The Evolution Of Sarah Palin

Having watched Sarah Palin's speech to the Tea Party gathering in Nashville and some of the follow up interviews, I thought I'd stick my neck out and report my take on it. It will be interesting, if only to myself, to see how often I change my tune over the months preceding the 2012 election cycle!

I'm beginning to understand Palin's immense popularity. I see a woman who is just enough politician to be canny. I see a woman who has taken her lumps and has come to realize she isn't quite where she needs to be to have the credibility to run for the highest of offices. She certainly is smart enough to be in the House or Senate when compared to many already there. I see a woman enjoying her fame and new found stature. I see a woman still determining where she wants it to take her.

Back to her popularity. She speaks in sharp, witty sound bites. She stumbles over her notes. She speaks the language, by golly, of everyman. I do believe that's why the average man and woman on the street love her. There was a lot she said with which I disagree and just as much that I agreed with whole heartedly. For instance, why preach non-partisanism if you really don't intend to practice it!

I don't quite agree with her idea of what the Tea Party movement is all about. I think she thinks it will be folded into the Republicanism of old. If she means that which became before the Christian right movement took over, she could be right. If she means a return to the narrow vision of anti-gay, anti-abortion litmus test I think she's wrong. The Republicans should know that they cannot win on those issues but I've yet to see evidence that they do.

This is where I see the Tea Party movement differently. It may lean heavily Republican but I think it's more inclusive than that. I think it embraces a good many centrist Democrats and lot of Independents that aren't quite ready to join the Republican fold. It's ability to be a force depends on those Independents.

Ms. Palin has plenty of time to study the tea leaves and see what they tell her. I expect to see her testing the waters in many ways. She'll endorse candidates to determine if her endorsements are effective or detrimental. I expect to see her on air performances become more polished and substantive.

At this point in time I don't expect her to announce a candidacy for President. I would expect her name to placed in nomination with or without her blessing and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an attempt to draft her.

In the meantime she is probably the most intriguing political personality of the times. She needs to grow. She has the time. For now, she provides a rallying point for every disillusioned, frustrated voter out there because of her ability to connect with them.

She has a "gift" much as Obama had. He rallied the people with his eloquence, well rehearsed and in front of him on teleprompters. Palin's gift is her very ordinariness. Agree with her or not, she speaks from the heart. That resonates!

Lucky Dog!

Most all of us who have dogs love them with all our hearts. There are times, however, when love is not enough.

Since the end of November there has been an ad running in the local paper asking for information about, or the return of, Remington, a three year old black lab.

It has appeared so often the paper did a story on the owner. In it he waxed nostalgic about how he missed his buddy, how they had bonded, how empty his bed was without him pressing his legs against his back. He went on to remember their hunting trips and how he hopped into the back of his pick up, how he'd go out at night and always came back.

Whoa. Let's back up here. One, it's against the law for a dog to run loose in this county. For many good reasons including the heartache of his not returning. What grabbed my attention, however, was the comment about the pick up.

Having seen a dog in the middle of a Los Angeles freeway one time, I've never been able to shed the image. Fortunately cars behind me saw cars swerving to miss it and were able to slow traffic enough to rescue the pooch. My guess is he fell out of a pick up.

You see it all the time. Some states have tethering laws, others do not. Even that isn't fool proof for a dog could actually hang himself.

This morning's paper told the story of a woman and her kids who witnessed a dog being dragged behind a truck. The driver had no idea. Even though in pursuit, the woman didn't catch the truck before the dog slipped his collar and they finally corralled him in a parking lot. We was alive, running on adrenalin, but his nails were gone and his feet worn down. The woman and her kids rushed him to the vet emergency clinic where he was successfully treated.

In a conversation with the owner, it was learned he "lost track" of the dog in Interstate 90 before exiting into city traffic. The woman didn't see him until they were several miles from that particular exit. One lucky dog. Maybe. He's home now and will recover. Hopefully never again to be allowed in the back of a an open pick up. Or be "lost track" of!!

Bacchus was truly spoiled. When he grew too tall for our Expedition, we got him a van. The picture shows how he travelled. Even at that we weren't totally conscientious because we did not secure him to his 'chaise'. Most of the time he slept on his blankets and didn't wander but if he wanted to stretch his legs he could.

I cringe every time I see a dog in a pick up. There are so many things that can cause a tumble. You see them in beating hot sun and pouring rain and snow. When we had occasion we had to take Bacchus in the pick up he had the entire back seat. He was cramped compared to the van but he was safe.

It's a practice that will probably never change but I sure wish it would. Dogs should be banned from the back of open pick ups. Full stop.

The next dog that suffers the fate of the golden retriever of which I write may not be so lucky. I would not like that on my conscience!

Slang Versus Profanity

Is there a descriptive word in the English language that isn't offensive to somebody? I'm thinking of all who have been accused of hurling slurs when they've done no more than use slang.

