I’ve just discovered why my father-in-law abandoned five La Cerveza del Pacifico Clara in my fridge; it’s a fancy name for a crappy beer. It tastes like a good beer that’s been frozen and thawed a few times, and then allowed to go flat. Halfway through the second one, I’m increasingly unsure I can go the distance, but it’s gotta be done, so I’m going to try blogging to take my mind off the agony.

I’m very proud of my country right now. Last Tuesday, we (yes, we did!) elected a brother President of the United States of America. That. Is. Huge. As a country, we just grew up a little bit. Of course my home state didn’t contribute to that victory. (Although McCain probably won Misery, we still don’t know for sure ‘cause we’re so fucking backward we can’t even get our votes counted in a timely manner.) Sigh. But I’m not bitter about it. That’s the shitty beer talking. {Our protagonist opens number three.}

In the two days following the election, the economy and the stock market got back to disintegrating before our very eyes. On Friday, Barack Obama addressed the economy in his first press conference as President-Elect. He said:



And the stock market rebounded, gaining approximately 2.5%, and there was great rejoicing throughout the land! Seriously! I saw it on my teevee. Honestly though, it was a refreshing change to hear Obama take questions, and answer them, in a thoughtful, intelligent manner, addressing the American people as if they, too, are thoughtful and intelligent. For me, in press conferences, dubya has always come across as childish and sullen, like he was pissed he had to answer questions at all; his answers merely memorized talking points, often unrelated to the actual questions. {Four. That third one just got away from me.}

Obama has a tough road ahead of him. This is shaping up to be a really bad time to be president. We’re headed for some tough times as a country. It’ll take some real leadership to preside over what I believe is the coming death of the world’s last superpower. I’m fairly confident he’s up to the task. This guy projects nothing but competence. He ran a near-flawless campaign and his transition team seems to have hit the ground running, but it will, of course, be some time before we find out, first, just how bad things are going to get, and second, how Obama will handle the situation. Worldwide, there’s little doubt that he will be much better than dubya, but the question is how much better. I’m liking what I see so far. The Washington Post is reporting that Obama already has plans to immediately undo some of dubya’s more glaring fuckups.

Transition advisers to President-elect Barack Obama have compiled a list of about 200 Bush administration actions and executive orders that could be swiftly undone to reverse White House policies on climate change, stem cell research, reproductive rights and other issues,...

That’s certainly a good start, but it’s in those “other issues” that a real integrity check awaits. {Last one, it’s no better than the first. Gahh!} Bouncing around the intertoobz, I found political cartoons by Mike Luckovich at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This one sums up my hopes perfectly:




I really, really want Obama to forcefully and publicly refute the worst excesses of our preznit, to take a step back from all the extra-legal claims of “unitary executive” authority to declare the presidency above, or outside, the law. If he’s the man of honor I think he is, he’ll start repairing our constitution by making previously illegal acts such as warrantless wire-tapping, indefinite detention, extraordinary rendition and torture illegal once again.