Julie Luongo

“It is better to be defeated on principle than to win on lies.” ~Arthur Calwell

Michelle-O's Thakoon

Smoke and mirrors? We defeat thee. We are Watchdog Nation!

I watched the debate last night on the edge of my seat. Nail biting. Wondering if McCain would croak right before my eyes or if Obama would disappoint me in some way. Neither happened. Although, they did both at some point say the other was being misleading or inaccurate. Good thing there’s Factcheck.org. This AP article clears things up, in case you were wondering.

Note to McCain: Telling Obama that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and he doesn’t understand just shows that you’re either not listening or you’re a smug know-it-all who can’t see another point of view and judge people by their age and not their merit. Hmm…that reminds me of someone. Used to condescend to the country by telling us he’s working hard.

Note to Michelle-O: I don’t care if that Thakoon dress is $1250, it is one ugly smock.

*Thanks to GoDrex for the lyrical help and the awesome Sarah Silverman video.

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” ~Lao-Tzu

Bonobo

People are going crazy about this opinion poll asking if creationist Sarah Palin is qualified to be the VP. There are several emails circulating saying:

• Cheney paid people to vote Yes
• The Republicans knew about the poll in advance and campaigned to flood the poll with Yes votes
• A devious right-wing hacker found a way to vote Yes all day

I find it hard to believe. But I checked Snopes and found nothing.

Naturally, I think it’s insane to say Palin is qualified to serve as VP. Here’s a little peek at her path to the campaign trail:

• She went to a Tier 3 college and got a degree in Communications … not something relevant like Political Science or Law.
• She won the Miss Wasilla pageant then Miss Congeniality in the Miss Alaska pageant.
• In her early career she reported on sports and helped her husband’s fishing business.
• As city council member, mayor, and governor she pursued a number of personal vendettas.
• She heard about that science stuff but decided creationism made the most sense. (Come on! Look at that Bonobo picture up there and tell me you don’t believe in evolution.)

So … low intellect, corrupt, and personable on a foundation of academic mediocrity. I’d be pissed if she were leading a local volunteer committee in my community.

To make a fair comparison and help you decide if Palin’s qualified, here’s the early life of a political leader from her generation … Obama:

• Went to two elite schools for his undergraduate education – Occidental College and Columbia where he got a BA in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations.
• Worked for Business International Corporation, the New York Public Interest Research Group, then as director of the Developing Communities Project.
• Was consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation.
• Traveled to Europe and Kenya.
• Went to Harvard Law and became editor then president of the Harvard Law Review. Graduated magna cum laude.
• Got a publishing contract and a fellowship from University of Chicago Law School. Wrote a memoir.
• Directed Illinois’ Project Vote.
• Taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School and worked as a civil rights attorney.
• Founded Public Allies.
• Sat on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, The Joyce Foundation, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the Lugenia Burns Hope Center.

If you want to weigh in with a quick yes, no, maybe poll about Palin, click the link and vote:
http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

“The Chinese, who have avoided foreign wars for 50 years, are taking enormous leaps forward, investing in their economy, and we are falling behind. We’re wasting our chances.” ~Garrison Keillor

Here’s an essay in Salon by Garrison Keillor from last week (thanks to my consigliere):

Garrison Keillor, George Bush with big hair | Salon.

Keillor makes some good points. Generally, I like his stories and commentary. We’ve spent a lot of drives together. However, if you care about these things, you may have noticed that Keillor is not beloved on the blog circuit. He’s made some missteps, which Dan Savage pointed out best. No one can rage like Savage. Breathtaking.

CHARLIE GIBSON: You said recently, in your old church, “Our national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God.” Are we fighting a holy war?

SARAH PALIN: You know, I don’t know if that was my exact quote.

CHARLIE GIBSON: Exact words.

~ABC News Interview, Sept. 11, 2008

Ok, fine. Sarah Pork Barrel Palin is attractive, especially when she stands next to the dorks in politics. Still, when pretty people start spouting Christian dogma and run-on about creationism in school, tasks from God in Iraq, and a bunch of provincial wedge issues, doesn’t that take the shine off the dime?

I’ve been wondering why everyone is so in love with Sarah Palin. And I’ve finally decided it’s because she seems like a regular-Jane. She’s a hockey mom whose husband got a DUI and teenage daughter got knocked up. If you’re one of the few Americans that can’t relate, let me just say “there but for the grace of god, (sex education, and responsible drinking) go you.”

Palin’s not one of those snooty intellectuals. She got her BS from a Tier-3 school after a little university hopping. Academic rigor isn’t really her thing. But she was voted Miss Congeniality in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest. People like her! (Well, Charlie Gibson doesn’t. But he’s probably not keen on her attempts to censor her staff or ban books. Professional journalists are so picky about free speech.)

If we valued intelligence, we would have elected the Gore – Lieberman dream team (sigh). But honestly, what does it matter? The VP is just a do-nothing figurehead (cough-Cheney-cough). And nobody likes you if you’re too smart (Hillary). Or too clever (Paul Tsongas). Or too peaceful (Dennis Kucinich).

It’s not as if the geniuses are running the show here. Consider the picture of Walter Reed Middle School appearing up on the big screen at the RNC. First, who cares? Second, would it really have been that much better to have seen an image of Walter Reed Army Medical Center? All of the ill-treated head injury patients make it impossible to get a photo of that place without some bandaged Iraqi War Vet in the background. So, someone on the campaign staff searched the name and got the wrong image. Like, you can’t, like, be expected to know, like, everything. (If you’re not squeamish, go ahead and do your own image search of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. See what you come up with.)

I wonder if the campaign volunteer who got the Walter Reed photo wrong watched the VMAs and smiled when “blind trust” Britney sat silently after Russell Brand begged US to elect Obama. I’m referring to  Britney’s long time support of “that retarded cowboy fellow,” which was Brand’s name for Dubya (in case you missed it). People who prefer respect for our leaders over free speech for Brits in the US got all bunched up about that. Jeez, those British folks sound so smart with their Winston Churchill accents, but don’t they know by now that we don’t mix politics with our pop culture. We mix politics with religion. Sheesh.

I went to my local Jazz Festival last weekend and was sitting on the hill enjoying the music, occasionally reading a book that was not in danger of being banned from my local library, when I noticed someone in front of me wearing a T-shirt that read “Nobama.” Not that I don’t appreciate someone making their politics known (especially when it’s Nina Simone’s daughter Simone on-stage advocating for Obama). But “Nobama”  at a Jazz Fest? I thought, generally speaking, Jazz fans, and supporters of all arty-type festivals, were left of center. Of, course, I wasn’t really surprised. PA’s a purple state.

When the T-shirt wearer turned, I realized that I knew exactly who was sporting the Nobama shirt. It was someone I know … and like. Someone I spent lots of good times with having drinks and telling jokes. Sigh. Shine off the dime.