Open Thread – Who I’d Like to Be Today
The lawn is white. Not snow, but heavy frost. I can see the actual snow too, creeping down the mountains. It takes two steps down, and one step back… So, since I forgot to put up an open thread when I usually do, I was rummaging through some pictures to find something to post. And then I saw that guy. And then I thought, “I’d like to be that guy.” So there he is… a moment of summer as we wait for the snow.
GAAACKKK !! Sarah’s in Calf… that’s it, I’m going golfing tomorrow…chortle.. Meg and Carli both dodging her…
Yes, she’s rather be trekking in Alaska than having republicans dodging her in some stuffy, oversized, undersold speaking venue where she gives her same tired old speech, whether it fits the audience or not.
Giving that same old speech would be boring. But not enough to get her to “write” a new one–or get someone on her staff to doit.
Here’s the report from the local newspaper:
http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_16342158?source=rss&nclick_check=1
She won’t even leave the trailer to go outside??? ; – o
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/14/2315661/sarah-palin-touts-life-in-alaska.html
Helen and Margaret’s Pledge to America (new post Oct. 8)
http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/helens-pledge-to-margaret/#comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y54FRMedT_s
Omigod! This is brilliant! Thanks! 🙂
Holy Holy Cow! O’Donnell says that she has Hannity in her back pocket!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/14/christine-odonnell-sean-hannity-republicans-fundraising_n_763487.html
Palin knows that she does too but (shockingly) knows better than to say it.
Why is this somehow porno-erotic??
She’s going to be really sorry she said this!!!
heh heh heh
Isn’t that Curtis?
Breaking news (stuck in spam filter)…sigh. Tried twice.
Anyway new poll puts AK Senate race at dead heat. Maybe details will come up soon. Check ADN.
If it is an adn link with “community” in the url, then it seems to always get knocked into the spam bucket.
Here’s the link, broken up. You have to cut and paste. I’ll email AKM about this, I’ve been meaning to.
http://community. adn.com/adn/node/153691
Good going, Sherlock.
Breaking news/polls: (submitting again without author’s last name which does not pass the spam filter–bet this one will)
“New polls out today from the national polling firm Rasmussen Reports and the Club for Growth, a pro-Miller political action committee, suggest Alaskaâ��s U.S. Senate race remains basically a tossup.
The Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 500 likely voters in Alaska found Joe Miller with 35 percent support and Lisa Murkowski at 34 percent, with Scott McAdams coming in at 27 percent support.
Rasmussen noted the problems in polling Murkowski�s support accurately. �Polling for write-in campaigns is always challenging, so results should be interpreted with caution,� the pollster said.
The survey was Oct. 13 with margin of error of 4.5 percent….”
Anchorage Daily News
http://community.adn.com/adn/node/153691
Breaking news/polls:
“New polls out today from the national polling firm Rasmussen Reports and the Club for Growth, a pro-Miller political action committee, suggest Alaskaâ��s U.S. Senate race remains basically a tossup.
The Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 500 likely voters in Alaska found Joe Miller with 35 percent support and Lisa Murkowski at 34 percent, with Scott McAdams coming in at 27 percent support.
Rasmussen noted the problems in polling Murkowski�s support accurately. �Polling for write-in campaigns is always challenging, so results should be interpreted with caution,� the pollster said.
The survey was Oct. 13 with margin of error of 4.5 percent….”
Anchorage Daily News/Sean Cockerham
http://community.adn.com/adn/node/153691
Still a work in progress but I blew off a portion of my work day to vent my frustration with the current Tea Party political landscape. Here’s my animated version of Near Future Tea Party Political News:
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7358405
Buffgal!!! that is a marvelous vid. you have a wonderful sense of humor and a clear view of what’s going on.
Why thank you, Bubs! As a cave dwelling workaholic, I usually end up amusing only myself. I was hoping someone else would think it was funny. Wish I could send it to Paladino, Palin, etc!
check out my facebook page Buff. you are on there. good job my friend.
AKM i hope you take a look-see at Buff’s work.
Wonderful and Amazing BuffaloGal! May I use it? I will make sure you are credited!!
Feel free to use it and no credit needed. I’m just glad to have it out of my system !
