Wow! OMG! and all those other Expletives...Now What?

In my quest to stay awake to see Barack Obama speak, I actually had to limit my beverage consumption. I couldn't follow the "Monday Night Football" plan whereby I fall asleep on the couch during the commercial between the first and second halves, and then wake up in the fourth quarter to see what everybody is yelling about.

I was wired until the electoral tally broke 270 and then all the phone calls started coming in. My circle of friends seemed to be very happy in the wee hours, and I suspect there will be some groggy folks at their desks today.

Obama won...We won...Now what?

My home state of Tennessee continued its march against the tide and went heavily Republican at all levels. That's trouble for people who care about the environment or want religious proselytizing kept out of schools. There's a long list.

But now we have the scenario in place. The playing field has changed and the teams have different field positions than they did 24 hours ago. What's next?

One way to think about it is to see who were the winners and who are the losers after yesterday.

One pundit thinks that Obama's election means that race will be less of a barrier to candidates. This could have a bearing on Tennessee"

Harold Ford Jr./Artur Davis: Ford, a former Tennessee congressman and 2006 Senate candidate, and Davis, an Alabama congressman, are weighing bids for governor in their respective states in 2010. Obama's victory -- the first by an African American in the country's history -- and his strong showing in states like Virginia and North Carolina could well make it easier for both Ford and Davis, both of whom are black, to overcome the traditional racial divides present in southern politics. Obama's win doesn't mean Ford or Davis will win but it does lessen the power of the argument that a black candidate can't be elected to certain offices in certain parts of the country.

I strongly question that. Tennessee politics are driven by fear and loathing...The issues are rarely positive ones. We tend to stick to smearing our opponents as being against the god, gays, and guns hot buttons that motivate our likely voters. In a year when most of the rest of the nation put aside race as a qualification and voted for leadership, Tennessee's politicians ran as hard as they could away from the national ticket. They accepted the way things are in Tennessee and campaigned accordingly. I don't believe they had to.

Rather than trying to play into the prevailing prejudices, Tennessee's Democrats could have paid their dues in rewriting our state's narrative. We could have also moved away from prejudice as a campaign theme. Instead, we validated it.

My Country has, at least momentarily, moved away from race as an issue, but the burden of history will weigh heavily upon Barack Obama. The TV people keep talking about America electing a "Black Man" and I wish they wouldn't. I wish Obama could be thought of as a "Multi-Cultural" American.

After all...most of us are.

Folks, this country is in serious situation, debt ridden, divided on schools, health care, the environment, and the Iraq War and whether or not you can defeat terrorism by destroying a whole nation that had nothing to do with the act that started the war.

I have great hope (yes, there's that word again) that Barack Obama can reverse the course of neo-conservative destruction and decay beset upon America. It will take all his talents and all of our effort to support him. The question comes down, not to whether Barack Obama will be a great President of the United States of America...But rather, "Will we let him?"

The onus is actually on us. Are we ready to become a "Great Generation"?

I hope so.

Peace,

Steve

The Further Radicalization of the GOP

Saint Krugman sees what I see, and says it far better.

...the GOP's long transformation into the party of the unreasonable right, a haven for racists and reactionaries, seems likely to accelerate as a result of the impending defeat.

This will pose a dilemma for moderate conservatives. Many of them spent the Bush years in denial, closing their eyes to the administration's dishonesty and contempt for the rule of law. Some of them have tried to maintain that denial through this year's election season, even as the McCain-Palin campaign's tactics have grown ever uglier. But one of these days they're going to have to realize that the Republican Party has become the party of intolerance.

The entire article is here.

WhitesCreek goes Out on a Limb and Predicts...

From Nostrodamos...

Quatrain 78, Century X

At the war's end:
The Feeble Kept One will strike down the Night
And his Imbecile Queen will rise from the snow
Bedecked in finery and the pelt of a wolf.

Actually, the "Feeble One" promises to never end the war, so this prophecy cannot apply to tomorrow's election.

Still...Isn't it delicious, in a way, to think of His "Imbecile Queen"?

OK, I admit it's scary. But one thing I have heard from an amazing number of people, young, old, rich and poor...If Obama is denied the Presidency, there will be White Folks rioting in the streets.

Frankly...I don't think so. I don't think we are going to be causing trouble tomorrow night.

So here is the long awaited WhitesCreek Prophecy for 11-04-2008:

I think we are going to be...(Turn your speakers up and get out of that chair!)

