Barack Obama Voted President-Elect

Well, I gotta say, this is even more of a shock than the Phillies winning the World Series, only because there are so many more ways to lose an election than a baseball game. This really fell into the "I'll believe it when I see it" category.

I just want to thank all of you out there for getting out and voting. I haven't felt this great about the future in a long time. Both McCain's concession speech and Obama's acceptance speech were delivered with the kind of grace and mutual respect that has been missing in American politics for far too long.

Thanks for being patient with my political rants of the past two months. I promise not to write about politics again, at least not for a month or two. From here on, it will mostly be the trivial nonsense you've become accustomed to when reading this blog. I promise.

- Obama rides wind of change to historic victory [Reuters]

Phillies Win World Series

Well, I guess I might as well let the cat out of the bag: I'm secretly from Philadelphia. I'm not ashamed of it; it's just never come up before.

The Phillies, for the first time in 28 years (and, yes, I was very much alive when it happened) have won the World Series for a second time. I can hardly believe it.

I really don't want to say anything else in case I jinx it (there's still time).

- Fightin’ Phils are World Series champions [Philly.com]

McCain's RoboCall, pts. 1-4

Here are the transcripts of the latest McCain-RNC robocalls about Bill Ayers, abortion, Hollywood and (yet again) Bill Ayers. Click on the links to listen to the calls:

Call #1:
"Hello. I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500."

Call #2:
"I'm calling on behalf of John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama and his Democrat allies in the Illinois Senate opposed a bill requiring doctors to care for babies born alive after surviving attempted abortions -- a position at odds even with John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama and his liberal Democrats are too extreme for America. Please vote -- vote for the candidates who share our values. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202 863 8500."

Call #3:
"Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats got caught putting Hollywood above America. On the very day our elected leaders gathered in Washington to deal with the financial crisis, Barack Obama spent just 20 minutes with economic advisers, but hours at a celebrity Hollywood fundraiser. Where are the Democrats' priorities?"

Call #4:
"Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats aren't who you think they are. They say they want to keep us safe, but Barack Obama said the threat we face now from terrorism is nowhere near as dire as it was in the end of the Cold War. And Congressional Democrats now want to give civil rights to terrorists."

And here I thought the negative campaigning was over. Someone should alert the McCain campaign that a very unfriendly robot is saying all of these horrible and untrue things about his opponent. I'm sure he'll put an immediate stop to it once he's found out.

-Palin Dismisses Powell Endorsement, Won't Reject Robocalls [ABC News]

McCain Campaign Links Barack Obama to The Velvet Underground

In yet another desperate attempt from the McCain-Palin ticket to discredit Barack Obama with half-truths, Sarah Palin, speaking to a crowd in Jacksonville, Florida, Palin said the following:

"Well, gee whiz, according to the Buffalo Courier-Express, Barack Obama was heavily involved with a group calling itself the Velvet Underground. I mean, I don't know about you, but I hardly think this type of behavior is the kinda Country First kinda attitude that someone who wants to be our president should be behavin' like."

This statement was followed by loud boos and jeers from the crowd. But here are the facts that the McCain-Palin campaign may be unaware of, or simply omitted:

FACT: The Velvet Underground were a musical ensemble from the late 1960's and not a terrorist group (further proof of McCain being somewhat out of touch).

FACT: Obama was four years old when the Velvet Underground formed in 1965.

FACT: Obama never met any members of the group personally, though he and Lou Reed briefly shared an accordion teacher in the mid-1980's. Both have since abandoned the accordion.

FACT: The Buffalo Courier-Express ceased publication in 1982.

To make matters worse, the above picture was released to the Associated Press. A pathetic, preposterous hoax, it supposedly shows Obama standing just to the right of guitarist Sterling Morrison in a 1967 group portrait.

You Don't Need a Weatherman To Know Which Way the Wind Blows

I am becoming completely disgusted with the McCain campaign's recent attacks on Barack Obama concerning his alleged connections with William Ayers, a former member of a radical group called the Weather Underground. Obama was eight years old when Ayers participated in the bombings of New York City Police Headquarters in 1970, the United States Capitol building in 1971 and The Pentagon in 1972 in reaction to the Vietnam War. And even now his "connections" only go as far as living in the same district with him, and campaigning for educational reform together about three years ago.

McCain himself has significant connections to U.S. Council for World Freedom, an offshoot of the radical World Anti-Communist League, who supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair. The U.S. Council for World Freedom has been linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe.

McCain resigned from the group in 1984, by which time he had little choice due to the impending Iran-Contra scandal.

Good piece of information, no? Why don't more people in the "liberal media" mention this? Hopefully, that will change if McCain persists in linking Obama to Ayers.

-McCain and the U.S. Council For World Freedom [Washington Monthly]

A Full Day's Supply Of Racial Stereotyping

I have to say that I am almost rendered speechless by this, though I shouldn't be all that surprised.

At the Family Research Council's annual Values Voters Summit in Washington, D.C. last weekend, the above souvenir was being sold. It is a box of waffle mix depicting a decidedly racist image of Barack Obama lovingly eyeing a stack of waffles, reminiscent of this particular bit of marketing. And for a topper (literally), there is this image of Obama in a turban (you know, just in case FOX News lets you forget for a fraction of a second that Barack's middle name is Hussein) with an arrow that reads "Point Box Toward Mecca For Tastier Waffles."

Hi-larious, no? Well, believe it or not, some humorless folk were actually offended by this exciting new product. Even the members of the Family Research Council issued this statement condemning the product. What's become of free enterprise, I say?

Apparently, the creators of the product, Bob DeMoss and Mark Whitlock, once worked at Focus on the Family. Gives you a warm fuzzy, doesn't it?

I really have nothing new to add to this story; I just wanted to point it out because most likely the mainstream media won't be anytime soon. And I wouldn't want this bit of "harmless satire" to go unnoticed.

Breakfast of chumps - [Los Angeles Times]

Credits of the Day: Entertainment Tonight

Think you're under appreciated? Try working for these guys. Yeesh.

Click on the image to see if you can spot the name of one of your loved ones. The smart money says you can't.