Just to be clear - because there seems to be some major confusion about this - the $25 gazillion the US Automaker “Like my cool jet?” guys want is IN ADDITION TO $25 BILLION already available to them for R&D/retooling. Get that? It has NOTHING to do with them making a green car, or making cars people want to buy. Huh uh. This is just for them to pay their employee benefits, like their pensions. So, while the rest of us are losing our retirement portfolios down the toilet while the DOW crashes and burns, we - WE - are supposed to pay the pensions for people making $83 an hour for a boss who makes $27 million a YEAR????? (Gee - I wonder what would have happened had their been any oversight of Fannie or Freddie?? If maybe ACORN hadn’t pushed for all of those sub-prime mortgages?? Just a thought…)

And here’s another thing. GM added $1,600 PER VEHICLE to compensate for employee benefits. So what happened to that money?? Now, I know people can argue, and I would myself, that the unions have lost perspective in their demands. I mean, really - should someone who builds cars really make over $80 an hour??? I mean, nice for them and all, but from what I understand, their jobs are highly repetitive and their equipment is all ergonomic, thus not requiring a lot of thought (this information comes to me from a source who has been inside a Chrysler plant). If the union prices their employees out of their jobs, and the executives mismanage the money so grossly, WHY should we be stuck paying their compensation?? Did the Enron employees get their pensions reinstated? No.

Now, don’t get me wrong - I think unions can do a LOT of good, especially when workers are being mistreated. But when people are getting paid more money than many university professors, or nurses, or social workers, or just about anyone who has paid for a higher education, and then expect THOSE people to make up their benefits while losing their own, the unions have lost their way.

And the executives are to blame for mismanaging their businesses. I understand that US automakers employ a lot of people. So do the Japanese and German automakers in the US. The latter are BUILDING plants, not looking at bailouts or bankruptcy. That should be a big ol’ clue that something is amiss.

Those execs have not cut back on their salaries, they have not utilized recent green technology, they have not designed cars that appeal to Americans. The unions have not made concessions to cost. But we should keep propping them up anyway? Who does that help? Well, the people making $27 mil, or $160,000 a year making cars, but how does that help the average taxpayer who is losing their job, or their house, or their car, or their pension, or health insurance?

And to give credit where credit is due, the Democrats were not all that impressed with the presentation of these three automakers, as Rep. Ackerman’s comments above would demonstrate. They were sent back to come up with some plans that would merit them getting the money. That begs the question why they did not HAVE plans prior to their trip to Congress. If that is an indication of how they conduct business, well, it’s pretty damning. (I might add, just now, I looked up as this whole issue was being discussed on the news, and these big machines were installing major parts into the cars. My immediate response was, “Wait - those MACHINES are doing a lot of the work - what’s the deal here??? Just saying.)

So, the Detroit Three executives are on their way back to Detroit - on their three private jets - to figure out how the hell they will justify an ADDITIONAL $25billion. From the way they have conducted themselves this past week (and many weeks prior), it better be a damn good plan…

We’re spending BILLIONS of taxpayer dollars to bailout corrupt Wall Street insiders who have committed dozens of crimes their pet politicians refuse to even investigate! Our standard of living is visibly declining for the poor and middle class. And these kinds of things are happening all across the country in every aspect of American life!

Now I’m not going to blame all of this on the Jackasses masquerading as the Democratic party right now. It was in fact Republicans who started it! It was the party of *cough* “morals” *cough* that launched a witch hunt against Bill Clinton, and spent millions to set him up for getting a blow job. Now before anyone argues that point, think about this. Why did Monica decide to save a semen stained dress for months without washing it?!? That’s just EWWWW!!!

And remember who her next door neighbor was, the one who bought her place after she had to leave Washington DC. For those who don’t remember…that would be Bob Dole. And that witch hunt was led by Newt Gingrich, who was having an extra marital affair at the exact same time he was claiming Bill Clinton was unfit to serve in any capacity in the Government because he had one. Talk about your hypocrisy.

All of this has a root in the complete and utter failure of the MSM to do it’s job! They want the ratings now, to hell with the truth. It was their incompetence that led to 8 years of Bush as they praised him non-stop before the 2000 election, and took every opportunity to insult and tear down Al Gore. They did it again in 2004 when they kept running stories about Vietnam vets claiming all sorts of lies about Kerry. They knew they were lies, they knew when the courts ordered the ads pulled because they were lies. But they never reported on that aspect of it! And now they bring us Obama…with the VAST majority of them being so blatantly in the tank for him, even foreign press have commented on it when they themselves preferred him without any vetting. One has to look no further than the simple fact, that the masses in America have no clue who Aiham Alsammarae is.

Alsammarae is a name that should have been reported on every news channel in the world. He is wanted by Iraq and Interpol! Yet running around free as a bird in Chicago. He was convicted of stealing $650 million of US taxpayers money from Iraq reconstruction funds! Yet he was allowed to first make a donation to Obama, that was only returned after it was noticed by others. Then he put up his house as collateral to allow his and Barack’s dear friend Rezko to make bail….WTF?!? How were all of his US holdings NOT seized the second he was indicted for embezzling Iraqi reconstruction funds? Let alone allowing him to put them up for bail money for another now convicted criminal friend of Obama’s! Isn’t that the first thing the DOJ is supposed to do in such cases?

I could go on and on…but I think you get the gist. I am one Pissed Off Vet!

