Our bodies, Our selves...Maybe

This article from Slate.com's XX Factor blog is truly disturbing on several levels, not the least of which is that it brings up an often forgotten factor in all the hype over fetuses and their "rights" (or lack thereof) - the rights of the women who just happen to be incubating those fetuses. Somehow, the abortion war has become so vehement that the life and rights of the women actually carrying these children are slowly being eroded, forgotten and negated. Not only is abortion being criminalized, but the rights of women who actually wish to carry their children to term are being compromised, all because of the supposed tantamount right of the fetus.

I myself have gone to considerable trouble to try and get pregnant. If I found out today that I was pregnant, I would be thrilled. I would in no way wish to have an abortion. But until any baby I am able to conceive is able to survive on its own - well after the 20th week - that baby would be, in my estimation, nothing more than a very wanted, very loved parasite. It is not a human being. And in no way would its rights trump mine. Any argument that they should is not only outrageous; it is also a blatant and obvious attempt to further rob women of their reproductive freedom - perhaps even more so than the issues at work in the abortion debate.

I encourage you to not only read the article, but also to spend the six minutes it takes to watch the video linked through the post. Things like that should never be allowed to happen.

Obama's conversation with America

I admit to being more than a little worried about the Obama campaign's half-hour extravaganza this evening. I was worried that it was going to be OTT in a this-is-me-already-being-the- president kind of way. I was worried there would be more Greek columns or Oprah appearances (in fairness, there were hints of columns and Lady O, but only partially in frame during some of the video clips). I was worried it would be a love me, love my personal history I-was-Barack's-high-
school-sweetheart-and-he's-a-great-man disaster.

I was wrong.

It was a fine line the campaign was walking here. Presenting Obama's message to the American people without being preachy or didactic. Settling some of the scores with McCain without resorting to personal attacks. Energizing the base to get out the vote in the last week while still remaining moderate and centrist enough to win over independents still on the fence. All in all, I think they accomplished all this beautifully. Here are a few notes about the program in no particular order - no live blogging tonight.

I wasn't sure Obama's message would resonate with me. Then again, I'm not exactly the audience he was aiming for. I was firmly in his corner - hell, I already voted for the man - but I have been unhappy with some of his choices during this campaign. And, given my druthers, I'd rather it be Hillary Clinton in his position. But as it's not, I've come to accept Obama as the nominee. And, in a post-Sarah Palin world, I've come to view him as the only sane choice. But tonight's message even got me a little misty-eyed. I was very impressed by Obama's repeated calls for personal responsibility - a call that has been sorely missing from American's politics for more than thirty years. With regard to energy conservation, children's education, and public service Obama made clear that the American people had as much to accomplish in their own lives as did American government. That's a sentiment that strikes a real chord with me. And it dovetails nicely with Obama's continued calls for people who can afford to pay taxes to actually pay them. Maybe I'm alone, but I don't feel my part of the tax burden is all that burdensome. It's a chunk of money, and Lord knows I'd rather spend it on purses (or at least that's what my husband thinks), but it's not an extraordinary amount to ask of a citizen, especially when the country faces a deficit larger than most country's GDP. Paying taxes and giving back through service and responsibility - that's what American values should be about.

It was interesting that there were no personal testimonies by senators until well into the second half of the program - most were by governors. A subtle attempt to undercut the lack of executive experience argument that's been used against him. If all these executives think he'd be a good president, the argument goes, what's the problem?

The most poignant parts of the whole thirty minutes for me? First, the segment with the American family in Louisville, Kentucky. The confluence of my hometown and a family that's facing many of the same financial stresses and fears that some many of friends left in Louisville are also faced with made it that much more powerful to me. Secondly, the African-American couple, both retired, whose medical bills forced him to go back to work. The segment showed him getting ready to go to that retirement job - at Wal-Mart. I cringed audibly at that one. And if you didn't too, then you need to go rent "The High Cost of Low Prices" right now. It's even on Netflix.

Tomorrow's spin - Will definitely focus on the fact that the campaign is now saying that Obama's tax plan will only cut taxes for American's making $200,000 or less, not $250,000 or less as previously stated. Too, the sheer cost of the add. Obama is going to get slammed on the fact that the only reason he had the funds to pay for it was because he reneged on a promise to use federal campaign funds. But, honestly, he earned those knocks. He did go back on his word, and he's going to have to take the punishment for it.

