Strollerderby : election 08

McCain Campaign Verbally Abuses an Innocent Child

Cole Gamble — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:31:00 GMT

This wretched story comes from the Daily Kos, in which a politically excited kid gets his ass handed to him by the sinister folks at McCain HQ:

I’m fairly certain the story I’m about to relate happened when I was in 6th grade, an age at which I was old enough to appreciate what was happening, but now sufficiently eroded away in my memory to preclude a perfect recall of the event.

The assignment was a grade school perennial: Write to our local Congressperson or Senator. If he wrote back? Extra credit. So I took my #2 pencil in my chubby fingers and applied it with an unmistakably adolescent scrawl to a sheet of wide-ruled, three-hole punched notebook paper.

“Dear Senator McCain,” I began; I probably picked McCain because he had recently been “promoted” from the House to the Senate, and his name was in the news. I wasn’t – at 11 or 12 – what you could call “politically engaged.” I don’t think I knew what the ideological differences between the parties were. I mean, to be honest, I didn’t know much of anything. I just wanted to finish my homework before Spenser: For Hire started.

So I filled the rest of the two “body” paragraphs of the letter with whatever semi-coherent content my preteen mind could generate. I don’t remember the line by line specifics, but a few words and phrases stand out in my memory from the time – words and phrases I was particularly pleased with being able to use at the time, as I was fairly certain they made me sound more grown-up and politically aware than I actually was at the time:

“Constituencies”

“Partisan gridlock”

“Reach across the aisle”

String these three items together and you get the picture: I exhorted him (although I didn’t know that word at the time) to “reach across the aisle” and fight against “partisan gridlock” on behalf of his “constituencies” at home in the great state of Arizona.

As I said: No great indication of a developing political mind— but what could one honestly expect from someone who was saving up his allowance to buy Serpentor?

I mailed my letter and all but forgot about it.

Several weeks later, during dinner, the phone rang. I remember that I answered the call. I don’t remember the name of the youngish-sounding guy on the other end of the phone (in the tall-tale version of this story it would be Mark Salter), but I remember where he worked.

“This is ___ from Senator McCain’s office. Can I talk to Jeffrey, please?

“This is he.”

What follows is, as best as I can reconstruct from my memory, the remainder of the call in its entirety. Once he started speaking, I didn’t say a word.

“Well, Jeffrey, I received your letter to Senator McCain, and I wanted to respond to you. First of all, the Senator has one constituency, the residents of the State of Arizona—not multiple constituencies, as you wrote.”

“Also, since the Senator just arrived in the Senate, he has not been a part of the problem of “partisan gridlock” you write about. What’s more, if you had done your research, you would see that while he was in the House of Representatives, Senator McCain made it a point to “reach across the aisle” on multiple occasions, just as your letter would have him do.”

“I can tell you’re a kid and everything, but if you ever want to be taken seriously you should you get your facts straight, especially before you write a letter like this.”

I think I said, “Okay, thanks,” before he hung up on me. That was it.

“What the hell was that?” I thought to myself.

Whatever my expectations had been for that assignment, one thing I didn’t expect was to be taken to task for my (admittedly middling) effort at engaging with my government. I remember feeling as though I had just been kicked in the gut, or had my pants pulled down by a bully from an older class — neither of which were entirely foreign experiences to me at the time.

I also recall being astonished at the fact that whoever this guy was, he apparently had nothing better to do than call up a grade-schooler during dinner and yell at him. As the schoolyard saying went at the time, I wondered “Who had piddled on his Post Toasties that morning?”

Now, I’m not defending my letter. Clearly, I hadn’t done the homework to do my homework. But it’s not like there was an Internet to research anyone’s congressional voting record back then, and the assignment simply wasn’t worth enough, points-wise, to justify coercing my Mom into taking me to the library (which she would have done).

The perturbed call from McCain’s office actually did teach me a valuable lesson in “not talking out of my butt.” However, I’m certain I could have learned that same lesson, given the same set of circumstances, without the meanness. Since then, I’ve dealt with kids in a variety of capacities (student teacher, camp counselor, etc.) and I can say that, no matter how dumb they act, you’re never supposed to treat them like they’re stupid.

