Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

WE ARE WINNING.

At this moment: Obama wins NH, VT, MA, CT, NJ, DE, MD, DC, PA, and IL.

McLame: AL, GA, SC, TN, KY and OK.

Electoral: 103 Obama, 58 McCain.

This is not just a rout, so far: it's a reckoning. It is a fucking earthquake.

Hagan won NC. Buh-bye, Liddy!

It's hard to try to focus on regular ol' political fuckery in the midst of this, but I'll do my best, here.

Our first task: when Lieberman comes up for reelection, his ass has to go:

With the possibility that Democrats might soon gain a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) has been openly flirting with thoughts of voting with his conservative colleagues. Last week, ThinkProgress noted that prominent conservatives like Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) said he would welcome Lieberman “with open arms.”

Today, in an interview with right-wing radio host Glenn Beck, Lieberman made clear that he firmly opposes Democrats gaining 60 seats in the Senate, saying that the survival of the country is in doubt if Democrats break the filibuster threshold:

BECK: But do you agree that Senator Hatch said to me that if we don’t at least have the firewall of the filibuster in the Senate that in many ways America will not survive?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I hope it’s not like that, but I fear.

Lieberman also hinted that next session, he would be supportive of conservative efforts to filibuster progressive legislation.

He's a dead man in the Democratic caucus. I hope that little shit gets so marginalized he can't see power on a clear day from a height.

Sarah Palin's already seen the writing on the wall, and is trying to write some of her own graffitti:

CNN reports on Sarah Palin, fielding a few questions from reporters this morning in Alaska, including one about what kind of role she envisions for herself in national politics if McCain comes up short today. The traditional answer is for a candidate to emphasize how focused he or she is on the current election, not the next one.

Palin, however, "did not hesitate" to speculate about a future that might not include the vice presidency. Indeed, she seems to have given this some thought.

"You know, if there is a role in national politics it won't be so much partisan," she said. "My efforts have always been here in the state of Alaska to get everybody to unite and work together and progress this state."

"It would certainly be a uniter type of role," she added.

Hmm. "Uniter, not a divider," eh? I think we've heard that tune before, and we're not singing it again.

McCain should've given her a dagger when he selected her. I hope he doesn't turn his back tonight.

She's remarkably shy about sharing her support for certain convicted felons in the Senate:

Sarah Palin, asked a few moments ago in Wasilla, Alaska who she voted for in her state's Senate race, said:

I am also exercising my right to privacy and I don't have to tell anybody who I vote for. Nobody does, and that's really cool about America also.

Funny. She used to love proclaiming her support for Ted Stevens. Now she's hiding. Wonder why that is?

Sen. Orrin Hatch has a hard time understanding what other countries actually think:

I have no idea what Orrin Hatch is talking about.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said Monday that the United States will "lose a lot of stature throughout the world" if Barack Obama is elected president.

Looking forward to a potential Obama administration in an interview with CNN, Hatch said, "...We're going to lose a lot of stature throughout the world because we have somebody who, though eloquent and a very nice person, who I like, who doesn't know what he's talking about."

Now, I don't usually look to Orrin Hatch for insightful political analysis, but this is especially odd. The Washington Times reported this morning that "more than 4,000 foreign journalists have been granted credentials to cover the campaign finale," because the "whole planet is obsessed with the U.S. presidential election." Do you suppose they're all captivated by John McCain?

We also know this: "Gallup Polls conducted in 73 countries from May to October 2008 reveal widespread international support for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama over Republican Sen. John McCain in the U.S. presidential election."

The entire world, outside of al Qaeda, is begging us not to subject them to another four years of Bush/McCain buggering. Hatch has it exactly backwards: it's a McCain win that will make America "lose a lot of stature."

That's Cons, for you: if they say "up," you can be sure the correct direction is "down."

And now they're worried about voting machine fuckery. Heh:

Is the GOP now laying the groundwork for claims of computerized voter fraud?

The computer forensics company Forensicon just sent out the following press release:

Republican National Committee Prepares for Computerized Voting Fraud Legal Battle CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - November 4, 2008) - Forensicon, Inc., a Chicago-based computer forensics company, was contacted last Thursday by a security firm lining up vendors to assist the Republican National Committee with consulting related to potential allegations of computerized voter fraud. It has been widely reported that electronic voting machines in many states are vulnerable to hacking by anyone with the right equipment and a few minutes' access to the voting machine.

Yesterday, noted Chicago resident Oprah Winfrey attempted to cast her vote for her candidate, but the vote failed to register correctly.

It has been widely reported that electronic voting machines in many states are vulnerable to hacking by anyone with the right equipment and a few minutes' access to the voting machine with a handheld computing device. The lack of printed voting receipts in many of these systems leaves the election ballots in many areas vulnerable to rampant fraud and abuse.

"If the election returns vary significantly from the polled numbers in any precincts that proves crucial to the election outcome, I expect that a legal struggle over the validity of the election results will ensue," said Forensicon's President, Lee Neubecker.

You know something? Based on the exit polls, I think they're going to want to walk that one back in a hurry.

See you at the victory party, my darlings.