And speaking of poor management, Congress is considering an additional $500 Billion bailout, though this one would NOT be repaid. Its destination would be infrastructure. Not that we don’t NEED work done on our infrastructure, but is this really the time, when we are already a gazillion dollars in the tank? Hmm, I think not…

Well, I’ll be dog-goned. SOMEONE is holding ACORN accountable for their vast voter registration fraud! Who it is might not be the first place you would think of, though. Turns out the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, overseen by the Catholic Bishops in the US, has decided to NOT provide the $1 MILLION dollar gift to ACORN for which they had been planning based on the fraud this election. Oh, and that and the little issue of CORN founder Wade Radthke’s brother ripping off a cool mil himself from ACORN(I saw this on the morning news, but here is a LINK, too). Well, that’s a start, right?

Next up is Rainbow Rage! Oh, yes, this is such a warm, fuzzy tale. The Obama Way has infiltrated the GLBT community in California, oh yes it has. I am so proud…Here’s the tale:

Now that’s the way to win hearts and influence strangers, eh? Now I recognize that this woman is PRO Proposition 8, which is, naturally, very disturbing to me. BUT - as they said in that awesome movie, “The American President“:

“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours…”

With no pushing, no bullying, and no spitting, no matter HOW much you might disagree. THAT is the American way, not this thuggish behavior that has become all too common, all too accepted…This is not the way we should be going on this issue, or any issue.

There’s another piece to this. Perhaps you have already seen Bud White’s EXCELLENT piece on Misogyny at No Quarter, but this seems to be a continuation of the Caucus behavior we saw this year from Washington State to the Lone Star State - big men bullying women. Actually, this is pretty much what we saw from Obama and his minions to Hillary, Sarah, and all women. I guess they have really paid it forward, haven’t they? Wow.

And from that respected news source, The Onion, I bring you this (hilarious) story, “International Con Man Barack Obama Leaves US With $85 Million In Campaign Fundraising:”

In a devastating blow to millions of unsuspecting Americans, newly elected president and international con man Barack Obama fled the country Wednesday with nearly $85 million in campaign funds.

According to FBI investigators, Obama’s sudden disappearance was discovered at 6:15 p.m. when the former Illinois senator failed to arrive at a gala event in Lincoln Square, prompting several aides to rush back to his campaign headquarters. At 6:23 p.m., flight logs at O’Hare International Airport confirmed that two passengers, a male carrying two silver briefcases and dressed in a perfectly tailored Brioni tuxedo, and an African-American female wearing a fur coat and speaking in a thick Russian accent, were seen boarding a private plane.

Obama’s campaign office, sources said, was completely vacant aside from a discarded Abraham Lincoln portrait, behind which was an emptied safe that his aides claimed never to have seen before.

In addition, three unconscious Secret Service agents were discovered at the scene, along with two lit cigarettes still burning in an ashtray, and Obama’s daughters, who authorities now believe were taken from an Alabama foster home six years ago.

Poor Joe - this was really his one big chance to get into the White House since the vast majority of Americans never wanted him in there. He had this to say about Obama’s disappearance:

“He completely suckered me,” said a visibly dejected vice president-elect Joe Biden, who estimated that he raised over $10 million for Obama. “I trusted him. Change, ‘Yes We Can,’ a new kind of politics, bringing the nation together, valuing an open dialogue about the issues—I trusted all of it.”

Yeah, you and the other alleged 51.99% of people (at least that’s the number ACORN promotes), Joe.

Oh, you know that sounds plausible! I recommend you go read the rest of the story (it’s funny), but I will reprint for you here Obama’s farewell letter here:

Honestly, I’d be happy to pay him $85 million to NOT be the President. This might even be a bargain. Heck, it’s a whole lot less than Dodd and Crew wanted to give ACORN from the bailout. Yep, now that I think about it, I think this would be a perfect ending to this election saga! Bon voyage, Obama! Now THAT would be some real, “Say WHAAAA?” News, wouldn’t it?? Feel free to make it so! I sure won’t be complainin’…

I’d like to believe Patrick Fitzgerald will come riding to the rescue with some indictment linking Obama to Rezko, or announce a racketeering indictment relating to all the caucus and voter fraud, but I don’t believe that will happen for a second. I’d like to think that, as nature abhors a vacuum, the media will turn their critical lens on Obama and start airing the truth. It is too little too late and I don’t know that I believe that either.

How do a reconcile the deep love I feel for my country and my upset with people already losing their homes and savings, yet wanting to see the new administration put us to rights again. Do I have faith that they can? Based on what I’ve seen from both Obama and the current Democratic leadership, I have no reason to.

I posted an article the other day condemning his election tactics as well as casting a jaundiced eye on those who allowed themselves to vote against their own interests in assisting his election. However, I said a few words at the conclusion about still being willing to open my heart and lend support, if only for my country’s sake, and I got some grief on the boards about it.

This is a tough one because I feel blackmailed into support by our current dire circumstances and by a media that deserves to be figuratively horsewhipped in the town square due to their irresponsible “journalism” and lack of honest coverage of all the candidates. It is also impossible to think the media would ever allow a huge scandal to break, given how much they were in bed with an Obama candidacy in the first place. Although, the dollar is king, so if it sells copy…

It is also a conflict to feel deeply moved by the historical aspect of Barack Obama’s election and I certainly understand the joy of the African American community, and all Americans that this barrier has been passed. I just wish that this honor and accomplishment was bestowed upon someone more qualified and less disingenuous.

David Axelrod, the DNC power elite and the media have thrown a lavish, yearlong dinner party for this man and stuck us with the bill. Is it possible for our country to succeed and get back on its feet in the near term if he fails? Or do we want that kind of failure, as only failure of enormous magnitude will shake the latte sippers and blackberry bloggers from their stupor enough to realize something’s gotta give here.

