A Whirlwind Awaits

Being a lazy gadabout (look it up!) often means that I depend on those who visit the Bay Area to rouse me from my sloth-like lifestyle so that I can take in the wonders of Northern California. Although I have lived here nearly 3 years, there are still a few places I haven't been. Sadly, Alcatraz remains one of those places. Damn tourists bought all the tickets, even on a Monday.

But I still knocked a few more items off the list! My weekend in photos:


The view from the Marin Headlands. I had never been out to the point before, and since it wasn't buried under a mountain of fog, off we went! I can't believe I didn't go sooner.

But that's not all! Did somebody say... trees?


Yes, it's Muir Woods. A fairly gray day, but the trees are always great, so in we went. I had been here before (thrice!) but it's still impressive every time. You will of course notice that I took no actual pictures of the redwoods. Just random forest shots. That was totally 100% guaranteed on purpose, for reals.

There was the requisite stop at the big bridge herself:


And Saturday gave us a lovely sunset.

Of course, as always, you get no pictures of me. This is because I don't like you.

Nah, I'm just joshin' ya. It's because I don't want to.

I Hope It Wasn't THAT Important

I have several email addresses. Many of us do. In fact, I have two separate Gmail addresses, one I created solely to reserve the name (first initial, last name @ gmail) and one I use daily.

The reserved email is rarely checked. Every two or three months, I pop in to see if anybody shorthanded my "normal" email incorrectly (The Machine used to do this a lot) but mostly I find spam and other incorrectly-addressed email from various strangers. Someone named Samantha (grrr) keeps trying to sign up to Western Union but apparently doesn't know her own email address.

Today, I saw this:

Subject: I Love You
...even if you are a pain in the ass.

It was, of course, 2 months old. Just a short message from someone who shares my last name and lives in New York, to someone who shares my first initial and last name. Relative? Wife? It is hard to say.

But I was amused.

Hulk vs. Hulk, and Other Random Points

I watched the new "Incredible Hulk" movie (with Ed Norton) last night. I actually meant to watch in Sunday but stupidly bought the previous Ang Lee/Eric Bana creation. I don't hate the old one, like many did; I thought it was far more nuanced than most superhero movies, and appreciated the subtext that Lee brought.

This new Hulk was definitely more straightforward, but not stupid. At least, not Fantastic Four-level stupid. I think they were truer to the Hulk's "powers" in the Ang Lee version, though. He gets stronger as he gets madder. He has, to some extent, unlimited power as long as people keep pissing him off. That's why he beats Superman, because at the end of the day he is stronger that ol' Supes.

The new Hulk, Nortonified, is not quite as big or strong. He is a better Hulk in other ways (he doesn't have to fight "Hulk dogs", for one thing) but I wish they had alluded to the deep ocean of rage that fuels his strength. Still, solid B effort. B+ for including Iron Man at the end there.

........

I lost, sort of, in court yesterday. It was disappointing but valuable because it is the first time I lost when, really, I shouldn't have. The judge was just not open to hearing my argument, and not open to an objective review of the dispute. It is not a remotely important issue, but it stings. I don't like losing when the facts and the law are on my side, but it happens, and I'm glad it happened on this instead of on, say, something dispositive.

I am also a bit under the weather with a very mild cold. I don't really get sick, hence it is mild, but it is a pain in the ass. It did not stop me from completely rearranging my apartment on Sunday, though it did wear me out a lot faster than moving a couch 10 feet should wear me out.

"Your Honor..."

The day before oral argument, even at a fairly inconsequential hearing, it a pain in my ass. Every time I have a moment of silence, or am not actively engaging in some activity, I start rehearsing said argument in my head.

Or, out loud. In the shower, driving on the highway, drying off after the shower. Naked oral argument is weird, by the way.

It doesn't really prepare me, either. I will speak from a rough outline which has yet to be written, so all the pacing and practicing in my apartment is vaguely useless.

I do like this part of my job, though. And, the tentative ruling was not in our favor, which makes me the underdog, which makes me like it even more.*

*though note to self, write better briefs so you're not the underdog.

Yikes

In an attempt to gloat about the massive triumph on Tuesday, I went by a few conservative blogs and websites to drink down their sweet, sweet tears. Not so much to post things comments, but just to take it all in.

I don't really visit these sites with regularity, because while I enjoy a good debate, there is little to be found on most conservative websites. I mean, there is a debate with reality that most of these sites lose regularly, but not a debate with real people involved.

So I was sort of disappointed to see that not only are they sore losers--a minor sin that I have been guilty of myself, and can forgive--but some of these folks have LOST IT completely.

I won't go into details (because that's not the point, and because I said no more politics for awhile) but damn if I ever saw such hate-filled invective. More than angry, I became sad for these people. I firmly believe that Nov. 4 is a keystone day for our country, and will be historically reviewed as a perfect example of American excellence. And it is sad to realize there will be a significant, but small, portion of the country that has eternalized their hatred for this event in electronic form.

You people are old oats. You're betamax. You're the neanderthal, and the cro-magnons have arrived. The dustbin of history awaits.

Armchair Quarterbacking the GOP

(Note: I am too pissed to write about Prop 8. It is a morally and legally indefensible ballot initiative that I am still hoping can be destroyed at the Federal level. But more on that when I've actually checked whether that's true.)

