Friedman makes sense

On two points--patriotism, and taxes.

Op-Ed Columnist - Palin’s Kind of Patriotism - NYTimes.com: "I only wish she had been asked: “Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed? If it isn’t from tax revenues, there are only two ways to pay for those big projects — printing more money or borrowing more money. Do you think borrowing money from China is more patriotic than raising it in taxes from Americans?” That is not putting America first. That is selling America first.

Sorry, I grew up in a very middle-class family in a very middle-class suburb of Minneapolis, and my parents taught me that paying taxes, while certainly no fun, was how we paid for the police and the Army, our public universities and local schools, scientific research and Medicare for the elderly. No one said it better than Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: “I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.”"

I hadn't heard the Holmes' quote. Good one. As I have said many times, I am tired of the right wing mantra that all taxes are evil and that our government is evil. Our government is "us" and our taxes (though all are not proposed nor spent wisely) are how we live with each other in something approaching a civilized community.

David Brooks on Sarah Palin and the Republican party

And it isn't very flattering:

"[Sarah Palin] represents a fatal cancer to the Republican party. When I first started in journalism, I worked at the National Review for Bill Buckley. And Buckley famously said he'd rather be ruled by the first 2,000 names in the Boston phone book than by the Harvard faculty. But he didn't think those were the only two options. He thought it was important to have people on the conservative side who celebrated ideas, who celebrated learning. And his whole life was based on that, and that was also true for a lot of the other conservatives in the Reagan era. Reagan had an immense faith in the power of ideas. But there has been a counter, more populist tradition, which is not only to scorn liberal ideas but to scorn ideas entirely. And I'm afraid that Sarah Palin has those prejudices. I think President Bush has those prejudices."

I am with Coates on this one

When we agree Campbell Brown, something is up. She has always struck me as one of the lightweight pretty journalists who presented the spin. When she is questioning the race-baiting tactics of John McCain, that suggests a pretty radical shift in the media narrative from just four years ago. Can any of you imagine national reporters questioning anything Bush did then? I can't.

Heh--"'maverick' seems synonymous with coward"

Daily Kos: State of the Nation:

"Yeah, she's firing up the wingnut base. Who cares. The wingnut base is the easiest group of people on the planet to fire up. They get fired up when they think gays might steal their marriages. They get fired up when they have to press 'one' for English. They get fired up when some black guy gets all uppity and runs for president. They get fired up when their sub-sub-sub-version of Christianity isn't the dominant religious ideal of the nation. Holding Sarah Palin in front of them is like teasing a dog through a fence, but that's about it."

Just weird: McCain says "My fellow Prisoners" but not telling a POW story

Talking Points Memo | Losing It?

Make-Believe Maverick : Rolling Stone

I am not completely sold, but a very lengthy and eye-opening profile of McCain that suggests he has much more in common with the current President than we ever thought. His fellow POW's don't all think he is that great, either. John Dramesi, someone who was brutally tortured for trying to escape, and never uttered a word to his captors, is not a fan. Relating a story where the married McCain was looking forward to a cushy post in Rio for the women he could get:

Dramesi, who went on to serve as chief war planner for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and commander of a wing of the Strategic Air Command, was not surprised. "McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man," Dramesi says today. "But he's still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in."

Not sure Cindy knows the definition of "dirtiest"

Or at least, she doesn't know her husband hired the same people who savaged him in 2000.

Oh, and the debate. I didn't watch. Had class tonight and just didn't feel up to 90 minutes of "my friends." Read a few live blogs, and heard that McCain referred to Obama as "that one." Nice.

Wow. Alaskan Secessionist party wackier than we thought

Their founder ranted in front of the UN against the US, in a speech sponsored by Iran. Just imagine if Obama was connected to a group like that.

But Palin can get away with suggesting that Obama is "palling around with terrorists."

Her glee at using this kind of slander and lies makes me wonder if she isn't some kind of awful person. As many bloggers have noted, McCain and Palin are stoking up rallies and then surprised at the racist and xenophobic outbursts. Dana Milbank reports that one rally included her supporters turning on reporters and shouting racist epithets at an African American sound man.

The Democratic nominee for President has a lot of security because there are a lot of nutjobs out there. From what I heard, he has more security than Bush because there are more threats lodged against him. Now the Republican candidates are stoking that anger and actually encouraging it. I am not saying they want something bad to happen to Obama, but they are perfectly willing to rally the racists if that will help them get elected. That is stunningly irresponsible.

But Palin and McCain's patriotism is unassailable. Fine. Perhaps we should at least note that they have absolutely no moral courage.

