Oval Office Thunderdome

New York City exploded when Barack Obama was called as the victor Tuesday night. Harlem, Fort Greene, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Times Square, all these places and more, filled with people celebrating Obama’s win. These images are from Union Square approximately half an hour after Obama delivered his victory speech. The sounds of whooping and cheering could be heard for blocks, reverberating off the concrete and glass of the surrounding buildings. New York wasn’t alone. A quick search on flickr turned up more than 20,000 photographs uploaded since Wednesday morning of gatherings all over the country, from Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, etc. This was a deeply moving sight to behold, an expulsion of eight years of frustration and anger in a single, affirming moment. It was as if even Americans had doubts about our nation’s ability to achieve greatness, to rise above. The celebration was raucous because we proved ourselves wrong, and have begun healing the damage done by the Bush presidency.

Prediction is a science. Just ask any physicist. The functioning of the universe operates within well-established rules of probability. The margins are slim, but real. For example, there is a slight chance, 1 in 1 trillion trillion trillion, that when placing your hand on a wall, it will pass right through. This isn’t magic — it’s physics. Missile Test takes politics every bit as seriously as science. As such, Missle Test has spent painstaking minutes theorizing, experimenting, and rigorously analyzing all the factors that will decide this election. These are not just predictions, but will be proven as immutable fact after election day. There is no margin of error on this page. We deal with realities. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: Missile Test Predicts!”

The best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation. This is where we find the...courage of everyday Americans, those who are...fighting our wars for us, those who are protecting us in uniform...

— Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin, addressing a McCain rally in North Carolina

Since the war in Iraq began, 67 residents of the city of New York, where I live, have been killed in the conflict. This number does not include those that have died in Afghanistan, nor those from the wider New York metropolitan area. In fact, from areas of the country that Sarah Palin presumably regards as not pro-America, i.e., from states that voted for John Kerry in the 2004 election, 1,789 service members have been killed. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: If the Dead Could Talk...”

Blame the undecideds. Blame the dunderheads who, after the longest presidential election in history is nearing its close, still can’t figure out who they want to vote for. They are the reason we continue to suffer through such a disheartening election. All the nastiness, spin, and lies polluting American politics before November 4th is directed towards these people, in an effort to sway their loyalties one way or the other. The closer we get to the election, the greater the distortions. In effect, those of us who decided who to vote for long ago are at the mercy of those who are basing their choice on the desperate words and deeds of frantic candidates. Unbelievable. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: Had Enough Yet?”

You don’t actually have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country.

— Mark Soohoo, aide to John McCain

You actually do.

— Tracy Russo, Democratic blogger

The information revolution has left a mark on the country and the world every bit as indelible as that of the Industrial Revolution two centuries ago. And while no world leader of the time could have been expected to have an industrial-sized loom or steam engine in their offices, today’s leaders should have more than just a passing knowledge of computers and the internet. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: The Technology Vote”

The numbers were clear. She was cooked, done, finished. Prolonging things any longer, unnecessarily, had dark tinges to it. Were she and all her people suffering from mass delusions, common throughout history among generals and emperors who continue the fight to the last man after the wars are lost? In short, was this bunker mentality? Pray and wait for a miracle? Who knows? It could happen. Problem is, it never does. Defeat doesn’t magically change to victory because one wants it bad enough. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: Scorched Earth”

The Democratic nominating process is near an end. Supposedly. Last night, Hillary Clinton crushed Barack Obama in Kentucky, but lost to him in Oregon. Due to the party’s rules for apportioning delegates, the math has been against Clinton for months now. In order to grab the nomination, the lopsided victories she has garnered in Kentucky and in West Virginia last week would have had to have been the norm since at least the beginning of March in order for her to have any hope of erasing Obama’s delegate lead. But, she has not been able to string together such large victories. Clinton will not be the nominee. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: It Works”

Former senator and presidential hopeful John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama for president yesterday evening. The endorsement came during an Obama rally in Michigan and was timed to coincide with the television networks’ nightly news coverage. In addition, coming one day after Obama suffered a huge defeat in the Democratic primary in West Virginia, the endorsement was designed to steal the spotlight from Hillary Clinton. At least, that is what I learned from watching the news. Therein lies something I’ve always found odd about political coverage, and election coverage in particular. Anyone who pays attention to the news has to have noticed the phenomenon, as well. That is, reporting on politics contains a large amount of analysis of tactics and strategy. Seemingly, more analysis than actual reporting. This has the effect of turning viewers and readers into vicarious participants in the campaigns. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: In on the Big Secret”

What are the responsibilities of citizens in a democracy? Is there a base level of participation that is required? In some countries there is. There is no requirement in the United States that the eligible voters of the country must educate themselves about, or participate in, the choosing of our leaders. There is nothing wrong with that. It would be nice if everyone were engaged with the workings of our government and the actions of our elected representatives, but it is unrealistic to expect such a broad commitment among the electorate. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: None of the Above”

It is difficult to believe that Senator Hillary Clinton had been misspeaking, or misremembering, as she told the story of her experience of coming under sniper fire in Bosnia in 1996. She told the story multiple times. Documentary evidence has since proven the story false in the most public of ways. Instead of running for cover on the tarmac after her plane landed, press video shows her walking, smiling, with her daughter by her side. At one point, a girl handed her flowers. Continue reading “Oval Office Thunderdome: Duck and Cover”