It's A Binary Thing

In 2010, Mitt Romney made my annual salary in 1 day 1 hours 28 minutes and 40 seconds.

What I pay for daycare over one year, which constitutes not quite half of my *gross* income (ie, before taxes), he earns in almost exactly 8 hrs.

The amount I am allowed to deduct on my taxes towards that childcare expense is equal to what Mitt earns in approximately 29 minutes, or roughly half the length of the lunch break I almost never take because I'm too busy at work, because there aren't enough people to cover the workload.

And yet when he was the governor of my state, he froze my salary, railed constantly against "overpaid and lazy state workers", and slashed my benefits.

Do your own math.

(This is all because I don't have a penis and a nice suit, right?)

w00t, Barney Frank!

So I was listening to the news tonight and caught the tail end of a story about some political event in NY state that was reasonably well-attended -- might've been the recent Joe Biden visit, but honestly I missed that part of the story -- and seemed to be some low-key Dem thing. The commentator mentioned in passing that there were a small number of people outside the event carrying "Sarah Palin 2012" signs.

Really, is there any difference between that and holding a sign saying "I'm with Stupid!"?

8 years in 8 minutes

(gakked from Making Light)

Okay, I lied, I stayed up to watch Obama's speech as well.

My Elder Daughter asked me an interesting question in the car on the way home this afternoon: if I'd known that Obama was going to be the Democrat nominee, and was likely to win the election, would I have changed who I voted for in the primary?

The answer is no. And no, I didn't vote for Obama in the primary. I didn't vote for Hillary either, so there. I voted for Kucinich, even though I knew he didn't have a shot in hell of winning the party nomination, because I wanted it on record that there was one more person that stood behind Kucinich's positions on the issues in the hope that when we did have a nominee, those voices would not be entirely discounted.

Having said that, yes I'm thrilled Obama has been elected. Do I think he's going to solve all (or even most) of our problems? Probably not. Heck, there's always a chance he'll turn out to be another useless disappointment like Deval Patrick. I do hope that he'll make progress towards solving at least a few of the catastrophic issues we are facing, and put us on a path to solving more. I feel like our civilization -- by which I mean not just America, but humanity -- is standing right at the edge of a cliff, having drunkenly stumbled our way up here by means of a combination of short-sighted decisions, whim, and a certain hostile contrariness that manifests as an abject failure to consider our own best interests. I honestly believe McCain would have, if not leapt us right off that edge, still brought us to where we'd fall. I believe he would have gotten us into a war with Iran. I believe he would've lacked the political will, flexibility, and insight to move us away from oil and other non-renewable energy sources. I believe the middle class would've dwindled even further as the division between the haves and the have-nots grew wider. I don't know that I think he really gave a crap about most of us, that we are anything more than just background noise and static to him. I do think he cares deeply about America and believed he would do right by it, but I think his idea of what is good for America is what is mostly good for big business and other people with power and influence. People who, y'know, don't actually know off-hand how many houses they own. So yes, believing that of McCain, how could I not be thrilled for a Democratic victory, especially one that as an aside refutes that idea that racism could triumph over reason, that fearmongering could triumph over hope, that isolationism could be better for our nation than cooperation?

So yeah, I'm not especially convinced that Obama's going to get us free and clear from that metaphorical cliff which represents the slow demise of our economy, our environment, and our ideals and our commitments to civil and human rights. But if he takes us even just one step away from that edge, that's something significant. What I see as the greatest potential of the Obama presidency is not so much those things he himself might accomplish, but the fact that he inspires people. He has given a lot of people hope again. He makes us feel like we can in fact do what needs to be done. And, you know, if enough of us believe that, if we buy into the crazy idea that we can in fact change the future by working together, just maybe we will do exactly that. And that, really, is what we need now more than anything else.

a new political party for our times

(thanks, allenw01234)

via fivethirtyeight.com:

Not at all surprised to learn that Sarah Palin (who said this: "We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.") spends the vast majority of her time campaigning in towns that are significantly more white than the American average.

Anyone else notice how much John McCain looks more and more like a pale version of Rygel from Farscape? Same oversized cheeks and creepy little goat teeth, same beady eyes and untrustworthy demeanor, same range of motion with his arms, similar moral character.

If he's elected, would he zoom around the White House in a floaty chair? If not elected, would he lurk in the woodwork and occasionally sneak out and steal shit from Obama and his staff?

The Rude Pundit (who is very rude), on what Biden should have said: "And you know what else? I don't wanna hear about the wisdom of small town America. You know where the Founders spent their time? In the cities. In Paris. In London. Small towns? That's called 'isolation.' And it's bullshit political talk for 'white,' Gwen. Oh, do I sound elitist? If it's elitist to want to elect people who actually have a thought in their head about more than whether or not to name the next child 'Remington' or 'Colt,' then, fine, fuck me, it's elitist."

And, from elsewhere, The Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart