PeterDavid.net

The Sarah Palin thread

Just to keep things focused.

I find it interesting that whereas Obama picked a running mate who complemented the shortcomings in his slate--someone with a good deal of experience in foreign relations, for instance--McCain chose someone who will appeal to disenfranchised voting bases from both sides: to women who will see an opportunity to put a female a heartbeat from the presidency (and with a president of McCain's years, that takes on a serious reality) after Hillary's campaign ended in flames, and to the conservative base who will embrace a bottom half of the ticket who is apparently somewhere to the right of John Wayne.

The easy answer, of course, is that women won't support her because she's anti-abortion. Except there happen to be plenty of women who are likewise anti-abortion--yes, even Democrats--and therefore won't find that a turnoff.

Frankly, I think Palin was a nervy choice that could reap serious benefits. And the timing of the announcement knocked all the post-convention attention away from Obama and onto McCain, which will now build as they roll into the GOP convention.

Personally, I find the notion of an anti-abortion, pro-drilling, pro-creationism, anti-animal protection vice president to be nothing short of terrifying. Then again, anyone that the extreme right embraces is by definition terrifying.

PAD

Obama's Address

Observations follow below the cut:

9:58--wound up watching on PBS. The guys on CNN wouldn't shut the hell up.

I remember exactly where I was when watching the first Obama speech back in 2004: At Bill Mumy's house. We watched it together and were both blown away by it.

Somehow it always seems to me that Obama's latest speech is always the biggest speech of his career. Anyone else notice that?

10:01--Great. A video. Ah, the MTV generation, which can't relate to a major speaker unless it's introduced by a video.

10:05--the video works on addressing the knocks against him. The notion that he is some elite snob is countered by emphasizing his down home, Kansas roots. Both Obama and his wife comment on his name, which generates much scorn and skepticism from pundits and ignoramuses trying to equate his name with terrorism.

10:12--I wonder if Paul McCartney will come out.

10:13--I love all the signs that say "Change." If I were there I'd keep throwing quarters to people and say, "Here you go. You don't have to beg."

10:14--Anyone counting how many times he said "Thank you?"

10:15--Smart. He's acknowledging Hillary right up front.

10:16--Hmm. Tepid cheers for Bill Clinton. Ted Kennedy got a larger response. Bigger cheer for Joe Biden.

10:19--"We are better than these last eight years." Good line.

10:21--"Eight is enough." They should get Dick Van Patten for a commercial that says that.

10:23--Thus far, rather than going for high flown rhetoric, he's going for a fairly straightforward assault on Bush and McCain. Not sure if this is a good thing, since what has distinguished him is his ability to rise above standard issue attack. On the other hand, he's going to have to be willing to go head to head with the sort of attacks the GOP will doubtless mount.

10:26--the question is, is he going to get into specifics of what he wants to do to change things?

10:29--He's basically presenting himself as an example of what can happen when the government assists people in need. Not a bad way to go.

10:30--still hasn't reached the soaring rhetoric of 2004's keynote speech.

10:32--okay, good. Specifics.

10:33--a direct attempt to battle the GOP notion that Democrats=tax.

10:34--Ending oil dependency should be a major issue. Safely harnessing nuclear power, though; that could be problematic.

10:35--Somewhere Al Gore is smiling over the emphasis on alternate fuels.

10:37--that's pretty sweet health coverage, what Congress gets.

10:38--Oh, I think Obama's daughters opportunities will be pretty promising no matter what.

10:39--I am dubious over the prospect of his going over the budget line by line.

10:40--What, there's no such thing as absentee mothers while fathers are doing their best to raise their children?

10:41--"if we have them in our sights." Well, that's the problem when it comes to Bin Laden, isn't it. He's used the "won't follow him to the cave he lives" line before.

10:43--That's true enough, that this isn't the change America needs. McCain's bellicosity isn't what's needed. And Bush et al didn't merely squander the legacy that was built. They squandered the opportunity to build a genuine global coalition after the catastrophe of 9/11.

10:46--He's trying to take the patriotism weapon out of the GOP's hands. This is the first point in the speech where he's really starting to reach the rhetoric levels of previous speeches.

10:48--Actually, no, we can't agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies, because many of the "no abortion" advocates don't want birth control. And no, we can't agree on the Second Amendment because yes, gun advocates really DO want everyone to be able to have AK-47s if they're so inclined.

10:50--"If you don't have a record to run on, you paint your opponent as someone to run from." Nice.

10:51--"This election was never about me. It's about you!" Well...no. It's about him.

10:53--I like the "I've seen change" riff. Sounds like a cross of JFK and MLK in oratorical stylings.

10:54--Why did he suddenly start whistling his "s"s?

10:55--And now he actually invokes MLK. Wonder if he'll bring up JFK.

10:56--Now he's rolling.

Damn. Wouldn't have minded a few more minutes on the level of the end of the speech. Always leave them wanting more, I suppose.

