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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Lede of the Day

Lede of the Day

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Matt Taibbi:

So it’s finally here – the big day. After eighteen months of relentless, ear-splitting propaganda, with thousands, if not tens of thousands, of reporters humping the horse-race (jumping on every single poll like heavily-panting boy-dogs with their little red wieners showing) and day after day swinging the heavy horseshit-hammer of Thor, braining us with one meaningless, made-up non-controversy after another – after all that angst and stress and directionless aggression, it’s finally going to end.

I just voted. The nice old ladies at the poll said that they were over 50% turnout an hour ago.

Reader Interactions

159Comments

  1. 1.

    aimai

    I just finished my stint poll watching at my blue poll in a blue state. We are fighting for every last vote to get Warren into the Senate but I think that, basically, almost everyone from our lists (that is, the people who will get called or walked out to vote if they haven’t voted by 5:00 pm) has already voted. Turnout was huge at our poll and I see from Kos that turnout in Boston itself already nearly exceeds the total number of votes cast for Scott Brown during the fire sale that was his election—its important to remember that that was a standalone election that not everyone turned out for. I’m a whole lot calmer about Warren’s chances if a) Boston turned out because Menino put his troops to work for her and b) the unions decided to ignore brown’s manly credentials and vote for sanity.

    aimai

  4. 4.

    Chris

    it’s finally going to end.

    AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

    The 2016 election cycle will be in swing by the end of the week, especially if it’s Romney who loses.

  5. 5.

    Juju

    I did early voting and just finished 5 hours of GOTV with a friend who voted for McCain last time. We got a lot of early voted already for Obama and set up rides for four voters, and ran into two voters who were just on their way to vote. A lot of people asked if we were fired up and ready to go. We replied absolutely. I think Obama may still have a chance win NC. Yayyyy!!

  6. 6.

    Scout211

    I was kind of spooked by the story (a few days ago on the DailyKos front page) of the woman whose mail-in ballot was thrown out because her signature was determined not to match the one that they had on file for her.

    So I looked around my (California) county’s election site and found that in my county you can check your mail-in ballot status. Mine was determined to be “good.”

    I had no idea we could check that.

  8. 8.

    The Bearded Blogger

    Two good things if Obama wins:

    1) That phrase “nobody ever lost an election by underestimating the intelligence of the american public” will be refuted: M. Romney did.

    2) The election will actually be decided by policy decisions: the auto rescue (not wether someone sighs or wears earth tones)

  9. 9.

    MikeJ

    @Scout211: Here you can put your phone number or email address under your sig. If they have a question about it matching they’ll contact you and make arrangements to straighten it out.

  11. 11.

    Tim F.

    Dr. Mrs. Dr. F earned her citizenship last year (but keeps her French passport) and voted in her first presidential election today. She cried. I didn’t cry but our poll supervisor did, not so much because of me but because she’d just received the first IM picture of her new granddaughter.

    Polls in my part of Pittsburgh’s east end were an in-and-out breeze. Then again I live in a pretty white and religious neighborhood. I hear the tea party morons are acting like real pricks in the black precincts down the street.

  13. 13.

    Zifnab25

    The nice old ladies at the poll said that they were over 50% turnout an hour ago.

    People have bitched for a generation about the lackluster American voter participation. Nice to see we’re finally turning that around, even if it does come at the price of wall-to-wall infomercial political ads blanketing Ohio TV stations.

  14. 14.

    Ridnik Chrome

    There was a line out the door and down the street at 9:30 AM at my polling place in western Queens. First time in my life I’ve voted to re-elect a Democratic president (or any president, now that I think about it, since I’ve certainly never voted to re-elect a Republican). Hope I get to do it again in 2020…

  16. 16.

    blingee

    @Chris: Nothing ends!!! Fox is already whining about how Obama stole the election and the media was not tough enough on him and blah blah blah. They will be calling for impeachment before the end of the day.

    N O T H I N G E N D S ! ! ! ! ! !

    W E H A V E A L W A Y S B E E N A T W A R W I T H E U R A S I A!

  17. 17.

    Suffern ACE

    I can’t wait for this to be over. Saturday is Sadie Hawkins day and I’m figuring that the reason my dance card ain’t full yet is that the women I know are all out canvassing.

  18. 18.

    Crashman

    I just voted. The nice old ladies at the poll said that they were over 50% turnout an hour ago.

    This is going to make me sound dumb, but what does that mean exactly? 50% compared to 2008? 50% of all RVs in the district? Just curious. I’m assuming that’s a good thing?

  19. 19.

    jackmac

    Heading out to vote in a few minutes with my son, a 20-year-old first-time voter. He days shy of his first birthday and snug in a baby carrier when I took him to the polls in 1992 and am proud to accompany him this time around as a fully participating citizen.

  20. 20.

    some guy

    making an anniversary dinner for some gal. balsamic glazed strip steaks, asparagus, onion pepper potatoes, and french bread.

    must glaze steaks anon

  21. 21.

    BGinCHI

    It was pure pleasure to vote for Jan Schakowsky today.

    I love my congresswoman, but not in a creepy way.

  22. 22.

    Schlemizel

    @rlrr:

    Not hardly! There will be no reckoning for these useless bastards. They will sit across from each other on Joe, Chris, Press the Meat, Deface the Nation, FAUX Friends, Hannity, O’Liely et. al. and nod knowingly, congratulate each other for their wisdom and serousness and moderation. There will be congratulations all around & the new round of shit shoveling will begin with renewed vigor.

  23. 23.

    EconWatcher

    My five-year old daughter is very pro-Obama (I think it’s his ears), and I know Obama wouldn’t let a five-year old girl down.

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    @Scout211:

    I had no idea we could check that.

    I think a lot of it is relatively new. It’s a good example of how technology can make voting better if it’s put in the hands of people who want voting to be better.

  27. 27.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    @rlrr:

    If everybody has egg on their face but decline to point it out, does anybody really have egg on their face? It’s not like they’re going to invite Janeane Garofalo on the air to pants Chuck Todd and Howard Fineman.

  28. 28.

    Sandman

    @blingee: are they trying that “Obama wasn’t vetted” trope again? I could see them doing that.

  29. 29.

    BFR

    That should be the way we think. We should be confident that whoever wins has our collective best interests at heart, even if we don’t agree with his or her ideology, the same way we reflexively assume that the pilot of any plane we board doesn’t want to fly us into a mountain.

    But we don’t make that assumption about our politicians anymore.

    I usually like Taibbi, but that’s awful – hearkening back to a time that never existed. It’s hard for me to believe that he doesn’t know better.

  31. 31.

    rumpole

    How others see us-
    From Der Spiegel:

    We want to believe that Obama failed because of the conservatives inside his own country. Indeed, the fanatics that Mitt Romney depends on have jettisoned everything that distinguishes the West: science and logic, reason and moderation, even simple decency. They hate homosexuals, the weak and the state. They oppress women and persecute immigrants. Their moralizing about abortion doesn’t even spare the victims of rape. They are the Taliban of the West.

    Worth reading in full.http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/commentary-total-capitalism-and-the-downfall-of-america-a-865437.html

  34. 34.

    Ridnik Chrome

    @BGinCHI: Schakowsky was my former Rep. I was very sorry that she wasn’t seriously considered as Obama’s Senate replacement in 2008.

    Are you a Rogers Parker by any chance?

  37. 37.

    Schlemizel

    @rlrr:

    Sorry I guess I expect that after egg – I think Shawn up there at # 27 says it well – much better than I did in trying to say the same thing. Its not really egg on your face if nobody will say it is

    @rlrr:
    Nobody who “matters”. Just some DFH bloggers

  38. 38.

    BGinCHI

    @rumpole: Then they added, “And we should know: we were WAY worse than the Taliban some decades ago.”

    But maybe it’s impossible for the Germans to Godwin an editorial?

  40. 40.

    Paul

    @rlrr:

    3) Pundits will have copious amounts of egg on their faces.

    I doubt it. Most of the same pundits were acting as cheerleaders for the disastrous Iraq war and I don’t recall any of them have any shame let alone offering apologies for how wrong they were.

  41. 41.

    Ash Can

    My voting is done, my GOTV work is done, and all I have to do now is to get supper on the table. Is it time to start drinking yet?

  42. 42.

    EconWatcher

    @rumpole:

    Who says Obama failed?

    You know, I don’t mind if we Americans say these things, but I really don’t want to listen to Germans talking about how dysfunctional the US is. They’re doing pretty well right now, but I’d bet on us in the long run, as a successful multicultural society not facing a catastrophic decline in birthrate. Plus add Godwin-violating reference of your choice.

  44. 44.

    Jay

    That British – born US Pundit Who Shall Not Be Named Around Here has relayed some worries about Ohio. Apparently, with the number of absentee ballots coming in, the outcome could be up – in – the – air for as many as TEN days?!

    What’re the chances the American public has to wait that long?

  45. 45.

    fuddmain

    I knocked on about 300 doors in Orlando in the last 24 hours. They wanted me to go out one more time, but my knees and back filed for injunctive relief.

    Hopefully, Florida will be blue again.

  46. 46.

    JPL

    My son just voted in a northern suburb of GA. No waiting and only one out of the ten voting machines was being used. Remember that when you see the lines in Atlanta waiting to vote tonight.

  48. 48.

    PopeRatzo

    My wife grew up in an Eastern European country where there’s only one party, and usually one candidate in each race. Since she became a citizen early in our marriage, I’m always moved by the way she acts on election day. She puts on nice clothes and even her best perfume just to walk to two blocks down to the polling place with her US passport in hand.

    We voted together at 6:30am today and I hadn’t even shaved. I see the way she carefully reads the ballot and asks question and takes it so seriously. She asked for the “Democrats’ ballot” and the older man working the polls told her there’s only one ballot for general elections.

    It’s easy to forget how much this really means until you see it through the eyes of someone who doesn’t take it all for granted.

  49. 49.

    Spaghetti Lee

    As if I weren’t already nervous enough, I will be disconnected, ISOLATED, for a good hour because Tuesday is grocery night. My roommates have cars and I don’t, and they always go on Tuesdays, so I don’t have much veto power. I’ll be back before polls start closing, I hope.

  50. 50.

    DPS

    From the numbers in the last 538 update, I am inferring that we have a 90.9 percent chance of having another impeachment fight in the next four years.

  53. 53.

