LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!

President-elect Barack Obama introduced the new national security team Monday, and then took a much-needed break. Dude has been busy, yo. The order of the day? Shake it, shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture. Hey ya!

No big surprises at Monday's press conference, but Obama officially announced that former campaign rival Hillary Clinton will be the new secretary of state. Not that it matters, but bellowing gas bag Rush Limbaugh called the selection "brilliant."

But who cares what he says?

Obama also announced that Bush's Pentagon chief Robert Gates will stay on as defense secretary for continuity sake--we're fighting two wars, after all. In related news, Obama is ousting top Bush Pentagon officials, including many of Gates's top deputies. More from the Washington Post, HERE.

Other picks: Marine Gen. James Jones as White House national security adviser, former Justice Department official Eric Holder as attorney general, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano as secretary of homeland security, and Susan Rice as UN Ambassador.


Meanwhile, in another part of town, outgoing President George W. Bush told ABC News' Charlie Gibson "I was unprepared for war," and "I'm sorry" for the economic crisis.

Bush expressed remorse that the financial crisis has cost jobs and harmed retirement accounts. "I'm sorry it's happening, of course," he said. "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s."

Bush pointed to incorrect intelligence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction as "the biggest regret of all the presidency."

"I wish the intelligence had been different, I guess." When pressed by Gibson, Bush was clear. "That is a do-over that I can't do."

This ABC interview raises many questions, the most salient being: "Can Barack Obama start early?"


The ABC News interview with outgoing president, George W. Bush, 12/01/08

RANTING ABOUT RACE

With Barack Obama as the nominee, racism will undoubtedly be a factor in the upcoming Presidential election. Some people just won't vote for him because he's black, and it's a shame.

The elephant in the room isn't race, exactly, but the fact that racism is a sign of ignorance. Simply put, racists are stupid. No one wants to risk "alienating" these voters, but everyone knows racism is prevalent among less-educated, less knowledgeable people. All the politically correct commentators trip all over themselves to avoid saying "stupid," citing sociological factors, economic determinants, political differences, religious upbringing, psychology, xenophobia, but let's be honest. Racists are stupid. Everyone knows it. It's like believing the world is flat; racism is an outdated position that's not backed up by the facts. There aren't two sides to the issue. Instead of red and blue states, we should have smart and dumb states, then people might be embarrassed and try to grow up.

I know I sound elitist, but our country is in dire need of intelligent leadership -- especially after such a long stretch of stupidity. By now, even the slow learners are beginning to see that ignorance doesn't work. It's time to get over primitive fear-mongering based on race -- and gender, and class, as well. It's time to give up such antiquated superstitions. It's time to get smart.

HILLARY, HERE'S YOUR HAT

Hillary Clinton conceded, finally. She took her own sweet time, but she's out now, right? Why does she look like she's still running for something? Maybe I shouldn't worry. Hillary is throwing her total support behind Barack Obama, and the party is finally united...right?

Wrong. Hillary deserves something, her fans say. She got eighteen million votes and she deserves to be Vice President, or get a cabinet position -- some kind of consolation prize, at least -- or they won't play ball. She lost, you say! She shouldn't be calling the shots!

Obama is in a bind. Some of these sore losers say they'll skip the election entirely if Hillary isn't included. That's dumb and dumber. Does he really need their support? Remember what this is all about. The real fight is against McCain and the status quo of the greedy, lying Bushies. Defeat the war machine in November. Give us a change we can believe in. Go, Obama!

What went wrong with Hillary's campaign? Read an article from Huff-Po HERE.

NEW REPORT ON WAR BUILD-UP

A long-delayed Senate committee report has concluded that President Bush and his aides built the public case for the Iraq War by exaggerating available intelligence and ignoring disagreements among spy agencies about Iraq’s weapons programs and Saddam's links to Al Qaeda.

Bush and his cronies are liars -- but this is old news, right? Everyone -- including former insider Scott McClellan, who actually spoonfed the Bush line to the obedient media -- have said as much. Bush lied.

The rest of us knew way back when, when Democrats and Republicans alike were afraid to look unpatriotic. We marched in the streets and wrote letters to deaf ears, while the generals were the go-to interviews and military analysts made a second career as TV regulars. The game was rigged. Media was a conduit for policy, though some outlets later apologized for not questioning enough at the time. It wasn't convenient to tell the truth at that point, with the numbers skewed that way, so most people kept their mouths shut. Not our finest hour.

Finally, after the war has destroyed so many thousands of Americans and Iraqis lives and the shithouse is completely in flames, the cowards emerge from the crapper. What do they expect, a medal? It's a damn shame it took so long to tell the truth.

