On the one hand...

She's a cute kid.

She is, of course, messing with the folks who are not the children of Lake Woebegone.

For anyone who works with people, in any way that addresses their core beliefs and values, this story is hardly surprising.  Indeed, it has been the whipping boy of conservative faith in the perversity of the human soul for many years, of those blind to the great beam jutting from their own blind self-righteous eyes.

On the one hand, I am glad that she, her classmates, her teachers, the parents, can see firsthand the undeniable truth unearthed by this piece, ignoring of course the editorializing of the so-called reporter, who feels it necessary to insert the common canard about college education, that common aspiration of Americans that is at once hoisted on a pedestal of tax breaks and pundit-served, brow-furrowed concern, while at the same time spat upon by the sneers of the sour-grapestained JoeThePlumberSixPack AllTooWilling Herd, bittering away in mumbled prayer, made loose with gun oil and vitriol and rancid "talk radio."

On the other hand, I feel a parent's concern for her, yearning to give her the grandparental warning to seek not lest you should find, edging back from those small, wriggling bits that spasm in primordial fear when you lift the rock of the everyday above the obvious, hesitating before such a warning, hoping for some small, dim recognition but petering out over the slim margin of the likely versus the tidal pull of our worst instincts.

So, kudos for your bravery and forebearance, girl, and thanks to the reporter (but shame for your gratuitous editorializing). 

Somewhere, it must be said, in the very pits of hell Timothy McVeigh is licking his lips. 

I may be agnostic, but God save these United States.

Jesus fucking wept.

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...it's important to know that he cares.

Kudos to the excellent journalists who have brought us this insightful piece.

and Obama obliged. 

...by not crashing and burning like some horrific and utter train wreck, with body parts strewn across the landscape.

Palin met the bar that her handlers had crammed into a deep groove hastily carved into the floor and thus she somehow "won" the debate.

YAY!

Seriously, though:  How is Sarah "Smurfette" going to be taken seriously by any international leader?

Truly, Gidget goes to Washington.

One of the silliest moments of her "normal people talking" presentation was when claimed to be the governor of a "really large state." 

That's kind of like saying, "I have a really heavy responsibility.  I have to stare at this giant boulder."

Just received the flash bulletin from ABC News:  McCain is suspending his campaining and wants to postpone Friday's debate to "work on the economy." 

What a loser....er...or "maverick".  The old "change the subject" tactic, now that his campaign is (rightly) losing steam.

Really:  He expects people to believe that this is "leadership"?  Isn't participating in the debate the very thing that this country needs right now?  Doesn't the American public want to hear from the candidates about what they are going to do as president? 

How about instead the current debate topic be switched from "National Security" to "the Economy"?  Wouldn't that make more sense?  Use the "bully pulpit" to lay out your vision and proposals for the voters?

Frankly, McCain is just pathetic and desparate.  It's sad.

THE CHURCH LADY!!?!!

Can't you just hear her saying....."Satan?????"

This is a great read for a misanthropic mood....

A List of Common Misconceptions

Great article over at Slate.com , with the following as an example:

But David Rosenberg, Merrill Lynch's straight-talking chief economist for North America, says it might be different this time. The reason: The chunk of the stimulus package likely to get spent is roughly equivalent to the amount Americans are paying for higher food and gas prices because of inflation. Put another way, you've already spent your stimulus at ExxonMobil.

...and ditto for grain and grain-based products.  and grain-based product accessories.  and anything that has to be transported somewhere.

It's been a while--a great while--since the US had itself some inflation worth speaking about, but it would seem that things are already fairly far gone.  

thank goodness we have that sop of a tax "rebate."  Why people think such tactics are anything other than a symptom of an underlying problem is anyone's guess.  doesn't "tax rebate" just simply smell like a bandaid?  

In any event, the title of the article ,

Honey, I Ate the Rebate

You've already spent your tax windfall on gas and bread.

really says it all. 

The GAO (Government Accountability Office) issued a report this month that slams the Bush Administration for its utter failure to address the terrorist threat posed by Al Qaeda. 

Here's the title:  The United States Lacks a Comprehensive Plan to Destroy the Terrorist Threat and Close the Safe Haven in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas

Here's the actual report (PDF).

It is nothing less than astonishing, although hardly surprising given the Shrub's record, that seven years after 9/11 the government is still asleep at the switch.  Bush was asleep at the switch then, as I recall.  The need for a change could not be more clear.