In Memoriam?

All day long, today, 9/11, the Main Stream Media is sponsoring an Obamapig roast in lower Manhattan, in the pit where the Twin Towers used to be. After seven years, the New York real estate developers have decided the space should be use for something.

Participants will be able to slather the pig with lipstick, called "Old Guiliani Fire Engine Red". Rumor has it that the pig is a 40 year old Vietnamese bore that was shot recently by Sarah Palin. George Bush will be on hand to lie about the entire event to a Fox News reporter and the Dept.of Homeland Security will be on hand to serve Kool-Aid to everyone. Everyone will be required to remove their shoes and donate them to the TSA.

All political backstabbing and mudslinging has been suspended until tomorrow, when John McCain is expected to announce that Sarah Palin's pastor has spoken to him tongues, healed his cancer and granted him eternal life...at the rest home of his choosing in Arizona.

Praise the Lord.

Life goes on In Texas

This has taken all day

First of all, "Shoulda Stood In Bed" got published on OEN today. The rest of what is here is stuff you might have missed. I was, of course, compelled to comment. As the say, take a deep breath.....

Article at http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=9205
We are not stupid, we are manipulated.

I had something to say here. I sort of agree. I hate it when that happens. Your turn.

This is really good. And I got my two cents in here, as well:
Article at http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=9210
Sarah Palin Pisses Me Off

Catchy title and one among many on the same subject.

This is some good news:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/10/maddow-king-beck/

She has her own show (right after Olbermann, weeknights, MSNBC-TV) now and is off to running start. Kicking everybody's ass. Whoopee!

This is fun, too ( I got this third hand):
www.salon.com/opinion/Keillor/2008/09/10/palin.

This is the awful truth, told straight from Minnesota. The only thing he doesn't call her on is calling Eskimoes "Arctic Arabs".

Then we have this:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/10/petraeus-fox-final/

I can't think of a better place for the General to unload a batch of carefully worded bullshit than on Fox. Earlier this week, he said, "I did the best I could". I think that means, "We screwed up".

Article at http://www.opednews.com/articles/McCain-Palin-Campaign-Reli-by-Dave-Lindorff-080910-110.html
McCain/Palin Campaign Relies on Lazy Thinking and Prejudice to Win

Dave Lindorff is a remarkable guy and I don't always agree with him. But this piece says it all, well. "Lazy thinking" is a big problem. As I said, the only thing worse than lazy thinking is people who think they think. Pass me over that there six-pack and gimme two quarts of earl.

The news today has been all about a remark Obama made yesterday, about the "changes" McCain claims he will make in Washington, if elected. Obama used an old phrase, one used earlier by McCain himself, in the primaries: "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig". The McCain camp went nuts! Just a few days ago Sarah Palin had been mouthing off about pit bulls and lipstick and the GOP decided this Obama remark was a terrible implied insult to Palin (actually a few days ago, lots of peole thought HER remarks were insulting to pit bulls). Anyway...

The debate has been raging since early morning on MSNBC and is still on now (4:45). By now, everyone knows that this phrase is common , especially among hog farmers and even more especially in the south. What everyone has carefully avoided is mentioning what you get when you combine the elements of lip-"stick" and "pig", which is "pigsticking". If you didn't grow up on a farm with pigs, or don't know many hog farmers, you won't know what that is, and, trust me, you don't want to. But suffice it to say, that it's time for someone to get Obama a good, sharp knife and let him get down to business.

And did you know that, by an official count, Sarah Palin has lied about earmarks and the Bridge to Nowhere 27 times since the nomination? She may not be counting, but everyone else is.

Hurricane Ike is coming. All hell has not frozen over but is coming this way and we're doin' the best we can.

Life goes on in Texas.

Shouda stayed in Bed

Lipstick, pigs and pit bulls, race cards and sexism. Bridges to Nowhere (and the moose she rode in on), sex ed in kindergarten, wheelchair gaffes, change, Obama's change, McCain's Obama's change, loose change, no change. "Country First", "USA,USA!". Pathetic plastic patriotism. Useless emotional orgasms. Palin rumors and pregnant teens, lies and rumors of lies. Then more lies, dead wolves shot from airlanes and even more moose jokes. Questions of age and mental stability, abuses of power, maligning of community organizers and leaking swift boats. Lobbyists feigning to demean lobbyists, Rovian manuevering and Obama gone centrist and bland. McCain piles one preposterous myth on top of another and everyone swallows it or publishes it, hookers, one-liners and stinkers. Someone said today that "Obama is in the faculty lounge", thinking about it. Maybe sad, maybe true.

