GOP: Where All the Black People at?

Election night was a bittersweet night for me. Like most Americans, and especially as an African American, I found it deeply moving to watch President-elect Barack Obama and his family -- soon to be our nation's first African American first family -- stride onstage for his victory speech. I welcome the positive role models they'll present to black families and the American public at large.

But as a black Republican, I was chagrined that the political party I've belonged to for 20 years had just suffered a blistering electoral defeat. And that along the way, it had lost 96 percent of the black vote and 67 percent of the Hispanic vote -- the worst showing for the Republican Party among minorities in its 150-year history.

After such a devastating loss, Republicans will have to do some retooling. We'll have to decide whether we want to be the party that believes in smaller government, lower taxes and less regulation, or whether we're going to be a litmus-test party that responds only to the demands of social conservatives. But most important, we'll have to confront our most disastrous modern legacy: our poor relationship with black Americans, the very people the party was formed to protect from the expansion of slavery into Kansas and Nebraska in 1854.

That relationship may be...

For Obama Getting a Taste of Normal is Heaven

By John McCormick

There is some irony that it took winning the presidency for Barack Obama to settle into a schedule that borders on humdrum.

For now, he wakes up in his own bed, works out in the same fitness center each morning, goes into the office, comes home and has dinner with his family—a far cry from the frenzied campaign life of the previous 21 months.

While offering more routine, his existence is also more surreal, as he moves through Chicago largely sequestered in a security bubble even more robust than at the end of the campaign. Still, Obama seems to be savoring his time between Election Day and the move to the White House, one of the longest stretches he has had at home in five years.

On Friday, he made time to leave the office briefly to pick up a corned beef sandwich and cherry pie from Manny's Coffee Shop & Deli, a favorite spot for Chicago politicians.

"I'm just glad to be out,"......

Watch: We Were Wrong About the Bush Snub

Congress: Freshman Hell Week........Boring

Jews & Muslims Working Together to End Hate

Jewish and Islamic leaders from across the United States and Canada will confront anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in a first-of-its kind twinning event this weekend.

The first-ever Weekend of Twinningsm will be held on November 21-23, and comes on the heels of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia’s visit to the United Nations. The Weekend of Twinningsm resulted from a resolution passed at the National Summit of Imams and Rabbis held last year in New York and hosted by The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU). The success of the National Summit led organizers to expand the interfaith dialogue model to include congregations across North America to directly confront instances of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

“For generations, there has been a series of misunderstandings by Jews and Muslims on what the other religious community believes and practices,” said Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and co-organizer of the Weekend of Twinningsm. “These misperceptions and other societal and political factors have unfortunately led to tensions between our two communities.

Throughout the Weekend of....

Libya Wants to Invest Billions in US

(NEW YORK) — Libya wants to open a new chapter in relations with the United States by investing some of its $100 billion sovereign wealth fund in U.S. companies and sending thousands of students to study in America, the son of Libya's leader said Friday. In an interview with The Associated Press, Seif al-Islam Gadhafi also outlined plans for Libya to move from the one-man rule of his father, Moammar Gadhafi, to a constitutional democracy as part of the country's modernization process.

The younger Gadhafi said he expects a constitution providing for democratic elections to be adopted by September 2009 — the 40th anniversary of the 1969 revolution that brought his father to power. He said he also expects Libya to reform its central government and follow a model similiar to the U.S. federal government, with strong regional and local governments.

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Why Treasury Pick Sparked Market Today

On Friday afternoon, the markets shot up nearly seven percent on the news that President-elect Obama was poised to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as the next Treasury Secretary. Why was this leak worth several hundred billion dollars in market capitalization?

After all, our next Treasury secretary won't be a guy who made a fortune on Wall Street (like Robert Rubin or Henry Paulson), or who served as CEO of a Fortune 500 company (like Paul O'Neill or John Snow), or who has been a distinguished economist (like Larry Summers), or who held high elective office (like Lloyd Bentsen). Rather, Geithner has been an extremely effective meritocratic bureaucrat for 20 years-a sort of community organizer for the financial world.

At a time when the private sector's leadership-and Wall Street's leadership in particular-has done a collective pratfall, it was unlikely the Treasury secretary would hail from a prominent company. Early speculation, which began on election eve, centered around Larry Summers, the voluble, brilliant Clinton-era Treasury secretary, and Geithner, his one-time deputy. (Jacob Weisberg made the case for Summers last week. And I will take this opportunity to note one of my few accurate prognostications of this, or any other, millennium: on November 5, we predicted it would be Geithner.)

The New York Fed chief has a.....

Russia Stepping up Efforts to Combat Pirates

Russia is planning to increase its efforts to fight pirates plaguing the waters around the Horn of Africa. More than a dozen vessels from various countries are already stationed in the troubled area and will be joined by more from Russia next year.

The battleship ‘Fearless’ is already there as part of a multi-national force protecting ships in the Gulf of Aden.

“We are currently working on a detailed plan to jointly tackle piracy around the Horn of Africa. As soon as it’s implemented Russian ships will be sent to the area,” said General Nikolay Makarov.

Makarov, the Deputy Commander in Chief of the Russian Navy, said it will be hard to send a large group of ships, because at the moment Russia doesn’t have permanent bases there.

But Somalia’s ambassador to Russia, Mohamed Handule, says his country will do its best to support ships sent by Moscow.

“We welcome any country sending its ships to help Somalia tackle piracy. So I think sending more Russian ships to the coast of Somalia is a good idea. We will help as much as we can in technical support,” he said.

International efforts to....

WATCH: The Day in Politics in 100 Seconds

Obama Girls Will Attend Chelsea's Old School

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and his wife have chosen Sidwell Friends School for their two daughters, opting for a private institution that another White House child, Chelsea Clinton, attended a decade ago.

"A number of great schools were considered," said Katie McCormick Lelyveld, a spokeswoman for Michelle Obama. "In the end, the Obamas selected the school that was the best fit for what their daughters need right now."

