Yes We Can!

I still can't believe it!  Even though California passed that vile Proposition 8, this was still an amazing, historic night.  I'm 41 years old, and I never thought I'd see this happen:  a liberal, big city, young, African-American politician elected President of the United States, at a time of war.  This is just fantastic!  In yesterday's Washington Post, Richard Cohen something in his column that actually made me tear up.  Here is the passage:

 My fellow Americans, we have overcome.

I'll finish by including Barack's speech from last night.  What an amazing time for this country!

Mavericks

I lost count last night of how much Sarah Palin referred to herself and McCain as mavericks. If you have to keep telling people that you are a maverick, tough, a winner, etc., you probably actually aren't. Real mavericks, etc. don't have to remind people; their actions speak for themselves.

Maybe it won't happen again....

Wow, isn't it amazing that when serious matters, like say the stock market falling nearly 1000 points in two days, how issues like lipstick become, shall we say, banal. I've been thinking that what we Obama supporters needed was a way to get McCain on the defensive, and, by golly, he does it for us himself :-). In a week of some very bad news, McCain and Palin seem to be thrashing around, looking for something to say, and keep ending up just looking foolish. I know there's much time to go, and four debates to come, but, perhaps the moral to the old Aesop fable might be true - slow and steady wins the race.

This can't happen again....

Please tell me that this isn't going to happen again. How is it possible that a dimwit like Sarah Palin can become an instant icon that moves huge numbers of women to McCain's side? And how is it possible that the Republicans can keep throwing out more and more egregious lies, and people keep believing them? Obama's tax plan will cut taxes for most "ordinary" Americans, but somehow the Republicans have convinced many people that Obama will raise them.

The best skill the Republicans have is changing the subject. What to do about the war? Discuss who was right about the surge. Problems with McCain's tax plans? Accuse Obama of being sexist. Palin doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is? Charles Gibson was unfair to her. People, this has GOT TO STOP!!!!

Elitism

I'm a bit of a political junkie, and, over the last month I have become extremely frustrated at the throwing around of the word "elitist." This is ridiculous in so many ways. First, none of the three candidates are remotely near to being a "common" person. Neither Obama bowling, Clinton drinking, nor McCain's "Straight Talk Express" can hide the fact that all three candidates left being "common people" long ago. Second, it always seems like a liability for a candidate to appear in any way intellectual. To be elected, it appears that a candidate must subsume any intellectual gifts under a guise of likable mediocrity, or someone who never tells anyone any bad news. All of these petty, gossipy kinds of "issues" do nothing but make everyone involved look ridiculous, as well as the country.

Detail in "John Adams"

I hate to be a nit picker at such a wonderful production as HBO's John Adams mini-series, but I did notice a mistake in the second episode. During the second Continental Congress, we see George Washington in uniform. This was true; however, in the mini-series, we see him wearing his Continental uniform, when in reality he wore his Virginia regiment uniform. Also, Washington was only 43 years old at this time; in the mini-series he looks at least 60 years old. I realize that this is just a mini-series, but its "making of" documentary went to great lengths to describe its historical accuracy. I wonder why, then, they would make these two fairly easy to check mistakes.

My endorsement

Well, after a lot of thought, I've decided that I'm supporting Barak Obama. I like Clinton, and if she is the party's nominee, I'll gladly support her (incidentally, I'm so happy to have seen such an historic moment-- Clinton and Obama, a woman and an African-American man, debating each other with both of them having a real shot at the presidency. It was a special moment.). However, Obama, to me, has a touch of inspiration that Clinton doesn't have, and that's why I'm throwing my support to him.