Would it be irresponsible to point those of you haven't read it to Richard Hofstadter's essay, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics"? I, for one, think that it would would be irresponsible not to.
Now, you might argue that you're not for Obama-Biden as much as you're against McCain-Palin, and I'd be prepared to accept that.
About 75% of the reason I'm stoked to vote for Obama is not to vote for Obama, not to vote against McCain, but to vote against the Republican base, and particularly the racist Republican base (which I take to be about 1/2 of 25% of the population). I will vote with the specific intent of making their vicious little brains explode at the idea of a black U.S. president.
Jim @ 211: That puts you way ahead of Bil Frist. But if you were watching this guy on surveillance video, would you call 911?
I'd like to ask Jim, and other medically-savvy members of the Making Light audience, to take a close look at the video -- released only in pre-recorded form -- of McCain's statement on the economy and the debates.
Watch the left side of his face, especially his left eyelid.
Should we be worried?
Americans have always loved them a good heapin' plate of pipin' hot bullshit, jh. If you know your Mark Twain, you know this. The difference is that in the past, no one wanted to be told that that is what they were eatin'. If someone walked up to you and said, "so, I can see you really like what we just fed you -- but did you realize that that was bullshit? Well, those were fightin' words. But nowadays? Nowadays we are more enlightened. It is in fact a mark of one's seriousness and maturity to recognize what that stuff on the plate is before you even pick up your spork, and to enjoy it just the same. That, I humbly submit, is what's changed.
John and Clifton @ 26 & 37: Jeff @ Wunderground is the real deal. A co-founder of the best weather site on the web, and a Hurricane Hunter alum. At the site he has a long and gripping description of flying into the eye of the Cat 5 Hugo and nearly not making it out. A serious enough experience that he quit as a result.
Folks on the gulf coast: don't let your guard down. NOAA's runs of the various numerical simulations over the last few hours are producing more divergent results. There is a LOT of uncertainty as to where landfall is going to occur with this storm. Do not just fixate on the black line in the NHC maps; look at the error bands. They cover a very, very large stretch of coastline.
Hurricane Ike Intensifying rapidly
The central pressure has dropped 11 mb in just four hours, and stood at 947 mb at 7 pm EDT. The latest Hurricane Hunter data show that the pressure is continuing to fall at a rapid pace. The winds have not caught up yet to the pressure fall, and remain at Catgeroy 2 strength. The satellite presentation of the hurricane has improved markedly, as Ike has walled off the dry air that was bothering it, and has built a solid eyewall of 9 miles diameter of very intense thunderstorms. The appearance of Ike on infrared satellite loops is similar to Hurricane Wilma during its rapid intensification phase, when Wilma became the strongest hurricane on record. Like Wilma, Ike has a very tiny "pinhole" eye, but the storm is huge in size. Ike has a long way to go to match Wilma, but I expect Ike will be at least a Category 3 hurricane by morning, and probably a Category 4.
Bill Higgins @58: assuming that Palin might forget how to pronounce "nuclear" -- a word pronounced the way it is spelled is giving her the benefit of the doubt? Dude. That is some seriously faint praise.
Josh Jasper @2 typed:
"So, what she's saying is that as a state representative, and then a state Senator, Obama wasn't responsible to anyone because he wasn't a mayor?
It's a nice insulting slam, but (a) she didn't write that speech, it was written for her and (b) it's not actually relevant."
She clearly did not write it (nuclear was, in the text, written phnetically as new-clear, presumably becase in practice runs she was to obtuse tp pronounce the word correctly). But it doesn't matter if she wrote it. Shestood up, in front of 38 million people, and delivered it. Sarah Palin is responsible for the words formed under orders from her brain, transmitted by motorneurons to her vocal cords, and vomited from her mouth.
She is responsible for her words.
As Billmon said, they're trying to put the toothpaste back into the tube.
Oops. Should update faster; beaten to the punch by JMcD.
Donna Brazile Hit by Pepper Spray: Washington Post.
John L @363: "ABC News reported last night that McCain's election staff was sending a dozen or so members to Alaska this week to pore through old documents, news clippings, etc, on Palin so there wouldn't be any more surprises from her past."
Where you wrote "pore through", I'm pretty sure you meant to type, "shred."
Raphael @350:
"No, I think you got something mixed up there. Looks like the Alaska Permanent Fund is financed by the profits from exploiting Alaskan natural resources."
Yes. Alaskan natural resources which reside overwhlmingly on federal public lands-- which lands the AIP would "repatriate" to the people and state of Alaska.
From the Platform of the Alaskan Independence Party:
7. To seek the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska in conformance with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, of the federal constitution. [Get Out.]
[...]
9. To preserve and protect the Alaska Permanent Fund, Permanent fund earnings, earnings reserve fund and individual Permanent Fund Dividends. [Send More Money.]
Lizzy L @ 334: Bernard DeVoto, the greatest historian of the American West, nutshellized the desired relationship between Western politicians and the federal government thusly: "Get out, and send more money." Between the earmarking and her flirtation with Alaskan Independence Party, Sarah Palin is revealed as a type specimen of her class.
Just... oh, man. Via the Wunderground discussion boards...
Drunk guys near predicted landfall in Houma, La, with a live webcam feed.
The windsock on the fence in the background is a particularly creepy touch.
So. Wikipedia says that the toll stands at 1,836 dead, 705 missing. That number is higher than my recollection of the official numbers. A lot higher. Am I nuts, or was this accounting successfully suppressed?
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 1 |
| 2008 | 22 |
| 2007 | 20 |
Total: 43 comments. View all these comments on a single page.
The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by George Smiley:
Show all comments by George Smiley.