I'm in CA too and sometimes it does seem like we have nothing to do, our state is so locked in - but check out Obama's website, 'cause they are also sending us to Nevada to help register folks.

"Why do Republicans hate our freedom of speech"

I'm not sure what you were getting at, but I'm a lifelong Democrat who donates and volunteers for the Obama campaign.

1) I think the tanning bed story is a political non-starter. Maybe it's an attempt to paint her as an elitist (I know you are but what am I?), but I think that image ship has sailed, folks She's the moosehunter and that's likely to stick. Can't we just oppose her because her inexperience and her ideas about public policy are dangerous for the country?

2) The issue people are trying to make with the tanning bed story is not whether or not it's good to tan (Democrats are not courting some kind of anti-tanning demographic), but whether it fits our image of down-to-earth Palin to know she could afford to buy one for each home and didn't want to use one in a salon like everyone else. The tanning industry quote is just silly and OT.

3) I think the "standing up to dermatologists" line is probably the funniest thing I've read in weeks. And I say that as someone who lost a close family member to melanoma.

Gotya thanks for clarifying.

I assumed that both Keroseened's and CillyDog's comments were intended as satire. If they weren't, I don't want to know. Though I agree, Obama is definitely a Zionist and a closet Muslim. And I know that because I can see a Mosque and a bagel shop from my upstairs window, so I am an expert on world religions.

.. and with that, the entire article crumbles into a heap of loose association. Palin --> Wasilla City Council --> IAPP --> Bible/Evangelical Christianity --> CO church shooting and abusive juvenile facility in Indiana. Huh? Watch out, America, Gov. Palin wants to take over the country with a Biblical-based corporate self-help program/series of inspirational posters.

I was hoping that this was a follow-up to the piece a few weeks -- sorry, days -- ago about Palin's AoG religious affiliation, one providing the substance and proof of how her spiritual life affects her public life in ways we should care about. This didn't come close. There is so much that is scary about the idea of a Sarah Palin Vice Presidency. None of it was in this article.

Though I swear I've seen that utility bill slogan "A City of Character! Help us promote good character in our community!" painted on an airport wall in China's Xinjiang province. Maybe Palin is a closet communist?

all the kids I know who use the word "retard" also know what group of people it refers to. They are not unknowingly using a term that has been assigned new meaning, they are putting people down for being like the kids from the Special Ed class. All the kids I know in Special Ed class have, therefore, been called "retard" for being in Special Ed. Adults who use the word "retard" know full well what they are doing, so the word-assigned-new-meaning argument doesn't hold any water there at all.

As opposed to use of the phrase "rule of thumb" (from a 17th or 18th century law stating that you could beat your wife, but only with a stick narrower than your thumb), which I think we can pretty well say doesn't demean women at this point. Rbsimon's example of "bitch," though, used from one man to another for excessive complaining does still come off to me as being very much about gender, which is why it retains some ironic flavor when gay men use it with one another.

The protests about the film, though, were poorly conceived at best. Protesting a word is something that the American public will backlash against every time, and it makes the the work of these groups (some of which I know and admire well) seem petty, abstract, and out of touch.

I wish someone had protested I am Sam, though, just for being a very very BAD film.

But this email was full of references implying that Obama = antichrist. Which is where the relevant connection comes in for me, because the McCain camp has used advertising before making the same suggestion (there was a good article on it over at Slacktivist: http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2008/08/unsubtle.html). McCain is encouraging this, folks.

I see numerous posts about rule of thumb -- if what you say is true, I admit to having been fooled by texts from college referring to this etymology. A surprising number of the etymologies one encounters in otherwise respectable academic work turn out to be the Ivy Tower equivalent of urban legend. Problem is, I can never remember which are ones I picked up in college and which I have actually found from more reliable sources. Will try to be more careful.

I was mostly being facetious in bringing it up, though, trying to contrast the idea that "retard" can loose its sting in a few decades or less with a phrase that has truly been divorced from its originally insulting context. Anyone have some better examples? Something that was offensive originally (not because of being profane but because of being associated with disrespect for or oppression of a particular group of people)that now does not carry any negative or offensive charge? I'm asking because I suspect that these are terms that have a pretty long shelf life compared to other terms, but I'm not sure.