Yeah, I think the front page posters can just put up whatever they want.
This is why, when I feel the urge to write a letter to the editor, I always write it to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. I've got a pretty good success rate at getting them published. And I feel like it will make more of a difference. (I know, I know.) But people really do read them-- acquaintances always tell my parents about seeing them.
I like "classical liberal media." I'm sick of the John Locke worship of our newspaper editors!
"Oh Mrs. Blume, your adorable daughter wrote one of her cute little letters to the newspaper. She's such a lovely girl...... and we're so happy for her, now that she's married to.....um......that person."
Oh, just wait until the engagement announcement comes out in the local paper. Then I'll really hear about it.
Courtesy of Teresa Nielsen Hayden, ghostwriting for the McCain campaign.
In 1910 three mothers met got together in St. Louis Missouri. They hadn't met for some time, and the conversation quickly turned to their children. "My son recently graduated from law school and was immediately accepted into one of Boston's top law firms", said the first. "My son went to medical school, and he's a surgeon at the best hospital in New York," said the second. "My son graduated from Harvard, and he's a poet in London," said the third. The first mother responded "A poet? Well, that's T.S., Mrs. Eliot."
But John, Blume is marrying a Brahmin. (I think it is the Tweetys that talk only to God.) This is the biggest news for her western city since 1904.
If Sarah Palin is anything like Diana Windsor, quite soon she will get into a car with a drunk driver and die of a crash in an underpass.
Apparently Bristol Palin will be marrying her redneck babydaddy on 1st November, so that the media buzz of enchantment about how lovely and romantic it all was won't have faded on 4th November.
Was there some other wedding you meant?
I'm sure I'm missing something, but why the fuck did McCain insert "Is that a pizza place?" into his ridiculous exculpation of Palin's gaffe? Is that a homonym, shorthand for mishearing things?
(No one responded on Standpipe's blog.)
15: In context it was probably a really clear example of a "gotcha" question. The transcript makes it look silly removing subtelties of intonation and delivery, which demonstrates McCain's post about "gotcha" journalism in a different way. That's McCain for you, always thinking two moves ahead.
I watched the video yesterday, and I think he turns to Palin and says "was it a pizza place?"--asking whether that was where she answered the question about Pakistan.
Can someone explain to me why John McCain is in Iowa today? Shouldn't he be in Indiana or Virginia? Or maybe New Hampshire?
Weird choices. I mean, I want him to waste time and money in states where he's behind by double digits. But seriously -- WTF?
19: Well, if he's doing so poorly on Election Day that he loses or nearly loses Virginia, it's a lost cause anyway, so he might as well campaign on the assumption that it'll be Kerry/Gore-close.
Oh, just wait until the engagement announcement comes out in the local paper. Then I'll really hear about it.
Blume's old neighbors, gossiping as they wipe down the tables after the church potluck luncheon
LUCILLE: Well I think he's a right nice looking boy, not that I care what he looks like, because the important thing is she's finally getting married.
THELMA: The important thing is that she's getting married to a boy!
MILDRED [feigning outrage]: Thelma Sue Riggins, shame on you!
THELMA: Don't tell me you haven't thought the same thing. She graduated high school, what is it now, almost 15 years ago, and not even a broken off engagement to show for it? And she's living in MASSACHUSETTS, for heaven's sake?
LUCILLE: And that haircut! Did you see the picture of her hairstyle in that...
MILDRED: You've got a point there, I have to admit...
THELMA: It just goes to show you that the good Lord doesn't let his flock wander too far from the herd.
All nod in agreement
LUCILLE: So did y'all here that he's a multi-millionaire computer genius?
I hear that he's a scion from the Bartlett-Weatherby branch of Tweetys. His computer fortune a mere blip against the great mass of creative mortgage investment paper the family holds.
Scion? Scion? You've never been to Missouri, have you JP?
JP was making independent commentary, not participating in your fiction, K.
Knecht,
Oh yeah, laugh it up sexist boy, but just you wait until the feminists see your "jokes." You won't be laughing so hard then. I know. I've got the bruises to prove it.
18: It was a cheesesteak place, so I figure he's lost Pennsylvania.
Most pizza places sell cheesesteaks. Why? Because Philadelphia is a culinary heaven.
We think Knecht is funny.
Oh yeah, just because he is young and cute. I knew it. Well you know what? Those man-pretty cutesie boys grow up to be ugly men. So who will be laughing then?
There's always another cute boy coming down the pike.
30: A pity. The cute ones always play it the other way don't they?
McCain's people were smart to take her to Tony Luke's instead of Pat's or Gino's, but that doesn't make Tony Luke's any more of a pizza place. You don't go there for a cheesesteak *or* pizza: it's known for its pulled pork sandwich.
That would be the only part of a presidential campaign I could stomach: trying the cured, sliced, roasted, and sandwiched meats of the nation.
That would be the only part of a presidential campaign I could stomach: trying the cured, sliced, roasted, and sandwiched meats of the nation.
Seriously. By Day Three of the campaign, the press corps would be referring to me as The Senator from Roadfood. My townhall events would consist exclusively of me asking the locals for dining recommendations.
Hmm. I've got 3.5 years to lay the groundwork for someone paying me to pursue this concept during the 2012 election. The trouble is, who could underwrite it? The all-powerful DaRSOA (Diners and Roadside Stand Owners of America)?
So I'm thinking of signing up to be a legal observer during early voting in Nearby Battleground State. But I'm not clear, and no one will explain to me, what exactly do legal observers do? Just watch the polling place and write down violations? What would I be doing that any non-lawyer couldn't do?
