The International House of Bacon

I don’t know how to feel:

1) I don’t know enough to decide whether we need a bailout, although people I trust think we do.

2) Whether we need a bailout or not, I’m hardly convinced the bill that hit the House today was the right way to do it.

3) I don’t know whether to be happy or sad that the bill got shot down.

4) Even if I’m happy, I don’t know how to feel regarding the fact that my local clueless representative, Carol Shea-Porter, voted no.

5) Is Nancy Pelosi the worst majority leader ever or what?

I haven’t been to a concert since R.E.M. back in June, but there are finally two concerts coming up that I’m ridiculously excited about.

* The “Elephant Six Holiday Surprise Show” at the Church in Boston. New venue, and a weird lineup of E6 musicians doing what appears to be a holiday show. I have no clue what to make of it, quite honestly. It’s being presented as a variety show of sorts, there may be some sort of movie involved, I have no clue. But it sounds awesome.

* Kathleen Edwards at the Tupelo Music Hall. I love them to death for booking her, and it’s 20 minutes from our place. I’m so excited I could pee.

Let’s see what I can’t tear through…

* My only thoughts on the bailout - immensely stupid, shows a complete disregard for history and good government, and those of you who laughed when I compared Bush to FDR can begin eating your hats anytime now. But let’s not pretend it was deregulation - the regulatory structure is at the root of the crisis. Also, a good editorial from The Atlantic about the bailout that’s worth reading.

* Speaking of which, if you’re an Obama supporter upset about tossing $700b in cash away, are you as angry about Obama’s Global Poverty Act, which costs around the same amount? Just wondering.

* I’m ashamed to say I liked Paul Hackett. On one hand, I felt that he was the type of Democrat Democrats should look at. It seems that he’s just another nutter.

* On one hand, Eoin Colfer is a good-to-great children’s author. On the other, we REALLY don’t need a new Hitchhiker’s Guide. No, really, we don’t.

* Interesting poll: 89% of Americans believe taxes are too high. Obama wants to raise those? Oh, wait, the economy’s not in good enough shape. But still…

* Remember, McCain’s the only one running a dishonest campaign.

* Most of you won’t find this funny, but here’s an Obama word cloud from his speech in Hollywood last week.

* Matt Welch (author, McCain: Myth of a Maverick, a must read) on the libertarian case for McCain.

* QandO dissects Obama’s tax plan.

* Obama’s failure to create equal pay in his Senate office is coming up again. Why can’t he practice what he preaches?

* It’s John Lott, so this link comes with a huge grain of salt, but the numbers don’t really back up the “McSame” meme. Most of us who pay attention already knew this, though.

* The misleading numbers behind the uninsured Census numbers.

* McCain is at his best when he’s attacking, and when the McCain campaign calls out the New York Times for being partisan, that’s a plus for him. It doesn’t hurt that it’s true. More from Patterico and the campaign itself.

* Dear Barack Obama: $40 billion is not a “deep cut” in a $3 trillion budget, and $40b is not a cut at all when you’re proposing hundreds of billions in new spending. Same old politics?

* I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again - when the media reports on Sarah Palin, it’s probably safe to assume the opposite. The whole charging victims for rape kits issue keeps coming up. The problem? It appears that no one was ever charged for a rape kit in Wasilla. Follow the links in the second link to the discussions in the legislature where no one knows of any kits being charged, and that there’s a state agency that pays the bills already. Did CNN bother to research this? Probably not.

Okay, I’m done for now.

This is what happens when Geometry Wars and a pennant race end up replacing political writing in my evening free time.

* First, I may have jumped the gun on this: maybe the McCain ad about Obama and sex education wasn’t completely wrong. Someone also dug up this ABC report, where Obama comes right out and notes the situation. Honestly? It’s not a huge issue for me in either direction, but it’s lose-lose for Obama at this point - he can’t outright deny it without going back on both his word and the wording of the legislation, and he can’t endorse it without igniting a culture battle he can’t win.

