Crossposted at Motley Moose.

On November 7th, 1860, in the still dark hours of the morning, President Elect Abraham Lincoln excused himself from the Telegraph Office in Springfield, Illinois to walk home and wake his sleeping wife with the news.  Lincoln was "gently touching her shoulder" and received no reply when he whispered her name.   He later recalled, "I spoke again, a little louder, `Mary, Mary!  We are elected!'"

The celebrations had begun hours prior as the returns poured from around the Nation by wire.  Despite the air of elation around him, it's clear that the burdens of the Presidency weighed heavily on Lincoln's mind.  Only a matter of minutes before he woke Mary, Lincoln uttered to friends, "God help me, God help me".

Crossposted at Motley Moose.

No, not really, but according to the PPP poll released very early this morning Ron Paul is pulling about 4% that John McCain might otherwise get.

Crossposted at Motley Moose.

Desperation to resurrect his increasingly hopeless Presidential aspirations has led John McCain to press his divisive rhetoric even further beyond the pale: associating Barack Obama with the specter of socialism. Consequently, he has fueled the irrational fears of his less than reality based supporters to such an extent that they equate Obama with terrorism, with treason, and with the bizzaro belief that the Democratic nominee is somehow a danger to the Nation. Fostering an atmosphere of anxiety and anger may likely earn McCain a place in history alongside the likes of Joe McCarthy.  Whatever honor lies extant in him has suffered under the yoke of his blind ambition.

How will history judge John McCain?  As the son of a public high school History teacher, I learned early to look to the past when seeking to learn about our present--and our future.

Crossposted at Motley Moose and DailyKos.

Heh.  You read me right.  Ha, ha, ha, ha!  Joshua Trevino, co-founder of the conservative blogging flagship site Redstate can't pull the trigger for the McCain/Palin ticket.

Crossposted at Motley Moose

Despite a public outcry and resounding condemnation from the chattering class (brilliantly documented by DCDemocrat) about whipping angry mobs to a near violent frenzy with devisive (and false) rhetoric, the McCain/Palin campaign reached an all new low today.

John McCain had a chance to do the right and honorable thing, which would have been to condemn the lunatics who shout out things like Traitor!, Terrorist! , Kill him!, or verbally accost African American members of the media. Up until today, he appeared to have chosen the slimy route instead, and by letting it go on, they've essentially encouraged the toxic behavior.  Both Obama and Biden have pushed back hard against the smears, and by all accounts they've done so effectively.

Last night, my fiance and I watched Sarah Palin attempt to reignite the culture wars that have so damaged our nation.

We heard her lie repeatedly.  About herself.  About Obama.  About John McCain.

We heard her disparrage community organizing, and those whom such efforts are designed to support.

We heard Rudy Giuliani say that Democrats "gave up on America".

Just heard this mentioned on CNN.  Can't find a web link yet.

Apart from this:

http://www2.arkansasonline.com/news/2008 aug/13/police-chasing-after-shooting-de mocratic-party-hea?news/arkansas

Crossposted at DailyKos

In his satirical (and hilarious) book The Areas of My Expertise, funnyman John Hodgman categorizes the State of Texas like this:

NICKNAMES:  The Homeland, More Mexico

MOTTO:  "Friendship, Except When Betrayed, or Approached by Strangers."

NOTES:  You have heard the saying that everything is bigger in the Lone Star state, and it is true that the cats are the size of dogs and the dogs are the size of European cars.  But Texans themselves are of normal proportions, with normal-sized dreams and loves, who just happen to own cars that are the size of twenty-five European cars.

Like all good satire, there's a grain or two of truth in Hodgman's summary.  I work in the environmental consulting industry, often in support of the development and permitting of renewable energy facilities (e.g. wind and solar).  Last week these efforts brought me to the near center of a vast sea of Republican red: West Texas.