Bob Herbert on Sarah Palin

Bob Herbert's commentary on Palin's interview with Katie Couric is a good one, but in my opinion he focused on the wrong parts of the interview. First of all, while one would not expect a more seasoned politician to handle a momentary loss of words as poorly as Palin did, and I too found that a bit excruciating to watch, I don't think it's any indication of her intelligence or ability. We all make mistakes of that sort, just mostly not on national television. But the part of the interview that shocked me the most was Palin's reduction of armed conflict into "good guys" vs. "bad guys." Her insistence on calling Israel the "good guys" and Iran the "bad guys" was more than naive: it was childish and even offensive. Is the world really that black and white to her? I would suspect it is. She certainly acts as though it is. I'm terrified at the thought of having a president who is unable to even think about the intricacies of foreign policy. Who actually considers Israel to be flat-out "good guys."

And aside from the deep implications of all of this, how ridiculous was it to hear a supposed national leader go on and on about good guys and bad guys? For real? It would be funny if it weren't so frightening and embarrassing.

Strange Dream, and Politics

Last night I was woken up by a baby in the middle of a deep dreaming sleep. And you know how you tend to remember dreams better if you wake up in the middle? I don't remember all the details as well as I did in the middle of the night. In any case, this was a very odd dream:

I dreamed that Barack Obama (although I think in the dream I was Obama) was going to be executed, but he managed to escape out the back door when nobody was looking. Then he had to hide, and try to make sure that nobody knew who he was. I wish I remembered more, but I really don't.

The good news is that the polls are looking good for Obama. I think Palin is starting to backfire a bit on McCain, as people who were original impressed by her began to learn more and realized how truly terrifying a choice she is. Also, McCain didn't gain anything with the debate. It was a pretty boring debate overall, but I think people who watched it probably took from it that Obama definitely seemed on top of things and presidential. McCain was fine, but nothing special. Neither really was.

On Facebook there are a lot of people supporting the Bush Countdown Clock. Which is fine, unless we're counting down to McCain...

Yes We Can