Yes We Did

Last night, America shed a legacy of shame that has permeated the country’s conscious-ness for more than 200 years. We now find ourselves on a forward trajectory of pride and hope, and that is because Americans have proven once again that ultimately, we will rise to fight against that which is wrong and enact the change that we know is right.

The election of Barack Obama as the nation’s 44th President – 44 years after passage of the Civil Rights Act – is a powerful symbol of this change. But to be clear, what Americans have really risen up against is years of failed and fraudulent governance that has soiled the fibers of this great country, and rendered it crippled in the world landscape.

Still – what millions of Americans will remember when they think back to that historic moment on November 4, 2008 when Barack Obama was named the next President of the United States – is that it was then that the consciousness of this country was permanently shifted. And it wasn’t shifted just on the west coast and in New England – it was shifted nationwide in a demonstrative vote for change that this country has never seen before. While his 349 (and counting) electoral votes still number fewer than Bill Clinton’s decisive 379 in his 1996 victory, the overwhelming message they cast – that the American people are both for a new regime and against an old regime – is unprecedented.

I told my friend Kerry this morning, when she asked about my feelings on the election, that her young children – just coming of an age when they can recognize who the President is and what that means – have an opportunity we never had. They will see the most powerful leader in this world as a non-white man, influencing their global view in ways we can’t even imagine.

Is racism dead in America? Of course it’s not – because crazy zealots will always exist in the subculture. But let’s take this opportunity, as people of all colors, to stop using racism as a crutch to hold up a negative status quo. Let’s take this opportunity to move forward.

It’s a new day.

Goin' Back to Cali, Day 5 - Albuquerque, NM

(At a Texas gas station, Moby decided he wanted to drive - no, seriously - we didn't put him in that seat.)

Today, as we drove further across Oklahoma into and through Texas, something strange stood out (aside from what was, at least until very recently, the largest cross in the western hemisphere - an honor you really should just let a city have without going after it, no?). Gas prices were below $3/gallon for the first time I can remember seeing in...well, in a very long time. And as we passed sign after sign at stations displaying prices as low as $2.85, it hit me that this just isn't fair. It's not unfair because in California, we pay more than just about everyone else in the country for gas - no, I get that. It's unfair because Texas gave birth to the man who led us into this oil crisis in the first place, and yet in his home state, they pay less than the rest of us! Frankly (and my apologies to the Texas natives out there), I think Texans should have to pay $6/gallon until they properly apologize for the atrocity known as our president.

Meanwhile, what has happened to the 2008 presidential election - which, thanks partly to the aforementioned, has shaped up to be one of the most impactful in our nation's history? Specifically, what the hell is the McCain campaign doing? I don't even say that from a partisan point of view. Seriously, I'm going to take a step back and be as unbiased as I possibly am capable of, and say his entire campaign staff needs to be fired. From the folks "leaking" to the press that their new strategy is to turn the page on the economy and focus on Obama's character...to whomever is giving Sarah Palin a microphone at rallies; some heads need to roll.

First of all, someone needs to get Palin up to speed on the actual strategy of the campaign (which again, I realize, is pretty much impossible to identify at this point). Last Friday, she was talking the big talk about swooping down on Michigan for more campaigning when she was politely informed that the McCain campaign had decided to cease efforts there. That was just days after she agreed with Obama's sentiment about launching cross-border attacks into Pakistan from Afghanistan - something McCain has mocked repeatedly. (In their father-daughter interview with Katie Couric, McCain did his best to clean up this most recent Palin gaffe.) Earlier this week, Palin suggested that she'd really like to revisit the Reverend Wright controversy, despite the fact that McCain himself has declared it "off-limits." At least she got the go-ahead to revive the months-old, laid-to-rest William Ayers connection.

Oh, for the love of God, someone get this woman a newspaper so that she can join the rest of us on today's date.

So while McCain and his cohorts are condoning (by not responding to) shouts from crowds at rallies that Obama is a "terrorist" and they should "kill him," McCain himself is simultaneously issuing statements that he doesn't support such "inappropriate rhetoric." But let's make something very clear - McCain doesn't support these statements simply by not making them himself - but he is happy to have others do the talking for him.

Look, I obviously am a huge Obama supporter. But I'm making simple and fair observations here. Little quips like, "That one!" are meaningless to me, hardly rooted in racism and simply indicative of McCain's grumpy old (losing) man nature. But it's vicious lies, and irresponsible and dangerous mischaracterizations that fuel negativity and hatred in this country, that make me shake my head at the botched McCain campaign. It doesn't even seem that McCain WANTS the campaign to go there, since he could easily have taken it down that road in last night's debate, and really didn't. So I just wish he'd show some of the backbone he is careful to remind the nation he has as a Vietnam Veteran and former POW, and substantively denounce the despicable actions of his camp.

