Joe Lieberman socks!

With that old turncoat, Senator Joe Lieberman doing everything he can to derail genuine health care reform in the Senate this week, I’m starting to think that maybe Al Gore “losing” in 200o wasn’t such a bad thing. I mean, seriously, can you imagine having someone like Lieberman in the White House? Yikes…

Not only does Lieberman regularly line his campaign coffers with big insurance cash, but his own wife, Hadassah, until recently worked at Hill & Knowlton, a major DC lobby shop. True, Mrs. Lieberman never officially registered as a lobbyist, but she did serve as Senior Counselor in their health care and pharmaceuticals practice. Yep, you heard me…health care and pharmaceuticals. Hmmm…kinda makes you wonder.

But even if all that other stuff wasn’t true, Lieberman has been showboating and holding health care reform hostage in the senate for so long that it was only a matter of time before he was parodied with sock puppets by our crafty friends at MoveOn.org. And, come on, who doesn’t love a good sock puppet parody?

So, check out the video, call Congress and the White House to make yourself heard, and spread the word far and wide…Joe Lieberman socks!!

A night for the record books…

Holy crap, what a freaking night! Not only did we elect our first African-American President ever, but we did it with record numbers! I mean, shit, last I heard, L.A. County had an 83% voter turnout this year. Amazing!

And even cooler than the turnout and the positively epic results was the totally electric vibe in the air last night. Seriously, everywhere Christine, Ryan, Laura and I went in our pursuit of election night freebies — and as you can see from the pics of Tiny O, we made the rounds! — the winds of change were in the air, baby.

People were excited, happy, smiling, it was like everyone in the country got out there and voted for change and then went out there and scored some free food to celebrate. And what a celebration it was!

We were actually mid-way through our happy hour priced meal at the Daily Grill in Burbank when the news came over the airwaves. Our man had won…and even the McCain-Palin-loving chatterboxes at the next table could not dampen the spirits in that joint.

I swear to God, tiny bar food hamburgers never tasted so sweet as they did at that moment…wow. And though we were stuffed to the gills by the time the bill came, we still had enough room to swing by Krispy Kreme on the way home — we hit Ben & Jerry’s before we ate — to score some free donuts.

And as we ate our piping-hot donuts and listened to Obama’s kick-ass speech on the radio on the drive home, we knew that no matter how bad our heartburn was in the morning, we were gonna wake up smiling…

Rock on, President-Elect Obama, rock on!

A thank you note from Barack

OK, I know he probably sent these messages out to everyone, but when I got this e-mail from President Elect Obama — Ha! That is so awesome to be able to type!! —  just a few minutes before he took the stage in Chicago, I gotta tell ya, I got more than a little verklempt.

So, sit back and enjoy what I think just might be the best thank you note ever. Rock on, Mr. President-Elect!

Tomas-

I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history. And I don’t want you to forget how we did it. You made history every single day during this campaign — every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it’s time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing, all of this happened because of you.

Thank you,
Barack

Presidential Poll Cookies @ Porto’s

We’re not sure who’s gonna come out ahead in tonight’s juicy VP debate — guess it all depends on which  Palin shows up, the sleek, impassioned politico from the RNC or the dunderheaded hillbilly from that now-classic Katie Couric interview — but we do know for sure what we’ll be eating while we watch it…

And that would be these crazy-cool Presidential Poll cookies from Porto’s Bakery in Burbank’s revitalized Magnolia Park District.

Yep, even Cuban bakeries are in the poll business these days, amigos. And seeing as Porto’s has a steady line of customer’s out the door, day and night, I’d say the results of their informal presidential poll are pretty representative of what people are thinking right now.

I know that sounds goofy, but so far, Porto’s cookie poll has been mirroring results of other legitimate polls nationwide. When they first went on sale, the Obama donkey and the McCain elephant cookies were neck in neck…then, Obama took a slight lead, but after all the craziness McCain pulled this week, Obama cookies took off and have stayed there ever since. Yay!

It’ll be really interesting to see which cookie takes the lead after tonight’s debate. I mean, if Palin really kicks Biden’s ass, will Porto’s start selling hunting-rifle-shaped cookies or eskimo pies or something?

All I know is that whichever way the cookie crumbles tonight — sorry, I couldn’t resist — Chistine and I will be watching Palin and Biden slug it out on a giddy, sugar cookie high.

Muchas gracías, Porto’s!

John McCain “Nope” t-shirts

Since some of my new Flickr frenemies seem to feel I’ve devoted far too much time to the Obama camp lately, I thought it only appropriate to give a little equal time to this year’s Republican nominee as well. And when my brother forwarded me a link to the rocking Dirty Bureau internet storefront, I knew I had the perfect thing to blog about.

