JayFublerHarvey.com

I’m sure that five years from now, a lifelong Chicagoan might say something to me to the effect of “You don’t what the hell you’re talking about…you haven’t lived here long enough to really understand Chicago.”

Hopefully, they’ll be wrong by then. But, right now, they’d be mostly correct. Eight months is barely enough time to get all of your affairs in order, let alone develop an accurate view of the political reality of your ward, let alone the city as a whole.

And yet…I need to do my duty. I will vote for a mayoral and alderman candidate next Tuesday. (Actually, I would have voted this past Thursday, but early voting got cut off right when people were getting off from work…thanks guys!)

*raises glass* Here’s hoping I’ve navigated enough through the flotsam and jetsam of Chitown bullshit in this short period of time to chose somewhat intelligently…

(You can blame it on the new guy if things go even more to hell :) )

A pastor…a man with strong influence over a number of people…has stated that he hates President Obama. He makes it clear that he’s not talking about the President’s politics…he hates the man himself. “Break his teeth, Oh God”…”let him pass away”, the pastor has stated.

Take a listen for yourself: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/09/07/ktvk.az.rally.church.ktvk

Sure, people are free to have their own thoughts and beliefs. That same freedom gives the rest of us the ability to point out when others ideas/beliefs are based on inaccurate information or even unreasonable fear and paranoia. Ignorance/hate based ideology, in the end, helps no one…

I’ve been watching closely the ever growing paranoia and fear that’s been accumulating by anti-Obama groups (and how it’s being used to further conservative agendas) and I can’t just not comment on it any longer. I applaud those who are taking the high road when it comes to all the nonsense (Obama being a Nazi, for example), but I just hope they don’t take too high a road and not realize how many people are seeming to jump on this bandwagon. (I listen to conversative radio often to hear the other side…sometimes it feels like my head’s going to explode)

With a number of schools not willing to show the President’s speech to school children, a common speech that past presidents have made, I fear the nonsense is far from being over. I worry that this balloon will pop in an unfortunate manner…

You know…I did think I would see a minority of one form or another as President of the United States at some point during my life. The continual change of the racial/ethnic make up of this country pretty much dictated that such a thing would be more likely in time. Also, each new generation seems to have a more natural ability (or just simply less scars) to accept various shades of diversity as commonplace. Even with that, I figured I’d be cruising along with my AARP card before I got to see someone of color in charge of the USA.

Aren’t some surprises grand? :)

How many children are going to go to bed tonight and realize…truly realize, that when their parents say “You can be president someday”, it’s not simply talk?

This really does change everything…on so many levels.

Seeing so many people both here and around the world burst into spontaneous joy and celebration (the impromptu party outside the White House was fantastic)…such a incredible rush of relief…it was a wonderful sight to behold…

The Obama administration has inherited a mess of a country to work on…but they don’t have to do it alone. Significant change is rarely easy, but it is doable…and it’s considerably easier to accomplish when people work together. Through our own energies, we create our own reality. There’s no reason that we can’t take care of this. Hope and change ain’t just a bumper sticker…

Congratulations President-Elect Obama!

Congratulations to us all :)

Goodbye ceiling…Hello Sky…

-Jay

PS: On a completely selfish note, it does my heart good to see someone in the White House that is *exactly* like myself: a multiracial man of black/white mix. :)

I’d like everyone to please get out and vote during the next two days. Please do not be dismayed by the long lines on Monday…those lines will be MUCH longer on Tuesday. Also, if you are in line when the polls close, you legally will still be able to vote. (Don’t let anyone tell you differently!).

If you think you’re candidate has got it in the bag, vote anyway! If you think you’re candidate does not have a chance, vote anyway! Remember how close it was in 2000? Remember when Dewey beat Truman? (Oh wait…)

If you wanted to vote, but get to the polls too late on Tuesday, and your state had early voting….you are a moron/fool/ignorant. Pray that your candidate was supported by those who took the time to cast a ballot…

I’m working the polls for the very first time on Tuesday. And it being my first time, the board of elections gave me the job of presiding judge; I actually have more responsibilities than anyone else in my precinct. (Fortunately, I get paid more…but who knows if it will be worth the trouble). I plan on writing all about this after the election. I will say that I’m already disappointed in a number of things I’ve seen (Did you know that if you’re an independent, you CANNOT work the polls in my county?)…and that my local board could stand to have a usability expert work with them on improving…well just about everything.

