Many Americans tuned in to watch President Obama’s historic Inaugural address on January 20, 2009. I wasn’t one of them.

 
photo credit: http://flickr.com/photos/acaben/3216045876/

In fact, didn’t even DVR the event. Instead I waited until – or rather made time available - Sunday morning five days later to read the text version available via the Washington Post and have blockquoted text that stuck out to me.

Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

Take exception to the word “never” in the first passage. The last eight years there have been plenty of short-cuts and settling for less. It hasn’t, however, been a path for the faint hearted. The American people have had to endure the 9/11 attack, our government either lying to us or being seriously duped (whichever you believe) about the presence of weapons of mass destruction, a President and congress who spent like the money would never end and most recently a collapsing economy.

But Obama’s inauguration shouldn’t dwell much on what happened the last eight years, it should focus on the future. He gets into that a little bit, but it’s still way too non-specific for my taste.

And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

The debt clock is ticking and I don’t think we’ll see President Obama be able to do much about it in his first term. I expect a lot of spending in 2009, perhaps more than even George Bush did in 2008. I hope one of Obama’s goal is to stop the incredible growth of the debt clock by the end of his first term and start reversing the trend by the end of his second term, should he be re-elected. If all Obama does is try to spend us out of this economic mess, I’m going to be very disappointed.

What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

New era of responsibility. I like that one. I hope this starts with personal responsibility and an increase in common sense in the judicial system. There are far too many regulations and laws in our system and it’s time to simplify things. I hope this is one area the Obama administration can have some influence in changing.

Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Maybe delivering safely to future generations should have been Obama’s slogan instead of ‘change’ as I feel much less safe in America than I did when George Bush took office. I don’t see how Obama can live up to the incredible expectations he set for himself over the next four years, but time will tell. If the only things he does is not only feel but make America more safe and sets a brighter path for future generations, he will earn himself a second term.

I’m rooting for President Obama and our government to get their act together. No more excuses, no more political garbage. If the American people are expected to pull together and fix things, the government which is supposed to be about us and for us should work equally as hard.

We’ll check the scorecard periodically to see how things are coming along over the next four years. As always, your thoughts on Obama’s inaugural address are welcome below. Are you, like me, waiting for some specific plans to be executed? I know he just took office, so he has a little more time, but I’d say the next 90 days is critical to get some serious forward thrust. His first action was to halt all pending legislation proposed by Bush on his way out but that is fairly commonplace from what I’ve learned. What will Obama change? What do you want him to change?

During the whole Joe the non-plumber phase of the McCain Palin campaign trail I tried to avoid writing how absurd it was having this guy on the trail. I’ve yet to see anything from Joe then or now that shows he’s trying to parlay his 15+ minutes of fame into anything that has to do with the plumbing profession.

 
photo credit: ronnie44052

William Hung, love or hate him, at least did something for/in the music industry. If I’m wrong about Joe using his celebrity (gasp) to do something noteworthy for plumbers around the country then please use the comments below to correct me. I’d like to give the guy some credit for giving something back

Check that, I will give him credit for agreeing with most of the rest of America that the wall street bailouts were a bad idea. And the bailouts, much as I’d feared, didn’t stop there. The big three automakers are about to get an infusion of about half of what they wanted, but still some $15 billion dollars. U.S taxpayers having to prop up these companies remains a swelling, sour knot in my stomach.

Now back to Joe who got himself a book deal and is out promoting the book. He is claiming he is giving back and spreading the wealth around – only not to plumbers, but to publishing companies:

"I am not going to a conglomerate that way we actually can get the economy jump started. Like there is five publishing companies in Michigan. There’s a couple down in Texas. They are small ones that can handle like 10 or 15,000 copies. I can go to a big one that could handle a million or two. But they don’t need the help. They are already rich. So that’s spreading the wealth to me," he said.

In this book Joe covers the unpopularity of the bailout with the American people. During the promotion on Glenn Beck’s radio show, Joe turned the heat up on McCain:

I asked [John McCain] a lot of questions about the bailout because most Americans did not want that to happen. Yet he voted for it. … And I asked him some pretty direct questions. Some of the answers you guys are gonna receive — they appalled me, absolutely. I was angry. In fact I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him.

So why didn’t Joe get off the bus? Because he believed Obama would be worse.