So here's the real question - did this add make any difference for the folks it was supposed to reach? That no one knows. But it was far from the disaster I feared it would be and much more a serious and measured appeal to the American people. And that's got to be at least partially a good thing.

Sarah Palin's $150,000 wardrobe

This has pretty well been done to death in the media, which is why I haven't yet bothered to comment. I feel sure that anything worth saying has already been said, ad naseum, on CNN. Nevertheless, I feel like it's my job to comment on these sorts of things, so let me throw my two cents in and be done with it.

On the issue of the appearance double standard - It is absolutely true that a female politician's appearance is much more an issue than that of a male at election time. Study after study has shown that a female politician's wardrobe and hairstyling is a constant source of comment in the media during a campaign while her male opponent's tie and shoe choice rarely comes up. In this estimation, the scandal over John Edwards' $400 haircut is merely the exception that proves the rule. It's also true that no one is obsessing over the cost of Biden's or Obama's wardrobe (McCain looks so ridiculous in his clothing that I hope he isn't spending a fortune on it; if he is, he's getting scammed). Then again, no one would have known about the money Palin spent on clothes if it hadn't been (potentially illegally) charged to the campaign.

On the issue of whether this should be an issue - Sarah Palin has absolutely every right to spend as much money as she wants on clothes. As long as it's her own money. The second she (or her handlers) started spending donor's money, she became fair game.

On the sheer chutzpah of it all - The campaign has tried to justify the expense by suggesting that Palin is a woman constantly in the public eye, and she needs to present a classy and pulled-together exterior. I don't think anyone's debating the fact that image is an issue in a television culture. However, I do resent the implication that in order to dress the part of a VP candidate, Palin has to do so in designer clothing. You spend $2500 on a silk Valentino jacket because you want to, not because you need to. And for her to suggest that she's just a small town girl who understands America's economic pain and disdains elitism while wearing such a jacket is obscene. The fact that she doesn't seem to understand the hypocrisy of it all proves my point better than anything else.

On donating the items to charity - Are you serious? How many people could you have fed with $150,000? How many people could have had warm coats for the winter for $150,000? How many low-income homes could you have heated for $150,000? What exactly is a $2500 silk jacket going to do for anyone in need? Again, if the money were hers, it would be up to her how she spent it. But it's not hers. And for anyone to suggest that donating the items to charity would somehow correct the error is patently ridiculous. If she wants to make ammends, she should donate the same amount of money to a worthwhile cause. Perhaps that would remind her in the future to be careful how she spends donated funds.

On blaming it on the handlers - It has been suggested that campaign staffers - and not Palin herself - actually purchased the clothes, therefore, it's not her fault. I have two things to say to that: if staffers spent this kind of money on her wardrobe instead of on actual campaigning in battleground states, then they deserve to lose. Double dumbass on them. And then there's the issue of Palin requesting a better wardrobe for her appearance on SNL - either the lady had expensive tastes to begin with and those purchases were hers, or she's become accustomed to her new duds ridiculously quickly.

The lesson from all this? If you have a love of fashion, don't charge it to the campaign expense account. Put on the personal credit card and regret it when you get the statement, just like the rest of us. And either way don't expect anyone to take you seriously when you kick off the Joe the Plumber bus tour in Valentino. Everyone knows that Joe the Plumber wouldn't be caught dead wearing anyone but Prada.

Obama wins over the military vote (at least partially)

This is a great piece from The Huffington Post on Obama and military voters, a demographic that has long been assumed to be either apolitical or to lean heavily towards the Republican side of the spectrum. Perhaps my favorite quote from the piece is this, from Paul Bucha, a retired Army Captain who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his extraordinary valor in Vietnam. Speaking of Obama, Bucha said:

This is a man that understands uniting and honor. He says there is nothing more they must do who serve abroad to come home with honor. There is nothing more that we can add or we can subtract to what they have done. They are already owed their full honor. So, it is wrong to say someone must surrender to allow us to win before they can have honor.

Especially in light of Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama - which, I might add, was so reasonably and clearing laid out that it gave me some respect for Powell again - the sheer mass of military men and women who are breaking for Obama should hint at the volume of bullshit that underlays McCain's supposed rock-solid support of veterans and military issues.

