It's About the Disrespect

I'm so glad that this whole no handshake thing seems to have legs. It seemed, to me, to be nothing more than an awkward moment in the middle of an awful lot of hand-shaking. Nothing more than McCain steering Obama's waiting hand into his wife's.

But this is exactly the sort of thing where, if the tables were turned, it would be shouted down from the high heavens and leading every newscast. Simply put, the conservative movement has become expert at throwing fits about the silliest shit and turning it into something important. It's about time the other side of the aisle learned to do the same.

And what's important here is the barely concealed contempt that Senator McCain feels for his rival. It's of a piece with not looking at him during the first debate. It's on the same level as calling him “that one”. At a certain point, it's not a string of coincidences but a series of significant revelations.

McCain doesn't think that Obama's fit to share the same stage with him. He looks down on him because he's younger, because he's winning, perhaps even because of darker implications. But the man doesn't respect his opponent. And that speaks volumes about him.

Debate Thoughts

I was driving home from class, so I caught most of last night's debate on the radio. I managed to view some of the choicer videos off the Steven's Tube today. And I can't help but be struck by the contrast.

On the radio, with nothing other than voice, inflection, and the steady drone of the pavement rolling by underneath me to go by I felt like I was listening to something like a bad Vaudeville act. The anything but classic antics of Cranky Pants MaGee and Somberilicus's Old Timey Finger Pointing Jamboree. A lot of back and forth, a lot of accusation and counterclaim as the candidates bickered over who passed what and which one was telling the bigger lies.

But, having seen the debate if not live then at least as good as memorex, it was more like watching Redd Foxx and Lamont. It was kind of eerie watching old man McCain shuffle around the stage. Obama, though, really had a presence. An aura that I'd call, well, presidential.

I predicted that McCain was going to go for broke and roll the dice with another big, splashy move and I thought we had it with the unexpected announcement from the anti-pork barrel crusader that he'd be instructing his government to buy up all failed mortgages. It sounded just insane enough to be from the desperation move school of policy but, then, I looking into it and it seemed that it wasn't such a crazy new move after all. But, instead, a part of the already passed bailout. But, today, I heard more about it and it turns out it is, in fact, bat shit insane after all.

Good to know. I was worried that McCain might actually be trying for good policy and sound governance instead of media friendly stunts for a minute there.

Although it wasn't accompanied with the fanfare that I expected (Indeed, it seem McCain Maverick-rolled his own campaign with his proclamation as it caught many of his surrogates off guard.) but it does fit the bill. It sounds good and reassuring, the kind of thing that plays well in a soundbite form. It promises help and understanding. While actually delivering nothing like. It's kind of like his health care plan, that way. But explaining why requires getting so deep into the weeds of the specific that the public's eyes would be glazing over and all they'd take away is that McCain was fighting for them with some kind of clammy hand on some kind of steering device.

Still, I don't think that even promising to drive the federal government even further into debt to buy up even more shitty assets while assuring the lenders and marketers who created this mess in the first place a tidy profit is going to save McCain.

At the very least, last night was a wash. It might even have been slightly better but I hesitate Obama the clear-cut victor because, you know, I'm in the tank for him and, somehow, I don't think that arguing we should be gutting Medicare or respecting the sovereignty of Pakistan while bombing the fuck out of Iran are good positions to take. So, I'm horribly biased. But, from what I saw and what I heard, at the very least, McCain didn't score a clear win. Even in the townhall format he was so desperate to engage Obama in (After all, wasn't he throwing the kitchen sink at Obama because he refused to engage in a series of whistle-stop town hall debates over the summer or something? Maybe it was because they couldn't agree on a time to meet up at the soda fountain for a malted... McCain's old. That's what I'm saying here. Yeah. Old.). Even with the rules slanted so there would be no follow-ups and no real debate. McCain didn't win. And, at this point in the race, a tie is as good as a win for Obama.

The days are running out on McCain and he's behind in the polls. He needs to make up the distance some way. At this point, he's reduced to playing the long odds and hoping that things turn his way. But last night, he couldn't change a thing.

The State of the Blog

So, the blog isn't doing so well lately. I'm afraid I have no one to blame for all the inactivity around here except myself. I could have found the time to write more but I haven't. It's been far down on the list of priorities for a while now. Just been hard to put digital pen to the electronic paper.

