Strollerderby : al gore

Was Trig Palin drugged?

Brett Singer — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:30:00 GMT

This comes from a reader, who asked what I think is an interesting question that I haven't heard anyone else ask: how exactly is the Palin family getting Trig to stay so calm while in the public eye?

I've forgotten (or blocked out) some of what my kids were like at that age. I can say, though, that I can't imagine either of them being that calm in the face of so much clamor and activity.

One explanation is that the kid is, well, drugged. Now, I don't mean Quaaludes, just a little Benadryl or Tylenol. I freely admit that I've done the same thing, although not recently and only in certain situations, like on an airplane. The idea of doping the kids wouldn't have occurred to be except that our pediatrician suggested it. So this isn't a judgment thing, unless you want it to be.

Another possibility is that baby Trig (short for Trigonometry?) is just a mellow baby. They do exist, although in my experience they are almost as rare as unicorns. There are babies that work in television, or even theater: I saw one in a play who, much to my amazement, managed to stay quiet during a very long and loud scene.

So it's possible that the kid is just naturally low-key. But wow, talk about good behavior.

Me, I would've maybe not put the kid on camera quite so much, but that's a separate issue. (Some say that Trig "has definitely become a central prop in [the McCain] campaign," which unfortunately seems to be true.)

For those of you who currently have children that age, or who haven't erased that period of time from their memory banks, how do you think your little one would have withstood the tumult of a political convention?

image: bagnewsnotes

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Palin family online - real or fake?

Brett Singer — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:45:00 GMT

If the Internet is to be believed, John McCain has chosen a running mate whose family life is just thisclose to being a full season of The Jerry Springer Show. However, as we all know, not everything you read (online or in print) is true.

So in the interest of being fair and balanced (ahem), we present to you a list of what we've found out regarding the veracity of the various blogs, photos and assorted Palin hoo-ha.

Levi Johnston's blog: FAKE
This is clearly fake, but amusing (well, slightly). The tone is pretty close to what was on Levi's now gone MySpace page.

Willow Palin's blog: Unknown
This one could be real but seems very fake to me. I haven't seen any official debunking of it but I can't imagine the Republicans would allow anyone in the Palin family unfettered blogging rights at this point.

Bristol Palin party pics: Unknown

If I had to guess, I would say that these are real. These shots are more than a little bit creepy since Bristol is 17, and may have been younger when these photos were taken. However, if they are real, she posted 'em. I really hope MySpace and the rest have gone the way of other dot-bombs by the time my kids are old enough to care about them. If not, I think I'm going to have a little chat about not posting any and all photos online for the world to ogle at.

Sarah Palin nude shots: FAKE
Let's go one by one:

SO fake. But funny.

The Naked Shot
Click here to see it (not safe for work). Nerve says this looks like Julia Louis Dreyfus, and after seeing the photo they link to, I kind of agree. HOWEVER, Snopes (a good source for all internet fakery) says even that one is a phony. Damn you, Photoshop!

This shot of Palin in a mini-skirt isn't too racy, although someone did Photoshop it onto a Playboy cover.

Alas, Snopes says that one is fake as well. They don't offer as much evidence of said fakery as they do for the other pics; all they have is a shot of Palin with the same facial expression, hairdo, etc. I’m not saying it's real, just saying the evidence isn't as compelling. It's probably fake.

Less widely circulated is this shot from GrizzlyBay.org of Governor Palin with, um, Vikings:

That one is real. I think.

So now y'all know who to vote for, right? What? This doesn't matter at all? Oh…

Images/Sources: Nerve, GrizzlyBay, Snopes, Facebook, et al.

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McCain, Palin oppose teen pregnancy aid and sex education

Brett Singer — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:20:00 GMT

Ah, running for President. Everything you've ever done is fair game. But hey, stay out of their personal lives! But hang on – this is about their political views? Oh. Um. OK.

"Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits."

Palin herself wrote in a questionnaire during her gubernatorial campaign in 2006, "The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support." (Not sure what she means by "explicit sex-ed" -- plaster genitalia are out, but bananas are cool? Use "va-jay-jay" and "hey-nonner-nonner" instead of the word "vagina"?)

