The mind boggles

It's hard to get laughs out of watching the economy free-fall. I did find a way to amuse myself and friends - a buddy sent me the Sarah Palin baby name generator. My neocon former boss is, aptly, Cheney Wolfowitz.

Humor aside, I was naive enough to be caught off guard by McCain's cynical, pandering choice of Palin. She scares me. A lot. And the more I read, the more frightened I become. My only comfort is that the polls show Obama with a lead. Maybe we will vote intelligently. Dare I hope? I suffer from congnitive dissonance to a degree that it's hard to gauge the mood of the public. (I've felt that way since the Reagan years (as I watch the economy crumble, I can track it to Reagan's popular deregulation policies), so it's nothing new.) I can barely watch Palin interviews, which works out since she has consented to so few. A writer from the Washington Post said listening to Palin's tortured syntax as she tries to articulate her beliefs reminds her of watching a clip of a polar bear moving from one small ice cap to the next - "Will he make it? Yes, he made that one. Oh no, here's another...will he make it? Barely." (How can Palin not support polar bears, for god's sake?)

This articulates my rage quite nicely, thank you.

I also found this enlightening. It was originally a letter Kilkenny wrote to 40 friends and family members because she believed they should make an informed decision about Palin, and she asked that it not be posted to the internet (so much for that).

Last night's debate floored me. I was (figuratively) peeking between my fingers as I witnessed McCain channel Nixon. He grimaced, winked, twitched, chortled humorlessly, worked his jaw as though he was physically holding back a verbal assault, and studiously avoided making eye contact with Obama to the degree that he was completely disrespectful of his fellow candidate. I found his utter lack of respect surprising - it certainly wasn't statesmanlike, much less presidential.

McCain's barely disguised ill temper spotlighted his scariest aspect - fundamental anger that so clearly lurks below his vain attempts to be folksy and friendly. Maybe it's just me, but anger is not an an attibute I look for in a president. Clearly I'm no McCain supporter, but I think there was a better, more decent politician buried in McCain before this campaign. I believe this run for the White House has brought out the absolute worst in him - he's given up any shred of decency in his final desperate bid.

That said, I was still surprised at how poorly he performed. The stakes were high - he finally won the primaries (always a bridesmaid...) - but he simply could not mask his...anger. He's a bitter, scary man. Temperament is the issue, and to put it kindly, McCain has shown that at best he lacks serenity.