London cab drivers are impatient

Okay, not true. Not all of them. Just mine. And only about certain subjects. First day in London. I hop into a cab after taking the Heathrow Express to central London, and the first thing the driver says when he finds out I’m from the U.S.: “Good God, when is it ever going to end?” Wasn’t really sure what he was talking about, so I said so. “Your elections!” he said. “Here, elections aren’t even really elections — they last three weeks. How long have yours dragged on for?” I honestly had to stop and think about that one before replying. And if you have to do that, it’s gone on far too long.

Obama camp accuses McCain of lying

Here’s the vid:

An interesting (though admittedly mild) twist on the “McCain is just more Bush” theme.

Biden is playing Jesus… see below

Foreign Policy’s blog, Passport, offers a visual analysis of the speeches given by the White House candidates from each party. Here’s the one for Barack:

Source: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/9718

Here’s an intriguing tidbit—Obama’s two biggest words are “promise” and “America” (or, arguably, “McCain,” but I like “America” better). Meanwhile, McCain’s two most important words are “country” and, more tellingly, “fight.”

What are your initial impressions of the word clouds? To access each, just hit the link above and click on the picture of the candidate you’re interested in.

Oh, and about Biden. See above.

California’s Broken System

My home state of California has been making headlines this summer for not being able pass a budget. Granted, this a difficult time in America to balance any budget whether national, state, local or private and to make matters worse, California was hit particularly hard by the foreclosure crisis. There is plenty of blame to be passed around to current state politicians (particularly to Schwarzenegger and the Republican Legislators) for the current impasse and, once again, I acknowledge the tough economic times.

Nevertheless, this current budget stalemate is illustrative, in my opinion, of a larger problem with California’s political system: to be direct, our State Constitution sucks.

To begin with, there is the obvious flaw with the Constitution that the budget needs 2/3 of the Assembly to pass.

But on a broader level, the biggest flop in my state’s Constitution is the prevalence of Propositions. It is simply too easy to put Propositions on the ballot. The signatures of only 5% of registered voters are needed to get a statute on the ballot as a proposition and the consequence of this is a bloated Constitution and too many statutes. This relates to the current budget problem on many different levels, the most obvious of which is that 90% of the budget is locked into place.

The ease and frequency of Propositions has also messed up California’s political structure more broadly. Term limits (which were passed as a Proposition) have led to the inexperience of State Legislators and combined with the provisions in the State Constitution that allow for gerrymandering, have left Legislators with little incentive to compromise or think outside the party lines.

And then there is the infamous Proposition 13. This legislation which was passed in 1978 and was supported by then Governor Reagan (Prop 13 helped Reagan into the White House) cut back on property taxes and put limits on how quickly property taxes could rise. There are differing opinions on to what degree Prop 13 messed everything up but I think it indicates something that even Warren Buffet (now an Arnold adviser) is in favor of repealing the Proposition.

Whenever government budgets are discussed on any level nowadays, it is also important to mention the national crises the Bush administration is responsible for. Iraq and the continuing war on drugs (and incarceration of offenders) is only the beginning of a laundry list of misused tax revenue.

Overall, what I am saying is yes, as Assemblyman Jared Huffman (who I campaigned for) points out, the Republicans in my State Government are at fault for the current budget deadlock, but California needs more than just a new budget. It needs a Constitution that was not written for the small state of 1850, but instead a modern Constitution that allows for good Government.

It seems to me that the authors of the current California State Constitution had in mind a state in which citizens could have a good deal of direct say in how the state was run. This is seen in the ease of passing Propositions and also in the possibility of a Gubernatorial recall. So in terms of political philosophy, I think California is a good example of how sometimes the most effective form of Democracy is not in line with the ancient Greek model of having citizens vote on everything and also, California is an example of the need for Governments to evolve with time.

But philosophy aside, the Golden State needs some serious reforms in the way it conducts its business and it could begin by eliminating Prop 13 (and raising property taxes), changing the 2/3 rule on the budget and reforming the Constitution to make statewide Propositions rare.