Some have said this is a "karma's a bitch" situation, but that seems unfair to me. Stuff happens, regardless of your personal beliefs. At best, it's ironic (don'tcha think? Sorry, couldn't resist). One good result of this particular scrutiny is that it shines a spotlight on McCain's voting record, and also on statements made by Palin. That sort of information is what people should be basing their voting decisions on, not whether or not Ms. Palin would be better off at home making brownies, rather than running for veep.

source: Yahoo News

Sarah Palin, Sportscaster

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Trig and Bristol: Palin Family Names Run Amok

'Palin Should Go Back to the Kitchen' and 4 More WTF Comments About the VP Pick

Madeline Holler — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:33:00 GMT

Ever since John McCain made his woefully questionable vice presidential pick last week, you'd think this country was filled with the likes of another ill-prepared second-in-command ... Dan Quayle! Educated, feminist, lefty Dan Quayles! The Dan Quayle that scoffed at a TV show character for opting to raise a baby as a single mom (those were the days!).

Sarah Palin's list of shortcomings are vast but the salaciousness of her personal life -- rumors of a fake pregnancy, announcement that her teen daughter is pregnant, son (grandson?) with Down syndrome -- are the central focus of so much of the criticism. "She's an unfit mother!" "Her kids need her!" "Send her back to the kitchen!"

Holy violation of the Mommy Wars cease-fire agreement!

We're really going to go there? Bad moms have high-powered careers, good moms stay home to dote! I hate to point out that Al Gore had four kids when he was vice president. I don't recall much discussion of his ability to do the juggle.

Some comments that have really struck a nerve including a few quotes in this NY Times piece. It pains me to no end that one quote I liked in the article is from Phyllis-fucking-Schlafly:

“People who don’t have children or who have only one or two are kind of overwhelmed at the notion of five children,” Ms. Schlafly continued, mentioning that she had raised six children and run for Congress as well. “I think a hard-working, well-organized C.E.O. type can handle it very well.”

But back to the VP Mommy Wars. Here are four WTF comments about working mom Palin:

1. Her son Trig has special needs. She should be focused on him.

“When I first heard about Palin, I was impressed,” said Pamela Moore, a mother of two from Birmingham, Ala. But upon reading that Ms. Palin’s special-needs child was three days old when she went back to work, Ms. Moore began questioning the governor’s judgment.

2. See! She's so obsessed with her career her teen daughter wound up pregnant!

Or was it Palin's obsession with abstinence only education?

3. Too many kids, too big of a job. It's too much.

“You can juggle a BlackBerry and a breast pump in a lot of jobs, but not in the vice presidency,” said Christina Henry de Tessan, a mother of two in Portland, Ore., who supports Mr. Obama.

Her thoughts were echoed by some Republicans, including Anne Faircloth, daughter of former Senator Lauch Faircloth of North Carolina. Being a governor is one thing, Ms. Faircloth said, and Ms. Palin’s husband, Todd, seems like a supportive spouse. “But running for the second-highest office in the land is a very different kettle of fish,” she said.

4. "You'd have to be the worst parent on earth to do that to your daughter to get a job."

Of course, conservatives are veering waaaaaaay off message too as they congratulate Bristol (and/or Sarah Palin) for her brave choice to have the baby. Even Palin and the McCain campaign are touting the teen's continued pregnancy as "her own choice." Choice? Choice! Now there's a choice to be made? But Ms. Palin ... you don't even think there should be a choice to terminate ever. What ... unless it's happening to your own kin?

Jane Smiley over at HuffPo does a nice job of connecting the dots and how Bristol's pregnancy is worthy of comment -- not about Palin the mom, but Palin the policy maker. Rebecca Traister at Salon does too.

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Photo: NYdailynews.com

Sarah Palin, Sportscaster

Brett Singer — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Before she entered politics, way back in 1988, Sarah Palin was known as Sarah Heath. She was, as you may have heard, a sports anchor for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. Video was bound to surface eventually; I'm actually surprised it took this long.

It's not all that remarkable. She reads sports scores, makes less than snappy patter with an anchor that Deadspin describes as, "a weird amalgam of Ron Burgundy and Carl Monday," and she has big ol' 80's hair. There's also that voice, which I think is verrry close to Frances McDormand's in 'Fargo.'

Before I'm accused of "bashing" her, I'm not. That said, I think when the McCain campaign (McCampaign? Hmm...) tells us that she was a "journalist," that's pushing it a little bit.

Enjoy.

Source: Deadspin

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Dadcentric endorses Obama

Brett Singer — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 23:30:00 GMT

In a move that will shake the foundations of political pundits more than John McCain's choice of running mate, the blog DadCentric has chosen to endorse Barack Obama for President. (full disclosure: Famecrawlerer Whit Honea writes for Dadcentric. We support our own.)

