Atonement

You know how it happens, you get busy and distracted and the next thing you know weeks have gone by and you meant to call that friend, clean that closet or finish that project. But it doesn't happen, it slips through the cracks and then you start to get to the point where so much time has passed it almost seems harder to do that thing than to just continue on and pretend that it no longer exists.

Unfortunately that is just what happened to me and the blog. It isn't that I haven't had ideas, I have steadily accumulated a stack of magazines with pages dog-eared with topics I wanted to expound on. And yet.

I am consistently amazed at how easy it is for the day to slip away when you are unemployed. Mind you, I have been somewhat busy with some freelance work, possibly something that will even turn into more of an ongoing, long-term gig (fingers crossed), and I am extremely grateful, but that is no excuse. I have been out of the work force for almost six months now and in that time my book shelves have not been alphabetized like I have dreamed of (I blame the spouse who helped me move in low these many years ago—10 to be exact— and who put the books on the shelf with little rhyme or reason), the spawn's toys have only been organized once, months ago, and now the blocks are living with the toy people and the trucks with the puzzles and in my head it is a mighty clash of civilizations that keep me up at night (okay not really, but it does bug me to my anal retentive core), and that dream of scrubbing the baseboards is still just that. And yet.

I do dream of suit shopping with Bill Maher (paging Freud for the meaning of that one), I did a marathon nine hour day of proofing and I attempted to run a 5K. So I have not been idle. And yet.

Earlier this month, one idea I dog-eared corresponded with my boyfriend Jon Stewart mentioning on his show Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of atonement. Newsweek editor Jon Meacham wrote his weekly editor's letter back in the September 28 issue (told you I was thinking of you gentle reader, all along . . .) about the consequences of words. I know the power of words to wound and heal and yet I am endless careless with them, waving them about like a cocked and loaded gun. It is shameless really, so that is why Meacham's essay struck me so I think.

Meacham talks of how we delude ourselves when we think that there was once a golden age of bipartisanship. Like the unicorn and yeti, bipartisanship is a myth, a fantasy that we delude ourselves with when times are particularly hard like they are now (despite those bankers on Wall Street raking in their millions). But where I felt truly called to the carpet was when Meacham talks of Obama supporters saying the hostility towards our President is unprecedented. And he is right, my hostility to Dubya was legendary (at least in my own mind) and was, dare I say it, wrong and misguided. The people who demonize President Obama are just as wrong as I was to demonize Dubya, doesn't mean I like him or that my opinion of him has changed or will ever change, but I should have been able to keep my level of discourse on a more civilized plane. And yet.

The level of hostility and hatred that is leveled at President Obama does strike me as different in tone than that aimed at Dubya. Our current president is being judged, by many, for the color of his skin. In my opinion, George W. Bush was being judged by his lack of intelligence and his gung-ho, cowboy attitude toward diplomacy. Many may think I am splitting hairs, but that strikes me as apples and oranges.

So while I am a tad behind, today I will celebrate my own day of atonement and I will try to do better in the future—not only in keeping a civil tongue when it comes to my disagreements with the conservatives in politics, but I will not let things slide in my life. Like this blog.

Daydream Believer

Apologies all around gentle readers for my lengthier than normal absence. I have excuses of course (aren't there always excuses?), but I won't load you down with them today.

Sitting on my chair for several weeks now has been an older copy of Rolling Stone (RS 1070), which features an imaginary exit interview with Dubya by Matt Taibbi. For any of you who have encountered Taibbi through his writing or his somewhat toned down election reports via Real Time with Bill Maher (who btw returns to HBO tonight—party at Broad's house, well if I could stay up that late, god bless the dvr), you will know that Taibbi is, shall we say, less than sacrosanct when it comes to his attitude toward politicians and their ilk.

But near the conclusion of the mock interview Taibbi has Bush say that his wife and dad have both given him looks "Like there's something they want to say to me, but won't." Taibbi responds "I think there are a lot of people who feel that way." Imaginary Bush asks what do they want to say and this is Taibbi's response:

OK, here it is. You're the child of two emotionally absent aristocrats who denied you any kind of love and affection from an early age. You grew up resentful and lacking completely in natural gifts or curiosity and by early adulthood found yourself desperate to fulfill the expectations your parents by then mostly had only for your much more competent brother, Jeb. You failed every test you ever faced as a young man and were unable to hold any job at all until the age of 45 or so, at which time you decided to try to win some self-respect by going into the family business. You were aided in this quest by a bunch of narrow-minded lackeys and holdovers from your father's administration who every step of the way manipulated your obvious Oedipal resentments to their advantage, enriching themselves and their friends. All you wanted was a pat on the back and a few accomplishments of your own to hang your hat on, but instead you're about to spend the rest of eternity pondering your now-official legacy as the worst and most pigheaded leader in the history of Western democracy, a man who almost single-handedly sank the mightiest nation on Earth by turning the presidency into a $50 trillion therapy session that ended in two disastrous wars, a financial crisis that threatens the entire system of international capitalism, and a legacy of corruption on a scale not seen since the Borgias or maybe Nero.

