Presumably, this guy thinks Sarah Palin goes to the supermarket because, you know, she's a chick. I have to wonder when she has time. I think this guy actually supports MR. Palin for vice president, since he probably handles that little household duty. Or maybe he supports the Palins' household help.

And that, of course, is aside from the whole question as to whether we want regular schlemiels in the White House. Me, I want very very smart people in there. People a whole helluvalot smarter than me. It doesn't take much intelligence to go grocery shopping so that's not on my list of requirements for political office.

Labels: palin, politics, presidential election

Here’s my favorite story of the day in the DMN, about the epidemic of lousy spelling and grammar on signs.

Of course, not everyone is grateful when spelling nitpickers point out errors. One SMU student expressed irritation with a writing teacher, according to the article.

"There is nothing wrong with my writing, maybe it is her that doesn't know what she is doing," one student wrote.

The story is pegged to a story about a couple of vigilantes who were banned from national parks for correcting grammar on national park signs—historic national park signs, it turns out, which was a bad decision on the vigilantes’ part, much as I applaud the mission.

I have been tempted to keep a Sharpie handy, myself. I did point out a misspelling in a sign at my local Walgreen not long ago, but I don’t think the sales clerk cared—what do you think?

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I’ve had an enormous spike in blog hits this week, almost all of them looking for information on Dr. Phil’s rumored divorce. I can’t figure out why the sudden surge in interest. Any thoughts?

A lot of people are looking for MILFs, too. That’s easier to understand. I’ve had a few people searching for information on cheek zits. I don’t know what to tell them about that except that mine is still clinging to life.

I’m still getting a large-ish number of people looking for crossdressers in saris and women in saris peeing. And just this morning, someone wondered “is Kelly Clarkson getting fatter.”

People are strange.

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Palin video du jour:

Labels: google searches, grammar, palin

I sat through all the speeches last night, to get to know the other side a little better. What a crappy evening I had. There’s nothing likable about that bunch, as far as I’m concerned. And they like me no better. Evidently, as a liberal, I can’t even call myself an American.

According to one speaker (was it Huckabee? Giuliani? All the mean-spiritedness has blurred into one hateful creature) this election, “won’t be decided by the liberal media or Hollywood celebrities but by AMERICANS.” Hm, so are members of the media and Hollywood celebrities illegal aliens? Creatures from outer space? French?

The was something chilling about the enormous crowd chanting, “drill, baby, drill.” I expected to see pitchforks and flaming torches. KILL that environment! Drill it DEAD! We want HUMMERS!

Of course the star of the show was Sarah Palin, who was no more appealing to me than the rest of them, though I will concede her hotness. But the crowd loved her. They LOVED her. She’s a “hockey mom” and is there anything more exalted in this society than a mom of any sort? It’s a shortcut to credibility and lovability. Yes, well, it doesn’t mean anything in this context. Palin’s speech was full of entertaining one-liners and zingers but I didn’t hear anything that gave me any faith in her ability to be second in command of my country.

But I sure wish I felt more confident about Democrats’ ability to win this election. Yes, I have hope. Is that all I have, though?

Maybe if I were blinded by Obama’s light, I’d feel differently and could be as confident as my friends who have drunk the Kool-Aid. But while I see his appeal and support his candidacy, the smoke and mirrors aspect is even more frightening to me now that he has an equally appealing (to the other side) shadow opponent. It seems increasingly like rhetoric vs. rhetoric, a beauty pageant and popularity contest.

The evil, God-hating media is digging as hard as it can to find Palin’s skeletons, but I’m putting a lot of faith in the VP debate now. Go, Joe, go. Please.

On a related but basically irrelevant subject, I wonder what poor Levi Johnston was thinking as he stood there on that stage, chomping on gum, roped into a situation he couldn’t possibly have imagined when he pulled out his dick five months ago.

Labels: barak obama, palin, politics, presidential election

My friends and I can’t stop talking about Sarah Palin. The choice is so bizarre, so confusing, so insulting to thinking women, we are mesmerized. What was McCain thinking? It seems like a Hail Mary, but he didn’t need that yet.

Tom actually feels sorry for them. He’s so tender-hearted. He thinks the choice was such a monumental goof that McCain is probably already regretting it. And of course, Palin is already being dragged over the coals and the fun has just begun. Surely she’s going to wonder what she’s got herself into. And you gotta figure Bristol is none too pleased with her mom at the moment.

Of course you know that as avid a Hillary supporter as I was, there’s no friggin’ way I’d vote for the McCain-Palin ticket on the basis of genitalia. So put that idea out of your head right now, right here, immediately and you should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking it, if you did.

In truth, while nothing could persuade me to vote Republican, I could have respected McCain's decision to put a woman on the ballot if he had chosen, say Kay Bailey Hutchison or Olympia Snowe, who at least have some chops. That would have been a much better transparent play for on-the-fence Hillary voters than Palin. It wouldn't have worked, IMO, but it would have made a lot more sense and been a lot less insulting.

However, I suspect some of my friends think the seemingly misguided choice of Palin is a slam-dunk for Democrats (if I may mix my sports metaphors). I wish I could feel that confident but I am cautiously optimistic at best.

Maybe it’s easy to feel triumphant if you’re a liberal Democrat in Noo Yawk City, surrounded by others of your ilk. But down here in the Red State Bible Belt, things are not so clear cut. Maybe people who believe in the sort of weird family values folderol that the right wing spouts are just mythological horned creatures to my Yankee buds, but they are real down here.

You don’t think anyone can possibly believe Palin to be a good choice, but can you imagine thinking the way the extreme right thinks about, well, anything? That abstinence education is an effective substitute for sex education? That same-sex marriage is a threat to heterosexual marriage? That the right to bear arms should include AK-47s?

As insane as Palin seems as a running mate for one of the oldest first-term presidential candidates ever (Reagan was older when he ran for his second term), we cannot for a second forget that this nation elected W. Twice.

What are they thinking? I haven't a clue. Do you?

Don’t celebrate yet.

Here are some of the blog posts and op-eds that speak to me on this issue.

My friend Christine's blog post about Palin and her family values makes a lot of sense to me.

NYT columnist Bob Herbert suggests that Palin is just another clever distraction from the real issues of our time—she’s the flag burning gay marriage red herring of this year’s election. Yeah, we certainly are distracted.

And here, LAT columnist Sam Harris wonders why anyone would want an average person--even such a sanctified person as a mommy--in such a powerful position. An excellent question.

And in case you missed last night’s Daily Show, this just slayed me:

Labels: news, palin, politics