RNC Recap

While researching the hypocrisy of the esteemed Governor of Alaska, I came across this AWESOME article. AP reporter Jim Kuhnhenn listened thoughtfully to the Republicans this week, repectfully weighed the facts... and came back with an official "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire." Please read. Please pass along.

These Folks Sure Can Spin A Yarn...

If you were fresh off the spaceship this week, taking your first little tour of the planet and happened to catch John McCain and the rest of the Republicans at the RNC, you'd be convinced these were earthlings who were NOT in power (and definitely didn't vote with the current administration 95% of the time). They're going to "shake up Washington", after all. And if you were wondering which party cares more about the people than their own wallets (official term: special interests), well, it's obviously these guys who put "Country First". Illegal immigrants from far-off constellations aside (coming soon - Galactic Space Fence), is anyone out there buying this shit?

Rachael Makes Barack LOL

Just like ScarJo, our very own Rachael has been emailing with Barack Obama. In a Dimpled Chads exclusive, here is his message to her and her response.

BARACK: Rachael --
Why would the Republicans spend a whole night of their convention attacking ordinary people?

RACHAEL: Barack, I honestly do NOT KNOW! AND San Fran (that's where I live) and I felt like, hey what'd we ever do to them? I don't go around bashing where THEY live. OK, fine, fine. Yes I do. But YOU don't. You are a much better person than I.

BARACK: With the nation watching, the Republicans mocked, dismissed, and actually laughed out loud at Americans who engage in community service and organizing.

RACHAEL: No Senator, honestly this had me baffled all night I'm SO GLAD you are pointing this out. Are they just admitting they're pure evil?

BARACK: Our convention was different. We gave the stage to everyday Americans who hunger for change and stepped up to make phone calls, knock on doors, and raise money in small amounts in their communities.

RACHAEL: Totally...totally agree.....

BARACK: You may have missed it, but we also showed the country a video with the faces and voices of those organizers, volunteers, and donors from every corner of the country.

RACHAEL: I did miss that (recapping Project Runway for my job...sorry...) but sounds awesome. OK you win again! Here comes $100. Guess Joaquin's buying Sushi next week.

Keep up the good work! - Rachael

Heating Up in St. Paul...

My top three observations from night three (see what I did there?) of the Republican National Convention:

1) Rudy Giuliani is the devil.

2) Sarah Palin gave a solid speech, but aimed directly at the base. I don't think any swing voters are swinging republican for that one.

3) When did being a community organizer become a bad thing? I'm so confused.

Juno From Juneau Part Deux

...as promised, a brief discussion about Sarah Palin, the mother...

Karla (Rachael's mom) has a valid point. She said that if her child had been pregnant at 17, she would never have exposed her to this kind of public scrutiny by running for national office. I hadn't thought about it, but, duh. Isn't a mother supposed to protect her children instead of throw them under the bus for the sake of ambition?

One More Thing About Judgment...

I forgot one of my favorite points! Sarah Palin actually asked the question, "What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" I suppose if McCain wins, we better hope she's a quick learner.

Juno From Juneau

Sarah Palin's 17 year-old daughter is pregnant. Bring on the Field Day!!!

The esteemed Governor is a strong supporter of abstinence only education. So, uh, how's that working out for you?

Aside from the hypocrisy issue is the much more important question of McCain's judgment. Choosing a running mate is the first major executive decision a presidential candidate makes. According to the New York Times, the vetting of Sarah Palin was a rushed, slipshod affair. As we have all heard by now, John McCain had met her ONCE before offering her the position. There is no evidence that anyone in Alaska was EVER asked ANYTHING about her. For his part, McCain claims Palin was "thoroughly vetted" and that he knew she was under investigation for the firing of a state trooper and that her teenage daughter was pregnant. And this still seemed like the way to go, Senator?!?! God forbid you drop dead in the next four years, you feel this is the VERY BEST person in the country to step in for you? Bullshit. There's no way you think that. You wouldn't even vote for this woman if she was running in the Republican primary and you weren't. You'd vote for someone with experience and a history of reaching across the aisle. I think.

In addition, in an election everyone seems to agree is an important turning point for our nation, Senator McCain chose a running mate who was sure to provide a distraction from the issues. Instead of giving his convention its best chance to direct the political conversation in this country towards the issues Republicans care about, McCain has given us a week of Baby Drama. Supposedly, McCain wanted Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge but bowed to pressure from Christian conservatives and instead went with the impulsive Palin hail mary. Country first? Really?

Now for me, McCain's judgment and Palin's hypocrisy are the two most important issues in this argument. I'm reluctant to discuss one's ability as a mother but as Rachael says, "If your first words that you've ever spoken to 99.9% of Americans are: your kids names and 'I'm just a hockeymom' - then your parenting is not off limits."

Since I kind of see her point, we'll explore this further in Juno From Juneau part deux...

A Letter From Rachael

Dear Readers -

One unexpected consequence of the Palin pick has come to pass. Today I donated the most money to a political candidate that I ever have ($100). I live in a really expensive West Coast city and am a blogger who makes pennies and yet I'm so disturbed by Palin's political views and McCain's judgement that I now am willing to sacrifice sushi dinners and a trip to H&M this week to insure Obama is our next president. If that's not firing up the left I DONT KNOW WHAT IS.

Yours Truly,
Rachael

All Hail the Mayor of Wasilla!

We suck. We abandoned you. Things got boring (and you know, really exciting on Project Runway - I mean, there's a dude named Suede who refers to himself in the third person - how can you pass that up?) and we figured we'd come back for the conventions. But the Democrats? Obama picked Biden and gave a great speech. Yawn. No news there. Our greatest failure, however, has been to wait this long to comment on what has to be the most fun shitstorm of the campaign season - So here it is, folks - the Dimpled Chad take:

We wake up Friday morning to the news that John McCain has chosen Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska as his running mate. My first thought was, genius move to go with a woman. Of course, I didn't know anything about this particular woman when I said that and as soon as we all learned a little - OMG!

Where to begin? How about... To think that Hillary supporters will jump on the bandwagon of anyone with a hoo-hah regardless of experience or ideology is incredibly insulting. Rachael's chime in: "If the women of America end up having the teeny tiny lady brains the GOP and media seem to assume we do and vote for this scary zealot I will probably need to grow a penis."

So, Obama, when asked in an interview about the Republicans' claim that Palin has more executive experience than he does said that Palin had 50 employees working under her and he has 2500. The GOP immediately cried sexism. For the life of me I can't figure that one out. How does the number of employees one supervises have anything to do with gender? The Rachael chime-in: "Everyone should just put down the sexist card. Rush Limbaugh already surrendered the Right's use of it when he described her as a babe."

So, we went along like this for two days, dissecting the fact that McCain had picked an NRA membership-card toting, creationism-supporting Christian Right woman with almost no experience... and then... JUNO FROM JUNEAU!!!!

To be continued...