THE WAY IT WORKS

From the moment Mitt Romney stepped off stage Tuesday night, having just delivered a brief concession speech he wrote only that evening, the massive infrastructure surrounding his campaign quickly began to disassemble itself.

Aides taking cabs home late that night got rude awakenings when they found the credit cards linked to the campaign no longer worked.

"Fiscally conservative," sighed one aide the next day.

Was it arrogance, life in a bubble?  Why did Romney wait to write the concession speech till the last minute?  He had to know it was possible he would lose in the last days of the campaign.  The speech had to be one of the hardest thing he's ever done in his whole easy life.

"I built it." Yeah, you built it, Mitt, and it all came tumbling down. 

H/T to Charles Pierce.

MADE ME CRY

June --

President Obama made a surprise visit to the campaign office in Chicago yesterday to give a heartfelt thank-you to staff and volunteers.

I wanted to pass this video along, because it's a message every single person who helped build this campaign deserves to see. He wasn't just talking to those of us in the office -- he was talking to all of you.

In his speech on Election Night, President Obama gave you all the title you have spent the last year and a half earning:

"The best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics."

So many times in this election, this campaign was counted out. They said our supporters wouldn't turn out, and we'd never see the kind of voter participation we saw in 2008. They said we'd be buried in money and special-interest influence. And they said that no campaign could overcome the political headwinds we faced.

Last year, a major American newspaper asked, "Is Obama toast?" As recently as two weeks ago, another ran this headline: "Can Obama win?"

Tuesday night, you all answered all of those doubts with a resounding YES WE CAN. By knocking on doors, organizing phone banks, and chipping in a few bucks when you could, you built a campaign that is unparalleled. And you re-elected our president.

You also proved that millions of ordinary people taking ownership of a cause is still the most powerful force in our political process. You showed that grassroots organizing and small donations are not only the right way to win, but also the most effective way.

How we got here must guide where we go. If we're going to accomplish the things America voted for on Tuesday, you've got to be even more involved in getting them done than you were in giving us all the chance.

We'll be in touch soon about how we can get started on some of the President's top priorities in his second term.

For now, I just want to say I am so proud of this team. And I can't wait to see where you take this incredible movement from here.

Thank you -- more to come,

Messina

Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

A PUZZLE BY LEWIS CARROLL

John gave his brother James a box: 
About it there were many locks. 
James woke and said it gave him pain; 
So gave it back to John again. 
The box was not with lid supplied 
Yet caused two lids to open wide: 
And all these locks had never a key 
What kind of box, then, could it be?

Please do not give the answer in the comments.  Just say whether you solved the puzzle or not.

Puzzle from Mycoted.

Photo from Wikipedia.

MORE GOOD NEWS FROM ELECTION 2012

 

Besides the reelection of President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden, Election 2012 resulted in other good news for Democrats.

•Democrats gained two seats in the US Senate.  In states where the incumbent stepped down, Democrats retained the seats.   Democrats gained seven seats in the US House of Representatives.

•Women now hold 20 seats in the Senate, a record, and a record number of seats in the US House.

•In Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin was elected the first openly gay or lesbian member of the US Senate.

•The States of  Maryland, Maine, and Washington voted yes to gay marriage which brings the total to 9 states and the District of Columbia that allow gay marriage.

•Minnesota voted down a constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as the union between a man and a woman, which may make allow for the possibility of civil unions.

•Massachusetts voted to legalize the use of medical marijuana.

•The States of Washington and Colorado voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana.  Federal law still prohibits recreational use of marijuana, so we'll wait and see how the laws will apply in practice.

CONFIRMED: JUSTIN WELBY FOR ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

 

Sources have confirmed that the Eton-educated bishop will be announced as successor to Dr Rowan Williams as early as Friday, after the Crown Nominations Commission put his name forward to Downing Street. 

It marks a meteoric rise for the former oil executive who has been a bishop for only a year, but insiders described Welby as "the outstanding candidate".

The bookies and Ruth Gledhill were right.

Bishop Welby supports women bishops, but so far as I can discern, he probably does not favor either same-sex marriage or gay bishops.

UPDATE FROM THE BBC:

In a pastoral letter to his diocese on the issue he wrote how he was "committed to and believes in the ordination of women as bishops".

He has been less forthright about his views on homosexuality. While he has rigorously defended the Church's right to oppose single-sex marriages, he has also been keen to accommodate opposing views expressed from a position of deeply held faith.

QUICK THOUGHT AFTER THE ELECTION

 

Perhaps it might be helpful if we moved away from lamenting that the people of the country are so very divided and rather began to speak of people having different opinions about various issues, which has been the case since the founding of the republic. Yes, feelings run high after the election, but Obama strikes the right notes when he speaks in hope of people coming together, which he did last night and repeats fairly often.

I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America.

Some thought the acceptance speech too long, but I thought it was just right.  The president said what needed to be said, no more, no less.

Update from The Book of Common Prayer:

Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun.
Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice,
and to abolish poverty and crime. And hasten the day when
all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will
glorify your holy Name. Amen.

Thanks to Mark in the comments.

FOUR MORE YEARS!

 

SHIPWRECK

Ship of State with You-Know-Who at the helm.  One of his houses is pictured on the right.


UPDATE: NOT GONNA HAPPEN!


VERNET, Claude-Joseph - Storm with a Shipwreck
Wallace Collection, London

Web Gallery of Art.

BREAKING...MAY EVEN BE TRUE

Ruth Gledhill in the Times says:

Speculation grew tonight that the Bishop of Durham Justin Welby is about to be unveiled as the next Archbishop of Canterbury after a leading bookmaker suspended betting on the race.

Well, if the bookies and Ruth don't know, who does?

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead.

Just a little something to take your mind off the election. Whew! I need a break.

LET US PRAY

 

Prayer for Leadership

Give us, O God,
leaders whose hearts are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.

In seeking a leader, let us seek
more than development for ourselves—
though development we hope for—
more than security for our own land—
though security we need—
more than satisfaction for our wants—
though many things we desire.

Give us the hearts to choose the leader
who will work with other leaders
to bring safety
to the whole world.

Give us leaders
who lead this nation to virtue
without seeking to impose our kind of virtue
on the virtue of others.

Give us a government
that provides for the advancement
of this country
without taking resources from others
to achieve it.

Give us insight enough ourselves
to choose as leaders those who can tell
strength from power,
growth from greed,
leadership from dominance,
and real greatness from the trappings of grandiosity.

We trust you, Great God,
to open our hearts to learn from those
to whom you speak in different tongues
and to respect the life and words
of those to whom you entrusted
the good of other parts of this globe.

We beg you, Great God,
give us the vision as a people
to know where global leadership truly lies,
to pursue it diligently,
to require it to protect human rights
for everyone everywhere.

We ask these things, Great God,
with minds open to your word
and hearts that trust in your eternal care.

Amen.

–Joan Chittister

Thanks to whiteycat.