Second, is it okay if I repost this from PZ Myers’ blog? It amplifies my comment here, #210.

Posted by: Jonathan Vos Post | September 13, 2008 1:19 PM

I spent my first 16 years in New York City. To McCain and Palin, that is Sodom, and Washington DC is Gomorrah. Although ever since McCain cheated on his wife with the stripper known as “The Flame of Florida” he has no trouble preaching “family values” while living in one of his 7 houses nearest to Gomorrah.

Now I live in a town within 5% of the population of Galveston, albet we have earthquakes, forest fires, and copycat crimes from the Rodney King riots, instead of hurricanes.

Yesterday afternoon at the closest high school to my home, after I’d taught Homeroom, Chemistry, Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, there was an interesting conversation I overheard between two staff employees. One was on the signs that we are Last Times or End Times. The other was on how Angels are made of Light, but Satan is made of Fire. I like both of these staffers. One is sincere about family values, and may quit to spend more time with his 4 children, including the 1-month-old. The other can read Arabic and tell me things about Abrahamic religion that I did not know, while happily stocking the school library with donated books including a very fine Science Fiction section.

See what Fred Clark says on his blog about the single keyword in Sarah Palin’s nonanswer to dancing around her not knowing the definition of “Bush Doctrine” — the keyword is “worldview.” That codes for the far, far right evangelical focus on the war between churchgoing armies of God and the Satanic Liberal Pointy-headed-professorial minions of the Jew- and communist-dominated Media, against whom Sarah Palin declared war in her acceptance speech.

Small-town values? I like David Letterman’s take on Wasilla. “A town so small it only has one store: Bed, Bath, and Waaaaay Beyond. Pick up the book ‘Fun Things to do in Wasilla.’ It has one entry: ‘you’re doing it.’”

My original comment: if you put lipstick on a dinosaur, Noah still won’t let it on the Ark.

Bush Doctrine.

He didn’t mention Dems or Repubs, he said Kerry and Bush, and lets be honest, Bush looks like a slightly brain-damaged bonobo thinking about flinging his shit.

Wow, he kinda acts that way too.

I’m sure at one time there were perfectly fine Repubs in government. But that time is past. It may one day come again, but first the thugs and morons who have co-opted our system need to be removed, charged with the crimes against humanity they have committed while in office, and jailed or executed as the case may be.

Add to this the fact that before the internet, zelots used to be diluted by the general population. Now it’s easy for self reinforcing communities of parochial views to form.

So we see an outrageous charge, and assume that it has a much broader constituancy than it really does.

So we conclude that “the left” is on a campaign to smear Palin. Or “the right” embodies intollerance.

I personally love the observation that when asked a question an authority will give you an answer, but an expert will say: “it depends”.

“it depends” doesn’t make for good press, or good slogans.

If, on the other hand, the Obama campaign actually stood for something they would have no trouble. Something like 80% of the country thinks they’re worse off than they were 4 years ago and that the country is headed down the toilet. The current republican president has something like a 30% approval rating. The banks are failing. If a democrat can’t win handily in this context then there is something wrong with the democrat.

You know, John, I actually think Obama needs to “lost his shit” just a little bit and start hitting back at blatant lies. And if Palin apologists bitch about it, hit them where they live: You want to compare her to Margaret Thatcher — who was tough as nails, twice as sharp and never used her gender as an excuse to dodge an argument — walk the talk.

And someone who made a crack about the only different between “hockey moms” and a pitbull being lipstick, shouldn’t be quite that precious.