Some interesting things I've read lately

Here's a quick blog entry to share some interesting things I've been reading:

John Hickenlooper, former mayor of Denver and the newly-elected Governor of Colorado, is a loony. This New York Times piece shares some pretty creative stunts he has pulled, both as an entrepreneur (micro-brewing) and as mayor and gubernatorial candidate. And he seems like a smart guy.

Actor and one-time Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson had a significant role in the Watergate hearings, as chief counsel to Republican senators. He asked the famous televised question about whether there was a recording system in the White House, eventually leading to Richard Nixon's resignation.

Primary Colors is a better book than movie. Thanks to Kurt over at your Daily Gumboot for the recommendation. It's a fascinating read, detailing (fictitiously) Bill Clinton's nomination race. I've submitted a blog piece inspired by the book to my erstwhile editor at the Mainstreet; watch for it soon.

Enjoy.

-B

Obama-rama-rama

Well, there you have it, folks. James is 31. What a night: great friends, beer, an energetic crowd, it had everything but strippers.

Also last night, Barack Obama won the US Presidential election. You thought he was America's first black president, didn't you? Think again. In a speech that moved some friends to tears, Obama graciously accepted our (yes, our) belief that the US can be a better place, that it isn't all NASCAR and Joe Six-Pack, and "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job."

Race this, race that. According to an exit poll I saw today, 98% of blacks in Florida voted for Obama. Makes me think back to this great line from Jon Stewart, at his best on March 19th, 2008, after Obama's great speech on race in America: “And so, at 11 o’clock AM on a Tuesday, a prominent politician spoke to Americans about race as though they were adults.” The clip is lost in interwebspace, or I would link to it. Thanks, Comedy Central.

Votes first

"McCain failed miserably in his first executive decision, that of putting America in safe hands should anything happen to his decrepit ass. He has put the country in the hands of a dreadfully ill prepared and weak politician for the sake of a vote... basically, his own line about "country first" is total bullshit.... it's votes first nothing else; what a patriot!"

I just read this on a football site I belong to. I hadn't thought of that angle at all. An interesting point, one that many McCain supporters will find easy to dismiss by pointing to all her executive experience.

I'll remind everyone that a short while ago Sarah Palin wondered what is it exactly that the V-P does every day. And that her executive experience was as mayor of a town of 7,000.* (Thanks, Bill Maher.)

*and as Governor of Alaska, I know.

Tax and spend Democrats?

I was just clicking through some Wikipedia pages about US federal spending* and found this little gem:

1978-2005:
Party of President---Fed. Spending----Fed. Debt-----GDP
--------------------------Increase--------Increase---Increase
Democrat-----------------9.9%------------4.2%------12.6%
Republican--------------12.1%-----------36.4%------10.7%

Now, I know that there are mitigating factors, and in absolute terms both Reagan and Bush Sr. did decrease spending in one of their years in charge (two years out of twelve), but the numbers are pretty strong, especially the Debt Increase percentages. In Reagan's first term the federal debt increased a whopping 49%, in his second 40%. Spending has increased 18.9% under the current Bush regime.

*searching for some facts to back up my claim that Republicans haven't reduced spending in the past 50 years, a reply to someone who simplistically claimed that Democrats tax and spend and Republicans decrease taxes, spending and government.