McCarthyism gets a new name - Bachmannism

Minnesota Republican Representative Michelle Bachmann deserves to lose her job. Thankfully, the good people of Minnesota have a chance to make sure that happens in a little less than three weeks. Her ridiculous, fear-mongering insistence that Senator Obama - along with other unnamed congressional colleagues - is anti-American, and that the only way to root out the source of the myriad sources of this anti-Americanism is for the media to conduct an expose is a disgrace to the people of her district and the seriousness of the office she holds. (Incidentally, why is it that Republicans hate the mainstream media right up until the point when they want to conduct partisan witch hunts, then suddenly the media is their ally in crime?)

Unfortunately, Bachmann was undoubtedly just taking a cue from the latest McCain/Palin campaign rally in North Carolina, during which Sarah Palin expressed relief at being in one of the pro-America parts of the nation. This kind of speech is taking the politics of division to heights not seen since the 1950's, and it is doing damage to the fabric of this country that may not be obvious for some time to come.

Live blogging the presidential debate, Part II

• 9:03pm - Why does McCain always have to bring up some Republican being in the hospital at the start of every debate? Here's a thought - you're a really old guy and you might sicken and die in office; don't highlight all the other old Republicans who are doing that right now.
• 9:06pm - We're doing the Fundamental count tonight. Total Fundamental Count: 1.
• 9:11pm - What does class warfare have to do with anything, Senator McCain?
• 9:15pm - Faced with a tough question on where he would cut the budget to make for a record budget deficit, Obama sounds fiscally responsible without actually answering the question - where in God's name are we going to come up with a trillion dollars to just get even?
  
• 9:17pm - McCain's answer to the same question is much worse - first, we'll spend money buying homes and on renewable energy, then we'll create jobs. That'll take care of that wily deficit! Then he falls back on the Nike approach. How will we save money? We'll just do it! I know how!
• 9:20pm - McCain has a nice line: "Senator Obama, I'm not President Bush. If you wanted to run against him, you should have run four years ago." To make this point, however, he tosses off an unsupported assertion that he can balance the budget in four years. Doesn't say how. Must be the Nike approach again.
• 9:25pm - Matt has a great idea a little too late - I should have done a "hatchet vs. scalpel" count. Damn.
• 9:25pm - Schieffer puts it out there: are either of you willing to say the negative accusations to one another's face? McCain, interestingly, decides not to mention the Ayers comments. Although he does have the cajones to call the kettle black on negative ads. Ballsy.
• 9:28pm - Obama fights back, suggests that 100% of McCain's ads have been negative. Calls bullshit on McCain's suggestion that Obama's failure to agree to a host of town halls engendered the negative ads. Nicely done.
• 9:32pm - Obama demonstrates the size of his own cajones by calling McCain out on the bad behavior of his supporters.
  
• 9:35pm - McCain goes for the jugular. Ayers and ACORN in the same breath. CNN's uncommited Ohio voters - especially women - are not impressed.
• 9:38pm - McCain smirks and looks snide throughout Obama's measured explanation of Ayers and ACORN. Obama provides plausible explanations for both; McCain looks silly and posturing.
• 9:39pm - McCain won't let Ayers or ACORN go. Ohio uncommiteds flatline.
• 9:42pm - Sarah Palin is a role model for women and reformers everywhere? Really? Interestingly, the Ohio uncommited men lap it up; the women flatline. But everyone rallies for special needs babies. Sheesh.
• 9:44pm - Obama points out that special needs funding will require McCain to put his money where his mouth is. The hatchet won't be so useful there.
• 9:47pm - Both candidates suggest that we can eliminate our dependence on Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil within 10 years. What neither candidate addresses - is offshore drilling actually feasible at $70-something a barrel instead of $140-something a barrel? I doubt it.
  
• 9:53pm - McCain makes a silly and rambling point about Columbia and NAFTA. Then he looks ridiculously shifty-eyed while Obama gives a relatively measured and sensible response. Ohio uncommitteds eat it up. On appearance alone, McCain seems to be losing this debate badly.
• 9:57pm - Obama gives another measured response on health care. It sounds like a sensible plan although not particularly sexy or inventive.
  