That about sums it up. I really do intend to move on from the "Blame Bush" bandwagon, but this was too good to pass up. 

If your curiosity is sparked, you can read the whole thing here.

Parting Shot

From the last page of my George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown desk calendar:

"I hope you leave here and walk out and say, 'What did he say?'"

—Beaverton, Oregon, 2004

No Vacancy

This lovely locale is Blair House. It is across the street from the White House and is used as the guest house for the President and the White House. Traditionally the president-elect and his family stay in the house prior to the inauguration. The Obama's asked to start their stay several days earlier than usual to accommodate his daughter's and their new school schedule.

Alas, the house was already slated to be used by the former prime minister of Australia, as well as for several receptions. So the Obamas stayed at the Hays-Adams Hotel until Blair House became available for them today.

Obama's team said it was fine, yada yada, but I think this is a rather tacky snub on the part of the White House and the Republicans. Would it have been so bad to ask the FORMER prime minister to stay somewhere else?

Final Farewell

For 2, 915 days I have been awaiting the time when I could bid George W. Bush a final adieu. With only five days in his presidency remaining, I have started waking up in a cold sweat, filled with fear that he will refuse to leave or something equally dastardly. (Ok, I am not really waking up in a cold sweat, but I put nothing past this man, or more specifically his puppet master, Cheney, but more on Lord Vader in a moment.)

Tonight, Bush will address the nation, part of this week's veritable pantheon of farewell addresses. For my own sanity, I may have to skip this one. I have long ago given up watching his State of the Union addresses and the like, simply because my weak and aged heart can not stand the driving, thrust of my increased blood pressure.

So I must confess I didn't see the entire final press conference that Bush gave on Monday, but the delightful snippets I have caught on the news and other venues have been enough to create a mild ventricular arrhythmia. Bush was at times defiant (to be expected and his favorite way of addressing the media), petulant (my personal fave in his emotional arsenal), and simply insane. Some highlights (per Yahoo News):

• DEFIANT—He particularly became indignant when asked about America's bruised image overseas."I disagree with this assessment that, you know, that people view America in a dim light," he said. "It may be damaged amongst some of the elite. But people still understand America stands for freedom."
• PETULANT—He went on to mock the way some describe the job."I believe the phrase 'burdens of the office' is overstated," he said. "You know, it's kind of like, `Why me? Oh, the burdens, you know. Why did the financial collapse have to happen on my watch?' It's just pathetic, isn't it, self-pity? And I don't believe that President-elect Obama will be full of self-pity."
• INSANE—He also cited the abuses found to have been committed by members of the U.S. military at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as "a huge disappointment.""I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not, but they were — things didn't go according to plan, let's put it that way," Bush said.

Disappointment or disappointing seemed to be Bush's watchword for the entire affair. For analysis of that, I must bow to Jon Stewart's greater skill (this is about an 8 minute clip and the best part starts around 3.30 minutes in)

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Six Days Seven Nights

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

I think that Jon Stewart is right, Bush needs to redefine the word "disappointment." But then Bush has never understood nuance. 

And now for a bit on Cheney. He too has been pounding the media pavement of late, tossing bon mots about the way he usually throws around buck shot and pace makers.  The transcript from last night's The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and some fun bits:

• ON MISTAKES MADE—That is, we thought that the Iraqis would be able to bounce back fairly quickly, once Saddam was gone and their new government established, and step up to take major responsibilities for governing Iraq, building a military and so forth. And that took longer than I expected.
• ON THE IRAQ WAR—(Question)But Mr. Vice President, getting from there to here, 4,500 Americans have died, at least 100,000 Iraqis have died. Has it been worth that?  (Cheney) "I think so."

How many hours in five days  . . .