* Also, perhaps the most important campaign issue that’s surfaced in the last week is Obama’s attempts to delay the troop withdrawal agreement until Bush leaves office. More detail here, there’s obviously a lot to pore through, but it makes one wonder why he’d complain about the money being spent on Iraq and call for an immediate withdrawal, and then turn around and try to delay a withdrawal plan. It’s very strange.

* With the financial news this week, it’s worth highlighting Don Luskin’s piece on the economy in the Washington Post. Few people get it the way Luskin gets it.

* Beldar on why Palin was right on the Charlie Gibson interview regarding the Bush Doctrine. The revisionism on the Doctrine is nothing short of astounding to me, and Gibson is complicit. By the way, ABC? Great editing job, really. Again, don’t trust the first thing you hear from the media regarding Palin. Ever.

* Oh, and that NYT piece on Palin over the weekend? That’s all they’ve got? He said, she said anecdotes? Riiiight.

* The Volokh Conspiracy had two posts on the whole book banning thing in Alaska as well. They’re very detailed and worth a look.

* Obama doesn’t consider commissions useful, unless he wants them.

* The Democrats bear no responsibility for the financial crisis, says Nancy Pelosi, except when they blocked a call for oversight of Fannie and Freddie. I don’t think anything other than the ridiculously large regulatory structure is to blame in terms of government, but the Pelosi claim doesn’t hold up considering the ideology.

* For some fun: Palin bags a Bigfoot, grading Obama’s response to the financial “crisis”, and viral Spore DRM protests.

A few pictures. First, this ran in the Manchester Union Leader:

Interestingly enough, the lady I was in conversation with was easily the nicest person I engaged with following the rally. We had a great, civil discussion on corporate taxes, and it was a decent conversation.

Finally, here’s the guy who called me a “Homo for McCain.” I don’t care as much as I’m happily amused that some guy who ran around selling Obama buttons felt that what most would consider homophobic statements would be worthwhile in support of a unity candidate:

Watched the Pats game late last night (woo Cassel!), so I might not have another post up today.

Or something to that effect. I did some signwaving as a sort of counter-rally to Obama’s campaign stop in Manchester tonight. Some thoughts.

* The McCain office here has it a bit more together than the local races. One would hope this would be the case anyway, but getting a response in quick time about the appearance was a nice change of pace.

* A lot of people still come out to see Obama. He didn’t fill the park, but it was a pretty busy scene on a whole. Lots of people from all over the region, if the car license plates were any indication.

* People are generally courteous. This was a surprise to me in a way - I expected a lot more vitriol than I recieved, and the only stunning thing (outside of people calling me an asshole) was the guy who decided I must be a “Homo for McCain” since “you’re obviously a homo if you’re for McCain.” It didn’t even make sense.

* Obama’s speech didn’t seem to resonate the way I’m used to seeing it. Maybe it’s because I’m sort of used to it, or maybe it was in fact because he was scaling back a bit because of the hurricane stuff, but it didn’t seem to get people as crazy excited as we’re used to.

* The media was fascinated by the handful of us, and there were some pretty nice people who were genuinely engaging and nice about it. Most didn’t care, but that wasn’t the point, I suppose.

Carolina Liar - “I’m Not Over”: A song I’ve been hearing on Sirius every so often, it’s a little crunchier than I might be used to, but it’s catchy as hell. Quite a good sing-along song, even if the chorus is kind of hokey.

Ingrid Michaelson - “Be Okay”: This is one of those names that I’ve heard, but never actually listened to. Another Sirius station has been playing this one a bit, and I don’t know what it is that grabs me with this song, but it’s a very cathartic tune. Georgy, you should check this one out.

Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst: For no reason whatsoever, I had been not listening to this CD since I bought it, but on the way home from Wells last weekend, we threw it in - what a great album. It’s better than the limited Bright Eyes stuff I’ve heard, it feels very complete, and has a good three or four excellent tracks on it. If you like country rockish type stuff, or if you think you’d like the album but have been holding off, pick it up, it’s worth your time and money.