Oh, and for the record, Sarah Palin isn’t included in Joe’s McCain dissing. He didn’t get to spend much time with her and yet believes she is “the real deal.” Pardon me for not taking that endorsement seriously.

I can only sigh at this development, really.

If Joe really disagreed with McCain on the bus about this and was “appalled” then why didn’t he tell the media this during the campaign? If he did then he would have likely been booted off the bus and made to walk home. I doubt this revelation from Joe the plumber could have hurt the McCain camp any further but it surely would have helped Joe’s credibility. Help make him look like he was about more than riding the bus both figuratively and literally.

If Joe is now using John McCain, a war hero whom despite my disagreements politically I respect for serving this country with bravery and loyalty, to promote his book then shame on him. McCain was clearly misguided on his bailout vote but now Joe is biting the hand that fed him for … what? Why? To show he is an independent thinker?

Sure sounds like Joe deserves another monniker: disloyal. America has always had crazy things going on but these times seem crazier than any other time in my life.

I’m curious in an accident scene gawker kind of way what happens when Joe needs more money and takes a second book or other non-plumber related deal? Does he then diss Sarah ‘The Real Deal’ Palin to get some extra media love? If this is the publicity stunt that it smells like to me — and shame on me for giving this guy any further exposure if the spade is a spade — Joe and his ilk can’t exit the spotlight soon enough.

But before things go dark, Joe, please throw real plumbers a bone. Those guys actually have to work with crap, rather than spew it from their pieholes.

Close the Ted Stevens drama curtains, he’s out. The Alaska recount wasn’t leaning his way and he said Uncle:

The end was not what Mr. Stevens would have scripted – a defeat just weeks after his conviction in federal court on ethics charges. The final votes were counted Tuesday, his 85th birthday, and the news came after his colleagues considered but postponed a vote on banishing him from the Republican ranks. Together, the developments represented a dismal finale for a man who had handled untold billions in federal dollars, helped create the modern military through his funding decisions and shaped his very state.

During Steven’s final speech to the Senate on CNN this morning he shared his guiding quote: "To hell with politics, just do what’s right for Alaska." Stepping down sooner — like when he was convicted –  would have been doing the right thing for Alaska, but hey it worked out the way it should have and those yellow-bellied senators who wouldn’t cast a vote on a convicted felon get off easy.

As the picture shows in this post, they applauded Stevens at the end of his speech. After 40 years of service, I’m sure he deserved it, but all I know about the guy as a non-Alaskan is he seemed to spit in the face of the court’s decision. Had a hard time respecting someone who couldn’t vote in elections in a lot of states imagining he might have been able to vote on laws impacting me. Shoulda, woulda, coulda — it doesn’t matter now.

Alaskans got it right

We also don’t have to worry about Sarah Palin possibly naming herself to an open Senate seat either. The Democrats now have 58 seats with Minnesota and Georgia still in recount stage. They could get to the magic 60-vote threshold.

A friend of mine is concerned about the lack of a balance of power this time around. Look around, the country is a mess right now, no thanks to the Bush years. It’s time for some change and my attitude is let’s see what happens with fewer roadblocks. It could get worse, I’m willing to accept that risk, but having government battle it out while things continue to be unstable in the economy seems a worse path to take.

No, really, I’m serious. PracticeSafePolicy.com (warning: when you click that, you’ll hear Obama say: "Fired up. Ready to go!") is selling Obama, McCain and Palin condoms. $12.95 for a tri-pack as of this writing.

Gottal love the taglines for McCain "Old but not expired" and "When abortion is not an option." You can watch a video about the 2008 president/vice president condoms below:

What, no Joe Biden condoms? What would be jolting Joe’s condom tagline? I’m voting for: "There will be a test within 9 months if you don’t put these on." You?

If you haven’t seen this video clip of a dog that does some kind of quasi growl-bark that sounds like he’s saying "Obama" you need to stop and watch. Sure, the name is off and the dog’s owner is inserting his voice in with the dog’s for effect (he admits to doing so in the YT comments the very last time), but it’s still hilarious.

ROFLMAO! Needed to start the day out with a good laugh. Not sure if Obama will pick this type dog as the First Dog for his daughters, but got to love the spirit here.

Readers already know I was adamantly against the bailout. I’m against bailing out any insurance company, any automaker and, well, any company period. Why has 2008 become the year of the bailout? America isn’t about bailing out businesses. If your business — or mine — isn’t free to succeed and fail, that’s not business. That’s not America.

