Notes from an Absent Blogger

1.  There has been (and continues to be) quite an earthquake swarm in Nevada.  According to (one of my favorite I-am-a-nerd-blogs) Eruptions: There is the interesting coincident that the focus of the swarm is near the Auroa Volcanic Field – however, Graham Kent from the director of the Nevada Seismological Lab at the University of Nevada, Reno, doesn’t think a volcanic eruption is likely.  Eruptions blogger notes that Nevada has seen many earthquake swarms over the past few years (true, says I) and none have led to volcanic activity.

2.  Life is generally good.  Sweetie and I are enjoying our house and the endless list of projects (mostly his!) that come with it.  He is currently constructing two raised veggie boxes for me to plant our own crops.  I am very happy about this!  We inherited, in the backyard of this house, a couple of nice artichoke plants.  I have managed to not kill them yet and they are producing a nice little crop of artichokes.  Wonderful!  I picked three the other day, cooked them up, and served them with my mom’s patented (should be) artichoke dipping sauce.  Delicious! 

3.  Work is good and sometimes crazy.  True to form, my work and overlapping deadlines sometimes results in weeks like last week where I have to work 13 to 15 hours for a while.  Not true to my old (younger self) form, I can’t maintain that level of work/brain effort for very long.  I worked so hard for most of last week, I crashed on Friday.  Went to a meeting I couldn’t reschedule and then came home, hugged my Sweetie, wasted time on the computer, and went to see a movie.  We saw Hanna.  It was good, but not as good as I was expecting. Good, but I was expecting more there there.  But fine because, heck, I was NOT working. I won’t link to the movie trailer because I think it shows too much.  But I will link to a short clip featuring some of the brilliant soundtrack from The Chemical Brothers. That particular music piece was probably my favorite in the movie, but others were quite good.  If you like that sort of thing at all, you’d love the soundtrack.  Sweetie and I definitely appreciated the soundtrack. 

4.  I was thinking of writing a separate blog called “Why I don’t blog about Sarah Palin.”  But then I thought “Well, really.  I don’t blog much at all these days so that seems like a silly title.”  But there actually is a reason I don’t blog about her.  Not that I don’t read about her.  I do.  And there has been plenty to read about lately.  I could say all sorts of things.  The ridiculousness of her posing as some sort of political analyst for Fox News.  How much her reality show (and all the rest of her goings-on) does nothing to really promote the great state of Alaska since she resigned as Governor.  The hypocrisy of her daughter prancing around lecturing about abstinence while supported by a group that advertises abstinence with a close-to-pornographic picture of a young girl wrapped around a guy.  ?  Yeah, that makes sense.  We have to be hip for the young kids and then expect them to absorb a message completely opposite from the visual.  How I don’t really believe most of the conspiracy theories about Trig’s birth.  Mostly because I subscribe to the same belief for almost ALL conspiracy theories: If there were more than 3 people involved, it’s not very likely that a much-talked about conspiracy theory wouldn’t be able to provide proof by now.  I could throw in my two cents about her actions surrounding her son’s birth (was she trying to self-abort for 8 months, including the last few days? maybe).  All of these things (and much more) could have been separate blogs.  But I don’t bother.  Why?  Because when I wrote this, my main interest was that this dear country that I live in not make the horrendous mistake of electing this woman to any high office in this country.  Not in 2012.  Not ever.  I said I didn’t want her on the national stage.  There is nothing I can do about the fact she is all over the national airwaves.  There is nothing I can do about the fact that educated people I know seem to love and support her, blinded by her messages of Faith Faith Faith God God God, without realizing (or acknowledging) what a wicked truly twisted person lies beneath.  But as for high office, I don’t worry about it anymore.   She is a non-entity.  If she runs, it will be for the publicity and her own narcissistic satisfaction.  She is not a viable candidate.  Not for her potential scandals.  Not for her prostituting herself and her family for any amount of cash that can come her way.  And not because she can’t seem to form a coherent sentence on the fly.  But because of this:  She quit.  She quit, ladies and gentlemen.  She was elected to an executive office to serve a term for the voters who cast their ballot for her, and WHAT DID SHE DO?  She quit.  Game over.  Buh bye.  No excuses (should every potential lame duck executive quit??). What more do I, a mere blogger who talks about food as much as I talk about politics, need to say?  Pretty much nothing.  Why do I mention it now?  Because potential candidates are starting to proclaim their intentions right now and there may be another buildup of support for her.  And I may note it as it happens.  But do I honestly believe she has a snowball’s chance in a Texas wildfire to be elected President?  No.  And I trust that a large majority of people of this good country know this too.

