End of the reign of the Boomers

Of all the great things about an Obama candidacy and possibly presidency, one that has been greatly overlooked, in my opinion, is how important he his in terms of moving us away from being a country ruled by the Baby Boomers.

Let's face it, the Boomers have been an absolute scourge of locusts on this country. Our grandparents lived through the Great Depression and won World Wars. Our parents smoked dope, forgot their 60's radicalism and got greedy in the 80's and 90's, and have kept us bogged down in a "culture war" for 40 years now, since the end of Vietnam.

We are all quite sick of it, and we are desperately in need of a change in leadership that can only come about with a demographic shift. That brings us to the millenials.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/goodbye-to-al-1.html

They supposedly outnumber the Boomers by about 20 million, so by 2016, when they can all vote, they should be a formidable force. However, it begs the question, will they be any better? So far, millenials have been called out as being just as self absorbed as their parents, if not more so, and more coddled to boot. It could be a toxic combo, but they have grown up in a more integrated society, and tend towards more progressive notions, even among the conservative millenials.

So there is hope. Just for fun, here's an old Paul Begala piece on why the Boomers suck so bad. The first paragraph should draw you in:

I hate the Baby Boomers. They're the most self-centered, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing generation in American history. As they enter late middle age, the Boomers still can't grow up. Guys who once dropped acid are now downing Viagra; women who once eschewed lipstick are now getting liposuction.

Barkley for Governor

Oh hell yes! Yet another reason to love America!

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/10/28/charles-barkley-for-alabama-governor-in-2014/

McCain's chances

This little analysis puts the race in perspective:

If McCain doesn't win Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes, he would have to run the table and win all eight of the competitive states that were held by President Bush in 2004, including Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, North Carolina, and Nevada.

That's a pretty tough road, isn't it?

Assasination plot on Obama

I'm not worried, I trust the Secret Service, but this stuff is scary. Tennessee has skinheads?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/27/AR2008102701823.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR

Senator Stevens is guilty

But you knew that already. Here's the funny part:

Despite being a convicted felon, he is not required to drop out of the race or resign from the Senate. If he wins re-election, he can continue to hold his seat because there is no rule barring felons from serving in Congress. The Senate could vote to expel him on a two-thirds vote.

I love America!

Kobe is a Guitar Hero?

This is sweet

Petraeus and Obama

A pretty good insight into what Obama will be like as commander in chief. In short, be prepared for the civilians to retake control of the military. Which will be a nice change, since GW Bush has basically ceded his responsibilities for strategic planning for about 8 years now.

Here's a description of Obama's meeting with Petraeus in Baghdad:

A "spirited" conversation ensued, one person who was in the room told me. "It wasn't a perfunctory recitation of talking points. They were arguing their respective positions, in a respectful way." The other two Senators — Chuck Hagel and Jack Reed — told Petraeus they agreed with Obama. According to both Obama and Petraeus, the meeting — which lasted twice as long as the usual congressional briefing — ended agreeably. Petraeus said he understood that Obama's perspective was, necessarily, going to be more strategic. Obama said that the timetable obviously would have to be flexible. But the Senator from Illinois had laid down his marker: if elected President, he would be in charge. Unlike George W. Bush, who had given Petraeus complete authority over the war — an unprecedented abdication of presidential responsibility (and unlike John McCain, whose hero worship of Petraeus bordered on the unseemly) — Obama would insist on a rigorous chain of command.

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1853025,00.html

And is it just me, or does the name "Petraeus" make him sound like some kind of Greek god? McCain surely thinks so. I'm making fun of McCain, not Petraeus, I think the General will go down in history as one of our greatest.

But he's still just a General. It is not his job to worry about things like how our war in Iraq affects relations with Australia, and so on. That's Obama's job. Obama has to consider the bigger picture.

Obama in Richmond

Wow, I just love him.

Obama in Richmond

If this doesn't excite you, nothing will.

http://media.gatewayva.com/photos/rtd/slideshows/20081023rally/index.html

Ayn Rand is dead.. again...

Wow, it must be tough to be an elderly man, and to realize that the philosophy that you've lived your life by actually has some very large holes in it.

Alan Greenspan, de-regulation advocate and Ayn Rand fanatic, admits he screwed up.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/business/economy/24panel.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Money quote:

“Do you feel that your ideology pushed you to make decisions that you wish you had not made?”Mr. Greenspan conceded: “Yes, I’ve found a flaw. I don’t know how significant or permanent it is. But I’ve been very distressed by that fact.”

We all share your distress.

Great new t-shirt , "Al Qaeada fighters for McCain"

Sounds inflammatory, but I didn't write it, the Washington Post did, and now the McCain campaign is scared to death.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/21/AR2008102102477.html?sub=AR

What a fun two weeks this is going to be.

Iceland's bailout

I'm glad I got to see Icleand in it's glory days, i.e. 10 months ago, when I was there for New Year's Eve. As is often the case with small countries, it looks like it's the IMF to the rescue for these guys.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/business/worldbusiness/21iceland.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Interestingly, if you run the numbers, the IMF loan alone is basically $18-20,000 for every person in Iceland. And the government says more loans are coming after the IMF deal is done.

Really? They'll need more than $20K for every person in the country? And we thought the US was screwed. Our bailout plan is roughly $2,000 for every person, a tenth of Iceland's so far.

McCain and Obama roast each other

And it was damn funny. We could use more good humor in our politics.

McCain was actually funnier. Check out the video:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27234647/

The legacy

I've been reading Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side, and I'm more convinced than ever before that US government officials are guilty of war crimes. However, there won't be any movement towards justice on that until a Democrat wins the White House.

The current administration and its enablers have been very good at squelching the debate on this. "Taxi to the Dark Side" aired on HBO, only after Discovery got cold feet. And now there's another documentary, Torturing Democracy, that PBS refuses to air nationally, for fear of retaliation. But luck for us, most member stations picked it up anyway, and you can see it online.

http://torturingdemocracy.org/

Here's the story regarding why PBS tried to bury it.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-10-14/did-pbs-bury-a-frontline-episode-on-torture/

Palin as President

Good for a few laughs:

http://palinaspresident.com/