Six weeks ago when my sister asked me who I wanted McCain to select for VP, I said Sarah Palin. I then quickly added, “But it’s never going to happen.”
Then it happened. And whoa, talk about pulling off a stunner.
I like Sarah Palin, and have ever since she defeated that p.o.s Murkowski in 2006 and rescinded the dozens of political appointments he shelled out to his cronies in the last hours of his administration. She was proof that the voters of Alaska were capable of making good decisions. I mean these are the people who keep Don Young and Ted Stevens around despite their numerous infractions against common decency.
In many ways, Sarah Palin is my Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
I love that she is exuberant about politics. That she ran for office to change her own hometown and then moved on to change her home state. And wasn’t the obvious choice for Vice President.
It will also be nice to have someone in office who understands rural communities. Because there seems to be this idea that all small towns are Mayberry, and that only big cities have problems that need to be fixed. I can’t think of a national candidate, in recent memory, who would have a better understanding of the issues affecting Montanans at the grassroots level.
Palin is a reformer who isn’t afraid to clean her own house. Her recent scandal gave me pause until I read a quote from the Alaska State Senator (a Democrat) who is spearheading the investigation. Sen. Hollis French said that he didn’t need to issue subpoenas because Palin’s office was cooperating fully and that he intended to look at everything in context before making determinations about the situation. So, I’ll reserve judgment until his investigation is complete.
As for her views, there are some things that this moderate Republican doesn’t love. Her views on abortion and gay rights aren’t the same as my own. And her contention that creationism should be taught in public schools perplexed this Evangelical Christian.
Despite my disagreement with those positions, I feel that the good far outweighs the bad. I’m excited to see her debate Senator Joe Biden because I think she has what it takes to hold her own. And I’m interested to see what influence she will have on the ticket, and the party as a whole.
There’s no doubt that the lefties in Hollywood tried their hardest to pave the way for a woman or minority President. Out of 43, exactly zero have been black or female, but if you were an alien learning what you can about our society from our movies you’d probably think that being black or female was prerequisite for being the President (or, I supposed flying FA-18 Superhornets against invading forces of, well, Aliens).
While I have absolutely no problem with this, it was fun to watch them struggle so hard to lay the groundwork for Her Inevitableness, HRC. Remember, this lady - the one that Democrats tossed down the toilet for the glowing but empty rhetoric of The One - had been campaigning for the Presidency for eight years. She’d been building networks, raising money, fine-tuning her image, carefully balancing her voting record - all to make herself electable. At a time when HRC was the odds-on favorite for President, Hollywood was making crappy shows like Commander in Chief to play off the coat tails of The West Wing (a liberal’s wet Dream Administration) and inoculate the zombie-masses to the inevitability of a woman in the White House.
Sadly, most Hollywood Presidents are too weak for my taste. Especially with the women, I just don’t like how Hollywod portrays fictitious female Presidents as Executive versions of our own Montana embarrassment Janette “I Cannot Vote For War” Rankin: too run by emotion to make tough decisions. I think portraying a female CiC that way dramatically misrepresents the dynamic strength real women show under pressure (think Thatcher), making them instead one-dimensional portrayals of what some Women’s Studies Class at UC Berkeley has identified and the essence of womyn. Blah.
There is, however, one significant exception to this rule. A fictional President with balls. That woman, of course, is Laura Roslin, the “I knew there is evil in the world and I will do whatever it takes to persevere against it” kickass lady President in Battlestar Galactica. Now that’s a lady I could get behind.
Which sort of brings me to the trivial point for which I originally intended to make the subject this post in a light-hearted way before it spun into a diatribe of movie criticdome.
Good ol’ jhwygirl hot-boxes the initial hot air that comes out of Obama’s camp. Obama’s statement:
“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.”
First of all, she’s only one heartbeat away from the presidency if McCain wins. Did Obama just concede? Someone get the lawyers on this.
So in a JC Hagenesque unattributed post, here’s what jhwygirl says:
Oh - she’s been a Mayor. Mayor of a town with less than 6,000 people (Wasilla, pop. 5,470). Think Polson (5,046) or Lewistown (5,945).
Palin will be one heartbeat away from the Presidency, and McCain will be 77 in 2012.
Pretty similar point there. Wonder if Wulfgar! will take her to the shed with a lesson about how to properly attribute when blogging.
I guess my question for both of them is what they have against small towns like Wasilla, Polson and Lewistown? Democrats are always uncomfortable with small-town bitter gun and religiuos clingers, but they should check a map and realize that ultimately the decision about who is going to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency isn’t John McCain or The One… it’s the American People - most of whom live in small towns like Wasilla, Polson and Lewistown.
My guess is that this selection caught them as off-guard as it caught everyone else. They obviously didn’t have too much time to put into this statement.
Wow. Didn’t see that one coming. McCain is brilliant. He managed to steal the thunder from Zeus himself, surprise the pundits, and put women in serious play. I love that she’s got executive experience, a good grasp on energy and that she’s from outside the beltway. Also, she’s from Alaska and went to school in Idaho.
When I got the all-important text message from the Obama campaign announcing that Obama had chosen Delaware Senator Joe Biden, I thought it was another fake. Then I saw the headlines. And I must say, I was perplexed.
Biden has had two failed runs at the Presidency. The first time, Biden withdrew from the race after it was alleged that he plaigarized the text of a speech and questions arose about his academic record.
In 2008, he withdrew from the race because he did poorly in the Iowa Caucases. Really, really poorly. So, now the guy who not even one-percent of Iowa Democrats wanted to be President, could be one heartbeat away from the job?
On the plus side, Biden does have 35 years of Senate experience, and the foreign policy expertise that everyone says Obama is lacking. But even his strengths have pitfalls. Three decades of experience, means three decades worth of votes, comments and positions to defend. Read the rest of this entry »
This showed up in my inbox this afternoon - had to post it - mostly for Pogie.
You know, come to think of it, whatever did happen to that 5-day Congressional work week Pelosi promised? Somehow cutting all federal employees down to the 4-day work weeks they’ve been pullings seems like a step in the wrong direction.
Well, it’s done. I’ve legally gained myself about 125 pounds (love you baby!), and in doing so, I’ve made myself quite a bit more attractive, and gallons smarter. I even got a nice ring to go with it. Go me!
I’ve also missed a lot. for example:
White House 2008: Obama’s campaign seems to have lost the initiative. Obama promised he’d take a different approach from Kerry by responding to attacks on his record, and it seems to this observer that he’s spending a large amount of his time doing just that - while the flowery rhetoric of “Yes we can,” and “Hope” has gotten lost from the message - at least in the media. I’m really starting to think McCain’s experience on the campaign trail is going to win this.
Russia invaded Georgia. As a testament to how messed up the BCS actually is, Georgia remains #1 in the pre-season polls of the AP, USA Today and ESPN. No word on whether Russia also plans to invade Ohio State or USC. The Defense Department suspects that they’ll wait until those powerhouses duke it out in September and then sweep in to take them down while they recover.
Jay Stevens is leaving. Now what am I going to do with my “Blue Jay Watch” graphic? In seriousness, while I disagreed with Jay on just about everything (including the spelling of his last name), there’s no denying that he put a lot of sweat and blood into Left in the West. The Montana blogosphere will not be the same with him gone. Best of luck to him in Pennsylvania. It also appears that Jay was an intergalactic dolphin all along; you’re welcome for the fish. Who knew?
