President Elect Barack Obama Mosaics

I love mosaics. Last night I was inspired to make a few of President Elect Barack Obama (and a few with Obama and Senator McCain). I made these using AndreaMosaic with the tile images as Economist covers between 10/12/2002 - 11/1/2008 (the only dates there are large versions available). Click on the images to get larger versions of the images or even full size if you'd like (I didn't link directly to the full size image as they are all 6-11mb).


If you look at the full size image you can make out the covers. All that red is thanks to the big red box that is the Economist logo.

Congratulations President Elect Obama!

I'm calling it. Congratulations President Elect Obama! Now don't blow it! Live up to your campaign promises that will hopefully mend the reputation of our country and help bring us together. Pick a competent Cabinet from people across the political spectrum. Run the country from the center and be a President we can all be proud of.

Don't blame me, I voted (early) for Kodos

I'm back from early voting and I feel great! So far I've read that 2,078,050 other North Carolinians have already voted too. That is 58.5% of the 2004 total. I can't wait to see the total voter turn out nationwide.

My wife and I got to the polling place at noon and were done at 1. We voted at the Cliffdale Recreation Center. The wait was worth it though. While waiting in line I got to meet Lou Olivera, a local candidate for district court judge. Only a handful of people were handing out campaign materials though. There was also a lady there getting people to sign a petition to the next governor requesting more effort to expand green energy in the state and stop building new coal power plants. I wish I remembered what group it was for. I even asked explicitly. Grr. There were people from the Honey Baked Ham store selling ham and turkey sandwiches for $5 too. Clever.

This was the first time I have voted on electronic equipment and I have to say I didn't much care for it. The machine was an ES&S iVotronic machine. I've always voted with the bubble sheet optical scan ballots in the past and I think I can vote that way faster. I don't know all the advantages of these electronic voting machines but they did all have a scrolling paper trail so as I was voting I could see it print out the candidate I voted for. That was a little reassuring. At the end it printed several 3D bar codes. There was also a little sticker that said it was purchased with funds from HAVA (Help America Vote Act). The election official who got me setup to vote didn't give me any instructions on how to use the machine because she figured I knew what I was doing thanks to my age. I thought that was funny. I wish I remembered exactly what she said. (She did mention several times that if I need any help to ask. Several people were getting help. I am not implying they were not on top of things there.)


Oh, and I got my "I Voted" sticker. Now I can dress up as a "slutty voter" for Halloween!

Barack Obama Rally - Fayetteville, NC - October 19, 2008 (with pictures and video)

I was pretty excited last week to learn that Barack Obama was coming to Fayetteville, NC today. Obama has a good chance of winning NC. If he does, he would be the first Democratic Presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to win the state. (That was the election after Nixon. That is an interesting comparison to Bush's popularity.)

The event today took place at the Crown Center Coliseum which holds about 8,500. Not everyone who showed up was able to get in though. Barack said at the beginning of his speech that about a thousand people had to wait outside to listen. (All of my pictures of the event are on Flickr and all my event videos are on YouTube.) Chuck Tryon was also there and blogged about the event and Melissa Garcia has posted pictures too.

I arrived at 10:30am and doors opened at 11. The event started at 1:30. I was glad I didn't come any later because it took me just under 2 hours to get inside. I was at the back of the huge crowd waiting to get in but by the time I got to the front of the crowd, there were just as many people behind me as when I first arrived. There really were not any lines which made the whole process a little chaotic but overall everything went smoothly. (I heard from some campaign staff that they did have ropes set up for lines but the Secret Service changed things.) Security was moving really slowly, which is very understandable, but that was the hold up. People in TSA uniforms were searching coats and looking at electronics while secret service (not the cool looking ones in suits with ear pieces) were manning the metal detectors. Fortunately my little Swiss Army pocket knife was ok to bring in. I think that is a little funny because I couldn't bring it on a plane but I could bring it a few feet from the potentially next US President.

After I got inside I wasn't sure where I wanted to sit. There weren't many seats open and the lower section was for VIPs. I am not sure what made you a VIP but I wasn't one. I was allowed to go down to the floor though which surprised me because it was fairly empty there. I don't know if everyone wanted to sit after waiting 2 hours standing up or if they thought you had to be someone special like I did to get on the floor. Either way, I was excited to be there and I got a big grin on my face walking around there looking for a good spot to stand and watch.