Finally, some John McCain swag I can get behind! I’m Yeti9000 and I endorse the hell outta these t-shirts and stickers…go, McCain!

Joe Klein’s “angry, left-wing media” quote of the day!

Best. Quote. Ever.

“There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is “a task from God.” The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.”

This was taken from Joe Klein’s bad-ass piece on the Time magazine blog. Read Klein’s entire post here and as always, que viva la free press!

Sarah Palin scares me…

Christine and I haven’t been watching the Republican National Convention with nearly as much interest as we did the Dem’s rocking gathering in Denver last week, but, judging from what we have seen, some of the stuff going on in the Twin Cities this week is just plain scary.

First we had poor Bushie — yes, we actually felt sorry for him for once! — giving what will probably go down in the record books as the most gaffe-ridden speech of the modern age on NBC.

I don’t know how it aired on other networks, but for some reason the audio feed from the convention hall was not synced up with the feed from the White House, so Bush was left silently pausing in all these really weird places for like, forever!

I’m not sure if this was some covert NBC or McCain anti-Bush thing or not, but, the overall effect left Bush looking, if possible, dumber than usual. Poor cowboy is probably just counting the days till he and Laura can retire to the ranch…wow.

Then we had the curiously-orange Fred Thompson going into way too much detail about John McCain’s treatment at the hands of his captors in Vietnam. I mean, really, did we need to hear about McCain’s teeth being “broken at the gums” with a blunt object? Yikes-a-holy, Fred, we’re eating dinner here!

Even scarier than that was the sight of that old turncoat, former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman going all Benedict Arnold by hyping up his buddy McCain at the expense of Barack and Hillary. Wow, I wish I could go back in time and erase his name from the ill-fated Gore-Lieberman ticket. That dude needs to go back to Hadassah and learn some manners!

But the biggest shock came last night when Alaska Governor Tina Fey took the stage at the convention. Talk about an Alaskan huskie! Jesus, that lady gave us the creeps big time! I mean, yeah, I’m glad a woman is on the ticket and everything, but, wow, this chick is hard core!

Her daughter’s baby-daddy drama aside — that poor Levi Johnston dude looked so scared watching his future Monster-in-law rip the Dems a new one! — Palin’s crazy-conservative, Creationist, book-banning, NRA-loving record as Governor is the least of our worries. Seriously!

For though Christine outright loathes the bitch, what scares me most about Palin is that she looks so damn normal, and, dare I say, even a little hot — especially in the now-infamous Photoshopped masterpiece below — that you’d never suspect she was such a right-wing nut job.

Watching her speak last night I gotta say I was impressed by how good Palin was at blanketing her blistering and often brutal attacks on the Obama camp beneath this warm veneer of  “hockey mom” homeyness. If you ask me, a wolf (or, cougar, if you will) in sheep’s clothing is the worst kind of scary. Yikes!

And afterwards, as Palin and her family dutifully shared some awkward hugs and smiles onstage with a very stiff-looking McCain, Christine and I could not help feeling how Bristol Palin’s baby-daddy looked all night…scared freaking shitless.

Go, Obama!

We heart Obama!

Musty old McCain and his cronies have been having a field day mocking the world media’s love affair with Barack Obama this week — even going so far as to create the strangest so-called “smear clip” ever — but all I gotta say to those blue-haired squares is…jealous much?

I mean, seriously, our country could use a little goodwill right now, and if it takes sending Jedi Master Obama on a Eva Peron-ish “Rainbow Tour” to get it…then rock on, black Evita! If you ask me, the Obama world tour kicks ass. I seriously cannot wait to read the paper every morning to see where he’s landing next…

So, while McCain struggles to generate some much-needed heat stateside, I think the rest of us should buy groovy logo t-shirts like the one pictured below and call it a day. Go, Obama!

Tim Russert (1950-2008)

Just heard the news that NBC’s Washington Bureau Chief and host of the long-running “Meet The Press”, Tim Russert has died today at the age of 58. According to MSNBC, Russert collapsed from an apparent heart attack while recording voice-overs for this Sunday’s upcoming episode of “Meet The Press” and died on the spot. So sad…

Even casual beltway junkies will agree that Russert was one of the coolest, most down-to-earth and totally fair political experts out there. When he said something, Christine and I, and millions of other Americans listened. Russert was real, honest, funny and so smart and savvy he made my brain hurt sometimes. But I loved him for it!

