Date

Bristol, Are You S****ing Me?

susan — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:00:06 -0500

Well, apparently that family/work balance thing is a little more out of whack in Sarah Palin's life than we were led to believe. And apparently abstinence-only, which Gov. Palin supports in Alaska's public schools, has failed Bristol, as it has so many teens. (And politicians and priests and, well, parents everywhere.)

As Barack Obama so graciously pointed out in his response to the news of 17 year old Bristol's pregnancy, his own mother was 18 when she had him, and this is not a campaign issue. And yet . . .
Read why it is.

Levi Johnston, F***in' Redneck

susan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:43:58 -0500

Well at least one member in the McCain/Palin circle of "friends" is still riding the Straight Talk Express. "I'm a f***in' redneck," declared Levi Johnston, soon to be father of Bristol Palin's love child. Apparently he knows more about who he is than John McCain knows about Sarah Palin.

Writing with the verve and insight of the f***in' mono-adjective set, Levi goes on to mention he'll kick the ass of anyone who f***in' messes with him, that he lives to play ice hockey, likes to f***in' chill, and that he doesn't want any kids.

Didn't that abstinence-only curriculum explain to him that no f***in' kids requires no f***in? Yes, more.

Photo essay: Republican National Convention as viewed from the streets of St. Paul

barbara — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:11:10 -0500

Holy crap! The Gestapo is not being Minnesota Nice!barbara writes

“Hey! Help!! I’m marching with the media people, and we’re caught between the riot police and the rest of the protesters. This is crazy!”

No kidding. My pal Louise made a last-minute decision to put herself square in the belly of the beast. She drove into downtown St. Paul to check out the likely standoff between weirdly buff cops in riot gear (Blackwater?) who were pitted against families with children, mostly older Veterans for Peace, and assorted other protesters (most of them with noble agendas, a few with no agenda beyond ugly confrontation).

The good news for Louise is that she’s too white to have been at risk of having her head bashed to the cement on the Seventh Place mall, unlike what happened to one blameless young brown-skinned man. And I should mention that nearby RNC revelers applauded the cops’ brutality. Read more.

Palin still pumped in St. Paul

susan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:38:56 -0500

Update: Crusty's speech was rambling, long and poorly delivered. Some talking heads are saying it was an A+, others are saying it was the worst acceptance speech since Jimmy Carter. But they all agree on one thing. The two biggest applause lines were when he mentioned Sarah Palin. So I was wrong. For tonight anyway, Sarah's still got the bubbles.
*****

Well, how long before the fizz is gone and Sarah Palin becomes just flat grape juice? Usually an uncorked bottle goes flat in about 26 hours, which would make that about 2 hours after old Crusty's acceptance speech tonight.

Let's face it, Sarah hit it out of the park -- only she was playing paint ball, not baseball. She lobbed her insults and lies at our team with the sharp eye (and tongue) of a woman who just might shoot wolves from an airplane. Her attacks were the most colorful part of the 93% white (and 68% male) convention. Well, that and Cindy McCain's soylent green dress. Yes, I'm being catty and sexist, so while I'm at it, did anyone else get a Rosemary's Baby vibe as Cindy stroked the head of the Palins' sleeping infant? That woman creeps me out big time. Back to the fizz.

Maverick or maniac? Twelve reasons why Gov. Palin is very scary.

susan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:24:05 -0500

I said that today I'd post reasons why Gov. Palin will soon be toast. I said I'd take the high road, even though they don't. Even though it's less fun.

Instead, I've spent the day following a litany of links to sites about Scary Sarah, heard from dozens of freaked out and frustrated Obama/Biden supporters, watched scads of videos about her, from the crude to the credible, (including some great Jon Stewart clips that have now been pulled from youtube due to copyright agreements with Viacom.) and forgotten all the reasons why yesterday at this time I thought the bloom would be off her, um, rose. Read on.

It's the Sex, Stupid.

susan — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 11:15:19 -0500

The original title of this post was, "It's the Gut, Stupid", because I heard a pundit say today that people vote with their gut, and in their gut they like Sarah Palin. I repeated this to a friend, a nice older retired judge, also an Obama supporter. He told me that it wasn't the gut, exactly. Lower. "She's sexy," he said. So I changed it. Besides, if I put sex in the headline, the CLB gets more hits.
****

I watched two things on CNN last night, McCain Revealed and Obama Revealed.

I thought the McCain one was adoring, glossing over his Keating 5 era and Cindy's drug and drug-theft era. I guess if I were a Repub I might see it differently, like why did they even bring those things up, but it gave McCain, and lots of responsible looking people around him, a chance to explain it all away.

By comparison, the one on Obama seemed almost sinister, complete with a musical score that sounded like something from Jaws, or the Bourne Conspiracy. And it had to pad his shorter life with lots of goofy clips, including footage of him in foreign places like Jakarta and even, gasp, Hawaii (it's not like Alaska you know) and playing basketball in high school, and then walking on the mean streets of Chicago. They showed him talking with Rev. Wright, getting married by Rev. Wright, posing with his girls -- and Rev. Wright. More, as always.

Moving along . . . She's not going away

susan — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:38:29 -0500

Don't know about the rest of you, but the all-Palin all-the-time thing is finally getting old.

She's not going away, we're not going to uncover a family sex scandal that they haven't already outed themselves and made part of her faith and character. Just like Cindy McCain's addiction to drugs, and theft of same from her charity, shows she's -- just like Rush Limbaugh? (Except he has no charity, only his cleaning lady.)More scat ahead.

9/11: Weird silence

barbara — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:01:12 -0500

barbara writes

9/11. We all remember this day. The senseless, tragic end of lives. The end of innocence, some called it. Michael Bloomberg said this is the anniversary of the day our world was broken.

In addition to endings, today marks the anniversary of the beginning of something insidious and extraordinarily dangerous. It’s the date when the United States government was seized by George W. Bush’s dark and sinister, secretive and punitive, classist, racist, ageist, sexist, bigoted, faux religious cabal.

September 11, 2001 is when our collective moral compass and our Constitution were highjacked by the Bush Republicans and may, for all I know, be mouldering alongside Jimmy Hoffa. Read more.

Screwing around vs. screwing the nation

susan — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:00:42 -0500

In a recent (rejected) op-ed, I wrote that I could forgive Bristol Palin for screwing around and making a risky choice (hullo, a long life with Levi?) because that's what teens do and she's very young and foolish. But I couldn't forgive 72-year-old John McCain for his impetuous and dangerous choice of Sarah Palin.
Let's see, one screwed Levi, causing her to make a tough choice; the other made a tough choice, causing him to screw his country. Something like that.

I sent that op-ed to a few people, and DKNY wrote back that forgiving the uber-religious doesn't come so easily for her. It's today's guest post.

NOT about Sarah Palin. A cancer update.

susan — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:56:31 -0500

Hard to believe, but it's been a year since Barb's mate, David, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. They've been on a pretty rocky road since then, but due to Barb's courage and chin-up humor, you'd hardly know it.

While there's been progress in fighting the cancer beast, there have also been set-backs and complications from the aggressive treatments he's receiving. The radiation has at times left his throat too sore to eat, and he's also been plagued by painful esophageal spasms. It was recently agreed that he should go on a temporary feeding tube in order to give him the nutrition and energy he needs to win this battle.

Barb is not only the lifeline of the Clothesline, she also posts updates on David's CaringBridge site, and, I dare say, she keeps David going as well. (And her brother Garry, but that's another story.)

She's been reluctant to talk about this much at the Clothesline, but with her permission, here's an excerpt from the most recent CaringBridge site: READ IT HERE.

Alaska Women Reject Palin -- Booyah!!

barbara — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:23:16 -0500

barbara preempts Susan's kind, supportive post

There's a blog titled Mudflats that is subtitled, “Tiptoeing through the muck of Alaskan politics.” The blogger hit a home run with the post that follows here, titled "Alaska Women Reject Palin" Rally is a HUGE success!

UPDATE: After we set the wheels in motion to hold a 'Minnesota Women Reject Palin' rally, we learned two things: (1) that Palin and her factotum, John McCain, are coming to Blaine, MN on Friday; and (2) in response to that, the Obama people are organizing a rally, to wit:

Rally to Restore the Economy
Send a message to John McCain: Minnesotans don't want four more years of the same economic mess that George Bush has given us.

Come to PEAVEY PLAZA, NICOLLET MALL, MINNEAPOLIS
12:00 noon, this Friday (September 19)

That said, I still think the Alaska rally was a total knockout.

Click here to see photos and the more than 1,200 comments at this writing!

Help me give this story legs and wide distribution. We need to hit the ground running putting together similar events all across the country. Oh, yes, I’m absolutely serious. Everyone (including me) is wringing their hands, saying, “What can I do?? How can I help this mess?” Baby, this is it. Read, ponder (briefly). Then let's connect with each other and make this happen!

"~~Alaska~~ Minnesota, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, California, Missouri, etc., etc., etc. Women Reject Palin" Rally.

Here's the text:

I attended the Welcome Home rally for Sarah Palin this morning. Hooo. It was an experience. About a thousand (maybe) hard-core Palin supporters showed up to hear her speak at the new Dena’ina Convention Center in downtown Anchorage.

After shaking it off with a good double shot of espresso, and a brisk walk back to my car, it was time to head to the Alaska Women Reject Palin rally. It was to be held outside on the lawn in front of the Loussac Library in midtown Anchorage. Home made signs were encouraged, and the idea was to make a statement that Sarah Palin does not speak for all Alaska women, or men. I had no idea what to expect. Don't stop reading!

read more

Sarah who? Rally at Peavey Plaza on Friday

susan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:06:31 -0500

Barb was the first to get the idea and post it on the CLB. Sarah McPain is coming to MN on Friday, let's give her an Anchorage-style welcome. Lots of lipstick, maybe some of those red wax lips of our youth, line the streets of Blaine. Scuse me, where? Blaine, MN, in an airplane hanger. Sure, okay, count me in. Even though -- elite city dweller that I am -- I'm not at all sure where Blaine is. But I think it's a few suburbs north of here.

The idea took hold, momentum was building, and several other rally ideas were tossed around. But in the end, the Obama campaign and Mayor Rybak asked that we all gather at Peavey Plaza in downtown Minneapolis instead. And while the rally is scheduled to coincide with Palin's visit, it's not about her. It's a "Rally to Restore the Economy." (Which these days feels a lot like crawling to Lourdes to ask for a total organ transplant.) Do read on.

read more

McCain Trumped, Obama rebounds!

susan — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 13:02:05 -0500

Obama is regaining his edge over McCain, and is up several points in key states like Ohio. Palin is in a slump as she begins to make the inevitable gaffs of a neophyte and her stump speech goes stale.

I'm not saying that there's any connection here, but look who endorsed the McPain ticket the night before.

read more

John McCain -- You're Fired!

susan — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:57:24 -0500

The Wall Street Journal editorial board has blasted John McCain for saying that Christopher Cox, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Committee, should be fired. Okay, Cox is one of their own, so this isn't a huge surprise, but their harsh condemnation of the man who most likely will receive their presidential endorsement is. More, but not much.

read more

Michelle and Cindy -- Family Affairs

susan — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:57:16 -0500

I said I wasn't going to arrange the letters, P, A, L, I, N, in any order resembling the name of the woefully, nay, scandalously, unfit to be VP, former mayor of Wasilla. (Although we can go with NIPAL or LAPIN -- which is French for Alaskan bunny.) And because it's said that the more we talk about the person in question, the more we keep her at the top of the news, I won't mention her. So okay, this one is about the other ticket-topper, Cindy McCain. Can you believe it? F'in Cindy McCain? Oh yeah, much more.

read more

Henry Who? Are You S****ing Me?

susan — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:59:21 -0500

Here we go again, another unknown bobbing for the ultimate apple -- $700 billion buckeroos of taxpayer dollars. When we were all scrambling to dig out the goods on Levi and Bristol and Trig and Trac and oh yeah, Sara Palin, we were -- kind of missing the big picture. (You're right Poet.)

We should have been running a few background checks on Henry Paulson as well. We have some say in whether or not Sarah takes over our country, but we have no say in whether or not Henry takes over our financial markets. And that $700,000,000,000. More, but not much.

read more

McCain bails out of campaign

susan — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:54:22 -0500

And may I say, what a crock of shit. Sensing that we're all grown ups here at the CLB, I generally stay away from the four-letter stuff, but sometimes the situation is so obscene that only profanity will do.

McCain's ratings fell this week, according to a WashPost poll, and even George Will called him a hot head and praised Obama for "looking presidential". New polls show McCain falling behind in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Colorado, and he's taking a serious whuppin' when the polls single out the economy. More.

read more

Winkin', Blinkin' and Nodd-in' Out

susan — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:34:42 -0500

Well, tally ho, booyah and onward. John McCain has suspended his non-suspension of his campaign, having added his spit to the potion being concocted in DC -- and being asked to go away. (What sort of potion we're gonna get remains to be seen -- palliative, curative or just a placebo. In any case, it's going to pricey and taste nasty.)
He is now winging his way to Mississippi, presumably with foreign affairs coach Joe Leiberman -"that's Sunni, S-U-N-N-I", and financial affairs coach Phil Graham --"Say winners, not whiners", and maybe fanny-kissing Bill Clinton is along for the ride, coaching him on domestic affairs. "I did not have sex with that pit bull." More --and a blinkin' John McCain to boot.

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Was it as good for you . . . ?

susan — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:43:22 -0500

Allrighty then, is the post-debate glow holding up? For me, yes.

The spin-dits were their usual jabbering selves, Obama said "I agree with John" too often, looked smug, started strong but dropped points when it got to foreign policy, where McCain clearly cleaned up. And the McCain camp released a statement from Henry Kissinger saying that McCain had it right, he never said no conditional talks with Iran. Hello, Henry Kissinger? Jabba the hut meets the Godfather? Think Nixon, think Vietnam, think back as far as you can . . . Talk about looking at the future vs. looking at the past. It's not just computers he doesn't get.
More, you betcha.

read more