While waiting for everything to start people were passing out mini American flags and signs. Someone brought a sign that said "Plumbers 4 Obama". Haha! Many were singing to the music playing over the loudspeakers and at one point participating in a very respectable wave. I also overheard a guy who said he had breakfast at Hardees and there were some secret service agents eating there too. About 1:20 there was an opening prayer followed by the pledge of allegiance and national anthem. I haven't said the pledge of allegiance in a while and forgot how short it was! There were only a few opening speakers and then Obama showed up and the crowd went WILD!!

The speech was good. It was not terribly different from anything else I have heard so far but that was expected. My favorite parts though were his story about pie at a restaurant owned by a staunch Republican (they didn't have sweet potato pie btw), his rebuttal to John McCain claiming he is a socialist by pointing out that Warren Buffett supports him (no one around me laughed like I did at that one), the fact that this morning Colin Powell endorsed him and the strong and moving closing about the opportunity America provides and how he wants to make it better with our help.


After the speech he walked around the floor. I didn't get to shake his hand but I did get just 2 people away from doing so. Everyone was going crazy and pushing trying to get to him. It was great. After Obama left, the crowd dispersed fairly quickly. Maybe they all went out to go vote early which was one of the main goals of the rally today.

It was surreal being there today. I went with some friends to see Kerry/Edwards at NC State in 2004 but this was a lot more exciting (and I got a million times closer to the candidate). Also, I was very much a minority at this event and I thought that was a very encouraging sign about this election. Oh, and I bought a shirt.

The 2008 Presidential Campaign is Depressing Me

And they're off! Since the end of the Republican convention the 2008 Presidential campaigns have kicked it into high gear. I was really looking forward to this election. First, there was no way George Bush was going to win this one. Second, we have 2 candidates who looked like they were going to run positive campaigns and tell us why they should be elected instead of why their opponent shouldn't be elected. I'd much rather vote for the candidate who is going to be the best for our country instead of trying to decide which candidate is going to be least terrible.

But of course all the hopes of a positive campaign have since disappeared. Mr. 9/11 (Rudy Giuliani) got things warmed up at the Republican National Convention with personal attacks by belittling being a community organizer and misrepresentations, all with the laugh of a hyena (Giuliani RNC 2008 transcript). I could overlook that though. I knew Giuliani was an ass before his speech and was just glad he wasn't the one on the ticket. I was hopeful that Alaskan Governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin would turn us back on a positive note but she spouted out more of the same. We got the same community organizer line and more "this is why our opponent is bad" (Palin RNC 2008 transcript). Some say this was all "red meat" for the party loyalists. Fine, but party loyalists aren't the only ones watching. Undecided voters are watching too.

Moving on from the Republican convention things really got crazy though. There were all the investigations into the complete unknown Sarah Palin. Some comments surrounding her went too far but there certainly was no media conspiracy to smear her. The media was doing their job investigating an unknown candidate and all the dirt they found was all new, all at once. It is their job to keep politicians in check. Either way, the pundits can say what they want. I want the facts and then I am most interested in what candidates have to say and what their campaigns put out. What are their talking points. What are their tv and radio ads?

When we get to this phase of the campaign though, things went farther down hill. Misleading statements are flying around faster than you can keep up. I think the piece Blizzard of Lies by Paul Krugman covers all the big ones so far the best. (if you only read one link from this post, read that one) Maybe this video pointing out the distortion of the truth by the McCain campaign will enlighten you some too.

Politics are dirty and politicians lie. That is a known fact. It is so known that it is often a joke. But it is a sad joke because the truth of the matter is negative campaigning works. Look at George Bush's win in 2004 as a good example of this. We even have a new term for this now: swiftboating. The saddest part is people believe these lies and then vote based on them.

The thing this week that pushed me over the edge though was a story on NPR where voters in York, PA Examine Race. The comments in that story that really stuck in my mind were the lady who did not trust Barack Obama. Let me quote:

Leah Moreland, the woman who said she grew up sheltered from prejudice, plans to vote for McCain. Party loyalty is also part of her decision. But her cultural compass also comes into play. She says her gut tells her not to trust Obama.