She said Sidwell can provide the security and privacy that Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, will need as part of the new first family and Sidwell can help with that. She also said that Sasha and Malia had become good friends with Vice President-elect Joe Biden's grandchildren, who go to the school.

Sidwell is a.....

Citi Group Going Under?

Shares in Citigroup, one of the biggest banks in the US, fell sharply on Friday amid continued uncertainty about the company's future.

The firm's stock rose in early trade but later declined 18% as board members began a meeting.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup was considering selling parts of the firm. There are also rumours it might merge with another firm.

Earlier in the week the firm announced 52,000 job losses worldwide.

These cuts came on top of previously announced reductions of 23,000 positions.

The total 75,000 job cuts represent a cut of about 20% of its staff, leaving it with 300,000 jobs worldwide "in the near term".

Banks Future...

I Thought We Were Seen As Liberators?

HAMZA HENDAWI

(AP) BAGHDAD- Thousands of followers of a radical Shiite cleric protested a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security deal Friday, burning an effigy of President George W. Bush in the same square where Iraqis beat a toppled Saddam Hussein statue five years ago.

Chanting and waving flags, Muqtada al-Sadr's followers filled Firdous Square to protest the pact that would allow American troops to stay for three more years.

The demonstration followed two days of protests in parliament by al-Sadr loyalists who disrupted readings of the proposed agreement ahead of a debate and vote.

Despite the opposition at least three small parliamentary factions, the pact is expected to pass in the Shiite-led parliament when it comes up for a vote next week.

Al-Sadr, who controls a group of 30 lawmakers in the 275-seat parliament, views the deal as a surrender to U.S. interests. But supporters say the pact will eventually lead to full sovereignty.

If al-Sadr's group and other legislators opposed to the pact lose by a thin margin, they might attempt to turn their anti-American message into a defining issue in provincial elections on Jan. 31 and general elections late in 2009.

Al-Sadr's influence in Iraq however has dipped from the days when militiamen loyal to him battled U.S. forces and were seen as protectors of Shiites against Sunni militants, and his anti-American message earned him and his followers strong nationalist credentials.

Al-Sadr, believed to be in Iran, was not at the protest, though his representative read a sermon he wrote that called the U.S. "the enemy of Islam."





"The government must know that it is the people who help it in the good and the bad times. If it throws the occupier out, all the Iraqi people will stand by it," the sermon read, using common rhetoric for the United States.

Al-Sadr reiterated that his followers in both his movement's armed and peaceful factions will continue to work for the removal of U.S. forces.

The protesters placed the Bush effigy on the same pedestal where U.S. Marines toppled the ousted dictator's statue in one of the iconic images of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The effigy held a sign that described the pact as "shame and humiliation."

After a mass prayer, demonstrators pelted the Bush effigy with plastic water bottles and sandals. One man hit it in the face with his sandal. The effigy fell head first into the crowd and protesters jumped on it before setting it ablaze.

The uproar this week suggests that the security pact could remain divisive as the country struggles for reconciliation after years of war.

For Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, its senior government partner, the margin of support is almost as important as the victory itself. A narrow passage will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the new terms governing the U.S. troop presence.

Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said the deal would be acceptable only if approved by a wide margin in parliament. Al-Sistani enjoys enormous influence among Iraq's Shiite majority.

Al-Sadr's movement's popularity suffered with the involvement of some militiamen in protection and black market rackets as well as the general fatigue from the on-and-off fighting.

But the movement has retained a loyal base of support in Baghdad and across much of the Shiite south of Iraq, largely because of its nationalist credentials and the perceived failure of rival Shiite parties to improve services in provinces under their control.

The Sadrists' opposition to the agreement however was likely to win it support in a country where the U.S. presence is seen as an occupation.

Security was tight for Friday's protest, with the area closed to traffic and heavily guarded by Iraqi soldiers in Humvees. Army snipers took positions on rooftops overlooking the square. The Sadrists also provided their own security, searching worshippers as they approached the square.

The protesters included two Sunni clerics. Many arrived at the square on foot or by bus and carried prayer rugs, pieces of cardboard or newspapers for the mass prayer. They waved Iraqi flags and green Shiite banners, chanting, "No, no to the agreement of humiliation!"

If the agreement passes the legislature, it will go to the president and his two deputies for ratification. Each one has veto power.

Official: Secretary of State Hilary Clinton

By MIKE ALLEN--Politico

President-elect Barack Obama is "on track" to name Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) as his secretary of state shortly after Thanksgiving, two senior Obama aides said.

Financial disclosure issues have been worked out, aides said.

The officials said they expect her to accept. Clinton aides had no comment.

The choice unites the two rivals in the most protracted presidential primary in American history, giving Obama the "Team of Rivals" Cabinet he had promised.

Former President Bill Clinton authorized unprecedented disclosures about his finances to Obama's vetting team, and transition lawyers are satisfied, officials said.

Verizon: Some of These Guys Were Spying on Obama

Anderson Cooper is reporting that some Verizon wireless employees have illegally accessed Barack Obama's phone records. Verizon has issued an apology statement saying their "sorry" about the whole thing.

"This week we learned that a number of Verizon Wireless employees have, without authorization, accessed and viewed President-elect Barack Obama's personal cell phone account," Verizon said in a Thursday statement.

"All employees who have accessed the account – whether authorized or not – have been put on immediate leave, with pay," Verizon said. "As the circumstances of each individual employee's access to the account are determined, the company will take appropriate actions."

Employees found to have accessed Obama's account for legitimate reasons will be reinstated while those who did so without cause will "face appropriate disciplinary action," Verizon said.

"We apologize to President-elect Obama and will work to keep the trust our customers place in us every day," the company said.

There has already been talk about Obama having to give up his Blackberry when he takes office because they are very easy to access.

WATCH: Republican Tweens

Just a joke......I knew, if you didn't.

Palin Back to Doing What She is Qualified to do

No it's not being governor of Alaska...........It's pardoning turkey's...........No not Ted Stevens, actual turkeys.

Republicans Now Seeing People Like Hannity, Limbaugh and Others As Part of the Problem

How can the Republican Party rebound? The first step would be to quit letting Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham set its agenda.

