And now, a British viewpoint on Palin from The Guardian. Truth be told, I'm still in recovery from recent travels. But this one found its way to the top of the Inbox pile.
Flirting her way to victory Sarah Palin's farcical debate performance lowered the standards for both female candidates and US political discourse.
Michelle Goldberg
Friday, October 3, 2008
guardian.co.uk
At least three times last night, Sarah Palin, the adorable, preposterous vice-presidential candidate, winked at the audience. Had a male candidate with a similar reputation for attractive vapidity made such a brazen attempt to flirt his way into the good graces of the voting public, it would have universally noted, discussed and mocked. Palin, however, has single-handedly so lowered the standards both for female candidates and American political discourse that, with her newfound ability to speak in more-or-less full sentences, she is now deemed to have performed acceptably last night.
By any normal standard, including the ones applied to male presidential candidates of either party, she did not. Early on, she made the astonishing announcement that she had no intentions of actually answering the queries put to her. "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also," she said.
And so she preceded, with an almost surreal disregard for the subjects she was supposed to be discussing, to unleash fusillades of scripted attack lines, platitudes, lies, gibberish and grating references to her own pseudo-folksy authenticity.
It was an appalling display. The only reason it was not widely described as such is that too many American pundits don't even try to judge the truth, wisdom or reasonableness of the political rhetoric they are paid to pronounce upon. Instead, they imagine themselves as interpreters of a mythical mass of "average Americans" who they both venerate and despise.
In pronouncing upon a debate, they don't try and determine whether a candidate's responses correspond to existing reality, or whether he or she is capable of talking about subjects such as the deregulation of the financial markets or the devolution of the war in Afghanistan. The criteria are far more vaporous. In this case, it was whether Palin could avoid utterly humiliating herself for 90 minutes, and whether urbane commentators would believe that she had connected to a public that they see as ignorant and sentimental. For the Alaska governor, mission accomplished.
There is indeed something mesmerising about Palin, with her manic beaming and fulsome confidence in her own charm. The force of her personality managed to slightly obscure the insulting emptiness of her answers last night. It's worth reading the transcript of the encounter, where it becomes clearer how bizarre much of what she said was. Here, for example, is how she responded to Biden's comments about how the middle class has been short-changed during the Bush administration, and how McCain will continue Bush's policies:
Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced [sic] your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future. You mentioned education, and I'm
glad you did. I know education you are passionate about with your wife being a teacher for 30 years, and god bless her. Her reward is in heaven, right? ... My brother, who I think is the best schoolteacher in the year, and here's a shout-out to all those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School, you get extra credit for watching the debate.
Evidently, Palin's pre-debate handlers judged her incapable of speaking on a fairly wide range of subjects, and so instructed to her to simply disregard questions that did not invite memorised talking points or cutesy filibustering. They probably told her to play up her spunky average-ness, which she did to the point of shtick - and dishonesty. Asked what her Achilles heel is - a question she either didn't understand or chose to ignore - she started in on how McCain
chose her because of her "connection to the heartland of America. Being a mom, one very concerned about a son in the war, about a special needs child, about kids heading off to college, how are we going to pay those tuition bills?"
None of Palin's children, it should be noted, is heading off to college. Her son is on the way to Iraq, and her pregnant 17-year-old daughter is engaged to be married to a high-school dropout and self-described "fuckin' redneck". Palin is a woman who can't even tell the truth about the most quotidian and public details of her own life, never mind about matters of major public import. In her only vice-presidential debate, she was shallow, mendacious and phoney. What kind of maverick, after all, keeps harping on what a maverick she is? That her performance was considered anything but a farce doesn't show how high Palin has risen, but how low we all have sunk.
Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Stop the World: The GOP Wants to Get Off
First they want to postpone the beginning of their very own political convention due to Hurricane Gustav. And now, John McCain wants to postpone the first presidential debate.
And this is the ticket that wants you to vote them in so they can run our nation during its most critical phase in almost a century? Run our country further in the ground is more like it.
I've been watching Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Larry King, Anderson Cooper -- and not one has mentioned the GOP's double delay tactics. It hasn't even been a month since Gustav hit.
If the working women of this nation -- the ultimate in multitaskers -- don't see the irony and pathos in this current state of affairs, who will. Certainly not the white middle-aged male club that got us into this mess.
Forget lipstick and moose, please. Forget gender. Forget color. Can we please vote for capabilities? Diplomacy? Intelligence? Truth?
Can we vote for a ticket that's not afraid to tell us what we need to hear?
Can we at least vote for, ahem, multitaskers?
Did you happen to read about the leadership in Argentina that rather than expressing concern about America's fall from grace, is relishing in it?
Schadenfraude. Coming soon to a nation near you.
