I've Got A Bad Case of Schadenfreude

Yes, I admit it. I have schadenfreude. I've waited oh so long for this, and now it's so good. McCain and Palin are at each other's throats, "Diva," "Old Fart," "Rogue"--what did you expect you senile old man? It's too sweet. Ted Stevens was convicted of 7 , yes that's seven, felonies, yes dear, felonies. Five years in the pokey for each. The timing couldn't be better. It's looking bad for all of them, and for me it's time for schadenfreude. Sing it to me. Where's my stein? That bullet proof majority in the Senate's looking easier and easier a hill to climb.

I paid my bill at Comcast today and usually that's a drag. But the clerk who waited on me (after I waited for her for eighteen minutes) said, "I'll sure be glad when the election is over, and I'm really hoping for change." We did the famous terrorist fist bump while rather loudly whispering Obama. Paying Comcast didn't hurt so much this month. I hope she doesn't get fired.

A friend of mine who lives next door came home from work. She stopped in for a smoke. She asked me if I'd seen the bumper sticker "MOBAMA, Mormons for Obama," and we did a fist bump too. Ah, schadenfreude is good. Wish I were a beer drinker, I'd have swung by the liquor store for a nice German Pilsner. I'd have a toast to Schadenfreude!

My Email to Rachel Maddow

I used to be a fan of Keith's. I even set my Ichat to say I was "Unavailable, Watching Keith." Oh I still like Keith. But I used to love him. He was mine and many of the bloggers I visit also claimed Keith was theirs. It's looked like maybe the female bloggers were going to have a blog off to claim Keith. I first noticed you as a guest on C Matthews, then more and more often a regular on Keith's show. I started sending MSNBC email begging them to give you a show. Once I saw them put you on a panel with Morning Joe, who was so incredibly rude and dismissive to you I wanted to slap the @#$@! out of him. Sadly I could not reach through the screen or he'd have been on his back wondering what hit him. It was the incredible arrogance of a man who thinks he 's the smartest guy in the world but has just discovered that the little lady has him beat by miles. Pat Buchannon does that same kind of thing. And I know no one wants to tell them to shut up, since they are talking over you, as this might look condescending to you. Anyway, I love your show so much, Keith's not so important in my life anymore. Oh yeah, I still love him. I always watch. But once a night is just fine. But as I have said on my blog, Utah Savage, Watching Rachel once is nice, but twice is better. It's not just cheerleading. There are many female bloggers out here who have professed our love for Keith for at least the last year. Now we all want to claim you as our real and only true love. Most of us are women with husbands, children and even pets. But we loves us some Rachel. (I'm the prettiest)

I have one small complaint. Please call your old, and I mean Old, uncle Pat once a month or so if you must. But please, please, never have the old mummy on your show again. He's every bit as big a blowhard as Morning Joe, only Pat's embalmed isn't he?

Love your show,
Peggy Pendleton
Aka Utah Savage

Republican Defections So Far

This is a list of Republicans who are supporting Obama

Jim Leach, Former Congressman from Iowa

"For me, the national interest comes before party concerns, particularly internationally. We do need a new direction in American policy, and Obama has a sense of that."

Lincoln Chafee, Former United States Senator from Rhode Island

"As I look at the candidates in order who to vote for, certainly my kind of conservatism was reflected with Senator Obama, and those points are that we're fiscally conservative, we care about revenues matching expenditures, we also care about the environment, I think it's a traditional conservative value to care about clean air and clean water."

William Weld, Former Governor of Massachusetts

"It's not often you get a guy with his combination of qualities, chief among which I would say is the deep sense of calm he displays, and I think that's a product of his equally deep intelligence."

Arne Carlson, Former Governor of Minnesota

"I think we have in Barack Obama the clear possibility of a truly great president. I would contend that it's the most important election of my lifetime."

Wayne Gilchrest, Congressman from Maryland

"We can't use four more years of the same kind of policy that's somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness."

Larry Pressler, Former Senator from South Dakota

"I just got the feeling that Obama will be able to handle this financial crisis better, and I like his financial team of [former Treasury Secretary Robert] Rubin and [former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul] Volcker better."

Richard Riordan, Former Mayor of Los Angeles

"I'm still a Republican, but I still will always vote for the person who I think will do the best job."

Lowell Weicker, Former Governor and Senator from Connecticut

"At issue is not the partisan politics of two parties, rather the image we have of ourselves as Americans. Senator Obama brings wisdom, kindness, and common sense to what is both his and our quest for a better America."