Gotta love this–In response to Chris Mathews’ comment “if the miners had been tea partiers they would have killed each other” statement, Eric Liu, Author and former Clinton WH adviser said:
“Chris Matthews greatly oversimplifies. Had the Chilean miners truly subscribed to the tea party view of the world, they would have first rejected any rescue attempt as a big government bailout, perpetuating the moral hazard problem of miners who went underground knowing full well the risks of their actions! Then, having refused rescue, they would also have ruled out collective action to survive, since that sounds like socialism. Only then would they have killed each other.”
Very well articulated, OMG.
Haven’t read the thread yet but Hardball just had a discussion about how Scott is going to win with Chuck Todd and Chris Sisal (sp). Whoo who! Mathews has turned the map yellow for toss up.
Go Scott go!
Catch the repeat in 1 1/2 hours. It takes place a bit after 20 minutes in to the show.
Yay!
Ditto.
This is funny. Trying to figure out what the note means might fry your brain, don’t spend too long at it.
Christine O’Donnell’s Ex-Neighbors Wish She Didn’t Have Sex So Loudly
http://wonkette.com/426205/christine-odonnells-former-neighbors-wish-she-didnt-have-sex-so-loudly#more-426205
Soooooo funny!!!! Little Miss Saint! ha
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/reliable-source/2010/10/read_this_harry_whittington_of.html
He took an interest in politics, too. Attracted by the GOP’s small-government/low-tax message, Whittington shocked his family, Democrats for generations, by becoming a Republican as a young man. Along with his college sweetheart, Mercedes, now his wife of 60 years, he threw himself behind moderate Republican candidates, methodically helping to build a party that had been overshadowed by a Democratic machine run by a crafty Austin operator named Lyndon B. Johnson.
Whittington managed John Tower’s successful 1960 bid to become the first Republican since Reconstruction to win a Senate seat in Texas. He became “social friends” with a transplanted Texan named George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, eventually working on Bush’s failed campaign for the Senate in 1964. He supported another friend, future secretary of state James Baker, when he lost the race for Texas attorney general in 1978. He helped a young man named Karl Rove set up his first direct-mail firm, leasing office space to him in his building (Whittington still sits on the board of Rove’s consulting firm).….
(nswfm note: If that ain’t Karma, I don’t know what is….)
Whittington enters his kitchen with a curious set of garments on a hanger.
“Take a look,” he urges, holding out a baseball cap emblazoned with the name of a hunting resort, and a hunting vest, both in safety orange. The vest has been sliced up the side, as if someone was trying to remove it in a hurry. Its surface is splattered with brownish, irregularly shaped bloodstains.
Mercedes Whittington almost blanches when she sees the vest. “It was just awful,” she says, as her husband offers a closer look.
Harry Whittington saved the vest not just as a souvenir but as a warning. He shows it to friends, and to the children of friends, to illustrate the dangers of firearms. “It’s an education for them,” he says….
News accounts routinely described Whittington as Cheney’s “old friend” and “hunting buddy.” In fact, the two men barely knew each other. Before the shooting, they had met briefly only three times since the mid-1970s and had never gone hunting together before. “The most you could say is that he was an acquaintance,” Whittington says….
This violates two basic rules of hunting safety, says Ralph Stuart, the editor of Shooting Sportsman, a hunting magazine. The first is the shooter’s obligation to ensure that he has a clear line of fire before pulling the trigger. The second is the “blue-sky rule,” meaning that a hunter shouldn’t fire until he can see blue sky beneath a bird, thus greatly reducing the chances of hitting another hunter or dog. “Quail often fly low and demand lower shots,” Stuart points out, but that makes it “doubly important” that the shooter is aware of what’s between him and the bird and just beyond.
But did Cheney ever say in private what he didn’t say in public? Did he ever apologize?
“I’m not going to go into that,” he says sharply after a short pause.
Harry Whittington is too gracious to say it out loud, but he doesn’t dispute the notion, either.
Nearly five years on, he’s still waiting for Dick Cheney to say he’s sorry.
nswfm:
Wow, is the media lying about stuff? Not reporting the truth? Our dearly beloved corporate-owned media? Say it ain’t so, Joe!
I was just going to ask if anyone was having trouble with Shannyn’s livestream. I got about 15 secs of a commercial and that was it.
“We incentivized business to come to Wasilla.”
Oh dear heavens. How this rankles. It’s such junk English to do this to one word rather than choose the correct one–motivate.
Incentivize” – This is not a real word. But for some reason “motivate”, which IS a real word and is a synonym for “incentivize” is simply not appropriate. This is probably because it lacks the flashy “-ize” ending, which sounds very active. Ex. “Lets give the sales people extra commissions to incentivize them to sell.
I meant to include this link:
http://www.rowanmagazine.com/features/feature12/
If you want some laughs, read the comments:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/sarah-palin-promises-to-be-more-rogue/article1756357/
The comments are great! 🙂
Just what is the jobless rate in socialist Canada where Palin and her family stole heath care when she was a kid?
lol @Irishgirl, Thank you and thank you CO almost native. I feel better now. Damn I have to work now. =)
Am I too late to give you hug? (((zyggy))) !
AWW.. Zyggy. we loves our Zyggy.
I’m sending a virtual lemonade (soft) so you can have it at work. 🙂
((hugs)) from Colorado, also. too.
Waaaaaaaah, I need a hug. Shannyn’s live stream is down and I can’t listen to her show today. I am so bummed. If I wasn’t at work, I would drown my sorrows in alcohol. =(
(((((zyggy))))). The spam filter tried to block the hugs!
{{{{{zyggy}}}}}
(sending you a virtual margarita, also, too.)
{{{{{{{{{{{{{{ zyggy }}}}}}}}}}}}}}
Miller and all he represents is just fear – fear of minorities, fear of the President’s race, fear of government, and on and on. What spineless nonsense. For our children, we have to keep working at helping our country finds its courage again. President Obama has been the most remarkable president since FDR. He rescued America from a second Great Depression. He ended the war in Iraq. He put this country back on the right track. Now we need the courage to stay the course as the economy recovers, as national health care emerges, and as new jobs are created.
and a hearty amen to that Polarbear!!!
I’d like to be the courageous, skilled, diligent, investigative reporter that finally takes palin down…getting some indictments that stick, some jail time, some large fines, some confiscations of property, and resulting in so much baggage-she is like kryptonite to superman, meaning nobody would want to get involved with her in any capacity…her multi-million $ speaking engagements would be over! ahhhh, there will be peace in our world and AK can go back to being it’s sleepy little community in the North.
Another gentle reminder that today’s “All Things Considered” looked into the money flowing into the political campaigns and how little disclosure was given–despite very little required.
I gotta say, I keep thinking that the Citizens United case is going to make even MORE money-laundering possible than ever before. With ever-expanding impact throughout society.
Or maybe I’m just being paranoid today. I find it very disturbing though (the lack of transparency).
You are not being paranoid; there have been several articles recently about this- and how it will be worse, for all parties, in 2012.
Lack of transparency is a huge problem. Absolutely need transparency in elections and in democracies.
I would like to be someone who wakes up tomorrow morning and realizes that the whole Party of No and the Tea Party and crazoid candidates was just a nightmare that is now fading. I would like to rejoice in a single payer health care system that ensures everyone gets affordable access to health care, that renewable energy is our nation’s number one priority with everyone pledging to do their share to make it happen, and that we are rebuilding our infrastructure thereby providing jobs to anyone willing and able to work on these projects. Wow – I can’t wait to get to bed tonight just in case it comes true. I would really like to be the person who first realizes that we’ve been worrying for no reason.
Me too. Budge over, don’t hog the blankets and I’ll provide my own pillow!
Has there been any Local reporting from boots-on-the-ground about Snookie P’s favorite Witch Dr. coming back for a visit.
http://www.wasillaag.org/
He had an event last night. Don’t know if it was a prayer or a chasing demons Exorcism or what.
He will be up there all weekend.
Maybe Joe Miller has asked for some ‘ divine help ‘ from Him and Rev. Muthee will be laying his hands on Him with a Prayer as well. His Campaign needs ‘ something ‘ right now.
Those ” Old -Fashioned ” methods like answering Questions at Press Conferences.. just don’t seem to be working
did he bring his, I mean Trig’s, birth certificate with him? **snark**
The debate last night on CNN—–Christine O’Donnell and Chris Coons. What a Show!!!! Whew!
Of course we will have to look-up her web site to get some answers—–is what she told Wolf Blitzer last night to one of his questions. Think Wolf missed a question when she said that American fought the Russians in Afganistan. WHAT???? When?????? That is a new one on me. Of course with all the other statements she made, it was hard to keep up——Think there were some chuckles from the college students in the audience.
Tea Party’s version of American History for Dummies.
I caught the second half, it was hilarious!
Of course we fought the Russians in Afghanistan! It was in that Rambo movie! Sylverster Stallone took out the Russian attack helicopter with a rocket launcher! If I saw it in a Hollywood movie, it must be true!
I had a book for a post graduate class that sited Stand and Deliver the movie as the source for information on Jamie Escalante. A Hollywood movie! And it was an area where the movie had taken a great deal of liberties. The Dean got an earful about department standards for choosing textbooks, I can tell you. The “professor” was no better. The book had actually been written by a professor! The book, which I paid handsomely for, was all crup and the class was a waste of time, energy, paper, work, ink, and so on.
No wonder educators aren’t ready to teach. Their classes, even on the post graduate level, aren’t worth the vice presidency.
So I don’t have much trouble seeing these nincompoops running for office. There’s a lot of stupid people out there.
I once had a univ textbook that proclaimed an unmarried woman could not use tampons due to her “precoital hymen”. (Gaaak!) The course prof had been using the textbook for over 10-years and no one had caught that little bit of gross misinformation. Steady royalties to the author, the selfsame course’s prof, but gross mininformation, nonetheless. I was not impressed with either the prof’s ‘knowledge’ or proofreading skills … or with those who’d taken the course before me and who hadn’t questioned the ‘fact’ being taught to students [and being imparted by the textbook]. beth.
Reminds me of a civil service test I took in the late 80s. One of the first aid questions asked what to do in case of a burn. The answer they considered ‘correct’ was to put butter on it!
Someone I know failed the test by one question and protested that one. The test was finally rewritten to reflect modern first aid practices. Who knows how long that same question would have been left on the test if there hadn’t been a protest.
And we have a college/university system that is the envy of the world? If this is what out “experts” are putting out, imagine what it’s like in other countries.
He’s nice, but he isn’t a duck. Wouldn’t you rather be a duck?
How about an albatross?
The REAL kind–not the political ones you find in such large supply!
Wouldn’t YOU rather be an otter?
(Being a raven would be pretty cool, too. The ones at our house are very well fed!)
Otter? Cool!
ducks are better…. nice and tasty on the grill,,,,seagulls and otters taste too fishy….
Don Young just proposed starting up a new season on otters!!!!
Go Ducks!
I would like to be a fly on the wall at Miller’s campaign headquarters as he beats his head against the wall writing his farwell speech to the State of Alaska saying he done wrong.
I don’t need to be the fly on the wall. I just really, really want to hear him make that speech.
No, I do not think he will concede for one minute. Remember that he is on the attack now with his legal flea, lookin’ to put some of those yakky borough employees up against the LAW. Like he would know a law if it hit him in his half beard.
If he concedes, he’ll be forever labeled a wimp. This man has tons of ambition, and zero class, and he’s going to fight from the gutter like the Twit. Those kids will start flying out of the closet and right into his campaign as props, you betcha. Kathleen is a little too weird to use as a prop – she makes one scared for oneself and feeling mousy about it just looking at her.
He’s a vindictive, angry liar much like Palin – at least all indications so far look to be that way. He won’t hand Lisa one single vote by stepping aside. He has to prove his feet are big, you know… Joe – we already know. Your feet are so big that they are permanently stuck in your mouth – and COD doesn’t like it when you do that.
The tactic now is to discredit the former mayor who spoke out, and figure out how to get the kids and family inserted between himself and disappointed / disgusted Alaskans to fend off the blows.
I wonder if his wife is getting more abuse than usual these days. He can take his anger out on her. I do have concerns about her.
Build ’Em and They’ll Come
By Thomas L. Friedman
“Kishore Mahbubani, the dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, is over for tea and I am telling him about what I consider to be the most exciting, moon-shot-quality, high-aspiration initiative proposed by President Obama that no one has heard of. It’s a plan to set up eight innovation hubs to solve the eight biggest energy problems in the world. But I explain that the program has not been fully funded yet because Congress, concerned about every dime we spend these days, is reluctant to appropriate the full $25 million for each center, let alone for all eight at once, so only three are moving ahead. But Kishore interrupts me midsentence..…………
…Welcome to Tea Party America. Think small and carry a big ego.”……….
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/opinion/13friedman.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage
Bingo!!!
Glad I just sent another donation to Scott this morning
Someone just posted this on the adn comments board and I honestly don’t know if it’s a joke or if this is real, but here you go (and it did give me a much needed chuckle).”
“Apparently some people have given Joe “Toto” Miller a new dog. He will be holding a news conference soon. A draft of his speech has leaked.
“My Fellow Alaskans:
I come before you tonight as a candidate for the U.S. Senate and as a man whose honesty and integrity have been questioned.
The usual political thing to do when charges are made against you is to either ignore them or to deny them without giving details.
I believe we’ve had enough of that in the United States, particularly with the present Administration in Washington, D.C. To me the office of a United States Senator is a great office and I feel that the people have got to have confidence in the integrity of the men who run for that office and who might obtain it.
I have a theory, too, that the best and only answer to a smear or to an honest misunderstanding of the facts is to tell the truth. And that’s why I’m here tonight. I want to tell you my side of the case.
I am sure that you have read the charge and you’ve heard that I, Joe Miller, illegally used Fairbanks computer equipment for partisan political purposes.
Now, was that wrong? And let me say that it was wrong—I’m saying, incidentally, that it was wrong and not just illegal. Because it isn’t a question of whether it was legal or illegal, that isn’t enough. The question is, was it morally wrong? ………..
One other thing I probably should tell you because if we don’t they’ll probably be saying this about me too, we did get something-a gift-after the primary. A family down in Wasilla- the Palins- heard Kathleen on the radio mention the fact that our two youngest kids would like to have a dog. And, believe it or not, the day before we left on this campaign trip we got a message from FedEx saying they had a package for us. We went down to get it. You know what it was.
It was a little cocker spaniel dog in a crate that they’d sent all the way from Wasilla. Black and white spotted. And our little girl named it Checkers. And you know, the kids, like all kids, love the dog and I just want to say this right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we’re gonna keep it.”
I am not a crook, I am not a crook?!?
Lol, good one. 🙂
Clever, clever Nixonesque post. Is Miller old enough to get it? Maybe I should have said smart enough– then the answer is obviously, no. heh heh.
Am thinking Sourdough Mullet may have been back at work at the ADN comment threads… kinds sounds like it 🙂
Miller’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy! See Andrew Halcro’s blog:
http://www.andrewhalcro.com/millers_dont_ask_dont_tell_policy
I still can’t believe Joe just came out and said what he said. If that was a scripted, planned move then he has a bunch of clowns running his campaign. Somehow I think it was his temper getting the better of him, kind of like when you are writing an angry email and later decide to not send it after you cool down. Except there is no way Miller can ‘unsend’ this one.
I like Halco’s presentation, up until the end when it says to write in Leesa’s name on the ballot.
The ONE true Alaskan who will serve the people’s interests, instead of his own, who will speak up for the people of Alaska, instead of, like Leesa, for her corporate bedfellows in Washington, is Scott McAdams.
Vote Democratic.
Vote Scott McAdams for Alaska Senator.
This commercial brought to you by someone truly pissed off at the fans of Leesa who forget that she how she morphed from a moderate to a right-wing Republican in the last couple of years. She still sees herself as a mouthpiece for industry, corporations, the wealthy, BP, and other bedfellows who pay her way. The middle class, the poor, the needy, the unemployed, the sick — be damned.
Go Scott!
Some good stuff from Matt Taibbi and the Rude Pundit, too!
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/matt-taibbi/blogs/TaibbiData_May2010/218982/83512
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2010/10/for-gop-candidates-having-past-means.html
I’ll switch with you for one day only!
Ah, but wait, cool, bordering on cold air, crisp, crackling dry leaves on the forest floor, the intoxicating aroma of late fall in the air. What could possibly be better that? I don’t think Mr. Gull holds a candle to Fall in the Great Land. Just my thoughts.
we had heavy frost early this morning too. No snow in sight though
And ready to fly south for some sunshine?
Come over to my place. It’s 86 degrees and squirrels are coming up to the door for peanuts.
=)