Republican gimmicks.

Sitting in an incredibly posh, hypermodern hotel room this last day in Ville de Québec.  Thanks to AAA and due to fact that this place is 10 minutes from Vieux-Québec, spiffy place and superb price 🙂  The tub is a jacuzzi complete with bubble bath set and mirror that doubles as a TV.  Cushier linens I have never beheld.

Back to Republican gimmicks.  John McCain disappoints me, as I mentioned this morning.  I question his decision-making, which, for me, is among the most important factors.  What, I ask, are the chances that this senator in his twenty-second year of office will heed the counsel of a state-level public official who has served for less than two years?  And honestly, I’m not sure whether I want him to heed her counsel any time soon.  She will be incredibly out of her element for awhile.  State office is entirely different from federal.  Imagine her in a national security situation the first year of office.

It’s true that George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were governors when elected.  But they had a coterie of well-qualified advisors and experienced VPs.  And there’s no way for the president-elect to by bypassed.  This seems like a pretty tenuous argument.  What?  Inexperienced governor for president is preferable to inexperienced governor for VP?  They serve different roles, however.  The president is a decision-maker, a delegator, an agenda-setter.  A shrewd governor can successfully carry out these, though often a learning-curve is required.  The vice president supports the president as advisor, but this role is poorly-defined, thus the VP can be influential or assume wallflower status.  I’d say that she’s going to find herself in an awkward position if McCain wins.

Another thing.  It’s little secret that the Republicans hope to win over some disgruntled Hillary Clinton supporters through Palin.  I find it almost insulting to women, to assume that they will vote based on appearance rather than issue.  That Palin is a woman will somehow blot out the fact that she is pro-life, opposed to gun control, supports ANWR drilling and teaching of creationism in schools.  And related, I also cringe at how Clinton is being touted as the female candidate who (almost) shattered the glass ceiling of politics.  She is not and was not simply a female candidate who appealed to people because she was ‘ground-breaking’ in that way.

Anyway, tired as anything.  Post turns out far less cohesive than I’d like, but shrug.  Time to study French, then to bed!

Sarah Palin.

I’m supposed to be prepping for more pleasant strolls through Québec City, but then Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican VP nominee.

My respect for John McCain has taken a fall; not that it much matters since I would not vote for him regardless, but this reeks of short-term pandering.  What are her qualifications?  From the briefest of skims, I garner that 1) She’s a woman, 2) She’s a mother of five.  One, the last, has Down syndrome.  It’s laudable that she can deal with five, especially one with Down’s.  But I don’t know whether I would love having a VP who’s busier taking care of the family.  It’ll make a great story for the Republicans to spin though. 3) She’s served as the illustrious governor of the largest state for less than two years, 4) She’d like to drill for oil in her backyard, and 5) She calls herself a hockey-mom.

The woman-factor is going to let the Republicans pat themselves on the back.  Yay progressiveness!  Undercut those Dems who rejected Hillary Clinton.  They had Geraldine Ferraro, now we’ve got Sarah Palin!

Finish later, time to go stroll through Québec.

Oh, she’s also a runner-up in the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant. She can spar with Cindy McCain.

Michelle Obama and Beau Biden.

More thoughts later, but ’til then:

I absolutely loved her delivery style.  My favorite speech of the week.  Entirely different from all the other political speeches given.  She does a great job of conveying intimacy.

Another great one.

The erstwhile political speech.

That’s a fabulous speech. Followed by another.

More on speeches later.

On the vice president.

I believe I might’ve said that the VP could be useless besides as a political gimmick.  Don’t remember whether or not I did.  If he goes with an Evan Bayh or someone, then Obama could really be finished.  That’s about as staid a ticket as you can conjure up.  Ironically, choosing the older, firmly-Washington senator from Delaware will add some spice, lol.  But especially liked what David Brooks said about the VP being the one with the backbone to step up and say no.  If nothing else, that’s what a VP or a senior advisor or heck anyone in upper echelons of the administration must be able to do.  And it’s no small matter.  The office of the presidency has a gravitas separate from the man in office.  I don’t believe that a state governor will be able to come in and serve such a function.

To be honest, I have yet to conduct thorough research on the individual candidates, both for the presidency and for the vice presidency.  Neither presidential candidates I find especially inspirational.  But then again, I’ve never been easily drawn to people.  Yes, inspiration is great and all, but the reason a candidates character matters is the same as why his/her experience matters.  Whether I think the candidate is a nice guy with whom I want to sit down and have coffee is irrelevant.  I won’t be sitting down having coffee with said candidate, Monsieur Sarkozy, Prime Minister Putin, and Chancellor Merkel will.

What matters far more is the decision-making.  Not a new thought, but one that seems oft drowned-out by essentially gossip.  Of late, I’ve paid little attention to the election because I can find little more than speculation and political gossip.  Obama has more potential than did Clinton, certainly more than McCain.  As evinced by his grand tour, he’s got international capital.  Ironically, considering how his lack of foreign policy experience has been dredged up and repeatedly hammered.  As the executive powers stand on firmest ground when it comes to foreign affairs.  As with most, his head-of-state and commander-in-chief hats will, I imagine, ultimately prove more important than his domestic roles.  Chief administrator Chief policy wonk Head of party Top economist Agenda-setter.  Great stuff, that’s what the Leo McGarry’s, Josh Lymans, Toby Zieglers and Sam Seaborns are for, shrug.

He could also crash and burn spectacularly, but he’s no political novice so with fingers-crossed I say that that’s unlikely.  Missteps, certainly.  His numbers will start their inevitable decline soon as he enters office, alright, if he enters office.  If he can capitalize on the political high he’ll have in the first 6 months or so, that would be impressive.  An administration that can combine left-central policies with Republican efficiency…onwards to November!

Je n’ai aucune pensée, mais…

quelquefois on doit ecrire. Même si on ne veut pas le faire.

D’accord, où est-ce que je devrais commencer?  En quatres jours, je retournerai à Boston. C’est vrai, mes parents iront avec moi, mais je ne suis pas prête de partir. Ici, je ne m’inquiète pas et je m’amuse. Là, je m’amuse de temps en temps, mais ce n’est pas comme ici. Je ne sais pas. Donne-moi une baguette de fée, s’il te plaît!

Before Sunset, Summer ’08

Suddenly I don’t much feel like writing about Before Sunset, but whatever, I will. Started to rewatch that and this time, sure enough, completely different thoughts. Identify far more with Celine. She’s confident, she knows what she wants, she’s loving her environmentalist job, yet she’s not entirely at ease. Is she cynical? Yes. Am I, certainly more so than before. My god, practically every word she says, every reaction of hers, I could see myself doing the same, now or later

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Just reread my thoughts on Before Sunset from two years ago. I was more sympathetic towards Jesse and preferred how he turned out then, I think. At least I liked his naivete. This time though, not so much. This time I much more empathize with Celine’s views, with Celine’s transformation. Hers is the truer, more mature, more real, more thoughtful change. She’s definitely carefully analyzed her own emotions, she’s very self-aware. She has built a protective shell around herself, detached herself emotionally, refused to show hurt.