Two Questions

[midwinter]

1) Is John McCain still running for office? I ask because I haven't heard anything about him lately and was wondering if he'd died or something.

2) Is Sarah Palin too popular (http://mediamatters.org/items/200807250003?f=s_search) to be President? She seems sort of like a rock star these days—she's on the covers of Time and Newsweek (her second Newsweek cover in as many weeks) and she gets greeted by these enormous crowds who all seem to adore her. I don't know. Kinda creepy, if you ask me.

[midwinter]

Where is groverat when we need "insipid sarcasm" to be identified and called out?

:)

Insipid? INSIPID? My sarcasm, sirrah, is quite vigorous!

I think, though, that McCain is currently being completely overshadowed by his much more charismatic running mate. Do you think he'll take her to the debates?

[addabox]

Not only is Sarah Palin a big, creepy, scary celebrity, but her relationship to her audience is that of Jim Jones to his death cult.

Every time she give her stump speech and talks about being an earmarks destroying maverick and a bridge to nowhere stopping crusader, we know she is simply lying. And, I believe, her audience knows she is lying.

So she can stand up there and intone "earmarks, nowhere, maverick, taxes" and her audience hears "abortion, God, guns, us."

Or something. Certainly, what she is actually saying can't be the draw, since it's openly dishonest and false. Is that the new celebrity? The giddy, empowering sense that your candidate can say whatever the fuck she pleases, make up any bullshit that seems expedient, and nobody can do anything about it?

I'm asking now. When a candidate's central presentation of bona fides are straight-up lies, what is the appeal? I say it's the Republican Party's new identity of being the party of do whatever the fuck we want. The party of lawlessness, recklessness, no constraints, no rules, no consequences.

It's the right wing version of the left's hippie adolescence: let's all become bikers. Kick some ass. Scare the shit out of that uptight Obama dude.

Sarah Palin gets to tap into America's meth fueled heart. She's that kind of celebrity. Of course, that would be fairly disastrous as a matter of governance, but what do bikers care about pussy shit like that?

[addabox]

Oh, and McCain? I expect he's being fitted for a black leather jacket with "Maverick" and a death's head on the back. Look for him to start advancing on reporters screaming "You want some of this? Huh? Huh!!??" while Palin smirks and says "Kick his ass, honey."

[midwinter]

When a candidate's central presentation of bona fides are straight-up lies, what is the appeal?

She was wildly popular among the base 10 seconds after she was named. I think, honest-to-god, that the issue is that she seems kinda cute and likeable and charismatic, and so when the base went from trying to rally around an uncharismatic and unphotogenic John McCain with chants of "Go McCain. Or something!" to having a candidate that they actually don't get vaguely creeped out by, they got all excited. So excited, in fact, that now they don't want to look at or talk about the guy who is, you know, actually running for Preznit.

[addabox]

She was wildly popular among the base 10 seconds after she was named. I think, honest-to-god, that the issue is that she seems kinda cute and likeable and charismatic, and so when the base went from trying to rally around an uncharismatic and unphotogenic John McCain with chants of "Go McCain. Or something!" to having a candidate that they actually don't get vaguely creeped out by, they got all excited. So excited, in fact, that now they don't want to look at or talk about the guy who is, you know, actually running for Preznit.

But the base actually, you know, wants stuff, right? They have an idea of how they want gummit to be, even if it's only dead?

They can't actually be about reigning in pork or wasteful spending or shrinking budgets, because it's common knowledge that Palin's record runs absolutely in the opposite direction.

But that's what she's talking about, to huge ovations. So are the ovations sort of "say whatever, honey, we dig you because you're likable and it's not that hard to pretend you're one of us"? And the base could actually give a shit about pork and whatnot, and but still somehow think that's a winning line?

I'm, like, all confused and shit.

[FormerLurker]

2) Is Sarah Palin too popular (http://mediamatters.org/items/200807250003?f=s_search) to be President? She seems sort of like a rock star these days—she's on the covers of Time and Newsweek (her second Newsweek cover in as many weeks) and she gets greeted by these enormous crowds who all seem to adore her. I don't know. Kinda creepy, if you ask me.

She's not a rock star, she's a country music star.

Hank Williams Jr...... with lipstick.

[@_@ Artman]

I'm, like, all confused and shit.

You're not the only one (http://www.inlookout.com/2008/09/11/first-mccain-interview-in-weeks-looks-lost-without-palin/).

I hope this goes viral. Venal even. I think Palin is ebbing the life-force out of him. :wow:

[Bergermeister]

How many times are they going to repeat that proximity to Russia thing?

And the pipeline is not a done deal yet.

[franksargent]

You're not the only one (http://www.inlookout.com/2008/09/11/first-mccain-interview-in-weeks-looks-lost-without-palin/).

I hope this goes viral. Venal even. I think Palin is ebbing the life-force out of him. :wow:

Here's an example of McBush as conjoined twins;

http://www.wrapped-in-the-flag.com/images/400_Siamese-Twins.jpg

What is needed now is a McPalin graphic/image showing them joined at the hip or head.

Maybe there's already something existing out there wrt PaCain?

Your check is in the mail.

[@_@ Artman]

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i91/nonnie9999/movies/agatheringofoldmen.jpg