And for that we need courageous politicians, and maybe, just maybe, a few more Propositions.

Apologies for being late to the party, and a bit on Joe L.

You could say I was an early adopter when it comes to blogging. You could also say that I’m still a total rookie. You see, back before the turn of the (new) century, I had a blog of my own. Problem was, I realized at about the year 2002 that mine was in the company of about a zillion self-absorbed monologues that nobody was reading. At the time, the notion of a community-oriented Internet was just emerging. It wasn’t quite Web 2.0’s time yet. Unmotivated, I eventually stopped posting altogether.

But now I’m back.

I’m back because I’ve got a newfound reason to write. And it’s not just Barack Obama. The presidential candidate himself is profoundly moving, but he also brings with him an energy that has people looking to the future—a future that includes new innovations in technology and in philosophy, in addition to all that business about “new politics.” And as anybody who’s been the first to find out about anything knows, the bleeding edge is a terribly exciting place to be on. Now that the infrastructure’s there, and the content is there, this is the best time to get fired up, ready to go again. Thanks, Barack Obama (and Edith Childs).

Here’s one other motive for beginning to blog again, and for this blog in particular: Britons, like Europeans in general, are especially “fired up” for this election season. Since I’ll be in London for the next three months (beginning next week), this blog is my way of keeping connected with the States, as well as an outlet for some reporting from the English point of view.

Now that I’ve gotten my preliminary throat-clearing out of the way, a bit on Joe Lieberman and his speech at the GOP convention:

While I missed much of the actual address, I was listening to NPR in the car on the way home as Joe was finishing his remarks. I did manage to catch some highlights, though. What’s worth discussing is how heavily Lieberman was borrowing from Obama’s rhetoric.

What matters is certainly not whether we are Democrats or Republicans, but that we are all Americans.

As the senator closed up, NPR jumped immediately to the floor for reaction. Republican delegates dutifully played back the line for the mic, highlighting that this country has an incredible power to unite in the face of adversity. On a holistic level, it’s great that both the GOP and the Democrats realize the need now for national unity. But on a practical level, I worry that some of Obama’s message is being co-opted by the Republicans, and that some of his magic is being stolen away with it. With any luck, voters will see through the tactic (or Obama will come up with something new). But given how hard-pressed the McCain camp looks right now, I wouldn’t put it past those guys to steal every play from Obama’s book and spin them to promote their candidate.

Second (and finally), what happened to Joe Lieberman? I admired the man, even called voters for him back in 2000. Now it’s as though he’s a completely different person. Has Iraq become such a central issue for him that he would forget about all the other issues that once tied him to the Democrats?

Transcendentally Frightening

Okay. I’ll admit it. Very often when I read about political news, I have the perspective of a cold opportunist: I wonder “how will these developments affect the Democrats’ chances?”

This was not the case with the announcement of Sarah Palin. The stakes are simply too high.

I am afraid as an American citizen because as much as this makes me cringe, there is a serious chance that she could become commander in chief. And the thought of Palin leading my country is incredibly scary. She has little to no experience in both the domestic and foreign realms and despite her few opportunities she managed to become involved in an abuse of power scandal. If McCain won and something happened to him, imagine her in a crisis situation surrounded by neo-cons who want to invade Iran. This is serious business.

Yes, we all argued against the inexperience argument in regards to Obama, but Obama has proven himself by climbing up through Democratic politics singlehandedly and has demonstrated good judgment on issues like the war from the very beginning.

Yes, Obama is partially a symbol and benefited from people projecting their aspirations on to him. But the baiting and symbolism that is apparent in the Palin nomination is outrageous. Van Jones and Gail Collins among others make the point that this is a ridiculously obvious attempt to pick up Clinton voters. Except Palin comes up way short as a Clinton substitute: Jones compares what Clarence Thomas is to the Civil Rights movement as what Palin is to Women’s movement.