Until the next debate...

Goin' Back to Cali, Day 4 - Oklahoma City, OK

I didn't know what to expect from Oklahoma City. If we weren't driving through and staying the night, I'd surely have forgotten the city even existed. I don't say that just to be mean - it's true. So I decided to really examine the city and highlight what I've learned:

1) Carrie Underwood hails from Checotah, OK.
2) Troy Aikman is from somewhere nearby.
3) Church is really, really important.
4) But yet, the adult superstore is bigger here than I've noticed since being in South Dakota. (What is it with the traditionally Native American states?!)
5) Furthermore, they like to gamble a lot.
6) Church + XXX + Gambling = "You call it abortion, we call it murder."
7) University of Oklahoma is home to more National Merit Scholars than any other school in the country. (Take that, Harvard. I'm kidding, we all know this claim isn't even remotely true.)
8) P.F. Chang's has very good food.
9) P.F. Chang's has extraordinary service.
10) Oklahoma City is messing with my mind.

Now, on to more important things.

Why is John McCain attempting jokes during a debate that many believe to be critical to his ailing campaign? Has no one told him he's not funny? Seriously, if Brad were running for president, and was up on stage in front of millions of viewers making bad jokes that no one understood, I would tell him. It's time for Cindy to come clean and tell her husband he is old and awkward and no one gets it. She might also remind him that he's ruining her chances of moving into an eighth house and getting more camera time to show off her latest Botox treatment.

In fact, let's altogether scrap the third debate between the senators in favor of Michelle vs. Cindy. Did you see the icy exchange between those two on stage post-debate? Yikes. This is where the real story lies. Maybe this is what Palin meant by "putting on our heels and taking off the gloves." Or whatever she said.

Tomorrow, it's a new time zone - and hopefully, new food options.

And I ALSO Have a Bracelet

Well, well, well. Guess who decided to show up at the debate after all. Turns out participat-ing in the year-in-the-making event probably was a better idea than handing the nation's mic over to your opponent for a solo act, huh dumbass?

With McCain's pathetic little stunt out of the way - which was kind of like Britney Spears' VMA appearance last year: first painfully awkward, then just forgettable - the main event did not disappoint. As expected, McCain took every opportunity to call out Obama's "inexperience," and Obama reminded us all that McCain still doesn't understand the economy and loves the '80s. While Obama was not always velvety smooth, sometimes just muttering, "That's not true, that's not true," he never lost his cookies like McCain, who was actually visibly shaking at times. The truly classic moment, however, came when after McCain shifted into trademark downer gear with the tragic story of a fallen soldier whose bracelet he now wore, Obama rebutted with, "I too have a bracelet..." Oh...my. I half-wondered if the camera would zoom in and reveal LIVESTRONG bracelets on both of their wrists.

Brad and I watched the debate unfold out at a bar in [shudder] Times Square - again. It seems we are in with this 21st Century Democratic Leadership group in New York, and they like to host all of their events in touristy bars. At least it's centrally located?

Now you should have gathered after reading my posts by now that New Yorkers are intense and scary. But the only thing more intense and more scary than a New Yorker is a New Yorker with a cause. Do NOT cross these people. The chairman of the committee, upon getting on the mic to introduce the event and a New York state assemblyman in attendance, actually threatened to shut the TVs off if we didn't hush. Really? Really, you think the best way to further the cause of this group is to prevent us from viewing the debate we came to see? Really, you think you can actually get 500 twenty-and-thirty-something New Yorkers with Obama on the brain, the next hook-up in sight, and a cocktail in hand to be quiet? Bold.

Brad had a work event that ran until 8:00 last night, so unfortunately, we had to meet there. "Unfortunately," because in my attempt to secure a table for us (which did not happen), I arrived around 7:50. With Brad not arriving until 8:30, that left me with 40 insufferable minutes to dodge the left-leaners of Wall St.

7:51 - Walk the floor. Check upstairs, circle the room.
7:53 - Go to the bar, get a drink.
7:57 - Test-sip drink and pay.
7:58 - Re-circle the floor, inquire about empty seats that are saved.
8:00 - Find a good standing spot. Check Blackberry, text Brad.
8:01 - "Hi, are you a member of the organization?"
8:01 and 6 seconds - Foiled.

"Srini" worked for a hedge fund. Surprisingly, he does not like this whole economic meltdown. Srini likes to use lots of big words, like "partisan" and "earmarks." He does not count on my political acumen. Srini is equal parts enthralled and terrified.

