Goldstein gets it right.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:49 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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That's how I've been seeing it, but people from Chicago seem to be more depressed by this than I am.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:59 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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But I'm old-fashioned enough to prefer voluntary volunteerism, and there is, indeed, something creepy about some of Obama's proposals so far with respect to children, teens, and young adults.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 03:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Via Gerard.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:16 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is it the age issue, or is he just hesitant to be on the front lines of a government headed up by a black man?

The bad news: he's still in the Senate, and still on his committee.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The CITIZEN OUTLAW!

For every one hour of community service work I give to Obama, IÂ’ve decided to spend two hours tagging Whole Foods stores with ornate graffiti describing, in lurid detail, the secret life of Herbie, the closeted gay arugula.

– Then I’ll use up the rest of my hours standing guard with a crossbow . . . .

I wouldn't recommend a crossbow, though; I'd definitely go for a more traditional design: perhaps a compound bow, or an old-fashioned longbow (for which I know Jeff has the upper-body strength; I've seen his arms).

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:24 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It's a pretty good summary of the reefs we will have to steer around for the next 2-4 years: health care, energy, increased union thuggery/organized crime.

Not a pleasant prospect, but the challenges have to be faced, and those three things together will very likely gut the economy.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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"Office of the President Elect [sic; I guess they don't believe in hyphens]"?

A ".gov" domain name?

And Obama's team is still taking contributions? Is this in case we wanted a head start on the tax burdens we'll be shouldering soon?

Is it even legal to give money to a nascent Presidential Administration?—with or without an AVS on the credit-card processing?

I guess not only do we need to reform "campaign finance reform," but while we're at it we must reform "pre-Administration finance," which no one had even thought about attempting before.

Anyone want to place odds on whether any of this money will end up either 1) helping out Obama's indigent family members (in the U.S. or in Kenya) or 2) going to the school named after him in Kenya, which he has abandoned, and which has been adopted by a blogospheric coalition headed by Baldilocks?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 06:53 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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How funny; I didn't even take any particular offense. Because I never got confused about Nancy Reagan's having done anything more than consult an astrologer: it was an odd thing to do, but once your husband—a lightning rod for political hatred—has been shot, you are bound to become overprotective.

Still, it was a careless moment for Obama, and it was classy of him to call her.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 06:10 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Uniting Americans.

I think I'm down with this.

Treacher is, however, a bit skeptical:

There's nothing easier than telling the guy you just beat that he should forget the depths you plumbed to do so.

And I forgot to mention the whole deal with, y'know, the last 8 years of lefty rage? It's just become such a part of the scenery, you almost forget sometimes. Plus Obama's voter fraud and credit-card fraud and constant lies about his past and false accusations of racism and the fact that he's already making far-left appointments and he wants to shut down talk radio because he can't handle criticism and all that other silly stuff we all need to get past now because we're going to need to work extra hard to pay for our own oppression. Whoops, there I go again!

Well, yeah: I understand that some of the graciousness-in-victory we are seeing is specifically calculated to keep us from turning on them in the same numbers, and in the same ugly ways, that they have been turning on us. I understand that the idea is to keep Obama Derangement System safe, legal, and rare—rather than let it become the status symbol that a good case of Bush Derangement Syndrome was for most of the past decade.

But the more we can talk across the various ideological fracture lines, the better. If we follow up these cute notes with healthy, respectful debate, we may—each of us—become less ideologically provincial.

Which would be a damned fine thing, in the long run.

We may need a "From 48 to 52 with Cautious Optimism," site, however, so we can ask simple questions like "you aren't going to take our guns away, are you?"

Or: "You're not really going to help Obama find a way around Posse Comitatus, are ya, Bro? 'Cause that's cold, Man."

UPDATE: Slublog— "Thanks, but no thanks."

UPDATE 2: Treacher found the best one, and preserved it for posterity.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:38 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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. . . on the Obama Presidency, "why law professors rule," what it means to have our first black President, and why it's acceptable—even chic—in academia to be wildly left-wing, but not even slightly right-wing.

It's 50 minutes long; go get a fresh martini (or a strong cup of coffee) before you start this one.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Dr. Rice is, per Professor Althouse, "emotional" in this clip:

I guess that's emotional, for Condi. Personally, I think she's cutest when she's mad, but that's me. Backbone of steel, that one.

We all feel it. We all do. Even while folks like me, whose parents and grandparents were accused of things like "reading above their station." Sherri Shepherd of The View reminds us why this moment is a big fucking deal.

