Oh. Good. God.

What Palin should have done in the first place

Turn it down. But she couldn't "blink." And that is her claim to the Veep.

My Palin prediction

And I am not exactly ready to bet the retirement fund on this, just so you know, nor actually any real money. After all, gambling is immoral, right? :) But after watching the floundering of Sarah Palin, as well as the chorus of voices calling for her to tell the world she has to "spend more time with her family," I am predicting that the VP debate this Thursday will not take place. I read somewhere that internal McCain higher-ups are completely appalled with Palin's inability to manage the issues in interviews, mock debates, and mock press conferences.

McCain is in a bind. He obviously didn't vet her, and didn't even choose her on his own. He took a flier on an untested and unprepared candidate to appease the religious right and that gamble is weighing on his campaign like an albatross. If he fires her, he risks losing the right and that would doom his campaign. But if he keeps her, he risks losing the rest of the country and dooming his campaign. I would not be surprised if Palin invokes some family emergency (with an infant child and pregnant daughter that would not be either unreasonable or difficult to do) and bowing out. It cannot look like McCain pushed her out, though I suspect that is certainly a possibility.

More likely, I think is that McCain looks at his chances in November and thinks he is a long shot as it is. Booting Palin doesn't actually help him either, and he may decide that he should just stick with her. But I am going to be surprised if they don't pull some kind of stunt to delay the debate until..., well, maybe December.

When your VP candidate is such a joke that SNL can pull direct quotes (lengthy ones too) in a "parody" of your interview with Couric, you are in trouble. It is one thing to mock mannerisms or speech patterns, but when your entire candidacy IS the joke--that isn't good.

RIP, Paul Newman

Very sad news this morning that the great Paul Newman passed away. I have always admired him as an actor, citizen, and human being. He will be missed.

On torture

Some good news from the debate, as Melissa Rogers notes was John McCain's rejection of torture. :

"MCCAIN: . . . . [W]e've got to -- to make sure that we have people who are trained interrogators so that we don't ever torture a prisoner ever again.

LEHRER: Two minutes, Senator Obama.
OBAMA: . . . . I give Senator McCain great credit on the torture issue, for having identified that as something that undermines our long-term security -- because of those things, we, I think, are going to have a lot of work to do in the next administration to restore that sense that America is that shining beacon on a hill."

As I noted on Melissa's blog, the one problem with this is the implication that the problem was the interrogator's training, and not the moral bankruptcy of our civilian leadership. I know McCain doesn't want to call Bush out on this--at least partially because there are many parts of his base that approve of torture--but that was a bit of sleight of hand, and I wish Obama would have made that point. Also, he could have pointed out (though he was trying to be conciliatory) that McCain had also helped Bush retain the right to authorize torture through the CIA.

A very interesting quote on the bailout

H/t to SOF for this quote from the Archbishop of York:

"'the President of the United States recently announced a $700 billion bailout plans for banks and financial institutions. One of the ironies about this financial crisis is that it makes action on poverty look utterly achievable. It would cost $5 billion to save six million children's lives. World leaders could find 140 times that amount for the banking system in a week. How can they now tell us that action for the poorest on the planet is too expensive?'"

I was struck by the amount last night when Obama mentioned again how much we have spent in Iraq. Imagine if we had a President so dedicated to eradicating poverty as he was to pursuing his own personal demons in the middle-east? Imagine if we had Congressional leaders who were less consumed by ideological nonsense and devoted to making the world a little better place?

Trypod update

Just a quick note. L brought little Trypod over this evening so we could see him. He has grown tremendously since bounding around here chasing Abbie, and despite his most recent operation, moves incredibly well and is a very happy kitten. I will try and post some photos tomorrow. But thanks for all who contributed and all the good thoughts. I know he is just a kitten in a world gone crazy, but he is our little friend and we are so very glad he is doing well.

Good night to all of my other friends.

The Debate

I can't watch for more than a few moments. When McCain turns dickish, I just have to leave the room. That means every time he speaks. "What Senator Obama doesn't understand..." or "that is dangerous talk."

Yeah, like joking about bombing Iran wasn't.

I am biased. My mind has been made up since Bush authorized torture and then defended it. The Republicans have lost the moral authority to lead, and I will not vote for another one until they clean house. I am biased.

But I think Obama has passed the "Presidential" threshold. McCain, from what I saw, landed a few soft shots on Obama's sub-committee, but the rest of his stuff was more lies, and more defense of Bush policies. Except he doesn't claim they are Bush policies.