America is daft. America only wants to know about Brittany's underwear. America can't pay attention (does EVERYONE have ADD?). American can't stay on topic. America thinks this whole election is an TV reality show. If it isn't sensational, it won't make the news and no one will talk about it. The biggest irony is that John Edwards finally proved he had some balls and we promptly forgot about him. Life is hard and then we all will die, dead from over-tittilation and lack of substance. America is asleep (except for Kucinich). The Russians are coming. But America is happy as a pig in @#^*. So is Joe Lieberman.

McCain will win, the Repubs will have another hooker and a beer, and the Democrats will act surprised. Palin will become VEEP and gut the environment, announcing it in tongues. Nothing will change we will still have two wars (maybe three), a sinking economy, no health care, higher unemployment and the gap between the rich and poor wil get bigger by the day. We will continue to socialize more programs like Fannie and Freddie, making it harder for the poor and middle to use them. We will go on privatizing everything else and helping the rich own more and control more. The media will approve all of it. Murdoch will buy more media. No one will object.

And everyone will wake up next March and be shocked.

Have you actually listened to Sarah Palin? She sounds like your shrill, abusive mother, your crazy old aunt or your whiny, troublesome sister-in-law. She prays to God. I pray FOR God: he has to listen to her.

Oh. Sorry. I forgot about that oil thing. But that is OK: we have T. Boone Pickens.

Notes on the Anti-veep

Palintropy is like
Entropy only worse.

and

Palintropy is also like
Philanthropy but
Backwards.

Palintology is of course
The study of Old Things McArcane
That don't work anymore

and
Sadly none it is
"Sarah"-putic.

Something and Nothing

McCain said WHAT?

Speeches and Non-Speeches

The Republican Noodling Convention ( I say “noodling” because all they did was noodle around a bunch of old ideas and put some Palin-dressing on them) was concluded on Thursday night by a few too many words from John McCain. The occasion was hailed as a speech, but alas it was not. This would not have been so painfully obvious but for two earlier offerings in the same vein. The first we can dispose of quickly: Sarah Palin (actually her speech writers and coaches) get high marks for her self-introduction to the American people who do not live in Alaska. The only thing missing from her presentation were pom-poms and a cheerleader outfit emblazoned with hockey sticks. She fed the ravenous crowd the red meat they craved, stretched the truth in measured quatrains just enough to arouse the senses of the senseless and carefully gave America the feminine version of the famous Cheney sneer. And the crowd went wild! (She lied, too, but nobody noticed. After all Romney, Huckabee and Guiliani did that, too.)

The second, and an event unrivaled in recent memory, and not anywhere near to being as childish and churlish as Palin’s, was the oratory delivered last week, in Denver, by Barack Obama. A commentary on this speech is of course late on the scene, but after the non-speech of John McCain, it should be re-visited. By laying these two works side by side (which you must do, because they are both acceptance speeches for nominations to the same high post in the land), it becomes very easy to discern which is the real speech and which is the forgery. One is authentic and one is a cheap reproduction.

The metaphor I use here is that of a piece of furniture. We tend to think of furniture as a household item, something of value, something which endures. You might even want it to pass it down from generation to generation. Ideally, it would evoke quality, lasting beauty and strength. And you surely would not want to be ashamed to have it in your house. It should be able to withstand the test of critical discernment and won’t fall apart if your elders need to lean on it. Let’s say the furniture example is a chair.

Obama’s chair (speech) is crafted from fine, carefully selected woods (words), well matched in color and shaped in good proportion (good paragraphs, careful puncuation and the correct length). The joinery is hand–done and appropriate to the function required and the strength needed for future use (logical, direct and appropriate).The upholstery is comfortable but durable (has vision, foresight and realism) and the final finish is smooth, attractive, scratch-resistant and blends well with the environment (proper vocabulary, good sentence structure and format that delivers specific points and addresses the prominent and important issues). This chair looks and good and feels good. And you know it meets your needs and will still be able to do that again tomorrow. It costs real money but represents real, lasting value. It is hand-made (personally written) or very nearly so, has unique qualities (you haven’t heard it forty-one times before) and you can sit in it any time you like or throw your coat on it ( it is repeatable, has viability and flexibility). You are proud to have this chair. You display it proudly (tell everyone about it) and don’t think of it as disposable (not forgotten tomorrow or wishing you hadn’t bought it in the first place.

