DOWN WITH PANTS!

I have one more way of looking at the election that leads me to believe that things are actually going to be OK. Please pay no attention to how I flip-flop from pessimistic to optimistic from post-to-post...Thank You!

On September 11th we were attacked and suddenly our country, more or less rightfully so, became the most conservative it has been since World War II. Even the most liberal people, whether they said it or not, were angry and ready to do some very bad things. Most of us got our heads together (Me), some never have (Toby Keith and his fans) and some saw it as an opportunity (Dubya and Toby Keith).

Ever since, we have been inching back ever so slowly to where we once were, which was an increasingly progressive nation (Gore did win the popular vote last time and Dubya was being slammed on a daily basis before 9/11). To make it back from our most conservative point since Pearl Harbor to a "Liberal" Democrat garnering 48% of the popular vote in only three years is astonishing.

This election has set us back again but considering where we were on September 11th, 2001 and where we ended up on November 2nd, 2004, it seems entirely possible that four more years will be enough time to make up even more distance. 48% of the voters got their heads together and noticed how badly Dubya has been screwing up. We only need three or four more percent to notice in 2008. Given his record, I'm sure he will do something that will make them sit up and take notice.

Single liberals listen up. Here's your chance to jump off this sinking ship and get all the advantages of Canadian life. MarryAnAmerican.com hooks you up with single Canadians who are sympathetic to your plight. It's a little too late for those of us in relationships and have no special skills that would get us a work permit in Canada, but here's your chance. Grab yourself a hot little Canadian progressive and flee while you still can!

I keep forgetting to have my roommate email me the pictures of Death? and myself in the Halloween costumes that we wore to a great party on Saturday night. So instead, since a post about Halloween even a week later is a little to late, I went back to the power of MS Paint and did a little more art.

This piece is entitled "The Happy Couple". I went to the party as Mugatu from Zoolander. Once I got into costume it became crystal clear. I might be Mugatu's long lost fatter twin brother. I looked so similar it was scary! I kept yelling "I am a hot little potato right now" and after running into Hanz and Franz I started yelling "That Hanz, he's so hot right now!" Of course it is needless to say, I had a little bit to much to drink.

Death? went to the party as Miss Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. But not just the coked up Mia, no no no. She was the "I just snorted heroin and now I have a big fucking needle sticking out of my chest" Mia. It was an awesome costume complete with humongous syringe sticking straight out of her heart and vanilla milkshake puke around her mouth.

Thanks Arkansas! Thanks Georgia! Thanks Montana! Thanks Oklahoma! Thanks Ohio!

Because of you I have realized something important. I am incredibly immoral. I voted for John Kerry for president, a man who is so immoral that a record number of voters turned out to vote for George W. Bush despite everything that this president has done wrong.

If being for a woman's right to choose and against amending the constitution just because two dudes want to get married means that John Kerry, myself and 48% of the voters are immoral, than so be it. If being anti-choice and anti-equality is what morality is all about, than immorality it is for me. I'm immoral and proud damnit!

So who's with me? Show your immoral pride by wearing it across your chest. For just this occasion I have created a t-shirt emblazoned with the label that all of us Kerry supporters have been given by all those moral folks in the South and Midwest. "Immoral" is written straight across the chest in beautiful low-tech Pixeltees pixelated fashion (with a shameless little plug - ok let's not kid ourselves, it's pretty friggin huge - for Down With Pants! on the back).



So grab yourself a t-shirt and show the world that you are an equality loving, pro-choice, immoral liberal!

One of the huge positives to come out of last night was the election of Barack Obama to the Senate. He just plain whooped that nut job Alan Keyes thankfully. He gave an amazing speech afterwards and Daily Kos has some excerpts from it up now.

I think the Obama in '08 talk is a little bit premature but he is definitely someone who has captured the attention of Democrats and, using the same words as everybody else, a rising star for the party. Looking forward to 2008, there are some intriguing people who you would think would be interested in making a run at the presidency for the Democrats including Obama and Hillary Clinton giving me hope for that election.

