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September 04, 2008
The PTA Pit Bull
Last night, Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin (aka “Caribou Barbie”, “Sarah Barracuda”, “Hockey Mom”, “McCain’s Folly”, and with more nicks emerging than a Court TV message board troll [inside joke]) gave her debut speech that was greeted by the delegates with as much gusto as possible and praised by right-leaning pundits with the usual tired cliché sports accolades like “home run” and “grand slam” and “out of the park.”
I suspect (but cannot prove) that the delegates and other attendants of the convention were prepped to make as much noise as possible to try and compete with the uproarious (and often ridiculous) lovefest at the Democratic convention last week during the speeches of Michelle, Ted, Hillary, Bill, Joe and Barack. Nonetheless, if there had been an “applause meter” like some of the old game shows, I think the anemic Republicans would have lost the round.
Loser candidate Mike Huckabee played his stand-up comedian routine to a nearly humorless audience. Loser candidate Ghouliani threw buckets of bloody fish guts, going over his allotted time in his shark frenzy, thus cancelling the cutesy, soft-focus video montage of Palin’s biography that was supposed to precede her speech. This was too bad for Palin, because she could have used a little humanizing before delivering her Rovian talking points and snarky invective in her incredibly annoying voice and exaggerated facial expressions.
I can’t imagine how being a PTA Pit Bull is attractive to anyone, male or female, after the Cowboy-in-Chief and Darth Cheney have demonstrated the colossal failure this attitude has been for the past seven years.
Barack Obama is a smart and mature man who shrugged off Palin’s insults today saying that he’s been called “worse things on the basketball court.” So, I’m not going to defend him here. Rather, I’d like to point out the dangerous message that Palin’s speech drove home last night, and the curious lack of substantive proposals the Republicans proffer to “shake up Washington” or fix the current problems of average American citizens.
Palin is clearly owned by the oil and gas industry. Her state has benefitted from the most federal money per capita than any in the Union. She governs a state with one of the lowest populations and lowest percentage of high school graduates in the country. Her husband worked for BP, and she has been lobbying for pipelines and drilling in ANWR for her entire (albeit short) tenure in office. She proclaims that Alaska’s oil and gas is the answer to our energy problems. But how is laying pipe in Alaska or drilling for oil in the wilderness going to create jobs for people in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Michigan? How is helping Alaska reap more oil revenue and endangering wildlife helping my kids afford college in another six to ten years? How is perpetuating our dependence on petroleum products, regardless of their origin, going to help allay global warming or reduce the price of gasoline, heat, or groceries?
Palin also ridiculed Obama’s stint as a community organizer when he was in his 20s, as if that was his only work experience. That’s tantamount to her ridiculing my job as Committee Secretary for the Ohio Senate in the mid-80s as if I claimed that it made me ready to run for Congress. Never mind that it insults the millions of hard-working, selfless individuals that volunteer to help people find childcare and healthcare, obtain resources, find jobs, and raise their standard of living. The percentage of government funds that go toward community services annually is a tiny fraction of the weekly outlay for the current occupation in Iraq. Why don’t the pundits who are gushing over Palin ever remind viewers of this disparity, or the economic reality that spending money on universal health care and education is the best investment we can make toward a better future? Funny how the rest of the industrialized world already figured this out.
As Obama and others have noted regarding the Republican message: the party has no issues that it can raise beyond “more drilling” and “more wars.” They suffer from acute dissociation when it comes to admitting that it is their party, their president, that got us in this mess in the first place. If the majority of the voting public is suckered into this Emperor’s Clothes fantasy again, instead of it merely rallying the base and the 28% who think Bush is doing a good job, we have a lot more to worry about than who is elected President of the United States in November. A *lot* more.
Get out the vote.
Comments
Excellent article outlining all the lies in her speech.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check
Posted by: Lisa | September 4, 2008 09:33 PM
Hey, Palin was on the Scott Peterson Neverending College Plan:
"She began college at Hawaii Pacific University, a private, nonsectarian school in Honolulu. She attended only as a freshman during the fall of 1982, school spokeswoman Crystale Lopez said.
Then known as Sarah Louise Heath, she was in the business administration program as a full-time student, Lopez said.
"We're trying to track down someone who knew her," Lopez added.
From Hawaii Pacific, Palin transferred to North Idaho College, a two-year school in Coeur d'Alene, about 30 miles east of Spokane. She attended the college as a general studies major for two semesters, in spring 1983 and fall 1983, spokeswoman Stacy Hudson said.
We were not able to track down club affiliations or anything," Hudson said.
The school identified one of her professors but he did not remember her, Hudson said.
Prior to her selection by McCain, the North Idaho College Alumni Association notified Palin in June she would be the recipient of its 2008-2009 Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award.
From North Idaho College, Palin transferred 70 miles south to the University of Idaho, the state's flagship institution. She majored in journalism with an emphasis in broadcast news. She attended Idaho, whose mascot is the Vandals, from fall 1984 to spring 1985.
She then returned to Alaska to attend Matanuska-Susitna College in Palmer in fall 1985.
Then she returned to Idaho, for spring 1986, fall 1986 and spring 1987, when she graduated. Despite her journalism degree, she does not appear to have worked for the college newspaper or campus television station, school officials said. She worked briefly as a sportscaster for KTUU in Anchorage after she graduated college.
The McCain campaign did not have an immediate comment on Palin's higher education record.
*excerpts from Huffington Post:
Posted by: loretta | September 4, 2008 10:05 PM
Hmmm. So why would she transfer 4 times?
Money? Unplanned something or other? A lark in Hawaii that didn't pan out (as a freshman.) Homesick? Didn't like the campus? Didn't like her roommate? Didn't get the grades?
I'll bet her grades are mediocre, at best.
