Election Road Trip, Day 1: The Things I Carried

Joe…do you need a booster? Another inane post–like none of the rest of us have ever ridden in a CAR and went on something called a TRIP. I can’t believe I’m spending my labor day reading this twit, and responding to him. Seriously, there is something wrong with me.

Joe-I don’t have any suggestion for interesting people for you to meet, but I do have some interesting topics I wish you would consider during your trip and maybe looking into and commenting on when you get back.
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1. President Obama’s deficit commission. Its work in secret to gut popular programs and its seemingly exposure by none other than Alan Simpson. This commission will do more to harm actual Americans while doing nothing to cut actual waste and abuse of tax dollars by corporate interests.
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2. The true cost of the Iraqi war which is well above the 700 or so billion that was touted in the media over the last few weeks. American taxpayers lost more than that on failed and uncompleted projects in that country.
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3. The Pentagon’s latest progandizing of Americans by offering NBC/MSNBC exclusive coverage of the symbolic withdrawl of Amercian combat troops from Iraq. Which for all intents and purposes was a nothing more than a dog and pony show attempt at deceiving the American people into believing something was accomplished.
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5. The Obama Admin’s propping up corrupt, weak, ineffective and incompetent governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The type of governments that breed resentment among its people and give rise and opportunity that allow extremist elements to take control.

….you and all your TIME buddies standing around, looking at a Ford Flex…someone saying “I got it.. we will nickname it the Fridge.” My lord, I can imagine Dorthy Parker and the rest of the Algonquin crowd looking down, shaking their heads about that sort of wit, and feeling immensely sad about all the trees who give their lives up weekly , so that TIME can now be published. Well, Joe does drive a Prius. That should help. Yea , we should all feel better now.

Joe:
Those sound like some good choices, however:
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I think you need to include amongst your entourage some “regular” people. People who are more like us. People who are not illustrious, are not leaders, and are not in the rarefied upper margins of the economic atmosphere.
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You are generally pretty good at what you do, but if you don’t want to always be in an echo chamber, hearing only confirmations of everything you believe, try that…

Excellent suggestions, gunny.
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I am really worried about that deficit commission. Pete Peterson has dedicated all his energy to gutting Social Security while helping out the very rich. I think they are going to recommend some unnecessay draconian cuts to the social safety net and leave real waste and fraud alone. One real waste and fraud example is the Blackwater contracts that have been noted in the papers in the last few days.
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Your 5 (4) is also very important.

…I can’t stop myself. Imagine Joe , heading out on the highway…riding shotgun…A/C off so the carbon footprint is low….arm out , tapping on the roof to the sounds of the I pod….amps way up…Joe bouncing up and down to the beat…of Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman”. It doesn’t get any better.

I think you need to include amongst your entourage some “regular” people

I sense a David Broder moment coming on.
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DANGER DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

joe, good food and/or lodging awaits you in the chicago area if you need/want it. we have an entire family that reads and enjoys your columns and posts. pocket your per diem and enjoy our midwestern hospitality. and here is an interesting set of folks to meet: my two grandmothers (90 and 92) outspoken and much to my dismay not all supportive of my president — and one thinks blagojevich has gotten framed and a raw deal… fun fun fun.

have a safe trip, blog safely.

I concur! This is an UNimaginative AND narcissistic ramble about possessions and trivia that is of no more interest to readers than the lint in this writer’s bellybutton! Seems as if this writer does not grok that his readers are not his mommie, poring adoringly over his every self-centered thought and wanting badly to know whether he has been careful to pack everything he needs to be comfy on his road trip!.

In Arizona, contact my niece, Julia, a staunch Republican and a 20-something grad of Dartmouth, where Julia majored in political science. She has travelled the world with her Irish fiance, but both of them are now living at her mom’s place and looking for work ’til Julia can enroll in law school next year.

And they are probably wondering where they went wrong!

my two grandmothers (90 and 92) outspoken and much to my dismay not all supportive of my president — and one thinks blagojevich has gotten framed and a raw deal… fun fun fun

Murphy is done. He lied to the 8th district when he said he was a blue dog. He voted with Nancy Pelosi 98% of the time…that may work in NYC and the westside of Los Angeles, but not lower Bucks..there is no “murphy margin this election. Should never have voted for Cap&Trade!!!

Have fun Joe. I’m looking forward to reading your posts. Try to talk to a couple of crazies too (either party). Pin people down for explanations. It may just be the first time they have to try to articulate why they feel the way they do.

