A Cat's Eye View

Baxter here. Many Apologies, over a Week has passed since the last Post here. My Female Human has been busily making Arrangements for her Mother, who came home from the Nursing Home yesterday. My Human's Mother is Very Happy to be back in her Own Apartment and seems to be doing Very Well, considering her Age and Condition. A Nurse's Aide comes in to watch her at Night, and during the Day my Female Human will be there helping her.

All this is All Very Well, and I have Nothing against the Female Human's Mother. But for Me it is NOT an improvement. I was just getting used to having more Company around Here, and whenever That Dog was out in the Yard or Asleep I got to cuddle up on the Couch with my Human. Now she is gone All Day again just as she was in the Old Days when she did what she called "Working." From what I understand, she says what she is doing NOW is Work too!

That Dog is probably not Happy either. She is stuck in the House. However, at 4 p.m. the Female Human's Aunt comes down to her Mother's Apartment and sits there while my Human comes home and walks That Dog. Still no help for Me, but what can you do.

But I digress! You don't come here to hear about my Female Human's Personal Issues. You expect More from an intelligent Feline like Myself. So without Further Ado I will launch into my usual News Summary.

Of course, the Big News is the Passage of the Landmark Healthcare Legislation. Or Historic Healthcare Legislation, however you want to put it. As Most of You are already Well Aware, on Sunday night the House passed the Senate Health Care bill that had already passed before the New Year. They then went ahead and passed a bunch of amendments to it, which the Senate then had to Approve. And, with a few changes, they did. The last step was that the House then approved the slightly changed Reconciliation Bill that will put those amendments into Effect.

The Best Moment before President Obama spoke at the Signing Ceremony was when Vice President Biden uttered the Now-Famous Phrase, "This is a Big F*cking Deal" in the President's ear just before he turned the mic over to him. T-shirts are being sold as we speak.

Right Now my Ears are twitching and my Whiskers are bristling, however, because MSNBC is televising the speech Sarah Palin is making at a big Rally for John McCain. I must say, that Woman's voice goes right through Me! "Send the Maverick back to the Senate!" she says. Ugh.

In Other News, the Radical Organization, PETA, has enlisted the So-Called OctoMom to support their cause of promoting Spaying and Neutering for Pets. It's Bad Enough that this Female Human had, via Artificial Means, eight babies at once when she already HAD six kids; now she's so desperate for Money, she's willing to let PETA put a sign on her lawn? Check it out:


In return, OctoMom gets $5000 a month and some veggie burgers and dogs to feed her "Litter." No, I am not being Crass. The word "litter" was on PETA's BLOG for Heaven's Sakes, with a line drawn through it. Go see for yourself.

In other Animal-Related News, a video is Making the Rounds on TV and the Internet that shows a Pitbull Mix (reported in varying ways by the Media, including calling it a Bulldog, a Pitbull, a Pitbull-Boxer mix and a Pitbull-Bulldog mix) attacking a Police Car and ripping off the Bumper and wrecking the Tires. Here is a news Clip with part of the video, if you have been Living Under a Rock and haven't seen it yet:


Now, as you All well know, as a Cat, I am not a Fan of Dogs, but would never wish them Harm. So I'd like to commend the Police in this situation for trying pepper spray and a Taser to stop the dog instead of just shooting him. The dog's name is Winston and he is actually very nice to People and didn't even attack the Officer who got out of the car to spray and Taser him. (Please note, the Taser hardly slowed him down at all - so don't expect one of those Electric Fences to ever work on your pet Pitbull.)

The story does have a Happy Ending because the Dog is just under probation and the Owner is to get him Obedience training to get his Canine Good Citizen certification.

As for the damage to the Squad Car: I would be Concerned, if I were the Police, that their Squad Cars are so fragile the front bumper can be totally removed by a Dog! Shouldn't vehicles be a little more Sturdy than THAT? I'll bet the Dog wouldn't have made a dent in my Humans' old 1955 DeSoto that they used to have! That was when Cars were Cars and were Meant to Last!

Speaking of Cars, there is Good News out of Trollhattan, the location of the Swedish Headquarters of the new Saab-Spyker company. They have started shipping their first Batch of New Cars under the new Ownership! Plus, they're cutting Prices! It just might be time for a New Car for my Humans. We'll see if they are Tempted.

So, that is the News for this Week. I know I haven't covered Every News Item but these were the Things I wanted to share with You personally.

Until Next Time, hang in there, try to ignore the Republicans, and keep your Catnip at the Ready!

The Political Meme

As my first post for the month of November, I thought I would finally complete the Political Meme that Spartacus tagged me with way back in September. This meme was originated by Katie Schwartz and it is a good way to sum up my feelings on the upcoming election on Tuesday. Plus it gave me an easy way to complete my first post for the 30-day marathon of posting that is required for the November NaBloPoMo event! With no further ado, here is the meme and my answers:

1) What is your name (nickname, whatever you're comfortable sharing), your age (range), gender, occupation, income bracket (range), how you identify (gay/straight/whatever)? Married/Single/Divorced? Kids (how many)?

My name is Mauigirl, I'm 55, I'm female, work in market research at a Big Corporation, and our household income puts us in the upper middle class bracket. I'm straight (strongly pro gay-rights), married to my husband DH, and we have no kids, just our dog Diva and our cat, Baxter, whose posts you will often read here.

2) What are the most important issues to you in this presidential election and why?

There are so many, it's hard to know where to begin. One huge issue for me is the Supreme Court. The next president will probably be appointing 2 or 3 new justices to the Court and it is crucial that these justices are not people like Antonin Scalia or the other right-wing appointees. It's not just Roe v. Wade that is at stake, although that too is an important issue for me. It is our entire system of government, the checks and balances, the issues of privacy and civil rights, that are at stake here.

Beyond those key issues, there are also more day-to-day concerns, including the economy. I am tired of the gap growing larger between rich and poor, the CEOs getting their golden parachutes, the stock market being turned into a Las Vegas casino. I want to see the middle class maintained so that we don't turn into a third world country with the well-to-do blocked off from the angry poor by electric fences and vicious dogs roaming their grounds. I want to see children grow up with the right to a good education, proper healthcare and a real ability to pursue happiness. Right now, some have it all, and some have none of it.

I'm tired of this country wasting money on a war that didn't have to be fought, and in fact represents the first time this country has actually invaded another sovereign nation without provocation, as far as I know. I am tired of this country being looked down on by the rest of the world for our actions, which do not live up in any way to the founding fathers' ideals.

3) Why do you think voters should vote for Obama/Biden, what differentiates this ticket from McCain/Palin?

Where do I begin? In every way, the two tickets couldn't be more different. John McCain, whom I once respected, has disappointed me deeply by completely going over to the side of the right-wing base in his stances. Suddenly he is right along with them on the racial and class divisiveness that the GOP has been using in the past several elections. I had expected better from him. To have picked Palin is a sign of very poor judgment and I feel she is not only unqualified, but a slap in the face to all women. In addition I am very concerned about her far-right, "Biblical" views about gay rights, abortion, and science.

What I love about Obama is his judgment, his sense of fairness, his philosophy of looking at more than one side of an issue before making his decisions. I think his priorities are right, and he goes about things in a non-divisive way that is a refreshing change. I am not concerned about his "lack of experience." This is a man who reads, who has traveled much in his life, unlike the current president who hadn't been out of North America before being elected president. If there are any pockets of inexperience in Obama's background, he will make it up by choosing good advisers, knowledgeable people who are competent in their fields. Joe Biden is a good example of this type of choice. He is experienced, well-traveled, understands international affairs and never forgot where his roots were. They would be an excellent combination for the next four (and hopefully eight) years.

4) If McCain/Palin wins this election, where do you see our country going in the next four years?

