Congratulations...

I was impressed by the debaters. Never would I be able to remember off-the-cuff all the stuff they had to, in order to stay on the rails. I would fluff my lines from the start and forget what the subject was about from the beginning... I can't use old age as an excuse as this affliction has plagued me since early childhood. Yes, It's easy for a cartoonist to portray the Veep aspirants with their trousers down (see above), when the cartoonists has had his own at the base of his legs most of the time.

Sure the debate spread was limited to a predictable gourmet range:

Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea as the foreign creamy dessert with the ubiquitous mentions of how America is great, which it is, and how it's going to stay number one by vanquishing its enemies... Victory in Iraq, Victory in Afghanistan... Kick-ass the nuclear ambitions of Iran and help Pakistan defeat the "terrorists". Apart from a few minor points on who said what-when in the past, both were on the same flatitude wavelength, selling the same cream puffs under different brands. The slosh and flotsam of foreign bizos are very complicated and it's always hard to know who's pulling the strings in order to profit more at the merry-go-round. It's simpler to refer to foreign policies as dealing with the baddies and the goodies. Our friends and the enemy. Thus the Castro brothers got their usual mention for being nasty dictators while "democracy alla Americana" should be spread like greasy GM margarine throughout the world... "They hate our freedoms"... We'll thus force them to drink this Freedomola nonetheless.

Energy was one of the entry platters on which Palin was at ease, tucking into the possible and importance of self-sufficiency of the US of A... We all know that the US has been scouring the world for cheap sources of energy in order to preserve its own until the time comes. There are still nasty rumours for example that the 1974 (?) oil crisis had been engineered by the US foreign department to a) make life difficult for its competitors because at the time, the US were 80 per cent self-sufficient, and b) to provide the Arabs with quick money so they could buy US weapons and US friendship... But I digress.

The state of the economy was the main course. "Change" in various sauces would of course clean up the corruption and the greed out of the machine... Greed and corruption out???... nar... In the US federal government? whoa!... That's very brave, foolish or pie in the sky, or could be a sweet change of label as is often the case. Both thus supported the "rescue package" of the arbitrary US$700 Billions to pump more credit into a world already addicted to credit. Drugs to the addicts... Both sides thus mentioned greed and corruption as if they were entrenched institutions to be thrown out, like a dead weight in your car — you know, those cement bags that you've loaded one day in the boot and forgot about. But you also forgot about the hundred bricks as well... They breed. Both Veep candidates did not see the US$700 billion package as corrupt... Some cartoonists do, but on the scale of importance in the world, they score below zero.

And what about the middle class? Wasn't Middle Class America showered with golden promises that only good clever targeted spruiking can virtualise. No mention of the poor or of the rich. If you really want to know, the first lot is not salvageable while the latter folks can take care of themselves, including smartly dip their deft fingers into the US$700 billions kitty.

So, the future-Veeps battleground was for the mums and dads of SUV America, the centre portion of a country whose aspirations are round, simple — not unlike lampoon vacation — and faith driven. No to gay marriages but both dancers were in support of recognising the weirdo partner in visiting rights, in insurance et al. Tolerated but not "recognised".

Good old middle class workhorse, pulling the cart while the rich drive in the padded front seat — and the poor poopascoopa behind. That's the natural order of things.

Palin seems to represent the determined country-women who during the day drive the four-wheel drive pick-up, the tray of which is loaded with a ton of hay, a motorbike and the kelpie — and the 44 gallon drum half-full of old dirty diesel. On the transom of the truck, the sticker says it all: "I have PMS and a gun. What's your problem?."... you know the gun is on the front seat. Play it cool. At night they'll cook you a smashing three vegs and a roast —no fancy bits, except when you, in your male-hood apron with painted boobs, barbecue the special on weekends — and send the kids to bed with slaps behind the ears. Your woman. You do as you're told...

Jo Biden represents the male workers in offices and factories whose great ambitions are to get, as soon as possible, out of the place, after maximum overtime, to go fishing on the lake with junior. On Sundays, the tool shed or the cellar is used to build a billycart or repair the side table... and the lawns are mowed under fierce instructions from the missus. The dreams are simple, repetitive and undemanding. The hours of the days are fairly predictable. Golf is a passionate pass-time of drives and putts. Homer Simpson goes to mass, except on really cold Sundays.

And good old Maverick himself got a good airing — support and bash... The roaming word being used by Palin to describe McCain as if being a loose cannon was a good thing... Meanwhile Biden did his best to show that McCain was only a fake maverick, as McCain's record of actions and votes in the Senate showed his collar and chain... Obama was but a puff in the ether...

All's well in the best of the world. We can sleep easy, as long as our cash is under our pillow.

Yes Gus, and why wouldn't we be impressed with the organised theatrics of the republican/democrat machine which, at the end of the day, ensures that the real owners of the US government never lose their grip?

Phoney politicians & a phoney debate ... probably canned laughter to go with it.

See No Debate

Unleashed, Palin Makes a Pit Bull Look Tame

 

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, October 7, 2008; A03

FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 6 John McCain is collapsing in the polls in Florida and other swing states, but Sarah Palin, God bless her, has a solution.

"For me, the heels are on, the gloves are off," she announced at high noon Monday to a group of Republican donors at the Naples Beach Club.

You betcha.

As the donors sipped their bloody marys and mimosas, she added, in a conspiratorial stage whisper, "I'm sending the message back to John McCain also: Tomorrow night in his debate, might as well take the gloves off."

Darn right.

Of course, it's not only gloves and heels; headgear has a role, too. "Okay, so, Florida, you know that you're going to have to hang on to your hats," she said at a morning rally in Clearwater, "because from now until Election Day, it may get kind of rough."

Say it ain't so, Sarah!

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a McCain confidant, told The Post's David Broder that the campaign would "go down in history as stupid if they don't unleash" Palin. Well, the self-identified pit bull has been unleashed -- if not unhinged.

Barack Obama, she told 8,000 fans at a rally here Monday afternoon, "launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist!" This followed her earlier accusation that the Democrat pals around with terrorists. "This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America," she told the Clearwater crowd. "I'm afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country." The crowd replied with boos.

Meanwhile at Saturday Nigth Live

October 11, 2008

Panel Finds Palin Abused Authority in Firing State Official

By MITCHELL L. BLUMENTHAL and JACK HEALY

A legislative committee investigating Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, the Republican vice presidential candidate, issued a report Friday night that found she unlawfully abused her authority by firing the state’s public safety commissioner.

While the report concluded that a family grudge was not the only reason for dismissing the commissioner, Walter Monegan, it said it was probably a contributing factor.

“Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: To get Trooper Michael Wooten fired,” said the report, which was issued in Anchorage.

Mr. Monegan has insisted that he was dismissed as retribution for resisting pressure to fire a Trooper Wooten, who was involved in a bitter divorce with the governor’s sister. Ms. Palin said Mr. Monegan was fired as part of a legitimate budget dispute.

Ms. Palin told reporters at a campaign stop in Ohio on Thursday that she has nothing to hide. “It’s a governor’s right and responsibility to make sure that they have the right people in the right place at the right time to best serve the people who hired them, and for me, the people of Alaska, so my cabinet’s got to be the right cabinet for the people of Alaska,” she said.

In another setback for Ms. Palin, a judge on Friday ordered the state of Alaska to preserve any government-related e-mail messages that Gov. Sarah Palin sent from private accounts.

read more at the NYT

 

 How Palin Can Save Mainstream Media

By Kathleen Parker
Tuesday, October 14, 2008; 4:55 PM

NEW YORK -- Whatever their other contributions to politics and the nation, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama have been crack for the news business.

Across the spectrum, viewership, Internet traffic and readership are way up during this interminable election season.

But what happens when it's over? Will there be enough news to sustain the bounce? And, that persistent obstacle: How can the mainstream media improve their image?

These were some of the questions addressed by panelists at a Time Warner media summit here this week -- "Politics 2008: The Media Conference for the Election of the President." The answer may be right under their noses. Sarah Palin.

Love her or hate her, Palin has done for media ratings what she did for the Republican base. Her debate with Joe Biden was the most-watched cable TV show for viewers ages 18 to 34, according to Jonathan Klein, president of CNN/U.S.

Obama has had a similar effect.

Jim VandeHei, executive editor of Politico, reported that traffic on politico.com is "exponentially higher" for Palin- and Obama-related stories.

Whereas the mainstream media are widely viewed as being pro-Obama, the same media are viewed as being hostile toward Palin. It is possible to be critical of Palin's lack of qualifications and experience without conveying contempt, but that hasn't always been the case. Early attacks on Palin's personal life and family values were perceived as unfair by those who already viewed the media skeptically.

To those folks, it is laughable when the media ask themselves, "Are we too elitist?" The answer seems to be implicit in the question.

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To carrion or not to carrion... see toon at top for what it's worth...

Oil plummets as US supplies surge

Oil briefly plunged below $US69 a barrel, bringing its price to less than half its July record high after the government reported massive increases in US crude and gasoline supplies.

Investors took the news as more evidence that a global credit crisis and a shaky economy are curbing demand for oil, which at one point Thursday fell to its lowest level in nearly 16 months.

The selloff in crude came despite an announcement by OPEC that it was moving up by almost a month an emergency meeting to discuss oil's rapid drop in value, including whether or not a production cut is needed. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will now meet October 24 at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, instead of November 18.

Oil market traders ignored the statement, convinced that prices are headed lower.

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In the blog congratulations above I mention:

..."Energy was one of the entry platters on which Palin was at ease, tucking into the possible and importance of self-sufficiency of the US of A... We all know that the US has been scouring the world for cheap sources of energy in order to preserve its own until the time comes. There are still nasty rumours for example that the 1974 (?) oil crisis had been engineered by the US foreign department..."...

Thus like Rudd throwing out 10.4 billion of his surplus because the time has come, The US boffins probably under Cheney's instructions may have use a little of the US oil reserves (stored and still underground) to manipulate the market and possibly ease the pressure on McCain... while in a little while the OPEC countries will tighten the supply, stuffing up the economies of Europe and other countries, while the US might cruise through... or the next president  will have to deal with a bigger problem...

Who knows...