5.  If I can’t get my act together and blog more, I resolve to at least be better at reading, and hopefully chiming in at, other folks’ blogs. 

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Shame on You, Discovery Channel [Updated]

UGGG!!

I have a longer draft of what I want to say about this subject.  But I can keep adding to it until next week so I’ll summarize and, hopefully, post more later. Sarah Palin Twitters to her followers to “Reload.”  Then, she posts a graphic on her Facebook page with gun-sight targets representing several Democratic members of Congress who voted for the health care bill.  She may argue “I’m only talking about votes.”  Excuse me?  How many people use the term “Reload” in reference to the voting booth?

Why should we care?  Because people believe her.  They believe in her.  And some of these people are truly violent.  Why should we care?  Because the Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland) has already announced that – yes, he feels that members of Congress are at risk.  There have already been violent incidences against Representatives.   Is all the violent rhetoric coming only from Sarah Palin?  No.  There are plenty of others.  But she has a big fat bullhorn.  A much larger bullhorn than many other people in the world. 

And what is The Discovery Channel doing?  They are enlarging her bullhorn by paying her millions of dollars to paste her name onto a new show for them.  Why?  I don’t know.  Maybe just for the blatant ratings grabs that anyone seems to get from her name.  Why?  I don’t know.  They don’t need her name.  They have great shows.  Great programming. 

Part of the reason I’ve refrained from talking about Sarah Palin is because I myself don’t want to feed into the publicity hole that is her existence.  But I’ll post this so that I can say –

I’ve reported Sarah Palin’s offensive graphic to Facebook.

I am composing my own note to the Discovery Channel to express disgust with this decision.  And to let them know, as much as I love some of their shows, I will be boycotting all of them.

I am researching just how many organizations and advertisers are associated with the Discovery Channel.

and

I will be forwarding my note to as many advertisers as possible. 

Do I think any of this could possibly change The Discovery Channel’s decision?  Why not try?  Isn’t that why we write our elected officials and write letters to the editors of local newspapers and other things?  Viewership of the Discovery Channel must be HUGELY weighted with pro-science, pro-environment, anti-violence people.  We are the WORST target audience for anything related to Sarah Palin.  And we shouldn’t be shoved aside for ratings grabs targeting anyone who supports (or who just wants to gawk and laugh at) Sarah Palin.  The Discovery Channel needs to know this.   Believe me, this bums me out.  I don’t boycott lightly.  But even when I boycott all on my own – for reasons that I never even share with anyone – I do it seriously.  This is more than serious. 

MSNBC keeps giving me the wrong video instead of Steny Hoyer’s short press conference.  But he said had some pretty wise words.  If I can’t find the right link, I’ll try and transcribe a little.  One thing he said:

When people start talking in the rhetoric of putting people on firing lines, that if they don’t do something they will have physical harm done to them, that…other rhetoric of that type…..or they put a target on their faces with cross hairs, that activity ought to be unacceptable in our democracy.    The implication being that the consequences of acting in a democracy are somehow physical, with violence being acted upon those persons….that’s wrong.

UPDATED

There is a petition to boycott the Discovery Channel based on this decision to pay Sarah Palin over $1,000,000 per episode for the new show.  Much as it pains me to think about boycotting “Dirty Jobs” and other shows I enjoy, I meant it sincerely when I signed the petition.  I am done with the channel until they reverse this.  The petition’s goal just rose from 10,000 to 50,000 signatures, but I think it will need many more than that to even catch the attention of the executives at Discovery.  However, given the huge international demographics of the channel, there should be plenty of people outside the United States who would sign because I think many people in other countries view Sarah Palin as a joke.

The Petition is here:   http://www.thepetitionsite.com/21/boycott-the-discovery-channel-networks

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How vapid and idiotic is Pamela Geller?

