When Black Friday Lives Up to Its Name

I'm now convalescing at home after undergoing hip replacement surgery on my left hip. Due to my limited mobility, I pretty much missed out on the annual "Black Friday" tradition. Hell it's not much of a loss since I've grown disgusted with the way people have behaved on Black Friday for years in their narrow-minded singular quest to buy Christmas presents on the cheap regardless of whether the intended recipients would've wanted the items or not.

Well, these two stories have brought a new low for Black Friday.

The first is about a Wal-Mart worker who died under the most despicable circumstances.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html

A Wal-Mart worker died early Friday after an "out-of-control" mob of frenzied shoppers smashed through the Long Island store's front doors and trampled him, police said.

The Black Friday stampede plunged the Valley Stream outlet into chaos, knocking several employees to the ground and sending others scurrying atop vending machines to avoid the horde.

When the madness ended, 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight months pregnant, were injured.

"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Wal-Mart worker Jimmy Overby, 43.
"They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me.
"They took me down, too ... I didn't know if I was going to live through it. I literally had to fight people off my back," Overby said.

Damour, a temporary maintenance worker from Jamaica, Queens, was gasping for air as shoppers continued to surge into the store after its 5 a.m. opening, witnesses said.

Even officers who arrived to perform CPR on the trampled worker were stepped on by wild-eyed shoppers streaming inside, a cop at the scene said.

"They pushed him down and walked all over him," Damour's sobbing sister, Danielle, 41, said. "How could these people do that?"

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"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been on line since Friday morning!'" Cribbs said. "They kept shopping."

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Items on sale at the Wal-Mart store included a $798 Samsung 50-inch Plasma HDTV, a Bissel Compact Upright Vacuum for $28 and Men's Wrangler Tough Jeans for $8.

The Long Island store reopened at 1 p.m. and was packed within minutes.

"I look at these people's faces and I keep thinking one of them could have stepped on him," said one employee. "How could you take a man's life to save $20 on a TV?

Think that story is bad enough? Well, here's another one that's equally despicable.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/11/shots-were-fire.html

Shots rang out today inside a Toys R Us store in Palm Desert, killing two and causing shoppers at the busy store to scramble for cover.

Palm Desert Councilman Bob Spiegel told The Times that based on early reports, two rival groups shopping at the store had some kind of argument and then shots were fired. Two men were killed in the exchange of gunfire, he said.

Sara Frahm, 25, of La Quinta was shopping for electronic toys at the time of the shooting. She told The Times she heard two women fighting and swearing in an aisle next to her. She said employees went to break up the fight and that all of the sudden a number of people yelled, "He has a gun!" She said she heard six or seven shots.

Mike Stitt of Yucca Valley was shopping with his wife and two children when he saw two women fighting and calling each other names. Both were with men. One of the men pulled out a gun and shot it in the air, then shot the other man in the back, Stitt told The Times.

In a statement, Toys R Us stressed that the shooting appeared to stem from a "personal dispute."

There have been so many incidents between big box retailers, holiday shoppers, and Black Friday over the years that it was sadly inevitable that people would end up dying for no real good reason. I can remember back in the 1980's when the Cabbage Patch dolls were a big deal and I heard stories about people who were literally fighting in the aisles for these damned dolls. There were similar fights that arose in big box store shopping aisles during the years when Tickle Me Elmo and Furby were pronounced in the media as "Hot Toys" and people ended up being injured.

Now we have people who have died over Black Friday. What is it about Black Friday that makes adults act like animals in their quest to purchase stuff on the cheap, most of which will eventually end up gathering dust in basements or even in landfills once the holiday season ends? I'm no advanced well-credentialed college researcher (in fact, I have a Bachelor's degree) but I've managed to observe a few things about Black Friday.

First of all, for the last 10 years or so I've noticed an increase in the number of stores who announce that they would be opened at extremely early hours. (Such as Macy's, which announced that it would opened its doors on Black Friday at 4 a.m.) In order to entice people to rise up out of bed, they would have a limited number of consumer items that would be sold at their lowest prices so that people who wake up early would pay the lowest prices. The ads also say that if you don't arrive very early, you'll miss out on bargains.