    Ben Franklin

    Voted this am. The County seat is heavily loaded with the Red. Got a mail in ballot with my sample couple weeks ago. Told the wife (sans instructions from County) to tear them up since were going to the Polls on the 6th. Get there; ‘Oh you don’t have your mail in to hand in? ‘

    Had to do a provisional ballot. I complained to the Super and said this could be interpreted as voter suppression, as many had the same issue coming in. Some left without even voting.

    It could just be incompetence, but I smell a nest of rats.

  54. 54.

    Hill Dweller

    There is crazy shit happening in Philly with the voter rolls. Registered voters are being turned away or forced to use provisional ballots.

    There are reports of high numbers of provisional ballots in Columbus, too.

    I hope the anecdotal evidence of high turnout is correct. It looks like we’re going to need it to overcome some of the shady tactics in OH, PA and FL.

  56. 56.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Sandman: You know, Fox is right. The president should be vetted seriously, and that will require that he face costs if he does not pass the vetting. Yes, in order to ensure a proper vetting, with potential adverse consequences, the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution must be repealed. Who’s with me?

  58. 58.

    Lex

    Lede of the day, yeah, but a flawed story.

    Taibbi’s right in the strict sense that the WORLD won’t come to an end if one side gets elected. Cockroaches and political consultants we always will have with us.

    But given the two major party presidential candidates’ differences on at least two issues — global warming and war with Iran (which, if it involves Israel, will almost certainly go nuclear), the HUMAN RACE might come to an end.

    To Matt’s credit, he’s not often wrong, but given the stakes, that’s a pretty big whiff.

  60. 60.

    lamh35

    I’ve been up since about 8am. Spent about 2 hours tweeting, but then I went to see a movie (Pitch Perfect) and lunch at California Pizza Kitchen to celebrate a belated birthday (I turned 36 yesterday).

    So I’m finally back and trying to see what I missed. Have I missed anything important other than the Pennsylvania voting machine that was changing people’s Obama vote to Romney.

  61. 61.

    techno

    Voting is sure a snap in Minnesota. From the time I entered the voting place until the smiling volunteer slapped the “I Voted” sticker on my jacket took about eight minutes. And yet, the Republicans are trying to screw this up too. (sheesh) From the Christ Science Monitor.

    Minnesota has had the highest voter turnout in 12 of the past 16 elections, including the past eight straight. Minnesota’s average eligible voter turnout in the past six elections – 67.6 percent – is 16.4 percentage points higher than the national average. (remainder of quote from same source—I don’t know what is the formatting problem.)

    Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie attributes the state’s consistently high rating to state policies and an emphasis on reducing barriers to voting access.

    The most effective policy is same-day registration, Ritchie says.

    “It’s clearly a critical factor,” he says. “Election Day registration can increase voter turnout by 500,000 people in a presidential election year. And more than 60 percent of Minnesotans have taken advantage of it in their lifetime.”

    When Ritchie was elected secretary of state six years ago, he focused on educating Minnesotans on the “nuts and bolts” of voting. Election officials go to high school civics classes or assemblies, and they bring voting machines to the state fair to show people how easy it is.

    Beyond policies that enable higher turnout rates, Ritchie says Minnesotans are very patriotic. Minnesota was among the first states to respond to President Lincoln’s call for troops during the Civil War. Voting touches deeper motivations of service and stewardship.

    “Minnesotans do love this place we call home,” Ritchie says. “It’s our responsibility to take care of this place, and voting is one of the ways we do that.”

    Minnesota also has a history of third-party candidates winning high offices and close elections: Jesse Ventura’s 1998 gubernatorial victory for the Reform Party and the contested 2008 Senate race between Al Franken (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party) and Norm Coleman(Republican).

    “Minnesota is a state firing on all cylinders,” Michael McDonald, associate professor at George Mason University, writes in a 2010 US Elections Project report. “The prescription for higher levels of voter participation in the United States is thus clear. Do what Minnesota does: make it easy for people to vote, educate your citizenry, and hold interesting elections.”

  62. 62.

    Anoniminous

    Voted. GOTV. Exhausted.

    SO is about to do the poll watching thing so I have to stay in case the phone rings and I have to make nicey-nicey with clients.

  63. 63.

    John O

    I’m always a little nervous on election night, so I’m +1, and in it to win it.

    I’m also less than 90% confident. Somewhere in the low 60’s, I’d say.

  64. 64.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    @PopeRatzo:

    That’s a really neat story. Thanks for sharing it. As an Air Force brat who’s been to a number of different countries, I know we’re spoiled rotten by the election process here. Want to increase voter turnout? When a kid turns 18, he/she should should have to do a mandatory 6 month stint in the Peace Corps to get some perspective.

  66. 66.

    MattR

    Posted these in the previous thread but will combine them here.

    More of an effort than usual to vote in my town in Jersey, but really not that bad compared to some other areas. They consolidated polling locations so instead of going to the clubhouse in our condo I had to go to the local fire house which is about a mile and a half away. Drive took about 45 minutes due to downed trees and a line to get into the parking lot. Once inside it took about 5 minutes to find my district, get registered and vote. Then another 30 minutes to snake my way back out to a highway to head to mom’s place to work (since I still have no power and am not expected to get it back before Friday at the earliest – who the hell puts a substation in a swamp. As if coming home from Amsterdam was not going to be a slap in the face, having no power just magnified that – though I can’t really complain since I was able to escape that horror for 5 days). No issues at the polling place or during the voting process and I got a cute “I voted” sticker.

