Rants, November 30, 2008

Welcome to the November 30, 2008 edition of Rants. There are a lot of good ones, so find a quiet place, get a coffee or a beer, and settle in for a while.

John Tedder presents » John McCain, Bad For America - Tedder’s Random Notes posted at Tedder's Random Notes. 

Phil B. presents Confusing Voting Ballots « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "I recently received my official sample ballot for the General Elections. And once again, I can only scratch my head when reading the new proposed laws that I am suppose to vote for." 

Kara Sheridan presents Disaboom | KaraSwims | Rock the disabled vote posted at Jeff Charlebois, saying, "The statistics of how many people with disabilities vote or are even able to get in the polling places are definitely rant-worthy. Read why we all need to rock the disabled vote!" 

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Just Call It The McPettiness Express posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness. 

Archvillain presents Not This Crap Again! posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, "What is WRONG with these people?" 

Joe Hayes presents Political Jokes posted at Restoring Your Finances and Your Faith, saying, "Some really funny politically oriented jokes, just in time for the Election! Includes Barack Obama and John McCain related humor, and quotes from famous people too." 

Madeleine Begun Kane presents An Obsessive's Lament posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness. 

taucan62 presents Obama Landslide, Race Issue Laid To Rest posted at rjjrdq's America, saying, "Race card? What race card?" 

Bill Spohnholtz presents Social Security Sense posted at Learn The Stock Market And How to Trade. 

Archvillain presents Tangled webs, etc. posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, "The majority should not have the power to deny minorities their civil rights by referendum." 

Joseph presents The Obama Plan – What It Includes posted at Penny Pinching. 

Wenchypoo presents This Just In: What to Expect From an Obama Nation (or Abomination) posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket. 

Coralie presents Is America Going Red? posted at Happily Oblivious. 

Machione presents Now, More Than Ever, It's Time To Make America PURPLE. posted at Fear And Loathing - The Gonzo Papers, saying, "Who is the "us" that is being represented in Washington, D.C. and {insert the name of your state's capital city}? It's the fanatics at the farthest ends of the spectrum that are setting the agenda and creating the environment in which we are expected to survive. The majority of us are silent in terms of what counts." 

 SjP presents say what? posted at Sojourner's Place, saying, "Can somebody please tell me what the hell Sarah Palin was saying when Wolf asked her: Is there anything new that you want to come up with -- a new Sarah Palin initiative that you want to release right now?

PALIN: Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don’t get away with that. We have to balance budgets and we’re dealing with multibillion dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees in our organizations.

I'm serious, what the hell was she talking about?" 

Jacob presents Rant on society’s expectations … posted at Early Retirement Extreme. 

Steve Gillman presents Social Security Rip Off posted at The New Ideas Blog. 

Wenchypoo presents One Nation Underachieving posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket. 

Ben Connor Barrie presents Building a Sustainable Economy posted at Grown Ass People, saying, "How can we build a more sustainable and equitable economy from the global financial crisis?" 

SpkTruth2Pwr presents Rosa Parks-She refused to stand up posted at The Apathy Remedy, saying, "The power of leadership is not reserved only for the formally educated or the obvious candidates. It can be reserved for the person who decides to say enough is enough" 

The Edjumakator presents Edjukashun posted at The Edjumakator, saying, "Gettin learnd is impotant" 

BH presents An India-Israel-United States Alliance: The Last Great Hope for Humanity posted at Bangladeshi Hindu, saying, "Dr. Richard Benkin, Jewish activist in the movement to protect human rights of Hindus living under fascist Islamic nation of Bangladesh talks about the need for a friendly alliance between Israel, US and India" 

M Wilson presents American Car Manufacturers Cry Foul posted at Ignorant Mouth, saying, "The economic downturn is not to blame for the decline in the American automotive industry" 

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Dear Bush, Doesn't Your Brush Need Clearing? posted at Mad Kane's Political Madness.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival.

Rants -- November 14, 2008

Welcome to the November 14, 2008 edition of Rants. 

Jeffrey Stingerstein presents A Reality Check For the Wall Street Journal About the Bush-McCain Tax Cuts posted at Disillusioned Words. 

rjjrdq presents Election A Sham, Voting Machines *EASILY* Hacked posted at rjjrdq's America, saying, "In case you thought your vote counted..." 

Wenchypoo presents Updated: The Law of Unintended Consequences Part III—Something for Nothing posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo's Mental Wastebasket. 

David Weingarten presents B.C. Pipeline Terrorism Eerily Similar to RCMP “Dirty Tricks” posted at Weingarten.ca, saying, ""Who is behind the recent pipeline bombings in British Columbia?"" 

Archvillain presents Alchemy, Astrology, and Other Nutty Ideas posted at A Dark and Sinister Force for Good, saying, "The lunatics are taking over"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Rants using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: rants, blog carnival.

Obama and Hitler Are Liberal. Really?

This guy named Paul Broun, a Republican first term congressman from Georgia, compared Obama to Hitler.

“The point I tried to make is that he is extremely liberal, he has
promoted a lot of socialistic ideas, and it just makes me concerned."

