, what will matter will be that they were there."
—Ellen Gamerman contributed to this article.

Write to John Jurgensen at john.jurgensen@wsj.com and Jamin Brophy-Warren at Jamin.Brophy-Warren@wsj.com


3. SUMMARY:
Obama's Transition Defying Expectations

By Ben Pershing
When Barack Obama's transition began two short weeks ago, we thought we knew two things with a fair degree of certainty: The incoming president would likely try to fill the "Big 3" Cabinet posts -- state, defense, Treasury -- before turning to lesser offices, and he would strive to emphasize "change" with whatever choices he made.

Neither of those things has quite turned out to be true. As of this morning, we have a reported Cabinet lineup that includes Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle and Attorney General Eric Holder. And we have a nearly complete sense of who will populate Obama's senior White House staff, though it was always expected that the president-elect would fill those posts before most Cabinet jobs.

But we don't have picks yet for state, defense, or Treasury, though each job seems to have been narrowed to three or fewer finalists. We may have had a secretary of state pick sooner were Obama not apparently inclined to choose Hillary Clinton, who brings along so much baggage that cash-strapped airlines probably delight each time she arrives at the ticket counter (thank you, I'll be here all week). Defense appears to have been narrowed largely to Richard Danzig, perhaps after Bob Gates stays on a bit longer, while Treasury speculation remains centered on Tim Geithner or Larry Summers.

Continue reading at Political Browser»


President-Elect Obama! :>) First Lady Michelle! :>)

LOL @ Washington's Woodstock. It sounds like it's going to be fun, but more and more, I'm thinking I need to stay my behind home and just enjoy from the comfort of my own living room....

Unless somebody's got a ticket to share... ha ha.

claudia: I'll make the JJP "popcorn!" GREEN Tea or RED kool-aid? :>) :>)

"We may have had a secretary of state pick sooner were Obama not apparently inclined to choose Hillary Clinton, who brings along so much baggage that cash-strapped airlines probably delight each time she arrives at the ticket counter."

Ain't that the truth, Ruth!

spirit: LOL! :>)

Well, apparently I do have a breaking point.

The spectre of having Pres-elect exercise his presidential power to take away the governor that my state (Arizona) elected and leave us with a diametrically opposed person who will partner with the extremists in the state legislature to cause real harm to the people of this state ...


... if this happens, I'm right back to my pre-Obama space of feeling like electoral politics is essentially an excercise in voter powerlessness and that the truth is those who are in power do what they want because they have the power to do so. And right back to my unwillingness to invest time or money or energy in electoral politics for that reason (though I don't think that me being in that space will have any actual affect on anything, I'm not that arrogant to think it would).

Anyway. I have tried over and over to talk myself out of this and it has not worked.

More on my response is here in the comments of this post of the Jed Report (I have 4 substantive comments throughout the discussion and a couple of little ones to a specific poster), if anyone wants to know what I am talking about.

The thing that is getting to me most, beyond the fact that this is going to put me in harm's way in real practical terms, is that Pre-elect Obama has spoken with his actions saying that electoral politics matters and that what voters say is actually important to what happens.

The act -- if it happens -- of taking away someone who was actually elected to be governor by the people of this state in a supposedly democratic process, leaving us someone who is opposed to who we elected, and in this way functionally overturning the will of the voters here because he has the power and is president and he can -- stands in opposition to that for me.

It's so weird to know this will be my breaking point, if it happens. I didn't expect such a thing in myself, that's for sure.

I had no idea I would go here, but here I am. I don't want to be here. But here I am.

I'm still waiting to see what actually happens, though. And really, what do I have to say about any of it ... at this point the ones in power will decide what they decide and my role is to just wait to see what they will do and be affected accordingly in my actual life (see? whoa, look at me with this).

I ... I wonder if anyone here at JJP has anything to say to me about this.

Who's next in line to get the job after Napolitano leaves? From your post, obviously she was an effective governor, and I probably would feel the same if he'd pulled Tim Kaine out of Virginia to a cabinet position; however, in Virginia, the governor is limited to one four year term, so we'll be losing Kaine in 2009 anyway.

I hope your state gets a competent replacement for Napolitano - she looks like good people.

CPL -- the succession is EXACTLY the problem.

It's a hard-line republican, Secretary of State Jan Brewer.