• 9:59pm - Asked to give his ideas for controlling health care spending, McCain AGAIN mentions putting medical records online FIRST. His plan sounds piecemeal, not particularly helpful, and doesn't seem to have much to do with actual medical care. Then a lot of attacks on Obama's plan. Ohio uncommitted women are hating life.
  
• 10:02pm - Massive bungle for McCain on the health care issue. Obama basically gets to sound sensible twice in a row; in between, McCain sounds useless and ineffectual. And negative.
• 10:03pm - Finally! Total Fundamental Count: 2. Not much of a drinking game tonight. Just noticed that McCain has no flag lapel pin this evening.
• 10:04pm - McCain rolls out the "gold-plated Cadillac" health insurance plan analogy again. These days, those policies are apparently covering "cosmetic surgery and transplants." I'll have a brow lift and a new kidney, please.
• 10:05pm - Total Fundamental Count: 3.
• 10:08pm - If only it were true. McCain espouses the opinion that qualifications and not ideologies should matter when appointing judges to the Supreme Court.
  
• 10:10pm - Obama takes the balanced approach, suggesting that women are the best decision makers with regard to abortion, in consultation with their families, their doctors, and their religious counselors.
  
• 10:11pm - McCain carelessly discards Obama's argument about the Lilly Ledbetter and fair pay. Ohio uncommitted women nosedive.
• 10:14pm - While Obama speaks about finding some common ground on the issue of abortion, McCain sighs dramatically.
• 10:26pm - McCain giggles and smirks throughout Obama's response on education. Whether or not Obama has the best ideas here, why can't McCain keep his facial expressions in check?
• 10:29pm - McCain sounds sensible and sincere in his closing statement. Where was this guy the last hour and a half?

No one is going to be won over to McCain after watching this debate. He was dismissive, condescending, and relentlessly negative. It wasn't a particularly pleasant thing to watch, and it was certainly his worst debate performance so far. Obama was his regular wonkish self although he did pull out some of the bigger guns in response to McCain's negativity. For Obama, it was par for the course. For McCain it was a win for the ultra-conservative base and a loss on every other front.

Does God hate abortionists or Catholics?

In an otherwise interesting piece on pro-lifers who've moved away from the Republican party for this election posted today on Slate, one sentence in particular slapped me right across the face:

"Doug Kmiec, the conservative pro-life law professor, was denied the sacrament this summer after he announced in Slate that he was for Obama."

Nor, apparently, is Mr. Kmiec an isolated incident. Catholic Republicans considering voting for Obama in the upcoming election were referred to anonymously in the piece because they didn't want to be thought of as abandoning their faith and, for some, because they had a real "fear of being barred from receiving communion."

I know nothing about Mr. Kmiec or his beliefs on abortion. Nor do I need to. Because the church - Catholic, Protestant, or otherwise - has no business inserting itself into the politics of its members. Nor does it have any business denying its members a holy sacrament based on their stated political preference. If God has a problem with a pro-life Catholic voting for Obama, I'm sure he'll deal with it in his own way. Petty punishments that use people's faith against them are not only fundamentally ridiculous, they also degrade the sanctity of belief itself.

For shame.

Why this elite woman disagrees with Ann Marlowe

Head on over to Forbes.com and read this article by Ann Marlowe. Go ahead, I'll wait. It just gives me an opportunity to build up a good head of steam.

I suppose Marlowe would characterize me as one of the angst-ridden elite women she refers to in her piece. I am childless, though not necessarily by choice. I've got a passport, and I haven't been afraid to use it. I have a graduate degree and am (vaguely) working toward a doctorate. I dabble in the garden, however ineffectually. So, since I seem to fit so perfectly into Marlowe's elite mold, I'm going to take the liberty of responding to her simplistic and not terribly thoughtful analysis of how we elite women think with regard to Sarah Palin. Although it's true I'm not yet a "certified member" of the elite, you'll forgive me this presumption I'm sure; last I heard, my certification was in the mail.