    Some people in the previous thread were asking for a link regarding issues with ID in PA. Here is a story from TPM.

    Was also reading an article from the folks at the Poynter Institute who are serving as ombudsmen for ESPN. Could only make it through the first couple paragraphs.

    One of the biggest discrepancies between sports journalism and the rest of journalism is the attitude toward rumors. In most of journalism, rumors are a bad thing. Not just a bad thing, but something respectable reporters try to avoid.
    __
    That doesn’t mean reporters ignore them, especially when it comes to politics and entertainment. Instead, journalists work to convert rumors to substantiated, sourced information before they see the light of day.

  70. 70.

    Eric U.

    exit polls are supposed to be released to subscribers at 5. That’s when the real leaking begins

  71. 71.

    celticdragonchick

    Voted around noon and just got back from canvassing with my 12 year old son here in Greensboro, NC.

    Some very irate Romney guy in a work pick up truck stopped in the middle of the road to scream obscenities at us.

    My son looked confused and wondered why he was so upset. I said “Because he knows he is losing”.

  72. 72.

    gbear

    I was in and out of my voting location in 15 minutes this morning. There were about 50 people there but I lucked out and no one was in line for my 1/3 of the alphabet. The lines were moving very quickly anyway and everyone was helpful and in good humor.

    I don’t have a TV and every website that I go to is going to crash from traffic tonight, so I’ll probably just listen to records and entertain the cats. I took tomorrrow off work so I’ll have the whole day to lap up the bitter, bitter tears of conservatives.

    I just hope that Ohio and Florida don’t screw things up to the point we won’t know the winner for days.

  75. 75.

    Comrade Jake

    I give you your daily dose of McMegan stupidity:

    Buck up, Republicans; a Romney loss today almost certainly means 8 years of Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, or Bobby Jindal.

    Gotta love the “almost” before “certainly”.

  76. 76.

    blingee

    Do the exit polls come out after 5pm West or 5pm local time depending on where it is or ?

    I am going into hiding during that period. Exit polls are always wildly inaccurate and I don’t think I will be able to stand the horseshit hammer of Thor Noonan during that time.

  77. 77.

    EconWatcher

    @Comrade Jake:

    Reason number 1,047 why it is critical to win this one: whichever party wins will likely get the credit for a rebounding economy, and may be well-positioned for 2016. (Of course, very hard to predict that far off, but even K-thug thinks we’re headed for better times.)

  78. 78.

    Felonius Monk

    @WarMunchkin:

    Oh, was today a thing? I couldn’t hear over the roar of Halo 4.

    Yeah, it was a “thing”. Under Romney all video games will be outlawed and those players that are caught will be sent to re-education camps.

  79. 79.

    Donut

    Here in my corner of Illinois’ lovely 9th CD, I was proud to cast my vote again for the Not-A-Real American Kenyan Fascist Soshulist Anti-Colonial Usurper American-Apology Tour Muslim Guy. It felt good to do it, finally, after all that waiting through election season.

    I got to the polling place about 9:15 am. There was a pretty long line, which is atypcal for our ‘hood. An apologetic election judge explained that one of the touch screen machines had crapped out, which slowed things down, and also said, rather ominously, that another judge had been removed from duty after causing “some problem, and the guys from the County Clerk came out and took care of it”. Again, atypical for our locale. He wouldn’t say what the problem was. Our Cook County Democratic machine may be corrupt as fuck, but at least it fucking functions!

    Other than the minor wait time, I was done and gone quixkly. I feel truly grateful that our state has not really caught Wingnut Fever and voted in a bunch of Tea Party assholes at the state level. Just a few oddities like Joe Walsh seem to have cropped up. I wish I could cast a vote for Tammy Duckworth, but grateful also to be repped by Schakowski.

  80. 80.

    JGabriel

    __
    __
    McMegan via Comrade Jake:

    Buck up, Republicans; a Romney loss today almost certainly means 8 years of Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Jeb Bush, or Bobby Jindal.

    Jindal?

    I really don’t get Republicans. I really don’t. That response Jindal gave to the State of the Union a few years back was one of the lamest speeches I’ve ever seen. Getting excited about Jindal is like getting excited about watching paint dry.

    It’s honestly perplexing.

    .

  81. 81.

    J.W. Hamner

    I voted 30 minutes ago… no line but a constant flow of people.

    As an side, I appreciate the sentiment behind the “budget 4 all” thing here in Massachusetts, but asking me to instruct my Rep to vote for a non-existent budget in a non-binding fashion is pretty dumb.

  82. 82.

    Sad But True

    I’m normally a huge fan of Taibbi but the rest of the article (not the portion you posted) is kinda garbage. I knew he was not a fan of Obama but to pretend that individuals every-day lives aren’t likely to be affected in the next few years by this election is preposterous.

  84. 84.

    Donut

    @BGinCHI:

    Hear hear. Here in my corner of Illinois’ lovely 9th CD, I was also proud to cast my vote again for the Not-A-Real American Kenyan Fascist Soshulist Anti-Colonial Usurper American-Apology Tour Muslim Guy. It felt good to do it, finally, after all that waiting through election season.

    I got to the polling place about 9:15 am. There was a pretty long line, which is atypcal for our ‘hood. An apologetic election judge explained that one of the touch screen machines had crapped out, which slowed things down, and also said, rather ominously, that another judge had been removed from duty after causing “some problem, and the guys from the County Clerk came out and took care of it”. Again, atypical for our locale. He wouldn’t say what the problem was. Our Cook County Democratic machine may be corrupt as fuck, but at least it fucking functions!

