The Economy's Loss is the Army's Gain

This article in the Washington Post details the recent upswing in enlistment numbers since the bottom dropped out of the economy, and unemployment hit sixteen-year record highs. My own daughter, who has been unemployed or underemployed for the last year, is considering enlisting in the Navy if she can't get any other full-time employment soon.

The expectation (perhaps premature, given the current events in Mumbai) that we will be out of a wartime military, complicated by the lack of jobs here in the United States, particularly for young people, is directing young job seekers to the only place that's hiring---the Armed Forces.

This is concerning, for me as a parent and for me as an American. Must we always solve the economic troubles caused by fat, aging, rich guys with the flesh and blood of our young people? Is that the only way that America can ever hope to drag itself out of the depths---by sacrificing the safety and innocence of the current generation of its youth?

I've tried to convince my daughter to hold off on the military. Don't get me wrong. I come from a military family with a long-standing honorable history of military service. But the war right now is not particularly honorable nor upstanding, and I'd rather she not make that part of her karma. Besides, if Obama can keep his promises about rebuilding infrastructure, there will be many direct and ancillary jobs created as a result. Things will get better. Right now, though, it's a race against the financial clock for a lot of kids who have bills to pay now. What are they to do in the meantime? Mine has the option of getting parental help, but a lot of kids out there don't have parents who can help. And they may be forced---whether they believe in this unholy endeavor in the Middle East---to participate, whether they want to or not.

~C~

S.O.F.A.

The newly proposed version of the Status of Forces Agreement (S.O.F.A.) goes to the Iraqi Parliament for a vote next week, and if it goes through, it totally ends the Iraqi War.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I've lost my mind. And you might be right, but then I'd say, "quit trying to change the subject."

The fact is that the S.O.F.A., as currently drafted, completely changes the complexion of the war Bush has been waging since 2003. It wasn't clear at first, because the State Department refused to have the document translated and distributed in English, lest people read it and be all up in arms about it.

If it's carried by the Iraqi Parliament, as of June, 2009, American forces will no longer have free run of the country.  They will be confined to bases, unless fighting breaks out and they are summoned by the Iraqi government or police to intervene.  They will be subject to prosecution for crimes committed while in Iraq and (here's where it gets a little dicey) might be liable for crimes committed before the new agreement was signed.  American forces will no longer be able to search Iraqi homes without a warrant, question or detain Iraqis outside of the direct request of Iraqi authorities, or walk the streets armed and in uniform.  All of this applies to private security forces being paid to be in Iraq as well.  

We'll have to see how this plays itself out, but if this version S.O.F.A. passes and is installed, Barack Obama won't have to worry about ending the war.  The Iraqis will do it for us.  Pretty amazing, huh.

~C~

Mumbai

I was watching MORNING JOE this morning, and guest NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof was scaring schooling Mika Brzezinski, Lawrence O'Donnell and CNBC's Dylan Ratigan about the possibility of Pakistan boiling over and launching terrorist attacks against the US and allies.

Today, in Mumbai, India (the city formerly known as Bombay), terrorists launched an extremely well-coordinated, multi-target attack in Mumbai, attacking a train station, two five-star hotels, and a hospital, shooting, tossing hand grenades and demanding those with US and UK passports to step forward. Hostages were taken, a stand-off ensued and, as yet, no one knows what will happen. Troops have been called in, and they have been engaging the terrorists regularly. Identification of the terrorists hasn't been confirmed, but I'm wondering if this isn't the sad proof of what Kristof was saying. There is no evidence as to the identity of the terrorists at the moment, but it does give one pause.

Thoughts and wishes that this end reasonably casualty-free this Thanksgiving day.

~C~

Update (November 28th, 2008, 10:34 pm):   This article from HuffPost mentions that the terrorists may have been coming in Pakistan, but whether they were, in fact, Pakistani remains to be seen.  They have apparently captured one terrorist alive.  

Update (November 29th, 2008, 11:36 am):  Watching Washington Week on my TiVO today (broadcast was last night), and both Doyle McMannus (LA Times) and Todd Purdum (Vanity Fair) mentioned this as a Pakistani attack.  And this broadcast was taped before the siege ended last night.

Michelle Bachmann Forgets That The Video Camera Has Been Invented

Newly re-elected Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann went on Fox News tonight, and said that the idea that she told MSNBC's Chris Matthews was an "urban legend."