Throw the bums out!

NEW DYLAN ART SHOW

Dylan is a busy man. When not writing and performing songs tirelessly, deejaying a popular radio show, or writing his award-winning memoirs, he's busy drawing pictures.

After a successful art show in Germany last year, the songwriter has an art show opening at the Halcyon Gallery in London next week, featuring a collection of over 200 pictures, mostly color variations on the artwork published in "Drawn Blank."



In a rare new interview in the London Times Dylan discussed his art, his memoirs, and Barack Obama.

“Well, you know right now America is in a state of upheaval,” he says. “Poverty is demoralizing. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we've got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up...Barack Obama. He's redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to.” He offers a parting handshake. “You should always take the best from the past, leave the worst back there and go forward into the future,” he notes as the door closes between us."

For more information:
The Halcyon Gallery, London.
Buy "Drawn Blank" at Amazon.com

OBAMA WINS NOMINATION

A moment that will define a generation.

Finally!

Michelle Obama gives Barack a pound. I love this clip.


Breaking News: CNN announces Barrack Obama winning the nomination. Obama gave a rousing speech, and magnanimously praised his rivals, particularly Hillary Clinton. (For her part, Hillary still hasn't dropped out of the race or made a concession speech).

Now it's on to beat McCain and the disastrous policies of George W. Bush!

SAY GOODNIGHT, HILLARY

I guess it wasn't Hillary's fault she made those ill-advised remarks about the RFK assassination as a reason for remaining in the race. It was Obama's fault. That's the spin from the Hillary camp, anyway.

From the Washington Post:

"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign accused Sen. Barack Obama's campaign of fanning a controversy over her describing the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy late in the 1968 Democratic primary as one reason she is continuing to run for the presidency.

"The Obama campaign tried to take these words out of context," Clinton campaign chairman Terence R. McAuliffe said on "Fox News Sunday." "She was making a point merely about the time line."

Hillary, please. Mathematically, the game is nearly over. Try keeping a shred of dignity. Say goodnight, Hillary.

75,000 TURN OUT FOR OBAMA IN OREGON!

Yesterday, over 75,000 people jammed Tom McCall's Waterfront Park in Portland to support Barrack Obama. This was his largest rally of the campaign, and a record turnout for my home state of Oregon.
The Obama momentum is obvious. Finally, we're moving beyond squabbling within the Democratic party, and we're preparing to battle Republican John McCain -- and the bankrupt policies of George W. Bush. It's about time.

Obama in Portland

Tuesday is the Oregon primary. Hey ho, let's go!

SAY GOODNIGHT, HILLARY

Hillary knocks back one for the road. After Tuesday, when she got trounced by Barrack Obama in North Carolina and had a slimmer than expected victory in Indiana, even some former supporters urged her to quit the race. Former Hillary supporter George McGovern switched his support to Obama, and called for her to quit the campaign trail for the good of the party and the country. Many fear the Democrats will destroy each other, and only strengthen the Republicans.

So far, Hillary has ignored calls to leave the race gracefully. She is demanding that the votes be counted in Florida and Michigan, where Obama wasn't even on the ballot. She is busy spinning recent events her way, and tossing a few questionable remarks at Obama:

" 'I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on,' she said in an interview with USA Today. As evidence, Clinton cited an Associated Press article 'that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states (those voting in Tuesday's Indiana and North Carolina primaries) who had not completed college were supporting me.' " - quoted from the LA Times

For more on Hillary's dwindling options, click HERE. And HERE.

THE LOW ROAD TO VICTORY

On the heels of her Pennsylvania victory, Hillary Clinton is getting slapped by a New York Times editorial -- a paper that endorsed her presidential bid earlier this year.

The editorial board says the New York senator's "negativity" is doing "harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election."

"The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it."

To read the editorial, "The Low Road to Victory" from Wednesday's New York Times, click here.

HILLARY AGONISTES

Barrack Obama found himself on the defensive in his debate with Hillary Clinton Wednesday night. She hammered away at his lack of experience, his patriotism, his lack of a flag lapel pin, his remarks about the bitterness of small town America, and his association with bomb-throwing 1960s radicals, the Weathermen.

For his part, Obama didn't get down and dirty. He defended himself, but didn't aggressively attack Hillary. He acted like an adult. It can be argued that this wasn't his strongest debate, but it's hard to tell how it played in the heartland.

For her part, Hillary pandered to gun nuts and churchgoers, something politicians have always done. If this is an example of the "change" she is promising, I'm not convinced. In both style and content, it sounds like more of the same.

