Tom Toles does it again...

Even when I was young, I used to flip to the op-ed pages at the back of the ONLY Washington paper ;), the Washington Post. I'd have read the 3 pages of comics and Ann Landers, then I'd flip back to the political cartoons and read the letters to the editor.

Tom Toles, with his distinctive drawing style, was always my favourite - and yes, he did appear in the WaPo years ago when they would do collections of political cartoons. His simple style always made his point more powerful; he never had to use many words. I often found myself inhaling sharply at the impact.

Today, Shaker Bob mentioned Tom Toles had a wonderful cartoon summing up the election result...

...the election result that has made me a waterworks for the last two days. You'd think I had the world's worst case of PMT.

And Tom just started me off again with this:


"...that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it."

It took us eight years, but Yes. We. Did.

America, I am so proud of you. And once again, I am so proud to be ONE of you.

Thank you. Now excuse me whilst I go renew my passport.

Intelligence and the presidential campaign

I promised a long entry on the 2008 election. Didn't happen. With a week to go, here are some thoughts on why I'm voting the way I am.

There has been a lot of debate about intelligence and experience, and that's what I'm going to touch on in this entry. The general wisdom goes: Sarah Palin isn't intelligent; Barack Obama isn't experienced.

Leaving aside issues of character or lack thereof, which would you rather have?

For me, lack of experience wins hands down. Better that in the White House than the profound lack of intelligence we've seen for the last eight years.

Conventional wisdom might dictate that you need experience.

My friends won't bat an eyelid when I tell you that conventional wisdom is wrong. Again.

First, I need to do is be clear about what I mean by 'intelligence'. I define intelligence not by knowledge base, but by what I think of as (my coinage, I'm sure there's a better term) 'meta-cognitive' ability - which I use to mean having well-developed cognitive structures to process information, and to actually THINK about how you're processing it. In other words, what do you DO when information comes in? Do you think about how you're...thinking?

Barack Obama, whatever reservations people may have about him, appears extraordinarily capable of taking experience and information, assimilating it, manipulating it and making it his own. He WANTS TO KNOW and he LEARNS. I strongly suspect he's capable of changing a theory as new information comes in - he doesn't set a theory in the concrete of his view of how the world should look. This curiosity, ability to process information and mental flexibility is, in my book, the REAL hallmark of intelligence (what's the point of having loads of factoids if you're not creative with them - manipulating, synthesising, etc. ?). It's the processing ability that makes it possible for someone to think on their feet, turn on a dime, listen to others and absorb what they have to say, pull it all together and come to a decision. I've seen less of Biden, but from what I've seen, he demonstrates a formidable knowledge base with similar ability to process/manipulate information.

On the other hand, loads of experience paired with inflexible thinking and a lack of curiosity isn't worth a bucket of warm piss (which was probably Garner's REAL quote on the vice-presidency. Come on, surely a bucket of warm 'spit' didn't make sense to anyone? Who can spit that much?).

In contrast to Obama and Biden, John McCain and Sarah Palin have demonstrated (through interviews and the debate) a real lack of curiosity and unwillingness/inability to absorb/process info and make it their own. Palin just parrots soundbites. Nowhere in her interviews or her debate did she show any ability to process and manipulate information and make it her own. She would make comments like, "I may not answer the question, Gwen," (uh, yeah, you f***ing will, if you want the 2nd highest office in the land) and do everything she could to return to her talking points. She didn't use the talking points to come to any conclusions, she wasn't able to use what she had been given to deal with the situation at hand - the questions that were being thrown at her. She simply pretended they didn't exist.

With McCain, incoming information seems to make no impact on any theories he holds, leading to poor decision-making, since theories are based on preferences, not on incoming evidence. His comment - with derisive air quotes - around 'the health of the mother' makes for a classic moment. Obama has just said, "No one is pro-abortion", to which McCain responds:

This is just another example of the eloquence of Senator Obama. His 'health of the mother' (derisive air quotes) - that's been stretched by the pro-abortion movement to mean almost anything.

Eh? How about asking Obama what he means? Using facts to back his position? Instead, he uses all the contempt in his possession to simply dismiss what Obama had to say - and women in general, as well as the one exception many of his anti-abortion colleagues *allow*. Add to this his stepping up attacks against Obama when evidence shows that more and more people are backing away from his vitriol, and it's pretty clear that listening and evidence have very little place in the McCain campaign.

If you don't believe me, speak to the press corps whose darling he was not a year ago and who have been turning away from him in droves. Look at every fact check website and you'll see that McCain's lies both outnumber and outweigh Obama's.

Both Republicans baldly lie in the face of evidence: e.g., Palin's bridge to nowhere, McCain's claim that Obama was opposed to offshore drilling, even though Obama had stated in his acceptance speech he was open to it.

Essentially, the Republican ticket mirrors its right-wing base - uncurious, unquestioning, insistent that facts fit into their framework, not that their framework fit the facts.

