“Palin also will sit down with rock star and humanitarian activist Bono.”
In that case, I’m also a world leader! (We met briefly sometime around 2 a.m. at a club in New York, called The Hole.) Awesome. Can I be the Vice President, too?
Bono Now Considered “World Leader”
Monday, September 22nd, 2008Real or SNL Skit, You Decide
Monday, September 22nd, 2008Here’s an ad purporting to be from the National Rifle Association. Are we sure it’s not a joke from the Saturday Night Live crew? After all, they very nearly suggested the same thing this weekend:
Religion and Politics, Part 1: Playing Pentecostal Dodge Ball With Sarah Palin
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Many argue that McCain’s selection of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate was a strategic move to gain favor with the Republican Party’s Evangelical base.
Mission. Accomplished.
What the woman lacks in professional experience, she makes up for in religious credentials, but is there a such thing as— too much of a God thing?
Palin currently attends the Wasilla Bible Church, an Evangelical organization. But if we look beyond the present and into Palin’s past, we discover over thirty years of potent Pentecostalism.
The Associated Press reports that when asked about her early Christian roots, Palin sidesteps the Pentecostal label by maintaining that she has attended “non-denominational churches†throughout her life.
Why the dodge?
Houston, We Have a Hurricane
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
The last thing anyone wants to hear is that his or her mother spent the day waiting in line, despite the hot sun and high humidity, just to get a bag of ice to chill her drinks. Or that Mom is sitting at home, day in and day out, twiddling her thumbs while waiting for the power to return. Or that Mom’s life is in such upheaval that Tuesday is Friday is Monday is Wednesday is—what’s today? Or that more rain is coming and Mom’s nearly sure the roof will cave in when it does.
The last thing anyone wants to hear is that a force of nature pounded through her front door and had its way with all the comforts of home.
These are things I heard last week, when I finally heard word on Hurricane Ike. My home is in League City, Texas, which is roughly a half hour from Galveston Island, the area hit hardest by the hurricane. The mandatory evacuations were enforced in our part of town and my mother, who’s as conscientious as they come, took the warning seriously, boarded up the windows, grabbed her beloved bicycles, and scrambled out of town.
Amy Goodman, Other Journalists Off The Hook After RNC Arrests
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, like the other 50 or so journalists who were arrested in St. Paul during the Republican National Convention, won’t be prosecuted.
The Minnesota Independent writes: “St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman’s office issued a statement this morning
announcing that the city attorney won’t prosecute journalists who were
cited by authorities at the Republican National Convention (RNC) with ‘presence at an unlawful assembly,’ a misdemeanor charge.”
Indeed, the police presence at the RNC was so heavy-handed that they seemed hell-bent on arresting everyone and anyone who looked like anything other than a J-Crew catalog model. The treatment down at the RNC reminded me of “security theatre,” a term coined by Bruce Schneier in his book Beyond Fear, which describes the melodramatic airport searches as “just for show.” Security theatre makes it seem like you’re being really effective, without actually accomplishing anything. So, let’s review. Minneapolis-St. Paul Police/RNC: 0. The People: 1.