Pajiba

Miranda July's book did indeed come out a year ago. Maybe they're talking about the paperback edition? Or maybe someone is just as far behind on their reading list as I am..

Shit...ignore that last part b/c it's repetitive. It's Monday and I'm stressed.

I recommend paperbacks on that site. So yes, it was released about a year ago. But just recently in paperback.

Re: Hillary as VP.

Do. Not. Want. Will. Not. Happen. After all the nasty shit she pulled during the primaries, after the borderline race-baiting, after making him waste millions of dollars in campaign money after it was clear that she had very little chance of winning ... she deserves a kick in the crotch, not the VP slot.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: She read a civil rights poem in an African-American church in Ebonics, just about the most embarrassing thing I've witnessed as an adult.

I think Obama has an excellent shot, and I will run to the polls to vote for him. I also think a lot of the political middle of this country can haul themselves into the 20th century and vote for a black man.

Many of them will not be able to haul themselves into the 21st century and vote for a black-female ticket. If the Dems want to launch yet another Death Ship of a presidential ticket -- see, e.g., Mondale/Ferraro, Dukakis/Benson, and anything involving John Kerry -- then by all means, send out Obama-Clinton. I'll be over here getting ready for McCain's Middle East "strategy," investing heavily in military contractors, war bonds, and a heavy beef-up for the Apocalypse Kit.

So am I the only 'tard on the block who didn't realize that Sarah Chalke was Becky Number 2? Huh.

And I reeeally want to know what Alicia Gorenson tattoo looks like.

On the political side, I know more Republicans who would swing the other way for Obama before they even dreamed of casting a vote for Hillary. In some ways she's a heck of a lot more polarizing to moderate conservatives who still associate her with her husband's administration.

My husband likes to joke that Obama would best invest in some good body armor if he picked Hillary for a Veep. He cracks she'd be gunning for him before the end of the first year.

So am I the only 'tard on the block who didn't realize that Sarah Chalke was Becky Number 2? Huh.

We always called her "Fake Becky."

I know more Republicans who would swing the other way for Obama

Well, he is a good-looking man...

My goodness. I just now realized that Kenneth Parcell was based on Clay Aiken.

I can't wait until the Republicans for Obama wake up from their Obama-lovefest next January and realize that he won't advance their interests in any way. "Honeymoon's over, my friends, and, yes, your children's inheritances will be highly taxed!"

Higher taxes or no, I can't imagine we'd be bleeding any more money than we are right now, what with the fucking war and our shit-ass economy. I can't say if things will get better under Obama, but they probably won't get ay worse. And at least I'll be able to go to bed at night knowing a woman's right to choose will still exist in the morning.

Yeah, I've never really been able to see why taxation should be my primary deciding factor in voting - it's probably due to the fact that I am in the arts industry and I don't make SHIT... but even, like this year, when I get nailed by my income taxes, I still don't get worked into a frenzy over "tax and spend" or other rhetoric.

I like publicly funded roads, infrastructure, and schools. Those things require taxes. Do I think there is room for reform? Hells yeah. Do I think the current income tax structure is needlessly Byzantine? Duh-huh. But that still doesn't explain the hysteria I see from right-wingers when a viable, left-leaning candidate comes to the forefront.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying so, but I'm with Kolby, there are many more pressing issues right now that I just can't see being solves by tax-cuts and the like.

Hey, why is agreeing with me grounds for getting flamed? Am I that insane? Did I wake up this morning the reincarnation of BSlim?

Apparently my father is the only individual who typically votes Republican who was a Hillary fan. He's a registered Independent who tends to vote Republican or Libertarian when he really can't stand either candidate. He voted Libertarian last election, as of right now he's leaning that way again for this year.

And Kolby, I'm right there with you. I hate being a single issue voter, but the candidate who's not going to put laws on my uterus is going to win my vote every time.

Yeah, the whole tax cut thing really puzzles me. I see billions flowing down the toilet to kill people who have nothing to do with me -- and much of that skimmed by Cheney's contractor buddies -- yet I would gladly pay more if I had a real voice in where it goes. I would increase my federal taxes significantly if I could be promised it would go directly to teachers, police, a living wage for the working poor, etc. ad nauseum.