Dancin' in Chicago (dancin' in the street)
Down in New Orleans (dancin' in the street)
In New York City

Callin' out around the world,
are you ready for a brand new beat?
Summer's here and the time is right
for dancin' in the street.
Dancin' in Chicago (dancin' in the street)
Down in New Orleans (dancin' in the street)
In New York City

All we need is music, sweet music,
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin,
Dancin' in the street

Oh it doesn't matter what you wear,
just as long as you are there.
So come on every guy, grab a girl,
Everywhere, around the world

There'll be dancin', they're dancin' in the street.
This is an invitation, across the nation,
A chance for folks to meet.
There'll be laughin' singin', and music swingin'
Dancin' in the street

Philadelphia P.A., Baltimore and D.C now,
Can't forget the motor city,
All we need is music, sweet music
There'll be music everywhere
There'll be swingin' swayin', and records playin,
Dancin' in the street

Oh it doesn't matter what you wear,
just as long as you are there.
So come on every guy, grab a girl,
Everywhere, around the world

They're dancin', dancin' in the street
Way down in L.A., every day
they're dancin' in the street
Lets form a big strong line, and get in time,
We're dancin' in the street.
Across the ocean blue, me and you
We're dancin n the street

And for you CaliForNeeUns who are awaiting the Prop 8 Vote I offer this version...

Hickory Wind Redux

The Day it was

Scary Picture!

Consumer debt is now equal to the gross national product.

BondDad explains what it all means.

Short version is that the real bottom line job of the next President is to encourage the creation of jobs.

Deus Ex Machina?

There are some folks who think that electronic voting machines will steal this election from Barack Obama. Nah...Can't happen.




What this means is that you have to vote. Vote early if you can. Check your vote before you leave the machine's booth and make sure that it highlights or checks the correct name, not just in the Presidential races but in down ballot races also.

One thing I hope Obama and the Democratic majority will do immediately, is fix the voting machine problem requiring a paper record and receipt of your vote and open source software at a minimum.

Eloquent Endorsement of Obama...By another Republican Senator

Former Senator Charles McC. Mathias Jr., a Republican, represented Maryland in the U.S. House from 1961 to 1968 and in the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1986.

In addition to talking about his long family history and his own personal support of the Republican Party, Senator Mathias states how difficult it is for him to realize that his party has abandoned its principles and duty to America. It is from pure patriotism that Senator Mathias faces reality and endorses Barack Obama for President of the United States of America...

I believe that Obama's inspirational leadership, contemplative nature and well-reasoned, forward-looking policies offer our troubled nation a real opportunity to face and overcome its many challenges at home and abroad.

On an array of domestic issues, including health care, education, tax policy, the environment and alternative energy sources, Obama promises a clean break from the recent past and tangible hope for a return to fiscal responsibility, economic security and true environmental stewardship, all of which are essential to restoring our greatness.

From the Washington Post


Peace,

Steve

(Big) Moonshiner Pardoned by Reagan Endorses Obama

Ok, so the moonshiner in question is one of the founders of Nascar, Junior Johnson.

Also

Who is this Guy?

Check the Endorse!

Will Republican Congressman Zach Wamp come out and endorse Barack Obama? A ton of Republicans are. The rest of them are scared and dreading election day.

Zach seems to be predicting a bloodbath for his party and appears to have mentally moved on from the inevitable McCain defeat...

"It's time for a fresh start. We need new faces and new people to communicate what our party stands for," said Representative Zach Wamp, Republican of Tennessee. After the elections, Republicans need to develop a simple, five-point plan that gets back to the principles espoused by GOP icon Ronald Reagan, he said - smaller government, no deficit spending, and a strong national defense that does not entail making the United States the "world's policeman."

Someone needs to tell Zach that Ronald Reagan is a mythological figure who never actually existed, except in the words of speechwriter Peggy Noonan.

A little history here...Zach first got elected with one of the dirtiest campaigns we've seen in east TN, with a TV ad showing his opponent, Randy Button, morphing into Bill Clinton and the Devil. It was the closest race of the Gingrich revolution, and involved the famous "Contract with America" which, blindly followed, has gotten us into the incredibly deep hole we find ourselves in today.

President Clinton vetoed most of the more onerous provisions of the "contract" and deliverred his predecessor the first budget surplus in generations. The two main henchmen of the contract in Congress, Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay, left office under ethics clouds, with Delay still facing legal issues.

