The Vig

A phrase which drives me absolutely insane is “you’re too young to remember, but…”  I’ve heard that way too much in my life.  I’m careful to never use it around anyone younger than me.  It’s condescending and arrogant.

I’ve had a few conversations with friends and relatives about Obama over the last year-and-a-half.  Not all of them invoke the “you weren’t around” phrase, but they almost all bring up 1968 when they think about Obama.  That’s something I haven’t allowed myself to think about.  While I remain convinced that the hatred of Al Gore was so intense in 2000 that he wouldn’t have survived his first term, I’ve believed that should Obama be elected, that he would make it.  Reading this stuff, however, gives me pause.

“And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, ‘launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,’” [Palin] continued.”Boooo!” the crowd repeated.

“Kill him!” proposed one man in the audience.

Was the guy talking about Obama or Ayers? I don’t think anyone but the man knows.  But if Palin’s rhetoric is generating this sort of response, and she’s linking the two as equals…does it matter?

Watching McCain and Palin whip the crazies into a frenzy is a frightening thing.  It’s the last move of a desperate campaign.

I proudly voted for McCain in 2000.  I thought he was the right guy.  Now I wonder if I ever knew him at all.

One of Andrew Sullivan’s readers cuts through all the garbage and finds a truth.

I thought Palin’s performance at the debate was downright embarrassing and on top of that I have to read this clown’s blog, stating more or less that Palin gave him an erection? Little starbursts my ass. Here’s what I thought when Palin “dropped” that first wink at us: “Did she just wink at us like she was America’s cocktail waitress?” Rich Lowry is on the verge of slapping Sarah Palin on the ass and asking her for another of those fantastic whiskey sours.

Well kiss my grits!

Watching her, I can only think of the Kevin Kline movie Dave, the one where the president has a stroke mid-coitus and is replaced by a look-alike who becomes a puppet of the real president’s chief-of-staff.  The right believes that every word that falls from her lips is inspired by Saint Ronnie and therefore she herself is guided by his spirit.  Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth.  From the first moment after she was selected, she’s been surrounded by the very insiders she spent 90-minutes railing against Thursday night.  This is change?  Please.

But the right choose to believe the lie.  At least for now.

Following Jack Bog’s lead:

A friend of mine who lives up the street from the Palins in Wasilla has informed me Bristol Palin will be getting married next weekend at her parents’ home church in Wasilla.  Sarah is on her way back to Alaska to help out with preparations.  An announcement cancelling Thursday’s debate is expected in the morning.

Did you ever see that movie Jumpin’ Jack Flash with Whoopi Goldberg?  There’s a scene in there where Whoopi is trying to write down the lyrics to the song.  At one point she turns to the speaker and yells “speak English, Mick!”.  You sort of want to do this with poor Sarah, too.  Fortunately for us, Sullivan has the transcript here.  The words are in English, but everything else?

Unlike Jumpin’ Jack Flash, you can’t dance to Sarah’s tune at all.  I’ll give it a 37.  That said, Sarah Palin may have inadvertently saved Katie Couric’s career.

So how can it be a good thing that America is waiting for McCain to make his decision while it’s a bad thing for America to wait for Obama to make his? I think we saw both of their answers today. McCain panicked and decided to bigfoot the issue; Obama decided to let folks smarter than he hash the thing out. At this point there’s not a damned thing either of them can do.

I thought we were putting politics aside. I guess Palin didn’t get the memo.

I sat and watched the Charlie Gibson-Sarah Palin interview with a couple friends of mine last night.  While I wouldn’t call them conservative Christians, they’re certainly right of center.  Pro-family, pro-life.  Anyway, they both sat and watched the interview and as it went on, they kept making comments like “can you believe that?” and “she has no idea what she’s talking about!”

These are two voters at whom the Palin nomination is aimed.  I asked them at the end whether she’d persuaded them.  Both answered yes.  They’re voting for Obama.

It’s a small sampling, I know, but I think there are a lot more like them out there.  At least I hope there are.

If you missed it on SNL last night, here’s the open in all it’s dead-on glory. I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Tina Fey as Palin.

That rock there in the left?  Alaska.  That much bigger rock on the right?  Russia.  They’re called the Diomede Islands and they’re what give Sarah Palin her foreign policy street cred.

Fun fact:  On the island on the left it’s Friday.  On the island on the right, it’s already Saturday.  The International Date Line runs right between the islands.  Wild.

Hat tip:  Mudflats

Give it about 30 seconds. I’m still shaking my head…

Oh boy.

GIBSON: Did you ever travel outside the country prior to your trip to Kuwait and Germany last year?

PALIN: Canada, Mexico, and then, yes, that trip, that was the trip of a lifetime to visit our troops in Kuwait and stop and visit our injured soldiers in Germany. That was the trip of a lifetime and it changed my life.

GIBSON: Have you ever met a foreign head of state?

PALIN: There in the state of Alaska, our international trade activities bring in many leaders of other countries.

GIBSON: And all governors deal with trade delegations.

PALIN: Right.

GIBSON: Who act at the behest of their governments.

PALIN: Right, right.

GIBSON: I’m talking about somebody who’s a head of state, who can negotiate for that country. Ever met one?

PALIN: I have not and I think if you go back in history and if you ask that question of many vice presidents, they may have the same answer that I just gave you. But, Charlie, again, we’ve got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual and somebody’s big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they’ve had opportunities to meet heads of state … these last couple of weeks … it has been overwhelming to me that confirmation of the message that Americans are getting sick and tired of that self-dealing and kind of that closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite.

Closed door, good old boy network that has been the Washington elite?  You mean like the good old boys who coached you beind closed doors for the last two weeks?  That sort of self-dealing?  Yee.

The part about the big, fat resume is also laughable.  She and McCain have both been puffing up her resume into something big and fat.  I mean international trade delegations?  “You can see Russia from Alaska”?  She is head of the Alaska National Guard?  This isn’t puffing up your resume?  Please.

It’s all coming out into the open now.  People can’t say they didn’t know she was a continuation of the status-quo.  I’m looking at you, Mr. Wright.  This country needs to seriously change course both internationally and domestically.  We don’t need people in positions of power who are itching to go to war with the Russians while further cutting taxes at home.  This cannot be allowed to happen.

Say what you will about Obama, at least the guy is curious, which is more than we can say for either McCain or Palin.