OSLO — President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.

Nobel observers were shocked by the unexpected choice so early in the Obama presidency, which began less than two weeks before the Feb. 1 nomination deadline.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama woke up to the news a little before 6 a.m. EDT. The White House had no immediate comment on the announcement, which took the administration by surprise.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided not to inform Obama before the announcement because it didn’t want to wake him up, committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland said.

I know this is more of a finger to the eye of Shrub than it is a win for Obama, but I don’t really care.

It’s still worthy of a big round of applause.

How about a thank you?

First, here’s the final wrap up of the whole thing – warts and all.

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Department extended the deadline Monday for auto dealers to submit their Cash for Clunkers deals, giving them more time to make sure they get repaid under the popular $3 billion government rebate program.

Dealers now have until noon on Tuesday to submit the necessary paperwork, after the deadline was pushed back from 8 p.m. EDT Monday. All sales under the program were still scheduled to end Monday evening.

The change came after government computers set up to handle the filings buckled under a flood of dealers trying to send in their sales agreements at the last minute. Under the original plan, those deals that weren’t submitted on time wouldn’t be repaid, leaving many dealers fearful that they would be left on the hook for clunker sales they made.

“The computer system has been down or very slow for most of this day, and we literally have thousands of dealers with probably millions of deals that they would like to submit and just have been unable to,” said Michael Harrington, chief legislative counsel for the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Computer problems have plagued the program, as it proved far more popular than government officials expected. A rush of filings also bombarded the online system earlier this month when it appeared the first $1 billion Congress set aside would run out just days after sales began. Transportation officials later expanded its computer network capacity and tripled the number of staffers working on the program.

The big rush of filings on Monday, however, shut down the filing system temporarily, prompting auto dealers to push for an extension.

“We’ve spent the better part of the last three days trying to hack our way into their computer program that has been down more than it’s been up,” said Alan Starling, who owns two General Motors dealerships in central Florida. His staff was still trying to submit all the paperwork for 75 deals through the clunkers program.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, speaking to reporters in Norristown, Pa., earlier in the day, said the program was an unprecedented success and a boon for car dealers, automakers, scrap yards and financial institutions. He estimated that by the sales deadline later Monday, “there will be 700,000 to 800,000 cars that have been sold, most of them fuel efficient,” replacing gas-guzzling cars and trucks.

Transportation officials said that, through early Monday, dealers had submitted 625,000 vouchers totaling $2.58 billion. Many car dealerships have worked overnight in recent days to submit the 13-page application to be reimbursed for the trade-in vehicle, including the title, proof of registration and proof of insurance.

Dealers have only received a fraction of the reimbursement funding. Through last Thursday, the most recent data available, the Transportation Department had reviewed and processed more than 150,000 reimbursement applications and approved $140 million in payments to dealers. At the time, DOT had processed about 30 percent of all the applications they had received.

Cash for Clunkers has been wildly successful in spurring new-car sales and getting gas-guzzling models off the road, though some energy experts have said the pollution reduction is too small to be cost-effective. Customers receive rebates of between $3,500 and $4,500, depending on the improvement in fuel efficiencyfrom their old vehicle to their new one.

It baffles me that some on the right hated this program.  For the price of a handful of useless planes that the airforce didn’t want, we did the following:

• Got at least 600,000 people to open up their wallets and spend in the midst of a recession.
• Make a big purchase, which trickles down into the dealership, the neighborhoods around that dealership, the scrap yards around that dealership and then trickles all the way down to the factories that make those cars, sell parts, sell radios… you name it.  Remember – foreign or not, many of these cars – and the factories that make their parts – are based in the U.S.
• States and towns make money on taxes, and license fees.  Banks – which have been taking a drubbing – are suddenly loaning money again.  The economy starts to grind into motion, even for a little bit.
• Places better cars on the road.  Look, even one or two miles per gallon matters – let alone the three, five or whatever some people are getting.  Every little bit helps.
• And perhaps it helps mood.  You look at your neighbor, see he’s got a new car… maybe you get yourself a scooter.  Or a TV.  Or a puppy.

Someone that might be able to afford a new car, that might not have bought one otherwise, probably did because of this opportunity.  And the prices of these cars – these were cars that worked for people from the lower end of the economic spectrum up to middle.  The car could not cost more than $45,000.  This was not a program for the elite.  Of course, enemies of the current administration needed to pee on it, even though, in it’s weird way, it’s trickle down economics.

So, kudos to the administration for a good idea which, while it could have been executed better, did some good.  Got some things going.  Made things better and, for at least 600,000+ Americans, made them feel better about the state of their own personal economy and situation.

I’m sure there are those who despise Obama, but took advantage of the program anyway.  Or are bemoaning the fact that they didn’t get it in time, even though they hate him.

Well, you’re a hypocrite – a Clunker against Cash for Clunkers.  Maybe you just didn’t want to get rid of that car that still has the Bush/Quayle sticker on it.  How would I know?