Enter "Rick," Srini's friend. Rick also "does investments." I question Rick about the fragility of his job. Rick appears nervous. Thankfully, he has a beer in one hand, and a vodka tonic in the other. When I ask Rick why he has two drinks, he explains he doesn't want to have to wait in line at the bar again so soon. I observe that Rick has only had about three girlish sips of his beer. Okay, Rick.

8:15.

Rick - "If I offered you this drink, would you take it? I mean, as a girl, would you accept a drink from a guy you'd just met, if he was already holding it?"
Me - "No, that's weird. Aside from it probably being tepid by now, I'd have no way of knowing you didn't put something in it."
Rick (to Srini) - "Dude, I TOLD you."

8:20.

Srini - "Is our talk totally boring you?"
Me - (Looking up from Blackberry) "What?"
Srini - "Our conversation - is it boring you?"
Me - "What are you talking about?"
Srini - "Banking, investments, you know, mrmrmahrmmrmrrrrrmmblah..."
Me - "Yeah, that's not interesting. But carry on."

8:22.

Srini - "What do you do?"
Rick - "Are you an actress? Is that a total sterotype?" (Seemingly, Rick did not hear me earlier when I said I GREW UP in LA, but LIVED in San Francisco...with my husband.)
Me - "No, I'm in Ad Sales. At home in SAN FRANCISCO, everyone either works for Google, is in banking, or does consulting."
Srini - "Google...I always hear so much about how great that place is...WAIT, you work at Google?"

(Rick still thinks I live in LA. Meanwhile, Google-talk has Srini very entertained. Excellent, I've just bought time.)

8:30.

Me - (Spotting Brad walk through the door) "BRAD!!!!"
Brad - (Surprised) "Wow."
Me - (To Srini and Rick) - "This is my husband, Brad."
(Obligatory handshakes)

8:31.

(Srini and Rick exit stage left.)

I continued to witness variations of this experience throughout the night. One particular guy didn't seem even the least bit interested in the debate, but understood that by being at the event, he appeared politically active (and therefore attractive) to a girl who'd had two beers. I'm not sure if this guy should be hailed for his game, or the girl hung for her stupidity - but in a 10-minute span of semi-whispers (as not to disturb actual debate watchers), this dude acquired her legitimate phone number and what seemed to be a committment to "meet up later." And then he was out - no doubt debate-party-hopping. Donkey, elephant...he didn't care.

Yes We Can, man. Yes We Can.

"Time Out, Time Out!"

Raise your hand if you are sick of this election and feel like the campaigning has dragged out for an inane amount of time. Yeah, exactly. And now John McCain wants to take it to the sidelines to deal with the economy - you know, that thing he said was "fundamentally strong?" Nice try, gramps.

I'm sure this new-found desire of McCain's to focus on the economic crisis has nothing to do with the fact that he has slid in recent voter polls to 43% vs. Obama's 52%, ostensibly because no one trusts the multiple homeowner to understand the ills of those dependent on actual paychecks. And I'm sure his suggestion that Friday's debate be cancelled is completely unrelated to fears that he will be over-matched, and challenged to answer questions he could gloss over before in favor of the war topic.

First of all, please tell me what kind of president is incapable of balancing both market challenges, however extreme, and preparation for a debate - simultaneously? It's like being a college student and asking your history professor to extend the paper deadline because you have an econ midterm the same day. I mean, really, it's not exactly a "one thing at a time" kinda job - so seems like now would be as good a time as any to prove to the American people you can freakin' multi-task.

Second of all, does McCain really think that anyone's dumb enough to see this transparent move as an attempt to take the higher road and put America first? Okay, sadly yes, plenty of people are dumb enough. But these are the same dumb people who respond to commercials suggesting that Obama likened Sarah Palin to a pig - so if I were McCain's campaign manager, I'd make sure we were blanketing tv screens with as many more hyperbolically false anti-Obama ads as possible - not SUSPENDING them!

And third - oh, hell - third, can we just go ahead and hand the presidency to Obama and cut out all the formalities? Because seriously, if he can't win this thing under these circumstances, the election is officially rigged.

I suspect McCain will soon also propose that we push Election Day out from the first Tuesday of November to, say, next June. That should give him enough time to dig in on the economy, wrap it up, put a nice bow on it, and rocket back up in the polls - right? And as an added bonus, it'll give the Palinator more time to learn about important things, like the world and stuff.

Thankfully, in T-minus-29, W will be on-air to lay all of our concerns to rest. I'm so glad we have a president who's totally in control and really knows what he's doing and will make it all okay. It makes this whole 2008 election thing seem like not even that urgent or anything at all.