Urban legend? Like, what? Crocodiles in the New York sewer system? Like Big Foot? Like Yetis? Like the rat in the Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket? "That's not what I said," she told Alan Coombs. Hmmm... I guess if it's an urban legend, it's going to be really hard to prove whether she said it or not.

Well, except for that newfangled invention we in the 21st Century like to call.... DIGITAL VIDEO!!! (Let's watch, shall we?)



Way to go, Minnesota. Re-elect the lying, crazy bitch.

~C~

Dance... Dance, Little Dancing Girl... Dance Like the Wind.

With the agreement on Sunday by Iraqi leaders to the current version of the Status of Forces Agreement (S.O.F.A.), the US has effectively agreed to have all US troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011. Though George W. Bush has made it clear that this Administration would never agree to any military agreement with Iraq that involved what he has called "artificial timetables" for withdrawal, this agreement amounts to... well... an timetable for withdrawal. (Since we aren't Iraqi, and never have been, any timetable, either for occupation or withdrawal, is, by definition "artificial.")

So, today, we were treated to Dana Perino, spinning and twirling like the little dervish she's becoming, attempting to bend this turn of events into something that kind of looked like it's what the White House wanted all along.

"Err.. uh... yeah... no, no... yeah... it's exactly what we wanted.... yeah, there's a withdrawal date... but... uh... it's not... hard... or... uh... it's... yeah.... It's contingent on stuff.... like.... uh... yeah."

Oh. Honey. As a going-away gift, your boss needs to buy you a loooong, loooong vacation.

You've earned it.




Frankly, I'm tired just watching you.

~C~

BailOut: They Swear It's Working; They Swear Things Are Getting Better

In testifying before irate members of the House Financial Services Committee today, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Harry Paulson (who have to be going steady at this point, they've spent so much time escorting each other in public) agreed that, though things haven't quite worked out the way they thought it would, the injection of money directly into the banking system is working. Paulson went so far as to say we've "turned a corner" in financial stabilization.

I'm not sure we can assess exactly what Paulson means by "turning a corner," since Paulson admits that he has now entirely abandoned the idea of using any of the bailout money to help shore up foreclosure debt (a key promise in getting Congress to vote "yes" on the bailout in the first place), and opposes the use of the money to assist the struggling Big Three automakers. Watching Paulson's statement as he gave it, I'm not sure Paulson was even buying it himself. Members of the committee referred to Paulson's shift away from helping Main Street as "classic bait and switch." Still, for all Paulson's optimism, things don't seem to be getting better for the average American. Loans and new mortgages are still tough to come by, and the job loss situation is still a bloody, gorey mess.

I do know that both Bernanke and Paulson seem genuinely loathe to do things with the bailout money that might directly assist the regular folk. Regardless of arguments made at the time this money was voted into existence in October, the new emphasis by Paulson seems to be to pump as much money into banks which still refuse to loosen their death grip on credit. Instead, banks have been passing these little early Christmas presents on to executives, in the form of bonuses, and to stockholders, in the form of dividends.

What happens now is anyone's guess. Bush has promised to leave half of the orignial $700 billion to Obama's incoming Administration, at which time the new President and new Congress can decide what to do regarding the Big Three. Can the American auto industry survive until then? If not, what will happen to all the retirees and employees who will lose their health and retirement benefits, should the companies go under? And how will the potential loss of 3,000,000 jobs impact the economy?

In spite of the firm stance of the Fed Chairman and the Treasury Secretary against any assistance, they seem no better able to answer those questions than anyone else. Sadly, it seems to matter less to them than making sure bank stockholders get their dividends and AIG executives get spa retreats with bailout money to shore up their sagging budgets. (More and more, I'm beginning to see the wisdom in Keith Olbermann's suggestion that we're calling it "the Bailout" now, but someday we'll be referring to it as "the reason Daddy went to jail.")

Not sure exactly what is going to happen here. It is becoming increasingly clear that this money wa not meant to help real people. It is a bailout for Wall Street, which is exactly what Paulson promised it wouldn't be. I can't wait to find out who Obama's Treasury Secretary will be. And I'm hoping Bernanke won't be far behind. It's clear where their hearts lie, and it isn't with us.