Marlowe's main argument seems to be that "elite women" are so perversely opposed to the idea of Governor Sarah Palin as Vice President Sarah Palin because (I can hardly even type this) she makes us feel inadequate. What with her obvious fecundity and her boundless ambition, Marlowe argues that Palin leaves the rest of us feeling as if we've wasted our lives in useless pursuits like volunteering and going to college. Faced with the stark reality of our privately pointless existence, Marlowe thinks that we elite women see in Palin's public purpose an echo of where our lives could have gone if we'd only tried a little harder and done a little more. She's the girl in math class who ruined the curve for the rest of us, and we resent her for it.

Marlowe comes to this conclusion about how elite women think by analyzing our angst-ridden cry, "If Sarah Palin is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, so am I!" Which, I suppose is all well and good. Or it would be. If she hadn't COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT. We elite women aren't upset because we feel we have every right to be in Palin's shoes. We're upset because we know we that we have no right to fill her shoes. Nor, for that matter, does she. Sarah Palin is no more qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presideny than your average elite woman, this one included. The best politicians combine a passion for public service and a set of lofty policy ideals with a willingness to compromise and an understanding of how government works by and for the people. They bring a wealth of leadership experience - political or otherwise - to bear on the issue of government. And, hopefully, they get things done. Your average elite woman (or is that an oxymoron, Ms. Marlowe?) may have some of these, but she doesn't have all. Knowing her strengths and weaknesses, she suspects that political life is not the best use of her talents.

Sarah Palin has no such sense of introspection. Nor, incidentally, has she been able to demonstrate a single one of the qualities listed above. Instead of a passion for public service, she's demonstrated a zeal for personal enrichment. Lofty policy ideals were shoved aside in favor of craven political pandering. Palin had no need for an understanding of government; while mayor of Wasilla she paid a city manager to understand government for her. And what about that experience issue?

Despite Marlowe's claims, Palin isn't all that different from your average elite woman - she didn't spend a lot of time in meetings talking about school bond issues and off ramps either. As governor, she spent the majority of her time being paid state per diem not to go to work, all while governing a state with a population smaller than that of Louisville, Kentucky. I'd tend toward the snide if Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson ran for president, and he's got twenty years experience. Yet I'm supposed to feel warm and fuzzy about Sarah Palin? Please.

But experience is just the tip of the elite anger iceberg. The real reason we elite women can't stand Sarah Palin can be found in her every snide wink and subtle innuendo. Every time she wrinkles her nose at East coast elites, every time she attempts to capitalize on financial worries to further divide this country along economic lines, every time she stages a rally where hate speech is not only tolerated but seemingly courted - those are the real reasons we can't stand Sarah Palin. Because Sarah Palin so clearly hates us. But not just us. Sarah Palin clearly can't stand the thought of an America that is truly a United States. And since a united America seems clearly to favor Obama, Sarah Palin seems content to see a divided America vote McCain.

A thousand thanks to Anthony for pointing this piece out to me (despite the uncomfortable spike to my blood pressure from reading it).

Live-blogging the presidential debate

9First things first: I'm happy to be able to give a shout out to Jen, one of my most loyal readers in Louisville, Kentucky. Here's a challenge, though Jen - you can't just read, you've got to comment every now and again, too.

Now on to the debate:

• 8:55pm - No danger of train wrecks tonight - or at least not nearly as much danger as there was for Biden and Palin. Instead, both candidates need to focus on appearing strong and competent without being too angry or going overly negative. Another real danger? Ponytail Guy. Watch out for him.
• 8:59pm - Disappointingly, I've just realized I'm out of wine. No chance of a Maverick drinking game for me tonight.
• 9:00pm - That is one teeny tiny town in that hall.
• 9:05pm - Allen's question. Obama is first up; his answer is particularly new - we've heard a lot of this before. But he sounds competent and in charge.
• 9:07pm - McCain takes on Allen's question and leads off with...energy independence? Really? That's the first step in your plan? Doesn't sound all that useful to help Joe Six-Pack with his gutted 401K. On the upside, McCain does a better job working the room than did Obama who stayed in one spot too long.
  
