Liberal Media Elite

The French government seems to be worried that there is a new generation of radical lefties emerging:

The French government fears a wave of extreme left-wing terrorism this year with the possible sabotage of key infrastructure, kidnappings of major business figures or even bomb attacks.

Secret French government reports, seen by the Observer, describe an “elevated threat” from an “international European network … with a strong presence in France” after the radicalisation of “a new generation of activists” in recent years. Senior analysts and experts linked to the government have drawn parallels with the Action Directe group, which carried out 50 or more attacks in the early 1980s. Others cite the example of the Baader-Meinhof gang.

Some, however, think that the activities of those groups are exaggerated for political reasons. Reasons voiced in the article by the father of one of the arrested:

“They are turning my son into a scapegoat for a generation who have started to think for themselves about capitalism and its wrongs and to demonstrate against the government,” said Gérard Coupat, father of the alleged ringleader of the Tarnac group [village in central France where eight members of a commune had been arrested for sabotaging high-speed TGV railway lines and "associating with wrongdoers with terrorist aims." - Ed.].

“The government is keeping my son in prison because a man of the left with the courage to demonstrate is the last thing they want now, with the economic situation getting worse and worse. Nothing like this has happened in France since the war. It is very serious.”

Author and researcher Christophe Bourseiller told the Observer the threat was being exaggerated. “Yes, there is a certain renewed level of agitation, but there is a huge difference between deliberately slowing down a few trains without injuring anyone and something like the Madrid bomb blasts,” he said. “The Ministry of the Interior has made it look like the Tarnac arrests halted a serious campaign of violence with a huge, huge media operation.”

This might be right up your alley.

Just saw Feingold on CNN talking about backing the bailout of the automakers…”An America where we don’t make our own vehicles is unthinkable”. But it’s okay ’cause he’s gonna fight for more fuel efficient cars as part of the deal.

Shut the fuck up, Russ.

US automakers are in a mess because they made a series of bad management decisions. Period. We (in the form of the government) subsidized their bad decisions through absurd things like massive tax breaks for buying SUV’s. Really. And, of course, various other automaker assistance programs over the years. Despite what the executives of these companies are saying and despite the echoes of their horseshit being mouthed by union leaders, a bailout of domestic automakers does not have to be an all or nothing thing. Pick two. Bail their asses out and let one die off. Better yet, don’t bail any of the big three out. Use that $25BB to provide one hell of a soft landing for the adversely impacted non-management workers (fuck the executives) and see what shakes out. One of the reasons we don’t have viable alternative energy vehicles and auto companies in the US that actually make GOOD cars is that we prop up a bunch of crap companies who create extremely costly barriers to entry (see also: Airlines). So, knock some of those barriers down and use the money to give a cushion to the workers. It does not have to be an all or nothing gig where we save all three.

Of course, given bailout fever, we’ll be lucky if Congress doesn’t pass a bailout bill with more than they’re actually asking for.

Something light to get back in the swing of things:

And as MissLaura at Daily Kos so accurately remarked: “Shoot, at least I bought my own damn pajamas and didn’t get the RNC to buy not just clothes for me but underwear for my kids.”

Of course we should be writing about all the transitionin’ going on, but there are so many trial balloons up in the air right now that it’s more fun to follow Alaska’s Imelda Marcos governor around a little more.

I took some pictures yesterday, but am just now getting around to posting them. I was too busy weeping, working and nursing that nasty hang over.

Election Day 2008 in Uptown:

Andrew Sullivan posted this already, but… This is last night in New York:

Natascha has photos—allegedly—of the Uptown Mpls street parties, too…

This is the fifth Presidential election I have voted in. It was the first that I actually voted for the person that won.

Last night was nothing short of amazing.

Driving home last night after the President-elect gave his speech, the streets of Uptown Minneapolis were filled with nothing I had ever seen before: a populus that had banded together and got something that was theirs. And they were pretty happy about it. There were impromptu demonstrations in front of most of the establishments still open after midnight (ok they were all bars). Ever seen a bunch of people gathered on sidewalks waving a signs for a political candidate to people who were in cars honking their horns in recognition after midnight? Me either.

Hunter S. Thompson would have loved last night. An African-American underdog took on the establishment of the Democratic party and beat it. Then he smashed the GOP, dunking its head in the toilet they had created and giving them a swirly of their own lies. Populism lives.

To top it off, Obama’s victory party was at the place where Thompson’s America came apart 40 years ago, in Grant Park.  It was there, working as a journalist, Thompson was beaten in the riots outside the Democratic Convention.

That’s pretty poetic to me.

And now I am off to buy a new frame to put up a picture of the first President I can claim some sort of electoral ownership over, the first President I voted for.

You may remember a post of mine from this spring. I had less than charitable words for Connecticut. Apparently my sample of about 6 people at apparently the wrong bar was somewhat unscientific. In the district I was in, the last remaining New England Republican House member was given his pink slip.

Jim Himes beats Chris Shays. (That’s wonky link, you have to select the “house” tab and scroll across the district in the far lower left hand corner. But it’s too late to search for a better link.)

It’s been a good great night. This is sort of like sprinkles on the proverbial sundae. Al Franken will be the cherry on top. Here’s to hoping the 9 remaining precincts in MPLS and and what’s left of the Range can do it. Given what’s still out, I like the chances.

Many electoral signs are pointing to at least an Obama victory and even a landslide. But there is no need to get complacent.  None.

Here’s why:

The other day at work somebody had placed some “literature” in the Men’s room printed off from a all guns are good guns (and the more the better) website about why you shouldn’t vote for Obama. I think there was also something about not voting for Obama because he’s not a good Christian or something.

OK. Whatever.

The next day I went to my desk and passed this cubicle. Now, I am a big fan of criminal procedure and arguments about how to apply the 4th amendment, so I also apply the idea of the “plain view doctrine“  to journalism too.  This guy had left his cube with his radio belching out a right-wing AM station and as I glanced in, this is what I saw:

It’s a free country. This guy can say and write whatever crazy gibberish on his desk calendar he wants.

But this is a great example of where this election is at.

This is what we are working against.  I am voting because I love Obama’s ideas and what he stands for. The other reason is to reject people who think like this and what they stand for. These are the people voting for John McCain. These are the people McCain is speaking to.

This is the result of John McCain’s campaign: people who think Obama is a Muslim and a socialist.

There’s nothing wrong or illegal about being either one of those (the way some people behave you might wonder) but those are things that Obama is not. This election IS a referendum on reality. It’s between the people who will believe the garbage in the pictures above and the ones who see the country for what it is.

After 8 years of Bush and his bullies, we need to do whatever it takes to put a stop to this and repudiate it. Even if the polls show a lot of other people already agree with us, it’s not over until the polls close.

This is why we need to do everything we can to make sure we win this election. For every one of us, there is probably one of these guys. Hopefully the election returns will prove me wrong on that.

Pretty clever little trailer here:

watch?v=t5eDQKaKLYE

I haven’t seen it so I don’t have an opinion of it yet, but so far, so good.

Here is a list of places you can go to see it for yourself.

And for those of you who aren’t into the whole communal aspect of movie watching, you can just download it yourself here.

And to toot my own horn, I was in some b-roll footage of the protests from the 4th night of the RNC on Rachel Maddow. OK, it was like a 15th of a second. But there I was. I was on Rachel Maddow. So now I will include “As seen on Rachel Maddow” as much as possible.

Get one now. Before watching this. If you don’t need it, I’m voting you off the island.

Fox is reporting that Gov. Sarah Palin is going to vote—on Election Day—in Wasilla, Alaska.

Although it’s not official just yet, that must mean she’s not going to be in Tempe or Flagstaff or Tucson or Phoenix or wherever it is John McCain is going to give his big speech from.

And if she’s planning to be absent… That must mean they’re not expecting that big speech to be one of victory. I mean, Alaska’s Mean-Girl-in-Chief wouldn’t miss her first chance to scrunch up her nose on live television before she has to go run that boring old Senate.

You’re in the voting booth. You know what to do for President. Ditto on the Senate race. House race is a no-brainer. You may not recogize the names for state legislature candidates, but the handy party id probably makes the choice an easy one on the spot.

But then you turn the ballot over. Judges. Lots of them. Soil and Water Conservation district. Egad. I’m what you call a “high-information” voter and I’m usually clueless on these things. To fix that I did my homework this year. I looked at all the contested races for judgeships. I was going to put up a long post with my findings and personal endorsements. But then I saw the endorsement slate from the League of Young Voters PAC. Well, they did their homework, too. And came to many of the same conclusions.

You can find the endorsement slate here. Read up. Don’t dread the back-side of the ballot.

Just off the wires.

Guilty. All Counts.

This makes me happy.

Allow me to introduce the junior Senator from Alaska. Mark Begich.

UPDATE: Bye, Ted. —Matthew

I hadn’t checked out the U.S. Senate race for Minnesota in a while…

That’s, uh… Pretty impressive.

The kings and queens of Japanese culture in Minneapolis are supporting Barry:

The Cajuns are getting into the act. (Rik, c’est pour toi, ça.)