10% of the stimulus money has been unleashed and, judging by the DOW and Clunkers, some good is being done.  It’s time to let lose the rest of it in whatever innovative, out-of-the-box ways the government can do without obstructionist asshats like Cantor and McCain doing what they can to try to jam Obama into the failure box.

Want to know why they oppose Health Care?  Because if it’s as successful as “Clunkers,” they know they’ll have a hell of a time justifying a return to power in 2010 and 2012, no matter how much Sarah Palin shrieks or John Boehner face glows like Rudolph’s nose.

Could it have been executed better?  Probably.

But the alternative – the one the right puts up for everything – to do nothing… would have been much worse.

Remember that in the following months, with every debate that comes down the pike.  Unemployment is the next thing that needs to be tackled – and that’s going to mean money, shovel-ready jobs, and smart, innovative programs that will be attacked from the moment they are proposed.

Well, good luck.

Because this one worked, no matter how hard the other side is going to try to spin it.

“Cash For Clunkers” is a rousing success – not only is it getting people back into the dealerships but it is getting crap cars off the road and replacing them with decent vehicles with better gas mileage.

“Health Care” finds a compromise and moves through the house.  Now it’s the senate’s turn.  Nice try, Ben Nelson, useless twink from Nebraska.  You are officially irrelevant.

And then there’s the “beer summit,” where Obama manages to correct a mistake, as well as point out that with rational conversation, a reasonable middle ground can be found.

Oh, and the economy is improving – the Dow up 6% in the last few weeks.  Unemployment still sucks, and there’s work to be done… but work is being done and it feels, a little bit, like wheels are spinning toward “better.”

Meanwhile?

Less than half of all Republicans are believe the above document to be real.

Way to keep your eye on the prize, tin hats.  While many of you are wishing you could re-do the election, the President is getting stuff done.

Good for him.

Bad for you.

WASHINGTON — Trying to tamp down an uproar over race, President Barack Obama said Friday he used an unfortunate choice of words in commenting on the arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and could have “calibrated those words differently.”

The president said he had telephoned the white policeman who arrested Gates, and he said the conversation confirmed his belief that the officer was a good man and an outstanding officer.

The president caused a stir when he said at a prime-time news conference earlier this week that Cambridge, Mass., police had “acted stupidly” by arresting Gates, a friend of the president’s, for disorderly conduct.On Friday, Obama made an impromptu appearance at the daily White House briefing in an effort to contain the controversy.

“This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up,” he said. “I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge police department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could’ve calibrated those words differently.”

Obama suggested the whole incident could be worked out over a drink. “There was discussion about he and I and Professor Gates having a beer here in the White House. We don’t know if that is scheduled yet, but we may put that together.”

He said he continued to believe that the both the officer, Sgt. James Crowley, and Gates had overreacted during the incident, but the president also faulted his own comments.

Let’s track this properly.

After the officer in question basically said “I didn’t vote for him and I don’t care what he says,” the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES calls him, realizes he might have misspoke, and invites the two parties to the white house for a beer.

Everybody freaking out about this, on both sides, needs to shut up now.

I can pull myself off the Comic Con floor long enough to say “Class act.”

I’m glad she’s unhurt, because it gives me the ability to laugh at this.

Teen Girl Falls In Open Manhole While Texting

Alexa Longueira Suffers Deep Cuts, Bruises After Landing In Raw Sewage, Blames DEP For Leaving Hole Unattended

It was an accident waiting to happen — an open sewer and a 15-year-old girl who was texting while she walked.

Alexa Longueira, a high school sophomore, was walking along Victory Boulevard near Travis Avenue on Staten Island Wednesday evening when she felt the earth move and was plunged into smelly darkness.

She said the manhole she fell in to was left open and unattended with no warning signs or orange cones. She said two workers with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection failed to secure the area as they prepared to flush the sewer.

“It was just really gross and it was shocking and scary,” she said. “Because of their careless mistake I got hurt.”

Longueira has deep cuts and bruises and said she now has nightmares about falling, But she also did admit she was texting at the time.

“Regardless of whether I’m texting or not if there was a cone there I’m going to see a big orange cone,” she said. “I walk that sidewalk every day, I don’t expect a big hole there.”

Longueira said she was helped out of the five-foot deep sewer by an apologetic DEP worker.

She went to the hospital and the city opened an investigation, issuing the following statement:

“We regret that this happened and wish the young woman a speedy recovery.”

The Longueira family wants more than get well wishes. They may sue. Alexa’s mother, Kim, said: “It could have been an elderly person, a mother pushing a stroller. It could have been anyone.”

I love that, already, this girl is blaming people.  And her parents.  OF COURSE they’re going to sue.

Unlike next year’s car accident, where she’ll plow into some unsuspecting motorist while tapping “OMG” on her phone, there’s nobody to milk when you’re so preoccupied texting “Where u at” you miss the giant gaping crap hole in the ground.

I’m still laughing.  I’m glad she’s fine.  But Jesus, this is funny.

Her mother’s right.  It could have been anyone.  An elderly person, a mother with a stroller – both of whom probably would have had the foresight to look ahead as they walked.  Especially old people, who always look down when they walk.

