Source: 236.com I think he said what most of us are thinking. :)

So I found this article on Sarah Palin's expenditures. No, no, more accurately, the RNC's expenditures on Sarah Palin since September: Saks Fifth Avenue (St. Louis and New York): $49,425.74. Neiman Marcus (Minneapolis): $75,062.63 Hair and make-up: $4,716.49 Total: $129,204.86 Wow. Just.. wow. I'd love for Mykie7 to justify this for me. And while she's at it, she can justify the expenditures of her favorite person, Cindy McCain: Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000 Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500 Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000 Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000 Shoes, designer unknown: $600 Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100 (yeah, I was mistaken in my early blog post where I said she spent $15,000- that's what $15k means- because she actually spent 20 times that amount) And this is for ONE event, the biggest one, I'm sure, her husband's acceptance of the Republican nomination. I think my entire wardrobe AND beauty product arsenal are worth that one Oscar de la Renta dress (I'm a clearance bin fiend, what can I say) and I have a lot of clothes (or so I think). When I had an important event to go to, I blew a whopping $60 on a Banana Republic dress (okay, technically, I didn't spend that money because it was a present from my husband from the Christmas before, so no, I didn't even go out and buy a new dress) and $2 on bobby pins from Target. Anyway, since Mykie7 doesn't bat an eyelid at the amount of money Lady McCain has spent on vanity, then perhaps she doesn't need all those tax breaks that Obama supports. Or maybe she and/or her household brings in more than $250k (that's $250,000) per year, in which case she would love to pay higher taxes to help bring America out of the red, right? Do the patriotic thing, Mykie7: if you can afford it, help America get out of its 10 TRILLION dollar budget debt! I, on the other hand, would appreciate any help I can get. Heck, I wouldn't mind not getting a tax break if I know that money is coming from somewhere else (*ahem* rich people *ahem*) to help settle the national debt. Or maybe help me replace my piece-o'-crap car with a used hybrid car? How embarrassing. The "richest" country in the world has the biggest debt, and the "most powerful" country in the world owes other countries money. [update] Sorry, an interesting thought just occurred to me: Let's say a family of five can live on $60k a year (hahahaha that's so unrealistic, especially in expensive states like California, but let's just say). A "rich" family bringing in $250k a year would then have a $190k surplus. They then set aside $30k to send all their children to college. What can a family do with $160k? → Get a few thousand homeless people off the streets? → Help ensure a thousand families and individuals who are unable to afford health insurance? → Help charter schools and other school systems keep kids in school and reach a 100% graduation rate? Patriotism isn't just waving an American flag on the Fourth of July, folks. Just sayin'.

It's a lover-ly day today in the Bay Area. I'd step outside, but the wind would probably blow me two blocks away! It is gusty! The first thing I'd like to share is the following quote, taken from today's San Francisco Chronicle: "On Friday, McCain found himself in a tricky balancing act- booed by supporters at a Minnesota rally when he urged them to 'be respectful' of the Illinois senator, even challenging one woman who said she didn't trust Obama because 'he's an Arab.'" Two things: 1) McCain's supporters have definitely crossed the line of reason. They won't even be respectful to Obama? Yelling out "terrorist" and "liar" at a rally is despicable. If this were the Middle Ages, that would be acceptable, but this is 21st century America. Those taunts should be reserved for the playground. Oh wait, I just explained it to myself. 2) Obama is an Arab?? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! The second thing I'd like to share is this: Question --> Why is the price of bananas going up? Relevant answer --> That's because bananas are no longer in season and have to be imported. Irrelevant answer --> The price of grapefruit is going up too! Question --> Why did McCain approve of the Paris Hilton/Britney Spears/Barack Obama ad? Relevant answer --> That's because McCain wanted to associate characters of ill-repute with the senator. Irrelevant answer --> Well, Obama's ads are worse!! The third thing I'd like to share with you today is, GOVERNOR PALIN HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF ABUSING HER POWER!! That is just.. despicable. (I know, I seriously should get a thesaurus.) Abuse of power that I have personally witnessed have fallen into two categories: 1) Giving themselves bonuses, such as longer lunch breaks, shorter work days, and longer vacations. 2) Working their subordinates significantly harder than his predecessor. Of course, using one's power of office to accomplish things outside of one's responsibilities and duties isn't new, but it's just so... GRRR!!! How can people do that?! You have to admit though, what Sarah Palin did takes guts. It takes guts to trample on your moral compass, ignore your moral values, and do something as ridiculously childish as trying to get your ex-brother-in-law canned just because he was mean to your sister. Seriously?? That is something you do in high school, not in government. Palin's ex-brother-in-law has shown irresponsibility related to his work. He has shown aggression, has been caught drinking on the job, among other things. Those things that happened were dealt with accordingly when they happened. Sure, the consequences were not severe enough, but they were dealt with and the case was closed. So really, Palin had no good excuse to try to get him fired after the fact. Do you really want this kind of woman to be the Vice President? Imagine what she could do for all the rich individuals and businesses. If they just pad her pocket a little, she might do them favors... OR if she has a beef with one of them she'll work to destroy them, which will affect more than just the powerful players, but also all the innocent employees under them. Tsk tsk. The thought of Palin having abused her executive powers to deal with her own petty problems makes me so mad! Anyway, I'm glad she's been caught. I hope the voters will really take this news to heart because this would spell even bigger problems should she make it to a higher office. No further action has been taken as it will go to Alaska's legislature. I quote from the San Francisco Chronicle: "The legislative committee unanimously began the investigation in July. Palin had promised to cooperate, but after becoming McCain's running mate, she changed course, saying the inquiry was politically tainted." Hmmmmmmm... Suspicious!

