Onward

Political compass aside -- and is it ever aside? I woke up still incredulous that our country had actually elected a black man as President.

First of all, my condolences to those who voted for John McCain for reasons of conscience -- and thanks for his gracious words of support for Obama last night.

Since I was a child, race has been a huge (if slightly less toxic) issue in the political arena.

And I'd be dumb to argue that it will stop being so -- there are too many older folks to whom it matters. But if on that ground alone, I'm so proud of our country today. The Europeans, who pride themselves on being so progressive, haven't done this yet.

I saw a video of conservative commentator Juan Williams tear up discussing the Obama victory - very touching.

What would the family who raised me have thought? My grandmother and great aunt, who raised us to believe people of all colors were created equal. So many marches for a dream.

My mother, who championed the right of all children to achieve. My dad, whose close and dear friend outlived him, the nation's foremost black historian.

Maybe my kids won't have to cope with a nation in which we continually evaluate others through the lens of their color. You can't call one President a trend. But we have a glimmer of hope today.

Have fun on Election Day

Can you buy such a whimsical notion?

I have no advice for tomorrow except "vote early, vote often." They've been doing it in Chicago for centuries.

Actually, Election Day is kind of exciting...isn't it?

I'm just ready for all of the vituperation and monkeyshines (as my late fabulous Aunt Jennie would say) to stop. Well, they won't stop. But at least people may pause to draw a breath before they start their doomsday rhetoric again.

Let's see what the victors come up with before we give up on democracy. It's a poor system, but the best we have (cribbing from Winston Churchill).

I think most of us would take it anyday.

Past midnight

Last night a colleague sent around an article from Politico that touched me to the core. I'll attach it to this post tomorrow. Going into the voting booth Tuesday and choosing forces me, and thousands of others, to sacrifice my belief in the sacredness of life.

Either way, both candidates, horrible choices. I remain a conflicted Democrat, but that may change after this election. Joining the hordes of independents doesn't solve the bigger problem, but it may make me feel a little cleaner, Pharisee that I am.

Obama hasn't given an inch to the anti-abortion people in his own party. The Democratic party platform remains a hymn to abortion rights.

With his iron self-control, he.s the guy who scares me more -- because I don't think we know what's behind the mask...and because he very well may win. At least you know where McCain is coming from -- which will scare me if he wins.

All Saints Day (almost over)

Yesterday was for all of you pagans-- and a lovely night it was here in downtown Glenmoore. Under the spangled sky my children and around 80 of their close friends trick or treated, had a costume and donut eating contest and decorated cookies (notice a theme here?). Though our small town is brimming with political schemes, it's still a fabulous place for kids --and for moms and dads. Today was for those of us who believe that God sends people into our lives to remind us that his kingdom is here...now...always. Thank you.

Any sane people in the blogosphere?

It really is the crazy season. And I'm not even talking about the financial crisis, though that's fueling some of our paranoia.

We are all a little nuts at the moment, me included.

One of my colleagues worries that public disillusionment with media "in the tank" for Obama will lead to them abandoning conventional media altogether (can someone explain what tank - where does this phrase come from?).

Yes, we media types tend to be more middle of the road and liberal on certain issues, like freedom of the press (duh). But I think we are more prone to get crushes on certain candidates -- and then to chew them up and spit them out. That's possibly one part of what happened to John McCain. Once they were kicked off the Straight Talk bus, and didn't have access, where could they get their information? From ticked off employees who loved to talk about Sarah's wardrobe.

Besides, those policy disputes are so booring...

Call me cranky. I got skewered today on the blog for which I write (http://getreligion.org/) for referring to candidates in the Democratic party who aren't fans of Roe V. Wade as "anti-abortion" rather than "pro-life." My critics weren't happy when I said that I didn't consider the abortion rights folks "anti-life."

As I said, it's the silly season.

Five more days to go! I know that this is a particularly hard time for Republicans.

I hope for our country's sake, that if Obama wins, he'll govern from the center (whatever that is).

Conservatives in the Republican Party should take heart, though. If the Phillies can win a World Series, their time will come again. Of course, it took our team 28 years.

Will you miss the MSM?

Conservatives love to beat up on the "mainstream media" : the LA Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, the Washington Post. Liberals often take a cudgel to them, too.

As David Carr points out in the article linked here, in an age when print is what he calls a "legacy technology" these media outlets are impelled by loss of advertising to cut staff, or even to shut up their print operations altogether ( the Christian Science Monitor).

It's not that they don't have readers. But these readers get their news jones online, as I do. I get my local paper on Sundays -- and it can sit there unread for days. It's so much easier to find what I need to know online.

Love or loathe em, or love to loathe 'em, these media outlets play a valuable function --giving you the news in a way that is unparalled as yet in any new media. I suspect we'll find a way to hang on to reporting, and reporters but this is a difficult transition for journalism.

Sheesh, do you want to trust information you get from a 'blog?

Wink wink nudge nudge....I wouldn't.

Out of the fold

"You made up your mind a long time ago, you rat," one wrote to me. "Either you have no core beliefs, or you are just like all the other elitist Main Line snobs. My guess is both," wrote another. "Smerconish, you're one awful, greedy, shameless ratings hog. . . . You traded your soul for socialism," said a detractor."



That's a snippet of the nasty mail the talk-show host received when he decided to endorse Barack Obama. In all, Smerconish recounts in a column in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, he received around 2,000 critical emails.



Now, the fellow's no liberal patsy. Bill O'Reilly (remember him from a post or so ago?) wouldn't let anyone but a certified guy's guy substitute for him on The Radio Factor.

So his endorsement says something important about him, or Obama, or both.



As far as I can tell, from reading his articles, Smerconish is a moderate Republican with libertarian tendencies. Or maybe he's a libertarian who claimed the Republican Party as his home.

It doesn't really matter.

What is important is that there are thousands of men and women like him who don't recognize the party they love anymore.

See David Brooks slightly more erudite take on this in the NYT.

I doubt McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, with her conservative religious views, made them feel any more comfortable.

Until Republicans find a way to include suburban, pro-choice tolerant, anti-culture warriors, it runs the danger of having them defect -- at least for a season

Calling them rats and elitists might not be enough to lure them back.