A second step would be for Congressional Republicans to actually try to help President-elect Barack Obama succeed in addressing the country's dire problems -- offering better ideas where appropriate and opposing just when necessary, not reflexively.

And the third -- maybe the biggest one -- would be for GOP governors to use their posts to show the country how conservatives can solve problems, especially the dismal state of American education and its menacing cousin, lagging American competitiveness.

If one governor would.....

Who is Helping These Damn Pirates?

The Somali pirates who hijacked a Saudi tanker in the Indian Ocean this week will likely rake in their biggest ever ransom. The oil on the tanker, the largest ship ever taken, is more than a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s daily output, worth $100 million. But tracing that ransom payout may also begin to unravel the complex banking arrangements, originating in Dubai, that have allowed pirate groups to collect as much as $30 million this year.

The pirates are now holding nearly 150 hostages from at least nine vessels from Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Germany, Nigeria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Just last week, a record four ships were seized in one 48-hour period, including a 26,000-ton Iranian cargo carrier.

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WATCH: The Day in Politics in 100 Seconds

Zogby Regrets Helping Conservative With Obama Poll

Pollster John Zogby has rejected a conservative commentator’s offer to sponsor a poll to test the knowledge of people who voted for John McCain.

The commentator was proposing to mirror a poll of Obama voters that caused a political uproar when it suggested that Obama supporters didn’t know what they were voting for.

John Ziegler, a Burbank-based documentary filmmaker, had commissioned the poll of 512 Obama voters. The results delighted the right and inflamed the left, drawing widespread coverage on the Web, cable news and radio.

Zogby International said in its summary of the results: “Just 2 percent of voters who supported Barack Obama on Election Day obtained perfect or near-perfect scores on a post-election test which gauged their knowledge of statements and scandals associated with the presidential tickets during the campaign, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows.”

Gun Nuts Freak Out Over Obama Questionaire

Let me explain. This is a democracy. This country no matter how popular, would ever allow a president to take away gun ownership. Maybe a restriction on semi-automatic weapons to civilians might fly, but even that would have a tough time.

He would not be able to receive enough votes to ever allow a ban on guns period. Democrats and republicans both would shut him down cold.

Anyone who thinks the president has that much power, has no idea how our government is structures and has been brainwashed by the NRA.

Story from Politico:

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is asking potential appointees detailed questions about gun ownership, and firearms advocates aren’t happy about it.

The National Rifle Association has denounced the move, which has already led one Republican senator to consider legislation aimed at ensuring a president can’t use an applicant’s gun ownership status to deny employment.

It’s just one question on a lengthy personnel form — No. 59 on a 63-question list — but the furor over the query is a vivid reminder of the intensity of support for Second Amendment rights and signals the scrutiny Obama is likely to receive from the ever-vigilant gun lobby.

Obama’s transition team declined to go into detail on why they included the question, suggesting only that it was done to ensure potential appointees were in line with gun laws.

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The Pentagon Needs Geek Squad

The Pentagon has suffered from a cyber attack so alarming that it has taken the unprecedented step of banning the use of external hardware devices, such as flash drives and DVD's, FOX News has learned.

The attack came in the form of a global virus or worm that is spreading rapidly throughout a number of military networks.

"We have detected a global virus for which there has been alerts, and we have seen some of this on our networks," a Pentagon official told FOX News. "We are now taking steps to mitigate the virus."

Continue....

Watch: How to be a Freegan

Yes this is real. It's not for me, but hat's off if you would like to try it.

Freeganism is an anti-consumerist lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on "limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources". The website freegan.info states that freegans "embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed. The lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters that have passed their display date but haven't passed their edible date. They salvage the food not because they are poor or homeless, but as a political statement.

Waxman Topples Dingell for Key Panel Chair

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Rep. Henry Waxman — a liberal ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi — has wrested the chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee from veteran Rep. John Dingell when the new Congress convenes in January.

Waxman, a California liberal and avid environmentalist and booster of health care programs, toppled Dingell Thursday on a vote of 137-122 in the Democratic Party caucus, capping a bitter fight within party ranks.

Dingell has been the top Democrat on the panel for 28 years and is an old-school supporter of the auto industry. Waxman has complained that the committee has been too slow to address environmental issues like global warming.

"The argument we made was that we needed a change for the committee to have the leadership that will work with this administration and members in both the House and the Senate in order to get important issues passed in health care, environmental protection, in energy policy," Waxman said after the vote.

"The next two years are critical," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who spoke on Waxman's behalf in the closed-door caucus. "It's not personal. It's about the American people demanding that we embrace change and work with the president on critical issues of climate change and energy and health care."

Waxman, 69, is an accomplished legislator. He had chaired the Energy and Commerce health and environment subcommittee for 16 years and won a series of piecemeal expansions of the Medicaid health care program for the poor that added many children to the program. He's also taken on the tobacco companies.

The Energy and Commerce panel is one of the most important House committees, with sweeping jurisdiction over energy, the environment, consumer protection, telecommunications and health care programs such as Medicaid and the popular State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Waxman has been the top Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for the last 12 years. Since Waxman became chairman of that panel two years ago, it has taken the Bush administration to task over global warming and allegations that it muzzled government scientists. It also has investigated the White House's political operation, the use of steroids in sports and, most recently, abuses behind the financial collapse.

Dingell, 82, has been the committee's top Democrat for 28 years and is an important ally of automakers and electric utilities. He's considered one of the House's premier legislators, with a lengthy track record on health, consumer issues and the environment, among other things.

Dingell's defenders said he had done nothing to deserve being dumped, pointing to the panel's busy workload over the last two years, including successfully enacting an energy bill that raised automobile fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020.

"I think it was highly inappropriate," said Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va. "There was no obvious reason for it other than the desire for another person to chair the committee.

"Seniority is important," Waxman told reporters. "But it should not grant the priority rights to hold a chairmanship for three decades."

