prepare again the blasphometer

i gave it a new name! sounds more official than "blasphemy meter."

i begin today with a disclaimer: if you like sarah palin, stop reading. NOW. no, i mean it. because i'm going to explode.

given the fact that i have a lot of downtime at work, i tend to use it surfing the web more often than anything else. time goes faster that way, and i get in some good reading. i'm trying to stay abreast of political crap (because that's what it is, let's call everything by its right name here, people), and in general i end up miffed. but then there are moments that i end up enraged.

this is one of those moments.

nothing in particular has set me off this time, although a couple of discussions with a friend of mine have opened up my favorite can of worms. i may go to hell for despising someone so much, but i just can't help myself with her because she makes it so easy.

here are my reasons why i am not "afraid" of sarah palin (even if she has a big ol' gun):

1. kitschy only gets you so far. all this cutesy bullshit may have worked in her pageant days, but in the real world/realm of politics, it's annoying. her little phrases like "hopey changey" are nails down a chalkboard for me and for a lot of other people, too. i just can't take seriously someone who relies on this kind of phrasing to get a rise out of people. for the love of God, SPEAK INTELLIGENTLY. it's not difficult.

2. her boobs will eventually sag. (and yes, i know she'll get work done to lift 'em.) what do i mean by this? sarah palin is the "pretty face" of the Republican party. she's the spokesmodel, like whoever's hocking olay now, or covergirl or whatever. her job, whether she's realized it by now or not, is to get YOU excited for the Republican teabaggers. she's the GOP cheerleader, except she's replaced a megaphone with a lectern and cheers with notes written on her palm *headdesk*. she's disorganized and slightly ditzy. but she's cute and she has that darn wink that just makes her so gosh darn approachable, don'cha know? ugh. give me a break.

3. she's heartless. and i'm not afraid to say it. check her alaskan policies. check the facts on the wolf hunts. check and see what she's done to the wildlife population. 'dig, baby, dig' was only the tip of the iceberg on a mass wildlife destruction career that favors hunters over natives and ecosystems. while i'm not a tree-hugger by any means, i care about wildlife and about what the destruction of ecosystems means. the destruction of alaska's will reverberate down through the states and beyond. remember what happened in yellowstone? when wolves were hunted down to perilous amounts, herbivores like deer and rabbits and whatnot OVERCROWDED the park and destroyed acres of plant life vital to the area. when you hunt the natural predator of a herbivore or forager, that animal overpopulates and the result is disaster. that's why they had to reintroduce wolves into the area, and since, the park has been able to regenerate. erosion is down because plants are able to root into the soil. the overall place is healthier.

and i won't bother to address the brutality of the hunting processes. defenders of wildlife already did that.

but alaska will suffer from this sort of behavior. and if she gains power, so will the continental states. these practices are already extending into utah, and have extended into wyoming and idaho.

the point of this is that sarah palin is a two-sided coin and she flips herself according to her needs. one side is the effervescent Republican mouthpiece of the pro-life cause; the other is the brutal huntress who doesn't give a rat's ass about a non-human creature, especially the ones that get in the way of her trophies. the woman has no idea how predators even hunt. they go for the older, weaker and sick ones, not the big ol' bull you had your eyes on. that one would take way too much effort. *grumble*

4. she has set women back at least 100 years. there's a reason that most democratic women voted for obama after hilary clinton lost the nomination. basically, mccain put on a blindfold, spun around, and when he pointed at a human being with the appropriate anatomical parts, he said, "THAT'S GOING TO BE MY VP." that person was sarah palin.

and that was a joke. but in all seriousness, i know that he thought palin had some redeeming qualities. she's spunky, blah blah blah. and while that may be true, she's also PRETTY (see point #2). instead of choosing an articulate, strong, forceful woman who knows politics and policy, who reads and researches, doesn't rely on "folksiness" to get her way, and can debate her way out of a paper bag, he chose her.

most analysts will agree that there is a plethora of reasons why obamaden won the election. mccain's lack of knowledge concerning the budget, his age... but my finger still points toward palin. intentionally, not by accident or happenstance. i get this feeling that she never took the campaign that seriously. she never seemed prepared. she was annihilated during debates (i saw nothing redeeming in her whatsoever). she danced around questions and directed her answers toward something else entirely. "i know we're talking about this, but i want to talk about this." i'm sorry. deflecting does not work.

