Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Palin Can't Name A Magazine or Newspaper

I was interested in the story about Sarah Palin, a journalism major in college, who couldn't name a newspaper or magazine that she ever reads. She generalized that she likes "all of them," but asked to be more specific, chose not to hurt anyone's feelings by naming particular ones and possibly leaving someone out.

Really, though, if it seems like a test to prove that you have at least the intelligence of a moron, it seems like you would risk hurting someone's feelings by naming a few of the more well-known publications. You know, you might say, Time or U.S. News and World Report -- everyone's heard of those. Maybe Wasilla has a local paper, a weekly shopper, a school newsletter, something. It seems, you're the governor of the state, the capital city probably has a major daily, which perhaps you read once in a while.

Then there are the rather obvious newspapers across the country. One notable one, from a swing state no less, would have to be the Dacron Republican-Democrat of Ohio. Just say you read it -- you prove you're well-informed, you make the folks of Ohio happy, they vote for you, you're president! (Statistically speaking, that is, she would likely be president sometime in the next eight years.)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

McCain's "My Friends" Tic


I think I could get used to John McCain's "My Friends" tic. What I'm trying to say is there's nothing wrong with friendship. You need to be a friend to have friends. And clearly John McCain has friends, so he must be a great friend.

I was just at an event this weekend where the main speaker had another tic, the repeated and prolonged "uhhhh" and "aaaaa," and when he was really searching, it was "aaaaa-aaaa-aaaa." It was all I could do to sit there. I was thinking of some of those videos -- kind of like this "My Friends" one -- and in the primaries someone did one of Fred Thompson doing that dullard kind of "uhh" over and over. It'd be boring to hear this speaker on one of those videos, just like it was terrible to hear the first time.

But if he would've said "My friends," even an occasional "Uhh My Friends" or "AAAA My Friends" that might not have been so bad.

I've heard preachers use the "My friends" phrase, but of course only occasionally, when they're trying to pull in and make a really good point. Not as a nervous tic. You could stretch it out in a nice way, like, "My friends -- and you are all my friends --" then go on to make your point.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Does McCain Lie All The Time?

Did Obama call Palin a pig? I didn't think so. The context didn't show he did. The words weren't there. The intention seems to say no. OK, he didn't.

But now the big liar John McCain says Obama didn't do it, didn't call Palin a pig.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Did Barack Obama really call Sarah Palin a pig, as a John McCain ad leads people to believe? "No," McCain said Monday. The Republican presidential nominee defended the ad anyway, saying Obama "chooses his words very carefully."
The quandary I'm in is McCain lies about everything. And now since he says Obama didn't do it, maybe he actually did.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Palin Billed Taxpayers For Nights She Stayed Home

This is how the modern fiscal conservative, Sarah Palin, works:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
That really could be called dishonest. You know, it seems like billing the state for expenses would be for actual expenses away from home, not paying yourself to stay at your own home.

Something's rotten in the state of Alaska.

Actually, how can I get in on a deal like that? I'm staying home tonight, as every night, and if the state would like to pay me for it, so much the better!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Save the Last Dance

You can dance every dance with the guy
Who gives you the eye, let him hold you tight.
You can smile every smile for the man
Who held your hand 'neath the pale moonlight.

But don't forget who's taking you home
And in whose arms you're gonna be.
So darlin', save the last dance for me.

From The Drifters, Save The Last Dance For Me
Songwriters: Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Republicans Party Hardy During Hurricane


You've got Hookers and Blow, lobbyists, lavish parties, pig roasts. The Republican "party" goes on, even while they hid behind the mask of caring about the troubles of Hurricane Gustav.