Driving Waxman's bid was the issue of global warming, a pet cause of President-elect Barack Obama. Waxman is expected to more aggressively attack this problem and is expected to move legislation with tougher emissions standards than Dingell would have.

Environmentalists say Dingell has acted too slowly on global warming, despite releasing a bill last month. The measure was a poke in the eye to Waxman and Pelosi, D-Calif., since it would prevent states like California from setting tougher auto emissions standards than the federal government.

"Waxman's victory is a breath of fresh air — of clean air. It was a stunning defeat for the corporate lobbyists on K Street," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch. "It shows that a majority of the House Democrats are ready to work with the incoming Obama administration on effective global warming legislation."

In a statement congratulating Waxman, Dingell acknowledged that it is a "year of change." He renewed his commitment "to protecting and creating jobs, to providing health care for all Americans, to working to getting our state and nation's economy back on track."

Waxman's coup now puts Californians in charge of the committees that will spearhead the regulation of the gases blamed for global warming in both the House and Senate. California has taken the lead on addressing the problem and is suing the Bush administration for rejecting its request to reduce greenhouse gases from motor vehicle tailpipes.

As Waxman took over the helm of the Energy and Commerce committee, his counterpart in the Senate — Sen. Barbara Boxer — vowed to take quick action on a bill capping greenhouse gases.

Pelosi is a home state ally of Waxman and has tangled with Dingell in the past, but she has not publicly taken sides in the battle and did not pressure members privately to back Waxman. But her support of Waxman was well known and played a role in the strong tally.

Judge Orders Five Detainees Freed From Guantánamo

After the first hearing on the government’s evidence for holding detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp, a federal judge ruled on Thursday that five of the prisoners are not being lawfully held and ordered their release.

The case, involving six Algerians detained in Bosnia in 2001, was an important test of the Bush administration’s detention policies, which critics have long argued swept up innocent men and low-level foot soldiers along with high-level and hardened terrorists.

The hearings for the Algerian men, in which all evidence was heard in proceedings closed to the public, were the first in which the Department of Justice presented its full justification for holding specific detainees since the Supreme Court ruled in June that Guantánamo detainees have a constitutional right to contest their imprisonment in habeas corpus suits.

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Britons Held Hostage by Pirates Will Not Be Ransomed

Britain will not pay a ransom for two Britons being held by pirates who hijacked a super-tanker off the east African coast, the Foreign Secretary said today.

David Miliband said that paying for the release of Peter French, the ship's chief engineer, and James Grady, the second officer, risked encouraging more piracy.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that Mr French and Mr Grady are among the 25 crew taken hostage at the weekend aboard the giant carrier Sirius Star, which was seized off the coast of Kenya carrying two million barrels of oil worth $100 million.

The hijackers revealed earlier that they are seeking $25 million in ransom from the ship's Saudi owners, and have given a deadline of ten days for the cash to be handed over. They hinted at unpleasant consequences if the money was not paid.

S. Africa to Cut Aid to Zimbabwe

South Africa's cabinet says it will withhold $28m of agricultural aid to neighbouring Zimbabwe until a representative government is in place.

South Africa's cabinet said the impasse was creating a humanitarian crisis.

The current outbreak of cholera was a clear indication that Zimbabweans were becoming "victims of their leaders' lack of political will", it said.

The US ambassador has reportedly said that 294 people have died from the cholera outbreak.

The South African cabinet's strongly worded statement said:

"No amount of political disagreement can ever justify the suffering that ordinary Zimbabweans are being subjected to at the moment."

Correspondents say this is the first indication that South Africa is taking a tougher stance on Zimbabwe.

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Mccain's First Day Back At Work

He has returned to where he did not wish to return. Back to walking the spotted white marble corridors of the Russell Senate Office Building. Back to Room 241, which says "Senator John McCain -- Arizona" on the door, and where a trickle of people stroll in on this morning in hopes of getting his pre-autographed photo and to inquire about obtaining tickets for Barack Obama's inauguration. Others stare. He has perfected his own middle-distance stare and the curt nod of someone coping.

He quietly enters the office a few minutes after 8 a.m. on this Wednesday, tightly smiles at a receptionist and, without a word to anyone, makes a hard left through a suite of his aides' offices that leads to his own. He is alone. He walks now without so much as a single bodyguard, the Secret Service having disappeared when his dream of winning the presidency did, 15 days ago. It is a jarring reminder of just how much a defeated candidate's station changes in about two weeks.

Outside his office, just arriving, is a U.S. Capitol policewoman, casually taking a seat. She is there in case the hordes of media and sightseers become too large, or something alarming happens. Only the hordes are long gone. "I might not be here much longer if this keeps up," she says.
There is nothing like a...

Napolitano to Head Homeland Security

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) has been chosen to serve as secretary of the vast and troubled Department of Homeland Security for President-elect Obama, Democratic officials said. Napolitano is a border governor who will now be responsible for immigration policy and border security, which are part of Homeland Security’s myriad functions.

Napolitano brings law-and-order experience from her stint as the Grand Canyon State’s first female attorney general. One of the nation’s most prominent female elected officials, she made frequent appearances on behalf of Barack Obama during the campaign. She was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2006.

Transition insiders have long expected that she would be offered a Cabinet slot, although she had also been mentioned for other posts, including attorney general.

Napolitano, 50, endorsed Obama in early January, just as the primaries were kicking off, and the female up-and-comer's decision to back the Illinois Senator got widespread coverage.

In 2005, TIME magazine named her

One killed, 22 wounded in Bangkok blast: police

(AFP) One Thai protester was killed and 22 wounded Thursday in a blast at a Bangkok demonstration site, police said, raising fears that political violence is resuming after a brief lull for a royal funeral.

The explosion hit at 3:28 am (2028 GMT Wednesday) in front of a stage at the prime minister's Government House offices, which anti-government protesters from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have occupied since late August.

Thailand has been gripped by escalating political turmoil since May when the PAD began their protests, but there was a respite for the six-day funeral of Princess Galyani, late sister of the deeply-revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The elaborate cremation ceremonies ended Wednesday evening, and within hours the blast hit at the sprawling Bangkok protest site where hundreds of people are camped out in a fortified tented city.