So I heard Woody on the radio (I have a love-hate relationship with The Woody Show on Live 105 in San Francisco) say that McCain is a hero. "Just look at what he went through as a POW" or something to that effect. It's hard to know where the truth is nowadays. The only news outlets I find worth reading nowadays are BBC and the Associated Press.. except the latter is scattered across a hundred newspapers so I have to click and click and click and click to get the news. Lately, when it comes to politics, I've been reading less of what I used to (Huff Post, NYT, CNN) and more of neutral-party sites like FactCheck.org. Thank goodness someone came up with that because Democrats and Republicans alike can go to that site and also PolitiFact and get their information without accusing somebody (or everybody) of bias. Anyway, after hearing that on the radio, I thought about that Rolling Stone article I read that revealed so much about John McCain. A hero? Let's see what Tim Dickinson had to say: 1) "Although he would soon regale The New York Times with tales of the heroism of the brave enlisted men who "stayed to help the pilots fight the fire," McCain took no part in dousing the flames himself. After going belowdecks and briefly helping sailors who were frantically trying to unload bombs from an elevator to the flight deck, McCain retreated to the safety of the "ready room," where off-duty pilots spent their noncombat hours talking trash and playing poker." 2) "McCain performed adequately on the Oriskany. On October 25th, 1967, he bombed a pair of Soviet MiGs parked on an airfield outside Hanoi. His record was now even. Enemy planes destroyed by McCain: two. American planes destroyed by McCain: two." 3) "But during the course of his medical treatment, McCain followed through on his offer of military information. Only two weeks after his capture, the North Vietnamese press issued a report — picked up by The New York Times — in which McCain was quoted as saying that the war was "moving to the advantage of North Vietnam and the United States appears to be isolated." He also provided the name of his ship, the number of raids he had flown, his squadron number and the target of his final raid." 4) "'John allows the media to make him out to be the hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals," says Butler. "John was just one of about 600 guys. He was nothing unusual. He was just another POW.'" 5) "'It took guts to go through that and to come out reasonably intact and able to pick up the pieces of your life and move on," says Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff, who has known McCain since the 1980s. "It is unquestionably a demonstration of the character of the man. But I don't think that it is a special qualification for being president of the United States. In some respects, I'm not sure that's the kind of character I want sitting in the Oval Office.'" Yes, he was a hero- he did shoot down two enemy planes, after all. So were the other 600 guys who were imprisoned in Hanoi. That doesn't make him any more qualified than Barack Obama. Yes, McCain has significantly more Senate experience than Obama- that SHOULD make him more qualified, right? Well, this maverick has changed his game since his run for the White House began- so much for being a maverick, eh?- and condoned mudslinging (by not speaking out against Sarah Palin's mudslinging) even though very early on he spoke out against it, and THAT negates his edge over Obama, IMHO. Oh, and the TV ad he approved that put Paris Hilton's and Britney Spears' pictures next to Obama's picture. Don't call me childish and then say that THAT move isn't childish. If you are a McCain supporter, please explain that ad to me. It's okay to say that it doesn't make sense; that's an explanation too. The whole "it's time to have a hockey mom in the White House" gag is getting old and lame. I have known plenty of soccer moms (I was a Girl Scout, after all- plenty of Girl Scout moms too!), but they were all very active and effective in their communities and the various committees and councils for school, local government, etc., but that doesn't mean they should all run for mayor or governor or VP! I remember Morgan's mom studied political science in college. Nikki's mom graduated from college too. Gee, both of them probably would make a much better VP than Palin! *LOL*