Just saw the Charlie Gibson interview...

(Yes, a bit late)....as a result, I have decided to run for office. If someone so devoid of intellect can be that close to the nuke button, I'm sure I can snag a place on the local school board at the very least..

thus spake Zarathustra.

The McCain/Palin Hypocrisy

McCain-ites and Republicans are infuriated that the media "went after" Sarah Palin's family after the news came out that Palin's teenage daughter Bristol was pregnant and unwed. Aside from the Daily Kos and CBC, however, I have seen no media outlet bashing Bristol Palin. They have simply been reporting on the story, which Sarah Palin herself announced to the media. On the other hand, Sarah Palin is more than happy to parade her Iraq-bound son Track in front of the media as an example of her dedication to the military. She's more than happy to discuss her newborn special-needs child as a reason that the American people should believe in her. She's showing classic "have it both ways" political rhetoric.

But even more insulting and insidious is the conservative right's insistence that the dialogue should not focus on her family--that the public and the media should stay out of her private life. I agree that one should tread very carefully in approaching the subject of politician's families, and that private matters should be private. But I see a huge amount of hypocrisy in a woman who would so willingly inject her opinions into my friend's private lives--for instance, my gay friends who are in stable, committed long-term relationships and want the same rights as us heterosexuals do...and my good friend who made the choice to terminate an unexpected pregnancy. Sarah Palin and John McCain and all of their windbag cheerleaders have no problem inserting themselves into those private decisions, into those people's private lives. Conservative Republicans have no business fiercely guarding their privacy, especially if they don't think it's a right protected by our Constitution.

Don't even try putting lipstick on this pit bull...

If the goal was to fire up hard-core conservative Republicans, Sarah Palin's speech was a tour de force. If the goal was to tick off mainstream and progressive independents and moderates, Sarah Palin's speech was a tour de force. If the goal was to appeal to voters based on small-town values and motherhood, Sarah Palin's speech was a tour de force. If the goal was to give an electrifying and bellicose oration with little in the way of substance and decorum, Sarah Palin's speech was a tour de force.

Most objective observers, however, realize that there's a whole lot more to running this country than degrading one's opponent, and distorting his positions. I could have been more inclined to look at the Republican ticket as a legitimate choice if they could focus on issues and how they would address them. Instead, this convention has solidified my opposition to this ticket. I would have warmed more to Sarah Palin if she would have focused less on mocking Barack Obama's laudable experience helping the poor and downtrodden on Chicago's South Side and his remarkable rise in Democratic politics, and more on why she believes him to be unqualified. Attacking him on the issues would have endeared her more to a voter like me--a voter who doesn't take kindly to personal attack politics, from wherever it may come. Of course, now that the Republicans have opened the door to attack politics, I fully expect the Obama campaign to come out with all guns blazing.

Mitt Romney demonstrated classic straw man argument tactics tonight

1. Oh, those Democrats, they think the solution is big government and raising taxes.

--Conveniently forgetting that the Bush administration presided over one of the biggest government expansions in history, and that the "raising taxes" that Obama proposes is simply a roll back of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 3 percent of Americans. But that's too convenient for this moron to forget.

2. We need to kick those liberals out of Washington!

--Conveniently forgetting that 6 of the last 8 years have seen Washington dominated by conservative Republicans, and the 2 years that Democrats have dominated Congress have been crippled by Bush's vetoes. (Not that I'm making excuses for the uber--pitiful Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who might as well offer themselves up on the platter of history for their wimpiness.)

3. The Democrats don't understand that EVIL NEEDS TO BE DEFEATED.

--Conveniently excluding any sense of nuance, which intelligent people usually see in any issue. It's not that OBL isn't a bad man, but if there's anything we've learned from the last 7 years, it's that we can't defeat terrorism and extremist ideology with a flyswatter alone. We need to begin to win the battle of ideas and ideology, and to relate to the people who might otherwise be disposed to this ideology. There is a time for brute force and a time for intelligent discretion. Unfortunately, Mitt Romney and his man John are demonstrating that all they know how to do is the former. YEAH, THAT's THE GUY WE NEED!

Whatever.

Go home, McCain. As an American, I officially reject the Repubs as American citizens.