• How comfortable the talking heads on Fox News seem to be with expressing hope that our new president actively hurts the country.

• That anyone is still taking Rush Limbaugh seriously.

How about you?

“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.  On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.  We remain a young nation.  But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things.”

Yes. And,

“…we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”

Yes. Begone, you foul children. Begone, you petty scoffers, you small-minded squinters, take away your grasping claws and sour wheezing laughter. We are a better people than what we have been.

We are better than you.

Goodbye, you back-door dealers, you double-talkers, you new-speakers. May you live long, long lives of peace and health. May your minds stay sharp to the ends of your days, so that you may hear what is said, read what is written, learn what is taught about you.

So sorry you can’t stick around, but the grownups have important things to discuss, and it’s long past your bedtime.

–

When thinking about this post I was planning to go on and talk about how our optimism at this point has to be tempered by caution, because we still don’t know how serious this president will be about actually getting things done.

Then he started getting things done.

But make no mistake: This president will disappoint. There’s no avoiding it. Yes, he’s a great speaker and a noble man and he’s got a lot of great ideas and seems to know how to get them done. But though he may make your heart want to burst from a surfeit of rainbows, he’s, ya know, human.

That said, getting all pissy with the guy you voted for for doing exactly what he was promising to do throughout his campaign, well, that’s just a little bit silly. Too bad Pastor Warren’s prayer was only adequate (okay, bordering on creepy, with his odd enthusiasm in naming the Obama girls), or else this might have proved a more interesting point about the importance of listening to people with different opinions. As it is, it just served as a reminder that reaching across ideological divides means offering respect to folks you may find disagreeable.

But then, that’s a pretty good lesson in its own right.

–

By the way, the post title comes from here:

The traditional electoral results maps look like this (or, at least, are likely to once NC and MO are finally called):

But when you look at it county-by-county, using a continuum of red to blue to reflect the proportions of votes for each candidate, it’s a very different picture:

Purple is good. It means we have people of differing political opinions living right next door to each other. When President-elect Obama takes office in January, he should have a mural of this exact map hung in the Oval Office — a constant reminder that he’s not working for one group or another, but for everyone.

By the way, if you’re interested, those maps came from here.

I figured now might be a good time to put out a few suggestions for the days ahead:

1. To those of you whose favorite candidate wins, be gracious to those who supported The Other Guy. No matter who wins, lots of people are going to be disappointed. No need to make them feel any worse by rubbing it in. (This goes double for those of you who, like me, support Obama: Practice the unity that you preach. Walk the walk. If this election is, like Senator Obama says, about ending “politics as usual,” then let’s make sure we help with that.)

2. To those of you whose favorite candidate loses, be gracious to those who supported The Other Guy. (Sound familiar?) People support presidential candidates for many different reasons, and most of them — even those who support a candidate you can’t stand! — do so for honest reasons, believing in their hearts they are making the right choice. This does not make them idiots, or evil, or any of the things many of us (myself included, I confess) have said about those who picked the winner of the 2004 election. Everyone has different priorities, and you know what? That’s okay. That’s America.

3. To everyone: Remember that there are more important things in life than politics — and remember that the president neither solves nor ruins everything. This is an astounding, historic election, but whoever assumes office on January 20 is still going to have to contend with two other branches of government, not to mention the will of the American people. If the results come in and you find yourself getting a little crazy, might I suggest a quick walk, a few deep breaths, and some meditation on the number of roadblocks any president has between himself and getting anything done.

4. To those of you who voted: Thank you. Thank you for fulfilling part of your duties as a citizen. It felt good to be involved in this, didn’t it?

5. To those of you too young to vote: Remember this. Not every election will likely be this sensational, but every election is important. Don’t let your interest slip just because the next time around the choices aren’t as charismatic, or as clear-cut. It’s important every time.

6. To those of you who are unable to vote for citizenship or other reasons out of your control: Here’s hoping things turn out in a way you’ll like, too.

