The Sunday Evening Post: Censorship Edition

Internet Censorship Comes to the Western World

The Internet Is such a powerful tool for exposing those who do wrong, and everyone from the suburban mother to the Chinese government realizes that. Australia also seems to know that and is preparing a blacklist that that blocks a government accountability website, WikiLeaks. The reason for the block is that WikiLeaks exposes government website censorship lists, which in turn list out sites containing illegal porn. There is absolutely no reason to block WikiLeaks if their web filters work correctly, just because there’s a list somewhere of banned websites doesn’t give anyone inside Australia a magic key to get past their filter.

GOP Wants Execs to Keep Multimillion Bonuses

There’s been a huge firestorm over the million dollars bonuses executives and others associated with AIG have received. The Republicans have been steady lambasting Democrats, especially Chris Dodd, in an attempt to make them look like corporate cronies. But when it came to doing something about the reckless bonuses the majority of House Republicans voted to let AIG executives keep over $200 million of taxpayers money.

Obama Administration Really Understands Energy

Six people in the Obama administration don’t drive cars. Presumably they have the funds to acquire a vehicle but have decided that since DC has so many other great ways to get around (Metro, bicycle, walking, and even the dreaded bus) they don’t want a polluting and fattening automobile. It’s great to see that some of the people making energy policy decisions like Carol Browner, the Energy and Environment Czarina and Steven Chu, the Secretary of Energy understand that automobiles are a huge part of the global warming problem. Hat tip, CommuterPageBlog.

Judd Gregg Withdraws (And it’s not a tax issue this time…)

On May 25, 1995, as Senator Judd Gregg stood on the floor of the United States Senate, he voted ‘aye‘ on a resolution that included abolishing the United States Department of Commerce.

Move forward thirteen years later, and Gregg has been tapped to head that very same department.

Once Judd Gregg decided to recuse himself from voting for the economic stimulus plan favored by his would-be boss, Barack Obama, he was going to be more of a problem than an asset. But the real problem was appointing Judd Gregg in the first place. As a fiscally conservative Republican, appointing Gregg to a major economic position within the cabinet just didn’t make sense. The role of the Department of Commerce is to regulate business practices and grow the economy by creating more jobs. It would have been a bad match for a Democratic president hoping to create a more progressive economy that creates jobs but does so in a fair way.

Another factor that contributed to Gregg’s withdrawal is the control of the 2010 Census, a process usually controlled by the head of the Commerce Department. Instead of allowing Gregg to manage the census, reports indicated that Rahm “Rhambo” Emanuel would take the task under his wing instead. Gregg could have possibly believed that Democrats would inflate minority census numbers, and therefore change the makeup of districts around the country. Or perhaps the Obama administration couldn’t trust a longtime Republican attempting to do just the opposite, deflate minority representation.

As a Republican in the U.S. Senate for sixteen years, in 2008 alone he voted with George W. Bush 82% of the time. (Senator John McCain was the top man in 2008 with 89%.) Anything over 50% should just be considered suspicious.

The chair of the head of the Commerce Department still waits to be filled, after New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had to withdraw his name from the spot due to allegations of corruption, and now Gregg after he said that himself and President Obama, “are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.”

We should wish Senator Judd Gregg well as he heads back to the Senate to get back to voting against progress every chance he gets. That is until his retirement in 2010.

Previously on “The Young American.”

Since we last left you, a new administration has taken over Washington D.C. Democrats have finally found themselves in control of everything, and it’s all they’ve ever wanted. Yet unfortunately,  partisanship has rebounded, and Senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska (”D”) and Susan Collins of Maine (R)  find themselves as the most powerful people in the United States right now.

The inauguration on January 20th could probably be considered the worst in history if it hadn’t been so historical . Yo-Yo Ma’s music was a recording, Aretha Franklin’s voice was dreadful, and Elizabeth Alexander’s poem could best be described as silly and unemotional. Let’s not even talk about the oath flub.

