See the rest here

Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions. Mayor: What do you mean, “biblical”? Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff. Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly. Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes… Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave! Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!

California, like NYC in the film, has ominous clouds looming on the horizon, granted of a much less supernatural origin, but some state officials seem one Stay Puft Marshmallow Man away from a full-scale panic, with the cohabitation of dogs and cats being replaced with the legal marriage of Jim’s and John’s. Disaster of epic, if not biblical, proportion is possible.

READ THE REST HERE

No, that’s not the intro to the blog; that’s the news.  That’s really it.  Nothing is happening, but a lot may  be happening.

• Hillary Clinton may  be tapped as Secretary of State.
• Barack Obama may  have recently pressed George W to bail out the auto companies.
• Joe Biden and Dick Cheney may  have spent their entire meeting this week going back and forth with: “I know you are but what am I.”
• And Fox News may  have had more criticism for President Elect Obama since he won that title not two weeks ago than criticism they’ve had for the worst President in our history (W) in all 8 years he was actually President.

This all may or may not be happening this very second.

Welcome to post-election news.  And if you’re a recovering news junkie like the majority of Americans right now, then you’re going through some serious withdrawal.  I mean, what’s passing as news these days isn’t even methadone compared to the crack we’ve been on.  It’s more like Sanka.

But, in all this vacuum of nothingness news, one thing still shines bright as Haley’s comet: the marvelous Sarah Palin.

She seems to have done more press conferences after  losing the election than before.  This is fantastic.  There is talk of positioning Palin for a 2012 Presidential run.  Even more fantastic.  If there’s one sensational thing to come out of this election besides the greatest candidate to ever step on stage (Obama) it’s the arrival of the worst  candidate to ever step on stage (Palin). 

Now, if you’re one of the few that actually defends Palin on account of her “executive experience” or “good common sense” or “ability to see Russia”, then we’re not going to politely agree to disagree.  I’m not going to even entertain a debate with you.  You’re just not so smart.  Sorry.  That must suck for you.  But, Sarah Palin is the beauty Queen of politicians.  As pretty and vacant as we’ve ever witnessed.  

The job of liberals the world over is this: to keep Sarah Palin in the spotlight as much as humanly possible.  I know, it’s scary: what if she somehow wins a desk in the White House?? 

Two things:  1) She’s not.  2) Seriously, she’s really not.  I have more faith in America than that, especially after this historic election.  

And here’s a third to add to my list of two things: 3) If Sarah Palin were to enter a primary debate with any viable Republican rival on a national stage, that rival would tear her to bits.  Think about it.  Obama/Biden barely touched on all the criticism of Palin that was available at their finger tips and that McCain fans mammothly ignored.  But, if a Republican had his/her back against the wall and had to fight off Palin, she would be crushed in an instant.

That’s the truth.

So, I simply can’t get enough Sarah Palin.  I want to see her on CNN every single day.  I want to watch Greta Van Susteren from Fox News eat bowls and bowls of moose chili with her.  I want Rush Limbaugh to write songs about her that shoot straight to the top of the charts.  I want “The View’s” Elisabeth Hasselbeck to scream for her as much as the shrieking meters will allow.

Please.  Please.  Please.

More Sarah Palin!!!!

The biggest difference between the McCain/Palin campaign and the Obama/Biden campaign is this: Obama’s message has been steady and constant throughout — Obama is change, McCain is more of the same — while, contrariwise, McCain’s message switches every minute — country first, straight talk, real change, maverick, Obama is inexperienced, Obama is a terrorist, Obama is a socialist, McCain is a POW, reformers, Bill Ayers, drill baby drill, McCain is Bush, McCain is NOT Bush, ad infinitum…  McCain/Palin have been throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks.

There is only one consistency to the McCain/Palin campaign: fear.

So now here we are less than four days away from the election, and Sarah Palin is out on the trail firing another shotgun of fear into the American public.  This time she is not calling Obama a terrorist.  Instead, she’s reminding us to feel afraid of actual  terrorists.  Erie, Pennsylvania, Palin:

On November 4th, we need to elect a president who can handle the difficulties in the economy and the dangers of the world at the same time…  He’s (Obama’s) hoping your mind won’t wander to the real challenges of national security, challenges that he is incapable of meeting.