I've noticed that the large department store chains (like Kohl's and Macy's) and big box retailers (like Wal-Mart and Best Buy) are the ones who engage in this practice. I've never heard of a small locally-owned mom-and-pop store doing this. Nor have I ever heard of smaller-sized retail stores (like GameStop or Claire's) doing this. It's the big stores who entice people to end their Thanksgiving festivities early so they can go into long lines in the cold and dark just so they can save money buying presents.

I also recognize that the reason why the big stores get away with this is because many shoppers have been acting like sheep and obeying the store's orders to come very early in the morning or else. These people have been seduced into believing that they have to put on the most perfect Christmas and if they can do it while not spending a lot of money, then it's all the better.

Basically it's the tyranny of the big stores who lord it over shoppers by dictating when they will lower prices. It doesn't help that there are far fewer stores than there used to be so the big stores can get away with forcing people to go into stores early in the morning in the quest to save money. When I was growing up, there used to be stores like Hecht's, Hutzlers, Hohschild Kohn's, Woodward & Lothrop's, and Garfinckle's--all of whom were local department stores who operated in the Baltimore-Washington area. As far as I can remember, none of them ever opened their doors on Black Friday earlier than 8 a.m. nor did they encourage shoppers to wait in lines overnight so they could be the first ones in the doors when they opened,

But starting in the 1980's, many of these stores I knew have disappeared either through mergers or bankruptcies and it's gotten to the point where there aren't as much variety and diversity in retail as there used to be. As a result, stores could act dictatorial towards shoppers by opening at insane hours and try to get away with it.

As a result you have a bunch of brainwashed shoppers who are so obsessed with buying presents for the lowest prices that they are willing to endure difficulty in finding parking, spending hours waiting in long lines for the doors to open at 4, 5, 6, or 7 a.m. just so they can find something cheap. These people endure so much degradation in their quest to save money that nothing else matters--including people's lives.

I know it's too late this year but next year we the people need to take a stand against the stores' manipulating the general public like this. Is buying a cheap television set or DVD player really worth getting up very early in the morning? In fact, I even question the quality of many of these early-morning sale items. How do I know that a certain MP3 player on sale for under $50 won't break a few months after the holidays end? How do I know that a certain child's toy on sale for under $20 won't be subjected to a recall a few months later because it has too much lead in it? Is that [name of consumer item made by a company I've never heard of before] is a quality item that will give me the most bang for my buck or is it some cheaply made junk that's doomed to end up in a landfill when it breaks a week after the three-month warranty expires?

Most importantly, is pursuing a cheap consumer item more important than a person's life?

Remembering the 2008 Elections: The Last Word

A Newly-Minted Celebrity Whose 15 Minutes of Fame Should End Now That the Elections are Over

Joe Wurzelbacher a.k.a. Joe the Plumber

Best Response to Sarah Palin Giving Simultaneous Interviews to the Television Networks One Week After the Elections Ended

This online petition calling on Sarah Palin to STFU and go back to Alaska.

On that note, I like to say that I'm going to take a several weeks off from this blog. This Tuesday (November 18, 2008) I'm undergoing a hip replacement and I have a few weeks of rehab ahead of me. I will probably return sometime in January just in time for the Inauguration.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Attempt to Comfort a Conservative's Fears of an Obama Administration

Jon Stewart tries to mollify Bill O'Reilly's fears of an Obama Administration with hot cocoa and a stuffed teddy bear that Bill O'Reilly keeps on calling a "panda bear".

Best Graphics of the Elections

Shepard Fairey designed the now-iconic Obama "Hope" picture.

...which inspired this parody.

When John McCain first selected the much younger Sarah Palin as his running mate, this McCain/Palin parody graphic featuring the late Anna Nicole Smith and her ninety-something second husband J. Howard Marshall began making its rounds throughout the Internet.

A Simpsons-inspired take on the same theme started to circulate.

When Sarah Palin made the following quote in an interview, this graphic also made its rounds through the Internet: "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where do they go? It's Alaska."

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Parodies Not Shown on Saturday Night Live

There are these ads for electing John McTaint, which were also posted at his website..

MoveOn.org posted a bunch of videos purportedly by the driver of John McCain's Straight Talk Express bus, Billy Mires.

Lisa Nova does Sarah Palin.

The Obama Girl switches from singing about her crush on Obama to portraying Sarah Palin in these two clips.

Gina Gershon also does Sarah Palin.

