MCN Blogs
David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Thanks, Crazy Old Guy

Wow. And I thought Lieberman was a bad idea.
Two years in as Gov of Alaska… Parent of a 4-month old special needs child… Had her sister’s ex fired…
This is who America wants to be a heartbeat away from the presidency of our oldest president ever.
Game over.

Be Sociable, Share!

193 Responses to “Thanks, Crazy Old Guy”

  1. Joe Leydon says:

    Not only that: She came in SECOND when, in 1984, she competed in the Miss Alaska beauty pageant. No, I swear to God, I’m not making that up. On the other hand: She DID win the Miss Congeniality prize when she competed for Miss Wasilla…
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

  2. Exley says:

    Not quite sure what to make of this yet.
    Really negates a lot of the power the attacks on Obama’s experience might have had. (Though one could argue that having Biden on the ticket hurt Obama’s message for change, I think this is of greater significance to McCain’s campaign).

  3. Blackcloud says:

    “Two years in as Gov of Alaska…”
    As opposed to the guy at the top of the other ticket who’s only four years into his first term in the US Senate, right? That’s so much more experience. It will be interesting how the experience thing plays out, now. I’m sure the McCain camp is fully aware that they are putting a crease in that card, but thought the benefits outweight the risk. At least it isn’t a retread like Romney et al. Personally, I think the veep picks are overrated in terms of importance, and the rest of the campaign will bear that out.

  4. MattMcD says:

    What does it say about the Republican Party that they have to go all the way to Alaska to find a single woman?

  5. Blackcloud says:

    She’s not single, is she?

  6. Exley says:

    “Parent of a 4-month old special needs child”… why do you think this is relevant DP?

  7. mutinyco says:

    Her high school nickname was “Sarah Barracuda”!

  8. mutinyco says:

    BTW/ Happy Birthday John McCain!

  9. martindale says:

    It doesn’t negate McCain’s experience argument. Palin, unlike Obama, has executive experience.

  10. mutinyco says:

    If McCain’s idea is to use Palin to siphon female Clinton supporters, he got something very wrong. Those women are all Democrats. And those women are PRO-CHOICE. Palin is not. Bonehead play.

  11. At least she’s hot…

  12. swordandpen says:

    The cynicism and hypocrisy behind this choice is mind-boggling.

  13. mutinyco says:

    Tapley’s got a MILF-jones for McCain’s VP…

  14. Nicol D says:

    So in other words you are all a little bit frightened?

  15. hepwa says:

    If most of North America doesn’t know by 5pm Pacific Coast Time that Sarah Palin gave birth to a child with down syndrome (instead of having an abortion — only liberals would be so cold), I’ll eat my hat. And I have a big head.
    Because I know the women of the world get their news from the Hot Blog, let me be clear: President John McCain with the support of his anti-choice Vice President, Sarah Palin, will appoint likely three Supreme Court Justices in their first term and the individual States, by 2011, will have the choice of banning abortion.
    If any woman or man votes for McCain because of his veep pick’s gender, then you are lost.

  16. Kambei says:

    Her record on “cleaning up” government reads really well. I think it is a strong choice. To attack her on experience, is to attack Obama at the same time. But who knows how she will handle the pressure during the campaign–certainly a wild card in that regard. The race for the White House just got even more interesting, if that is possible…

  17. Nicol D says:

    Kambei,
    I don’t know your political views, but objectively, you are perceptive and right. This is a brilliant choice. Sadly, too many commenters on this blog;
    1. have no background in studying politics and demographics
    and
    2. have drunk too much Obamamania kool-aid
    …to be even remotely objective.
    This will mobilize the conservative base. I know they will trash her like they did Hillary, but no woman becomes a Republican without strife. She will eat that little pit-bull liar Biden for breakfast.
    This choice actually knocks it out of the park. This will be a close election.

  18. mutinyco says:

    D, I’ve never been an Obama supporter. Read any political posts from during the first half of the year.
    That said…
    McCain is going to lose this. The election will probably be close. But he’s going to lose. Nothing is shifting in his favor. He announces his VP while most people are moving into the holiday weekend. And it’s his 72nd birthday. And now Gustav is threatening the Gulf and the GOP are considering postponing their convention to avoid negative publicity.
    McCain will look old and stuttering during the debates against Obama who’s young and eloquent. Biden will look tough and experienced against Sarah Barracuda who’ll be out of her league.
    Furthermore, Bush is the least popular president in history, and the Dems are going to Crazy Glue that anchor around McCain’s ankle.
    Obama wins. McCain loses.

  19. Telemachos says:

    It’s an interesting choice. I think it’ll either turn out to be a grand slam or a tremendous crash-and-burn. Sure, she’ll shore up the GOP base. The question: will she appeal to conservative Democrats and independents?
    I have no idea.
    It seems like a weird choice for me because of her lack of public experience in general (not to mention no national or foreign policy experience). I also think — if Biden’s careful not to appear bullying — he’ll wipe the floor with her in any debate.
    But I don’t think she’ll win over all those rumored Hillary PUMAs.
    We’ll see.

  20. Kambei says:

    She has some experience working with foreign governments…Canada and Russia both border her state. Still could go either way, I think.

  21. messiahcomplexio says:

    It highlights Mccain’s lack of Executive experience, without giving him an experienced executive.
    It undercuts his “not ready to lead argument” against obama in a major way, especially considering Mccains age ( happy birthday Mc) and the possibility (all be it, small) that if Mccain dies early in his term, a relatively inexperienced politician would become president, something he has been arguing is disaster for how long?
    If he Continues to use “the not ready to lead argument now, he runs the risk of looking like he’s ignoring his own advice. Irresponsible, Or cynical.
    Good thinking Mc.
    I’d sick Hillary on her ASAP.
    Have her do a laundry list of woman’s issue’s Palin’s against and say, ” John Mccain thinks your so so lead by your emotions, you’ll vote against woman’s rights to elect a woman.
    This doesn’t look good for team Mccain on the surface, but then,
    As Kathleen Harris used to say, “It ain’t over until the “hanging chad drops”.

  22. Rob says:

    Fucking hilarious. Even the six die-hard PUMAs that the Republicans are pretending will influence the election are going to resent being condescended to this blatantly.

  23. Citizen R says:

    “Had her sister’s ex fired.”

    Stating an unproven charge as fact, eh, Dave. That speaks very poorly of you as a journalist.

  24. Crash115 says:

    I think Dave’s point about the special needs child (at least what immeadiately came to my mind when I heard about her 4 month old with Downs Syndrome), is that for someone who is so Pro-choice and Pro-family, should she be taking the time to campaign and serve the office of VP (and possibly President) when this child might need a mother’s full attention?

  25. Blackcloud says:

    Ultra cynical read: voting for a black man for president too much change to stomach for you? Then vote for the white woman running for vice president!

  26. Joe Leydon says:

    Of course, before we laugh too much at this choice, remember… Dan Quayle got laughed at, too. And Spiro Agnew actually was targeted in “Do you want this inexperienced guy one heartbeat away from the Presidency?” ads.

  27. T. Holly says:

    Dear John McCain, my vote is for sale. Sarah elocution mistress is just a down payment. Please send a check.

  28. Crash115 says:

    Okay…I’m drinking the Kool-Aid. She’s reminding me too much of Tina Fey. This campaign certainly got more interesting to look at!

  29. djiggs says:

    What this latest Hot Blog entry and the latest posts at Hollywood-Elsewhere tell me that both you and Jeff Wells are political know-nothings.

  30. Mgmax says:

    “What does it say about the Republican Party that they have to go all the way to Alaska to find a single woman?”
    Well, if the Dems could have found one, she’d be on the ticket, so what does that say? (And Obama had 57 states to search in!)

  31. Citizen R says:

    It’s a pick that has risks, but also a big potential upside. It depends whether a majority of voters come to see her as too inexperienced or as an appealing Mrs Smith Goes to Washington figure.

    There was a lot of support for her to be the pick in online conservative circles, but hope had dwindled as the buzz swirled around Romney, Pawlenty, and Lieberman. The McCain campaign did an exceptionally good job of keeping it from leaking out.

  32. christian says:

    Kidz, it’s a brilliant choice. On first glance. She’s still a Republican. But it gives McCain a reboot on his “maverick” label. And gives this election even more historical status. But her husband does work for BP so it will be a nice debate. I was hoping for Pawlenty.
    I’m glad some Repubs see this as pandering. But do not misunderestimate McCain.

  33. T. Holly says:

    That she invoked Ferraro and Clinton was revolting. If I were them I’d campaign harder for Obama.