And "their heart closes down"

Damn. Berkeley Breathed is ending Opus. I have a personal connection to the penguin from Bloom County. I remember seeing him speak during college. I read every Bloom County strip. I bought the books. I have two stuffed Opus, er, figures. One I gave to SOF. I won't read the last strip. I can't. I won't.

I think I do grief badly. Perhaps you need no more proof than the fact that I teared up hearing that Opus would be no more. If I grieve an imaginary penguin, what do you think I do with losing people or animals close to me?

This day has been sad and melancholy. I am prone to that. I know it. The weather grows a little cooler; the days a little shorter; and my mood darkens. I have felt that today with an intensity that I don't enjoy, but have become familiar with. Don't get me wrong. It is not clinical. I am not stopped from doing my work, or connecting to SOF or my friends. I am not bedridden.

I am just sad.

Listening to the interview on NPR on the way home from the store, I found myself tearing up. Discussing his new children's book, Breathed said that he wants children to know that sometimes adults are sad for a good reason, but sometimes "their heart closes down" and they are closed to new experiences and new relationships.

I understand that. I haven't done that, but I understand that. There are times I am jealous of those who seem to be able to box their emotions into some inaccessible space and forge ahead. I have never been one of those people. I really don't think it is healthy. But sometimes it seems like it would make life a little easier. After losing a very sweet dog last year, I feared I would harden. She represented so much for me about what was good--that losing her was harder than it, perhaps, should have been. But her loss was connected to so many other losses--friendships, relationships, dreams, etc.

I have no pithy answers to my own grief. I know that I have pledged to not close down my heart nor lock myself away from other people. And I hope to keep that pledge and make myself available and vulnerable to those around me.

But for me, Opus will live on forever in a world where irreverent humor meets childhood innocence. If that is denial, then it is the one I am willing to live with.

More on Projection

Talking Points Memo | Back to the DSM-IV

Check out the video of McCain getting "touchy" and "angry" when his policies and decisions are questioned. Also check out how the Des Moines paper characterizes his interview.

Is this textbook projection?

Because it seems delusional:

"'My opponent's touchiness every time he is questioned about his record should make us only more concerned. For a guy who's already authored two memoirs, he's not exactly an open book. It's as if somehow the usual rules don't apply, and where other candidates have to explain themselves and their records, Senator Obama seems to think he is above all that,' - John McCain, today."

McCain camp to go negative

Because even after Sarah Palin managed to wink her way through a debate instead of collapsing in tears, the polls aren't going in McCain's direction. Of course, he doesn't have to go negative. But he will, and he will do it gladly, as we saw Palin on the stump referring to Obama as "palling around with terrorists." As many have noted, that seems purposefully vague to invoke modern terrorism, rather than one white guy from the time Obama was 8 who Obama has renounced for that behavior. Oh, and that white guy is now an Education professor.

The thing is, that this is one of those "glass house" kind of situation. McCain has plenty of associations in his past and present that are troubling. One, that I raised earlier this year (Ubub will back me up) is that while the right wants to tar and feather Obama for knowing William Ayers, no one mentions that a common stop for right wing politicians is G. Gordon Liddy. When I suggested that to Ubub and Anglican, I was speculating, but now we have some evidence that McCain has appeared with Liddy and even had a fundraiser at his home. On Liddy's radio show, just last November

Liddy greeted him as “an old friend,” and McCain sounded like one. “I’m proud of you, I’m proud of your family,” he gushed. “It’s always a pleasure for me to come on your program, Gordon, and congratulations on your continued success and adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great.”

Liddy, as far as I know, remains unrepentant for the laws he broke during Watergate, and admitted in one of his books that he had made plans to kill a journalist believing that was Nixon's wish. So, why is that not a problem for McCain? Perhaps it will be.

But even more troubling, I think, for McCain is his Keating connection, which Ben Smith points out is not "guilt by association," but rather "guilt by guilt." The issue isn't that McCain knew Keating, but that McCain assisted Keating in his wrong doing, and that McCain's current approach to economic regulation is shockingly similar to what he did back then.

Back to why I don't like Sarah Palin

Sorry. I know we are already tired of her. But she is still out there and still threatening to take over the Vice Presidency (which she still doesn't understand, btw). She said in her interview with Katie Couric that Dick Cheney's biggest mistake was his hunting accident. Evidently she doesn't sweat torture either. On Fox, the day after the debate, she said that as VP, she would make sure that the executive branch "does its job." What that means, I have no idea, and I don't think she does either.

