This is Not A Trip Report

[lagilman]

No time for updates, back for five minutes then out again for dinner, but *hi mom! I'm alive!* (*looks in mirror* Oh hell. Freckles. Damn this French sunshine...)

Political thoughts: Lovely speech from Obama. Very moving, said many things flat-out that we've been begging him to say. "Change doesn't come from Washington - change comes to Washington." Yes. And he let loose with the line that gave me the most hope: "We cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy."

If (I never say when, not after the past few elections) he wins, I hope that the text of the speech is printed out and framed in his office, where he must look at it every day when he comes in to work. Tougher to get the grit done after the cheering has stopped...

Meanwhile, McCain chooses Sarah Palin, who is inexperienced as hell (Biden will destroy her in debates, dear gods), but hey, she's a woman! The Republicans probably think they've got the female vote in the can! Um. I don't know about you, but a strongly anti-choice, staunchly Religious Right female is not what I'd call attractive to the feminist vote, not even the ones steamed over HC's loss (IMO, voting for a uterus-any-uterus is as idiotic as voting for a penis-any-penis. Isn't the point supposed to be what we think and do, not what our sexual organs look like?) More will be reported about her in the days to come, so We Shall See (ETA: Yes,I know she's under ethics investigation for allegedly misusing her office to harass someone on behalf of her family. As I said, we shall see what comes of that.).
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My base of operations.

Who's got the garlic butter?

That one's for kradical.

I will be doing a full dump of photos to my flickr account when I'm home, for those of you who are interested in photos of old towns, vineyards, antique farming implements, and whatever else caught my fancy....

Comments

[rwglaub.livejournal.com]

I wonder how many of the Huckabee supporters will walk just because she's a woman (a whole lot of those folks don't hold with women holding public office; I spent part of the growing up years in Arkansas, so I'm familiar with the type).

Plus she's a union member. Wonder how many on the right that will offend???

[filamena.livejournal.com]

Pro life (unless you're talking about criminals, she supports the death penatly.)

Against gay marriage but says 'she has gay friends.' I love that one.

She's in the NRA.

That's all I need. She's just a good ol' boy with the wrong plumbing.

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

I'm interested, I'm interested!

In point of fact, in one episode of TNG, Picard actually mentions an ancestor who fought at Verdun, so this is a lovely bit of Trekiana.

[lagilman]

yep, the region I was in (Cote de Nuits) is where (I think) they set his family vineyard....

(someone far more up on Trektrivia will correct me, no doubt)

[burger-eater.livejournal.com]

Palin favors teaching Creationism in schools, too. She's a "students should hear all sides" politician.

[lagilman]

Some are arguing (elsewhere in the blogosphere) that "discussing" Creationism isn't bad, so long as it's not taught as a science. I say that if that's so, we should have equal time (and funding) for all religious creation myths, starting with "it's turtles all the way down...".

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

Whenever a creationist says that "students should hear all sides", I always suggest that should equally apply to the argument that Gore actually won the 2000 Presidential election.

[a-vogon-poet.livejournal.com]

"(IMO, voting for a uterus-any-uterus is as idiotic as voting for a penis-any-penis. Isn't the point supposed to be what we think and do, not what our sexual organs look like?) "

Yes! Yes! I was in a women's lit class the year that Elizabeth Dole was running in the primaries, and the professor at the time spoke very passionately FOR voting for the uterus. I never saw the logic.

[bigferret.livejournal.com]

What scares me the most about Palin is her frightful record on the environment. She makes Dubya look like a hippy.

[rwglaub.livejournal.com]

The more I hear about her, the more appalled I am. Unlike some, I see nothing wrong with owning a firearm and hunting. Did it myself when I was a kid. Had to. We lived in Arkansas, and were dirt poor, and the rabbits and squirrels and occasional deer I got helped keep the family fed.

But that aside. She's a lightweight. At McCain's age, it's possible he wouldn't live out his first term, much less a second. The thought of Sarah Palin going up against Putin or Ahmenijad (sic) just makes me shudder. It makes me so happy we've Joe Biden as Barack Obama's running mate. I have a lot of respect for him.

[otterdance.livejournal.com]

I grew up hunting, too, and so have a different view of gun ownership than city folk to whom guns mean "gun shoved in my face to rob and kill me". But when I see a woman with a beehive hairdo, wearing psuedo military clothing, firing an automatic machine gun I get VERRRRRRRRRRRRY edgy. Of course since she hates bears, she'll probably get the Colbert bump. ;-)

[lagilman]

Her gun ownership isn't an issue for me --she's an Alaskan, and guns ownership there is a different thing from having a handgun or automatic rifle in Boston or Atlanta. Her NRA membership is only an issue if she's one of the "cold dead hands" whackos --don't know if she is yet. A lot of NRA members are perfectly sensible people with "teach control, keep guns in safes, don't own bullet piercing rounds because they're nothing but cop-killers" mindsets.

The whole "polar bears aren't endangered because we don't want environmentalists telling us we have to change our God-given ways" thing? That sets off a screeching bunch of alarms. Her religious views are far too close to what we've just been subjected to for eight years. Thanks, no thanks.

[jslinder.livejournal.com]

The problem is the people who are most excited about the pick on both sides are not the target.

What McCain is looking for with this pick is the conservatives who may have stayed home. Or the Hillary voters for whom Demo/Repub was not the issue, but the fact there was a woman running. Or the younger republicans, who might have been drawn to Obama due to age.

Those who have already made up their minds to vote one way or another were not part of this decision.

[lagilman]

It's the thought that the GOP thinks they can woo some HC partisans/undecided female voters with the simple fact of her uterus that scares me. Some of them may not be voting for Obama because they're pissed that HC isn't the nominee or Veep (my opinions on that sort of cut-off-nose decision making is not kind) but the thought that they might vote for a woman-because-she-s-a-woman and to hell with her actual politics? My opinion on that is decidedly not printable.

(if the GOP is right, I weep for us all. On many fronts.)

[jslinder.livejournal.com]

There are some women who don't have a political agenda, and don't care about one. It's sad, but true. Their logic is that a female, any female, in the White House is better than a male in that position.

I may not agree with them, but at least they have a basis for their selection, and I suppose its really no worse than voting blindly by party.

[vincam.livejournal.com]

strongly anti-choice, staunchly Religious Right female is not what I'd call attractive to the feminist vote

Some of us remember that nitwit Phyllis Schlafly all too well.