Geez, the news this week:At the Republican Convention a less than competent Presidential nominee nominated a frighteningly partisan, inexperienced, fundamentalist for the second in command spot on his ticket.
One can only shudder in contemplation of who he might decide to appoint to all the other offices under his direct control. I checked out wikipedia and found this:
"Various executive and judicial branch appointments are made by presidents, including presidents-elect. Up to 6,000 appointments may be made by an incoming president before he takes office, and 8,000 more may be made while in office. Ambassadors, judges of the federal court system, members of the Cabinet, and other federal officers are all appointed by the president, with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, granted by a simple majority."
One commenter on Alternet said:
Writes Atheistcable:
Personally, I hope that McCain keeps Palin as VP choice through October. I am glad that McCain is recognizing the demands of James Dobson and others. I hope that in mid-October, McCain tells the voters that he will appoint Born-Again Christian Tom DeLay as Secretary of the Treasury, and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) as head of Health and Human Services. I hope that McCain recommends Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania as Secretary of State. If this list doesn't result in an 89% landslide victory for Barack Obama -- I don't know what would. But picking Palin is a great start -- I think she's wonderful for the Democrats.
If liberal bloggers freaked out this past week I think that the biggest reason was that we're now being given to understand the election won't be about policy at all. Instead, it's going to be a national test just to see exactly how stupid the American populace has become in the past decade.
The always insightful Paul Krugman probably said it best it yesterday's column about 'The Resentment Strategy' having worked for Republicans before. What the G.O.P. is selling, in other words, is the pure politics of resentment; you’re supposed to vote Republican to stick it to an elite that thinks it’s better than you.
This is truly crazy.
My Great Grandfather carved this little pin from a piece of ivory long before I was born and somehow it came to me. (I had major dental surgery yesterday so please forgive if the post lacks clarity. I'll recover)
and thanks so much to DivaJood for Arte Y Pico Award. It's not the award that counts, it's who thinks of you.
Truly crazy but often truly successful.
ReplyDeleteI'm sick of trying to convince people who don't want convincing that voting for clowns like this is counterproductive to a rational, groovy society.
Oh well. McFossil wins, I might call off on the 5th, slap some Beethoven on and get hammered.
oh, wow... dental surgery & A Repub convention in the SAME week.
ReplyDeleteDid they give you pain killers for each?
A hopeful post...I'm inclined to think you're correct. But "never underestimate the stupidity of the American people" is also a good motto to operate with.
ReplyDeleteWhat a special pin from your grandfather!
Good luck with recovery. May your (repaired) smile be bright.
Hope you are smiling again soon. My son recently had all his Wisdom teeth out and with it came his wisdom, which might explain why he sent me an e-mail from college and asked me if I would mail him his nail clippers...he forgot to pack them. After shaking my head and wondering if he decided to get into the college drug scene, after all, I e-mailed him back with directions to the nearest Walgreens (which was two blocks from campus). It's going to be a long four years.....
ReplyDeleteWow! That's a lot of pork for one President.
ReplyDeleteAnd hope the mouth is recovering.
And what a lovely pine.
Keep smiling... and elect the Democratic ticket please.
Or move back up here.
Have you recovered or are you still enjoying the painkillers they gave you? They did give you some, right? ;-)
ReplyDeleteHello my friends,
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by and leaving your good wishes. After 16 years worth of every type of periodontal, endodontal and plain old dental procedure I was informed in May there was no way to save the teeth in the top of my mouth. They can do implants but first the teeth had to be removed and bone grafting done. That's what I'm recovering from now. There's a temporary plate in place with a ton of sutures underneath but happily, I'm not bleeding. The worst is all the swelling and bruising - I look like Rocky Balboa in the 4th round and I'm headachy and nauseous.
Yeah, they gave me prescriptions for heavy duty pain meds but I can't take them - don't need them either. I just need a little time.
To-day's my first blog birthday so I hope to be back later with something. Obama met with Bill O'Reilly? Am I hallucinating?
Keep smiling, indeed!
well they made it clear during the convention they were NOT going to talk about issues..holy mother of god..then why are you in politics? It sounds more like a vindicative highschool bunch..did you hear what biden said? Don't they remind you of these people in highschool who, when you got something new and were proud of had nothing better to say then "was that your mothers'"?