Seriously? 

omg.  Did Pamela Geller really tell Ron Reagan “You never met him either!” in reference to Ronald Reagan?

“You never met him either!”

That’s your argument?  You don’t agree with something Ron Reagan says and in response to him telling you that he would better understand the mind of his father, you yell at him “You never met him either!”

Aaahahahahahahaha!  I fear your debating skills Pamela Geller!  You fierce debater you!  Hahaha!  Whew!

Pamela Geller – you make Ayn Rand turn in her grave.  Turn and cry because of your vapid spotlight-seeking and idiotic non-arguments.  Poor Ayn Rand.

I know I’m lagging in blogging lately.  Lots of other things going on.

I’ll be back.

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Sarah Palin book signing commentary

Most of this speaks for itself but some minute-by-minute commentary below provided by me.  I wish the interviewer had asked some more questions but I also like that he just steps back and lets people speak. 

0:10:  She wants to meet you too!  Or at least meet your money.

0:31:  Ma’am, I am so glad you are not my grandma.  You’ve got that classic pissy “You are an insolent frak-up!” look down pat.  You scare me. 

1:22:  Way to protect yourself from those “Gotcha!” questions.  Because – “What are some issues of hers that you agree with?” is fraught with danger.  Run away! Run away!

2:00:  Are you related to the older woman from 0:31?  You have that look down too. 

2:22:  Word Salad Alert!  She’s trying very hard but is missing some of the key elements of grammar.

2:33: So, you would like to eliminate the Department of Veterans Affairs?  You’d like to leave our service men and woman out in the cold?  What a good patriot you are. 

2:43:  Word Salad Alert! Are you trying to impersonate Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin?  Cap and trade.  Job creation. Trade! Alaska! 

3:06:  Good job sir.  You are compliant with Principle #7 of Mr. Glenn Beck’s 9 Principles: ….Government cannot force me to be charitable.

3:53: Sir, if an atom bomb goes off in the United States, I guarantee you that you and I are going to have more important things to worry about than the President declaring martial law.  Couldn’t you come up with something slightly less dire?

4:00:  No! Noooooo!  You are violating Principle #1……America is good.  Glenn Beck is gonna be mad at you.  Out of the club with you!

4:22:  She’s not going to have the votes because of illegal aliens?  I don’t think that is why she won’t have the votes to become President, but I’m just guessing.

4:35:  I wish the interviewer had let this woman expound a little. I’m curious where we need profiling.  At the grocery store?  The bank?  Does she advocate starting up something like the Hitler Jugend so kids can report on what is going on with their suspicious (non-white?) neighbors?  Because the police are a little overtaxed right now. 

4:55:  Pretty much speaks for itself.  ok.  No wait.  I have to ask – how many illegal aliens enter the US via the Bering Strait??  Or are you talking about illegals from Yukon?

5:45:  Oh!  She’s talking about endangered species.  PETA?  PETA?  They do weigh in on some endangered species issues, but they are not the main proponents.  You might want to talk with the lady from 2:33 about eliminating the Department of the Interior. 

6:04:  Holy crap! Why didn’t anyone tell me? I could be an oil millionaire!  I’m grabbing my shovel.

6:30:  I’ve heard over and over again that Braveheart is a good movie.  Doesn’t make it true.

7:45:  Well, I think this guy is typical of about 80-percent of all voters.  80-percent.  Am I being too generous?

7:57:  True.  When in doubt, raise volume.  Have you seen the tea-bagger rallies?

8:05.  I think so too!  It’s called: Multi-Million-Dollar-Book-and Speaking-Deal. I’m afraid to look up her other sleeve.

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Even FOX News feels the need to correct the Quitter

I’ve refrained from talking about the former VP candidate/Governor Quitter for a while but she certainly likes to keep herself in the headlines.  She’ll be touring for her new book soon. 

If you are like me, you have received e-mails from people who advocate boycotting coins that don’t have “In God We Trust” on them.  This chain e-mail goes on and on about refusing to accept these coins from business people, etc.  People who send me e-mail forwards know that (or should know) I am prone to fact-checking and will respond to the whole dang e-mail list if I’m given a chain e-mail that includes falsehoods or urban legends.  Of course, then I get e-mails from people who send me a forwarded chain e-mail that snopes.com is some left-wing conspiracy front and the people who run it are hiding themselves and never check their sources.  Unfortunately, once again, the people who send me these e-mails don’t do any fact-checking of their own and I have to correct them again after checking fact-check.org who followed up on the chain e-mail.  I have not yet received an e-mail telling me that fact-check.org is run by a vast left-wing conspiracy group. 