Mainly, I recall this experience as one of those childhood moments—certainly not my proudest—that sticks around in your memory because, even if you’re just a stupid kid, you can see right through a so-called grown-up’s behavior:

At that moment, I knew that he handled the call poorly.

I marveled at the fact that I had been yelled at for using a word (”constituencies”) that I knew I had used properly. I mean, conceivably, weren’t kids one constituency and adults another? Men one, women another? Goldwater Republicans and Udall Democrats? Constituencies.

But mostly, I wondered what sort of jerk Senator McCain must have been to inspire his staff to achieve such levels of jerkiness?

Twenty-something years later, Senator McCain’s conduct during his presidential campaign has provided me with the answer to that question: Whether he’s furiously taking exception with the assertions of mendacity by the Des Moines Register or referring to his distinguished colleague from the Senate and opponent in his race for the nation’s highest office as “That one,” one thing is clear about Senator McCain.

He’s exactly the sort of guy who would tell one of his minions to rough up a naive 12-year-old constituent by phone.

In short, not much has changed since then… Except the shows on Prime time.

In related news, Obama smells like rainbows and unicorns.

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Palin Chooses Name for Her Next Kid

Cole Gamble — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin has more on her mind then just her future political career. She’s already thinking about her next baby. She, the mother of five kids with such fanciful names as Track, Trig and Piper, is already talking about the name of her next child. Forget the fact she is in the middle of a national election and could possibly be sitting in the White House eating caribou stew with foreign dignitaries soon, Palin’s got baby on the brain. Wanna know what name she picked out for the future Palin? Here’s a hint: it’s a hockey term. Got to read more for the answer...

So her next child’s name? Zamboni. You know, the big machine they use to smooth the ice at hockey rinks. This she told People magazine during a recent interview. It turns out Mrs. Palin was simply joking and has no plans on more kids (for now). However, not everyone caught the “joking” part and thought Palin was for real. They might be half right. After all, Bristol’s got to be shopping for a baby name.

More Palin: Morning News: Palin's Not Just a Snazzy Dresser ... She's a Voracious Reader!

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Breaking News: Scott McClellan Wants YOU to Vote for Barack Obama

Shannon LC Cate — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:30:00 GMT

Another former Bush administration official has come out in favor of Obama for president. NPR reports that Scott McClellan, Bush's once fiercely loyal press secretary-turned-tell-all memoirist:

"made the endorsement during a taping of Comedian D.L. Hughley's new show that is premiering on CNN this weekend. The former Bush administration official said he wanted to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done."

First Colin Powell, now McClellan: How many more Bush officials will come out of the woodwork in favor of Obama between now and the election? I'm sure Obama supporters are just hoping G.W. Bush himself doesn't come over to their side.

Image: mediabistro.com

Cute Overload: White Tiger Kitten and Monkey are Friends (PICS!)

Cole Gamble — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Get ready to forget your economy woes and election fatigue, folks. You’re about to get a double-barreled shot of sweetness that will put you into immediate diabetic shock. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the White Tiger Kitten and Monkey Frolic:

You may now resume your anxiety.

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Best political shirt ever - Everyone Poops

Brett Singer — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:15:00 GMT

Birds do it
Bees do it
Even people in the news do it
Everybody (everyone)
Poops
Republicans and Democrats
All of them are full of crap
Everybody (everyone)
Poops

I don't know what song that is, but this t-shirt inspired me to sing. Kind of sums up politics in general. Very non-partisan as well.

The Everyone Poops shirts are available in all sizes, including onesies, which I'm sure will be the big thing on the playground. No matter who wins in November.

