Friday, August 29, 2008

From the Department of Cognitive Dissonance

Well that escalated quickly. Rickey means, that really got out of hand. Rickey, for one, is shocked, shocked we tell you. It's not McCain picking a woman that's surprising. What's most surprising here is how desperate the McCain campaign is if they're picking someone who is as completely unqualified, unfit, and unprepared as Sarah Palin is in the hopes of garnering the support of a handful of Hillary Clinton followers. Correct us if we're wrong, but as far as Rickey can tell, we're looking at a female version of Dan Quayle here. For those of you looking to bone up (pun intended) on this relatively unkown political figure, she was a contestant in the Ms. Alaska contest, her favorite meal is moose stew, she enjoys hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling, and she's currently under an ethics investigation. Rickey is now eagerly looking forward to her try to debate Joe Biden. Mark Rickey's words, Joe Biden will devour this woman whole in broad daylight.

[Posted at Humor Blogs]

Stumble Upon Toolbar

25 comments:

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

Joe Biden will devour this woman whole in broad daylight.

Yeah, but she'll probably be pretty tasty.

Bob said...

"Joe Biden will devour this woman whole in broad daylight."

Ah, but that might be her best attribute, Biden now has to play nice with her in the debates. Remember when Hillary's first Senate opponenet approached her podium. It was all over for that guy.

I guess he can just ignore her and talk about McSame the whole debate. "What? You still here? What was your name again?"

I would have liked the first reporter question about this pick to be:

"Senator McCain, what happend? Did Kay Bailey Huchinson shoot you down?"

HC said...

I didn't know Megan Mullally lived in Alaska...

I'm just happy she identifies as a Feminist...sure it's as part of a pro life group, but still...

Anonymous said...

Rickey, my first thought about her was the same as you: female Dan Quayle. I'm glad somebody said it.

TheJackSack said...

I do recall the MSM discounting a newly-minted Senator from the State of Illinois when he started his campaign for President 18 months ago.

He's too inexperienced. His name sounds funny. He's black!

Don't discount how voters will react to Sarah Palin. She cleaned out a lot of corrupt Republicans in her own state government. She's got chops. Dan Qualye she aint'. I'm actually very impressed that McCain didn't fall over and pick a Romney or a Pawlenty. Will it work? That's a huge unknown.

TheJackSack said...

How fitting that I misspelled the former VP's name. P-O-T-A-T-O... E?

Bob said...

"Don't discount how voters will react to Sarah Palin."

That's what I keep saying.

Experience doesn't amount to more than a handful of votes.

Noah said...

Hey! If I can get a hit chick to stand next to me, I might win! And besides, I can get all 1 of Alaska's electoral votes!

Rickey said...

bob: good point, Biden will have to tread lightly. But the fact remains, he's got enough gravitas to steamroll an unknown like her. She may be feisty, but she doesn't know a damned thing about foreign policy.

adam: you're buying into the bullshit "maverick" hype. To Rickey, Palin sounds like yet another shrill conservative femme fatale, a brand of person that just sets Rickey's klaxons off.

TheJackSack said...

It's easy to label someone shrill or a female Dan Quayle when there's little information with which to work.

And you may be right, she could very well be a dead-end candidate. But my point is that if we held to such conventional wisdom months ago, Barack Obama would never have become an already-historical figure. I think it's way too easy to call her anything except "new" and "unkown." But labeling people in simplistic terms is par for the course in modern politics, so don't mind me.

Rickey said...

Rickey's hardly above labeling people in simplistic terms either but here's what Rickey knows about Palin: she's a hard right creationist, she supported Pat Buchanan's far right fringe campaigns, and she wants to completely outlaw abortion. Isn't that enough to make a reasonably informed decision about her? Why is the media still branding her as an "unknown"? Jury's out, she's a conservative wackjob.

TheJackSack said...

I disagree with Palin on many issues. My point is not that she's the greatest thing on Earth, but that we all should be less inclined to diminish someone just because they aren't a career politician.

One of the best lines from Obama's speech last night was when he said "You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington."

I think its tragic that we don't have term-limits on federal legislative offices. Why do we need these people who have been around 30-plus years? It's bad for government. You wonder why nothing has been done with health care, social security, energy, infrastructure, etc. It's because the same elite structure has been in charge of this country for decades. I welcome outsiders. Obama is a fresh face. Palin is too. Too bad we don't have more, because it is apparent that the public desires this sort of change. I desparately do as well.

Rickey said...

Points well taken, Rickey certainly can't argue with that.

Anonymous said...

McCain's pick of Sarah Palin has FINALLY added some excitement to this campaign! Palin vs. Biden will be amazing!

Bee said...

I've been unable to watch the news today but someone told me she introduced herself as a PTA soccer mom or some such thing???
What is she going to do when she visits war torn countries? bake them cookies?

On second thought, maybe he should have picked Martha Stewart herself, I here she can be a mean bitch...

Anonymous said...

