Lucille Ball said, "Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.  You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."

I know you love her, but do you agree with Lucy?

I was thinking, once again, about Sarah Palin this morning.  As, it seems, is most of the nation.  And a lightbulb virtually went off in my head.  Intentional or not, it seems the Republicans have achieved an important goal in nominating this good ol' gal for Vice President.

What have they accomplished, you ask?

They've changed the conversation.  It's the classic tactic of misdirection.

We're not talking right now about how John McCain is Dubya Redux.  How his policy proposals are nearly word for word what Bush proposed when he was running in 2000.  Tax cuts.  Drilling for oil.  A token nod here and there to alternative energy.  Cutting spending (something Bush promised but instead delivered the exact opposite).  An "aw-shucks, I'm just one of ya'll" attitude.  We're not focused on issues.

Instead, we're talking about Sarah Palin.  Her hair.  Her pregnant daughter.  Her appeal to the right wing (read religious right) base as an ultra-conservative.  We're debating whether or not she (the VP nominee) is more or less qualified than Obama (the Democrat's Presidential nominee).

This is just nuts!

And as long as we're talking about nonsense like that, as long as we allow Republicans to usurb Obama's message of change, to claim that his (very detailed) proposals lack substance, as long as we let them control the conversation and don't call them on their hypocrisy--well, we won't be talking about what needs to be done to fix our economy, to reduce and eventually eliminate our addiction to foreign oil, to return our country to its status as leader of the world rather than pariah.

In that spirit, I will make this the last of my Palin entries.  As far as I'm concerned, the race is between Obama and McCain.

However, I'm not so high-minded that I'm above including the clip below from the Daily Show.  It may be "fake news"...but it makes a real point about how the Republicans do like their spin.

After visiting with our friend for about four hours today, we headed home.  It was a good drive, despite heavier than usual traffic.  And we are so glad to be home.

I always have a real sense of appreciation for the comforts of home when I return from prison.  Here I am free of anyone's rules but our own.  I can choose the foods I eat, the hour at which I rise or go to sleep.  I can listen to music, watch television, read books all of my choosing.  I can touch my beloved freely and without worry. 

I so look forward to the day, just eleven months from now if all goes according to this latest date, that our friend can return to these simple, blessed pleasures.

We had a good visit today with our friend in prison...and it only required the sacrifice of my underwires (in my new bra) to accomplish.

How many times have I been to this prison?  And yet, as I left the house on Thursday, the nagging thought that I was forgetting something did not translate into "prison bra."

I'm not sure what it is that one could do with an underwire that makes them so dangerous, such contraband that one must snip them out of the offending garment with fingernail clippers before entering the prison.

I could ask, I suppose.  But I fear I still wouldn't be any the wiser.

Like the kleig lights they brought in to comply with regulations when the prison started getting "lifer" inmates...and that still run (on diesel) every night even though the lifers are gone...the underwire rule is a vestigal remnant from days gone by.  Without logic or explanation.  And still and integral part of the California Prison system.

Ah well.  At least it was a good visit!  Cool weather, good conversation, vending machine munchies and at least a few hours where prison walls melted away in the pleasant company of well-worn friendship.

 1.  On the road today, we saw an old-school Volvo completely (and I mean completely) covered with Obama stickers.  The lovely young women driving and riding in it hovered alongside long enough to give us a thumbs up.  (Hope they VOTE!)

2.  After arriving, we sidled down the street to a mexican restaurant, where we ate entirely too much food.  As we were thinking about leaving, a group of young people came in with a cute gal in a (very) short black skirt.  She had a crown on her head.

Being familiar with princesses, we inquired about the crown which read "21".  It was her 21st birthday.  We treated her gang to a round (VERY inexpensively...perhaps because they ordered before they knew they were being treated...the suggestion of the waitress).  It was amazing to see their surprised faces...and to hope they pass it on at some point.

We're off today to visit our friend in prison...but I am taking the p.c. and the list of 12 (count 'em, twelve) propositions for the upcoming November election.  So I plan on at least blurting while I'm away.

In the interim (and because I've got to pack soon!), here are some articles you might want to check out regarding Sarah Palin, the Republican strategy of playing against "the media" and a very thought provoking opinion piece by Steinem on Palin.

My feeling at this juncture is that the Republican campaign will be about Barack Obama--his supposed elitism, his supposed inexperience, his supposed liberal agenda.  My hope is that Obama's campaign hits back when necessary and then turns to the issues:

The economy

The horrible blunders of the Iraq war

The need for actual change (rather than the hijacking of change message by politicians who live in the pockets of big oil and big money).

From my lips to Obama's ears.

Two more items of note on Sarah Palin today.  The first has to do with her aggressive pursuit of earmarked funds as Mayor of Wasillah, Alaska and as Governor of Alaska.  It seems that when John McCain was introducing her as a fellow devotee of eliminating earmarks, he hadn't done his homework.