Jim Whitaker, Fairbanks, Alaska Mayor

"If we are as a nation concerned with energy, then our consideration should be a national energy policy that is not predicated on crude oil 50 years into the future. We need to get to it, and I think Barack Obama is very clear in that regard."

Linwood Holton, Former Governor of Virginia

"Obama has a brain, and he isn't afraid to use it."

Government Officials:

Colin Powell, Secretary of State under Bush 43

"...he has met the standard of being a sucessful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world-- onto the world state, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."

Douglas Kmiec, Head of the Office of Legal Counsel under Reagan & Bush 41

"I was first attracted to government by Ronald Reagan, who lives in our national memory as a great leader and an inspiring communicator. Senator Obama has these gifts as well, but of course, more rhetorical flourish without substance would be worth little. Is there more to Senator Obama? I believe there is."

Charles Fried, Solicitor General of the United States under Reagan

"I admire Senator McCain and was glad to help in his campaign, and to be listed as doing so; but when I concluded that I must vote for Obama for the reason states in my letter, I felt it wrong to appear to be recommending to others a vote that I was not prepared to cast myself."

Jackson M. Andrews, Republican Counsel to the U.S. Senate

"Barack Obama is a thoughtful visionary leader who as President will end the decline of American law, liberty, and fiscal responsibility that are the hallmarks of the extremist policies of the current Administration, now adopted by John McCain."

Susan Eisenhower, Granddaughter of President Eisenhower & President of the Eisenhower Group

"Given Obama's support among young people, I believe that he will be most invested in defending the interests of these rising generations and, therefore, the long-term interests of this nation as a whole."

Francis Fukuyama, Advisor to President Reagan

"...Obama probably has the greatest promise of delivering a different kind of politics."

Rita Hauser, Former White House intelligence advisor under George W. Bush

"McCain will continue the wrong-headed foreign policy decisions of Bush, while Obama will take us in a new direction."

Larry Hunter, Former President Reagan Policy Advisor

"I suspect Obama is more free-market friendly than he lets on. He taught at the University of Chicago, a hotbed of right-of-center thought. His economic advisers, notably Austan Goolsbee, recognize that ordinary citizens stand to gain more from open markets than from government meddling."

Scott McClellan, Former Press Secretary to President George W. Bush

"From the beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping."

Bill Ruckelshaus, served in the Nixon and Reagan administrations

"I'm not against McCain, I'm for Obama."

Ken Adelman, served in the Ford administration

"The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate. That decision showed appalling lack of judgment... that selection contradicted McCain's main two, and best two, themes for his campaign-- Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick."

Lilibet Hagel, Wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel

"This election is not about fighting phantom issues churned out by a top-notch slander machine. Most important, it is not about distracting the public-- you and me-- with whatever slurs someone thinks will stick."

Columnists and Academics:

Jeffrey Hart, National Review Senior Editor

"It turns out that these political parties are not always either liberal or conservative, Democratic or Republican. The Democrat, under certain conditions, can be the conservative."

Andrew Bacevich, Professor of International Relations at Boston University

"For conservatives, Obama represents a sliver of hope. McCain represents none at all. The choice turns out to be an easy one."

David Friedman, Economist and son of Milton and Rose Friedman

"I hope Obama wins. President Bush has clearly been a disaster from the standpoint of libertarians and conservatives because he has presided over an astonishing rise in government spending."

Christopher Buckley, Son of National Review founder William F. Buckley & former NR columnist

"Obama has in him-- I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy 'We are the people we have been waiting for' silly rehtoric-- the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for."

Andrew Sullivan, Columnist for the Atlantic Monthly

"Obama's legislative record, speeches, and the way he has run his campaign reveal, I think, a very even temperament, a very sound judgment, and an intelligent pragmatism. Prudence is a word that is not inappropriate to him."

Wick Alison, Former publisher of the National Review

"I made the maximum donation to John McCain during the primaries, when there was still hope he might come to his senses. But I now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment in American history."

Michael Smerconish, Columnist for the Philadelphia Enquirer

"...an Obama presidency holds the greatest chance for unifying us here at home and restoring our prestige around the globe."

CC Goldwater, Granddaughter of Barry Goldwater

"Nothing about the Republican tickets offers the hope America needs to regain its standing in the world, that's why we're going to support Barack Obama."

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