In a previous rant after the Massachusetts special election, I ranted about Scott Brown and how any vote for a Republican at this point is a vote for partisanship and evil etc. etc. To be vein and quote myself:

He is a senator, and is going to disappear to Washington and represent his constituents by voting with his party on every issue.

I have been anxiously awaiting his term so that I could flaunt how right I was. Well, I am here to say that, at least so far in this one instance, Scott Brown has acted in a respectable way by voting with what he feels is right and not just with his party. Nate Silver covers this well in his post, where he defends Brown as an “authentically moderate Republican.”

I still will likely not support Brown on several issues of policy. I am very happy, however, to see someone vote not with their party but with what they feel is right for their state and, hopefully, the country. With the majority of Republicans clearly “Not Embarrassed”, as the Rachel Maddow title says, it is refreshing to see a senator do their job, even if they are not in my party.

My Dad forwarded me two articles from Boston.com which I disagreed with. I wanted to share the email I wrote back to him and maybe clean it up a little bit for Juice, and really only reflect on one of those articles. Here are those thoughts edited for JTB. They are probably the uninformed rants of a foolish, young online-leftist, but since everyone is shouting I may as well take part.

The article, Coakley Downs In Safe Harbor, reflects the talking point surrounding this whole election, which I think is really insulting and embarrassing. The talking point is that Coakley did not do enough campaigning to win the election and that the people were taken for granted.

At a neighborhood New Year’s Eve party, everyone was talking about Republican Scott Brown’s new television ad … The neighborhood consensus: clever and attention-grabbing. Martha Coakley laughed it off. It was a serious mistake; many others followed. They included a barrage of terrible ads and Coakley’s incredible question about what people expected her to do: stand outside in the cold, shake hands and ask for their vote?

Now Democrats have learned their lesson and will not “take anything for granted.” This is not only acknowledging but embracing stupidity. As the article and the polls clearly point out, Brown started airing commercials on New Years Eve and the polls turned around. Brown was outside of Fenway shaking hands in the cold, and Coakley was not. I guess someone forgot to inform me that the job of a senator was to be a master hand shaker. He is a senator, and is going to disappear to Washington and represent his constituents by voting with his party on every issue.

(more…)

I got to do my first bit of puppeteering recently in this spot for MoveOn.org. It was a ton of fun for my brain, but a lot less fun for my shoulder and arm, which was stuck up in the air for extended periods into the wee hours that night. This spot was put together in 24 hours, from fabricating the puppets to creating a finished edit and graphics, which is a testament to the enormous talent of the fine artists at Charged. I did the P-Span graphics intro as well; not my worst for some 6:30 AM work!

My arm is inside the gray haired balding guy on the right:

I saw this today and thought some Juicers might be interested in it.  I haven’t had time to really dig into it, but it looks cool.  I like that Google really strives to make information accessable to the masses.

Check it out.

*Updated with working video, I don’t know why that youtube one all of a sudden broke.

Or, how Crossfire was just as much a joke in 1986 as it was in 2004.

Or, John Lofton is a jackass.

A few months ago I was back in Boston chatting with some old republican friends. We talked business and politics. Where the two topics met, they mentioned “You may be a blue liberal now, but when your business takes off you will be on our side.”

If you are a democrat when you are poor and a republican when you are rich, you don’t actually stand for anything but yourself.

A buddy of mine’s project is getting some attention:

A small town state legislative race? What better fodder for a television show. We give you “The Campaign” by Daniel Poliner, who among other things to his credit is a) a big fan of the Fix and b) from Connecticut. The trailer for the show, which stars Debra Jo Rupp — Kitty from “That 70s Show” — is here. Check it out. Spread the word.

[via Washington Post]

Send it around!

I was thinking Obama’s presidency was going so well. There were the occasional broken promises and slip-ups. The standard things. I’m realistic, I know not everything he promised he could, should, or would do. I just wanted him to stay true to his principles, get some of the most important tasks done, and not be evil. I never would have thought that last one would be a stumbling block for him.

The fact that he could straight-faced talk about “preventative detention” is appalling. There’s no excuse. It’s actually to the point where I don’t even feel like I should even muster an argument against it, because it is so clearly and obviously wrong. This seriously is a deal-breaker for me. I cannot bring myself to vote for a man who would push for the idea that we can take away someone’s freedom because we think they might do something bad in the future. I mean that if he pushes for this power then I seriously can no longer support him as President. Top duty: defend the Constitution. He would have failed at that.

I’m confused here. I feel like popular culture has enough warnings about these kinds of powers. Under Bush I got the painful impression we were starting to be 1984ed, and now Obama wants to Minority Report us. Instead the references seem to laughed off. It’s just too easy I suppose since our lives don’t change with these policies. We get to keep living on as normal. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t evil.

I really hope Obama wakes up and realizes the road we’re going down is not where we’re supposed to be going.