    Other than the minor wait time, I was done and gone quixkly. I feel truly grateful that our state has not really caught Wingnut Fever and voted in a bunch of Tea Party assholes at the state level. Just a few oddities like Joe Walsh seem to have cropped up. I wish I could cast a vote for Tammy Duckworth, but grateful also to be repped by Schakowski.

  86. 86.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    @Comrade Jake:

    I see McMegan’s calculator is still in peak operating condition. Or maybe she imagines all four of those gentlemen will jump parties to vie for a VP spot on Hillary’s ticket.

  88. 88.

    peach flavored shampoo

    What time do you think this’ll be called, if Obama looks sufficiently ahead? I can’t wade thru all the 5pm-7pm bullshit…will 9pm be late enough to get a pseudo-definitive result?

  90. 90.

    Violet

    I’m making beef stew for dinner tonight. Do I go to the store to get celery, or do I just make it with what I’ve got–beef, onions, carrots? I’m feeling lazy and am leaning toward not going to the store. Thoughts?

  91. 91.

    Hill Dweller

    I’m not trying to freak people out, but something is going on in Philly. OFA has confirmed there are a lot of people(young people especially) who are registered but not showing up on the voter rolls, and being forced to use provisional ballots.

    Both ThinkProgress and Washington Monthly have stories up.

  92. 92.

    NotMax

    Must award kudos to the county charter commission here for a good job on informing the public.

    Received a pamphlet from them about 6 weeks ago about the eleven (11!) proposed county charter amendments that will be on the ballot.

    Opened it up today (heading out to vote later on) – each proposed amendment was printed exactly as it will appear on the ballot, along with a clear and concise accompanying Legal to English translation explaining what each will change if passed.

    Only 2 proposed state Constitution amendments on the ballot this year.

    Think Hawaii is still the only state where blank votes for those amendments are counted as No votes (technically, in order to pass, the number of Yes votes must be 50% or more than the number of No votes plus the number of blank votes).

  94. 94.

    hueyplong

    Thanks to all of you who worked on GOTV in the closely contested states. Regardless of outcome, there is a lot less hope without you.

  95. 95.

    Donut

    Also, too, my six-year-old’s first grade class held their secret ballot and Obama won, 16-6.

    So obviously Ohio is in the bag.

  96. 96.

    patrick

    @gussie: yeah, I like Tiabbi at times, but this is the “both sides do it/there’s no difference between the parties” BS that just pisses me off…..

    how different would the world look if Gore had been handed the presidency instead of Bush?

    odds are, 9/11 doesn’t happen
    even if it did, Iraq doesn’t happen
    budget busting tax cuts slanted towards the top 1%, and and unpaid medicare part D doesn’t happen

    the financial crisis probably does, since that was a product of the repeal of glass-stegal, IMHO, but the response probably would have been quite different

  98. 98.

    The Moar You Know

    We want to believe that Obama failed because of the conservatives inside his own country. Indeed, the fanatics that Mitt Romney depends on have jettisoned everything that distinguishes the West: science and logic, reason and moderation, even simple decency. They hate homosexuals, the weak and the state. They oppress women and persecute immigrants. Their moralizing about abortion doesn’t even spare the victims of rape. They are the Taliban of the West.

    @rumpole: Yep, they pretty much nailed American nihilist conservatism there. And they’d know it if they saw it, I think.

  99. 99.

    Paul

    @Sandman:

    @blingee: are they trying that “Obama wasn’t vetted” trope again? I could see them doing that.

    That’s hilarious considering Romney never ever released his tax returns and the racists sure as hell weren’t demanding him to either.

  100. 100.

    Kevin

    That was an awful article. I usually like Taibi, but I notice this in him and Stewart, this hearkening back to an era that never was of everyone getting along. Does he realize this is a country that had a civil war over voting rights to specific people???

    Another thing that this article is a perfect example of is the rich white person view of the world. Like, sure, for Matt, he’ll still write articles, write books, go on TV, have health care, and not worry. So to him, elections don’t really matter, and they become about pet issues (yes Freddie, pet issues), and since those issues aren’t important to the general electorate, well…who cares, politics are meaningless! But they aren’t. And to say otherwise is just stupid.

    Sometimes i want to lock John Stewart and Matt Taibi in a room and bludgeon them…they are better then this…or they aren’t, and they really are this naive.

  101. 101.

    shortstop

    @Ridnik Chrome: The stuff with her husband would have been a problem. Also, many people downstate hate her for being a commie urban Jewish lady.

    I regularly thank dog that she’s my congresscritter. I never have to write or call her office to ask her to vote my way on something, because she always does — I only contact her to say thanks and warn her to look out for BG stalking her.

  102. 102.

    Violet

    @gogol’s wife: Thanks! That’s just the vote I need. I think I’ll just get started. Found a recipe that doesn’t have celery and I’ve got everything it calls for, so that sort of put the no-celery over the top.