Anyhoo, when I got the outraged e-mail about the US coins, I had to respond to everyone to remind them that the words “In God We Trust” were still on the coins but had been moved to the rim of the coins.  I told people if they wanted to be outraged at the change then they could still refuse the new coins if they wanted to but they better change the text of their ranty e-mails to be factually correct. 

Personally, I wish people would calm down about the whole issue.  There are bigger things to worry about as far as the separation of church and state in this country.  I think raging about coin design is stupid.  I also think suing the federal government so that kids can’t say the Pledge of Allegiance in class is the height of stupidity.  Stop obsessing over the language and let kids say the pledge.  Or opt out.  I’ve seen interviews with “kids” and young adults and, let me tell you, these young folks are way smarter than their adult parents.  While fathers are ranting about the words “under God,” kids are saying “What’s the big deal? We can say it or not say it. It’s no big deal.”

But adults.  You know.  Not so bright.  Sarah Palin’s latest rant insinuates that there is some conspiracy behind the moving of the words “In God We Trust” on our US coins.  The implication being, I suppose, that the new administration is evil and trying to secretly remove God from the lives of the US citizens.  Bad bad Democrat administration.  While I was set to ignore her latest rants, I’m glad to know that some people are starting to call her on her unsubstantiated statements. 

By the way, I’ll go on record as saying I really don’t think she will ever run for President of the US.  I would have written more about her after the presidential election because I told y’all I think she is a dangerous demagogue.  Then, she quit as governor and I honestly cannot believe anyone is THAT narcissistic to think that she can bail out of her elected office and expect to be elected in the future to US President.  Lots of people like to speculate about her and she lets the speculation go because – ladies and gentlemen – it sells books.  And, in my opinion, the only things she is after now is power and money.  Money money money for herself and her family.  And power to feed her narcissism. Fine.  You go girl.  Plenty of American citizens take advantage of the spotlight to sell themselves and their stories for money.  But she does need to stop spouting vitriol that has little basis in fact.  In that respect, she is still dangerous.  So, good job Fox News.

UPDATE:  Seriously, could I have possibly posted more grammatical and spelling errors than this post? I don’t think so.  Apologies to early readers.  I cringed when re-reading this post (now mostly corrected). 

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John McCain v. Ben Stein and Sarah Palin

Or should I say – Respectful politician vs. hatemongers?

I have, in the past, lamented the fact that people cannot seem to articulate opinions without spouting generalized unfounded attacks on the people they perceive as their “opponents.” Drives me batty. If I’m going to take the time to spread my opinions around, I’ll take the time to listen to people who respectfully disagree with me. Ask my brother-in-law. We’ve spent a bit of time in the last 20 years “discussing” issues. He tells me he is becoming less political as the years go on, and I will take him at his word since I asked him to remove me from his e-mail forwards a little while ago.

Anyway, a few days ago, I saved this link to an article about Ben Stein being fired from his job at the New York Times. (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/08/12/ben-stein-fired-by-the-new-york-times-good-work/?icid=main|main|dl4|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailyfinance.com%2F2009%2F08%2F12%2Fben-stein-fired-by-the-new-york-times-good-work%2F).

I thought at the time, “Couldn’t happen to a more deserving ass.” And here’s why.

An old high school friend of mine forwarded me some text purportedly written by Mr. Ben Stein about the health care debate that is all the rage around the US right now. I read it and was convinced the e-mail was an “urban legend.” There was no way even Ben Stein could write such crap. But I looked it up, and it seems legit. Incredible but legit. In writing about health care (you know – the legislation that is currently being written by Congress, not the President) Ben Stein really did spend most of his text ranting against the President of the United States and accusing him of ultra-leftist, racist leanings. While spending a couple of sentences to talk about health care, Stein spews forth about the myth of global warming and accusations of treason against President Obama. Really? This is how you make a point about health care? And then, people like the “American Family Association” take your hate-filled spew and forward it to each other in order to get people to call their representatives about the health care bill? Because you think President Obama is not a scholar? What? The President who didn’t write any of the multiple bills being discussed in committees the last few weeks? That’s your “educated” opinion, Mr. Ben Stein? Sounds like hate mongering to me.