  34. L.B. says:

    I was excited about this choice. Then I realized I misread the story and he hadn’t actually chosen Sarah Polley. That would have been fun. And his campaign ads would suddenly take on this indie-bleak vibe that could work with the kids.
    Now she has to prove her family connection to Michael Palin if they expect me to pay any more attention.

  35. Nicol D says:

    The fact that the left is having fun talking about this woman’s “lack of experience” when they seek to elect one of the least experienced presidential candidates in history shows a myopia that I cannot even fathom.
    As I always say…politics is won in the margins. This is – not – meant to take away the die hard left-feminist vote. It is meant to shore up the conservative base and appeal to moderate women who were rooting for Hillary but are no where near as left as Obama.
    If the commenters here actually think Sarah Palin is going to get eaten alive by Joe Biden you should put down the cheap merlot and quit smoking what Nancy Pelosi has been for so long.
    Biden in a debate is a snake. He is a pit bull and has a charisma factor of negative ten. Even hardcore Democratic pundits say this. He has no charisma, is blustery, condescending and at his worst, offensive to the average person.
    The Republicans go into every debate with the left saying how stupid they are and how they are going to clean the house. Then they usually get their houses clean. I’m sorry but “That question is above my pay grade” will not win a debating contest. Obama is horrible off book.
    Also, anyone who thinks having a child with Down’s Syndrome is a negative needs to get out of Hollywood more often. Really. ‘Nuff said.
    America will love this woman. That does not mean McCain will win, but if you think Obamamania is going to sweep the man to a Reagan (or even Clinton) like victory, you are really off base.
    I’m telling you, these cheap attacks on her appearance, children etc. and so forth reek of fear. The left is now afraid. If Obama does not have a 10-15 point lead after Labour Day and his speech…be very afraid.

  36. mysteryperfecta says:

    Two years as one of the senators from Illinois before declaring himself a candidate for president.
    The GOP VP has more executive experience than the top of the Dem ticket. Can’t go there.

  37. christian says:

    We are very afeared. Especially of people who think the GOP policies have been good for the nation and world.

  38. mutinyco says:

    Two factors. Very serious factors.
    1) Obama has, and will continue to, raise more money than McCain. Last month he raised nearly double McCain’s amount. Obviously, in the general, McCain is tied to his public funds. But history tends to favor the candidate with the most money.
    2) Candidate enthusiasm. In close contests, the candidate with the most base enthusiasm has the edge. This is why Bush won in ’04 — it wasn’t the middle, it was the evangelical base. Obama’s supporters are much more enthusiastic about him than the GOP is about McCain. McCain is in the Kerry spot — the GOP chose him because they thought he had the best chance of winning. Enthusiasm is the plus here.
    Obama has the edge.

  39. RocketScientist says:

    Nicol: I appreciate you evidently have “a background studying politics and demographics,” but are you always this blazingly stupid? It’d be great to buy into your sudden declarations that “THE LEFT IS SCARED” and other various political grandstanding, but really, you talk like someone who understands real Conservative politics and actual Conservatives themselves only from message boards and books. You should try to goad reactions less and contribute more … but you’d understand that if you weren’t such a lousy troll.

  40. mysteryperfecta says:

    I’m sensing a strong undercurrent of misogyny in DP’s post (along with the blatant ageism). She, having as much (and more relevant) experience, is not as capable as Obama? She, having an infant, should be sitting at home instead of working?
    Wow. As a conservative, I don’t ever play the sexism and ageism cards. But its empowering. I see why the libs do it all the time!

  41. Citizen R says:

    Sarah Palin will help with enthusiasm from the GOP base, but Obama has a lot of advantages in a Democratic trending year. Still, it’s likely to be another close election, and anyone who says “game over” as a continual reaction to every development is simply a blinkered partisan.

  42. Nicol D says:

    Mutinyoco,
    I do not deny that base enthusiasm is a huge factor in winning an election, and that is how Palin plays. She plays to the base and the electorate in the margins. Both are needed. And trust me…all policy talk aside, once the Dems and Biden start trashing Palin, Katherine Harris style and websites pop up saying she should be raped like they say about Ann Coulter, the conservative base will a’rally. Once they start trashing her Down’s Syndrome child as has already started…they will support her.
    Look at the sexist comments on this blog and others already? Obama doesn’t get 10-15 points ahead after Labour Day….he is in trouble.
    Laugh at your own peril.

  43. T. Holly says:

    Birthdays and Anniversaries, they’ll never forget each others. She’s a Cindy replicant, which reminds me, is Cindy back in the country yet? Sexist enough for ya Nicol? That lady sounds like a kid, can’t wait for the debates.

  44. EthanG says:

    DEBATE TOPIC:
    Does Palin’s opposition to abortion in cases of rape and incest help or hurt her with women voters???
    Discussion…

  45. christian says:

    It hurts. This is an issue that Obama/Biden/Clinton/etc need to be very specific and graphic about.The GOP’s stance is barbaric and hateful on this topic. Let it sink in to all. Remind them it could happen to them…

  46. MarkVH says:

    Sarah Palin = Laura Rosslyn
    ‘Cept without the kids.

  47. Citizen R says:

    The abortion issue cuts both ways. It hurts the GOP in some states and helps in others. Sarah Palin is the perfect candidate to make an issue of Obama’s record on partial birth abortion. Overall, I think it’s an issue that wins the GOP more votes in swing states than it loses them. Same goes for guns.

  48. mutinyco says:

    Palin won’t create mass enthusiasm in the conservative base. She’ll simply satisfy them for McCain.
    McCain would never be able to hold a speech like Obama did last night. Not with that size crowd and that level of support. Not with Palin, not with anybody.
    It’s the presidential candidate who gets himself elected president, not the vice presidential nominee.
    Palin is a surprise choice. It’s a surprise to the Democrats. But it’s also a surprise to the GOP. She’s a virtual unknown, governor of the 47th least populous state in the US. All that time she could be out there stumping and making a case is going to be spent introducing herself.
    And when it comes to the VP debate, I imagine she’ll simply be repeating McCain’s positions, while Biden can speak for himself.

  49. ochesnut says:

    The mayors of the following 19 cities have bigger jobs than Gov. Sarah Palin.
    1 New York City 8,274,527
    2 Los Angeles 3,834,340
    3 Chicago 2,836,658
    4 Houston 2,208,180
    5 Phoenix 1,552,259
    6 Philadelphia 1,449,634
    7 San Antonio 1,328,984
    8 San Diego 1,266,731
    9 Dallas 1,240,499
    10 San Jose 939,899
    11 Detroit 916,952
    12 Jacksonville 805,605
    13 Indianapolis 795,458
    14 San Francisco 764,976
    15 Columbus 747,755
    16 Austin 743,074
    17 Fort Worth 681,818
    18 Memphis 674,028
    19 Charlotte 671,588

  50. The Big Perm says:

    Gotta agree with Citizen…I think this is going to be a close election again. “Game Over?” Hardly.

  51. bmcintire says:

    Nicol, you seem to have missed the point in regard to DP pointing out Palin’s special-needs child. The evangelical family-firsts are expected to applaud the fact that Sarah has squeezed out five kids (weirdly named, by the way: Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig) but wait! Shouldn’t she be a stay-at-home mom, caring deeply for her brood? Especially since one of them has Down’s Syndrome? How do they spin this one correctly?

  52. RoyBatty says:

    Alaska – 683,478 2007 est

  53. mutinyco says:

    Sarah Barracuda is probably going to make McCain’s age a bigger factor than before. The old saying about the VP being a heartbeat away from the presidency… Well, that’s particularly important when the guy is 72.

  54. ochesnut says:

    ok fair enough (was looking at 2006) so take off memphis, charlotte, and fort worth if it makes you feel better. Also I think we forget that Obama has an abundance of knowledge when it comes to civil rights law and constitutional law, which is good “experience” in some ways.

  55. Citizen R says:

    Pro-lifers, evangelical and otherwise, will see her as the living embodiment of what it is to be pro-life. It’s a caricature of conservatives to think that they feel women should all be stay-at-home moms. Most conservatives voters yearn for conservative pro-life Republican women to succeed in public office and gain higher profiles. And liberals had better be very careful of any hint that they’re suggesting that she’s not living up to her motherly duties. Talk about tempting a backlash.

  56. Citizen R says:

    On the experience issue: both Obama and Palin are short on experience. It seems to me that a lot of voters will ask themselves whether it’s better to have an inexperienced vice president learning on the job with an experienced president or to have an inexperienced president learning on the job with an experienced vice president. On the other hand, McCain being 72 years old makes an inexperienced veep more of an issue than it would otherwise be. Which view takes precedence remains to be seen.