Image/source: Threadless.com

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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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Shawn Johnson, Democrat? (UPDATE: Now with video)

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

Beau Biden almost made me cry

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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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Elizabeth Edwards slammed for keeping hubby's affair a secret

Brett Singer — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:15:00 GMT

Fans of Superman should be familiar with Bizarro World, a square planet called Htrae (Earth in reverse – get it?) where everything is backwards. "Bizarro am sad," would mean that Bizarro was happy. That sort of thing.

Reading that Elizabeth Edwards is catching flak for not disclosing that her husband John was having an affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter made me think that, perhaps, Earth had become Htrae while I was sleeping. How else to explain the fact that, as CNN put it, "a woman with incurable cancer wronged by a cheating husband," would somehow be blamed for, well, anything.

But that's exactly what happened. CNN reports that, "some former [Edwards] followers have questioned the recklessness of [Elizabeth Edwards] keeping the affair under wraps even though her husband…said he confessed the affair in 2006, before the campaign began in earnest the next year."

Now, if someone wanted to say that this damages their political capital, I suppose I would have a hard time arguing otherwise. On the other hand, how is her not disclosing his affair somehow a worse sin that him having the affair and covering it up? At worst, she was "complicit" (that's Brad Crone's words, described as "a Raleigh-based Democratic consultant") in the "cover-up." But does that mean that Mr. Edwards somehow had some political capital left after the affair became public, and it was doomed by the fact that his wife didn't admit that she knew about it? Typing that sentence actually makes my head hurt, it's so stupid.

image/source: CNN

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Bernie Mac dies for real

Brett Singer — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:00:00 GMT

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Bernie Mac died this morning at the age of 50. The cause was complications from pneumonia. He was admitted to Northwestern Hospital in Chicago to receive treatment for sarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune disease.

Weirdly, a viral text message that made the rounds last week caused many people to believe he was already dead. That was revealed to be a hoax.

I always liked Bernie Mac. His sitcom was somewhat unique in that he wasn't the father of the children he was raising; he took his sister's kids when she entered rehab. He also, if memory serves, was a stay at home "dad"; his wife worked as an executive I think, and he was a stand-up comic. (Thanks to the commenter for this correction. My point wasn't that he didn't work, but that he was a father who was home with the kids, which is still not the norm on TV.) Mac wasn't shy about threatening to smack the kids around, which some found controversial, but I thought it was (a) realistic and (b) funny. He also had some film success with appearances in the "Ocean's 11, etc." remakes, among other roles.

His most recent headlines came because of a joke he told during a Barack Obama fundraising event. Mac used the word "ho" and Obama told him he didn't like it.

On TV, Bernie Mac had no children of his own, but in real life he had a wife, daughter, and a grandchild. 50 is too young to go but at least he knew some success in his life. Funny guy, very sad.

source/photo: Chicago Tribune

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Like father like son

Brett Singer — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

This is just funny.

Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy and ex-wife Donna Hanover, is suing Duke University because they kicked him off the golf team.

He wants monetary damages, to be reinstated to the team, and "the right to use Duke’s golf center for the rest of his life" because that's what he was promised when Duke "recruited" him to play golf.

Why did they kick Andy off the team? Well, for one thing, he wasn't that good, at least not according to info in the New York Times: they say that he was "in the bottom half of the 14-person team." He also, allegedly, threw an apple at a teammate, smashed a golf club on the ground, and "played harder than some of the other boys wanted to play" during a friendly football game. Andrew doesn't deny any of this, according to the Times, but he still feels he was treated unfairly. He also plans to pursue a professional golf career. Luckily, he has rich parents.

Andrew's father, former Mayor and failed Republican Presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, is not involved, and at the mere mention of his name, mom Donna Hanover stopped the interview with the Times. Daddy's personal accomplishments include announcing his divorce from Donna to the press before he told her. (Yes, he was great after 9/11. But he was Mayor for eight years before that. I live here. Trust me, there's a reason they called him "Generalissimo Giuliani.")

His former coaches spoke out in Golf Week about the lawsuit. They think, shockingly, that he's wrong.