Of course, they’re actually talking about real economic theory, but how can it compete with this brilliant piece of CW from some dude in governor of South Carolina:

Gov. Sanford, unlike most of his colleagues, speaks out against any federal bailouts, including a fiscal stimulus bill that is likely to include state aid. “When times go south you cut spending,” Gov. Sanford said. “That’s what families do, that’s what businesses do, and I don’t think the government should be exempt from that process.”

Because, you know, if everyone cuts back on spending, that will help the economy.  Hey, it makes sense when you equate the giant federal government with virtually unlimited borrowing power to a family of four.  Who needs economic theory, right?

Oh, and btw, Matthews barely lets Krugman talk here…it almost like he’s auditioning for something…

This is a tough one for me.  Anyone who’s been around me in the past year knows my seething contempt for the Big 3.  The fact that they could be so willfully ignorant to state of affairs in the auto industry is completely unfathomable to me.  So in this vein, I would like nothing better than to see GM topple to ground for their gross mismanagement.  The Big 3 truly could have been leaders in the new auto industry if they had taken steps to improve their fuel-efficiency standards 10 years ago and gone out on a limb to develop alternative energy vehicles.  Instead, they went kicking and screaming to Congress over CAFE standards, and continued to pump out SUV after SUV in a blind must-maintain-the-status-quo mindset.  So, basically, f you guys for being such idiots and making me buy a Japanese car.

On the other hand, there are literally millions of people that would be affected by a Detroit collapse.  Now, the laissez-faire wing will be coming out of the woodwork explaining this away as an “adjustment” and some “rebalancing” will be needed.  Their are two problems with this line of thinking: a) the sheer size of this collapse would be devastating, b) these same preachers of free market doctrine won’t provide the relief to these working families to “adjust.”  So, in my view, there’s two ways you can go about doing things here.  You can either prop up the auto companies, hope that they return to solvency in the future, and save the millions of people from being heavily affected, or you can let Detroit fall, and provide extensive social services to the millions affected in order to assist them in their transition to another segment of the economy.  Both ways cost money.

So the big question then becomes, which way is cheaper and more effective?  I’d say the former, assuming you believe that these same executives that have run these companies into the ground based on a hear-no-evil brand of ineptitude can actually return them to dominance.  These prime loans to the Big 3 will eventually be payed back, with interest, and will have the least amount of impact to the millions entangled in Detroit.  But the assumption here is a big one.  Can these companies return to solvency?

Here’s where Congress may be able to provide a nudge.  By stipulating in the terms of the loan that the Big 3 must begin development of alternative energy vehicles, specifically plug-in hybrids, these comapnies may be pushed on to the right track.  Now this kind of steps in to some dangerous territory that borderlines on government planning of an entire segment of the economy, but if you structure it in a way that provides incentive, rather than command-and-control, it may just work.

I don’t like this bailout.  At all.  But the more I think about it, and the more I learn about the sheer size of the number of people involved, the more inclined I am to accept it.  Although, the devil is always in the details…

[Update]

Turns out CAPAF agrees:

To ensure that the managers who helped create this mess are not unduly rewarded, the loans must disallow excessive executive compensation. In addition, the auto companies must fulfill their commitments to provide both health care and retirement security for their employees and retirees. The companies must commit to continue their research and development of advanced, clean-vehicle technology and energy efficient manufacturing. A loan oversight board should ensure the companies develop a long-term business plan based on the production and sale of fuel-efficient vehicles.

The auto companies should embrace—not resist—the transition to less polluting vehicles. They should assure Congress that they will cease their legal and lobbying opposition to the imminent new fuel economy standards, and the California motor vehicle greenhouse gas standards that President-elect Obama said he would allow. These measures will reduce oil dependence, increase national security, save families money, and reduce pollution. In addition to harming the nation, continued opposition to these standards would keep the companies on the path that got them in this mess in the first place.

Please support the $25 billion loan for U.S. auto companies and include the aforementioned safeguards. This will help protect American jobs and ensure progress toward significantly more efficient vehicles.

Haha:

One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent “tens of thousands” more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.’

Good Lord please let her run in 2012.

Remember when I said, “We just won the election,” right after McCain picked Sarah Palin?  Yeah.  Everyone still puts the root cause of Obama’s rise to Lehman and the finanacial crisis, but, not to say that all that didn’t help, but I still believe Sarah Palin was a fundamental reason why John McCain lost this election.

Obviously, I’m pretty pissed off.  The fact that one of the most liberal states in the union didn’t affirm the rights of gays to marry just shows how far we still have to come on this.

But on a much larger note, it seems to me like there is something fundamentally flawed with a state’s constitutional amendment process when a 2-4 point plurality can effectively strip the rights of another human being.  I mean, I feal like there’s a lot of bad stuff out there that could pass by a 2 point plurality in some states.  So basically, what I’m saying is, there’s a reason why it’s really, really hard to amend the United States Constitution.  It’s huge deal to amend a constitution, and it shouldn’t be an easy process.