See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

Ron Howard did this nostalgia-tnged video urging people to vote. He not only revisited two television series that he became famous for (The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days) but he also got two of his former co-stars, Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler, to appear as well.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Parodies (Saturday Night Live Edition)

Saturday Night Live hit its stride this election season with frequent skewering of the politicians. Its new creative peak started off during the primary campaign season when the Obama Girl parlayed her Internet fame into an appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Then Amy Poehler as HIllary Clinton appears alongside the real Hillary Clinton.

When Sarah Palin first came on the national scene, many people felt that she resembled Tina Fey, who had recently left the cast of Saturday Night Live. Well, in a genius stroke of casting, Tina Fey was allowed to return to the show playing only one character: Sarah Palin. Thanks to her, the writers, and the election itself (which provided plenty of fodder for satire) the show had its best ratings in years.

Tina Fey's first appearance as Palin came when she appeared alongside Amy Pohler as Hillary Clinton in this hilarious sketch.

The following week Fey and Pohler teamed up again to provide this scathing parody of Sarah Palin's disasterous interview with CBS' Katie Couric. Ironically, Tina Fey basically recited word-by-word Palin's actual words in that interview while doing the occasional over-the-top comic punctuation.

Queen Latifah makes a special guest appearance as moderator Gwen Ifill in this parody of the vice president debate.

President Bush endorses John McCain and Sarah Palin.

The real Sarah Palin meets her doppelganger...

...then makes an appearance on "Weekend Update".

The real John McCain also makes an appearance on the show with Tina Fey portraying his running mate.

Like his running mate before him, John McCain also makes an appearance on "Weekend Update".

The real Sarah Palin makes a return appearance on Saturday Night Live where she talks about what she will do to NBC when she gets sworn in as Vice President.

John McCain also makes a return appearance.

Not to be overlooked, Barack Obama also makes an appearance on the show as he attends the Clintons' Halloween party.

Then there is the scathing parody of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann (played by Ben Affleck) who starts off by trying to portray George W. Bush as a Nazi and ends the sketch by making a special comment against the New York co-op who denied his application on the basis of his cat, Miss Precious Perfect.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

The Obama Supporters That Gave the Barack Obama Campaign a Bad Name

In the name of fairness, here is the only two incidents that I can find involving a few Obama supporters that were just as bad as the actions of some of McCain's supporters. First there was a Daily Kos blogger who made this post claiming that Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is really the biological mother of Sarah's infant son, Trig. The original entry has since been deleted but a YouTube video about the rumor still remains.

Most of the evidence supporting this rumor was circumstantial at best and it seemed so unseemly to be gossiping about two minors (a 17-year-old and an infant) who aren't child stars and who didn't choose to be in the public spotlight. It seemed like it was unfair ganging up on two minors because of who their mother is. Things really went crazy when Sarah Palin issued a public statement that not only denied the rumor but added the information that Bristol is pregnant and she plans on having her baby and marrying her baby's 18-year-old father.

The Obama supporters pretty much left Bristol Palin alone after Barack Obama issued a statement saying that he had no intention of making an issue out of Bristol's pregnancy. However, that hasn't stopped gossip websites from trying to learn anything new about Bristol Palin, whose baby is due sometime this winter.

There is one other ugly incident involving an Obama supporter that I could find that comes close to rivaling the excesses of some of John McCain supporters. Wait until Keith Olbermann gets to the #1 Worst Person in the World to see the story of Chad Michael Morrisette, a guy whose Halloween decorations included a Sarah Palin dummy being hung by a noose and a John McCain dummy that looks like he's on fire in the chimney.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

The McCain Supporters That Gave John McCain's Campaign a Bad Name

McCain supporters act like a bunch of right-wing war-loving racist rednecks during a rally in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on October 8, 2008.

The supporters at a Sarah Palin rally in Richmond, Virginia are simiarly scary.

A supporter yells "Obama bin Ladin" at a rally while Sarah Palin kept on speaking about Barack Obama.

Then there is the supporter who yell out the "N" word while Sarah Palin kept on speaking and said nothing about it.

Supporters yell out "Terrorist!" and "Kill Him!" when John McCain speaks about Barack Obama

The frequent emphasis of the campaign that there is a "real" America located in the rural areas of the so-called Red States that are majority white has led to some supporters to spread this idea that there is only one "real" America and make their own YouTube videos like this one.

Rev. Arnold Conrad, a pastor at a McCain rally, prays that God must ensure a McCain win because other people are praying to their God and if McCain loses then God's reputation will be ruined and someone else's God will prevail.