~C~

In Case You Might Have Missed It (As I Almost Did)

I forgot to set my TiVO for "60 Minutes" tonight. Steve Kroft landed the first sit-down interview with Barack and Michelle Obama, in which the President-elect and future First Lady discuss post-inauguration priorities, the election, the transition and how their family is adjusting to their new situation. Oh, yeah... and the the most pressing issue facing President-elect Obama -- putting a viable college football play-off system in place.

Okay, it wasn't the most pressing issue, but it was clearly an issue close the future President's heart.

Here's the entire episode. I warn you -- there are two Viagra commercials smack in the middle. But still, it's worth the watch. I like these people. I really do.


Watch CBS Videos Online

~C~

Who's the Smartest Liberal Blogger in the World?

Okay, that would be Arianna Huffington at The Huffington Post.

But who's the second smartest?

Errr... uh... Okay, so that's probably Digby at Hullabaloo.

But somewhere in the top ten (fifty? one-hundred?) is.... your trusty Catharine.

I have been saying for the past two years that this notion of America as a "center-right nation," according to ruling Republicans, is just plain crap. And now, thanks to this editorial in the Washington Post by conservative Tod Lindberg, my assertions have been confirmed, not only by Lindberg, but by conservative think tank, the Hoover Institution, which has finally concluded through 12,000 interviews, that America is currently skewing center-left.

Not that we should get cocky or anything. As Lindberg points out, the biggest mistake a party can make is getting full of itself and moving far too far from center, whether it be right or left. But Republicans who fail to see that America is no longer a bastion of political and social conservatism will continually fail to secure a voter base strong enough to win at the national level. And, so far, most conservatives have resisted the notion that the Reagan era (and to a lesser degree, the Clinton "New Democrat" era) is over.

The nationwide protests over California's Proposition 8 are a perfect example of the left-leaning trend in modern American politics. Can you imagine such a reaction four years ago? Or even two? This proposition to strip gay Californians of the right to legally marry was an enormous misstep by conservatives that will, I believe, have repercussions stretching well into several election cycles. Republicans badly underestimated the reaction of opponents to Prop 8, and their willingness to embrace the ideas of hope and change in their refusal to go quietly back into the closet. Also, many, many gay people, including many celebrities, had already married and were planning on marrying. Having a future right denied is one thing. It is entirely another thing to have an already-granted right revoked. Another misperception on the part of conservatives and evangelicals was the willingness of the straight community to come together in solidarity with gays to overturn this heinous piece of legislative crap.

It remains to be seen exactly how Prop 8 will play itself out. It is flatly unconstitutional, and similar legislation has been shot down by the California Supreme Court. This time, though, the American political landscape might be right for a permanent change in the way we think of homosexuality as a nation. Just as you don't have to be black to understand that Jim Crow was wrong, you don't have to be gay to know that denying homosexuals their civil rights is equally wrong.

Hope and change. This is what 53 percent of the population voted for on November 4th. We have hope and, according to the Hoover Institution, we have changed. Let's see what good can come of that.

~C~

P.S. Thanks to David Sirota, who led me to this editorial via Twitter.

At Least Sarah Palin Dodges the Reading Material Question Entirely

This is President George W. Bush's favorite book.

I'm not making this up.

He was asked what his favorite literary work was, and, after some thought, he answered The Very Hungry Catepillar, by Eric Carle, because he enjoyed reading it when he was a boy.

The only problem is that the book was published when he was twenty three years old.

Are we at a point yet when it's just funny, and not scary or infuriating? Wait, let me think. No... no... he still has access to the nuclear football, sooooo... it's still really scary.

But in sixty seven days, it will be funny. Right?

Right?

(Oh, God.)

~C~

Now It Can Be Told.

FactCheck.org has issued their 2008 FactCheck Ad Awards, and it reminded me of some of my favorite ads of the 2008 elections.

This one damn near turned me into a Republican:



This one reminded me that, for the past eight years, Jed Bartlett has been my fake President. He helped me survive the Bush/Cheney/Rove era:

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

This one made me wonder just whose side Norm Coleman from Minnesota (running against Democrat Al Franken) was on, anyway:


Norm Coleman Ad







So, here we all are, at the end of a long campaign, tired and burned out. Even if your candidate didn't win, you can take comfort in the fact that we got some kick-ass commercials out of it.

~C~

Have You?

Wait time: 54 minutes.

Proud to be an American.

~C~

Are You Gonna Say 'No' to Truett?

If you know what's good for you, you'll do exactly what Truett says, and not ask questions.



