Back from holiday break

Here are some good (but looooooong) articles about the financial crisis on the NYT. I'll provide breaks for my readers =)

1. The End of the World as we know it.

2. Break

3. How to repair the financial system.

4. Break, the discordian influence that seems to be more prominent in my life recently rejoices in the fact this this man will probably be the next US Senator from MN.

5. Last and longest. Warning: not for the jargon and density faint of heart, but it's worth it if you stick it out.

Good insight

TNR has a good article on the new Secretary of Education and how his pick offers insight in the the coming Obama administration.

Also a neat video

James Polous has some interesting thoughts about Pakistan. He characterizes the situation in Pakistan as something the US shouldn't be involved in because it isn't a problem to solve but rather a situation that exists and needs to be left alone. In his words it is an "uncrackable nut". I'm not sure I agree with him but I do think that he makes a valid point about how American arrogance lead it's leaders to think that any bad political situation could (and should) be solved.

Interesting Documentary

I just watched some of this documentary on the extremely odd way money is created and used in our society (be warned, it's long and sometimes dry but be patient, I think it's worth it). The creator/narrator is obviously biased and somewhat kooky so anyone who sees this should take it with a huge grain of salt...

...However he does make some good points about how our current monetary system is pretty odd when you take a step back and think about it. Take a look and tell me what you think. Is this guy crazy or prescient?

David Brooks is back

I haven't been a fan of recent David Brooks columns. Often they seem like warnings to me and sometimes those warnings sound either too striding or too backward looking. This weeks warning however, is of the kind I like; well reasoned, forward looking (but understanding history), and with some empathy toward the people he is warning about.

Obama Administration

Pundits and analysts are digging for clues about what an Obama administration will actually look like. Here's a post from Marc Ambinder trying to tea leaf read using Biden's new chief of staff appointment as his starting point, and here's a long article from the New Yorker using a variety of sources to try and figure out how Obama might change things.

Ok... this is getting silly

Ok, a little background first.
1. According to Slate the idea for Congressman Santos's character on the West Wing came from a series of conversations that West Wing had with David Axelrod about Barak Obama. Barak Obama has gone on to win the election in a very Santos-like fashion
2. Some sources say that the character of Josh Lyman was modeled on the very real life Rahm Emanuel

We now learn that Rahm Emanuel has been picked to be Obama's chief of staff (for those television trivia nuts Rahm's brother Ari was the model for the Entourage character of the same name), WTF?????? This is life imitates art going nuts (if Maggie Williams becomes Michelle Obama's chief of staff and marries Mr Emanuel I will hide under a desk)!

I'm actually not very glad about this, for why start with this NYT article. Here's what I think.

1. After looking at the profiles around I think you could safely characterize Emanuel as a partisan hack.
2. He is fairly high drama, just look at the press around this announcement as an example compared to "No-drama Obama".
3. The chief of staff is an incredibly important position in the White House, s/he determines who gets access to the President and often gets in the last word in any debate (Cheney being somewhat of an exception in recent years). Maybe Emanuel has changed, maybe Obama will choose other moderate advisers who will counterbalance him. However, having disclaimed myself, I don't think is the pick of someone who genuinely wants to reform. Think of Josh, when he talked about reform and how Washington needs change, he often simply meant Washington needs more democrats. I knew that Obama would have to pick people I don't like, but as someone who supported him for his post-partisan rhetoric, this bothers me.

On the bright side Emanuel is intelligent, experienced, talented, and relentless. With him in the White House, things will get done. Whatever Obama sets as the agenda, it will be a lot more likely to become reality with Rahm as the chief of staff.

Dept of Precient Articles

I've loved the Onion for years but I had no idea they would be so on the money about Bush's performance in office. Nor that they could predict 2008 campaign personalities.

I'll be watching this

If Obama wins on Tuesday I think that his supporters will inevitably be let down (he isn't perfect and he's working within an imperfect system). In particular I think he might disappoint supporters on how he deals with the presidential power policies established by the Bush administration. I do think he will reverse some things, like torture, Guantanamo (although probably not as soon as you might think). However, there will be a great deal of pressure for him to "stay the course" in some areas. TNR has a good article about one area: authorizing strikes in other countries. So I'll be keeping an eye out for reports of special forces strikes in countries that don't make sense.