And, unfortunately, that looks like a state of affairs that's going to continue. As I feared, heading into last month, my schedule is just hellishly busy lately. I'm back in school nearly full time now, with a heavy load of classes as I'm getting closer to that second degree. The studying alone is enough to suck up most of my time. But I'm also working part time in order to pay for it all. And I've got my other projects and diversions to keep me busy. The simple fact is that when I do find time to sit down and write, I don't seem to be able to summon up much energy for the process. Not when I've finished typing up my latest paper or dropping a few thousand words on fleshing out some other concept.

Now, though, the semester's finally well underway. Past the initial stages and easy opening assignments and into a time of reports and midterms. It's not like my grades are poor but I didn't go back to school in order to test well. I went back to understand and advance myself and that takes precious time.

Next month, I'm afraid, isn't going to get any better. I'm likely going to be hosting at least part of the annual gathering of the clan for Thanksgiving and that's means not just hours of family and feasting but long days of cleaning and preparation. And November is, of course, National Novel Writing Month and, at the moment, I'm thinking I'd like to participate, once again. I don't have the time. I don't even have an idea. But I might not have the sanity and I'd like to make sure that I don't, by month's end. I'm more worried about what happens to me if I take the lazy way out and refuse to try, once again, rather than try to push myself past what I think's possible.

But that's next month's concern. At the moment, I should be able to find a little time to tend to my sadly neglected blog once again. If nothing else, if only to get used to the challenge of a steady routine again.

It seems that on this blog, as in life, there are no promises. So I don't know what to expect and neither should anyone still kind enough to be reading this. But I'm going to try to write at least a little bit. Every day. One post at a time. Rain or shine. Exhilarated or exhausted. I have to keep the pen moving. Because the alternative is that it might stop.

Debate Night!

I'm convinced John McCain is going to do something crazy tonight.

Like guarantee he won't seek a second term. Or challenge Obama to a pie eating contest. Or announce that he's really the father of Bristol Palin's father and they'll be getting married Nov. 3rd after his divorce from Cindy is finalized.

I mean, he's tanking in the polls and it's been at least a week since he spun the roulette wheel.

Voting Ain't Easy

I figured as long as I'm passing out voting help that I should mention this. If you're one of the many people who've registered at university this year, you might want to check carefully where you're registered. If you're registered in your home district rather than the one near your school you might have a problem.

In Michigan, at least, newly registered voters are required to show up and present photo ID at their polling place for their first vote. You can't vote via absentee ballet for your first time around, in other words.

You can get around this by presenting your ID at your local county clerk's office. But if, like at least one of my cousins, you're attending school halfway across the country, that's going to be a bit of a hassel since you have to show up in person.

Register to Vote Today

Many states, including my own home of Michigan, require that voters register at least 30 days before the election. That means if you're planning to vote this November, you need to make sure you're registered by the end of today.

In only a few states (Nine, I believe, including Connecticut, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming - but I'd check and make sure, since I'm not.) you can show up vote on election day. You just need to have a valid ID and you'll be registered on the spot - it makes voting easier and tends to increase turnout significantly. Everywhere else, you need to be already on the voter rolls. Because, I guess, voting should be as difficult as possible.

But with the stakes in the election this year, though, I'd hope tit's worth the inconvenience. If you're not sure where to start, in Michigan, at least, you should visit your Secretary of State's.

There's also this, which will find your registration form for you.

Wolverines Blogging: Today's Game

Is against Illinois. They feature Juice Williams or, as I like to think of him, “What Michigan's quarterback should look like”. The sort of mobile, athletic back who can make throws that's essential to running a spread offense. You know, the kind that Michigan doesn't have at the moment (At this point, yes, I'm trying to shut out all thoughts of Terrel Pryor. Losing out on him wasn't so bad. Losing out on him to OSU is.).

Anyhow, I haven't said much of anything about the last few games. Mostly because I've been too busy. But also because this season is such a roller coaster ride and I'm afraid of the sharp curve just around the next bend. And the Fightning Illadelphias look to be the next big wreck. This Illini game has all the makings of a loss. The Wolverines should be able to beat them but the way they've been playing all season is bound to catch up with them sooner or later with yet another defeat.

Beating Wisconsin was an amazing high (Heh. Cheeseheads, we've come for your undefeated season. Again. The Wolverines just have the Badgers number and has for a long, long time. Michigan Stadium is where their dreams of a conference championship go to die.) but for nearly three quarters that game looked even worse than the Notre Dame game. And that's saying something. It's nice that Michigan closes these games strong. It's nice that they have enough talent to win a game where they only show up in the fourth quarter. That vaunted strength and conditioning program is really paying dividends. But that's not a recipe for continued success.

