Can I kick it? No, you can't.

Pretty good, and about what I expected. Biden has plenty of experience an a masterful command of the facts, and Palin knew her answers well enough to not freeze up, even when some of those answers had nothing to do with the question posed.

People seemed to like Palin's folksiness, and that has been her strong suit, definitely. Even when the candidates first entered the stage, she could be overheard asking Senator Biden if it was all right if she called him Joe. I didn't realize until later what that was actually about.

The line that she delivered that seemed to enrapture her groupies the most was when she chided Biden for noticing that, while time only moves forward, we as humans have the capacity to recall things that have happened before. Sometimes, we even make the connection between present circumstances and things in the past that led to them. I find it a useful quality, which keeps me from putting my hand down on a hot stove ever again. Not so the governor of Alaska:

"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again pointing backwards again. You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future."

Now, the worst part of that is how transparently stupid this notion is. It seems like we might go ahead and let Wall Street do whatever the hell they want now, since remembering that they just destroyed the economy is "backward-looking."

The most pathetic thing about her answer is that it revealed how utterly scripted Governor Palin was. She was ready to recite it for over an hour. And she knew she couldn't deliver it effectively, unless she first received Senator Biden's permission to call him Joe.

Palin did fine last night, and if you're comfortable with that, vote for that ticket. If you realize, as many did, that her performance last night is the absolute best that she's capable of, you may still have grave concerns. Like many other politicians, when she has a script to work from, she's quite good. I, however, looking to the past for lessons, worry about how this sort of politician reacts when the script is gone, and no one is telling them what to do.

We're just a little more than a month out from the first official presidential contests for this quadrennial, and I'm felling pretty bleah about the whole thing. I want to remain interested, because the election is important, but I think in a lot of ways the reign of George W. Bush has had it's intended effect on me, and the rest of the population. That is, I feel like things are pretty much hopeless, and will never get any better.

Mission Accomplished.

I look at the frontrunners and I'm just ready to move to Putin's Russia. There, at least, you wake up every day, knowing who is in charge of everything, and who always will be. Assuming you wake up at all.

But here, the "choices" we have are just miserable.

Giuliani? Every 72 hours seems to reveal yet another personal or political scandal about this clown, most of which were already known to the press and citizenry of New York City. Giuliani is smart, but he's more desperate for power than anything else, and it makes him look pathetic. Besides, if you thought Bill Clinton's personal life was a national embarrassment, you ain't seen nothin' yet.

Hillary? Capable as any of them, but as much as I liked Bill, I'm tired of this Bush/Clinton stranglehold on the White House. The second Bush sure as hell wasn't an improvement, and I doubt a second Clinton would be, either. It's too bad Hillary has to spend all of her time showing what a hardass she is, when she could probably accomplish great things for this country.

Romney? He's still an empty suit, although at least unlike Bush, he actually had success in the business world. I still think his only position is whatever is expedient, and frankly, the guy just seems creepy. Oh, and that whole "double the size of Gitmo" thing? Do me a favor: write out the full details of your plan on the back of your Vietnam deferment, and get back to me. And please, fill it out in English, not en Francais.

Obama? Still waiting to see some teeth, although I do at least get the sense that maybe the gloves are off where Hillary is concerned. He's now leading in Iowa, and I really wouldn't mind seeing him be the nominee. Again, I want to see that GOP mud machine tie itself in knots trying not to call him Willie Horton.

Huckabee? This is a guy I've liked since I started seeing him on the talk shows a couple of years ago. He actually seems like a decent person, although I do disagree with him on a number of issues. It's funny that he's being attacked from the right because he had the nerve to raise taxes in Arkansas. I'm not sure when taxes became worse than people starving to death or dying from curable conditions, but that's your Republican Party. I'd consider voting for Huckabee if he hadn't admitted to not believing in Evolution. No, you don't get to have your hand on the nukes, sir.

Edwards? He's been written off by the media, but I'll probably vote for him anyway. My guess is he eventually throws his support to Obama, and then it gets interesting.

McCain? There's just too much water under this bridge for me to think about casting for John. He was my guy in 2000, but he told the truth about the religious right, had his leash pulled, and then apologized. Once he started pandering to people like Robertson and Falwell, I just gave up on him. I prefer to think of McCain as one of the few principled people in politics, but he lusts for the job so much, and he's kissed the ass of so many bigots, that I could never vote for him. Too bad, he'd have made a really good president.

Biden? A guy I'd be very comfortable having as president, especially given his foreign policy experience. He's a big thinker, and that'd be a nice change around here. He's also never bothered to cash in on his position, ranking 99th out of 100 in terms of personal wealth in the Senate. I hope he doesn't accept a VP slot with someone, he's too valuable where he is.

Fred Thompson? What did I tell you? WHAT DID I TELL YOU?

Ron Paul? He probably makes more sense on more issues than any of these guys, but I don't think that putting someone in charge who hates government as much as he does could possibly end well. Reform is good, but until all of us are saints, I think abolishing the IRS is probably a bad move.

There's a long way to go, a dozen Giuliani skeletons to de-closet, and a billion dollars to be spent campaigning. If I had anything uplifting to say, I'd say it now.

Sorry.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Sunday, December 02, 2007