Black and White and Red All Over

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 11:58 a.m. -
OK, I've finally gotten it straight in my head thanks to a picture of Ashcroft standing in front of an enormous word: "CHRISTIAN"

I've got a new angle, or actually I guess an old but unused angle, that must from now on be the only left-approved sound bite in the Glorious New Era of Message Discipline:

Republicans make Jesus look like an asshole!

Where's the swinging, wine-drinking, man-hugging, banker-hating Jeez the rest of us know and love and kind of feel sorry for because he's too earnest to get laid? He's nowhere, nohow. So-called Christians kept only the worst parts of the Old and New Testaments and used the rest to print money.

So let's take back the Jeez and remember to yell:

Republicans make Jesus look like an asshole!

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 11:31 a.m. -
You like monkeys, right? Of course you do. Probably like hats, too, yeah? And squid? Click already. No disappointment.

Saturday, November 6, 2004 - 03:25 p.m. -
Nice idea. Wear black on Tuesday the 9th, then get on with the business of building a machine to rival that of the right.

Thursday, November 4, 2004 - 03:20 p.m. -
Very nice piece by Jason Kottke that captures how I feel about Blue-State rage and what to do next time.

Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 03:38 p.m. -
This will make you feel better.

Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 02:12 p.m. -
Slightly abridged communique to a dear, worried, gay-married friend:

I'm not very happy myself, but am resigned to a lot of hard work ahead for us. There's a lot of energy going into despair right now that's going to claw its way out into something more constructive soon. I think the best, but hardest, thing to keep in mind is that elections mostly aren't about issues and logic - it's all image, emotion and marketing. Even for us supposedly smart, above-it-all lefty types.

Clinton got that, and even he needed Perot to help push him over the top. We won't get another Perot for a while, so we've got to re-brand the left just enough to convince a couple of a million people (maybe 2% of the voters) spread through Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Florida that we've got what they need. Not easy, but very possible - especially when Bush starts tossing meat to the right and alienates everyone to the left of Pat Robertson. We can turn that into some searing images and super-red-hot buttons if we quit trying to convince people with essays and too-clever bon mots. (By "we" I most emphatically mean "me.")

If Roe v. Wade goes down, the Republican party will go down with it - and I think we'll see a woman in the White House shortly thereafter. I honestly think that its overturn would be the best thing to happen to the American left in a zillion years.

Don't give up on marriage. If Massachusetts can hang in there for a few more years, most of the arguments against it will fall apart (though see above about the worth of arguments). As Andrew Sullivan says, in Massachusetts now voting against gay marriage means tearing apart families - the emotional resonance has changed. Also, the mainstreaming of gays and lesbians into pop culture is a huge force that's working wonders on young people's tolerance*. You know the Washington legal scene better than I do (thank god for that), but I think the long view is a lot better than what we've got now.

And I think your dad is wrong about fascism. Its time is past, for lots of reasons. Here's one: fascism can only win with much more than 51% of the vote. Here's another, more important: fascism is bad for business. I don't want to be one of those people who says "It can't happen here," and I am of course concerned about the "modifications" of civil liberties, the intense secrecy of the executive branch, and the future of the Supreme Court, but I think they're bringing a huge backlash down on themselves, much greater than the now-moderate-seeming Reagan.

* Did I just write "young people?" Kill me, please.

Wednesday, November 3, 2004 - 11:35 a.m. -
I suppose I should write something. So: Thanks a lot, Ohio - this has been the best birthday ever.

So I was off by about 8% in my prediction - it's not all about me, right? I think once Bush really starts overreaching (we haven't seen anything yet), we're going to see a left that is heartier and more robust than it's been since the Depression. I told Janet last night that if Roe v. Wade goes down, as it very well might, we'll have our first woman president within the next eight years.

Here's some interesting post-election blogging:

Bull Moose is apparentlly a semi-famous blogger who retired for a while - I only heard about him recently. He's one of those righties who endorsed Kerry and thinks Bush is a maniac; good, thoughtful stuff.

The Regular styles itslef as a Slashdot for political news, and is well worth checking out. Less opinion, more odd little side trails to follow.

Talking Points Memo is always good.

The Washington Monthly has a fine blog written mostly by Political Animal Kevin Drum.

And duh, Wonkette!

Very Important Persons

Dalton

Dexter

Jill

Jonathan

Larry

Michael

Paul