Sunday, October 26, 2008

Outfits

So the Palin family spent $150k on clothes, so what? I really mean that. They had to buy things on the fly, they didn't feel they had the time to wait for a sale, or even comparison shop. Alaskan fashion has got to be a little different, and of course the campaign wanted them to make a good impression. As clothes do make the man, by extension, they should also make the woman. Plus, let's face it, Sarah Palin has had to be on stage with Cindy McCain. I imagine that it was easier to dress up Sarah Palin and her family, than it would have been to dress down Cindy McCain.

Lighten up folks. I don't mind her keeping the clothes. Think it through, $150k worth of clothes isn't much compensation for being publicly outed as a gimmick. In the grand scheme of things, this really is a small matter.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Colin Powell

Colin Powell has made a career out of being in the military; he’s a retired General. A National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State. He knows that wars are won and lost, based not primarily on the hearts or minds of the combatants, who’s right, or who’s wrong, or on whose side God is on, but mostly on technology. The side with the better weapons, the better supplies, better transportation, communication, organization, enthusiasm, wins. I think he wants wins for this country, and I think he sees the best likelihood for those wins in Barrack Obama.

Obama’s use of the Internet is a true sea change. It is the new technology that is helping him win the election, yes, but it is so much more than that.

What is the Internet to you? To me, it’s my TV. My recipe box. A self-updating Rolodex. It’s a telephone, (I’ll go days and days without making a call, nearly never does a day go by, when I’m not online.) It’s my personal research library. My dictionary. A classroom. A community center, where the community is the whole wide world and nobody minds what I’m wearing. If I’m wearing. It’s my weather bug, my first aid consultant, my travel agent, my shopping mall, flea market. But of course, that’s just me, I’m sure you have your own uses.

It’s Obama’s use of this medium that has so Powell impressed. He sees the corner being turned, it’s a specialty among leaders, seeing around the corners. Powell and Obama seem to see that in each other. Leadership.

I wasn’t surprised by Powell endorsement of Obama. I’m not surprised that he’s taking heat for it, but Powell probably isn’t about that surprised either.

I do wonder if Colin Powell is surprised to learn that Jamaica is related to Kenya, or is even a part of Africa. Hello Rush Limbaugh. He thinks this endorsement is all about race, and although he’s totally wrong, he’s also right, in a twisted sort of way. Colin Powell has been respected (among white folks) for decades. Most didn’t know the difference between Jamaica and Africa, so the assumption holds. But it isn’t race loyalty. Powell, who has been long trusted universally, by his endorsement, is helping to ease the transition. Most of these (white) people have never cheated anybody in business, worn a white hood, or even used the dreaded N-word, but they’re still a bit nervous. They think, or like to think, if what has happened to others had happened to them, they’d jump at the chance to get some of their own back. Sure, it seems racial, but it’s really not.

Colin Powell is doing this for American Unity. He’s helping to put people at ease, just as Barrack Obama made that same statement in choosing Joe Biden as a running mate. The message being, you don’t have to be impeccable, to be on the right side of things.

This is going to work out. Remember to vote. Remember that you are alone in that voting booth, whether or not your hand shakes as you vote, is nobody’s business, but your own. Be gentle with yourself, you'll know what to do.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Bubba in VA

So Bill Clinton is  going to stump for Obama in Virginia... I guess that means that Virginia is in the tank for Obama, and Bill Clinton wants people to think that he helped.  The Clintons are in an interesting position, because of their relationship with Terry McAuliffe, they have a network of people who could and should want to elect a democrat as president, but the Clintons have made it known that these people are more like the Clintons' personal pets, which totally busted them.  The Clintons have no other option than to stump for Obama, lest they bust themselves further.

My theory is that Terry McAuliffe arranged for Bill Clinton to come to Virginia, and try to trick the public into thinking that he will have something to do with the state going to Obama.  The state has been turning blue for a number of years, particularly in Northern Virginia, where people actually live.  Terry McAuliffe is now he eyeing the Virginia governor's mansion,  and finding it attractive.  I guess he's just a little bored and he sees that the future is with Obama.  He probably figures, that arranging for Bill and Hillary Clinton to behave themselves is likely a good way to endear himself... 

Friday, October 3, 2008

The Palin/Couric Conspiracy?

Anybody else smell a set up here? Palin does an interview with Couric, Couric comes off as tough, mostly because she wants to know what kind of newspapers and magazines Palin reads, but Palin, sounding like a child who gotten caught not doing her homework, doesn't answer. This lowers expectations for the debate for Palin, while at the same time, it brandishes Couric's reputation. She comes off as tough, smart and much less perky... everybody's happy.

What of the debate... men are starting to resent Palin. They don't see her as respectful, to the office, or to them. She didn't answer the questions posed.  She used nonsensical sentences and the winking is beginning to pass as a tic. Nobody wants a vice president who wiggles to any phrase, not even,  drill, baby, drill. 

It's using the main stream media, to complain about the main stream media. If she's annoyed that the main stream media exists, then she can go around them. She can set up a web-cam in her house, and while she's looking at Russia, she can say anything she wants, dog-whistle anybody she wants, all in the comfort of her own home.  While still enjoying her per diem, she can bypass all those pesky reporters, doing their jobs.  

Honestly, I don't know if they staged all of this or not, but if it isn't staged, Rove's losing his touch.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Talky talky talky...

So Congress is still talking about a plan to bail out, or rescue the economy. That's nice. But talking about a solution, isn't the same this as having the solution. Jerking everybody around, is the same as adding to the problem. Come on, folks, pick something. A controlled stream of money, with full transparency, is a perfectly viable way to go. But a decision has to be made.