Age

In a recent speech, Sarah Palin - again reading words written for her, because after the Katie Couric interview, everybody knows she can't speak on her own - made the following comment about Joe Biden: "I haven't met him, but I've been hearing about him since, like, second grade." Okay, here's the rub: Joe Biden is younger than John McCain. Isn't her slap in the face to Biden a double slap to McCain? I would think the Republican drones that write the speeches, would have a little more sense - oh, wait, that's an oxymoron isn't it? - than to bring up Biden's age, when McCain is older. I'm just saying . . .

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Suspended Campaign

I'm sure by now everyone has heard that John McCain wants to temporarily suspend his political campaign for President so he can help deal with the current economic crisis. WTF!!! As a dear friend of mine pointed out: when he becomes president, will he not be able to handle two things at one time???? I agree 100%.

I also think that McCain has probably done one of the more stupid moves in his political career. If one person - my dear friend - has the thought that McCain cannot handle more than one thing at a time (definitely not an assest for the leader of a country), than other people have thought the same thing. I know that if I had any confidence in McCain's ability as a leader in the first place, it would have completely disappeared after his latest statment.

Now, some might say - oh, it's a good thing, he's showing priorities by focusing on the economy. The question is: as President, what happens when there are two major things he needs to focus on at the same time? You can't just suspend one major thing to deal with another major thing. Life, unfortunately, is not that simple. We don't have the leisure to decide what we want to focus on in this life. To me, it is a slap in the face to the American people for John McCain to suspend his political campaign. He should be able to campaign and focus on the economic crisis. If he can't, then perhaps he needs to bow out of the election.

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Clay Aiken is Gay

And this is news? I mean, unless you've been living under a rock, I think everybody figured out which team Clay played on. I mean seriously, folks, this is the biggest un-announcement since Ellen announced she was gay. I'm just saying . . . I mean, he's actually come out of his supersized closet and announced he was gay to the two people who did not know!!! Ah, the joys of living life in the Land of Delusion.

S

Women Cheat Too . . . and other things

Okay, I know that's an odd title, but . . . I was watching The View this morning and one of the hot topics was men cheating. The whole discussion centered on men - never once did any of the ladies of The View mention that women also cheat. It was all about the men today. Obviously, the ladies of The View have never watched Lifetime TV, because in those movies, women cheat all the time. I'm just saying . . .

Seriously, though, I think it's unfair that men were given such a hard time without recognizing the fact that women cheat on their boyfriends/husbands as well. The fact is, both men and women cheat on their significant others. Perhaps men cheat more than men. Perhaps only men get caught at cheating more. Perhaps women, possibly more clever than men, cheat more often, but only get caught cheating less. Now, there's a thought for the day.

Other topics on The View - Blackberries (the PDA) and speechwriters.

Here's my brief opinion . . .

Blackberries - don't have one, don't want one, and am perfectly content without one. I don't need to be in touch with the world 24/7. I don't want to be in touch with the world 24/7. When I come home a the end of the day, pour my glass of wine, and pick up my book, the last thing I want is an interruption, whether phone call, text message or email. The same thing applies if I am watching Project Runway. I want the solitude and the disconnect from the world. If I'm out to dinner with somebody - turn off your phone, turn off your Blackberry, and focus on me. I think it is the height of rudeness to text, email, or answer a phone when out to dinner with friends. If you can't focus on the people you are with, then perhaps you shouldn't have come out to dinner in the first place.

Speechwriting - the point raised was that the politicians hire speechwriters, so that we are not actually hearing what the speaker truly believes. Sarah Palin's RNC speech is the perfect example. It was a cleverly staged speech to present the views of the Republican Party, and not necessarily the views of Sarah Palin. Unfortunately, this dilemma plays across the board of politics and is not limited to a single party. Whoopi - like me - wants to hear what the person actually believes and feels they can do for the country, not what some highly paid speech writer feels the candidate should believe and do for the country. For the most part the other ladies of The View agreed with Whoopi. Hopefully, in the debates, the true personas of the candidates will emerge since the speech writers - should - have the night off.

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The Honeymoon is Over!!

For those who even care . . .

• Sarah Palin's favorable rating drops, unfavorable rating rises
• Barack Obama regains lead in national polls
• Obama has been aggressively attacking John McCain's economic policies
• Neither candidate has shown expertise on economy, David Gergen says

The above bullet points come from this article.

