Much has been written and said about post election depression.  I feel your pain.  Instead of spending say ten hours a day on the internet I am down to maybe one hour.   Just when I thought Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com was a member of the family I now realize he will not be coming here for Thanksgiving.  Of course Nate doesn’t have the blues or too much time on his hands because, as the hottest dude in politics at the moment, he is probably writing a book with a gazillion dollar advance.   By the way, Nate is still writing good stuff on his web site which should at least ease your addiction.

But if you think you are down and out, have you watched the 24 hour news channels this week?  Oh boy are they stretching.  I think Chris Matthews spent a good half hour last night on the vetting of Hillary Clinton and Bubba.  Fox, of course, can stay on Obama the Terrorist watch which they will do for the next eight years.  That is right I said eight years.  That ought to brighten Sean Hannity’s day.

Speaking of blue, by now you probably saw the map that first appeared in the New York Times two days after the election.  It showed a sea of blue across the country where the Democrats garnered more votes than in 2004.  It was pretty impressive with the only change in the other direction in that part of the country I like to call McJesus Land.

But before you all get full of yourself and start thinking of generations to come of
Democrats in the White House, have a cold beer and chill out.  Think about what really caused this shift in 2008.  Obama and his people ran a nearly flawless campaign, they had a money advantage by several tons and they had just about every issue on their side.   Let me tick off just a few for you.  You have a discredited President who accomplished nothing, a partially corrupt administration, agencies run by hacks with the American people now paying the price, an economy in the toilet, two wars with no end in sight and Mr. Affable Dick Cheney at your side.   Then you get a Republican candidate who runs the worst campaign of my lifetime, who picks a running mate because she appealed to the far right wing nut bolts, and in a very un-Republican like move can’t even come up with a decent wedge issue to frighten millions of voters. Dick Nixon is spinning in his grave.  You pretty much destroyed his legacy.

The bottom line is it would not take much to change things around.  Obama will be saddled with the Bush wreckage and if the GOP wants to mount a decent campaign with two qualified decent candidates they will be right back in the running.  And I can’t wait for the campaign to begin.  I think that is next year so Nate Silver better hurry up and write that book so he can get back to feeding our junkie habits.

In the end all they had left was a bullet that had already been shot.   The McCain campaign could think of nothing else to do but run ads featuring washed up preacher Jeramiah Wright.  In other words the right wing fear mongers had a gun with nothing but an empty chamber.  Oh Fox News tried, I am told.  They spent the day trying to stoke anger and that didn’t work either.  Richard Nixon is spinning in his grave.  The man who invented divisive politics for modern America has seen his legacy crushed by the goodness of the United States of America.

They couldn’t even make it work right here in Indiana.  The state that sealed Obama’s nomination was too close to call all night and in the dead of night went to Barack Obama.   I have never been so proud to be a Hoosier or the once young man who went to high school in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.  Oh they spent the last of the ammunition in Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania gave them the finger.

When I voted yesterday I was afraid I would make a mistake because the tears made it hard to see.  I hugged my wife and we walked with arms around each others waist back to our car.   I said I thought I would not see this day come in my life.  And my wife said we didn’t vote for an African American we voted for the best candidate for President in our lifetimes.  Yes we did!

The tears didn’t stop then.  At 11 P.m. I cried like a baby and it felt good and when I opened up my Chicago Tribune (Sweet Home Chicago!) and New York Times this morning I misted over again.

Later in the morning I was out and about and after making a purchase turned around with my buttons and t-shirt on and a young African American woman was standing behind me.  We stared in each others eyes and she gave me a hug and said thank you.  No, thank you.  Thank you for never giving up and thank you for helping drive a stake into the once dark side of America.

God Bless the USA!

With Halloween rapidly approaching I want to get out word that if I show up at your house do not be frightened. You see I am a liberal but it is hard to tell by appearance.

Let me tell you a little something about liberals like me so you can be assured I will not steal the other kids candy and give it away like some kind of socialist.

I was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania and went to high school in the now politically hot Beaver County. My dad worked for U.S. Steel and nearly all of my friends dads worked in steel plants.

I have always lived in middle class homes.

I believe to this day that my Catholic education in grade school and at the University of Notre Dame provided the moral foundation of my life.

I still believe in my faith but not everything the church teaches.

I firmly believe a woman should decide what to do with her body.

I do not believe in late term abortions except to protect the health of the woman.

I believe all of us, no matter our politics or religious beliefs should work together to dramatically reduce the number of abortions.

I firmly oppose the death penalty because I do not believe the state should lower itself to the level of the worst elements of society.

I firmly believe we need more police, more judges, fewer plea deals and longer sentences for those who commit the worst crimes.

