You Can't Make This Stuff Up

Wow. She's even more of a ditz than she first appeared. She actually makes Tina Fey's impersonation seem more, well, composed and... rational? The woman is just babbling...

David Letterman Reacts to John McCain Suspending Campaign

Beware the wrath of a talk show host scorned.

Race car driver Richard Patrese tests his marriage in a Type R Honda

Okay, apparently this was filmed to promote the handling of a Honda, but oddly it reminds me of the way Karen reacts to my driving...

Hockey Moms Against Sarah Palin

Ah, the bitter bitter truth...

Ninja cat comes closer while not moving!

HeeHee

See, Politcal Ads Can Be Funny, Too

You Have to Be F**king Kidding Me

This is why I despair:

"New polling shows that the presidential race has tightened since Sarah Palin delivered her vice presidential acceptance speech on Wednesday.

Both the Gallup and Rasmussen daily tracking polls reported today that John McCain now narrowly trails Barack Obama.

Yesterday’s Gallup poll results of surveys conducted before the speech showed Obama with a 49 percent to 42 percent advantage over McCain. Today’s daily tracking poll showed that lead reduced to 48 percent to 44 percent.

On Tuesday, the poll reported Obama ahead 50 percent to 42 percent, the first time either candidate has reached the 50 percent marker.

While the Gallup shift from yesterday is not statistically significant, other surveys also appear to show public opinion moving toward the GOP following the party’s convention.

Rasmussen reported Friday that when "leaners” are included, Obama is ahead of McCain 48 percent to 46 percent. The same comparison on Thursday has Obama ahead by 5 percentage points.

Rasmussen also found that Palin’s favorable rating of 58 percent is now a point above that of both McCain and Obama. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden is viewed favorably by 48 percent of those polled."

FIFTY-EIGHT F**KING PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE VIEW SARAH PALIN FAVORABLY???

Based on WHAT????

Her ability to read a speech from a TelePrompTer?

Her demonstrated inability to provide moral and practical guidance for her teenaged daughter? (Why don't we just make Lynn Spears president if that's a qualifier, for God's sake.)

Her contempt for the Alaskan legislature's investigation into her possible illegal activities as Governor?

Her lying?

This is what I wonder about those of my fellow Americans who think Sarah Palin is someone to be admired: as Frasier asked a drinking buddy in an immortal episode of "Cheers," "What color is the sky in your world, Cliff?"

On the Other Hand, Maybe We Have Bigger Problems to Worry About

How Is This Even a Question?

When I find myself wondering how it's possible that Barack Obama leads John McCain by only four or five percent (depending on which recent poll you look at), I have to wonder, are the people who support McCain living in the same world, breathing the same air, reading the same news, watching the same TV reports, that I am?  Given McCain's ethical collapse in recent months, as he's swung from "maverick" to GOP right-wing hypocrite; given his support for the spectacularly-failed policies of the Bush administration; given his age, health, and well-known shoot-from-the-hip, hot-headed temperament; given the blatant cynicism and disregard for good governing that his selection of Sarah Palin for his running mate clearly illustrates... how is it possible there's anyone other than die-hard GOP fan-boys who supports this man for President?

The argument that John McCain is somehow a better choice for commander-in-chief because he has "experience" is specious.  As many have said before, there is no set of experiences that prepares you for the presidency.  It is a unique office, part executive, part inspirational, part strategic, part managerial, and wholly make-it-up-as-you-go-along.  Herbert Hoover was one of the most "qualified" presidents we've ever elected, with a resume that promised great things.  He had everything you'd need for president, except the one trait that mattered most: the ability to lead, to inspire, to speak to those better angels of the American republic.  Abraham Lincoln, as most of us know, was probably one of the least "qualified" candidates to run for the highest office, but while his resume was thin, his talents were unmatchable.  So let's agree that experience, by itself, is no predictor of how a candidate will do in office once he's elected.

What matters is character, judgment, and the ability to lead and inspire.  And in that regard, given how McCain has behaved over the last six months, in contrast to Obama, why does this race remain so close?

A Hero Rises

Credit to Lolcats.

Whoa

Fear Itself

Not to wax nostalgic about "the way things used to be," but this recent opinion piece in the L.A. Times dovetails with some thoughts I've had lately about the difference between my twelve-year old daughter's experience of the world, and the way I experienced it at her age.  Rachel is twelve, and she's never ridden her bike around our neighborhood by herself; she's never gone to the movies with a friend alone; she's never taken public transportation without an adult to supervise her; and she doesn't just "go outside and play."  She is, in effect, a prisoner of her parents' fear of the world the way we think it is -- or rather, the way we've been taught to believe it is, by a news media that depends on creating fear to drive ratings, and by politicians who use fear to get votes.

The bizarre thing is, I'm not particularly afraid of the world, or my neighborhood, and I know for a fact that the times we live in are not more dangerous than they were when I was growing up.  Don't believe me?  Check the FBI's annual crime statistics, and compare the crime rates for say, 1965, to the crime rates of today.  Despite the fact that we have maybe a hundred times more people in prison today than we had forty years ago, crime isn't particularly worse today.  It's our perception of crime that's worse.  And for that, we can lay the blame squarely on the aforementioned news media and the politicians who use bad news to manipulate us.

Or maybe we should really blame ourselves.  We're the ones who accept this nonsense.  We're the ones who tremble every time we hear about a drive-by shooting on the six o'clock news (only to learn, when we finally get the details, that the drive-by happened in another city, in another state, and was, in fact, newsworthy only because it has become such a rare event).  We're the ones who think our children are at daily risk of attack by Sexual Predators -- despite the reality that more than 90% of sexual molestations occur at the hands of family members.  We let ourselves be manipulated by fear, and it's our children's freedom that suffers.

Sigh.  So, what else is new?

If We Do Get Four More Years, We'll Deserve It...

Whoa, This is Creepy...

... in a cool way.

Animation from Pendulum Alter Ego:

It's All In How You Look At It...

"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets and then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again."

--Rick Polito, Marin Independent Journal's TV listing for "The Wizard of Oz"

Hee Hee Hee

Even When They Win, They Lose

If the Bushies can't even convince a military jury they're doing the right thing when it comes to the prisoners at Guantanamo, how do they ever expect to convince the rest of the world? Think about this: Salim Hamdan is the first prisoner from Guantanamo to go to trial, which probably means the government thought its case against him was the strongest they have against any of the men held there. So if this is the best they've got, what does that say about the others Bush and his gang have held incommunicado for the past five years?

Unbelieveable.

66 months for Osama Bin Laden's driver | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

If There Is a God, He Hates Republicans

Case in point: Just when it looks like the GOP's chances of fighting off a filibuster-proof majority for the Democrats this November couldn't get any worse...



Ted Stevens Indicted On 7 Criminal Charges

W.

Other than the too-obvious back score, this looks like it might be... interesting.