Taxes are one of those bugaboo issues where a politician can just say the word and get people riled up, like "soft on crime" or other nonsense that usually has nothing to do with anything.

And Jay, what I always say to morons who refuse to concede credit to Bill Clinton for the prosperity of the 90s: Then Reagan gets a posthumous cock-punch for the supposed "Morning in America" decade. You can't have it both ways, idiots, though the reality is that this country lost a lot of ground in the 80s.

Yeah Jay, I remember the Becky reboot (I didn't watch much of the show past the first few seasons because it stopped being amusing.), but I've never made the connection between Fake Becky and the chick on Scrubs.

As for taxes, I'm one of these nuts who thinks that a federal-centric method of taxation is wrong. The fact that income taxes are first given over to the federal government which then in turn decides how best to allocate these funds to the states. It's ridunkulous. Puts way too much control at the federal level over how states operate.

I wish we could pay the bulk of our taxes to the state in which we live and which in turn would give a certain portion of money to the federal government to do federal big shit with it (You can tell I'm all down with political science.), keeping the bulk of the tax payer's money close to home. Plus, each state could dictate how it would raise said funds through a variety of tax methods.

Somehow keeping things as local as possible seems more rational when it comes to taxation.

But then again, what the hell do I know.

I think his biggest, most shameful blunder was his inaction with Rwanda

Agree, and I think he would be the first to admit that, and did so on John Stewart if I recall correctly. Can you imagine Bush ever admitting such a mistake? (Q: What does WJC say about this in his ginormous bio, which has been bludgeoning burglars at my house, and not doing much else, for two years now?)

perjury (much worse)

Agree, but to a lesser extent. The percentage of people who would lie under oath to save their job and/or marriage is much, much higher than people would like to admit. I think you and I share a vocation, and I see people perjure themselves over much less literally on a weekly basis. WJC was, however, supposed to lead by example. On the other hand, he had much, much more to lose than most people.

I'm in the highest tax bracket (and am not rich - discuss) and don't really give taxes much thought.

Agree! Except I think about taxes a lot because I'm basically self-employed and have to have the discipline to get them paid on time. But yeah, any safe, well-off American who balks at paying reasonable taxes while using all the services they provide -- especially the police and military that protect their way of life -- is not just a hypocrite but either delusionally short-sighted or just plain evil.

I just hate paying so that el presidente poco-penis can murder people in my name and butt-rape the country so his buddies can buy islands. But I digress. Bwuh.

Mini-comment-diversion/flame invitation: For whom among you did the abortion issue become less and less critical a political issue as you crossed that forty threshold and became less and less likely to get the grim news from Dr. Baby?

I'm all about 14th Amendment protections being maxed out for many other reasons, so my overall stance didn't really change, but that facet of the privacy diamond shines less brightly for me now that the missus is less, um, fruitful-esque. On the other hand, we're committed child-free-by-choicers, so it's a deep-rooted issue for us.

I thought that seeing as how the race was neck and neck for so long, if Obama and Hillary joined forces now that would probably please all the people that liked each of them.
Ultimately that would be better for the Democrats, wouldn't it? Give them a better shot against the *bleurgh* Republicans.
If I was American I would definitely vote Obama.

At the risk of being pedantic, I did state that the Rwanda debacle was the most "shameful" thing of Clinton's administration - meaning there was pretty much nothing defensible about it. And the fallout from that will continue in Rwanda/Congo will continue for decades, but I digress. NAFTA is something lots of people can get behind because of its (largely illusory) benefits to consumers. I'm not a huge NAFTA supporter and am delighted candidates are questioning it, for the record.

Urgh, NAFTA and its impact are subjects I'm ignorant about beyond the barest broad statements like "something to do with open commerce with Mexico and Canada" (?). I felt Rwanda really exposed how the West views darker people when the rubber meets the road, however, which was especially bad for Clinton because of the open-hearted, hopeful support given him by minority voters here, particularly juxtaposed against the action taken (finally) in the Balkans on behalf of light-colored Europeans. On the one hand, the Balkans initiative took far too long to happen, as well, but on the other hand the victims there at least had some armaments and fighters. Rwanda was just a slow motion massacre start to finish, and we really did nothing.

I just hope that you vote in someone who won't be so cozy-cozy with Stephen Harper. Dubya has certainly changed the state of things in Canada, indirectly, through his big-brother relationship with our Prime Minister.