Here is an interesting column from the Chicago Sun-Times about Hillary's use of polarizing politics.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/894548,CST-NWS-mitch15.article

CAMPAIGN WATCH

"Clinton Portrays Herself as a Pro-Gun Churchgoer"

The headline from the New York Times Political Blog shows Hillary taking aim at Obama. Candidates are supposed to be somewhat chameleon-like, the but one hopes there is a continuous core self beneath the changing colors and not just raw ambition and a desire for power. Something like integrity.

"[Hillary] described herself as a pro-gun churchgoer, recalling that her father taught her how to shoot a gun when she was a young girl and said that her faith “is the faith of my parents and my grandparents.”

Hillary has grown into this latest version during the furor over Barack Obama's recent remarks about the bitterness of some small town folks and their guns-- remarks he conceded were ill-chosen. Hillary saw an opportunity, and she pounced. She pandered, and tried to out-American him.

"For the third time since Mr. Obama’s remarks were made public Friday night, Mrs. Clinton criticized him at length, saying his comments seemed 'kind of elitist and out of touch.'

From ABC News, Hillary continues:

"'My faith is the faith of my parents and my grandparents,' she said. 'It's a fundamental expression of who we are and what we believe in most profoundly and I disagree with Sen. Obama's assertion that people in our country cling to guns and have certain attitudes about immigration and trade simply out of frustration.'

"Clinton will spend the day in Pennsylvania on Sunday and will likely be repeating her message about Obama’s comments from San Francisco."

What are the incendiary remarks that got Hillary and McCain so fired up? Here's the quote from Obama that started things off:

"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," Obama said. "And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Sounds plausible to me.

POLITICALLY INCORRIGIBLE

Chris Rock is one of the funniest men alive. He's in your face. He doesn't shy away from controversy. He's willing to be politically incorrect, but more important he's willing to be political in a good sense. In other words, he's willing to make fun of the powerful and not just the powerless. Rock gets up in the grill of conventional wisdom. Here he gives some practical advice about dealing with the police.

I hate the term "politically correct." If you ask me, "Political Correctness" is really a straw man argument. Sure, there may be some overly zealous PC types, but the real issue is that conservatives want a free pass to blurt out attitudes of race, gender, and religion, and to do so without challenge. The actual threat of progressive social change to these folks has always been minimal, but they resent losing their undisputed perch on the top of the heap, and the "freedom of expression" that went along with it. They whine that the PC types and the "liberal media" are out to get them, but really it's about the world changing. There is a new sense of decorum. Deal with it. Evolve.

Ricky Gervais is also a very funny man. As fans of the British series The Office can attest, his humor can be excruciating. He also isn't afraid of controversy. Here is a routine about Hitler interpreting Nietzsche.

UNCLE SAM NEEDS YOUR HELP AGAIN

Show some guts! This is war!!! Country Joe McDonald takes on the politicians, generals, war profiteers, and "patriotic" parents in this anti-war classic. Yes, it was written for another war. Then again, so were most of the pro-war "talking points" being recycled these days.

Back then people weren't so civil. Nowadays, we're much more sophisticated. Most of us are fighting to claim the ideological middle, on the assumption that there are two sides to every question, and a cool rational middle-of-the-road position is the sensible thing. We've been well trained. But are there really two sides to every question? What's the sensible middle position on cannibalism, say, or the Earth being flat? How about slavery, or child abuse? Highly rational people can be extremely agile intellectually. They can tell you straight-faced that there are good reasons to incinerate people, or to "stay the course" and continue incinerating people once the incineration has begun.

They have plenty of good reasons, and they always have.

NO COMMENT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Clinton made nearly $109 million since they left the White House, capitalizing on the world's interest in the former first couple and lucrative business ventures.

The Clintons reported $20.4 million in income for 2007 as they gave the public the most detailed look at their finances in eight years. Almost half the former first couple's money came from Bill Clinton's speeches.

"I have absolutely nothing against rich people," Hillary Clinton told North Dakota Democrats at their party convention Friday night in Grand Forks. "As a matter of fact, my husband — much to my surprise and his — has made a lot of money since he left the White House doing what he loves doing most, talking to people."

Clinton's tax returns show that of the remaining presidential candidates, she is the one most able to access large amounts of personal money. She lent her campaign $5 million in late February and could contribute more if she finds herself falling far behind Obama's proficient fundraising. -- from the Associated Press

Click button to hear "Hey, Little Rich Girl," by Amy Winehouse.

