lol. nevermind, mac. I'll just ignore your posts if it appears you didn't really read my posts. Simple enough.

fair enough.

I'm sorry, lol. For some reason, I find it amusing that you interrupted doing homework with your son to respond, especially during this particular discussion. It's just me.

he actually interrupted doing homework by brushing his teeth, and it left me just enough time to respond.

So, who do you and gop think would be the leaders of the Repub party of your dreams?

i am actually more of a negativist on party politics than a positivist. i can tell you what i don't like about the GOP, and from that you can carve an image of what would be better. i don't like neoconservatism. i don't like using the bludgeon in foreign policy- i prefer economic internationalism rather than militarism. i don't like the professional knowitalls and nannies that seem to think they are better at making our choices of who we screw, who we worship, and what drugs we take than we are. and mostly, i really don't like having complex social and political issues simplified for me, as if i were in third grade. if you were to say Democrats are just as guilty of many of those things as Republicans, i would wholeheartedly agree, which is why i am pretty nonpartisan, as a rule. but i think that someone like Ron Paul makes a whole lot of sense economically and in terms of international politics. i don't like his social conservatism one bit- i am far too libertarian for that. what would appeal to me is if rational libertarianism could form from the ashes of the GOP, but that is unlikely, imo. so i will probably just have to wait for something new to come along.

i have little doubt, however, that gop could furnish you with a whole LIST of candidates for his GOP of the future.

sooz- thanks for your thoughts on this, but i would like to correct one assertion you made.

my screed is not so much against Palin at all as against celebrity parents who seems more devoted to their own fame and fortune than those of their infant children. if Palin falls in that category, she is beneath contempt. this goes as much for men as women- although my own personal experience was that my son needed his mother in infancy far more than he needed me because he was unwilling to bottle feed.

Palin has a uniquely powerful situation. because she is an "in demand" speaker- and at $100k per pop, she can literally arrange her speaking schedule to meet the needs of her family. she could take her kids with her, and hire a nanny or take Bristol, or she could just go out once a month, and STILL gross in excess of $1M/year. so, her reasons for going to FOX are obviously unrelated to the needs of her family, imo.

and yes, i would condemn any man who did the same just as vociferously, and have.

i don't have any affection for the concept of "public persona'. just because Joe the Plumber is on TV more than his brother in law doesn't make him a better man, or more interesting, or anything else. it just makes him a guy who is on TV more. ditto for Palin. she is significantly less interesting than Orly Taitz. ;]

I truly believe that Palin is only a leader to the very simply minded followers she has.

I disagree with most on here. I don't think Palin is as dumb as a stump and I don't think all her followers are. I think she quit the governorship for the reasons she gave and because she thinks she can be more useful to the repub party out and about. She will do a lot of campaigning for repubs for the elections at the end of the year. I'm not sure people give her enough credit.

I think others give her too much. She is a threat to nothing except repubs on the other side. To fear her is to empower her.

Katy- who expressed fear of her?

me, for one. I'm afraid of Sarah Palin, and the trends and movements she represents. I'm afraid of statements like, "the american people are negating shows like...(insert any reputable news organization here)". I'm afraid of racism and general ignorance, and the noblifying of those qualities by leaders such as this piece of work. I'm afraid of what it says about our society, and about our future.

yeah. well, now that i think of it, Sid might have said that too. i am not quite worked up enough to see her as a threat. she is no Evita.

We caught a glimpse of it when she was campaigning (the "shoot him" incident)

What is that?

I truly believe that if a D said half the things Palin spews, the D would be on trial for treason

I don't think I've ever done this over here, but that statement gets an award....

Now, enter Fox News, the Becks and the Hannitys and the rest of your side's intellectual leaders, and your captain turns into Mr. Magoo.

You also keep talking about this "public vow to defeat/delay everything." I would have to see those vows and how you distinguish that from the Democrats' actions during the Bush administration.

As just an aside in the discussion , has anyone other than myself wondered why Sarah hasn't hooked up with Jon ; Gosselin that is ?

oh come now, annie- you know what Palin is a saint. she is above such bodily things.

oh come now, annie- you know what Palin is a saint. she is above such bodily things.

Give her time. With the amount of travelling she does, it likely won't be long before she comes up with an immaculate conception.