    In the grand scheme of things, though, it’s an uncomfortable truth that electing a president is something of a crap shoot. There have been experienced politicians who stumbled in the presidency and inexperienced politicians who shone.

  57. L.B. says:

    “In the grand scheme of things, though, it’s an uncomfortable truth that electing a president is something of a crap shoot. There have been experienced politicians who stumbled in the presidency and inexperienced politicians who shone.”
    In the end, probably the most on-the-point thing said so far. It is a crap shoot and experience is as experience does. No one was qualified to lead a country through civil war, wage war in Europe and Japan, stand up to missiles mere miles off our coastline, or respond to the greatest terrorist strike on domestic soil. No one could say “Because I did this, I knew how to handle that”. But the ones who found they had to handle those things did so based on who they were and where they wanted to take the country. To varying degrees of success. It does come down to personal quality, their ability to get things done, and your opinion of their policies. Ultimately, it’s “which direction do you want to go” and I’d much rather see any and all campaigns fought on that than on personal bullshit.

  58. Spacesheik says:

    An attractive, tough, yet compassionate MILF. This is a potentially brilliant choice. Don’t underestimate it.

  59. mysteryperfecta says:

    Has anyone seen this site?
    http://news.yahoo.com/election/2008/dashboard
    I like it.
    By the way, I appreciate your thoughtful analysis, Citizen R.

  60. SaveFarris says:

    Ochesnut is exactly right. Unfortunatly, the DNC did not pick any of those 19 to be on the ticket, so your point is rather moot.

  61. mutinyco says:

    You know, one thing to consider… Mystery, I saw that earlier too. And while Obama is ahead in their projection, one thing that occurred to me…
    I can’t imagine Obama losing the popular count. Even if McCain wins enough of the traditional GOP states to take the electoral, which I don’t think will happen, Obama just has too much support nationwide. The people who support him will be out in force, and he has the ground operation to get them to the polls.
    I just don’t see Obama losing the popular vote.

  62. ochesnut says:

    So much for Bloomberg, anyways I think Citizen R. and LB are dead on. VP’s don’t really matter and if the two presidential candidates debate on the issues and where they want the country to go over the coming weeks it will be a compelling race.

  63. mutinyco says:

    One other thing regarding polling. By all accounts, there’s been an unprecedented surge in young people and minorities registering to vote, simply to vote for Obama.
    I’m wondering how much of that is actually showing up the the nationwide polling? How recent/old is the registered voter info the organizations use?…

  64. T. Holly says:

    OK, what is that crazy thing on bleach blonde Cindy’s arm — it’s white, it’s hot pink.
    A Baby Mama MILF skit, pronto.

  65. Eric says:

    I would like Nicol to provide links to the “Dems and Biden” who have started “trashing her Down’s Syndrome child.”

  66. mutinyco says:

    “OK, what is that crazy thing on bleach blonde Cindy’s arm — it’s white, it’s hot pink.”
    Carpal Tunnel from too much “Man the Torpedo” with Viagratized Johnny Boy…

  67. Chucky in Jersey says:

    Mrs. Palin was being tipped as a possible veep at the beginning of this month. Where? Not in the Liberal Media and not by the ruling class.
    Her CV covers the Republican base: pro-gun, pro-military, right-to-life, “diversity”. Plus she’s happily married and not a career Beltway hack.
    If the Republicans win this election — it could happen given the Democrats’ me-too conduct — Mrs. Palin is an instant favorite for 2012.

  68. Chairs Missing says:

    To Rocket Scientist,
    Yes, Nicol D is always this “blazingly stupid.” Furthermore, it doesn’t just extend to politics.
    For example, Nicol offered the following statement on Hollywood Elsewhere on July 17th at 5:24 p.m.:
    “The Dark Knight does not break 250 domestic, kids. ”
    And, why oh why, was he so sure that the total domestic box office would be so low?
    “I was an usher as a teen during the first Batman in 89 and this film does not even come close to the anticipation of that film.”
    So, in other words, what he experienced himself almost 20 years ago must be deeply revealing of what the world is like today. What is true of his life in Canada must be true of the entire world. How could it be otherwise?
    (For citation of the above, here’s the link where Nicol posted his prediction under the name Entropy:
    http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2008/07/everyones_going.php
    Here is the link where it is revealed that Nicol & Entropy are one & the same:
    http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2008/07/bruce_meet_dick.php)
    This is Nicol to a T. Provincial, narrow minded, & utterly self-absorbed, he honestly believes that his own arbitrary personal experience is invariably a universal truth.
    He applies the same faulty logic to his political arguments. He has no empathy, no insight into others, no ability to see beyond his own petty, limited view.
    In this sense, he is regrettably representative of the culture today. Far too many people manifest the same bratty myopia & unfortunately the internet has given every single one of these fucktards a forum to spread their diseased pseudo-insight.
    Nicol,
    On behalf of the people of the United States of America as well as the people of Canada (whom you are giving a very bad name), would you please just go away?
    As Americans, we have enough home-grown idiots. We don’t need to import any from other countries.

  69. LYT says:

    McCain has lost the bigot vote. Many of the same people who would never vote for a black man would never vote for a woman either.
    Now, morally it’s great that he didn’t pander to those types. But pragmatically, it will hurt him some.

  70. Citizen R says:

    Hillary Clinton’s statement in response to Gov Palin joining the ticket:

    “We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate.”

    Obama blamed the initial overly negative press release from his campaign as being the result of his staff being too trigger happy. He and Joe Biden have put out this statement:

    “We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the Republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.”

  71. mutinyco says:

    With regards to the first, it comes off as cynical and crude that the first thing Sarah Barracuda mentions upon accepting the VP slot is Hillary Clinton. Mondale/Ferraro still lost the women’s vote by 12%. Hillary’s supporters are pro-choice.
    With regards to the second, it’s called “Good Cop/Bad Cop.” Obama stays above the fray while his surrogates do the dirty work. Now, Begala keeps reminding people that McCain is 72 and has had cancer 4 times, and she’ll be next in line.

  72. Citizen R says:

    Most of Hillary’s supporters are pro-choice, but it’s an oversimplification of the political landscape to say that they all are. And whether any single issue is a deal-breaker varies from voter to voter.

    Maybe the Obama campaign was playing good cop/bad cop, and maybe they put out a press release that didn’t play well and they backed off of it. No way to know for sure.

  73. mutinyco says:

    Anything’s possible.
    But Hillary’s supporters, for the most part, supported HER, not just the idea of a woman president. Barracuda would be negated quite simply by one ad from HRC against McCain/Palin. I’d think any upside to the woman vote will be negligible.
    Obama’s been playing good cop/bad cop the entire campaign. That’s his MO. That’s how he attacks opponents without getting his hands dirty. Did the same thing to HRC when his campaign accused her of racism and so on.
    Anyhow. Onward.

  74. Eric-
    I’m still waiting for a link, email or any sort of proof “right wing filmmakers” are being kept out of major festivals from Nicol Cristal. Want to shit in one hand and wait for proof of these things in the other and see what we get first?

  75. L.B. says:

    Here’s a one-issue deal for you: The Supreme Court recently ruled that we actually have to abide by habeus corpus regardless of where we keep detainees. The majority was by one vote. McCain already said he’d want to replace four of those five with people more like the four who said, “Habeus corpus? Who needs it?”
    There is a better than good chance that three of those five justices will die/retire in the next four years. I’m not voting for just this issue. But it’s so far up the list that it’s started it’s own list.

  76. L.B. says:

    Sorry. Got carried away with the apostophes on that last sentence.

  77. L.B. says:

    And misspelled apostrophe. I quit. Good night.

  78. mutinyco says:

    I’m beginning to realize that in quick glances, when seen printed, I keep mistaking PALIN for PUTIN…

  79. cobhome says:

    The executive experience thing is bull – Bush had tons of executive experience – and thoroughly mismanaged his presidency – Palin was inauagurated in January 2006 – so she has what – about 1 1/2 yrs experience managing a state where the legislature meets for three months out of twelve?? I was impressed by Obama’s management of his campaign – but – what experience prepares you for the presidency?? seems to me it is more about character not experience.
    My problem with Palin – who certainly will make things interesting if she isn’t totally muzzled and scripted by the McCain team – is the creationism thing – I just have reservations about putting someone who believes dinosaur fossils were put into the ground by the devil to tempt people away from biblical truth a heartbeat away from the presidency

  80. jeffmcm says:

    I agree with that. It’s hard for me to imagine any circumstance in which a belief in creationism wouldn’t be a total disqualification for such a high office. It suggests such a huge amount of willful ignorance in this day and age that I can’t take such a person as a serious leader or thinker.
    Reformer? Great. Shake-em-up radical? Super. Ambitious youngish devoted mother? No problem. Creationist and believer in no abortions even in the case of rape or incest? Now we’ve got a problem.