I wouldn't care if it was someone more or less in the political spirit of Napolitano (like our AG, Terry Goddard would be nice).

But this is a choice that overturns the will of the people of the state by leaving us with a governor opposed to the one we chose -- the one who has been a firewall between the people of this state and the right-wing nutjob extremists.

This is how power operates in this system. A powerful person makes a decision that will directly affectthe day to day lives of actual people and he doesn't have to live with the consequences -- nor does Gov Napo with her shiny new job and income -- nope, power means make decisions you don't have to live with in your actual life.

The way I see it, it "could be worse."

Let's say Tim Kaine left VA for a job with Obama. Bill Bolling-R would be the governor and then he'd run later on next year based on being the current governor, so he "could" and probably "would" win.

We know what we're getting.

But lets say Kaine finishes out his last year, and the Republicans think they are going to run Bill Bolling for governor but Jeffrey "Osama=Obama" Frederick or Bob "No Condoms for You" Marshall or George "Macaca" Allen decide to run for the GOP nomination and they knock off Bolling to get it. You could be getting a lot worse than Bolling.

I guess my point is you can't make your career decisions what will/might happen after you leave.

Wouldn't that be true of all or most of Obama's picks?

Basically this would mean that Obama should not choose/should not have chosen ANYONE currently holding elective office, right?

Basically this would mean that Obama should not choose/should not have chosen ANYONE currently holding elective office, right?

Town-- NO.

There is a real live actual -- not hypothetical -- situation right now in the state of Arizona. I describe it in my comments over at the Jed report that I linked to.

I don't want to repeat myself, but details are over there.

My answer to your question is -- no, that's not the case and making generalizations in a specific situation .. no.

Then it would be up to Napolitano to decline the offer. But if she weren't interested in movin' on up, she wouldn't have entertained Obama's offer, right?

The responsibility lies on Napolitano, not Obama.

Michelle -- I think you're right. I wouldn't try to talk you out of your feelings because 1. you know much about Arizona than I do and 2. it would be patronizing. But if your overall feeling is that people in power can and will do things that can affect others negatively...yes. I agree. We've certainly seen that already.

What we can do is just elect people who we hope will lead in a generally positive direction and make fewer mistakes than the "other guy." But no one can define for you what your individual "tipping point" is where you start to feel that the mistakes outweigh the benefits. I'm not about to suggest that this is one that you should just bear quietly. Though I think it's always sad when smart, passionate people feel like withdrawing from the public sphere.

It is possible...though again, I do not know enough about AZ politics to say...that Jan Brewer might feel inclined to rein in some of the worst excesses of the state legislature because she doesn't want to alienate less conservative parts of the state (if she has future political aspirations, that is.) But I am only speculating.

Because of your comments, I went to some Arizona newspaper websites to read more about what you are talking about. I see that you are by no means alone in your feelings, and I don't think you're the only one who has taken time to share them with the Obama transition team. For whatever that's worth.

I don't think you're the only one who has taken time to share them with the Obama transition team. For whatever that's worth.

Thanks. I wish I was just making this up. I know from the analyses in the papers that my perspective is not mine alone.

But my feeling is that the Obama transition team, and PE Obama himself, just don't care about what this will do to the people in this state. They have Big People Decisions to make about Big Important Political Things.

There are millions and millions of us "people" and we are individually totally expendable even to politicians that rely on us for funding and organizing. Our value is in our numbers and how we can gather to help the politician get where he wants to be -- the fact that we are whole people to ourselves and not just pawns among millions of interchangeable and individually expendable pawns ... not important, despite the claims.

I hope I am wrong,. If I am I will figure it out from what actually happens. But -- from a distance.

I don't ever want to get this close to electoral politics again. As I have said in other comments, I do hold myself responsible for letting my guard down this time, I'm the one who bears responsibility for that.

"The thing that is getting to me most, beyond the fact that this is going to put me in harm's way in real practical terms"

I dont mean to pry, but can you be more specific? I just want to understand what you're referring to and how the appointment (assuming its a go, of course) will effect you.

Miranda, if Napolitano leaves I will most certainly lose my job in the next few months if not sooner, if I am reading the signs right.

No guarantee I would still have a job if she stays, but it is pretty certain that her leaving Jan Brewer in charge with our extremist legislature will create dynamics that will lead to me losing my income.