  103. 103.

    trollhattan

    @peach flavored shampoo:
    It’s a competetion among the networks and the only winnah is the first network to call it correctly–so they are motivated to get it right. It’s based on exit polls, which they’re sitting on until 8:00 PST. Here’s a reminder from 2008:

    As if joining in a great chorus, the broadcast and cable news networks called the presidential election for Democrat Barack Obama at 11 p.m. ET.
    __
    ABC, NBC and CBS were joined by CNN, Fox News and MSNBC in citing the close of polls on the West Coast as the go-ahead for them to project Obama to win California and thus past the 270 electoral-vote threshhold to claim the presidency.
    __
    Just after New York flagship WCBS was checking in with actor Jeremy Piven at a rally in Harlem, CBS’s Katie Couric broke in at the top of the hour with “momentous news”:
    __
    “No matter who you voted for, you’d have to agree,” Couric said, “this is an incredible milestone in the history of this country.”

    My prediction: First call at 9:00 PST.

  104. 104.

    David in NY

    Just browsed a bit about George Romney’s life. What a mensch (though when I was a constituent of his back in the 60’s I wouldn’t have used that particular word). Made public twelve years of tax returns. Adopted a profit sharing plan with the UAW and had a good relationship with Walter Reuther and the union. Was pro-civil rights and walked out on Goldwater.

    How he ever had such a narcissistic, selfish son, God only knows.

  105. 105.

    Chris

    @rumpole:

    The truth is that we simply no longer understand America. Looking at the country from Germany and Europe, we see a foreign culture. The political system is in the hands of big business and its lobbyists. The checks and balances have failed. And a perverse mix of irresponsibility, greed and religious zealotry dominate public opinion.

    The problem is, the neoliberal rot’s infected much more than just America (it technically started in Europe with Thatcher, not in the U.S. with Reagan, by the way). It hasn’t been able to hurt the 20th century liberal state as much as it has in America, but it’s still the default ruling consensus of the EU (just ask the Greeks) and it’s very much an open question whether even a meaningful center-left alternative will pop up over there. Europe may not have our equivalent of a completely deranged electorate, but it’s got problems of its own aplenty right now in the rapacious capitalism department.

    (And to be honest, having just watched Sarkozy spend the last five or six years trying to be the Nixon to the Front National’s Dixiecrats, I’m not at all sure that Europe isn’t going to plunge into its own Nixonland nightmare in the fairly near future).

  106. 106.

    22over7

    @Violet:

    Celery is not at all necessary. If you have a can of stewed tomatoes, that should go in.

    On the other hand, if you’re short on liquor….

  108. 108.

    elftx

    You know this is like the third or fourth bullshit article I have seen today…oh everyone koombayah…Fuck them…I’m posting every piece of filth the republicans are pulling today and refuse to HUG any of them..fuck them for trying to steal my vote..fuck them for insinuating a black man wearing a black hat opening a door for white elderly ladies is somehow un-American.
    Fuck them for “feeling in their gut Romney is going to have a good day”.
    I refuse to rollover and try to ignore their filth any longer…and yes I have been un-friended by family over this lmao on FB …I give a shit.

  109. 109.

    David in NY

    @Jay: Stuff Sullivan. 50% of Cuyahoga County had voted at 2:30. In 2008, Obama won the state with only 60% voting, which may well have happened by now. Mitt’s gonna have to be damned lucky to come close.

  110. 110.

    evinfuilt

    @blingee: are they trying that “Obama wasn’t vetted” trope again? I could see them doing that.

    @Sandman:

    Well he doesn’t have any experience in being a 2 term President, I don’t know what we were thinking electing him for that.

  111. 111.

    cckids

    @Tim F.:

    Dr. Mrs. Dr. F earned her citizenship last year (but keeps her French passport) and voted in her first presidential election today. She cried.

    I went with my just-turned 18 year old daughter to vote today (I early voted last week). I waited by the door while she seriously found her precinct line, signed the register, & voted. She had this ENORMOUS smile when she left the voting machine & got her “I voted” sticker. I admit, I was thisclose to tearing up, more because it truly meant something to her. Proud parent moment.

    And BTW, here in Vegas, Obama is winning big. When I early voted last week, (1+ hour lines), as one big white dude was leaving the polling area, he loudly stated “Did my part, got to get rid of Obama”. Heads snapped around for 20+ feet, all disapproving. Several of us said “not if I can help it” or similar sentiments, & smiles were traded. We’re taking this one, easy.

    Edited because spelling fail

  112. 112.

    The Moar You Know

    Just browsed a bit about George Romney’s life. What a mensch (though when I was a constituent of his back in the 60’s I wouldn’t have used that particular word). Made public twelve years of tax returns. Adopted a profit sharing plan with the UAW and had a good relationship with Walter Reuther and the union. Was pro-civil rights and walked out on Goldwater.
    __
    How he ever had such a narcissistic, selfish son, God only knows.

    @David in NY: Read moar. The Romney clan from the get-go has been planning on taking the country or razing it. And George was a big part of that.

  113. 113.

    Bubblegum Tate

    @JGabriel:

    I really don’t get Republicans. I really don’t. That response Jindal gave to the State of the Union a few years back was one of the lamest speeches I’ve ever seen. Getting excited about Jindal is like getting excited about watching paint dry.

    Well, he’s swarthy, so, you know…proves GOP not racist! And he hates all the right things–science, government competence, etc.

  114. 114.

    Chris

    @Lex:

    The chances of a nuclear war bringing the human race to an end because of Israel/Iran are slim to none, IMO. Worst case scenario, Iran and Israel are brought to an end (as horrific as that would be, I suspect diplomats and politicians in capitals all over the world would breathe a sigh of relief if that were to happen), and the fallout royally fucks some neighboring countries.

