It's her show, she can do whatever she wants. She has absolutely no responsibility to give equal time to any two sides of an issue. Besides, what good would come out of Palin's appearance? Going into a hostile atmosphere and being interviewed by a host who obviously has a stake in the election (lots and lots of money) isn't going to help anybody.
Obama is at the very least a hardcore socialist.
McCain's speech last night did a lot to redeem him in my eyes. On the whole, the RNC was even harder to watch than the DNC for me, but in my opinion, McCain's speech was the best of either convention. McCain isn't the best orator, and the speech could have been more succinct, but in many ways, he restored my belief that he could be the type of leader this country needs. It showed him for who he was. He didn't pander, he didn't sugarcoat the problems we face (even those created by Republicans), and he spoke with conviction. He inspired me. And for the first time in many months, I didn't feel embarrassed to call myself a conservative.
Giuliani is a prick, and his speech reminded me exactly why I disdain him. Palin's speech was better, but throwing together a bunch of one-liners doesn't make for substantive argument.
This convention was McCain's, and while Palin may have energized the "true conservatives", John McCain energized me. Regardless of who gets elected, honor will be restored to the Oval Office.
John McCain made me want to follow him tonight.
So, I'm 19 now. And I'm not going to lie and tell you that the time has flown by, because it hasn't. High School was so long and was really such a bad time in my life. I felt every day, and I wish time would have sped up. I wish I could have just fast forwarded through Freshman and Sophomore year and the last half of Senior year. I can't say that it would have been better if I hadn't lived through it, but sometimes I wish things would have been completely different. There's so much about those times that I regret, so much I wish I could take back. There's a lot I wish I would have been warned about, a lot of people I should have avoided. It's hard not to be bitter sometimes.
But I'm done with all that now, and maybe this year will be different. I'm hoping that my College years will erase the memory of High School. There are people and places I want to forget, and maybe if they'd just let me go, I'd be satisfied.
Not that I'm not thankful. I consider some of the people I knew irreplaceable. I might have gone crazy last year had it not been for Kyle, Danielle and Brian. And of course there's my family. They sustained me through the longest of nights, and I know that without them, I wouldn't be alive.
And deep down, I think I know that Christ is all-sufficient. In the times I felt the most alone, I felt him closer than ever before. In my heart, I know that Jesus is alive. And in my heart, I know that it is he alone that satisfies.
Happy Birthday. Happy birthday to me.
Since Palin's speech, Barack Obama has brought in over 8 million dollars in donations. Compare that to a little over a million for McCain.
Tonight, David Coleman, a.k.a. The Dating Doctor made an appearance at Waco Hall. If you don't know, he's the guy that they based the movie Hitch off of. Though he looks more like Kevin James than Will Smith, the dude has got game, and I went to try and absorb some wisdom, as I keep trying to escape my bad past with women. And, I admit, I'm looking for ways to attract that gorgeous priestess from the Temple of Love back into my midst.
It was hilarious. I couldn't believe some of the things he said considering his audience (the bit on his favorite pick up lines even made me a bit squeamish). I don't know how enlightening it was, but I left thoroughly entertained.
Part of the college experience is trying to pick up chicks, and as capable as I am in other areas, I have zero game when it comes to attracting women. Meeting girls has a tendency to make me lose my mind, which is not a good first impression. I think if I could get through five minutes without pulling a Hindenburg, I might have a fighting chance.
I would also note that the worst piece of advice on the planet when it comes to attracting mates is "Just be yourself." I actually think that's the problem. If I wasn't myself I wouldn't go haywire every time someone comes up to me. If I wasn't myself, I'd have an easier time relating to people. If I wasn't myself, I wouldn't look back on each of my short-lived forays into the fairer sex and say, "Oh, the humanity." The next person who tells me to be myself is going to get punched in the nose.
For all the talk of small government, the irony wasn't lost on me that this administration has expanded the size of government more than anyone since the New Deal.
For all the talk of the torture McCain suffered in Vietnam (which included stress positions, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement), nobody even acknowledges that our country has become one that engages in that same kind of reprehensible activities, but it's okay because we're fighting the "good war".
Disgusting.
Bush thinks with his gut, I'm gonna think with mine, I do not like Sarah Palin. That's the final word on that.
Last night, I decided to attend Swing Dance Society. I didn't go there to dance, I went there to study. For some reason, my friend Brian has the Midas Touch when it comes to delectable babes, and for reasons I can't quite figure out. He isn't especially good looking, he's a terribly awkward conversationalist, he's clumsy, and his lack of ambition is the stuff of legend. And somehow, despite that, I watched in awe last year as he reeled in three of the most desirable bachelorettes this side of the Iron Curtain with unparalleled ease. It's a beautiful thing to watch. Of course, each of those relationships went down in flames within weeks of their inception, but I figure if I could only tap into that initial suave, I think I could handle the rest.