ReplyDeletebullies and ignorami..
blech..
Ingrid
oh pardon me susan..I'll 'keep smiling'..btw..how is your mouth doing? I've had dental surgery waay back..the first time, no problems, no worries. The second time it looked like I got beaten up by someone..black and blue..unreal.
ReplyDeleteanyhoo..only stretch that smiling muscle if it 'gives'..otherwise..rest up that mouth..[g]
Ingrid
Susan - hope your mouth feels better after the surgery. It's good to see that the brain and fingers are still working. You make a great point about the resentment message that the Republicans are pushing. But I think it's more than just resentment. Once again, they're pushing fear. Mind you, it's not the 9/11 type of fear, but something more insidious -- one that Bush I used to great effect against Dukakis with his Willie Horton ads. How long before we see a Photoshop-darkened image of Obama above the tag line "Do you want this man as your President?"
ReplyDeleteingrid - Black and blue is right but hell, bruises and black eyes heal. I checked out you post and saw the Biden piece about the convention and it was good.
ReplyDeletespartacus - I'm afraid you're very likely to be right about the photoshopped images but I'm really, really hoping that people won't buy it. Then I just have to hope that the votes are counted properly in spite of hearing today that Ohio is voter caging again. Geez..
Susan,
ReplyDeleteSorry to be late to this. Ouch. Dental issues are such a drag. I hope you recover soon.
My dearest friend went through similar dental torture last year. She and her husband spent 10 grand to save most of her teeth. Her husband told me that it's only money and that unlike some high-maintance women, she hadn't had a lifetime of manicures, botox, tanning, etc. etc. that piddled the money away slowly; instead it was one giant bill at once.
Happy blog-o-versary!
Happy bloggiversary! I'm so sorry that you've had to deal with those dental issues. I wish you quick healing and a good fit when you get the new plate.
ReplyDeleteI think we're in for a bumpy ride with the election.
pagan sphinx - I wasn't the least bit sure I should mention this on the blogoverse. Maybe it would have been more entertaining to describe it from a sardonic point of view or not at all. I deeply appreciate your sympathy in what's really become a fairly common procedure - but not for me or your friend either, I suspect.
ReplyDeletedcup - Yeah! It's a bloggiversary and a surprise to me when I realized the date. You've been a great friend for a big part of it and I hope that will continue.
The election? You're doing a wonderful job by posting your insightful opinions. What we have to watch out for is zealots.. the most dangerous of human animals.
Crow
Good column by Krugman. Good God, how long would Rudy Giuliani stay in Wasilla before he called in a team to airlift him out and burn it to the ground?
ReplyDeleteHow are your choppers feeling now? I hope the surgery wasn't too heavy.
Cool pin. Its always nice to have things like that to remember family.
ReplyDeleteI am a democrat but i have hated every nominee republican or democrat for a good many years and this election is no exception. Neither choice is a good one to me. What i find amusing though is all this talk about one or the other having no experience. What the hell brought that up? If you look at either choice you will see they are both lacking in experience and even though democrat i have to say the choice for my party is horrible. He has the least practical experience with little to no voting record and never states what he stands for. Oh wonderful choice! Then you have the republican who can't decide once and for all, at least until the election is over, if he is a liberal or conservative. The wishy washy feeling i get from him is what i can't stand. Is it just me or has there been a decided lack of real leadership in our politicians. All of them seem to lack a real understanding of what is good for the country and just stick to whatever policies they are being payed by special interest groups to back. Our entire government is for sale. Wish i had the money to buy it and make things right.
ben - Good one :-) ..and I'm fine.
ReplyDeleteAvshar - Overall I have to agree with you. I'm Canadian and a left leaning liberal one at that but I've lived in the US the past three decades and my favorite President was Jimmy Carter. Neither of the current candidates give me any sense of a 'statesman in preparation'.. never mind there already. My problem though, is the same as many are facing - Obama talks a good game but he wasn't close to first choice (okay, so Kucinich was unlikely). On the other hand McLame scares the living bejeezus out of me. What to do?