England for Obama

These are also from the Barack Obama Flickr page:

Everyone’s favourite Vice President-elect turns 66 today. Gawd bless ya, Joe!

Here’s how it was celebrated in Obamaland:

“Obama surprised his No. 2 after their weekly lunch Wednesday at the transition office in Chicago. According to staff, Obama presented Biden - a Delaware senator with decades of foreign policy experience - with a dozen cupcakes decorated with candles and teased, “You’re 12 years old!”

Staff reported that Biden, ever astute in the art of politics, laughed at the his boss’s joke. He responded: “Maybe in dog years!”

Obama led the rest of the staff in song, then handed over some Chicago-themed gifts: a White Sox cap, a Bears cap and a bucket of Garrett’s popcorn, a hometown favorite.”

“Laughed at his boss’s jokes”? “Led the staff in song”? See what sort of anarchy has reached the White House?! Next thing we know, they’ll be spreading the cupcakes around.

…at midnight, UK time.

Because at that precise moment, Joe and Jill Biden will be arriving at the Naval Observatory, Washington, for a tour of their new residence. Courtesy of its current occupants, Mr and Mrs Dick Cheney.

Bet that’ll be a fun, relaxed evening!

Actually, who am I kidding? Being shown around your new home when your new home is the Vice President’s residence is, like, *totally* awesome. Even if you have to endure Dick Cheney all night.

*UPDATE* Here’s commentary and footage from Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow - including a fascinating discussion on the powers of the Vice Presidency:

According to insiders, Vice President-elect Joe Biden has chosen his chief of staff, and it’s this man.

That’s right: Kevin Spacey.

Kind of.

It’s the man Kevin Spacey portrayed in the film Recount - Al Gore’s former chief of staff, Ron Klain.

See, that movie does have a happy ending after all!

Watching the Obama infomercial - especially the part about the 72-year-old man forced to return to work so that his wife can continue her medical treatment - I was struck again by how much a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for compassion.

Of course, politicians on both sides always talk to the electorate about their most direct concerns; about their plans to help you. Tax cuts, and so on. But the thing is: this election it isn’t just about what’s best for oneself.

It’s about what’s best for the sick. The elderly. Those who are poorer than you. Those who are hit by disaster. They may be your loved ones, your neighbours, your co-workers, or just the people you pass by in the street. They are, in this case, your fellow Americans - a phrase which is overused but which actually has resonance when it comes to the policies and idealism of Barack Obama.

Because a vote for Obama/Biden isn’t just a self-interest vote. It is a vote for a President and a Vice President who have worked throughout their adult lives to help others, to help those in need, to look out for the disenfranchised. A vote for two men who would never have gone to a birthday party (John McCain’s, remember) as people were left stranded and dying after a hurricane hit their city. It is a vote for community, for compassion, for the idea that we are - as Obama has said himself - our brother’s keeper, our sister’s keeper.

To put it even more simply: it is a vote for love.

I’ve been meaning to write about this thought - and yesterday I came across this story from a reader on Daily Kos, which… well, just read it. Because this is what it’s all about:

“Due to the recent discovery of having an aggressive form of cancer, I’ll never vote again.  But thankfully I cast my last vote for whom I sincerely believe to the best and most consequential presidential candidate to ever appear on the ballot in all of my 53 years, Barack Obama.

Like many of members of this community, I’ve got decades worth of political experience in terms of volunteer work and more formal elective roles within the county and state Democratic parties - along with consulting and managing campaigns and even an eleven year stint in promoting our side on talk radio.

But this election year and the candidate we are championing simply seems to dwarf anything I’ve been involved with in the past.  Obviously a large part of that is due to the extraordinary abuse that the current regime has inflicted upon our country in the last eight years - but it’s also much larger than that.

Back in early 2006 when I was mentally constructing the attributes that our next presidential should bring to the table - one unusual need kept re-occurring to me.  Our next candidate needed to find a way in inject some Love into the process.  Not the typical “love of country” but the ability to project a genuine love for our fellow citizens into the mix.

Much to my surprise and despite all of the traditional concerns that this political veteran initially had - Barack Obama emerged as the precise type of candidate that these extraordinary times called for.  And that makes me happy beyond belief and provides me with the will and determination to live to election day and even a ways beyond.

So YES WE CAN emerge from the presidential political wilderness that we’ve been struggling with in the 40 years since 1968.  And YES WE CAN roll back the damage we’ve sustained during the last 8 - 28 years.

I know that this remarkable community is going to play a key role in not only getting us back to even - but through the genuine love contained in “Our Vision for America” that lies at the heart of the Daily Kos - you’ll be playing a major role in laying the foundation for the U.S. becoming a far better place to live and work than it ever was before.

Stay active and keep pushing those winning ideals.  I’ll be with you in spirit all the way!”

On the back of this:

Comes this:

Very cute. Joe is my homeboy too!

He still lives in Delaware! He beats off right-wing nutjobs! He rallies the troops in Virginia!

Laydeezengennelmen, I give you: Joe Biden!

Joe did brilliantly here, against an ‘anchor’ who used ‘arguments’ straight from the GOP’s mouth (not surprising, considering she’s a former beauty pageant winner who’s married to a Republican strategist. No, really):

I mean, who wants to live in Sweden, eh?! *Shudders at the thought of all that social progessiveness, high standard of living and vodka*

Personally, I’m amazed he didn’t just respond to that particular comment with: “And what’s so wrong with Sweden?”. But then I imagine that’s what everyone would call a ‘gaffe’.

Sadly, he didn’t dance on the Ellen show yesterday - but he did throw balls at Julia-Louise Dreyfuss.

Here’s part one:

And here’s part two:

And here’s the part with Julia-Louise Dreyfuss (be prepared for the shrieking, dogs-only-can-hear-this-noise audience members):

About that Julia-Louise Dreyfuss moment: can you imagine Dick Cheney doing that? And being so adorable, and adored, as he did so? One massive, massive change that’s going to come about with an Obama/Biden victory: the American people are going to have a President and a Vice President they’re genuinely fond of. And I don’t think that’s an emotion that should be underestimated.

Our Second Favouritest Man In American Politics talked to Jay Leno last night. See the two parts below. Gotta love the spoof McCain ad…