With control of the Presidency, the House, and the Senate, Republicans proceeded to run over the Constitution, pillage the Treasury, pack the Supreme Court, weaken the EPA, fund the a devastating war, fail to hold a treasonous Vice President in check, failed to guarantee an accurate count of American's votes, and increase the power of lobbyists and their money out of all proportion, balance, and fairness, allowinf lobbyists for Banks, Wall Street firms, polluting corporations, and defense industries, to write legislation which Congress was called to vote on without ever having read it.

So the real problem for Zach Wamp is not that he needs a new five point contract to communicate what Republicans stand for...The problem is that after 8 years of watchig Republicans run loose and roughshod over the princibles of representative democracy, America has seen for herself EXACTLY what Republicans stand for.

The first step in curing this problem is realizing that we have one, and that the root cause comes out of the Republican party. This is clearly evidenced by the incredible list of prominent Republicans who are publicly endorsing Obama. The list is amazing, courageuos, growing every day, and does not yet include Zach Wamp.

It's time to get on the freedom train, Zach. (And Lincoln...You listening?)

Peace,

Steve


And now this:(thanks to our Runner Dude friends)

Subject: - David Sedaris on being undecided in this election

"To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane.

The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat.

'Can I interest you in the chicken?' she asks.

'Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?'

"To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."

McCain v McCain

"I said it would be easy..."

Conservatives for Change

From this post

OMG! McCain's a Socialist?

And please don't miss the bonus irony content of this beauty of a video where the question comes from a student at a state university.

( Note to Pete...who told me that he doesn't care if Obama is an Arab, he's a socialist. Pete is currently a senior at Clemson University where his education was brought to him by the socialist state educational system...Have someone explain this one to you.)

Ziggy and the Spiders from Morning Joe

Road Trip

Octoberfest?

It's Fall, leaves doing their thing, football games, beer, and songs that feature a tuba player.

We had sworn a solemn oath to go to a college football game while our son was still a student so when Clemson (his school) hosted Georgia Tech (one of my schools) it was time. It didn't hurt that Walhalla, SC was having Octoberfest the same weekend, or that you have to go over mountains to get from East Tennessee to West South Carolina and the color is quite nice this year.

In most of the rest of the world, drinking beer on the streets during festivals is not only allowed, but encouraged. In Roane County it's illegal except for certain legal loopholes that I won't mention lest the church bretheren rabble rouse to close them. Walhalla solved the legal problem by recognizing a big funeral tent as a legal bar under which beer may be served and consumed for four days every October. They started with "near" beer, moved up to "all three kinds" Miller, Bud, and Bud Light, and now have a fine selection of actuall beers to choose from, as long as you stay under the tent with the band.

The tent gets rather crowded, the band has a dance troup and some cow bell players, the crowd gets dragged onto the floor to dance, vendors line the park, and the town makes 25% of it's sales tax revenue in this one weekend for the entire year. It's a tourist destination now. I talked to the man who has been putting it on for over 25 years and he said it was a hard sell at first but now, even the church people love it. They set up booths and hand out literature.

It's a love fest of a different sort, but they had shuttles and vans to haul folks home if need be, and the cops were amazingly friendly and helpful. The only complaint I heard was that the beer tent needed to be much larger, since you had to stand under it to consume. The cops overlooked the fact that the crowd grew bigger than the tent and all was well.

East Tennessee could use a visionary small town that could put on an event like this.



Our tickets were courtesey of the Clemson Tiger mascot and were in the section with the player's family. I was warned to wear orange and not to cheer for the wrong team. Actually, since it was the first game after Tommy Bowden got fired, I was pulling for the Tigers, who almost pulled it out in the last minutes.

Prost!

Steve

And for you political junkies, here's the biggest event of the week so far:

Have You Changed?

The Debate, "No Negative Campaigning"

Do Republican strategists watch too much TV?

(I mean the torture strategy was stolen from 24.)




Hat tip to Digby!

Soon we can start the Real Work

It's funny to see the McCain/Palin campaign rant breathlessly about Barack Obama's collaboration with a noted educator to found an organization dedicated to school improvement with money from a prominent Republican foundation.

They say Obama and William Ayers wanted schools to teach Liberal ideological things like...reading, science, mathematics, civics...My Gosh!

Can you believe anyone could vote for a man who did things like that? And look who the funding came from ...The Walter Annenberg Foundation. Terrorists!

Why even this very day, Walter Annenberg's widow has endoresed...John McCain?...For President...Oh, wait...What?

But they funded terrorists, didn't they?

