Monday, September 8, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
BEWARE THE BARRACUDA
This 2008 election is the scariest I can remember.
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: September 4, 2008
Sarah Palin came out of hiding Wednesday night, and boy, she seemed ticked off.
“Here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to win their good opinion,” said the moose-gutting, polar bear-trashing, aerobics-class-networking vice presidential nominee.
This was shortly after two very prominent Republican commentators got caught trashing Palin’s candidacy when they thought an MSNBC microphone had been turned off. There has been a lot of that going around this year, people. We can do better. In the years to come, let us teach our children that if you can’t say anything nice about somebody, step away from the voice enhancement equipment.
The speech was very well done. The Palin family — who we’re supposed to ignore, but they did sort of seem to be pretty much front and center — were adorable. And she was way more effective than the keynote speaker, Rudy Giuliani, at the red-meat-tossing detail. If you’re going to be really mean for an extended period of time, it’s better if you don’t look as if you want to lunge for the throat of the cameramen.
We had been waiting for a long time to hear from Palin, who went to the mattresses almost immediately after she was introduced to the nation by John McCain last week. What followed was a long line of unexpected revelations, from the fabled teenage pregnancy to my own personal favorite: the threat to fire the town librarian who refused to censor books.
Last night, Palin blamed the confusion and complaints on the news media, which hates her because she is “not a member in good standing of the Washington elite.”
John McCain, the member of the Washington elite who picked her, was temporarily unavailable for comment.
Palin’s speech totally swallowed up all the attention in St. Paul, leaving nothing whatsoever for speakers like Mitt Romney, who celebrated the convention Reform Day by announcing: “We need change all right! Change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington.” Tragically, nobody seemed interested enough to point out that this made no sense. It’s a long way from the golden days when Mitt invented the “Washington is Broken” slogan, and people took the time to ask him exactly who he thought had done the breaking.
It’s been one big reunion in Minnesota for the old gang — Rudy and Mitt and Fred and Mike. Together again, for the first time since those primary debates. Reliving the golden days in which they managed to convince Republican voters that no matter what John McCain’s defects, he could not possibly be as bad a candidate as they were.
Did you see Fred Thompson? We had forgotten the electricity that is Fred until his speech on Tuesday, when he railed at the Democrats for overplaying Americans’ economic woes. (“Listening to them, you’d think we were in the middle of the Great Depression.”) It was that same instinctive connection to the common man that had caused him to refer to the problems of unemployed Detroit factory workers as something that “you always find in a vibrant, dynamic economy.”
Reform Day was, of course, tailor-made for Palin, who is all about reform. Particularly, reforming the Republican party. Normally, in a democracy, the way you reform a party is by tossing it out of power until it learns its lesson and gets its act together. But the McCain-Palin plan is to reform Republicanism by keeping Republicans in control of the White House and most of the powerful posts in the federal government. That’ll show them.
Also fiscal reform. How many times have you heard McCain promise to slash taxes and pay for it by eliminating unnecessary programs? And who better to help carry out that agenda than the governor of a state whose residents pay less taxes than anyplace else in the union due to their genius in making the federal government pay the tab for virtually everything?
“Taxpayers have an advocate in Sarah Palin!” said Giuliani in his keynote speech. Rudy had been extremely busy all day. In a stroke of genius, someone picked him to run around to the TV shows before Palin’s address to defend McCain for picking her after having met her only once. When he was mayor, Giuliani hired people who had been in his inner circle since about the third grade. And most of them were terrible! So you see, there are lots of ways to screw up a big hire besides not thinking about it until the last minute.
For all her great skills at presentation, many people, including some Republicans who think the microphone is off, believe that Sarah Palin is a terrible choice for running mate. But you have to remember who the other options were.
By GAIL COLLINS
Published: September 4, 2008
Sarah Palin came out of hiding Wednesday night, and boy, she seemed ticked off.
“Here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to win their good opinion,” said the moose-gutting, polar bear-trashing, aerobics-class-networking vice presidential nominee.
This was shortly after two very prominent Republican commentators got caught trashing Palin’s candidacy when they thought an MSNBC microphone had been turned off. There has been a lot of that going around this year, people. We can do better. In the years to come, let us teach our children that if you can’t say anything nice about somebody, step away from the voice enhancement equipment.
The speech was very well done. The Palin family — who we’re supposed to ignore, but they did sort of seem to be pretty much front and center — were adorable. And she was way more effective than the keynote speaker, Rudy Giuliani, at the red-meat-tossing detail. If you’re going to be really mean for an extended period of time, it’s better if you don’t look as if you want to lunge for the throat of the cameramen.
We had been waiting for a long time to hear from Palin, who went to the mattresses almost immediately after she was introduced to the nation by John McCain last week. What followed was a long line of unexpected revelations, from the fabled teenage pregnancy to my own personal favorite: the threat to fire the town librarian who refused to censor books.