That isn't so bad if you're me and making a decision between ice cream or Death by Chocolate for pudding, but if you're vice president, or Flying Spaghetti Monster forbid, president, it can be the difference between life and death.

In my eyes, THAT is why McCain and Palin are completely unqualified. They simply cannot, or will not, base their decisions on reality when it interferes with their preferences.

Obama may be less experienced, but his ability to absorb and process experience when it comes means that any disadvantage will be quickly overcome by his ability to *create and manipulate* a sizeable knowledge base.

Or, more basically:

Lack of experience is easily sorted. Lack of thinking is not.

I'll be commenting on the speech soon...

but for now, check this out.

I had a dream...

Last night, I had a dream about Barack Obama.

I dreamt he was walking across a podium to shake hands with Gordon Brown and dream me thought - ah, he's president. That shifted to meeting him at a bookstore, where I picked up something on John McCain (a diary? papers?), hugging it to my chest, and he looked over at me, because I'd made it clear that I was supporting him. I looked back at Obama and said, "You know what they say - hold your friends close, hold your enemies closer. Don't forget that." We had a laugh over that, and he went to leave.

"Mr Obama," I said, as he headed for the door (it looked like Borders in Oxford).

He turned round, slightly impatient, wanting to leave.

"Remember that," I continued. "and also remember - 'Be wise as a serpent...'"

He replied, somewhat impatiently, "I know, I know..."

I *think* he was going to continue, but then I woke up. (possibly with 'harmless as a dove'?)

From the surreal to the real, here is Obama's acceptance speech from the Democratic National Convention. No, he didn't go as far as I would have liked him to on some issues, but I understand why. Let's get him in the White House first. His understanding of the balance between individual and mutual responsibility is a breath of fresh air, as is his refusal to mudsling at McCain. He can leave that to me.

You can take the girl out of America...

but you can't take America out of the girl. Certainly not a Washington suburbs girl who cut her teeth on political discussion via the McLaughlin Group and Agronsky and Co. I used to stay awake on those sticky Washington August nights every four years, watching the National Conventions, caught up in the excitement of the upcoming election. There was nothing like it.

It should come as no surprise that I was born in an election year. One that should have been won by a Democrat, one that would have been won by a Democrat, had he not been assassinated after making a post-California primary victory speech.

I felt utterly betrayed when Al Gore was robbed of the presidency in 2000, even more so when GW Bush was re-elected. I feel so battered by the Bush administration, even across an ocean, that I wasn't going to vote this year, for the first time since I was 18. I thought it didn't make a difference.

But the man I voted for in 2000 convinced me otherwise:

...

Eight years ago, some said there was not much difference between the nominees of the two major parties and it didn’t really matter who became president. Our nation was enjoying peace and prosperity. Some assumed we would continue both, no matter the outcome. But here we all are in 2008, and I doubt anyone would argue now that election didn’t matter.

Take it from me, if it had ended differently, we would not be bogged down in Iraq, we would have pursued bin Laden until we captured him. We would not be facing a self-inflicted economic crisis; we would be fighting for middle-income families. We would not be showing contempt for the Constitution; we’d be protecting the rights of every American regardless of race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation. And we would not be denying the climate crisis; we’d be solving it.

...

Today, we face essentially the same choice we faced in 2000, though it may be even more obvious now, because John McCain, a man who has earned our respect on many levels, is now openly endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House and promising to actually continue them. The same policies? Those policies, all over again? Hey, I believe in recycling, but that’s ridiculous.

Amen. Now if someone would only let me fall asleep in this reality only to wake in an alternate 2000, where my feet fly down the steps to turn on teletext and I whoop for joy, rather than sit down in shock. A reality where I get to relive the last eight years, savouring the phrase "President Gore", where GW Bush fades from memory as one of the many who lost the election.

For those of you who want to hear it in full, here it is. I'll be posting Michelle Obama's speech, and Barack Obama's too - what amazing speakers they both are. We could have a black president of the United States of America. Someone who, as Al Gore said, "His life experience embodies the essence of our motto – e pluribus unum – out of many, one. That is the linking identity at the other end of all the hyphens that pervade our modern political culture."

Yes, I live in hope. So sue me.

It's time for a change - for a broader-minded, more equal, more compassionate world. A world that knows that it is steward of the planet, not unbridled consumer.The next election, where it all begins, is yours, America.

Make it so.

Only 493 days, 13 hours and 28 minutes

From the Times - and before any conservative American readers (of which I hope I have exactly ZERO) shoot off, the Times is considered a conservative paper over here, so no "But Europe hates Bush" bull****:

"The 21 nations that make up the Asia- Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum account for half the world’s trade. They have, however, long suspected that the biggest member, the United States, did not take it seriously.

