Tag Archives: election 08

because my head didn't hurt enough

At dinner, Samer filled me in on the latest political nonsense. Thanks to the never-ending migraine I had no idea about Sarah Palin’s bizarro speech last week wherein she stumped for more autism research while railing against…um, autism research.

In one of those moments of sheer wackiness that comes about only at the end of a long and grueling presidential campaign, I type the words, “Christopher Hitchens speaks for me.” If you don’t wish to read his entire Slate essay, “Sarah Palin’s War on Science – The GOP ticket’s appalling contempt for knowledge and learning,” which you should, because it’s quite good, let me hit the highlight for you:

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just “people of faith” but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.

I wanted to add, however, that The Loom, a science blog at Discover Magazine, is willing to cut Palin a sliver of slack as there is research into the Olive Fruit Fly in France that is, in fact, unrelated to Autism. I have no way of knowing what she meant, so I’ll link to UNC Health Care’s post, “In defense of fruit flies and basic medical research” and proceed on the assumption that no matter what the woman was trying to refer to, she’s still an idiot.

The politically obsessed; SNL on Biden and Murtha

From last night’s Saturday Night Live: “Earlier today Democratic candidate Joe Biden and Congressman Jack Murtha spoke at a rally in Johnstown Pennsylvania where they attempted to blow the election for Senator Obama.”

Meanwhile, in the Washington Post, inadequate political junkies come out of the closet in “Capital Offense – Washington Keeps a Finger on the Political Pulse.”

“I’ve done that a million times,” Peter Barber says excitedly, when asked if he’s ever pretended to recognize a name or political term since moving to the area for grad school in public policy at George Mason. “But I always thought it was just me!”

He hasn’t lived here that long — came down from Connecticut where people aren’t so obsessed. Still, it’s not easy, he says. Especially not when there’s a whole new cast of characters and policies to memorize every election cycle.

“Like Rumsfeld,” Barber says. He’d finally gotten used to knowing that “Rumsfeld was the secretary of state,” he says, when Rumsfeld went and resigned and was replaced by that Gates guy. Now, Barber bets, “Four out of 10 people here would still say Rumsfeld” was the secretary of state.

Telling Barber that Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were not secretaries of state but secretaries of defense just seems cruel.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to watch that SNL sketch again, it may be one of my favorites.

"Death threat, vandalism hit ACORN after accusations"

The conviction of ACORN without waiting for anything like a pesky investigation continues. As reported in the Miami Herald:

An ACORN community organizer received a death threat and the liberal-leaning voter registration group’s Boston and Seattle offices were vandalized Thursday, reflecting mounting tensions over its role in registering 1.3 million mostly poor and minority Americans to vote next month.

The article concludes by noting the larger implications of these events:

It’s unclear whether the alleged threats violated federal law, but Jonah Goldman, the director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit legal organization that battles discrimination, argued that the Voting Rights Act should apply.

“A real concern is the impact that these terrible acts have on the people who registered through these registration drives,” Goldman said. “Legitimate, eligible voters who sign up through these registration drives may be understandably intimidated and choose not to show up at the polls, and the Voting Rights Act prevents voter intimidation.”

On a related note, ACORN has this statement up on their site regarding John McCain’s recent attacks on the organization:

“We appreciate Senator McCain’s effort to stir up the Republican base by attacking a community organization working to increase public participation in our democratic process. However, these attacks reflect an increasingly panicked candidate. Unfortunately, the Senator McCain we saw tonight is very different than the Senator McCain who stood shoulder to shoulder with ACORN at a February 20, 2006 immigration reform event.

It is clear for us to see that John McCain was for ACORN before he was against ACORN; he was for reform before he was against reform; and he was a maverick before he became erratic. What is really going on here is that Senator McCain and his allies are part of a coordinated effort to engage in what appears to be an unprecedented effort to suppress voter turnout. Repeating a lie doesn’t make it true, and the McCain campaign has resorted to the worst type of deceptions in regards to ACORN.”

Miami Herald link via LDpodcast’s twitter feed.