I wrote back to my friend:

I don’t mind having some political stuff forwarded to me, once in a while. This kind of slander bullshit is close to criminal. I don’t like such inflammatory lies. If someone wants to talk about health care policy, fine. I’ll discuss it. I’ll listen to arguments. But even when I debated the moral, political, and human-lives cost of the Iraq war, I didn’t slander the President of the United States. Let alone bring in global warming on a health care debate. This dribble is really way out of line and it would probably be good if I stay off your list for political e-mails.

And then, I have to say, I was happy to read that Ben Stein lost one of his writing jobs because he failed to disclose information about the details of a deal he made to be a spokesperson for a sketchy business. Hatemonger.

Speaking of which, there is the on-going saga of Sarah Palin’s “press releases” on her Facebook site. Because, she’s been mostly out of sight since she resigned from her post as Governor of Alaska. Because……ethics complaints make it impossible to do your job. Ha ha. Talk to New York Congressman Charles Rangel. He deals with ethics complaints. Doesn’t quit his job. But then, I think he actually likes representing people who elected him. Oh wait, Sarah Palin quit because……she might be a lame duck leader if she announced she is not running for re-election. Ha ha. Talk to every single second-term president since the 22nd Amendment was passed. Did they all just resign the last year of their elected term? Uhhhhh……..no. ANd some of them managed to get some work done. Some of them even managed to do more than one task at a time while fulfilling their oaths of office. But that’s ok. Sarah Palin seems to think she can be more effective by having someone ghostwrite for her on her Facebook page. Facebook? Seriously? I thought Facebook was for social networking. A fun little place. And yes, even the White House has a Facebook page and releases information that way. But at least, when the White House sends out information via Facebook, we have Robert Gibbs’ daily (or regular) press briefings where he stands, live, in front of the press and (shocking!) answers questions. I’ve watched his briefings. It’s true. He answers questions. Or the White House will send out President Obama himself to hold town hall meetings and (shocking!) answer questions. The White House on Facebook doesn’t just spew words and then hide behind a curtain. Easy for Sarah Palin to do when she continues to spew inflammatory non-facts into space without answering any comments from her “fans.” Even my friends on Facebook will answer back to me when I question them on a political point they make. But not Ms. Palin. Remember – this is the woman who never silenced the angry mobs she whipped into a frenzy on the presidential campaign trail. This is the woman who laughed when political opponents were called “a cancer” and who said nothing when someone yelled out “kill him!” regarding then-candidate Obama. Hatemonger. Or, as I have explained before – Demagogy.

So, what made me think of that today? This clip of John McCain at his own town hall meeting on health care. And how he still manages to frame his debate in respectful terms. And how he still manages to try and keep his crowds respectful. He was the candidate on the trail who admonished a woman in the audience when she questioned candidate-Obama’s patriotism. And he did it again this week when another female in the audience questioned the President’s respect of the United States Constitution. McCain got booed for it by his own constituents, but he stood by his statement. And he explains, again, that there is just a fundamental difference in the views about government. As is true for many politicians. And he defends the President and asks his audience to be respectful. In all the brouhaha lately in these town hall meetings, with the escalating rhetoric and the theatrics and the name-calling and the insults (from everyone), it is so freaking refreshing to hear someone say “let’s be respectful.”

Once again, a tip of the hat to John McCain. If only he hadn’t picked the demagogue of a Governor and elevated her onto the national stage. Senator McCain is so far above and beyond that. I wish more people would take his advice and actually discuss positions and philosophy rather than promote hate and fear. But then, I bet Ben Stein (and Sarah Palin soon) makes a lot more money than Mr. McCain. Or President Obama. It’s more monetarily rewarding these days to be a hatemonger than a legislator. Score one for greed.

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Blue ocean waters, sunny California and…Sarah Palin resigns?!

So, Sweetie and I jumped on a plane today headed for sunny California!

