How the Republicans won the election

1. The Republican Party feels victorious because although they may have lost the White House, it was not  the terrible rout experienced by Walter Mondale in 1980 (Ronald Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes--out of a possible 538--and received nearly 60% of the  popular vote).

2. The Republican Party still represents the Heartland of American--having lost both coasts, the Republicans seem to have a lock on some of the middle, some of the West, and most of the South.

3. Those Republicans who crossed the aisle did so not because of the Republican Party or its policies but because they are dissatisfied with George W. Bush.

4. The recession is now Obama's Recession.

5. The Republican Party can now get in the way of every initiative and at the end of four years claim that Obama did not keep all of his campaign promises.

Sarah Palin: Stupid idiot or Idiot savant?

I don't question Sarah Palin's intelligence because she reportedly didn't know that Africa is a continent--it is, after,  a common mistake often made by the average third grader. I'm not upset abut her clothing bill--which  is something that concerns the Republican National Committee and no one else.  I'm not even angry that she is forcing her pregnant teenaged daughter into what seems to be a doomed marriage. I am angry with her because she is a mean-spirited, divisive harridan who thinks the American public agrees wither her--the most recent election results notwithstanding. Sixty-seven percent of Republicans may want her to run in 2012, but the Republicans lost by how many points? And Sarah Palin didn't help.

The Republicans wanted to hold on to the White House in the worst way. They attempted to portray Obama's service on two charitable boards with William Ayers as a life-long friendship with terrorists.  Palin characterized Obama as anti-American and as a shadowy figure that should evoke fear in the rest of us. The harsh rhetoric of the recent election, and Palin's pandering to the lowest common denominator should be remembered, but Americans have short attention spans and are often distracted by shiny objects, such as how much Sarah Palin paid for her wardrobe.

Palin portrayed Obama as an unpatriotic terrorist who is not "one of us," and never once addressed any of the economic issues confronting this country, other than to say that the Democrats mean big government and higher taxes. Although she did suggest that God had a plan for Iraq, although he has not yet revealed it to anyone. She also suggested that criticism of her was unconstitutional, and given the way the Bush Administration has shredded the Constitution, Palin may be right. What scares me most about Palin, and the people like her, is her contempt for intelligence and education. In a way, I understand them, after all most of the people who voted for the Republican Party in 2008 were old, white and undereducated. When Palin said " We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity," only the educated knew that she was quoting Wetbrook Pegler, an American Journalish who supported John McCarthy's fascism and who hated Catholics and African-Americans. Pegler once famously remarked that he hoped some "white patriot" would spatter Robert F. Kennedy's "brains in a public premises."

John McCain was looking for a uterus as a running mate. He had many from which to choose and he chose Sarah Palin. Now she is the darling of the Republican Party. And here we thought that the bad times were in the past.

One year and counting

Today is the first anniversary of my unemployment. I went to work as usual and by 10 a.m., I was back home and unemployed. I thought it would be a tough row to hoe, but that in the end I would have found some sort of employment by now. I was sadly mistaken. I even stopped applying for work as an editor, thinking I would have a better chance as a part-time receptionist or general office help. Nobody wanted me, no how, no way. Frankly, I've been depressed since losing out on an opportunity in April for a job that had mine name written all over it. I don't know what I did to blow that interview, but I did something. Since then I have been concentrating on simple office jobs, but as I said, the pickings are slim. Now, I really need some form of employment with the economy in the toilet, and major appliances in my house disintegrating before my very eyes. In the greater scheme, it's not what you know but who you know and it seems that not only don't I know many people, but those I do know, wouldn't throw water on me if I was on fire. Well, tomorrow is another day, which is what I've been saying since this nightmare began.

The evil empire and the good Christian from South Carolina

This is a story I heard today, 9/11/08, on NPR. Phillip Miles, a South Carolina pastor, was detained in Russia in February for bringing hunting bullets into the country, which, apparently is against Russian law. Although he is now free, Pastor Miles is on the air, and everywhere else, recounting his tale of unfair incarceration. He seems to think that US officials would greet with open arms a Russian (or any other foreign national) who entered the United States with live ammunition packed away in his luggage and a story about how these bullets were gifts for a friend.

Let's start at the top. The barely literate, poorly trained TA guards at our security points routinely pull out of line for special scrutiny women wearing unwire bras and men with knee transplants (and the documentation and scars to prove they've had knee surgery). However, the same brain trust allowed Pastor Miles to pack live ammunition in his luggage as long as it wasn't carry on. These are the same people who told me I could get back into the US from Mexico with the three wrapped and sealed bottles of Mexican hot sauce only to have said hot sauce confiscated by US officials who then disposed of them. And while doing this, they said, "The law in the US says you cannot pack these items in carry on." Too bad the people at the other end were ignorant of the US law, just as the people at the start of Pastor Miles flight seemed ignorant of Russian law.

It gets worse, because the charge was then upped to smuggling, which really got Pastor Miles' goat because, he maintained, this was a box of ammunition that could be purchased anywhere in the US--except he was bringing the bullets into Russia where the law is different. Pastor Miles was particularly incensed that no one spoke English, although he had visited Russia for a decade and did not speak Russian. Even after his six month incarceration, Miles did not have enough Russian to understand when his name was called during the trial.

Pastor Miles was shocked--and appalled--by his tiny, overcrowded cell, by the demand that he hand wash his own clothes (and the requirement that he dip each piece 10 times in the soapy, which he seemed to find onerous), and by the fact that his cell mates watched TV at all hours (and once had the never to watch some porn). Obviously, Pastor Miles has never visited, much less been incarcerated, in a US jail, so he may be excused for his belief that jails here are spacious and spotless. He was also surprised that unlike US justice, he was jailed for six months awaiting a full trial. Ahh, these novices.

It's unfortunate that Pastor Miles did not realize that brining live ammunition to another country is illegal. But it is and can you imagine how much hell there would be to pay if some foreign national brought a box of bullets into the US? Not that they would have to because, as Pastor Miles noted, you can buy bullets here in the US with little problem. "But sir, these bullets are for my friend who lives in Chicago, where bullet sales are restricted."

Pastor Miles, like so many Americans, somehow believes that the US Bill of Rights follows him wherever he goes--and worse, that as a Christian American, he is entitled to special treatment. "Yes, of course, I broke the law, but I am an American, and a Christian American, surely the law does not apply to me."

He did draw a three-year sentence but only served six months and, I suspect, will not be a welcomed guest in Russia for some time. Meanwhile, he is telling his tale of unfair incarceration (had he spoken the language, Miles could have figure out at one point that the whole matter would have been resolved with a bribe) without realizing that other countries have laws and customs (and languages) that we have to follow even if we are good Christian Americans and this has nothing to do with the left overs of Godless Communism but has a great deal to with American arrogance and the misguided belief that our laws apply everywhere.