And this is the ticket that wants you to vote them in so they can run our nation during its most critical phase in almost a century? Run our country further in the ground is more like it.
I've been watching Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Larry King, Anderson Cooper -- and not one has mentioned the GOP's double delay tactics. It hasn't even been a month since Gustav hit.
If the working women of this nation -- the ultimate in multitaskers -- don't see the irony and pathos in this current state of affairs, who will. Certainly not the white middle-aged male club that got us into this mess.
Forget lipstick and moose, please. Forget gender. Forget color. Can we please vote for capabilities? Diplomacy? Intelligence? Truth?
Can we vote for a ticket that's not afraid to tell us what we need to hear?
Can we at least vote for, ahem, multitaskers?
Did you happen to read about the leadership in Argentina that rather than expressing concern about America's fall from grace, is relishing in it?
Schadenfraude. Coming soon to a nation near you.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Understanding McCain & Palin
A friend forwarded this e-mail missive to me. And while the tone may be a bit snarky, I think it captures just how bewildered so many of us are.
Subject: Now I understand McCain and Palin
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.
If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're “exotic, different.”
If you grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you're a quintessential American story.
If your name is Barack, you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
If you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
If you graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable.
If you attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well-grounded.
If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters*, spend 12 years as a constitutional law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services Committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13-million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veterans' Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
If your total resume is: local weather reporter, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest-ranking executive.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you teach responsible, age-appropriate sex education, including protecting oneself against predators and the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system, while your unwed teen daughter becomes pregnant, you're a responsible person.
If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner-city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent those of America.
If your husband is nicknamed “First Dude,” with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
* This number is wayyyyyyyy off, by the way. A quick Google search shows 300,000 new registered voters this year in Florida alone.
###
Subject: Now I understand McCain and Palin
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.
If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're “exotic, different.”
If you grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, you're a quintessential American story.
If your name is Barack, you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
If you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
If you graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable.
If you attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well-grounded.
If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters*, spend 12 years as a constitutional law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services Committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13-million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veterans' Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
If your total resume is: local weather reporter, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest-ranking executive.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you teach responsible, age-appropriate sex education, including protecting oneself against predators and the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system, while your unwed teen daughter becomes pregnant, you're a responsible person.
If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner-city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent those of America.
If your husband is nicknamed “First Dude,” with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
* This number is wayyyyyyyy off, by the way. A quick Google search shows 300,000 new registered voters this year in Florida alone.
###
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Deepak Chopra on the Palin Effect
The following essay came across my desk and I had to share it. Years ago, one particular Deepak Chopra quote changed my life in profound ways:
"Judgment is a burden that is not yours to carry."
It made sense to me then. It makes even more sense to me now. Dr. Chopra, the floor is yours.
Obama and The Palin Effect
From: Deepak Chopra | Posted: Friday, September 5th, 2008
Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)
I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.
Look at what she stands for:
--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.
Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.
"Judgment is a burden that is not yours to carry."
It made sense to me then. It makes even more sense to me now. Dr. Chopra, the floor is yours.
Obama and The Palin Effect
From: Deepak Chopra | Posted: Friday, September 5th, 2008
Sometimes politics has the uncanny effect of mirroring the national psyche even when nobody intended to do that. This is perfectly illustrated by the rousing effect that Gov. Sarah Palin had on the Republican convention in Minneapolis this week. On the surface, she outdoes former Vice President Dan Quayle as an unlikely choice, given her negligent parochial expertise in the complex affairs of governing. Her state of Alaska has less than 700,000 residents, which reduces the job of governor to the scale of running one-tenth of New York City. By comparison, Rudy Giuliani is a towering international figure. Palin's pluck has been admired, and her forthrightness, but her real appeal goes deeper.
She is the reverse of Barack Obama, in essence his shadow, deriding his idealism and exhorting people to obey their worst impulses. In psychological terms the shadow is that part of the psyche that hides out of sight, countering our aspirations, virtue, and vision with qualities we are ashamed to face: anger, fear, revenge, violence, selfishness, and suspicion of "the other." For millions of Americans, Obama triggers those feelings, but they don't want to express them. He is calling for us to reach for our higher selves, and frankly, that stirs up hidden reactions of an unsavory kind. (Just to be perfectly clear, I am not making a verbal play out of the fact that Sen. Obama is black. The shadow is a metaphor widely in use before his arrival on the scene.)
I recognize that psychological analysis of politics is usually not welcome by the public, but I believe such a perspective can be helpful here to understand Palin's message. In her acceptance speech Gov. Palin sent a rousing call to those who want to celebrate their resistance to change and a higher vision.
Look at what she stands for:
--Small town values -- a denial of America's global role, a return to petty, small-minded parochialism.
--Ignorance of world affairs -- a repudiation of the need to repair America's image abroad.
