The Experience Gap

To use a football metaphor, McCain just threw a hail mary...and it fell 25 yards short of the end zone. That's what happens when your still 80 yards away from the end zone, it was 4th and 5, he should have gone with the safe play to the running back in the flat. That way he'd have a new set of downs. As it is the RNC will be complete fiction, a propaganda fest whose only purpose is to convince they're 30% base that they still have a shot.

Sorry, they shot their wad on this one. An end-timer hockey mom with home-schooled kids, not exactly the experience needed to be one palpatating, 72 year old heart from the presidency. Hate to be crude, but it appears that her main goal in life has been to a professional uterus, which is fine, except she gave them all HORRIBLE names. And I am not kidding, the names are as follows: Track (oldest son), Bristol (girl), Willow (girl), Piper (girl), and the latest son, Trig Paxson Van Palin. (Van Palin used to be kewl, I wasn't down with the Van Hagar). What kind of judgement is that? Destining your kids for ridicule in school....oh...that's right...home school. Then, what the fuck....why not name them Tagg....what's that?....Mitt Romney's son is named Tagg? Well, then, the Republicans have some serious naming issues.

But back to the title of this blawg post, experience. Found an interesting timeline on DU.

Obama's record beats the PANTS off this woman. Just look at the education experience. Phd in law from fucking Harvard versus BS degree in journalism at Idaho U. What passes for journalism in Idaho? "Potatoes gonna be harvested soon...back to you Bob."

As for her gubenatorial "experience", from Wikipedia:

Annual sessions begin in January and are limited by statute to 90 calendar days.
Special sessions of 30 calendar days may be convened by a consensus of two-thirds of the each house. In the 2006 elections, a voter initiative was passed that reduced the statutory length of the session to 90 days. The 2008 session was the first 90 day session. Although the session adjourned on time, some members of the legislature claimed that legislation was rushed and public input was jeopardized.

90 days a year!!! Are they really going with the line that Obama has less or equivalent experience here? They like to trot out the 130 present votes Obama had after 8 years in the Illinois legislature. Out of how many though? And McCain has been the most absent Senator BY FAR for atleast TWO (2) years.

As for what her fellow Republicans in the AK state legislature think, lets ask State Senate President Lyda Green:

"She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?"

Maybe that's why she laughed and giggled when some right wing talk radio nuts called Ms. Green a "bitch" and a "cancer". Oh, Ms. Green survived cancer. Palin laughs, giggles, and says it'd be an honor to have these two right wing nutjobs. Sorry, but Sarah Palin comes off horribly. Nice pick McCain.

Game. Set. Match.

Sarah Palin on the, er, issues, or something..

Ok, I was wrong. Apparently you were too, as was everyone. Apparently she had no clue she'd be picked either, as they had to call her in the middle of the night and get her on a plane. Not only that, but WHERE has she been the past few months. Stumping for McCain? Nope. Dealing with her ethics scandal that might get her impeached? Yup. Single-handedly populating sparse areas of Alaska with her Christo-fascist spawn? Perhaps. But the point is, she ain't been around. You know that has to rankle his main female water-carrier of the past few months...Carly Fiorina, the woman who nearly drove HP into the ground. She's been defending the indefensible for months, and McCain picks up a runner-up beauty queen with a penchant for making babies and praying for the end times. Wow.

This is clearly a pick borne out of fear for the McCain camp. Attempting to peel off a few of the mythical PUMA's. The non-existing "Hillary" supporter's who'd pick McCain for some unknown reason. Sure, vote against the guy that agrees with Hillary on, oh, EVERYTHING, and choose the guy who's anti-choice, anti-equality, pro-war, makes jokes about gorillas raping woman, and calls his wife the c-word. Notice that when they interview a PUMA they makes some unintentionally revealing comment? Usually something about "Obama is a moslim" or some shit no self-respecting Democrat (or sane person) would say. They're plants, they don't exist, and McCain fell for his own party's bullshit. Loser.

This is SOOO a sacrificial campaign now. They listened to Obama's speech, said "oh shit", and told Pawlenty or Mittens to hold off til 2012, called crazy girl in the middle of the night and told her to get on a plane. And they had to GIVE away tickets to people to come to this "announcement". Sad. Don't fall for the right wing spin. This is desperation, this is not smart, this will not work, and this is weakness.