There is, by all accounts, going to be a lot of hand-wringing and "soul" (I used the term loosely) searching within the Republican party now that they've been so spectacularly defeated on so many levels. I would be remiss if I didn't offer my own 2 cents.

Forgetting Sarah Palin
It is said that Palin energized the GOP "base", but in reality, she energized only the very vocal, socially conservative minority. Many fiscally conservative Republicans were aghast at her selection, and eventually made their opinions known.

Now, the talk (and McCain's concession speech last night) is that Palin is a rising star in politics. I disagree. Not because she's not a good politician -- she clearly is -- but because her brand of politics is exactly what brings in less than half the country. Obama's win is a repudiation of the idea that America is socially conservative. Americans don't like being labeled one way or the other, but it is clear from last night that those who side with God and guns alone are not going to win. If Palin doesn't change her methods and viewpoint, then heralding her as the Next Big Thing will only mean continual defeats.

Few voters were brought into the GOP because of Palin. Far more were pushed out. The math is pretty simple.

Return to Your Non-Whackjob Roots
That doesn't mean that the GOP can't be "big tent" and include the fundamentalists and social conservatives. Democrats certainly don't want them (for the most part). But you can't let them control your party. You can't let them dictate a platform of backwards-looking social ideals. They can't be the most vocal wing. They have to shut up, sit down, and realize that they are far better off with a GOP government anyhow.

Democrats have done the same thing, for many years, with minorities. Yesterday's election notwithstanding, African-Americans have long been "assumed" Democrats because honestly, are they going to vote Republican? Not in meaningful numbers. It is not a policy of the Democratic party to do this, but rather laziness and a sense of entitlement by party leaders. I'm not endorsing it as a Democratic strategy, but Republicans might want to look at how it has worked out.

Fiscal Conservatism Isn't Terrible
I may have differences of opinion with conservatives about the role and size of the U.S. government, but I respect those opinions. I would like to argue those ideas with Republicans, but they seem far more focused on God, abortion, and gays. That isn't to say people shouldn't disagree with me on those issues, but if you put fiscal conservatism up front, you have a much stabler platform.

The GOP hasn't done that of late, because their "base" won't let them. That's why I said above that you have to make fiscal conservatism your base, and social conservatism your fringe. Argue economics and big government, and FAR more Americans will join up. Argue that all gays will burn in hell, and you're in for a long, cold political winter.

End Note: This may be the last political post for awhile. No promises, but I'm sort of exhausted. I am still angry about Prop 8, so I may have to tear Californians a new one, but overall I'm spent.

Yes We Can

I wanted to get my thoughts down now, before sleep dulls them.

There was nothing (at the national level) that didn't go perfectly tonight. My home state was the domino that called it for Obama. He has surpassed 300 electoral votes and may pass 350--a landslide. More than 50% of the vote--a mandate.

McCain was extraordinarily classy in his concession speech. His crowd was, well, the crowd that his campaign cultivated. They were not classy.

Obama was... pretty much as he always is. Amazing. Humble and exceedingly aware of the tasks before us. Inspiring, even. Did you see Jesse Jackson with tears in his eyes?

The coming weeks and months may dull this feeling, as "politics" takes over, at least to a certain degree.

But right now, I've got hope for America, for the first time in my entire life. That our country and our world might finally move in a positive direction, instead of scraping out an existence, trying not to slip back into the dark ages.

It is probably uncharacteristically naive of me. But look at what we did; in spite of our best efforts to screw this up, we elected the right man for the job. And more than that, we etched a permanent achievement in our history, one that cannot be undone no matter how the next 4-8 years turn out.

Thank you, America, for doing the right thing.

A Few Thoughts on This Historic Day

First, and most obviously, you should go vote. Whether it's for Obama or the other guy, you should vote. The only caveat is if you would vote for Obama, but won't because he's not white, just don't vote at all. We'll look for you and your enlightened self in 2012, but for now, go ahead and stay home. It's the least you can do.

Everyone else--conservatives and liberals alike--should be at the polls. Or, if you did the whole early voting thing, at home laughing at those who are standing in line today. My voting experience was quick and painless, though it cost me 35 cents for a meter because the parking lot was jammed.

Second, if Obama wins (and he better--see below) and then wins again in 2012, I was thinking that perhaps in 2016 when he is done with politics, somebody should nominate him to the Supreme Court. He's clearly a smart guy, and a good lawyer, and it's not without precedent (Taft did this way back in the early 20th century).

And finally, my usual party-pooper finale. I wrote about this a few months back, but it bears repeating today because my predictions at that time are on the mark: every shred of evidence, except for the actual vote tally, points to a major Obama win tonight. It is inconceivable that every single poll--not just the outliers but all of the national and state polling--would be wrong.

So if McCain wins, what does that mean? I gotta say, it means this election was stolen (which is unlikely) or that Americans are a racist bunch of assclowns. Not, as I said before, because a vote for McCain is a racist act. It's not. But the only way that every single poll could be that far off would be if the dreaded Bradley effect really occurs, and Americans have been lying to pollsters. If people will theoretically vote for Obama, but when actually making their choice, cannot do so.

It would be shameful. A stain on our country, and as I said before, possibly the moment that historians point to when they discuss the decline of the American empire. I am hoping that in a few short hours, the Bradley effect will be put to bed once and for all. But I ain't celebrating yet.