  81. IOIOIOI says:

    Yeah, the OMYATC really nailed this one. Goodness gracious, this is like opening the door for the man himself. Thanks John. Thanks a lot.
    Oh yeah Nicol: stay the fuck out of my country. I second Joe on this one.

  82. Martin S says:

    Dave – for a guy I take as being sober of thought, you must be really worried to try and declare this game over.
    I don’t know what’s funnier; a bunch of hard Obamaites debating what will and will not draw Hillary voters, or the perception about people who vote right-of-center.
    You want the answer for abortion? It’s simple – it’s not Palin’s choice. She’s just the veep and whether it was someone else, the decision still resides with McCain. So, yeah, women who feel Pro-choice is all-important will not be voting Repub, Palin or no-Palin. But not every voting woman places pro-choice as the barometer of women’s rights. So the question becomes, what’s more important? An issue or the barrier? If Obama is supposed to be an example about what is possible, how is Palin not?
    As for mentioning Ferraro and Clinton, both were very grateful in replies. And I think it shows a real lack of understanding about why Hillary was important to so many women to think the mentioning was cynical. And neither are going to come out and rail on this woman. If anything, Hillary wants her to win because it cements her place on the 2012 ticket. And Ferraro…no way will she do it after the way Obama’s people treated her. And god help Barack if Bill likes her.
    As for Biden…the hard left may want him to go in for the kill, but your vote is considered a lock. They are worried about the 20% riding the fence, and nothing will look worse than a slick blowhard demeaning an accomplished woman. Hell, that would get Hillary’s vote, publicly.
    What McCain has done is setup a balancing act. Obama can call McCain “Bush3” all he wants, but her presence and record makes her the anti-Cheney. Obama can try and run on McCain being apart of the same old Washington, but what does that make Biden, a guy who’s served a decade longer? Biden can’t talk about inexperience or else he’ll cut his boss down. So Jobama Obiden are both going to want to go after McCain, but that plays right into the sexist treatment Hillary complained about during the Dem Primary. You’re also going to have Palin campaigning with Meg Whittman, Carli Fiorina and Cindy McCain, each with a track record exemplifying the “strong independent woman”, that someone around here thought was a Democrat given.

  83. IOIOIOI says:

    Martin: Oh yeah, one more time, LEX LUTHOR LET HIM HAVE IT; “WRRRRRRRRRRRRRONNNNNNNNNGGGG!!!”
    I take back what I have stated before. You must be one hell of an agent to get by with your political beliefs in Hollywood.
    38 million people. Game, set, ….

  84. mutinyco says:

    I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about Martin. No offense. There isn’t a single argument you made there that resembles observational reality as I know it.
    Just as Ed Rollins called it, it’s a “Hail Mary pass” on McCain’s part. And the Dem commentators are going to keep hammering the 72 year-old 4-time cancer patient with Sarah Barracuda in line for the presidency.
    Furthermore, Obama’s speech last night was the most-watched speech in American convention history. More people watched him than watched the opening of the Olympics. McCain’s attempted sideswipe today by announcing his VP pick is moot — Obama already got all the attention last night he needed.
    The election will be close. But McCain will lose.

  85. jeffmcm says:

    IOI, what do you mean?
    Just because 38 million people watched something doesn’t mean that they all liked what they saw, necessarily. It’s a good sign, yes, but let’s not count chickens etc.

  86. Martin S says:

    Great answer, IO. Once again, really thought out.

  87. L.B. says:

    I don’t think Biden should hold back in the debate. Treat her like he would Romney. When the campaign complains you just summon your inner Alec and hit them with “You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you cocksucker? You can’t take this, how can you take the abuse you get on a sit? You don’t like it, leave.”

  88. christian says:

    Hey, she’s still a Republican. I.E., unsuitable to lead this nation: 14 year old girl raped? Have the baby bitch. Mother might die? Have the baby, bitch.
    The smiles and background don’t change the reality.

  89. Citizen R says:

    Sarah Palin supports an exception for the life of the mother when it comes to abortion. Her position papers stated that when she ran for governor. There seems to be a push from Democrats in their talking points to give a false impression on that front today.

    As for the veep debate, there’s no shortage of ammunition to go after Biden with either. And the expectations game is going to be to his disadvantage.

  90. Tofu says:

    This choice is a joke, right? Like some prank by McCain on his birthday, correct?
    No way is this shit for real.

  91. Tofu says:

    I mean, who the fuck spends millions of dollars calling someone out on experience, and then picks someone with even less?
    A insane motherfucker without a clue, that’s who.

  92. Tofu says:

    She has some experience working with foreign governments…Canada and Russia both border her state. Still could go either way, I think.
    You know, some talking points just make you sound like you’re high on crack.

  93. Martin S says:

    Mutiny, I’d recommend not falling into delusional talk. You think I’m wrong, fine. Personally, I’ve read your above and passed on commenting because its helplessly lost in the spectacle. I watched Obama last night, does that mean I’m now voting for him?
    This country has more older people that vote than younger. How do you think older people not comfortable with Obama are going to feel about a candidate being disregarded due to his age? Why would they pull the lever for Obama after being told they are as useful as a corpse?
    As for Ed Rollins, that means you’re tuning into MSNBC…a real bastion of objectivity. If you’re so sourced on Republican politics, do you know why Rollins is on Hardball? If not, then maybe you should change the channel. And the mentioning of Hillary and Ferraro came late in the speech, not “the first thing she mentioned”. The only part you’ve made which is logical is about fundraising.
    Jeff has had the best point, regarding creationism. But if you make that an attack issue, you’re going to get all the former religious Bush supporters to come out in droves just to vote for her. While I agree that it’s something that should be questioned, you can’t make it a disqualifier.
    That’s another great thing about this thread. Instead of going after her on issues…
    Leydon’s called her a failed beauty queen.
    Someone inferred her husband is a BP lackey.
    Her nod to Hillary and Ferraro had to have been born from cynicism, not deference to the women who made it possible for her.
    She’s an abortionist/creationist nut.
    Her experience is not equal to Obama, but not because of anything Obama has done.
    Dave’s “Down Syndrome” comment needs some kind of explanation or else it reads pro-eugenics.
    She governs a State that’s not as big as some cities…yet Obama has governed nothing.

  94. T. Holly says:

    She’s a fluke and McCain is a dangerous flunky.

  95. jeffmcm says:

    Well, there’s no point in going after her on issues, because her issues are the same-old same-old and would be if McCain had picked Huckabee or Romney or Pawlenty, for the most part. Pretty much everything she seems to stand for (teaching Creationism in schools, oil drilling in ANWR, banning abortion) I oppose. To her credit, she cancelled Ted Stevens’ Bridge to Nowhere.
    And Obama might not have governed anything, but neither has McCain.

  96. Martin S says:

    Citizen R – Biden’s 35 years as a Senator, from Delaware of all places, is a timebomb McCain can play after he goes into public fundraising. Don’t spoil it. Just let them find out when Olbermann and Matthews are playing defense.
    The thing is, I’d bet Christian, Chucky or Jeff might know. I may not agree with them politically, but they are certainly reading more than the Democratic playbook, which is commendable.

  97. leahnz says:

    i, for one, think this thread is great! thanks to the hot bloggers for my daily fix of lively political debate.
    creepy observation: standing side by side, mccain looks like palin’s dad
    (and anyone who thinks dinosaur bones were put into the ground by the devil to tempt us away from biblical truth – if that is indeed true – IS a nutty nutjob)

  98. jeffmcm says:

    Martin, I think I know what you’re talking about re: Delaware, which is pretty much the single biggest problem I have and have had with Biden.

  99. ochesnut says:

    Martin, her husband does work for BP.

  100. Martin S says:

    Jeff – That’s fine. Debate the issues and let people decide.
    Again, I look at what Obamaites say, just after He said…
    “Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
    You make a big election about small things”.

    How is this thread not the embodiment of that statement?
    There’s a hypocrisy in both parties ideologies. Today, the left holds the baton.

  101. L.B. says:

    Ed Rollins is actually on CNN.

  102. jeffmcm says:

    Well, Martin…this is a political discussion on a blog that is ostensibly about movies and the movie industry, so I don’t think it should be surprising if it mostly consists of a lot of people with wildly varying degrees of insight and information yelling at each other from partisan bunkers.
    I think the important thing is that, if McCain had wanted to pick a strong female with experience and appeal, he still could have done better.

