The Political Whore

By Eric Snider
cross-posted from The Daily Loaf

“The whole purpose of the law is to stifle speech against people who speak against the deviant [gay] lifestyle.” —Bill Keller

The first and second installments of The Devi’s Advocate with Bill Keller drew lots of traffic and comments. Welcome to our third Q&A. I’ll be playing the role of Devil’s Advocate.

One of our most controversial religious figures, Pinellas-based Bill Keller is known for his incendiary rhetoric and unbending view of Bible-based morality. He believes homosexuality is an abomination, abortion is murder and … you can pretty much guess the rest. Click here for a bit more detail on Keller’s ministry.

Today’s Topic: The U.S. Congress is in the process of expanding Hate Crimes laws to include “sexual orientation,” “gender” and “gender identity” to federally protected classes that already include race, religion, color or national origin. Bill Keller doesn’t like this at all.

The Devil’s Advocate: By opposing the addition of gender identity to the existing hate crimes bill, does that mean you’re OK with crimes against gays?

Read the rest of this entry »

(Read all of our coverage last night at Election Central.)

Driving into work today, I decided to switch on a conservative radio show and see how the other side was reacting to Obama’s win. I ended up at 970 AM and Glenn Beck.

I listened to him speak for more than 20 minutes straight — about how McCain was not the right guy, how it’s no time for a Republican pity party, how it’s the perfect opportunity for the Republicans to redefine themselves, how Sarah Palin was not the reason McCain lost; and then he segued into love for the founding fathers and the people of America (well, certain people).

Beck actually soft-pedaled — as much as a conservative pundit could — the doom-and-gloom that’s coming under Obama.

It was an impressive performance. Didn’t sound scripted. I actually agreed with bits and pieces of it.

Then, at the end of the segment, Beck said, “Tonight I’m going to celebrate with a [Brand name, something like AG] steak.” I thought he was talking about his favorite steakhouse.

And then … he flowed right into a pitch for this brand of mail-order steaks that he endorses. They’re yummy, and good for you too, kind of thing.

I laughed out loud. The world had righted itself.

Eric: Goodnight, Bon.

…. G’night

____________________

10:26: Bonnie has switched to the love seat, gotten prostrate, and curled up in a blanket. She will soon be asleep. Eric: Bonnie, are you willing to admit that John McCain is not going to be the next President?

Bonnie: It’s beginning to look that way.

Eric: So you’ll be asleep soon.

Bonnie: Probably.

Eric: So that means I’m not going to get an official concession from you.

Bonnie: You can wake me up.

___________________

10:10: Bonnie just asked how many electoral votes California has. 55.

“Wow,” she says. “That would give him pretty much the 270.”

Is that a concession?

Bonnie: I’ll concede when McCain does.

Eric: No, I”m talking about when you think McCain can’t win.

Bonnie: No, not yet.

______________________

9:53: Eric: Britt Hume’s (Fox News) playing it really loose. I wonder if he’s drunk.

Bonnie: I know! i was going to say that about 10 minutes ago. Is he drunk or did he have a mild stroke?

Eric and Bonnie finally agree on something.

_________________________

9:45: Eric gets the urge to sing “Turn out the lights, the party’s over,” a la Dandy Don Meredith from several decades ago, but thinks better of it. Eric believes in jinxes.

___________

9:42: Bonnie, out of the blue: It’s not a LANDSLIDE! Eric wonders if that’s a concession expression.

Eric to Bonnie: When you blurted out, It’s not gonna be a landslide, was that a concession speech?

Bonnie: No, I’m just saying it’s not going to be a landslide. The Democrats have been saying all day that it’s an Obama landslide. It’s going to be close.”

Eric thinks it sounds like a concession expression.

___________________________

Footage of McCain holding a baby. Bonnie: “I don’t know if I’d want McCain holding my baby. He looks a little shaky.” Eric wonders if Bonnie’s turning on her boy.

Bonnie, responding to scenes of people out on the streets. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that before.”

________________________

ABC just called Ohio for Obama, and they’re saying it does not look as if McCain can win with that scenario. Eric: Almost ready to say yipeee. Doesn’t ask Bonnie for concession speech.

___________________

9:09: A graphic shows that McCain has taken Wyoming, Idaho and one of the Dakotas. Eric chuckles. Bonnie says, “Don’t gloat. It’s not very becoming. Plus it’s early yet.”

___________________________

8:55: Some guy on Fox News is talking about how Obama’s exit polls look better than his actual vote count. Bonnie chucks Eric on the arm: “A-ha! You can’t trust those exit polls.”