Sigh.

I especially liked when he named his "partner." Though I am pretty sure he didn't actually name her, nor note that her proximity to Russia made her a foreign policy guru.

Sigh.

Oh. My. God. She is In. Over. Her. Head.

Just watch. If you dare. Here she talks about the economic bailout and even looking at her notes, she has no understanding of the economy. Rod Dreher (I will find the link later) compared her to a college student who tries to take an exam after not preparing. I think she is like the college student who tried to cram two years of information in a couple hours. Either way, she only knows vague talking points.

It is really sad to watch. But she isn't getting better. And I am not the only one who thinks so. H/t to one of my yoga friends for this story noting that conservative commentator Kathleen Parker has called on Palin to step down. Silly Kathleen. Sarah doesn't "blink" and I am pretty sure stepping down would qualify.

But if you are losing the Parkers and the Drehers, you are losing the Conservative enthusiasm you were brought in for.

McCain as leader

And it looks horrible. Not only did he pull what is clearly a political stunt by fake suspending his campaign (you really didn't think that meant that he stopped campaigning, did you?), but he clearly inserted himself into this mess to blow it up worse. He is starting to remind me of his idol, Teddy Roosevelt in that he seems to want to be the "bride at every wedding, or the corpse at every funeral."

What is more, as you read through this story, you constantly see McCain refusing to take a side. So he blew up negotiations, and now is circling looking to see which plan looks like it might work, so he can take credit for it. Or, alternatively, which plan he can use as a weapon against Obama. This isn't leadership. This is political grandstanding at a very bad time.

Country first? I think not.

Suspending the blog

Not really, but that is the joke going around after McCain's gambit. Many think it is a pure political trick aimed at protecting Sarah Palin from dominating the news.

And she is not very good. And she still hasn't faced up to scary reporters--but is prepared to face up to Putin?

McCain thinks so little of this country that he is willing to put a person one heartbeat away from the President who is not prepared to answer questions from the media. Prepared to back up the President, but not prepared to answer any meaningful questions.

Her candidacy is an insult to women for sure, and an insult to America.

Back update and a couple of news items

The back is feeling better, finally. Still not exactly ready to go jogging as I have some pain in the leg and a slight amount of numbness in the last two toes on that leg. I have learned a little anatomy along the way, and know that my problem originates in the L4 and L5 area and most likely a herniated or bulging disk that is pressing on the S1 nerve. Or something.

The PT people have been pretty spectacularly good. Little scary at times as I have been hooked up to electrodes and placed on a traction machine, but all of their treatment has helped tremendously. I think it will still be some time before that disk returns to something approaching normal, and even then, as my therapist noted yesterday, I will have to be "on my game" in how I lift and how I tend to my core strength.

****

The news is still about the bailout, but it appears that strange bedfellows has a chance to pull together conservative Republicans and Democrats in challenging this blank check. If you want some humor regarding the bailout, Jon Stewart last night had a clip of some news person explaining how much 700 billion was in McDonald's apple pies. He also noted that our still President explained the banking crisis as a "house of cards." Nice.

And the Nation's Christopher Hayes has this amazingly funny satire. Yes, our top economic advisors are now similar to those poor Nigerian refugees that need our help.

****

Because the subject is never far from my mind, I note this from one of Sully's readers:

"I just finished reading 'The Dark Side' and one of the things that struck me the most was the fact that so many of the people involved in condoning and justifying torture in the administration were devout Christians. And yet few if any of these people, up to and including the Christian-in-Chief, seem to have had any hesitation or misgivings about these practices.

Correct me if I am wrong; but these are the same people who claim that the example of this 1st Century Pacifist who was himself tortured to death is the guiding lite in their lives. I don't get it."

I made this point before when I suggested that Mel Gibson might remake his film to reflect this inconsistency.

****

Speaking of Christian conservatives, this story from the Christian Post is just too funny. (Tony beat me to the story, but said I could still blog about it.) Lifeway bookstores pulled an edition of Gospel Today Magazine becaus the front cover featured five women pastors and conservative evangelicals worried exposure to female pastor might lead to dancing and voting Democratic.

Ok, I made that last part up, but it is just too funny to watch the gymnastics. Female pastors? Hell no, but no problem if those same women were nominated (by a Republican only) to the Veep spot.

Richard Land, president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, also weighed in the topic of women serving in leadership roles in his recent commentary on women and the election.