• 9:08pm - Ooohh...let's do a Maverick count and a My Friends count. My Friends total count: 1.
• 9:09pm - Bizarre mention of folks who make their living on eBay by McCain. Desperate attempt to sound hip and with it?
• 9:11pm - McCain rolls out the old "I suspended my campaign in this crisis" line. Isn't that so debunked now that it's almost ridiculous to mention?
• 9:14pm - Obama: "I've got to correct a little bit of Senator McCain's history, not surprisingly..." A little early to be snide, isn't it?
• 9:33pm - Obama suggests that military families shouldn't be the only ones bearing the burden of service. I'll stand behind that.
• 9:35pm - Obama again uses the that's a hatchet when you need a scalpel line. It's apropos, but it's old. He could use some new catchphrases.
• 9:37pm - In McCain's tax plan, childless people get screwed again. Why can't I double the deduction on my dogs from $3500 to $7000?
  
• 9:37pm - Brokaw gets scrappy with regard to the debate rules.
  
• 9:41pm - Total My Friends count: 2. McCain's plan for Social Security? It's not that hard - you just have to sit down with folks across the aisle. Who knew that's all it would take?
• 9:42pm - Total My Friends count: 3.
• 9:43pm - Great question, Ingrid. How will you make Congress get off their tushes on the environment and alternative energy? Total My Friends count: 4.
• 9:46pm - Obama: "Senator McCain is right that Congress hasn't done anything about renewable energy for the last 30 years. What he doesn't mention is that he's been there for 26 of them." Nice sound bite.
  
• 9:48pm - Total My Friends count: 4. By the way - did he just refer to Obama as "that one"?
• 9:49pm - Total My Friends count: 5. It would have been a long dry night if I'd been doing a Maverick drinking game. I wonder if that's on purpose after all the laughing at the Maverick's expense this week.
  
• 9:53pm - Health costs are skyrocketing and McCain hits on....putting medical records online? Really? My mom does this for a living. It's required for all hospitals within the next five years as it is. Why would you mention this, much less first?
• 9:55pm - McCain calls health care a responsibility. Big mistake. Will Obama capitalize?
• 9:56pm - Obama calls health care a right. Damn right. He hit that one out of the park, especially with the mention of his mother wrangling with insurance companies over pre-existing conditions.
  
• 10:00pm - Total My Friends count: 6. By the way - how could I just have noticed that candy cane tie McCain is wearing? Total My Friends count: 7.
• 10:03pm - Next debate I'm getting a "Fundamental" drinking game going.
• 10:06pm - My Friends count: 8. No wait: 9.
• 10:08pm - How do you exacerbate a reputation?
• 10:11pm - McCain plays the old "Obama would announce that he was going to attack Pakistan" line. It occurs to me that we announced we were going to attack Iraq. By several days. We gave them a specific time, for Pete's sake. It was a sensible thing to do to give Saddam a deadline and allow innocent people to flee Baghdad. Why does he keep harping on this stupid issue?
• 10:14pm - Obama, in so many words, calls McCain a crazy old coot.
• 10:15pm - Total My Friends count: 10. How will McCain get bin Laden? He'll take the Nike approach. He'll just do it.
• 10:20pm - The lights off McCain's head are a little glaring in the wide view.
• 10:25pm - Total My Friends count: 11. No wait: 12.
  
• 10:31pm - Obama's grandmother was scrimpin' to help put him through school. When did he start dropping his g's?
• 10:32pm - McCain has the misfortune of having to tell his family story after Obama's. Who's going to believe a white guy growing up in the fifties had it worse than a black man in the seventies?

Overall - I thought it was a narrow Obama win. He showed a lot more fire than he did in the first debate, but he finished weakly on the Russia issue. McCain - other than that senseless "that one" comment - was his usual snarky self. Nevertheless, he finished better than Obama did. I doubt this debate changed any minds - it certainly won't have the power that the VP debate had last week. What was most interesting was how relatively civil this debate was after the nasty turn the larger campaign has taken in the last few days.

BTW - I'm watching CNN now and they focused on whether or not the two would shake hands after the debate. At one point, Obama stuck out his hand in McCain's direction, either McCain ignored it or didn't see it, left Obama hanging, and he ended up shaking Cindy's hand. I wonder if this will be an issue...

The place in hell reserved for women who miquote Madeleine Albright

Check out this video of Sarah Palin, at a campaign rally in California, suggesting that "there's a special place in hell reserved for women who don't support women." Which is awesome, because I never really feel like I'm able to connect to a candidate until they've damned me to hell. Now we can truly be friends! Interested in what the quote actually said (it's a one word change, but boy does it make a difference)? You can find it here.