  103. IOIOIOI says:

    Martin: you are simply posting the same level of BULLSHIT, that Nicol has been posting on a daily basis for months. It’s bullshit. I refuse to argue with anyone who post nonsensical bullshit about a rather important story.
    You are nothing more than a loon. You support a man who has sold out his own soul. How twisted are you for that one?
    Seriously; if you want my respect. Follow Buchanon’s lead. He might be a conservative, but he’s not an idiot. Unlike most of those people who claim to be Republicans and Conservatives.
    I do love how you show how FUCKING WHACK that you are, when you fucking state Cindy “DADDY’S MONEY” McCain is a strong, independent woman. Bullshit. That would be Michelle Obama. Get the fuck out of here, and get your fucking shine box.
    Oh yeah… Mutiny has been right on this entire time.

  104. Martin S says:

    Ochesnut – but what does that mean? The odds of him being involved in oil are exponentially higher because he’s an Alaskan native. It’s an argument equivalent to when the right says “he’s from Hollywood” or “he’s from Frisco”. A number of things I’ve read or heard, (on NPR, IIRC), is that he’s a stay-at-home dad and that she plays up his work so not to make him a Mr. Mom.
    Jeff – Re: Delaware. Yeah. We’re probably talking about similar things.

  105. jeffmcm says:

    Martin, if it’s what I think you’re talking about, it’s certainly something that has hit me where I live.
    IOI, argue with Nicol. You’re in each other’s bracket.

  106. ochesnut says:

    Martin it was just the way you posted made it sound like that was a lie or something. Anyways I’m sure you know it doesn’t matter what his job his, that fact along with the fact that Gov. Palin wants to drill in ANWR will allow the whole thing to be spun like: the Palins are in bed with big oil.

  107. Citizen R says:

    If her husband was a BP executive that’s something the Democrats could make hay over, but he’s a blue collar guy. There’s no political advantage in going after him for working in the oil industry, and a lot of political downsides to trying it.

  108. Martin S says:

    IO – you never argue because you always lose. What’s you line? Do not play sir.
    LB – thanks. I didn’t know he jumped, even though I watch CNN programs. He’s an the outs with the majority of Republicans because he’s considered to be the one who turned the primary into a knife-fight which opened the door for McCain.
    What’s funny, is that I just looked it up and found this…
    http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/29/rollins.palin/index.html
    And look at what it says…
    “John McCain’s brilliant but risky “Hail Mary pass” choice for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah “Barracuda” Palin, has the political world saying first: Who? And then: Why…
    …I don’t believe people vote for vice president but only for president. That said, I think she is every bit as good a choice as Biden. Alaska has three electoral votes, and so does Delaware, so that part ends up being a wash.
    I think the potential for her to attract women voters is immense. And I am betting, win or lose or draw, she is a future star of a party in desperate need of young people and women role models”
    Sort of puts the lie to what Mutiny was trying to insinuate, doesn’t it? Not to members of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade, aka IO, but to thinking people.

  109. mutinyco says:

    Martin, in all honesty, you’re making such dumb assertions about me I don’t know where to begin. I don’t even watch TV. So the idea that I’d get anything from there is pretty moot.
    I read Rollins’ op-ed that was written for CNN.com. And, all things aside, him being a GOP strategist most famous for playing the race card, he’s often one of the most level-headed right wing commentators who calls it as he sees it, good or bad.
    The point about her mentioning Hillary isn’t about whether it was at the beginning or end of her speech — it’s that she so bluntly made the reference at all in her opening remarks. McCain picking a woman is blatantly obvious in his intentions. But for her to flat out invoke Hillary straight up is cynical and sloppy.
    Furthermore, I don’t play the Dem playbook. Prior to the general election, I wasn’t even an Obama supporter. And my support for him at this point is simply to keep John McCain the fucking hell out of the White House.
    Do you really think Sarah Barracuda is going to help John McCain win in November? Even without her, do you really think he’s going to win? Really? Because I don’t see anything moving in his favor right now. He just doesn’t have the interest, enthusiasm or finances. He’s Bob Dole getting his shot, that’s all.

  110. mutinyco says:

    What lie was I playing, Martin? Does he not say “Hail Mary pass”? That’s the only thing I quoted of Rollins.
    Furthermore, if you read the op-ed, he favorably compares Obama to Ronald Reagan. And he ultimately says the election will come down to McCain’s experience vs. Obama inspiring his base.
    Well, guess what? “Experience” doesn’t cast votes in elections. But an “inspired base” sure as hell does.
    McCain loses. Get over it.

  111. Martin S says:

    Ochesnut – 100% right. Good point.
    Jeff – Feels like we’re talking about similar things and I feel ya. It’s a big issue with me and something I abhor the Republicans for coddling.
    And IO – call me when Michelle goes to a third-world country to finance surgery and support children with facial deformities. Call me when Michelle suffers a stroke and comes back to continue her charitable work. All you see is a pretty rich white woman and your blood boils with class warfare. How progressive of you.

  112. mysteryperfecta says:

    What’s ironic about Obama’s “fresh ideas” comment is that, despite offering an exquisitely crafted and delivered speech, he offered little-to-nothing fresh in the way of ideas. I defy anyone to name one.
    McCain may have voted with Bush 90% of the time, but Obama has voted with his party 100% of the time. I don’t care how much of an “outsider” you claim to be– towing the party line and offering nothing new (besides your racial make-up) makes you an insider wanna-be.

  113. jeffmcm says:

    How fresh does an idea have to be to be considered ‘fresh’?

  114. T. Holly says:

    John McCain is so ambitious and power hungry that he cynically chose the Baracuda to let people cast an historic vote, and he doesn’t hold the country’s interest ahead of his personal quest.
    He’s simply not worthy. His choice has made it obvious how evil and black hearted he really is.

  115. Martin S says:

    Mutiny – you cherry-picked “Hail Mary”, which is why I pasted it. The context is different than your assertion. By leaving out brilliant, you attempted to make Rollins sound as if he wrote the move was purely desperate, and the article says otherwise. A debate of experience v inspiration is fine.
    As for Rollins, he’s not as respected as he once was in a bygone day. When he made the “kick Romney’s teeth out” comment, he turned the Repub Primary into a scorched earth event, which is how McCain went from broke to winner. He’s been on the outs ever since. Get over it.

  116. mutinyco says:

    Definition of “Hail Mary pass”:
    “A Hail Mary pass or Hail Mary play in American football is a forward pass made in desperation, with only a small chance of success. The typical Hail Mary is a very long forward pass thrown near the end of a half or end of a game where there is no possibility for any other play to score points. This play is unlikely to be successful, because of the general inaccuracy of the pass and the defensive team’s preparedness for the play makes it likely that it can intercept or knock down the ball.”

  117. IOIOIOI says:

    Jeff: fuck you. If you believe I am the same as Nicol. You are as out of touch and as daft as many here believe that you have always been. Again: picked me over you. Own it, embrace it, and live with it.
    Nicol, I mean Martin: you are still whacked out of your gord. You are a conservative. THE WORLD MOCKS YOU. THE WORLD IS AGAINST YOU.
    Do you really believe I am the tin-foil brigade? If you; you are a conservative in a world that has left you behind. The EU mocks you. Most countries striving to be free mocks you. Hell, Japan mocks you, and do it while putting Hello Kitty stickers on your face.
    You are a relic. Your thoughts are antiquated. You are the past. I am the future. So excuse me for looking at anything you post from this day forward as being the rantings of a fossil.
    All McCain did today was guarantee that many women will know WHO NOT TO VOTE FOR IN NOVEMBER. If you want to mess with Mutiny and numbers. Go right ahead. I fought him on that field, and he’s pretty tough. If you want to back mystery. Go right ahead. He’s as fucking looney as you, Nicol, and Jeff.
    So please refrain from discussing anything with you — you fucking fossil.

  118. christian says:

    I’m sure you convinced them, IO…

  119. jeffmcm says:

    IOI, I’m comparing you and Nicol because I think you’re here for the same reasons: not to have discussions, but just to yell and smirk at anyone who doesn’t agree with you, with no chance of ever changing anyone’s mind or vice versa.
    “Again: picked me over you. Own it, embrace it, and live with it.”
    I have no idea what this means.

  120. IOIOIOI says:

    Christian: they are idiots. So good for them and their idiocy. If you are against a campaign of hope and change for this country. You got some issues.
    Jeff: BULLSHIT. Fuck you again for never ever getting my intentions. I have no reason to discuss anything with these folks because they do not want to have a discussion. They simply want to state how wrong I am for believing in anything other than an old man and his mentally-challenged VP candidate.
    You also have to be a real fucking twit. If you believe someone as crooked as Martin, Mystery, or Nicol could ever change. They are bent, will be bent, and will leave this plane of existance bent.
    I also have no reason to want to change anyone’s mind with a discussion ONLINE. Are you really that ignorant jeff? Do you really believe that anything anyone post on the internet changes anyone’s mind? IT NEVER HAPPENS! It only makes PEOPLE FUCKING MAD!
    This is what you and twits like you never get. It’s not about broadening minds, Clareance. It’s about people getting so PISSED THE FUCK OFF, that they tell you off. That’s how it works. If you do not get that, then go back to whatever sorry ass shit that you do. Leave the angry to the rest of us.

