Apt. 11D

Ugly Rumors

There are rumors circulating around the internet about Palin. I had a post that linked to the blogs, but pulled it down, because these rumors have a highly sexist stink to them. There's something really creepy about checking out pictures of women's bellies. If you care, check out Kos and Sullivan. (I think I accidentally deleted a comment from Sam. Sorry, Sam.)

Spreadin' Love

Check out my punk brother covering local politics in Monroe, NY.

The straightest nanny ad ever. My ad -- Watch two hyper boys - one kid may scream a lot and refuse to talk to you. You cannot allow them to play video games or TV all day. You must show up on time. You can't lose them in a library due to excessive texting. I am not your psychiatrist or life coach. You must really like trains or at least pretend to. Neighborhood urchins may have to be shooed off the porch. You may have to yell at the resident ground hog, aka Fat Bastard, if he steals another tomato.

A "stirring" biographical film about a candidate who is "ready enough-ish to lead."

End of Week Journal

I see that Dooce and I had similar experiences at the dentist this week. Kid freaking out. Check. Kid sitting on mom's lap. Check. Happy ending? Not so much. My kid tried to bite off the dentist's finger and cried for hours afterwards. He only got through the day with lots of hugs and hours of Cartoon Network.

Yesterday made up for Wednesday. We took a spontaneous trip into NYC to have lunch with Steve in Times Square. Here's Ian picking out the most disgusting ice-cream in the Mr. Frosty truck. It's Tweetie Bird with purple bubble gum eyes.

McCain's VP

Looks like it's going to be Palin - a gun toting chick with five kids (one w/Down's). Smart choice. There's a lot of downsides to her, such as having only two years of experience as governor. But she does balance out the dinosaur problem and the man problem.

UPDATE: It's official. Reactions from the blogosphere: here, here, here, here, here, ... Matt Yglesias is posting a series of fun facts about Alaska.

Live Blogging the DNC, Part 4

Well, the dinosaurs are going to have a hard time beating this next week. This was a good convention for the Democrats. I don't know the hard numbers, but viewership seems to be high. The speeches were outstanding and got better as the week went on.

Ian gave me his virus, so I'm off my game tonight, but Obama's speech was very good. This speech was more challenging than any of his speeches on the campaign trail. He had to give policy specifics, which doesn't lend itself well to soaring rhetoric. He brought in vague and beautiful stuff about opportunity and promise. Good stuff about a new order and post-partisanship. I'm not sure if there was enough policy specifics, but I'm going to have to think about it.

Live Blogging the DNC, Part 3

OK. Bill nailed it. He gave the speech that Hillary should have given yesterday. He convincingly made a case for Obama. He answered the critics who said that Obama is too young and inexperienced. He did it with charm and a twinkle and made me slightly forget some of the slime ball comments that he's made in the past nine months.

Kerry is coming up. I'm going to watch that speech, too. Kerry has been surprising me lately. He's been looking rather fresh. The New Republic has piece about Kerry's redemption. So, I'm curious what he's going to say. 

Will the Hillary voters really vote for McCain? My buddy Margie said that her Jewish relatives in Florida are going to make the switch. Margie said that her step-mother is worried about the "Mohammed" thing about Obama. There's a slew of scare e-mails making the rounds amongst the Florida Jews that Obama will side with the Muslims if there's an Israel showdown. Slightly scary.

Now why didn't Kerry give a speech like that four years ago? He was very good tonight, while he was boring and hesitant when he was running for office. It shows you how the presidential process really wrecks havoc on the mind. When you have a staff and polling data pulling you in different directions, it really takes the steam out of a good candidate.

Next up, Biden.

Burned out. Off to bed.

Sidekick

(I am totally lame parent. I can't hear the word sidekick without thinking of this movie.)

Question of the Day -- Don't Feel Bad For Me, Argentina

Question of the Day: Was Hillary's speech sour grapes or did she do a good job of ending PUMA (Party Unity My Ass)?

Live Blogging the DNC, Part 2

Just getting ready for the Hillary speech like everyone else. Dickie Morris on Fox said that Hillary's job tonight is just to make sure that everyone regrets not picking her. No. Her job is to send all her buddies towards Obama. Let's see if she does it.

Well, she did what she was supposed to do. At first, I was worried. She came on a little strong at first about her 35 years in the trenches and her supporters. She failed to mention all the people who voted for Edwards. But she very clearly said that her supporters had to go to Obama. She was nice about Biden and Michelle.
Hillary was also the first speaker to go negative. She said over and over that we don't want another Bush in the White House. No McCain. It was the first time that this convention, at least on prime time, has gone negative. They needed that. It's nice to pretend that Bush and Iraq and McCain don't exist, but some people need to be reminded. Since she went negative, Obama won't have to do that as much.

Hillary's speech skills are just average. No wonderful lines to walk away with. The same formula. But Hillary's best when she's speaking plainly. And she did that tonight.

I'm amused by the bloggers who are actually at the convention. Being there doesn't seem to give one any better commentary on the big speeches. My spot in front of my living room TV seems to be a lot more comfortable their blogging room. What I am getting from them is the lovely details of how difficult it is to attend this conference and the lunacy outside the convention halls. The bloggers at Bitch, PhD explain that it's terribly hot and the blogging lounge is annoying and there's some odd protests going on. Steven Green gets some loonies on tape. Some people aren't really interested in how the sausage is made, but I find it fascinating.

Spreadin' Love

David Carr is doing his thing at the DNC.

Rickets are returning?!! Cool. I have a fondness for medieval ailments.

Just love these sustainable gardens.

I'm exploring SitterCity. This semester, I'm vowing to get more help and more sleep.