On top of all that is Ashley Todd, a John McCain campaign volunteer who claimed that a big black male Barack Obama supporter attacked her at an ATM machine in an attempted robbery and branded a letter "B" on her face when her attacker saw a John McCain bumpersticker on her car. The big problems with her story are that the letter "B" was written backwards (which suggested that Todd wrote the "B" herself while facing a mirror) and the camera at the ATM machine where she said she was attacked didn't show any images of her taken on the night that she said she was attacked. Ashley Todd finally admitted that she made the whole story up and she also said that she has a history of mental problems.

But the McCain supporter who really takes the grand prize of "The Worst Supporter Who Gave the McCain Campaign a Bad Name" is Shirley Nagel, who, on Halloween night, refused to hand out candy to any trick or treaters whose parents supported Barack Obama. That's right, she took out her disdain of Obama on innocent children, some of whom were way too young to understand anything about the presidential election or even current events.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Expression of Admiration for Sarah Palin

John Cleese speaks out on Sarah Palin by saying that she could've been a character in a Monty Python sketch. He also said that his former Monty Python cohort Michael Palin is no longer the funniest Palin.

Worst Expression of Admiration for Sarah Palin

Rich Lowry made this notorious post on the National Review Online about Sarah Palin's performance at the vice president debate is enough to make even the most devoted Sarah Palin fan feel grossed out after reading it. Here's the juicy quote:

A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat. Palin too projects through the screen like crazy. I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America. This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

Keith Olbermann does the best and most appropriate reading of the above quote in this video.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Criticism of Sarah Palin made by Republicans

After a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd ended, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live mike expressing their true opinions about Sarah Palin.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Publicity Stunt

Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, came out with a porn movie titled Nalin' Palin starring a woman who looked a lot like Sarah Palin.

Worst Publicity Stunt

John McCain announced that he was temporarily suspending his campaign to help deal with the financial crisis and called on Barack Obama to do the same. This publicity stunt proved embarrasing when McCain canceled his appearance on David Letterman's show at the last minute on the grounds that he had to fly back to DC to vote when, instead, he actually appeared on The CBS Evening News, which is shot in the same building as Letterman's show. Letterman had his revenge when he turned his cameras to the feed from The CBS Evening News that showed John McCain being prepared for his interview with Katie Couric at the same time that Letterman's show was being taped.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Sarah Palin's Greatest Missteps

Here is Sarah Palin's infamous speech at the Republican National Convention where she disses community organizers and makes that joke about the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull. (The answer: lipstick.)

Here is the notorious CBS interview that Sarah Palin did with Katie Couric where she performed very badly.

During the campaign it was revealed that Sarah Palin attended an Assembly of God church whose pastor once fought against witches and witchcraft in Kenya. Then this video surfaced that shows the pastor praying over Sarah Palin for her political victory and to protect her from witchcraft. Yes, witchcraft!

Sarah Palin thinks that being Vice President means that the person is in charge of the U.S. Senate, contrary to what is said in the U.S. Constitution.

Sarah Palin speaks in front of a friendly audience at a campaign rally and she describes a domestic energy policy that sounds totally convoluted to the average person.

Sarah Palin thinks that New Hampshire is located in the Northwest.

Sarah Palin describes a "real America" and the "pro-America" areas, which are basically small rural towns.

Sarah Palin disses the idea of doing basic scientific research using fruit flies because "they have little or nothing to do with the public good." As Adam Rutherford, writing in The Guardian, explains in this article: "Why do we study this particular irritating fly for humankind's benefit? Well, because we can. Many of the pathways from gene to disease in humans can be easily reproduced in flies, or are similar enough to be incredibly useful models for understanding how diseases evolve. That's how we learn to treat them."

Here's a video that provides evidence that what she said in her campaign speeches were totally bogus (such as her claim--later proven untrue--that she opposed the infamous Bridge to Nowhere by telling Congress "thanks, but no thanks").

But the biggest Palin misstep is the one where she falls for a prank phone call by two Montreal deejays, one of whom was pretending to be French President Nicholas Sarkozy. The best part comes when the fake Sarkozy said that he really loved her documentary Nalin' Palin (which is really the title of a porn movie starring a Sarah Palin lookalike that was produced by Larry Flynt of Hustler magazine fame).