Simply: Down the tubes! I think we would have more economic distress, more wars, more gaps between rich and poor. I don't think I could stand to even live through it. I'd have to go live in the Adirondacks in hiding, holed up in our cabin with enough canned goods and alcohol to get me through the next four years!

5) Economically, where do you think this country is today and how do you think Obama/Biden can make a positive impact?

We are at a crossroads economically. The stock market doesn't work anymore, it has become a roulette wheel. People are losing their life-savings and are afraid to retire. I read that the sale of in-home safes is through the roof - people don't even trust the banks. The government is deeply in debt due to the bailouts and the Iraq war and it won't go away anytime soon. I fear for the future if we don't elect Obama/Biden. They will be able to have the intelligence and knowledge to make the needed reforms that we need. The GOP would just give us more of the same policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

6) In the past 8-years, how do you think this country has changed under the Bush regime? Have you been affected by these changes? If so, in what ways?

We have lost many freedoms in the past eight years - we have been illegally monitored by government agencies, the president and vice president have gained unprecedented powers, we have gone from having a budget surplus to a huge budget deficit. My retirement fund has lost over 40% of its value and that is probably the biggest effect I've experienced personally.

7) I have read that Palin is considered the new voice of feminism, which is offensive in my opinion. Of equal concern are her views on abortion and the removal of books from libraries. I'd like to know what you think about all of that and how you feel about McCain choosing Palin as a running mate. And what kind of message you think that sends to women?

Palin is the antithesis of everything I believe in. She is "pro-life" at the expense of the lives of the existing women who would be affected if Roe v. Wade were repealed. She is anti-science and anti-knowledge (believes in banning books, believes the earth is only 6000 years old, thinks dinosaurs co-existed with mankind, and is in favor of teaching creationism in schools). And her views on gay rights make McCain look liberal.

She is dangerous in her propensity to attack Obama and liberals in general, riling up her audiences to near-violence. McCain showed extremely poor judgment in choosing her and the message it sends to women is that he believed that just picking a woman VP candidate would get women to vote for him, which is the worst kind of sexism there is. I don't know any women who fell for it, either.

So that's it - I'm not going to tag anyone because I know a very large number of you have already responded to this meme. But if anyone out there hasn't yet been tagged with it, please consider this your tag and go for it!

Three more days till election day. The suspense is killing me.

Let's Hope This Remains Fiction!

A friend sent me this spoof of a movie trailer starring Sarah Palin and what might happen if she became Vice President. Let's hope it remains in the fictional realm.

We attended the local debate party held at a nearby bar/restaurant, along with about 75 other political junkies. 99% were Democrats so most of the cheers were for Biden and chuckles for Palin, but there was a lone guy over by the wall who would clap for her.

Fox Noise was inside with a camera and also outside interviewing people as we were leaving, but I didn't catch the news last night so don't know if we personally were on television.

There have been so many great posts already on people's impressions of Palin that I won't bother to go into detail about how we felt, but basically it seemed as if she was very scripted, just kept steering the replies back to whatever she had memorized, and that Joe Biden did a great job. Sarah Palin beat expectations but that sure wasn't hard. Luckily it seems the independents polled felt Biden won the debate and were not particularly swayed toward the McCain-Palin ticket.

You can go over to Momocrats and see a hilarious flowchart showing how Sarah's thought process must have worked during the debate last night.

We're heading up to the Adirondacks over the weekend and will try to forget the scary possibility of Sarah Palin getting anywhere near the White House.

Weekend is coming
Politics will be on hold
We are escaping.

The bailout has passed
California's going broke
What else will happen?

We'll wait to find out
In the meantime we're driving
Up on the Northway.

The leaves are turning
Up in the Adirondacks
Views will be awesome.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tonight's the Night

I haven't seen so much hype about a debate since Nixon-Kennedy. (Well, actually I don't remember how much hype there was before Nixon-Kennedy since I was only 7, but I imagine there must have been a lot since it was the first televised debate. Of course, back then, they didn't even know how to hype - so let's just forget this analogy, OK?)

