Daddy Fight & '08

Daddy Fight & ‘08

Like the angry father who can’t or won’t admit that a younger man will eventually replace him, John McOedipus exhibited nothing but disdain and disregard toward Barack Obama during Friday’s debate.  It was stunning and pathetically obvious from the initial handshake that McCain thought:  “how dare HE be on this stage with ME!”  Furthermore, it was horrifically reminiscent of the early debates between Judas Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont in the summer ’06, as grumpy Joe, then Oedipus Lieberman, adopted the hubris that afflicts so many tragic figures.  Perhaps McCain should spend less time with narcissistic Joe and more time with dignified Republicans like Richard Lugar to treat his current psychological disorder.  In the cults of personality and orbits of psycho-dynamics, there is a personality factor here that’s quite legible even to the most naïve of eyes.  And no one likes a b@stard of a father. 

But this Freudian family subtext extends way beyond McCain.  Just look at the pundit class, who can’t or won’t admit that Obama won because he had the right temperament and gravitas that Americans unequivocally desire in our leaders.  Hell, it’s obvious that Obama was the winner in poll after poll.  But despite that, the pundit class, like a group of obnoxious sons and daughters in one, f*cked-up, dysfunctional family, SO want a daddy fight in a major way. 

It was laughable to read mean-girl Maureen Dowd—who STILL has Catholic gossip-girl cafeteria disorder—on Sunday again miss the mark in her dreadful analogy to a A Few Good Men.  Mika Brzezinski, whom I normally like, followed this morning on Morning Smoe claiming that Obama should’ve and could’ve been meaner.  Et tu, Mika? 

We DEFINITELY need therapy for this Freudian family disorder, and maybe when Chimpy, who has HUGE daddy-issues that will be on full display in Oliver Stone’s W., leaves office we will alas be free from this mass political psychosis.  

The Madwoman in Alaska

John McCain and the RNC have been very careful in the veiling and unveiling of Sarah Palin.  She was carefully concealed after her coming out party at the RNC, offering the media and the public just a few staged appearances with some lipstick and talking points.  

Her interview with CHARLIE Gibson may, in fact, be her only "real" media interview for now.  The American public may, in fact, have to rely on Tina Fey to satiate their Sarah fix.  The RNC wants to keep her quiet; the interview with Gibson certainly offers testimony to this fact--every time she speaks, her true character slips out. 

Similar to Charlotte Bronte's Bertha "Antoniette" Mason, the RNC's madwoman must be revealed slowly... incompletely... craftily.  Hiding behind the veil of sexism, claiming she has to study up on her foreign policy, stating that she needs to be in control of this new found media frenzy (character double, anyone?), simply proves that John McCain's operatives fear that we might actually get to know her true political and personal self.  

Unfortunately, even Rochester, a man of some education and worldliness was fooled by the shadowy, seductive figure.  

Here's hoping that John McCain's Bertha never gets enough power to burn down our houses.

Luckily for McCain, he'd still have six more to choose from. 

’08 & The Classroom Motif

’08 & The Classroom Motif

As columnist Bob Herbert noted yesterday, Sarah Palin resembles that unprepared student who clearly doesn’t know much about anything.  When Charlie Gibson asked Mrs. Palin about the Bush doctrine, it all became abundantly clear:  Mrs. Palin indeed looked like…a moose caught in headlights.  Put simply, in educator’s jargon, Mrs. Palin came off as a student BADLY misplaced in a class where she simply does not belong and where she will most likely fail.  This could all change, of course, if she cheats; if her symbolic parents—her Rovian surrogates—at the RNC make her jump a grade level, or two, or, hell, ten, on policy; and/or if she shows she can glide by with a low pass in the D range because her “parents” did most of her homework to counterbalance a pathetically low performance on the job. 

But what’s most interesting in all of this is the classroom motif that has manifested in the 08’ meta narrative, especially with Mrs. Palin’s meteoric emergence.  We hear reports about Mrs. Palin in terms of whether she passed or failed.  We hear stories of how Mrs. Palin is “cramming” on foreign policy matters because she knows so little.  Yet disturbingly enough, much of the American public digs her “studious” appearance because of her dress and the eyeglasses even though she is perhaps one of the most unqualified republican female politicians Mr. McCain could’ve selected:  Imagine had he considered Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Governor Jodi Rell, or Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison?  Clearly, these women would be appropriately placed in the narrative of national classroom politics, and, better yet, each of them would be a suitable VP choice for Mr. McCain’s presidential ticket.  Perhaps the mainstream media should consider why Mr. McCain LEFT THESE WOMEN BEHIND for a woman whose skills and experience indicate she should stay on the elementary school playground. 

Palin's Perverse Past

You know there is so much that lies in the adage "Truth is stranger than fiction". Why? Because I could possibly make this stuff up.