This morning, CNN shared a pie chart of where the $700 billion bailout money is going pictured above.

$40 billion of this money has gone to AIG which has now been caught in two junket scandals after receiving bailout money. They are still losing money, says the article:

The insurance giant reported a $24.5 billion quarterly loss yesterday … Those record losses come on the heels of a government-extended $85 billion loan to AIG in September, followed by $38 billion more in October as the company teetered on collapse.

Why do we keep propping up this company?  It sounds like we aren’t just giving this money to AIG without any strings attached, it is a 10% loan, but does this seem like a smart investment? I don’t think so.

It’s not just the American auto industry, retailers are hurting too. Circuit City filed for bankruptcy this week and Best Buy lowered their profit forecast after showing same store sales down almost 8%. They are labeling these times the most difficult climate they’ve ever seen (emphasis mine):

"In 42 years of retailing, we’ve never seen such difficult times for the consumer," Brian Dunn, president and chief operating officer of Best Buy, said in a statement. "People are making dramatic changes in how much they spend, and we’re not immune from those forces."

What’s next, bailouts for American retailers? Hope not.

President-elect Obama, who I voted for, wants to see some Amercian auto companies bailed out during his transition period. Bailouts are one area Obama has it wrong. McCain was for bailouts too, so a vote for him would have been no better in this regard.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like seeing people lose their jobs and I realize the big American automakers (GM, Ford) are in trouble, but where these businesses fail, others will come in and take their place if it is meant to be. And people can get jobs working for those businesses. Or maybe it’s time to change to a different industry?

Damage done since the government already agreed to the $700 billion, how the pie gets served up is worth discussing. Should companies like GM and Ford get the money over AIG? What about retailers? How far do these bailouts go?

I’m live blogging the Election 2008 results as of 5:30pm PST. Feel free to join us thru Hmmcast Live and/or in irc.scriptschool.com #scriptschool.

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At our local polling place it was busy this morning and had to wait in line for 10 minutes around 9:30am which is typically dead attendance.

I’d advise others, if you haven’t done so already, not to wait. This could be a record voting day.

A funny thing happened while I was writing the title for this post. I used the same "stand and be counted" that I used back in 2004. Out of superstition I changed the title since my guy didn’t win the Presidency back then.

Who/what I voted for

I voted Obama. Palin was the wildcard that I just couldn’t get past. It’s not an anti-woman thing as I would have gladly voted for Hillary had she been the Democratic candidate.

In Washington state I voted for Dino Rossi (R) for governor and not a single other Republican. Voted yes for I-1000 which concerns allowing certain terminally ill competent adults to obtain lethal prescriptions. If people are terminally ill and want to die, I say let them do it legally.  Also voted yes on I-985 which would allow commuting lanes to all traffic during specific hours, increase roadside assistance funding. And yes on I-1029 which requires long-term care workers to be certified as home care aides.

Locally I voted against a tax increase. Our taxes are out of whack as it is. While our home value plummets, taxes increase. No thanks to that. Find the money elsewhere.

In the IRC chatroom I conducted an informal poll who would win the Presidential race and though the numbers are small, we all think Obama is going to win. Guess we’ll find out later if we’re all right or all wrong.

Whatever the result, I hope results are not so close that it drags things out. The country doesn’t need that kind of hang-up.

There is a slick free Windows program from NBC (thanks frankarr) to be able to download and make your own predictions about how each state’s electoral votes will go. It outputs an XML file which you could share with others. The way I have it scored as far as locked — or close to locked — states:

 
Obama 252 vs. McCain 212

Looking at this map, you can see I can’t call five states: Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Colarado.

How could McCain win

I didn’t think McCain had much of a chance until I marked off the states in the map above. For John McCain to win, he needs to take every state marked red on this map as well as the following state(s):

1. Florida, Ohio and Indiana (exactly 270)
2. Florida, Ohio, Iowa and Colarado (275)

Obama 268 vs. McCain 270

How could Obama win

As you might expect from the various polling and new reports, Obama has more ways to win the election. Since he only needs 18 electoral votes with my map above he can do it by any of the following state(s):

1. Florida by itself … or
2. Ohio by itself (272) … or
3. Indiana and Iowa (exactly 270) … or
4. Indiana and Colarado (272)

If you think this election if over, it’s not. Odds are in Obama’s favor, but I’ll be following to see if he takes the states I have predicted to be in his favor. Let me know how your predictions for each state turn out.