Pardon me, but I cannot wish ill. Too many hard working people are in need out there and are looking for answers and all they are hearing is hopey changey. As many wonderful NoQ readers have pointed out in recent days, if he keeps his empty rhetoric up, the electorate will awaken soon enough.

It is very safe to say I will not be drinking kool-aid anytime soon nor will I be sucked into the Obama collective. It is vital that citizens keep the pressure on our elected local, state and national representatives, the media and if necessary, their advertisers. Is it naïve to think that will make a difference? I refuse to be that pessimistic. If I allow that to creep over me, I won’t take action but curl up in a ball in the corner – and I will not give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me do that.

I really don’t have adequate words to describe the rage I feel at the third presidential election in a row feeling stolen and/or decided by those not doing their homework.

Is it best to adopt a wait and see attitude? To see if it’s possible to keep him out of office by legal means in the first place? How many of us, after the primary was forcibly shut down felt that he would implode before the convention, yet the hope never materialized. How many thought ‘spread the wealth around’ would surely do him in? Nope.

If and after he is indeed inaugurated, do I just shut the TV off for the next four years – or keep making noise, hoping some of our representatives will add something to the debate that will help. I will forever blame myself for not protesting out in the street in December of 2000 but in our pre-9/11 mindset, most did not know just how bad our compliance would be.

The rage is perfectly understandable and perfectly justifiable. I am searching for the way to make it effective and not destructive – either to me or my fellow citizens working hard for their families or to those in the military and their families, sacrificing daily for our country.

Most infuriating is that Donna Brazile basically sent out a missive months ago saying “message to base – stay home.” And they got this guy elected anyway – in great part because a bunch of Republicans decided to stay home. I hope in retrospect they are likewise happy with their irresponsible decision. It is interesting to note that PUMAs did have an effect on the election as I believe 3 million voted for Senator McCain. What was not taken into account, and was certainly beyond PUMA control, is that 6 million Republicans chose to sit on their hands.

The DNC may have behaved as though we didn’t exist but we do. Our voices matter and they will not be silenced. Through all of that I can still wish my country Godspeed, even though I am furious at the blind part of the electorate that has perpetrated what I feel is a disaster on all of us by electing this unqualified man to office.

Speaking only for myself, I have lots to sort out and am still reeling from the shock that at one of the most difficult and troubling times in our nations’ history, America has chosen American Idol over competence, patriotism, knowledge and experience. Regardless of party.

How do we want to participate in an administration, either critically or constructively, that has acted as though millions of us are completely invisible and our thoughts and contributions nonexistent? At this moment the answer is admittedly well above my pay grade.

Your thoughts on this would be deeply appreciated.

Not trusting polls because of the ‘04 exit polling debacle, I suspended belief when likely voter models in tracking polls showed a 39D/33R difference in party identification. Skeptics in diaries here and elsewhere pointed out that 2004, a year when Democrats were fired up, saw evenly split ID, 37D/37R.

But this time, the polls were dead on. The tracking polls showed a 7 point win, the difference in the popular vote was about that, and party identification differed by 7 percent.

The shift in ID equal to the margin of victory exposes the GOP collapse.

The CNN 2004 exit poll showed no advantage for either party in voter identification, but Tuesday’s 2008 exit poll showed the 7 point advantage, essentially the entire winning margin of voters who identify themselves as Democrats.

As Sidney Blumenthal writes in this column echoing his new book, The Strange Death of Republican America: Chronicles of a Collapsing Party,

Despite the daily tracking-polls and the back-and-forth of the candidates, the underlying story of the 2008 presidential campaign has until the very day of the election remained the Bush presidency and how it brought about the end of the long era of Republican political dominance that began in 1968 with the election of Richard Nixon. That story is the subject of my book, The Strange Death of Republican America: Chronicles of a Collapsing Party.

Bush has the lowest sustained popularity among modern presidents. The Republican Party has fallen farther behind the Democratic Party in party identification and favorable ratings than it has in decades. Democrats are poised to make dramatic gains in their numbers in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The previously little-known Senator Barack Obama could have vaulted to become the Democratic nominee only as a response to Bush. Senator John McCain’s emergence as the Republican nominee is also one of Bush’s consequences. Without the crackup of the conservative movement and the fragmentation of the Republican primary field, McCain would not have had his opening. His candidacy is as much a manifestation of the shattering of the Republican phalanx as Obama’s. Whatever the outcome of their contest, the party as it was is over. Today no one can even envision when the Republicans will control the presidency and both houses of the Congress as they did as recently as 2006.

Bush ruined the GOP brand, so laboriously constructed and maintained following Goldwater’s 1964 defeat. From WMDs to Katrina to the Coalition Provisional Authority to the failure to find bin Ladin to the mortgage crisis to the energy crisis to the Wall Street meltdown, America is through with its tolerance for conservative national government. Voters now want solutions from the government, and tune out the 40 year GOP mantra of taxes, big government and socialism. The debate audience tracking meter showed big trouble for the GOP when independent female voters reliably pegged the meter every time Obama offered (often Hillary’s) solutions.

Hispanics in particular were turned off by what they’ve seen, giving McCain only 31% in 2008 to Bush’s 44% in 2004.

The 7% difference in party ID turned out to be a structural element that made it nearly impossible for a Republican to win or a Democrat to lose.

The CNN exit poll shows that people made up their minds weeks ago and earlier polling shows that party ID has been stable. The 7% who were late-deciders split evenly. This election was decided well before the campaign, maybe before it even started. (Bradley effect: exactly zero)

Through this lens, the past year seems like a big waste of money. Certainly McCain being outspent by 8X did not produce proportionate results: the margin of victory was the same as the difference in party ID. Contrary to earlier promises, independents and Republicans did not cross over in unusual numbers.