As can be divined from my previous post, Is Obama Hitler?, I found that hundreds of people searched for the term, or a combination of, "Obama Hitler." That's how they found my little old blog. There clearly are a lot of fearful people who think Hitler and Obama share an ideology. Now our congressmen are saying such stupid things.

It's apalling to think that anybody thinks this way, yet they do.

CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Congressman sorry for likening Obama to Hitler « - Blogs from CNN.com

Taylor Swift Versus David "The Dork" Archuleta

Clearly written by fanboys of Mr Archuleta, this "review" (ahem!) is pretty funny, nevertheless. Here are some funny quips.

David Archuleta vs. Taylor Swift: Who Is Better?

Facebook Groups Calling For Obama Impeachment

Not even sure where to start here. Groups are popping up on Facebook calling for "the impeachment of Barack Hussein Obama." How's that?

First of all, you idiots, he's not the President yet.

Second, what is so compellingly vile about him that you'd want to impeach him on day 1?

Let me list some reasons why another President should have been impeached but wasn't:

• Ignored FBI and CIA warnings that bin Laden was determined to attack the US on US soil.
• Waited 2 months after 9/11 to begin looking for bin Laden. He said we'd get him "Dead or Alive." A while later, when asked about bin Laden, he said, "I don't think about him much."
• Shuffled bin Laden's family out of America while US citizens were stranded in airports across the land.
• Started a war in Iraq based on trumped up "intelligence" and lies.
• Can't finish the war because he had no exit strategy.
• Oh, yeah, tortured prisoners of war, against the Geneva Conventions.
• Held captives in Gitmo indefinitely without trial, until the Supreme Court ruled (years later) that he couldn't.

I'm sure you can add to the list. What has Obama done? Dickheads.

AFP: 'Impeach Obama' groups pop up on Facebook

Obama Two-fers McCain

A landslide it was not, but a victory with significance nonetheless. Barack Obama will be our next President of the United States. He gave an incredible speech, bringing not only Jesse Jackson to tears ("Why not me?" Was that what he was thinking?), but a few thousand folks in the crowd.

It was probably the best speech I've heard him make.

John McCain was gracious in defeat. I'm infinitely grateful that the twit wasn't allowed to speak. I hope she vanishes from the national scene and goes back to Alaska to look out her window and dream of a romantic rendevous with Putin.

It was interesting to hear the McCain crowd boo Obama and to hear the silence when Obama mentioned McCain. Kind of how the whole campaign season went: McCain throws sucker punches, Barack bats them away like pesky mosquitoes.

Overall, a great night for America.

If Barack Weren't Black, He'd Be Clear (read the story)

I'm going to go on record right now and say the Barack Obama is the clearest choice for me for President of the United States in all of my voting history (I'm old, but not that old). He is the next Ronald Reagan, only he's progressive, black, and not an actor-turned-politician. Let's hope he wins and brings just a little humility to the office of the President. And let's hope that his message is carried out in a way that produces results, rather than the back-handed bullshit that Congress always pulls on the President (either party).

For those of you who disagree, leave comments. Don't just get all pissy and leave. Start a debate. Go on record as being against him. That way, when he fails, you can always make the legitimate claim that "you told me so."

Possible Landslide for Barack Obama?

First things first, what is a landslide? Of course, the prognosticators are referring to the Electoral College vote, not the popular vote. One popular pollster, who actually uses some very detailed and complex mathematics and statistics, and who's been EXTREMELY accurate in predicting outcomes of elections and primaries, is FiveThirtyEight.com, who has the following prediction up right now:

Capturing 65 percent of the College's votes is pretty impressive, leading to a 30 point victory. That's HUGE. But Obama is projected to win by 6-8 percent with regard to the popular vote. So let's not call this a blow-out. Let's not even call it a win for Obama just yet. Stranger things have -- and will again -- happened.

Have you voted? Have you seen any unusual polling procedures? Voting machines working okay? I'm a "permanent vote by mail" voter, which means I'm supposed to get my ballot in the mail, fill it out, and mail it in. Only I got mine on Saturday, not giving me, or the Post Office, enough time to get it to my polling place in time. So, I'll have to go drop it off tonight after work.

I hope I don't have to stand in line to drop it off! That would REALLY defeat the entire purpose, wouldn't it?

Oh, by the way, I had to call the county election office 3 times to get my ballot.

Government works. Just not very well or expeditiously.

Remember, vote early, vote often.

The Economist Endorses Barack Obama

Anybody who's been reading here knows that I deeply admire Senator Barack Obama. You also know I'm an economist by training and I like a good Rant now and again.

No rants here (sorry). The Economist, the pre-eminent publication on the global economy, stuck its neck out and said if it had a vote, it would cast it for Obama.

If that isn't enough to get you to "swing the right way," I don't know what is!

Seriously, The Economist is a dead-serious magazine. The article is really worth a read. It takes on all sides of Obama and McCain.

None of this, of course, will change your mind about whom to vote for. But it may open your eyes to a more objective method of choosing the next President of the United States.

An endorsement of Barack Obama | It's time | The Economist