The Purpose Driven Lie

With the holidays and all I sort of missed making much of a fuss over the whole Rick Warren-as-invocation-speaker-for-Obama's-inauguration thing. Part of this was laziness and part of it was not being entirely sure where I stand. My heart said that this was a dumbass move, one that not only showed disrespect to the gays and feminists who had supported Obama, but one that also disproportionately kowtowed to the religious right. But then my head (with a loud supporting chorus from the spouse) suggested laying off, it was only the invocation speaker, really not that big a deal and was merely representative of Obama's trying to reach across the so-called aisle, as politicians simply LOVE to say and occasionally actually do.

Then last night I read this week's Newsweek and its religious column by Jonathan Darman espousing the belief that Rick Warren is no Billy Graham (duh, a thousand times duh, not that Graham is totally without issues, either in my book) and that this was what made the decision ok. Or at least that is my takeaway. But then Darman said this:

With the Inaugural invitation, and the subsequent controversy, Obama has assured conservatives that he respects their point of view.

Which pretty much set me off again, down the road my heart had initially wanted me to take. Why, oh why, should anyone show respect to the views of uber conservatives? It isn't like they respect liberals' views on abortion or equal pay or gay marriage. Believe in any of those three and you are surely doomed to hell in their eyes. As I see it, aside from the pay equity thing, these issues really have no affect on conservatives. Abortions matter to the people getting abortions, gay marriage matters to the gays or lesbians entering into those unions, neither one affects my family, my lifestyle or my marriage. Then you have equal pay, something that could actually raise the standard of living for many Americans, both liberal and conservative, although it could admittedly cost companies and businesses more.

I know this opinion isn't very open minded of me, but I just have a hard time reconciling the idea of a man of God being so unforgiving as Warren is on the idea of gays. So many of the views that modern evangelicals take seem to be the antithesis of what Jesus himself taught—loving your neighbor, caring for those less fortunate than you, refusing to judge. God knows I am far from a Biblical scholar, but aren't these some of the basic tenets of Christianity??

Salon reported back in December about some changes to Warren's Saddleback Church's Web site. (Can we just take a moment gentle readers and discuss the ludicrousness of that name? All I can think about is Brokeback Mountain of which I am certain they do not want people to think of, or the cowboy-ish feel of the name and the fact that their is nothing about Orange County, California where the church is located that strikes me as particularly John Wayne-esque.) 

The removed language? "Someone unwilling to repent of their homosexual lifestyle would not be accepted at [sic] a member of Saddleback." The site also described homosexuality as "an enormous sin." Lovely showing of tolerance there folks, is that what Jesus would do?

Regardless, Warren will speak, feathers will get ruffled and most likely a day later it will all be forgotten, as our country and Obama gets down to the serious business of fixing what Bush has broken. And for that, Obama will most certainly need Jesus, God and the whole chorus of heavenly host, because the U.S. is in the most unholiest of messes—something my heart and head are in total agreement on.

All Creatures Great and Small

Today's news wire showed an interesting tidbit, apparently Bush managed to do ONE good thing for the environment during his eight-year tenure—protecting more ocean area than any other president.

Which dove tails nicely with the Writer's Almanac email I received for today that mentioned the following:

British zoologist and writer Gerald Durrell worked for a while collecting animals for zoos, but his methods clashed with the zoology ideas of the day — he wanted to get rare animals and increase their populations, not just get the showy animals that people would pay a lot of money to see.

Gerald Durrell wrote a letter to seal in a time capsule, and he said: "The world is to us what the Garden of Eden was supposed to be to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were banished, but we are banishing ourselves from our Eden. The difference is that Adam and Eve had somewhere else to go. We have nowhere else to go. We hope that by the time you read this you will have at least partially curtailed our reckless greed and stupidity. If we have not, at least some of us have tried. … All we can say is learn from what we have achieved, but above all learn from our mistakes, do not go on endlessly like a squirrel in a wheel committing the same errors hour by hour day by day year after year century after century as we have done up to now. We hope that there will be fireflies and glow-worms at night to guide you and butterflies in hedges and forests to greet you. We hope that there will still be the extraordinary varieties of creatures sharing the land of the planet with you to enchant you."

Obviously, Durrell was a wee bit optimistic in his hopes that his fellow humans would learn from their environmental mistakes. Heck, we can't seem to learn when it hits our pocketbooks, like it did last fall with gas (prices are rising and expected to go higher again and OPEC is threatening production cuts). So it is highly unlikely we have learned much about being kind to the lesser creatures on our planet.