And that brings us to the next reason why this pick is scary, scary, scary: Look at what it says about McCain’s judgment. To begin with it shows contempt for the American voting public (never mind women). Does he really think women are shallow enough to vote for her on image exclusively, not substance (it seems that he does believe this–her introductory speech the other consisted largely of her presenting herself as a run away hockey Mom).

This also shows that McCain is not really putting country first. I’m sorry to keep on hammering this home, but it was essential for McCain to acknowledge the reality of his age and pick a competent running mate. But no.

I could now go on to talk about how I believe this is a desperate political move that clearly benefits Obama’s chances but sometimes you have to put politics and elections second. Because right now I’m really scared.

Denver 2008

I’m down in Denver for the 2008 Democratic National Convention where Democrats will officially nominate Barack Obama (D-IL) to run against the Republicans in November. The convention opened today under the theme of “One Nation,” or the idea that all Americans face the same struggles and should get to have the same opportunities. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Barack’s wife Michelle were the first to get to capitalize on that theme as well as to tell the country a little bit more about Barack.

Though I’m a page with the South Dakota delegation and have full on-floor credentials, I got into the city too late tonight to make it onto the floor. I’ve thus only seen snippits of both Kennedy’s and Michelle’s speeches. From what I can tell so far though, and from what other delegates have reported back, this Convention is not going to lack in enthusiasm or passion, for the Democratic Party or for Barack. I’ll hopefully have more commentary on this tomorrow (when I’m more awake and after I’ve been on the floor for awhile).

Did anyone else watch the speeches tonight? Thoughts? Concerns? It’s kind of strange, actually, though I’m in Denver and in the center of it all, without my computer and RSS feeds, I feel sort of out of the loop. I can tell you, however, that the hot topics of the week are going to be Hillary, Bill, Wednesday night’s roll call voting and how long the security lines are.

-Emily

PS: You can also go to my own blog or Midd Blog for more thoughts, photos and coverage of this year’s Convention.

JibJab, the 2008 Version

http://www.jibjab.com/originals/time_for_some_campaignin

If you missed these during the ‘04 elections, they’re hysterical. enjoy.

Meanwhile, in the reality-based community

Across the echo chambers of the 24 hour news cycle, botoxed androids are debating whether “real Americans” will “get” the New Yorker’s cover.

But in the alternate reality where the press is controlled by competent adults, the big story would be Obama’s Op-Ed in this morning’s Times, laying out his plan for Iraq in a simple readable way that even “real Americans” can understand. Here’s the frame that will cut through the surge-is-working® meme like cheap butter:

Ending the war is essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven. Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been. As Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently pointed out, we won’t have sufficient resources to finish the job in Afghanistan until we reduce our commitment to Iraq.

The Barack Obama we know and love is still at it. Even if the androids and much of the Netroots keep denying his existence by pushing the idea that he’s been replaced by a centrist triangulating body double.

Rumormill

My grandma, picture a jewish Doris Roberts, has gotten 10-15 chain emails about Obama – none of them true, and all of them targeted at Jews (he doesn’t support israel, he’s a muslim, ect).  There are also numerous Michelle Obama rumors – that she said the racial epithet “whitey” in a Trinity Church speech.  The campaign has set up, correctly in my view, a site called fight the smears.  Everyone should encourage anyone who has received these rumor emails to read this site.  I think there is a real danger that third party groups will disseminate these falsehoods in an effort to “Swift Boat” Obama, playing on racial or radical fears.  On some MSNBC news show I was watching, a pundit said that previously campaigns ignored these rumors to deprive them airtime or legitimacy.  However, the Obama campaign has decided that it is better to directly confront the rumor deluge on the medium that made them successful, the internet.  In another sign of how serious the campaign is taking this, Michelle Obama’s new chief of staff is Stephanie Cutter, the Communications Director of John Kerry’s campaign, let’s hope she can deal with the swiftboaters.