GO WITH THE FLOW

In case you missed the Vice Presidential debate last night, here's a copy of Sarah Palin's cheat sheet. She made expert use of it imho.

My friend JB summarized the spectacle quite well, I thought. Without his permission, I'll let him describe it for you:










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As expected, the local paper greets me this morning with the headline:
"GOP hopeful holds own during debate." I guess if the Couric/Gibson
interviews are your baseline, she was fucking phenomenal. Knocked it
out of the park. If you'd never heard of her before and your baseline
is what most rational citizens might expect from an oval office
candidate, it was once again tragically embarrassing. Some of my
favorite highlights:

- What I have to imagine was the first ever VP debate "shout out."

- Her affectionate use of the term Joe Six Pack.

- The wink!

- The look on Biden's face during the stretches where Palin seemed to be
randomly stringing words together in the hopes of filling her time
(pretty much any time they showed Biden...)

- Her claim that "energy" is her "area of expertise." (I can only assume
that living on top of oil is to energy expertise as living next to a
foreign country is to foreign policy expertise.)

- Her suggestion that McCain's Vietnam service means he "knows how to
win a war." (Uh, (1) we lost that war, (2) McCain was shot down twice,
then (3) captured and held for the entire conflict... not exactly a
winning resume)

- And dag nabbit, I love me them folksy witticisms!

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Thanks, JB. That was it in a nutshell. Holy friggin' shit...millions of people are actually going to punch the ticket with her name on it CHOOSING her to be Vice President.

Looks like 8 years of Bush has really lowered the bar for the highest posts in the land.

SEPTEMBER MADNESS

Thanks to Gene for sharing this gem. Everybody get your brackets in!

CLICK IT TO ENLARGE

OFFSHORE DRILLING OR JUST OFF-BASE?

Can we just dispell the myth of offshore drilling once and for all?

Even the U.S. Department of Energy is in agreement here - offshore drilling is not a viable solution to our dependence on foreign oil. It would take another 20 years to fully realize, and even then would only represent a sliver of our national consumption. Instead of investing in subsidies that encourage oil companies to extract this relatively insignificant amount of oil, why not invest in alternative technologies that will actually have an impact on consumption?

Have you heard about the Chevy Volt? Up to 40 miles on an electric battery before requiring even a drop of gas. This is just the beginning.

We have the technology. It's really not that far-fetched. Corporations are slowly catching on, finally beginning to provide products that make sense (from a conservation perspective at least, if not economical just yet), and we need to make smart decisions as consumers to support and sustain innovation of this nature. This is how we will finally escape from an unhealthy relationship with oil.

We'll all be able to stay connected over long distances, get to work and back every day, and take those long road trips...without help from the fickle sheiks and barons who control our every move.

FAREEDOM RINGS!

Even McCain supporters are beginning to have a hard time with his choice for Vice President because the more she opens her mouth, the clearer it becomes: she is woefully under-qualified for the position. How could McCain possibly have come to the conclusion that Palin was the best person to succeed him as President of the United States? It makes no sense at all.

Fareed Zakaria, in this article, actually calls her "dangerously ignorant." He goes on to say that McCain's selection of her was "irresponsible" and in no way consistent with his commitment to always put "country first." In this critical decision, he was clearly not thinking of the country.

I loved Fareed before, but I love him even more now for calling it like it is: A massive political blunder that puts all Americans in danger.

Here's the original Newsweek article for your review.

CASE IN POINT:

COURIC: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.