Remembering the 2008 Elections

John McCain's Greatest Missteps

John McCain sings The Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann" using the lyrics "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran".

John McCain couldn't remember how many houses he owns.

During the last presidential debate, John McCain kept on bringing up Joe the Plumber, a man who encountered Barack Obama during one of his campaign stops expressing his concern that Barack Obama's plan for taxing people making over $250,000 a year would hinder his efforts to purchase the company where he currently worked as a plumber.

McCain's frequent references made Joe Wurzelbacher into an instant celebrity until the media did some digging and found that Wurzelbacher didn't have a plumbing license, was nowhere near purchasing any plumbing business, may not have paid some of his taxes, and he may have even spent some time on welfare in the past despite the fact that he said that he didn't like the government providing money to people without working for it.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Response to a Negative Campaign Ad

Barack Obama was pretty sharp in responding quickly to the negative campaign ads directed against him compared with John Kerry doing very little to respond to the attack ads against him that were put out by the so-called "Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth" in 2004. But a certain celebrity who is usually depicted in the media as an airhead is the one who had the best response to one of John McCain's negative campaign ads. Here is the infamous negative campaign ad, which spliced in images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton to imply that Barack Obama is just another vacuous celebrity.

That ad inflamed Paris Hilton's parents, Kathy and Rick, because, ironically, they made a donation to the McCain campaign a few weeks before the ad was made. But it was Paris Hilton who got the last laugh, as shown in this video.

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Biggest Internet Sensation Who Rode to Fame on Obama's Coattails

The Obama Girl, who sang about her crush on Obama.

Her own fame is reflected in this video, shot on Election Day.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Profile of Sarah Palin's Hometown

The Daily Show's hilarious profile of Wasilla, Alaska provides pure comic gold.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Best Line Uttered by a Politician During a Presidential Debate

During the Democratic primary season, Senator (now Vice President-Elect) Joe Biden made this quip explaining how former New York mayor-turned Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani was so unqualified to be president that his campaign consists of "a noun, a verb, and 9/11".

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Worst Consumer Product Spin-Off Based on the Spouse of a Politician Running in a Presidential Campaign

The BIll Clinton corkscrew. Need I say more?

Worst Consumer Product Spin-Off (Primary Elections Category)

The Hillary Clinton nutcracker. Yes, you actually place the nut between her legs. All you need is the Bill Clinton corkscrew and you'll have the complete tacky set.

Worst Consumer Product Spin-Off (General Elections Category)

The Barack Obama Monkey Doll. This tradition of portraying African-Americans as monkeys should have died out with Jim Crow.

Remembering the 2008 Elections

Next Tuesday I will undergo hip replacement surgery on my left hip. (Basically I was born with a dislocated hip. The doctors fixed it while I was an infant and there are baby photos of me with a big cast on my leg. When I was 12, I sprained that same hip in a roller skating accident. I recuperated nicely and things were fine for the next few decades until last year when people around me noticed I was limping. My left hip became increasingly stiff and the orthopedic specialist said that a hip replacement is my only option.) Right now Barack Obama is busy selecting his cabinet and most people in the U.S. are preparing for Thanksgiving and the major December holidays. So things will be basically quiet.

On that note, I think it's a fine time to take a look back at the recent elections to praise or laugh at some of the bizarre things that went on. Now that the U.S. has picked a new president, we can now look back at these events with a more lighthearted sense of humor than before.

All this will start with the next blog entry.

Another Obama Video Game (Sort of)

It looks like Super Obama World has competition. Or sort of competition. The folks at BarelyPolitical.com (the same people who helped the Obama Girl gain fame) have their own video using 8-bit graphics titled 2008 Election: The NES Game. Like Super Obama World, this one also riffs off of the classic Super Mario Bros. video game as well as a brief scene at the end that echoes another classic Nintendo game, Duck Hunt.

The big difference is that 2008 Election: The NES Game is a video that you watch while Super Obama World is an actual interactive video game.

Sure, it's a fun video to watch but that's partly because I have fond memories of when I used to play Super Mario Bros. in the local video arcade back in the 1980s. But both Super Obama World and 2008 Election: The NES Game both riff on the same classic 8-bit game. I really would like to see parody political video games that riffs off of classic video games other than Super Mario Bros. How about a variation on Pac-Man where Barack Obama's head is eating tiny blue dots while being pursued by Republican elephants?

