You Can Put Lipstick on a Pitbull, But it's Still a Pitbull

I want to be Bi-Partisan. I really do!! But Republicans are making it just so hard. Sure Obama is using this whole lipstick non-sense to scold the McCain campaign and score political points, but at the same time Obama is right to scold them. It's just idiotic! Anybody who does just a little bit of research knows that Obama was not calling Palin a pig. It's a figure of speech John McCain has used numerous times. Even Bill O'Reilly has got Obama's back on this! But, who knows, after that interview, maybe he's now smitten with Barry as well.

Anyways, Obama is calling this Swiftboat politics. How ironic Palin supporter, Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift had this to say: "She is the only one of the four candidates for president, or the only vice presidential candidate who wears lipstick."

Shameless. Thank God, they're taking a break for 9-11.

Source

Fact-Checking the RNC

Yahoo just posted this AP article on their home page analyzing speeches made at the RNC.

The RNC Thus Far

So I got to listen to Senator Lieberman's speech last night. In '04 I longed for a McCain-Lieberman ticket, so it was kind of surreal watching him give a speech at the RNC. There were so many times in his speech that just seemed so awkward. Like the time he brought up McCain courageously reaching across the isle for campaign finance reform... Uh, didn't like 99.9% of Republicans despise him for that? But, I guess that would go for every time he talked about McCain "reaching across the isle." They hate him for that! There was talk of him being Kerry's running mate just four years ago, and unfortunately I was listening to it on the radio so I couldn't see the audience reaction. But I got some laughs, even though McCains's centrism and willingness to work with the other side is what I use to love about him.

I read an article tonight about Guiliani's speech, which just seemed to be a bunch of fear-mongering, and just now I suffered through my first Sarah Palin speech. I say suffered in all seriousness because I struggled to keep my dinner down as she went on and on about her down-home, folksy, leave-it to beaver, little house on the frozen prairie, life wrestling grizzly bears and exploiting her perfect, beautiful son with Downs Syndrome. Oh... do I sound a little angry and negative? Sorry, I'm just still in the moment I guess. How could one not be after listening to childish attack after childish attack? I heard some people thought Obama's speech was negative; I guess McCain's found his attack dog. And you gotta love how she trashed community organizers; apparently they don't have any responsibilities. Like I said, childish...

And I guess Mike -Fox Noise Channel- Huckabee spoke about how the media is being unfair to Republicans..... I'm just gonna stop now... I'm hoping the best for McCain's speech.

Didn't See that Coming...

So McCain has chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate. Wow... I thought for sure it would be Romney. I truly am stunned because McCain has just made an enormous gamble, and what I think this shows is that McCain is really uncertain about his chances. I also think it's interesting that Romney was the obvious choice for obvious reasons yet he didn't get chosen; and the reason he didn't get chosen is because Palin is a woman and is pro-life.

This choice has absolutely nothing to do with picking someone who would make a good president; it's all about winning the election. For one, McCain is looking to steal some Hillary supporters. Palin, today, said something like, "now we can finally break that glass ceiling." This, of course, refers to Hillary's comment about putting 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling. Secondly, McCain chose her because of her pro-life record. The Dean of Liberty University Law School, here, says that this will energize conservatives. So the pro-life, born again president we have now disappointed the religious Right on abortion, but McCain, who they're already suspicious of on abortion, picks a pro-life VP and they're going to be energized? Ok...

The biggest gamble with this choice, however, is the fact that McCain is an old guy with lots of health problems. The primary purpose of the VP is to fill in for the president if the unfortunate occurred. McCain and the Republicans main attack on Obama is his lack of experience, yet Palin is significantly less experienced than Obama.

Nevertheless, it's ironic that McCain chose her to attract Hillary supporters and pro-life conservatives. Now that's a change indeed.

Nice Try Rick

This past weekend, I was told that if Obama gets elected that we will be attacked again, because he is a wuss. I was then told that all he wants to do is "talk", which I assumed meant diplomacy. After this little exchange, I sat down to watch the Obama-McCain-Rick Warren extravaganza. I thought some of it was good and I liked what Warren was attempting to accomplish with this forum, although I do not believe he succeeded.