He had to walk a fine line: on the one hand, if he went for the soaring inspirational style that marked his 2004 Keynote speech, he'd be slammed for being vague and unspecific. On the other hand if he remained solely focused on down-to-earth considerations, then he sacrifices the sort of inspiring rhetoric that remains his strength. So he tried to strike a balance. the result was that the speech was a bit unfocused, trying to be all things to all people and accomplish all manner of things. There's a reason the Gettysburg Address remains so memorable: It was ten sentences long. Talk about focused.

Overall a B+.

PAD

OBAMA'S SPEECH TOMORROW

Obama will be giving his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination. I intend to be blogging live and commenting as it goes.

At this point, to be honest, I'm not loving Obama's chances come November, for three reasons:

1) He's black. A lot of people in this country don't like blacks.

2) He's intelligent. A lot of people in this country don't like intelligence.

3) He's not Hillary Clinton. A lot of people in this country are pissed off about that.

That is, of course, as of this writing. A lot can happen on both sides. Gaffes. Missteps. Lies that take hold and become truth through repetition. Anything.

But as of this writing, to me...looks like President McCain. I hope I'm wrong.

PAD

The Friars Club

Well, THAT was scary.

A roast was held last night for George Takei at the legendary Friars Club, and I was invited to be a part of it. It was one of the more daunting endeavors of my life. It's one thing to stand up in front of a crowd of fans at a convention and play for laughs, as I have done at such gatherings as the Stan Lee roast at the Chicago Comicon. This is a venue where I'm trying to make laugh a roomful of professional comics and roasters who have no frickin' clue who I am.

Judging by the number of people who came up to me and congratulated me on my outing, I did okay. Below the cut line are pictures of me with Roastmaster Alec Mapa, with fellow roaster Gilbert Gottfried, and with George. I think video will actually be available through the Friars Club website.

PAD

Peter and Alec Mapa

Peter and Gilbert Gottfried

Peter and George Takei

The viewing

Caroline has the sniffles and a low fever, so rather than leave her with a sitter, Kathleen and I are switching off in paying respects to the Greenbergers and their tragic loss. Kath is going to the funeral today and I was at the viewing yesterday.

The outpouring of support was uplifting to see. People from the comic industry from Paul Levitz to Joe Quesada; the staff of Comicmix; assorted Star Trek writers; and, of course, people from all walks of Robbie's life were there. Robbie had kept a collection of rubber ducks in his car; the collection was situated in a basket near the door and visitors were invited to take one as a remembrance. Ariel got the last one. She's never been to a viewing, and she held up remarkably well.

I'm sure that Bob, Deb and Kate were gratified for this outpouring of support. And of course the greatest tragedy is, considering all the lives that Robbie had the opportunity to touch in his short span; how many more would he have affected given the chance?

PAD

Robbie Greenberger

UPDATED 3:27 PM FRIDAY:

Viewing and funeral arrangements are below the cut line.

For those of you who don't know, or haven't been following Bob Greenberger's board, his son Robbie has been fighting leukemia for the past year.

Bob called me around 9:30 last night to tell me that, an hour earlier, his son lost that fight. I've waited until Bob posted about Robbie's passing (which he has done on Robbie's facebook page) to post about it now.

Ariel, who has known Robbie all of her sixteen years, is devastated, as are we all...but it's always the worst the first time you lose a peer. She wrote the following poem:

ROBBIE

So much to say
So much to do
Man, you had this fire in you.
Dance a song,
You jammed along
Losing you is just so wrong.
You made us laugh
You made us cry
I don't want to say good-bye.

I'm sure Bob will post viewing and funeral information as it becomes available.

Do yourselves a favor today. Whatever you're up to, at some point, just stop and take a few deep breaths of air and be appreciative of the fact that you're still alive, and that you have tomorrows to look forward to.

Friends may greet the family Sunday from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. in the Spear-Miller Funeral Home, 39 South Benson Road., Fairfield. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Monday, August 18, 2008 at 1 p.m. meeting directly at Saint Pius X Church 834 Brookside Drive, Fairfield. Interment will be private at Oak Lawn Cemetery, Fairfield. In lieu of flowers contributions in Robbie’s memory may be made to The Tommy Fund for Childhood Cancer, Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, 20 York Street, New Haven, CT 06511-3202 (www.tommyfund.org). For information or to offer an online condolence please visit www.spearmillerfuneralhome.com

GEORGIA VS. RUSSIA

So the Georgia women's beach volleyball team beat the Russian women's beach volleyball team. And all i could think was, wouldn't it have been interesting if the leaders of the respective countries (whose names I'm too lazy to spell) had staked the resolution of their disputes on the outcome.

In fact, even better: rather than rolling in tanks and blowing up terrified citizens, have the Russian and Georgia presidents square off in the wrestling ring. Settle this BS like men.

PAD

SWIM ZUT ALORS!

If I might be allowed a bit of nationalistic pride for a moment:

Hey. Alain Bernard. French guy who was saying that your team would crush the American swim team. Good job on that last leg of the swim.

Too bad it WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH!

USA! USA!

* Ahem *

Okay. Done now.

PAD

Okay...I'm a little scared

Paris Hilton's energy policy actually kinda makes sense to me...

I can just see the film: Paris Hilton in "Legally Blond 3: Blond Ambition"