Cuppacafe

OK folks, the election is over and we (the American people) won. (Hey, it’s (partially) my blog, and I gets top call it the way I sees it.) Anyway, now that the last vote has been cast, can the recriminations be far behind?

Apparently not.

Well it is now coming out in the news that — according to Top McCain Aides: “Palin Simply Knew Nothing About National And International Issues.” According to a report from Nicole Wallace, a senior McCain aide who was not only one of Palin's handlers but helped to orchestrate her initial rollout, there is now an “organized campaign to lay blame” for things at her feet.

Further, she apparently didn’t know anything about national or international issues:

...perhaps one of the most astounding and previously unknown tidbits about Sarah Palin has to do with her already dubious grasp of geography. According to Fox News Chief Political Correspondent Carl Cameron, there was great concern within the McCain campaign that Palin lacked "a degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, a heartbeat away from the presidency," in part because she didn't know which countries were in NAFTA, and she "didn't understand that Africa was a continent, rather than a series, a country just in itself."

Then there was the time she greeted a couple of her male handlers in only a towel:

At the GOP convention in St. Paul, Palin was completely unfazed by the boys' club fraternity she had just joined. One night, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter went to her hotel room to brief her. After a minute, Palin sailed into the room wearing nothing but a towel, with another on her wet hair. She told them to chat with her laconic husband, Todd. "I'll be just a minute," she said.

Then, of course there is the matter of her wardrobe, on which she apparently spent far more than initially was reported:

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family--clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast," and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

I know that it sounds like kicking someone who is down, but seriously, this woman knew nothing about what was going on outside of Alaska, and we are better off without her.

The Perfessor

This just in, Sara Palin isn’t very bright.

No really. You see, if she was, she would know that classic line from Dirty Harry, Magnum Force. That is to say “A man’s (woman’s) got to know his(her) limitations. One of Sara’s limitations is that she (in the words of Bugs Bunny), is a maroon.

To be sure, I’m not saying this to be mean, but because it is so obvious. She has repeatedly expressed views on the role of the Vice President that simply are not true. The most recent gaff came when she was merely answering questions posed to her by some grade school kids, and broadcast on 9News:

Yeah, you could argue that she was giving an answer that the little tykes would understand, but I seriously doubt that. It seems pretty clear that this is what she thinks the VP does. Well, as a veteran watcher of all seven seasons of The West Wing, I know that (according to former Vice President John Hoynes) the (real) Vice President has exactly two Constitutional duties. To have a pulse and to break a tie in the Senate (Go ahead, look it up).

Having said all of this, I wanted to share with you an article (that someone else wrote) relating Ten other things Sarah Palin may mistakenly think the Vice President does.

You just know that I’m having fun today, eh?

The Perfessor

I’m not the first person to say this, but perhaps the best part of the Internet is the ability to download porn in the privacy of your own home. Ah, the fact that it is so easy to so easy to look stuff up, and to tag folks with stuff that they don’t want you to know.

I am, of course referring to the fact that the Republican National Party has spent some $150,000.00 on high-end, designer clothing for that “Working-class mom” Sara Palin, and her family. Yea, I’m totally gonna vote for a woman that has spent more on clothing that has spent more on clothing in the past six weeks than I've made in the past couple of years.

According to The New York Times:

Sarah Palin’s wardrobe joined the ranks of symbolic political excess on Wednesday, alongside John McCain’s multiple houses and John Edwards’s $400 haircut, as Republicans expressed fear that weeks of tailoring Ms. Palin as an average “hockey mom” would fray amid revelations that the Republican Party outfitted her with expensive clothing from high-end stores.

Yep, read all about it:

Advisers to Ms. Palin said on Wednesday that the purchases — which totaled about $150,000 and were classified as “campaign accessories” — were made on the fly after Ms. Palin, the governor of Alaska, was chosen as the Republican vice-presidential candidate on Aug. 29 and needed new clothes to match climates across the 50 states. They emphasized, too, that Ms. Palin did not spend time on the shopping, and that other people made the decision to buy such an array of clothes.

For more on that subject, we go to Jon Stewart:

Yeah, I’m totally going to vote for these yahoos. Can anyone say “fiscally responsible conservative” for me?

The Perfessor

Last night (Saturday), the funny folks over at SNL did it again. They managed to successfully Skewer the GOP Vice Presidential Moose Mom, ah Hockey Puck, er candidate. That’s right kids, her worship, Sara Palin showed up on SNL herself (and no, although she didn’t play Tina Fey in a 30 Rock sketch, it apparently wasn’t for want of trying).

In addition to her bit in the opening segment (Loved the sideways mention to the Mark Wahlberg Bit from last weekend), Governor Palin also showed up on Weekend Update segment as well.

After watching both of these segments, I am reminded of The President Nixon’s appearance on Laugh In (where he said “Sock it to me!”), as well as then Governor Bill Clinton’s appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show where he played the sax as he was making his own bid for the Presidency.

After careful consideration, and some discussion with family and friends, I’m not entirely sure if Palin’s appearance on SNL is a display of her hipness in that she “gets” the joke, or does it diminish whatever leadership qualities she may (or may not) have had. Yeah, I know that Clinton’s appearance on Arsenio gave him a big boost in the pols, but ’m not so sure that Palin’s appearance on SNL will have the same effect.

Anyone care to weigh in on this?

The Perfessor

They say that that whomever doesn’t remember the past, is condemned to repeat it. After watching this split-screen Bush/Palin compilation, I can only shutter and concur.

Thankfully, I can blur that image by smoking a blunt watching the following vid.

Now, where did I leave that bottle of Hooch?

The Perfessor

I saw this recently (OK, OK, I saw it because Walt sent it to me). Still, I saw it and It has been a couple of days since either of us has posted anything, so I figured that this was as good as anything for the moment.

The Perfessor

By now, you must have heard that the soon-to-be-ex-Governor of Alaska is more than likely going to be going to go the way of Spiro Agnew (the tax-dodging stooge to disgraced President Nixon) before her.

That’s right, kiddies, Sara Palin was found guilty of abuse of power in her native frontier (and it couldn’t happen to a more deserving pitbull):

JUNEAU, Alaska - Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her position as Alaska governor by pressuring officials to sack a state trooper once married to her sister, a long-awaited official investigation said Friday.

In a potentially explosive 263-page report released by Alaska's Legislative Council following a six-hour closed-door hearing, investigator Steve Branchflower said Palin violated state ethics rules governing public officials.

The inquiry had looked into Palin’s dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan,

who said he lost his job because he resisted pressure to fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with the governor's sister. Palin says Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute. Stephen Branchflower, a retired prosecutor hired to conduct the investigation, said Monegan's firing was lawful. But the pressure Palin and her husband put on him was not, he said.

(this according to Scotland on Sunday).

You just know that Senator McCain has got to be giddily happy with his choice right about now; Still, at least she isn’t a terrorist, eh?

The Perfessor

I don’t know about you folk, but I am truly offended by the way the principals of the Republican Party keep talking to me. As if I were a child, and needed to have someone take care of me, and ‘splain to me why the stove is hot. Perhaps up in the wilds of Alaska that folksy, down-home Sara Palin-speak is regarded as good leadership. Personally, here in the elitist, arugula-eating, Ivy-League Northeast us Effete, Intellectual Snobs prefer our leaders to be, well smarter than us, and not sound like they never graduated middle school.

Yes, I want to make a point for legislators talking to me as if we were equals, not as if I was a necessary evil they had to go through so they can get into power and “fix” things like they ‘oughta be.

Here in my home town we had a mayor that — at a public function — once uttered the phrase “I want to thank all youse people for coming out here today...” I was walking along when I heard this, stopped dead in my tracks, and said out loud (to no one in particular), “Did he just say ‘all yous people’?” The person near me (who wasn’t with me, and I did not know) said, “Yes, he did.” To which I replied, “We so have to get rid of this guy." The other person concurred.

That is how I feel about Palin and the Reckless Republicans that have put her before us in a blatant attempt to trick us into getting us to vote for them. I’m so afraid that John and Jane Q. Public (Hockey moms and Joe Sixpack) will look at Palin and say, “She’s just like me, I want her to be my leader.” Personally, as smart as I think (know) I am, I am also smart enough to know that I want someone smarter than me to be my leader. Not the guy sitting next to me at a bar.

Frankly, I personally know some very smart people and as impressed with them as I am, I’m not sure that any of them are really up to being either the President or VP, and from what I know about McCain, and Palin, I certainly don’t want either of them anywhere near the Oval Office either.

Now, before my blood pressure really shoots through the roof. I want my personal Guru, Jon Stewart, to help us put the Vice Presidential debate into perspective. Jon...

Ahhh, that and the Killian's Irish Red, and Jack Daniels boiler-maker I just downed during that vid have helped calm me down a bit. Oh hell, I think I’ll have another and watch it it again! (OK, maybe I am Joe Sixpack a little bit, but I swear these people are doing it to me!)

The Perfessor

My wife tells me that from her sleep she heard me howl at some point, figuring it was during Saturday Night Live. I knew it was during the opening "VP debate" which I've embedded below, but couldn't remember exactly when, simply because the whole thing is eleven minutes long and I was snickering almost the entire time.

If you hadn't seen it, or you want to see it again, hit play and wait for the commercial to air (sorry, that's the price we pay these days). "Biden" is good, but we're all looking for that Palin bit by Tina, and it hasn't gotten old yet. If you didn't get a chance to catch the VP debate, some of the mannerisms and jokes won't hold the same meaning, but that's what mocking is all about -- it works best for people that know what's being mocked.

Palin: “Gwen, we don’t know if this climate change whozeewhatsit
is manmade,
or if it’s just a natural part of the End of Days.”

And equal time. Okay, not really.

Biden: “Look, I love John McCain. He’s one of my dearest friends.
But at the same time, he’s also dangerously unbalanced.”

But to sum up:
Thank God for Tina Fey. Pay her lots of money.

After watching it, I knew it was the reference to marriage that made me howl -- I won't spoil that, so you have to watch.

Since more than a few of the readers of this blog are not only avid readers but are authors as well, I submit to you the following quotation:

“A statement that he [Obama] made like that is downright dangerous because leaders like Ahmadinejad who would seek to acquire nuclear weapons and wipe off the face of the earth an ally like we have in Israel should not be met with without preconditions and diplomatic efforts being undertaken first.”

Yes, it was indeed taken from the transcript of last night's debate. It scares me to think what's really going on behind those winking eyes...

So, with the VP debate going to happen tonight, I thought that now would be a good time to catch up on all of the stuff that Governor Palin did while she was running around proving that everything is tougher in Alaska... (please note, each “Gate” scandal is linked to an explanation of what it is, and why it is a big deal).

#10. Iron-Fistgate.

#9. Kidgate.

#8. Censorgate.

#7. Mayberrygate:

#6. Hockeygate.

#5. Bricknergate.

#4. Bridge-to-Nowheregate.

#3. Porkgate.

#2. Oilgate.

#1. Troopergate.

Perhaps the wors part of this is that it is really just the tip of the Iceberg. More of these “Gates” can be found on the blog Common Mistakes. I suggest that you read it, as it is very enlightening.

The Perfessor

Well, not only was Governor Palin lampooned on SNL once again by Tina Fey, but this time with her own words. Seriously, you have to follow the above link to get to the Youtube video (for some reason it didn’t allow for embedding). The full clip can be seen here on NBC/Saturdaynight live’s site.

What really makes this work is the fact that the real news media is yucking it up over the SNL sketch. Here is Wolf Blitzer weighing in on the clip:

Still, even SNL can’t hold a candle to what the rank and file of the Blogisphere is doing to this national joke. Think I’m kidding? then just take a gander at this very funny (if a tad scatological) YouTube video that my darling wife turned me on to juat last night.

It is a real hoot!

This stuff just gets better and better.

The Perfessor

From the THIS WEEK broadcast of early Sunday, here's McCain, speaking about the video that has Gov. Palin essentially backing Obama's position and against McCain's. Senator McCain tries to backpeddle and say, "She (Palin) did just fine!" but at the end qualifies it and says that Governor Palin's informal views are not the same as (the McCain campaign's) formal position -- even though they're actual opposites.

The topic has to do with whether the United States should pursue Osama into Pakistan's tribal areas, something where McCain has said that we wouldn't necessarily do -- although those words come in different forms at different times... This time, in the piece that was recorded this morning, the senator couches his words, saying that the US wouldn't TELL anyone we were going to invade if we actually... well, you know invaded.

Here. See what you can make out of this.

Yeah, you can make of it what you can.

Trying to deny that what Gov. Palin says isn't part of your campaign is one thing.

Trying to deny what Senator McCain says about the McCain campaign is something completely different

Here is McCain debating McCain, on whether McCain is running for Pres. Bush's third term:

Now... which one of those two guys actually represents the McCain campaign?

By now you must have heard that John McCain has suspended his campaign to focus on the economy meltdown. He was supposed to have appeared last night on Letterman, but canceled at the last minute. Here is a nine-minute clip from Letterman where he whacks McCain around for a bit for his “bail-out”:

Now, it could just be me, but isn’t “fixing the economy” something that the President should be doing? Meanwhile, over at The Daily Show, Jon Stewart had this to say about Governor Pailin’s NY visit.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the part with Samantha Bee was talking about Palin at the UN. I loved her use of film clips in the story, it was Hilarious.

Oh yeah, and to return to Letterman for a moment, his top 10 last night was (oddly enough) about McCain:

The Top Ten Questions People are Asking The John McCain Campaign (Sep 24 2008)

#10 "I just contributed to your campaign – how do I get a refund?"

#9 "It’s Sarah Palin – does this mean I’m pars’dent?"

#8 "Can’t you solve this by selling some of your houses?"

#7 "This is Clay Aiken. Is McCain single?"

#6 "Do you still think the fundamentals of our economy are strong, Genius?"

#5 "Are you doing all of this just to get out of going on Letterman?"

#4 "What would Matlock do?"

#3 "Hillary here – my schedule is free Friday night."

#2 "Is this just an excuse to catch up on napping?"

#1 "This is President Bush — what’s all this trouble with the economy?"

And then, of course, there is this:

I’m telling you that November 4th can’t come soon enough!

Oh yeah, and I have to say, I just love #6.

The Perfessor

If you had been paying attention to the news yesterday or today, you will have heard that Governor Sara was in The Big Apple Tuesday to get schooled in foreign policy. According to CBS news:

It was a tightly controlled crash course on foreign policy for the Republican vice presidential candidate, the mayor-turned-governor who has been outside North America just once.

Palin sat down with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The conversation was private, the pictures public, meant to pad her resume for voters concerned about her lack of experience in world affairs.

The article then goes on to say that in order to get The self-described "hockey mom" quickly schooled in international politics (beyond — of course being able to see Russia from her front porch) the RNC bought her kids (Japanese-made) Sony MP3 players, piled her into a (Korean-made) cab (with an Indian driver), then ferried her through Harlem (with the windows up and the doors locked). Next, they hired a hired a(n illegal) Mexican nanny to watch Trig, took her out for dinner to a Thai restaurant, to an Italian mob movie, and then drinks at an Irish pub.

Given that Palin’s small-town, 1950’s, family values mindset clearly states that women should be not only seen and not heard, but barefoot, pregnant, and chained to the stove, they apparently felt that treating her in this fashion was way easier than trying to tell her anything.

Personally, Women like Palin help convince me that I’m right in feeling that the mistake we made was not giving them the vote, but teaching them to speak in the first place.

The Perfessor