Informed Speculation

…after the David Foster Wallace news, and so, fittingly, I turn to pop culture.  Regardless of your politics, Tina Fey pretty much nailed Sarah Palin tonight on Saturday Night Live (no, I don’t watch it anymore, either, but I came across this and thought you might find it amusing):

Four deaths are attributed to Ike so far, but I’ve just seen the headline on a death that is going to have a jarring impact on me:  David Foster Wallace, the brilliant author of the difficult but amazingly intriguing Infinite Jest, among other works, is dead at 46.  He committed suicide by hanging, apparently.  From [...]

Ahem…well, this certainly won’t calm her liberal critics anyway, though I suspect the base will be delighted: The Sarah Palin media roll-out continues. After doing two days of interviews with ABC’s Charles Gibson this week, the Alaska governor will sit down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday. It will be Palin’s second television interview [...]

Earlier in the week, the predicted path of Hurricane Ike brought it right through the middle of Austin – but as it became clear the storm would head north quickly after making landfall, we’ll now be lucky if we see an inch or two of rain. That’s not why I don’t like Ike, though – [...]

That’s the inference I draw from the excerpts I have seen online, and the reaction pieces from various media outlets.  I did not see the interview.  Some described it as ‘tense’, ‘awkward’, and similar phrases…and many noted she seemed to be too heavily scripted.  I do know that she blew the Bush Doctrine question…for those [...]

…and the impact has hardly lessened, at least for me.  Every 9/11, I put aside politics for a day, and I remember.  Sure, I remember the awful world-changing impact of those airplanes (how could anyone forget?), but I also remember the outpouring of human decency, the courage, the bravery, and the pride that we all [...]

…Aaargh!  This ‘lipstick on a pig’ business is just about as juvenile as I’ve ever seen a campaign get.  John McCain MUST put a stop to this sort of crap.  The phrase “you can put lipstick on a pig and it’s still a pig” is a pretty delightful bit of populist wisdom that is as [...]

That little piece of homespun wisdom is true about all the anti-Obama viral e-mails, and it holds equally true for Sarah Palin.  True, she is not the perfect candidate – she has been shielded somewhat from the press, she has a few skeletons in the closet from Alaska that may yet play a role, and [...]

…and we can see clearly that the Republicans had a very successful convention.  It’s not the convention I wanted, mind you – Romney was horrible, my man Rudy was bombastic, and McCain a bit dull, though Palin was a shocking surprise on the upside.  Indeed, I wonder whether what we are seeing is a conventional, [...]

That title could be about my Texas Tech Red Raiders, who have struggled against weak opposition, despite their #12 ranking in both polls (but hey, at least they’re 2-0!), but it’s not… Instead, it’s about Tom Brady.  New England fans were holding their breath after he walked off the field during the Pats’ opening weekend [...]

…but not on Meet the Press.  Sarah Palin has granted her first big post-convention interview to ABC morning show vet Charlie Gibson.  I don’t think this is much of a story, but I’m only highlighting it because it’s become a rallying cry for the left that Palin is avoiding the press (not without justification – [...]

Bob Woodward is not always a hero to either the right or the left.  His biggest flaw is that he willingly plays the mouthpiece to Washington insiders with an agenda.  His biggest strength is the same thing.  Everyone in Washington knows that Woodward is going to air dirty laundry and the contents of what were [...]

I don’t know about you, but I’m bickered out for the moment…time to recharge the best way I know how: the Chairman of the Board, backed by the great Tony Mottola on guitar, from Brazil, in 1981…and the song is a timeless classic that we all know and love…but enough yacking – click on play [...]

Well, let’s be honest up front.  No one is ever going to say John McCain is a particularly great stump speaker. The speech was nothing like the barn burner delivered last night…nor was it as good as Obama’s acceptance speech. It was not particularly well-written, and it was light on agenda, and had WAY too [...]

What a shame…no one attempted to keep Barack Obama from speaking.  McCain’s speech has been interrupted multiple times by those who would attempt to keep him from getting his message out. To those who would silence their opponents: shame on you.  You are not Americans – not because of your beliefs, but because of your [...]

I’ve got the same problem with the Republican convention thus far that I had with the Democrats…up to now, there have been very few specifics.  McCain carries the same burden Obama did…we’ve heard the biography, we know he’s a hero, a maverick, a man of honor – but now we need to know a little [...]

The headline from the NY Times: Palin Defies Critics and Electrifies Party…(UPDATE 1:22 a.m.: Well, the headline says “Assails Critics” now – not quite as cool)… Just didn’t want that to get buried in the updates to the post below… UPDATE 12:08 a.m.: Also from the Times, Katharine Seelye: The feeling inside the hall during [...]

This is a real make-or-break speech.  The media narrative surrounding Sarah Palin has become overwhelmingly negative.  She needs to replace the narrative with a positive one by exceeding expectations in a major way.  Leaked excerpts indicate she will attack Obama – but that’s not going to be enough.  This is truly about her.  I’m expecting [...]

…with respect to the Sarah Palin pick, I pledge to try to keep an open mind until her acceptance speech.  However, one ‘scandal’ that has been reported as fact is apparently not.  Sarah Palin appears to have never been a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, according to no less a far-left source than Mother [...]

After the crazy baby rumor stuff, and the hurricane, and the long Labor Day weekend, the GOP (already facing an ‘enthusiasm gap’) is going to have to really struggle to keep this convention on track.  At this point, I can’t even find out the schedule for tomorrow.  My man Rudy G. was originally scheduled to [...]