Anyway, the fierce focus on this VP debate is getting me worried. All Sarah Palin has to do is show up and still be standing at the end and not collapsed into a babbling heap, and she'll be declared the winner. Biden, in the meantime, has to come off as knowledgeable but nice, and not say anything stupid (as he is sometimes wont to do). I think his job will be harder.

To amuse you in the meantime, here is a fun toy - The Sarah Palin Quote Generator. It will give you wonderful quotes that Sarah Palin hasn't said - YET. Let's see if she comes up with any of them tonight. Here are a few examples:

"What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at also bipartisan effort at a crisis time like this."

"And as Ronald Reagan believed that the impact — we have got to have all options out there on the table."

"The way that I have understood the world is the leadership qualities — that's paramount."

Have fun watching tonight - we'll be at a debate-watching party so will report back on what people thought of her debating skills afterward!

The Right Choice

I hope everyone was as relieved as I was to hear that Barack Obama picked Joe Biden as his running mate. By picking Biden, Obama has shown he has the political awareness to understand that he needs someone with experience to bolster his credentials with those who have doubts about his readiness for the Presidency.

Given the situation with Russia, it is especially important that he have someone by his side who will give voters confidence that he can handle international crises.

Even before Obama's pick was announced, conservative David Brooks set forth a lot of good reasons Biden should be his choice. Brooks pointed out that Biden's working-class roots, his honesty, and his experience in the Senate would help Obama connect with the voters and help him steer his way through the Gordian Knot of Congress when he wants to get things done. And he won't be a yes-man to Obama; he'll tell it like it is, which Obama himself has said he needs in a Vice President.

Best of all, Biden will be able to go after John McCain in a way Obama can't, with his image of being a new kind of politician. Being all post-partisan is all well and good, but Obama has to win, and McCain's smears have been starting to take their toll. Biden can help bring the conversation back to what a disaster the Bush Administration has been and why McCain will just perpetuate the mess, as well as pointing out the many mistakes McCain has been making during this campaign.

Frank Rich in today's NY Times discusses what Obama should be doing next - talking about the future and how his vision of the future differs from McCain's. And he also points out that Americans are more worried about the economy than foreign affairs.

"How we dig out of this quagmire is the American story that Obama must tell. It is not a story of endless conflicts abroad but a potentially inspiring tale of serious economic, educational, energy and health-care mobilization at home. We don’t have the time or resources to go off on more quixotic military missions or to indulge in culture wars. (In China, they’re too busy exploiting scientific advances for competitive advantage to reopen settled debates about Darwin.) Americans must band together for change before the new century leaves us completely behind. The Obama campaign actually has plans, however imperfect or provisional, to set us on that path; the McCain campaign offers only disposable Band-Aids typified by the 'drill now' mantra that even McCain says will only have a 'psychological' effect on gas prices."

Back in 1992, then-candidate Bill Clinton had signs up in his campaign headquarters saying "It's the economy, stupid!" to keep him on track. Obama needs to take that lesson to heart and be more single-minded in his emphasis on the economy. There's nothing that helps a candidate from the opposing party more than a lousy economy in an election year.

Another thing Obama needs to remember is that this country is all about marketing. While many of us truly value Obama's ability to see both sides of an issue and thoughtfully discuss solutions, that needs to be done in back rooms with his advisers. To the press, he needs to seem resolute and have a clear concise message. Obama's brand until now has been "Change," and he's been good at marketing it. But as Rich points out, now he needs to come up with something more potent that will resonate with those who are disheartened by the direction the country has taken and have not yet heard either candidate articulate their concerns or offer solutions they can relate to. Economic policy details are fine on a website but not in a sound bite. His message needs to be clear, simple, memorable and strong.

From now until the election, Obama and Biden have to hammer away at John McCain, while simultaneously telling the American people how they will fix the mess we're in. It's a tall order, but they can do it. They have to. The future of the country is depending on it.