Last night, Palin blamed the confusion and complaints on the news media, which hates her because she is “not a member in good standing of the Washington elite.”
John McCain, the member of the Washington elite who picked her, was temporarily unavailable for comment.
Palin’s speech totally swallowed up all the attention in St. Paul, leaving nothing whatsoever for speakers like Mitt Romney, who celebrated the convention Reform Day by announcing: “We need change all right! Change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington.” Tragically, nobody seemed interested enough to point out that this made no sense. It’s a long way from the golden days when Mitt invented the “Washington is Broken” slogan, and people took the time to ask him exactly who he thought had done the breaking.
It’s been one big reunion in Minnesota for the old gang — Rudy and Mitt and Fred and Mike. Together again, for the first time since those primary debates. Reliving the golden days in which they managed to convince Republican voters that no matter what John McCain’s defects, he could not possibly be as bad a candidate as they were.
Did you see Fred Thompson? We had forgotten the electricity that is Fred until his speech on Tuesday, when he railed at the Democrats for overplaying Americans’ economic woes. (“Listening to them, you’d think we were in the middle of the Great Depression.”) It was that same instinctive connection to the common man that had caused him to refer to the problems of unemployed Detroit factory workers as something that “you always find in a vibrant, dynamic economy.”
Reform Day was, of course, tailor-made for Palin, who is all about reform. Particularly, reforming the Republican party. Normally, in a democracy, the way you reform a party is by tossing it out of power until it learns its lesson and gets its act together. But the McCain-Palin plan is to reform Republicanism by keeping Republicans in control of the White House and most of the powerful posts in the federal government. That’ll show them.
Also fiscal reform. How many times have you heard McCain promise to slash taxes and pay for it by eliminating unnecessary programs? And who better to help carry out that agenda than the governor of a state whose residents pay less taxes than anyplace else in the union due to their genius in making the federal government pay the tab for virtually everything?
“Taxpayers have an advocate in Sarah Palin!” said Giuliani in his keynote speech. Rudy had been extremely busy all day. In a stroke of genius, someone picked him to run around to the TV shows before Palin’s address to defend McCain for picking her after having met her only once. When he was mayor, Giuliani hired people who had been in his inner circle since about the third grade. And most of them were terrible! So you see, there are lots of ways to screw up a big hire besides not thinking about it until the last minute.
For all her great skills at presentation, many people, including some Republicans who think the microphone is off, believe that Sarah Palin is a terrible choice for running mate. But you have to remember who the other options were.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AT THE DNC
I don't care what others may say. This guy is magical when he speaks. AND his looks are nothing to sneeze at either.
VOTE "NO" TO MC CAIN/PALIN
Let's go out and kill some animals, why don't we???
SARAH PALIN: WHERE SHE STANDS
From Staff and News Services
Saturday, August 30, 2008
FIREARMS
Palin is herself a hunter and a strong advocate of the Second Amendment.
TAXES
As an Alaska mayor, Palin bolstered her conservative reputation by reducing taxes, even though an expanding tax base for her city allowed her to increase spending on infrastructure. As governor, however, she has pushed to increase taxes on the oil industry.
HEALTH CARE
Palin believes that allowing free market competition in the health care field will drive down costs and reduce the need for government subsidies.
GAY RIGHTS
She opposed gay marriage and supported Alaska’s state constitutional amendment banning it.
ENVIRONMENT
She opposes federal regulations that would limit economic growth to protect the environment and favors opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas development. She opposes the Bush administration’s decision to list polar bears as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act and her administration sued Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne earlier this month to try to overturn the initiative.
ABORTION
She opposes abortion except to save the life of the mother and in her own case, carried to term a son born in April whom she knew would have Down syndrome. She also opposes embryonic stem cell research.
EDUCATION
Palin favors the teaching of creationism in public schools.
Monday, August 11, 2008
REMEMBERING SUZANNE
SUZANNE BELL
Suzanne Bell, a friend and a colleague, has died. Her tough exterior and dry wit belied a person of deep sensitivities and concern for humanity. Suzanne was a dynamic personality, informed by a probing and sharp intelligence. She was an avid reader, extremely knowledgeable, and an astute judgmentalist. All the above made her a tremendous intellectual asset to the Hillsborough County Library system for over 30 years. During the years Suzanne worked in many different departments of the library, and plumbed the depths of every area in which she worked.
Despite an ongoing battle with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and its many complications, she continually gave her all to her job and her friends. Her fight for life was indefatigable.
The last time I saw Suzanne was on July 26. We met for lunch at J. Alexander's. She said she was going to order a cheeseburger with french fries. It wasn't on her diet, but she had been craving one, and was going to indulge herself. I'm glad she did. She looked healthier than she had in a long time. She had gained weight, and had good color. I spoke with her once after that luncheon. Now I'm left with a deep hole that a friend once filled, but lots of good memories.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
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About Me
- Abby C.
- The most important thing to remember is I'm a New Yorker who is living in Tampa