We used to joke that the conditions in 2000 and 2004 were such that the GOP could win with a trained chimp.

Well, that trained chimp did things so poorly that this year, anything that resembled a donkey could win.

I wonder how much we would have over-performed above the gap in party ID if we’d had a different candidate?

Or how about Georgia where the fraud looks to have involved over 100,000 people. Yes, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE. Registered to vote in Georgia, as well as FL or OH.

But hey, let’s not talk about this stuff anymore, okay? That would be a real downer, a killjoy, a buzzkill, and just plain racist. So, let’s just not mention it, shall we? It is only our democracy at stake, but no worries - we have our first biracial president, so all is right with our world!

Oh, no, instead the MSM will spend countless hours talking about what kind of puppy the Obama girls are going to get, and about Obama meeting with the Actual President (which I say that way since so many of the Obamaborg seem to think he is instantly president - does NO ONE take Civics classes anymore?), and his getting his national security briefings. How could I forget? His choosing his cabinet. Oh, yes - that is a fun one - and this is a little shout out to all of my female university teaching family - how about that Lawrence Summers as possible Treasury Secretary? Remember him? The one who had to leave the presidency at Harvard because of his SEXIST TREATMENT OF WOMEN???? Just more of the same from Obama.

Oh, there are a few women’s names bandied around for his cabinet positions, but not as many as the men, that’s for sure. I guess Dr. Lynette Long was right on target when she reported this:

“I want gender parity. I want Obama to go on National television and announce the he will select a female running mate and that half of his cabinet will be women.” He was silent for a second and then sheepishly replied, “We can’t do that?” “Why not?” I asked. “We are over half the population?” “We can’t do that! What if there isn’t a competent woman?” I was stunned. “There are 300 million people in this country, and you can’t find a handful of competent women for the cabinet?” I chided. “You want affirmative action. I don’t believe in affirmative action.” “That’s my offer, take it or leave it.” He left it and guess what, he hasn’t called me any more.

Obama doesn’t believe in supporting women. I’ll use a recent NYT article as evidence. It cited that Obama has 300 foreign policy advisers. The times posted pictures of the top twenty-one of them. Two were women. That’s less than ten percent. So much for parity. So much for the politics of change.

Yeah, and I haven’t heard any woman’s name floated for any part of Obama’s cabinet, have you?

Here’s why I am so damn cranky today, besides all of the ranting above: the Democrats are acting EXACTLY like the Republicans did in 2000. EXACTLY. Ignoring all of the fraud, claiming the “losers” need to get over it, Obama is a Uniter and a Healer, and will make America proud again. Blech. What a crock. This man has not even served a full term in the Senate, and the vast majority of his time there has been spent CAMPAIGNING! Since when is that sufficient experience for the highest office in the land? Even assuming there was no caucus fraud, or Convention fraud, or RBC fraud, or voter fraud, even assuming ALL of that, Obama is WOEFULLY inexperienced, unqualified, and unprepared. Not to mention homophobic and misogynistic. Oh, and ARROGANT as all hell. What a guy.

I understand that many African Americans are ecstatic that “one of their own” is now the President-Elect. But as Patsy from the “Our View - withPatsy and Sugar” on NoQuarter Radio said last night, Obama did NOT grow up like the vast majority of African Americans in this country, he did not grow up in their community. I guess it really doesn’t matter that he is bi-racial, and raised by the white side of the family. Why let facts inform the fantasy? Shut up already! Ahem.

Finally, there is the whole “the voting was of RECORD proportions!” meme being spread far and wide by the Obama Propaganda News. How else to say this? Well, it’s a crock of hooey. The difference between this election and the last one? One percentage point more! Oh, dear goddess, He really IS the Messiah! WOWIE ZOWIE!!!!! Uh, yeah, no, not really. It is not a record turnout, as it turns out. Just one more notch in the “reality” surrounding the candidate, uh, President-Elect, who has rewritten his history whenever it suits. Unfortunately, it suits him a whole bunch.

See, just like Bush in 2000. Only this time the shoe is on the other foot. The Democrats could care less about the irony of it all, the fraud of it all, as long as they won. It really is upside down world now…And it makes me cranky as hell.

As I stare at the keyboard, the progress is slow.

Possibly because I have no words to describe my shock and dismay at the way women voted against their own self interest and rewarded a party that trashed the rights and reputations of two strong women. They came out in big numbers to, once again, reward the Democratic Party for treating them as second class citizens. GLBT voters in many instances did the same thing.

The Democratic Party offered women nothing this year except a threat – vote for us or Roe v. Wade will be overturned. And by the way, as blogger Texas Hill Country pointed out, it was Democrats that voted down GLBT rights in 4 states this year.

Hillary Clinton was for years demonized and painted as “divisive and polarizing” so effectively that the electorate was poisoned against her—until they actually met her up close and personal, or watched her on the campaign trail passionately fighting for her policies and candidacy.

They then realized these labels were just so much media hogwash. The same vilification and gutting was done to Sarah Palin, and from the looks of it, people are buying the bogus media spin. Whatever the respective politics of these two ladies, the “diva” moniker that has now been attached to Palin is no more true that the “polarizing” slur that had been leveled against Hillary for many years.

Congratulations, people, you’ve allowed yourselves to be manipulated once again.