"It's a powerful bomb, so far one has died. We are still waiting for forensic officials and for PAD permission to go into Government House," local police commander Colonel Somchai Chueyklin told AFP.

Twenty-three demonstrators -- 12 men and 11 women -- wounded by the explosion were taken to four nearby hospitals, emergency services said. One 48-year-old man later died. Three people have been discharged, they said.

The PAD's website said that an M-79 rocket-propelled grenade caused the blast, although police were not immediately able to confirm the information.

The protesters have vowed not to leave Government House until the government elected last December -- which they accuse of being corrupt and a proxy for ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra -- steps down.

At the Government House compound, PAD announcers took to the stage and vowed retaliation for Thursday's incident.

"This will be the last bomb attack on us -- the next one will be on our opponents," PAD spokeswoman Anchalee Paireerak told protesters.

The months-long stand-off between the government and the PAD erupted into bloodshed on October 7 when police fired tear gas at the demonstrators, sparking clashes that left two people dead and nearly 500 injured.

A number of small blasts have rocked the PAD protest camps in the weeks since the bloody street battles, injuring several people.

Police, meanwhile, have said the PAD's personal militia -- known as the "Srivijaya Warriors" who guard the protest camp -- are armed, and two people have been shot after rows near the occupied compound in central Bangkok.

Thaksin, who was ousted in an military coup in 2006 and is living in exile to avoid corruption charges, is set to make a telephone address to his supporters next month, which could further inflame the situation.

The former leader made a similar address on November 1, denouncing his opponents to 90,000 loyal supporters packed into a Bangkok sports stadium.

Current Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin's brother-in-law, said last week that he was considering building a new headquarters in Bangkok because of the siege of Government House.

Somchai has been working with his cabinet from an abandoned airport terminal since demonstrators seized his offices in August.

Thailand has been in crisis since telecoms multi-millionaire Thaksin was ousted, following protests that were also led by the PAD.

Thaksin's allies in the People Power Party won elections in December, angering the old power cliques in the palace, military and bureaucracy who tried to rid Thailand of Thaksin's influence.

Parliament elected Somchai as prime minister on September 17 after his predecessor Samak Sundaravej was forced from office by a court that ruled he had been illegally paid for hosting TV cooking shows.

Watch: The Most Unpopular Kid in Class

WATCH: The Day in Politics in 100 Seconds

Change in Washington, Class-101

In recent days, presidential elect Barack Obama has started to receive some criticism on his choices for his staff and who he is choosing to put in his cabinet. Even after his very first pick of Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel was chosen, bloggers immediately sent out post saying "this is not change."

I really don't understand why there is some backlash over who he has appointed or who has been mentioned. Who should he appoint instead? That's right, you have no idea because you don't know Washington like the people he is choosing. Who would rather him pick? Someone who does not know Washington at all. Maybe a couple of freshman congressman. Why not some of our college grads? Let's give them a shot.

Change does not happen with new people in unfamiliar positions, it's happens with changes in policies. Changing from policies that have gotten us into the mess we are currently in, and implementing and executing the correct path to reform and rebuilding that is sorely needed.

Still don't agree? Let me explain it this way.

If you have a football team who has been steadily declining over the past eight years how do you improve it? First you replace the coaching staff, but with who? Certainly you do not want a bunch inexperienced rookies to be on your coaching staff, you go with proven veterans who will respond to your coaching style.

Some players are also going to need to go, that's for sure. Your offense line is not going to be formed with a bunch of twenty-year olds or you will get your quarterback killed. You need a center that knows the game from the get go.

A change of coaching is mainly a change in style and a new playbook. You surround yourself with with people who will blend and help you implement your ideas.

It's the difference between Dave Wannstedt and Bill Belichick. Both are coaches but only one has been successful in the NFL.

The situation we are currently in, can't be left to minds who have not faced the ways of Washington much less the experience to deal with a crisis. Let the man get into to office before you start to criticize him.

John Mccain Has Won!!!!!

..................................Won the state of Missouri. That gives Mccain 173 electoral votes to close in on Obama who 365, only 192 votes to go for Mccain to catch up. Thanks to Missouri with their quick resolution to this issue.

Home Depot Founder: "Support the GOP or Die"

More crazy right-wing talk (imagine if a liberal said something like this):

Bernie Marcus, Founder of Home Depot, on a conference call:

"If a retailer has not gotten involved with this, if he has not spent money on this election, if he has not sent money to Norm Coleman and these other guys," Mr. Marcus said, apparently referring to Republican senators facing tough re-election fights, then those retailers "should be shot; should be thrown out of their goddamn jobs."

Giving Up On GOD

I agree wholeheartedly with Kathleen Parker on the problem with Christian conservatism. It continues to alienate the growing diversity in America:

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I'm bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners.

Short break as writer ties blindfold and smokes her last cigarette.

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows. In the process, the party has alienated its non-base constituents, including other people of faith (those who prefer a more private approach to worship), as well as secularists and conservative-leaning Democrats who otherwise might be tempted to cross the aisle.

Here's the deal...

Obama Taps Tom Daschle to HHS Position

Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has been offered the job of Health and Human Services secretary by President-elect Barack Obama and has accepted the job, according to a Democratic source close to Daschle.

Daschle is billed as a "special public policy advisor" in the Washington office of the lobbying firm Alston Bird, though he is technically not a federally registered lobbyist. But his wife, Linda Daschle, is a registered lobbyist at the powerful firm Baker Donelson, which does have some health clients.

Racist Cowards Out in Force Since Election Day

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — An interracial couple in Pennsylvania who woke up to find the remains of a burnt cross in their front garden.

A California town which saw cars and garages vandalized with swastikas, racist epithets and slogans such as "Go Back to Africa."

Black effigies hung from nooses in an island community in Maine.

Students chanting "assassinate Obama" on a schoolbus in Idaho.

Barack Obama's historic election as America's first black president has led to a surge of racist incidents across the United States, hate-crime monitoring groups and analysts say.