Technically, at least, she graduated. She and Scooter should compare notes.
Posted by: loretta | September 4, 2008 10:13 PM
“The stars are aligned …”
OMG, I can’t believe they included that line in the McCain video!
Posted by: Astrologer | September 4, 2008 10:31 PM
The first commercial on ABC after Sawyer, et al. said goodbye was from Chevron!
I think that sums it all up.
Posted by: Astrologer | September 4, 2008 11:19 PM
Well, that was an hour I'll never get back. McCain is like Ambien to me. Can't stay awake--his voice puts me to sleep. And his creepy smile is phony. Can you tell I don't like him? Heh.
Posted by: CountryGal | September 4, 2008 11:30 PM
Oh, and did you know he was a POW?
Posted by: CountryGal | September 4, 2008 11:31 PM
On, really? LHAT!
Posted by: Astrologer | September 5, 2008 12:11 AM
zzzz
I don't watch him anymore. His fake smile creeps me out.
Posted by: loretta | September 5, 2008 12:17 AM
...and don't even get me started on the 9/11 video Scary Movie XXII they showed as some sort of bizarre tribute.
Tasteless would be an improvement at this point.
Posted by: loretta | September 5, 2008 12:19 AM
Hi,
good to see you writing again. I knew that you just needed an inspiration. This election is important (8yrs overdue). There were a lot of citizens who thought they were better off staying with the crown and if it wasn't for the little group of visionaries that led this country into something call the revolution, we would be celebrating boxing day and eating blood pudding as I speak. Detroit finally got rid of its status quo, now it's time for the rest of the country to do the same.
greenie
ps- good to "see" everyone.
Posted by: greenie | September 5, 2008 02:25 AM
When you see how many red States there are down South, it makes a person wonder...! Do they realise the seriousness of this decision?
Posted by: Mgt | September 5, 2008 09:37 AM
Great editorial in the NYT about Palin and the faux culture wars:
May require subscription but if it does, just go to Bug Me Not.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 5, 2008 12:05 PM
Lawmakers to issue subpoenas in Troopergate:
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/lawmakers_to_issue_subpoenas_in_troopergate
Posted by: Astrologer | September 5, 2008 03:21 PM
Librarians against Palin:
http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/
Posted by: Astrologer | September 5, 2008 03:24 PM
Tomorrow morning I'm going to a breakfast meeting and volunteering to register voters. Even though California will go Obama, I have to get involved and do everything I can other than donate and vote for him.
I'm fired up and ready to go!
Posted by: CountryGal | September 5, 2008 03:25 PM
Mad Magazine's movie poster:
http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2008-09-03-NotVettingSarahPalin.jpg
Posted by: Astrologer | September 5, 2008 06:05 PM
Read this chlling must-read article:
Posted by: Astrologer | September 5, 2008 08:51 PM
No wonder McClown considers her his soul-mate! He's a vindictive SOB, too.
I was reading at Mudflats a document that details all the decisions the PTA Pit Bull has made as governor and earlier as mayor.
Just to hightlight a few - she vetoed funding for a senior center (they were asking for a measly $140K), she slashed funding for community organizations, cut the funding to a place that houses and helps unwed teens (and other teens with issues), approved the "Road to Nowhere" and "The Bridge to Nowhere" and even kept the money when the jig was up and there was backlash from Warshington.
I'm not that surprised that she fired a bunch of people who worked for the former governor, because that happens whenever an administration changes, but her firing of the Li-Barian (and then reinstating her) reminds me of your typical Paranoid Control Freak.
I'm not surprised she's openly racist.
The McClown camp is protecting her from the press (gee, I wonder why?) and she is stonewalling "Troopergate."
Really, she fits right in to the Bush Administration. I'm surprised they didn't offer her a cabinet position!
Posted by: loretta | September 5, 2008 09:10 PM
Wail, ye-e-a-h. Have faith my dearios. The mamasforobama will prevail. I cannot even tell you how John Edwards ruined my day. I have been out of touch with the Franchdrama and the alicehammerdrama. I finally finished that ceebee cover. xxoomoire
Posted by: moi | September 5, 2008 11:14 PM
RE: the above... don't forget the plastic pirahhna it comes with Ken and Barbie and their private jet. phew.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 5, 2008 11:27 PM
As a vice-president, she's a lousy standup comic.
Posted by: vero | September 6, 2008 11:00 AM
Kinda wish we had more than 2 to vote for. I feel because of this many will simply not vote. It's like the lesser of 2 evils. But OBAMA will not get my vote. Change.......the only change we'll see after he gets in will be what little we have in our pockets........
Posted by: L Harper | September 6, 2008 12:31 PM
Really? Well, maybe you are one of the luckier ones who has a good job, a good pension or IRA or 401(k), good affordable health insurance, kids out of college or money saved for them to go, a newer automobile, a good mortgage and great health.
Congratulations!
For the majority of the rest of us, we don't have "change" in our pockets and are pretty much living paycheck to paycheck with no security, no money to retire, no good health insurance (or very expensive health insurance), no money to send the kids to college, and no relief in sight.
If you can afford another 4 years of rising unemployment, rising poverty, rising health costs, lower wages, crumbling infrastructure and skyrocketing national debt, then I guess you should vote for McCain.
Have a nice day.
Posted by: loretta | September 6, 2008 12:36 PM
Well said, Loretta.
Posted by: Nadine | September 6, 2008 03:32 PM
Why do we always need foreign press to inform us? (Rhetorical question).
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article4687705.ece
Posted by: Anonymous | September 6, 2008 11:43 PM
Good site to refer to when you want to "Fact Check" the various speeches and ads.
It's a full-time job!
Posted by: loretta | September 7, 2008 11:23 AM