Open Thread

Dave talked about his boxer shorts yesterday (Welcome back Biff!!!!!) and I bet he has a plaid pair AND a Spongebob Squarepants pair. dave?

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 10:36 AM

I stand humbled and corrected. Everyone- Dave has BOXER BRIEFS. I apologize and grovel at the feet of the refined tastes and aesthetics of DIBS, the boxer brief lord of the pants. (And you still didn't tell us if you have a set of Spongebob Squarepants).

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 11:00 AM

Biff- the correct term is hummina hummina (not to be confused with pocketa pocketa)

thanks for the spanish rendition dave :-) see- this is why I love brownstoner! So much to learn.

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 11:28 AM

cobblehiller- if I find any I'll let you know. I helped crash the system yesterday and Monday. I can't do the phone thing- too hard for me to hear, but love the online log in. did you try that?

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 12:24 PM

thanks, BRG.

cobblehiller- that would be great! I'll be in touch as I find out more.
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I can't wait til the 20th. Right now it's the only good thing I see coming down the pike. You should go, What. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event! Take lots of pictures and post them for us (I know you hate us, but admit it- we give you a reason to live :-)

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 12:37 PM

Hey, thanks! Now to get the old resume back in shape. Aaaarrrrggggghhhh!!!!!! I'm unemployed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gasp!...gasp!....... hic...

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 12:54 PM

It's illegal for them to harangue at work. google your consumer rights, rob, and where to send complaints.

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 1:13 PM

Considering he came out of virtually nowhere to win- yes, I'd say genius. He's also very pragmatic- I like that- and said he would try to pick the best person for the job. I'll wait to see if clinton is that- but I do admire her and hope does a great job. Most of his other decisions have been pretty much lauded, so I'll wait and see. And hope and pray too. I think he is the right person for the job, but we won't know for certain until a few years down the road.

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 1:31 PM

Oh no you don't benson! I don't kill moose and wolves by shooting them from planes. I arm wrestle them into submission. I am definitely more Presidential than Palin because:
1. I have been known to write grammatically correct english
2. I do not see Russia from my window. (I see London. I see France. I see- oh no! I don't see dave's boxer BRIEFS)
3. I would never utter the phrase, "we must progress this country."
4. I think the entire country is filled with real Americans, not just the red states.
5. I didn't get $150,000+ to spend on clothing and accessories :-(
6. I don't support bridges to nowhere or refer to myself constantly as a maverick. (I prefer to be called delusional).

And now I really must go see the brighton beach condo. If I like it I can use it as the White House North during my reign- er...term in office.

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 4:17 PM

MM- you'll wrest that tiara from my cold, dead, royal hands.

Eeewwww, benson. You like Palin? In all honesty, why? My reaction to her is political. Had she the qualifications to be VP or Prez, she would be formidable, but her politics, her inability to speak coherently,her lack of understanding of the world we are living in today (I join her in this), her religion- no no no no no. and her enormous ego- if I were ever asked to be a VP nominee (excuse me a sec...ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...gasp...ha ha ha)I still have enough wits about me to understand why I am so not qualified. She, as she famously said, didn't even blink. It takes a huge lack of self-knowledge to do that.

I totally disliked how she campaigned. She reveled in the Obama insults and the terrorist implications. Yet she couldn't offer any real program or policy of her own. I completely disagree with Paglia on this one. Palin is the true heir of Schlaffly and Anita Bryant- she just uses the gains of the feminist movement to market herself.

ps- I've spoken to the wolf. He's on my side :-)

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 4:51 PM

I come from a working class background too- but Palin doesn't have moxie. Chutzpah, but not moxie. Palin and her husband aren't rich by D.C. standards, but they nave never been wanting. Todd Palin inherited (I think) fishing shares, or something like which give him income and I believe also worked for an oil company. Sorry I can't recall better in detail but the upshot is Palin is hardly a Horatio Alger story. I admire her for going into politics, that she got elected governor, but sorry- with a personal value of $2,000,000 a year this is no working stiff. I don't admire her for her policies and lack of interest in the world- all too evident during the campaign.I never admire people who hunt animals from airplanes and think its ok to charge rape victims for their rape kits.

Obama comes form a career of community work and politics. He may be light- as you call it on experience, but his is a first class, intelligent mind and a personality forged from a childhood of hardship and difficulty. this is a person who worked hard at educating himself, and trying to make his community a better place. How is what he's done less than what she has? How is he less working class than she (of course neither of them is working class now). But the Obamas certainly came from more difficult backgrounds, and did far more with it. When Guiliani snarked about community organizers it reminded me of Margaret Mead's famous comment: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. "

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 5:37 PM

She embarrassed me too, cobblehiller but what upset me more was the the republican Party thought they could foist her off us as the future of feminism. as if we were too stupid to see the cynicism of their choice. Women like Sarah Palin do so much damage because they are so easy to point to and say- see how a "real" woman can succeed and still be a "real woman." Until you hear her talk and you realize she has absolutely no clue about the world or politics or of advocating for women's rights, or separation of church and state- or a zillion other things that women have won and she would lose for us.

What can you possibly say about a woman who says it all when she winked at the public on National TV? Maybe it worked when she was a beauty queen, but it's scary to think she believed that a wink and lipstick gave her an edge. A woman who claimed to show us what a real feminist was- and was not able to make a coherent argument in a debate without parroting a memorized talking point. Someone who showed so little interest in the world outside Alaska she couldn't discuss Russia (literally at her state's doorstep!) intelligently.

benson- this is not visceral, "you girls are just jealous" hate. I reject Palin because she was so unqualified and so willing to allow herself to be used by the GOP. And they were stupid enough to think the public wouldn't look past her butt and boobs to her brains. She's not dumb- by no stretch- but tell me, did you really, honestly think she was the right person for the job?