President Bush did nothing to dispel that impression yesterday when he forgot the name of the event, referred to his Australian hosts as “Austrians”, and engaged in a public spat with the President of South Korea. To make matters worse, the security measures of the Sydney police were breached by a team of comedians, including a man dressed as Osama bin Laden.

Mr Bush flew to Australia via Iraq, and during his keynote speech to businessmen in Sydney he behaved like a man in the throes of jet lag. Many will sympathise with his mispronunciation of the South-East Asian militant organisation Jemaah Islamiyah, and his struggle with the name of the Burmese democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. It was forgivable when he walked the wrong way off the stage and had to be guided by John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister.

But when he referred gratefully to Mr Howard’s forces in Iraq as “Austrian troops”, he had perhaps used up his credit. The worst mistake was made in the third sentence of his speech. “Thank you for being such a fine host for the Opec summit,” he said, confusing the 12-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries with the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum. “Apec summit,” he said quickly in correction. “He [Mr Howard] invited me to Opec next year.” But that wasn’t true either."

Thank GOD I haven't had to live under this idiot, who should have choked on a pretzel years ago - at least his father is an intelligent and gracious man, even if I disagree with him. How he and Barbara could have spawned this creature is beyond me.

But let's leave that aside. I have a question for my countrymen. You watched him for FOUR years. You knew how lacking in intelligence and analytical ability he was, how lacking in integrity (the joke of the decade being that the man who executed more prisoners than anyone else had the NERVE to institute a "Sanctity for Life" day - go join the hypocrite pro-lifers who bomb abortion clinics and shoot doctors in hell, won't you?) he is, how corrupt his cronies are, how this man will lie to do what he wants rather than what is best for the country, how incapable he is of listening to anyone.

So tell me, folks: HOW THE F*** COULD 59,017,382 OF YOU BE SO DUMB? HOW THE HELL COULD YOU ELECT HIM AGAIN? IT WASN'T EVEN LIKE THE ECONOMY WAS IN GOOD SHAPE, FOR F***'S SAKE!

Ah, yes...if we break it down by IQ, it all makes sense:

 
1 Connecticut   113  John Kerry
2 Massachusetts  111  John Kerry
3 New Jersey   111  John Kerry
4 New York   109  John Kerry
5 Rhode Island  107  John Kerry
6 Hawaii   106  John Kerry
7 Maryland   105  John Kerry
8 New Hampshire  105  John Kerry
9 Illinois   104  John Kerry
10 Delaware   103  John Kerry
11 Minnesota   102  John Kerry
12 Vermont   102  John Kerry
13 Washington   102  John Kerry
14 California   101  John Kerry
15 Pennsylvania  101  John Kerry
16 Maine   100  John Kerry
17 Virginia   100  George Bush
18 Wisconsin   100  John Kerry
19 Colorado   99  George Bush
20 Iowa   99  George Bush
21 Michigan   99  John Kerry
22 Nevada   99  George Bush
23 Ohio   99  George Bush
24 Oregon   99  John Kerry
25 Alaska   98  George Bush
26 Florida   98  George Bush
27 Missouri   98  George Bush
28 Kansas   96  George Bush
29 Nebraska   95  George Bush
30 Arizona   94  George Bush
31 Indiana   94  George Bush
32 Tennessee   94  George Bush
33 North Carolina 93  George Bush
34 West Virginia  93  George Bush
35 Arkansas   92  George Bush
36 Georgia   92  George Bush
37 Kentucky   92  George Bush
38 New Mexico   92  George Bush
39 North Dakota  92  George Bush
40 Texas   92  George Bush
41 Alabama   90  George Bush
42 Louisiana   90  George Bush
43 Montana   90  George Bush
44 Oklahoma   90  George Bush
45 South Dakota  90  George Bush
46 South Carolina  89  George Bush
47 Wyoming   89  George Bush
48 Idaho   87  George Bush
49 Utah   87  George Bush
50 Mississippi   85  George Bush

Jesus wept. And then wanted to come down and kick your apathetic, unthinking asses - after he'd gotten over the fact that he'd wasted his time dying for you.

That's better. I've wanted to say that since 2004. At least you made a start by giving us a Democratically controlled Congress last year.

But for God's sake, people, quit giving the rest of the world reason to see you as an imperialistic, self-absorbed, materialistic nation, who thinks that it owns the entire world and thinks it can do whatever the hell it wants. You don't and you can't. If you have power and resources, you have RESPONSIBILITIES, not just rights.

Stop acting like an adolescent and grow up. Care for your own - money isn't all there is, and socialism isn't necessarily a bad thing. Learn from others. Learn ABOUT others. LISTEN. CARE for others - you're proud of your resources, use them to make the world a better place, not an angrier one. Realise that you're only a thread in the tapestry of this world, not the whole damn thing. Deal with your anger and pain, and become more compassionate. Make those of us who were born of you and are living elsewhere proud - make us want to own you rather than deny you.

Hilary and Barack...we're counting on you. And if you win, don't forget Al Gore.