An Ode to the ODE

In talking about the Oregon Daily Emerald strike, I was reminded of the poem "First they came…", by Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about political apathy. While I originally raised the poem in a purely sardonic manner, the more I read it the more I feel its author would feel comfortable that I cite it in relation to our small contest. Unionists, schools and the press are often included in the list, and ultimately the point of the poem is that no fight is too small to be fought - we are all part of the larger community.

Original (1976):

Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Kommunist.

Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.

Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten,
habe ich nicht protestiert;
ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.

Als sie die Juden holten,
habe ich geschwiegen;
ich war ja kein Jude.

Als sie mich holten,
gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.


Translation:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Good Effort, Good Effort

So ... we win. Obama is president-elect, and should hopefully rule the roost for quite some time. I'm not sure what else to say about it, I was so exhilarated that it kind of settled into a feeling of unreality. Fun.

Anywho, now that the election is all done with, on to bigger and better things. Newsweek is publishing a behind-the-scenes project that is showcasing all the stories we couldn't hear during the campaign season: like, for example, that Palin spent way more on clothing than was revealed; or that both the major Obama and McCain databases were hacked by China or Russia, and huge amounts of data were pulled down for what the FBI and Secret Service termed "[uses] in negotiations with a future administration".

Moving on, Russia's oil economy is so bad that people are talking about revolution due to unemployment doubling. Good thing they announced plans today to put missiles on its Western border.

Good luck Obama! Make us proud!

CNN: Palin is 'going rogue'

I don't even know what to say to this:

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.

Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

...

With the presidential race in its final days and polls suggesting that McCain's chances of pulling out a win are growing slim, Palin may be looking after her own future.

"She's no longer playing for 2008; she's playing 2012," Democratic pollster Peter Hart said. "And the difficulty is, when she went on 'Saturday Night Live,' she became a reinforcement of her caricature. She never allowed herself to be vetted, and at the end of the day, voters turned against her both in terms of qualifications and personally."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/25/palin.tension/

Palin's Wardrobe Stabs RNC Where It Hurts - The Polls

A quick early-morning political blog round-up:

At a time where Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama seems to finally be hitting his stride with voters, GOP rival John McCain's campaign has seemed to have made a critical misstep: The political blogosphere is buzzing about recent findings by The Politico that the RNC has spent more than $150,000 on designer clothing for Sarah Palin and her family.

Author Jeanne Cummings writes:

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

After initially refusing to comment on the issue, the Republican campaign eventually issued a response:

"With all of the important issues facing the country right now, it’s remarkable that we’re spending time talking about pantsuits and blouses," said Republican spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt. "It was always the intent that the clothing go to a charitable purpose after the campaign."

Still, while fashion may not be the most serious of issues facing our candidates, it is something that has appeared to strike home with Americans concerned with an economic recession and a real need for fiscal responsibility.

"Something must be terribly wrong with this story which claims that the RNC has spent $150,000 on clothes for Sarah "Real American" Palin. This can't possibly be true, otherwise she'd be like the worst hypocrite ever," writes one blogger.

And it appears that liberals are not the only ones to have already picked up on it. The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder noted on his blog that he has already been e-mailed by many Republican supporters "to share their utter (and not-for-attribution) disgust at the expenditures."

The Boston Globe's Foon Rhee points out the seriousness of these impact that these allegations may have in the last two weeks of the presidential race:

Meanwhile, in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that shows Democrat Barack Obama leading McCain 52 to 42 percent among registered voters nationwide, up from 49 to 43 percent two weeks ago, voters also said that Palin's qualifications to be president was their top concern about McCain -- ahead of even continuing President Bush's policies.

Of respondents, 55 percent said she is not qualified to serve as president, and 47 percent have a negative opinion of her, up from 27 percent when she was first picked two months ago.