I understand your concerns, and certainly pray you dont lose your job...but a lot of people in DC and other states where a new administration will take over are going to lose their jobs...its a vicious cycle. I know the job climate is hostile at best, do you have any contacts you can tap into now, just in case your fears are realized? The worst thing to do is wait until its official, start testing the waters now.

Thanks, Miranda.

The first thing I need to do is get more sane about this whole thing and re-adjust myself so I can function coherently in any sort of practical job search. It will probably only be a few days or so until I can get it together, I think.

I appreciate your advice.

I'm sorry to hear this Michelle. I'd like to make a recommendation. Step away from politics for while and get clear. Turn off the tv, step away from the blogs and concentrate on yourself.

Co-sign. Michelle, you seem like you're really sincere and caring about those around you and it's a responsibility you take very seriously. But sometimes those very qualities can work against you and mess with your head...I know because I tend to take things to heart and every once in a while it can be paralyzing because there's too many dilemmas I have to wrestle with and I worry about making the wrong decision (I really hope that makes sense).

When that happens I just shut down all the outside noise(aka whatever is keeping you up nights), and just focus on the day to day real life. Just stepping back and putting blinders on for a minute will help you regain perspective. The political circus, and all the shows and blogs that go with it will still be here when you get back.

Hopefully I'm coherent here and didn't ramble too much. Take care of yourself Michelle.

IDK Michelle,

All I can offer you is some encouragement and tell you that you'll get through this okay. Things are rough for a lot of us right now. I can't wait to get rid of my Gov. (CA). I've had to sit through Ah-nold's botched job because so many voters went for the movie star instead of a qualified candidate. He has tried numerous times to pull that right wing crap and has gotten slapped down but things are a mess. I'm sure that was part of the reason Obama met with McCain earlier this week. If Napolitano wants to end her term early you're not going to be able to stop it, but I think your concerns will be acknowledged and hopefully resolved to your satisfaction.

And also: because so many voters went for the movie star instead of a qualified candidate.

But see .... Napolitano was elected Governor by the voters here. The action that would cause harm in this would not be from the voters of AZ, but from the Obama administration, basically using its presidential power to overturn what the voters decided.

I know people in power often screw over us small ones who aren't in politics, for reasons that they in their supposed "wisdom" deem necessary but don't actually have to experience in their own lives in terms of the harm.

I was just stupid enough (if Gov Napo does leave for the cabinet) to trust Pres-elect Obama to do his best to avoid actually directly doing this kind of harm.

If Napolitano leaves, that would be HER choice, right?

So the blame should fall upon Napolitano, not Obama. It's not like Obama is hemming her up with a gun and forcing her to leave. It would have to be HER choice to leave, knowing that her departure would leave AZ with someone not elected by the people, right?

He's going to be the president.

If the president asks you to do something, the pull is to do it.

He is one of the powerful people here making the decision -- he is, in actual real truth, and no amount of wordplay or "only look at this piece and not that one" will cover up that reality for me.

The reality is ALL of it, not just the parts I want to look at.

You mean to say you couldn't tell Obama "I need to stay in AZ [VA, OH etc]?"

You mean to say Napolitano or anyone else couldn't say "Hey man, I need to stay in AZ because of the political climate?"

Let's keep this real: you want Napolitano to stay because if she goes you'll be out of a job.

It's not Napolitano's responsibility to stay on as governor so you'll have a job. Thousands of people in DC are dusting off their resumes now because Bush is going so they know they'll be going too.

Since we're looking at "all" of it, let's look at "all of it."

Town, yes ... my job is the short term. And my life in AZ is the medium term. As I wrote in the Jed report comments, we have a wingnut state legislature and I am a lesbian. This state may become a dangerous place for me to live from that space.

So, it's both of these things.

The problem I see here, Town, is that I got too involved in electoral politics with the Obama campaign -- letting down my guard in ways that have not allowed me to see this correctly as just part of how this system works and to take it in stride like I have to all of "what is" in stride because I have no choice but to do so.

I mean, no -- neither this system nor its political agents exist to give the first sh*t about whether I or anyone else has a job or is safe from anti-gay legislation from extremists.

Politicians do not exist to care about or have any real enacted sense of responsibility about whether I or anyone else has a job or is safe in this way. Whatever they do or don't do is on their terms and that's how it works. If by accident they do things that are beneficial, I am glad, and if they do things that are harmful then that's basically how this system is set up.