I have been in an email conversation about Palin with a conservative friend. He has reservations about her as well, but has accused me and others of unfairly disparaging the Governor for lacking intellectual curiosity. I am not sure why that is such an insult, but it sure seems true with the woman who would be Veep. She doesn't know about the conversation about Roe, about Hamas, or about the Bush Doctrine. And she has no clue that Dick Cheney might have fundamentally changed the Veep role for the worse.

But it isn't her conservative stances (or lack thereof) that bother me the most. It is how she acts. While playing to the pious religious folk, she acts more like Mae West than Lottie Moon. Watching her wink and flirt during the debate, I wondered if she was putting on an act or if this was what her boss wanted. The NRO's Rich Lowry suggested it worked for him

I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me." And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America.

Nice, huh? Bad enough that the religious right backing this candidate rightly worry about the over-sexualized nature of our culture, but then back someone who single-handedly is trying to turn the Vice Presidency into a beauty contest--complete with a flirting candidate. Oh, but she is pro-life, so that is all that matters?

I could handle the flirting and the winking. But, as the Slate blogger notes, she is not a nice person:

"it isn't her conservatism that rankles, but her bile. (Today, for example, she accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists who would target their own country'' because he happened to serve on a charity board on education reform with a '60s radical whose views he has denounced. According to the New York Times story Palin was referencing—and deliberately misrepresenting—"[t]he two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of [William] Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.' "

All that Jesus stuff comes in handy when you are preaching at the Wasilla Pentacostal church, or speaking to a canned audience of men like Richard Land, but it evidently isn't handy when you are asked to speak about your opponent. This one thing sums up why I have grown to loathe the Bush and Palin's of the world, and lose respect for the religious people who back them. They use their faith to get support and fundraising, and then govern or campaign in a manner that would make Machiavelli blush. The ends, after all, justify the means. Being Christian means you get certain people's votes, but it certainly doesn't ask you to speak honestly or respectfully about Barack Obama. Nope. You get to call him a terrorist and Unamerican.

Sigh.

A Saturday Palin-free post. At least until that title it was. Damn.

Our pond pump broke last week. Well, to be fair, I think it broke last month, but I discovered it last Saturday while waiting for a friend to take me to the OU/TCU game. Our first instinct was to just bag it until next Spring when we intend to install a liner so we can have fish. But then we realized just how much we enjoyed the waterfall during the autumn months. These can be some of the most pleasant in Oklahoma, and we like to sit out back with the dogs, chiminea fire, and a few beers--listening to music and the gentle waterfall.

So yesterday, SOF and I hit the road to beautiful and scenic (it was nice) Shawnee, Oklahoma. Turns out they have one of the largest outdoor (or indoor, for that matter) pond stores in the nation. A very nice man spent several hours with us showing various approaches to ponds and discussing what might work for us. Turns out that one of the impediments for having fish is adequate biological filtration. Putting fish in there, along with a lot of decaying oragnic material can lead to toxic levels of amonia (and other things I can't remember). If we decide to move forward next spring, we will have to decide on how to manage that.

But in the meantime, we learned more about using pond pumps. Turns out I handled my previous pump exactly wrong, though intuitively correct for me. I reduced the flow going into the pump, where that model wants the flow reduction on the outgoing side to increase head pressure. I thought that would make the pump work harder, but counter intuitively, it actually would have worked better and with less electrical current. Who knew? Perhaps my old pump would be more than a dead weight now. Or not.

We ended up purchasing a used magnetic drive pump (no, I don't know what that means) to get us working again for the fall. And it works beautifully. Check it out here:



As you see, Abbie approves. It is nice to have it back.

Heh

Palin's debate flow chart

Circulating on the internets this morning. H/t to my friend Mary. And it is just too damn funny. Actually, it would be funnier if it weren't so true.

The morning after

And my view of the debate has not changed. Palin did well enough to keep her on the ticket, but did not demonstrate any fundamental curiosity or understanding of complex issues. Not one. She showed she can be briefed and coached in a debate. She showed she can memorize some talking points, but she has yet to fundamentally explain a complex issue. That may be true of many people, but those people aren't running for the Veep spot with the oldest Presidential candidate. Someone described her like a sugar high. You are intrigued with her at the beginning, and then start to quickly tire of her as you frantically look through your cupboards for a little protein.

Or, as Noam Scheiber put it:

"My completely impressionistic take on Palin's performance tonight is that it mirrorred her campaign performance so far (if not quite as dramatically): When Palin started off, you thought, "Wow, she seems so fresh--so human and easy to relate to. How can we compete with that?" Then, as the debate wore on, you thought, "Hmm, okay, she still seems human, but not quite what I'm looking for in a vice president." And, by the end, as the vacuous answers piled up, it was more like, "Good God, keep this woman away from the Oval Office." Which is the story of the last month, too."

