Weird McCain Prayer

HERE is a video with a soundtrack.

HERE is a woman just reading the weird part.

Sarah Palin

Big John giving the Tony Soprano Fist Pump

John McCain is apparently determined that if any torch is to be passed to a new generation of Americans, he wants to do the passing. Thusly, we are introduced to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

My wife already hates her.

Oddly, I predicted this pick in my May 9, 2008 post. And since I'm rarely right about these things prediction-wise, please permit me to point this one out.

Although I disagree with Sarah about many political issues, what little I know about her I find charming. "Charming" is not supposed to be a basis for picking elected political leaders, but that's democracy! I can base my vote on any thing I damn well please! And I will.

I am assuming this is fake

While others harp, I give kudos. McCain obviously knows that sometimes you just have to say, "What the fuck . . ." and take a leap of faith. That's what this looks like to me. Not desperation, but a real leap of faith.

McCain had to see that the big picture had him drifting toward defeat. But this election is still winnable for him. He needed to bust a move, but a smart one. Boldness is risky with the electorate these days, especially after all that "bring it on" idiocy that Curious George gave us didn't work out so well. So McCain found in Sarah a bold move that can rightly be characterized as a bold Return To Responsibility. She's a real reformer, with some energy policy cred, and has stood firm against wasteful government spending when taxes and the budget deficit should be big issues in this election.

News-wise, this pick seems to have had a good short term effect. Sarah's pick has truncated the buzz of Obama's great speech. If not for the hurricane (Gustav), she'd be the talk of the town right now. The pregnant teen daughter story should run for the rest of the election. Will she get married? Is the boyfriend a bum? How do we know it's his? What kind of nightmare family is he going to bring to this fiesta? That should help to kill the Dem's narrative that the GOP ticket is out of touch with low class Americans.

Sarah, all the while, is one perky peach. The giant, ultra-white smile, the big goofy glasses, the aura of the nerdy, brainy girl who turns out to be a real hotty at the end of the movie. In a middle-aged, Republican sort of way, of course. Even the dorky, Francis McDormand Fargo accent. It's all somehow appealing. All of her quirkiness makes her seem more normal.

Compare that to Mitt Romney, whose lack of personal faults and Ward Cleaver type of hyper-normalcy just make him seem weird.

Sarah's Alaska roots make her more outdoorsy than everyone I know. She sounds like some kind of hunter-gatherer woman who has a double life as an executive in the city. But I would definitely want her on my Survivor team.

Sarah as Miss Nude Alaska 1984

The real speculation is whether Sarah can attract the Pumas. Pumas!!! Hah hah! Who made that name up? (Party Unity My Ass, in case you were wondering.) These are the women who are still mad about Obama beating Hillary. And they are specifically mad at Obama. I'm not sure why.

Well, most of these Puma gals are verrrrry pro-choice. And Sarah is not. So, a Republican vagina on the ballot may not be enough to get them excited.

But . . . it may very well be enough to get a lot of the more politically conservative women excited. Excited enough to get out and vote, when they would otherwise be too busy. Except for the occasional loud mouthed tv kook, like Ann Coulter or Laura Ingraham, these women are a largely ignored demographic. But there's a lot of them around here, and in other "swing states" too.

Laura Ingraham - Loud & Stupid

Coulter - Skanky, Obnoxious, Inexplicably Famous

So, we'll have to see how Sarah performs on the big stage. I will definitely watch the Veep Debate now, where I probably would have skipped it if Romney or Pawlenty was the candidate. I think Biden will do well against a woman. Catholic boys are taught good manners, and learn how to argue with a Nun without going over the line.

At least now we have a reason for watching the election again.

Don't forget to vote!

Back From Vacation

(Sorry for the long absence. I hope somebody still reads this.)

A week out of town and away from the tv can really reset one's perspective. For one thing, coming back and listening to the news, it seems like one long episode of News of the Weird.