Now that the media has picked up their chins off the floor in regards to McCain's pick for a running mate right before the RNC, they are unearthing more and more about Sarah Palin's actual political career. (Before anyone says it, they are not out to get her; they are doing there job in informing the public about a relatively unknown figure that will be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

The Frontiersmen, an Alaskan newspaper, reported that when Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, the city charged victims of sexual assault between $300 and $1200 for their own rape kits. If you don't know, a rape kit is a sexual assault forensic evidence kit, used to collect DNA that can be used in criminal proceedings. The kit is performed as soon as possible after a sexual assault or attack has been committed.

So let me get this straight - a woman (or man) is assaulted, thus going through one horrific experience. The victim gets the guts up to report the crime and then has a rape kit done - thus another horrific experience because the victim has to relive the experience and it is uncomfortable physically (a yearly female exam magnified 10x). Then, the victim get s bill in the mail for $1200? Definitely a third horrific experience.

One point so Alaska itself doesn't get a bad rap - Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, recently signed legislation protecting victims of sexual assault from being billed for tests to collect evidence of the crime, but one local police chief said the new law will further burden taxpayers.

The new law makes it illegal for any law enforcement agency to bill victims or victims insurance companies for the costs of examinations that take place to collect evidence of a sexual assault or determine if a sexual assault did occur.

People, please wake up and smell the coffee. I am all for smart women in powerful places, but if Sarah Palin is the smartest and the best female, I need to wake up from this nightmare...

And you thought no one was dumber than Chimpy...

Just when you thought that your eyes and ears only had to worry about what literally stupid remark Chimpy made, now you have to worry about Sarah Palin.

Now before you say : is this another tabloid story?", it isn't. This is a legitimate, caught-on-tape gaffe on a rally in Colorado Spring, CO today. In the clip, Palin claims that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.". Freddy and Fannie "aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during reorganization." Economists, analysts, and intelligent people gobbled up her HUGE faux pas like college students at an all-you-can-eat happy hour buffet.

"You would like to think that someone who is going to be vice president and conceivable president would know what Fannie and Freddie do," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "These are huge institutions and they are absolutely central to our country's mortgage debt. To not have a clue what they do doesn't speak well for her, I'd say."

The best part of the clip (the audio quality stinks; it is VERY low) is it could be in one of those MasterCard commercials because the look on John McCain's face is like 'oh f%@k' and absolutely PRICELESS when she makes this INCREDIBLY STUPID remark.

A Sign of The Armageddon?

The Republican National Convention is underway and the only thing I can say positively about it is that McCain is rightfully downplaying it because Hurricane Gustav is bearing down on the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi as I am typing.

So, late last week, the media cycle should have belonged to Barack and his wonderfully moving speech on Thursday night. Instead, the weekend media cycle belonged to Sarah Palin and John McCain's campaign. Now, to be fair, McCain's choice was always going to be named on Friday. The reason for the buzz, the hype, and the attention is that NO ONE saw this coming. The press is all a twitter because no one outside of Alaska really knows who she is. News people across the country are working 24/7, vetting McCain's choice as his Veep running mate.

I was getting ready to sit down to do some homework on this when an email from a former student (the VERY intelligent EB) sent me the following email that details Ms. Palin and her background:


Yesterday was John McCain's 72nd birthday. If elected, he'd be the oldest president ever inaugurated. And after months of slamming Barack Obama for "inexperience," here's who John McCain has chosen to be one heartbeat away from the presidency: a right-wing religious conservative with no foreign policy experience, who until recently was mayor of a town of 9,000 people.

Huh?

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage. She has no foreign policy experience.1
Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2
She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3
Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4
She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5
She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6
How closely did John McCain vet this choice? He met Sarah Palin once at a meeting. They spoke a second time, last Sunday, when he called her about being vice-president. Then he offered her the position.7
This is information the American people need to see. Please take a moment to forward this email to your friends and family.

We also asked Alaska MoveOn members what the rest of us should know about their governor. The response was striking. Here's a sample:

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13661-5037574-O_1i0Zx&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13661-5037574-O_1i0Zx&t=2
4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13661-5037574-O_1i0Zx&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13661-5037574-O_1i0Zx&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13661-5037574-O_1i0Zx&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13661-5037574-O_1i0Zx&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13661-5037574-O_1i0Zx&t=7

7 "McCain met Palin once before yesterday," MSNBC, August 29, 2008

I kept the sources in there in case anyone wanted to check them out for themselves and all great writers cite sources. (BTW, The author of the letter is a member of the MoveOn Organization.)

Anyway, I keep wondering (not that I am a McCain supporter) why McCain picked Palin if he was looking for a strong female running mate, and looking for Hilary supporters that feel the Obama-Biden ticket is not for them. There are Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins from Maine - both feminists with solid political backgrounds and experience. (And they are both wonderfully warm people - I have met them both.) If he was looking for governor material, why not pick Jodi Rell, who brought CT government back from the embarrassment that was Rowland.

In short, there is only three reasons to pick Palin. She is for big oil, she has pull in the one state that has untapped oil and thus, has contacts there, and she brings the religious right in from the cold into the Republican Party fold.

I implore everyone - if you did not think this elections was important to the path of our country before, it surely is now. Please get your facts, register, and make sure you get to the polls in November. The future of the country depends on it...