But after this year, as someone who does read above here station in life, I would sincerely like to remind the American electorate—particularly those of us who have two X chromosomes—that we must vote, to the degree possible, with our heads as much as with our hearts.

I was six years old when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, but that death has loomed larger over my head than the death of either Kennedy brother.

So we celebrate. And we get to work.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:47 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Iowahawk manages to punctuate our national celebration over racial trancendance with . . . well, a tart word or two:

Yes, I know there are probably other African-Americans much better qualified and prepared for the presidency. Much, much better qualified. Hundreds, easily, if not thousands, and without any troubling ties to radical lunatics and Chicago mobsters. Gary Coleman comes to mind. But let's not let that distract us from the fact that Mr. Obama's election represents a profound, positive milestone in our country's struggle to overcome its long legacy of racial divisions and bigotry. It reminds us of how far we've come, and it's something everyone in our nation should celebrate in whatever little time we now have left.

Less than fifty years ago, African-Americans were barred from public universities, restaurants, and even drinking fountains in many parts of the country. On Tuesday we came together and transcended that shameful legacy, electing an African-American to the country's top job -- which, in fact, appears to be his first actual job. Certainly, it doesn't mean that racism has disappeared in America, but it is an undeniable mark of progress that a majority of voters no longer consider skin color nor a dangerously gullible naivete as a barrier to the presidency.

Read the whole thing; he's over his hangover, and on a roll.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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It was timing, luck, and organizational prowess that pushed Obama over the edge with a six-point margin:

It is a tribute to his skills that Mr. Obama, the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate, won in a country that remains center-right. Most pre-election polls and the wiggly exits indicate America remains ideologically stable, with 34% of voters saying they are conservative—unchanged from 2004. Moderates went to 44% from 45% of the electorate, while liberals went to 22% from 21%.

Mr. Obama understood this. He downplayed calls for retreat from Iraq, instead emphasizing toughness on Afghanistan, even threatening an ally, Pakistan, if it didn't help more to exterminate al Qaeda. Mr. Obama campaigned on "a tax cut for 95% of Americans," while attacking "government-run health care" as "extreme" and his opponent's proposals as hidden tax increases.

What Mr. Obama and his team achieved was impressive. But in 75 days comes the hard part. We saw a glimpse of the challenge Tuesday night. The president-elect's speech, while graceful and at times uplifting, was light when it comes to an agenda. That may have been appropriate, but it also continued a pattern.

Many Americans were drawn to Mr. Obama because they saw in him what they wanted to see. He became a large vessel into which voters placed their hopes. This can lead to disappointment and regret. What of the woman who, in the closing days of the campaign, rejoiced that Mr. Obama would pay for her gas and take care of her mortgage, tasks that no president can shoulder?

The country voted for change Tuesday. But the precise direction of that change remains unclear. Mr. Obama's victory was personal rather than philosophical. The soaring hopes and vague incantations of "change" that have characterized the last 21 months were the poetry phase; a prosaic phase is about to begin.

So we keep our hands clean, and avoid stooping to some of the lows we saw in those who opposed Bush and demonized McCain. And we organize.

Rove is right: in just a few years, there are likely going to be some very disappointed people out there who will be ready to join the "loyal opposition"—or, if Obama takes things too far Chicago—the resistance.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 03:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Reynolds has a poll up on how you plan to react to the Obama election, so go vote someplace where you can still have an impact!

His options for "How do you plan to respond to the Obama-Biden victory?"

• [1] With celebration of hope and change!
• [2] With dignity and a determination to be the loyal opposition.
• [3] With Kos-style wild opposition.
• [4] With political organizing and an effort to support and identify better candidates.
• [5] I plan to drink heavily.

So far, 2 and 5 are the most popular approaches, with 4 coming in close behind. I plan to combine 2 and 4.

What I will not do is say "he's not my President." Because he is. This is democracy, and it means we don't always get our own way.

As a practical matter, the man will govern in accordance with his beliefs, and be voted out after four years like Carter was—or he will attenuate those beliefs enough to pose as a centrist, and have a chance at a second term. We'll see.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:42 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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After all, several libertarians/conservatives I know are now in the position of having to pay off some wagers to their pessimistic/Democratic colleagues and friends.

My host, for instance, is taking a co-worker out to lunch today. Lobster.

And I now owe "Steve of Huntington Beach" a meal. Steak, which seemed like a good idea when I was sure my guy would win.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 06:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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