7. And finally, to those of you who are eligible to vote, who didn’t: For the vast majority of you in most parts of the country, THERE IS STILL TIME. If you’re in line by the time the polls close, they cannot turn you away. Here’s a map of the poll closing times across the country. Get out there and be a part of this.

Now let’s do this thing!

So, I’m in Ohio, which means our primaries aren’t for another month. But Ohio has sort of an interesting primary system. From what I understand — and this will be my first time voting in Ohio since 1992, so I could easily be wrong — anyone can vote in the primaries of either party. It’s just that when you walk into the polling place, you have to pick which party’s primary you want to vote in. And that choice means that you become a registered member of that party until such time as you vote in the primary for a different party.

Now, I’m a registered Independent, because I’m really not much of a joiner. I’ll vote for who seems likely to do the most good, no matter which letter appears in parentheses after their names (e.g., previous posts on the matter).

But you can be damn sure that, come March 4, I’ll be considered a (shudder) registered Democrat. (At least until I can figure out how to unregister and return to my natural (I) state.) Why, you ask? The answer is simple:

Barack Obama.

I’m not going to go into too much detail about why, because the fact of the matter is, if you’re supporting him you already know why, and if you’re not there’s probably little that’s going to change your mind. But let me offer a few general thoughts on the matter.

There is a school of political thought that believes that politics is black and white, that Our Side is benevolent and merciful and Their Side eats decapitated puppy heads for dinner. This ideology is complete bullshit. Without people of differing perspectives working together, nothing gets done. That’s the whole point of our checks and balances system.

Hillary Clinton appears to subscribe to this us-versus-them philosophy with a terrifying zeal. When she stares into the camera with her dead eyes and Joker grin and talks about who or what is right or wrong, you can see that somewhere in her head there’s a tiny, wizened old man feverishly replacing the word “right” with “Democrat” and “wrong” with “Republican.” She strikes me as a fanatic in exactly the same way George Bush is a fanatic: blind to opposing viewpoints, absolutely convinced of her moral high ground, and willing to do whatever it takes to bring herself into power and keep herself there because she believes, deep down in her metallic heart, that Mother always knows best. (See her position on videogames for just one example.)

And then there’s Obama. Standing in sharp contrast to this uncomfortable zealot, he speaks of the power of working together to make things happen. And the damnedest thing is, the guy has such charisma and such intelligence that in spite of my profound political cynicism I actually believe the guy. I actually believe that he can be a leader that a majority of the U.S. population can get behind. I actually believe that he can deal with both enemies and allies (on both a personal and a national scale) fairly and sensibly, and at least make some progress toward making America less of a global laughingstock (or object of zealous hatred).

Lots of people I know have come to support Obama through lots of different paths. I liked the guy since the 2004 DNC (and wished he could have taken over for Kerry right then and there), but I didn’t really know all that much about him. So I started doing as much research as I could, deliberately trying to find things I didn’t like. And dammit, I just couldn’t find anything fundamental that I disagreed with him on.

So I started to get more and more excited about the idea of him actually getting the chance to run for president. But when I read his speech on the role of faith in politics it was a done deal.

Some of you may know that I was a Philosophy major in college. With 12 years of Catholic school behind me, I tended to focus on writings about the underpinnings of faith — Kierkegaard, Hume, Kant, those guys. My education wasn’t as good as it should have been, but it was enough to allow me to say the following with at least some degree of experience:

Obama knows what the hell he’s talking about. If that speech is any indication of how he really is (and I haven’t encountered any reason to believe that it’s not), he’s the real deal.

Now, I don’t expect Obama to be elected and suddenly the sun comes out and angels start singing and all is right with the world. Presidents aren’t miracle workers; I don’t even blame George Bush for the repeated transgressions against foreign nations, our own constitution, and ethical behavior. It’s the people the president surrounds himself with — and his ability to work with everyone else — that makes things happen.

I do think Obama can make things happen. And I think he’s an honorable, ethical man who will want to make good things happen. For such a person to have a fighting chance to become the president of the United States is so unusual it’s almost absurd. How often have you heard about elections being between choosing among the lesser of two evils? To have someone I can genuinely support is…well, I almost don’t know what to do with myself.

