Best SNL Opening Skit Ever

Well, maybe not, but this was fucking hilarious. Tina Fey should win some sort of Nobel prize or at least a Pulitzer for this shit. (And yes, I know what those awards are for--I'm being ironical.)

Gol' Darn It, Joe

Well, it wasn't the trainwreck I thought it could be. I kind of thought this would happen--only mediocre gaffes and the refusal to answer any of the questions. No giant hyperbole about reading all the newspapers in the world or the Great Depression.

Nevertheless, a tip of the OBYCB hat goes out to Sen. Joe Biden. I'll be damned if he didn't inspire the hell out of me last night. Even DadGrace called from the truck at one point (he drives trucks on the overnight shift) to laugh about a Joe Biden comeback. It was classic. I recalled myself going "oh snap!" more times than I can remember.

Of course the media is saying Palin won the battle against herself just by keeping her cool. While that may be true, keeping cool while regurgitating memorized speeches is not the same thing as participating in a debate. Next time, the GOP better program its robot better.

You can read my blow by blow comments on my twitter feed to the left.

Here are some other observations:

1. SP's bangs really get in her eyes and it bothers me.
2. Don't question Joe Biden on being a single parent. Ever.
   
3. That flag pin of SP's was really distracting. I'm like a cat when it comes to shiny things.
   
4. The colloquialisms were off the chart. It was such an overt attempt by SP to connect to rural America that it was transparent as hell.
   
5. The 90 minutes felt like 30 tops.
   
6. My favorite part of the whole night was JB's speech about how McCain isn't a maverick when it matters. Pure brilliance.
7. I kept picturing Jenny From the Block Granholm practicing with JB.
   
8. It's a sign of weakness not to admit any weaknesses. It's a sign of strength to admit to your shortcomings.
   

You can read the transcript here. But really, all you need to read is this from JB in response to SP's mentioning of the term "maverick" for the five-millionth time:

Look, the maverick -- let's talk about the maverick John McCain is. And, again, I love him. He's been a maverick on some issues, but he has been no maverick on the things that matter to people's lives.

He voted four out of five times for George Bush's budget, which put us a half a trillion dollars in debt this year and over $3 trillion in debt since he's got there.

He has not been a maverick in providing health care for people. He has voted against -- he voted including another 3.6 million children in coverage of the existing health care plan, when he voted in the United States Senate.

He's not been a maverick when it comes to education. He has not supported tax cuts and significant changes for people being able to send their kids to college.

He's not been a maverick on the war. He's not been a maverick on virtually anything that genuinely affects the things that people really talk about around their kitchen table.

Can we send -- can we get Mom's MRI? Can we send Mary back to school next semester? We can't -- we can't make it. How are we going to heat the -- heat the house this winter?

He voted against even providing for what they call LIHEAP, for assistance to people, with oil prices going through the roof in the winter.

So maverick he is not on the important, critical issues that affect people at that kitchen table.

Maverick he is not, indeed great Jedi Master JB.

Eat 'em Up Joe: It's Showtime for Palin and Biden

The birds are singing, the sky is blue, the air is crisp and the stage is set for the biggest VP debate in history. Sarah Palin has just arisen to a new day and is reading EVERY NEWSPAPER IN THE WORLD to prepare for this debate. (She might want to bone up on some SCOTUS decisions while she's at it.)

I have the "Opening Night" song from the Producers stuck in my head. It's just that kind of furry that surrounds what is ordinarily the least watched of all debates. Get your Moosehead beer ready for the Sarah Palin drinking game and let's begin!

For those of you who want to know my thoughts on the Palin-Biden debate, you can follow me LIVE over at twitter at http://twitter.com/kmcsaks. I'm working on putting that feed on here as well.

Is it Thursday at 9 p.m. yet?

The answer, sadly, is no. (Unless you're reading this on Thursday at 9 p.m. In which case, the answer is that when I wrote this the answer was no. So take that.) I have to admit that which needs no admission--I'm pumped about the Biden-Palin debate. I think John is too, if you look at that picture above.

I could sum up all of the crazy menutiae that has come out of the mouth of Sarah Palin lately, but instead, I'll let my good friend at The Palin Effect do so for you. She's much better at capturing it anyhow.

TGIT!

The Unraveling of The Wall: When Schools Teach God

I am all for religious freedom. However, I think that there should be boundaries. As the very wise Brian Vander Ark (former lead singer of the Verve Pipe and now solo artist) said on his last album "I believe in God there is no debate--but I believe in separation between church and state." So any responses to this that try and peg me as anti-God or anti-religion best to just check themselves at the door.