Mark Potok, director of the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, said the final weeks of the US election campaign and its immediate aftermath had witnessed "hundreds and hundreds" of hate-related incidents.

"Since the closing weeks of the campaign, we've seen a real and significant, white backlash break out and I think it's getting worse," Potok told AFP.

Potok traced the onset of the incidents to around the time of election rallies by Republican vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin where shouts of "Kill Him!" were reportedly heard from sections of the crowd.

"But what we're seeing now is everything from cross burnings, to death threats, to Obama effigies hanging in nooses to ugly racial incidents in schoolyards around the country," Potok said.

"It's been really quite something. I can't quantify the figures beyond saying that clearly there have been hundreds and hundreds of these incidents."

Brian Levin, a professor from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino also said the rise in hate crimes appeared to fit into part of a longer term trend.

"We don't have exact figures but what I can say anecdotally is that there does seem to be a significant spike in hate crimes from around the election period up until now," Levin said.

Levin also said there was evidence of a surge in traffic on white supremacist Internet websites such as StormFront, whose server crashed on the day after the November 4 election due to the uptick in activity.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's chief Potok said the increase in racist crimes could be attributable to a "perfect storm" of conditions.

The increase in non-white immigration, the recent estimate by the US Census Bureau that whites would lose their majority status by 2040 and rising unemployment all helped create a climate favorable for hate groups.

"Add to all of that the idea of a black man in the White House and you have a very significant number of whites who feel as if they've lost everything, that the country built by their forefathers has somehow been stolen from them," Potok said. "I think we're seeing an identity crisis on the parts of whites."

Levin said he had also noticed a ramping up of the vitriol. "It is harder to gauge but it does seem to be much more severe than usual," he said.

The racist surge fit into a historical pattern that he described as the "push-me-pull-you" of American politics.

"Many times when we've had advancements in race relations in the United States we've also had concomitant violent backlashes," he said, citing as an example the fact that the Klu Klux Klan was formed shortly after slavery was abolished in 1865.

"Inter-group relations and politics in the United States is a marathon and not everyone crosses the finish line at the same time, or at all," he said.

For white supremacists, Obama -- who is also reportedly preparing to appoint the country's first ever African-American attorney general, Eric Holder -- represented the doomsday scenario espoused by their ideology, Levin said.

"To them Barack Obama is nothing less than the anti-Christ. He not only represents policies that are eroding the white culture and bloodline of the United States; he is a walking, talking symbol of what they would call the 'mongrelization' that has occurred," he said.

"Barack Obama is a perfect storm that incites a nerve within the hardcore racist movement in the United States."

Alaskan Files Ethics Complaint Against Sarah Palin

Some average Joe in Alaska figures he can get his fifthteen minutes of fame like that plumber guy did by filing an ethics complaint on the governor. This will get him nowhere except maybe harrasment from police in Wasilla:

She's a national political figure and one of the world's most famous people.

She's also governor of Alaska.

As Sarah Palin settles back into her job as the state's chief executive, a new ethics complaint filed Tuesday says she's already improperly mixing her official duties and broader political ambitions.

The charge: That Palin broke state ethics rules by holding national television interviews about her run for vice president from the governor's office.

The complaint comes as Palin's personal life, her prospects as a future presidential candidate and everything she says and does continues to draw headlines.

Continue...

Bill Clinton Clearing the Way for Hilary to Get Post

CHICAGO – Former President Bill Clinton has offered several concessions to help Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, his wife, become secretary of state, people familiar with President-elect Barack Obama's transition vetting process said Wednesday.

Clinton has agreed to release the names of several major donors to his charitable foundation and will submit future foundation activities and paid speeches to a strict ethics review, said Democrats knowledgeable about the discussions.

They also said that Clinton would step away from day-to-day responsibility for his foundation while his wife serves and would alert the State Department any new sources of income and to his speechmaking. The Democrats spoke only on grounds of anonymity because of the private nature of the Cabinet-selection process.

Since Sen. Clinton has emerged as a top contender for the State job, her husband's international business deals and the fundraising he has done for his foundation and presidential library have come under careful review by Obama's transition team. The former president had indicated earlier that he would be willing to significantly increase the transparency of those activities if it would boost the former first lady's chances of getting the job.

A team of attorneys is representing the Clintons in negotiations with Obama officials, in talks which have taken place this week at a law firm in Washington.

Hillary Clinton still carries a....

Al-Qaeda: Obama Does What the White Man Tells Him To

(AP)- "Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri is criticizing Barack Obama in a new message, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

"Al-Zawahri says in an audio message, which appeared on militant Web sites Wednesday, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X. He calls Obama a "house negro."

"The audio plays over still pictures of al-Zawahri, Malcolm X praying, and Obama with Jewish leaders.

"In the first public al-Qaida comment about Obama's electoral victory, al-Zawahri adds that Obama's plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist."

Now We Know Why Those Zogby Polls Were So Close

Well Zogby has just dropped several notches in the credibility arena. The best polling website in the business, Five Thirty Eight explains how the conservative media continues to distance themselves from the majority of America by insulting our intelligence, and also keeping their base in the same negative mindset. Five Thirty-Eight reporting:

I had the chance this afternoon to speak with John Ziegler, a documentary filmmaker and former radio talk show host who built the website HowObamaGotElected.com and is promoting a forthcoming documentary of the same name.

Ziegler was responsible for commissioning a Zogby International survey of Barack Obama supporters, which took the form of a multiple choice political knowledge test, stating a "fact" to the respondent and asking them which of the four major candidates (Obama, McCain, Biden, Palin) the statement applied to. Because I believe that many of the statements on the survey are questionable or false but are misleadingly presented as factual to the respondent, I characterized the survey as a "push poll" in an article posted early this morning.

Ziegler had contacted me by e-mail, asking if I'd like to interview him; the interview itself was conducted by telephone. Ziegler asked, among other conditions, that I post a full transcript of the interview, which I have. The transcript below is intended to be representative as possible from my shorthand transcript, with the exception of two or three rapid-fire ad-hominem exchanges being edited out. The transcript, however, is not safe for work.

