The Palin/Biden Debate

File under forgettable.

-- Klytus

We're talking the next VP potential Prez. Yes, I'm sick of hearing about her, seeing her, hearing her voice, and yes, I think the media (which would/could include Salon.com) should now focus on the two candidates running for presidency. Ok, time for a chill-pill of whatever sort........even a big glass of OJ would do. I've been peevish today. I ain't no elitist, but I have a low tolerance for mediocrity when it comes to who is running the country!

"She is awful"

At least that's how this thread began...

"If I'm not mistaken

London lad was being sarcastic, and not insulting to AnnieW.

-- General Zod"

That was my take, too. I thought LL was paying a compliment. Hope so, anyway.

dmeeks...you really got me depressed.

MacK..--you're on target: anti-intellectual trends. Scary indeed.

The "big rage" seems to be about "Joe/Jane Six-Pack" (whomever they are), when, in fact, a lot of people who could be quarantined to those quarters are NOT stupid. Gee, go figure. So categorized, they've got minds. Maybe we out here in blog land can't speak for each and every one...?

That's one matter. The other is the one that worries me more. I've got relatives up the wazoo (my two siblings included) who come from middle class, got education (against odds, in some cases), and made it. And guess what? They're Republicans now. Like a lioness with her cub, they protect their own. Good people. I love them. But they scare me more than the so-called Joe/Jane Six-Pack crowd (and I still think that's a maligning reference, but apparently the GOP doesn't). You'd think that after the last eight years, maybe, just maybe, they'd change their tune? But, no. As long as I shut up about politics and we all just play with the babies and reminisce over the family history, we can all get along.

Sigh.

"And I also know that the average person isn't smart enough to recognize a smarter-than-average person or know why it's important. I'm not smart enough to be president myself - I can barely find Iraq on a map - but at least I'm smart enough to know that the PRESIDENT needs to be able to find Iraq on a map. That puts me in the top 1% of people in this country."

Great post. Thanks. I couldn't agree more that the PRESIDENT (and VP) need to know more than I do (and more than the average person does).

Rhetorical question: Shouldn't that be obvious...? (I ask, as if I think the GOP would ever listen ;)

If this note gets to you........have you heard (read) from your audience how many of us don't like logging on to Salon.com every day and seeing Sarah Palin's face every day?

Biden's in the clear. Palin won't be seeing any press.

VP debate's over. Obama. McCain. Obama. McCain. One month away.

I thought your "Jimmy Choo shoes" line was inspired.

I took no ill will from your post to AnnieW, but I'm quite glad you verified my POV.

Meanwhile, I wish I could say that I had grasped the nuance of the title of your post. I simply don't know anything about John Fahey! Where have I been all these years? However, I do like your story behind the title. To be honest, I liked the title and was thinking back years far before my time for a reference--e.g., Victorian literature? even Renaissance literature? I thought: "oh, my college English professors would be appalled if I don't recollect this!" You had me stumped; and to think I only had to think back to 2001.

Christopher Hitchens slides along a continuum for me...at one end "cringe" and at the other "kudos." With regard to the "specimen's" pronunciation of "nuclear," he is indeed correct. She unfortunately shares that with several of her party members (including the current president...sigh).

Again, thank you for the clarification/verification. I'll have to mull over the "mocking the afflicted" comment, though. I've long held that irony, wit, and whimsy are my three favorite things. On the other hand, fairness and decency are very important to me. In the current campaign...I get so frustrated that mocking seems to come too easily to me...

(p.s. Just for the record, I'm not a "sir" ;)

You are so far out in...left field? right field? center? outside the park? Define what you mean by "the Real American" as a starting point for honest debate. I believe if you truly read, absorbed, and contemplated the various vantage points represented on this site, you'd find a broad spectrum of Real Americans (by my definition), hoping to further our country. It's the good, the bad, and the ugly, but the broad brush stroke of whatever "elitism" means to you is not even close to being accurate.

I just gotta say...I loved the story you shared.

I appreciated your post more than I can express at the moment. In fact, I'm a bit teary already, and haven't even snatched up the Kleenex yet to watch and listen to the "experience" of my being introduced to a great American. In fact, because I've spent a sleepless night, I'm going to let myself be introduced later today, after some sleep. I want to savor the meeting with a clearer head (but rest assured, my heart will be open). I do thank you for the way you have set things straight somehow, for me, about being an American--and about where our troubles are--just now.