Update November 4, 2008 6:21am PST: Mac and Linux users - The New York Times offers a web app where you can do something similar.

When John McCain announced having Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, on his ticket as Vice President my interest in his candidacy greatly increased. I’ve voted for Republicans before and am planning on voting for Dino Rossi the WA state Republican governor candidate next Tuesday. Maybe a few other Republicans will earn my vote as well. I’m disappointed in the Democrats and Republicans (moreso Republicans admittedly), so it’s usually a lesser of evils approach when I hit the voting booth.

So had no idea who Sarah Palin was or what she stood for but liked the fact that McCain guaranteed that the White House would be different in the next term: either we’d have an African American in the White House or a woman. I applaud this welcomed change.

Some idiots still don’t.

Palin’s first speech (not the one in the embedded YouTube above obviously, I’ll get to that clip shortly) got me even more excited about the McCain Palin ticket.

My faith in both candidates was shaken when both of them voted for the Wall Street bailout plan. McCain could have gone a long way to securing my vote November 4 if only he would have stood up and been against the bailout.

Back to Palin who has screwed up at key points in the campaign since the first week she was announced:

1. Avoided non-vetted media in the beginning. After the infamous Katie Couric interview where Palin appeared completely unqualified to be the Vice President her handlers kept her away from the media. This made me suspicious. Why she didn’t tell her handlers: hands off, and come out and talk to us? By keeping the media out, she helped move the perception that she would only use talking points and carefully prepared speeches. Like. Most. Every. Other. Politician.
2. Taking part in a $150,000 shopping spree while proclaiming she was a typical "hockey mom." She should have told the fools who came to her with the expensive clothes: "Take them back." Like she did with the governor’s jet in Alaska. But she didn’t. Yeah, yeah, the clothes are going to be donated to charity when it’s over. Please. Don’t buy them in the first place! And yet you point fingers at the other side that we should be worried Obama will be overspending?
3. Watch the YouTube video clip (hat tip to Boing Boing) toward the top of this post and clearly hear someone yell the N word in reference to Obama.  Palin should have immediately stopped her prepared speech and scolded the person for the use of that word and asked for security to escort the racist out. Did she? Nope, she kept on talking.  Are we supposed to give Palin the benefit of the doubt that she didn’t hear? Conversely, I appreciate and admire that McCain stopped and corrected one lady at a rally who disparaged Obama.

I could go on and on as there have been plenty more gaffes on Palin’s part — we didn’t even get into the Alaska Troopergate scandal or Scott Horton at Harpers pointing out flaws in Palin’s socialist rant — but the point is my interest in Palin has waned considerably. She’s become a liability for the Republican ticket.

Sidebar: Joe Biden certainly hasn’t helped Obama with his whole crazy "there will be tests" message. Biden is known for putting his foot in his mouth, but that’s not a good excuse. I hope Obama called him up after that speech and told him to put a bigger shoe in his piehole.

Palin might be moving away from the campaign according to CNN:

Several McCain advisers suggested that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

And:

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," this McCain adviser said. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else."

John McCain refutes these reports:

“It is pure, unadulterated baloney that there is any problem,” he said.  “You’ll always get unnamed staffers and will say things that reporters want to hear from time to time.”

Can Palin redeem herself and come out of this with any sort of political future?

I’m not certain she can, but she could do something to show that she’s not like most every other slippery-tongued, actionless politician.

Admit convincingly with heart to mistakes she’s made during the campaign. Not blame her handlers, not blame John McCain, blame herself for her own bad decisions by letting these things happen. If she doesn’t do that, then she doesn’t even deserve to be governor of Alaska. With the whole abuse of power finding if I lived in Alaska it’s doubtful I would be re-electing her anyway.

Leaders are supposed to lead, not be lead by others.

Palin has shown herself more to be a follower than leader. Despite my interest in seeing a female in the White House, I can’t overlook Palin being the wrong one. I’m sure there are other, better female politicians than Sarah Palin in the Republican Party. McCain should have chosen somebody else.

As it stands today a week from the election, I went from excited about the prospect of Palin being in the White House to not even wanting to see her on the guest registry.