Okay, now we get Will Smith’s reference while mangling his Oscar presentation — something to do with a college sportscaster, or maybe Jimmie Walker. And if Barry trips over a line during tonight’s Not-the-State-of-the-Union Address, he has a go-to catchphrase at hand. It even refers to hoops footage, which would tie everything together. Not to mention Mr. Smith on record wanting to play Obama in the biopic.

And if you survived that introduction, you’re welcome to participate in our Not-SOTU Open Thread/Good Times Singalong, which is also eerily appropriate tonight: Temporary layoffs. Easy credit ripoffs. Scratchin’ and surviving. Hangin’ in a chow line. Next year, if we’re lucky, we can do Movin’ On Up instead.

SanFranLefty calls this DC street painting the “tackiest Obama shit ever.” SanFranLefty hasn’t seen the Chia Obama.

I am headed to O’Hare soon.  Please pray to the FSM that my plane takes off relatively on time and doesn’t end up splashing down on Lake Michigan – there really aren’t ferries to rescue us out there, and I really don’t feel like doing my best Titanic impression and becoming an ice cube.  I will do my best to check in this week, as this week is significant for a whole host of reasons.  More tomorrow!

If you have anything you would like me to pass along to Michelle when we get together for tea and manicures (you know, girl time!) please send them along.

George W. Bush is still nominally the President for a few more days, and he is going to use his Presidential Powers to Mission Accomplish Barack Obama through a successful inauguration. The inauguration is happening, as it usually does, in Washington D.C..   Because Washington D.C. is full of poor black liberals and rich white gay liberals (just like New Orleans!), because it will be even fuller of poor and rich, black and white gay liberals during the inauguration, and because the inauguration means that George Bush will no longer be able to Accomplish Missions (except in regards to successfully filling his Presidential Library with 10000 copies of My Pet Goat), Bush is declaring a State of Emergency during the U.S. inauguration. Or it’s because he’s just helping out the city with some money. Either way, let the fun times begin!
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President-Elect Barry, along with David Plouffe, whose name always makes me think that he should be a dessert filling, residing between two delicious pieces of angel food cake, won’t leave me alone.  I realize there’s this whole, “We got him elected, now the hard part starts. . .”  esprit, which is a good thing.  However, I will not give Barry any more of my money, at least for a little while.  Today’s offering is a coffee cup, which is Black, like coffee, like half of Barack Obama, and like Regis Philbin’s heart (trust me).  Purportedly, this money is for the DNC, so it can elect more black socialists two years from now.  But I think it’s for some inaugural ball Cristal, which is a drink that stereotypical rich black people drink (stereotypical normal black people drink Colt 45).  Anyway, please, Barry, can you refrain from asking me to give you $15 dollars for this admittedly classy coffee mug?  Just allow me to enjoy the decrepit American economy in peace, for a little while. [BarackObama.com]

Patrick Moberg

Yes, 10:00pm (Wisconsinstan Time) on Tuesday was one of those “where were you when” moments.  (Me?  Driving north from Beloit with a friend, returning from poll-watching to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin get-together in downtown Madison.)

It was a nervy day.  Even as the initial returns came in, we were knocking on all forms of wood. (Get yer minds out of the gutter.)  In the final minutes before 10:00, however, when he and I were driving home and realizing that California et al would put Barry over the top, I told him, “you know what this is?  A repudiation of George W. Bush.” 

It turns out that apart from “change” and “hope,” that word was on the tips of other tongues. It crossed the ink-stained lips of the New York Times.  The second paragraph of the Page 1 article in Wednesday’s paper?  Yep, yep:

The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.

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