    On the other hand, if Romney insists on continuing his idiotic blustering vis-a-vis Russia, that’s something else.

  115. 115.

    cckids

    Also too, people, check out the Google Doodle. If you click on it, it takes you to a link so you can find out where to vote.

  116. 116.

    mai naem

    I voted. All I can say is that they moved our voting room to a bigger room and it seemed pretty busy. There wasn’t a line when I went in but there was one when I walked out. I live in a college town but this is not the main college student polling station. FWIW, a couple of Latinos(young), a couple of African Americans and several younger women. There was an old white guy leaving when I walked in. A few(four?) middle aged women and men. Poll workers were one middle aged white guy, two Latinos and two younger white women. Last time I voted(earlier this year) it was all the workers were elderly men/women. Odd.

  117. 117.

    Mothra

    He’s wrong. Go tell him he’s full of it. Yes, we’d notice right away. He won’t notice, he’s a rich, young, well-educated white guy. The rest of us would notice, and we’d notice fast.

  119. 119.

    Anne Laurie

    @Violet:

    I’m making beef stew for dinner tonight. Do I go to the store to get celery, or do I just make it with what I’ve got—beef, onions, carrots? I’m feeling lazy and am leaning toward not going to the store. Thoughts?

    Celery is not actually a food product — it’s organic excelsior, added purely for texture. If you don’t overcook the carrots, IMO they provide all the crunch one needs!

  120. 120.

    David in NY

    @Violet: For my midwestern mother, celery was a spice, or at least an herb, one of the few she used. I’d say if you have some other herb to toss in (even just parsley), I’d skip the celery and just use it. But everything else in your stew — beef, onions, carrots — is kind of sweet, and I’d like a little contrast in there.

    ED: see you’re already on the way. Does your recipe add something interesting in lieu of celery (which I think does have taste, not just texture)?

  121. 121.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    @peach flavored shampoo:

    Tip on watching election day coverage: Never tune in before 8 pm. The first polls don’t close until 7:00 pm and you’re not going to have any useful information until then. Instead they’ll distract you with exit polls and squawk “too close to call” every 15 minutes like a cuckoo clock.

    If Virginia and Pennsylvania go the right way, the election is effectively over. But the talking heads will still drag this out until at least 10:00 pm because they’ve got a lot of ads to sell.

  122. 122.

    Chris

    @Donut:

    I feel truly grateful that our state has not really caught Wingnut Fever and voted in a bunch of Tea Party assholes at the state level.

    The Illinois Nazi community is still recovering from the ass-whupping Jake and Elwood Blues inflicted upon them back in the eighties, which is not good news for the Republican Party.

  125. 125.

    Richard Fox

    The two most trusted and insightful stars in the pundit business, Chuck Todd and Howard Fineman, had joined host Chris Matthews for in depth analysis on MSNBC. They all are discussing at length how people like me voted, and why. At least I think that is what they are talking about. See, I turned the volume off and decided to keep it off. I am just watching the joyous bouncing of silver hair highlighting Fineman’s mirth, and the evenly clipped facial bristles flapping against Todd’s rolling chin. As a result of this blissful silence I feel I have gained a knowledge, had an epiphany, and can infer in a flash all one needs to know about the election. Thanks Chuck. Thanks Howard. Thanks Chris. And most of all, thank YOU FSM for Chuck Todd’s chin bristles. Just– thanks.

  127. 127.

    j

    So, when will “political observer” show up and grace us with his astute predictions based on those Rasmussen tracking averages, and other phenomena like “the Bradley effect”?

  128. 128.

    Chris

    @Kevin:

    I usually like Taibi, but I notice this in him and Stewart, this hearkening back to an era that never was of everyone getting along.

    It’s a nostalgia that our entire political media establishment (not counting Republicans) seems to have.

    Near as I can tell, the “bipartisan era” they so love lasted from about 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed to 1966/68 when Nixon destroyed the New Deal coalition and introduced all the wedge issues that plague us to this day – with an interlude in the late forties during which we basically refought the New Deal battles. During World War Two, the “bipartisanship” was because we were fighting the war and everything else was on hold, and during the fifties and sixties, it was because of the liberal consensus – IOW, the only reason things were “bipartisan” was that both parties were basically run by the same people, ideology-wise.

    But I can’t think of any point after 1968 when we weren’t bitterly divided, or any point before 1941 unless you go all the way back to the “Era Of Good Feelings” which, like the “liberal consensus” years, was basically a historical anomaly/calm between two storms.

  129. 129.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Violet: You don’t need celery
    add red wine if you have it. I once made beef stew like Rogan Josh, and added carrots, onions and mushrooms to make it a one-dish meal.

  130. 130.

    trollhattan

    @Anne Laurie:
    Cajuns would like a word, on line 3.

    The holy trinity is the Cajun and Louisiana Creole variant of mirepoix: onions, bell peppers, and celery in roughly equal quantities. This mirepoix is the base for much of the cooking in the regional cuisines of Louisiana. Variants use garlic, parsley, or shallots for one of the three.

  132. 132.

    gogol's wife

    @j:

    He’s already showed up, in a thread down below. He promised to come back at 8:30. Can’t wait.