The endorsement amusingly compares the Bush Administration to Applebee's, and takes great pains to point out that John McCain is not an inherently evil man, somewhat like Mr. Obama did in his speech last night. It will be interesting to see if the McCain campaign (the McCampaign? Nah, doesn't work) does the same at their convention next week.

Read the full post – and the remarkably vitriolic comments – here. And make sure you register to vote. This is an election year, people.

image: Droolicious

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Political Nanny: Arena Obama

Madeline Holler — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:04:00 GMT

Another fun night of convention watching and not just because Obama was great and Stevie Wonder sang a recognizable song (the second one, not the first). And not just because Al Gore did that growly thing he can do with his voice when he hits a particularly powerful point regarding injustice and global warming.

Last night was also great because of a guy named Barney Smith and other people like him with a story to tell.

These speakers were normal, run-of-the-mill, sometimes Republican people. Not delegates, not party operatives, but odd looking people from all around the country who had something to say about the American dream and it's all-too-common counterpart lately, the American nightmare. These people stood up in front of, what?, 80,000 people and told four-minute stories of themselves, their families, their battles with healthcare and lost jobs.

They were human stand-ins for Obama's dream of inclusion, and maybe you think they were pawns, but who cares. They were great.

Political Nanny loved the Ohio woman who clapped through her own speech, no doubt reading "applause" on the teleprompter. Or the small business pet store owner from Florida "by way of Long Island, N.Y. -- whoohooo!" who can't get health insurance. That lady could fist pump! Also, the Republican from North Carolina -- she's been voting for the right since Nixon! -- who lived the American dream until she lost everything to her husband's health crisis. She wasn't sad. She was pissed. She's voting for Obama.

And let's not get too down: did you see the woman from New Mexico, whose illiterate grandparents worked with her and pushed her in education and now she has a PhD. She got everybody chanting "Si, se puede!"

Yes, we live in the age where everybody wants to get a spot on reality TV, so it probably wasn't hard to find people who would come forward. Still. These guys had guts to get up there and speak loud and be themselves. The crowd loved them.

Of course, the best of these live vignettes was Barney Smith, whose factory job got shipped overseas. He delivered the line, "I want a president who puts Barney Smith before Smith Barney." You go, Barney, you go!

This convention will be a tough act to follow, and not just in Political Nanny's estimation.

Beau Biden almost made me cry

Photo: cnn.com

Shawn Johnson, Democrat? (UPDATE: Now with video)

Brett Singer — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:00:00 GMT

While Michael Phelps is buying condos and making out with Australian swimmers (not that I blame the guy for having some fun, mind you), adorable pixie-person Shawn Johnson is in Denver, leading the pledge of allegiance at the Democratic Convention. The L.A. Times points out that Johnson hasn't declared an official party affiliation, "but the point is somewhat moot -- she's too young to vote." Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls") sang the national anthem. (UPDATE: see the video below.)

As for why it looks like the event has moved outside, that's because it has. Obama's speech is taking place at Invesco Field (where the Denver Broncos play football) in order to accommodate a larger audience. The campaign expects 75,000 people to attend.

And yes, that's Al Gore standing with Shawn Johnson. He is tall and she is very short.

image: amny.com

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Wanna Save Money? Keep Driving the Gas Guzzler

Madeline Holler — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:03:00 GMT

If you are thinking about selling off the family tank in an effort to save money, you might want to think again. Some financial experts are warning that it might be cheaper to hang on to these $100-per-fuel-up, formerly fun, now just-giving-you-a-money/eco-headache SUVs and trucks.

Impossible, considering the fuel efficiency of a Prius or Honda Fit? Consider this from a story in the NY Times:

Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst at Kelley Blue Book, says that the rate of depreciation on large S.U.V.’s over the last six to eight months has been about twice what is normal.

Here are what experts say you should consider before posting an ad on Craigs List:

What's the true cost of the trade-in?

Is a smaller car even practical?

What's your large vehicle worth?

What's the demand for small cars now? (Spoiler alert: high!)

Is this an emotional or a rational decision?

On that last one, here's some help in determining whether the numbers work out -- a gas mileage savings calculator from Edmunds. There, you'll find it would take 15 years to break even on trading in your 2005 Ford Escape for a new Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

Of course, money isn't everything (just most things). And maybe you've felt the call of Al Gore and would like to end your dependence on fossil fuels. Well then, by all means (and this is me speaking, not the experts), get rid of the guzzler and get in line to buy one of these.

What's your family planning to do with the low mpg roadster? Selling? Parking? Sucking it up and keeping on keeping on?