What the world thinks of Cariboo Barbie

Humourist Nury Vittachi (via) writes about What Palin means to Asians

A Western journalist called me the other day to ask what Asians thought of Sarah Palin.
“Just a minute,” I said. “I’ll ask them.”
I held my hand over phone, counted to 20 and then got back on the line. “They like him,” I said. “But they think he should make more episodes of Monty Python.”
There was a long pause. I heard the journalist’s brain cell click into place. “That’s not Sarah Palin,” she eventually said. “That’s Michael Palin.”
“Well, Asians would like her to tell her husband to make more episodes of Monty Python.”
“Actually, I don’t think Michael Palin is her husband.”
I took a sharp intake of breath. “They are not legally married? That’s something that Asians definitely do not approve of.”
“No, no, no, she’s married to someone else, not Michael Palin.”
“That makes it worse,” I said.
There are few things in life more pleasurable than tormenting American journalists. The only downside is that it is so easy. They are absolutely convinced that the rest of the world watches every detail of what happens in the United States as if it was some sort of wacky global sitcom designed to entertain the rest of the planet. Actually, that IS more or less the case. But I still like teasing them.

Ignoring deficits

So the news du jour seems to be that Harper might run a deficit.
And from what I am reading lately, running a deficit would be a good thing -- the economy needs government spending now, not cuts and cutbacks.
There is apparently a new anti-deficit focus among the American right-wing. For the last 8 years, they couldn't have cared less about Bush spending trillions on Iraq, and it was Cheney who said "deficits don't matter" But now of course they don't want Obama to be improving health care and infrastructure, so now deficits are baaaaad -- I expect we'll see lots of punditry over the next few months worrying so much about the deficit and how irresponsible it would be for Obama to spend anything. dday at Hullabaloo calls it creeping neo-Hooverism, and no doubt this attitude will bleed over into Canada, too. I hope Harper just ignores it -- he's pretty good at ignoring things!

King Ralph

Well this is interesting -- Goodale wants to be interim leader instead of John McCallum. I guess we'll know tomorrow, but I hope Goodale makes it -- the Liberals need someone who will generate press coverage over the next seven months by hammering Harper in the House over what I expect will be the inadequate, poorly planned, and ideological Conservative responses to the coming Canadian economic crises. Go, Ralph!

Great line of the day

From Atrios, talking about the Powell endorsement:

I think what little credibility Colin Powell had is in a little vial of white powder somewhere, and have no desire to help rehabilitate his image. Still such things are not aimed at me, but at that segment of the population for whom the recommendation of their first black friend might encourage them to get a second one.

Momentum

Obama has the mo' now. His campaign appears to be finishing off with a series of large rallies all over the States.

The best Prime Minister Canada never had

Steve and Scott have fine posts discussing their thoughts on Stephane Dion's future.
I liked Dion a lot, but it must be recognized that he lost 27 seats. Given that we'll likely have another election in two or three years, after the Canadian economy tanks and the Conservatives can't handle it, I just don't know whether Dion could be strong enough to win those 27 seats back, plus find at least 50 more.
Iggy, on the other hand, maybe could.
Dion may find that he has inherited Robert Stanfield's title of the best Prime Minister Canada never had.

-If wishes were horses

I'm no economist but the idea that Canada's economy is "strong" enough not to be affected much by a American depression and global recession strikes me as just wishful thinking.

"Health" with air quotes

Crooks and Liars quotes John McCain's heartless, clueless debate moment:

"...health [indicates air quotes] of the mother. You know that’s been stretched by the pro-abortion movement to mean almost anything."

John McCain apparently things there are all sorts of slutty women, or, to use a McCain term, cunts, who get knocked up and then change their minds and try to pretend they're sick just so they can justify to a disbelieving world that they need a late-term abortion.
Via C&L, here's one woman who would have died without a late-term abortion:

In March of [1995], Watts was in the eighth month of a much-wanted pregnancy and was eagerly anticipating the birth of her first child. During a routine ultrasound (the only way to detect abnormalities that require late-term abortion), she discovered her baby had Trisomy 13, a chromosomal abnormality that causes severe deformities and carries no hope of survival.
Because her baby was already dying and because this put her own life at stake, Watts had an intact dilation and extraction (D and X) . . . "Losing my baby at the end of my pregnancy was agonizing," says Watts.