~C~

First (and Last, on this Site) Election Results of the 2008 Presidential Election

The Balsams Grand Resort in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, is traditionally the first precinct to vote in all elections. The resort itself was named a precinct in 1960, when prominent Dixville Notch resident Neil Tillotson decided that an hour was too far to drive to vote, and so petitioned the state elections board to have the nearby resort made into a valid polling place. His request was granted and the tradition of the "Midnight Vote" was begun, with Tillotson being the traditional first voter every year thereafter, until his death in 2001. In that first election, Nixon beat Kennedy by unanimous vote, 9 to zip. Kennedy, of course, went on to win in a landslide election.

Well, Dixville Notch voted a little bit ago, and it took them approximately forty-five minutes to vote and then count the votes and then announce the votes. There are only 21 registered voters in the precinct.

The presidential results? In alphabetical order (the way the candidates appeared on the ballot) as follows:

John McCain 6
Ralph Nader 0 (bite it, Nader!!!)
Barack Obama 15

So, there you have it. It should be noted that, while Dixville Notch tends to break Republican, they are known for being something of a mavericky bunch their own selves.

~C~

This Week In Washington, We Faced the Nation and Met the Press

It's been a painful election eve morning for me. Yesterday was my birthday, and I'd planned an all-day outing (more on that amazing experience in the future), so I had my Tivo boyfriend record all the weekend political shows for me. I watched them this morning, so I could delete them and get on with the business of trying to keep my head from exploding.

God, what an agonizing couple of hours.

I almost feel sorry for McCain campaign cronies and other Republican surrogates at this point. According to a "leaked" internal memo, the McCain pollster has somehow managed to gerrymander his polling results to indicate that this election was a (and I quote) "dead heat." Okay, look. John McCain is not out of this. He could conceivably win. Statistically, it's unlikely, but it is no where near impossible. According to Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com, Barack Obama has a 96.4% chance of being our President-elect on November 5th. That said, McCain and Palin are on the verge of being charged Pennsylvania state income tax, they've been camped there so long, attempting the granddaddy of all Hail Marys. The numbers have inched slowly upward for McCain in the past couple of weeks in Pennsylvania, a state he must win if he's to have any chance at the White House.

But, a "dead heat?" Not by a long shot.

Barack Obama hangs on top in every respectable poll in the country, albeit within the margin for error in many of them. He's mobilized a small army of volunteers and an impressive number of paid staffers to get out the vote, promote the message and activate the electorate (also in a future post, we will be talking about the benefits of the much-sneered at job of "community organizer," and how experience in that gig might come in handy when running for high office).

Barack Obama is the leader at the moment. There are numerical possibilities that could allow John McCain to snatch defeat from the jaws for victory for the Democrats, and the party (above all others) knows the dangers of over-confidence (2004, anyone?).

But watching Lyndsay Graham and Rick Davis on the political shows this weekend, speaking through clenched teeth and forced "easy-peasy over-easy" grins, bluff their way through the party line that McCain was tied with Obama "where it mattered" (where? your mama's living room?) was a little like watching a waterboarding demonstration. Fred Thompson, God love him, didn't bother to really discuss the polls on Meet the Press. He resorted to simply covering the old GOP standard, "Vote for Republicans or you'll die." Barack Obama can't keep the country safe, he's too inexperienced, John McCain knows how to command an army in the eventuality that al Qaeda shows up with its vast army to attack us, 3 am phone calls, blah-dee-blah-dee....

"Ouch. Ouch. Stop it. Ouch. MOMMM!"

In all the round tables, though, the predictions were pretty unanimous across the board among the pundits. Obama over McCain. The only difference was the amount by which McCain would lose.

Still.... it's all about the ballot box, and tomorrow is the day that counts, because it's the last day to vote. So, vote. Or, don't. But, really, vote.


~C~

Links to sites with voter and poll information:
Declare Yourself
Can I Vote
Rock The Vote

Uh-Oh. This Could Close McCain's Gap In the Polls Completely.

After weeks of high-profile Republicans jumping ship and endorsing Barack Obama, it might come as some comfort to John McCain to learn that a very high-profile Republican has publicly endorsed him for President.

Then again, it might not.



Favorite sound bite for me?

"[John] has looked into the face of evil."

Yeah, across the table when he was having dinner with you, you big, scary Undead American, you! Now, back to the catacombs with you, and make haste, before the sun comes out!

~C~