But where does Palin stand on the issues? Good question. Won't find it here...

Literally, there's like one fucking line on about 1/3 of the issues. Compare it to Obama's site here. For Obama, there's line after line of a RECORD and POSITIONS and VOTES on EACH and EVERY issue. For Palin, virtually NOTHING. You wanna talk about an experience gap? How can the right wingers claim that she has more or equivalent or anywhere fucking close to the amount of experience Obama has? Oh, that's right...because the right wing is full of fucking liars. Sorry, I forgot, won't happen again.

But the right wingers LOVE her already. What do they care about most? Foreign policy....Palin's stance is "No issue stance yet recorded". Immigration.....Palin's stance is "No issue stance yet recorded". Here's one they care about...Homeland Security...."Promote from within, in Alaska's National Guard. (Nov 2006)" Wow, what a principled stance!!

UPDATE 9/5/08: Checked out the "on the issues" page and it has been updated. Much has been learned about this woman in the past week, not much of it good. Some interesting additions:

Teach creationism alongside evolution in schools. (Aug 2008)
Supports teaching intelligent design in public schools. (Aug 2008)
"K, so she's a flat earther...strike one."

Opposed protections for salmon from mining contamination. (Aug 2008)
Sue US government to stop listing polar bear as endangered. (Aug 2008)
We must encourage timber, mining, drilling, & fishing. (Jan 2008)
Provide stability in regulations for developers. (Jan 2007)
Convince the rest of the nation to open ANWR. (Jan 2007)
Fish platform: "Resource First" philosophy. (Nov 2006)
Rail provides critical link for business development. (Nov 2006)
Supports "Roads to Resources": subsidized access to mines. (Oct 2006)
Don't duplicate effort in monitoring cruise ship emissions. (Oct 2006)
Don't amend AK constitution for rural subsistence fishing. (Oct 2006)
"K, so she is AGAINST the environment....strike two."

17-year-old unmarried daughter is 5 months pregnant. (Sep 2008)
Opposes explicit sex-education programs. (Jul 2006)
"Hmm, you think if she'd let her daughter have a condom or learn how to put one on a cucumber, lil Bristol and Levi might have been spared the embarrassment this week?...that'd be strike three."

Oh, and still nothing on foreign policy...although she's right next door to Russia (snark). You know, I went to the BVI's once, so I'm, like, an expert on British Colonialism now.

Random Thoughts

1) The Obama speech was impressive and touched on some important themes. I only would have liked a direct attack at the conservative ideology of governance....one that weakens and neuters government when it comes to helping normal people, but acts socialistic when the big boys fall on hard times. There were instances when he touched on that and made the proper distinctions, I just expected that part to be presented more forcefully. All in all a very good speech and I heard one Republican operative expecting a 10% bounce from the convention. No wonder McCain is trying to steal the thunder tomorrow. Which brings me to...

2) I know who Asshole is going to pick tomorrow. Well, I have it narrowed down to two people. Tim Pawlenty, that dipshit gov from Minnesota, is playing coy and canceling interviews for tomorrow. Other than that there's no tactical reason to pick him, that's just where the gossip leads. Biden will chew his ass up in the debate. Other pick is Tom Ridge, former head of the Dept of Protecting the Fatherland...or something Orwellian like that. Former gov of Pennsylvania who is fairly popular there and perceived as a moderate. I just think the Biden pick freaked the fuck out of McCain's people, as Biden strengthens them in the foreign policy arena, on the economy, and in the battleground state of PA. Ridge would give McCain an assist in that state. Granted, he's pro-choice, which could splinter the party. Other than that, he doesn't bring much to the table, other than some duct tape, plastic wrap, and a color-coded bullshit meter. Ahh, fuck it, he'll pick Mittens. No matter, Biden will rip Ken Doll a new asshole too.

3) Back to Obama. What I really liked is the promise of unity and bipartisanship. Yeah, I know, the Republicans are built on not compromising, but the vast majority of Americans are not so bullheaded. Take away 30 percenters, and we have a winning coalition. The 30 percenters only have division as a tactic to win the White House. Divide and conquer has been their strategy for 40 years, and its worked quite a bit. Which brings us to our own local purveyor of right wing bullshit...