Reign of Error

Robin Williams has a point, Bush has been a boon to comedians, but I think they will survive.

15 Days and Still Counting

While I technically have a new desk calendar (Common Errors in English Usage—yes it is time for Broad to spiff up the 'ole grammar credentials) there are still sheets left in the much loved George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown desk calendar.

And here is a doozy from Christmas Day to honor former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove on his 58th birthday:

As people do better, they start voting like Republicans—unless they have too much education and vote Democratic . . .

So here's hoping people actually do better and for more people with too much education in the New Year.

Shoe-capades

In case you hadn't heard, an Iraqi reporter chucked his wing tips at Dubya. In Arab cultures this ain't exactly a form of friendly greeting. I get that the dude is pissed and has much to be upset about, it isn't like we have left his country in better shape.

I admit that I giggled, somewhat profusely, when I first heard of the shoe throwing. I mean come on, if anyone deserves a good bean on the head it is Bush. The problem comes when we consider what good such a display does. Most of us just want to forget that Bush is still "in charge" and move on to the next chapter. (According to a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, 79% of us won't be missing Bush come January 21, 2009. Additionally, the same poll shows that people aren't even coping to voting for the man anymore. Welcome, gentle readers to a little bit of revisionist theatre.)

So dude with the size 10 dogs has reminded us that Bush is still in charge. Great, thanks and merry Christmas to you too. Second, he has actually created some sympathy for Dubya, something I can never quite cotton to. Although it does seem a bit late in the game to be staging petulant protests if you ask me. Seven years into the quagmire that has become Iraq, part of me would expect the Iraqis to simply be immune to it all at this point, but I suppose one never gets immune to occupation. Sadly, this was one time that Bush managed to not only not look like an idiot, but didn't sound like one entirely either. Now that doesn't make my morning oatmeal sit well at all.

Finally, I guess it all just seemed like an act of desperation, and unfortunately I think we as Americans need to be gearing up for a lot more of those in our future. My good friend and fellow blogger on life matters, Creative Kerfuffle, posted today about the general malaise that seems to be gripping us from sea to shining sea. I agree, things have been perkier. And with ugly incidents like what happened this morning in my hometown becoming more and more common as people's desperation and poverty collide, it is highly unlikely that people's moods are going to improve any time soon. And yet, the Pollyanna in me just won't die. (God knows I have tried to knife that snarky little bitch on

numerous occasions.)

So gentle reader, you may be asking, Broad how do you stay sunny side up? Well, I like to look to that paragon of rationality, Scarlett O'Hara in times like this, whose credo could be summed up as—you do what you have to do to survive and when it all gets to be too much you just say, "I'll think about that tomorrow, after all tomorrow is another day" and you pray that the next day dawns with a solution.

But you never, never throw your shoes.

Beyond Abortion

More from the frontlines on Dubya's last ditch efforts to leave his mark on our country. You mean the scorched earth so far isn't enough?

For about 30 years, medical workers have had the option to refuse to perform abortions. Dubya and the gang would like to extend that "option" to include healthcare workers having the right to refuse to provide information or advice to any patient who might be getting an abortion.

Those who think this expanded "right of conscience" medical refusal effort is a load of BS say that the new option could open a whole can of worms that would allow healthcare folk to refuse much more than just abortion, including birth control and artificial insemination. Don't believe them? Check out these actual instances of people being denied care or information that the LA Times compiled:

In Texas, a pharmacist rejected a rape victim's prescription for emergency contraception. In Virginia, a 42-year-old mother of two became pregnant after being refused emergency contraception. In California, a physician refused to perform artificial insemination for a lesbian couple. (In August, the California Supreme Court ruled that this refusal amounted to illegal discrimination based on sexual orientation.) And in Nebraska, a 19-year-old with a life-threatening embolism was refused an early abortion at a religiously affiliated hospital.

Nice legacy Bush. Forty eight days is way too much time left for this jackass to be monkeying around with our rights.

Shameful

With all eyes on the election today, it seems especially pertinent to remind voters of just what is at stake. The NY Times posted an editorial yesterday that aimed to do just that. 