Continue Article

Take Your Pre-Apocolyptic Cruise With Religious Wing Nuts

Being a Christian is supposed to be about spreading the Word of God, not spreading a sense of fear to promote your own agenda. A lot of Christians are swayed by those who appear on television and whom they consider to be a Christian authority.

The problem I have is that it is so hard to tell one who is of God, and one who is out for his or her own pockets and agenda's.

Take World Net Daily, a right wing religious news site that spreads rumors more than facts. They fought all year against Barack Obama, and labeled him everything from a socialist to the Anti-Christ.

Now to help ease the pain of a crushing loss even though they prayed and said God would answer their prayers, they decide the best thing to do is to have a cruise to figure out what the next four years will be like with evil Barack Obama at the helm.

Of course this cruise will not be free. The "Pre-Obama" cruise prices vary from a $650 dollar state room with an extra 300 plus dollars in taxes, or $1459 plus taxes for the God Almighty suite. From the WND:

I know. With all three branches of the U.S. government soon to be in the hands of the liberal-left, many of you are plagued by two giant-sized questions:

1. What can you do – what can anyone do – to protect America from morphing into another pathetic socialist state where liberty, prosperity and morality are just a fond memory? And;

2. How can you positively protect yourself, your family, your assets and your personal freedoms during what promises to be a very challenging next four years?

This is what Christians do? Scare the living daylights out of people because they could not get another lying about Christianity republican in office like bush.

They are becoming a dying breed. We see how much power the Catholic church has lost in this country, and the right-conservative is next.

Chambliss' Attack Ad On Martin Attacks Obama Also

WATCH: The Day in Politics in 100 Seconds

Mark Begich Declared Winner in Alaska Senate Race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has lost his bid for a seventh term. The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday's count. That's an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.

Stevens, who turned 85 Tuesday, also revealed that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens dropped further behind Democrat Mark Begich in his re-election bid Tuesday as the convicted felon's 85th birthday became a grueling wait that could determine whether his decades-long hold on power is over.

The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed the Anchorage mayor by 2,374 votes out of 290,198 counted as election officials continued tallying absentee and other ballots. Begich had led by about 1,000 votes before Tuesday's count.

Stevens waited anxiously to see whether a climactic vote count would keep him in Congress long enough for his fellow Republicans to decide whether to expel him from their ranks.

He also turned 85 on Tuesday, just another in a series of topsy-turvy days for the six-term senator who has been straddling challenges to his power both at home and in his trial in Washington. Notwithstanding all that turmoil, Stevens revealed that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.

Stevens' future was murky at a time when newly elected members of both the House and Senate were on Capitol Hill for heady receptions, picture-taking sessions and orientation this week. Stevens, for his part, had no idea what his life would be like in January, when the 111th Congress convenes.

"I wouldn't wish what I'm going through on anyone, my worst enemy," he lamented to reporters at one point. "I haven't had a night's sleep for almost four months."

Stevens was trailing Begich, with the remaining uncounted votes coming mostly from Anchorage and the surrounding area, where Begich is leading, and from the state's southeastern panhandle, where he was doing even better. Overseas ballots had to be sent in to election officials by Wednesday.

Stevens, who has served in the Senate since 1968, is renowned for bringing federal funding home to Alaska, as well as for wearing his Incredible Hulk tie when the going gets rough in Congress.

But last month he was convicted by a federal jury in Washington of lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil field services company.

One of his leading critics in the Senate GOP caucus, South Carolina's Jim DeMint, announced Tuesday that he will hold off on a move to expel Stevens from the party conference and strip him of plum committee assignments. He said some of his colleagues want to see whether he wins another term before voting to sanction him.

DeMint said he'll press for a vote on Thursday if the tide somehow turns in Stevens' favor and he is re-elected.

"After talking with many of my colleagues, it's clear there are sufficient votes to pass the resolution regarding Senator Stevens," DeMint said in a statement. "The question now is timing. Some who support the resolution believe we should address this after the results of his election are confirmed in Alaska."

Many of Stevens' GOP colleagues have urged him to resign, but Stevens plans to appeal his convictions.

Senators can only be expelled after the Senate Ethics Committee investigates and recommends it. It takes a two-thirds tally, but most senators facing expulsion resign before a vote.

Removing Stevens from the GOP conference is a far lesser penalty than expelling him from the Senate. Stevens would still have full floor rights but would lose his slots on the Appropriations and Commerce committees next year, if re-elected.

Stevens already has been removed as top Republican on the Commerce panel and his ranking position on the powerful subcommittee responsible for the defense budget.

Meanwhile, jurors at his trial said Stevens was his own worst witness.

Two jurors - one of whom posted a Web log of her jury duty experience - say the senator undermined his own defense by verbally jousting with Justice Department prosecutors and denying that just because he was given something, that didn't make it a gift.

"It was kind of weird," juror Colleen Walsh said. "Throughout the case, he was kinda quiet and you know, kinda grandfatherly, but when he was up on stage, he was like a lion, and he was kind of demeaning to the lawyer, so it didn't help his case that much," she said in an interview.

Walsh, 32, and Brian Kirst, 25, an alternate who sat through the trial but did not join the deliberations, said Stevens' combative performance hurt him with the jury.

Kirst described the Justice Department's evidence as "hard-core," difficult to refute. Stevens' stories "just didn't add up," Kirst said.

"The whole thing was just a mess. It was like, 'You're not helping, so why are you up here?'" Kirst said. "It was kinda interesting to see him shoot himself in the foot."

The jury deliberations were filled with controversy from the start. Jurors complained of stress and violent outbursts from one of their members during deliberations. They asked for her to be replaced, but the judge refused.

Clinton Might Turn Down Job

Poltico is reporting Hilary Clinton might be turning down Secretary of State job:

Hillary Rodham Clinton isn’t certain she would accept the Secretary of State post even if Barack Obama offers it to her, several people close to the former first lady say.