she doesn't take herself seriously, so why should i take her seriously? why should i view her as a threat? i, who wants to abolish political parties, who wants universal healthcare, who opposes nearly everything she stands for (i'm pro-life. i'll say it), and who refuses to put the veil over my eyes when it comes to her? why should i fear her when i see her as she is? i don't. i don't fear people who talk to hear themselves speak, who never have anything of value to say, and who constantly deride the people who are trying to make a difference in the country *i'm also sick of the word "change" now*, who rely on cheap slander and fear mongering to make their opinions into a valid points. why, when i am an educated southern woman who knows we lived in a screwed up society, why would i fear someone who has gotten by on her looks her entire life?! NO. I DO NOT FEAR PALIN. i have never feared palin! NO ONE should fear palin! she's a glorified cheerleader. that's ALL.

and, just as with mccain, if hell freezes and she enters the white house as president, i'm moving to europe. God only knows the havoc she'll bring.

political fishes

does anyone else get sick of hearing the "conservative vs. liberal" argument? i know i do. while it can be rather entertaining, most of the time, it's a headache wrapped up in words, hitting people in the head with words like "socialist," "agenda," "bias," "fearmonger." and the list continues to populate. for me, being an American is about being free and not having people tell you what to do, think, or say. yet that's what we get every time we turn on a television or even have a discussion anymore. on one hand, if you disagree with the president's policies you're A) a conservative wing-nut, B) a rush limbaugh follower (see A), or C) a freethinker. if you do agree with the president's policies, you are A) addicted to the kool-aid (seriously, enough with the reference), B) a socialist (*gasp!*) or C) un-swayed by the conservative bias. there's also the infamous D) brainwashed.

i preface this next part by saying that while registered republican, i voted democratic in last year's election because i didn't want sarah palin anywhere near the white house. i was actually somewhat on board with mccain until he brought her into the picture. i have my reasons that actually began long before her introduction into the media spotlight and will share my own views concerning her based on my own observations and not what the media on both sides has tried to force-feed me.

i'm sick and disgusted as an American to have to listen to this political dribble spewed by so-called political powers on BOTH sides. that's right, i said it, BOTH SIDES. on the one hand you have the rush limbaughs, sean hannitys, and the bill cunninghams (conservative mouthpiece of Cincinnati for those who haven't been subjected) who basically spend their time on air prattling on about how the liberals are going to ruin the country, and on the other you have the al frankins and keith olbermans squawking about how conservatives are out to undermine the president. there are debates about whether the media has a conservative or liberal bias, there are all these people discussing who's done what for what reason and with whom, and all i want to know is:

WHO THE HELL IS GOING TO FIX THIS MESS?

i don't care if it's the left or the right, the liberals or conservatives, the north or the south. all i know is that if someone doesn't try SOMETHING, anything, that it's just going to get worse. and what i've seen is that people are stupid enough to offer their opinions without offering suggestions. they're the problem when they're trying to be some sort of solution. it's ridiculous. i'm so fed up with the talk. i need action.

i think that the best course of action would be to either abolish the political parties and their loyalties and see what happens, or to just have the libs and conserves duke it out in a UFC-style battle royale. because all i hear is talk about whose fault is what. i don't give a shit who caused what. just FIX it.

and now, my sarah palin rant. quickly.

she's a fake. deal with it. she overstepped her boundaries in office, especially concerning the whole aerial slaughter of wolves, bears, and wolverines. look it up: the people didn't want that. she found a loophole. that's actually the main reason i didn't like her before mccain's nomination. it's not even so much the facts of the aerial hunting, it's the principle. it's the fact that she went ABOVE what the people who voted her into office wanted, the fact that she does what she wants with complete disregard for what the people she served actually asked for. it makes me angry. i hate it. then during the vice presidential debate when she answered the questions how she wanted and usually without any bearing on what the question actually asked. but yeah. that's it in a nutshell. she doesn't listen. she just doesn't freaking listen.

argh.