If the present interdependence and the historical fact of Jewish-Palestinian coexistence guide their leaders, and if they can see beyond the horizon of the recent violence and thirst for revenge toward a long-term solution, then these two peoples will come to realize, I hope sooner rather than later, that living under one roof is the only option for a lasting peace.
From and OpEd in the New York Times witten by, of all people, Muammar Qaddafi, the leader of Libya.
As mentioned in the previous post, Brian is one of the fortunate five million or so to be in D.C. for the big party on Tuesday. He keeps sending me photos and updates which I’m going to post up here, like the fantastic shout-out to the website and my mom’s potato salad that you see to the right (sadly, about as close as either of them will get to this inauguration (mom’s potato salad is so good, it’s destabilized nascent democracies in the past)).
Initially, I was pretty skeptical of his plan to go hang out with so many of our country men jammed into one city in such a politically charged time, but apparently it’s pretty awesome. According to him there’s quite the party vibe, with people extremely excited about what’s to come. I still don’t really understand how you can fit 2.5 million people on the mall, but i guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
Anyway, I’m sure you’ll get better coverage of tomorrow’s events by watching CNN or some-such sanctioned, legitimate news agency. But if you want bigpoppa’s…unique…perspective, check back I’ll keep posting whatever he sends me. Photos are here.
From the intrepid Brian J. Pinero, esquire – currently on the ground in D.C. Apparently the entire place cheers every time one is ordered.
My least favorite paper on the planet has some good news for us today. Tom Craddick (emphasis on, well, use you imagination), speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, has withdrawn from the race.
In 2003, Craddick became the first Republican speaker in modern history when Republicans, with an 88-62 majority, first took control of the House. Craddick immediately pushed through a conservative agenda, including lawsuit limits, abortion restrictions and a midterm congressional redistricting plan that prompted Democratic lawmakers to shut down the Legislature by leaving the state.
It was Craddick’s blitzkrieg style as much as the agenda that embittered a hard-core group of House Democrats. When House Republicans started losing elections, the discontent spread to his most-tenured Republican lieutenants.
Not to mention his policy of blatantly ignoring procedures in the house he disagreed with. He will not be missed.
“I’d bet there are a lot of career employees in the intelligence agencies who’ll be glad to see Obama take the oath so they can finally speak out against all this illegal spying and get back to their real mission,” says Caroline Fredrickson, the ACLU’s Washington D.C. legislative director.
New Yorker investigative reporter Seymour Hersh already has a slew of sources waiting to spill the Bush administration’s darkest secrets, he said in an interview last month. “You cannot believe how many people have told me to call them on January 20. [They say,] ‘You wanna know about abuses and violations? Call me then.'” – Wired
And god knows what else we’ll find.
He volunteered in the Israeli military during the first Gulf War in 1991 (and only afterward showed up in the Clinton campaign’s war room). He’s said to have mailed a rotting fish to a former colleague, and to have cursed out Howard Dean over holding back funding for the 2006 elections. He told Fortune magazine’s Nina Easton that he trash-talked President Bush about his mountain biking, trying to goad him into stepping it up to a triathlon and telling Bush he could wear water wings for the swimming segment if he needed them.
More from Salon on Obama’s designated asshole. Seems like a sound appointment. (thanks B)
Last night when I went to bed, after staying up way to late listening to results for the Texas House races (we might just unseat Tom Craddick), I fully expected to wake up and fin out that McCain had actually taken Ohio or California, and that we had another month of recounts and lawsuits ahead of us, eventually terminating in the standard model of mediocrity and disappointment that has been the benchmark of the past eight years.
But this morning, Obama was still president-elect and my god, something in this country might actually change. After his acceptance speech, i called my parents – they saw the civil rights movement, vietnam, the 60’s – was this the same?
Nope, this was something new altogether. To borrow a common theme of late, here’s hoping.
Obama and his superior fonts have hit 270. Here’s hoping for something different.
And From NYC…
People are yelling from cabs, shouting “Obama!”
This is surreal.
The precinct at the Presbyterian church near my house already had folks lining up at 7:00 this morning, so I’m guessing it’s going to be a busy day out there. The county clerk’s office is predicting almost 80% turnout which, even in this politically active area, is pretty unheard of. Remember to be nice to your poll workers – most of them our volunteers. Unless of course you run in to vote-suppressing republican lawyers – then you can be as mean as you want.
Either way, hopefully by midnight this will be over with, and our country can go back to caring about important things, like the Olsen twins.
Learn more about your voting rights – state by state information from the ACLU.
Today is the last day to vote early in Texas. Accordding to CNN, almost 2 million people have already cast ballots, more than 28% of active voters in the state. If you’re looking for endorsements check out the League of Women Voters of Texas who presents each side’s platform as equally as possible. Or there’s the Chronicle’s left-wing-hippy agenda that I usually follow.