And what worries me are all the turnovers. They gave away the ball six times against the Irish and while you could wave that away with the rain, they came out – after a bye week – and turned it over five times against Wisconsin. That's not an aberration. That's a pattern that's going to continue because Michigan is running the spread and the spread makes a team prone to turnovers just like any other option. Now that they're playing better teams, now that there's game tap out there, opponents are starting to capitalize. The men in blue need to take care of the ball better but the days of having an excellent turnover margin are over.

So, my gut tells me the Illinois game is going to be painful to watch. But, then, given what happened with Wisconsin, I pretty much have to tune in – you just don't know what you're going to get with this team but, at the very least, it'll be exciting.

Well Prepared

Governor Palin is a quick study or so they say.



But Sarah Plain and Wrong needs to learn that the time to study is before the test.

Guild Wars: I Continue Not To Play

A quick check reveals since my last visit that VoD has been reworked, yet again, by the simple expedient of removing it, skills have been rebalanced featuring the biggest, hardest nerf of a skill since, well, Ether Renewal (I still get sympathy pangs about how hard that one got buffeted by foam.), and with MOX finally having been released there's a new henchman to obtain and a string of quests to go with him.

So....when's the Costume Brawl coming back?

Scattered Thoughts About Thursday's Debate

“Say it ain't so Joe, there you go again”. Pretty much sums up the entire debate for Palin. A mishmash of overrehearsed and overheated talking points jammed together with little regard for the topic, the question, or common sense. It was like playing Talking Points Bingo and I truly feel sorry for anyone playing a Palin buzz word drinking game because they had the mother of all hang-overs yesterday. Hell, my mother even called me up (I was just surprised she stayed up to watch the debate but that's the inverse of the Palin effect – all that new energy means a lot of eyes carefully watching. And judging.) and the first thing she asked was, “She didn't really answer any of those questions, did she?”

My response was more like Sean Connery in those Celebrity Jeopardy sketches - “Cue cards! She's reading from Cue cards! You wouldn't be so smart without those cue cards, Trebek!”

Bozniaks pretty much sums up Biden's night, too. The correct term but one that flew over the heads of most people in the room and came off as overly wonkish. Seriously, dude threw around so many numbers I thought we were in quality control at a calculator factory. Mentioning figures and reciting stats always makes me vaguely uncomfortable - it's the sort of thing I tune out because, you know, I'm not going to remember it and they all blur together into one big number called "a lot". But I feel I should pay attention because it's important. And I feel I'm probably in the minority for thinking that way.

But, really a win for Biden for two reasons:

One, robo-Palin was unable to deviate from her preprogamming and, so, Biden could work McCain at each and every opportunity. She couldn't rebut, she couldn't deflect, she could just stand by like a house at the side of the road as blow after blow went sailing by. Her own attacks were feeble affairs that went over like a lead balloon. That “white flag of surrender” she waved in Biden's face like a toreador only upset me but the line that drew my most ire was about Biden's teacher wife's reward “being in heaven” - that's right because thanks to conservatives like Sarah Palin, it's sure not down here – such a condescending, nasty line and all the honeyed voices and quirky smiles in the world can't soak away the bitter taste it left in my mouth.

Two, letting Governor Moosalini ramble on was probably the best thing he could have done. I would have liked if the rules allowed for some follow-ups so, like in her interviews, her prepped vacuousness could be exposed, but although she didn't melt down she didn't exactly do anything to convince me or anyone else with serious doubts about her that she was anything other than Dan Quayle in a bra. A creature of style but no substance. The winner of American Ideologue, spending her big break winking and hooting and having a good old time.

Right-wingers and the evangelical hordes are probably feeling better about her (And that's not a small thing since the demoralizing effect of the past week would have damped down turnout and that might have been beneficial to some down ticket races as well as clearing an easy path to the White House for the white hats.), she again threw lots of red meat to the base, but she again didn't do anything to win over the undecideds. And, as always, if this race comes down to base versus base, the Democrats win.

Meanwhile, Biden was looking calm and assured and authoritative and taking every chance to make the case for Obama and against McCain - and that's really what a VP debate is all about. Palin had everything to lose. She had to clear the competence bar or else this election was over. She had to convince people that she wasn't the looming disaster she still seems to be. Biden just had to do his job.

Oh, and he was right. Right on Iraq. Right on diplomatic meetings. Right on health care. Right on the economy. Right about all the issues and on the right side of all their arguments. That usually helps.