The article looked at what the Bush Administration would try to slip in under the radar during their last 77 days in office (expanding on an earlier post). Among the atrocities Dubya and Cheney and the boys (sorry Condi) are aiming for are your civil liberties, the environment and abortion. Here are some highlights:

• New FBI guidelines—Agents will be allowed to use informants to infiltrate lawful groups, engage in prolonged physical surveillance and lie about their identity while questioning a subject’s neighbors, relatives, co-workers and friends.
• New EPA rule—They are expected to issue a final rule that would make it easier for coal-fired power plants to locate near national parks in defiance of longstanding Congressional mandates to protect air quality in areas of special natural or recreational value.
• Health & Human Services–The department's secretary, Michael Leavitt, is expected, after the election, to extend the so-called right to refuse to a wide range of health care workers and activities including abortion referrals, unbiased counseling and provision of birth control pills or emergency contraception, even for rape victims.
  
  

Down to the Wire

The lease is up and the tenants are going to trash the joint but good before they take off. Sound like a bunch of college seniors after graduation? Nope, it is the Bush Administration taking a hatchet to our environmental regulations before January. MSNBC has the full scoop here, but some details are below:

Many of the rules that could be issued over the next few weeks would ease environmental regulations, according to sources familiar with administration deliberations.

Two other rules nearing completion would ease limits on pollution from power plants, a major energy industry goal for the past eight years that is strenuously opposed by Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups.

The Hot Lady & the Tiger Woods Guy

Will Ferrell almost makes me think I might miss Bush when he leaves office . . . nope, I was wrong.

The Money Grab

Last week's Newsweek had a great article by Francis Fukuyama a professor of international economy at Johns Hopkins University, titled "The Fall of America, Inc." He discussed the damage to the American "brand" that has been done by this most recent stock crisis.

The part that I was most intrigued by came as he discussed the transition in our economy from the Reagan to the Clinton years. Fukuyama highlights a fact that has totally driven me crazy in the last eight years with Dubya in office, but apparently it has its roots back in the Reagan era—today's so called conservatives no longer seem to believe in only spending what they bring in. Apparently this is something that went the way of the dodo during Reagan's tenure when he promoted the idea that any tax cut would stimulate the economy so much that it didn't matter what the government spent, they would be taking in so much.

Psych! What happened is we started the 1990s with a huge deficit due to those tax cuts. Clinton took office, raised taxes and produced a surplus. Cut to Dubya, taxes get cut and we end up with a deficit so huge they have to take down the deficit clock in NYC due to LACK OF NUMBER SPACE!!!! 

So although Cheney apparently told Dubya early on that "deficits don't matter" that's just one more thing that Cheney has gotten horribly, horribly wrong. Why should I even be surprised. And of course here comes McCain yelling that Obama is going to raise taxes (the horror!) and that is going to kill our economy. So what does he want to do? Lower taxes  and freeze spending. Does anyone else see a huge problem here?

The Last 100 Days

One hundred days from now George W. Bush will no longer be our president. In a new presidency, the commentators and reporters often look at the first hundred days to get a feel for what the new president will accomplish in his/her tenure; what his/her goals are; will he/she be effective as a leader bringing both sides to the table.

What will the last 100 days of Bush's presidency say about him?

Remember the Rebates

This weekend's calendar page (from my beloved The George W. Bush Out of Office Countdown calendar) has this quote:

"We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates." October 4, 2001

Well we did the tax rebates, twice in fact, and it occurred to me after reading this quote that they did nothing to stave off the evildoer—either the foreign kind which Bush intended or our own internal evildoers.

Our banks and financial systems have crashed regardless. Nice job, Dubya.

Calamity George

Time to set the DVR's gentle readers, our illustrious leader will address the nation this eve to allay our fears about the economy and expound on the three (I SHIT YOU NOT!) page document that Congress received from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke explaining why they needed $700 billion and fast, no questions asked to fix this mess.

Um, dudes . . . I don't think so.

Something tells me ole Georgie Boy doesn't have the vocabulary to make this disaster make sense. But it might be good for kicks and giggles, if of course your heart doesn't explode from your elevated blood pressure.

And just when the networks were finally unveiling some new shows to watch.

Politely Hostile

That is how my gynocologist described me yesterday. And I wasn't even talking politics! Teehee. Either I am even shittier at controlling my attitude than I previously suspected, or this is one perceptive ob/gyn. But moving beyond the personal . . .

The September 4 issue of Rolling Stone (RS1060) had an interesting article by Sean Wilentz on Bush and the GOP. I don't think I realized this but apparently Bush truly is special—he is the only president in modern times to have gone from a super high approval rating (he had the highest approval rating ever recorded for a modern president after September 11th) to having the "longest sustained period of public disapproval ever recorded" as he leaves office. According to Gallup, for his 30th quarter, he hit his lowest average approval rating—just 29%. He's been hovering in the low to mid 30s since the first of the year.