_________________________

8:50: In the last quarter hour, it doesn’t seem such a sure thing for Obama. Eric no longer asking for Bonnie’s concession.

_____________________________

Fox News: National popular vote is 50/50.

Eric: So it looks like Obama is opening a can of ass-whup, but overall he’s tied in votes? Thank god for that there Electoral College thingie.

Georgia gets called for McCain. Eric: McCain can have Georgia.

____________________

White Catholics in Pa. went for McCain. Bonnie is a white Catholic from Pa. who has lots of family up there.

_____________

8:35: Eric asks when he can expect Bonnie’s concession speech.

“It’s not going to happen now.”

___________________________

Local NBC has Amendment 2 (definition of marriage) passing 60-40 (60 percent is needed.) Although a Republican, Bonnie is adamantly opposed to Amendment 2, as is Eric.

Bonnie: You got to be kidding me! Stupid churches. It’s all about the churches. (Bonnie goes to Mass almost every Sunday.) They have signs up on Manhattan (in Tampa), “keep marriage between man and woman.” Plus I come out of the Catholic Mass on Sunday and there’s literature on my car.

_____________________

8:27: Pinellas County goes 53 to 47 percent Obama with more than 90 percent reported. Whoa!

Hillsborough: 53 to 44 McCain.

____________________________

8:19: Re: Pa. (Bonnie’s home state) going to Obama: “I’m not upset This is totally what was expected.”

Eric to Bonnie: Are you getting the sense that at 8:21 they are announcing Obama as President?

I’m still hopeful that McCain could win. I wonder if we’re going to know who’s president by 10:30.

Eric interprets this as Bonnie’s subtle concession speech.

__________________________

Bonnie, who works at a hospital, informs Eric that they now have to pay a $250 co-pay for any procedure done at her hospital. Up until now, there was no co-pay at all. She feels the company is doing it as a preemptive move for some tax that will occur if Obama gets into office.

Eric thinks that the company is using it as an excuse to tax its employees.

——————————-

Bonnie informs Eric that Fox News has not called Pa. for Obama. Eric gloats on the inside.

Bonnie: The media and the polls all said Obama was going to win, but if McCain wins it’s going to be like the Bucs on Sunday.

Eric: How will you feel if Obama wins?

Bonnie: He’s got cute kids… (laughs) I’m gonna be disappointed, but I won’t be scared.

Eric: Don’t be so rational.

___________________

Damn that pot roast was good.

NBC just called Pa. for Obama.

Eric to Bonnie: How does that make you feel?

Bonnie:

_________________________________

Meet the Sniders, Bonnie and Eric, married 26 years with grown children, both raised in the suburbs of the Northeast. Both Caucasians. Bonnie is a registered nurse. Eric is senior editor of Creative Loafing.

Politically, Bonnie is right wing, Eric left wing. A mixed marriage. Their politics are actually more nuanced than that, but for purposes of tonight, what you really need to know is: Bonnie is solidly McCain; Eric is solidly Obama. They have been arguing more actively over the last few months, not fighting, but debating politics. Neither one can make any headway in convincing the other. They seem to repeat the same points.

It’s frustrating, but it’s not personal. One night a few months ago, Eric was balled up in a fetal position on the living room floor, moaning over one of Bonnie’s points. Other than that, the discourse has been civil. No objects have been thrown.

Their positions, in a nutshell:

Bonnie doesn’t dislike Obama, but think’s he’s a little green for the job, and she’s suspicious of the classic liberalism that she suspects he’ll foist on the nation.

Eric doesn’t dislike McCain, but he doesn’t think as favorably of him as he did about a year ago. He sees McCain as extension of Bush’s failed policies, and that he’s not really up to tackling the country’s serious economic problems.

Bonnie is extremely concerned with Obama’s associations with William Ayers and the Rev. Wright. She thinks it shows poor judgment, which could reflect on the judgments he makes in his Presidency.

Regarding Obama’s association with Ayers and Wright, Eric sees it as a product of Obama’s past involvement in urban organizing. He was probably infatuated with ’60s radicalism and incendiary black power rhetoric. No biggie.

Bonnie likes Sarah Palin, “because I like her views on energy, and I think she’s not a bimbo like everyone says. She’s self-assured and gets things done. Her executive experience as governor of Alaska is about on par with Obama’s.” Bonnie is also very impressed with Palin’s unwavering pro-life stance, and she doesn’t care who knows she’s pro-life.

Eric shudders at the idea that Sarah Palin would be VP, let alone President.

