Originally posted by UWM
Ahh, didn't know you'd been there.
It was strange how many people I met who were originally from Wisco / upper Midwest. I mean, yeah, Alaska is strikingly beautiful, but it's just so far removed from humanity. I don't know, definitely not something I could do year round.
One of my closest friends from up in Point actually runs a coffeeshop in/outside of Juno from Memorial Day through Labor Day every year - and makes a killing doing it (i.e. he only works "part time" - very part time - the rest of the year).
I've only been up there to backpack and kayak, but it was great - mostly because of how few people we were around at any given time.
That, and cheap, tolerated weed. :p
Lira
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Originally posted by UWM
Oh, and Eskimos. But Eskimos have invented some pretty cool , so they're alright by me.
Inuit/Chukchi girls = Potentially hot!
Lebezniatnikov
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Originally posted by Zoso
Okay, someone hook me up with "teh know". What's this Biden fellow all about? By this point, I know what to expect out of Palin tonight, but what about Biden. I'll confess to knowning nothing about the man. As an old TA, I must confess I'm more conservative and thus generally follow the Republicans more. Rob, TA...hook me up with some knowledge, please. :D
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Delaware has a Very Narrow Maritime Border with Jersey: In Defence of Joe Biden
By Fembot - October 1, 2008, 6:46PM
All debate lead-ups are exercises in lowering the expectations for your candidate, although in this VP debate the effort is somewhat half-hearted from the Dems because ... well, you know, Sarah Palin. But still, there are press reports/strategic leaks about anxious moments in Arugula HQ about how their guy will do, and meeja commentary on the gaffetastic mess that he will apparently, inevitably create. And sure there are more than enough data points in his history as Windbag Q. O'Blabby, Senior Senator from the Great State of New Gaffestonia to fashion a credible angle on it. But I want to do something different, a little relief from the current political mirrorverse we're living though. I don't want to talk about Biden's weaknesses but about his strengths. Putting aside the genuine *headdesk* moments in his verbal resume, why am I confident Joey the Shark will ace the test?
I am confident he knows what has to be done and how to do it. In the primary debates I thought Biden did the best of any of the bloated early field whose names did not rhyme with Clinton, Obama and Edwards and he did better than even them at various moments. Didn't get his actual vote out of the asterisk territory but the man can debate. Sure, the liberal elite media says, we know that but he just talks so goddamn much! Just shut up for a second, will you, Loquacious P. McYawnigan! says they. Well, that question was memorably asked and answered in the primaries.
Can I remind you Biden is the man who gave us the Rudy Giuliani "a noun, a verb and 9/11" smackdown.
As this pre-VP pick announcement article points out, while Obama was "[spinning] out some airy sentences" on the politics of fear, Biden conjured a one-liner that has entered the political language and defined a mindset.
The Veep debate may not call for such a hard slam ("Sarah Palin is a preposition, a modal and an um") but in terms of encapsulating political realities in bite-sized chunks of awesome, can we doubt he certainly has it within him. OK, in the rest of that clip he kinda runs on a bit but this time out I predict with stakes like these Biden will be ultra disciplined and focused.
Which segues to the next concern. Well, OK, but isn't he going to come off as a pompous know-it-all condescendingly lording his 456 years of Senatorial experience over Sarah "Beyondthe" Palin, causing America to flock protectively around her in tracking polls right up to November?
I am confident he won't. Firstly, he will work around her and go after McCain, always after McCain. Also, the indications are they are well prepared for this. After the Ole Miss debate, Biden was sent out to do the rounds of the cable and network debriefs and did a really, really great job. His mere presence in contrast to Palin's absence was statement enough, but he also rebutted key McCain debate rhetoric in a forceful, yet engaging way. Clearly the way the Maverick went about lecturing his opponent that night on his superior understanding was a great model of what not to do. From an Olbermann interview: "I'm not gonna do that condescending stuff John did tonight ... I've travelled all those places John's been to ... but just because I was there, doesn't make me right."
Which is not to say he cannot parlay his Experience and General Clue-ness into runs on the debate board but there have to be more subtle, effective and naturally occurring ways to play the Waziristan card than McCain-style carping. And the signs are, Team Obama/Biden thinks it has that way.
Let's not forget his 675 years of experience isn't the only reason he was brought onto the ticket.
There's the "scrappy Scranton kid" angle, the somewhat touched but beloved old Irish uncle shtick. His ability to deploy "malarkey" and "Gawdloveya!" and "Gimmeabreak!" in political attack is intimidating. He can look straight down the barrel, crisply trot out the details of Obama's tax plan and sound like common folks. I'll see your hockey mom populism and raise you some old style retail politics -- if he can inject that part of himself into the debate, he's part way home.
But won't he say something sexist about her? Nah, she's not his wife. ZING! I kid, Joey, I kid. (But ... not really. Don't say that stuff again.)
This 32 minute back and forth with Hillary Clinton shows he can talk at will, and with sincerity and even passion, about the daily economic and safety issues facing women.
Any questions of gender (well, at least any of the questions of gender which will ever be asked at this kind of thing) will be knocked out of the park. A noun, a verb and Lily Ledbetter. A noun, a verb and VAWA.
He can laugh at himself. See this Daily Show interview.
Stewart asks him why more politicians don't allow themselves to be as unscripted and spontaneous as he is. Biden (paraphrase): "Um, because I get myself in a eload of trouble when I do it? DUH!" This is right after he calls George Bush a horse. A little self-awareness goes a long way in even the most flawed and will come in handy if Gov. Palin takes the personal road.
Also, let's not forget that, as with sport, ego and ambition cut both ways in politics. They can focus the mind, as well as fog it. This is a man who's run for President three times. This is a bloke who has a honking big US seal carved into his effing fireplace and doesn't care who knows it.