Oh, Wow! Now, we find out that Lamar Alexander has an Annenberg Foundation connection to these terrorists. One of Lamar's direct reportees, David Kearns, probably carried secret terrorist instructions from Lamar and his boss, George Herbert Walker Bush.

David Kearns was: Chairman of the Alexandria-based New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC)—a 1991 school reform initiative of President George H. W. Bush; former Deputy Secretary of Education (1991–1993) under Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the George H. W. Bush administration; former president, CEO and chairman of Xerox

XEROX! You hear that? They were actually using this man's company's machines and copying documents! Copying documents in offices at every level in America's government...Some of them were even..."secret" documents!

Were all the Annenberg Foundation members terrorist connected? Looks like it! They read like a who's who in America for Education.

My Gosh! How deep does this go?

Look...Bill Ayers worked with a totally misguided group and did some bad things 40 years ago in order to try and stop a stupid, probably unconstitutional, and tragic war, in which tens of thousands of Americans were killed, far more were wounded, and hundreds, including John McCain himself, were captured, held prisoner, and tortured.

He was not convicted of any crime. For decades, now, Bill Ayers turned his energy toward positive action and has worked for better schools. He is a noted PHD professor of Education.

Compare Obama's association with Bill Ayers, 30 years later, in the service of their community, working for better schools, with John McCain's association with his own domestic terrorist, G. Gordon Liddy.

Ayers was trying, in however miguided a way, to stop a war.

G. Gordon Liddy, of Watergate fame, was working to destroy Democracy in America, to continue the Vietnam War, and preserve the Nixon Presidency. Liddy readily admits his intents. His plans included murdering journalists and kidnapping people who opposed Richard Nixon. They would have been carried out except for his bungled burglary at the Watergate Hotel, in which he was trying to steal documents outlining Democratic Presidential Campaign strategy.

Got that? John McCain's friend, fundraiser, and supporter, G. Gordon Liddy, committed domestic terrorist acts in a plan to destroy Democracy in America. He hasn't reformed or worked to give back to his community by working for better schools, as William Ayers has done. He has only tried to become rich, by promoting his perverse ideology, which John McCain still buys into, in books and on his creepy conservative radio show. Liddy held a McCain fundraiser in his own home and has donated thousands to McCain. He also told his listeners that you have to shoot United States agents in the head to kill them.

Obama works with a diverse group of people that includes Republicans, Democrats, and other school activists like William Ayers (who turned his capabilities toward the good side of the force), to improve schools in his community, and McCain has the nerve to accuse him of associating with terrorists?

McCain takes money from domestic terrorist and convicted felon G. Gordon Liddy and acts holier than thou?

John McCain has no honor left.

Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States of America.

Then the real work of saving America can begin.

Peace,

Steve

Update: Federal Prosecutor of the Weathermen praises Ayers for becoming a responsible citizen.

Governor's Land and Water Forum and Devilstep Hollow Cave

First of all I want to note that Governor Bredesen has been awarded the National Humanitarian Award for his work in preserving Tennessee's natural heritage.

Well Done, sir!

I'll talk more about that later and will try to link to the actual announcement if I can find it.



As part of the Governor's Land and Water Forum, we were taken on a tour of our newest state park at Devilstep Hollow. It's 12 miles South of Cumberland Mountain State park but is not yet open to the public. The driveway crosses private land and a new easement is being purchased and developed.

The farm is beautiful, sitting at the very head of the Sequatchee Valley. Grassy Cove is on the other side of the massive sandstone ridge which separates the two valleys,, which are geologically the same.

Here is the Devilstep Hollow sinkhole where the cave is located.



This is where the Sequatchie River flows out of the ground at the Devil Step Hollow farm, a few hundred yards from the sinkhole.



I'll try to add more photos of the actual conference as I have time. There is some great stuff going on in Tennessee that will improve and preserve the beauty of our state for future generations. As a result of Phil Bredesen's personal commitment TDEC Commissioner Jim Fyke made this announcement,

"Governor Phil Bredesen has been selected as the National Recreation and Park Association’s 2008 National Humanitarian Award winner for his work to preserve and protect Tennessee landscapes."

Fyke nominated Bredesen for the award, which NRPA presents to an individual or organization whose concern for humanity has been expressed through park, recreation and conservation efforts that enrich people’s lives.


The one worry I kept hearing from the folks in the room is what will happen after Phil Bredesen leaves in two years? He has set the bar very high for the next governor, and folks are concerned that Tennessee may return to the environmentally indifferent years the hallmarked the previous administration.

Phil Bredesen will be a hard act to follow.

Peace,

Steve

Update: The Link