Surely the election was less an up or down vote on Senator Obama than a referendum on George Bush, the Iraq war and the tyrannical rule of the neo-cons. The economic meltdown also got blamed on Bush, while the truth is there is plenty of blame to go around and the Democrats must bear great responsibility for fighting against any regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Moreover, we proved once and for all that the media and big money picks our presidents. This year, we proved that our votes mean a little less. We are more than happy to be told which path to follow. And logic be damned.

But I cannot put all the blame on those who made the error in judgment of choosing Barack Obama, either in the primaries or in the general election. We are faced with two wars abroad and economic turmoil at home. Americans are struggling to make ends meet and do not necesarilly have the time to get out a spoon and a magic decoder ring and dig around on the internet to suss out the truth of a story that the media has deigned to withhold from them. The American people, all of them, of every party, demographic and strata, deserved a lot better than the press gave them. The end result was planned a long time ago. I just wish someone had sent us the memo. It would have saved all of us a lot of time, money and effort.

While I was truly very moved on behalf of the African American community in celebrating this historic moment, I wish I could be happier about the methods Obama and his campaign manager, David Axelrod, employed to get here. As much as I long for justice in this regard, those cries will probably fall on deaf ears. The media and the DNC have created a protective coating around Barack Obama the likes of which I have never seen.

I was absolutely wrong in thinking he could not win and my fatal error in judgment was thinking the press would only vilify a woman; but since they had always had a good relationship with Senator McCain, I truly believed the general election would at least allow some vetting and a little more balance in press favorability toward both candidates. How wrong I was. The media helped sling the mud at Senator McCain, an honorable man, while clearing the brush away from Obama’s path to continue his clear road to the White House. Almost a billion dollars in dough didn’t hurt either.

Those who thought Bush was previously made of Teflon will find he looks like a pin cushion compared to Obama. And I hope that the media is happy about the Frankenstein they have created. It will be very interesting to see if the press, after the initial luster wears off, will make any attempts to do their job, or will once again, as they did with President Bush, provide cover and not realistically examine the policies and actions of an Obama Presidency.

In the New Hampshire Union Leader, Thomas Sowell, the Rose and Milton Friedman senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, posted the editorial, “A Lack of Substance:”

…Once the election is over, the glittering generalities of rhetoric and style will mean nothing. Everything will depend on performance in facing huge challenges, domestic and foreign. Performance is where Barack Obama has nothing to show for his political career, either in Illinois or in Washington.

Policies that he proposes under the banner of “change” are almost all policies that have been tried repeatedly in other countries — and failed repeatedly in other countries. Politicians telling businesses how to operate? That’s been tried in countries around the world, especially during the second half of the 20th century. It has failed so often and so badly that even socialist and communist governments were freeing up their markets by the end of the century.

The economies of China and India began their takeoff into high rates of growth when they got rid of precisely the kinds of policies that Obama is advocating for the United States under the magic mantra of “change.”

Putting restrictions on international trade to save jobs at home? That was tried here with the Smoot-Hawley tariff during the Great Depression.

Unemployment was 9 percent when that tariff was passed to save jobs, but unemployment went up instead of down and reached 25 percent before the decade was over.

Higher taxes to “spread the wealth around,” as Obama puts it? The idea of redistributing wealth has turned into the reality of redistributing poverty in countries where wealth has fled and the production of new wealth has been stifled by a lack of incentives.

Economic disasters, however, may pale by comparison with the catastrophe of Iran with nuclear weapons. Glib rhetoric about Iran being “a small country,” as Obama called it, will be a bitter irony for Americans who will have to live in the shadow of a nuclear threat that cannot be deterred, as that of the Soviet Union could be, by the threat of a nuclear counterattack.

Suicidal fanatics cannot be deterred. If they are willing to die and we are not, then we are at their mercy — and they have no mercy. Moreover, once they get nuclear weapons, that is a situation which cannot be reversed, either in this generation or in generations to come.

Is this the legacy we wish to leave our children and grandchildren, by voting on the basis of style and symbolism, rather than substance?

If Barack Obama thinks that such a catastrophe can be avoided by sitting down and talking with the leaders of Iran, then he is repeating a fallacy that helped bring on World War II.

In a nuclear age, one country does not have to send troops to occupy another country in order to conquer it. A country is conquered if another country can dictate who rules it, as the Mongols once did with Russia, and as Osama bin Laden tried to do when he threatened retaliation against places in the United States that voted for George W. Bush. But he didn’t have nuclear weapons to back up that threat — yet.
…
What the Middle East fanatics want is not just our resources or even our lives, but our humiliation first, in whatever sadistic ways they can think of. Their lust for humiliation has already been repeatedly demonstrated in their videotaped beheadings that find such an eager market in the Middle East.

None of this can be prevented by glib talk, but only by character, courage and decisive actions — none of which Barack Obama has ever demonstrated.

Look, I don’t think we should start running around with our hair on fire. And whether one subscribes to Mr. Sowell’s foreign policy doomsday scenario regarding Iran isn’t even the point. But surely, whether the threat is as dire a picture as he paints or not, clearly there is one. And Joe Biden’s dangerous prediction that Obama will be tested in the first six months of his presidency is not one we wish to see come true.

I am all in favor of diplomacy first, but one needs to use the right combination of carrots and sticks. Diplomacy is certainly more effective if foreign leaders believe they are actually dealing with an American leader possessed of a spine of steel. I know Hillary’s got one. I know McCain’s got one. Obama. No. I’m just not seeing it.

President Sarkozy of France has referred to Obama’s foreign policy ideas and acumen as “hopelessly naïve.” The new Russian President Medvedev is sort of throwing down the gauntlet indicating that if America wants better relations with Russia, we are going to have to reach out and pucker up. Clearly this is not an indicator they think they are dealing with strong American leadership.