This is all just part of my ongoing love/hate relationship with politics…Cheerio!

I’m certainly not surprised that the McCain/Palin campaign has brought up Barack Obama’s “connection” with the Weather Underground’s Bill Ayers. When you’re down that far in the polls, you’ll throw anything at the wall to see if it will stick.

I’m also not surprised that the conservative talking heads on radio & TV are magnifying this as far as they can. Not playing up to their base with the Obama-story du jour would be foolish for their careers (and their pocketbooks).

What I am surprised about is the number of people who are treating this as a new story. This is all old hat…Hillary Clinton used it in her campaign back in the day.  End Result: There was nothing to story when Hillary brought it up in the primaries. There’s still nothing to the story now that McPalin has brought it up either.

For those of you who want to know the full non-partisan story, please check out the widely respected FactCheck.org’s page on it:

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html

The sickness: the more people repeat something, the more some people think it’s true.

The tragedy: whenever it happens to be false.

1) New Bat Time…New Bat Place…New Bat Format…Same Shit…

2) McCain referring to Obama as “That One…” (WTF?!)

3) My condolences to all those drinking game mavericks who had “My Friends” as part of your game. Head to the emergency room right now!

Plus One:

4) Obama stayed long after McCain left and talked to all the people present…Right on!

Tina Fey walked right into a goldmine when Sarah Palin joined the race…and she’s running with it for all it’s worth. I love it! She pulled off another great performance last night. (And what a wonderful surprise having Queen Latifah as Ifil!). Check it out:

I thought it was quite obvious that Joe Biden won the debate last night. For the most part, he was vastly more knowledgeable about…everything. Sarah Palin sounds too often like she was spouting rehearsed campaign talking points. (Not to say Biden wasn’t spouting some rehearsed lines, but it wasn’t so blatantly obvious).

Some notes:

• Expectation wise, Palin did better than expected. Since she’s been practicing for weeks now, you’d expect that. But when people are saying “At least she didn’t fall on her face”, it’s still not a good night. Expect diarrhea…end up with a solid floater…things are looking up.
• The minute Palin said she wasn’t going to answer questions the way the moderator or the Senator wanted her to, Biden auto-won. It was chuckle worthy watching her play dodge ‘em with some of the questions….
• Regardless of her performance, from a dude’s point of view, she was still bringing the hotness ;)
• Biden can certainly spin a yarn, but at least his yarn was chock full of experience and facts. I like the fact he was breaking things down in bullet points (”1….2….”). He could done down some of the rhetoric a bit. While politicos like myself appreciate the detail, the average American gets lost (CNN’s dial survey certainly verified that).
• Who would have thought that Biden would almost bring himself to tears? Thankfully, it was genuine…
• What’s up with Biden’s eyes? Was that fatigue or have they always looked like that?
• Ifil stumbled over her words a bit more than I would have expected. I wonder if the blogosphere got to her a little bit.
• As with most debates, neither candidate got all the facts correct…
• I need to sit down and read the transcript of the debate. I did one too many “WTF” in listening to the debate…
• Heard a great quote from WNIR’s Jim Midock just now: “I couldn’t listen to Caribou Barbie anymore.”

Thank you for behaving like adults and passing the bailout bill. America, please email your local congressman and plead for them to pass the bill in the House this time. Don’t let the financial ignorance of the masses doom us all…

I’d like to give a shout out to Barack Obama who, as for 9:15pm EST, has finally become the official Democratic nominee for President! In addition, he’s also setting a number of firsts:

• First African American nominee
  • Historic…and hopefully will let many a young person know that is it possible
• First Black nominee
  • Not everyone uses the term “African American”
• First nominee of color
  • Yes…it possible…for anyone :)
• First Multiracial/Biracial nominee
  • Parents of different races…look it up ^^
• Best basketball playing nominee
  • I’d suggest a one-on-one with McCain, but it requires arms to be raised up…
• Worst bowling nominee
  • Seriously…37?
• Nominee least likely to cheat on his wife in office
  • You know it…Michelle would F him up two times quick for even thinking about it
• First nominee that really needs double the amount of Secret Service offered to him…
  • You know I’m not the only one a little worried…
• First nominee that’ll make America take a long, hard look at itself
  • Bout time…
• First nominee that owes me money…
  • OK…it’s not on his watch, but damn…where’s my $600?

Seriously, congratulations Barack. Get a little rest and then take it the rest of the way…