Is this just going to be a boring time suck, and would Barry O be better served if I just donate him the money that I would have to spend on transportation + hotel?
||
To: The hott girl who got out of the taxi at the hotel in Florida yesterday
From: The two guys in suits who got in after you
Re: your cell phone
Dear hott girl,
Don't worry about the cell phone you left in the taxi, we found it and turned it in to lost & found. You should be getting it back shortly.
You should, however, be aware that we flipped through the media files and totally perved over the nekkid pictures that you and your friend took of yourselves that night.
Kind regards,
The businessman-looking dudes
|>
trying the cured, sliced, roasted, and sandwiched meats of the nation.
but still, you'd mostly have to subsist on rubber chicken.
||
Ah, the commentary-on-insane-texts thread!
Can anyone recommend any commentaries on the Book of Revelation? A brief history of apocalyptic Christianity or noteworthy apocalyptic sects?
I ask because my boyfriend was commissioned to do an illustrated edition of Revelation. But he doesn't have much religious background, and I don't want to overdose him with the peculiar Mormon take on the subject as he does his research.
|>
JRoth,
In the same vein, sort of, this summer our county fair had a food stand with Cuban food from Miami! This was in a small(ish) county in MN!
I could hardly believe it. The food was great, and I told them so, and I laughed at the handwritten sign they had to put up, it said - "Not Hot or Spicy!"
Cause you know one thing about we Minnesotans, mild is not mild enough. We prefer extra mild!
A stereotype, I know, but true more often than not and something we can laugh about.
mild is not mild enough. We prefer extra mild!
Luckily, this flaw is correctable.
37,
Bave, I can't recall much, but in one of my acting classes we had to perform some gibberish and my assignment was a paragraph from Revelations and it had a monster coming out of the sea with seven heads or something like that and I thought it would make a pretty kewl poster if done right.
This was way back before I settled down into the daily soul sucking nose to the grindstone bring home the bacon thing but after I had given up my dream of playing professional football. So it may not relate well to 2008.
Can someone explain to me why John McCain is in Iowa today?
He's still trying to win the primary.
34: Have you checked with the National Lawyers Guild? They're usually at the forefront of this kind of thing.
Is this the thread where it's appropriate to link to the article about the barowner with the naked Sarah Palin painting? It's safe for work, but upsetting on many levels.
42: I have some people associated with the NLG who are encouraging me to get on board, and I'm willing to help, but I'd like to get a sense of what exactly I'll be doing.
43:
His daughter, who looks a little like Palin and does a great impression of her, served as model for the governor's body.
Upsetting on many levels is right.
ah, he's an old guy. probably wasn't aware he could find plenty of tand-ins on the interwebs.
37: I ask because my boyfriend was commissioned to do an illustrated edition of Revelation
But how can he top this? (Or my favorite, although not directly from Revelations).
His daughter, who looks a little like Palin and does a great impression of her, served as model for the governor's body.
Jesus.
44: I think lawyers are there much as they are for demonstrations: to observe but not be a participant, to make sure officials follow the law, e.g., they don't try to shut down the lines early, to document any incidents, and to advise anyone who was turned away about their rights, etc. A non-lawyer could do a lot of that but lawyers are going to be taken more seriously.
IANAL but I was an observer in south Florida in 2004 at a polling place where we didn't expect any problems. Some lawyers were sent to places where something was more likely to happen and others were on call for the rest of us.
I would definitely ask why you're being assigned to a particular location, why they anticipate problems there. My best guess is that you might well end up standing around -- which would actually be the best case scenario -- but you'll be doing it for the cause.
JP,
Yes, print number 20 is what I was imagining, only I'd paint it better. If I could paint, I mean.
We are so blessed to live in these times and to have these internets and all the incredible works of art available to us at the click of a mouse.
Bless you.
Wow, it's just like Jack Chick said.
More election commentary from the heartland.
49: As for what we actually did, we watched people going in and out and occasionally asked if they'd had any difficulty voting. During the times no one was in line, we chatted with a couple of women from "Carribbeans for Kerry." Bring a book, bring a chair, bring a friend.
Again, though, this was a not very busy location -- we were just covering all our bases.
OMG, do I show him those? Anxiety of influence!
Thanks Sir Kraab. I guess I'll do it. It's gotta be better than watching the polls and chewing down my fingernails.
jms, one thing that's always an issue around here* is polling accessibility. It helps to have a lawyer to raise the roof if you get there early on Election Day and there is no way for people with wheelchairs to get in, or frankly even if the steps are in bad shape or people have set up tables etc. such that folks with walkers or injuries or other disabilities might be deterred. It's the kind of thing that you need to be RIGHT THERE to argue about, because it's not like folks get to cast a provisional ballot from their spot out there on the sidewalk.
Not a partisan issue, except insofar as disability is correlated with poverty.
*A big old city where many polling places are in tiny neighborhood spots that are sometimes literally someone's garage or basement.
53: Wow. Just wow.
FTR, I'm certain those folks were more Appalachian than Heartland.
I ask because my boyfriend was commissioned to do an illustrated edition of Revelation.
You know about the late, lamented Apocamon, right?
my boyfriend was commissioned to do an illustrated edition of Revelation
Is his medium Legos? Because it's high time the Brick Testament got around to illustrating Revelation.
Re. 53, notice that the guy behind her actually seems quite embarrassed. I question how "average" this (obviously extremely uneducated) woman is.
His daughter, who looks a little like Palin and does a great impression of her, served as model for the governor's body.
Upsetting on many levels is right.
Yeah, since nudity = sex, that's pretty much incest right there.
My guess on the location of 53 is eastern Tennessee.
Yes, of course Appalachian. That's heartland, too. America only has two parts: heartland and coastal elites, and Appalachia sure as hell isn't the latter.
And B, no, of course she's not demographically "average" (thanks be to God), but it's interesting nonetheless.