Lucky for us, sunny California is not as sunny as it was a week or so ago.  Last week, I was hearing all about the heat wave and the 100+, 110+ hot temperatures.  But we landed in Sacramento tonight and it was downright lovely.  A little wind has kicked up and I think the temperatures will be in the cool 90s for a while.  I hope.  We’ll see.

Anyway, Hooray!!!!!! We are in California.  It has been almost six months since our last visit – probably the longest amount of time I’ve spent away from my family in a long long time.  Definitely the longest amount of time I’ve not seen my nephews since they were born.  And there was Nephew #1 with Big Sis smiling at the bottom of the escalators tonight.  I wanted to smother him with hugs I was so happy to see them both.     (I know, I know —- it’s like I just discovered these emoticons or something.  Lighten up.)

Behind the scenes here, the last few weeks, Sweetie and I have been working hard to organize his family’s biennial reunion gathering.  If you remember, I attended two years ago when Sweetie and I were engaged.  I was introduced to many many members of the extended family and enjoyed a few days of hiking, horseback riding, lounging around, and chatting with my soon-to-be-family in Utah.  It’s been two years of getting ready for the next one.  And it is in California and fell to Sweetie’s immediate family to organize.  A while ago it was handed over to Sweetie, his mom, and me.  So, I’ve been trying to get head counts, and reservations, and activities organized, and so on and so forth.  And, ready or not – the family is descending in a litltle over a week!  I’m sure to blog more about that later (or not – you may have noticed I’m notoriously bad at finishing some blogs.)

Sweetie and I flew from Maui to Oahu to catch our plane to California.  Then, of course, the plane takes off from Oahu and flies right back past Maui on its way east.  And I gotta tell you, the ocean around Maui and Oahu today was the most gorgeous I have ever seen it.  Bright light blue at the shore fading into deep shades of blue so clear, I could see the waves and the coral from the plane window.  Stunningly beautiful today.  One of those days I feel quite blessed to be living in such surroundings.

And then, flying above California, the sun on the west side of the plane was the deepest, darkest, brightest red I have ever seen as it set.  I was on the opposite side of the plane, and we were landing, so I only had a bit of a glimpse through the windows.  But wow.  Maui’s got nothing on that sunset.

So, Sweetie and I are now settling into Mom’s house.  We will, no doubt, be shuttling back and forth between our moms’ houses.  With a possible side trip to LA while we are here.   Tomorrow morning, I am walking a 5K with Big Sis and the family.  Then a little BBQ.  It’s all good.

But I gotta say – What the WHAT?!  I am in the air and out of Internet range for one day and I log into my computer tonight to find out – WHAT?!  Sarah Palin resigned as Governor of Alaska?!  Stepping down?  Not even finishing her term?  For what?  I’ve been following some of the Alaska blogs so I know about the ethics complaints, and the legislature going against her wishes to take stimulus money, and the resounding defeat of her horrible attorney general pick.  But for what?  Because the going got tough?  Because attacks got personal?  Because she felt like she couldn’t forward her agenda in her own state?

I don’t know the answer for sure.  I’m just surprised that someone who was touted as having the tenacity of a bulldog ended up giving up her elected office like a whimpering Chihuahua (no offense to Chihuahuas).  Maybe she knows of more things that are going to come to light that she can’t excuse away.  Maybe she wants to go “hike the Appalachian Trail.”  Maybe her advisors are really so stupid as to think this is the best way to launch a bid for President.  ?? Who knows.  I just honestly hope that her loyally rabid followers don’t try and turn this into what a great opportunity for her to support national candidates, or jump on the national stage, or whatnot.  In my experience, if you can’t stand tough in your own job, you have no business seeking a tougher job (and let me tell you, my old co-workers and I have stood tough for years in a workplace that can chew people up and spit them out in weeks).  Much as I think Sarah Palin is amazing fodder for crazy political stories, I stand by my earlier opinions that her rhetoric and particular brand of politics are poison, her qualifications for national office are atrocious, her viewpoints are narrow and dangerous, and I’d prefer she disappear from the national stage. 

And with that, I should sleep if I want to wake up for a fun run.  Sorry for the hodgepodge of notes here.   Just thought I’d write something before all my day’s memories are gone. 

Happy 4th of July everyone!

