T.G.I. Over

After the past two presidential elections I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe voting lines rivaling those at Six Flags or an alien invasion from the planet Ork. I probably wouldn’t have blinked had I heard Halle Berry’s baby declared the winner in the Minnesota senatorial race, or that because I failed to check two boxes at the bottom of my ballot, I was now a member of eHarmony and my phone service was being transferred to T-Mobile. Thankfully none of those things happened (I’d better check the phone bill) and Senator Barrack Obama is now our president elect. And while he has some big things to tackle, like our $10 trillion debt, Guantanamo, and finding a hypoallergenic yet completely adorable shelter puppy, here are a few quick actions he could do on day one:

Clone Sasha and Malia
Is it just me, or are these the most gorgeous children? Parents are attractive, Ivy League educated professionals. If Michelle Obama was under age 30 she could sell her eggs for a fortune.

Push up the fall back
Our current Daylight Savings Time schedule, for the lack of a better word, sucks. When I was a kid, you could barely see your hand in front of your face on Halloween. This year it was so bright, the only reason I knew it was time to pass out the candy was I heard a toddler crying on the corner while his mother said, “Stay-with-me-baby-baby-stay-with-me-stay-with-mommy-listen-to-mommy-get-your-butt-over-here-now!”

Speaking of Halloween...
Pass a law requiring people with their lights on to pass out candy to EVERYONE. When I opened the door to trick-or-treaters, I didn’t see Obama supporters or McCain supporters. I saw Iron Man, Spider Man, Batman, Cinderella, a ballerina, a bunch of teens who didn’t bother to wear costumes but wanted candy anyway, and some adults who knew better yet did it anyway.

Outlaw scary Facebook photos
While such Facebook photos have rightfully ended many what-might-have-been fantasies, it’s a bit unsettling to discover your high school crush now resembles the Unibomber.

Keep taking your kids to school
The next time a significant other tells us they can't pick the kids up/take out the trash/drive us to the hospital, we can say, "Don't tell me you're too busy to make dinner when the leader of the free world took time out of his busy day to drop the kids off by the flag pole!"

Host inaugural ceremonies in every state
Considering scalpers are selling tickets for over $20,000, it’s needed. Plus it will save me from either commuting daily from New York because it’s the closest place with an affordable hotel room, or staying at lounges all night and showering at 24-Hour Fitness.

Just the Facts...PLEASE!?!?!

As we delve further into this history-making Presidential race, it's important to ask for the truth from those who seek the public trust. Are we not political consumers? Just as we want to know what nitrates/nitrites are finding their way into our foods, or how well a prospective auto will hold-up on the road, we have just cause to ensure that what we're hearing from the Donkey and Elephant are the real deal. Here are a few sources for uncovering the veracity of what we're hearing:

Factcheck.org (http://www.factcheck.org/). Founded in 1994, the Annenburg Foundation is a non-partisan think-tank based at the University of Pennsylvania that seeks to vet (there's that word again) proclamations and statements made by politicians.

The Washington Post launched a new site in early September called The Fact Checker (www.washingtonpost.com/factchecker) that aims to be "the place to go for impartial refereeing of campaign rhetoric."

Politifact.org (http://www.politifact.org/) is a new site, launched by both the Congressional Quarterly and the St. Petersburg Times (Fla.). Its a bit spashier than Factcheck.org and The Fact Checker with its 'truth-o-meters.' But, like the others, non-partisan.

For my time, Factcheck.org and Politifact are the more user friendly of the two. My fellow Americans, no matter which side of the aisle you stand, prepare to be appalled.

Talking Hillary and Barack with an Expert...

Experts are often found at the Central Library and one in the area of government and the media was just recently in our midst.

Tuesday evening in the Central Library's Sacramento Room, CSUS Government Professor Kimberly Nalder, brought some needed focus to the the current runoff for the Democratic nomination for President and what it's told us about the state of women and minorities as political candidates.

How do these candidates portray themselves in accordance with how they think we want them to look? Nalder broached the idea that domestic issues like Healthcare and Education have - traditionally - been perceived to be the province of the female politician, whereas, males have long been viewed as more alligned to issues of foreign policy and the economy. Accordingly, Hillary Clinton's quest for validation as a civilian leader of the American military has prompted her to find advocacy from many of the nation's military leaders, as shown by Nalder in the following advertisement:



Also, how much of an effect has "response bias" had on polling results throughout the nomination process? In other words, are survey takers giving answers to reflect the way they feel society wants them answer? In the New Hampshire primary, Barack Obama's pre-vote polling numbers were quite favorable; however, by election evening, Hillary Clinton had won the state. The same happened to Clinton in the Iowa Caucuses.

These issues were discussed in detail. Keep your eyes peeled for Nalder. She may be moderating an upcoming debate between Sacramento mayoral candidates Heather Fargo and Kevin Johnson.