As for “ruining what is great about football”, you’re aware that the other famous cousin of football, the NFL does have playoffs, right? Even in the NFL, a perfect record in the season still doesn’t mean you will win the Superbowl. Just ask the New England Patriots from last year. And if you must mention USC’s derailment of the title bid last year following a loss to Stanford, you must also remember that they’ve been kept out of the title game in spite of having similar records as the top two teams except they’ve beaten superior teams. Heck, I’ll go out on the limb and say that by BCS’s current logic, one SEC team should always figure in the title game given the level of competition in the league.

In spite of having your “first major philosophical break with the candidate I voted for”, you still talking about spreading the wealth and gasp at the horrors of including “football’s neglected working class, like Utah and Boise State.” Well, if they seem so horrible and undermatched, wouldn’t they lose in the first round of the playoffs and “two upper-crust contenders like Alabama and Oklahoma” would eventually rise to the top in tune with their oh-so-perfect record. But I guess you rather invest your belief in the sentiment that “lose once, and your team finds itself at the mercy of the voters and the dreaded computers” because we know how that worked out in Florida in 2000. What are you afraid of, if a “upper-crust” team can win it all in the regular season, what’s a couple of play-off games for them, huh?

Finally, I admire your love for the “technocratic appeal of the computer rankings” because I’m sure that’s where games are supposed to be decided - on IBM servers. Talking about a healthy debate and your comment that “the president-elect has shown himself to be adaptable and open to dissenting viewpoints. After a national “conversation,” and perhaps the appointment of a presidential commission, I believe he can be convinced to come to his senses” sounds so appropriate because Jesus seems to have told you, son, you can never be wrong and ultimately the world will come to its senses and understand you. Our current President seemingly is under the same impression. Good luck to ya!

Although it makes perfect economic sense to let Detroit go bankrupt allowing it to restructure, the reality is that the 2-3 million job loss, pensions wipe out, and consequential effects on other ancillary industries and indicators. If the rest of the economy was strong and rising, I would be dead against the bailout. Now I’m merely conflicted. Theoretically I approve of rejecting the bailout but I don’t believe that bankruptcy is going to rescue Detroit; restructuring or otherwise. So it all comes down to biting the bullet and learning to deal with not only the economic avalanche but also the political fallout.

Don’t be swayed by the arguments on TV because if you look beyond the faces and their arguments, their motivations are completely different from what they state. All the supporters of the bailout are from the Michigan delegation e.g. Senator Levin who offers economic reasons and doomsday predictions in the wake of a bailout rejection. On the other hand, those against the bailout citing lessons from the free market are from non-Midwest states such as Senator Shelby whose state Alabama is home to ‘foreign’ car assembly plants. It is all politics yet no one seems to admit it. For once, I would like to see a non-Michigan Congressional member support the bailout and a Michigan member speak against it. I’m sure you’ll be hard pressed to find such a member. This election stripped Michigan of its swing state status and the Democrats would like to keep it that way and the only way they can is by refusing to acknowledge a dying industry.

Pandering to the constituents is the elephant in the room and no one on TV even talks about it. All the economics and free market lessons from the politicians are bunkum because if the car industry was in Birmingham (Alabama), you would see roles reversed. Politicians, I can understand but what stops the TV pundits from confronting this obvious truth? Let us not pretend that loyalty to an economic ideology dictates our actions because if that were true, we wouldn’t have seen any bailouts. As Carville would say it, it is the politics, stupid.

Fortunately, the wonder that is YouTube brings to us this guy who does a better Obama than Armisen. Shouldn’t SNL hire him for at least the next four years considering you won’t have McCain or Palin to make fun of?

On election night, Fox attracted many more viewers than MSNBC — until Mr. Obama was pronounced the victor. During the midnight hour, when Mr. Obama spoke in Chicago, MSNBC averaged 5.6 million viewers, compared with Fox’s 3.9 million.

It is unfortunate that news networks no longer are considered non-partisan but Fox News’ ‘Fair and Balanced’ is much to blame for this state of affairs. MSNBC merely moved to the left to fill the gap in the market for liberal viewers. They might have thought if the public thinks it is a liberal media, we might as well give them that. Poor CNN is still undecided on which way to pander.

[image source] To paraphrase, Remember, Remember, the Fourth of November.

“America remains a center-right country. Democrats should not make the mistake of viewing Tuesday’s results as a repudiation of conservatism or a validation of big government” - House Minority Leader John Boehner [source].

