Stunning Break with Last Eight Years

In the first few weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.

Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama’s appearance on CBS’ “Sixty Minutes” on Sunday witnessed the president-elect’s unorthodox verbal tic, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.

But Mr. Obama’s decision to use complete sentences in his public pronouncements carries with it certain risks, since after the last eight years many Americans may find his odd speaking style jarring.

According to presidential historian Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota, some Americans might find it “alienating” to have a President who speaks English as if it were his first language.

“Every time Obama opens his mouth, his subjects and verbs are in agreement,” says Mr. Logsdon. “If he keeps it up, he is running the risk of sounding like an elitist.”

The historian said that if Mr. Obama insists on using complete sentences in his speeches, the public may find itself saying, “Okay, subject, predicate, subject predicate - we get it, stop showing off.”

The President-elect’s stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

“Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can’t really do there, I think needing to do that isn’t tapping into what Americans are needing also,” she said.

Via Andy Borowitz

Got this Onion News Network spoof (putting the “party” back in party politics) via Dan Piraro…

Warning: It’s political satire. If you’re completely burned out on politics, if watching even one more attempt at political humor will make your head explode, just say no… and walk away. Really.

Personally, I found this amusing.

So, how’s that bailout working for us? Not so well, I’m afraid. Read John Hawkins’ assessment. Maybe it’s time we start taking things “a little more seriously”…

Mike sent this photo of a woman with a pair of really big boobs.

If you’re under 18, you probably shouldn’t read any further.

Stop! Don’t proceed if you’re under 18 or if you’re easily offended by the sight of really big boobs!

All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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…What’s the first thing you’re going to do?

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I’m licking my political wounds today, but I’m resilient and will be back in harness tomorrow. The rest of the nation’s disappointed, conservative minority should also put away their armor and try to make the best of the hand we’ve been dealt. The election may not have gone the way we’d hoped, but it’s time to put aside our differences and work together toward the common good.

To my conservative friends, remember that whining isn’t becoming and won’t make you feel any better. Obama didn’t “steal” the election; he ran a superior campaign taking full advantage of the public’s discontent with Bush.

And to my liberal friends, gloating is bad form as well. It was a well fought campaign and your guy won. Congratulations.

This election is now history. We’ll suit up and hit it again in about four years.

Watch the 2008 presidential results roll in

View the electoral vote count and the congressional balance of power on the active national U.S. map below, updated every two minutes, via MSNBC. As soon as either McCain or Obama is declared the winner, you’ll know!

From Jeff…

Quasimoto’s comment earlier today asking why I believe Barack Obama to be be a Marxist and racist convinced me to break the promise I made to myself to abstain from posting any more about the Presidential election. So here’s my last contribution on the matter.

I’m pretty sure everyone’s heard the audio clips of sermons by Reverend Wright of Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ. Before Wright’s retirement in May, ABC News highlighted the racist and America-hating rhetoric in his sermons and questioned Barrack Obama’s 20+ years as not only a member of the church but a close personal friend of Wright’s. Obama at first shrugged it off but, when the issue wouldn’t go away, he “denounced” a few months ago, not Wright, but the hateful things Wright believes and preaches. Kind of like divorce is handled in some primitive countries: “I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you. There. We’re divorced. Let’s move on.”

The press, not wanting to rain on Obama’s parade, moved on. But it is what it is and, for many, the long relationship suggests that Obama may, like Wright, be racist and anti-American. I don’t think such a logical conclusion, shared by many, or at the very least a valid and unresolved concern, can be ignored.