I ardently support sportsmen.  In fact i wish they could cull a few more deer around here.

I believe we all need to work together to reduce the number of illegal and unnecessary handguns and no one, other than certain law enforcement personnel, should be allowed assault weapons.

I believe the founding fathers called for the separation of church and state so that the government would not infringe on your right to practice your religion.  They did not do it so religion could infringe on the political process.

I believe in universal health care because in the long run it saves money.  If people are healthier then there is less money spent on health care.

I thought the war in Iraq was a farce before we went there.  I believe the war in Afghanistan will be lost if we don’t put more troops on the ground and do it soon.

I do not watch violent movies.

I have never viewed a porno web site.  If I ever do, Sister Raphael from St. Wendelin’s in Pittsburgh will come out of her grave and throw her alarm clock at me again.

If Barack Obama is elected many “liberals” will be disappointed (but not me) when they discover he will govern from the middle.

I have seen Bruce Springsteen in concert 72 times and still think that is too few.

I love having friends who don’t think like me.  I would be bored surrounded by people like me.

I love my wife and both sons, even if one of them is a Republican.

So there you go.  Do not be frightened.  But keep the candy.

One of my best friends around here has been a hockey mom for well more than a decade and for the past two years has pulled double duty with her other son as a lacrosse mom.

But right now I am so ashamed of her and for her that I feel I need to hide her identity. So I will call her “Karen.” Karen dresses like a slob.  I don’t know where she buys what she calls clothes but it might be at some place called Talbot’s.  I know it is not Lane Bryant because she is kind of small.  Wherever she buys those rags she is an embarrassment to herself and her family and now to her friends.  I realize she has a part time job, lives on a budget, is sending one son to a nice college and preparing to send off the other but this is ridiculous. Continue reading this post…

It takes a lot to distract me from the baseball playoffs.  For me there are only two seasons a year, baseball season and winter.  But I was distracted last night as Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay!) throttled the Red Sox in game three of the ALCS.

A feature article in this week’s (10/20) Time Magazine is called “One Bright Spot on Main Street.”  So where is this bright spot in a land now filled with cloudy days?  Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh!).  Yes siree, Pittsburgh, Pa.  The land of the Stillers, gum bands,a real confluence and sandwiches with the french fries between the slices of bread. Continue reading this post…

Here are my random thoughts the morning after the second Presidential debate.

1.  The most important number from all of the instant polling was the question of “who was most likable?” Obama won that one in a landslide.   Wow!  A likable black guy.  What is next, a likable Mexican?

2.  After last night maybe McCain won’t keep begging for more town hall meetings.

3.  I like Wolf Blitzer.  As a former news guy I envy the role he has but sometimes I think he pulls his punches.  But not last night when he instantly noticed and said McCain had disdain for Obama.

4. Does Cindy have disdain for Michelle?  Michelle does buy her dresses at Target and that could be an issue. Continue reading this post…

Some of my friends who are Chicago White Sox fans are just a couple of steps short of gloating today.  Sure the Sox got knocked out of the playoffs by the young, good and inspired Tampa Bay Rays but at least THEY won a game.  The Cubs however did not and did not come close.

I should point out that I am a Pittsburgh Pirates fan but when it comes to Major League Baseball I am a White Sox fan.

I did not think the White Sox would make the playoffs especially after stupid Carlos Quenton broke his hand in anger.  I HAD Quenton at the top of my list for AL MVP.  After what he did he should not get a vote. Continue reading this post…

Before I get to the matter at hand (saving America) I have a prediction for tonight’s Vice-Presidential Debate.  Her handlers know their best chance to grab the headline for Sarah Palin is to have given her one of those gotcha moments.  You know, like “where’s the beef.”  Of course those moments mean nothing .  It will have to be something simple and something she can remember.  So, when she sees the opening she will smile at Joe Biden and quip something about Biden’s silly comment two weeks ago about watching FDR on television.  Wanna bet?

Now back to saving America.  I wish to nominate former Today Show host Jane Pauley for Vice-President. Continue reading this post…

I met Paul Newman once.  It was really ugly.  It was 1968 and I was a pup reporter and Newman came to South Bend to campaign for Senator Eugene McCarthy.  That was the last time before this year the Indiana Primary meant squat in the nominating process.

After I interviewed both of them we followed along in our news car as Newman rode in the back of an open station wagon.  And right before my eyes I saw people throw rocks at Paul Newman.  He never quit the ride and he never flinched and the local idiots never hit him either.  They tried to stone Paul Newman because he opposed the war in Vietnam.  Mankind has a long history of stoning good people.  While I did not cover the event myself, it is well recorded in this big book that some fellow named Jesus got stoned too. Continue reading this post…