If you’re in a Super Tuesday state and you weren’t already planning on voting for Obama tomorrow, I urge you to take another look. His website has very detailed explanations of his stances on most significant issues facing our country (even if the font is almost unreadable in Firefox). Read some of his speeches, check out his positions. But don’t stop there. Check out sites like On the Issues to get an idea of the differences between him and Hillary Clinton.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a president who cares more about the welfare of the country than about political gain, party lines, or a tiny club of the disproportionately wealthy?

I sure think so.

Dear anyone who attacked my original post because Stewart and Colbert aren’t “real journalists”: that was EXACTLY MY POINT. See: “Comedians. Jesus.” The fact of the matter is that our national newsmedia is, as a whole, a bunch of quivering, empty suits jumping onto the latest ratings spike. For anyone in the newsmedia — and I say ANYone, on either side of this fake political dichotomy we’ve convinced ourselves we’re in — to actually stand up and make a well-reasoned, challenging argument is so novel as to be almost shocking. This instance was Olbermann, but had it been someone on Fox News making a similarly strong, well-defended argument, I’d be all over that too. (Please, please don’t say O’Reilly. He’s an excellent entertainer — much like Limbaugh, Stewart, Colbert — but much like the vast majority of the talking heads in the newsmedia, there’s not an ounce of honesty there.)

Dear anyone who interpreted my post as saying “My only heroes are Olbermann, Stewart, and Colbert”: Read again. If you still believe this after a second reading, please go away. For those who remain, allow me to elaborate a bit: What impresses me the most these days with regard to the newsmedia are the few talented people who step beyond the rhetoric and the platitudes and the dogma and the talking points to ask real, legitimate questions. To raise honest issues. This is why I enjoy John Stewart — if you didn’t see his appearance on CNN’s Crossfire, go watch it. Here’s a guy who can walk into an interview and say, “I don’t agree with what you’re doing, and here’s why,” and not let things devolve into the content-free shouting matches that drive the ratings on the news channels. The irony, of course, is that he’s a comedian, which says an awful lot about the state of the newsmedia in our country. To see politicians getting their toughest grilling on a freakin’ satirical news show? I mean, what the fuck?

Dear anyone who says “But Clinton…!”: Go die. I didn’t have a blog when Clinton was running things, and I don’t recall mentioning him here, ever, so you have absolutely no freaking idea what I think about Bill Clinton. For the record, though, I think Clinton the man was a slightly creepy, slightly sleazy type. But Clinton the president? Seems to me he did a fairly good job. He seemed to have a legitimate majority of the country behind him for most of his term. And that, I think, was his biggest strength as a president: He understood that the job of the president is to represent everyone in the country. People accused him of being too “moderate,” and I’m like, “Uh, yeah. He’s not president of half the country, he’s president of the whole country. Seems like a no-brainer to me.”

Having said that, allow me to say that the idea of his wife actually attempting to run for president in ’08 scares the living bejeezus out of me. She seems to be everything Clinton wasn’t, and Bush is: Fanatical, divisive, dogmatic, and hungry for power. And if she ends up on the ballot I fear that there will be so many who will vote Democrat just to get away from Bush that they’ve vote his mirror image right into office. If you put a ballot in front of me today, and it had HR Clinton vs. John McCain — I’m voting McCain without a second thought. That chick scares me nearly as much as Bush does.

Dear anyone who says I shouldn’t be posting political stuff on my 1UP blog: I’d like to introduce you to the incumbent Senator from the District of I Don’t Give a Fuck. Welcome to the real world, where the convenient lines of black and white your pet pundits try to convince you of don’t exist. Politics permeates life; life permeates videogames; videogames permeate culture; culture permeates politics.

Dear anyone who throws down labels like “liberal” “conservative” “democrat” “republican” (or, much, much worse: “libs,” “neocons,” “dems,” “repubs”) as though they’re racial epithets: Pay attention, now, because this is important. Ready?

YOU DON’T HAVE TO PICK SIDES.