Never Thought I'd Hear Joe Scarborough Do This

Here him say the word "fuck" live during his MSNBC show.

Check Out This URL

This is the URL of the official website for The Office of the President-Elect:

http://change.gov/

I'm Hooked on This Video Game!!!

If you've ever wondered "What if someone did a mash-up of Barack Obama and Super Mario Bros.?" well, you don't have to wonder anymore. Check out Super Obama World, where the first level starts in Alaska and Super Obama has to battle lipstick-wearing pigs and rich millionaires. Only the first level has been released so far but the site promises that more levels will be released over the next few weeks where Super Obama has to battle evil in places like Arizona, Illinois, and DC.

The Celebration in Obama, Japan

No One is as Irish as Barack O'Bama

All is Not Well Among the Democrats

I was over at The Daily Kos when I caught this diary entry written by one of the many Daily Kos bloggers. Basically it's an announcement that this person was leaving Daily Kos because, in this person's words, "I realized then that this site could become a vicious gang, a roiling snake ball, without a leader and with almost no prompting. It could become a beast that would fight to eat its out tale. And I believe it did."

The person then ended the post by posting an excerpt from one of only two posts that Barack Obama has ever made to the Daily Kos, the last one being in 2005. Senator Obama made the point that we shouldn't insist on ideological purity within the Democratic Party, which is a good idea. That's because I've seen the Republican Party adhere to an ideological purity (despite it's public message that it's a "big tent" party that's wide enough to accommodate all kinds of viewpoints) based on appeasing far right-wing evangelical Christian groups that had alienated more moderate Republicans. Here is what Barack Obama wrote back in 2005:

The same principle holds with respect to issues other than judicial nominations. My colleague from Illinois, Dick Durbin, spoke out forcefully - and voted against - the Iraqi invasion. He isn't somehow transformed into a "war supporter" - as I've heard some anti-war activists suggest - just because he hasn't called for an immediate withdrawal of American troops. He may be simply trying to figure out, as I am, how to ensure that U.S. troop withdrawals occur in such a way that we avoid all-out Iraqi civil war, chaos in the Middle East, and much more costly and deadly interventions down the road. A pro-choice Democrat doesn't become anti-choice because he or she isn't absolutely convinced that a twelve-year-old girl should be able to get an operation without a parent being notified. A pro-civil rights Democrat doesn't become complicit in an anti-civil rights agenda because he or she questions the efficacy of certain affirmative action programs. And a pro-union Democrat doesn't become anti-union if he or she makes a determination that on balance, CAFTA will help American workers more than it will harm them.

Or to make the point differently: How can we ask Republican senators to resist pressure from their right wing and vote against flawed appointees like John Bolton, if we engage in similar rhetoric against Democrats who dissent from our own party line? How can we expect Republican moderates who are concerned about the nation's fiscal meltdown to ignore Grover Norquist's threats if we make similar threats to those who buck our party orthodoxy?

The some of the comments following this person's farewell blog entry are pretty vicious and, yes, one could say that he/she only wrote it out of a sense of exclaiming "LOOK AT ME, I'M AN ATTENTION WHORE!!!" But suppose this person didn't write this farewell entry because he/she is an "attention whore" but, instead, did it as a warning against the Democrats falling down the same ideological purity path that has done in the Republican Party. It's obvious that this person became so alienated by being on The Daily Kos that he/she has decided to write a resignation blog entry as a statement against what he/she has seen and doesn't like.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

The recent elections have an adverse effect on Obama supporters who now have nothing else to do or talk about. (Courtesy of The Onion.)

The Right Wing Bashing of Sarah Palin Has Just Begun

Fox News' Carl Cameron went on the air with Shepard Smith to reveal all of those less-than-endearing "off the record" stuff about Sarah Palin that he said he got from members of John McCain's campaign staff. Among the juicy stuff:

1. She didn't know what countries were part of the NAFTA agreement.

2. She thought that Africa was a country, not a continent consisting of many different countries.

3. She was frequently expressed her anger to the staff, especially about her disasterous interview with Katie Couric. Yet she didn't accept any preparations for that interview.

