Cynthia - I’m surprised you’re surprised about the Liberal/Heathen label. I was raised in a Protestant Church and have a secure faith, but will never be considered a “Christian” by any Fundamentalists out there on the right. They hijacked that term for themselves long ago. Google McCain/Rolling Stone and read the (long) “not a maverick” article on the Republican candidate. Everything will become clear. Yeah, yeah, I’m still waiting for the fact-check people, too. But read it!

My question exactly. What source for Biden’s “14 gaffes”? I can hardly wait until Fact Check finishes the new McCain “not a maverick” article in Rolling Stone. It makes for interesting reading, using real quotes and names. I’m always curious about who the “they” are.

Yup.

Margo - I like it! You’re beautiful when you’re mad. Your article reflects my disgust and frustration that we have to be this mad and that these threads even exist. How dare they! The insult is even greater than foisting (non) reality shows onto the American public as entertainment. (And that seems to be working.) How many states have inoperable voting machines? More hanging chads in our future? This is a 3-ring circus. And the elephant doo doo is still piling up from the last crowd. Oh yeah, it’s the same crowd. Grab a broom, everyone!

and I’m still waiting to see her coming out Thinkin’!

I think it’s a matter of addition and subtraction. Over 50, most women start to turn gray and/or put on a little weight. (++) With the decline of estrogen (-) production, the testosterone levels are at a higher percentage. For men, the decline (-) of testosterone levels (increasing their percentage of estrogen)(+) results in shrinking muscles(-), along with the gray hair(+). It’s a bit of an androgeny dilemna. Maybe they’re afraid of waking up and seeing themselves on the other pillow. (On an entirely unrelated matter, my last Match date was a new low. Educated? Yes. Sane? Sounded like it, in print. Picture? Yes, but just a bit blurry… . .Reality: An equal opportunity hate-monger with 5 teeth, total. My own fault, I guess. I hadn’t listed teeth as a quality I was seeking in a man. Live and learn … .and just keep on laughin’!)

Oops! I hit the wrong key. The third paragraph of my response to Amy was taken directly from The Anchorage Daily News. The attribution is in cyberspace somewhere.

Amy: note the latest news on “approval ratings” from Alaska listed below. The oil in Alaska has brought, and continues to bring buckets of money to Alaska’s budget, making “balancing” it pretty much a slam dunk. Alaskans get a “rebate” check every year. Additional dollars were suggested to be added this year because of the huge increases in oil prices, and this was in the works, before Palin made any public comment or suggestion. (also see below) It was Palin, after all, who last month proposed that lawmakers pay out a $1,200 resource rebate as a way for the state to share some of its multibillion-dollar oil revenue surplus with Alaska residents. The idea for a people’s payment, however, originated in January with Haines Republican Rep. Bill Thomas, a commercial fisherman who suggested a $1,000 rebate, saying he was moved by a legally blind and diabetic friend forced to cut firewood for lack of money to buy heating fuel. By E&P Staff Published: October 01, 2008 NEW YORK Since she was picked for the Veep spot, the press has often noted that Sarah Palin has “80%” approval ratings in Alaska. Just yesterday, John McCain told the Des Moines Register editorial board that she is “the most popular governor in the United States.” But that may be outdated. McClatchy reports today that her approval rating in her home state has tumbled to 68% — still high but surely not the country’s best. The poll by a local firm that works for both parties was taken Sept. 20-22. McClatchy writes: “Palin’s popularity has swooned as new information about the local abuse-of-power investigation known as Troopergate has trickled out, and as national and local media pick over her track record as a governor and small-town mayor. “Palin still has overwhelming support among Alaska Republicans. But many Democrats and independents, who gave her positive marks just a month ago, have changed their views….

Yes, Liz. I agree with part of your prediction. But we differ just a bit on the conclusions. Sarah doesn’t have a shotgun wedding in her future; her daughter does. Sarah had her own a couple of decades ago. And I do hope that she crams on economics, foreign affairs, etc. when she’s back in Wasilla. To learn what she needs to become an effective Governor.

John G - Be careful what you wish for. There will be lots more affordable arrows around, in a few months. But you might be able to escape to a few more Nascar races … and stay hard to hit, in the crowd. :-)

Hey Step - (and I love yer moniker. I have to say it in my head, complete with pauses, every time I see it) Take it from someone who had to endure Jesse Ventura as Gov. for four years, that Camo Crowd is huge. And scary. They (usually men) exclaim proudly that they’re voting for her because she wears skirts, looks like a fantasy librarian, has great hair, or the fact that she shot 40 moose in one swell foop. Oh yeah, and the snowmobile. Always the snowmobile. Ya can’t fight stupid. I don’t hate Sarah Palin. I am just insulted that she is being marketed as a candidate who is supposedly representing me, Rubbish!

Yes, oh yes, Diana! That chill traveled instantly from KY to MN and down my back also. It made me feel that her tutors were feeding her a bit more propaganda of the Cheney Catechism than specifics on McCain’s platform. Answering specific questions starting with ,”How”, she responded with grandiose broad strokes of “John McCain will” … with none of the requested examples. But her blithering defense of Cheney was spoken like a true believer, not a thinker. I ain’t seen no thinkin’ goin’ on yet, don’tcha know!

Roland - Thanks for my first outright laugh of the day. And now I have coffee dribbled down my sweatshirt. Ms Palin didn’t go nukular or vomit on the podium during the debate. So Karl Rove’s Tutor Troop is celebrating today. They still have a job. She spoke oh so folksy and oh so quickly. Didn’t bother to answer the specific question many times, and didn’t necessarily bother with facts, but then this is politics. I particularly enjoyed her Exact Same Answer, verbatim, to two totally different questions. Non answers, but fairly complete sentences. Personally, I was looking forward to at least another “sentence to nowhere” but she didn’t provide one. Nor did she implode. The beat goes on. We still haven’t heard a genuine, forthright Sarah Palin on Sarah Palin.

If these absurdities appear in the final version of the bill, the congressperson who insisted on each one should be hung out to dry by his/her lying tongue. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical or moral. They obviously haven’t learned anything by seeing the demise of our financial system as we know it. Now I’m mad. I’m looking for my wooden arrows… . T’row da bums out!

Candice - In my late twenties, the half size that my feet grew after two pregnancies didn’t surprise me too much. At fifty, I acknoweldged that I needed readers in order to use a phone book. Not unexpected. At menopause, I grew 3/4” in height. Now, that was a surprise. Not a welcome one, either, since my dating pool is filled with men who are rapidly shrinking! At sixty, I found myself preferring stronger readers. The size of the print in the phone books must be smaller yet. But the toes are another thing entirely. Nobody told me about old toes. They’re beginning to resemble a small bag of Curly Fries. My big toes are listing toward their neighbors, like they need emotional support. No bunion problems, but they have moved from twelve to one o’clock for sure. The next toes are doing their best to be good friends. They have turned their nails toward the Big Buddy like they are offering words of assurance. The middle toes seem to be standing tall, relatively independent. But the little critters that are second to the end want to curl themselves around and under their strong, middle counterparts. And the little toes? Well, I’ve smashed them into furniture so many times that they’re just curling under, on their own. They look like small snails. And I won’t even go into which direction the nails are going. Talk about Freakie!! But a good pedicure still makes my tootsies presentable, and the feet are working fine, with the occasional usage of orthodics. I just have Gramma Feet… with an order of Curly Fries. Now … about my neck!?!