Lame, lame, lame

I am totally frustrated with the high-sounding analysis of this ridiculous debate. I say ridiculous because it was engineered into pablum by the format and, as was the case with last week's debate, the weak moderators. I really like both Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill, but they seem to have been completely restrained. I don't know if Ifill got threatened because of the way the spin teams struck an offensive blow over a possible conflict of interest with her book, but jeeze, nobody got called on anything.
Why did Ifill not stand up for her questions?
And the talking heads, for the most part actually gave Palin points. With so much on the line with this election — so much that I can't believe anyone really wants to win it — we have a debate between the two seconds that probably drew the largest audience in history — and the big deal among so called journalists (including the AP's presidential campaign reporter Liz Sidoti) is that Palin won or at least didn't lose because she did not fall on her face or cry. Sidoti actually used the phrases "defended McCain's policy" or "drove a wedge between Obama and Biden." That assumes that she was successful. Evidently, it makes no difference that she had no argument, either logical or factual. Others have said that she did what she had to do; she staunched the bleeding; she reassured the right wing of the party. How is this not just the most embarassing prospect that this is the best candidate the Republicans could come up with.
Biden was terrific I thought, if perhaps too laid back. But I thought he gave enough detail to be credible but didn't sound too professorial. I wish there had been someone on the stage with him that he could have laid into a bit.
How has it come to pass that we accept as debate that someone says something; not that they prove it, or present a case for it, just say the words. Incredible. Literally incredible.
This is what I tried to post on Newsvine in response to AP's Liz Sidoti's analysis, but for some reason couldn't get the post buttons to work:
This article purports to be analysis, but there seems to be little understanding of the issues involved. Sarah Palin might have attempted to defend McCain, but she had no facts at her command in order to successfully defend his record. Palin seems to subscribe to the disturbing recent trend among Republican candidates that people should believe what they say just because they say it.
There not only were no details from Palin on any plans that her ticket has to fix any one of the many, complex and horrifying problems the nation faces, she was unable to articulate the issues. She demonstrated a veneer of talking points that obviously had been drilled into her.
This is far too important a moment, this one debate between the vice presidential candidates, to slough off her complete lack of comprehension. She didn't answer questions she didn't want to. She directed everything back to the sound bites and cute, folksy flotsam her trainers have filled her head with. If that didn't work, she bullied the moderator and Biden. They shouldn't have let her, but that was their coaching too, I believe.
I thought Biden, while perhaps not as peppy as Palin, seriously has considered the nightmare that faces whoever wins this election. I do not find it comforting that the person who covers the presidential campaign for the Associated Press, thus most of the newspapers in the United States, has presented us with such a vapid, shallow analysis of this debate. His job was to attack? Her job was to attack, connect and stick to her folksy script? Really?
I think their job was to tell us how they would run the country and to explain to us how they would solve these real problems. Silly me, I expect substance out of the vice presidential candidates and the Associated Press.

Pig in a poke

My grandmother used to say, "I ain't buying no pig in a poke." She had a lot of other colorful expressions that got much more colorful the older she got. The license of age. This one puzzled me because I didn't know what a poke was. 

I don't remember who explained to me that a poke is a sack, in this case a burlap bag. You wouldn't want to buy it because you couldn't really tell what you were buying. You could see if it were shaped like a pig and how big it was, but beyond that, your imagination had to fill in the details. I guess you might buy it if you really, really trusted the seller. But in any economy a whole hog has been an expensive investment.

Now, I'm not calling Sarah Palin a pig, but it surely looks like Karl Rove, and the rest of the rogues' gallery that's run the government for the past eight years, are the ones holding the poke. They're keeping that string drawn taut. They've tied all kinds of pretty bows on it and built some really lovely pedestals to set the poke on. They're traveling the country showing off the package. But there's a velvet rope they're calling a media blackout around the pedestal and they aren't letting anyone in to peek at the contents. They aren't even letting anyone but the shills on the payroll ask questions about what's in there. 

They've made movies reportedly outlining what's in the poke. They change the ribbons and bows and paint a face on her every day. They put a mike up next to the whole package and it sounds like whatever is inside is speaking. But who can tell? 

We can, however, look at where that package has been and what it left in its wake. With Palin, the wake is weak and what is there doesn't look very good and it doesn't match at all the picture that's being painted on the outside of that poke. I hope people in this nation who cast ballots in this race have the good common sense my Nanny had and demand that McCain and crew open up that poke or move on to Barack Obama, the man standing out in the sunshine, dodging the rocks and explaining his plan for the country.

The tardy blogger

OK, It's been more than a month since I've filled this space. But when the juiciest stuff happens to detail here, the workload at the HD escalates as well. And to get anything in for the general public, I have to cover it, which leaves me with little time to blog.

 Obama's speech was magnificent. I can't remember a better political and cultural speech, and I saw Dr. King speak in person in 1967. So that's quite an endorsement.

 Case in point of the speeded up nature of life, I just learned we are opening the comfort station for hurricane evacuees today and not tomorrow and we are opening the shelter today and not Wednesday or Thursday. We already have 25 people who need shelter in Whitewright.

 So, off I go to find people to do activities with the kids and sign poles for directions to lead people to the shelters and respite care.

 One parting shot at all of our "good friend." McCain, you have watched "Gypsy" far too many times. Remember the scene where the strippers are giving Momma advice? "You Gotta have a Gimmick" is the song. Well, that seems to be advice that Rove and the rat f^*&^* Republican machine evidently gave McCain. Palin is a gimmick, looks like family values on the outside. I'm betting she's all Alaskan hillbilly on the inside. Oh, and did anyone catch that they're crediting her with something like 15 years political experience. That would seem to count her PTA creds. If that's experience that qualifies for the highest office in the land, my Mom could be Empress of the Milky Way. She has five kids and about 20 years in PTA.

 Case in point with this post. I began it Sunday and now I'm posting it on Wednesday. Many people helped by our Disaster Relief Group.