Harper is even trying to get abortion criminalized here in Canada. Even though I would joyfully keep my child should I become pregnant at this point in my life, I want the choice to be available to Canadian women. Hells, I want the choice to be available to ALL women.

I love this well-reasoned, level-headed political discussion so much that I want to marry it, make passionate love to it, and have a litter of Lil' Pajibas with it.

Vote Pajiba in '08!

Why is Florida always the looniest state? I was born there, lived there for years, and am dying to move back as soon as I can. Why does everyone else hate it?

Kolby - I, for one, love Florida and its insane mix of real Southerners in the panhandle/center of the state and the heavily Northeastern coastal areas. It's unique in that respect.

I think it's simplifying the situation to state that we intervened in the Balkan situation merely because those involved were light-skinned Europeans

Well, that's true. The Balkan situation played out over such a long period of time, as well, that if there had been an early, massive massacre (instead of the many smaller ones), we wouldn't have done shit about that in time either. And you're right about Somalia, of course, which I'm sure played a role in Clinton's thinking on Rwanda.

Abortion was never THE issue for me. I support the right to choose but mostly because I am far more interested in pushing sex educaiton rights, and teaching and enabling birth control (financially and openly) and I see a ban on abortion as the beginning of our old friend the slippery slope in that regard. So my position hasn't changed by turning 40. By way of example, the three major companies I have been employed by all denied coverage for birth control pills in their insurance plans (even though one of them made the damn BCPs) but covered abortion. That, to me, is ludicrous.
Anyhoo, on to this election. I have three BIG issues. Immigration, death penalty and war in Iraq. Obama is the only candidate who speaks first and foremost about treating people with compassion and dignity regardless of where they were born; he has worked tirelessly over the years to fight the death penalty in Illinois; and he is the only candidate who was opposed to the Iraq profiteering exercise from Day 1.
Case closed.

And, please pro-Hillary VP people, go back and look at some of the numbers. Hillary won most primaries in states with open primaries and where exit polls suggested she drew a strong Repulican vote because they really wanted her as the Dem candidate BECAUSE she would be so easy to beat. Obama won most states with caucases where only Dems can vote.

And then mis-spelling "mis-speling"!!!! I may just have to wait until I'm back at my own keyboard to continue this.

Julie:

I just read your comment. I think many people are in the same boat. There are aspects of abortion that make me feel uncomfortable. I certainly do not support late-term abortion and I have never quite understood people such as Sinead O'Connor who make such a public issue out of the fact that they've had multiple (in her case 3) abortions. It sort of seems to me that after the first procedure, one might take precautions from then on. Perhaps it is whatever Manchurian process the nuns used all those years ago, but I think it's more likely to be a pro-choice stance based on the premise that the Govt. needs to stay away from the bedrooms of citizens (Did you know there are states where sodomy is still illegal?) with the understanding that one is not saying, go ahead and make this equivalent to a botox injection.

This is one of those incidents wherein I wish we could yak on these subjects in person. I feel like my blabbering on about taxation maybe would be more coherent. I don't necessarily think the state gov't would do a better job than the federal; I just wish we weren't turning over so much money to the federal gov't (in addition to what we already give our states). The fed gov't then in turn puts certain stipulations on the funds it doles out to the states. Basically, I am a believer in a decrease in power at the federal level of government. Blabbity blah.

As for abortion, I've never been a one issue voter nor am I a big fan of treating any issue like a freakin' Sacred Cow. My feelings regarding abortion are very muddled and not entirely straight forward due to my own personal experiences. I wouldn't say I side with either the pro-life or pro-choice camp. I certainly believe it should remain legal, however I wish that the Constitution hadn't been dragged into the fray in order to make that possible.

As for my feelings changing as I got older, well here's one for you: After all this chemo and my pretty-much-for-certain bone marrow transplant, my eggs are going to be nuked beyond oblivion. Birth control? Will be as unnecessary as hair care products are now. Hardy har.

I was raised by Catholics who thought abortion was a sin who voted Democrat b/c they still believed it was a woman's choice to so sin. This includes my grandparents - they'd never have dreamed of voting Republican. It makes me mighty uncomfortable when my people ally with the Christian right.