Librarian's Rant

John M. sent this:

States' purges of voter rolls appear illegal

The actions do not seem to be coordinated by one party or the other, nor do they appear to be the result of election officials intentionally breaking rules, but are apparently the result of mistakes in the handling of the registrations and voter files as the states tried to comply with a 2002 federal law, intended to overhaul the way elections are run.

I found this interesting, as giving one possible snapshot of how the economic crisis is playing in the red states.

http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/my-own-private-focus-group/

Here in Colorado Springs — the Vatican of evangelical political power, home to the Air Force Academy and a community where optimism usually matches the sunrise glow at the base of Pikes Peak – you can see what will happen in less than a month.

My friends: it’s not good for Senator McCain.

“As a small business owner, it’s very hard to watch a lifetime of hard work and savings just wither away in the last two weeks,” said Jan Martin, a native of this more-than-mile-high city, and a lifelong Republican. “The debate on Tuesday night has, if anything, bolstered my opinion.”

So Jan Martin, who also serves on the city council, will cross party lines in less than a month and vote Barack Obama for president, she said. She’s not leaving the Republican party – she’s deserting the nominee.

...“The financial crisis is point number one,” said Pastor Brady Boyd, head of New Life Church, 250,000 square feet of concentrated Christianity. “These attacks against the candidates are just irrelevant right now. Why are you all attacking one another when we’re dying out here?”

I don't want you to think that I'm not taking this debate and this political race seriously. In fact, it's scaring the bejeezus out of me, as I believe that the very soul of our nation is in peril. This election won't fix it, but it will go a long way to determining if it will ever be mended, or whether we will, once again, choose the dysfunctional, hateful road.

That said, I feel the need for a little...lightness in the gloom. And therefore:

Presidential Debate Bingo

The inclusion of "Normandy" is interesting...

And don't forget to watch a fun left-leaning but interesting liveblog of the debate here: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

Amusing "Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart"

Also, some amusing real-time blogs on the debate.

Thanks to Frank D. for the links.

Palin Bingo

With 4 card versions, so you can play with friends!

Thanks to Josh B. for the link.

From John N., the Newsweek version. I like their center picture better

The Shark Journal entry (bottom of page) for the simply brilliant Sorted Books Project is wonderful.

Thanks to Marena for the link.

Sarah Palin Action Figures

No, I'm not kidding. Check out the funny Doonesbury cartoons at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to Barb for the link.

I have so much to say about Gov. Palin...but am too busy spluttering every time I think of her. All I can say is, it's pretty bad when Katie Couric thinks you're a bit dim.

Wondering where I've been for a month? Check out my Travel Blog from my recent trip to Great Britain (I'm still finishing it, just fyi).

I meant to post it before I left, or cross-post here, but had some access issues.

Enjoy.

Great response from the Obama campaign to Palin's slate of lies. Sadly, I don't think she even managed to think any of those up herself.

Heather H. sent the following to our alumni listserv.

Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms

My favorite bit: "The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support," she wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates.

Dare I point out that a little basic sex ed, or at least a discussion of sexual responsibility to oneself, might have been useful to your daughter, Gov. Palin? What hypocrisy. It makes me even more proud that our church (and many other UU, UCC and liberal mainstream churches) have embraced and are teaching the Our Whole Lives (OWL) curriculum to our young teens. Clearly the schools have been completely hamstringed. Often with their consent.

Also from Heather, a post from a blog by a medical resident:
http://scienceblogs.com/signout/2008/09/reasonable_for_us_to_judge.php#more

...and I keep saying "did he just say that?!" And I love it.

I admit it, I want to be inspired.

That said, I kept giggling when both he and Joe Biden said something about how "It's not that John McCain doesn't know, it's that he doesn't get it" or similar.

Have you seen The American President? Great movie. Amazing writing. And, well, let's just say this phrase, or something like it, is a pinnacle moment in the film. Does that bother me? Nope. Great writing and great speechmaking are timeless. And powerful.

And yeah, I'm inspired. So what? After 8+ years of hair-pulling, teeth-grinding, screaming rage and frustration, I could use a little cautious optimism. A little, dare I say it?, hope. So sue me. I like listening to these guys.

Was reading my Unshelved today, and ran across this in the Unshelved blog:

Sarah from Springfield City Library writes:

Saw this and for a second all I could think of was "This can't be real. Someone must have read an Unshelved comic and misunderstood."

I'd seriously pay money to have a bunch of girls sit quietly in our library doing something creative that had nothing to do with sex, drugs, computers or lipstick! Yeesh.

I've been fairly quiet as I try to prepare for my next European adventure. So that you don't think I've melted in the Iowa heat, here's something fun

Goodnight Bush - a parody of Goodnight Moon

Enjoy!

The NRDC is running a new ad showing Shrub as a snake oil salesman (in PDF) for wanting to drill in protected areas. It's pretty good. I think they plan to run it in the Washington Post.

Moveon.org has another great 30 second spot.

From MoveOn's email:

MTV just started accepting political ads. And the first political ad that millions of young people will see is a negative attack on Barack Obama—saying he's "worse than a flip-flopper" and accusing him of no longer being against the war. It's outrageous.

...And as it turns out, we've got a funny, positive, hopeful way to fight back.

The "funniest ad" award winner in our Obama in 30 Seconds contest is a perfect counterpoint to the cynicism-mongering ad on MTV. Plus, it was made by actor (and MoveOn member) Rider Strong.

We just found out that we can run this ad on MTV and Comedy Central (as their first political ad ever)

For you uber-geeks out there, see if you can spot Amber Benson of Buffy fame.