President Obama issued an executive order closing the “detention center”/torture camp at Guantánamo Bay in his first day in the White House. It could take up to a year, and terrorists could soon be coming to a town near you. No seriously, this is a good thing. At a time when the United States’s image is tarnished around the world, it’s an important signal that we are ready to rejoin the world community by rejecting torture.

The passage of the $789 billion economic stimulus had to have been one of the most dramatic events in modern world history. Or at least CNN made it seem that way. Wolf Blitzer interrupting nice anchor lady: “Hold on a minute Candy, we have some breaking developments. President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan has not been talked about in the last five minutes. We just wanted to give you an update. Nothing has happened.” (Not an actual quote.)

In local news, billionaire Meg Whitman, and former CEO of eBay, has announced that she intends to run for governor of California. She’ll have no chance at election once the public gets a good look at her 0% “feedback rating.” Rihanna got beat up by lover Chris Brown. Reports are saying the attack involved an umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh. At least I tried.

Enough Fun. It’s time to get serious now. There are still serious issues plaguing the American public right now. ‘What can I do to help?’ we ask ourselves. President Obama can’t do it alone. If anything, he needs our support and our ideas. Conservatives are already claiming the Obama presidency has failed. We cannot let that happen. Nobody said this was going to be easy. Please follow me on Twitter.

An Inevitable Change of Heart

This Tuesday, Obama will be sworn in as President. America couldn’t be more excited. Obama has reinvigorated an entire country and convinced millions that American politics is not a lost cause. He’s been a muse to hundreds of artists, to the extent that the Manifest Hope Gallery is opening up for 3 days in D.C. this weekend to display their work. But this can’t last forever.

Obama might be the best president in American history, but we won’t love him. He’s taking office while we’re involved in two wars and an economic crisis. Not to mention trouble in Gaza, the threat of terrorism, and the rest of the aftermath of the Bush administration.

There is not way that Obama is going to fix all of this. He might avert a depression, but we’re still stuck in a recession. He might catch Bin Laden, but we’ll still have a fledgling democracy on the verge of civil war in Iraq. He might close Guantanamo Bay, but we’ll still have a growing number of terrorists to look out for. He might help end racism against African Americans, but we still won’t have gay marriage at a federal level.

No. Obama is not a God. He can’t fix the world by repeating “Change” over and over again. No doubt he’ll do his best, and he’ll probably do a great job, but he can’t be perfect.

Then what will his supporters say? Will America still admire him when he’s just barely keeping the country afloat, or will we ask for more and blame him for problems caused by George Bush and others?

If history is anything to go by, Obama’s supporters will probably be upset and will probably have a change of heart. Some of them will be disappointed that he won’t bring world peace or fulfill every one of his campaign promises. We can’t let that happen.

Obama probably won’t usher in a new era of prosperity and happiness for America, but we can’t expect him to. Too many people seem to think that Obama is superman. He’s just a regular man (though a smart one). Let’s treat him like one. Obama should not be put up on this pedistal and expected to save the world. When he does his best and just barely saves us, we’re going to have to be more than happy with that.

So, in four years time, when we’re once again faced with an election, let’s think back to right now, and what we think of Obama, and what he’s up against: The Bush era. When Obama falters, let’s not turn on him. Maybe some of us would rather have Clinton or Biden or even Gravel in office, but right now, Obama’s the best we’ve got.

LaHood Is The Wrong Choice

What was Obama thinking when he picked Ray LaHood as transportation secretary? This man is one of the least qualified to head a department with such an integral role in reducing global warming. Barack Obama has already been under criticism for his roads heavy stimulus package, but the appointment of this man shows the government agency for transportation will be looking towards 1950s solutions to fix the transportation crisis.

Obama recognizes that transportation planning is directly related to global warming and other pollution, so why would he put a man in office that seems to lack such understanding? LaHood has received over 100,000 dollars in donations from energy and automobile interests, such as the Petroleum Marketers Association. A search on Wikipedia has no political experience on any subcommittees related to transit. It is as if Obama has said “Nobody cares about the DOT so lets give the GOP a bone.”