The fact that the stock market plunged nearly 500 points after Election Day is also not an indicator of confidence in America’s choice. Oh, well. Logic be damned.

In the NH Union Leader, a commenter left the following in response to Mr. Sowell’s editorial:

C’mon people, let’s give Obama a chance to prove we non kool-ade drinkers wrong. Look, nobody is more disappointed this morning than I, but, it is customary to give a new President a “honeymoon” period at the start of his first term. Let’s try to honor that custom.

The strange bedfellows responsible for Obamas victory may want to savor the honeymoon, as the marriage promises to be a very rocky union. I, for one, refuse to play the role of abused spouse in this forced marriage. There are many ways around an oppressive government, and if Obama plans on over-reaching, I promise to use each and every one of them.

Let’s hope Obama’s administration doesn’t seize the mantle of “the worst Presidency in US history”. I’m confident the socialist spin machine will be able to place any Obama mis-step at the feet of George W. Bush. Hell, they still, on occasion, blame Reagan.

We appear to be living the ancient Chinese curse:
“May you live in interesting times.”

I wonder if Rev. (not so) Wright will be at the Inauguration?
Interesting, indeed!

G*d Damn America? No, no, no, God Bless America!

— Michael Paradis, Manchester

Barack Obama will now be our President and I am doing my best to open my heart and lend support, not for his sake, because I still do not trust him, but for the sake of our country, which is in trouble. And we all need to pull together to get through the difficult situation in which we now find ourselves. I am hoping these sobering realities encourage President-Elect Obama to grow quickly into a new pair of shoes and hit the books. The winning is done. The posturing is done. Speeches are done. Now the real work begins.

Lines were long and tempers flared Wednesday not to vote but to get paid for canvassing for Barack Obama. Several hundred people are still waiting to get their pay for last-minute campaigning. Police were called to the Obama campaign office on North Meridian Street downtown (Indianapolis) to control the crowd.

The line was long and the crowd was angry at times.

“I want my money today! It’s my money. I want it right now!” yelled one former campaign worker.

A former spokesman for the Obama campaign said 375 people were hired as part of the Vote Corps program and said people signed up to work three-hour shifts at a time. Three hours of canvassing got workers a $30 pre-paid Visa card.

The workers showed up to get their cards Wednesday morning at 10:00 am.

“There was a note on the door saying 1:00 pm and then at 1:20 pm everybody was like why is nobody here. They just got here and they’re trying to get it organized,” said Heather Richards, a former campaign worker.

Well, golly gee willikers - what a surprise! People are having a hard time getting Obama to fulfill his obligations! You’d think with the gazillion dollars from illegal contributions he received, he would have plenty of green to spread among his people, maybe even some bonuses for jobs well done for the 375 workers who came to get paid. If you thought that, you’d be wrong!

Eventually people did start getting paid, but some said they were missing hours and told to fill in paperwork making their claim and that eventually they would get a check in the mail.

“Still that’s not right. I’m disappointed. I’m glad for the president, but I’m disappointed in this system,” said Diane Jefferson, temporary campaign worker.

“It should have been $480. It’s $230,” said Imani Sankofa.

“They gave us $10 an hour. So we added it. I added up all the hours so it was supposed to be at least $120. All I get is $90,” said Charles Martin.

“I worked nine hours a day for 4 days and got paid half of what I should have earned,” said Randall Waldon.

Some people weren’t satisfied with filling out a claim form for money they felt was still due to them.

“They say that they gonna call you or they going to mail it to you, but I don’t know. We’ll see what happens,” said Antron Grose.

“Talking about they’ll mail it to us. I ain’t worried about that, man. They’re not going to mail nothin’,” said Martin.

Seems Johnny Mac was right about the Redistributor in Chief - he wants to redistribute YOUR funds, not his! So, you just keep sitting by that mailbox and phone - I am SURE they will be rushing to get you the money for which you worked. Ahem. (And given this, I wonder how well the Obama camp is going to do issuing those 1099s in January?)

And if I was the woman in this video below (from No Quarter Election Thread), I sure wouldn’t be holding my breath:

If Obama is having, um, difficulties actually paying his employees wages earned, I’m not sure why this woman thinks Obama is going to do ANYTHING for her, much less pay her mortgage and her gas. Wow - it is just hard to fathom the gullibility of some people…

And in more news in the “Welcome To The Real World” round-up, the passing of Proposition 8 in CA and Amendment 2 in FL were a rude awakening to many. Here’s the thing - while all those Hollywood types (talking to YOU, Ellen) were singing Obama’s praises, they, like so many others, ignored that the bottom line of his pandering message was that HE IS AGAINST SAME SEX MARRIAGE. He has said that time and time again including in his wishy-washy message that he doesn’t think Prop 8 should pass in CA, but that he is against same sex marriage all the same. So, guess what? It passed, because a lot of his constituents, especially African Americans and the evangelicals he courted, are against same sex marriage. Had any of those mindless people BOTHERED to actually look at his “words, just words,” they would have known that.

But no, Cher, and Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon, and Wanda Sykes, and all of those people wanted to go with the cool guy, so they, along with the REST of Democrats, turned a deaf ear and blind eye to the shenanigans Obama was using in caucus states and that the DNC used to take votes away from Hillary, both in FL and MI, as well as the COnvention. I don’t think the constituents SHE courted would have voted FOR Proposition 8. Oh well - the GLBT community, and women, have all been thrown under the bus for the ascension of THE ONE. Hope you’re happy now because you helped to make it happen!