He rejected misunderstandings that the denomination wants women to be "subservient" to men, citing the SBC's confession of faith that states woman and man are "equal worth before God."

But he drew from teachings in the New Testament to support the Southern Baptist position on women pastors. In 1 Timothy 2:12, "the Apostle Paul instructs that 'a woman is not to usurp authority over the man,'" explained Land.

"Most Southern Baptists have understood this to mean that women are not to be pastors of local churches, since the pastoral office is a position of authority," he said.

Although the denomination doesn't agree with women serving as pastors, said Land, it does not oppose women serving in leadership roles in public service, such as the vice presidency.

Yeah, oddly that requirement that women not usurp authority over men doesn't apply to Sarah Palin. Todd will still be the boss of her, so that is ok.

Ok. Whatever. This "up is down" thing is kind of funny to watch. Since unwed pregnant teenagers have become a good thing (in certain families), I am now waiting for an affair to become a sign of good Christian faith. Oh wait.

Palin's lies

Sully has a list of 12 documented Palin lies. Doesn't even include the other bad governance tactics--using secrecy, cronyism, and vindictive firing to force allegiance.

Nothing new here with Palin. In fact, we have a pretty good idea what this type of governance at the federal level can do to a country.

Our battered economy

I haven't posted since Saturday. I guess I have not had much to say (those who know me say otherwise).

Partly, I have been watching this economic nightmare, as have, I am sure, most of you. My initial response was relief that the government was going to step in. I truly feared, with faith-based policies like we have seen in the past, some kind of Hooverian "the market will work itself out" response. I am pleasantly gratified that Bush recognizes the gravity of the situation. He still isn't willing to acknowledge his own participation in that situation, but after 8 years, I have come to expect that.

I am also gratified that Congress is at least talking about challenging the "blank check" portion of this bailout. As Paul Krugman noted, the rhetoric over the weekend resembled very closely how this administration approached the war in Iraq: "just trust us, or you will die." That is wearing thin.

This morning's NYTimes suggests that Democrats (and even some Republicans) are standing up. Harry Reid said that Senate Dems were ready to move quickly, but

“We’ll respond with the urgency of action that this situation demands, but after eight years of fiscal dereliction of duty, it’s time for accountability.

It is my hope that the outcome of this will be more than a restructuring of our banking system, but a fundamental shift from blaming government for all our ills. Reagan's charge that government was "the problem" is the juvenile rantings of the Republican party--kind of like the kid who blames all his problems on his parents or teachers. Grownups can (usually) see nuance and realize the benefits and potential of government to provide reasonable regulation and oversight. This attack on government fundamentally forgets our basic American political philosophy--that we ARE the government.

But Republicans will continue to be a problem, I am sure. Read the NY Times story and tell me that Mitch McConnell is not an idiot. The same people who gutted our regulations and proclaimed the magical genius of the free market are now demanding a blank check for the government and no questions.

Time for a change. Hell, long past time.

McCain wanted to do the same thing to the healthcare that he and Gramm did to banking

And let's face it, this is so much more interesting and relevant than lipstick on a pig or a pitbull. McCain has now become the scourge of Wall Street, but not that long ago, he was trumpeting the positives from deregulating the banking industry, and promising to do the same for healthcare. Here, from a poorly worded blog post from Yglesias:

"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."

Will the American people buy that he is the guy to fix all this mess when he and Gramm helped create it, and bragged about doing so?

This, it seems to me, will become one of those political philosophical discussions for this election. And McCain has already jumped off the ship. How does one argue for de-regulating when Republicans themselves are pushing a half-trillion dollar bail out of the last great deregulated industry? That, and how does the Republican party continue the mantra of "government as the problem" when they are now dependent on government to keep our economy from tanking?

Maybe even Republicans like government today--or they should

But they might want to stop the irresponsible and destructive political dialogue of bashing everything government does. And they should stop listening to people like Phil Gramm. About anything.

Bush Urges Congress to Enact Rescue Package - washingtonpost.com: "

In remarkably grim language for a president known for his economic optimism, Bush defended the federal government's 'targeted measures' in recent weeks to shore up collapsing credit markets, but said there is now an 'urgent need' for even broader government intervention."

But when McCain economic advisor (and rumored Treasury Sec) was in the Senate, he did everything he could to gut regulations on lenders, all in the name of free enterprise. But when that unfettered chaos leads to massive internal bleeding in our economy, now we are forced to step in. "Moral hazzard" has very little meaning when the hazzard is complete economic collapse.