I know virtually nothing of this woman beyond what has been in the news today but it strikes me a hypocrisy for McCain to campaign on a position that Obama is lacking experience to be commander in chief and names a VP who has even less. One heartbeat away...At least Obama has spend some time in national governance.

Toasty Joe said...

She's WORSE than Quayle - at least Danny Boy had over a decade of experience in Congress to speak of. She's been governor of an outpost on the way to the North Pole for 20 months. 20 months!! My dog's older than that.

By the way, everyone keeps saying Megan Mullaley, but I see Dr. Jennifer Melfi.

Anonymous said...

Say what you will -- choosing her certainly derailed the convention bump for the Dems.

Also, you have to remember the High School factor. It's not about who has experience, or who's more intelligent, it's about who's most popular. McCain is the creepy guy that nobody likes, and he's just announced he's taking the hottest chick on the cheerleading squad to the Prom.

It will help him, until something sordid about her past emerges.

Bob said...

"I think its tragic that we don't have term-limits on federal legislative offices. Why do we need these people who have been around 30-plus years?"

Oh God, I cannot believe someone went here. Let me be the first to say that term limits are A HUGE F&$KING DISASTER! We do not need “new blood.” We need competent people. That includes people who are career politicians.

My state has some of the strictest term limits in the nation. Has it gotten us “new blood,” people who have “business experience,” “new ideas” and all the crap they sold us when we passed them? Heck No!

Instead, it brought us a bunch of buttheads, who don’t know how Government works. So instead of new ideas, every two years we get new people with the same old stupid ideas, that have already proven to be bad ideas. Since they have no clue what they are doing, they repeat the same mistakes.

Instead of new ideas, we get people who THINK they know everything, when in reality they don’t know much at all, so lobbyists and staff have to spoon feed Government 101 to them. Let’s put it this way. My state has a budget of forty plus billion dollars. What business on earth of that size would prefer a board of directors without any experience?

Why on earth would you think Government can be run by fools, when you would never assume that a business of the same size can be run by people without experience?

Now take the disaster of states with term limits and increase that to the size to the United States. We would be doomed.

steves said...

What is she going to do when she visits war torn countries? bake them cookies?

Look it up. She has visited Iraq and I didn't see anything about baking cookies.

Rickey knows about Palin: she's a hard right creationist, she supported Pat Buchanan's far right fringe campaigns, and she wants to completely outlaw abortion. Isn't that enough to make a reasonably informed decision about her? Why is the media still branding her as an "unknown"? Jury's out, she's a conservative wackjob.

I am glad this moved off of the experience angle and into more substantive issues. I am sure some of my beliefs would label me a wackjob by some, but I always enjoy a good debate.

At least Obama has spend some time in national governance.

Not very much time and most of it running for president. Seriously, I think it would be much better for Obama to stick to his ideas and issues rather than go this route.

Let me be the first to say that term limits are A HUGE F&$KING DISASTER!

Let me be the second. They may sound good, but they don't work. Any federal term limits would require a Constitutional Amendment, so it is probably a moot point anyway.

steves said...

BTW, I don't agree with Palin on plenty of issue, but I like her. That being said, I still don't like McCain.

Bob said...

"...I think it would be much better for Obama to stick to his ideas and issues rather than go this route.

I agree. Stick to the current message.

That said, McCain should be called out for his hypocracy by surrogates.

TheJackSack said...

Bob,

Respectfully, the alternative to keeping politicians in office for an interminable amount of time is not an acceptable alternative to me.

I agree that new blood doesn't solve the issues, but here's the problem as I see it- there is a disconnected elite that is making decisions that rule our lives at is ill-informed and self-serving. Why is it that I just watched convention speeches from the 1976 election and they were talking about the same. problems. we. face. today?

Because the two party system is counterproductive. Because special interests govern both parties. Because the only meaningful path to reform is to put the service back into public service. Do you think George W. Bush or Nancy Pelosi know how much my monthly home heating bill costs? That surplus check they sent out earlier this year was a joke- an effort to make an election-year gesture that I will end up having to pay back to Uncle Sam in one way or another eventually.

I strongly doubt our Founding Fathers imagined we would have this type of federal government. Term limits, along with some real civic education and a different, shared attitude towards the function of government would all do us a tremendous amount of good. But I know it will never happen, so no need to tell me how silly I am. Power is seldom let go of so easily.

r. said...

Agreed. 100% conservative wackjob. Feminist? Ha! She will reverse the clock, take away a woman's right to choose, make your kids learn about her gods story of creation...wow - I mean - WOW. Maybe if she taught about contraception/safe sex and not abstinence, her 17 year old might not be prego? Her own family falls victim to this flawed principle the Republican party came up wtih.

He may of energized his base, but I think the more logical American will quickly be turned off, and even more energized to vote against McCain.

I think you are all missing the real story this weekend - all the surf I got in on thanks to Gustav...wooooooooooo!!!!

www.gulfster.com

Anonymous said...

as a psych major, i must say i am impressed that rickey knows what cognitive dissonance is! rickey's pretty smart.