  134. 134.

    schrodinger's cat

    @David in NY: Is there any other profession as useless as Political Punditing? Over at the Dish, Sully has a link to Heilman (sp? who is salivating at the prospects of another 2000 with a PV and EV split. Its a game to these bastards.

  135. 135.

    Ben Franklin

    Just kill me now.

    The MEdia is masturbating with ‘what happens if it’s a tie?’

    The House will decide……..fuck me

  136. 136.

    Death Panel Truck

    @Violet: Celery’s a must. So are potatoes. Those who are telling you it’s fine without celery are like you. Too lazy to go the store. :)

  141. 141.

    McJulie

    @Kevin:

    Another thing that this article is a perfect example of is the rich white person straight male view of the world

    That’s how I see it, anyway. I’ve always been keenly aware that there is a certain political faction in this country that screams bloody murder about communism and yet wants the state seize the means of production otherwise known as my uterus. In my voting life, these people are almost exclusively Republicans.

    The parties could be EXACTLY identical in every other respect (they’re not) and it would still be important to vote for Democrats.

  144. 144.

    Mnemosyne

    @Shawn in ShowMe:

    It’s not like they’re going to invite Janeane Garofalo on the air to pants Chuck Todd and Howard Fineman.

    Why do you tease me with wonderful things that will never happen?

  148. 148.

    MCA1

    @BGinCHI: Shame on me for not realizing this until this morning, but I very happily had the chance to vote for Jan, as well! Turns out I’m in the far northwest corner of the newly configured 9th, rather than the 10th. I spent a bunch of time worrying about Dold/Schneider and all along I’ve got one of the best House members out there representing me and wasn’t aware of it. She’s whip-smart, well-spoken, and relentless for her cause. Glad to be part of her district.

  149. 149.

    cckids

    @Violet: Probably too late, but go for it as is, if you have a bottle of dark beer, a la Guinness, add that with the beef broth. Also a tiny bit of bacon. And mushrooms.

    Now I’m hungry.

  150. 150.

    Mnemosyne

    @Shawn in ShowMe:

    When a kid turns 18, he/she should should have to do a mandatory 6 month stint in the Peace Corps to get some perspective.

    Even better, send them off to Americorps/VISTA so they have no illusions that desperate poverty only exists in other countries.

  151. 151.

    Rex Everything

    Re Taibbi’s “harkening back to a time that never existed”—I’m not so sure it never existed. I recently read about a poll asking respondents how upset they’d be if their son or daughter married someone from the political party opposing their own. Over 50% of respondents said “very upset.” The same poll was taken in the 1960s; back then only about 10% of respondents said “very upset.”

    After Watergate, there was a near-universal consensus that justice had to be done, then that Nixon had to resign—this is simply unimaginable today.

    Charles Pierce wrote an entire book about how what were demagogues, cranks and crackpots in previous eras have gone thoroughly mainstream now. It’s not that prior generations lacked their Limbaughs and Bachmanns; it’s that they kept them on the fringes where they belonged.

    In my experience, the older people are, the more likely they are to express the opinion that the country’s lately gone crazy in just the way Taibbi describes.

  152. 152.

    Svensker

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    You don’t need celery. add red wine if you have it. I once made beef stew like Rogan Josh, and added carrots, onions and mushrooms to make it a one-dish meal.

    Yes. You could put in some parsley, thyme, bay leaf. Also, if you just happen to have some Italian pancetta hanging around, that really adds.

  154. 154.

    cckids

    @Death Panel Truck: No potatoes. Just NO.

    They get mealy & icky. Especially if you use booze in the stew, which you should because booze.

    Cook the potatoes separately & serve over them.

  155. 155.

    Capri

    @Chris:

    In all fairness, Tiabbi was trying to point out that there’s a big difference between not having pre-existing conditions covered by one’s health insurance (which is bad, no doubt) and being rounded up, stuck in prison at a minimum and shot as a traitor to the state (which is quite a bit worse).

  156. 156.

    Ruckus

    @JGabriel:
    Maybe the rethugs have not only been watching paint dry but have been eating the lead chips from the old paint.

    Voted by mail 2 weeks ago. No muss no fuss.

  157. 157.

    Kevin

    @Capri:

    Which matters…how? Because there is something worse in the world, the guy with the chronic illness can suffer and die? The girl who was raped and forced to carry the pregnancy to term can be happy that at least she isn’t honour killed?

    Seriously, that is such a non-starter argument, which is what infuriates me. It’s the “above it all, nothing matters” bs attitude of South Park and Libertarians, and again, straight white rich males. It’s the attitude of conservatives when they bash feminists, saying “hey, at least you don’t live in Afghanistan”. It isn’t an argument, it is admitting that they are so above everyone else that these issues don’t matter to them.

    To the Taibi’s I say, congrats on your success, but there are a whole bunch of people who will be hurt by the election. And passive aggressive bs article is a huge part of the problem.

  158. 158.

    Joey Giraud

    Another Taibbi defender; after eight years of George W. Bush, America is still here and recently elected a black man as President.

    Of course there will be people hurt by a President Romney, but the nation as a whole will survive, and some things will get better at some point.

  159. 159.

    dead existentialist

    @Donut: I subbed for a 3rd grade class today, and they wanted to vote, so I let them. 19-1 Big O over Crispy Creme.

    What’s not to love about children and their natural political acumen?

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