Wednesday, October 01, 2008

It "Kind of Doesn't Matter"


John McCain says she could just be the next Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton. Yes, McCain did say that about his sidekick, Sarah Palin. See, I told you the guy just gets goofier by the day.

And now for something completely different. Oh, sorry, that was the other Palin, the one with a functioning brain.

Sarah Palin says it kind'a doesn't matter what causes global warming.

"I'm not going to solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate because the world's weather patterns are cyclical, and over history we have seen changes there."

"But it kind of doesn't matter at this point in the debate what caused it. The point is it's real, we need do something about it."

Okay, maybe Palin was just having a Reagan moment or a McCain "senior" moment but, still, for a journalism grad - the only one I've ever heard of who had to go to five universities to get her bachelor's degree - and a local TV sports broadcaster to boot - that's pretty bad grammar.

So, we can't "solely blame all of man's activities on changes in climate." Of course you can't, Sarah. That's why your country still has capital punishment. It climate change was solely to blame for all of man's activities, including armed robberies and murders, why you might have to electrocute clouds (you'll never get a needle to work on cumulus).

Did anyone see the footage where Katie Couric asked her where she got her information on world affairs? She said she reads magazines. Couric asked what magazines. Palin said, "oh, I read'em all." Like what, Sarah? Try to name at least one, something maybe that doesn't rhyme with Cosmo. She couldn't (or wouldn't) come up with the name of one magazine that she reads. Maybe she's smart enough to realize that People doesn't count.
Meanwhile, head drover, John S. McCain took time out to mix it up with the editorial board of the Des Moines Register. From McClatchey Newspapers:
"...He bristled when accus[ed] of running false charges against his opponent in ads, defending them as "100% accurate" and going beyond that saying in his entire career he had been wholly accurate in all matters.
McCain also replied sharply when asked about the qualifications of his running mate, declaring that he "uncategorically" believed she was fully capable, citing her years as mayor and governor -- and even at the PTA. Going well beyond poll results, he stated that the American public "overwhelmingly" embraced her. A new Pew survey finds today that 51% of Americans now believe that Palin is unqualified, up from 37% after her announcement.
A full report and videos are at the paper's site:http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081001/NEWS09/810010377&theme=CAMPAIGN_2008

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Post!

I think there are so many bizarre comments out there with the McCain / Palin ticket now, that it is hard to keep track. Thanks for pointing this one out. I found it a bizarre and funny exchange as well. Her comments about her "friend who chose to be a lesbian" were strange as well.

Sort of "I'm going to imply something but not say anything really."

It sorta doesn't matter how global warming affects us - or vice-versa. Beyond the "what the f*ck" thought, what does that mean in terms of "doin sumthin" about it?

It sorta doesn't matter my friend chose to be a lesbian. It that a compassionate or dismissive statement? What policies would you support or reject in regards to that "decision" your friend made?

I agree with her former opponent who said she was great with the "glittering generality."

Anonymous said...

Oh, and speaking of McCain / Palin statements, have you read about McCain's crotchety lambasting of the Des Moines register editorial board?

The off-the-cuff "If I were a dictator, which I always aspire to be" comment in his diatribe about the failed house package on Monday was pretty priceless.

The Mound of Sound said...

I know that, somewhere, she's got a brother named Jethro and a dad who drives a 1921 flatbed Olds.

Anonymous said...

This is really interesting. It comes from a friend of a friend. A. Morris


MY HOLIDAY WITH JOHN McCAIN

by Mary-Kay Gamel


It was just before John McCain's last run at the presidential nomination in 2000 that my husband and I vacationed in Turtle Island in Fiji with
John McCain, Cindy, and their children, including Bridget (their adopted Bangladeshi child).
It was not our intention, but it was our misfortune to be in close quarters with John McCain for almost a week, since Turtle Island has small number of bungalows and their focus on communal meals force all vacationers who
are there at the same time to get to know each other intimately. He arrived at our first group meal and started reading quotes from a
pile of William Faulkner books with a forest of Post-Its sticking out of them. As an English Literature major myself, my first thought was "if he likes this so much, why hasn't he memorized any of it yet?" I soon realized that McCain actually thought we had come on vacation to be a volunteer audience for his "readings"which then became a regular part of each meal. Out of politeness, none
of the vacationers initially protested at this intrusion into their blissful holiday, but people's buttons definitely got pushed as the readings continued day after day. Unfortunately this was not his only contribution to our mealtime entertainment. He waxed on during one meal about how Indo-Chine women had the best figures and that our American corn-fed women just couldn't meet up to this standard.
He also made it a point that all of us should stop Cindy from having dessert as her weight was too high and made a few comments to Amy, the 25 year old wife of the honeymooning couple from Nebraska, that she should eat less as she needed to lose weight.
McCain's appreciation of the beauty of Asian women was so great that David, the American economist, had to move his Thai wife to the other side of the table from McCain as McCain kept aggressively flirting with and touching her.
Needless to say I was irritated at his large ego and his rude behavior towards his wife and other women, but decided he must have some redeeming qualities as he had adopted a handicapped child from Bangladesh. I asked him about this one day, and his response was shocking: "Oh, that was Cindy's idea – I didn't have anything to do with it. She just went and adopted this thing without even asking me. You can't imagine how people stare when I wheel this ugly, black thing around in a shopping cart in Arizona . No, it wasn't my idea at all.

I actively avoided McCain after that, but unfortunately one day he engaged me in a political discussion which soon got us on the topic of the active US bombing of Iraq at that time [i.e., Clinton era policing of no-fly zone]. I was shocked when he said, "If I was in charge, I would nuke Iraq to teach them a lesson". Given McCain's personal experience with the horrors of war, I had expected a more balanced point of view. I comment ed on the tragic consequences of the nuclear attacks on Japan during WWII –- but no, he was not to be
dissuaded. He went on to say that, if it were up to him, he would have dropped many more nuclear bombs on Japan. I rapidly extricated myself from this conversation as I could tell that his experience being tortured as a POW didn't seem to have mellowed out his perspective, but rather had made him more aggressive and vengeful towards the world.
My final encounter with McCain was on the morning that he was leaving Turtle Island. Amy and I were happily eating pancakes when McCain arrived and told Amy that she shouldn't be having pancakes because she needed to lose weight. Amy
burst into tears at this abusive comment. I felt fiercely protective of Amy and immediately turned to McCain and told him to leave her alone. He
became very angry and abusive towards me, and said, "Don't you know who I am." I looked him in the face and said, "Yes, you are the biggest asshole I have ever met" and headed back to my cabin. I am happy to say that later that day - when I arrived at lunch - I was given a standing ovation by all the guests for having stood up to McCain's bullying.
Although I have shared my McCain story informally with friends, this is the first time I am making it public. I almost did so in 2000, when McCain first
announced his bid for the Republican nomination, but it soon became apparent that George Bush was the shoo-in candidate and so I did not act then. However, now that there is a very real possibility that McCain could be elected as our next president, I feel it is my duty as an American citizen to share this story.
I can't imagine a more scary outcome for America than that this abusive, aggressive man should lead our nation. I have observed him in intimate surroundings as he really is, not how the media portrays him to be. If his attitudes toward women and his treatment of his own family are even a small indicator of his real personality, then I shudder to think what will happen to America were he to be elected as our President.

Mary-Kay Gamel
Professor of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Theater Arts
Cowell College
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa