OK… so Obama is choosing former-Clinton people to help in his transition.Â? That’s probably not a bad idea… as long as they’re just transition people and not permanent parts of his administration.Â? I’d really hope that he doesn’t do what Dubya did and pick old cronies of the previous president from his party to run his Cabinet and administration.
The one good suggestion I’ve heard is Colin Powell for Secretary of Education — I think it’s what Powell wants to do.
It’s a mighty beautiful day in the neighborhood.Â? Even being home with a migraine could not spoil my day.
[+] To all the idiot talking heads on TV: Obama won because he was the choice of the people.? It’s that simple.? I don’t remember a candidate winning by that many electoral votes since Clinton.? It’s not because he promised X or campaigned really hard in Y.? He was the peoples’ choice. Stop batting around conspiracy theories and such.
[+] Just went and looked at the county-by-county results in Minnesota for the election.Â? At least the people in LQP and Swift counties (the area where I used to live) voted correctly.? If I was still there, I wouldn’t have to be embarrassed for my county like I am in Montana.
[+] Speaking of my county, what’s up with you guys?? You couldn’t elect an intelligent woman in the state House race?? You suck.
[+]? Apparently, my dad saw the nasty Elizabeth Dole campaign ad from North Carolina where she cites Hagen receiving money from a group called “Godless America” and accuses her of being an atheist.? This caused my dad to mail the Hagen campaign $25 of “godless money” and makes Dole’s beating a whole lot sweeter.
[+] I’m waiting for the recount in the Minnesota senate race.? This should be a sign of how much Norm Coleman sucks as a senator that Al Franken (a comedian) is kicking his @$$.? It’s so close that they had to go to recount and I’m hoping that Franken comes out of it the winner.? I think he’d do good things for Minnesota.? Coleman only got in because his opponent in 2002 (who would have soundly trounced him) died in a plane crash. Unfortunately, this could drag out until mid-December.
If you live in the United States, you are probably aware (unless you are very well cloistered) that Election Day is tomorrow.
So…
GET YOUR BUTTS TO THE POLLING PLACES AND VOTE!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously now… you lose your right to complain if you don’t vote in this election.
Maybe I’m just really tired.Â? Maybe I’m incredibly overworked.Â? Maybe I’m just cynical.Â? (OK… that’s not a maybe.Â? I *AM* cynical.)Â? These things, however, are just on my nerves and draining me:
[+] My in-laws’ cat Bartholemew being gone.Â? My mom has told me to keep up hope because their cat Homer returned after 48 hoursish.Â? However, it seems like there’s somewhat definite proof that Bartholemew was eaten by coyotes.Â? I’m sad for them and for the white monster because while he was bitey (he was referred to as “The Great White” and “The Daisy with Fangs”), he was a sweet cat and did hang with me when I’d go and visit.Â? He’s in the picture I have of my sister-in-law Joanna on my filing cabinet so I have had to put a post-it note over him so that I don’t cry when I look at it.Â? Sigh… maybe I shouldn’t have nicknamed him “Purina Coyote Chow” when I was down there last time?
[+] The fact that we rip the scab off the national wound every year in how we observe 9/11.Â? OK… first thing: the renaming of the day as “Patriot Day” is offensive to me as a decent human being and seriously offensive to the families of the vicitms and victims themselves.Â? It’s a political move that is on the lameness scale next to the whole “freedom fries” incident.Â? Secondly, I’m more than chill with flags being at half-mast that day — that’s actually tasteful.Â? Moronically suggesting that people wear red/white/blue and watching hours of coverage of the towers falling?Â? Not so chill with that.Â? (For the record, I have no issues with people posting where they were that day.Â? My issue is with those who are trying to co-opt the grief of others.)Â? It was my 6th year of media-fasting because I don’t need to see all the footage to believe it happened.
[+] People who believe that Sarah Palin is the best thing since sliced bread. OK… I know some people reading this are planning to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket for pro-life reasons, same-sex marriage reasons, evangelical Christian homeboy/homegirl reasons, being blue dog Republicans, hockey mom unity reasons, being part of the pitbull cosmetic industry, or whatever.Â? Skip this rant if you are.Â? I honestly cannot understand how otherwise intelligent people can find Sarah Palin worth voting for.Â? Seriously, I can’t understand it.Â? She has zippo experience to qualify her for national leadership.Â? Yes, she’s the governor of Alaska — a state that shares no boundaries with the lower 48, has no international boundary that’s remotely threatened by terrorism or illegal immigration, is largely unpopulated, and oh wait… it’s an oil state.Â? Haven’t we learned how stupid it is to elect oil company people to leadership yet???Â? Obama was in the Illinois legislature AND has served in the US Senate.Â? She was the mayor of a podunk town outside of Anchorage (6700 people is not a large town) before becoming governor.Â? Sorry… no parity there.Â? Then there’s the fact that Obama and Biden both told their people to leave her family alone… and she’s attacking the crap out of Obama.Â? Can we say “cannot play nicely with others”?Â? She also believes that the Iraq War is a “divine calling” and I feel a little uneasy about having someone in the White House whose foreign policy is based on dispensationalism.Â? There’s a lot more to my puzzlement at people actually *liking* her as a VP candidate but that’s another entry within itself.
[+] People who find words like “pollack” and “raghead” acceptable in normal conversation.Â? I don’t give a flying whatever if you were raised in small town Montana or if the First Amendment covers your speech — it’s still offensive!!!Â? Maybe most people around here don’t care but there are people like me who would prefer to be in a hate-free zone where we aren’t tempted to vomit when you open your mouths.
OK… I think my nerves are sufficiently worked now.
CNN.Com: Obama says Palin’s family off-limits.
I hate giving props for this because what he says is what a decent human being would say but… I also know that he didn’t have to stand up for the Palins’ right to privacy and to deal with Bristol’s pregnancy as a family issue.Â? That he did, even though he didn’t have to, does show some strength of character as I don’t think many other politicians would do that.
I hope John McCain and Sarah Palin show the same restraint in dealing with Michelle and the girls as well as Joe Biden’s family.
**UPDATE**
CNN.Com: Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news.
You know… I really don’t think we’d be seeingÂ? people being this grace-filled if it was Obama’s teenage daughter who was pregnant.Â? Instead of James Dobson talking about how “we’re all human”, I suspect we’d be getting a sermon on how “the Obamas aren’t raising their children right”.Â? No… actually I *KNOW* we’d be hearing about the Obama’s “lack of parenting skills” or whatever trash Dobson and his cronies would throw around.
Yes, Bristol Palin is keeping the child.Â? And she should have a medal for this?Â? There are a lot of women who get pregnant out-of-wedlock and keep the kid.Â? She’s not that special so… to the pro-lifers who are being slobberingly supportive of her “making the right decision”: get the heck over it and go prove your lack of hypocrisy by treating another person in her situation decently who is *NOT* high-profile and whose mommy is *NOT* the vice-presidential candidate.
I read the Wikipedia article on Sarah Palin and I’m honestly still a bit like “what?????” in terms of McCain choosing her as a running mate.
At first glance, it seems like he deliberately chose her to make the ticket look balanced — I mean… old dude and young woman.Â? It is actually kind of sexist to have picked her if that was the main reason (which I’m sure it’s up there) and I think I’d be a little surprised if I was her.
It’s also a seriously hypocritical move if his homies want to bash Obama for having no experience because she’s been the governor of Alaska for two years… after being mayor of a small town outside of Anchorage.
Looking at her positions, it does look like her selection is pandering to the Right.Â? The only thing she and I share in common is being pro-life/pro-contraception although I’m in favor of abortion in cases of rape or incest.Â? (I waffle on the same-sex marriage issue so we don’t really share that.)Â? Otherwise, she’s in favor of teaching creationism with evolution in schools, a gun rights activist, supports the death penalty, opposes abortion for any reason, in favor of banning same-sex unions, etc.Â? I can see that she’s not blindly any of these things (which pleases me because I like it when politicians have a brain) but… she’s kind of everything the Bush administration would want her to be.
There’s no chance in Hades that I’m voting for McCain/Palin in November but I’m still kind of blown away by her being his running mate.Â? It just doesn’t seem to compute for some reason.
Realizing that I need something stimulating to listen to while working, I decided to see what iTunes had to offer in the way of audiobooks. The answer: nothing I really ever wanted to read or haven’t already read.
First of all… they’re overpriced! A hardcover version is less expensive than some of these audiobooks are! (I know… I know… they’re normally more expensive than regular books are.)
Secondly… since when is 26 erotic tales from Penthouse magazine considered “history”? I can so see the book reports done on that one…
Lastly… since when is Ann Coulter considered “history”? Shouldn’t she be categorized under “fiction” or “comedy”?
The travel section really was the only one that yielded anything I’d consider paying to download and even then, it would be for an airplane trip to visit Kara in Kyrgyzstan or something really long and drawn out.Â? The kids/young adult section would also probably be a blessing to me… if I didn’t have the Harry Potter books memorized already.Â? (I. AM. HERMIONE!)
Conclusion: buy the book or find a site with free audiobooks. I saw some linked during Day of Blogs — they do exist.