Happy Halloween

An opportunity for the Republican Party.

It isn't over yet, but the widespread feeling that Republicans may be going down to resounding defeat all over the country has been strong enough to cause some infighting in the party. Sarah Palin, oblivious to the disgust of the majority of the country, seems to think that John McCain is messing up her campaign.

While Sarah Palin was the final reason to stop considering John McCain as a serious candidate, she may turn out to be just what the Republicans need. The impetus to clean house and restore the party to what it once was.

I am old enough to remember when the Republican Party was not the safe haven for whack jobs, religious zealots, criminals and hate mongers. I am not sure exactly when that happened but it has been a done deal for at least 10 years. The true Republican politicians left around, valiantly carrying the flag of fiscal conservatism and trying to do a good job have my respect.

As abhorrent as she is, I am hoping that Sarah Palin will be the last straw, the line drawn in the sand, the reason to stop seeking all votes at all costs and the reason for the Republican party to get rid of the flotsam and jetsam and get back to a platform that can be respected, debated and voted on

We need a two party system that works. I am, personally, hoping for a Democratic landslide this election so that we can fix some important problems faster than usual. But I don't want anyone to get too comfortable in their Washington chairs, because the next election will be time to balance the Congress better. And we need to do it without the screaming illiterates that have dominated one side of this election season.

Manifest Obama

Get out and VOTE!

good news, bad news

The good news is that Obama's numbers keep growing, slowing and surely.
Colin Powell very eloquently endorsed him on Sunday, saying what I think many true conservative Republicans are thinking, mainly, what has happened to our party?

The bad news is that Sarah Palin and her shrieking crowds are very scary.

Joe the plumber.....sheeeesh

Joe the plumber, average citizen, worried about his taxes under Obama.

Except that he is, apparently, not a plumber. And he is also, apparently, not in any danger of leaping any time soon into the 250k+ income bracket that would increase his taxes.

As for average, I sincerely hope not. Sarah Palin spent her debate time talking to Joe Six-Pack. McCain spent his debate time talking to Joe, the Plumber. Both of them convinced that the rest of us poor schmucks watching on TV would relate to them.
Since when has the Big House/Wife Swap watcher, Joe Six-Pack, semi literate, anti-environmental, wolf hunting, crotch scratcher become the picture of the average American? No offense, Joe, either of you.

When in hell did that happen?

What happened to the average American being someone who works for a living, reads something other than the sports page or the National Inquirer, can hold a conversation about current events in words of more than one syllable, mows the grass, plays games with the kids and likes the dog?

When did being some sort of unhappy whiner hungry for a few minutes of fame become 'average'?

I am insulted by the whole concept. I am insulted by being talked down to by grinning politicians who can't even decently hide their rigid belief that I am an idiot, a dupe, a statistic to be manipulated.

So call someone else "my friend" John McCain. And wink at someone else in that camera, Sarah Palin.
I call bullshit!

true colors

Palin appears to be showing her true colors, whipping up the crowds at her rallies into a frenzy of hate.

I give McCain his due, in the film clip I saw he was trying to calm the crowds down, trying to instill some reason into the insanity and saying the right things. But the mob mentality that adores Sarah Palin only settled down to grumble.

McCain said to the crowds that this is an election about who is better suited to lead, not about his opponent being a bad person, he reiterated that Obama is a good person, a 'family man' he called him.

But it is too little too late. He is discovering that the weapon he chose to fight this campaign with, fear, is a very sharp two edged sword. He is also discovering that it is hard to put the genie back in the bottle. Trite little cliches, I know. They got that way from being too true too often.

TGIF

The stock market is in free fall, Iceland is considering bankruptcy, Wall Street bankers are sitting in front of their vaults making like the sphinx, economists are actually past pointing blame at each other, the Congress worked together to try to fix something and many of the rest of us are going, "WTF?"

I quit watching the news, the yelping was hurting my ears. I did try to figure out what was going on by listening to interviews with investment bankers, stockbrokers, traders, economists, finance professors and all the rest of the assorted in-the-know people that NPR and PRI were cornering and asking questions.

Everyone seems to agree on a few points.

• No one can fix the whole system, the best solution is to fix the root problem and let the rest sort itself out. Some will fall, most will survive and the boat will gradually steady itself.
• No two viewpoints agree on exactly what that root problem is.
  
• Many people would like Bush to stop doing his Chicken Little imitation.
  
• 700+ billion to fix the problem is like spitting in the ocean.
  

Saturday is looking good just because it is not a weekday. This is all a confidence game, folks. Everybody take a deep breath. I have never seen a situation that was improved by panic.
The enormity of this is astounding, but the sky is not falling. Not yet.

debate #2

Polls conducted coast to coast among undecided voters were virtually identical. Voters from both parties, locked into rooms with pundits and reporters, forced to watch every minute of the debate, without even a refrigerator to escape to, were asked to comment/vote/otherwise speak on their opinions.
The consensus was that no one had changed their mind.

Me too.

call it a draw

The vice presidential debate is over *yawn*
So Sarah Palin did not fall on her face and Joe Biden did not have to be whistled to a stop. Other than that I wasn't surprised at anything.
Well, that is not entirely true. I am still surprised that John McCain would pick someone to represent this country (and him!) that says "you betcha" instead of "yes" and "yous guys" instead of you.
Fortunately, I don't think they have a chance of being elected, probably to the relief of translators around the world.

Really people, folksy guys and gals that you want to drink beer or go wolf hunting with are NOT, repeat NOT, necessarily the people that you want running this country. Despite Sarah Palin's statements to the contrary, leading this country is not a job for Joe Six-Pack next door.