Then there is the McCain chair (non-speech). To begin with, it was sold to you as new, but you find out is a copy. And it has been refinished several times. It was not crafted (authentic) but manufactured (artificial). The materials were selected for their availability at the least possible cost and no attempt was made to match color or timbre or texture (coarse words, sloppy puncuation, run-on sentences). The joiner is all machine cut for ease of assembly and reduced costof production (no forethought or attention to detail) and there is little or no consideration concerning durability or life expectancy (the imagery is thin and worn, the message largely forgotten tomorrow.). Upon closer inspection, you see that the materials are non-recyclable stuffs bonded with carcinogenic glue and held together by cheap metal fasteners (My friends, my friends, my friends). The upholstery is slick and synthetic (U.S.A., U.S.A!) and the lead-based finish has been sprayed on and will water stain easily (nice hair and nice suit, Cindy). This was all machine made by the RNC and is not unique (there have been 30 or so just like it passed around every four years for the last several decades), it is already well worn (McSame- old) and if you throw your coat on it it will scratch easily (doesn’t hold water tomorrow). It appears to have been untouched by human hands, except for the Chinese worker who packed it in Indonesian plastic in a cardboard container made in Taiwan for shipment to Wal-Mart where you bought it ( “I travelled all the way ot the Twin Cities and all I got was this lousy imported tee-shirt with an elephant on it!”). Now that you have it, it is nothing to be proud of and it doesn’t feel very good. Sometime in the next week (you figure) it will break and you will find yourself putting it out by the curb with the trash. You will also hope the neighbors don’t see it (Don’t admit to anyone in the office that you actually watched the non-speech.)

Obama gave a real speech. He gave us a real chair. He gave us a platform, if you will. McCain gave a non-speech and gave us, well, nothing we can sit, stand or depend on, rely on, lean on or pass down. You can invest your time and money wisely in November, plan for the future and be sitting tall, or you can hunker down at Wal-Mart and wait for someone to come pick up the trash for the next four years. You choose.

This Started Out To be About The Dems

But John McCain announced his running mate this morning, and it called for a change of gears and priorities. And I know that the announcement had hardly hit the airwaves when Andy Borowitz had already had his say about how Palin would remove a moose from your front lawn, but I have a slightly different set of takes.

The given availability of well-known, stalwart Republicans, time-honored, conservative defenders of the faith and proponents of neo-con brain fade that McEmptiness had to choose from (somewhere Romney is weeping and Huckabee is praying for a pestilence), this choice seems McStrange (so what else is new?). For openers, nobody knows her (do you know ANYONE from Alaska? Have you ever? It's like North Dakota, just farther away), she is (pardon the expression) no Hillary Clinton and we have no evidence that she can spell (or do anything else better) than Dan Quayle. And , like any good Repug of our time, she brings with her the taint of having perhaps played political games with hiring and firing practices, over an in-law's job with the State government. She has come from literally nowhere and brings practically nothing to the table. A Republican without a scandal of some sort is like a steak without A-1 sauce. However...

While the American people should be worried about her current qualifications and long-term liabilities, the person who should be really worried is Cindy McCain. Ms. Palin is young (44), attractive, a former pageant winner, and to some onlookers, maybe even a bit sultry. Given McCains' track record for trading in older, used models, if I were Cindy, I'd be keeping an eye on the phone logs for calls made recently to divorce lawyers. On the other hand, Cindy has all the money needed to pay the nine mortgages and ante-up for the those $500.00 loafers. (Did you hear Bill Richardson's speech? He said that McCain may wear expensive shoes but the American people are expected to pay for his flip-flops. Cute. Funny. Scary.)

The second point, and one to be taken more seriously, is that if McCain's choice of Palin, as the media portrays, is designed to lure the disaffected women voters unhappy about Hillary's loss, it is a very opportunistic move (and Palin should resent being used), and it is typically Republican and old school for a move by a self-proclaimed "maverick". But most appallingly, it is blatantly sexist. That alone should give women give reason for pause and concern about whether or not to vote for this guy. Given McCain's track record when it comes to pro-choice, right to life, abortion and Roe Vs. Wade, I find it hard to believe that Palin is standing so proudly at his side.