First, I noticed some good news occurring.

Check this out:

Oil prices are down! Yay! We knew those oil execs would force prices lower before the fall election to help out John McCain! (No windfall profits tax for them.) I'm guessing $80/bbl by November 1st!

U.S. Military Has Fewest Iraq Deaths Since Invasion

Click Here for details.

12 American soldiers died in July in Iraq. Feels odd to be happy about that, but we all know the context. That's 12 out of 147,000. Sounds safer than commuting.

More good news . . .

Mad Men is the best show on tv, and the new season has just started. It's produced by AMC, of all things. So good luck finding it. At my house it's on Sunday night at 10:00, but we tivo everything now. We rented the first season on dvd, and actually went out late to get the rest of the disks because we were so hooked. Did I mention that everyone in the show smokes like a chimney? It is tremendous!

A Mad man and his crazy wife

Our declining civilization . . .

I can't believe what a stooopid campaign John McCain is running, and he's in a virtual tie with Barry O! Of course, we elected W twice, so I guess that's just who we really are.

Financial rumor - The price of gas has caused consumers to run up their credit card balances, causing liquidity problems for card issuers. This will result in a 2nd wave credit crisis as card banks fail, people's cards get cancelled through no fault of theirs, and they can't buy groceries. Bummerpalooza.

No brainy chick for July. I considered Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing, but a communist muslim is just too radical for me. Plus, McCain is souring me on old people.

Friday's Random Thoughts

The week flew by and I can't keep straight in my mind what happened this week and what happened last week. I'm not sure what that means for my personal big picture, but maybe I've been taking anti-depressants for too long and they've affected my brain. I mean in a way they're not supposed to. On the other hand, almost nothing gets me worried these days.

Movie Reviews!

Iron Man - Man, this movie totally rocks! Robert Downey Jr. is GREAT in it. Gwineth Paltrow is sweetly alluring as his capable assistant, a sort of combination of Miss Moneypenny, Dr. Watson, Albert, and Agent 99. And Jeff Bridges is perfect. The plot's even good. And timely. Sneak a couple of beers into the theater and see it. Not for kids though. Too violent.

Kung Fu Panda - This one the kids absolutely loved. And my wife and I enjoyed it, too. An inspiring "Rocky" type tale of a chubby Panda who gets his chance to be a real life hero, and struggles to make himself ready.

Sports Update

I'm sorry, but I'm not ready to embrace the NBA even though the Celts are back in the finals, as long as lowlifes like Kobe Bryant are served up as the league's stars. Despite what they say, they are role models.

Big Brown ends his career in a pile of big brown. Last place? Really? How can that even happen?

But the big question about sports I have these days is why our Federal Government is spending my tax dollars investigating professional sports "scandals." Like whether or not NBA referees threw games. OK, maybe that's important to a lot of people, mostly professional gamblers and the "gaming industry. But I don't think it's something for the US government to be wasting time on. Since when did our government become the muscle for professional gamblers? Same point on baseball or football players taking steroids. What the hell do I care? I don't! It's a private sector matter. Suddenly our pols have no faith in the power of the market?

The feds should be spending their time and money finding Osama bin Laden, and stop fucking around with the likes of Barry Bonds. They've probably already spent more money chasing Barry Bonds that you and I paid in taxes last year. Do any of the federal prosecutors stop and ask themselves why their talents and abilities are being spent on such foolishness? Is that really what they signed up for? Or is getting their names in the paper any way they can the name of the game here?

Impeachments

Good for Dennis Kucinich in his Don Quixote attempt to bring accountability to our government by submitting articles of impeachment against George Bush. Wars of aggression are illegal. These articles of impeachment will go nowhere now, because of the lack of moral courage of our leading Democrats in Congress, and of course the blatant hypocrisy that we politely call "political partisanship" by Republicans. But he has set an historical record that will indict these dickheads in history for abusing our soldiers.