And here's two more:

When Congress first considered the ban in 1995, Watts testified on Capitol Hill. So did Viki Wilson of Fresno, Calif., who had a late-term abortion because the brain of the fetus she was carrying had developed outside the skull. So did Vikki Stella of Naperville, Ill., whose fetus had dwarfism, no brain tissue and seven other major abnormalities.
All three women told legislators they owed their health to late-term abortions and that a continuation of their doomed pregnancies posed grave health risks such as stroke, paralysis, infertility or even death.
As they campaign to save access to these procedures, Watts, Stella and Wilson point out that in virtually all cases, late-term abortions are the only way to respond to unanticipated complications: the death of the fetus inside the womb, problems that mean the fetus can't live outside the womb, or serious threats to the mother's health.
"No women has these procedures for frivolous reasons," says Stella. "They have them because it's their only choice."

Choice -- that's the key word. McCain does not respect it. Nor does he respect the women who make these choices.
Interesting, however, that for all of McCain's anti-abortion pandering at the debate, the fundies will be shocked to find out that McCain voted in favour of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's nomination to the Supreme Court -- I'll bet just about none of the fundies knew this, and they will find it unforgiveable.
Wait til they find out he voted for Stephen G. Breyer too!

They won't be bothered to vote for McCain

Yes, like Josh Marshall indicates, Obama is going to need millions of voters to overcome this year's GOP vote suppression and voter intimidation spectacular. But the GOP will find in the end that they cannot do much about the millions and millions of GOP voters who are just going to stay home this year.

Yeah, that about sums it up

Red Canuck says he is overwhelmingly underwhelmed with the election results:

Disappointment for Stephen Harper; no majority.
Disappointment for Stephane Dion; lost seats and lost Fortress Ontario.
Disappointment for Jack Layton; still in 4th place.
Disappointment for Elizabeth May; lost her riding and no elected MPs.
Satisfaction for Gilles Duceppe; but he's a separatist.
Cost: $300 million . . .

But here's a few silver linings: Justin Trudeau was elected. Michael Fortier lost. Ralph Goodale was re-elected. David Orchard lost. Bill Casey was re-elected with 70 per cent of the vote, which I would bet is the highest popular vote percentage in the country. And Edmonton-Strathcona may go NDP!

Strange days indeed

Its wrap up time.
Steve at Far and Wide does his Best Of Election 2008.
On the strategic voting front, Scott describes strategic voting in a way that finally makes sense to me, Cyberwanderer is for it, as is Woman at Mile 0, and RossK provides some links that show you how to vote strategically.
Jason Cherniak writes about why Stephane Dion should be Prime Minister.
I agree.
I must admit, at the beginning of this campaign, I did not think Dion realistically had much of a chance of beating Harper -- I thought Canada would be lucky to avoid a Conservative majority government. But over the last five weeks, whenever Dion has been knocked down, he just keeps getting up again. And he has landed some telling blows of his own -- he was ready to step up on the economy, and Harper was not; he has talked directly to Canadians and to the media throughout the campaign, and Harper has not; he expected Canadians would have the intelligence and thoughtfulness to comprehend and consider supporting a Green Shift policy, while Harper pandered to his base with divisive speeches about jailing 14-year-olds and cutting support for arts.
For all of his leadership posturing, Harper and the Conservative war room have run one of the clumsiest and most cynical campaigns in Canadian history. The StealthCons demonstrate how Conservative candidates were instructed not to defend what the Harper government is doing or plans to do -- I'm glad that Canadians are not going to reward such disrespectful behaviour.
As for Dion, he has shown Canadians what he stands for during this campaign. The Calgary Herald writes:

It took several weeks, but Dion gained his sea legs in time, his advisers hoped, for Canadians to have a second look at a man who learned on the stump how to show his conviction and to laugh at himself, especially his speaking style.
"Stephen Harper may speak better English than me," he began to tell each crowd for a guaranteed roar of approval, "but I speak the truth better than him in both official languages."

Doppleganger

A moving Daily Kos diary today from a former Republican who writes about why she no longer is one.
When I look at the direction our own Conservative party is moving -- where "Progressive" and "Reform" have both been disappeared, where fanatic PR hacks are making a cult of Don't Speak Unless Spoken To By Dear Leader, where we see anti-democratic election financing shenanigans in the last election and disrespect for the election process AKA Stealth-Cons in this one, where we have had two years of reframing every single Canadian issue from Afghanistan to arts funding to listeriosis into another excuse for divisive partisanship -- this essay rang true for what is happening to conservativism in Canada as well:

I was raised by Republican grandparents. One of whom was black. My grandfather loved his party, proudly proclaiming to all and sundry his feelings about "the Party of Lincoln". My grandmother, a white woman from Kansas, was as middle America as one could be. Proud of her descendancy from forebears who fought in the American Revolution, the Mexican War, the Civil War; she was a poster child of American values.
Your party has no place in it for me, and millions like me. I am educated, female, fiscally conservative but socially responsible. I watched your convention, remembering my grandparents active participation in your party and I wept. There would have been no seat for them there.
My grandmother, a lady of the old-school, would not have invited Sarah Palin to her kitchen table, nor into her parlor. My grandfather, who was an advocate of education and hard work, in the style of Booker T Washington, would be aghast at the anti-intellectualism on display.
. . . I achieved the dreams my grandparents wanted for me. A college education, a home and a family. At the age of 61, after a life of work I can now think about retiring, or I could, until my future was destroyed by politicians in collusion with Wall Street.
Yes, I am bitter. I will continue to teach until my health fails, and I pray I will have coverage. I will report to you that my students are all Democrats -except for one. Most come from Republican conservative upstate NY homes. They see no place for them at your table either.
The recent displays of hatred and vitriol at Republican campaign events have left them aghast. They are this nations future, and you have lost them. All but one, and he is embarrassed to admit openly his party affiliation. He shared it with me privately. I patted him on the shoulder and reassured him, that what was important was for him to participate in our Democratic process, and shared with him the story of my grandparents. But now I regret that sop to his feelings. Your party does not deserve him. He is a fine young man. I hate to see him tarnished by what has become a place for the dregs, the Know Nothings and the haters. Those of you who are still capable of cogent thought should fight to wrest your party back from those who now resemble most Germany's Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei.
The Republican Party is dead. An ugly doppleganger has risen in its place.

The economy is just fine, FINE I tell you, unless that Dion guy gets elected!

So on the radio while I am driving home, which takes about 10 minutes, I first hear Charles Adler and his guest Izzy [somebody] Asper proclaiming that a drop in the DOW to half of what it was a year ago is just a "correction" that happens all the time, don't worry, the Canadian economy is OK, the fundamentals are strong, blah, blah, blah.
And then they started talking about whether Dion might become Prime Minister, and oh, lordy, what a terrible thing that would be for the markets, they would fall, wouldn't that be just terrible, the economy would be in ruins, blah, blah, blah.
I was laughing so hard I could have had an accident!

Asides

The only reaction I had to Mike Duffy's "Watch this! The sky is falling!" video moment today was to laugh -- Duffy and the Harper Conservatives apparently think that it is utterly amazing to see a politician actually trying to understand and respond to a reporter's incoherent question, rather than just blowing the reporter off and dishing out talking points.
I don't have a post here, really, just a few asides. First, here's a funny comment from the comments on the CBC website:

. . . I would ask Mike Duffy: 'If you were a credible, non-partisan journalist today, how would your TV programme be different?'

Interesting to see that National Post's Don Martin thinks the incident tells us more about Harper than about Dion:

this is a damning insight into how desperate the Conservatives have become in their battle to belittle a Liberal leader they never dreamed could pose a threat to their government . . . To use his first spontaneous media appearance of the campaign to declare Mr. Dion the most unworthy of the two candidates for prime minister based on a minute of misunderstanding is not the most flattering reaction for the prime minister.
In the end the incident they hoped to use to define Mr. Dion as a confused ditherer may actually provide more telling insight into the character of Stephen Harper.

Andrew Potter says the Tory glee won't play well in Quebec:

And as for the Tory spindorks, have their brains completely fallen out? How on earth do they think this is going to play in Quebec? Quebecers don’t much like Dion, but to have a bunch of rubes mocking the man for his poor grasp of English — yeah, they’re going to love that in Repentigny. They’ll be slapping their thighs in the Gaspe.
Honest to god.

And I think this is why Dion couldn't wrap his head around the question -- if he had been prime minister for the last two years, he wouldn't have had to come up with any emergency 30 day plan -- because he would have handled the economy differently for the last two years and it would be stronger today than it is under Harper. As the Toronto Star story notes, in an aside to an aide during the interview, Dion said:

"Yes but if I would have been prime minister two years ago, I would have had an agenda"

Gone in 30 Seconds videos

Department of Culture is promoting a Gone in 30 Seconds video contest about the Harper government's arts cuts and Harper's smear job on the arts in Canada. Here are some of the entries I liked best:

YouTube - If Canadian Farmers Were Canadian Artists


YouTube - Gone In 30 Seconds: Kathleen Werneburg


YouTube - Hey Steve


YouTube - Gone in 30 Seconds: I Don't Get It