Oh, wait. She is a Republican. Ooops. They will do/say anything to win.

And someone else told me yesterday that another speech maker at the convention commented that for a woman to vote for McCain was like having a chicken vote for Colonel Sanders. You can make your own conjectures about McCain, foxes and henhouses.

McCain's cause was weak to begin with, and I don't think he has done himself or his party any good, or done the American people any favors by selecting Palin. If nothing else, McBlather has merely obfuscated and confused the issues, once again. At least he is consistent in that, especially in his own mind. As the flag bearer for the Republican party, this aged and aging spectacle has continued to be an embarrassment. I'm surprised he remembered what he's done, from one day to the next. What special skills does Palin have in the area of health care for seniors?

Oh. The Democrats. They had a convention this week. No surprises except perhaps for the kick-ass speech by Bill Clinton ,wherein it looks like he decided to get back in the fight. Whew. And it was a happier event than I had expected.

"The" speech: As a writer and someone not unfamiliar with essays and public presentations, I think Obama's rhetorical offering was very well done, in several respects. First of all (thank God) it wasn't too long. He gave no impression of being too full of himself. Secondly, it was eloquently and meticulously crafted. The points were made in the proper order, they were clear and well substantiated. He was appropriately lyrical for having ot face a crowd of 80,000 people, and his delivery (as well as the points he delivered) was (and were) well measured. There was no bombast, you had no exhortation to emotional, gut-wrenching anger or self-pity and only sufficient acknowledgement of the fallacies of the past eight years (and potentially the next four) to foster needed awareness, engender hope and instill confidence. If he were a student in my class, he would have gotten an "A".

And by the way, about that stage and backdrop used in the stadium: This is the one that the conservatives have been chiding for days as being "too Romanesque", or something like that? A setting which was presumptuous and implied or promoted an "emporer-like" status for Obama? Please look closely: It was very Jeffersonian, looked very much like a portico on the White House and seemed to mimic Federalism. After eight years of an emperor who has defied the Constitution, repeatedly ignored and broken laws, and paraded around without proper clothes and hasn't cared one whit about it, this casting of aspersions seems very much like a very large joke. Give me a break. If the "aspirational horizon" here was to demean or cheapen the presentation, they missed.

Back to the speech: A conservative pundit I heard the first thing this morning observed that "Obama is not a Muslim: he is a socialist". Perhaps, especially after Obama's observation that "ownership" in America, according to George Bush and John McCain, means that "You are on your own", if even you are sick, unemployed, homeless or an Iraqi or Viet Nam war vet on the street, we should think more seriously about socialism. It would not hurt for the United States, like Sweden, Switzerland, England and Germany, to name a few other civilized countries, to actually give some though to being social, and take better care of our own. This would not be unrealistic, undemocratic or beyond our capabilities. And don't give me any nonsense about"this is all big government": Homeland Security, the TSA and telecom survelillance is not big government? Don't make me laugh! (While we are on the subject of conservative pundits: Does anyone else agree with me that Joe Scarborough is a jerk and wonder why Mica puts up with his juvenille antics?)

Above all, "the speech" was immensely logical in its' approach, its' delivery and its' proposals. I don't know yet (but I can guess) what manner of linguistic baloney will come out of the Twin Cities, but I will venture this: unlike "the speech", it will all be full of hyperbole, dramatization, emotional diatribe and exaggeration. The question I am asking is, do we want this country to be led, in the next four years, by logical evaluation and measured comprehension, or by Chicken Little-like, "The Sky is Falling!" emotional extortionism?

I grew up the son of a Republican, WWII navy vet. Election after election, he voted for the very people who screwed him the most (and repeatedly)and helped him the least (and repeatedly), because what "they" proposed was easier than acknowledging the need for real compassion and sacrifice for the common good. If he were alive today, I know how he would vote, not because Barack is black but because Barack has called us to accountability and that word is not in the Republican vocabulary. Our continued existence and welfare does not revolve around lower or higher taxes: it revolves around our grasp of humanity.

It's Convention Time!

You may have already seen this insert, but I'm posting it anyway. Down underneath are today's add ons.