4). Checked out the Heavy Drinkers tonight and nearly fell off my chair. Check dis shit out. Take a minute, read it. Yeah, I know....fucking crazy. For those too scared to follow the link, this is what passes for discussion on that board....

Jerry: NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers are contracting HIV at three
times the national rate, the city health department said on Wednesday,
attributing the difference to New York's large population of high-risk
groups such as gay men and blacks. Blacks and men who have sex with men have
the highest rates of new infections. Half of the city's 2006 infections
occurred among men who have sex with men, the city's health report said.
So... how are these two liberal lifestyles workin for you America? http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2748577520080827

Afan:
Another reason to not visit NYC. (Psssst. It's probably Bush's fault...)

Ok, there's not much to make fun of A_fan(atic) here (other than the fact that she-man agrees), its the original post that gets me. The obsession with gay sex makes me think he's got a secret hankering for it. But he talks about TWO groups here...gays and blacks. And he refers to them as TWO liberal lifestyles. WTF is up this guy's ass (other than a rotting gerbil)?? Being homophobic isn't enough, he has to be blatantly racist. But how does being black equate with a political ideology? Is it because 2% or less of blacks would ever vote for a Republican? Is it because a black man voting for a Republican is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders?

This goes on all the fucking time on that board. Jerry will post a article on a pet topic that exposes him for the worst kind of thoughts this side of Michael Weiner Savage. His troglodytic followers post their dittoes in their grammatically-challenged way. Occasionally, a liberal or moderate or fucking-sane person will challenge him on his thoughts. That will undoubtedly lead to deletions, edits, post locking, or banishment. Things quiet down a while, but then the process begins again. Lately I think he's been pushing for an argument, with a recent posting titled "Obama...Democrats...Babykillers??", as if the question mark protects him from having to back-up his bullshit argument. He won't get the argument because the posters on the "free-forum" are scared shitless of his powers. (a free forum that some suckers have given him money for, despite the numerous ads that certainly kick in a few pennies to the unemployed, Workers Comp abusing former radio host) I'd like to post but I've been banned a few times, and the last instance stuck. There's no arguing with folks like that anyway. Anyone who happily posts the above tripe is not worthy of debating.

Nice....

Some random notes that came to mind after watching last night's coverage and speeches...

1) Hillary knocked it out of the park. Nothing for the pundits to cling to in their never ending quest to divide (the Democrats) and conquer (or give a big assist to the Republicans). Ron Fornier did his best this morning. Fucker. Glad Obama's peeps are wise to the AP's shift to Fox-style "analysis". It still hurts that they keep trotting out the lines Hillary threw out in the primary. But her speech did a lot to shift away from the primary fight.

2) She had a couple good lines. I especially liked the "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pantsuits" joke. Self depreciating and funny. I liked that she eschewed her normal tope pantsuit and came out in a tropical orange. Orange is the new tope!!!

3) Bush/McCain = Twin Cities was another good one. I tell you, all they need to do to win in November is continually air that picture of McCain giving a gay man-hug to Bush. The framing of Bush=McCain in her speech was perfect.

4) I mainly flipped through the coverage, waiting for that featured speech. Fox News ran ALERTS after her speech, telling viewers that Hillary preferred Obama. No shit?!?! Also made the mistake of watching the last 2 minutes of Glen Beck's horrible show. How does Fat Face stay on CNN, the supposed liberal bastion of news, when his ratings are worse than infomercials? Anyway, Beck was "analyzing" Obama's campaign songs to try to belittle him. Apparently Obama plays a U2 song (won't hold that against him) that has the line "you are beautiful", and that rankles Fat Face. Fucking lame. He should have waited til Hillary's intro film. At one point, the background music was Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way". Yes, Hillary, are you gonna back the Unity Pony or what? Or are you going to split the party after how horribly you were treated by those evil Obamites? As far as bullshit analogies that benefit Republican framing, Fat Face would have been better served to "analyze" that. Too late now.