--Family values -- a code for walling out anybody who makes a claim for social justice. Such strangers, being outside the family, don't need to be heeded.
--Rigid stands on guns and abortion -- a scornful repudiation that these issues can be negotiated with those who disagree.
--Patriotism -- the usual fallback in a failed war.
--"Reform" -- an italicized term, since in addition to cleaning out corruption and excessive spending, one also throws out anyone who doesn't fit your ideology.
Palin reinforces the overall message of the reactionary right, which has been in play since 1980, that social justice is liberal-radical, that minorities and immigrants, being different from "us" pure American types, can be ignored, that progressivism takes too much effort and globalism is a foreign threat. The radical right marches under the banners of "I'm all right, Jack," and "Why change? Everything's OK as it is." The irony, of course, is that Gov. Palin is a woman and a reactionary at the same time. She can add mom to apple pie on her resume, while blithely reversing forty years of feminist progress. The irony is superficial; there are millions of women who stand on the side of conservatism, however obviously they are voting against their own good. The Republicans have won multiple national elections by raising shadow issues based on fear, rejection, hostility to change, and narrow-mindedness.
Obama's call for higher ideals in politics can't be seen in a vacuum. The shadow is real; it was bound to respond. Not just conservatives possess a shadow -- we all do. So what comes next is a contest between the two forces of progress and inertia. Will the shadow win again, or has its furtive appeal become exhausted? No one can predict. The best thing about Gov. Palin is that she brought this conflict to light, which makes the upcoming debate honest. It would be a shame to elect another Reagan, whose smiling persona was a stalking horse for the reactionary forces that have brought us to the demoralized state we are in. We deserve to see what we are getting, without disguise.
GOP's Veep Scares The It Outta Me
The following is my emailed response to a friend telling me that her educated, well-paid sons-in-law remain dedicated to the GOP ticket.
"Palin scares the beMoses outta me. But at least now I know what the devil looks like. Tina Fey, chickadaboom. A creationist? A FLIPPIN’ CREATIONIST? Is this how the Bills & Bobs of the world think their kids will be prepared as adults? If so, they better start teaching ‘em to say, 'Would you like rice with that?'"
On why a feminist daughter voted for Obama:
"I understand her choice. It’s about change, the future and grassroots. Even so, I wanted a wonk in there who knows where all the skeletons are hiding and how to access the inner passageways. Oh well, maybe Obama will send Hillary to the bench. Hope so! I think that’s where we need her the most. Kick royal *ss to get the Constitution back where it belongs. Poor baby’s been on life support for too dam* long. Oy veyyyyyyyyy…I remember when America was a free-speech zone. Hmm, I think I may have my next blog posting right here."
###
"Palin scares the beMoses outta me. But at least now I know what the devil looks like. Tina Fey, chickadaboom. A creationist? A FLIPPIN’ CREATIONIST? Is this how the Bills & Bobs of the world think their kids will be prepared as adults? If so, they better start teaching ‘em to say, 'Would you like rice with that?'"
On why a feminist daughter voted for Obama:
"I understand her choice. It’s about change, the future and grassroots. Even so, I wanted a wonk in there who knows where all the skeletons are hiding and how to access the inner passageways. Oh well, maybe Obama will send Hillary to the bench. Hope so! I think that’s where we need her the most. Kick royal *ss to get the Constitution back where it belongs. Poor baby’s been on life support for too dam* long. Oy veyyyyyyyyy…I remember when America was a free-speech zone. Hmm, I think I may have my next blog posting right here."
###
Thursday, September 4, 2008
You Remember the Constitution, Don’t You?
Could I Be Starstruck?
Did I just hear the voice-over on the McCain film say, “The stars are aligned.” How astral of them. Why, it’s positively out of this world. Zoom…to the cosmos and beyond.
What I Wish I Hadn’t Heard
Lindsey Graham berating Move On. Maybe someone should tell him that America is a land founded on the concept of WE THE PEOPLE – and so is Move On, a grassroots organization of over three-million people like you and me and everyone we all know. Hockey moms. NASCAR dads. Single, married, young, old and everyone in between. Americans who grew too weary of an administration foisting fear, falsehoods and obfuscation. Peee-eeeee-eeeee-eeeee-eeeeople, Senator Graham. Flag-waving, God-loving patriotic Americans, just like you and the people you serve. And so Senator Graham, kindly move on.
You Remember the Constitution, Don’t You?
The Preamble: The Constitution of the United States of America
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Even the Taj Mahal Doesn’t Want the US$
He tries to address the economy. They shout him down. USA! USA! USA!
Hey, ostriches, listen up: Even the Taj Mahal won’t take US currency for admission. Admit it, folks. It is the economy. We are stupid. And when it comes to the dollar, and a whole lot more, we need change.
