Revenge of the Nerds

John Hodgman - "I'm a PC" and occasional Daily Show contributor - gave a speech at the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner last Friday, slightly roasting Obama. Hail to the Chief Nerd.

America's 1984

"On Thursday the spirit of George Orwell visited America, three times."

A chilling essay in Harper's .

Inauguration Day

Uh-oh

I'm not sure if Obama should prosecute the sadists who trashed 230 years of U.S. policy (yes, going back to George Washington!) that Americans must treat detainees with dignity. I can understand both sides laid out in this story. But our government needs to investigate who decided we should torture terror suspects and how these people were able to get away with it. We should also find out which Democrats knew what Bush/Cheney were doing, but declined to stop it.

Also, beware of sneaky moves before Jan. 20:

Whether Bush will protect his top aides and interrogators with a
pre-emptive pardon - before they are ever charged - has become a hot topic of
discussion in legal and political circles in the administration's waning days.
White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto declined to comment on the
issue.

Don't forget to vote!

Les Misbarack

Some silliness to cheer you up during these dark days of the campaign, when it appears the U.S. is on the verge of electing a V.P. who believes the Iraq war is "God's work" and who wants to deny women control over their bodies. (For some reason Sarah Palin makes me think of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tail"... I wonder what Ms. Boswell thinks. I think she's the one put the book on the "Identity & Culture" reading list!)

Go Obama! Please.

Taxes!

Republicans love to scare voters by making them think Democrats are going to tax the hell out of them. McCain wants us to elect him because he's going to keep Bush's tax cuts.

In case anyone is buying that McCain's approach will help the average guy (though I kind of doubt anyone here is buying that) check this out, courtesy of an exceptionally informative and engaging article on Obama's economic policy/philosophy/thinking. (Yes, I said engaging! Seriously.) [Btw, apologies to Mr. Pony for stealing your lego icon.]

The Tax Policy Center, a research group run by the Brookings
Institution and the Urban Institute, has done the most detailed analysis of
the Obama and McCain tax plans, and it has published a series of fascinating tables. For the bottom 80 percent of the population — those households making $118,000 or less — McCain’s various tax cuts would mean a net savings of about $200 a year on average. Obama’s proposals would bring $900 a year in savings. So for most people, Obama is the tax cutter in this campaign. .....

He would then pay for the cuts, at least in part, by raising taxes on the
affluent to a point where they would eventually be slightly higher than they
were under Clinton. For these upper-income families, the Tax Policy Center’s
comparisons with McCain are even starker. McCain, by continuing the basic thrust of Bush’s tax policies and adding a few new wrinkles, would cut taxes for the top 0.1 percent of earners — those making an average of $9.1 million — by
another $190,000 a year, on top of the Bush reductions.

Obama:Biden!

Hello, Ladies!

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official, balancing his ticket with a seasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues."

Full story here!

Help Build a Better America, Brick by Brick, and Other Witty and Charming Turns of Phrase

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Win!