Oh, wait - those people in CA aren’t. But all those folks protesting there can just get over themselves - they have no one but themselves to blame for the passage of Proposition 8. Had any of the big wigs there stood up and cried foul over the RBC’s decision, or DEMANDED a fair, DEMOCRATIC Convention, I doubt Prop 8 would have passed. So, tough, all you Hollywood folks who oohed and ahed over The One in Denver and had no qualms with the DNP violating its own rules - you did it to yourselves. Hate it for ya, Ellen (and Portia),and the other 18,000 people affected by this, but hey - maybe you shouldn’t have been pushing Obama so much during your show. And maybe all you people should have actually done your freakin’ homework on what was happening in the election.

While I am at it, over 62% of Floridians voted FOR Amendment 2 voted FOR Amendment 2, to Constitutionalize discrimination in their state. In other words, a whole bunch of Democrats voted for that, too. Thanks so much, all you wonderful folks - in both states. What a healing uniter Obama is, isn’t he?? Hey, that’s what they keep claiming, so it HAS to be true - just not for women in general and GLBT people in particular. Whatever.

Anyway, who cares about social justice for GLBT and women now that we have the first biracial president-elect? Who cares about ACORN using TAXPAYING DOLLARS to commit massive amounts of voter fraud, and how they will surely get even more money from and ALL Democratic government (I mean, really - if they were already getting millions of dollars before, as well as new-mortgage kickbacks, and Chris Dodd wanting to give them BILLIONS of dollars from the bailout repayment, who the hell is going to stop them NOW?)? Who cares that their GOTV arms committed voter fraud for Obama and that his followers voted more than once? What’s the big deal, anyway?

Sadly, that is the real world we have now, where caucus fraud will be institutionalized, voter fraud will continue to be tolerated, even excused by people who should know better (that is, the people who, thanks to all of the “poor little ACORN” posts by the NY Times, think ACORN is being beset upon by Republicans and they aren’t doing anything wrong - even when Democrats admit they are. Bob Herbert is especially guilty of this tactic. Apparently, these readers have missed his *subtle* Obama bias…), and electronic voting machines will continue to flip ballots. That is our world today, because really - who is going to stand up against caucus fraud now? Not the Democrats, who KNEW it was occurring but said nothing, or the MSM, which ignored Clinton’s attempts to inform them about documented fraud. Who’s going to stand up against voter fraud? Not Democrats - that would cast aspersions on THE ONE. Who will stand up for us?

And who will stand up for women? Not the Democrats, that’s for sure. They made a sport of misogyny this election, and haven’t let up yet on Governor Palin, either. They not only stood by while Obama laid claim to Clinton’s ideas, but were in a wicked big hurry to shove her out of the race (once she created those policies, of course, because what would Obama have done if he had to create them on his own??). Oh, and they didn’t just shove her out, they treated her with contempt, as if she had no right to come to the party. They treated her in a way they have never treated ANY man, even one as inexperienced and unqualified as, well, Obama. No, they not only stood by, they engaged in, and encouraged, the misogyny we experienced this year (did anyone EVER hear Obama speak out against hanging Sarah Palin in effigy in West Hollywood? No. Ever hear him speak out against the misogyny directed at Clinton? No. No, he engaged in it, not fought against it.). I bet Obama wishes he had stolen Clinton’s economic proposal now that the Dow tanked the worst after his election of any time in history precisely because they DON’T know where he stands. That can’t be a good omen for things to come, and rubs a bit of the shine off of his “win.” I reckon he shouldn’t have been so dismissive when John McCain claimed her plan (and actually gave her credit, something Obama has NEVER done). Oh, well!

It’s going to be some four years here in the real world, with more rude awakenings, more expectations dashed, and more dreams broken. Heck, Obama’s workers are already experiencing that, as well as his anti-war supporters with the choice of Emmanuel as his Chief of Staff. Well, time to wake up, people, to what the rest of us have always known - Obama is a con man, and you fell for it. Don’t waste your time waiting by the phone or the mail-box for your wages, or hope of mortgages and gas paid (!!!). It ain’t gonna happen - but we could have told you that…Oh, wait - we did tell you that, and you didn’t believe us. How about now?? It hasn’t even been two days since the election, and look at the shine fade…

First, I want to address those supposed internal poll numbers that have McCain ahead in PA, MI, NJ and closing in on CA. I have not been able to verify those numbers. They could be true, they might not be. I said back during the primaries that a Pampers nomination would put PA, MI, and NJ in play. Since we know that the pollsters have not been releasing accurate numbers, as their models are weighted heavily to Pampers, with interviewees being mostly Democrats, I think it is safe to say that this race is tied, and will be decided by the undecided voters, which have been breaking for McCain, and will continue to do so. Why? Because if you haven’t made the commitment to Pampers by now you are nervous enough about his fraudulent fascist ass that you are going to hold your nose and vote for McCain; at least he is a known quantity. Internals cannot always be trusted either.

In NC internal numbers had Clinton within 5 points and shaving a point each day off Pampers lead; she lost by 15, but we know now that was due to double counted ballots, and other methods of fraud. Numbers can be given to motivate workers, volunteers, and voters. I think the best strategy is to not put faith in numbers and work your asses off in the next 24 hours to defeat Pampers. Keep making calls. Keep canvassing, get out the vote, and go vote yourselves. The Pampers fraud machine is in full force so we need every vote for McCain to count (we can deal with the “what should have been” with Hillary later). DO NOT ALLOW ANY POLL NUMBERS MAKE YOU FEEL THIS IS OVER.