Sheiber also quoted one of her more nonsensical and talking points-ridden answer. As if, you might say, she is playing madlibs with disparate talking points about Israel

But, man, ask the woman to grapple with a substantive question and you worry she's going to hurt herself. My favorite Palin response of the night:

IFILL: What has this administration done right or wrong -- this is the great, lingering, unresolved issue, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- what have they done? And is a two-state solution the solution?

PALIN: A two-state solution is the solution. And Secretary Rice, having recently met with leaders on one side or the other there, also, still in these waning days of the Bush administration, trying to forge that peace, and that needs to be done, and that will be top of an agenda item, also, under a McCain-Palin administration.

Israel is our strongest and best ally in the Middle East. We have got to assure them that we will never allow a second Holocaust, despite, again, warnings from Iran and any other country that would seek to destroy Israel, that that is what they would like to see.

We will support Israel. A two-state solution, building our embassy, also, in Jerusalem, those things that we look forward to being able to accomplish, with this peace-seeking nation, and they have a track record of being able to forge these peace agreements.

They succeeded with Jordan. They succeeded with Egypt. I'm sure that we're going to see more success there, also.

It's got to be a commitment of the United States of America, though. And I can promise you, in a McCain-Palin administration, that commitment is there to work with our friends in Israel.

She should never be in the oval office except on a tour. Like me. Like most of you. This Republican bullshit that says we should elect a normal regular "hockey mom" (even if she is that) is unbelievably destructive and irresponsible as we face economic catastrophe, climate change and a war on terror. Neither of those three things, I might add, can Sarah Palin explain, or address, in any kind of complexity. This is not the time for make-believe candidates.

Nukular?

Am I wrong, or does Sarah Palin pronounce it the same way?

Oh, and her favorite word is "also."

And I don't like her. And I still don't see anything that suggests that she knows anything close to enough to govern.


*****

Sigh. Mavericks.

She is not an idiot. But she isn't far from it.

******

"Doggone it?" WTF? Is it too much to ask that our national candidates could speak English. Maybe?

***

And she is "thankful" that the Constitution has duties for the VP. Also.

Also.

Also.

"Work with Ya. "

Also.

****

We will do with the VP what is best for the country. Whether it is legal or not.

Also.

I think she is completely blather. Blather. Also. Blather.


****

Is she really an oil and gas regulator?

World View? American Exceptionalism. We are unapologetically better than anyone else.

Sigh.

I am starting to hate her. Ya.

Also.

Reform. Maverick. Blah. Blah.

****

Did I say Maverick? Also? Also. Ya. Doggone it. Ya. Blah, blah, blah, maverick, blah, blah, reform, blah, blah. Also.

****

Oh, and Palin called the commander in Afghanistan "McClellan. didn't she?

****

Up there. In Alaska.

Also.


******

Forgot "folks." Evidently there are a lot of "folks" in Alaska.

*****

Oh god. The problem with those interviews was the evil media filter. It wasn't Palin. It was Katie Couric.

"fight for our freedoms also." Jeebus. She could be in charge of the bombs.

Wow

I found this video at Ta-Nehisi Coates and completely understand why an African American writer would be so excited to see this. Many will disagree with the pro-union rhetoric, and even the political conclusions. But watch this and marvel that in 2008, with all the race-baiting and BS we have seen, that a white union leader speaks so eloquently against racism.

A very interesting take on Palin

That, I think most Repubs and many Democrats have missed. From a Coates reader email:

"For many Gen X women like myself (and Palin is Gen X) the primary sexist experience is: 'Those men gave the job to that clueless chick instead of me, because the boss thinks she's hot and/or will be a yes-man with no ideas of her own.'

If, for some Boomer women, Obama's win over Hillary represents the guy they lost the promotion to, Palin's selection plays the same role for Gen X women. We've seen it: first the incompetent yet babelicious woman is promoted over her head, then the boss orders the attention of the entire team/department/etc. to focus on ensuring that 'we' shield her from 'mistakes' (or worse, we get blamed for her mistakes). Palin reminds us of when we got screwed by this sort of bullshit. And it shows in voters' response to her."

Tony posted several of the latest Palin stories and noted how the Evangelical Outpost just continues to gush over Palin's approach to the public square, while retaining her identity as a "lady." While I am sure many evangelical women will do the gymnastics necessary to celebrate Palin (even for the same virtues they savaged Clinton), I think many women, period, will distrust her because of her apparent popularity because of her looks.