For some reason, despite reading all of these prediction horror stories about what could be in store for America, I am much more optimistic about our future than I was last night. I personally think that the Republicans will mess this whole thing up for themselves and come 2008 the rest of the country will be ready for a change. Things undoubtedly will get worse for us liberals (and I am proud to call myself a liberal) but that's the price we will have to pay the next four years before we can start to make things better again.

(Olympia, WA) - In a surprising move Wednesday morning, Brandon DWP! has announced that he is conceding the race for Thurston County Public Utilities District Commissioner to Alan Corwin. Currently Corwin holds a 53% lead over incumbent Bud Kerr (47%) and DWP! (0%).

"We are extremely disappointed that we couldn't make it a closer race," said DWP! in a statement. "How do you lose to a retiree and a guy who is moving and would have to give up his post anyway? Maybe next time I'll try to actually get on the ballot."

DWP! wasn't on the ballot for the election but the polls showed that his write-in campaign was gaining momentum. Of likely voters surveyed, 100% said they were voting for Brandon.

"I guess that poll may have been a little bit biased," continued DWP! "We probably should have talked to more people than Death? and myself. Nonetheless we thought we had a good chance at winning this thing but the citizens of Thurston County have spoken. Enjoy your stinking water you bastards!"

I've been looking for the right words to describe how I feel about the election last night without being too reactionary. Of course I could bash the Christian Right, they usually deserve it. I could bash the Democrats, who probably deserve it more. I could bash pretty much everybody, we all deserve it. However I'm holding off and getting my thoughts together. There is just to much to think about and process.

In the meantime I give you a link to an excellent post on Boing Boing summarizing another blog's post of what this means for America. He's absolutely right and it's scary.

Well, I wish I had something to add to the discourse about today's election, however I'm just nervously sitting here at work watching other blogs (Boing Boing, kottke.org, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo) most of whom are having massive trouble because everybody has been checking them out.

So far it sounds like things are going pretty smooth and Kerry is doing a little bit better than expected. Turnout is definitely up resulting in hours long lines in some places. Right now on Electoral-Vote.com (it is also awfully slow due to high volume) the race is neck and neck with Kerry ahead 262-261.

How did I vote? Well, I voted absentee late last week with relative ease. Thankfully we have a pretty self-explanatory system here in Washington for absentee voting. Unfortunately you never know exactly what will happen to your ballot once you place it in the mailbox. One other thing I hate about absentee voting....no "I Voted" stickers to wear all day.

Anyway, I voted almost completely Democrat including Kerry for President and Gregoire for Governor. However for the first time in my voting history I voted for a Republican choosing Sam Reed for Secretary of State. Everything I read about his term as SOS in the past few years sounded good (thankfully he is a moderate Republican) and the Democrat challenger didn't impress me in any way. I hated to do it because I don't think very highly of anybody who claims to be a Republican but he sounded like a better candidate and has done a great job so far.

Soon I'll be heading home and plopping my butt down in front of the TV to watch the results come in. I'm fully prepared to stay up all night long again watching the debacle unfold if necessary. Let's hope things unfold the way we want and we can get back on the right track. Kerry isn't a perfect candidate and change may not be sudden, but at least we will have a man making important decisions from a moderate to liberal perspective instead a G.I. Joe, conservative to pure evil perspective.

Today I've been playing around with the super sophisticated graphics design program that is installed on my work computer, MS Paint, and I thought I'd share my amazing artistic talents with everybody.

This piece I call "The Three Candidates". It features our great presidential candidates George W. Bush (BOOOOOO!!!!!), John Kerry (YEAAAAA!!!!!!) and Olympia Public Utilities District Comissioner candidate (I wrote myself in, come on, you know you want me as your PUD Commissioner!), your boy Brandon (WHOOPEE!!!!!!!!).

One of the most eye-catching headlines I've seen in a while...

Yahoo! News - 'Cornhole' Catching on Beyond Midwest

I sure love the Cornhole

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!! - They changed the name of the story to "Corn Toss" instead of "Cornhole". I knew it was too funny to last...