Posted by: bxgrl at January 7, 2009 7:40 PM

"I think that alot of people hate her more for her cultural background than her policies, which is unfortunate."

benson- I really have no idea what you mean by her cultural background. I think most people disliked her in-your-face, you dumb liberals style. I certainly did. She came out of the box swinging and with little to back up her punch. You and sam are far too smart to think she was qualified to be Veep, let alone Prez. Palin was in way over her head and refused to be honest about it. It was all ego, not moxie or courage.
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"I think people in NY and California and other liberal hot spots hated Palin because she decided to have a baby that she knew before hand would be born with Down's Syndrome. That is a really scary thing to many feminists and abortion-boosters."

That,sam, is a truly laughable statement. Palin is scary because she was a weapon the right was trying to use to nuke women's rights and multiculturalism back to the 17th century. so they tried inverting the very meaning of women's rights. How perfect- a women who got where she was on the backs of feminists before her, now trying to undermine those very rights for other women. Perfect and it failed. Palin was a fake and a hypocrite. She claims she chose to keep the baby- no, she didn't. She never felt she had a choice to abort, because of her beliefs. The same thing with her daughter. They tried to play it up as a holier than thou "choice". truth was, Bristol never had a choice either.

Your comment is grossly insulting. Those of us who didn't drink the Palin Kool-aid are far too smart to fall for the conservative religious right B.S. of the GOP. FYI- being able to dress the moose you shot ISN'T qualification for the presidency. Courage under fire is not shooting wolves from a plane. Religious tolerance is not inviting Jews for Jesus to speak at your church in order to show respect for other faiths. Really, sam. So sorry you fell for it.

No - what scared us was that a religious extremist like Sarah Palin would set back women's rights, sex education and freedom of religion back about 100 years, while tbeing Bush in heels. But you did illustrate 2 things-

1.even smart men still suffer from misogyny (oh yes- we are all so afraid of Sarah Palin because she wouldn't abort her child- unlie "feminists"), and

2. McCain was right- men vote with their genitals. Why pick her, when there were other truly qualified, educated and experienced Conservative Republican women they could have picked.

Well, benson said, she's hot. I would rather he said competent, educated, tolerant, experienced, or knowledgeable about world affairs. Because are my criteria.

Posted by: bxgrl at January 8, 2009 12:22 AM

oof- "because those are my criteria"

Posted by: bxgrl at January 8, 2009 12:52 AM

benson- that so-called outstanding speech was not written by Palin but by GOP marketers. It was memorable for pandering to the right-wing extremist base and most memorable for the hockey mom line. If that's your definition of "outstanding" you set the bar too low.

Caroline Kennedy- to tell the truth I'm surprised and don't think she's qualified. I have no idea why she even decided she wanted to be a senator but I will say that she fulfills more of my criteria than Palin does. And she is not a public person- but she has been heavily involved in charitable work for years. Something Palin never even dreamed of doing. She's had far more political experience and tragedy than most people, but if I were voting, I wouldn't vote for her. She has to get her chops. (cobblehiller- what?! Pander?? McCain?!)

Posted by: bxgrl at January 8, 2009 10:02 AM

"She is a true "Washington outsider". To me, these were qualities that were once admired in the Democrat party. "

benson, please! some outsider. She is just as political and just as pandering as any of them. Do you think she was come riding into Washington like some Don Quixote reformer? And democrats do still admire gutsy outsiders- we just like them with more qualifications. McCain used to be one- and it would have been a far closer race had he stuck with lieberman.But pandering to the base was the GOP's undoing. If Palin was the smart pick, how is it they lost? Because it was a fake. Feet on the ground? Because she can dress a moose? The GOP manufactured her image- read how she ran the governor's office. She was no differnet than any other 3rd rate politico out there (in all parties).did anyone sound less believable than Sarah Palin constantly calling herself a maverick and winking at us in a national televised debate? How could you fall for that? McCain was the real deal tho'- and it was a shame to see how the GOP treated him.

"Foreign policy experience. Palin: zip!! Would I prefer that she had some? You bet. However, that was not a deal-breaker to me. She was running for the number 2 position."

I understand that idea- but I have some standards for "inexperience" and one of them is that if you want to play on the national stage, at least show you have some interest in foreign affairs. Palin was close to illiterate on it. No curiosity. Bush is the same way- one reason why Rove and Cheney were so able to do so much damage. And with world affairs so paramount, I can't believe you could even say this. The woman had not a clue. That's hardly the person I want running this country.

The religious right? Sure, we all share certain common values, but the so-called culture wars are all about the religious right not understanding the concept of separation of church and state, or the idea that their religious values and beliefs are not mine. They've been pandered to for 8 years and look at the damage.

Interestingly enough, there is some migration of younger evangelists to Obama because even evangelists are coming to realize that we have far more crucial issues to worry about than abortion or gay marriage- issues that can get us all dead if we don't deal with them. The GOP tried to make the country focus on a few values issues- of the religious right. They used them and the religious right happily let themselves be used.

The attitude problem is on both sides. I met far too many of the religious conservatives who have told me all NYC women are whores, and those of us who do not believe in Jesus are going to hell. Not an attitude calculated to break down barriers and impress me with intellectual depth.

Posted by: bxgrl at January 8, 2009 10:59 AM