Joe pulls a Sarah

Senator Biden gave a speech at his son's deployment ceremony yesterday. The cameras conveniently captured the whole thing.

I hated it when Palin did it, and I hate it that Biden did it. Those ceremonies are incredibly tough, perhaps even more so for National Guard troops who first deploy to a training area, making their total time away from their families that much longer. Those cameras must have felt incredibly intrusive to the families of those who were deploying. I do, of course, understand that Biden was himself sending his son off to war. And, of course, he has a right to be there. But he could've done so quietly, with no cameras and no speeches. It certainly would've been the classier thing to do.

Read it. Watch it. Buy it.

Thought I would inaugurate a new segment on the blog discussing all things new and interesting in the world of literature, film, and consumerism - three of my favorite things.

Read it: Two great comedic reads from two very different authors: Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe and David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Sedaris' brilliance is, I think, well established, all the more so if you've ever caught him on This American Life. Once you've heard him read one of his pieces aloud, you will never be able to look at his writing the same again. Every Sedaris work from then on will require two readings - one silently to yourself, and another when you read and let his voice recite the words in your mind. I promise you you'll laugh harder the second time. Bryson's tone is a radical departure from Sedaris' in this book, and he's a bit more coarse than I'm used to from his work in A Short History of Nearly Everything. But many of his observations of Europe are spot on - except for maybe that one paragraph about the Germans. Nevertheless, it's a joyful romp across the European continent, and worth you $9.95. It almost makes me wish I was still teaching. I had a student who absolutely loved and constantly tried to emulate the writing of Dave Barry. It would have been fascinating to point him towards Bryson and Sedaris and see if the radical style departure carried over into his writing.

Watch it: Another pairing, this time Capote and Children of Men. Maybe you should save the comedy for after you watch these films; you might need the shot of endorphins. For those of you who remember In Cold Blood from high school, Capote will be a fascinating look at the other side of the page. The movie details Truman Capote's self-serving and narcissistic obsession with the men who killed the Clutter family, and the subsequent book that arose from it. With an astounding performance by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, this is really not a movie to be missed. Children of Men is one of those films I couldn't force myself to watch when it was in theatres. Who wants to pay $9.75 to be depressed? Unfortunately, I missed the point. Picking up 20 years after an epidemic of infertility sweeps the world, the film considers some fascinating questions about human nature - suggesting perhaps that hope is an emotion inseparable from youth. It's a violent film, but that violence makes its moments of tenderness that much more riveting. While the ending was less than I hoped, the journey was well worth the time.

Buy it: LEGO Batman for Wii. Let's just go ahead and say it. LEGO Indian Jones sucked. LEGO Batman redeems that suckage a bit. While it still doesn't achieve the absolute brilliance of LEGO Star Wars, it's a damn good go at it. And there's no better way to relax with your honey on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Debate fact check

Let the fact check begin! The Huffington Post points out that Palin got the name of the commander in Afghanistan incorrect. It's McKiernan. Not McClellan.

Live-blogging the Vice Presidential debate

• 5:55pm - I am giddy with anticipation. It's just like watching a NASCAR race and waiting for the crashes. Or watching figure skating and waiting for someone to break a limb.
  
• 6:02pm - Palin: "Hey, can I call you Joe?" That was weird.
  
• 6:06pm - Palin is being coherent, which is a definite plus. But she looks and sounds a little choked and a lot nervous.
  
• 6:07pm - Biden attacks McCain on the whole "fundamentals of the economy" gaffe. Palin restates the ridiculous position that by "fundamentals," McCain meant the American worker.
• 6:09pm - Palin: "...send the Maverick from the Senate to the White House." Total Maverick count: 1.
• 6:10pm - Palin hits her cute and perky stride with the "Joe Sixpack and hockey moms across America" comment.
• 6:12pm - The cute smile to the camera while Biden is talking about a guy who can't afford to fill up his gas tank seems a little odd. I wonder if McCain's scowls and smirks during Obama's debate responses so worried the McCain camp that they suggested Palin smile no matter what.
• 6:14pm - Despite being called by Biden on the fact that she failed to address his point about McCain's support of deregulation, she pointedly fails to address the issue again, then gets cut off by Ifill mid rant.
• 6:17pm - Is it just my TV or does Biden look seriously splotchy?
• 6:18pm - Whoa, Nellie! Palin, in reference to Obama's universal health care plan, says that the average American isn't excited about the federal government running health care "unless you're pleased with the way the federal government has been running anything lately..." Does that include Iraq?
• 6:29pm - Regarding the housing meltdown, given an opening to rebut Biden's characterization of the campaign, Palin once again declines to discuss the topic.
  
