Look, there’s a million clever Obama t-shirts out there, I know. But I saw this one in Georgetown this weekend and HAD to chase the dude down just to get a picture. Nobody loves a sci-fi reference more than I do, and mashing the President-elect with the Terminator gets my vote every time:

It’s been a couple days now, and it keeps happening — and at the oddest times, too. Sometimes I can control it and sometimes I just let it happen, let the people on the subway stare. My breath hitches kinda funny, hiccups, and my throat and voicebox shake like a bus on a bumpy road. My eyes tear up every time and I’ve just sort of stopped wiping it away.

I can’t tell if I’m happy or sad when it happens, mostly I’m just swallowed up by the enormity of the feeling. It’s like being a particle of plankton and getting swallowed up by a gigantic, benevolent whale.

America elected Barack Obama to be the President of the United States on Tuesday night, and the emotional aftershocks just keep coming.

So along with the spontaneous, random sobs of joy and relief, I’m having this recurring hallucination. Or maybe it’s a daydream. But whatever.

Every time I see, hear, or imagine somebody doing something incredibly well, that person has Barack Obama’s head.

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Today is national fix-the-country day, and it’s gonna be a long one. No matter what side you’re on, you’re probably sick of the campaigning by now. As a little distraction from all the election-related news you’re sure to be drowning in, I thought I’d post a video of me telling the story of Royal Quiet Deluxe, (chicken band) at The Moth.

By way of comparison, you can read a written version of the story here.

The story links to one of our recordings, made with a primitive drum machine, delay/loop pedal, and my tireless prattling.

The following track, though, is a different sort of sound collage. We recorded it on the front porch of Tim’s parent’s place out in Botetourt County, VA, one hot summer evening. You can hear crickets and locusts in the background, something I think is pretty cool. I am playing the typewriter as percussion here, Tim is playing guitar, and the chickens are pecking and vocalizing. Tim mixed in a recording about Exotic Newcastle Disease in Southern California that was recorded over the telephone many years later, and presto — you have:

Exotic Newcastle Disease, by Royal Quiet Deluxe

There’s one more story in this saga. I’ve told it onstage at a Moth event recently, and I’m waiting to get ahold of the video so I can crunch it and post it here — and I’m working on the text version for those of you that want the full-on boxed-set experience. Suffice it to say that while the Internet has helped me find a whole new audience for this band that I never thought existed, I am 100 percent positive that the Reverend Al Sharpton still thinks the whole concept of Royal Quiet Deluxe is the stupidest thing he’s ever heard.

You can see a story by The Moth’s Jim O’Grady here:

Jim O’Grady on “Respect”

And a story by The Moth’s Juliet Wayne here:

Juliet Tells the Tale of ‘Mannequin Dan’

While the rest of young, liberal New York was jamming Washington Square park for the Obama rally yesterday, the Senate approved tens of billions more dollars to continue war in Iraq.From the Nation:

The Senate agreed on Thursday to increase the federal debt limit by $850 billion — from $8.965 trillion to $9.815 trillion — and then proceeded to approve a stop-gap spending bill that gives the Bush White House at least $9 billion in new funding for its war in Iraq.

The telling quote is here, though:

Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, the maverick Democrat who has led the fight to end the war and bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, was on the losing end of the 94-1 vote. (The five senators who did not vote, all presidential candidates who are more involved in campaigning than governing, were Democrats Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Republicans John McCain and Sam Brownback.)

The only reason I’m going to vote Democrat in the next election is because Democrats aren’t Republicans. They’ve been letting Republicans run this country in a tight circle at the bottom of the bowl for years now and squandered any legitimate leverage through total inactivity. The one thing Republicans do right is define themselves and take a stand — like the position or not, they at least DO something.

Most of my peers, young professional adults in my demographic are planning to vote for Obama in the next election. Those that don’t will vote for Hillary. We all want them in office so badly, but really we just want Bush out.

The last thing I want is same shit, different face. Which is why we, as a pack of liberals, have to ask some tougher questions — both metaphorically and literally.

Obama sings a sweet song, but I’d like to ask him one very hard, direct question. And since I missed his rally in Washington Square Park yesterday, I’ll have to harness the power of the Internet to ask him this one directly:

Mr. Obama, you were too busy campaigning to vote against continued war in Iraq. If elected, will you continue to put your own political interests ahead of representing the wishes of the American people?

I want to ask this same question of Clinton, Biden, McCain, and Brownback, too. I’d like to know why our potential Presidents skipped this particular opportunity to put their money where their mouths are.

Seriously. If you see this and happen to attend a rally for any of these folks, grab the mike and ASK it. And see what happens.

If you’re so inclined, pass this on, far and wide, until someone somewhere does ask this. I want Obama to be the sunshine superhero of American politics, but until someone takes him to task, we’ll never know if he can handle the job.