9/4/2006 - I'm back...

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned.  It's been about 9 days since my last post.  Or did I use that joke last time?

 

So much to blog about, so little time.  First a little politics and then some humor.

 

In this day and age of spin, it seems like you can count on certain media outlets to promote their candidate through thick and thin.  I remember seeing conservative media that proclaimed Bush to have won every debate he been in.  Well, sure.  If you get to define "winning" on the fly, there you go.  The same conservative media was at a loss following the first gubernatorial debate in Massachusetts this week.  At the end, the (conservative) host from WTKK agreed with the (conservative) host from Fox news that the (liberal) Democrat had won.

 

How could this possibly happen?  As long as she has been in the public eye, the Republican candidate (who is currently serving as Lieutenant Governor) has exuded incompetency.  She is famous for quoting Marie Antoinette in support of her political views.  She allows her opponents to define her positions.  She was caught promoting legislation that benefited her husband.  I am sure that she has many good attributes which helped get her to where she is today, but none of these were on display during the debate.

 

But that isn't wholly what did her in.  The Massachusetts debates has two facets with which I'm not so familiar.  First, the debate was 4-way, between the Dems and the Reps, but also including an independent who has a legitimate shot at second place, and another independent who has no legitimate shot of anything.  The second peculiarity was that the moderator showed no willingness to prevent the candidates from talking over one another.  So the Democratic candidate would answer a question with a serviceable sound byte and then the focus would move on.  By contrast, the Republican candidate would give a bizarre answer than then struggle to clarify while the two independents would launch into unfathomable filibusters of dubious germanity.

 

It's nice to know that there are still some performances that have to be acknowledged as "losing."

 

And now for some humor.  A friend was visiting the other day and offered to pour water for my eldest.  She reached over the entire length of the table and poured, some into the glass, but mostly onto my eldest's hand.  Then she turned to me.

 

"Would you like some water in your glass?"

 

"Sure.  Or, you know, wherever."

16,000 debatable steps today.  Cheers,