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!

Haiku Thursday

I have some serious blogging I need to do - Spartacus has tagged me for the political meme - which I'm really looking forward to having the time and energy to do - and Christopher very kindly honored me with an award a few days ago, which I want to pass on to worthy bloggers.

But I've had a hectic week; lots going on at work, and for the first three nights of the week I've been out every night at meetings (non-work). So the energy level just isn't there tonight, especially after watching three straight hours of political commentary (Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert).

So, like John McCain, I'm going to wimp out. I'm going to write a few haiku and go to bed! Tomorrow, as Scarlet O'Hara liked to say, is another day.

McCain's on the run
And suspending his campaign
Flying to D.C.

Skipping the debate
Is the prudent thing to do
He knows he can't win.

On the other hand
Obama is looking good
He can do it all.

Fly down to D.C.
And negotiate a deal
Fly back and debate

He's the younger one
He knows how to multi-task
McCain's just too old.

And in the meantime
Negotiations drag on
No deal has been reached.

The stock market tanks
The Feds take over WaMu
The dominoes fall.

A Cat's Eye View

Baxter here. I don't have a lot of time to Blog today but thought I would stop in and give you my two cents on last night's Debate between the Barack Obama Human and the Hillary Clinton Human.

Mind you, I didn't actually watch this so-called Debate. But I did read about it this morning when I was Perusing the Internet as is my wont. And I read some Live Blogging over at Watergate Summer, and my Impression is that the Hillary Human didn't do herself any Favors with her Performance. It seems as if she is Schizophrenic; one minute she is cordial and conciliatory and the next, she comes out Fighting.

Now, mind you, for Cats, this is a Good Thing. If a Cat acts pleasant, this Lulls his Opponent into a False Sense of Security, and then the Cat can strike unexpectedly and do more Damage. But for Politicians, this may not be so good. It seems as if the Audience applauds most when both of these Candidates are cordial to each other, such as the end of the last Debate. It remains to be seen whether the strikes the Hillary Human made will have any positive Effect or whether her shifting Tactics may work against her.

From what I understand, the Obama Human, although he did respond to the Attacks, did not lose his Cool. This should stand him in good stead.

One thing my own Female Human has noticed is how different this series of Debates is from other Presidential Campaign years. First of all, there are Too Many of them. How many times can people get up there and answer the same Stupid Questions?

The other Thing is, the style of these so-called Debates is more reminiscent of World Wrestling Friday Night Smackdown than a serious discussion of the Issues. In the Old Days the Debate style was highly Formal and Candidates got a set number of minutes that were strictly Enforced, and video clips of their Speeches were not interpsersed. CNN has made this into Entertainment - and biased Entertainment at that - and I think it does the Public a Disservice.

It was somehow Appropriate that the Clinton Human referred to a Saturday Night Live skit that showed Favoritism toward her Opponent in order to claim the Moderators favored the Obama Human.

The Big Test will be on March 4, and we will see whether the Clinton Human's tactics did anything to slow the Obama Human's Momentum.

I've heard Hints that my Humans are Going Away on Vacation soon; if so, I am going to be here Sulking in Solitude. Oh, yes, one of my Human Friends will be here to visit me, so I won't be completely Alone. But I will be Cranky. The only Good thing is That Dog won't be here to Annoy me.

On that note, I will close this Post. Have a good Week and have plenty of Catnip to get you through the next bout of Primaries.

Love Fest

(Picture source: Reuters)

Hillary and Obama put aside their differences tonight and made it clear their real opponents were the Republicans. In fact, they made a point of not bickering or sniping at each other, much to the disappointment of Wolf Blitzer, who did his best to get them going.

Before the debate, the talking heads were hyping up the upcoming debate between the two remaining Democrats as if it were the Super Bowl, talking about "sitting on the ball" and who was going to start out aggressively. If I hadn't checked to see if I was really tuned in to CNN I'd have thought I was watching ESPN. It was that hard to tell.

Both candidates refused to take the bait when Wolf Blitzer brought up controversial issues that he obviously hoped would inspire animosity between them.

They discussed everything from health care to immigration to Iraq, and even while disagreeing, continued to hammer home that their views were much more similar than they were different, and miles apart from the views of the Republicans. This is how it should be.

The biggest applause of the night came when they were asked if they would consider an Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama ticket ("There is a difference," quipped Barack).

I was impressed with Hillary's responses, as she kept her cool and had an answer for all the tough questions that were thrown at her, including when she was asked if she'd be able to keep her husband under control if she became President. She seemed relaxed and in good spirits. I hadn't watched more than a clip or two of previous debates so I was pleasantly surprised by her performance tonight.

Barack Obama was also strong, and spoke fluently about all of the issues. He seemed to have some pretty concrete answers to questions about his proposed policies for health care and other programs, which is what I was looking for. He too seemed relaxed and able to respond easily to anything he was asked. He did seem to harp a bit too much on the fact he didn't support the Iraq war from the beginning when discussing what his policy would be in Iraq in the future, but of course that is a key selling point for him, and he wants to make sure he gets it in.

At the end they parted cordially. I'm sure the media were disappointed that no blood was shed, no teeth were bared, and both candidates comported themselves with dignity and good humor.

All in all I'd say they both won the debate and Wolf Blitzer lost, since he couldn't get a rise out of either of them.

Faux News as Usual

After we watched a "House" rerun tonight, we accidentally left the TV on and Fox News started. Being lazy, we didn't bother to turn the channel but, captive audience that we were, we mindlessly started watching.

The lead story was all about the death of actor Heath Ledger; with as many lurid details as they could find, plenty of pictures of his lifeless body being carried out of his building, and promises of more to come.

The second story was about the Super Bowl and the fact that the Patriots' quarterback, Tom Brady, has a sprained ankle.

The crashing stock market didn't come up until the third story, about 12 minutes into the newscast. And then they didn't even have their facts straight! They said that Bernanke stepped in to lower the interest rates after the market opened down >400 points. In actuality, Bernanke had taken the step BEFORE the market opened.

Not only does Fox ignore the real news, but when they get to the real news, they get it wrong. No wonder many members of the American public are not well-versed in current affairs...

Just to be clear, I am sorry to hear about Ledger. But should it have been the #1 story? And should they have continued coverage of this throughout the newscast? With teasers before the commercial to let the viewer know that more on this story will follow? I think not.

I think I'll end with some haikus to cover some other subjects!

Tuesday Haikus:

Obama is fighting back
Hillary is slinging mud
Edwards keeps his cool.

Stock market crashes
401k is tanking
When can I retire?

Thompson's dropping out
Was he ever really in?
It was hard to tell.

Diva is barking
She wants to go to bed now
Thus ends my blogging.