It wasn't the union that killed the Twinkie. It was vulture capitalism.

Before you go blaming the union for Hostess' demise, look at the facts.

In 1995 a company called International Bakeries, which was essentially a vulture capital arm of a computer company called Data Processing Financial and General Corporation, went on a massive spending spree. They not only bought Hostess but the San Francisco French Bread Company, John J. Nissen Baking Company, Drake's, My Bread Company, and tons of other companies.

They did this by borrowing like batshit crazy and eventually defaulted on their loans, leading to bankruptcy in 2004.

In 2009 they emerged from bankruptcy by BORROWING MORE FUCKING MONEY. They borrowed from Ripplewood Holdings, Silver Point, Monarch, and GE Capital. All these loans caused more payments and more interest accruing, leading to more and more debt. It was this debt that caused their collapse.

If it hadn't been for easy credit, merger mania, leveraged buyouts, and greedy conglomerates whose philosophy was "if you can't beat them buy them out," then all the little brands (including Hostess) that this group of predators bought with borrowed money might still be small and innovative enough to survive financial hard times with little or no debt of their own.

So always remember: it wasn't the unions that killed the Twinkie, it was the modern vulture capitalist culture.

When I posted this election night, it got lost in all the traffic and noise

so I'll say it again.

Thank you to everyone who volunteered on Democratic campaigns this time around. People like you are why we won so big.

Romney cancelled campaign credit cards right after conceding.

Dixie's long reign of terror has finally ended.

Last night Barack Obama did something no other Democratic President other than Franklin Roosevelt has ever done: he managed to win more than 270 electoral votes in two elections without a single Southern state.

At 11:15 pm, Ohio put Obama over the magic number by bringing his electoral total to 274 and ensuring his re-election. When that happened the southern "swing states" of Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida had yet to be called. Even though Virginia eventually fell into his column and Florida is likely to do so once absentee ballots are counted today (North Carolina returned to form by going back to Romney), their votes were icing on the cake. A coalition of Northern and Western states soundly broke the pattern formed by Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy" and laid to rest 236 years of terror pushed upon this country by reactionary southerners.

In 1776, American Independence was nearly scuttled by South Carolina over the issue of slavery; only after the removal of a reference to slavery from the Declaration of Independence and a tacit promise to preserve the "peculiar institution" did the resolution declaring Independence pass. From that day up until the Civil War, the Southern States held an effective stranglehold on American politics through the three-fifths rule (which counted slaves toward population, and thus representation and electors, while not granting them voting rights) allowing them to block any legislation that might negatively impact them. After Reconstruction, the "Solid South" formed by racist white Democrats in the former Confederacy gave them effective control of the Democratic Party.

The adoption of a civil rights platform plank in 1948 began the defection of racist whites from the Democratic party with the formation of the "Dixiecrat" party, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 led to a nearly complete exodus of this bloc to the Republicans. Richard Nixon courted these votes to carry him to victory in 1968, and from that day until the election of Barack Obama the southern states have either joined the landslide or provided the winning edge in every Presidential election.

With the building of an electoral coalition that can carry a Democrat to victory without having to pander to the South, the effective control of American policy by Dixie has ended. The racist elements of the Old Confederacy have been shown that in the end they are irrelevant. We don't need you, so you don't get to have a veto over our candidates or our policies any longer.

So whither the South? Who knows. Perhaps the progressive elements in some of the states will reassert themselves (as has happened with Virginia twice now, and happened in 2008 with North Carolina). Maybe the moderates in those states will finally come to the table to collaborate rather than dictate. Maybe the last of the old guard will die out and demographics will overtake them. The South may still prove itself a political force, but Dixie no longer will.

To anti-gay voters in Maryland, Maine, Washington, and Minnesota

We won DESPITE their work to steal it.

We saw it all day long.

The vote switching machines in Pennsylvania.

The fake paper ballots in Ohio.

The intimidation everywhere.

We still won.

Thank you.

Thank you to every Democratic campaign volunteer. You all made this happen.

My voting experience.

We voted at 10 AM, as usual. Usually we're anywhere from #10 to #30 at that time, but today we were #248 and #249. Line was to the door and we waited an hour to vote.

Since we live in a heavily Republican district take this as you will, but there were a good number of young people and minorities in line too.

Voted straight line Democrat except I couldn't bring myself to vote for Menendez and pushed the button for the Green candidate instead. Municipal election had no Democrats so I picked the least objectionable slate.

Out of the mouths of babes....

Posted by a friend of mine on Facebook, a conversation between her and her children Xander ("X&quot and Anya ("A&quot :

Reminder: The President will have NO COATTAILS

UNLESS YOU GIVE THEM TO HIM.

Volunteer to phone bank and precinct walk today and tomorrow.

Get out the vote, and make sure they vote downticket, too!