It's Happening...

The Sarah Palinization of America is now going on. Last night she delivered a quirky, sarcastic speech on national television outlining why she should be Vice President, and why Democrats will eat America's children if they get the chance. She trotted out her "hockey Mom" credentials, and talked all about how she's a reformer, and Obama is an inexperienced jackass who will raise taxes on everything. It was a speech full of cliches, half truths, and outright lies, and as far as I can tell, America ate it up.

Today I couldn't even talk about the speech without getting emotional. I would have to put on my headphones whenever anyone played a sound bite of Palin talking about how she doesn't care about what the press has to say about her, or how she has fought against the "good old boys," or how she looks like a pit bull. They were all great sound bites, and most likely written by a minion of the dark lord himself, but that's all they are -- sound bites. No substance, no facts, no fair. And yet, that's what people are grabbing on to.

Today the Associated Press, the news organization most of the world thinks of as the Switzerland of journalism, released a piece where they went through Palin's speech point by point, looking at what she said, and then looking at reality. They used information not only from the Obama campaign but also from independent think tanks, and the Republian party. They found that almost everything she said was slanted, or totally wrong. But to find that article people are going to have to go deeper than just turning on their television. That means very few will find it. Oh, and if they do, many will question it, because Sarah Palin has told them not to believe the press.

Kiss it all good-bye...

I really expected Palin to turn on the waterworks last night when she talked about how unfairly she has been treated by the "liberal media." This comes two days after McCain's spokesman said that the press should "stop asking questions about her background." Well, what should we ask questions about? Her favorite color? She could possibly be one of the most powerful people in the world, I think we should get a chance to know her, even if McCain didn't.

All day I have been trying to tell myself that this is just a "campaign bump" and that soon America will focus on the issues again. However, I don't think that is going to happen. You know numerous news agencies did today? Focused on Sarah Palin look alikes, and how her look is kind of "trendy." Palin will be splashed on every supermarket glossy this weekend. She is going to be everywhere, and she is just going to be giving us more of the same stuff that she did last night. And little by little this race will become about "personality," just like it did in 2000. And then I will move to New Zealand.

I will say this about Sarah Palin, she has made me a better journalist. I am so damn determined not to let my "liberal bias" show that I weigh every word I write. I want the sound and the facts to tell the story, because I don't want to give her arguments any validity, or her complaints any more attention.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go wipe the lipstick off Sally. It makes her look too much like Sarah Palin. And I said she couldn't wear make-up on school days...