Uber-Conservative News

In my search for right wing news that pertains to this week's discussion, I came across a wonderfully applicable website--RightWingNews.com!

The top story on this site is a post from a Conservative blogger who calls himself "The Other McCain," aka Robert Stacy McCain. The particular post highlighted is a response to Courtney's favorite, Andrew Sullivan, and his remark that gay marriage can be interpreted as the "original intent" of the founding fathers by the phrase "civil equality." His post is well worth reading, as it is unbelievably right wing and, even though he predicted I'd say it, extremely homophobic. He goes so far as to support Rod Dreher's comment that the protesters in California are the real bigots in this case, with their signs, chants and recklessness!

Here's another poster on the same site talking about how Obama's presidency will result in a steady flow of "absurd racist claims," like the recent Connecticut man who apparently claimed breathalyzers discriminate against blacks.

FOX news thinks Obama will disappoint....naturally

A FOXnews story run yesterday discussed the lofty promises made by the Barack Obama campaign before the Presidential election. Fox's Wendell Goler does not seem to think Obama has any chance of upholding his promises and establishing all the policies he once advocated. Rather, there is a thought that our new President has set the bar a little too high for himself, and the media, in their comparisons of Obama to Lincoln, MLK, and FDR, have raised it completely out of reach. So according to Goler, Obama's first major decision will be "who to disappoint first."

She quotes historian Douglas Brinkley who speculated about Obama, "He's going to say, 'Look, I was going to build a levee system in New Orleans that would've cost $60 billion to make the city safe for category 5 storms like I promised, but that was before the meltdown of October, and so now I've got to fix the plumbing of capitalism."

There is a suggestion in her article that Obama continued to promise policies and change that were far beyond the means of our government in these restrictive times knowing that the new President could use the economy as a scapegoat when his administration falls short. While it's an awfully pessimistic way of thinking, I have a feeling FOX is not the only one...

Presidential Codes

Not sure if anyone else saw this, but I thought it was kind of cool, considering we're always talking about individuals' codes and what it means about their actual personalities.

This photo-story in the Hartford Courant displays 24 pictures of past Presidents, First Ladies and first children with their secret service code names underneath. It's quite interesting how much the names say about their personalities, sort of like summing our "code lists" up in one word.

Here are some of the good ones.

Codenames: Renegade ...............Renaissance .......................Tumbler

What are they talking about?

Here are some stories I have noticed the media pushing lately (with the exception of the Clinton-Secretary-of-State story since that's everywhere):

1. Automakers Bailout - Fox news ran a story that GOP lawmakers opposed bailing out the auto industry in Detroit, while CBS news reports that Democrats are in favor of the legislation but not without certain strings attached (automakers would be required to explore new technologies for fuel efficiency and environmental safety)

2. Lists for the President-elect - Whether its a story about politicians making wish lists for legislation they are eager to see, or media making lists for Obama's potential new cabinet members and administration, there seem to be a lot of lists floating around. Also rather prominent is the story of Obama's search for at least one Republican for his administration.

3. Same-Sex Marriage Rallies - The 2008 Presidential race was between a fairly liberal Republican, as suggested by his own party, and a moderately conservative Democrat. As a result, it will be very interesting to see the kinds of legislation proposed by our new President after he takes office in January. Barack Obama has admitted openly that he persoanlly opposes gay marriage but does not support a constitutional ban of it. I have a feeling that the recent ban in California will put pressure on the new administration to take a definitive stance on the matter.

4. Obama's Blackberry Affair - No, Obama did not have an affair with someone via his blackberry. Sorry. What I'm referring to is his very famous relationship with his blackberry. Obama has been sited with his handheld device everywhere, it never leaves his side, and he has been known to personally answer all emails with some promptness. However, lately he is being told he must give up his right to personal email and surrender his PDA. For a man whose campaign was so heavily based on the power of the Internet, relinquishing his right to use something as important as email will be quite the undertaking. It was reported, however, that he may be the first President to request a laptop on his desk in the oval office. Really? The first? Wow...

Glimpse of a celebrity presidency...

Though the election has been over for more than a week now, and the majority of Americans are satisfied with the result, Obamania has not yet died down. Millions of people all over the country are still swooning over our President-elect, campaigning for him with permanent signs on their lawns and creating plans to weasel their way into the celebration on Inauguration Day.

Now, it is not unheard of for people who acquire free tickets to the inaugural festivities to sell them for profit if they are unable to go, but the immediacy and availability of these ticket sales for the start of the Obama administration is unprecedented. It is only one week after the election and already dozens of tickets have appeared on EBay priced anywhere from $1,000 to $7,500! Can you imagine what the cost will be in January?

According to the LA Times, most of these ticket sellers and scalpers are scam artists who claim they will get the tickets at a later date but demand payment immediately. For some people, it may be difficult to tell the difference as some sites like GreatSeats.com seem to be perfectly legitimate in their offer, but unlikely nonetheless.

The popularity of this event is incredible, as a Google search will result in airlines offering discounts to fly to DC in late January, numerous T-Shirt and paraphernelia sites for Obama gear, even a Barack Obama Gold Coin offer, and not to mention the numerous Obama action figures.

Despite all this hype, it looks like a lot of people will be disappointed this January, as the demand for tickets far exceeds the supply. I wouldn't be surprised to see a single ticket going for $25,000 or more come January. There is even a Facebook event titled "Obama's Inaguration" with more members attending than total tickets available: more than 252,000 facebookers!

Here is another fun, slightly over-the-top piece of marketing: One-of-a-kind Cabbage Patch dolls in the likeness of the candidates auctioned on EBay for charity.

Although, I have to be fair and can't claim that this is the result of Obama's celebrity status. Palin, in fact, sold for more than the President-elect (they were auctioned before election night).

I believe the order was Palin ($19,000), Obama ($8,400), McCain ($6,000) and Biden ($3,550.01). Poor Biden.

Halloween Hate Crime

I think we all probably saw this story covered at some point in the last two weeks, and at the time I didn't think much of it. But considering our discussion of race this week, my thoughts came back to this West Hollywood Halloween display. The residents, Chad Michael Morrisette and his partner, who are fashion designers and use mannequins every year in their Halloween decorations, claimed that the display was "twisted"--the way Halloween decor should be. But most residents, even liberals, thought it went a little too far, and many people raised the question of hate crimes. If it had been Barack Obama's mannequin, they argued, it would be a greater outrage and the city would demand it taken down. But as an effigy of Palin, the act was regarded as free speech and Morrisette was allowed to keep it up through Halloween weekend (as well as get his 15 minutes of fame).



In an election in which race is such a forefront issue, how does this kind of racism factor in? Is it even racism? How would this have been construed if Obama were not the democratic nominee, if the race were among three white men and one white woman? Just how conditional IS the discussion of race in politics?

Video Your Vote

Remember that ad we watched in class by the woman with the weird neck? Well it turns out that over 1,500 people actually answered the call to "video their vote" and sent it in to PBS. This page on YouTube displays a map with all of the videos from across the country. You can sort by categories such as "voter intimidation," "registration problems," or "first-time voters." Take a look. Some are interesting, while some are just silly.

I like this one... but I'm a sappy girl.