  121. LexG says:

    Watching Fox…
    Hannity is extremely excited about this choice, just raving about her.
    Not saying that’s good or bad, but since I know very little about this woman, can we assume from the Hannity seal of approval that she’s much further right than McCain?

  122. jeffmcm says:

    “Fuck you again for never ever getting my intentions.”
    What’s to get? Write more clearly and this won’t be a problem.
    Although the rest of your post sounds like your intentions are just to scream at people who don’t agree with you, and heighten the circle of fury into an ever-escalating unproductive chaos. So, in that case, never mind.

  123. Bart Smith says:

    “Not saying that’s good or bad, but since I know very little about this woman, can we assume from the Hannity seal of approval that she’s much further right than McCain?”
    —-
    She’s further right than Mike Huckabee.

  124. IOIOIOI says:

    Jeff: unproductive chaos? There’s productivity on a blog? Do people really fucking come here to share their thoughts, ideals, and their inner feelings? Do people really fucking do that Jeff?
    If you do, then you obvious have confused this blog with someone’s FACEBOOK WALL! This is where people come to argue in thinly veiled discussions. This is how this works. If you do not think it works that way. You are deluding yourself, Jeffy. You are deluding yourself.
    Nevertheless; I make sense. You are simply… uh… a Ritz, a Cheez-It, a Club, a Town, a Flipside, and so on and PREMIUM. Seriously; you are the ones that clog up the pours on the earth’s ass.
    Nah, you are not that bad, but that line made me chuckle.

  125. LexG says:

    Doesn’t going that far right then sort of negate the apparent intention of winning over Hillary supporters?
    Long as he was going rightier, at least Romney is kind of awesome.

  126. christian says:

    I listened to Hannity for a few seconds and I thought he was going to orgasm on the air. Me thinketh they party too much.

  127. T. Holly says:

    It’s all an act. They’re spinning it. Privately they’re furious McCain’s thrown it away. I couldn’t be happier he’s tripped on his dick.

  128. Triple Option says:

    mysteryperfecta wrote “What’s ironic about Obama’s “fresh ideas” comment is that, despite offering an exquisitely crafted and delivered speech, he offered little-to-nothing fresh in the way of ideas. I defy anyone to name one.”
    I’d say his quote along the lines of “The US will be free of its dependence on oil from the middle east w/in the next ten years” would go somewhere near the top of that list. I think that’s the equivalent of Kennedy proposing that the US would put a man on the moon by the decade’s end when he took office. In fact, prolly more daunting a task considering there weren’t as many people inside our own boarder actively trying to defeat that mission.

  129. Tofu says:

    Come on, someone at least whisper sweet lies to me and tell me this is just a 24 hour joke, and Noon Saturday McCain rolls out someone that isn’t fucking Harriet Miers 2.0.
    All this horseshit about ‘governing experience’ just makes McCain look bad too. Hint, he’s a freakin’ Senator himself, dumbasses.

  130. T. Holly says:

    That’s funny, my mother actually asked me earlier if McCain could change his mind.

  131. mutinyco says:

    If nothing else, as KT will would agree, Sarah Barracuda is hotter than Harriet Miers…

  132. mutinyco says:

    Between Cindy and Sarah, Johnny sure has a thing for ex beauty contestants.
    BTW/ if anybody’s interested, this is apparently the woman who beat Barracuda for Miss Alaska: http://www.myspace.com/marylineblackburn

  133. Tofu says:

    That’s funny, my mother actually asked me earlier if McCain could change his mind.
    ABC News is reporting that he did just that, last night.
    Also, the results of that investigation on TrooperGate are coming out a week before the election. Come on John, don’t leave us hanging here.

  134. LexG says:

    Any chance he could change the pick to Jessica Biel?
    That would OWN. I’d totally vote for that ticket.

  135. Tofu says:

    She would be an improvement, at the very least. To the best of my knowledge, she isn’t a creationist.
    *gag*

  136. LexG says:

    Attention: It’s MAHER O’CLOCK!
    YESSSSS! Real Time is back!

  137. T. Holly says:

    Can someone tell Dave to drop the comma? It’s been bothering me all day. Adios.
    Thanks,
    Crazy Old Guy

  138. LexG says:

    Eh? If he’s directly addressing “crazy old guy,” then the comma is correct.

  139. Triple Option says:

    However good or qualified she may be as a candidate or even fulfilling the office of VP she may be, the move for Palin seems rather reactionary. The move, w/out regard to the person, lends itself to questioning. Particularly if the Dem ticket featured to white males would Palin have been the choice on the Repb side?
    When addressing cynicism of the choice, I’m surprised Dan Quayle

  140. frankbooth says:

    I’m still trying to wrap my head around Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. Those sound like Hollywood names. Rumor and Scout and Suri. Kal-El.
    They’re not even ethnic names. Are they potheads?
    You know, those Alaskans….they’re not like the rest of us. It’s a place where people go to run away, a haven for those who can’t get along.
    They are outside the mainstream of American life!
    Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig, Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig…

  141. brack says:

    The difference between Obama’s experience and Palin’s is astronomical. For one, the former took on the shoe-ins, the Clintons, and WON. He got 38 million viewers to watch his speech. That alone shows he’s accomplished. And he’s a miracle to even be where he is today. Palin is from an isoloated state with a population of 600,000 people, and was picked because Hillary wasn’t chosen.
    And I’m sick of this maverick talk. these are the definitions of maverick:
    1. An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother, traditionally considered the property of the first person who brands it.
    2. One that refuses to abide by the dictates of or resists adherence to a group; a dissenter.
    the former definition is the only one that applies to John McCain.

  142. messiahcomplexio says:

    stay the fuck out of my country.
    you are simply posting the same level of BULLSHIT…
    You are nothing more than a loon…
    Get the fuck out of here, and get your fucking shine box.
    …fuck you.
    THE WORLD MOCKS YOU. THE WORLD IS AGAINST YOU.
    You are a relic. Your thoughts are antiquated. You are the past. I am the future. So excuse me for looking at anything you post from this day forward as being the rantings of a fossil.
    …you fucking fossil.
    they are idiots.
    BULLSHIT. Fuck you again
    You also have to be a real fucking twit…
    and my favorite…
    This is what you and twits like you never get. It’s not about broadening minds, Clareance. It’s about people getting so PISSED THE FUCK OFF, that they tell you off. That’s how it works. If you do not get that, then go back to whatever sorry ass shit that you do. Leave the angry to the rest of us.
    You are a sad, small man io.
    Own it, embrace it, and live with it.

  143. movielocke says:

    I’d just like to think Martin for being the only person on the blog to offer thoughtful, insightful and reasoned commentary on Palin. virtually everyone else on the left has just been sadly ignorant and hateful, gleefully leaping into the trap the GOP invited them to spring into. We cannot get small and petty about Sarah Palin, we can’t offensively attack her on experience (fine to defensively attack her if we’re attacked on experience), we have to stay above this otherwise we risk it all in the typical pettiness and righteous (and often misplaced) umbrage of the left. Right now, pretty much every left leaning person I’m aware of, rather talked to in person or read online has reacted to this news with the greatest level of hypocrisy imaginable. Yes it’s a shrewd electioneering trick, yes its easy to believe in the echo chambers of the internet that it’s a bad choice but that’s no reason at all to dance to McCain’s tune so readily. There was a historical, perhaps even monumental speech given last night and nobody wants to discuss it anymore because all we can think about is bitchy and moaning about Sarah Palin. That’s exactly what McCain wants us to do, the more she is bitched about, denigrated, scoffed at or mocked the more strongly support for her will galvanize.
    Imagine for a moment if HRC had been the democratic nominee and announced Barack Obama as her veep and everyone on the internet immediately reacted with scorn and derision, saying that the democrats just threw away the election, by putting a black man on the ticket. Imagine if they just assumed, that because he was black, he would be terrible in a debate. The paternalism alone regarding the way Sarah Palin is being discussed is absolutely staggering (to say nothing of the sexism).
    She’s a very unsavory candidate to anyone on the left. Her pro life stance without exceptions for rape or incest, her pro-creationism in schools stance (does not equate with believing it herself), her enthusiasm to suck up to big oil. And so on. We can and have successfully attacked candidates on these issues before. Why we’re abandoning all those strategies en masse for a strategy of scorn and denigration is completely baffling to me. Scorn and denigration worked so well for the democrats when they attacked Bush’s intellect or speaking ability, why we want to repeat the same mistakes that didn’t work in the past and make it easier for McCain to possibly win this year I do not understand.
    However I doubt anyone in this particular echo chamber will hear (or want to hear, which is more important anyway) anything I’ve said on this topic. No one else has, everyone wants to drive over the cliff abandoning the principles of the Obama campaign for the failed embitteredness that is more familiar to democrats for the last eight years. I guess when cynicism and nastyness are such a comforting blanket we leap to get them back, despite Obama trying to wean the party off such self destructive behavior.