The current flap is over Rahm Emanuel accusing liberal activists of being, "f______ retarded". It took Sarah Palin a nano second to come forth and decry it as a slur on all God's children with cognitive and developmental disabilities. I'm sure that is exactly what Emanuel was thinking when he said it.

Recently, too, Harry Reid was castigated for referring to Obama as a Negro. Gasp. Horror of horrors! And of course awhile back there was the now infamous incident when Don Imus referred to the Rutgers girls basketball team as 'nappy-headed hos', slang used with great frequency by many of the girls' own race.

Oh yes, we must be politically correct and not offend anyone. Rush Limbaugh and his feminazis! I can remember when Italians were Wops, Mexicans were Beaners and Indians Ragheads. Slang. Descriptive. Be offended if you so choose.

I, however, am far more offended by the f-word Emanuel used preceding retarded. He uses it with abandon so it is said, just as it is on just about every program on the Comedy Channel. It has no business in the vocabulary of the President's chief of staff. Why Jon Stewart has to use it with the frequency he does escapes me. It does not make a skit funny. In fact I've gotten to the point of turning him off more and more frequently because of the sexually explicit language he and his cast use.

If there is a good side to all this it's that we will soon talk like we text. In abbreviated versions of the words we mean to use. The r-word, n-word. I'm the M-word writing a p-word on my b-word.

No one will have a c-word what we're talking about but at least we won't o-word anyone!

The Depths Of Hatred

Literally! It's really difficult for me to understand the depth of hatred of those in the Muslim world who would eliminate us. They take one upping our attempts at security to continually higher levels.

Now that the world is about to embrace whole body scanners, having found wanding to be ineffective, the radical element has issued another "catch me if you can" element to the battle of wits. Planting explosives within the body. In breast implants no less! Is nothing sacred? Perhaps the hatred itself. To those who are consumed by it.

Britain's MI 5 has learned that the planting of explosives within breast implants for women or around the appendix area for men opens a whole new realm of possibilities. They can be planted deep enough that the scanners do not detect them. They would be detonated by inserting a syringe into the protective sac.

I see a few flaws in this. For the men it might be passed off as a diabetic giving himself a shot. I might be suspicious seeing a woman inject her breast. Of course, if not detected in time suspicion would be moot.

I find it doubtful that women are being used for suicide bombings willingly. Once on a plane out of the reach of my handlers I'd give the whole idea the heave ho unless I was so juiced on drugs or brain implants I didn't know what I was doing. I just don't see women wanting to sacrifice themselves to the gender who has built an ideology around abusing them. Then again, it's all in what you know. If that's it and you know of nothing else perhaps you are more willing than one would think.

As for the men? We already know there are enough nut cases looking for their 72 virgins to keep attempts coming, probably forever.

Here I had just about convinced myself that the screening machines would probably be preferable to being pawed only to find out they may be obsolete before they're even installed!

No one ever accused the Islamic radicals of being dumb. They are smart and clever and full of hate. We too are smart and clever. We just seem to be behind the curve rather than ahead of it. That would seem to be a matter of motivation. For the moment they're winning.

It's time to stop the dumbing down of America so that the rest of the world feels more equal with us. We're America. We're supposed to be the leaders of the free world, leading in innovation and ideas and principles.

It's time to reclaim our place. If this administration won't do it we need to get one that will.

Anchor Away?

I don't think there is a news anchor on television today that will ever have the gravitas of Walter Cronkite, or the long gone Chet Huntley/David Brinkley team or many of the others who pioneered the roll of news anchor as I was growing up.

The only one we have now that was ever actually a newsman is Brian Williams and he's been reduced to little more than a news reader. As for the women? How can you consider someone who graduated from the ranks of Today or Good Morning America a news man? Oops - news woman. To me they come across as news 'light'. When in serious mode they tend to strike me as maudlin.

I could never understand CBS paying Ms. Couric $15 ,000, 000. She has never generated the ratings to justify that amount and apparently has not moved up in the ratings even with Diane Sawyer replacing Charlie Gibson. I must admit that surprises me a bit.

What it comes down to, Ms. Couric is just out of her element. It's not that she doesn't have ability. I thought her interview with Sarah Palin was one of the best I've seen. She was properly tenacious without being abrasive. That takes skill.

Now, according to the New York Post she is nearing the end of her three year contract and facing a salary cut. If they even want to retain her. She was a grand experiment that failed.

It is suggested she may be in the running to become the next daytime diva, replacing Oprah or even taking over Larry King's slot on CNN. She might not have quite the presence to replace Oprah but neither is she as benign as King. I could see her making that show more substantial.

I hope she does move on and that Sawyer is close behind her. Their strengths are not in the anchor's chair. Really wishful thinking is that the evening newscasts would become just that again - news, rather than a recap of the day's sound bites.

My fear is that Ann Curry will replace Williams and our choice will be one of the three. I'm all for women breaking the glass ceiling but to break it just for the sake of breaking it is a waste of ability if it could be better used elsewhere.