So my advice to California is, put the reverse of prop 8 back on the ballot in 2 years (by then, enough 65+ voters will have died and enough 18+ voters will have come of age to swing this back our way), make sure it wins, then, 2 years later amend the constitutional amendment process to require a two-thirds legislature vote, as well as a majority vote in an election.

Basically, they should just strike Article 18 Section 3 & Section 4.

So, remeber all that Obama-is-a-socialist stuff?  Yeah, well they were just kidding, because you know, the socialist can’t actually win, because that would mean that we all voted for the socialist by 6 points.  So, you see, this just proves that Barack Obama actually ran a center-right campaign, because the nation as a whole is center-right, and they voted for him in a landlside, ergo the nation is center-right.  Got it?

[Via Yglesias]

BLin: 8:22 PST – just got back from the hotel bar, and when president elect obama came on the screen, there was an out burst of applause.  i haven’t stopped smiling in 24 minutes.

BLin: 6:58 PST – wtf, AZ? no results in an hour.  i’m ashamed.

BLin: 6:54 PST – Obama takes the lead in VA.  He likely will not relinquish it the rest of the night, as all the votes out are in NoVa.  Juice the Blog Calls VA for Obama.

BLin: 6:36 PST – OHIO! OHIO! hahaha OHIO! It’s over! Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.  WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

BLin: 6:19 PST – McConnell wins in KY.  Peace out 60 D’s.  Oh well.

BLin: 6:12 PST – shoot.  we lost GA.  oh well.  174-64, good guys.

BLin: 6:00 PST – New score 174-49, good guys.  96 EVs to go.

BLin: 5:51 PST – Look for CO to get called at the top of the hour, a big part of the state voted early.  If this happens, pop your corks and start practicing “President Obama”.

BLin: 5:42 PST – Score is now 102-34, good guys.

BLin: 5:40 PST – HAHA!!! WOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOO!!!!  CNN calls PA for O!  We’re gonna do it.

BLin: 5:28 PST – AP calls NH.  This is a great indicator.  We’re gonna win.

BLin: 5:26 PST – Hagan wins in NC, as well as Sununu Shaheen in NH, and Warner in VA.  That’s 3 D pick-ups so far…

BLin: 5:19 PST – FL is still looking really good.  We might be headed for good night…

BLin: 5:08 PST – WHOA!! MSNBC just called PA for O!!  We’ll see if/when the other orgs follow…i don’t trust it unless CNN calls it, they are the most conservative

BLin: 5:03 PST – PA exit poll shows D +9 on party ID, and 90-9 split among D’s for O.  This looks good.

BLin: 5:00 PST – Boom.  77-34, good guys.

BLin: 4:56 PST – SC for M.  3-16, bad guys.

BLin: 4:52 PST – coming up, a whole bunch of quick calls: CT (O), DE (O), DC (O), IL (O), ME (O), MD (O), MA (O), AL (M), TN (M), TX (M), OK (M), and prob MI (O).  Then there’s NH, NJ, PA, MO, MS, and SD.  Whew.

BLin: 4:39 PST – RE: Virginia, stop worrying, NoVa isn’t in yet.  right now only appalachia (or “Real” virginia is in).

BLin: 4:33 PST – remember this guy?

“Let me tell you, when all the votes are counted, when Gary comes in, I think you’re looking at something for the world to see,” Clay, an Obama supporter, said in a telephone interview from Obama’s Gary headquarters. “I don’t know what the numbers are yet, but Gary has absolutely produced in large numbers for Obama here.”

yeah…i’m waiting for lake county, fo’ sho’.

BLin: 4:29 PST – up next, OH, NC, WV, none should be called…and they aren’t.  this is good.

BLin: 4:19 PST – just to put this in perspective a little, Bush won IN by 21 pts in 2004.  Tonight, with 9% reporting, it’s too close to call.

BLin: 4:15 PST – Holy shit.  Turn to CNN right now, they have Jessica Yellin in holograph form, star-wars-emperor-style

BLin: 4:03 PST – GA exit poll shows 30% AA.  Could be enough to turn GA blue…

BLin: 4:00 PST – as expected, CNN calls VT for O, and KY for M.  3-8, bad guys.

BLin: 3:47 PST – still looking good in IN with 2% reporting.  we got some interesting states coming up at the top of the hour.  some quick calls: KY (M), VT (O), and prob SC (M).  But FL, GA, VA, and IN should take some time to call.  Keep an eye on the delta between Martin’s vote and Obama’s vote in GA…

BLin: 3:28 PST – finally, O out to an early IN lead

BLin: 3:24 PST – still no IN results…you’re killin me indiana.

BLin: 3:12 PST – neck and neck so far in KY senate race…

BLin: 2:48 PST (did i mention i’m in san jose right now? well i am.) – first up, (most of) Indiana and (most of) Kentucky.