http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFg0DzT9tNI

My dear friends, you may span the political spectrum, from unrealistic repressive liberal, to unrealistic repressive conservative, and the six nanometers in between… but I hope all of Youdopia can acknowledge that Obama is a funny guy.

His routine at the 2010 White House Correspondents Dinner was really funny. A Facebook friend pointed it out yesterday. Political humor isn’t for everyone, but I think this qualifies as Funniest Shit Ever.

I cut/pasted the below text straight from Drudgereport. I love the frankness and the obvious intelligence of Obama. I especially like how he answered the last question. He’s cool dude, and he’s from Chicago, so you know he’s crooked.

In a sobering holiday interview with C-SPAN, President Obama boldly told Americans: “We are out of money.”

C-SPAN host Steve Scully broke from a meek Washington press corps with probing questions for the new president.

SCULLY: You know the numbers, $1.7 trillion debt, a national deficit of $11 trillion. At what point do we run out of money?

OBAMA: Well, we are out of money now. We are operating in deep deficits, not caused by any decisions we’ve made on health care so far. This is a consequence of the crisis that we’ve seen and in fact our failure to make some good decisions on health care over the last several decades.

So we’ve got a short-term problem, which is we had to spend a lot of money to salvage our financial system, we had to deal with the auto companies, a huge recession which drains tax revenue at the same time it’s putting more pressure on governments to provide unemployment insurance or make sure that food stamps are available for people who have been laid off.

So we have a short-term problem and we also have a long-term problem. The short-term problem is dwarfed by the long-term problem. And the long-term problem is Medicaid and Medicare. If we don’t reduce long-term health care inflation substantially, we can’t get control of the deficit.

So, one option is just to do nothing. We say, well, it’s too expensive for us to make some short-term investments in health care. We can’t afford it. We’ve got this big deficit. Let’s just keep the health care system that we’ve got now.

Along that trajectory, we will see health care cost as an overall share of our federal spending grow and grow and grow and grow until essentially it consumes everything…

SCULLY: When you see GM though as “Government Motors,” you’re reaction?

OBAMA: Well, you know – look we are trying to help an auto industry that is going through a combination of bad decision making over many years and an unprecedented crisis or at least a crisis we haven’t seen since the 1930′s. And you know the economy is going to bounce back and we want to get out of the business of helping auto companies as quickly as we can. I have got more enough to do without that. In the same way that I want to get out of the business of helping banks, but we have to make some strategic decisions about strategic industries…

SCULLY: States like California in desperate financial situation, will you be forced to bail out the states?

OBAMA: No. I think that what you’re seeing in states is that anytime you got a severe recession like this, as I said before, their demands on services are higher. So, they are sending more money out. At the same time, they’re bringing less tax revenue in. And that’s a painful adjustment, what we’re going end up seeing is lot of states making very difficult choices there…

SCULLY: William Howard Taft served on the court after his presidency, would you have any interest in being on the Supreme Court?

OBAMA: You know, I am not sure that I could get through Senate confirmation… (That’s why I love this guy. He’s smart and funny.)

Hello, Youdopia.  This is a cartoon from the Chicago Tribune in 1934. Sound familiar?  Click the pic to see from where I ginked it.

Poor boys and pilgrims with families, and we’re all going to Graceland.

I knew Obama was going to win when his grandma died the night before the election. That’s mythic. When you’re dealing with something this big, you expect mythic actions. President-Elect Obama has the dubious distinction of being an Archetype.  That’s good and bad. On one hand, he’s a virtual demigod, and his name already will live forever. How many children were created on Election night, and how many will be named Barack? Time will tell. That’s the upside.

The downside is that Mr Obama can never live up to the hype. Of course, the last young, vibrant couple who took over the White House and shook things up were the Kennedys.  The Clintons… wolves in sheep’s clothing there. That’s a belabored point, but a valid one. It’s not easy being a manifestation of the Zeitgeist. When the spirit leaves him, he’ll just be a man (Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?), and the collective doesn’t really want a man. The Sun smiled upon George W once, remember? (twice if we’re talking elections) Now he’ll be lucky to get a job in the Garden Center at the Crawford Wal-Mart.

May you live in interesting times. Indeed.

Btw- That creature is still slouching toward Bethlehem.

Hail Eris,

Discordian.com asks a favor.

This American election represents a chance to retake the memetic landscape of the US. PLEASE HELP.

To the US Americans on this list:
Please vote for Barack Obama.

To the Californians on this list:
Please vote NO on Prop 8.

To everyone else:
Please urge your friends in the US and California to vote for Obama and against Prop 8. While the US may be waning, it is still a cultural behemoth in the world, and its policies affect people everywhere. Please help.

Please vote TOMORROW NOVEMBER 4. Don’t know your polling place? http://maps.google.com/vote

Let me tell you why this should matter to you, as a Discordian.

We normally avoid politics in an official capacity (though everyone involved in Discordian.com and KallistiCon holds strong political opinions, we rarely mix politics and irreligion). This year is different.

We had to say something!

There are many of you who say that voting doesn’t matter, it only upholds the validity of the state and that either candidate is a vote for The System.

We refuse to believe that!

The System doesn’t need your vote to feel validated, and we DO need your vote to make things in this country and the rest of the world a little better. If anything, The System wants you to feel disenfranchised and apathetic so it can get on with fucking you over while you lay the fuck down and let it.

Don’t be duped into thinking you don’t matter!

Here’s our top 5 reasons to PLEASE VOTE FOR OBAMA:

5. Our goal is to make this world and this country a weirder, better, more fun place to live. Given the governmental structure, we feel we must be involved and engaged in governance of this country. The government isn’t falling any time soon (and we must admit that if it did, we’d probably be the first against the wall), so in order to have a government that sucks less, we have to get involved. Voting may be a small gesture, but it is a first step on the way towards reclaiming an American government that represents ALL the people, even the Discordians.

4. Palin may be hot, but she’s also a scary Christian dominionist. She is a “prayer warrior” and a part of a group that seeks to control governments all across the world to create a one-world government for Jesus. I wish I were joking. Start your research here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-wilson/katherine-harris-was-in-s_b_140164.html You better believe that the more power these people get, the more danger we crazy heretics are in. If you want more links, email stmae@discordian.com.

3. On a practical level, much of the law that affects our daily lives is based on case law and decisions from the Supreme Court. The next President will have the chance to replace as many as 3 Supreme Court justices. Even a less-rabidly-conservative Republican like McCain will appoint conservative justices, and this will tip the balance to a majority conservative bench. These people will be in place for decades after this President is gone. We cannot afford a majority conservative Supreme Court!

2. Supply-side economics sucks! Trickle down doesn’t fucking trickle down. The current global economic crisis can be directly traced to deregulation of Federal economic policy – deregulation pushed by, endorsed by and voted for by McCain.

1. What better way to piss off all the racists at once than to elect a black President? Obviously not all those who oppose Obama are racists, but all the racists sure do hate him. Seriously, what better Jake than to anger every white supremacist asshole in the country?

You may be reading this and saying, “so I don’t like McCain, but what about Nader?” Let’s be realistic here – Nader is not going to win, nor is any other third party candidate. Voting for a third party is about securing funding for them for future elections, and about registering dissent with the two-party system. This is important, and if you’re in a very safely Democrat state, please go ahead and vote your conscience. If you are in a contested or red state, please consider that this year, the Sucks Less Party may win and your vote can really help make a nation-wide difference. We humbly ask you to vote Democrat even if you have to hold your nose to do it.

For the Californians, here’s why you should vote against Prop 8.

Prop 8 seeks to remove the right of same sex couples to marry by amending the state Constitution to define marriage as being between one man and one woman.

