Silly Sarah, Trix are for Kids!

So, I thought I'd post just a tiny, knee-jerk reaction to Sarah Palin's speech tonight. That is, if you feel like calling it a speech. It sounded to me a lot more like an opening monologue from "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"-something that is usually mildly funny, yet so broad and unintelligent that you feel embarrassed watching other people laugh at it.

Firstly, I'll say that I thought Palin did a very good job delivering the speech. As a guy who loves the candidate who "gives good speeches", I think I know what I'm talking about. The beginning was aptly handled, and she did a good job introducing herself to the American people: the family, her journey to being governor, ect.

But, I was surprised as to how lacking in substance the rest of her speech was. After a whole week of people questioning McCain's decision-making skills, and worrying about Palin's novice status on the national stage, I thought her speech would be a great opportunity for her to prove that she was not a policy-lightweight. Instead, it was like Improv Night at the RNC.

Jokes about Obama's "bitter" quote, jokes about the set at Invesco, jokes about his campaign's misguided fake-presidency seal...and what really cheesed me off, and got my blood boiling a bit was her comments about Barack's days as a community organizer.

Now, I'll admit it was stupid, politically and in clear human terms, for Obama's campaign to respond to McCain picking Palin with a snide comment about her tenure as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska; however, both Obama and Biden quickly reformed that statement and the comment was quickly buried and forgotten, as it should have been. But for Palin to come out and dump on Barack's days on the South Side of CHI is just low-brow and dumb.

ANYBODY who spends time working with individuals in the worst parts of urban America deserve the respect of their fellow citizens (especially impressive when said organizer could be earning big, fat paychecks at top US law firms). As far as I was concerned, being a community organizer and mayor of a small town is pretty much a toss-up, and its stupid to debate such a thing.

But, since Palin (or really, a McCain speech writer) is stupid enough to make it a focal point of her speech, lets think about it, shall we? I think the contrasts between a small town in Alaska and the blight-filled South Side of Chicago are apparent, but just one example is looking at the poverty levels and family incomes in Wasilla versus people on the South Side. Believe what you want, but "the Kid" had to face some much harsher realities than Mrs. Palin.

I'd love to dissect more, but fine-combing the errors and misrepresentations in Palin's speech would be like caulking the Titanic: there's just too many holes. I didn't have any particular animosity for Sarah Palin when McCain picked her, but after belittling work done to alleviate the suffering of those in our inner cities, I have to say I'm ready for the hockey mom from up north to lose a few teeth (metaphorically speaking, of course).

I've MSNBC'n Enough!

Before I get into thoughts on Barack's near-perfect Grand Slam at Mile High on Thursday, I thought I'd kick off DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN! with a nice bridge from the "Hollywood" site as I present my own version of the 2006 Chicago-based film: The Break-Up.

Like Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, we seemed so right, but little was I aware of how wrong it all was. Time changes things, changes people. That is why I am in the midst of a very emotional time between a man and his television set.

Flashback to 2004, the election that I dove into head first. I had just gotten hooked on "The West Wing" and craved political coverage around the clock. As my studious roommate that year will tell you, we didn't do sh*t that semester, which allowed me to get all the talking heads I wanted.

What I found was that CNN was good. It had Wolf Blitzer bringing the news and mediating discussions like some CGI-fueled robot. But it also had old, tired contributors like the annoying Tucker Carlson and the decrepit, borderline frightening Larry King. The panels offered very little in terms of smart discussion, and even less entertainment. Plus, I was for Bush, and they were a bunch of lefty's (more on my four-year journey from Bush to Obama another day).

Fox News was, well, it was Fox News. You went there to hear conservatives praise Bush and rip apart John Kerry. It's okay, I guess, but Jon Stewart did a much better job of that. Plus, Republican ideology to me is like a good scotch: one sip is delicious, comforting, and makes you feel better than everyone else; but drink too much and you're in your own world, hurting those around you, and reason and rational thought aren't even on the radar.

I landed firmly at MSNBC and couldn't be happier. It was anchored by a man who lives for politics and political theater: Chris Matthews. Everyday he brought energy and insight to the goings-ons. There was the new kid: a thin, spry Keith Olbermann, who delivered the news professionally with just enough smarmyness to keep it interesting. But the key to my love of '04 MSNBC was Joe Scarborough. He was a Bush guy, a conservative, but told it like it was. If Bush had a bad day or Kerry a good one, he'd say it. He still supported the Prez. and made no bones 'bout it, but you felt like his opinion was his, and not the talking points from the RNC (which, I'm told Sean Hannity gets streamed directly into his brain).

Anchoring it all, and cinching it for me, was that the NBC news team of Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, and the always insightful Tim Russert often popped in, giving a measure of careful pause and thought to the rambunctious talkfest of cable news.

Hence, MSNBC was my channel, through and through, and was the channel of choice at 1110 Rosemont Avenue for nearly all the 2004 election.

Fast forward to 2008. Now the steady rudder of Tim Russert is gone. Chris Matthews looks older, more tired, and not as easily excited as he once was. Olbermann is fatter, completely partisan, and a real dick: he's the liberal version of Bill O'Rielly.

MSNBC has thrown itself firmly in Obama's corner, and this seems to weigh heaviest on good ole' Joe Scarborough. Things reached their breaking point for Joe during the convention last week and he erupted into quite a rant about the Iraq War which prompted David Shuster (the little bitch) to butt in with his views and the whole thing became the ugliest incident on cable news since Jon Stewart laid the smackdown on Tucker, but not nearly as entertaining. Joe was out of line, but bias in either way has to be frustrating. News reports say that MSNBC is in a bit of turmoil and with Rachel Maddow about to get her own show, the whole network seems to be a hop, skip, and a jump away from making landing somewhere left of Karl Marx.

How fortunate is it, though, that just last week CNN HD was added to my cable package. With Wolf at the helm, Cooper getting down and dirty (while staying impeccably dressed) and a cast of moderately entertaining characters, it would seem the obvious choice for me this election year.

But, to be honest, its all so entertaining, I think I should give my place the Johnson Treatment:


Three TVs, all in a row. That guy didn't know how to extract an American military presence from a complex geo-political situation in Southeast Asia, but he sure knew how to kick back.

Sorry for the lengthy post, I thought we should all have a chance to look at something longer than Sarah Palin's resume this week.

Hey-oh!