Viewing entries tagged
2008 Elections

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Joe The Plumber and Sarah Palin Would Make The World's Most Ignorant Baby

cross-posted to jackandjillpolitics.com Every time one of these idiots opens his or her mouth, I can't help but think they are meant for each other. The ignorance is simply astounding. Joe was interviewed by a Tufts University freshman and had all sorts of stupidness to say. On his future sugar mama and running mate
Q: As a Republican, do you feel that Gov. Sarah Palin was the right vice-presidential selection? A: Honestly, I think she shines too much. I think vice president no, president definitely. She has moral values. She has a record of change that ... John McCain had supposedly … Sarah was actually too big of a personality, too big of a person to be vice president.
On the "death of Israel" comment. Warning: you will be much dumber after reading this.
Q: You have stated that a vote for Obama is a vote for “the death of Israel.” Could you please elaborate on what you meant by that claim? A: I will elaborate and tell you how it came about. It was incredible ... We were at a pub, and out of nowhere a gentleman of Jewish descent appeared. He asked a very good question, and you could see the emotion on his face. I was told that I did not have to answer his question because that would create quite the stir in the media’s eyes. If I am going to tout that I am going to be for the [average person], I absolutely had to answer the question. Being a Christian, I had to answer that. Obama has declared openly that he would meet with the president of Iran. The president of Iran has made many statements [about] turning Israel into a parking lot, which is the most disgusting thing that I have ever heard. The hate [from Iran] is there, and that’s factual and not rhetoric. They teach their children over there nursery rhymes about killing Jews. For a president to sit there and say that “I will meet with no terms and actually have terms dictated back to us” scares me. Obama has been closely linked to many terrorists. Again this is not rhetoric; [these are] facts that the media did not want to bring out. Rasheed Kahalidi being amongst one of them, and there are nine or 10 others … These close ties scare me. As far as Obama getting into office with his ties and with the fact that he is willing to be dictated to by a known terrorist — [that] scares me for Israel. There are many more reasons, but those are the big ones.
My favorite part: "and out of nowhere a gentleman of Jewish descent appeared. He asked a very good question, and you could see the emotion on his face." Sounds like he's saying Jesus made him say this foolishness . Finally:
Q: Why do you and so many other Americans find the words “spread the wealth around” so troubling? A: Well, I am fairly well read and have read Karl Marx’s work, and spread the wealth around is something that he mentions quite often. If you look up the word [socialism] in [Webster’s] Dictionary, the definition may not mention “spread the wealth,” but community work and sharing of goods all plays into it. Obama’s health-care plan is a very socialist experiment. [Obama’s plans] all revolve around socialism, and that’s what scares me about it.
What scares me about people like Joe, despite the fact that Obama won, is that he's being given a platform and actually takes himself seriously. He thinks his quarter-baked political and philosophical ideas are worth listening to. He believes what he's saying and that what he's saying has real value and should be heard by others. The most annoying thing: I'm complicit in it! I felt the need to write this post about Joe The Ignorant. He's like a booger I can't stop picking.

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We rejected so much history and so many rules that have bound us. We rejected fear

cross-posted to Jack & Jill Politics This morning, I was finally able to process my emotions and express them as words. Here is what I wrote for the UK's Independent newspaper. We rejected so much history and so many rules that have bound us. We rejected fear comment by Baratunde Thurston, Thursday 6 November 2008 I cannot stop crying. I am stunned. Barack Obama is the next president of the United States of America, and I cannot stop crying. America closed the deal. Yes, we did. It is hard to focus right now. My mind is traveling sporadically through space and time. Large moments and small are mixing. I am in South Dallas, Texas, being hugged by the elderly black election judge I met during the primaries. I am six years old and have just learnt to swim. I am cheering with my Dominican barbers. I am being called a nigger by white children on a camping trip in my youth. I am standing on Goree Island in Senegal, the final resting place of so many of my ancestors and the birthplace of my own possibility. I am shaking Barack Obama's hand in August 2006. I am trembling at my mother's bedside moments after she passed away in October 2005. I am exhausted. I am restless. I am America. This is happening. We shook the world. We won. Last night, at five past 11, a collective roar made its way across living rooms and restaurants and the streets of cities and towns. Strangers sought each other out to hug one another and share in this moment. At my own watch party, chants of "Yes we can!" gave way to chants of "Holy shit", and the transformational nature of the moment was sealed when I gave my New York City cab-driver an Obama button and he gave me a free ride. And what a ride this has been. The manner of this campaign is as important as its ultimate outcome. Grassroots organising met peer-to-peer networked technologies, learned from old school campaigning and was remixed through new school art. And it won. We won! Our new president. Our new president, Barack Hussein Obama, truly represents us, America and the world. He is Kenya and Hawaii. He is Chicago and Kansas, and through his gifts, his timing and his good fortune, we have risen to a great occasion. This campaign was a fire that forged a president and a people, and we have emerged stronger for the trial. It is not simply that we chose an African American or a Democrat for our first post-baby boom leader, although those are all significant milestones. It is not simply that we chose a communicator and scholar and a man who so clearly demonstrates family values through the love and respect he shows his wife and daughters, although those too are significant milestones. It is not simply that we chose, but also that we rejected. We rejected smears and race-baiting and Muslim-baiting and desperation. We rejected so much history and so many rules that have bound us to the way things have been and are supposed to be. We rejected fear. Most importantly, we rejected fear. Our better angels prevailed for one critical moment which can and will change forever the moments to follow. We said resoundingly that we are not afraid. We are not afraid of the world out there. We are not afraid of ourselves. In rejecting that fear, we have shed something awful, at least for a time, and in so doing we have liberated ourselves. I am still crying, but they are tears of possibility for all that we are free to do and free to be. Yes, we did.

