An editorial in today’s SF Chronicle nails it! I’ve had the same theory (which involves the mention of body parts) ever since the McCain/Palin affair began, but I didn’t want to embarrass Laura Beth on this blog.
You could replace the Tree of Good & Evil & its deadly fruit with a Sycamore (mentioned in the editorial) and the Veep nomination, & we’d have a Biblical parable. Oh, & change the Garden of Eden to Scottsdale, Arizona too. Wow–this is ripe for the picking…..
For further proof, I offer the following dialogue between a female friend who supports McCain & myself:
Friend: “We went to the Palin rally today in Reno!”
Me: “What was your impression of her?”
Friend: “She was so cute.”
Hearsay, I suppose, but I rest my case.
PS–From my legal experience (watching Law & Order PLUS Perry Mason), I think this is an example of hearsay.
and lankdangle is always assigned the “extreme pumpkin carving” task. Here is what they came up with this year — it was pretty freaking cool. What will we do to top this?!?!
It doesn’t get much more naked than this — the Republicans are running against the elite. Who are the elite? Let Gov. Palin tell you.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Who is a member of the elite?
PALIN: Oh, I guess just people who think that they’re better than anyone else. And– John McCain and I are so committed to serving every American. Hard-working, middle-class Americans who are so desiring of this economy getting put back on the right track. And winning these wars. And America’s starting to reach her potential. And that is opportunity and hope provided everyone equally. So anyone who thinks that they are– I guess– better than anyone else, that’s– that’s my definition of elitism.
WILLIAMS: So it’s not education? It’s not income-based? It’s–
PALIN: Anyone who thinks that they’re better than someone else.
Krugman, to his credit, nailed this after the Republican convention. The Republicans’ overarching message to voters is that Democrats are snobs. They think they’re better than regular folks like you. Well, screw them. Show them who’s really in charge around here. The irony is that every time a Democrat tries to get a better deal for working class Americans at the expense of the wealthy, the Republicans scream “class warfare.”
Vicky — Have you been hanging around with Washington Post columnists?
In Indiana, I met a college professor whose detailed familiarity with every nook and cranny of the Pollster.com Web site was a little frightening. In the course of our conversation I mentioned another site that aggregates poll data — RealClearPolitics.com — and when I saw her make a mental note I immediately regretted the indiscretion. I had inadvertently sentenced her to even more hours of obsessive behavior.
So, have you all by now seen the tape of the crazy congresswoman from Minneapolis? She went on Hardball last Friday and told Chris Matthews that the media ought to do a serious “probing” investigation of every member of Congress to see who was “pro-America” and who was “anti-America.” The rant went on for 7-1/2 minutes; this clip condenses it to 4:
Over the weekend, her Democratic opponent, who had been written off in every poll, raised $800,000 dollars. In ONE WEEKEND.
Then, yesterday, her Republican primary opponent, who had garnered only 14% of the vote, declared he was going to reenter the race as a write-in candidate, with the sole purpose of–wait for it–taking just enough votes away from her to ensure that she would lose. This guy, a South African immigrant, teaches psychology at St. John’s University in Minneapolis and, I have to say, sounds smart enough and reasonable enough that I’d be tempted to vote for him.
I think it’s fair to say that the red-baiting strategy is not working for McCain this year. In fact, it’s hard to perceive any real strategy on that side of the campaign, other than “get nasty and stay nasty.” The latest attacks call Obama a socialist (with which the real Soclalists and Communists begged to differ) (our friend and colleague Bruce Carruthers is quoted in that story!); call him a flip flopper for praising both World Series teams (quel sin); and, of course, the robocalls, about which Sarah Palin went off-message in an interview on Sunday (oops). There’s also a 527 group that’s swiftboating on the issue of babies born alive after botched abortions. In view of what E.J. Dionne wrote the other day about how even the Catholic hierarchy is no longer insisting that abortion is the only issue for Catholics to consider in casting ballots, I don’t think that attack will gain much traction, either. (Based on the number of Obama buttons I am seeing at Mass on Sundays, I’d have to say there’s a lot less discomfort among Catholics with voting Democratic this year than in 2004. Maybe it’s because Barack isn’t Catholic.)
What all of these have in common–including the pick of Palin itself–is that they reach the base–but only the base. McCain has written off everyone else–Independents, women, people of color, moderate Republicans, in short, everyone whose first reaction is NOT to whoop and holler and scream “terrorist” and “off with his head” when Obama’s name is mentioned at McCain’s rallies.
So you can imagine my giddiness when MSNBC colored Indiana pale blue–leaning Obama–yesterday for the first time. We probably won’t stay there, but still, a nice moment.
Apparently, he’s been cursed by Kenyan occultists, who are “weaving lazy 8’s around McCain’s mind to make him look confused and like an idiot.” Who knew?
I thought someone would have posted these videos by now. They are too funny not to be seen. Much as I adore my guy Barack (and will soon be able to post my own historic exchange with him on the ABF website) I have to admit, grudgingly and with much eye-rolling, that he looked a lot more comfortable delivering his stand-up than BO did. And his jokes were much more cutting–but then, they came much more at Barack’s expense, while Barack was more content to spend his time in self-deprecation.
Here’s Barack’s gig, part 1:
part 2:
I won’t spoil any of the jokes for you if you haven’t seen them yet. It’s fun to watch.
I am quoted in the print version of the Red Eye story linked here. The story is about court tv shows (like Law and Order, Ally MacBeal, the Practice) and they asked me if these shows are accurate. I said, “no, but the more interesting thing is that people think they are accurate and that leads to different expectations when people enter courts as jurors, plaintiffs, or defendants.” As evidence of my irrelevance, my (interesting) answer is in a little text box that does not make it into the electronic article. But the oh-so-interesting question of what shows practicing lawyers watch is available on-line. Am I really that boring? Or is it my punishment for telling the reporter what the more interesting question is/was?
We paid another visit to the Egyptian Hospital today with many of your genorous gifts in hand. While it is sad to see kids suffering from injuries that should never have happened, it is such a joy to see their faces brighten at the sight of a few simple toys. The hardest part is leaving. A few pictures are attached.
Thank you so much for the gifts you have sent thus far. By far the most popular items have been soccer balls and kites among the boys; stuffed animals and crayons for the girls. As winter is definitely beginning to set in, shoes and warm clothing would also be appreciated. Also, most of the girls literally have their mothers staying with them in the same bed. While somewhat of a struggle to communicate, the adult women were able to let me know that they would like to have lotion and sun block. The boys typically have an older brother or an uncle. These adult men wear shoes that are split in several places and would have been thrown out long ago back home. So, shoes of adult sizes would also be helpful.
Again, thank you so much. The children are like children anywhere; except that many of these kids ran into a land mine while playing outside their homes. Their beautiful little faces light up like nothing I have ever seen. I am not sure who feels better about the visits; the kids or me.
By coincidence, that was the score in two NFL games yesterday. The Packers beat the Colts, and the Romo-less, Jones-less Cowboys lost to the Rams. A further coincidence — both losers were down 34-7 before scoring a meaningless touchdown with less than two minutes to play. Another coincidence — the Packers and Cowboys both are now 4-3. Coincidence? Synchronicity? Divine Providence? Discuss.
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