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Do NOT Let this Woman Reenter the National Stage

If I have to keep track of Sarah Palin for the next four years, I will to document what a horrendous candidate she would ever be on the national stage.  Bumper stickers of Palin 2012 are supposedly selling briskly and women who oppose Palin are being screamed at on conservative blogs.  I read a blog comment that stated the following:

Sarah Palin represents everything the feminist establishment has labored towards for decades. Her real flaw? No ‘D’ after her name…

Now, it may surprise some of you to hear this but I have never considered myself a feminist.  I remember telling this to my first-year college roommate during our first week together.  She just gaped at me.  She was astounded.  She said I was the first woman she’d met who said that.  But there it is.  There are certainly women’s issues that I support.  But I don’t hold onto an entire platform of women’s issues that I feel I must champion.  I appreciate the opportunities I have been given in life.  I appreciate my own ability to battle through a profession surrounded by men.  Yes, there are a good number of women who are environmental analysts.  But we work with engineers (civil, structural, traffic, you name it), city planners, private developers, attorneys, and elected officials.  In my many 10-plus years of project meetings, I am always outnumbered by men.  Sometimes I was the only woman in the room and got to endure being called “Sweetheart” and hearing a pig of a man laugh around the room and say “You know how women are!”  ha ha  But my struggles were my own and I don’t expect anyone to fight them for me or make them any easier. 

That being said, I guess maybe it is because I am not a feminist that I want to hurl my lunch at the thought that Sarah Palin has any attributes that the “feminist establishment has labored towards.”  No wait.  I’m pretty sure that statement would make a lot of feminists hurl also.  There are a lot of individual reasons why individual women in this country do not like her.

I didn’t support her because I don’t agree with many many of her positions as described in the McCain/Palin literature on their website and as reported through the last couple of months.  And her fatal flaws are her two-facedness, her back stabbing tactics, her lack of worldly knowledge (I’m not saying the woman is an idiot. I am saying she hasn’t bothered to care about anything outside of Alaska politics for…..years/ever), and her massive, massive demagogy.

Demagogy.  From merriam-webster online: 

a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power

From Wikipedia:

Demagogy refers to a political strategy for obtaining and gaining political power by appealing to the popular prejudices, emotions, fears, and expectations of the public – typically via impassioned rhetoric and propaganda, and often using nationalist or populist themes.

Now, to a certain degree, this type of tactic is commonplace in national politics.  But I really feel that Palin’s rhetoric in the campaign kicked the hate up to a whole new stratosphere.  And this type of behavior from her didn’t just come from being “handled” by the McCain campaign.  Back in September, when Time magazine was introducing Palin to the country, they talked about her past campaigns.  From council to mayor to governor.  Time reported the following:

But in the first major race of her career — the 1996 campaign for mayor of her hometown, Wasilla — Palin was a far more conventional politician. In fact, according to some who were involved in that fight, Palin was a highly polarizing political figure who brought partisan politics and hot-button social issues like abortion and gun control into a mayoral race that had traditionally been contested like a friendly intramural contest among neighbors.

(Article is here: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html)

Demagogy.

And while national speeches and ads often attack the opponent, the hate and furor reached a new high with Palin’s vicious rhetoric.  According to the new behind-the-scenes Newsweek article on the campaign Palin started some of her attack rhetoric before the McCain campaign had finalized a plan to even raise the issue.  And then this:

The Obama campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October, at the same time that many crowds at Palin rallies became more frenzied.

She would give speeches and attack Obama and people in the crowd yelled “Kill him!”  Did she chastise those people? No. 

Demagogy. 

This woman should never be allowed to return to the national stage.  Even though I think any strategy to put her back out there would implode on itself and discredit the other ideologues in this country who think she is so fantastic.  Even so, it would not be worth it.  She doesn’t deserve one more second of attention outside of Alaska. I don’t know who these people are who are so ga-ga about the idea of Palin in 2012.  Surely, in the entire country, there are more qualified Republicans who can still engender excitement and enthusiasm in the “party base” or could even, heaven forbid, be appealing to Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike the way John McCain was (once upon a time).   She is not a worthy candidate outside of Alaska.

But don’t take my word for it.  Listen to Bill O’Reilly.