So. I am in a period of re-adjustment. Once my guard is back up, I will make more sense about this. Of course, I won't have anything to say at that point, not on this at least.

I hope that this new administration does as much good for as many people as possble. I need to step away from feeling too connected to it, though.

Because really truly: the problem as I see it is I let my guard down and that was a huge mistake and totally my responsibility ... so right now I'm kind of flailing around trying to get it back up where it belongs, and I am doing some of that publicly here and elsewhere.

I just need to re-adjust and get these barriers back up where they are supposed to be for my ability to function coherently in this society.

Ok but in the end isn't the responsibility for choice hers?

Ok but in the end isn't the responsibility for choice hers?

No. In my eyes they -- at the very least -- share responsibility.

Today, I have done everything I can to try to get the message through to the Obama people that there will be harm done. I sent a long message today through change.gov in two different ways, sent it through mybarackobama.com and also sent it to the one person from the campaign who I have a direct email address for. I also sent it through Gov Napolitano's site, not that that's relevant here.

Plus which, I don't know how many news articles have pointed all this out, already.

If the Obama people are paying attention, they will get this. I suspect that Pres-elect Obama *already knows*

It feels to me right now like the messages I sent are going into some sort of dead space -- a void. I don't know why, that's just how it feels, like there is no human receiving them. Like I am so small, so pointless, that what I actually have to say is not really relevant to what Daddy wants for the bigger picture.

I hope I am wrong. But this feels so dissonant to me, so awful right now.

I hope I am wrong.

I think your concerns will be acknowledged and hopefully resolved to your satisfaction.

Please tell me how you think this will happen.

I am deeply freaked out by this.

(BTW, I was in CA when Ah-nold was elected in -- was it? -- 2003. It felt like the coming of the Apocalypse and I'm not even Christian so I don't believe in that. Anyway, wasn't he elected in some special election related to taking down Grey Davis? I seem to remember that The Terminator was elected not long before there was this HUGE big-deal fire that started right near where I lived and we had to flee and the mountains were on fire and it was a horrible horrible scary time before we ended up in Tucson ... anyway, yeah)

I can verify what HeartsandFlowers said in her post, because I was a California resident who wrote a lot of blog posts about how Ah-nold was picked by the California ReThugs as part of their plan to oust Davis - the main reason was to tank that lawsuit Davis had to sue Enron and get our money back.

Ah-nold not only did that, but proceeded to waste millions of taxpayers dollars in calling for a ballot initiative to bail out the state budget later that year, as well as forcing a special election to put three ballot initiatives up to force concessions from the three most powerful labor unions: the California Nurses Association, the Firefighters Union and the Teachers Union. Mind you, they were ballot initiatives that could have easily waited until the regular 2006 elections and they probably would have gotten more votes.

People got angry at Ah-nold for trying to force his agenda down their throats and costing money we didn't have to get it done. All of his initiatives lost by a 2-to-1 margin - the loudest bitchslap I ever seen administered to an elected official. Ah-nold soon left that far-right slant he was trying to take.

Additionally, Bush wanted him to guarantee California's 55 electoral votes in 2004 so he wouldn't be forced to steal Ohio. Ah-nold failed to deliver and actually, California hasn't gone for a Republican in the White House since Ronald Reagan.

I understand how you feel Michelle, because I felt the same damned way; Gray Davis was duly and democratically elected, and we got told that our votes didn't matter when he got recalled out of office for trying to do his job and that was to protect California's best interests. I have more of a bitter taste in my mouth about his being kicked out of office for being competent.

Napolitano, OTOH, has a good opportunity to go forth - but anyone Obama picks, especially if they're an elected official, is going to have to relinquish their office if they take jobs in their administration. Doesn't mean that after she serves, Napolitano can't come back and run for Governor again.

And the final decision is hers - it's not Obama's fault that she's the most qualified for the job.

Doesn't mean that after she serves, Napolitano can't come back and run for Governor again.

Just for the record and accuracy's sake: she's term limited out in 2010. And also, I actually don't care if it's her or someone else who can be a functioning part of the weird balance of power here. An additional problem with this scenario is that if Jan Brewer is governor in 2010, it will be that much harder for someone like our relatively sane AG Terry Goddard to win.

I need to stop caring so much. It is what it is and I will deal with whatever happens as it happens, but from a distance again.

Ok I don't know what to say except wait and see what happens. Davis got railroaded over trying to sue Enron for the money they were overcharging CA. It was totally partisan malfeasance on behalf of Bush. People wish the State had that money now! At least I can say we in the SF Bay voted 80% against him. Yes he was trying to eliminate firefighters, teachers and nurses and bust up their unions. Half of the state would be burnt to a crisp if he'd succeeded.

If Governor Napolitano was not interested in the job she would have taken her name out of the running long ago and she could have turned down the post when it was offered. She is her own person with her own career goals and asperations.

I read somewhere today that she repeatedly ran up against a brick wall when trying to deal with DHS as Governor. Maybe she felt she can do more to help Arizonans (and the rest of the country) by making DHS a functioning, efficient department instead of the beaurocratic mess that it currently is.

She is her own person with her own career goals and asperations.

See this is one of the very things I have always hated about electoral politics.

This person who holds such heavy responsibility for the actual lives of the people in this state "has her own career goals and aspirations." Yes, this is exactly how the system is set up, politicians less concerned with the actual responsibility they have on their shoulders from the voters, and more concerned with setting themselves up for what THEY want, making decisions that impact others that they themselves escape.

Maybe she felt she can do more to help Arizonans (and the rest of the country) by making DHS a functioning, efficient department instead of the beaurocratic mess that it currently is.

Anyone who President-elect Obama would choose for this post could do that, and I can't imagine that Gov Napolitano is the only possibility. The problem starts at the top -- the Bush administration created the mess and a different administration would be able to deal with it. If Gov Napolitano things she is some sort of Singular Chosen One to do that particular job, that's not true IMO.

And as far as responsibility: The President appoints the cabinet. He is as responsible for her leaving -- if she does -- as she is, to my eyes.

The ultimate responsibility for my response to all this, however, lies with me. If I have had illusions about what is going on, that's on me. It just hurts right now.

She is her own person with her own career goals and asperations.

See this is one of the very things I have always hated about electoral politics.

Michelle, in the 20+ years' I've been observing politics, I can tell you that any individual running for public office, 95% of the time, have similar career goals and aspirations. We all get the speech "I'm running to help improve things in my community, state, district..." and about 60% of that is true - but the remaining 40% is about personal ambition and career goals.

It is the nature of the political beast, and I've learned the hard way, not to idealize or glamorize politicians - especially since I live in the Nation's Capital, where I see them up close and personal. When you get to personally know these politicians, you will be constantly disillusioned because you find out they're human like WE ARE.

The only person I met in Congress that I am proud to call "my friend" is former Rep. Cynthia McKinney. People call her loony, ghetto slut, the whole nine yards, but she is one of the few elected officials I met in DC that actually walks her talk. I mean that literally. If you have her friendship, you really have her friendship. Others I've met are Marcy Kaptur of Ohio (who was one of the few white members who had Cynthia's back when she was being harassed by Capitol Hill po-po), Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers and Major Owens. The rest, especially in the CBC - either they're trying to get you between the sheets, or they dog you out and believe they can because they are members of Congress.

It's good to be passionate, Michelle - never lose it. But always remember that heroes and sheroes are human and have clay feet as well. Praise 'em when they do well - give 'em hell when they Eff-up. And I don't think Napolitano has Effed-UP - she has a good opportunity to bring more of Arizona's issues to the forefront in the new position, as well as restore credibility and kneecap Lieberman in Homeland Security.

Yes, CPL, what you are saying is exactly why I have for all of my adult life stayed away from involvement in electoral politics. It's basically a system where people pretend they are about the collective they are trying to get to elect them, then act in as unaccountable and selfish a way possible without losing their careers and meeting their needs that way.

And you know what, I don't think it's about being human. If I take on a responsibility to others, I take that seriously. I try to be very careful what responsibilities I take on in my work for that exact reason -- when I have responsibilities to other people it isn't just about ME and what I want for my own selfish self, I have moral obligations.

The responsibility that these people take on is huge -- but worse than that, they make public claims that they aren't just being selfish. That bugs me more than anything, the LIES that are normalized.

In my eyes, it is not human to be unaccountable when you claim to be accountable. It is lying. Yes this a cultural norm in this sick society, but it is not human.