His goal was to have a civil, honest, down-to-earth discussion about the candidate's personal beliefs, character and leadership qualities. It was meant to put the campaigning aside, and just have meaningful dialogue. What's funny is that, what analysis I watched, the host and guests all seemed to think McCain had the better "performance." Now, this would typically mean that McCain won. But, in this forum, the goal was not to "perform", but to be authentic. But McCain truly did have a great performance; I have never seen a better George Bush impression in my life. McCain answered every question with as little thought and nuance as possible. Is there such thing as evil? "Yes there's evil, and it has it be defeated." What is something that ten years ago you believed, but don't today? "We have to drill here! We have to drill now!" Many times McCain didn't even look at Warren, but turned to the audience and slipped into campaign mode. I suspect he did this because, well, many Americans want a president who is cut and dry, black and white and downright simple. George Bush ran and won on that quality four years ago.

And this frustrates and scares me. I want a president who, like Obama, took a while to answer Warren's questions. Obama seemed to try and answer the questions in a thoughtful and sincere way. He played it safe on some, and I caught him being dishonest on another. But for the most part, he put a lot of thought into his answers. I want this in a president because we live in complex world. I don't want a president who has a quick short answer for questions that ought to elicit reflection and nuance. And because we live in a dangerous world, I don't want a president who is small on diplomacy and big on military action. War should be the last possible solution. Diplomacy doesn't equal wussiness. It means one understands the horrendous cost of war.

Of course, you can have someone who just thinks and never decides and that's no good. And you can have someone who just talks and talks but never acts, and that's also ineffective. But if Warren's intent was to help voters decide who to vote for based on how the candidate answers a tough question, then he further solidified my choice in Obama. Even though McCain may have had the better performance.

And So it Continues...

We were at a friends house last night when McCain's latest, mindless piece of trash came on the air. You know, the one with Brittany and Paris. I was kind of surprised to see it, as I thought it was only a web ad. I started lamenting to my friend how I really, really thought this election would be different. I thought that McCain and Obama mutually wanted a positive, substantive, smear-free contest. My friend just looked at me and said, "but he can't win that way, people are dumb, so that's what works." At first, I just didn't want to accept my friend's simplistic and cynical analysis. But the more I think about it, considering all that hangs in the balance with this election, and considering all the talk about higher politics, it just makes the most sense. To win, McCain's gotta do what works, and the people he's trying to persuade buy into weak, substanceless, smear ads.

There's been much said and written about the continually dumber American electorate, and how it threatens our democracy. Calling a good chunk of the country dumb is often dismissed as elitist. But when politics are constantly boiled down to sound bites and slogans, and political ads consist of comparing a candidate to Brittany and Paris, that says something about the audience. Let's just hope we don't see a Hanoi Hilton veterans for truth.

And on a separate, but somewhat related note, this is why I TiVo The Daily Show:

My Veep Picks

For McCain: Newt Gingrich
-I think he's already said that he wouldn't do it, but I think he'd be the best choice. Let's face it, he's incredibly intelligent. His scholarly, professorial persona would balance out McCain's straight-talkin, down-to-earth, no BS style. He would also balance out McCain's admitted ignorance on the economy. They also both share an independent streak and believe in climate change.

For Obama: Joe Biden
-Biden would help with the bigot vote (let's face it, that's what it is), balancing the ticket with a solid, presidential, white, male statesman. He also has huge foreign-policy credentials and experience. He is also like McCain in that he's more of the straight-talkin, no BSer and would compliment Obama's professorial and scholarly persona. Oh, and he was also my pick for president. Richardson would also be good, but too risky -- one minority at a time please.

This Would be Great

Call my idealistic. Call me naive. But I would love this. It's exactly the kind of contest we need. I hope Obama takes him up on it.

Stop Hurting America!

In '04 Jon Stewart went on Crossfire and kicked Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala in the balls-- well not really-- but what he did was even better then that. If you missed his appearance you should check it out because I think the disdain he exhibits is manifesting itself in the huge youth turnout for Obama and in the imminent nomination of McCain.

Rush Limbaugh and company have been coming unglued over McCain, and I admit that part of me enjoys listening to these meltdowns. The reason Rush hates McCain is because he sees McCain as a trojan horse who will, "let the enemy in" because what Limbaugh, and people like Tom DeLay, want is a Republican-controlled country; not a democracy. I think that the country is sick of the us-versus-them politics that has enveloped the last eight years. I think that, especially, college-educated young people and independents are looking for leaders who will work with those in the other party and champion what's best for the country and the rest of the world, and not Republican or Democratic dogma. The Stewart-Crossfire appearance struck me because for far too long we've had shows like Crossfire and Hannity and Colmes perpetuating divisiveness and this either-or, liberal versus conservative garbage.

A McCain-Obama contest would be good for America, and elevate the political discourse. And a McCain or Obama presidency would, hopefully, bring together some of the good things from both parties.