Okay, Sarah Palin wasn't the brightest political candidate who has ever ran for higher office. While you could fault Sarah Palin for her lack of knowledge of foreign policy or even foreign countries, John McCain must have the lion's share in this debacle since he was the one who selected her at the expense of other more-experienced Republicans. John McCain was the one who selected this person who wasn't well known outside of Alaska based on only one previous short interview mainly because he wanted to court the base of Christian conservatives who were never comfortable with him. Had he focused his efforts on independents and conservative Democrats by picking a more moderate Republican, he probably would've done better in the elections than he did. Had he upheld his "maverick" reputation by making an unconventional choice of Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate, he definitely would've given Obama a run for his money.

Look, it's pretty stupid to place the blame on Sarah Palin when it was John McCain who selected her as his running mate.

Inauguration Information

I've just learned that there is now an official website where you can get the latest information about all the activities surrounding the inauguration of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.

Ralph Nader: Killjoy

Once upon a time Ralph Nader mattered, especially when he focused his energy on advocating and struggling for consumer rights. If it weren't for him, most cars in the United States would still be unsafe at any speed. But then his ego began to swell and he kept on running for president over and over again despite the fact that with each subsequent election, the number of people who actually voted for him has shrunk. In the meantime, I rarely hear about anything he has done for consumer rights lately. Heck, I don't even know if he is still involved in consumer rights anymore.

Okay, if he wants to waste his money running in elections that he has little chance of winning, that's his business. But you should see how he responded to the results of this historic election of the first African-American president during a Fox News interview when he actually wondered if Barack Obama will be an Uncle Sam or an Uncle Tom. He actually said this on November 4 after Barack Obama was declared the President-Elect. And, yes, he actually used the term "Uncle Tom".

Man, what a killjoy! Don't get me wrong. I think it's legitimate to question what kind of president Barack Obama will become. It's even legitimate to speculate whether he will ultimately kowtow to corporate interests at the expense of his lofty ideals to help middle class families. But to do that using the term "Uncle Tom" is completely out of line, especially if you look at the history and meaning of that term.

Besides, if Barack Obama had been a white man, would Ralph Nader ever use the term "Uncle Tom" at all? Personally, I suspect that the answer would be "no".

Okay, Ralph, you've made your point that you're not impressed with Barack Obama in a very twisted way. Now please go away before you make an even bigger ass of yourself while you fritter away what's left of your past good reputation by making outrageous statements.

Election Day

Two days ago I took part in a historic election. I've finally recuperated from the hoopla to write about this.

The next day I was tired and suffering from a major headache because I was still reeling from the drinking the night before, which I wrote about in the last entry.

My husband and I got to the polls in the morning. There was somewhat of a line but it wasn't nearly as bad as the other polling places that I've heard about (where there were waits as long as 8 hours). We were in and out in about a half an hour.

We both selected Barack Obama. Even though he had been ahead in the polls, we were both worried about a possible last-minute upset.

That afternoon I had a doctor's appointment (just a physical examination in preparation for surgery that I'm having later this month). I was kind of drained afterwards so I went to Border's to browse through some books. Afterwards I walked over to a nearby Starbucks because the entire coffee chain was giving away a free cup of coffee to anyone sporting the "I Voted" sticker that people got after they finished voting. The free coffee was nothing fancy--it was just an eight-ounce cup of black coffee--but it was free. I did add some cream, sugar, and spices in order to make it palatable.

That very night my husband and I went to an election watching party that was held at the home of one of my husband's co-workers. The people there were nice but my stomach became jumpy again. I think my body was still reeling from the hard drinking and eating greasy food the night before so I wasn't in a total party state of mind. I managed to drink only one glass of white wine before my body decided that it had enough drinking. I ate some food as well. It was better food than what I had at The Quarter House in Silver Spring the night before but my stomach was reeling from the eating after a while so I stopped eating as well.

After a while my husband and I headed home where we watched television and learned about the shocking news that America had elected its first African-American president. I had such a hard time thinking that this was a reality that I stayed up late into the wee hours for the second night in a row. I saw footage of a gathering in Chicago where I saw the Rev. Jesse Jackson's face in the crowd and his eyes were brimming with tears. I also saw Oprah Winfrey in the crowd as well.

In the meantime the news coverage cut over to Phoenix where I saw John McCain give his concession speech. In a way, his speech was a pretty class act and it was too bad he didn't make more such classy speeches during his campaign. It wasn't until past midnight when the news coverage went back to Chicago where Barack Obama, his wife Michelle and their two daughters emerged on the stage and he gave an amazing victory speech.

