Welcome! And Thanks!

This was the scene in Iraq, where Vice President Joe Biden swore in new citizens who have been serving in the military.

Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, I'm Gonna Go On Tour

It's all about the benjamins, really. Soon to be ex-governor Palin is bored with obtaining actual executive experience, and is "going broke" defending herself against evil...somethings. Oh, yes. All those nasty bloggers questioning her questionable doings.

I seem to recall that the Clintons were in a similar bind after Mr. Clinton's term finished (no quitters, they). They set up a fund that had its fits and starts, they wrote books and eventually pulled it off. As I recall, they were millions of dollars down, no exaggeration.

I heard (or thought I heard) that Sarah Palin's defense fund garnered an overnight haul of big bucks the day after she announced her coming resignation. There are bunches of people raising oodles of money for her to be "defended" or run for president in 2012.

So, absent any "actual responsibilities", she's going to tour the "lower 48". She'll be a hit down south, and maybe some in the west. If she can avoid losing, she might be able to pull off a nomination. Not a win, but a nomination.

There's lots to ignore in Palin herself, but not in her following. Americanism is strong in the South and West, where incomes are low and faith is high. Howard Dean said it, John Edwards said it, but nobody listened (well, voters did, media didn't). They talked about the poverty, but the faith, not so much. People can endure physical poverty as long as they feel spiritually enriched. This has nothing to do with church or a particular faith, really, but with a feeling of community - shared values, shared experiences, whether real or imagined.

This is why the local optometrist is pulling in cash hand over fist selling glasses "as worn by Sarah Palin". This is why people still have on their McCain/Palin stickers on after pulling off the W ovals (you can see the spots). These are the people that Beck and Bachman are trying to woo, and the ones everyone else is trying to ignore, perhaps with good reason.

Hopefully, as the economy improves, the rising tide really will lift all boats, and soon to be ex-governor Palin will be more of an entertaining realitysideshow - you'll watch, but you won't vote.

Zombie Molly Ivins: Sorry to Dissappoint, Children

Well, this young lady got all excited when she saw the "molly_ivins" rss feed suddenly start popping up headlines in her Journal thingamabob. (I'm sorry, I can type, but all these screen things and little islands of lingo just irritate me. I don't like clubs that try to be exclusive)

But it turned out to be a false alarm. Alternet decided to push out their main feed to all the "dead" lists. I can't say I blame them. I'm not using it, and it could attract some new blood.

But yes, the top post was about legalizing marijuana, which would be a tiny stretch for me to write about, especially with the Ledge in session,* and the our only Governor talking about seceden' from that pesky union. But when the next link down was about starting a compost pile, the jig was up.

So, yes. Sorry to disappoint. It's not a rehash of the Best Of. It's your turn now to be writing and doing.

I must be off. Love to all.

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*I mean - they can stop time just by unplugging a clock! Is that all? Between that and Intelligent Design, this place could really show the world what science is all about. Oh yes. College students can now shoot each other on campus now, not just the streets. Now you don't have to ditch the weapon if you manage to stray on campus while on a spree.

Let Joe be Joe!

I have to admit to a soft spot for Joe Biden. I didn't know beans about him until he was the vee-pee-nominee, but I liked what I read for the most part. Smart guy, thinks about stuff, votes in the main the way I like.

But I love, love, love the gaffes. I really do. It's the absolutely necessary chaos factor in an otherwise perfectly orderly administration.

How could you not love this?

Biden tried to reassure gun owners that Obama had no plans to institute new laws that would restrict their access to firearms by telling them, “I guarantee you Barack Obama ain’t taking my shotguns, so don’t buy that malarkey.” He added, “If he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem.”

link

Beautiful! He's saying what a bunch of people in the country think. So what if aides have to scramble to clarify? They shouldn't be clarifying his remarks, they should be clarifying the administration's policies.

Oh and so what about the undisclosed location? Do you really think the Secret Service and all the might of the country can't keep him safe? He's traveling to the Balkans and Lebanon, for pete's sake.

I say, let Joe be Joe. Say it like it is, man.

Hey, Keith...Keith, you may want to think about this....

No, really. You want Hannity to admit that waterboarding is torture,

while being waterboarded.

To prove that torture doesn't produce any useful information or true facts.

To prove that it's just used to get someone to say what you want them to say.

I don't think you've thought your cunning plan through. Unless your secret agenda is to torture the guy. That's understandable.

She wouldn't last one season on ST:TNG

We're still talking about Michelle Obama's arms?  Seriously?  I had to double check the date on the latest tome on the subject from the L.A. Times.  A fitness expert is quoted as saying:

...strong legs and a flat belly are often interpreted as sexy features on a woman, bulging biceps . . . not so much. "It crosses the boundary from having sexy, toned arms to having arms that display, 'Hey, I'm working on being strong.' " Banet-Weiser says. "The evidence of that work . . . is quite threatening."

Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...

Q: How do you tell the First Lady from her security detail?
A: She's the intimidating one.

..and I'm done. This is pretty silly.

You just lost the game

That's actually a username on some site I go to. I love that name. It's what came to mind when I was reading about Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (Docket No. 08-205). (Background in non-legalese here and here.)

The producers of "Hillary, the Movie" wanted to show their, uh, documentary on television instead of movie theaters. "Well, ok", said the FEC. "But it's not a documentary, it's a hit piece, so you'll have to disclose the people who financed and contributed money to this."

"Aw hell no!" And so the fighting started. And more than a year later, here we are.

See, there was nothing standing in the way of showing this piece, except having to disclose who funded it, and not being able to show it within 30 days of an election, and a few other rules from our almost-got-it-right campaign finance reform McCain Feingold laws.

But the producers wanted to be counted as "news" and "documentary" people, and not have to embarass whoever was really behind them. That's a hell of a tell.

Yes, yes, anonymity is the last defense against tyrrany. There was nothing stopping the producers from running the film in more theaters. Word of mouth, echo-chamber mailing lists and blogs would have gotten a sufficient audience for it...but that was the problem. How to get it to the eyeballs of people who *gasp* didn't agree with them?

Well, since the idea of simply sending a CD to every house in a city hadn't been thought of yet, I guess this was the route to go: claim you've made a documentary and try to show it as news, and then complain about "bias" and "freeeeedom!" when you're told "no". Even the classic R bugaboo Michael Moore doesn't try this nonsense.

Any publicity is good publicity, but I'm not buying it, even if it is listed by Amazon as a documentary.