Hello Mr. Senator: Al Franken Becomes First Former SNL Cast Member Elected to the Senate

Who's next Senator Aykroyd, Congressman Eddie Murphy, or (oh please!) Senator Tina Fey? After a long and thorough recount that seems to have returned the term "recount" into the realm of the respectable. Take that Florida! Check out Senator Franken's acceptance speech today.

Thanks Dad: Bush Sr. Tells Nation to Google Son's Failures

I guess the elder Bush is about as fond of "the Google" as John McCain. Perhaps his ignorance on the subject is most evident in his suggestion this morning to Fox News reporter, Chris Wallace that he Google his son's failures. At last count the search "George Bush failures" logged over 4.7 million results. Perhaps its time for H.W. to take "the Google" for a ride and re-educate himself on the last eight years.

Stranger than Fiction: Caroline Kennedy and the MSM

Doesn't it seem that Caroline Kennedy is receiving a bit of a strange dish from the mainstream media? It's almost as if the media decided to end what has been a bad year for its treatment of female candidates on a high note.

Sure, I understand the calls against dynasty building, and I can see how her decidedly non-politician like speaking skills have hurt her. Yet, the degree to which her every move is being scrutinized just adds to the unequal treatment that both Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton received earlier this year. I think at some point the media has to ask itself, would the fact that she said 'you know' 142 times during one interview be judged so harshly if she were a male?

You Say Recession, I Say Depression - Let's Call the Whole Thing Off

There does seem to be such disagreement on the matter, doesn't there? I was walking in Greenwich Village this afternoon and I heard a father attempt to explain this situation to his daughter, and he said, "No sweetheart, we aren't in a depression yet. We're in the recession stage".

I thought to myself, "Wow, even though there was a recession (1992) when I was just as young as this girl, I can't remember either my father talking to me about it or any discussion of a depression". Surely, if fathers in New York City are preparing little children for the upcoming Depression, any minimizing of the current situation as a passing recession seems shortsighted.

According to historian John Paul Rossi at the History News Network, the current downward spiral bears many similarities to the 1929 scenario. In his piece, he concludes with a dire prognostication.

The American economy in 2008 is following the same path it took in 1929. The collapse of a speculatory bubble has merged with problems of the distribution of wealth, working American incomes, and consumption. The consequence is that the economy is rapidly spiraling downward into the next great depression.

Indeed, perhaps even more ominous is a recent post at PoliticalWire indicating that President-elect Obama's advisers seem to share the same view.

Add to that the increasingly precarious state of the US auto industry, and I am starting to wish my father would console me too!

Gay Marriage: New Newsweek Polls Shows Big Jump in Support

In the aftermath of the passage of California's Proposition 8 last month, many prognosticators have called the 52 to 48 percent repeal of gay marriage rights in the state a major defeat. This sentiment dismisses the fact that this relatively small margin of victory is a stark improvement over the passage of the similarly-worded Proposition 22 in 2000, which passed with over 60 percent of the vote.

A new Newsweek poll seems to build on my positive take on the results. The poll, released on Friday, found that for the first time a majority of Americans (55 percent) support legally-sanctioned gay and lesbian partnerships or unions. That is a 15 percent jump since a similar poll was conducted in September 2004. That year, only 40 percent supported such unions. Gay marriage is supported by 39 percent of the population, also up from 33 percent four years ago.

Gay marriage is supported by a majority (51 percent) among those aged 18-34. Also, for the first time a majority (53 percent) supports adoption rights for gay and lesbian parents and strong majorities support gay and lesbian domestic partners' rights to inheritance (74 percent), social security benefits (67 percent), health insurance benefits (73 percent), and hospital visitation (86 percent). All of these percentage are up significantly from just four years ago when gay marriage was demonized by the right during the 2004 Presidential Election. These poll results and the failure of gay marriage to reemerge as a wedge issue during the 2008 campaign seems to indicate that Americans are indeed becoming more rational and tolerant on the matter. The arch of history is most certainly bending in the right direction.

Nixon's Awkward Empathy

Does corruption pay? President Nixon has definitely remained in the public eye for long after it was warranted largely due to the trickle of his taped White House phone conversations that always seem to come around the holidays, providing all true politicos with welcome news during a usually (not so much this year) boring news period. The most recent batch are from November and December of 1972.

This year a few clips display the 37th President's seemingly odd approach to empathy. Check out this phone conversation between Nixon and the bedridden veteran newsman Arthur Kroc. Nixon seems to almost smother Krock, a columnist for the much-hated New York Times. Doesn't it seem like Krock is trying to squirm away from the get-go?

In a later conversation, Nixon calls Senator-elect (now Vice-President-elect) Joe Biden following the death of his wife. The call seems so awkward - I'm speechless.

Another Fabulous NYT Creation

Ok, so I know that I haven't been so active on the blog since the election. I guess I've just been soaking it all in. Honestly, there's not a whole lot coming out of the Obama transition camp over the last two weeks.

What's been really cool over the last two weeks was the variety of new post-election data tools popping up on nearly every website. As usual, the New York Times is leading the way. Check out their new Election Explorer. You can adjust the tool's dial to find how each candidate fared in the most densely populated counties, the counties with the most African Americans, etc. This will definitely satisfy your political tooth during these post-election days in malaise.