I swear to God, I mean it, I swear to God I sat down with every intention of not writing another blog post about Gov. Sarah Palin. Because I really don't know if anyone reading this blog cares all that much about US politics. Palin could be the equivalent of curling, for all I know.
But when you get stories like this, then you have to throw up your hands and give up for the moment. Because you know you're in the middle of something truly special and historic when a vice presidential campaign, in an attempted to squash scurrilous rumours that your fifth child is not actually yours, but your 17-year-old daughter's, by saying that's impossible because she's currently five months pregnant.
Oh dear God....
In the past 72 hours I've begun to wonder if Fox gave McCain a shitload of money to make him pick Palin as his VP nominee just so they can film a reality TV show about it. You know, the adventures of a wacky northern governor and her family as they're thrown into the national spotlight of a presidential campaign. Sit back and watch as crazy hijinks ensue as they try to deal with being way, way, way over their heads.
Obama has rightly said that people should back away from the story and that what happens with the Palin family shouldn't make a difference about her ability to possibly be vice president. But it does call into question, once again, McCain's judgment. He should have known how big of a distraction this was going to be. He's been around long enough to know better. This circus atmosphere just distracts from the issues and the job of trying to become president. Instead, everyone wonders what other weirdness is going to happen next.
Campaigns sometimes give an idea of how the administration will do (Bush's was a ruthless efficient smear machine with an evangelical engine. And for about five to six years, that's how his government functioned). Obama's campaign, for the past 18 months, has been a smooth, logical, efficient machine that has run with few hiccups. Given what's happened with McCain in the past 72 hours, you'd swear someone tossed sand in the the engine.
The Canadian election campaign is going to be awfully dull in comparison. Especially if Harper keeps producing God-awful commercials where he smiles at the camera and I wonder if someone off-screen is zapping him with a cattle prod to produce that hideous look on his face. You know, that look that passes as an empathizing smile....
Tomorrow, something not on the US election. Although at the rate things are going with Palin, God only knows what tomorrow will bring.
Last Five
1. Na na na na na - Kaiser Chiefs
2. Pamela's waltz - Kelly Russell and the Planks*
3. Five days in May - Blue Rodeo
4. Plans for the boys - Mark Bragg
5. I will follow (live) - U2
8 comments:
Let me reassure you that curling is WAY more interesting than US politics. To me at least. Even US curling would be cooler than US politics. How about an expose on the politics of the US curling world?
Haha I have seen those Harper commercials, he looks so creepy. I think it would be smarter to not do political commercials. Whoever is in charge always makes them look terribly lame and that just hurts the candidate, especially with the younger crowd. Who wants to vote for Harper when he looks like uncle molester forcing a smile at you?
I looooove the political commentary even if I don't agree (which I don't think has happened yet).
It's an exciting year. First the NTI election last March. Then a Nunavut election in October. Then the US election in November. And now a possible Canadian election in October! Yay! And it was also a summer olympics year. Whew, lots to read, watch and listen.
So feel free to blog about politics as often as you want. I am only one reader but I do read your blog probably more often than I really should.
I have to admire Obama's take on these stories, that they have no relevance in determining the candidates worth, and should be left out of the larger debate - which team should be governing the world's most powerful nation.
Perhaps it is all just one big episode of Punk'd!
Mongoose, I tend to be all over the place on the blog, so while I might not amuse everyone all the time, I generally find something to amuse people every now and then. The curling, which bores some people to death, often gets me some of my biggest traffic if it gets linked by the Curling News, which happens time to time.
Jen, those are deeply odd ads. I mean, fine, with some effort I could almost swallow the crap about how Canada is a better place than Harper part of the ad. But then I see Harper trying to smile and become deeply terrified. Why do they try to make him smile? It never works.
In Iqaluit, I will likely pay more attention to the US politics than the Canadian, as sad as that is. It's far more interesting to me. Actually, there's a post in the future on what I will and won't be commenting on soon enough.
Clare, he has and they should be. However, we both know that's not always the way it works. I also have a friend in the US who swears she will quit/be turfed by Wednesday. We'll see....
There was a very interesting article called the Palin Trap that pointed out the danger that Palin poses to the Democrats - and it's not from disenchanted Hilary supporters but undecided middle America. McCain may have put more thought into this than meets the eye. Don't have the link handy but it was linked in the comment section on Bootstrap Analysis' post on Palin (she's on my sidebar - er Bootstrap not Palin)
Actually any politician being poked with a cattle prod is funny. Yes Harper definetly needs to work on that smile. It just looks like the creepy uncle at the family reunions all the kids are told to stay away from.
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