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Voter Report Video: Anjali Berger of New York, NY

I also posted this to YouTube. Anjali and I voted at the same time. She lives in my building, and we've been neighbors for 14 months but never met until Election Day 2008. Here is a post-vote interview from the Dyckman Street subway in the Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan. After the interview, I threw in some photos I and my boy Sozi Tulante (of West Philly) took at the DNC.

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90 Second Video: Prepare For Election Day. Protect Your Rights

This is a 90 second video with last-minute strategies to weather election day and protect your vote. It includes election protection phone numbers, day-before advice, what to bring on election day and ways to pass the time in line, all set to a powerful soundtrack. The video is part of an action alert from the Voter Suppression Wiki. BEFORE YOU GO TO VOTE
  • confirm polling location: not always same as primary / caucus location.
  • print out voting rights: know phone numbers, rules, etc.
  • save election protection numbers in your cell: 866-OUR-VOTE / 866-687-8683 & espanol 888-VE-Y-VOTA / 888-839-8682
  • check weather
  • note nearby public bathrooms
VOTING DAY PACKING LIST
  • no political, campaign clothing
  • I.D. just in case
(for yourself or others)...
  • bottled water. snacks
  • umbrella / trash: bags in case of rain.
  • sweater / jacket: in case of cold or to cover campaign clothing
  • folding chairs: for the tired, the injured, the elders
  • camera: to document fraud or simply history. share with Video The Vote or YouTube's Video Your Vote project.
VOTING DAY ACTIVITIES
  • play six degrees of kevin bacon
  • remember favorite campaign moments
  • sing civil rights songs
  • meet your neighbors!
FINALLY... voting with provisional ballot is better than not voting at all Please see the action alert from the Voter Suppression Wiki for full and evolving details. And please digg the action alert and the video, so we can spread the word!

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Obama Supporters, Don't Get Comfortable. Fight On! Contribute!

I wanted to post this on Jack & Jill Politics, but our site is down due to shenanigans at Media Temple. Good thing the ol' baratunde.com is still in effect! Here's an excellent YouTube video to remind you of the perils of overconfidence. I know many of us have been working our asses off and feel good about where we are what with the apparent implosion of McPalin in a different way each day. Don't sleep. This election is not over.   The votes have yet to be counted (and in several states, Democratic votes are flipping to GOP). I urge you all to give what you can in whatever way you can. My fellow bloggers at Jack & Jill Politics have set a fundraising goal of $5,000 and are at $1,900. Please give what you can there. Fellow New Yorkers, please help out with the "Last Call For Change" effort to contact people and get out the vote in battleground states. It requires no money, just a modest commitment of time. If you want some fun, come to the Latinos for Obama comedy fundraiser at Gotham Comedy Club tomorrow night. We'll break midway to watch the Obama 30 minute TV special. Everyone else, check out the Voter Suppression Wiki for ways you can help safeguard your votes and the votes of others. In particular, check out this Action Center page and actually complete the steps. It will make a difference. That's the point of this campaign. It's time for us to get involved, so git!

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Me With Onion Folks Speaking At The National Press Club, Plus Politico Coverage

I've been a journalism geek for a long time. In high school, I enrolled in a summer journalism program at American University, and as part of the class we got to visit the National Press Club. It was the summer that baseball almost died (again), and Bud Selig had been named acting commissioner. We got a tour of the building and got to attend his luncheon talk. Well, some 15 years later, I returned to the NPC victorious and shared the stage with coworkers from The Onion. Our charge: discuss this election season and our coverage. Here's an audio recording of the event. (apparently mainstream media is in such bad shape that they couldn't afford to record images as well). And here's the Politico's post-event report in which they reprint our post-event report and we wonder why the media is in the state it's in? :)

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My Submission For McCain's "I Am Joe The Plumber" Video Contest

cross-posted to jack and jill politics, daily kos and more Thirty minutes ago, I heard about this "I'm Joe The Plumber" 30 second video contest sponsored by the McCain campaign. Not that we're in the middle of two wars and a massive economic crisis or anything. Considering the farce of Joe and the downright silliness of McCain's campaign, I just had to submit my own video. Please see the impact of the candidate's tax policy for yourself at taxcut.barackobama.com

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