The LA Times reports that Palin even defended earmarking in an opinion column.  When did she write that article?  This year.  I'm all for candidates who change their minds given a good reason.  I just like for them to acknowledge the about face and give a logical argument for that change.

Instead, Palin's pretending to be a reformer.  Or, worse, she really believes that dismissing people summarily and for political (or even personal reasons) qualifies as "reform."

The second issue on Palin is the disconnect between her political views on "abstinence only" education and her daughter's pregnancy.  I am not the only one scratching my head over that.  Tim Rutten penned an astute examination of the issue in his column.  Read it.  It's worth your while.

Another thing worth your while, and to get off the topic of Sarah Palin, is a new movied called, Traitor.  Don Cheadle heads a talented cast including Guy Pierce and Said Taghmaoui.  The film is a nuanced exploration of what it means to be loyal to one's beliefs and what it means to betray those beliefs.

Not only is the film intelligent, it's also pretty gripping--full of action, mind games and suspense.  I think it's the best film I've seen in a very long time.  Go see it!

I took an internet-based gander at Republican VP Sarah Palin today (which, according to the LA Times is all that McCain's vetting people did).  My conclusion is much the same as my question upon hearing the announcement.

What the f**k was he thinking?

By now you've, no doubt, heard about several issues surrounding the relatively new Governor of Alaska.

1.  She's been on the job for 21 months (and McCain has spent the past several months bashing Obama as "not ready"..and McCain is statistically at risk of death in the next four years).

2.  She is an advocate of "family values" with a pregnant 17-year-old daughter (not to worry, she's going to marry the baby's father) and a four-month old child with Down Syndrome (not to mention 2 other children of an age to need...according to the religious right...a mother @ home).

3.  She fired the Alaska Public Safety Commisioner and there is an ethics question pending about whether or not his firing related to his refusal to dismiss her (admittedly wacko) brother-in-law.

Any of these things might have put a reasonable man off of Palin as a V.P. choice (especially if that reasonable man was the oldest Presidential candidate in history and his running mate, one of the youngest V.P candidates).

But there are two little tidbits that you may not know despite today's media frenzy.

A)  The person Palin chose to replace the Public Safety Commisioner resigned when it was discovered that he had been reprimanded of sexual harrassment.  Rather than express shock and dismay (at her staff for failing to turn up this crucial piece of information or at her chosen replacement for not disclosing the smoking gun to her), Palin berated the media and said it was no wonder that good people don't get into politics.

B)  McCain's camp touts Palin's "experience" as an executive, saying that she's at least as qualified as Obama since she was Mayor of Wassila for six year and Governor of Alaska for 21 months.

Wasilla, Alaska (according to their own budget figures) had fewer than 70 full time staff as of 2003, the year after Palin departed Wasilla for her failed attempt to gain the Lieutenant Governor seat in Alaska.  Just by point of reference, that's about 380 fewer people than I was reponsible for as a District Manager of a major bank a few years back.

Want to vote for me?

My gut instinct is that this choice for V.P. will come back to haunt McCain.  It exemplifies his rebellious, shoot from the hip nature--which he likes to style as a reformer/rebel with a cause approach.

There will, no doubt, be more to come with Palin in the coming days.  For now, I see it as a rather large miscalculation--aimed at Hillary voters...claiming only the right wing die-hards who love her pro-life stance.

Let's not even get started on what might have been prevented if her daughter had access and education on condoms in addition to abstinence only rhetoric...

It's a good thing that today was a holiday...I took full advantage by finishing a great book, The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff.  The book has a lot of charm, is filled with interesting characters, multiple narrators and an intriguing mystery.  Groff, who was raised in Cooperstown, paints an intimate portrait of her hometown (thinly veiled as Templeton), handling prose like a pro, despite this being her first novel.  Highly recommended by yours truly.

Since today was Labor Day, I decided not to delve into the muddy political waters regarding Sarah Palin, McCain's pick for V.P.  I continue to be in a mild state of shock at his decision and am trying to figure out just what he was thinking.

So far the short answer seems to be pandering to the religious right...but will religious conservatives, those who can't abide a woman in positions of religious authority, really support a woman as back up to the oldest potential president in history?  I dunno.  Still scratching my head over this one.

Tomorrow, I'll do a bit of digging and get back to y'all.  And it's also time for me to begin my analysis of the ballot propositions now that the Secretary of State FINALLY has a Voter Information Guide out.

Watch for my analysis in a new page to be named later, beginning later this week.  Now to the couch where I will crack McCain's first (ghost-written) book.  Happy Labor Day, one and all.

When I heard about McCain's Vice Presidential pick, my chief reaction was "Huh."

What do you think about McCain's choice of Sarah Palin?