"I look at Obama, and I have a question in my mind," she says. "Years ago, was he taken into the Muslim faith? And my concern is the only way you are no longer a Muslim is if you are dead, killed. So in my mind, he's still alive."

Although Barack Obama has said repeatedly he is not a Muslim and has never been a Muslim, Moreland is still unconvinced.

"There is something about him I don't trust," she says. "I don't care how good a speaker he is, I just can't trust him."

After I heard this, I cried. Seriously. The claim that Barack Obama is Muslim is a one of those lies left over from the primaries but people still believe it and that is what scares and depresses me the most. It is just not true. This lie about Obama was not enough to bring the emotion about to make me cry though. It was the combination of it being false yet people will still base their vote on it but most importantly that it doesn't matter even if he was. There is nothing bad about electing a Muslim president even if he was. I don't see our country doing that anytime soon but it isn't a bad thing if we do.

How can we have a functioning democracy without educated citizens voting? Our elections have come down to talking point and smears. Who said what and what is your life story are important when they shouldn't matter so much. We need to vote based on what candidate has the best policy and the best ability to carry out those policies.

I want the best President, not the least worst President.

Obma is an elitist, just what we need!

Barack Obama's recent comment that some in Western PA are "bitter" and they "cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them" was not good for his campaign but it isn't all that wrong either. Americans have been ruled by fear, ignorance and incompetence for the last 7 years. We have to cope somehow.

People cling to things that make them feel safe like their guns, their religion and a common animosity for people who are not like them. Everyone does this. I cling to the idea of checks and balances, my civil rights, my right to privacy and my faith in God. For several years I have had to fall back on these ideals to get me through the day and I too am bitter. So listen up, there is nothing wrong with your guns, religion or your concerns over immigration but don't forget there are other important issues in the world.

But now Obama gets to be labeled an elitist for all who will listen to his competitors or the pundits. As Jon Stewart points out, despite jokingly, is being elite really such a bad thing for a President? (Especially considering our current leader.)

You know, I hear what you are all saying but doesn't elite mean good? Is that not something we're looking for in a President anymore? You know what candidates, come with me. I know elite is a bad word in politics. And you want to go bowling and throw back a few beers. But the job you are applying for, if you get it and it goes well, they might carve your head into a mountain. If you don't actually think you are better than us then what the f*!k are you doing? ... In fact, not only do I want an elite President, I want someone who is embarrassingly superior to me.

Or watch Jon explain that we really do want an elite President on the Daily Show site.

One of my favorite aspects of the fictional President Bartlett was the fact that the man was brilliant. A democracy should be a meritocracy so shouldn't the top position in that system be the best of the best?

I'm a registered Democrat again, Yay!

A few months ago I changed my life long registration as a Democrat to Republican. It was a pretty big deal for me but I changed it because I like choices. I figured I'd be ok with the Democratic candidate for President regardless of who it was (ok, I wouldn't have been too keen on John Edwards but I wouldn't have been repulsed). I knew I would have problems with some of the Republican candidates though. I despised the idea of Mr. 9/11 (Rudy Giuliani) being our next fear mongering President. I didn't think much of Mitt Romney either and despite liking Mike Huckabee a lot as a person and a candidate, we don't need 4 more years of the religious right making our country look like loons.

Now back to why I switched parties. I switched so I could help expand my choice in the general election. I knew if my choice was between a Democrat and Giuliani, Romney or Huckabee then it didn't matter who the Democrat was. They would get my vote.

If the Republican was McCain or Ron Paul, then I could actually listen to the candidates arguments, watch the debates and make a real decision. I was actually planning on voting for Ron Paul in the Republican primaries. Now, I am not as sure I would have really liked Ron Paul as President but I do like his libertarian views. Free Markets, Free People.

Since McCain is definitely now the Republican candidate, my vote for Ron Paul would have been purely symbolic (more so than it likely would have been if the race was closer at least). I switched my registration back to Democrat because of choice. I would much prefer to choose the Democratic candidate if I don't have a choice in the Republican candidate.

And I choose Barack Obama.

I am ready for a fresh face and Bush - Clinton - Bush - Clinton would not be a fresh face. More so, Hillary Clinton is a very entrenched career politician. That does not appeal to me.