Who could wonder what Palin's doing. She said it in a straight line as she stepped down: she's going to work for the Republican Right. When will she figure out that the RR is about a world that works for just a few like BushCo/Christian Right/Big Business; the middle of the road and the progressives are about what will work for the whole world?

Our commies are at a loss in their blind hate of that normal, intelligent woman Sarah Palin. I mean - she does not use long words when a simple one suffices; she avoids complex sentences when a straight one is enough. "She is weird" - the east coast cretin states.

you make a good point. one of my favorite Palin videos is her first day back at office after the election. keep in mind the big issue at that point was the cost of her campaign wardrobe and whether or not she was keeping any of it. and she in response was all about her favorite consignment store and how wonderful it was to be back in her ordinary jeans or snowboots or whatever...

anyway, she comes into her office - first day back on the job, with lots of fanfare and cameras rolling - wearing a ratty old sweater with too long cuffs that she's pulling down over her hands. decked out in her sloppy outfit, her hair unperfectly poofed and lopsided, she looked and sounded shrill and miserable.

this week for some reason, we've been seeing a lot of the campaign images and yes, in those gorgeous clothes and all that styling, she is an attractive presence. but in her wasilla/juno duds, she looks MILF-ishly ordinary and sounds shrill and half crazy.

If I recall, Palin (and family) were associated with a local Alaska organization advocating succession from the United States. Perhaps she has decided that achieving her wingnut agenda is impossible in the near future - which is, of course, the only future that right wing fundamentalist pagan-Christians acknowledge - in light of the inevitable sooner than later apocalypse. No way, in her view, will this world make it to its 7000th year birthday. In view of this possible conclusion on Palin's part, maybe she has decided to lead that same organization, and then promote the notion of civil war. I think she is that crazy!

I really would like to have it back.

Not that Wasilla ever resembled any kind of normal town.

It has always been a very different kind of place - not a normal town at all.

But it has been very strange since the end of last summer.

It would be nice if things could go back to what they were.

But I doubt that they will.

I don't think this is over yet.

http://wasillaalaskaby300.squarespace.com/

If you're worried about the misogyny of the media then Palin should not be your poster girl.

See, she actually has something to criticize other than her gender. Most liberals don't criticize her for anything to do with what parts she has under her clothing.

We think she's pretty stupid and uninformed, but too arrogant to understand that she's ignorant, which makes her dangerous.

We think she was chosen for her looks (which shows misogyny/objectification by her own party) rather than her political savvy or ability to take charge in a presidents' stead.

We watched her drum up hatred for a wide swath of the nation, telling us we were not real Americans, ignored catcalls against Obama such as "kill him", all with a smile.

We find her sanctimonious and hypocritical: she preaches abstinence while standing next to her pregnant teenage daughter. She tells us to leave her family alone while parading them in front of us. She freaks out about Letterman after being the running mate of the man who called Chelsea ugly - at 13 years old.

We saw the video where she received an exorcism by some wacked out "pastor", but she insisted on making hay of Wright. She spoke glowingly in front of a secessionist group which had committed violence and then attacked Obama for incidentally sitting on an education panel with the long-repentant Ayers.

In addition, she decried government interference in states' issues while her state enjoyed the highest per capita take from the federal dole.

She could not answer simple questions like "what newspapers do you read", did not know the bush doctrine, and thought "foreign policy" meant making sure Putin didn't fly over Alaskan air space.

If you are worried about misogyny in the media, try focusing on women who deserve our respect, and stop whining if women who don't deserve it don't get it.

If she wants to play with the big team, she can't be fragile about criticism. There are stronger and smarter women out there - republican and democrat.

While Palin was clearly in over her head, this is an example of how bizarre the media and the public have become. The exploitation of the mistakes that children have made is detestable. There was a time not too long ago when adults would feel good because they had made an effort to help other adults and children with problems like this and the media had enough integrity not to speak about them. Now, people get some kind of sick satisfaction by pointing them out while they have as many or more skeletons in their own closets. Sickos all.

Re: Spending to get out of debt.

See, if we don't have any money in our bank accounts, spending to get out of debt doesn't make sense.

But we're talking about a government here.

Government spending gives capital to infrastructure projects. Those projects (once they are up and running) put people to work. People who work have money. People who have money buy stuff, like cars and appliances, which puts even more people to work making and selling said cars and appliances. All this buying and selling increases local/state tax revenues, so states have even more money to spend on . . . infrastructure projects.

Government stimulus money that keeps teachers in place means kids learn in smaller classrooms, get a better education, and may even get more lucrative jobs (see "People who have money" above).

Spending money to get out of debt is not automatic, but a process. Projects the money is supporting are likely in the design stages. There is startup time. But the money has been distributed quickly, earmarked for specific projects at the state and city level. The recipients have to report their progress in the next few months.

This will tell us whether we need more stimulus.

Although it might make sense for personal bank accounts, what DOESN"T work for governments is to curtail spending, suspending projects which puts more people out of work which means fewer people are making money and . . . see above, in reverse.

This is the situation bush left us - tax cuts for the rich and corporations presuming they would hire more people, and instead they gave themselves huge bonuses and bought bigger yachts, while leaving the government in huge debt, and took companies down, resulting in a huge loss of jobs.

Obama was left with a bleeding economy and is working to stem the flow as well as bring it back to health. It's not a quick fix, but it's what almost all economists believe is the right path.