I'm speechless...

Possibly the best political ad aimed at twentysomethings of this campaign, I give you... Wassup

Appeal

Dear Readers,

I'm writing to ask your help for a political cause. I try not to do this very often 'cus when people spam me with political requests I tend to find it obnoxious. As you may or may not know there is an initiative (Proposition 8) on the November ballot in California that would amend the state constitution to "eliminate the rights of same-sex couples to marry in California" (http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/bp_11042008_pres_general/prop_8_titlesummary.pdf). Because of my own beliefs about relationships, my feelings about gay marriage as propounded by the cultural left and orthodox LGBT advocates are a bit mixed.

That being said, this ballot initiative (as it is worded) is wrong and discriminates against a minority (when did anything good start with "eliminate the rights..."). Because of that I think:
1. Every eligible voter in California should VOTE NO on Prop 8.
2. Every ineligible voter in California should oppose this in every reasonable way they can.
3. Everyone outside of California should oppose this by contacting friends and family in California and persuading them to VOTE NO on Prop 8 or by donating money to the cause.

There are two reasons why am I sending this now.
1. The people who want to ban gay marriage are winning. Because of massive donations by special interests (see next reason) polls show that the race is either very close or leaning slightly toward banning gay marriage (http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/10/prop-8-toss-up.html).
2. The "ban gay marriage" campaign seems to be backed by christian conservative special interests (Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic has been covering this recently, see this http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-mormon-chur.html and this http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/10/the-mormon-fact.html). As far as I can tell this race appears to be so close not because Californians are really divided but because special interests have injected tens of millions of dollars to one side. That doesn't sound democratic to me.

Info:
For background info start here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)

For info on why you should vote yes on prop 8 and ban gay marriage, go here: http://www.protectmarriage.com/

For info on why you should VOTE NO on prop 8 and keep gay marriage, go here: http://www.noonprop8.com/about/why-vote-no-on-prop-8

I've looked at the arguments, thought about them, and I've decided to both give money and try to find persuadable California voters who will vote no on Prop 8. I hope you'll do the same by forwarding this message (or some version of it) to people who might be able to make a difference and/or by making a donation at https://secure.ga4.org/01/socialnetwork?

Negative campaigning evolving?

Every since I've become politically engaged I've hated Negative Campaigning in politics. I think it lowers the level of public discourse. If I'm watching TV and a negative add comes on, I just switch off. So reading this article about how the internet can make negative campaigns back-fire makes me a bit hopeful.

Wait, Obama can be funny????

As CNN has noticed both Barack Obama and John McCain were REALLY funny last night at the Alfred E. Smith dinner. Both videos are great but I think Barack Obama's was better if only because he's historically had such a dearth of humor. Whoever wrote their jokes deserves a big bonus.

Nice Video

This video, created to celebrate the 60th aniversiy of the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, should be seen by everybody.

Good quote

I'm not a huge fan of Gail Collins most of the time but I liked this quote from one of her op-eds

"Remember how we used to joke about John McCain looking like an old guy yelling at kids to get off his lawn? It’s only in retrospect that we can see that the keep-off-the-grass period was the McCain campaign’s golden era. Now, he’s beginning to act like one of those movie characters who steals the wrong ring and turns into a troll.

During that last debate, while he was wandering around the stage, you almost expected to hear him start muttering: 'We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious.'"

Also some conservatives are upset by the tone McCain's taken recently

The DOW sucks

So I'm told from sources I trust from left and right that if you really want to know what's going on with the financial crisis you shouldn't watch the DOW. You should be watching the TED spread.

I'm Surprised

Here are some reactions from Culture11 (leans rightward) that are pretty friendly towards Obama that surprised me. I expected them to be more negative.

'Nother good David Brooks Column

Check it out. I disagree with some of what's in the column (I'd put less blame on the traders he refers to).

Bruce Springsteen fans pay attention

How Bruce Springsteen's songs have helped Obama, particularly "The Rising"

I agree with this

Why Palin will "win" tonight