• 6:34pm - Palin corrects Biden. "It's not 'Drill, drill, drill', Joe. It's 'Drill, baby, Drill.'"
• 6:37pm - While stopping short of supporting gay marriage, Biden stands firmly behind rights for same-sex couples. Surprisingly, Palin seems to do the same. I think. It was a little fuzzy.
  
• 6:40pm - Palin insists that Obama's votes against military funding are votes to deny troops funds. Trust me on this. My husband always gets a paycheck no matter the outcome of those votes. And I'm pretty sure both Obama and McCain know that.
• 6:47pm - I'm not sure that Palin's quoting of Ahmadinejad's "Israel is a stinking corpse" comment was a great idea.
  
• 6:51pm - How does Palin manage to look so adorable while talking about protecting Israel from an Iranian-led holocaust? Seriously - how does she do that?
• 6:55pm - Palin: "He has been the Maverick. He has ruffled feathers." Total Maverick count: 3.
• 6:59pm - Biden states that we spend more money in three weeks in Iraq than we've spent during the entire 6 years in Afghanistan. If it's a correct number, it's stunning.
• 7:00pm - Gotta quit sighing, Joe.
  
• 7:03pm - I'm impressed that Biden is willing to stand up for intervention in Darfur.
• 7:03pm - I'm equally impressed that Palin has the chutzpah to call Biden someone who, as far as Iraq was concerned, was "for it before he was against it." Bridge to Nowhere, anyone?
  
• 7:09pm - Palin: "What do you expect? A team of Mavericks!" Total Maverick count: 4.
• 7:10pm - Palin lost her adorable there for a while. But look out - it's back.
• 7:11pm - With her shout out to third graders who get extra credit for watching the debate, Palin manages to sound like an incredibly qualified elementary school teacher.
  
• 7:14pm - McCain would put Palin in charge of energy independence. I think that's a bit like putting the wolf in charge of the hen house.
• 7:16pm - Palin puts herself on record as believing in Cheney's position that the vice presidency exists outside the executive branch.
• 7:18pm - Ifill pulls out that question that everyone interview question - what would you see as your greatest weakness. Palin completely ignores the question. And I mean completely. Disappointingly, Ifill doesn't call her on it.
  
• 7:20pm - Biden turns his negative into a positive, suggesting his excessive passion is his greatest weakness. Nice.
• 7:21pm - Biden chokes up discussing being a single father after the death of his wife. iIn her response, Palin's chipper grin seems crass after that real display of emotion.
• 7:23pm - In a rapid rebuttal, Biden more than triples the Maverick count. Total Maverick count: 13. Too bad this isn't a drinking game!
• 7:30pm - Palin quotes the Gipper.
  

Final thoughts: Palin didn't look like an idiot, but her perky demeanor seemed out of step with the seriousness of the position for which she is in effect applying, and the dire circumstances surrounding the current financial and political situation in this country. Biden seemed serious, thoughtful, and angry about the last eight years. That anger is exactly the tone Obama should have struck in the debate against McCain. More importantly, though, Biden managed to avoid focusing that anger against Palin. He was respectful towards her; he didn't condescend. And he got the great final line. He had a lot more to lose her than she did, and he nailed it.

When Katie Couric decides to become a real journalist...

...she really goes all out, doesn't she?

In yet another video clip from Couric's interview with Palin, Palin is unable to name a single publication (newspaper, magazine, etc) that she reads to stay informed on national and world events. She can't name one, but that's okay. Because she reads all of them.

In case you were wondering, I'm happy to name several. The Olympian (the best little paper in Olympia, Washington). The New Yorker. TIME. I dabble in both The Washington Post and The New York Times, both online. And, for my regular online news diet, I skim MSNBC, The Huffington Post, The Daily Background, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Kos and Slate.com almost daily.
Oh, yeah. And Playboy. I like the articles.

No, really. I like the articles.