You should vote against it because:

5. Amending the state Constitution to remove a right – any right – sets a dangerous precedent.

4. Yet again, pissing off bigots = WIN.

3. The very right to privacy is based on the fact that the US Constitution does not define marriage or private relationships. We don’t have a Constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy, it’s all based on case law. Amending the California Constitution paves the way towards an amendment of the US Constitution, and then you can kiss your privacy goodbye.

2. The pro-8 jerks say that voting down 8 means kids will get taught about gay marriage in schools, while the anti-8 people say they won’t. We say, it’s dangerously ignorant for a kid not to learn about queer people. Bring it the fuck on.

1. Hollywood. Where would our entertainment industry be without gay people? Letting same sex couples marry in our state will attract talented creative people in all industries and can only be good for our economy, not to mention what we watch on television and on the big screen.

Obviously there are a lot more reasons to vote for Obama and against Prop 8, and if you’re interested send an email to stmae@discordian.com and we’ll happily feed you more.

Will Obama be a perfect President? Of course not. Will he be a wonderful representative for Discordians, in all our freaky glory? Probably not. Will he maybe actually listen to us (instead of ignoring, disenfranchising, and criminalizing us as Bush has)? Yes. Is he the best choice we’ve had in decades? HELL FUCKING YES.

Please don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Please vote tomorrow, and please vote for Obama.

Discordians, progressives, and weirdos around the world will thank you. Feel free to pass this on, repost, whatever.

All hail Discordia,

St. Mae
Discordian.com

Hi, youdopians,

The motivation matters not. I think this is funny.

ha ha, charade you are

I ginked this straight off the NYT Op/Ed page. Sorry. There’s a permalink to the story at the bottom of the page. I see exactly what the RNC is doing. Getting the masses riled up to solve the problem of Obama. Bang. Thud. President McCain.

If you think way back to the start of this marathon campaign, back when it seemed preposterous that any black man could be a serious presidential contender, then you remember the biggest fear about Barack Obama: a crazy person might take a shot at him.

Some voters told reporters that they didn’t want Obama to run, let alone win, should his very presence unleash the demons who have stalked America from Lincoln to King. After consultation with Congress, Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, gave Obama a Secret Service detail earlier than any presidential candidate in our history — in May 2007, some eight months before the first Democratic primaries.

“I’ve got the best protection in the world, so stop worrying,” Obama reassured his supporters. Eventually the country got conditioned to his appearing in large arenas without incident (though I confess that the first loud burst of fireworks at the end of his convention stadium speech gave me a start). In America, nothing does succeed like success. The fear receded.

Until now. At McCain-Palin rallies, the raucous and insistent cries of “Treason!” and “Terrorist!” and “Kill him!” and “Off with his head!” as well as the uninhibited slinging of racial epithets, are actually something new in a campaign that has seen almost every conceivable twist. They are alarms. Doing nothing is not an option.

All’s fair in politics. John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.

What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.

By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.

That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.

We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.

Obama can hardly be held accountable for Ayers’s behavior 40 years ago, but at least McCain and Palin can try to take some responsibility for the behavior of their own supporters in 2008. What’s troubling here is not only the candidates’ loose inflammatory talk but also their refusal to step in promptly and strongly when someone responds to it with bloodthirsty threats in a crowded arena. Joe Biden had it exactly right when he expressed concern last week that “a leading American politician who might be vice president of the United States would not just stop midsentence and turn and condemn that.” To stay silent is to pour gas on the fires.

It wasn’t always thus with McCain. In February he loudly disassociated himself from a speaker who brayed “Barack Hussein Obama” when introducing him at a rally in Ohio. Now McCain either backpedals with tardy, pro forma expressions of respect for his opponent or lets second-tier campaign underlings release boilerplate disavowals after ugly incidents like the chilling Jim Crow-era flashback last week when a Florida sheriff ranted about “Barack Hussein Obama” at a Palin rally while in full uniform.

