At the Inauguration. Yes, those are people.

Inaugural Address

First, let me say that today is a grand day. A wonderful day. A simply splendiferous day. :) And, fact check Obama - there have not been 44 presidents, there have been 43 presidents.

My favorite parts of the inaugural address:

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

...

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

...

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

...

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Go President Obama!

YESS!!!!

I am in such a fabulous mood. I was cautiously optimistic before the election, and I am SO HAPPY that Obama won by such a huge electoral margin. That's a very clear mandate, unlike just having Florida or Ohio deciding the election.

Today, I'm more proud to be an American than I ever have before as an adult.

Don't worry, I'm sure it'll wear off soon. ;)

Veep Debate

Indecision 2008

Here's to the only worthwhile news on television.

Caucuses and what not

Because I'm lazy, it's taken me this long to send my picture to myself and upload it here of the madhouse that were the caucuses in Washington on Feb 9.

This is a picture of the crush of people way over to the side of the church who had already registered their support of a particular candidate. What you can't see is the line about three to four people wide still going into the church to sign up - a line which stretched around the end of the block.

The organizers apologized for not having enough space, said that the venue wasn't large enough. That was rather an understatement. I think it speaks to the amount of excitement this primary campaign has generated that many first time caucus goers made the effort and stuck around to figure out how the process works just so they could have a voice. For once.

Definitions

Neuticles: an artificial replacement for the testicles of neutered pets. According to AP, -The idea, says inventor Gregg A. Miller, is to "let people restore their pets to anatomical preciseness" after neutering, thereby allowing them to retain their natural look and self-esteem. "People thought I was crazy when I started 13 years ago," says the Oak Grove, Mo. entrepreneur. But he has since sold more than 240,000 pairs (a few of which went on prairie dogs, water buffalo, and monkeys). "Neutering is creepy. But with Neuticles, it's like nothing has changed."- Neutering is creepy? And fake testicles for animals isn't?

13265.47: The current Dow Jones Industrial average, and the lowest it's been in nearly five years, due in part to a bad sub-prime housing lending market (who woulda thunk that in a pinch, the sub-prime market would bust? need a crystal ball for that one....) and negative sentiment in spite of decent forecasts. What does this say to me? If I had money, I'd be snapping up Netflix stock, that's what.

The Underdog: which is right where he wants to be. Sen. John McCain is back in the role of the underdog, railing against party excesses and partisanship. I personally like this McCain much better than the party front-runner the press was touting him as. I doubt if he'll win in the primaries, because, like Howard Dean for Democrats, McCain isn't 'safe' enough for most Republicans. And by most, I mean the ones that count - the big donors. So, I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride, and look forward to hearing more statements like this from him: "It's getting harder to do the work of the Lord in the city of Satan."

Jailtime: how much time should a woman get for having an abortion? The latest Newsweek asks this question based on a video shot by a man at a protest outside of an abortion clinic. As one might expect, most of the answers were not answers at all, as most people who actively protest against abortion are idealists who - in general - have a hard time thinking logically about their position. So, if abortion is illegal, how much time does the woman get? Recent interpretations and Supreme Court judgments (I'm looking at you, Justice Kennedy) do not hold the woman responsible at all, preferring instead to place all blame on the doctor. You can't have it both ways. Either you criminalize the woman who is said to be committing murder (that IS the rhetoric) or, you realize there will always be those who make the choice to abort their baby regardless of the law or the availability of decent medical facilities. So, jail time and botched abortions? Or the legality of a practice I'm sure most people, even those who are pro-choice, would agree is not a choice that should be considered a woman's first.

Obama! No, Clinton! No, McCain! No, that guy nobody knows over there!

The fact that the US 2008 Presidential election race is already "heating up" according to msnbc.com is slightly ridiculous. We don't vote for a year and half! Can you imagine how many dumb/vicious/stupid campaign commericals will be aired during the meantime?

Some figures: Clinton and McCain are expected to be able to raise $80-100 million this year alone, to gear up for the nomination gridlock. I guess McCain learned his lesson from 2000 - you have the integrity not to play like the big boys, and George Bush becomes president. So, let's see how much else he "lets go of" during the race, hmm? The others are pretty close behind, with Romney, Giuliani, Obama and Edwards posting excellent campaign contribution totals as well.

Some fun totals from Yahoo! news:

• Giuliani brought in $1.4 million in the first few weeks of his campaign and has $2 million left from an aborted Senate bid in 2000.
• Clinton hopes to raise at least $75 million this year. She has asked contributors to give the maximum amount for both the primary and general election since she plans to bypass the public financing system entirely.
• Obama isn't accepting donations from political action committees and lobbyists. Following Clinton's lead, he also doesn't plan to accept public campaign financing for either the primaries or the general election.
• Edwards is building on the remnants of a fundraising network from his unsuccessful 2004 presidential run. Like Obama, he isn't accepting donations from political action committees and lobbyists. And like Clinton and Obama, he plans to reject public financing altogether. So far, ACTBlue.com says he has raised more than $700,000 online.
• McCain has added high-profile people to his fundraising network in place from his failed 2000 presidential bid. His team includes Lewis M. Eisenberg, a Bush backer in 2004 and former partner at Goldman Sachs who founded the Granite Capital International Group.
• Romney brought 400 volunteers to Boston to dial for dollars using a custom-made software program dubbed the ComMITT system that allows volunteers to set goals and gather pledges and actual donations online. The take was $6.5 million in a single day.

It's a brave new world - how many of these impressive candidates are online? That would be all of them. Not only can you watch speeches they have posted online, but online donations have become easy and in Romney's case, have helped him raise millions already.

According to CBS news, Romney's campaign fundraising strategy works thusly: "When they log onto QuickComMITT, fundraising volunteers will use a password from the campaign. They will enter information about each person they call, down to whether they couldn't reach them or left a message. The system supersedes spreadsheets of past campaign and the tracking numbers that the Bush-Cheney campaign used to credit supporters for money they had raised. If the prospective donor wants to make a contribution, the credit card information is processed from the same screen, making the job of raising money for Romney as easy "as buying something from eBay or booking an airline ticket online," according to the instructions for users."

Just like eBay, folks! Get in line to support your favorite candidate and send a little cash their way. The article goes on to say, "President Bush has raised more money than any politician in history. So his system has been deconstructed by fundraisers on both sides, and several of the campaigns are blatantly copying some of his strategies. As first reported in the New York Daily News by Ben Smith, now with The Politico, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has created a Bush-Ranger knockoff using a baseball motif, with a descending structure of Team Captains, MVPs, All Stars and Sluggers."

You know, this is almost as annoying as seeing how much money professional athletes are paid. I'm sure this is helping the economy somehow, since it's generally rich folks who are donating cash (which I'm sure is tax deductible), and the workers bees are getting paid somehow, but still.... it's really sad. It's not as though any individual really has the power to make his/her voice heard anyway. I'll vote, because it's something I'm supposed to do, but it's so frustrating knowing that even if someone like Obama is nominated, he won't actually be able to change things much, and the rest of them are machine policiticians.