Below is the link to the article and the accompanying sidebar if you have some spare time:

How Bush Destroyed the Republican Party

A Brief History of Bush's Flame Out

And in case you needed the reminder of why his approval ratings are so low, here's a quote:

"I am a person who recognizes the fallacy of humans."

on The Oprah Winfrey Show, September 10, 2000

123 days left . . .

Me? Angry?

Why yeah, maybe I am. So if Dubya wants to consider me a member of the angry left, I will cop to that.

But enough about me . . . on to the GOP. I feel like I have just been through some sort of right re-orientation effort. I watched Bush's taped speech (dude stuck to the script and didn't sound too stupid, for once, but it wasn't exactly the Gettysburg Address), then Fred Thompson (had to bring an actor in to sell the lines I suppose and yes, I have always longed for my VP to know how to field dress a moose, that should come in handy). Of course the crux of Thompson's speech was detailing McCain's history, particularly his war injuries and his time as a prisoner of war. He told some cutesy stories about McCain being a rebel and troublemaker at the Naval Academy. I guess I am just over it. I admit I am not the most objective at this point, but I am SO tired of having his military service rammed down my throat. Yes, he served; yes he was a prisoner of war; but there are a lot of men walking our streets today who served and our country has neglected them. So don't hold up McCain like he is something special.

Ah Joe Lieberman—no dude you really hurt me and if you are a member of my larger family I would make you sit outside at Thanksgiving and eat in the cold.  Last I checked you were an "independent," not a democrat. And for God's sake Joe, stop giggling. Then he spoke directly to me and "my anger." Nope, not thinking of voting for McCain. Yep, never voted for a Republican for President. Yep, no ordinary election. Nope, McCain strikes me as an ordinary candidate. And don't worry Joe I WILL be voting for the person I believe is best for our country and that person continues to be a democrat.

Ok Mike, what you got for me? There it is, that twinkly charm! I do hate to cop to any of you GOP-ers being charming. And then you had to go and slam Madonna. Not cool, dude. Chick is 50 and still has it. Next the Huckster tried to co-op the word change and scare people with "European" ideas (quite the pop culture icon too, referring to Obama's European trip as his excellent adventure). Yep, I find those terrifying myself. But not as terrifying as Lava soap. Or your testament that Republicans are hands dirty, up by their bootstraps, heavy laborers that wouldn't dream of asking for any help EVER from the federal government. And good, god damn, again with McCain's inability to lift his arms above his head, you and Thompson should have discussed which one was going to harp on that nugget in advance.

Up next, Rudy Giuliani. Shocker, they put the skyline of NYC behind him—nice touch. I thought is was especially classy when Giuliani mocked Obama's experience as a community organizer, like that is somehow akin to being an idiot or slacker. And again with the snickery laughing. Do they teach that in young Republican school? 

Rudy harped on Obama being the least experienced candidate saying he has led "nada." How many senators have gone on to become presidents in our country exactly? Seven. Do you consider that none of those led anything? But less than two years as governor of a state with a population (670,000) that is less than the state of Rhode Island's (just over 1 million) qualifies you? "Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy." But giving grannies heart attacks in their tapioca that some "Islamofacist" is coming to get them, that's a sound way to campaign? "Drill Baby, Drill." Yes Rudy it is INCORRECT to say Islamic terrorism. Not all followers of Islam are terrorist and it is unfair to paint the entire religion with that brush. No that is a chant folks! It amazes me that the GOP thinks that there is a victory to be had out there against terrorists. Pompous blow hole. If Palin represents a new generation, what does Obama represent who is only a couple of years older? Hold me back, she has been a mayor of a VERY small town; but this condescension towards Obama is beyond distasteful. Talk about his record, his experience, whatever, but you don't have to be snotty about it. If the facts aren't enough, then maybe he is a good candidate and your's isn't. Excuse me, I need go vomit while Rudy gets sanctimonious about the anti-sexism the GOP demonstrates. And I have a bridge to nowhere in Alaska that I can sell you.

But the biggest shocker of all? He only mentioned September 11th one time. They must have attached electrodes to his balls and threatened to shock him if he said it too many times. 

I think Palin's little ditty deserves its own post. The brain washing continues, damn my head is starting to hurt. Next!