The Soccer Mom Vote

Coffee Ad to Awaken Sleeper Cell?

Noted Right-Wing Malcontent Unhinged by Scarf

Ultra-conservative FAUX News commentator Michelle Malkin, yesterday, accused popular faux-chef Rachel Ray of inciting "murderous jihad" in her new ad for Dunkin Donuts. Malkin was apparently upset, not by anything Ray said in the ad, but what she was wearing. Wrote Malkin, "The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men ...a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons."

However, Ray's fashion statement is Malkin's misstatement, as the paisley design showing on the corner of the scarf clearly differentiates it from a keffiyeh which is checkered from end to end. Said a Dunkin Donuts spokesperson, "The scarf Rachel is wearing is actually black and white, rather than the blue and white checkered keffiyeh once available from knockoff vendors on the streets of every major city. Besides, the keffiyeh as a fashion accessory is so last century."

Reached for comment, Ray said only "Altiab!" (apparently Arabic for "delish!") before shoving a munchkin in her mouth and dashing off to a cookbook signing.

In related news, Dunkin Donuts denied plans to add grilled falafel sandwiches to their new lunch menu.

Suspected Secret Paisley Code

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Yes, it's satire. It's about as manufactured as this particular brand of outrage. The quote from Malkin however, as well as her objections to the original ad, are real. I couldn't have made that up.

The photo is originally from Boston.com and a hat tip goes to Momocrats.

I think I get it now

My daughter was recently allowed to do facebook.  Being an old-head that barely understands blogs, I was naturally suspicious of myspace, facebook, whatever.  If I had been plugged into that social networking scene, Barack Obama’s popularity would have made sense to me. 

Barack Obama is young, new, smart.  Brilliant, actually. His Facebook campaign is nothing short of brilliant.  You don’t have to know him personally to contribute to his campaign.  Heck, you can throw an event for him without ever having met him, or ever having been trained by his people.  It is Web 3.0 in action. 

So, of course he appeals to young people!  Of course he beats Hillary at her own game!  Of course he may very well get the nomination.  I get it now!

I wonder how the internet will translate into votes.  I wonder if Hillary will ever give up.  I wonder who would be the ideal candidate to beat McCain.  I wonder if the election will be a landslide. 

Why does this keep happening?

This is an example of the stuff that drives me so insane about the immigration question. Why is the INS/ICE wasting time trying to deport the spouse of someone who is serving our country in the Iraq war?

This is the second example I have seen of this here in Massachusetts so it's hard to tell how many examples of this occur all over the country.

Last year, it came to light the wife of a soldier who had been captured by al Qaeda was under threat of deportation. What I couldn't understand then, and I still have not found an adequate explanation for, is why marrying an American citizen doesn't still automatically make you a citzen yourself. What has changed?

Happy Mother's Day

Mother’s Day has got to be my favorite holiday.  It’s the one where we sit back and are told well done. It may be hard today.  Your child may be sick, ungrateful, cranky, but joy comes in the morning.  You get your mother’s day.  You’ve earned it.

I gave birth to my 7th child in March. I would have been thrilled anyway, but was extra happy that she was born healthy.  My sixth child hadn’t been so fortunate, and after 6 ½ seizure-filled months, she died.  So I’m in the strange position of having had seven children, but really having only six. 

And I’m used to the stares and the head counts, and I feel what women who don’t have husbands but do have many children must fell like; people can’t look at you and know your situation.  I also had a tumultuous youth where my irresponsible acts left me pregnant before I was ready.  I know what all that stuff feels like, and I unfortunately know what abortion is like up close and personal.

So I know that if Barack Obama knew what he was talking about, he would not so cavalierly thrown out that irresponsible remark about not having his daughters punished with a baby.  Having lost three children, one to abortion, one to miscarriage, and one to brain damage, I must say that the baby is not the punishment, but rather the reward.

Now we’re back to the issue that makes it impossible for me to support Obama.  I can't support Hilary Clinton, who views abortion as a female empowerment issue. Can I support McCain?  I had heard that he was as liberal as a Republican can be, so I had to check the one issue that means anything to me. 

And here’s what I found.  In 1993, the McCains adopted a girl from Sister Teresa’s orphanage.  She has not surprisingly been a blessing to their family.  I read about McCain and his family back before the Michigan primary, and I found it hard to be against him in light of this one view. 

Because babies are not obstacles to a better life.  They are life itself, and if you are blessed enough to conceive one, you should not deceive yourself into calling it a curse.  And if you have the presence of mind to see a baby for what it truly is, you owe it to others to spread that news.

Happy Mother's Day

When McCain won the nomination, I thought, here is a Republican elected by Democrats.  The only people I talked to that were excited about McCain were Democrats that had no intention of voting for him in the actual election.

I was hopping mad about that, even as I couldn’t get excited about anyone who was running on the Republican side.

Now I’m hearing about Rush Limbaugh’s operation chaos,
and I see the same kind of thing happening on the Democrat side.  Are Republicans choosing the candidate they think could better lose the general election?

Leave it to Obama to make John McCain look conservative.  I feel for the man.  It’s unintentional, I’m sure, it’s obvious that he is running in earnest, I mean he is a serious candidate, but according to Cokie Roberts,
he’s not getting votes for being earnest, but rather for being black.  That’s rather stinky.  This is what I’d always suspected, that Americans in general and Democrats in particular are too racist to elect a black president now.  Why Democrats, you may ask?  All this exploitation, including voting for this man because he is black and smart.  The classic case of overcompensation.

Personal example alert:  When I was in High School, I had a new guidance counselor every year.  I’m not sure what the point of that was.  It’s not like you could build a relationship with someone that was helping you plan your future or anything.  I had to prove to each counselor that I wasn’t a loser just because I was black.  The new counselor in my senior year greeted me with “so you’re going to graduate—you hope,” without having looked at my transcript or spoken with me at all.  I told him why yes, I hoped to graduate, and in fact I only needed 3 credits.  “We’ll see,” he informed me, and then was falling all over himself apologizing after having checked.  He then tried to advise me to finish my high school career off with half-days or a semester early, seeing as how I only needed three credits.  I thought that wouldn’t look good to colleges, and declined the offer.  After I was accepted to a big 10 University for college, he advised me to look no further—how could I do better than that big 10 school?  Needless to say, I didn’t use him for more than mailing out applications—guidance counselor he was not.

I bring this story up to say that I smell the same kind of thing with Obama.  Ok, so here’s a successful black man, not a loser like we expect, so let’s elect him PRESIDENT!  It’s not like he has any experience or anything, just the slightest of credentials.  Let’s just blow it way out of proportion and maybe then we’ll have atoned for slavery. 

Call it far-fetched, but that’s what it smells like to me.  And I’m not alone; maybe that’s just a song conservatives sing.  But that wouldn’t explain Cokie Roberts, a Clinton supporter.

Will Obama pull off the nomination?  The general election?  I have a hard time believing it.  But I’m counting on his not winning the election, so I might not be the most partial observer. 

So far I’ve been wrong.  I thought Edwards would win the Democratic nomination, and Romney would win the Republican one.  That’s 0 for 2 for all those keeping score.

Then I thought that no matter how well Obama did, Hilary would never concede.  That remains to be seen.  So does my other assertion that she would win with the super delegate support.  So far, the only thing I've been right about is how interesting this race is.  The finish line is in sight.