This has a chance to be worthwhile-I hope it is not an opportunity lost.
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I share Dirks concern and Fitty’s suggestions.

Clark Griswold hits the Road to hit DemoWorld (the political equivalent of Wally World)

Good luck on the trip I look foward to hearing how the people across the country feel.

Is it my imagination or have the people stopped using the title of President when speaking about President Obama. I don’t recall hearing President Bush referred to as Bush as frequently or the previous presidents as well. Is there a fact check available, which would let me find out if its just my imagination?

Of course it’s inane and narcissistic, as noted.

But why blame Joe for that? He’s only giving the customers what they want – not what they SAY they want. We all claim to want insightful news analysis that focuses on what’s important, but then we prove otherwise by embracing a culture of celebrity idolatry. Likewise we say we want political leaders, but we winge and cavil when our candidates act like grownups. We say we want informed debate, but we participate in (and read) spaces like this with its endless round of “U suck!” “No U suck!”

If Joe’s bosses thought this nonsense wasn’t what the people wanted, they’d spike his post and tell him to write in when he had something substantive to say. Whenever he DOES try to engage in serious analysis, a lot of the response (though thankfully not all) is grade-school namecalling. So he may as well write “What I Did on My Awesome Road Trip.”

“And they are probably wondering where they went wrong!”
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Give it up Freepizza.
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Your not funny.
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Your not entertaining.
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You are a fountain of misinformation.
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You are as entertaining as a mosquito buzzing around somebody’s ear. BZZZZZZ Liberal Suck BZZZZZ You’re a failure BZZZZ You’re retarded BZZZ Lamestream media BZZZZ
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SWAT!

True

I second the motion.
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All excellent topics.

I’m going to point out that this is a blog and that what is posted here is by its very nature going to be at least partially anecdotal, and perhaps irrelevant.
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By the nature of these replies i suspect that you know this and just don’t care, sometimes I wonder why I bother.

Also, though I repeat myself, this is a blog; it is not held to the same standards as regular journalistic enterprises.
(not that most of these hold to those standards, but i digress)

Joe, thanks for the update on your trip. Please don’t spend your time interviewing tea partiers. They have been over analyzed by the pundocracy. Talk to people who have real problems, not exaggerated ones.
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Talk to the unemployed who have been accused of being lazy. Talk to the employed whose standard of living has diminished or stagnated. Talk to the nurses, teachers (about whom you so often write), and people who are living in this real world and not just worried about their taxes and guns. Talk to the Muslim who just wants to live a good life. Talk to an “anchor” baby about their goals as Americans.
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Avoid communicating with the Village pundocracy and form your own opinions. Have a safe and informative trip.

Ah Rev Jim you are still a full time loser not matter how bad a*s you try to be or going on in one of your tiresome, pointless diatribes in which you try to sound relevant and intelligent they fail just like you have at everything else you have done!

You can share your temper tantrums with Obambi as he tries to be intelligent and relevant too, another failure!

“Is it my imagination or have the people stopped using the title of President when speaking about President Obama.”
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It’s not your imagination. Some people just can’t bring themselves to put President and Obama together. My MIL is one of them. He’s either Obama or Barack “HUSSEIN” Obama. Glenn Beck is “MR.” Glenn Beck and Sarah is “MISS” Sarah Palin. I enjoy it when she starts in on the ‘Miss” Sarah crap. I either tell her the b!tch is married or else the carzy c**t hasn’t been a Miss for over 20 years. She hates the “c” word. I use it often for that very reason.

If you run into a theocrat, remember Mark Twain’s words:
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“I ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bothers me, it is the parts that I do understand.”
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h/t dk

Joe…I think you have room in the backseat. Take this one.

I cannot wait until November.
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Mark Twain’s autobiography is going to make some heads explode.
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Likely on the left and right. Okay maybe just the right.

Joe…I think you have room in the back seat. Take this one.

Me too Paul. I have my copy pre-ordered.

This is kind of opaque and I wish for more of the details of the road trip. Don’t care much about the kind of car, the things carried, and don’t know the companions from adam. But I will be interested in how this will go. Joe Klein can make arrangements just by saying he works for Time and is a best selling author. This introduction is a little wanting for more, but I will be patient, and see how it develops. Are the meetings with the great unwashed masses to be anonymous? This initial update is disappointing. I hope for more quality as the miles pass.