Palin is attempting to steer the conversation away from the economy (Obama’s strong-suit) to foreign policy (McCain’s strong-suit).  The only GIANT ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM that makes this claim ABSOLUTELY INSANE is that it’s coming from Sarah Palin, a person with as much foreign policy experience as anyone  that can see another country from their state.  Forget the fact that she also has extremely limited economic experience.  If you want real fear, imagine President Sarah Palin in the White House if a terrorist attack were to take place.  Now that  is what I call fear.

How can Sarah Palin get up on a national stage and actually have the gall to stir up fear of having someone in the White House with “limited foreign policy experience” when a McCain win would put her one heartbeat away from the Presidency???

I have always claimed that John McCain threw away his chance at the White House when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate.  Moreover, this choice shot down his “country first” slogan in an instant — it’s glaringly obvious to any and all that he chose Palin for politics first, not country first.  But, this is simply insane.  It’s like a kid walking into a room full of scientists and shouting criticism at the way they’re designing aerospace satellites.

Sarah Palin, please be quiet.  The grown ups are talking.

The connection is as follows:  Obama once lived in a Chicago neighborhood during the exact time that Mohammad Kahlid flew over that airspace on a United flight heading to Fresno, California to visit his Aunt.  Apparently, his Aunt was having a “birthday gathering.”  Details of the happenings of said ”gathering” are being suppressed by the media elite.  But, rumor has it that there were other people in attendance with terrorist sounding names like Abdul and Najeeb.  It has even been suggested that falafels were served.

Sarah Palin has been out on the campaign trail demanding that we get to the bottom of this dangerous terrorist connection Obama continues to deny:

Scranton, Ohio – October 29, 3:32 CST.  Sarah Palin: “And also, you know, you can betcha this stuff about Mohammad Kahlid is also more than verbage to, you know, connect Obama to a known terrorist who blew stuff up, not technically, but he was in intellectual circles and, you know, shoring up the economy and all that stuff, too.”

The Obama campaign immediately responded with the following press release:  “You gotta be fucking kidding me, right??”

The Naked Candidate continues to watch this story closely, and we promise to bring any and all updates.

Stay tuned…

On the surface, it should not matter. I opened my statement for my 401K the other day – it has dropped 14% over recent weeks. I listened to economist Arthur Laffer tell Bill Maher’s audience last night that the stock market is a predictor for the economy and we potentially have two more years of economic slow down. We are still in Iraq. We are still in Afghanistan. Our enemy may be in Pakistan. Surely there are far more pressing concerns than Palin’s exorbitant shopping spree?

It does not really matter, but it is relevant. It is relevant for the same reason that Joe the Plumber became relevant. John McCain has made it relevant.

McCain chose Palin largely on what he felt she represented: a reformer with a maverick streak for standing up to wasteful government. That was the narrative he wanted to tell. With a straight face he managed to make glancing statements of confirmation that her experience as a small town mayor and small state governor qualified her for what might become the highest seat in our government. What he really wanted to talk about though was the narrative, her story.

Here was a small town girl with small town values. She did not attend any of the fancy east coast elitist colleges, although she did try her hand at five different schools. She was a self-proclaimed hockey mom, another appellation in the endless iterations of what might label ‘normal’ Americans. He has often said she is not part of the Georgetown cocktail set. She hunts wolves from helicopters, not sip drinks in the affluent suburbs of our capital. She has a large family and was to represent the average American.

In essence, what McCain needed her to be was a story. Governor Palin was hired to play a symbol – to be the arm candy of the GOP. She was to be Betty Draper to John McCain’s Don, a wholesome image of the girl next door who makes her man seem all the more real, all the more virile and all the more right American guy for the right American job.

So, does it matter that she managed to drop $75,062.63 in one stop at Neiman Marcus? Politically, I still say it is irrelevant but when you have been selling a candidate based on the narrative of her being the average American woman who is just like you and then she spends more than most plumbers will earn in a year during one stop at the epitome of high-priced luxury department stores, the narrative doesn’t flow.