PUNCH & JUDY ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

First off, any Democrat would make a better president than George W. Bush, but that's not saying much. A shoehorn would make a better president. A shoehorn wouldn't lie to us, drag us into war, bankrupt us, whittle away our civil liberties, award no-contest contracts to friends, and continually dick us over while wearing a smug arrogant smirk.

Bush is the worst president I can remember, and that includes Republican crook "Tricky Dick" Nixon. If the Democrats can't win this time, they should cash in their chips and permanently retire to Loserville.

That being said, I'm ticked off with the Hillary camp. We received a group email from a Hillary supporter yesterday filled with the same old talking points warning us against smooth-talking, hope-inspiring Obama. He's all talk, she said, going on to mention that Adolph Hitler was also a powerful orator. Sleazy, eh?


The group email brought up Hillary's usual "concerns" about Obama's lack of experience. True, he was never First Lady. Obama is a first term senator. Hillary is only a second term senator. Even her point man Bill Clinton can't argue that. That is not a huge experience gap. Her USO junket with Sindbad the comic hardly counts, whether she dodged mortar-fire or not. She did not.

Predictably, Hillary hammers away at her talking points. That repetition -- and the occasional dirty trick from the Karl Rove playbook -- has helped her in certain polls. She still lags, but she seems to be casting doubt among the timid.


Is Hillary better qualified than Obama? Is Obama all talk? Who can best beat McCain? What about the roll of the superdelegates? What about the battleground states? Should we count the Florida and Michigan votes? Who should answer the scary phone call in the middle of the night?

Matt Taibbi does a good job answering these questions in the current issue of Rolling Stone. To read his article, "Hillary's Flimsy Case," please click here.

DANCE OF THE SUPERDELEGATES

Democracy, be damned! According the the Associated Press, one delegate, one vote doesn't apply to the superdelegates.

"These prominent Democrats can name additional superdelegates, giving them control over multiple convention votes, and that could be the difference in a race that may not be decided until the August convention."

While Barack Obama has been leading the popular vote, Hillary Clinton has more superdelegate committments -- though that lead is shrinking. Still, the race could be decided by "important party-members" rather than the public, which would not bode well for peace at the convention. Remember Chicago 1968?

Can superdelegates thwart the will of the majority? Evidently so, according to Democratic National Committee Chairman, and declawed firebrand, Howard Dean, who says superdelegates should not feel compelled to reflect the popular vote. He also said superdelegates were free to weigh the disputed primary results in Florida and Michigan, primaries where Obama didn't campaign, and in the case of Michigan wasn't even on the ballot.

That's good news for Hillary. With recent reports that the former First Lady was privately telling senior Democrats that rival Obama is unelectable, a new light is cast on the power of superdelegates and the way they are lobbied. Are these powerful citizens -- and they are still only citizens, after all -- really the equivalent of the House of Lords, a safeguard against commoners having too much decision-making power? Are they good for us?

The whole thing stinks, if you ask me. Why should we be stuck with the will of the people when it makes mistakes (i.e. sides with powerful interests) and denied that will when there is a progressive grassroots movement for change (i.e. a challenge to powerful interests). You know why, right?

One more thing. Superdelegates can spawn more superdelegates. From the AP: "The clout of the nearly 800 superdelegates is unprecedented in this year's race because neither Obama nor Clinton can clinch the nomination with only the delegates won in state primaries and caucuses. Largely overlooked in the arcane process, though, is the power of a select few to complete the superdelegate ranks by naming 76 newbies, and Clinton and Obama are fighting hard over every one of those from state conventions to back rooms."

THE NEW SPRING FASHION

It's the economy, stupid.
Click button to hear "No Depression" by Uncle Tupelo.

MEASURING THE LIMBAUGH EFFECT

Stop me if you've heard this one. What's the difference between the Hindenburg and Rush Limbaugh?

One is a huge Nazi gasbag.

The other is a dirigible.

Okay, this is an update on a story we ran a while back about Rush urging Republicans in Texas to cross over and vote for Hillary in the primary, thereby stopping the Obama momentum and insuring the Democratic Punch and Judy Show continues. The New York Times political blog gives us this report here.

BIG FAT IDIOT TAKES CREDIT

Conservative gasbag Rush Limbaugh claimed some credit today for Hillary Clinton's victories in Texas and Ohio.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, "Limbaugh spent much of his show Monday exhorting Republican listeners to cross over and vote in the Democratic primary for Hillary Clinton to prevent Democrats from unifying around Barack Obama as Republicans have done around John McCain.

'What we did, if we did anything, is to create a bunch of chaos in the Democrat Party and it worked,' Limbaugh said."

For more, see the Sun-Times article here.