BZT Ah Rev Jim BZZZT loser BZZZT how bad a*s you try to be BZZZZZZZZZZZ tiresome, BZZZZ BZZZZT fail just like you have at everything BZZZT BZZZZZ.

BZZZZZZZZ your temper tantrums with Obambi ZZZZZT BZT and relevantBZZZZ failure!
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Damn it!
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I thought I swatted that fly from PA.

Joe, please tell me you’re not riffing off Tim O’Brien’s masterpiece for your narcissistic journey.

Joe,

It’s so awesome you like LCD Soundsystem! It’s only appropriate that my favorite swampland writer enjoys one of my favorite bands. Way to connect with us college kids!

Come visit us at Cornell anytime, I wish your trip was taking you in the direction of Ithaca!

nskk, give some thought to becoming a swampland regular. We’re pretty well represented by the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s generation. We could use more opinions from the younger generations. You’ll be old and f**ked up like us before you know it.

Hey, not all of us are ancient, though then again as just an occasional poster maybe i shouldn’t be talking….

sacred:
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I’ll remind you again that I am not sordid!
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Howsomever, there is plenty of room in the swamp…

Before I came here in March, I last was in a chat room in 2001 and both didn’t like it and was the oldest one there (then age 30).
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You guys make me feel young.
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For what it’s worth, I visualize people in their late teens and early 20s when I see people posting – except Freeinpa. I picture him as about 107 years old.

You also thought you knew economics, or were an entrepreneur or had a clue. But it turns out you are just delusional and wrong Rev JIm

Joe, I would love to meet you in San Francisco. A few days ago I sent you a hard copy of my Open Letter to President Obama – Why Bank CEOs Should Have Public Performance Reviews. I hope that you find it interesting. Here is a link to my post:
http://artursattitudes.blogspot.com/2010/09/why-banks-ceos-should-have-public.html. Email me please and I send you my contact info.

“this is a blog; it is not held to the same standards as regular journalistic enterprises”
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Why not?
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Why shouldn’t it?
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Whose standards of journalism do you mean, exactly?

Rev Jim I don’t picture you at all. You are just a mass of gelatinous materiel of no consequence. Just a burden to society

53_3, yes you are sordid. It’s a job hazard. Revel in your sordidness. Embrace it. Shiver occassionally. It’s one of our better features.

sacred: I actually met Joe briefly at a McCain rally in Michigan in early ’08. Seemed kinda grumpy – turned out one of the other Swamplanders had taken the TIME seat on the campaign bus and he was PO’d.
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That aside, he did appear to be talking to some attendees (not just staffers) after the event – I was happy to see this.
It will be interesting to read what kind of an impression the Rust Belt makes on Joe & Co.

Freeinpa,
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You, obviously know nothing about economics, owning a business nor anything else and, therefore, have nothing to add.
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SWAT!
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When will you quit and get a life?

Freeinpa,
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Do you have any friends at all?
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I can safely say, that the answer is no.
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You have an abrasive personality and are just eager to be verbally pounded into the ground on every issue.
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You just want a verbal beating and, right now, I just don’t feel like satisfying your gay s&m urges to beaten by a man.
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Can’t you go home and have your wife beat you up?
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How about your 12 year old daughter?
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Can’t you just let her give you a black eye and call it a night?

“I actually met Joe briefly at a McCain rally in Michigan in early ’08.”
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Please tell me that you were just slumming or bored.

I second stuart’s questions

OT, but if anyone ever gets a fairly long cut that isn’t really deep…superglue works just fine.

“Please tell me that you were just slumming or bored.”
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Haha, Yes! Guilty as charged! I needed a campaign fix and he was available.
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(McCain was the only one of the candidates who rallied within an hour of my house. Livingston County is solidly red, so no one on either side generally stops by.)
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It was…interesting.

since it was mostly about a car and equipment, i was thinking for along the lines of “travels with charlie” (Steinbeck)

stick with XPN radio. LCD soundsystem will put u asleep at the wheel within 3 songs. seriously u will die.

“The inventor of cyanoacrylates, Harry Coover, said in 1966 that a superglue spray was used in the Vietnam War to retard bleeding in wounded soldiers until they could be brought to a hospital. ”
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#Uses
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That’s what is was made for.

Considering I spend half of my day on swampland, I can definitely see getting involved a bit more. I don’t have worlds of time but I’d be more than willing to give you guys/gals a younger perspective. I have to warn you that I’m well on my way to losing the vast majority of my youthful idealism anyways….

Thanks for the encouragement!