I like what Bush has done here. I really do. I don't understand why he bailed out Bears Stearns and not Lehman, but I think part of that was not having a plan in place. But they have reacted positively to stop the bleeding and shore up these institutions. What bugs the crap out of me is that this could have been avoided with oversight, but the same Republican mantra of "cut taxes" went along with "deregulation." McCain bragged about deregulating business, though now he wants to reform Wall Street. His VP candidate wants to reform, well, everything, but wants to reform Wall Street so we can "get government out of our economy." As if that isn't what started this all.

And before conservatives jump me for blaming Republicans completely for this mess, I do think they should take a huge hit on this, but I also think that toward the end of the Clinton admin, Rubin led the way on deregulating a lot of this. He deserves some of this blame.

Today is a good reminder that government isn't our enemy, and Republicans should stop saying that. It can't solve everything, but we better hope it can do something here or all of the "my wealth is my wealth" won't mean anything.

Speaking of that, the Daily Show was pretty amazing last night. If you didn't see it, I suggest you watch the interview with Tony Blair, though I thought it was one of the more uncomfortable interviews I have seen in a while. Stewart really went after him, and Blair looked uneasy, at least to me. He reminds me that for Bush and Blair, the war has to have been right. It just has to.

But I also enjoyed the rest of the show, especially this take on Sean Hannity's "interview" of Sarah Palin. We learn that admitting that the economy is bad, according to Hannity, is unpatriotic and undermines our national security.



But my favorite was Palin's talking points on Obama's "unfair attack on the verbiage"--you know when McCain claimed that the "fundamentals" of the economy referred to the workers. Of course. That is how everyone refers to the workers. Because we are idiots. See how Jon mimics the Alaska governor

I think on this election, sean, the candidates, what they say, their verbiage, I think that should be off limits. you know that what we say, or you should know, sean, we don't mean it.

Palin is not impressive. Not even close. And the fact that John McCain decided to put the country in the hands of a candidate who says that Alaska provides 20% of America's energy and continually lies about her record--suggests that John McCain really did sell his soul to the devil.

Sarah Palin, anointed by God--sigh

From an email circulating that suggests that Palin is from God:

"We quickly learned that Sarah is a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, attends church, and has been a ministry worker.

Sarah is that standard God has raised up to stop the flood. She has the anointing. You can tell by how the dogs are already viciously attacking her. But they will not be successful. She knows the One she serves and will not be intimidated.

Back in the 1980s, I sensed that Israel's little-known Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen by God for an important end-time role. I still believe that. I now have that same sense about Sarah Palin..."

on White Privilege

Not quite racism, but the passive equivalent perhaps, where being white gets you a pass on certain things?:

"For those who still can’t grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because 'every family has challenges,' even as black and Latino families with similar 'challenges' are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a 'fuckin’ redneck,' like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll 'kick their fuckin' ass,' and talk about how you like to 'shoot shit' for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug."

There is more. Important to note that the issues that he raises about Palin are not necessarily bad. Her hunting and gun appreciation, or even her circuitous route to her college education don't say much of anything, one way or another. Nothing wrong with liking to hunt, and as my Starbucks reading group noted yesterday, some people take a while to find their way in college. That would describe me too.

But the issue is how those same issues would be seen if Palin were liberal and black. Her husband isn't running for office, but his membership in the AIP, if they were black, would raise questions about their patriotism. Michelle Obama said something about being truly proud of her country for the first time, and the right went apoplectic. Before her speech in Denver, the talking heads all agreed she had to "prove her patriotism." Sarah and Todd have no such need. Some of that is liberal v. conservative, but some of that can be argued to be "white privilege."

Fun with graphs

My friend L (fundraising going well for little Trypod, btw, and thanks to all who have pledged and/or sent good thoughts) pointed me to this clever blog. This one really tickled me.

Pathological

I had a professor in grad school who turned out to be a pathological liar. He lied about everything. And, as explained to me by someone at the time, while everyone may lie at times, a pathological liar lies not only when they "have" to but even when they don't. They lie about things that are not worth lying about, in other words.

I hate to say it, but Sarah Palin is starting to sound like one of those liars. She continues to lie about the Bridge even when everyone notes that she is lying. And now, there is no reason to lie about the teleprompter at the convention. No reason at all.

Something seriously wrong with that picture.