Seriously, Russert was no light-weight pundit, he asked the questions we all wanted to hear answered and he did it with style. Unlike so many of the political bull dog interviewers on cable, Russert was a charmer who got politicians to open up and be themselves. And for that, he will be greatly missed.

While I was never up early enough to see him on the Today show, Christine would always Tivo Russert’s guest appearances for me. And if some juicy political shit went down overnight — and in a roller coaster election year like we’re in right now, that was EVERY night — you can bet your ass Russert had an opinion on it.

I think I’m probably most sad about the fact that Russert won’t be around to comment on all the political drama that is sure to unfold over the next few months as we prepare to elect our next president. In my eyes, Russert was kind of a towering figure in network news and his death today is a real loss for all of us.

I know it sounds cheesy to say, but, really, he really was one of a kind and our thoughts go out to his family and colleagues at NBC during this difficult time.

RIP, Mr. Russert…you rocked our political world.

Obama-Clinton: One ticket to rule them all…

Wow…what a day for politics in America! Christine and I actually sat in the parking lot at Trader Joe’s last night listening to Hillary Clinton’s “kinda concession” speech on the radio for what seemed like twenty minutes. Twenty minutes! In the parking lot…at Trader Joe’s…at rush hour…you know how many angry hippies honked at us? Yikes…

But despite the hippie uprising outside, we could not tear ourselves away from the history unfolding over the radio in our Saturn. I mean, it was so dramatic that you half expected Clinton to burst into “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” or something. A great, memorable speech by a class act. It was incredible…

And even though she has not technically conceded defeat, Obama — who gave another one of his speeches for the ages last night as well — now has enough delegates to secure the Democratic Nomination for President of the United States of America. That’s right, a black dude from Hawaii might just be our next President. Mahalo, America, mahalo!

And if things go the way I hope they will, a hip white lady from Chicago just might join him on the ticket. My feeling is that Clinton’s waiting for a proper invite to the big dance, so, please, Barack, ask her out already! Can you imagine what kind of good these two could do for the country?

Sure, they have different styles and agendas, but hey, didn’t Gore and Clinton too? Those two weren’t exactly palling around all the time either, but they made a pretty rocking team. In fact, I actually think the friction between Obama and Clinton would be good for the country. I mean, hell, we’ve had eight years of “yes men” in Washington and look where it’s gotten us?

Wouldn’t it be cool to see two bold, independent, crazy smart leaders hashing things out together in the White House? That shit would be epic! Seriously, wow…just the thought of an Obama-Clinton ticket gives me goosebumps!

Let’s hope the two of them feel the same way…and that someone in one of their camps has already secured the Obama-Clinton.com domain name!

Edwards endorses Obama!

Despite his crushing defeat in yesterday’s West Virginia’s primary, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama — pictured below in a rocking Photoshop tribute by über blogger Kevin Chu — managed to score another major endorsement today, this time from ex-rival John Edwards.

And though I still wish Edwards himself was a part of this race — go, Tar Heels! — I gotta say that with Johnny Edwards joining the ever-expanding roster of powerful Dems endorsing Obama (hell, even Clinton’s political mentor George McGovern has announced his support for Obama!) Clinton seems destined for a VP position, at best, at this point.

And I’m not saying that would be bad…I mean, even Clinton supporters have gotta agree that an Obama-Clinton ticket would be damn near unbeatable come November. Of course, I’m sure she’d rather be on top of that ticket, but hey…she’d make a damn fine VP too. I mean, shit…after eight years of President Cheney making most of the decisions in Washington, it’d be kinda cool to have co-Presidents who actually know what they’re doing this time around!

But until Clinton accepts the inevitable and joins Obama to rule the galaxy as President and Vice President she can take comfort in some of the really cool things Edwards said about her today.

Sharing the stage with Obama at a rally in Grand Rapids, Edwards said: “She’s a leader in this country not because of her husband, but because of what she has done.” and gushed further that: “We are a stronger party because Hillary Clinton is a Democrat.” Whoa…talk about your Southern charm! Edwards might have stabbed Clinton in the back, but man, he did it with style!

Seriously, though…I couldn’t agree with Edwards more. Hilary Clinton (and Obama) have made this battle for the Democratic presidential nomination one of the most electrifying in recent memory. I mean, think about it, people who’ve never voted in their lives are actually getting up off their asses and voting…in primaries! Amazing!

So, keep on keeping on, Jedi Master Obama. The Force is clearly strong with you. And something tells me that it’s only a matter of time before you are joined on the ticket by Vice Jedi Master Clinton…or at least I hope so.