So let me get this straight - the Democrats win the White House with 350 electoral votes and 52-46 popular vote margin, have 253 seats in the House; a net gain of 19 seats (9 undecided yet), have 56 seats in the Senate; a net gain of 5 (3 undecided), and have 29 Democratic governors in a 50-state country and YET this is a center-right country? Pray tell me what would a center-left country look like?

My friends (apologies to that Senator from AZ whose name I can’t remember today), the pendulum swings back and forth between center-left and center-right. It was center-right since Reagan but it was swung back the other way now. The quicker you admit it, the easier it will be for the GOP to swing it the other way again. Steve Benen at The Washington Monthly is equally frustrated about this unwillingness to see what is in front of them. Mind you, the last few weeks of the campaign were all about how Obama is a socialist and wants to redistribute your wealth (utter lies). So now that he has 52% of the popular vote, do the Republicans want to admit that Americans might not mind a little bit of socialism?

Reams will be written dissecting Obama’s path to victory but none will even come close to underscoring the American spirit of optimism and hope for a better tomorrow. Mired in one of the worst economic disasters of modern times, bogged down in two wars and threatening more, and sliding favorable ratings for their political leaders, Americans across all demographics came together to elect a man who displayed tremendous content of his character blinding most to the color of his skin. America by no means is in a post-racial time but has definitely embarked on that road and things can only get better from hereon. Naysayers liken Obama’s victory to an idea whose time had come but they miss the larger picture that this idea took years in the making and was nurtured by millions of his supporters who believed in the hope and optimism that he promised them at the end of this arduous journey. I hope he lives up to this promise.

Although ineligible to vote yet, Ash and I were overcome with emotion when the networks called him President-elect at 11pm EST following closing of the polls on the West coast. The images of people erupting in joy all across the nation especially African-American who openly wept at the realization of the dream that Martin Luther King talked. I can only imagine how the people who fought hard for their rights during the tumultuous Civil Rights movement must feel at this historic moment. In Dr. King’s words, Obama did not win this election on account of his skin color but through the power of his ideas. Potential political leaders across the world can take lessons from his victory. His eloquence, intellectual curiosity, stoic temperament, and gentle demeanor was dismissed as elitism but little did those critics realize that these are the exact quality that Americans were looking for. Judging by his speech last night, I hope Obama fulfills his promise of a great presidency that history will remember for years to come.

The most recent incident was shocking given the political climate and goes to show the rank immaturity of the conservative student body. The MSC Plaza hosted this despicable egg-tossing Anti-Obama Carnival. I find one of the images that of a black football player standing in front of the poster quite arresting. Mind you, this is a town that worships football players most of them black and you would think this would dispel many myths. There have been other Democratic nominees but none has generated this much hate as Barack Obama. I wish the students at Texas A&M would grow up to see the world that lies beyond your farmland. No wonder 23% of you think that Obama is a Muslim in spite of his much-publicized pastor scandal.

Update: To the university’s credit, we received the following message from the President late last evening:

To the Aggie Family:

One of the fundamental and most important rights that we have as Americans is freedom of speech — and this is a right that we firmly support here at Texas A&M University. As a native of Cuba, I personally understand the consequences of not having the right of free speech, or the many other freedoms that we, as Americans, so often take for granted.

The recent actions of the small group of students at Rudder Plaza claiming to make a political statement concerning the presidential election have been widely interpreted as being much broader—and certainly contrary to the core values of Aggies everywhere. Here at Texas A&M, respect is one of our core values that are fundamental to being an Aggie. We should always respect each other, each other’s opinions, and express our own opinions in a respectful way (emphasis mine).

Political disagreement is to be expected, particularly as election day nears, but it can—and should—be addressed in respectful dialogue. This was certainly the case when the Texas Aggie Democrats and the Aggie College Republicans conducted a joint program earlier this week under the auspices of the Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA), which is sponsored by the Memorial Student Center.

Aggies have a long and proud tradition of honor and respect for one another, for our school and our state and nation—and are so recognized and admired. We must do nothing to tarnish our reputation.

I strongly encourage everyone in the Aggie Family to respect the opinions of others, especially if you disagree with them. Even more importantly, I urge you to express your opinions and ideas in a respectful way, as they can serve to enrich the educational environment here on our campus. Let’s respect each other, for that is what Aggies do.

Elsa A. Murano, PhD
President

Although she didn’t explicitly denounce the incident because of first-amendment issues, I think she successfully distanced the university away from this distasteful incident especially in the bolded statement above.

I find this image compelling; more so given Obama’s campaign narrative. This was taken in Pennsylvania yesterday where both campaigns held rallies in this must-win state (for McCain at least). The McCain campaign canceled citing weather conditions but Obama went ahead with his rally standing in rain without an umbrella. You would be forgiven for thinking that perhaps Obama is trailing by 7-8 points instead of leading.