The system itself encourages lack of accountability by giving people power to make decisions and protecting them from the actual lived consequences of their decisions. The more power you have (whether electorally or otherwise) the more people's lives you affect with what you do and decide, and the more protected you are from the negative impacts of your actions and decisions.

Anyway, I made an exception to my disgust with electoral politics for this election season, since last February.

That will not happen again.

This political system is a cesspool -- sick, twisted and upside-down.

I knew it before February and I let that knowledge go. I am furious at myself for doing this, but I did it.

In the end I am to blame for letting go of my knowledge of how this mess actually works. That is on me.

But don't beat yourself up about this. Consider it an opportunity for learning. Decide what the lesson is that you take from this and reapply your energy.

And consider DC if you're thinking about employment, because the employment should pick up in January, with everyone and their mother coming here looking for work in the new Administration; not to mention that DC is pretty gay-friendly in terms of living (Maryland, too and if you should find yourself in Northern Virginia, don't go past Fairfax County, cause then you're in the more conservative parts of the commonwealth).

It's like this:

Sally is working for Job A running "the department". Sally is great at Job A, she's very efficient, she makes it happen, she makes it work. Beth also works at Job A in "the department". If Sally leaves, Beth moves up to her position. She's marginally competent, most people could take her or leave her. Most people prefer Sally.

Sally gets a job offer from Job B. Job B would be a step up for her, would be more money, and she could use her talents more effectively in her opinion at Job B. Plus she's not 100% satisfied at Job A...otherwise she wouldn't have expressed interest in Job B.

Questions for the class:

If Sally takes the job at Job B, is it:

a) Job B's fault that Sally leaves and Job A is stuck with Beth?

b) Sally's fault that Job A will be stuck with Beth?

c) Job A's fault they have Beth in the first place?

And if Sally does leave, is it Job A's responsibility to find somebody better than Beth to run the department?

If "Job B" is a person who has claimed he feels a sense of responsibility to the people affected by this move, their actual rel lives. if "Job B" has already meddled in the situation at Job A by asking the people there to focus attention on some other place (New Mexico) to jet "Job B" elected to office, if Job B is the president of all the people involved and has made claim after claim that he cares about the actual lived reality of the people affected by this move...

You know what? I find this analogy deeply dis-ingenous and evading the actual real (not abstract of hypothetical) situation that is actually going on.

Not as disingenous as claiming that the person shouldn't look at going to Job B because too many people will be affected at Job A without initially disclosing that YOU'RE one of the people that would be affected if the person goes to Job B.

If Janet Napolitano died TODAY and this hard line Republican took over, you'd be out of a job anyway, right? Everyone would be affected, right?

Napolitano could have told Obama "thanks but no thanks" and she could have declined the offer. She didn't. Therefore the "blame" lies on Napolitano, not Obama.

And if she weren't interested or at least curious about a place in the Obama administration she would have shut him down.

It's not Obama's fault or responsibility. He has no responsibility to secure the political climate of Arizona. That would be Napolitano's responsibility.

And should Sally have to stay in her position at Job A because the people at Job A don't want Beth to assume Sally's position should Sally leave?

Town, are you a teacher?
This is an excellent analogy of a situation that obviously carries a lot of passion for you Michelle.

Michelle: I think is important and indeed a blessing that we can share at JJP. I want to first acknowledge how you feel, because for me, if my feelings aren't validated first, I find it challenging to move beyond them.

Change of any kinds brings with it a range of emotions. So go ahead and express them. You have my support. That is all I can offer you on this situation at the moment.

I don't need my feelings validated. That to me is useless.

there is actual reality going on.

The real blame for my "feelings" lies with me. I allowed myself to believe a politician's claims when I should know better, when I should know that this is not how it works -- becaus eof what I have obseved my whole life about this system. I let down my guard when I should know better.

I am re-adjusting and trying to get my guard back UP where it properly belongs.

Ok.

No, I'm not a teacher. Just trying to take the "personal" out and look at the situation objectively.

Look at it in job terms: if you're working at Widgets Inc., Sprockets LLC generally isn't going to offer you a job there unless you apply or express interest in working for Sprockets LLC. The only way Sprockets LLC is going to approach you first is if you're so good at your job at Widgets Inc. that Sprockets is willing to lure you away.

If you're fine with staying with Widgets, you're going to tell Sprockets "Thanks but no thanks."