  144. EOTW says:

    christian says about abortion: “It hurts. This is an issue that Obama/Biden/Clinton/etc need to be very specific and graphic about.The GOP’s stance is barbaric and hateful on this topic. Let it sink in to all. Remind them it could happen to them…”
    I am a conservative independent, not a GOPer at all ,but I don’t undrstand why having a pro-life POV makes one a barbarian. It is a moral stance that one decides on. It cna change, true. I was VERY pro choice for a long time until I grew up little. Calling a pro life person hateful is just not even beginning to deal with the real issue: killig unwanted babies. Sorry, but that is the cold, hateful truth.

  145. EOTW says:

    I’d also like to add that I too find it distasteful to knocking the gov for having a DS child. really, truly maybe the lowest form of mudslinging I have ever seen in politics. But, sadly, not a shock at all.

  146. IOIOIOI says:

    You know you are the life of the party. When motherfuckers take moments out of their life to create secondary nicknames to insult you. You are a scared little fella, mc. Go back to your regular nick, and try not to be so BITCH next time.
    EOTW: you grew up, and went PRO-LIFE? That’s backward. It should be the other way around. It’s not like I am recommending late term abortions for anyone who has them, but this Palin is cold.
    She’s a 44 year-old woman. She should have known that there are consequence to having a KID at her age. She also had the chance to make sure that this kid did not have to go through an existance with a mental disorder, but she decided to go with her own mental well-being instead.
    Which, to me, makes her about as scummy as a person can get. It’s not EUGENICS. It’s quality of life. She chose herself over another’s quality of life very on, and that’s fucking weak.
    It would be great if we lived in a world that called out people on such chicanery, but this will go under the rader. Sort of like how McCain up and picked a fucking woman with a 5 month old special needs kid to run around the country for 66 days. John McCain: “He’s Sort of… Out There.”
    Oh yeah mc… still a bitch.

  147. Martin S says:

    Movielocke – thanks. I usually don’t discuss politics here because of the echo-chamber Poland has turned it into. Your paternalism comment is totally correct.
    Re – creationism, I’m with you on that. I’m completely behind school choice, but opposed to creationism taught in state-run schools. If you want to send your kid to private school where its taught, so be it, but public school teachers shouldn’t be forced into including it into its curriculum as parity. Likewise, I think a teacher should be fired for railing on the belief in class, as its a personal matter.
    Also, I hope all of you voting for Barack are now firmly aware that people like IO, a passionate Obama supporter, do believe in eugenics. So when the fascist label gets thrown at the right, please remember Margaret Sanger…
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Sanger
    …And IO. The irony is that Sanger would have wanted to kill IO on the same grounds he feels Palin’s child should have been aborted; quality of life.
    I do find it funny that IO won’t get reprimanded for advocating eugenics, but Lex will for posting too much. I think Kos would even whack him after that comment.
    For clairty, my overall beliefs are state before federal. I think all of us would be much happier if the chain of power culminated with the Governor and the federal govt was a stop-gap. This way, people of similar beliefs could coalesce around certain cities and states, and everyone would be fully aware of what to expect if you moved to that state. For example, If Cali elected a Governor Newsom I’d sure as hell know what to expect, and then its my decision to stay or go. But the same acceptance also has to be given for right-leaning states.

  148. Filmsnob says:

    Rumor is the 4 month old kid isn’t her’s but her 16yr old daughters
    Also hearing that the real reason her son enlisted is because he’s about to be accused of rape.

  149. Citizen R says:

    Is the water warm in the fever swamp you’re swimming in, Filmsnob?

  150. frankbooth says:

    Don’t know anything about the second rumor, but a quick search turned up this article on the first:
    http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-69834
    Could be just a rumor, like the one about McCain’s out-of-wedlock black baby. What kind of vile people would spread such a thing?

  151. mutinyco says:

    Just Googled it. Kos apparently ran the story, but wasn’t sure whether to continue with it, so a poll was done. 53% wanted Kos to follow the story. For whatever it’s worth…
    If nothing else, it explains why she was back to work 3 days after giving birth…

  152. Citizen R says:

    The notion that a state governor could live out a plot line from Desperate Housewives is extraordinarily far-fetched. And, again, huge backlash potential here. If the rumormongering continued and gained national attention and she came forward and said that vicious false rumors were being circulated about her family and submitted to provide definitive proof that the rumors are false it would accrue her enormous sympathy and damage the left.

  153. christian says:

    Kos is a piece of shit. He’s not a progressive.
    And EOTW, could it be we’re all pro-life? Ever know anybody that had an abortion? I do. Many women are familiar with the process and emotional turmoil. Calling women have been, say, gang-raped, “baby killers” is barbaric. And the reality is harsher than the GOP ideal. And hypocritical.

  154. jeffmcm says:

    “her pro-creationism in schools stance (does not equate with believing it herself)”
    I think the odds are exceptionally small that someone who doesn’t believe in creationism would be an advocate for it. I mean, seriously.
    “Oh yeah mc… still a bitch.”
    I didn’t even say anything since the previous name-calling rant of yours, IOI. This is stupid, small-minded, petty, and bullying of you.

  155. Citizen R says:

    In relation to creationism and evolution she initially said “teach both” in a gubernatorial debate, but she later revised that to say that she thought students should be able to have an open debate on evolution, creationism, and intelligent design in class if they wished to. But she hasn’t made any moves to put creationism into schools while she’s been in office. Her father, by the way, was a public school science teacher.

  156. IOIOIOI says:

    Not you jeff. The douche who tried to call me out. Seriously man; I do not hate you, but you will get called out from time to time.

  157. IOIOIOI says:

    Oh yeah Martin… you remain an idiot. It’s not EUGENICS dipshit. It’s the fact that a 43 year-old woman decided to not use any sort of BIRTH CONTROL. She decided that it was wiser to go without, then be preoared for the consequences.
    Do you really think that we need a VP who lacks the ability to be SAFE at her AGE? Seriously man, she’s not smart than most teenagers in this case, and this alone makes her decision making suspect.

  158. IOIOIOI says:

    Smarter than most teenagers because a woman with four kids should know better. Seriously; it’s ridiculous that McCain would even pick her as a running mate after meeting her all of ONCE, and not realizing her behaviour makes her completely suspect.
    Oh yeah… it’s prepared and what not as well.

  159. jeffmcm says:

    IOI, most teenagers aren’t wealthy career women who can afford to have a fifth child with special needs. On the issue of her kid, it’s really a personal decision.
    That’s why our side of the issue is called “pro-choice”, not “pro-abortion”.

  160. IOIOIOI says:

    Jeff: BULLSHIT. You know for damn sure that if she were the VP choice for the Democrats. This would be brought up by all of the scumbags who carry water for the Republican party. They would bring this up repeatedly, and question why she made such a rash decision. You know that’s the case. So excuse me for calling a spade a spade and Palin stupider than most teenagers and women her own age in this country. Hell; did she miss all of those neonatal vitamins PSAs?

  161. jeffmcm says:

    IOI, if they did that, they would be assholes. So therefore, what are you trying to prove by doing it yourself?

  162. mutinyco says:

    I think the real question here is…
    What kind of judgment does she have that she would allow herself to become pregnant less than a year after being elected governor of a state? And then hide the pregnancy for 2/3 of its duration?

  163. christian says:

    A day later and I see the Palin selection as a huge gaffe. McCain might have just handed the election to Obama.