And lay off the conscientious abstainers. They have made their decision based on their ethics. Respect it. If, in the privacy of the voting booth they have a change of heart, they will do that without being cajoled by us (my entire immediate family is voting for Pampers, guess how that feels?). Now, on to Pennsylvania.

I believe that John McCain is going to win the 21 electoral votes in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on Tuesday. In 2004 Bush lost the state by 144,248 votes (see the above map of the 2004 result). The cities of Philadelphia, Allentown, Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and Erie went to Kerry, while the entire rest of the state voted for the Shrub. Pampers will no doubt take Philadelphia. But McCain doesn’t need Philadelphia to win. He needs, and he’s going to get, Allegheny County.

In 2004 Kerry won Allegheny, and outlying counties, by slim margins:
Allegheny: 96,987

Beaver: 2,230
Washington: 552
Fayette: 4,075
That’s 103,844 votes. Leaving a margin of 40,044 votes in the 2004 totals.

There is one reason and one reason only that Kerry took these counties: Tereza Heinz-Kerry. Knowing this, Obama tried to trot her out in the run-up to the Pennsylvania primary. Her lack of enthusiasm for the candidate was pretty obvious. Obama has no such connection. In fact, the one thing he had going for him in the area, John Murtha, decided to pick the scab off the bitter/cling incident by calling his constituents racists, and then rednecks. Personally I think Murtha fell on a grenade, potentially ending his political career to prevent Obama from getting into the White House. Between that, Joe the Plumber, Bittergate, the Hillary/PUMA effect and Obama’s ever shrinking tax break income threshold (it used to be $250,000…now his ads say $200,000….his VP says $150,000….Bill Richardson says $120,000….we know it’s really around $42-50,000…middle class, get ready for the mugging) chances are McCain is going to win all four of those counties.

Another Kerry stronghold was Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties. Margins were not that wide there either.
Lackawanna County (Scranton is County Seat): 14,807
Luzerne County: 4,620

I believe that it is the PUMA effect that will have the greatest impact in drawing Democrats away from Obama. Forget Biden’s connection to Scranton. He hasn’t had any there in decades. No one is seeing his appearance there as a homecoming. It’s a hey I used to be from here vote for me kind of feeling. When Democrats for McCain and Harriet Christian are leading PUMAs on major canvassing safaris, reminding everyone what Obama and the DNC did to Hillary, the candidate they still love, what Obama said about them, etc. I see both counties in play big time. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication up there!

Joe the Plumber will also pull in votes in Allentown, and Erie. We hear time and time again that working class voters are “values voters,” meaning that they vote with the candidate whom they feel represents their beliefs, even if they are voting against their economic interests. In 2008 the McCain/Palin ticket not only speaks to them more, especially with a woman who comes directly from the working class, but will better serve their economic interests by not taxing them into the poor house, or taxing their employers into laying them off (and with those ever lowering tax thresholds that is exactly what is going to happen).

The simple fact of the matter is that if McCain’s internals didn’t have him in striking distance he and Palin wouldn’t be wasting their time. And if Camp Pampers didn’t think the same thing he and Biden wouldn’t be there either.

One final factor working for McCain: Pampers fatigue. Pennsylvania was the state that shocked the nation when polls came out saying they were sick and tired of hearing Pampers’ voice and seeing his face everywhere. They felt that way during the primaries. I can only guess how they feel now. I would imagine there are a lot of people in PA doing what I do…turning down the volume on the TV, changing the channel, or throwing random objects. No one overkills like Pampers whose motto must be, “Too much of me is never enough.” Pampers, I’ve got news for you; too little of you is too much of you. PA is also the state where Pampers told Ed Rendell, “We don’t need the people, we just need the checks.”

Don’t be surprised if it’s going to be Pennsylmania for McCain tomorrow. Sorry Pampers, you need the people, not just the checks.

[More of Shtuey Van Shtuey's superb writing can be found here]

ONLINE, WASHINGTON DC & NATIONWIDE - The Just Say No Deal Coalition, a group of Senator Hillary Clinton’s most ardent supporters, presents Closing Arguments: The Case for a McCain/Palin Administration via a nationwide conference call on Sunday, November 2 at 5PM Eastern.

A bipartisan team of distinguished women and men — Democrats Lady Lynn de Rothschild and Dr. Lynette Long, and Republicans Charlie Crist and Rudy Giuliani — unite to appeal to Hillary supporters, PUMAs and undecided voters to push through to election day to get out the vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.

This 90-minute conference call will be broadcast worldwide via BlogTalkRadio and NoQuarterUSA.net. Larry Johnson, the owner of NoQuarterUSA.net, will be the host. Mr. Johnson is a former counter-terrorism official and intelligence officer who served in the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations. Mr. Johnson became a vociferous critic of Karl Rove and of the Bush administration for their involvement in the outing of former CIA officer Valerie Plame, and he delivered the National Democratic Party’s weekly address on July 25, 2005.

Please join us at 5PM Eastern at our broadcast, Closing Arguments.

Just Say No Deal, which was born the weekend that Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign, is comprised largely of Democrats and Independents who believe in putting Country, not party affiliation, first. We have spoken out against political intimidation in the states and the blogosphere, condemned the mainstream media bias, publicized voter and caucus fraud, and criticized the refusal of the Democratic Party to disassociate itself from the fraud and corrupt actions of ACORN.

Join us at 5PM Eastern for the live broadcast of Closing Arguments: The Case for a McCain/Palin Administration. You’ll need to be registered at BlogTalkRadio to post comments in the live chat.

An audio archive of the conference call will be available immediately after the call concludes at around 6:30 p.m. ET.