And just how long was this girl texting?  An entire city block?  It’s 140 characters per text – get up for air, for God’s sake.  Even those water drinking birds pop up after they dunk down.  I can’t even sink the skeeball on my Iphone “Bowl Lite Skyworks” app, but this girl put a whole human body through a hole in the sidewalk.  That takes skill, or stupidity.  Because I’m still laughing, I’ll err on the side of skill.

100 points for putting it in the small hole.    And, of course. a waterfall of garbage and crap.

Please, dear God, let there be a street camera that caught this.

GREENVILLE, S.C. – WYFF News 4 has received exclusive information from sources who say they have information about Gov. Mark Sanford’s whereabouts during a mysterious absence over the past several days.

Sanford’s wife Jenny said she last talked to him on Thursday, and though she didn’t know where he is, she said she wasn’t concerned. She said he had left to have time to write.

Joel Sawyer, communications director for the governor’s office, then said the governor had been on the Appalachian Trail. Sawyer said staffers heard from Sanford on Tuesday morning and the governor plans to return Wednesday.

Sawyer said the governor is surprised by all the attention.

On Tuesday, sources told News 4’s Nigel Robertson that a state vehicle is missing and was tracked down, not to the Appalachian Trail, but to the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.

Sources told Robertson that a federal agent spotted Sanford in the airport boarding a plane. Robertson was told that the governor was not accompanied by security detail.

Sawyer has emphasized that the governor was hiking on the Appalachian Trail and that it wasn’t something the staff or Jenny Sanford were concerned about.

But sources told WYFF News 4 that the federal agent who spotted Sanford saw him at the Atlanta airport, which is about 80 miles from the start of the trail.

WYFF News 4 has not yet confirmed where the plane was going or how the governor got to the airport, but it is clear there are two very different stories.

News 4 called the governor’s office, and was told again by staffers that they stand by their original statement that the governor is hiking the Appalachian Trail. They did not want to comment on this story.

             Sanford has been out of reach for more than four days, including Father’s Day.

What better way to get your head together than to tell the kids to piss off on Father’s Day?

Holy crap – could the GOP self-destruct a little bit more this month?  The guy who demanded Clinton resign for his affair gets nailed for one, and now another dude who was clearly angling for the GOP nomination for President in 2012 goes off the ranch - literally.

I’m not saying there’s a John Edwards angle to this thing but – honestly – if it had been Bill Clinton, wouldn’t you all have been trying to track him down the Appalachians by opened “Trojan” boxes and torn metal rappers?

At best, this is just lunatic arrogance.  The same guy who felt his principles were more important than the good that would have been done with the stimulus money.

At the middle – it’s stupid.  South Carolina is still sort of a state – which means it sort of needs a chief executive who can be sort of reached in case of a sort of crisis.

But at worst – here’s a guy trying to lie and mislead to “get away.”  A guy who ditched his wife and kids over Father’s Day – for what?  The guy could have taken a vacation – said “Hey, I’m going away for a few days” – and nobody would have cared.  He could have left Monday, and not gotten awarded his “OJ Simpson lousy father” badge.  And seriously – take a few days to write?  While he hiked?  Is he writing on the back of a Sherpa?

Something about this stinks, a lot, and I’m guessing it’s not the last we’ll hear of this.

Oh, arrogance and perceived invulnerability… is there NO politician you can’t knee-cap?

I use it to get the word out when I have a new blog, but I don’t really “Tweet” all day.  It feels very narcissistic, and very… time wasty.   I like to blog, but I don’t think the minutia of my day is all that interesting.

Do you care that my dog is licking my leg right now as I type this?  Probably not.  It’s my leg, and I barely care about it.

But it seems as though Twitter might have been the thing that broke through the various internet blocks and cyberbaffles thrown up during the Iranian election, and the thing that started a tidal wave of noise at the main stream media about their stunning lack of coverage of events.

Twitter.

Alternating tweets between coverage of unrest, people talking about the today show, the size of their kids poops and non-sequitor stuff – it’s like reading transcripts of somebody suffering multiple personality disorder and ADD at the same time.

Yeah, one of those personalities is screaming “Pudding!  Clam!  Donkey Porn!”  But every now and then, the other guy screams “Hey!  Read this story!”

I just realized my gym shoes are right by my computer and that’s what I’ve been smelling.  Do you care about that?  I don’t either.   And yet, that probably fits in a tweet.

Still:  I have to step back and be amazed how this new piece of social networking seems to have transformed the way information spreads.

Twitter.  Fueling actual societal change half way around the world. The same place I just read “SUCK ON THAT TRENT REZNOR & NIN PSYCHOFANS”

Some things grind me down.  You’ve probably read that here.  Or, if you’re new here, dig into a few posts… you’ll can probably hear teeth gnashing in the middle of a lot of those posts.

As Iran is on pins and needles, as students are arrested, as police beat people on the streets for something a lot more important than a basketball game, I’m getting my information from people I don’t know, from everywhere, on Twitter.

So yeah, some things bug the crap out of me.

But occasionally, some things fill me with wonder.