I have to say though, that when it comes to public schools, religion should be left at the door...if not off the property entirely.

I grew up in an era that was largely free of the now-almost-rabid reach of evangelical Christians. It was only towards the end of my free public school education that I started seeing religious groups at school. It started off with an after-school bible study which turned into a prayer group which then led to more organizations like it. It was sad really, because how do you explain to young impressionable teenagers that religion doesn't belong in schools if they're right there?

But since I've moved on to college, then law school and finally the workforce, I look back and wonder how people see the line anymore as it is so blurred. In fact, it's down right muddy.

I don't believe there should be prayer in schools. But honestly, that's not my main concern. My main concern is when things like logic and science are thrown out the window at the whim of religious zealots. For example, many evangelicals believe that evolution did not happen. Instead of doing what other parents would do when they want an additional subject taught in schools, which is to teach their children that in appropriate forum such as home or church, they are insisting that public schools teach some form of creationism--now Orwellianly called Intelligent Design. Sarah Palin and John McCain believe in this. Instead of teaching kids the basics of how the world has evolved, teachers are finding themselves having to name some omniprecent being as the "designer" of it all. This isn't right.

To top it off, we've taken basic health information and politicized it to the point where it has become a controversy to teach basic functions in school. Comprehensive sex education is not only a liberal idea--it's a good idea. I know that had I not been told certain things in sex ed (however scant that sex ed was), I would have had total disinformation about everything from periods to condoms and pregnancy to STIs. Today's youth are finding out about sex from television--something that is bound to happen, but should not be the soul source of a child's sexual revolution. Although I thank Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" video for my own sexual revolution, I was primed with information about the basics long before I saw Helena Christensen parade across my television screen. Today's youth don't have that right to knowledge and information--instead it's been turned into a luxury for those who have parents unafraid enough to talk to their kids about sex.

The fact of the matter is that the whole point of a free public education was to keep religious and moral ideas out of our children's heads while learning the basic information needed to become a contributing citizen. Instead, religion--normally a good thing--is infecting our schools and taking over the curriculum.

The sad part is that the vast majority of Americans are stepping aside and letting this happen. Electing someone like John McCain as president and Sarah Palin as vice president will only further such public dis-education. Palin is a big evangelical who believes in teaching creationism as the sole source of our natural history to our youth. Though John McCain has never put forth a pro-creationism standpoint, he has done nothing to even downplay Palin's involvement in such ideas. (Really, he can't if he wants to capture the evangelical vote that was so crucial in electing GWB.) John McCain doesn't want to teach kids comprehensive age-appropriate sex education--in fact he misrepresents what the concept means just to garner a few more scared white people votes. McCain has often been a supporter of abstinence only sex education--something that obviously doesn't work.

Obama supports comprehensive sex education--something McCain even admits (though he lies about what it means). Obama and Biden are realists when it comes to education and science. For a refreshing first in a long time, they believe that it should not be imposed in schools.

If and when I have children one day, I'd like to send them to a school where they're given scientific information in science and health class. I just hope that school still exists then.

Eat 'em up Joe: Picking Joe Biden

I have to say, I was a bit dissapointed in the delivery. I woke up with a stomach ache early Saturday morning only to find my anticipated text burried in the middle of the night--Obama has chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate. I understand that there was a news leak, but damn it, Barack. I was waiting all week like a kid on Christmas Eve and you stomped on my excitement by dropping a silent but deadly in the middle of the night.

I was less than thrilled originally about the prospect of an Obama-Biden ticket. I knew he was going to pick a white dude. That much was sure. But I was hoping for something a little more exciting.

Then I started reading about Biden. I started reading about how he lost his first wife. I started reading about his middle class roots. I started reading about labor's reaction to Biden. I started reading about his foreign policy cred. I started reading about his fight to overcome an anyeurism.

Basically, I read that this guy is alright in my book.

Then something happened that sealed the deal. Dad Grace--my white guy barometer--said how excited he was that Biden was the VP nominee. I realized then that Biden was a good choice. Obama's right--this does give him street cred.

And with that, I welcome Joe Biden to my little world of politics. I knew him before (and enjoyed his jabs early in the Democratic Primary debates). But now I feel like I know Joe better than ever. I hope to like him more as time goes on.

Eat 'em up, Joe!