From the start, there have always been two separate but equal questions about race in this election. Is there still enough racism in America to prevent a black man from being elected president no matter what? And, will Republicans play the race card? The jury is out on the first question until Nov. 4. But we now have the unambiguous answer to the second: Yes.

McCain, who is no racist, turned to this desperate strategy only as Obama started to pull ahead. The tone was set at the Republican convention, with Rudy Giuliani’s mocking dismissal of Obama as an “only in America” affirmative-action baby. We also learned then that the McCain campaign had recruited as a Palin handler none other than Tucker Eskew, the South Carolina consultant who had worked for George W. Bush in the notorious 2000 G.O.P. primary battle where the McCains and their adopted Bangladeshi daughter were slimed by vicious racist rumors.

No less disconcerting was a still-unexplained passage of Palin’s convention speech: Her use of an unattributed quote praising small-town America (as opposed to, say, Chicago and its community organizers) from Westbrook Pegler, the mid-century Hearst columnist famous for his anti-Semitism, racism and violent rhetorical excess. After an assassin tried to kill F.D.R. at a Florida rally and murdered Chicago’s mayor instead in 1933, Pegler wrote that it was “regrettable that Giuseppe Zangara shot the wrong man.” In the ’60s, Pegler had a wish for Bobby Kennedy: “Some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in public premises before the snow falls.”

This is the writer who found his way into a speech by a potential vice president at a national political convention. It’s astonishing there’s been no demand for a public accounting from the McCain campaign. Imagine if Obama had quoted a Black Panther or Louis Farrakhan — or William Ayers — in Denver.

The operatives who would have Palin quote Pegler have been at it ever since. A key indicator came two weeks after the convention, when the McCain campaign ran its first ad tying Obama to the mortgage giant Fannie Mae. Rather than make its case by using a legitimate link between Fannie and Obama (or other Democratic leaders), the McCain forces chose a former Fannie executive who had no real tie to Obama or his campaign but did have a black face that could dominate the ad’s visuals.

There are no black faces high in the McCain hierarchy to object to these tactics. There hasn’t been a single black Republican governor, senator or House member in six years. This is a campaign where Palin can repeatedly declare that Alaska is “a microcosm of America” without anyone even wondering how that might be so for a state whose tiny black and Hispanic populations are each roughly one-third the national average. There are indeed so few people of color at McCain events that a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally in Panama City in August, even though he was standing with other reporters and showed his credentials. His only apparent infraction was to look glaringly out of place.

Could the old racial politics still be determinative? I’ve long been skeptical of the incessant press prognostications (and liberal panic) that this election will be decided by racist white men in the Rust Belt. Now even the dimmest bloviators have figured out that Americans are riveted by the color green, not black — as in money, not energy. Voters are looking for a leader who might help rescue them, not a reckless gambler whose lurching responses to the economic meltdown (a campaign “suspension,” a mortgage-buyout stunt that changes daily) are as unhinged as his wanderings around the debate stage.

To see how fast the tide is moving, just look at North Carolina. On July 4 this year — the day that the godfather of modern G.O.P. racial politics, Jesse Helms, died — The Charlotte Observer reported that strategists of both parties agreed Obama’s chances to win the state fell “between slim and none.” Today, as Charlotte reels from the implosion of Wachovia, the McCain-Obama race is a dead heat in North Carolina and Helms’s Republican successor in the Senate, Elizabeth Dole, is looking like a goner.

But we’re not at Election Day yet, and if voters are to have their final say, both America and Obama have to get there safely. The McCain campaign has crossed the line between tough negative campaigning and inciting vigilantism, and each day the mob howls louder. The onus is on the man who says he puts his country first to call off the dogs, pit bulls and otherwise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/opinion/12rich.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Do I think this clip was leaked? Well, youdopia, yes I do. I think it was leaked on purpose, but I think it was leaked. It’s pretty funny, as funny as the Simpsons get most days. Twenty years is a long time.  I hope you enjoy this little clip.