Vivian Girls - “Tell the World”: This is borderline tonedeaf, I know. With that said, this song is constantly stuck in my head and I don’t know why. I can’t figure out what it reminds me of. Liz Phair meets Sonic Youth meets the Raveonettes? I don’t know, but it’s wicked, wicked good.

The Virgins - “Rich Girls”: I don’t care if it sounds like every other song like it, I think it’s catchy. So poo on you.

Flobots - “Handlebars”: I know i’m late to the party on this one, but there’s something in this song that just grabs me. It’s probably the slow build or something, but it’s a pretty decent song if you’ve never heard it. The other songs I’ve heard from them, not so much, but this isn’t typically my style, either.

This is how most political conversations at our pad have been going as of late:

Ann: “Hey, did you hear about [story about Palin].”
Jeff: “Yeah, pretty interesting. Too bad it’s not true.”
Ann: *scream*

I don’t know what’s sadder - that there’s still this much nonsense bandied about concerning Palin, or that I feel I have to do a third post on it. For those sick of it, a) too bad, and b) I’ll have (hopefully) two non-political posts up today as well. First post here, second here. Share, laugh, enjoy! Palin on top, other stuff on the bottom.

* For a great dump of every rumor, check this out. Staggering, really.

* FactCheck has started getting into the act, too, killing four rumors, including the book banning one that at least 9 people linked me to. Not to mention the library listservs. And Facebook. And I’m sure I’ll see it in Publisher’s Weekly and School Library Journal.

* May as well address this once more, even though people have largely given up on it: Sarah Palin was no surprise.

* Her experience as Alaskan National Guard Commander in Chief isn’t insignificant. I also don’t think it matters much, but some do.

* Palin is pro-contraception and is not in favor of abstinence-only education.

* There’s nothing to the per diem “scandal”.

* Another reason to like Palin: only one of three governors to sign a “Jury Rights Day” proclamation.

* The decline and fall of The Olbermann Empire. Okay, so he’s probably not going anywhere, but I can’t help but chuckle at this entire thing. I grew up watching the guy on ESPN, and to see where he’s at now is more than a little sad.

* An interesting read on the Catholic priest shortage.

* I can’t believe I’m apparently the only person to refer to this as “Fauxba Chamberlain. To give it context, some guy is apparently a dead ringer for Yankee pitcher King Hippo Joba Chamberlain, and was able to get free food, booze, and over 100 ladies with this. Now he’s been arrested. Kind of a neat metaphor for the Yankees season, ain’t it?

* Someone is willing to donate marble to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to replace it. The federal government won’t take it because it hasn’t gone through a bidding process.

* The Census shows 3.6m more people have health insurance in 2007 than the year prior. Naturally, Barack Obama sees this as evidence that 7.2m more people were uninsured. Mmmm, math.

* Fun with statistics.

* Obama as community organizer.

* A history of Gallup bounces. Interesting statistics.

* If this doesn’t sicken you politically, nothing will. “While 82% of voters who support McCain believe the justices should rule on what is in the Constitution, just 29% of Barack Obama’s supporters agree. Just 11% of McCain supporters say judges should rule based on the judge’s sense of fairness, while nearly half (49%) of Obama supporters agree.” How is this even remotely acceptable?

* In some good news, the Supreme Court is willing to rehear Kennedy v. Louisiana in the wake of Justice Kennedy’s “national consensus” commentary. Good move.

* In a surprise, independents appear to be breaking hard for McCain. How much of this is bounce and how much is permanent remains to be seen.

* WANT. If anyone has disposable income and loves me, they should get me this.

* Finally, how Robert Heinlein responded to letters. Such a fascinating man.

Oh, and one other thing? The lipstick on a pig thing? Dumb by Obama, but dumber to keep pressing on. The McCain ad about sex ed? Dumb dumb dumb. C’mon people, seriously.

This is rich:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Barack Obama says he would delay rescinding President Bush’s tax cuts on wealthy Americans if he becomes the next president and the economy is in a recession, suggesting such an increase would further hurt the economy.

I mean, this is funny, right? That he wants to increase taxes, but he recognizes that the hikes would hurt the economy, so he’ll wait? Wait until what? This also assumes Obama can recognize a recession. Perhaps he’ll see it as one for the next few years and abandon his tax plan.

Like the Bush tax cuts or not, they appear to have done the trick economically. Mythology aside, the economy responded very positively to the tax cuts, especially the capital gains cut of 2003/2004, and (if you’re into that sort of thing) made the tax code more “progressive”. Why anyone would want to reverse those anyway, I have no idea, but Obama even seems to recognize, at least in some way, how untenable his plan really is.

Well, that was a fun season.

A lot is made about Joe Biden’s middle-class heritage, how he’s relatively pedestrian when it comes to his wealth compared to Obama or McCain. Meanwhile, the guy is spending thousands on Amtrak tickets every year. For what? To get to the Senate by Amtrak? Seriously?

the guy is considered “the poorest man in the Senate.” It’s no wonder…

So it seems, interestingly enough, that Obama is suddenly taking offense at the suggestion that community organizers don’t do much. Maybe this explains him a bit more for me.

Just kind of going off the top of my head here - a community organizer like the type Obama served as has a very narrow constituency, thus creating a very narrow (if not narrower) role - advocacy for that community’s perceived needs on the group’s behalf, giving an extra hand where it may be necessary, etc. It’s a very useful role, and I don’t think anyone is saying that the role itself is useless, but rather that it’s nothing incredibly special - many people “organize communities” on a regular basis, and do so with no accolades or special anything. A librarian friend might consider her and I “community organizers,” but it’s not providing me with any experience that might, say, help me run a country. There are no significant responsibilities that can even begin to match up to the more overarching real work city manager types do - having to juggle all the constituents of a community, for instance.

I think this might account for Obama’s major policy failings - he approaches the campaign the same way a community organizer might. He’s got his pet issues, he knows where he thinks we need improvement, he listens to his “constituents,” and then goes after those who might stand in the way of that. Thus, when he hears someone like Phil Gramm talk about the “mental recession,” it doesn’t register with him because it doesn’t register with his constituent base. If - and this is only a theoretical example - he’s working for a group in Chicago that needs a new place to meet, and the city returns to him saying “the place you have is fine because of X, Y, and Z,” Obama would probably keep fighting that example, as his advocacy is simply toward the group he’s representing, not the larger population.

Obama’s campaign is the same way - few *dislike* the community organizer, but he can still be a bit of a pain, and you really wish he’d listen to more than one side. It’s up to Obama to start thinking less like a “community organizer” and more like a national politician who is representing multiple point of views. The problem is that, like one can assume when he was a community organizer, the minute he starts listening to anyone else, he’ll lose that constituency.

* More to the point about the entire RNC - did they hire Democratic hitmen to do the video montages? Those were horrid tonight.

* McCain really needs to start worrying about Palin overshadowing the ticket. I’m not sure that’d be a bad thing in some regards, but I can’t imagine it being a good thing either.

* Also, dudes - green screen? Blue screen? Seriously?

* McCain isn’t horrible tonight, he’s just not great. He didn’t need to be great, but he didn’t need Palin to overshadow him either. He’s bad at this kind of speech - part of me wonders if they just should have handed him a list of topics and let him riff for 30 minutes.

Palin on top, other stuff on the bottom. No rich creamy center, I’m not that kind of blogger. I’m way behind on links anyway, so this’ll be a doozy.

* To start, another note on the Bristol stuff - Sarah gave her oldest son, Track, a veto over her considering a Senate run in 2004. Beldar (a blogger who’s been more on top of Palin information than anyone else this week) notes quite obviously that it’s quite reasonable to suggest that the same offer was made regarding the VP slot.

* Cato notes that Palin’s tax record isn’t perfect, which we knew. Note the accurate description of the severence tax - you listening, Washington Post, New York Times, etc? As a counter, here’s a defense of the severence tax issue and more positives from Palin’s tax record in Alaska.

* Want to compare Obama and Palin a bit? Real Clear Politics does a solid job right here. Perhaps too heavy handed on the abortion stuff, but still a good general primer.

* Obama spokesperson Mark Bubriski had to retract a statement regarding Palin and Pat Buchanan. Defending on Robert Wexler’s nonsense about Buchanan being a Nazi sympathizer, it was a classy move by the Obama campaign to make that statement and to do so without any factual evidence. It turns out that Palin served on the Steve Forbes campaign, not Buchanan’s. Didn’t stop the media from running with it, though. The irony? Buchanan and Obama share similar Israel preferences.

* Sarah Palin: the best candidate small ‘l’ libertarians can expect on a major ticket.

* More on Vettinggate: Yuval Levin, Patterico channeling Beldar (see, Beldar!), The Washington Post (and don’t tell me the Post claims the opposite - you have to actually read the article to notice the important points), Jan Crawford Greenburg (who has always been good, and perhaps accidentally makes the case in the second half of the post), and Wizbang, and most importantly, Byron York (which should put this nonsense to rest). Let’s be clear - if an outlet is telling you that Palin wasn’t vetted, they are simply lying to you. It doesn’t pass the smell test or the fact test.

* More irresponsible media factchecking: Note the claim that Palin cut benefits for teen moms. The fact? The “cut” was actually slashing an increase from $5 million in additional funding to $3.9 million. In other words, the teen pregnancy center increased its funding significantly, just not as high as proposed before Palin got her knife out. Nope, no benefits were cut here, folks. Dead wrong. The worst part is the evidence linked on the Post website with it - it clearly says expansion. Ridiculously sloppy work.

* A religion-themed question and answer with the writer of Sarah Palin’s biography via Christianity Today.

* Palin’s administrative accomplishments. Put that up against Obama any day of the week, in my mind.

* Palin in a 2006 debate. Biden’s not going to eat her alive.

* The New Republic: The Case Against the Case Against Palin.

* If a lot of the above shows one theme, it’s that the media may be in for a heap of backlash for how they’ve treated this Palin situation. If they spent even a quarter of the time on Obama as they have on Palin, one can only imagine the outcome. But the right isn’t happy - in fact, it has probably set things back considerably in terms of media perception. And then people wonder why people believe the media is helping Obama win the election.

* Possible lazyblogging because I may have discussed this before, but did anyone notice environmental groups coming out against a CO2 scrubbing technology because it would reduce the need to reduce usage of fossil fuels? I don’t like the hype that environmentalists are trying to shove us into a technological dark age or trying to knock the west down a peg, but stuff like this doesn’t really help that perception, either.

* Considering the Palin mythbusting that has to occur, it’s lax of me not to have linked Wizbang’s McCain Mythbusting post from a week ago. Irresponsible all around.

* Did everyone see the new Census figures? They came out the day of the Obama DNC speech, which makes one wonder why it didn’t get a mention. Among it’s findings - there are fewer people without health insurance (both number and ratio), the number of poor and middle class have both decreased while the number of upper class have increased, and median income rose.

* Fact: I drove through this tax revolt on my way to work the day it happened, and if I didn’t have an EZPass, I would have been late.

* QandO offered a critique of Bill Clinton’s speech at the DNC.

* The Aussie meat pie revolt.

* Fred Thompson is rolling out a new political action committee, FredPAC. I got the e-mail announcement last night - it’s designed to reach the goals of a Constitutional federal government and responsible taxation, among others. This could end up being a very positive PAC for me to look into.

* Speaking of taxes, an informal poll of Democratic delegates regarding tax rates at the DNC showed some surprising results.

* Randy Mott, a guy who doesn’t blog enough, has a huge data dump regarding the last 10 years of climate change.

* One final fun link: Seven gaming consoles that were never meant to be.

Still loved it. I assumed I’d come down from the high a bit, but seeing the reactions on both sides of the aisle tell me I wasn’t wrong in seeing the speech as a winner. The killer part to remember is that the speech was factual - unlike most of what’s been thrown at Palin this week - and can easily be backed up by her actions. A lot of people want to compare it to Obama’s 2004 speech, and I’m not sure they’re in the same league - Obama was just talking in 2004, this was more.

I’m anxious to see the polls in the next few days. I’m anxious to see McCain not blow it tonight. I’m anxious, so here’s the cutest/funniest part of the speech last night, for those who didn’t get to watch:

I’m very excited about this speech. Between seeing the leaks and the fact that she needs to hit a home run here, there’s a lot for me to be excited about. So yeah…

10:30: Here goes nothing. Huge ovation…don’t screw this up…

10:31: Still cheering. She’s got quite the game face - if she’s really thrown by this, she’s not showing it.

10:33: A pin - “the hottest VP from the coolest state.” Love it. I’d like to not hear about the POW stuff anymore. Sarah, it’s your time to shine!

10:35: Ann: “She looks very comfortable.”

10:36: Cut to Alaska, and they’re going nuts, the way only Alaskans can - with beer.

10:38: It may be my inherent pro-Palin bias talking, but my goodness she seems quite determined talking about her kids. It doesn’t really affect me much, but I can imagine it being a hit.

10:40: Old chicks LOVE Todd Palin.

10:41: OMG. Sarah’s daughter licking Trig’s cowlick down. OMG OMG.

10:44: Okay, she’s cruising now. The community organizer line killed, so did the pitbull joke (which isn’t all that funny), the “bitter” stuff. Way to go, CNN, on cutting to the Code Pink moron during the best line of the night so far, though. Idiots.

10:48: She’s doing the resume stuff now. She’s pretty much establishing the meme the media wants to ignore, which is good. The eBay line was fun, too. Got a good reaction.

10:50: Sarah Palin has spent the last 2 minutes, and is still, factchecking the numerous errors we’ve been seeing promoted. Good for her - I’m really glad she’s doing that, and I hope she keeps that up in the coming days and weeks.

10:53: It just dawned on me how easily she’s addressing the multiple international issues concerning energy. It’s not stilted at all, and if the media can do its job a bit, it might note how well she’s able to deal with that.

10:54: And if anyone can seriously disagree with this energy plan, I dunno what to say. It’s so basic.

10:56: Oh man - she is really hitting Obama hard right now. It’s nice to hear. The right balance of humor and substance - good move, great line with the columns.

10:58: “…and let me be specific.” And then she is - fancy that. Dead on on the taxes, McCain needs to push that hard.

11:01: Things I didn’t realize about Sarah Palin: she can really deliver a small dig at someone with amazing ease. It’s very amusing.

11:02: Ann: “She looks like she’s enjoying herself.” I can’t disagree - that’s why this is working, I think, because she seems to be having fun.

11:06: Okay, seriously, enough POW talk. Everyone who is going to vote, along with everyone who isn’t, along with my cat, knows McCain was a POW and a war hero. We get it.

…and that’s it. I personally loved the speech - she certainly knows how to deliver one, that’s for sure. I’m curious as to how I’ll feel in the morning, but I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is going to play very well and silence a fair number of critics. If this is the Sarah Palin we’re going to get the next two months, the McCain camp is in good shape. She very much made the speech she needed to, and then some.

Also, wow - ballsy to bring Bristol out with the fiancee. Very ballsy. An interesting postscript.

EDIT: Full text for those interested.

1) Spore is out very soon. I need to find the money to pick this one up, I’ve been waiting years for it. YEARS, I tell you.

2) Tell me this game doesn’t seem awesome. It’s called Hinterland, and it’s sounding like one of the most interactive RPGs ever. It’s like SimCity meets Diablo, only awesomer. I hate to get too hyped up over this just to be disappointed, but still…

3) Magic: The Gathering for XBox Live? Hell yes.

August is over!

Books:

Big Boned - Meg Cabot: The Heather Wells stuff is my least favorite of the Cabot canon, and this one was pretty much the same for me - fun, but still a little draggy. I still think it’s the mystery element more than anything else that hangs me up.

Ultimate X-Men: The Tomorrow People/Return to Weapon X/World Tour/Hellfire and Brimstone/Ultimate War/Return of the King - Mark Millar: I’m enjoying the Ultimate-verse brand of X-Men, but the ages are really skewing me and since I’m actually somewhat familiar with the X-Men (unlike Spidey), a lot of stuff is still throwing me. But yeah, still a good time.

Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse - Victor Gischler: This book should be in Grindhouse 2. Seriously - anyone with any affinity for trash cinema needs to pick this book up. I really, really wish I had money so I could turn this into a movie myself, it was so damn fun. Seriously, give this one a shot - the most fun I’ve had with an adult book in a while.

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist - Rachel Cohn and David Levithan: I had never read the novel, and with the movie coming out, I had to catch up. It’s a very good read, very interesting and probably more orthodox now given the YA glut we’re experiencing than it was at first publication. My fear, however, is that the movie is going to get it all wrong. All very, very wrong.

The Chris Farley Show - Tom Farley: Interview-style biography of the late Chris Farley. Interesting and sad all rolled into one.

Spindrift - Allan Steele: Fact: I’m a sucker for any decently-well-written “first contact” novel. For whatever reason, that area of science fiction always catches me. This is one of the very good ones - hard enough sci-fi where it’s believable, and a story well done enough where you honestly care when things go down. Rock solid, and I’ve already taken his other books out of the library.

The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel - Michael Scott: I didn’t think I’d like this kids adventure of an immortal and the elders fighting against evil, but it works. Works surprisingly well.

Prom Dates From Hell - Rosemary Clement-Moore: For a formulaic teen demon-hunting novel, this was a lot of fun. Certainly not groundbreaking, but I struggled to put this one down, so that means something. That’s the basic sign of a good book, right?

It’s Not News, It’s Fark - Drew Curtis: The Fark founder talks about what he’s observed from the news. It’s a good bathroom read - it’s like Fark if Fark was a magazine.

Movies:

Tropic Thunder/Pineapple Express/Hamlet 2: I’m bunching all three of these together because my feeling on them is essentially the same - how, exactly, can you take such great concepts and make them so unfunny. Hamlet 2 was the best of the bunch - it had heart and fun in places the other two lacked - but even then, the film dragged in so many areas. We nearly walked out of Pineapple Express it was so dull, and Tropic Thunder was an immense waste of non-Cruise talent. What happened?!

If there’s one downside to Palinpalooza, it’s the complete lack of critical examination of the quickly-forgotten DNC speech by Barack Obama. One of the better fact checks I’ve seen on it, interestingly, comes from the AP. I’ve understood Obama to be factually challenged for a while now anyway, but it’s good to see the media stepping up for once along the way. I’d like to highlight a couple of these, plus some of my own:

”Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under $5 million a year?”’

A flaw in the political process the last few years is the apparent inability for the left to understand the difference between policy and satire. Now, I know that conservatives generally aren’t funny, but guess what - when Bush says “a dictatorship would be easier,” it’s a laugh line. When McCain jokes about a random number and then actually explains his position directly after, the joke ain’t the policy. I expect the drones at Daily Kos or TPM to run with a joke line as policy, but not a Presidential candidate. Hell, this goes as far back as “the bombing begins in 15 minutes” line from Reagan - if you’re to the point where you can run for President on a major party ticket, those concepts are appropriately grasped. That Obama feels the need to highlight that in a national speech shows either a gross misunderstanding of McCain’s policy or a severe lack of understanding of basic humor. Neither of which are a good thing.

”And when one of his chief advisers — the man who wrote his economic plan — was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a ‘mental recession,’ and that we’ve become, and I quote, ‘a nation of whiners.”’

On Thursday morning, the second quarter GDP numbers were revised, with export sales leading the charge (rich irony given Obama’s trade leanings). Obama not only should have known the economic situation that day, but willingly chose not to adjust his speech. Combine that with the point that the media does, in fact, shape economic perception, and it seems like Obama’s more than just reaching here.

‘How else could he offer … a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?”

Only to a Democratic Presidential candidate does a government-run financial account become “private.” To cut Obama a little slack here, this is a myth that’s been perpetuated for more than three years now, but Obama missed a golden opportunity for accuracy.

“John McCain likes to say that he’ll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won’t even go to the cave where he lives.”

Here’s one more thing I don’t get - does Obama really believe this? Does Obama really think that, if there was credible, useful information that bin Laden was, say, in a cave outside of Kandahar, that he wouldn’t make it a point to go after them? Furthermore, Obama and McCain hold the same position in American government - does Obama know where bin Laden is? If so, is he sharing? The answer, of course, is no, but that’s where Obama is failing here. That he even thinks it’s okay to imply this, let alone outright state it, shouldn’t sit well with anyone.

This will hopefully be my last Palin-only post for a while - even I’m getting a little exhausted by the nonstop coverage of all things Sarah. With that said, I’ve seen so many good pieces worth highlighting that I may as well put them all somewhere.

For the record, the whole “Bristol is pregnant” thing is more annoying than anything else. There’s a lot of impolite things that could be said about it, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Things happen, y’know?

With that said:

* Factcheck #1: Palin was against the “Bridge to Nowhere”. The “Bridge to Nowhere” was the name given to the waste in Congress, not the project itself, which is apparently still going forward. Confusing? Sure, but worth noting that the problem was the waste, not the project.

* An example of Palin’s foriegn policy experience. This is not to say she has a ton, or much at all, or even to say that Cindy McCain has much of a clue, but it’s not like she’s unaware of basics.

* Palin may be pro-life/anti-abortion, but she’s not anti-contraceptives. This might actually put her at odds with the head of the ticket, interestingly.

* Factcheck #2: With all this stuff that’s coming out - from Troopergate to the daughter’s baby to whatever else, the common theme is that Palin wasn’t vetted. She was. Don’t let the hype take the lead - they met numerous times, and no one can know for sure how often they may have spoken beyond that, but if McCain was as smitten by her as is being reported, it surely happened.

* How is the evangelical right apparently taking the pregnancy news? Grover Norquist reports positively, as does James Dobson, and so on . The pregnancy appears to have been an open secret, and the delegates are supportive. Also, kudos to Obama for stepping up quickly. A classy move by him.
* From Monday’s Rasmussen tracker:

Obama receives favorable reviews from 85% of Democrats while McCain is now viewed favorably by 90% of Republicans. Both men are viewed favorably by 60% of unaffiliated voters. Enthusiasm among Republicans for McCain is up significantly since the announcement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Fifty-one percent (51%) of GOP voters now have a Very Favorable opinion of McCain, the first time he has ever topped the 50% level in that measure. On Friday morning, just 43% were that enthusiastic about McCain.

Palin is a bonafide hit early on. Popular with the core GOP, popular with conservatives, popular with evangelicals, and a financial boon as well: $47m in July with $10, coming since Friday, 11am.

* Factcheck #3: Palin didn’t push for a windfall profits tax, but rather renegotiated the existing severance tax, and for good reason. A quick and dirty - a severance tax is a one-time fee for resources being removed from the state they reside in. I don’t care much for them, but it’s standard, and the one that was negotiated by Palin’s predecessor was not done in public, so she fixed that. If only all government was that open.

* Compare and contrast Palin and Biden on energy. Who do you want filling in?

* Why not two more: Palin may have been part of the the Alaskan Independence Party for a time, but didn’t support Buchanan. The latter would worry me more than the former - again, Alaska is very different. VERY different. I know that there was more than a bit of an adjustment from Massachusetts to New Hampshire in terms of basic political activity when we moved up here, and I can’t imagine isolated Alaska is what we’d call “normal.” But Buchanan? He was - and still is - a bit of a douche.

That’s all I’ve got. I’m trying to get on a consistent schedule this week, but it’s already 10pm on Monday night for me, so we’ll see.