As for Obama’s Marxist statements, they too are a matter of public record. But to recognize them, you need to understand the teachings of Karl Marx. Among the principal tenants of Marxism are that capitalism, the system of social production for private profit, is the enemy of working people, and that class struggle is the motor force of history with workers being the only class with power, knowledge and interest in aligning with other oppressed groups to create a new egalitarian society based on sharing socially created wealth. In a Marxist/Communist society, wealth is redistributed “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”

Obama has said publicly that the Warren Supreme Court, considered by most historians to have been the most radical in our history, was not radical enough because it failed to address the redistribution of wealth from the “haves” to the “have nots”, and that we will not have “fairness” until we achieve that redistribution. He says further that it is too cumbersome to achieve redistribution via the courts but that it can be achieved legislatively. That, my friends, is Marxism, and coupled with socialists already in positions of power within our Legislature (Reid and Pelosi among them), an Obama presidency could move us further, perhaps irreversibly, into socialism. That should scare the devil out of all of us.

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And the reason, Quasimoto, that Obama has “gotten to be a Senator or gotten nominated to be president” is that too many citizens choose to believe that, if these things are true, “someone else” would have/should have stopped Obama’s progress to this point. But that’s just not the way it works anymore. We’ve become a lazy society of “sheeple”, expecting “someone else” to do all the heavy lifting. And when “someone else” fails to come through for us, we draw our opinions and make our decisions based on superficial criteria and emotional responses. Worse yet, we even allow ourselves to be influenced by comedy TV. We can’t efficiently govern ourselves that way.

So my question is, knowing what we know, how can anyone in good conscience ignore these issues or cast a vote in spite of them? Don’t like McCain? Fine, I get it. But come on, that’s no reason to vote for socialism.

Okay, I’d told myself I wasn’t going to talk about the election any more and I’ve done it anyway. All I can say is, people will do what they choose. I just wish they did more of their own homework and cast their votes based on things more substantive than “he looks more presidential” or “I just don’t like McCain”.

Got this yesterday from Mike…

Pinocchio, Snow White and Superman are out for a stroll in town one day when they come across a sign that reads, “Most Beautiful Woman in the World Contest.”

“I’m entering,” says Snow White.

After half an hour, she rejoins the others. “Well, how’d ya do?”

“First Place”, replies Snow White.

As they continue walking, they come upon another sign that reads, “Strongest Man in the World Contest.”

“I’m entering!” declares Superman. When he returns half an hour later, the others ask, “So how’d ya make out?”

“First Place,” answers Superman.

Continuing their stroll, they soon come upon another sign that reads, “World’s Greatest Liar Contest?”

Pinocchio exclaims, “I’m entering!” After about thirty minutes, he returns with tears in his eyes.

“What happened, Pinocchio? Didn’t you win?” they ask.

Drying his eyes, Pinocchio blubbers, “Who the heck is ‘Obama’?”

This photo from Zeke screams for a caption. Anyone?

Does anyone else think Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sound more like cartoon characters than mortgage finance companies? Kind of like Homer Simpson or Wile E. Coyote but not so funny…

Senate Democrats apparently think all that’s needed to entice a dozen more Republicans to sign on to their $750 billion bailout plan is to ring Pavlov’s “tax credit” bell. Doubling FDIC insurance on bank deposits and seasoning the package with a few tax credits, they reason, will be like tossing fresh liver to a starving dog. Never mind that most Americans are adamantly against the bailout and that, above all else, politicians want to protect their comfortable seats on the hill. But Democrats are betting a few “treats” will make Republicans forget who they work for, roll over and beg for more.

Sad thing is, that well may be all it takes.

The Internet is ablaze with a grand idea. Instead of bailing out AIG to the tune of $85 billion, why not divide the money among all 200 million or so U.S. adults? That gives $425,000 to every man and woman — $297,500 after taxes — at least according to the dozen or so emails I’ve received from readers including, most recently, my goombah, Michael. Great! Where do I sign up?

There’s just one small problem with the proposed plan: It only works out to $425 per person, not $425,000. Someone needs a refresher course in decimals. Oops.

Here’s the email:

I’m against the $85,000,000,000 bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18 and older. Our population is about 301,000,000 counting every man, woman and child, so 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and older. So dividing 200 million into $85 billion equals $425,000. My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18 and older as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would not be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every eligible individual would pay $127,500 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam. But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500 in their pocket. A husband and wife have $595,000.

What would you do with $297,500 - $595,000 in your family?

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