Yeah, A Pile of Something...

The above graphic is a depiction from some lee-buh-rul biased reporter from Taxachusets. It can also be viewed here.

Of course, what jumps out is the blatant negativity of McCain's campaign and their necessity of making it all about Obama. The same shit they always do...make it about a referendum about the opponent who's in the political minority, rather than about who drove this country into the shitter to begin with.

The graphic was derived from an online software site (wordle.net). Its interesting nonetheless and I've decided to try it with my own shitty blog. You can mess with the layout and add lots of pretty colors. Check dis shit out, yo....



What jumps out is Gay Ass Fucking. Geez, I've got some problems :(

What YouTube Was Made For

Double Standards

The latest media frenzy from John Edwards revealed affair is another anectdote that disproves the liberal-media-myth.

Take their treatment of JE's affair, along with any other affair that involved a politician with a D after their name. The pretty boy trial lawyer first denies the affair, then confirms the affair. His cancer-stricken wife and family already knew about it. There might be a love child and most certainly moneys transferred. The result? Media clusterfuck. Not saying he doesn't deserve the bad press or calls of hypocrisy. But really, the relevation that a politician lied?...stop the freakin presses. Isn't lying a job requirement for those folks. Besides, lying and cheating are one in the same. Too bad he wasn't lying about WMD's or Saddam's ties with Al Qaeda or Pat Tillman's death or torture or warrantless wiretapping or....you get the idea....those lies would have been forgotten and called "old news".

But lets take another example. We have a Republican Senator from AZ currently running for president. Had an affair with his current wife (a rich beer heiress) while married with his crippled first wife. Didn't deny it (said it was in the past) in that trademarked "Straight Talk" way. The NYTimes revealed he was banging a lobbyist (Vicki Iseman) who was also lending him corporate jets and who knows what else for legislative favors. Under pressure, the Times retracted the banging part, but not the rest that entailed ethical (and perhaps legal) lapses. The result? Media silence, save a couple low key mentions in the primary season. Not that it matters though. McCains only running for president, as opposed to not running for president, like Edwards. Not running for president is an important position that requires the closest media scrutiny.

Look at Bill Clinton, Dem. Got a BJ in the oval office from a Jewish girl. The result? Impeachment. Disbarred too. He's also been blamed for hurting his wife's chances for the same reason. Can't have another pussyhound in the White House. It worked so badly with JFK and all. Lets have another sexually repressed pres like Nixon. Sorry, sarcasm doesn't work so well when typing.

Look at David Vitter, Repub. Serial hooker-addict, wore diapers and walked on my stilleto-heeled prostitutes, all the while acting as family values man whose wife would lop off his hoo-hoo-dilly if he ever dared to act like Slick Willy. The result? Media silence and a standing ovation from his fellow Republican. Oh yeah, remember the DC madame whose black book revealed Vitter's name? Well, she's been Suicided (not the self-inflicted multiple gunshot suicide, but suspicious nonetheless). That's another story that's worth less print space than John Edwards having an affair.

Look at Eliot Spitzer, Dem. Revealed, through banking transactions (thank you Total, er, Terrorist Information Awareness), that he was spending thousands on call girls. The result? Immediate resignation and the end of his political career.

Look at Larry Craig, Repub. Destined for Mr. Garrison's character in the live-actor remake of South Park the Movie, he rose to fame when it was revealed that he toe-tapped his way to gay sex in airport bathrooms. How classy....and hygienic. His wife and family stood by him as he convincingly stated "I'm not gay" in a lispy tone. The result? Media frenzy for a short while, but he's still on the job. And he's trying to "protect marriage" from the out-of-the-closet gay community by putting forth amendments with that other stallwart of family values, David Vitter. No, I am not kidding...couldn't make it up if I tried.

There's too many more to go through, but you get the idea. If you're Republican and cheat, you weather the short media storm and keep your job. In the case of McCain, the media refuses to mention it (in fact, ABC scrubbed John Edward's mention of it in his recent interview). If you're a Dem and you cheat, media clusterfuck, trumping all other news (including news that the White House fucking forged documents that tried to tie Saddam with Al Qaeda!!!!!), and your political career is over. No, no double standard there.