All this hype about Sarah Palin winning if she can just be presentable and not screw up to badly, and paying attention to how Biden greets her, and all that other stuff–I’m just not buying it. Anytime the pundits talk this stuff up as much as they are everything turns out completely normally in respect to the extreme possibilities they throw out there. Personally, I’ll just be looking to see that they both actually answer the questions asked and give me some information about what to expect from their admistration and policies. Truth be told, I think Joe Biden will do wonderfully, as will Sarah Palin. Honestly, I’m expecting her to just not answer the questions she is asked. I truly hope she does though, I want to know what she has to say.
Feel free to treat this as an open-thread during the debate if you like.
-X-
UPDATE: Post debate, I would just like to add that I hate to post directly after a debate because I like to have my feelings and opinions sink in before talking about petty things that I won’t care about in a few days, but I just have to say that in the past week and moreso tonight I seriously cannot stand her voice when she gets all folksy and makes me feel like she’s talking down to me like I’m a child.
Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO, speaking to the United Steelworkers at their convention in July, throws a brick through the windows of Nixonland. Kathy G tipped me off to this. Im not capable of expressing how powerful this is. Just watch.
2007 Earmarks map. What were earmarks used for in your neck of the woods? Bear DNA? Bridges to nowhere? Maybe it went to schools and hospitals.. YMCA’s and streetwork. Here’s what I found in my town and surrounding areas:
Lancaster, PA:
-$300,000 to Bright Side Opportunities Corporation, for the operation of a Community Technology Center for disadvantaged youth
-$250,000 to EDC Finance Corporation of Lancaster, Pennsylvania ; For: the demolition and remediation of the decommissioned Armstrong World Industries plant.
-$100,000 to Lancaster County Career and Technology Foundation for the Lancaster County Career and Technology Center’s Collision Repair Technology program
York, PA:
-$350,000 to Harrisburg Area Community College, for facilities and equipment for the Health Careers Center
-$100,000 to YMCA of York and York County for facilities and equipment
Coatesville, PA:
-$50,000 to Brandywine YMCA, for therapy/ rehabilitation facilities and equipment
Ephrata, PA:
-$250,000 to Brandywine YMCA, for therapy/ rehabilitation facilities and equipment
I don’t know about you, but if I pushed for any of those earmarks, or “pork” as it were, I would be damned proud to have John McCain make me famous with that old pen of his and have everyone know my name.
By the way, it’s my understanding that earmarks are requests for more money to be created out of thin air (like certain bailout proposals *ahem*), but that they are just appropriations of funds which are already budgeted. Your congresspeople just request that x amount of the budget for roadwork and bridges be sent to their town where it is needed to fix bridges before they collapse, instead of used on some bridge that will hardly be used. Doesn’t sound all that wasteful to me.