As proof that his coaches are nimrods, specifically head O.D. Vincent, Andy G offers up this photo (posted above, with Andrew at right.) That is, any coach that would allow his golf team to have their picture taken in their undies must be a crappy coach. If that's not a sound legal argument, I'm not a member of the bar. Oh wait…

image: Gothamist

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Xtina and Max Rock the Vote

Brett Singer — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:04:00 GMT

Remember Rock the Vote? How it was supposed to be a game-changer, bringing all these young people to the polls? And then George W. Bush got elected two times in a row?

Well, that hasn't stopped celebrities from using their fame to get us to the polls. Christina Aguilera literally wraps her son Max in the American flag and sings about those Purple Mountains Majesty.

I'm a big fan of voting, and I agree with Rock The Vote's mission. I just wonder how much it really does. I mean, is someone going to say, "Well, Xtina told me I should Rock The Vote. Well, dammit, I'm going to!"?

I guess every little bit helps. Here's the video. It's way better than Puffy's "Vote or Die" campaign.

image: RockTheVote

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DVD Review: Our Country, USA to Z

Brett Singer — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:00:00 GMT

With July 4th coming up in a couple of days, many of us are feeling patriotic. But in our current political climate, patriotism can be a highly charged topic. Personally, I think you should be able to love your country without buying into the ideology of a particular person or political party. More "celebrate what's great about America" and less "keep the immigrants out."

"Our Country, USA to Z" (Team Baby Entertainment) is more the former than the latter. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg in her usual slightly sleepy-voiced style, this is (mostly) politics-free patriotism.

The disc opens with a relatively painless song (performed by John Lennon Songwriting Award winner Joe McDermot) about our nation and how good it is, with shots of cute babies dancing around. Football, kids, cities, Native Americans, Statue of Liberty – pretty straightforward stuff, pleasantly presented.

Then come the letters. (The chapters on the DVD, available in the main menu, are helpfully split up by letter so you can skip around if you need to.) A is for America (duh), B is for Bell, as in "Liberty Bell," C is for Columbus (with no mention of Native Americans), D is for Diveristy, and so on. My favorite segment was J, which is of course for Jazz. Whoopi should do a whole DVD for kids on the history of jazz. M is for Military was a little weird, but kids will like the trucks and Coast Guard boats. There is a slightly right-of-center leaning revealed (I think) in the choice of "great presidents" (the letter P, of course): George Washington, Abraham Lincoln (a "civil war hero", no mention of freeing the slaves), Teddy Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan. It's not a huge deal, but I'm guessing that the Democratic version of this disc might not mention ol' RR in this grouping.

There is a teeny amount of suspense when you watch "USA to Z" for the first time – what the heck are they going to do for X, for example? Since K was for King (as in Martin Luther King), I thought maybe we'd get Malcolm X, but they went with Railroad Crossing, which is a little lame, but at least features subways as well as railroads. Then there's "Road Trip," another original tune with a nice montage of video from the 50 states. These include cities as well as purple mountains majesty and amber waves of grain, something that, as a lifelong city dweller, I always appreciate. As always, there are cute kids of various colors and creeds bouncing around.

"Our Country, USA to Z" is a little different from the DVDs that Team Baby Entertainment typically puts out. Most of their content (which I've never seen) seems to be geared towards indoctrinating young children in the ways of sports fandom – Mets Baby, St. Louis Cardinals Baby, Red Sox Baby World Series Edition narrated by Ben Affleck (ouch, that was hard to type – guess who my favorite team is?), and of course, Yankees Baby, which I've never seen but is of course the best of the bunch (that would be my team.)

For the most part, this relatively short DVD is cute, harmless patriotism that does a decent job of including the different types of people and places that make up the United States of America. There is no mention of more controversial topics – Native Americans, slavery – but it is geared towards very young children; 2 or 3-year-olds is about right in my view. "Our Country, USA to Z" is educational, colorful, and doesn't go too far to the right. And when it does skew a little bit more Red State than Blue, that's tempered by the presence of the Whoopster's narration. Whoever hired her deserves a big, fat all-American raise.

image: Team Baby Entertainment