So that’s the framework: In the ensuing hours, Eric and Bonnie will be blogging highlights of their discourse as they sit in front of their big-screen TV and watch election results.

Already so far:

Bonnie: Yay! Virginia!

Eric: (From the other room): WHA?!

Bonnie: McCain, he’s ahead.

Eric: They’re not calling anything yet. How much is he ahead?

Bonnie: Twenty thousand.

Eric thinks to himself: There’s much counting to be done.

Bonnie is serving up a pot roast. This blog thing will have to wait a little bit.

For weeks, I had heard about the long lines for early voting, a lot of it from my colleagues, some of whom waited two hours or more.

With each new tale, I became more and more committed to … voting on Election Day. Now there’s an idea!

I felt sure I would be redeemed by a short, efficient trip to the voting booth. Hoping to miss the rush hour, I chose to show up about 9:15 a.m. at my precinct in northeast St. Pete. How did it all work out? Did I turn out to be smarter than my co-workers? Here’s a quick video diary of my Election Day experience.

OK, you ask, what the fuck is a Credit Default Swap, and why should I care? Well, they’re the derivative financial instruments that have been a major reason why we’re in this economic shitstorm. Last night’s 60 Minutes did a superb job of explaining these unregulated “side bets” that have been called Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Watch this segment. It’ll explain to the layperson, to the best extent possible, how Credit Default Swaps work and how they fucked everything up. And it’s bound to get you righteously pissed off.

I tried to embed the video here, but the fucker wouldn’t play, so click to check it out.

I rarely watch nighttime politi-gab shows – couldn’t pick Hannity out of a lineup, don’t even know Colmes’ first name – but nevertheless you pick up certain truisms. And way up on the list is that the cable shows on Fox News are bastions of right-wing doggerel.

Olbermann

So after the Obama/McCain face-off last night I was bouncing around looking for some post-debate comment, and not being game for Fox News’ bullshit, I ended up tuning into MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

I wasn’t expecting an attempt at objectivity – that’s never the point on these programs – but I was taken aback by what I got: an unmitigated, smug and condescending attack on John McCain.

No, I’m not pro-McCain; I’m solidly pro-Obama, but Olbermann’s opening rant was just as biased — albeit more glib and clever – than anything you might get from a right-leaning commentator. Now, I’m not saying that left-wing comment is intrinsically bad, I just didn’t like it in this context.

I was after some post-debate analysis, which I got a bit from NBC’s Brian Williams and company directly afterward. Olbermann brought on the experts, spewing loaded questions, breathlessly asking them if they saw what he saw: a doddering old hypocrite who fairly limped around the stage during the town-hall showdown.

To their credit, most of the guests gave Olbermann quizzical looks or shrugs and passed over his inflammatory assessments. They did generally agree that Obama was a clear winner, and that McCain didn’t make up much, if any, ground.

Olbermann continued to nitpick McCain’s miscues and blunders, while giving Obama a total pass.
I didn’t tune into MSNBC to get a dose of reassurance of how presidential Obama appeared and how cranky and off-kilter McCain came off. I wanted someone to give me a take that I didn’t already have.

Colmes

So I switched over to Fox News. And there I found a nebbishy guy in glasses bashing McCain and big-upping Obama in a square-off with a grinning, aw-shucks Fred Thompson. Not the kind of bias I expected. The guy badgering Thompson? I think it was Colmes …

I just checked Google Images: It was.

I think I crossed a tipping point over the weekend. It’s exciting, and a little scary.

As recently as a few weeks ago, I would sort of stumble across Rays games on TV, watch a few innings until I lost interest. Kept up with ’em in the papers. It was about last week that I started checking out page 2 of the sports section to see who they were playing and when/where the game was on. If I thought of it, I’d tune in for the beginning of the game, watch a few frames. Hang around if the game was good, but hardly ever catch the whole contest.

That’s changed. Read the rest of this entry »

The whole Obama’s-not-a-patriot/Obama-secretly-hates-America trope that his detractors try to work really tightens my jaws. The fact that it does work makes it worse. I ran across this an op-ed piece in the St. Pete Times this morning by Diane Roberts that contained a paragraph that really summed up my exasperation over the matter:

Oh, for God’s sake, people. Do we seriously think any presidential candidate hates America? Even Ralph Nader? People run for president out of some arcane cocktail of ego, sense of mission, lust for power, and desire to improve the nation. The money’s so-so, the humiliations … manifold, and while flying on Air Force One sounds cool, the threat of assassination balances it out. So let’s just agree right here, right now, that all the candidates for president care deeply for their country.