However LaHood has sponsored some legislation that at least shows a minimal effort to look at alternative forms of transit. He cosponsored a bill to recognize the importance of bicycling for health and recreation but it fails to acknowledge a link to cleaner air, plus that’s about the only positive transportation bill he’s sponsored in the past two congresses. However those are outweighed as he also cosponsored a bill supporting using forests for bio fuel, investing in liquid coal (which has been found to be the biggest global warming contributor), and lastly he voted for June 30th to be “National Corvette Day.”

One of the main reasons I was so excited about an Obama administration was that I felt he would change America from an auto-dependent country to one that rivaled Europe in terms of alternatives. While certaintly better than what Bush adminstration has done for alternative transit, this vision is hardly visionary.

From Political Rival to Top Cabinet Position.

It is all but official that New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will become the next Secretary of State under the incoming Obama-Biden Administration. Clinton, who is seen by many as the leading rival of Obama within the Democratic Party, now is taking a huge step over political stubbornness and is accepting a position. Although highly coveted, this position will take her away from the political stage which she has grown to love. Many have argued that the Democratic Party is currently split in two. One group being the strong supporters of Obama who are among all age groups within the party, but with a large majority being those under the age of 45.  While group two are strong supporters of Clinton. The demographic makeup for Clinton supporters are those more mature in age and more women tend to support Clinton.  Supporters of both Obama and Clinton have been mixed in their reviews of this next phase in the Clinton/Obama saga. It seems that the majority of not only Democrats, but Americans as a whole, view Clinton’s rise to the head of the State Department as a good choice.

However, there are some who are very skeptical of this rumored pick. There are some Obama supporters who were very angered by the campaign run by Clinton during the primary season and did not wish to see her attaining a top level position in the Obama Administration. While they understand the reasoning that Obama is picking a “Team of Rivals,” they feel with Clinton at the helm of the State Department she will slowly but surely begin to create her own foreign policies and will push back against the orders from the Oval Office as much as she will follow those orders. With Clinton being married to former President Bill Clinton, his foundation donor lists being in question during the primary season, there are some who would question Hillary’s motivation while working with those international officials who have been major financial backers of her husband.  Then you have those supporters of Clinton who are excited to see their preferred presidential candidate rising to a high level position and they wonder if this choice was all but political. With Clinton being the top rival of Obama’s supporters, many have been quietly murmuring that this choice removes her from the political scene, and that all Obama is doing with the creation of his “Team of Rivals” is to ensure that he is the only leader within his party. They feel this move is to ensure that Clinton remains a strong supporter of Obama’s and is unable to create any new whirlwind that she may decide to run again during the 2012 election (this is of course contingent on the fact that Clinton remains Secretary of State for Obama’s entire first term).

One must also consider what will be the role of a Vice President Biden, who was during the general election, a strength for Obama in terms of foreign policy. Now with Clinton at the head of the State Department, what will this mean to Biden who has vowed to be an integral part of the foreign policy strategies as the issues may arise. This however seems to be far from reality with Clinton in control of the State Department. One thing is clear about Clinton, and that is simple, she is a leader and if she is taking the post at the State Dept. it will have been made clear that she will run the department without much input from Biden unless the orders come from the Oval Office.

Who really knows what this decision will actually mean to President-Elect Obama or Senator Clinton. It is certain that from the outset this seems to be a positive joint venture and will bring the celebrity cabinet that Obama desires.

Change.gov: Follow our Commander-in-Chief’s Path to change

CLICK HERE

For the first time in a long time, progressives have complete control. We can now put into place all the things that we have been talking about year after year after year.  There can be no excuses now, only solutions.  Follow Obama’s path to change above at his new website: www.change.gov

What Made the Difference Tonight: Youth Turnout

Barack Obama knew something a lot of us didn’t know. He knew that young Americans wanted to find something to vote for and not against. At the beginning, many of us were skeptical of youth voter turnout. But, he proved us wrong on that Iowa night in January.