Press reports that portray Clinton as willing to accept the job – once the Obama transition team vets Bill Clinton’s philanthropic and business ventures – are inaccurate, one Clinton insider told Politico.

“A lot of the speculation and reporting is out ahead of the facts here,” said the person, who requested anonymity. “She is still weighing this, independent of President Clinton's work.”

Clinton, the person said, remains deeply “torn” between the possibility of serving in Obama’s cabinet and remaining in the Senate to “help pass health care and work on a broad range of domestic issues.”

That comment jibes with what others close to Clinton have been saying since the Secretary of State chatter began last week: that Clinton is conflicted and the deal far from done, despite screaming headlines in outlets including the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper claiming the offer was made and accepted.

Most of the speculation....

Obama Girls to Visit the White House Today

WASHINGTON — Soon-to-be first lady Michelle Obama will visit the White House Tuesday afternoon with her daughters, Malia and Sasha, according to First Lady Laura Bush's press secretary, Sally McDonough.

McDonough said Mrs. Bush had invited Mrs. Obama to visit the White House again when her daughters were available.

Isn't that sweet. But really, that is a class move by the First lady. For her to extend a welcome to the Obama ladies is a very good move for an outgoing First Lady. If only she hadn't married that George Bush guy.

Watch: Grumpy Old Eagleburger on His Choice For Sec. of State

Does anybody think former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger is a little pissed his buddy John Mccain did not win the presidency? He has in every interview since and after the election, have a smart comment or an attitude when talking about Obama. So disrespectful.......

My Request For A Bailout

With our economy in turmoil and unemployment at all time highs, I am officially putting my request in for a portion of the bailout money. I am by all means only asking for a small amount compared to others. I am requesting a loan of 50 million dollars to be paid back over a lifetime generational payment schedule. I will pay 30 dollars a month for my lifetime and will pass the payments over to my son and so on and so on... Where will the payments go you ask?

• All my debt and my families debt will be paid only use about a half percent of the total
• I will pay for my son's college in full with out asking for any federal aid
• I certainly need a new wardrobe, so a little shopping will be done (Not as bad as Palin though)
• I would also be hiring some personal thugs, to beat down the CEO's from these companies who require bailouts
• I will then open up a company of my own and hire a large portion of those employees that have been laid off by those corporations and make sure my salary is not ridiculous and will give my bonus to the employees throughout the company

Please consider my request for a bailout, and I assure you the money will be handled with the utmost responsibility.

Still Waiting On That Call Ms. Musgrave!

Talk about no class. Ms. high and mighty Marilyn Musgrave has shown she is the ultimate sore loser in politics. She still since November 4th has not called Betsy Markey whom she lost her 4th district congress seat in Colorado to. It is now the 18th of the month and she still has never conceded and contacted Markey to congratulate her.

The so-called staunch Christian conservative can't seem to be an adult and just dial those digits.

Breaking News: Eric Holder Jr. Accepts U.S. Attorney General Nomination From Barack Obama

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff is reporting that Barack Obama has offered the Attorney General nomination Eric Holder Jr. He is former Deputy Attorney General under Jane Reno. He would be the first African-American U.S. Attorney General.

Isikoff's Article:

President-elect Obama has decided to tap Eric Holder as his attorney general, putting the veteran Washington lawyer in place to become the first African-American to head the Justice Department, according to two legal sources close to the presidential transition.

Holder, who served as deputy attorney general during the Clinton administration, still has to undergo a formal “vetting” review by the Obama transition team before the selection is final and is publicly announced, said one of the sources, who asked not to be identified talking about the transition process. But in the discussions over the past few days, Obama offered Holder the job and he accepted, the source said. The announcement is not likely until after Obama announces his choices to lead the Treasury and State departments.

Holder, 57, has been on Obama’s “short list” for attorney general from the outset. A partner at the D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling, Holder served as co-chief (along with Caroline Kennedy) of Obama’s vice-presidential selection process. He also actively campaigned for Obama throughout the year and grew personally close to the president-elect. Holder has not returned a call seeking comment; a spokeswoman for the Obama transition team told Newsweek in an e-mail early Tuesday afternoon that no decision has been made.

Continue.....

"First Lady Got Back"

Nov. 18, 2008 | Free at last. I never thought that I -- a black girl who came of age in the utterly anticlimactic aftermath of the civil rights movement -- would say the phrase with any real sincerity in my lifetime. But ever since Nov. 4, I've been shouting it from every rooftop. I'm not excited for the most obvious reason. Yes, Obama's win was an extraordinary breakthrough and a huge relief, but I don't subscribe to the notion that his capturing the White House represents the end of American racial history. Far from it. There is a certain freedom in the moment -- as in, we are all now free from wondering when or if we'll ever get a black president. Congratulations to all of us for being around to settle the question.

But what really thrills me, what really feels liberating in a very personal way, is the official new prominence of Michelle Obama. Barack's better half not only has stature but is statuesque. She has coruscating intelligence, beauty, style and -- drumroll, please -- a butt. (Yes, you read that right: I'm going to talk about the first lady's butt.)

What a bonus! From the ocean of nastiness and confusion that defined this campaign from the beginning, Michelle rose up like Venus on the waves, keeping her coif above water and cruising the coattails of history to present us with a brand-new beauty norm before we knew it was even happening.

Actually, it took me and a lot of other similarly configured black women by surprise. So anxious and indignant were we about Michelle getting attacked for saying anything about America that conservatives could turn into mud, we hardly looked south of her neck. I noted her business suits and the fact she hardly ever wore pants (unlike Hillary). As I gradually relaxed, as Michelle strode onto more stages and people started focusing on her clothes and presence instead of her patriotism, it dawned on me -- good God, she has a butt! "Obama’s baby (mama) got back," wrote one feminist blogger. "OMG, her butt is humongous!" went a typical comment on one African-American online forum, and while it isn't humongous, per se, it is a solid, round, black, class-A boo-tay. Try as Michelle might to cover it with those Mamie Eisenhower skirts and sheath dresses meant to reassure mainstream voters, the butt would not be denied.

As America fretted about....