Hug A Vet
John McCain is telling us about being roughed up worse than ever after he turned down his captors’ offer of early release. The camera is showing a number of vets in the crowd. Thank you, all!
Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t even like being stuck in a drive-thru. I don’t see how I could have survived such an ordeal. You? Clearly, John McCain is a man of enormous intestinal fortitude, courage and stamina. I appreciate his service to our nation, just as I appreciate everyone in our armed services and unarmed, as well, I might add.
Measure Twice. Cut Once.
Say, does anyone have a long enough yardstick to measure the chasm between the McCain campaign and Bush? Didn’t even refer to him by name. Not once.
Marketing Case Study: The rebranding of the GOP in the McCain Campaign
Did you see all those Republican Party lapel pins, balloons and signs? Yeah, neither did I.
###
Did I just hear the voice-over on the McCain film say, “The stars are aligned.” How astral of them. Why, it’s positively out of this world. Zoom…to the cosmos and beyond.
What I Wish I Hadn’t Heard
Lindsey Graham berating Move On. Maybe someone should tell him that America is a land founded on the concept of WE THE PEOPLE – and so is Move On, a grassroots organization of over three-million people like you and me and everyone we all know. Hockey moms. NASCAR dads. Single, married, young, old and everyone in between. Americans who grew too weary of an administration foisting fear, falsehoods and obfuscation. Peee-eeeee-eeeee-eeeee-eeeeople, Senator Graham. Flag-waving, God-loving patriotic Americans, just like you and the people you serve. And so Senator Graham, kindly move on.
You Remember the Constitution, Don’t You?
The Preamble: The Constitution of the United States of America
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Even the Taj Mahal Doesn’t Want the US$
He tries to address the economy. They shout him down. USA! USA! USA!
Hey, ostriches, listen up: Even the Taj Mahal won’t take US currency for admission. Admit it, folks. It is the economy. We are stupid. And when it comes to the dollar, and a whole lot more, we need change.
Hug A Vet
John McCain is telling us about being roughed up worse than ever after he turned down his captors’ offer of early release. The camera is showing a number of vets in the crowd. Thank you, all!
Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t even like being stuck in a drive-thru. I don’t see how I could have survived such an ordeal. You? Clearly, John McCain is a man of enormous intestinal fortitude, courage and stamina. I appreciate his service to our nation, just as I appreciate everyone in our armed services and unarmed, as well, I might add.
Measure Twice. Cut Once.
Say, does anyone have a long enough yardstick to measure the chasm between the McCain campaign and Bush? Didn’t even refer to him by name. Not once.
Marketing Case Study: The rebranding of the GOP in the McCain Campaign
Did you see all those Republican Party lapel pins, balloons and signs? Yeah, neither did I.
###
Of Shotguns and Shotgun Weddings
Not Meg Whitman?
“I put it on E-bay.”
-- Sarah Palin on what she did with the governor’s plane
Drill, Baby, Drill!
And they said Invesco Field at Mile High was going to look like Nuremberg?
By the Numbers
Capacity at Invesco Field for Obama: 84,000
Capacity at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul: 20,000
Population of Alaska: 670,000
Population of Wasilla, Alaska: 7,000
McCain: Age 72
Palin: Age 44. At time of inauguration, she'll have two babies in the household, one a newborn and one with special needs; four other children; and, apparently, a new son-in-law, as well.
Heartbeats away: 1
Potential heartburn cases: 303,000,000
A Noun, a Verb and 9/11
The thing about Giuliani is, he and Spitzer are way too similar for my taste -- particularly in the hypocrisy department. He’ll never live down the no-bid Motorola phone contract. Nor should he.
My Campaign 2008 Bobbleheads
Sarah Palin’s parents. Chuck and Sally Heath of Wasilla, Alaska. Whooda thunk.
###
“I put it on E-bay.”
-- Sarah Palin on what she did with the governor’s plane
Drill, Baby, Drill!
And they said Invesco Field at Mile High was going to look like Nuremberg?
By the Numbers
Capacity at Invesco Field for Obama: 84,000
Capacity at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul: 20,000
Population of Alaska: 670,000
Population of Wasilla, Alaska: 7,000
McCain: Age 72
Palin: Age 44. At time of inauguration, she'll have two babies in the household, one a newborn and one with special needs; four other children; and, apparently, a new son-in-law, as well.
Heartbeats away: 1
Potential heartburn cases: 303,000,000
A Noun, a Verb and 9/11
The thing about Giuliani is, he and Spitzer are way too similar for my taste -- particularly in the hypocrisy department. He’ll never live down the no-bid Motorola phone contract. Nor should he.
My Campaign 2008 Bobbleheads
Sarah Palin’s parents. Chuck and Sally Heath of Wasilla, Alaska. Whooda thunk.
###
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