It’s entirely possible — nay, admirable — to decide what you believe and say, “Well, I agree with the Republicans on this, but the Democrats on that.” Here, I’ll show you how easy it is:

I agree with the Republicans — or at least, the Republican ideal — on the role of government. Ideally, government should protect citizens from outside influence, and each other. Government legislating things like sex or smoking or, oh dear god, the amount of trans-fats we’re allowed to have in our food is a waste of time, energy, and taxpayer money. I also agree with the Republicans on the importance of national defense, that we need to be well prepared for situations where other nations or groups may wish to do us harm.

On the other hand, I agree with the Democrats — or at least, the Democrat ideal — that the government also has a responsibility to offer assistance to its disadvantaged citizens. I also agree with the Democrats on the importance of civil rights, and that even the pursuit of national security is not worth sacrificing those civil rights which are an integral part of what is good about America.

These do not encompass my political or social beliefs. These are just examples of how it’s possible to actually think for yourself when it comes to national politics. Because believe me when I say that any time we refuse to enter discourse because the other party is a member of this fictional “other side,” America dies, just a little, inside.

The reason you should know this is because President Bush just kinda, uh, eliminated it. At least for "enemy combatants." Funny thing about enemy combatants, though…an enemy combatant is a person the government claims is an enemy combatant. Neat, that, eh? And the method by which such a claim can be disputed: Habeas corpus.

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC (video, pops) has a particularly chilling commentary on this whole deal. It’s worth watching the entire thing.

That guy may be a bit melodramatic, but he’s quickly becoming one of my heroes — one of three people I know of in the media who actually appear to have balls.

The other two are John Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

Comedians.

Jesus.

For those of you who don’t like clicking links, I’ll summarize: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales wants to require all ISPs to keep records of ALL of your online activity, for purposes of catching pedophiles and, presumably, tur’rists.

Here’s the problem. Senator Stevens has made it very clear that our government does not understand technology. Now, I’m no hAxx0r but I do seem to recall a technology called “IP spoofing” that makes internet traffic look like it’s coming from someplace other than its actual source. So, what happens when someone trolling online for kiddie porn uses a spoofed IP address that happens to point to the computer grannie uses to e-mail her bridge partners? Or some al-Qaeda sympathizer spoofs the IP address of some random Arabic college student?

This isn’t even touching on the potential for willful misuse of this kind of information. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but considering how much of our day-to-day life is conducted online these days — business, commerce, communication — there’s an enormous potential for abuse. Not to mention simple, ham-fisted, governmental incompetence.

I hate sounding like a foil-hatter, honestly I do, but I’m starting to worry that these tiny nudges on the boundaries of our civil rights are not the random flailings of an incompetent administration, but rather calculated straining at the bumper of the juggernaut of fascism.

I just wrote that and even I think it sounds ridiculous. But that’s precisely part of my worry, that sensible, moderate, thoughtful, intelligent people are dismissing their fears as unrealistic, thinking “It can’t possibly be that bad.” But what if it is?

We as a country have an obligation to protect ourselves from tyranny. We have an obligation to say to our government, “You are overstepping your authority and we are uncomfortable with that.” Are we really going to wait for our leaders to throw their capes over their arms and go “Mwa ha ha” before we say enough is enough? I’m pretty sure it’ll never be that obvious.

The problem is that as long as the current administration equates dissent with treason, our fellow Americans will continue to miss the fact that dissent is the purest and best form of patriotism, the purest and best hope for the continued health of this country.

Do this for me: Read the article linked above. Think about how it might impact you, personally, as a law-abiding, upright citizen. And if you come to the same conclusions I did, tell your congresspeople — tell your friends — tell your neighbors — that this is too much. That this near-ubiquitous surveillance does not meet your standards for a free society. If nothing else, please just let your fellow Americans know that this sort of thing is being talked about.

I have to believe that we do still have the ability to influence public policy. It can’t have gone that far already.

Can it?

UPDATE: If you’re interested in talking to your Congressperson about this issue, here’s a great site for finding contact info.