So last night, I sat back and watched as the Poet weaved his way through a series of beautiful sirens, each of which gladly agreed to be his partner. Some of them even begged him to stay when the signal to switch partners was sounded. It's enraging!
And then, something incredible happened. I felt a light tap on my shoulder and turned around to find the Goddess herself standing there. She was the pinnacle of perfection, the light of loveliness, the bastion of beauty, the crest of creation, the paramount of piety, the summit of sublimity, and the apex of all that is good and righteous. Helen, Aphrodite, Athena, Cleopatra, and Beatrice all fall short. What could she possibly want? What was it that drove her to request an audience with me? Would she ask for directions or a pen or even just to move out of her way? Nay, gentlemen! She asked instead for a dance. For fifteen minutes she enchanted me, and then, as a mist in the breeze, she was gone. I won't rest until I find her again. Paradise must be regained. I saw the light, I saw redemption. 'Twould be utter folly to let it slip away.
So, my bell-tower of babeity, wait for me. I'll find you, I will.
I'm losing all faith in conservatism.
The InTrade Predictions Market is taking bets over whether Palin will make it to November.
Here's P.J. O'Rourke's speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference in 1994. If you have 20 minutes, I highly encourage you to watch this. Heck, even if you can only spare 2 minutes, the beginning portion will be enough for some.
And part 2:
The NYT article I posted below does contain several factual errors. I still think that the essence of the article holds up in that I don't believe Palin was vetted as thoroughly as possible, but the article does distort several key facts. My question still stands, though.
Initially, it has helped Obama.
Some question her commitment to her children, namely her youngest son Trig. They argue that she is putting her own personal ambitions before her family. That's ridiculous and totally unfair. Regardless of my own personal convictions about the possible folly of picking her, everything I can tell about this woman is that she loves her family deeply and is committed to their well-being. I'd also like to point out that Barack Obama has two young girls of his own, and that if Palin's children are a concern, then they should be also.
"Meditate on Modus Ponnens! Keep it near and dear to your heart. It's beautiful, children!"
- Professor Boone in today's lecture on argument forms.
An interesting article on the vetting process for Governor Palin.
Perhaps more important, several Republicans said, Mr. McCain was getting advice that if he did not do something to shake up the race, his campaign would be stuck on a potentially losing trajectory.
With time running out — and as Mr. McCain discarded two safer choices, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, as too predictable — he turned to Ms. Palin. He had his first face-to-face interview with her on Thursday and offered her the job moments later. Advisers to Mr. Pawlenty and another of the finalists on Mr. McCain’s list described an intensive vetting process for those candidates that lasted one to two months.
“They didn’t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,” said a Republican close to the campaign. “This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn’t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.”
Since Thursday, it probably seems that I've been criticizing Palin non-stop. I need to note that I really do like Sarah Palin, and that my heightened skepticism is probably the result of all the "Palin is Thatcher!" and "We've got this in the bag!" talk. Before this, I knew nothing about Palin. I admit I hardly did any reading on Vice Presidential potentials, and had I done that, I probably wouldn't have been surprised at all by the pick. I still have a ton of questions about Palin, most of which can't be answered right now, but it isn't because I don't like her. I'm a questions guy, and I like to think that my cynicism can be an asset when looking at politics.
And I also realize that I barely devoted any time to Joe Biden, and I certainly didn't criticize him the way I've criticized Palin. That's unfair, and I apologize. I know more about Biden than I do about Palin, and I don't really have many questions about him, because his record is pretty much public knowledge. Even so, I'll try to scrutinize Biden more than I have. Part of my problem is that I know Biden and I are predisposed to disagree on most issues because of basic political philosophy. I give Democrats a little more slack because it's normal for them to want bigger government, and I know that we'll probably never agree on that. I'm interested in making Conservatism into a coherent political philosophy, and I don't usually feel the need to talk about how wrong liberals are, because I'm interested in the reform of my side. The other side isn't really my concern right now.
So, Ms. Palin, I aplogize. I like you a lot, and I wish you the best of luck.
As always, Maureen Dowd says what everyone else is thinking.
The guilty pleasure I miss most when I’m out slogging on the campaign trail is the chance to sprawl on the chaise and watch a vacuously spunky and generically sassy chick flick.
So imagine my delight, my absolute astonishment, when the hokey chick flick came out on the trail, a Cinderella story so preposterous it’s hard to believe it’s not premiering on Lifetime. Instead of going home and watching “Miss Congeniality” with Sandra Bullock, I get to stay here and watch “Miss Congeniality” with Sarah Palin.
Sheer heaven.