I didn't go to bed until 1 a.m. that night. When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't sure whether what I saw was a dream or a reality until I saw The Washington Post. Yes, we really did make history. November 4, 2008 will be the most memorable Election Day for me ever.

The Night Before The Elections

I abruptly ended my previous post because of dinner. Now that I'm done with eating dinner, I'm just busy doing some blogging while my husband is watching Countdown With Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. Right now I'm going to focus on recording my own memories of this history-making election. I'm going to begin with the night before the elections.

I am a member of a political discussion forum called Upsize This (which originally started as a forum on film director Michael Moore's site until he shut it down and some of the more active posters decided to start an independent forum not connected with any famous person) that has people mostly from North America, Europe, and Australia.

It was through that forum that I got word from three members living in Australia that they decided to take an extended trip to the United States and they wanted to meet other people from that forum. It turned out that they were headed for the Washington, DC area (where I live) just in time for the upcoming presidential elections.

After much posting back and forth, we finally agreed on a place where we would meet for an evening of drinking and socialization. So my husband and I headed to The Quarter House in Silver Spring where we waited for our Internet friends. First another Upsize This friend who also lives in the Washington, DC area arrived while we waited for the Australians to arrive. When they finally arrived, we started to consume greasy food and booze while we talked about ourselves and the next day's elections.

I tried absinthe for the first time. (I found it tasty but very powerful. I didn't dare drink any more than one absinthe drink.) I then switched to drinking Hoegaarden (Belgian beer). We socialized until well into the evening and by midnight we were all pretty tired. Our new Australian friends suggested that we end the evening by drinking a shot of straight tequila. I drank the shot but then I began to feel totally queasy in my stomach.

As my husband and I left The Quarter House, I was waiting for him to fetch the car when I really felt sick. I threw up on this stone fence that surrounds one of the local businesses near The Quarter House and I even upchucked part of this hot dog that I ate for dinner.

When we got home, I threw up some more and I finally got rid of the rest of the hot dog that I ate. I then crashed on the bed. The good thing about throwing up was that I only suffered a minor headache that I was able to shake off quickly. I would've hated going to the polls with a major hangover.

As for my Australian friends, they decided to spend Election Night in downtown DC because they wanted to be among any spontaneous street parties that would break out in the event of an Obama victory. We DC locals suggested that they check out Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street because it is such a DC institution. I haven't seen any posts from them on the forum yet. I think they are still recovering from two straight nights of late-night partying.

My First Post

I've been toying with the idea of starting a political blog for over a year but other things have interfered with my life. Yesterday one of the most historic elections in U.S. history has happened and I'm still amazed that the first African-American president has been elected. I'm surprised because I have long assumed that I would never see a person of color elected as president in my lifetime. When I was a child there were still much racial hostility among the adults due to the Civil Rights movement. While Jim Crow had been dismantled by the time I reached elementary school, I grew up with adults using the "n" word and hearing some adults in my own family say that he/she would disown his/her own daughter if she would marry a black person.

There was some smashing of the barriers over the years. When I was a child, I only saw one intermarriage and that was in my church. (The man was white and his wife was an Asian woman he met while he was in the Army and stationed in South Korea.) But that was accepted because the woman didn't have very dark colored skin. (I've always suspected that had she come from a nation where the people had darker skin--like India or Bangladesh--it would've been a different situation because the skin color would be closer in shade to African.) I remember when I went on a school trip to New York City in 1979 and I was shocked to see mixed-race white and black couples openly walk in the streets holding hands.

But over the years I gradually began to see more mixed white/black couples being open about their relationship in Maryland and even have mixed-race children. Despite all this I didn't expect to see a person of color occupy the White House mainly because of the political dirty tricks I've seen. I still remember the 1988 election when Republicans used Willie Horton to help defeat Michael Dukakis and elect George H.W. Bush. The idea of a person of color even being elected president seemed so remote.

But it happened and there's a potential for something good to happen in the U.S. I figured that it was a good time to start a political blog documenting life in the U.S. under Barack Obama. I also would like to finally use my undergraduate degree in journalism (with a minor in government and politics) from the University of Maryland since I had worked hard to obtain that degree only to being unable to obtain a job that even remotely resembled anything I studied in college.

I am still tired because I spent two nights in a row where I stayed up until 1 a.m. I don't mind losing sleep since something amazing had happened in my life.