Where’s Denny? Pogie got his bright orange hot-pants all in a twist because Congressman Rehberg isn’t spending the entire month of August in Washington, DC. I think he’s missing the point. Rehberg’s return to DC was symbolic - without action from Congressional Democrats, the debate on the House Floor cannot be more than words. I don’t think Rehberg ever claimed different. If Pelosi listened to the American People and reconvened Congress to vote on a real energy plan does anyone think that Rehberg wouldn’t be first in line to get back to work? And guess what. It’s working!
Schweitzer on TV. If he’s so interested in overcoming partisan lines, why not register as an Independent and campaign for candidates from both parties? Or is his bipartisanship just talk?
Glacier National Park. The Missoulian is doing a really interesting week-long series on Glacier National Park. Having been there a few months ago (Yellowstone too), I can attest to the fact that it is quite crowded - even in the “backcountry”. In any case, on Monday (I think) they wrote about the disappearing glaciers as the namesake for the park. If I remember my Montana history correctly however, the park wasn’t named for the glaciers themselves (even back then, people understood that climate changes and glaciers come and go naturally), but for the fact that the beautiful scenery that makes the park so amazing was created by the slow grinding of glaciers over granite for millions of years. Semantics.
Put me down for encouraged, but skeptical. I’ll reserve judgment until I see what the bill actually says. However, I take issue with Pelosi’s argument that House Republicans are pushing a “drill only” plan. Because if she actually sat down and took the time to read “The American Energy Act” she would see that it contains more than just drilling.
The bill contains a renewable and alternative energy trust fund that provides grants for biomass development and incentives for hydroelectric production, solar and wind technologies, cellulosic biofuels and geothermal generation. It also contains provisions for nuclear power, coal-to-liquids and oil shale. The bill also provides a host of tax incentives for people and businesses that choose to purchase electric and hybrid cars.
But one of the most interesting provisions of the bill is Title II, Subtitle B: Tapping America’s Ingenuity and Creativity. This program authorizes the Department of Energy to encourage America’s best and brightest to start developing new energy technologies by hosting competitions paid for with funds raised from private entities. The bill also protects the intellectual property of the participants. These programs would resemble DOE’s successful ‘Solar Decathalon’.
Given that the well funded research department at MIT has already increased its research into energy development with great results, a program like this one could make it easier for smaller colleges and universities to increase their presence in the energy research game. These competitions could also help local companies like NCAT and AE Biofuels.
Clearly, the Republican plan contains many provisions that extend far beyond “just drilling.” It contains provisions for the development of nuclear power, alternative fuel sources, tax incentives for hybrid vehicle buyers and provisions to increase the development of new technologies. It also develops America’s coal, natural gas and oil production
I’m eager to see what Pelosi’s plan contains, hopefully she and the other House Dems won’t make me wait until after the August recess ends to read it.
First things first, this project sounds very exciting.
Of course, our junior Senator saw a good press opportunity to talk about energy.
U.S. Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., spoke at the Thursday event, saying that the country needs to make energy research a priority for national security and to strengthen the economy.
Fantastic. It looks like the project could use some help.
Federal funding for the MSU Billings fuel cell project is scheduled to end in November, but project partners hope more money can be found to continue it.
Of course they would not have to hope for more money if the man who found the funds to start the project, Conrad Burns, were still in office. Funny how that tid-bit did not make it into the article. Maybe if you do not mention that this project was a Burns earmark, you no longer have to be against it. period.
For a nation so desperate to hang on to its breakaway republics, the Russians sure are excited to help South Ossetia and Abkhazia break-off from Georgia. Good to see that our President could postpone his trip to Crawford to deal with this tense international situation. If we ever needed Condoleeza Rice to live up to her resume, now would be a good time for her to start.
Remember when the Wall came down and the Cold War ended, and we were promised that Russia wouldn’t be a threat anymore? That we’d all live in peace and harmony while we drank Coca-Colas and ate Big Macs? I think we underestimated the power of a historically corrupt system being run by former KGB agents who still think totalitarianism has it’s upsides.
Frankly, while some of you may disagree, Russia scares me more than al-Qaeda.
