Tuesday, September 16, 2008

laugh or cry









I know this is not your election (for most of you) and this doesn't have anything to do with music. But * I h8 SP * so much, and I'm so depressed about the fact that it's working! for republicans to appeal to everything that is despicable in human nature, that I'm losing sleep, and I say thank god for the truth shining out through comedy.

15 comments:

ejaydee said...

I don't believe it, it has to be a momentary bump, and nothing more. If not, it means Samantha Bee's sketch about only thinking with the pleasure pitta/fun pouch too true to be funny. Did you see Colbert's "the word" on Monday?

snadfrod said...

Steen - I watched the SNL clip the other day and it is, in all honesty, hilarious. They had to make that one good and it is a zinger, no?

By the way, I'm not so sure its going to work long term for the Republicans. Yes she was a shot in the arm, but that bit of love is on the wane already, it seems. Have you been reading Michael Tomasky and Oliver Burkeman's excellent, rabidly pro-Obama/anti-Palin blogs on the Guardian? Both VERY worth checking out.

My conspiracy theory, for what it's worth: this whole state-trooper thing will all accelerate very quickly, she'll be found guilty of some kind of misdemeanour and kicked off the ticket. Replace her with Lieberman or Romney or such and the campaign has had its boost and can then get back to politics long-term. Or am I giving them too much credit?...

Abahachi said...

What I find scary - assuming that this isn't just a conspiracy, as snadfrod suggests - is that she can appeal to Hillary supporters at all. Yes, she's a woman, but in every other respect she represents a worst case scenario for anything resembling feminism or women's issues. I've never been to the States, I'm afraid I regard you all as far more of a foreign country than anything in Europe, and this does tend to reinforce that...

steenbeck said...

Yes, I did see the Colbert. The man's a genius.

It's just so absurd to me that it's gotten as far as it has. And it's depressing to me--well, just to hear Americans talking, I guess. To hear that all of the things I admire about Obama are suspicious to many Americans, and all of the things I despise about McCain/Palin are admirable. Have we become so inured to deceit and secrecy that we can just accept it. They LIE!! and that's okay, because they're saying what people want to hear.

I'm hoping the debates will reveal their true idiocy, but we all remember G Dub in any debate, stumbling so badly you almost felt sorry for him. Then after the debate, the analysts on the news would say, "he didn't do so badly, he managed to string a few words together, which is more than anybody expected," and by the next morning it was "he won!"

I'm just getting that sinking feeling all over again.

Shoegazer said...

SNL & Jon Stewart very funny & clever as usual. If the US didn't take 2 WHOLE YEARS to run an election, it would be either President Clinton on Guliani by now. Biden only got picked for VP because of current trouble with Russia (he has foreign policy experience) & that Obama was too petty to reach out to Clinton (& probably win the general election easily with her on the ticket). Palin got picked because Clinton wasn't. Snad is right that the Palin backlash is well underway. The next thing to watch is who blows up first, McCain or Biden - they both have fearsome tempers.

steenbeck said...

Yeah, I thiink McCain is going to explode at some point, I just hope it's not after he's elected.

I don't think Obama was being petty in not picking Clinton. I don't think they would have worked together--she would never have been happy as VP. She might have helped him win the election, but even that's debatable.

And I would hope that the whole trooper thing would come back to haunt Palin, but for god's sake, look how much the Bush administration has gotten away with...

ejaydee said...

How DARE YOU say they lie?! That's typical of a women-hating-woman!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/17/johnmccain.sarahpalin

steenbeck said...

That article got it depressingly exactly right. I've talked to these people. They hear what they want to believe and are stubbornly unwilling to hear the truth. Look at the war in Iraq--it's tragic--it's been proven that lies carried us into it, it's been proven that there was never a link between Iraq and 9/11, and yet people still get upset if you question the war, and Palin is sending her son there, complete with ceremony on 9/11 and speech linking iraq to 9/11.

Thank god for the daily show...
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184086&title=sarah-palin-gender-card

Abahachi said...

I really do feel for you, Steenbeck. Almost all the Americans I know work in academic, and they seem to have spent the last eight years effectively in internal exile, complete with the thought police of various dodgy right-wing "is your campus being taken over by Commies?" organisations. The big cities seem relatively sane; the countryside appears terrifyingly anti-intellectual. You would think that the experience of Dubya might have raised a few doubts about the wisdom of giving supreme power to someone whose main claim to attention is his 'regular guy' schtick, but this Palin stuff suggests that it's far more deep-rooted; the more she stumbles in the face of media questions, the more it reinforces her image as 'just one of us'. Hell, even trying to get her ex-brother-in-law sacked could probably be presented as stickin' by her own folks. They's kin, after all.

Look on the bright side, though; at least you have a vote, and can do your bit to mobilise support for Obama. We just get to sit on the sidelines with growing despondency.

TracyK said...

Wow, that female commentator on the Bill Maher show is fantastic! Who is she Steen?

steenbeck said...

Jeanine Garofalo! I'd vote for her for VP. I don't usually watch/always agree with Bill Maher, but I really like her, and I needed someone to bluntly state the obvious, which he's not scared to do.

ejaydee said...

Trivia: She used to go out with Ben Stiller, I think she's mostly known as an actress.

Anonymous said...

Resisted posting this for days because I've no wish to fall out with anyone, least of all Ladysteen, & politics will do that. But, big mouth strikes again.

I hate the word hate. I disagree with Palin's views on right to life over rights of women (Mrs. Shoe feels even stronger as she has the appropriate biological equipment). Also, intelligent design, or whatever the creationists are calling it this week, strikes me as wrong-headed, but so does religion in general [Don't start on religion! Ed.].

What worries me is granting power to someone who's main claim to fame is delivering a good speech, but very little to show for a career in politics. That's how we ended up with Dubya, & he couldn't deliver a speech. It's happened before in history, & it usually doesn't work out too well. I'm not comparing BO to AH, but by the same token he's no WC. Am sure BO is a good man, & maybe one day he will be the man, but feel he needs to do something before he's handed the keys. Remember that "Road to hell" quote?

I'm not convinced by McC either by the way, as he's done just as much of a piss-poor job of saying what he would actually do.

I'm just an alien without a vote, but love politics & am really looking forward to the debates.

Hope we're still friends, but don't be hating.

steenbeck said...

No worries, Shoegazer--I know the word "hate" is odd in this context, but the thing is, I feel like I DO hate her. I've thought about this a lot, and I haven't reached an explanation. At least not one I'm comfortable with. I've talked to a lot of other people in my town, and it's strange because a lot of the women I've talked to respond with physical reactions to her--"She makes me nauseous" "she makes me so angry I can't sleep." I'd hate to think I judge her in a different way than I would judge a man. Actually--don't ask me about Dick Cheney, if you don't want to hear the 'H' word.

As for Obama, I think he has experiences and education that do make him qualified to be president. I won't go into details. But I don't know of anything in McCain's career that recommends him to me for president, but I do know of things that suggest to me he would make a terrible president.

Shoegazer said...

Hope you're right, about Mr. Obama, Steen. Again, don't have any skin in the game, but I do admire McCain for taking a leading role in normalizing US relations with Vietnam. As for Cheney, his 1st name says it all.