In addition, the news,just this morning, says McSilliness embarrassed himself yet one more time last night. This time on Leno. I suppose he will have to begin actually drooling in public before anyone catches on that he has escaped from a nursing home. Here goes from yesterday:

In an age of McDonalds and McMuffins, the question is whether or not McCain is McAble. I find it all McDoubtful, but while I'm Biden my time, consider these:

McCain cannot McMember how many McMansions he has;

McCain's being shot down and captured in a war several decades ago does not automatically McQualify him to be the Commander in Chief of anything larger and more complicated than a shoebox, the cell he was held in or the horse he rode in on;

McCain volunteered his McWife to be in a beauty pageant for biker babes, and to show how bright SHE is, she actually smiled at the idea. McDumb. And she doesn't even care that she got him second hand. Maybe she has had too many McBeers. But I don't think either one of them is Budweiser enough to lead the country.

McCain partied his way through the Naval Academy and finished near the bottom because he thought he had enlisted in McHale's Navy and piloting an airplane was like playing a video game. Maybe thought dropping naplam was just another way of making McFries.

McCain thinks the US economy if on sound footings. That is McScience McFiction. The US economy is being held up by McChinese Checkers.

McCain thinks (?) that off-shore drilling will save us from something. He doesn't know WHAT exactly, but something. And he went and stood on a McPlatform to McProve it. McNonsense.

McCain keeps calling everyone "My Friends". McNonsense: he doesn't have any friends and I resent being McCalled one. . He is McWhistling in the McCemetary.

What we really need is a real "Big Mac", a real McCoy, not a McPhoney. Someone who can think, enunciate, manage and lead. What we don't need is a McRonald McReagan McAltzheimer who is trying to sell us a Whopper.

I can't wait to see who he picks for McVeep: McStooges? End here; pause for fresh coffeee.....

Add ons:

While I clearly believe that electing McCain is just McStupid, here are some other examples of stupid (and few that save the day):

While cruising through Craig's List, looking for jobs, opportunities and conversation, I found this posting from a 34 year old woman, in "Strictly Platonic": Pin pals wanted. I started to think about the implications and just moved on.

PM Maliki (Iraq...remember that place, where thousands and millions have died?) has confirmed that there is a "firm schedule" for the removal of US troops from that country. Condi Rice and the WH continue to insist that it is only an "aspirational timetable". The administration continues to use empty, meaningless words and phrases and continues to expect us to believe them and what they say. The inmates have indeed taken over the asylum. Please hold an election, SOON?

The Olympics have closed. Yawn. China won the most gold. Yawn. Or Yaw-ning: it sounds more Chinese. And a good trick for under-age drinkers. The spectacle was spectacular but after the revelations about digital fixing, how much of it could you believe was real? Lots of Memorex used in this affair. But thank you Mr. Phelps. Your next assignment, should you choose to accept it......I think fixing China is a Mission Impossible. The same thing could be said about fixing the Congress of the US. To do it, first you have to bring everyone back in from the Lobby. With any luck, the intermission of reality will be over, soon.

I watched four speeches last night. Well, at least three of them were speeches. Here's the review:

Pelosi: Morose-ee. Stiff, poorly prepared, stale, dull, robotic. The Speaker of the House needs to be sent to Bose Electronics for refurbishment. Her woofer is rattling and her tweeters are dead. How the hell?????? Oh, her cable is disconnected.

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg: Spoke like a Kennedy. I don't need to say anything else.

Big Ted (The Senator) Kennedy: Brilliant, inspiring, spoke like a Kennedy and very brave, as sick as he is obviously is. I wish I could stand that tall.

Michelle Obama: Now would everyone else please be quiet? Even Keith Olbermann at MSNBC had nothing to say, afterwards. And the kids are cute. But please, Barack, remember which city you are in?

The Hill (The mole hill?) and the Big Bill have yet to speak, while the Denver cops pepper spray onlookers and legal protestors and some half-drunk, druggie Colorado cowboys get arrested for talking out loud about shooting Obama, driving badly and owning guns (I know people in TX who do that, every day). Somebody broke into Cindy Sheehan's hotel room in Denver to bug her phone, and both Cindy McCain and Darth Vader Cheney are going to Georgia (No, not that one, the one underneath Russian on the big map) during the Dems big party in the Mile High City. Cindy is going to "assess civilian casualties" (like she is really qualified to do that) and Dick is going...well, to be Dick, or a Dick, depending upon your perspective. He will be largely invisible during the first part of the Republican party in St. Paul. Why no one though to just leave him in Georgia is beyond me. Another fabulous lost opportunity. For most of the world, Georgia is an undisclosed location.

Life goes on in Texas.