As you'll find out if you're not lazy and actually click on the linked article, the honeymoon with Palin is over. Her favorable rating has dropped and her unfavorable rating has increased. I guess more and more people are checking out the fact websites and realizing that there is more - not necessarily better - to Sarah Palin than the Republican hype first seemed to indicate. I could have told you that much - please see earlier posts about Palin and the links to anti-Palin sites and well as political fact checker sites. In all honesty, Sarah Palin's emergence into this election was cleverly staged by the Republican Party. Her speech was written for her, and I'm she she had hours of rehearsals and couching to make her appear invincible. Obviously, the people behind her presentation failed to consider the fact that the majority of the American public is NOT stupid, and has the capability of googling Sarah Palin and learning the actual facts that she, and the Republican party, don't want them to know.

The election is far from over. Anything can, and probably will, still happen. What we, the American public, need to do is stay informed, stay involved, and keep checking those facts. The political ads are slanted and very biased. The political ads take things out of context and paint a very inaccurate picture. The only way to learn the truth is to research the facts and make an informed decision on Election Day.

Okay, I'm done with this rant . . . and very little snark was involved.

S

Credibility Takes a Nosedive

Sorry for the title of this blog, but I really couldn't think of anything better . . . or more snarky.

By now everybody knows about, and has probably seen via YouTube or someother site, Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. As far as I know, everybody knows that Saturday Night Live is all about satire and making fun of people. Well, obviously - see below article - I was wrong: everbody does not know. Carly Fioriona (former CEO of Hewlett Packard) . . . well just read the article.

I mean, really, somebody obviously needs to get a life and is taking things a little bit too seriously . . . kind of like Cindy McCain attacking the ladies of The View for asking tough questions. Uh, isn't that what running for office is all about?? I'm just saying . . .

McCain Advisor Calls Tina Fey 'Sexist'
Viewers liked Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live, and so did Sarah Palin. But another member of Team McCain says Fey's portrayal was sexist. "Well, I think she looked a bit like her," former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said on MSNBC. "I think, of course, the portrait was very dismissive of the substance of Sarah Palin, and so in that sense, they were defining Hillary Clinton as very substantive, and Sarah Palin as totally superficial."I think that continues the line of argument that is disrespectful in the extreme, and yes, I would say, sexist in the sense that just because Sarah Palin has different views than Hillary Clinton does not mean she lacks substance. She has a lot of substance."The 30 Rock creator may be weirded-out to be accused of sexism. As SNL's first female head writer, she's helped women move ahead in entertainment — just as Fiorina did for women in technology.Were you offended by Fey's portrayal? Watch it again below and tell us what you think. — Tim Molloy (tvguide.com 09/16/08)

One broken pledge . . .

If Sarah Palin cannot do what she pledged to do for her state, how can anyone believe she will do what she pledges to do for the entire country?

According to this article on cnn.com, in regards to a legislative probe regarding the firing of an Alaska state official, "Palin originally pledged to cooperate with the investigation and disclosed that members of her administration had contacted state police officials nearly two dozen times to discuss Wooten. But last week, she asked the state personnel board to conduct its own probe, and a string of witnesses has failed to show up at scheduled depositions with the investigator hired by the Legislature."

First - if she made a pledge, she should stick to that pledge. Second - so, now that Palin has backed off her pledge, all these witnesses are failing to show up. Well, isn't that odd? I wonder why the witnesses aren't showing up. Could it be that they have close ties to Palin and don't want to mar her political chances???? Excuse me while I go and look for a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Oh, silly me, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Okay, while I'm at it, let's talk about her "thanks, but no thanks" fairy tale she keeps telling about the bridge to no where. The facts - easily checkable on http://www.factcheck.org/ or http://www.truthout.org/ are quite different. Initially, Sarah was all for the bridge, especially with all the earmark money - something McCain is allegedly against - she could pull in for the state. The fact is, she didn't say "thanks, but no thanks" until wait late in the game after the whole bridge idea was basically dead.

Lastly, check out this blog. There are some very interesting facts. Please note, I italicized the word because the site is obviously not run by pro-Palin people. Even biased blogs contain kernels of the truth. You just have to really look at the kernels, go to the other sites already mentioned, and spend a little time googling to discover the truth. In the end, it's really worth the effort to figure out the truth.

Okay, now really last - the thing everyone has to consider is: do you want Sarah Palin as president of this country. The fact is, John McCain is not a spring chicken. The fact is, nobody knows when their time is up. My brother-in-law died at age 24. A friend of mine passed away a couple of years ago at age 59. Death happens. As a manager I used to work with once said, "you just never know when you're going to be hit by a doughnut truck on the way to work". If John McCain is - by some cruel chance of Fate - elected President and hit by a doughnut truck on the way to work . . . the woman unable to keep a pledge might just be running this country. I'm just saying . . .

S