Looking to the Past for What the Future Holds

Pat Buchanan has a new book about the 2 world wars that reminds us of George Washington's admonition against foreign entanglements and Dwight D. Eisenhower's warnings of the military-industrial complex. The US is over-committed abroad today, and the conservative Ron Paul is correct on this, despite the attempts by Republicans who try to portray him as a laughingstock. For instance, would we really go to war with China if it invaded Taiwan? China, unlike Iraq or Iran, really could both attack us and invade the US mainland. Would we risk that for Taiwan?

Free Advice For Obama

Get the GI's on your side

Promise to raise military pay and support the proposed new GI Bill. Say that our service people are our greatest asset in our lines of defense, and they deserve to be treated as such. Improve military medicine, including providing mental health benefits for military children. Learn, acknowledge, and pay tribute to the very different culture that lifelong military members belong to. Allow "homesteading" where service families are allowed to serve from the same base for many years. This will earn the support of military families who suffer the disruption of the military policy of moving them every 3 or 4 years.

Re-evaluate and re-define our military posture in the world

Reduce the number of foreign bases. 700 is too many. This will save money, reduce resentment of foreign citizens, and improve military retention.

Take the position that we've already won the second Iraq War. Saddam is dead, there are no WMD's, and Iraq is not a military threat to anybody. There is no reason to stay.

Show leadership in moving toward new policies for new challenges

LEAD the democrats into accepting the necessity for an aggressive energy independence policy that will include increased oil drilling in the US, building 100 new nuclear power plants, "clean" coal plants, wind farms, and special mortgage programs for small, energy efficient homes. Geodesic domes. anyone? FYI, Jimmy Carter had a plan like this about 30 plus years ago.

LEAD us away from a "consumer economy" to an "infrastructure economy." An economy based on buying junk that we cannot personally afford is just silly.

Redefine the debates on social problems

Acknowledge that 1 million abortions a year is a social problem. Find solutions that don't involve the police or the courts looking into women's vaginas. Whatever happened to homes for unwed mothers? Break the logjam on the debate on this issue or it will cost you social conservatives.

Court the libertarian vote. These are the 25% of Republicans who, after John McCain won the nomination, still continued to get out of bed to go stand in line to fruitlessly vote against him. You can get these people. Liberty used to be a Democratic party line. Reclaim it.

Acknowledge that many people view their right to bear arms as a civil right. Taking away a person's right to self preservation is not right.

Get the doctors and the clergy onboard your universal healthcare program. It's a natural fit for both.

Count the votes

You've got to get the Jews on your side. Consider Bloomberg for VP. Visit Israel.

Show that you can use your own brand to restore America's standing in the world

Use the excitement of your nomination in the Mid-East to improve relations there now with the Arab nations. Push Bush out of the spotlight, take a fact finding trip, and start to act as the de-facto President. Show that you will be able to cool off the US - Arab tensions to get a fresh start and re-assert America's influence in the region peacefully.

When signing foreign aid treaties or weapons sales agreements, make it a condition that the counter-country add English to their school curriculum and protect the rights of Christian churches and missionaries. The only way the US will survive and thrive for centuries to come is to export our culture worldwide, like Rome did. And this doesn't mean having McDonalds and KFC restaurants in Beijing.

Don't spend our money

Don't raise taxes. We can't afford it now.

If we've gone global, talk about "Team America"

Don't go after big American companies. In a global economy, Exxon Mobil is our team. They are already minuscule compared to PetroChina and Aramco. We need American companies to be big and strong to compete in a world economy.

Attack Hugo Chavez as America's newest enemy. Everybody hates him, especially the Cubans and expat Venezualians. Paint him as the new Castro.

Call out McCain

Make McCain angry. He'll expose himself for the intemperate lunatic he is, and the press will turn against him. Yes, he was a POW, but that doesn't mean he's not a jerk.

Good luck.