If her shopping had been limited to just $75,000 eyebrows would have been raised, but she doubled that amount with stops at places such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Barneys and Lord and Taylor. She is not pushing her cart through WalMart. She is J-Lo shopping with a six-figure credit line footed by donors to the RNC.

Image is important in politics these days – too important. I write this post on the anniversary of the death of Paul Wellstone, Senator from Minnesota, who cared about policy and people but not clothes and image. We need more people like him. However, I understand the need for wardrobe and make-up for all candidates on the national stage and I sympathize that women such as Hillary Clinton have to face ridiculous questions and comments about pant suits and outfits. It is an absurd man’s world when you are running for President of the US.

How many hockey moms, soccer moms, WalMart moms could afford to spend $75,000 at Neiman Marcus? How many of them even live near a Neiman Marcus, the pantheon of all that is over priced? According to the US Department of Labor, the average American, whom Palin is supposed to represent, spent $1,874 on clothing in 2006. Palin spent more than 40 times what your WalMart mom spent on clothes in 2006 – in one stop. She spent a total of 80 times what your average soccer mom did. 80 Times.

Considering I had taken some time off from blogging recently, I had no intention whatsoever to return to write a post about Palin’s shopping, but when I read Ruben Navarette’s commentary yesterday something bothered me. Here is an excerpt of what he had to say about what he felt were unfair attacks on Governor Palin:

Many Americans don’t see why it’s a story. Fellow hockey mom Page Growney of New Canaan, Conn., asked The Associated Press, “What did you want to see her in, a turtleneck from L.L. Bean?”

Still, we’re told, this tempest in a Gucci bag has some Republicans worrying that shopping sprees at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue might undermine Palin’s everywoman image. To think, just last month, the criticism was that Sarah the Moose Hunter wasn’t sufficiently sophisticated or glamorous. Now her wardrobe signals the hockey mom is high-maintenance.

I agree that it is confusing as to why it is a story, unless we note that Palin’s candidacy has been more narrative than achievement, more style than substance. Palin is supposed to be the woman for all seasons. She has been going around to what she calls the pockets of “real America” and preaching to the party faithful. She has been stirring up the patriotic zealots in these small towns by telling the crowd that Obama does not represent their values.

In the quote above, Ms. Growney asks if we want to see Palin in an L.L. Bean turtleneck. My question to Ms. Growney is what does she wear? (I am fighting the temptation to ask you what you are wearing right now Ms. Growney) Does Ms. Growney spend $75,000 at Neiman Marcus?

I read another angry comment from a reader the other day, and forgive me because I cannot remember where I found it, asking how much Michelle Obama spends on clothes. Wasn’t the idea supposed to be that the Palin’s and McCain’s are very different from the Obama’s. Wasn’t the narrative that Palin was a regular gal and the Obama’s were elitists with questionable pasts? Saying Palin isn’t doing anything different from Michelle seems to be undermining the entire Palin experiment.

If you’re telling me that Palin is one of the common people and that is why we need her in office, then why does she need the expensive clothes? It just doesn’t mesh.

The really troublesome part of Navarette’s commentary is when he wants to dumb the issue down to liberals criticizing Palin’s lack of sophistication. We have never had reason to question her sophistication or her glamor. We have had just and rightful cause as voters to question her resume and qualifications. When she has mostly shied away from the press and served as a symbol to incite her party’s base, then we have cause to question that symbolism. When her value becomes more narrative than achievement, we are left to question that narrative.

It is a mess of your own making, John McCain. You wanted to turn her into the great American story and now voters have some questions about the plot.

If we back up for a moment we can see that this is tied to McCain’s attempt to divide the country during this election. The GOP has tried to create an Us vs Them scenario in which McCain and Palin are draped in red, white and blue, starting each day by saying the pledge of allegiance and then continuing on in their daily Norman Rockwell pursuits. Meanwhile, the Obama’s start each day with a fist pound and set off on their own nefarious agendas.

This is the reason we are talking about Joe the Plumber.

This is the reason for Sarah Palin.

This is why I spent the last 30 minutes writing about Neiman Marcus and pantsuits rather than the current state of affairs. Then again, perhaps these are the state of affairs.

Oh John McCain, you’ve come a long way baby, and you have dragged us all along with you.