Month: November 2008

A reader writes:

I agree that Palin’s deficiencies say a lot about the deficiencies of our political system. One of the best indications that Barack Obama was ready for the presidency was his frustration with himself for the "bitter" comment. In a NYT Magazine article Obama was quoted calling himself "boneheaded" for saying what he said. He understood how his remarks could be seen as offensive, and he didn’t get defensive or try to discredit his critics. In other words, he felt (and acted on) healthy shame. Palin, in stark contrast, is shameless, in more than one sense of that word.

A reader writes:

I just got home from the NYC protest and I am invigorated! My partner and I started seeing signs on the subway and followed a crowd up to Columbus Circle. We met up with some of our church friends in front of the Mormon temple and ended up following the crowd as it marched down Broadway back to Columbus Circle.  There wasn’t a clear plan, nor direction, but it was fun!

People chanted "HEY HEY, HO HO, HOMOPHOBIA’S GOT TO GO" and "WHAT DO WE WANT – EQUAL RIGHTS, WHEN DO WE WANT IT – NOW!"  I noticed that negative chants quickly died and positive chants had more lasting power.  What was even better was that the chants and yelling started spontaneously from different areas.  I was even motivated to rally those around me with leading several rounds of chanting.  It was exhilarating and distinctly peaceful and very NYC.  Young and old, multi-ehtnic, many who came right from work.  When we got to Columbus Circle and chanted for a while, someone who looked official (a man with a sparkly blue ribbon tied around his arm) came to our area and announced we were finished.  He thanked us, told everyone that there were 10,000 people and that the next protest was on Saturday.  My partner and I took off for the subway, though most people were staying.  We left behind quite a crowd.  As we we were walking along the Southern end of Central Park we noticed that the protest had effectively stopped traffic all throughout midtown.  We had seen plenty of cops directing traffic around us on Broadway, but noticed that a whole line of cop cars, sirens blaring speeding towards Columbus Circle while we were going.

(Photo: Supporters of gay marriage demonstrate in front of the Mormon Church November 12, 2008 in New York City. Following the passing of Proposition 8, a measure to stop gay marriage in California, last week, many gay activists have been blaming the Mormon Church for the passage of Proposition 8 due to the church’s significant role in activism against gay marriage. By Spencer Platt/Getty.)

Stevens may go down after all.

A small glimpse:

For now, more than 90,000 votes remain uncounted. More than 224,000 votes were cast on Election Day.

So almost a third of the votes remain unknown a week after election day. And none of it explains why turnout fell so dramatically:

Pundits at home and across the country said the turnout numbers smelled fishy. Fenumiai said Monday that there’s no evidence of fraud or irregularities. "I can’t speculate as to why people just didn’t show up to vote," she said.

French rock and urban climber Alain Robert scales the City Tower on November 12, 2008 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Robert, nicknamed ‘Spiderman’ or ‘The Human Spider’, he has scaled over 85 giant structures around the world, mostly just using his bare hands and climbing shoes. As a result, he has been arrested many times and is often met by law officials at the end of a climb, though has always been ultimately discharged. By Dimas Ardian/Getty.

A reader writes:

PLEASE stay on Palin’s case!  I live in the Wasilla area, and cannot make public statements about her for fear of retribution. It is time AK had a governor that did the job, instead of posing and preening for the press.

As the Republican state Senate president of Alaska, another Wasillan, said two months ago:

"She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

She was on right-wing radio in Texas today. Texas.

Maybe Larry King has it in him to ask some serious factual questions about the countless lies Sarah Palin has now told about almost everything in her life and career. But don’t get your hopes up. Just reading the Van Susteren transcript makes you realize that van Susteren was acting as a Hollywood reporter from the 1940s and 1950s, not an actual 21st century journalist.

The same goes for Matt Lauer. These people are not interested in the truth; they’re interested in the interview "get", their own buzz, and their own ratings. There are no follow-up questions, no sense that these people have followed the actual campaign at all. A reader writes:

Like many reasonably balanced people I struggle with my own motivations for following this train wreck of a politician. Sure, watching and waiting for her to implode undoubtedly appeals to the baser, petty side of my brain. But coming off these accountability-starved past 8 years, I am also desperately hungry for some sense of reality to emerge either from her or from those supporting her. A reckoning is due — way past due!

Frankly I just can’t predict if this reckoning will ever come, particularly because so few in the media are willing or able or interested in pushing for the meaningful facts surrounding her and her candidacy. If only we could get some real info about this would-be "future leader of the GOP" (ay caramba, save us all) instead of these imbecilic "reports" about her serving moose dogs for dinner, or getting her own talk show, or whether her little girl is wearing high heels.

Nate Silver is on the case.

Nate Silver makes a good point:

What ultimately distinguishes the elections that are considered to have been realignments is the efficacy of the governance of the rising party, rather than the force with which said party took office. Ronald Reagan and FDR, famously, had coattails — but so did Warren G. Harding, who brought the Republicans a net gain of 123 (!) seats in the House in 1920. One might likewise have been tempted to consider the combination of the Democrats’ landslide in the 1974 midterms and Jimmy Carter’s ascendancy in 1976 a ‘realignment’. Reagan and FDR, however, were effective Presidents, whereas Carter and Harding were not, quickly managing to relinquish most of what they had gained. Barack Obama, perhaps, may be the first President since Reagan in 1980 to have an opportunity to realign the country; whether or not he’ll do so is another matter.

In her latest embarrassment, Sarah Palin has sparked new disbelief among Alaskans about her basic grasp of rudimentary facts about her own state. From Alaska Dispatch’s Tony Hopfinger:

In an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren this week, Palin attempted to explain how oil development works in Alaska compared to other parts of the country. The governor claims Alaska is unique because it owns the oil, as opposed to oil companies holding sole claim to the crude on the North Slope. She’s wrong. We tried to find an example elsewhere in the country where a company owns the oil, but came up short …  Is it too much to ask that our leaders understand the fundamentals of oil leasing, taxing and ownership, both in Alaska and the rest of the country? We are America’s oil province, after all.

Well, she did randomly insert the word "perhaps."