If you leave Widgets for Sprockets, is it really Sprockets' fault you left? After all, Sprockets didn't hold a gun to your head and force you to leave Widgets.

And if you leave Widgets for Sprockets and Betty the Hated Coworker ends up taking over your spot, the Widget people will either learn to work with Betty or they will find a way to get rid of Betty.

But you shouldn't base your career decisions based on what will happen after you leave, either.

Change is scary, but if Obama is going to staff his administration based on what might happen if his choices leave their current spots, he might as well call John McCain and ask him if he can hand off POTUS to him.

Thanks, Town. And you are a "Teacher."

LOL. It would be extremely flattering to be considered by the President and hard to say "no" to.

BUT

If Napolitano weren't at least a bit curious, she would have shut his team down from jump street. It's not like the vetting teams just pluck a name out of a hat and say "Ok, you're gonna be Commerce Secretary." They have to go through a process of investigation. If you're not interested you're not going to submit to that investigation process, period.

I haven't heard Tim Kaine's name considered for anything even though he only has 1 year left in his term and he was one of Obama's initial backers and was a candidate for VP. That could be because Kaine could have told Obama "Not right now, if I leave VA will have a Republican governor and I can't do that to VA. How about later?" Napolitano knows what will happen if she leaves and she kept herself under consideration anyway. So how her leaving is Obama's fault is beyond my comprehension.

Anyone who believes that politicans get into politics because they "care" is naive. Politicians get into politics for the POWER, Obama included. You don't need to go to the General Assembly, the State House, the City Council, Congress or the White House to "make a change" in your community, you just go and make a change in your community.

I'm just saying. If Napolitano weren't interested in getting out of Arizona she would have shut the Obama team down from jump.

I think you'll see Kaine after he finishes his term. Additionally he initially said he wasn't looking for a position with Obama until he finished his term as Governor. And since Virginia's constitution only allows for a single term, after 2009, Kaine might get an appointment that doesn't require Senate confirmation - like an ambassadorship or something.

Anyone who believes that politicans get into politics because they "care" is naive. Politicians get into politics for the POWER, Obama included.

Well now that would be me between February 2007 and now.

Totally guilty as charged. (not that you were charging me, I'm charging myself here)

You don't need to go to the General Assembly, the State House, the City Council, Congress or the White House to "make a change" in your community, you just go and make a change in your community.

Well, actually my assessment after 2 decades of orienting toward non-electoral collective "change" is that social movements/ "community-based whatevers are often also pretty f-ed up a lot of times. But that's mostly because what I am hard-wired made to do is antithetical to these efforts most of the time. And individual stuff only goes so far.

But anyway, on the electoral politics part, I totally agree with you. That arena is NOT a locus for change efforts. It is part of what should change, not a mechanism for change.

I mean -- duh.

What I deluded fool I have been these last months.

Thank you for your help in this part of the discussion, Town.

Oops, correction to the above: I meant Feb 2008, I wasn't that early

rikyrah: This was FUNNY - IMHO! :>)

A Thousand Words: The Winners

Earlier this week, we asked Fixistas for their best captions to the photo above of Sen. Ted Stevens (R) who, on his 85th birthday Wednesday (Stevens' birthday was Tuesday, not Wednesday. We stand corrected.) officially conceded his re-election race to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D).

We had more than 100 entries to our "a picture is worth a thousand words" competition, and there were a number that caused the old Fix to chuckle out loud. (That could have something to do with the fact that we are currently wacky on cough medicine as well.)

Our favorite came from Bondosan who realized that brevity is the soul of wit with this caption: "Baked Alaska." GENIUS!

The others who made the finals are below. Thanks to everyone who participated!

"I can see the federal prison from my kitchen window."
Posted by: tobetv

"Son of a Begich."
Posted by: Jindal2012

"All together everyone!! happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
Posted by: formerlylove

"My career isn't going down in a truck. It's going down in a series of tubes!"
Posted by: chicobangs

"Worst....birthday.....EVER."
Posted by: RookNYC

By Chris Cillizza | November 20, 2008; 4:00 PM ET | Category: 1,000 Words

:>) :>)

HALF-baked Alaska...

TruthSeeker: LOL! :>) :>)

rikyrah: This pic is VERY TOUCHING - - LITERALLY & FIGURATIVELY. :>) **TEARS**

President-Elect Obama! :>) First Lady MIchelle! :>)