It has been all Pollster, Five Thirty Eight, and Real Clear Politics for the past couple of weeks. Although I want this election season to end soon I wonder if anything I read after November 4th will be half as interesting. Why do I bother you ask? Well, Jorge Cham has an answer for that as well:

“John McCain polling within 2 points in 2 or more non-partisan polls (sorry, Strategic Vision) in at least 2 out of the 3 following states: Colorado, Virginia, Pennsylvania.”

If this condition is fulfilled say, a day or two before the election then be prepared for a long night with McCain still not a favorite otherwise you can easily make it to bed before 10pm fully knowing who the President is gonna be. Don’t expect the media to tell you this. It is not in their best interest to call this ahead of time even if it is painfully obvious.

Remember them? The guys who masterminded the most terrifying attack on U.S. soil and are now currently regrouping in Pakistan-Afghanistan. Nope, Bin Laden did not make a new mix tape but the endorsement was found on a password-protected Jihadi website which is allegedly a favorite haunt for Al Qaeda social networking types. Why would Al Qaeda endorse McCain? Because nothing works better for their recruitment drives than continuing a long-lost war for freedom in the Middle East and McCain is just the guy for continuing wars if not starting one more.

Imagine if this endorsement was for Obama? You would have seen the airwaves been inundated with McCain acolytes shouting see we told you so! But the genius that the McCain campaign is instead decided to make a conference call and criticize the media (the ever-favorite tactic when everything fails) for reporting the news. But the strangest explanation would follow later - the Al Qaeda endorsement was in fact, reverse psychology i.e. they want us to believe they support McCain when in fact they root for Obama. Honestly, you cannot make this stuff up! But sadly even logic is not their forte because they follow up this ridiculous argument by emphasizing the supposed support for Obama from Hamas which completely negates their first point.

Come on, guys! I’m not sure if you really want McCain to win or simply have a secret plan to sabotage McCain’s campaign a la the 2000 fiasco. Probably Cheney and Rove are still rooting for Bush and pulling the strings.

The McCain campaign is still crying foul over Obama’s broken promise to consider public financing. But that’s not it. They are raising questions on the infusion of such large sums of money into an election. Of course, it remains to be seen how a maximum contribution from an individual ($2300) can influence a candidate who has raised hundreds of millions. Remember the average is only $86. The Internet has made it easier to donate money so obviously more people have and significant higher enthusiasm among the Democratic base has helped. You would imagine this wide dispersion of direct financial support from the public would be a better alternative and the Republicans would’ve hardly complained if they had managed to leverage the power of the Internet for fund raising. And lets get real…even if it is easier to donate online, is the Republican base really enthused enough to donate for McCain? The Republican base got involved mostly through chanting of racist slogans only after the Palin pick.

Another complaint is that Obama is getting money from suspicious sources. McCain has been demanding to see the list of donors to the Obama campaign when in fact, it is not legally required to do so if the amount is less than $100. But to label a large swath of American people who have donated less than $100 as suspicious is cowardly. And now it turns out that the McCain campaign sent a fundraising letter to the Russian Mission to the United States. Eliciting campaign funds directly from a foreign source is illegal. Now isn’t that more suspicious?

It might be attributed to a mistake but if we choose to adhere strictly to the election laws, this ‘mistake’ might be enough to disqualify McCain’s nomination. I’m sure Democrats will not push this story but trust me, the Republicans would have made a big fuss if it was Obama’s letter to the Russians. If McCain goes down to defeat, it will simply be due to an inept campaign more than anything else. As any Maharashtrian would say, svatacha ghar sambhalo shakat nahi, nighalaya jag jinkayla (can’t keep his own house in order and he sets out to conquer the world) or khud ka campaign nahi chala sakta, desh kya chalayga.

“The toughest thing has been the shots taken against the kids, against the family,” said Ms. Palin, according to a partial transcript of an interview with WWOR, a television station that serves New York City. “They’re my kids. The mama grizzly bear in me comes out, makes me want to rear up on my hind legs and say, ‘Wait a minute’ [source].

Dear Ms.Palin, now do you really want to put that image in our head when SNL is mocking you week after week? And yeah, wait a minute, you have to rear up on your hind legs? Aren’t you on them all the time? I definitely don’t want to know when you are not.