Deprogramming in Process

After two straight days of Sarah Palin interviews, I'm too dizzy with word vomit to string together a post. So I think it's best to take a break and work on deprogramming my brain, whose thoughts are periodically interrupted by the phrase, "I believe that America has to exercise all options in order to stop the terrorists who are hell bent on destroying America and our allies." It's going to be tough, since that was regurgitated 17 times in a mere 15-minute span, but I think I can do it. I just won't blink - and won't second-guess myself.

Breaking My Silence

It's been almost two weeks since John McCain named his running mate, and nearly one week since both conventions wrapped up. I've sat tight and let the dust settle before observing and commenting on America's response. And now, I think it's fair to say - people in this country are even dumber than I thought.

Of the previously undecided voters polled after the RNC closed its curtain last Thursday, 14% have sided with Obama - and another 20% have put a stake in the ground for McCain. Fully 60% remain undecided.

Now, I could go off on a tirade about how much I disagree with the new McCain backers, but I'm not going to. My real problem is with the 60% who somehow still don't know - as if the candidates are actually close in their views and approaches. These are the people who, when you ask them what they think about absolutely anything, and they say, "I don't know, whatever," really are not kidding. Apparently, 100 years in Iraq isn't a whole lot different to them from 14 more months before withdrawal; and apparently, it remains to be seen as far as they're concerned if the economy is humming along fine or in the tank after all. I mean, it's all just so grey between these two candidates, who really can decide?

The rest of this post is dedicated to Sarah Palin - the gun-slinging pageant girl with the "Diana Prince-Wonder Woman" glasses and mop on top of her head. I've remained silent for long enough - and now you've been warned.

The overwhelming concensus seems to be that McCain chose this woman based on her gender and potential ability to convert Hillary voters. But come on, McCain's not an idiot. He didn't really think Hillary supporters would jump the liberal ship for a right-wing conservative. He did, however, correctly surmise that the masses would go nuts for a "spunky little lady" who's attractive enough to distract voters from actual issues. McCain played the lowest common denominator "hot" card - read: she has breasts.

We've all known a Sarah Palin. She was the one in high school who loved hanging with the guys, couldn't get along with a single girl, talked up her interest in things like sports and cars (and depending on the region of the country, guns and hunting), hid behind her glasses in front of the parents and teachers, but put out just enough for the boys to keep her around. Those boys just got older and now wear suits.

The Palin camp is screaming indignations about sexism. In their latest pathetic cry, they claim that when Obama used the well-known adage "lipstick on a pig" to describe Republican policies, he was referring to...Sarah Palin. Enough already! We're going to flip the script for a moment.

Let's put a 44-year-old man in her place, next to John McCain. Have him be fresh off his stint as mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people (Palo Alto has ~60,000), and 1-1/2 years into his gubernatorial reign for the state of Alaska - which, by the way, has fewer people than the city of San Francisco. Now put him on the podium last Wednesday, making a speech in which he belittled the opposing presidential candidate's history as a community organizer for one of the country's largest and most complex cities. How loudly would the country be singing this loser's praises?

It's bullshit.

Aside from having recently held a post that isn't much different from being student body president at a large public school, we don't even have her life experience or academic credentials to look to. Having just obtained her passport a year ago for a family trip to Italy, Moby is practically better traveled than this woman - I'm going to guess he's at least been to more states!

And University of Idaho? Please. She couldn't even get a job at Google with that on her resume, and I'm thinking it's a hell of a lot harder to be second to the Commander in Chief than to sell advertising. If you're applying for the second biggest job in the country, I think it's reasonable for me to expect that you went to a top-tier school, or at least graduated from a top-tier PROGRAM. According to U.S. News and World Report's 2008 college issue, University of Idaho does not even receive an actual ranking. It's "Tier 3," a category shared by University of Hawaii-Manoa and University of La Verne, as examples. In Fall of 2007, University of Idaho accepted 77% of all applicants. Yeah, that's almost everyone. That means practically your entire high school graduating class was good to go according to University of Idaho - and mind you, it's now actually HARDER to get into college than it used to be.

I don't give a damn that she's a woman. I don't care that she has 5 kids. And her love of hockey is of zero consequence. She's AVERAGE - an average person with dangerous ideas that quite obviously don't even break through in her own house. And it takes more than AVERAGE to do the job she's seeking. I'm not an elitist for feeling that way - I'm a REALIST.

Don't support Sarah Palin because she's a woman. Don't support Barrack Obama because he's black. Support someone based on what they've said and shown they will do. And if you disagree with my pick, that's your choice - just don't disagree with it because you're mistaking the election of President and Vice President of the United States for the selection of your Homecoming King and Queen.