Like Obama said, the campaign took him from “the rocky coast of Maine to the sunshine of California.” All across America young people came out and supported change.

It led him to November on the night of this historic presidential election. Young people supported Barack Obama 68-30% over Senator John McCain. Young people ages 18-29 made up 18% of the electorate this year, slightly higher than 17% in 2004 and 2000. That may not seem like a large increase, but in a year where overall voter turnout reached massive numbers (estimates place overall voter turnout at around 60%) it sure made the difference.

It was the young voters who won tonight. Those that supported one specific candidate, President-elect Barack Obama.

President-elect Barack Obama

How Hillary Helped

I think Hillary deserves just a little credit for Obama’s win tonight. Just a little. She motivated many of her supporters such as myself to support Barack Obama for president. She moved faster than any loser in a Democratic primary to endorse and campaign for their opponent. And surely Hillary and Bill’s campaigning in states like Ohio, Florida, and Pennsylvania helped Barack Obama.

Looking back, I think we can say that the lengthy Democratic primary was part of Obama’s success. His national infrastructure that was created to beat Hillary Clinton has been used to defeat John McCain. His debate performances against Hillary taught him how to face off in a real debate.

CNN reported that Obama won Hillary supporters 84% to John McCain’s 15% tonight. Thank You Hillary.

Who will replace tonight’s winners in the Senate?

Joe Biden might win two elections tonight. One for the vice-presidency, and the other for his Senate seat, which he has already won tonight.

Some of the name’s floating around for Barack Obama’s Senate seat are Jesse Jackson Jr., the son of Jesse Jackson, Rahm Emanuel, an already influential leader in the House, Jean Schakowsky also from the House, longtime Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, and former congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth.

Joe Biden’s replacement could be just a temporary one until his son Beau Biden could run for the Senate seat himself in 2010.

As for Senator John McCain, the Democratic Governor in Arizona, Janet Napolitano, has the option to appoint anyone she wants as long as they are a Republican. So, she could not appoint herself.

Another twist in all of this: If current Alaskan Senator and convicted felon Ted Stevens wins his Senate seat and is ousted by the Senate leadership, Governor Sarah Palin could be appointed to Senator Palin. You Betcha!

Update, 11/5/08: Let me make this clear. The only way Governor Palin can be Senator Palin is if she resigns her spot as Governor of Alaska and then the new Governor, who would be Sean Parnell, would then appoint Palin to the Senate spot.

100,000 Strong For Obama

Last night I was at the Obama rally in Mananas where 100,000 people showed up to see Barack Obama at his last campaign stop. This morning I was voting, and this afternoon I was volunteering.

The volunteering was perhaps the most interesting part, for one both the Republican and Democratic volunteers were all talking and laughing together (I wonder if the McCain people were actually paid). However the election officers let is slide when Republicans campaigned closer than 40 feet to the polls, but when a Democrat got to close it was back to the 40 foot rule.

An election worse than 2000?

With Barack Obama drawing large majorities of votes from big states such as California and New York, and getting closer than most Democratic candidates before him in states in the South, can Barack Obama win the popular vote, but lose the electoral college?

In 2000, Al Gore suffered from low voter turnout. The state of Florida was only determined by 537 votes, and as we all know, Florida gave the election to Bush. If Barack Obama gets close enough to McCain in southern states like Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, but doesn’t manage to get enough votes to actually win the state, he could end up with more votes than John McCain. High voter turnout in blue states will not reflect in the electoral college in favor of Obama, these votes will just pad his popular vote.

Perhaps this will never happen, or maybe this is McCain’s last chance. Let’s see what happens.

Madelyn Dunham’s vote will count

Barack Obama’s grandmother Madelyn Dunham passed away yesterday. She was able to vote early by absentee ballot due to her illness. The Hawaii Board of Elections has said that her vote, along with the others, will in fact be counted tonight when the polls close in Hawaii at 11 pm ET.

It will be interesting to see what Barack Obama has to say about her in his speech tonight.

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