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Hyprocrisy Sucks

One of the reasons my Sweetie likes The Daily Show is because of the time the staff takes to show political pundits contradicting themselves.  They manage to find material/quotes/video of pundits who say one thing on one day and something else on another day.

Now, this is not a big surprise to me.  I came to a revelation years ago listening to Rush Limbaugh.  Rush got his talk show start at a Sacramento radio station and there used to be huge billboards around Sactown promoting him.  I have been a listener of KFBK News Radio for years, partly because they had the best traffic updates in the morning.  So, I’ve listened to a lot of their shows.  Tom Sullivan (who was, I think, best man at Rush’s wedding) is the afternoon host these days.  I know people who used to be devout listeners of his show when he made the Big Time and who became (for a while) huge dittoheads of Limbaugh.  They would use Rush’s latest rants to argue political issues with me.  So, from time to time I would listen to Rush so that I could hear for myself what he was saying.  And I made two observations:  1) Rush gets so worked up with his rants that I am convinced he is going to give himself a heart attack on the air someday, and 2) Rush is, first and foremost, an entertainer.  He, like many TV and radio talk show folks, is not working for a non-profit.  So, at the end of the day, what is the bottom line?  It is NOT – hey let’s look at the opinion polls and see if we swayed anyone on this issues.  The bottom line at the end of the day is: What were my ratings today?  It’s all about being fiery enough and holding people’s attention enough to keep them listening.  That fattens the ratings and the paycheck.  I’m convinced that if you talked to most partisan commentators and told them “Starting tomorrow, you have to switch views to keep your job” (with no repercussions – like – the audience wouldn’t even remember what you said today, ala 1984) – I think a large number of them would.  Do you listen to these people rant?  Limbaugh, Keith Olbermann, Ann Coulter, anyone who ever uttered one word on Air America (yuck).  Pretty useless, all of them, as far as productive commentary.  Give me NPR any day of the week. 

So, given that partisan pundits just want exposure and ratings, it doesn’t surprise me that they can spin any story to support their rants.  Even if it contradicts yesterday’s rants.  What surprises me is that more of their listeners don’t call them on it. 

Now, the hypocrisy that I am speaking of today was pointed out on the Daily Show a while ago.  I sent the clip to my Sweetie (who had already seen it), but I did nt distribute it anywhere else.  I figure – there is so much political hubris floating around, people would get sick of me adding to it.

But today, again, I read someone’s blog who is complaining about anyone making a fuss over Sarah Palin’s daughter’s pregnancy.  And who complains about anyone passing judgement on Palin because of it.  Now, that statement I agree with – AS LONG AS WE DON’T KNOW THE FULL STORY.  Sure, there are probably times when parents make crappy decisions for their kids (hi – I hired a hooker for my 16-year old son).  But, isn’t it a wee bit hypocritical when these complaints come from people who talk all the time about their conservative Christian values and who make judgements about people who take a stand on more liberal issues (as this blogger did just a few days before – he made a judgement call against people who stand up for an issue without knowing anything about them). 

Well, I call shenanigans hypocrisy on you!

And everyone else who does the same thing for the sake of partisan politics.  Just cut it out, will you?

Because I see this issue is still coming up, I am finally going to share this clip for anyone who has not seen it.  The Karl Rove part about experience and the O’Reilly part about teen pregnancy are brilliant and hilarious.  The last part is ok, but I would mainly recommend the first three minutes. 

I think the takeaway lesson here is – don’t use these people to help you make your own arguments.  And – watch out for hypocrisy in your own rants.  I know we can’t always avoid it.  I admited when I was so passionate about an issue here on this blog that my logic and reason could be compromised.  But I can also admit when someone with a different political conclusion has some good/great/valid points in his/her arguments.  Does that invalidate my opinions?  No.  It informs them.  Is that so bad?

For the record, O’Reilly responded to the clip on his own show.   He is correct that The Daily Show edited his comments to fit their mocking point.  But when I hear so many people out in the world doing the same thing (condemming one group of people and supporting another ON THE SAME ISSUE- based on politics), it irritates me.  You can see his response here: 

http://blog.indecision2008.com/2008/09/09/bill-oreilly-slams-jon-stewart-sometimes-a-teen-pregnancy-is-just-a-teen-pregnancy/

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