This bloke has been preparing for a national ticket, one-on-one debate in October of an election year his entire adult life. This is his last shot. He's not going to drop the ball.
Yeah, he says silly things. But he doesn't do it 24/7. He is more than capable of doing everything he needs to do, he knows exactly what he has to do and all the public signs so far are that they are prepping in exactly the right way.
McCain says Obama lead growing because ‘life isn’t fair’
Posted: 01:02 PM ET
(CNN) — Sen. John McCain said Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama’s poll numbers are rising as the economy seems to sink “because life isn’t fair.”
“He certainly did nothing for the first few days,” McCain said Thursday on Fox News. “I suspended my campaign, took our ads down, came back to Washington, met with the House folks and got on the phone, and also had face-to-face meetings.”
New CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corp. polls of several key battleground states, released Wednesday, found Obama has made gains across the board — either taking statistically significant leads or erasing McCain advantages — over the past few weeks. And since the financial crisis began in mid-September, Obama has taken and held a lead over McCain in the national CNN poll of polls.
Obama joined McCain in Washington for a meeting with congressional leaders convened by the president. He said afterward was concerned “that when you start interjecting presidential politics into delicate negotiations, you could actually create more problems than less.”
edit: let the record show that Obama gave a speech on the bailout plan on the floor of the Senate yesterday... and McCain spent time at a posh hotel.
:stongue:
wow
this is really getting hilarious now
RJT
Poor Johnny Mac, can't catch a break.
Sad lil' fella.
noikeee
A hunter went to Alaska to hunt bears. After several days searching, he saw a huge bear, aimed and shot the animal. He jumped with joy, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was an even bigger bear, nodding his head in disapproval.
- You shouldn't have done that - said the bear - You killed one of my relatives, and now you'll have to pay. Do you prefer to be killed or to be raped?
Given the circumstances, the hunter picked the second choice, pulled his pants down, and offered his ass to the animal. He survived, but swore revenge.
A year later, he returned to Alaska willing to kill the bear that had raped him. He saw him, aimed and killed him with a single shot... Then he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was another bear, much larger than the one he had killed. The animal said the same thing as in the previous year:
- You've killed one of my relatives and you'll have to pay. Do you prefer to be killed or to be raped?
The hunter couldn't believe it was happening to him again, but he pulled his pants down, swore revenge, and gave himself to the monstrous animal. The following year, full of rage, he returned to Alaska.
He found the huge bear that had raped him, aimed and killed the animal with a precise shot. And he felt another tap in the shoulder. It was a BLOODY HUGE BEAR, who said:
- Tell me the truth, you don't come here to hunt, do you?
delobbo
While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75 year old rancher, who's hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Palin and her bid.
The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Palin is a Post Turtle'".
Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post turtle' was.
The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle".
The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, and she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put her up there to begin with".
RJT
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John McCain is pulling out of Michigan, according to two Republicans, a stunning move a month away from Election Day that indicates the difficulty Republicans are having in finding blue states to put in play.
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McCain will go off TV in Michigan, stop dropping mail there and send most of his staff to more competitive states, including Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. Wisconsin went for Kerry in 2004, Ohio and Florida for Bush.
McCain's campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Republicans had been bullish on Michigan, hopeful that McCain's past success in the state in the 2000 primary combined with voter dissatisfaction with Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm and skepticism among blue-collar voters about Barack Obama could make it competitive.
McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin spent the night after the GOP convention at a large rally in Macomb County, just outside Detroit. The two returned later last month for another sizable event in Grand Rapids.
But recent polls there have shown Obama extending what had been a small lead, with the economic crisis damaging an already sagging GOP brand in a state whose economy is in tatters.
A McCain event planned for next week in Plymouth, Michiigan, has been canceled.
I'm quite happy that I'm at an appropriate age to fully appreciate both the serious side and the downright hilarity of this circus show.
Alex
The entire process is insane.
It takes way too damn long.
Lebezniatnikov
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Couric to Palin: Do You Know We're Recording This?
Jerome Halligan | Bio
New York - Several times during her exclusive interview with Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric asked Palin whether or not she was aware that the interviews were being taped, and that "other people would see them." Palin reportedly told Couric that she was indeed aware, but then asked Couric what she meant by "broadcast."
"I was concerned, after one of the times where she seemed to be answering a question I hadn't asked," Couric said. "It didn't seem possible that she would intentionally answer the question that way, knowing people would see it. So I stopped the interview, and I said, 'Governor, are you aware that this is the actual interview? What we're doing right now? That this isn't a rehearsal?' She said she was aware. And I said, 'Okay. Just so you know it's being recorded and parts of it will be broadcast.' And then she said, 'You can't blink, Katie, because we share a narrow maritime border with Russia and it has to be all about job creation.' I didn't understand it, but we just went on with the interview. I was pressed for time."
Ms. Couric said she became equally concerned during a session following a speech Governor Palin made, which preceded the second phase of the interview. Portions of that segment of Couric's interview aired tonight on CBS and have spread quickly on the internet.
"In one part of the interview, I asked her what newspapers and magazines she read before being asked to be John McCain's running mate," Couric said. "And she couldn't name any. So again, I turned to the crew and I said, 'Hold it, guys,' and I went to the Governor privately and said, 'Governor Palin, did you not understand the question? I'm asking you to name some newspapers or magazines you read. You can't come up with any? I'm just trying to make sure you're clear and to give you a fair shake here.' And she said, 'Okay. Nightline? Is that a magazine?' I said, 'No, that's a television show.' She said, 'What about Lou Dobbs? Isn't that a newspaper?' And I said, 'No, that's a man. Lou Dobbs is a man.' And there wasn't much more I could do. I'm not a miracle worker."
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