  164. Joe Leydon says:

    Look, I think the issue is very simple: Did McCain pick someone who is qualified to become, at a moment’s notice, President of the United States during wartime. Not someone who can grow into the job, or maybe, just maybe, miraculously rise to the occasion. I mean someone who could take the wheel if the driver has a fatal heart attack on, say, Feb. 1, 2009. That will be the issue. McCain’s big thing is, his judgment is (or so he claims) more sound than that of Obama. OK, was this good jugment? Did it put country or politics first?
    BTW: I don’t agree with IO — at all — but I wonder how many women (conservative, liberal, undecided, whatever) in various parts of the country (but especially in toss-up states) will question why she’s running for the second highest office in the land while she has a four-month-old special needs kid who should be her primary concern. Yeah, I know: That’s unfair, sexist, un-PC, etc. And, I admit, I would be pissed if the Repubs brought it up against a Dem with the same background. But, you see, I am not one who will fret about it. I am not a mother.
    This is interesting reading:
    http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/08/misreading-amer.html#more

  165. christian says:

    More important, looks like Jeffrey Wells has truly jumped the shark and will purge all who don’t think like him. Could he be a Manchurian Blogger designed to make people fear Obama?

  166. mutinyco says:

    Maybe this is kind of an IQ test for McCain’s supporters, but… they just donated $7M to his campaign in the past 24 hours. Yet, in a couple of days, he can’t even use that money, since he’s accepting public financing…

  167. jeffmcm says:

    I haven’t gone to Wells’ site in months, but I see he’s proudly calling his actions a “Stalinist Purge” with no sense of shame or irony.
    Crazy old guy, indeed.

  168. IOIOIOI says:

    Jeff; no they would not be asshole. They would be asking an honest question about this woman’s judgement. The way they stated it could make them assholes, but that’s semantics. If what Mutiny states is true. There are more questions about her judgement.
    This is all about her judgement and her decisions. They may be personal but running for VP negates any of her personal issues. Did you not watch season six of the West Wing? Again… all the answers are right there.
    Nevertheless Leydon: he goes for women votes by picking a woman with a special needs kid going on. A little tiny baby that she decided to bring into this world. How this cannot be brought up and how it makes Jeffy and you all squeamish, is beyond me.

  169. Joe Leydon says:

    But IO: Would you be quite so upset, if upset at all, if we were talking about the father of a special-needs child?
    Again: I don’t care about this. But I suspect a lot of people do. And I also suspect that many, if not most, of those concerned people lean rightward.

  170. jeffmcm says:

    “Did you not watch season six of the West Wing?”
    I did not. I must obviously bow out of this conversation in which I am so clearly unqualified to take part.

  171. IOIOIOI says:

    Joe: it does not matter who it is. This is just skievy to me. It has nothing to do with the kid having a mental disability as much as it has to do with a man and woman showing a high degree of shitty family planning. The family in Arkansas that have like 21 kids seem to have a better grasp on their family planning then this lady and her family. Which to me screams out about her judgement. If it were her husband. It would skievy me out just as much.
    Jeff: during the finale of season six of the West Wing. Ed O’Neil’s character — the governor of Pennsylvania — is nominated at the convention to be the Democratic nominee. Only to later have to turn it down because he and his family were not VETTED.
    There is no way in hell McCain and his campaign could have vetted this woman to the extent that she needs to be vetted. This is just a bad move on his campaigns part, but they were never supposed to win. So the political gods seem to be evening everything out.

  172. Citizen R says:

    “Maybe this is kind of an IQ test for McCain’s supporters, but… they just donated $7M to his campaign in the past 24 hours. Yet, in a couple of days, he can’t even use that money, since he’s accepting public financing…”

    I’m afraid it’s you who have failed the IQ test – or at least the knowledge test in relation to campaign financing – on this one, not McCain supporters who contributed the $7 mil. That money can be used in any number of ways that will be very helpful. For example, it can be used to pre-pay for TV spots that will run at a later date, or it can be used to pay salaries in advance so that all of the public funding can be used for other purposes. They’ll try to raise as much money as they can and put it to use right down to the wire, as all campaigns that accept federal funds do.

  173. mutinyco says:

    Well, Citizen R, based on everything I’ve read, McCain’s strategy has been to burn off all of his primary funds before the convention. Most of it has been on advertising, boosting his presence over the summer: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/07/mccain_paying_down_primary_fun.php
    Now, maybe “paying down” includes what you’re referring to, but based on what I’ve read there and elsewhere, McCain intended to use it all up during the summer to raise his profile and attack Obama.

  174. Citizen R says:

    Sure he’s been using most of his primary funds to raise his profile and go after Obama here and now. But my point is that whatever he collects in the last few days before the cut-off can be used to pay in advance for campaign infrastructure. They won’t be useless, unusable funds sitting in an account. The checks have to be written and out of the door before the cut-off, but they can pay salaries in advance, rent on campaign offices in advance, etc. None of it will go to waste.

  175. mutinyco says:

    My point was that it might’ve made more sense for the contributions to be made directly to the GOP. It’s in party contributions that the GOP has always outraised/outspent the Dems, while the candidates used federal funds.

  176. Citizen R says:

    That didn’t seem to be your point. Perhaps that’s what you intended, but it didn’t come across that way. It sounded like you were saying, ‘Oh, those dumb Republicans giving money that the McCain campaign won’t be able to use.’ But anyway, the conservative grass roots haven’t been contributing to the McCain campaign with great fervor. People wanted to signal their enthusiasm for Sarah Palin being picked by giving a contribution. Nothing wrong with that – in fact the big fund raising day is helpful to the ticket as a symbolic show of support from the base in addition to the use the money will be put to. With the cut-off just days away future contributions will flow to the RNC and other party organs.

  177. mutinyco says:

    Wolf Blitzer’s reaction at the very end of this is really funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6MVmv1OY6Q&eurl

  178. Joe Leydon says:

    IO: I should caution you — you’re beginning sound like the folks who told me, way back when I was a welfare worker, that “those people” shouldn’t be “allowed” to have kids if taxpayers had to pay for them. To quote Rod Steiger from my favorite movie of all time: “Why, you’re no better than the rest of us.”
    Of course, I also have to admit: Palin looks like someone I would see giving head to her teenage son’s best friend if I clicked onto MILFsWithGlasses.com.

  179. IOIOIOI says:

    Joe: I live in a city with a very poor baby survival rate. So I see those PSAs about planning and vitamins all the time. Excuse me for being shocked at a govenor — you know that means she has EXECUTIVE EXPERIENCE — not having any of that for her own life. I think it’s skievy, Joe.
    You also had a good one. Good on you.

  180. IOIOIOI says:

    GOVERNATOR! NOT GOVERNOR! THERE ARE NO MORE GOVERNORS! COHHHHHHHHHHHHAGGGGGGENNNNNNNNNNN!!!

  181. mutinyco says:

    Apparently, Palin was booed today during a speech when she talked about Hillary. Although reports were unsure whether Hillary was being booed or whether Palin was being booed for pandering.
    Let’s see how long the Hillary line stays in her speech.

  182. IOIOIOI says:

    Mutiny: I will take “FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE” for 15 dollars. They are obviously pandering, but some women may be sucked into her pandering. Here’s hoping they are not.

  183. L.B. says:

    Whew! When HRC was cheered yesterday at a Republican event I was worried the Earth had slipped its orbit and was hurtling towards the sun. I guess the Patronizing Pander Virus worked its way out of their collective system and it’s back to business as usual.

  184. IOIOIOI says:

    While I do not see a hurricane hitting the gulf coast during the Republican Convention as a “GIFT FROM GOD”. I do see it as a natural disaster that can cost the Repubs two to three days of convention coverage. It is sort of hard to cover a convention, when parts of the country could be seriously gaffled.
    So next week should be interesting for the Republicans. It will be interesting to see how they change their whole EXPERIENCE angle, deal with viewership numbers lower than Obama’s speech, and the media’s distracted attention from their big four days.

  185. LexG says:

    How come Wells’ “PURGE” is now missing from his site if you go there straight-on?
    If you google HE and Stalinist purge, you get the aforementioned thread. But if you just go to HE, the thread is completely missing.

  186. jeffmcm says:

    Looks like it’s there to me.

  187. LexG says:

    EH? Go to his front page, and the top entry is dated the 30th, then the next one down is dated the 29th.
    If you go to to his Purge thread via google, it IS dated the 30th. Did it just disappear?

  188. jeffmcm says:

    I see ten posts dated Aug. 30, the oldest one named “Son of Tucker” and the newest one “Economy” with “Stalinist Purge” right there as the second-oldest.
    Unless there’s something I’m missing.

  189. scooterzz says:

    i’m with lex in that ‘stalinst purge’ and everything before it is gone….in addition, when you go to august archives it’s all missing from there too….. it’s kind of curious that not all are getting the same reads….

  190. mutinyco says:

    I think he switched servers a couple of days ago and the kinks are getting ironed out. Yesterday, he told people having TypeKey problems to sign out and then back in again.

  191. welcome, outstandin g blog . comparable helped.

  192. Hola. Me ha encantado este entrada. Enhorabuena por el blog

The Hot Blog

Quote Unquotesee all »

It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon