Strollerderby : democratic convention

Was Trig Palin drugged?

Brett Singer — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:30:00 GMT

This comes from a reader, who asked what I think is an interesting question that I haven't heard anyone else ask: how exactly is the Palin family getting Trig to stay so calm while in the public eye?

I've forgotten (or blocked out) some of what my kids were like at that age. I can say, though, that I can't imagine either of them being that calm in the face of so much clamor and activity.

One explanation is that the kid is, well, drugged. Now, I don't mean Quaaludes, just a little Benadryl or Tylenol. I freely admit that I've done the same thing, although not recently and only in certain situations, like on an airplane. The idea of doping the kids wouldn't have occurred to be except that our pediatrician suggested it. So this isn't a judgment thing, unless you want it to be.

Another possibility is that baby Trig (short for Trigonometry?) is just a mellow baby. They do exist, although in my experience they are almost as rare as unicorns. There are babies that work in television, or even theater: I saw one in a play who, much to my amazement, managed to stay quiet during a very long and loud scene.

So it's possible that the kid is just naturally low-key. But wow, talk about good behavior.

Me, I would've maybe not put the kid on camera quite so much, but that's a separate issue. (Some say that Trig "has definitely become a central prop in [the McCain] campaign," which unfortunately seems to be true.)

For those of you who currently have children that age, or who haven't erased that period of time from their memory banks, how do you think your little one would have withstood the tumult of a political convention?

image: bagnewsnotes

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Palin family online - real or fake?

Brett Singer — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:45:00 GMT

If the Internet is to be believed, John McCain has chosen a running mate whose family life is just thisclose to being a full season of The Jerry Springer Show. However, as we all know, not everything you read (online or in print) is true.

So in the interest of being fair and balanced (ahem), we present to you a list of what we've found out regarding the veracity of the various blogs, photos and assorted Palin hoo-ha.

Levi Johnston's blog: FAKE
This is clearly fake, but amusing (well, slightly). The tone is pretty close to what was on Levi's now gone MySpace page.

Willow Palin's blog: Unknown
This one could be real but seems very fake to me. I haven't seen any official debunking of it but I can't imagine the Republicans would allow anyone in the Palin family unfettered blogging rights at this point.

Bristol Palin party pics: Unknown

If I had to guess, I would say that these are real. These shots are more than a little bit creepy since Bristol is 17, and may have been younger when these photos were taken. However, if they are real, she posted 'em. I really hope MySpace and the rest have gone the way of other dot-bombs by the time my kids are old enough to care about them. If not, I think I'm going to have a little chat about not posting any and all photos online for the world to ogle at.

Sarah Palin nude shots: FAKE
Let's go one by one:

SO fake. But funny.

The Naked Shot
Click here to see it (not safe for work). Nerve says this looks like Julia Louis Dreyfus, and after seeing the photo they link to, I kind of agree. HOWEVER, Snopes (a good source for all internet fakery) says even that one is a phony. Damn you, Photoshop!

This shot of Palin in a mini-skirt isn't too racy, although someone did Photoshop it onto a Playboy cover.

Alas, Snopes says that one is fake as well. They don't offer as much evidence of said fakery as they do for the other pics; all they have is a shot of Palin with the same facial expression, hairdo, etc. I’m not saying it's real, just saying the evidence isn't as compelling. It's probably fake.

Less widely circulated is this shot from GrizzlyBay.org of Governor Palin with, um, Vikings:

That one is real. I think.

So now y'all know who to vote for, right? What? This doesn't matter at all? Oh…

Images/Sources: Nerve, GrizzlyBay, Snopes, Facebook, et al.

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McCain, Palin oppose teen pregnancy aid and sex education

Brett Singer — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Ah, running for President. Everything you've ever done is fair game. But hey, stay out of their personal lives! But hang on – this is about their political views? Oh. Um. OK.

"Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits."

Palin herself wrote in a questionnaire during her gubernatorial campaign in 2006, "The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support." (Not sure what she means by "explicit sex-ed" -- plaster genitalia are out, but bananas are cool? Use "va-jay-jay" and "hey-nonner-nonner" instead of the word "vagina"?)

Some have said this is a "karma's a bitch" situation, but that seems unfair to me. Stuff happens, regardless of your personal beliefs. At best, it's ironic (don'tcha think? Sorry, couldn't resist). One good result of this particular scrutiny is that it shines a spotlight on McCain's voting record, and also on statements made by Palin. That sort of information is what people should be basing their voting decisions on, not whether or not Ms. Palin would be better off at home making brownies, rather than running for veep.

source: Yahoo News

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Sarah Palin, Sportscaster

Brett Singer — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Before she entered politics, way back in 1988, Sarah Palin was known as Sarah Heath. She was, as you may have heard, a sports anchor for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. Video was bound to surface eventually; I'm actually surprised it took this long.

It's not all that remarkable. She reads sports scores, makes less than snappy patter with an anchor that Deadspin describes as, "a weird amalgam of Ron Burgundy and Carl Monday," and she has big ol' 80's hair. There's also that voice, which I think is verrry close to Frances McDormand's in 'Fargo.'

Before I'm accused of "bashing" her, I'm not. That said, I think when the McCain campaign (McCampaign? Hmm...) tells us that she was a "journalist," that's pushing it a little bit.

Enjoy.

Source: Deadspin

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Dadcentric endorses Obama

Brett Singer — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:30:00 GMT

In a move that will shake the foundations of political pundits more than John McCain's choice of running mate, the blog DadCentric has chosen to endorse Barack Obama for President. (full disclosure: Famecrawlerer Whit Honea writes for Dadcentric. We support our own.)

The endorsement amusingly compares the Bush Administration to Applebee's, and takes great pains to point out that John McCain is not an inherently evil man, somewhat like Mr. Obama did in his speech last night. It will be interesting to see if the McCain campaign (the McCampaign? Nah, doesn't work) does the same at their convention next week.

Read the full post – and the remarkably vitriolic comments – here. And make sure you register to vote. This is an election year, people.

image: Droolicious

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Beau Biden almost made me cry

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Brett Singer — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 GMT

While Michael Phelps is buying condos and making out with Australian swimmers (not that I blame the guy for having some fun, mind you), adorable pixie-person Shawn Johnson is in Denver, leading the pledge of allegiance at the Democratic Convention. The L.A. Times points out that Johnson hasn't declared an official party affiliation, "but the point is somewhat moot -- she's too young to vote." Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls") sang the national anthem. (UPDATE: see the video below.)

As for why it looks like the event has moved outside, that's because it has. Obama's speech is taking place at Invesco Field (where the Denver Broncos play football) in order to accommodate a larger audience. The campaign expects 75,000 people to attend.

And yes, that's Al Gore standing with Shawn Johnson. He is tall and she is very short.

image: amny.com

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Beau Biden almost made me cry

Brett Singer — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:00:00 GMT

I caught some of Beau Biden's speech from The Democratic Convention last night. Beau is the son of Joe (ouch, that rhymes – Bo, Joe…his full name is Joseph Robinette Biden III), Barack Obama's running mate. He is the Attorney General of Delaware, and was on hand to introduce his father.

He described how his father overcame a stutter as a little boy, and generally praised him to the skies. But first, he talked about the car accident that killed his mother and baby sister, leaving him and his brother Hunter seriously injured. This was right after Biden was first elected to the Senate, in 1972. Beau was not quite 4 years old when this happened. Here's the line from his speech that got to me:

"He [my father] said…Delaware can always get another Senator. But my boys can't get another father."

Yow. Way to tug at the heartstrings, dude.

Here's video of the full speech:

image: flickr.com

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Political Nanny: Don't ... Stop ... Thinking About the 90s

Madeline Holler — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:34:00 GMT

Now THAT was a night at the convention! Fleetwood Mac thinking about tomorrow. Bill Clinton talking about yesterday. Joe Biden's son making us cry. A "surprise" appearance by Barack Obama (and the delightful surprise: a full-mouth kiss he gave Biden's wife ... did you catch that?). Whew! Surely Political Nanny wasn't the only one thinking we, the U.S., might actually move out of these dark, dark years and into something more fun! More exciting! More 1992!

The first two nights of the convention, well, they were kind of ehn. Michelle was fab but rushed. Hillary Clinton's speech was fine, great really. But also sounded rushed. Plus, the tension. Did she say enough? Did she mention his name? It was just nice to get it over with.

But then last night, Bill ... President Bill Clinton ... got pissy. Yes, yes, he praised Obama, said the young senator was ready, called on all Democrats to come together and vote and to ignore anybody who calls him "inexperienced" or "not ready to be commander in chief." We'll ignore for a moment that his wife said those things. And riffing on Fleetwood Mac, we'll think about five tomorrows to the Republican Covention where this will be a mantra. However! Clinton argued the same was said about him, back in the day, back in 1992 (ahhhh, '92 ...).

Since anger at the Bush administration can be so moving, and since no one does anger like Joe Biden, Political Nanny couldn't help but enjoy the senator/VP nominee from Delaware (or Scranton, Penn., or, as CNBC had him listed, from Maryland!). Of course, his son's intro to the Senator got everybody juiced up on love and agony (Biden's first wife and daughter were killed in a car wreck just after he won his first election ...).

Finally, Biden was unleashed. He upbraided the Bush administration and its supporters (ahem! McCain). Oh, and praised his super old mom for raising him to punch back. Yow! We're looking forward to lots of Joe in the near future (clearing the calendar for VP debates for sure).

We all kind of knew Barack Obama would show up at the end. Nice touch and apparently unprecedented. A few too many shots of John Kerry (who had to have been thinking of his own lackluster convention ... except for that one super shining moment when that one junior Senator from Illinois brought down the house). But that's history.

Back to thinking about tomorrow (or the 90s ... same difference, perhaps?).

Photo: CNN

Political Nanny: Wake Up, You Were Dreaming

Madeline Holler — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:01:00 GMT

An organization led by former Hillary Clinton staffers has ended its quest to get Democratic candidate Barack Obama to pick her for a running mate.

Political Nanny would like to note that, mmmhmmm, she didn't realize others were still making an effort to get Clinton in the No. 2 spot. In any case, here's the writing on the wall that leaders of Vote Both finally saw:

From USA Today:

"Because it seems that Senator Obama has made his decision to offer the slot on the ticket to another candidate, we believe that continuing to ask him to pick Hillary is no longer helpful to our party's chances of winning in November," Adam Parkhomenko and Sam Arora wrote in an e-mail they planned to send Thursday to the 40,000-plus supporters who signed onto their online petition.

What does the Obama camp have to say? Well, they're still not talking about VPs, yes or no, or even the convention schedule.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the campaign won't comment on the vice presidential search and hasn't finalized the convention speaking program. Obama and Clinton advisers have said Clinton is likely to speak on the convention's second night, Aug. 26, which is the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the amendment giving the women the right to vote.

Are you totally crushed or had you given up the dream (ticket) a while ago? Who's your VP pick for Obama?

Image: blog.syracuse.com