Anyway, back to the expertise-by-birth logic, should we appoint the next Treasury Secretary based on the fact that his kid is majoring in finance? The President should technically then be only a person who has a kid serving in the military. Who care if Sasha and Malia are not yet teens yet, ship them off to Iraq like McCain, Palin, and Biden’s kids, right? Better appoint a person who has a homeless kid as the next Housing and Urban Development Secretary and dare you nominate a Supreme Court Justice whose kid hasn’t appeared on Judge Judy. So it is not only important to live closer to Russia to be considered a foreign policy expert but to also use your poor kids illness as a qualification otherwise the press should respect their privacy. Next Up - Cheney to serve as a gay rights activist once his term as Veep is up.

It reminds me of McCain last night who also wants to balance the budget in four years from a half-trillion deficit while making the Bush tax cuts permanent. Where is the revenue to balance the budget going to come from? Cutting earmarks? Even if you eliminate all earmarks you save only $18 billion; a mere three percent of the deficit. Mind you, the U.S. is still at war in two countries spending nearly $10 billion a week and threatening more wars. Even if the Drill Baby Drill tactic succeeds, it will be more than 10 years before you see any difference in the oil prices provided of course, cars still run exclusively on gasoline.

At the end of the day if you’re in a meeting trying to balance the budget, you’ve to ask show me the money. Contrary to what the firemen say, it really isn’t the easiest job you’ve done. At least you know when the fire is put out.

Ronald Reagan used to say that the most frightening nine words in the English language were “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” That is no longer true. This year, the most frightening eight words are “I’m John McCain and I approved this message” [source].

Television pundits have never been so out of touch with the ground realities as in this election. Even yesterday when the final debate concluded, the pundits seemed to weigh in and hand victory (whatever that means) to John McCain.

The results of the insta-polls and focus groups comprising of seemingly undecided voters soon began trickling in and the conclusions couldn’t be any more different. It was as if the pundits and the voters were watching two different debates. Even the Fox News focus group organized by Frank Luntz gave it to Obama and revealed that Joe the plumber and Bill Ayers lines did not work. In fact, the dials were the highest when Obama talked about health care. It is as if America is begging for socialized medicine. This morning Joe Scarborough tried to envision a scenario if the current toss-up states like Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida went to McCain in spite of the fact that he trails by 3-4 points right now. Chuck Todd the numbers guy couldn’t resist shaking his head at such blatant naiveté. The election may be far from over and it may be too soon to declare an Obama victory but to reasonably contemplate a reversal on current realities is simply illogical. It is in the media’s interest to keep this race close otherwise who would bother tuning in every evening to see irrational thoughts being spewed in contrast to actual voters opinion.

Occasionally some pundit will stumble on the reality that this election is probably the worst time to be a Republican and no matter how much McCain tries to run away from Bush, he is tied to his economic policies. As Joe Klein astutely puts it in the above quoted paragraph, regardless of what the message is as long as it is said by McCain, the voters aren’t buying it this time. To understand the voter frustration with the current administration and Republicans, this report by Ben Smith makes for interesting reading. The conclusion - voters may believe McCain’s negative attacks and even hate Obama but they will still vote for him instead of McCain. Sadly, the only thing a grumpy old man can do is roll his eyes and appear angry [YouTube link]. To paraphrase the Joker, why so angry? Never mind, we know why.

It was a lazy weekend complete with those rare afternoon siestas. Lucy loves the weekend because we are at home the whole day and she doesn’t have to spend time in her crate. She has learnt to act like the morning alarm if I sleep past 7am which is the time for her morning walk and of course, poopie time as Ash likes to call it. I rather wake up early than clean up the mess inside. She spends the rest of the morning sunning herself as seen above along with her toys. She’ll squint at the direct sunlight but not move from her sunny patch in our living room. I know her mane looks a bit scraggly but she had her first grooming this week and next week I’ll have pictures up of her trimmed new look.

But if McCain wants to play the biography story angle, it would be worth exploring his background too since all we hear is that he was a POW for five years and a maverick after that. Rolling Stone in a scathing long article takes a look at the real John McCain and I’m sure if things mentioned were widely known, the race would be long over (if it isn’t right now). One of the more enlightening passages comes right at the beginning and sets the tone for the rest of the story. But this anecdote reveals how cronyism and nepotism that McCain now rails against has landed a petulant undeserving and clearly unqualified individual so close to the White House. This conversation occured in 1974 with a colleague who was a fellow POW in Vietnam:

“I’m going to the Middle East,” Dramesi says. “Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran.”

“Why are you going to the Middle East?” McCain asks, dismissively.

“It’s a place we’re probably going to have some problems,” Dramesi says.

“Why? Where are you going to, John?”

“Oh, I’m going to Rio.”

“What the hell are you going to Rio for?”

McCain, a married father of three, shrugs.

“I got a better chance of getting laid.”

If we love a ex-POW President so much then why don’t we see Dramesi running instead?