...where I'm laughing and crying at the same time. I almost can't believe we're going to win. I'm so happy, but its hard to believe. I really shouldn't be checking this place after 36 sleepless hours, 2 beers, and a major surgery for my frustratingly Republican mother. Jesus Christ, I'm crying over 'wassup'.

And wouldn't that be delicious.

Especially ones that calm me down like this=P

Revenge TR'd until you remove the TR abuse from the comments above this.

I am.  The man had a lot of dumb opinions, and the opinions he had that were sensible or even (gasp) wise were expressed with such a tone-deaf lack of tact that he undermined both himself and his values, but he didn't hate whites, didn't incite violence, and has never been the monster the left has allowed him to be portrayed as simply because defending him is difficult.

Different is not deficient.

if I admitted to being nervous about this? McCain isn't the only one with a brand to protect. Maybe I just really did want a more civil campaign, but I worry that attacking McCain directly damages Obama's cool and unruffled appeal.

I trust the campaign; they've been smarter than me at every turn so far. But I am nervous.

The telegenic charismatic man has something of depth to say. The telegenic charismatic woman isn't even coherent. I don't mind hooker-talk from my politicians, but I require my political escorts to keep up at the dinner table.

Of him getting that $5000 stroke-covering makeup put on that said, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt" but I can't find it anywhere=/.

To hear someone tell the god's honest truth about this. Rec'd like crazy

A reshaping of the American attitude to accept that we are one of several 1st world countries, not the lone world superpower any longer.

Energy independance by 2024 (I'm ambitious=P)

Carbon neutrality by 2030 (Very ambitious)

Nation-wide mass transit.

Single Payer Healthcare.

Government subsidized housing for all citizens (you heard me: no homelessness for those willing to play by the rules of the program).

A Supreme court striking of any Constitutional or State Constitutional ammendments to limit marriage.

Thank you very much for the compliment. Considering some of the great stuff we've got on here, I consider it extremely high praise.

If applauding these guys causes them to dig in their heals, I'm for it. Our Democratic leadership is in a position of strength and should be using that to craft a progressive bill to address that, not to window-dress an executive powergrab.

Make no mistake, it is window dressing. The "oversight"? Paulson can request the money as quickly as he wants. As soon as he does, Congress has 15 days to vote against it. Bush can veto that vote at any point without resetting that countdown. If they don't over-rule him with a 2/3 majority (ha!) before the end of the fifteenth day, then the money goes out and that is that.

The limits on executive pay? A joke. They only limit severence and only on new contracts and only for two years. Pathetic. A cute gesture. Now I don't feel we need to be focused on being punitive, but let's get real if that is one of our stated goals: this is an attempt to distract the voter and nothing more. It'll make campaign ads a lot easier. "Pelosi voted for limits on CEO golden parachutes. I'm Nancy Pelosi and I approve this pander."

The Bill hasn't had time to be vetted by the press and the people. And why? Because of an artificial doomsday date. The amount of money and the do-or-die date were both pulled out of this administration's ass. Wanna know why the market tanked on Monday? It's not because there was no bill; it's because there was no bill and people were expecting one. Bush and McCain's theatrics and our complicity allowing them to claim that the world was ending without being critical of that claim created, not predicted, the Monday crisis.

Repeat after me:

This.
Bill.
Is.
A.
Joke.

It's a blatant power grab that still lacks any meaningful oversight or spending guidelines. The best any Democrat in the senate has been able to say is that it "Give Henry Paulson the freedom to pursue a better tactic than the proposed one." The freedom? Oh good, because I'm certain this unelected Goldman Sach's shareholding Bush appointee is sure to take a measured approach to this crisis that has our best interests at heart.

Pathetic.

I hope that the Republican's manage to put this on hold until an Obama administration. I hope that we as Democrats take ownership of this recovery the way the Republicans are having to take ownership of the crash. I'm not willing to ransom the progressive agenda to the tune of 700 billion dollars to the Bush administration, and I'm certainly not willing to take the fall for their bad bill.

Fuck that. Can I say that here? Fuck that. FDR was offered an acting Presidency by Hoover months early. He turned it down, and Hoover certainly did manage to cause a fair bit of suffering with his poor leadership in the interim. What he accomplished by this, though, was avoiding tying himself to the existing agenda. By forcing the opposition to own the massive failure they'd allowed, he received a powerful mandate and that is what made the New Deal possible.

Sweeping reform doesn't happen just because you have the Presidency (see Bill Clinton). It doesn't happen just because you control Congress (see now). True reform (banking oversight, insurance and healthcare reform, limits on spending, increases in FDIC coverage, mortgage security etc) can only happen if politics is not a concern, and that only occurs with a mandate from the people. FDR knew how you get that mandate. You don't tie your own hands to make a two month period slightly less painful and a bad administration look slightly less ugly.

So go House Republicans! Thank you for having such delicate sensibilities that you inadvertantly saved us from our own spinelessness! Thank you for being even dumber than we are! Rah rah rah, go GOP! Hooray Fiscal Conservatism, amirite?

Now lets all stop worrying about placating the right and lets all stop crying about praising the right. Let's get together a small Progressive bill that will hold us over for a few months. Not 700 Billion free; 100 Billion focused and directed, and maybe less. Let's ram a Bill we like down their throats with full Democratic support. Bush wouldn't dare veto in the environment he himself has created. Then let's ride the inevitable down turn that no bill will prevent until we get to an Obama Presidency and lets get that New New Deal we've been talking about.