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“Socialist” scare tactics at GlobalComment

So the McCain campaign won’t let go of Joe the Plumber. He’s still being trotted out in speeches by McCain and Palin. They mention again and again how Obama wants to “spread” Joe’s wealth.

Aside from the condescension (yet again) implicit in McCain’s reduction of Joe to a stereotype (and leaving out any of the frenzied investigations into just who Joe really is), I want to look a little closer at what the Joe the Plumber rhetoric really means.

Joe, of course, is white. He’s from Ohio, a state connected with middle-American whiteness, as opposed to the cities that McCain likes to emphasize in reference to Obama (”I don’t need any advice from a…Chicago politician!”).

The city is black; Middle America is white.

Read the rest. Because you love me.

On the Palin ethics probe

Once again, I have more up at GlobalComment.com

It’s official. Sarah Palin was found to have abused her authority in the firing of a public official who would not fire her state trooper ex-brother-in-law, according to the probe released Friday.

Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan refused to fire Trooper Michael Wooten, who was involved in a divorce and custody dispute with Palin’s sister. The report cites repeated attempts and pressure by Palin’s husband, Todd, the “first dude” of Alaska, to have Wooten removed from his job.

The real question is, is this having any effect on the race?

The investigation has been under way since July, and Palin originally promised to cooperate. Yet after McCain asked her to join his ticket, Republicans began to claim that the investigation was politically motivated, even despite Republican dominance in Alaskan politics.

The Wooten probe has been, until now, just another punchline in the story of McCain’s largely unvetted Veep pick: the pretty conservative with the sharp tongue and folksy manner who couldn’t name a single newspaper she reads and didn’t know what the Bush Doctrine is.

Now that it’s out, will it change anyone’s mind?

Read the rest.

Recommended reading

OK, so one of these is my article. But still: my take on the VP debate.

Also, read Natalia’s piece here. Really. You must.

Bloggin’ for bloggin’s sake.

I just realized that I haven’t updated. I’ve been working on this and that, writing school stuff and writing for other places, so I guess I just felt like I’d updated more recently than I have.

It’s a busy, busy week this week. My sister’s birthday is today, so I’m taking her out for dinner tonight, and then getting a good night’s sleep because it’ll be my last until Sunday.

Most importantly, tomorrow night is DEBATE NIGHT. I will be purchasing more cheap champagne and live-twittering. Going to see if I can change my Twitter widget to update in the main blog area instead of in my sidebar, so those of you who don’t stay up to watch the hilarity can read it all the next day.

Apparently, the format of the debate is going to favor Palin–no follow-up questions. I’ve elaborated several times as to why I think that this will also help Biden–he’s got to answer the damn question, and won’t have much time to snark at Palin. She, on the other hand, will be able to make her own self look, well, clueless.

I stood up for the woman in the beginning–certainly not for her policies, but at least for her not being as dumb as people wanted to think. But as time has gone on, while I still don’t think she’s dumb, she certainly has proven herself to be willfully uninformed. I still won’t compare her to the much-maligned Dan Quayle. We’ve got another one much closer: George W. Bush.

Remember Bush sneering at a journalist translating languages for him? Or his many mispronunciations or confusions of foreign officials (I seem to remember a story about Prime Minister Poutine? Oh, ye gods.) Remember Bush defining the word “Sovereignty” as “it’s sovereign”?

This kind of arrogant, oppressive ignorance seems to be fading from popularity, as Obama’s poll numbers seem to indicate. One of the things I do like about Obama is his tendency, from all reports, to sit back and listen when other people are talking, and to be willing to learn. Now, since by all accounts Palin is cramming for her debate like a high schooler for the SATs, one would assume that she’ll have learned something by then. After all, I spent 3 hours Monday morning boning up on my economic policy and all I had was Google and a friendly debate through IM. (I don’t have a solution to the problem, but I like the one Bernie Sanders proposed–surprise, surprise.)

Point being, if she wanted to learn this stuff,  it’s out there. She’s clearly not a stupid woman–she managed to get elected governor of Alaska without a dynasty behind her to shoehorn her into the seat. But she certainly didn’t count on being quizzed on federal-level policy this soon into her career, and it is pretty sad that even as a governor of a state she didn’t find it necessary to learn it.

Anyway, I’m honing my snark for tomorrow night. Until then, if you miss me, you can check out my Paul Newman piece, my first debate piece, my bailout piece, etc. at GlobalComment (plus read Renee’s stuff there, she’s excellent) and a bit of lighter fare: Janes in Love review at BUST and Black Summer review at Newsarama. And a bunch of junk on Tumblr.

I forgot…

In the midst of economic crisis and other things going on in my life, I completely forgot to mention that you can see me and my mom in the current print issue of BUST.

It’s the one with Sarah Silverman on the cover, and my friend and fabulous artist Molly Crabapple is also in there.

Also

I wrote this. The 700 Billion Bailout

Elsewhere.

I wrote this tonight:

Scared to Debate?

John McCain has proposed “suspending” the campaign and cancelling Friday’s scheduled debate to “concentrate on the economy.”

Problem is, he’s spent almost no time doing his job as a Senator since the campaign started.

Chris Dodd, on the Rachel Maddow Show, said he hadn’t seen “hide nor hair” of John McCain while Congress has been busy trying to agree on a bailout plan to the tune of some $700 billion dollars. McCain has spent the least amount of time in the Senate, a job he is still collecting a taxpayer-footed paycheck for, of anyone outside of Tim Johnson, who nearly died last year.

Among the things McCain did not find important enough to suspend his campaigning for: the Webb GI bill, which was the biggest chunk of “Support the Troops” legislation to make it through Congress this year. Also, the economic stimulus package, which fell one vote short of the 60 votes necessary to stop debate. READ THE REST

I also have had some fun with Tumblr. And of course, Twitter (available in sidebar).

more blogflogging.

My LOCAL review at Bust.

Words cannot describe how much I love that comic.

Gustav

thoughts on Hurricane Gustav up at GlobalComment. (thanks again, Natalia)

And on a lighter note

You should read the Palin article first, really.

But if you want something fluffier–Anna Mercury at BUST.