Blog Entries for Sam Jack

One woman's view of Sarah Palin as Veep

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

My mom: I think it's the worst choice anyone could make for Vice President--ever!

Me: Worse than Dan Quayle?

Mom: Yes!

Me: You know, it's also a little patronizing to think that women will vote for her just because she's a woman--

Mom: I know; "Oh! Oh! I'm going to vote for her because she was on the cover of Vogue!"

It's not as though my mom is a big Democrat, either. I wonder how many women are going to feel this way; I expect some backlash [...]

Obama's speech

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Frances' response, below, from a libertarian perspective, doesn't make sense to me, and I think it misses the big points (I've responded in detail in a comment).

My view is that this was a historic speech; both thoughtful and direct. I don't have time tonight to do an in-depth analysis, so expect that either tomorrow morning or tomorrow night.

UPDATE: Hoh hoh, I have the luxury of waiting until tomorrow to formulate an analysis of the speech, but the McCain campaign ap [...]

Thought of the Day

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Stevie Wonder is still awesome.

"Candidate McCain" versus "Senator McCain"

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

SusanG of DailyKos is right; this portion of Kerry's speech is probably the highlight so far, at least in terms of McCain attacks:

I have known and been friends with John McCain for almost 22 years. But every day now I learn something new about candidate McCain. To those who still believe in the myth of a maverick instead of the reality of a politician, I say, let's compare Senator McCain to candidate McCain.

Candidate McCain now supports the wartime tax cuts that Senator McCain [...]

I don't need my DNC coverage pre-digested

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

I just can't stand to watch the network and cable coverage of the DNC. I don't care what George Stephanopoulos thinks, really, I don't what Chris Matthews or Diane Sawyer have to say that much. It galls me that George and Chris and Keith and Diane talk right over Tammy Duckworth and John Kerry (!), relentlessly spinning things that, in the act of spinning, they are preventing us from seeing.

I don't need these talking heads to predigest the convention and spit it out for me like s [...]

Hillary's speech

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Yeah, I'm going to disagree with Frances's take--although it was admirably snarky. I think this is the point where it diverged from Frances's characterization:

I want you -- I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me, or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him?
Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids?
Were you in it for that young boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? W [...]

Pelosi's speech

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

After an immediate nod to Hillary Clinton and her supporters (expect every major speech to include such references), Pelosi starts in on a laundry list of Democratic accomplishments. Then onto the call and response portion of the speech: "Barack Obama is right--and John McCain is wrong." I agree with just about everything Pelosi is saying, but this just isn't an interesting speech to me--it's a colla [...]

Obama can't pick his veep too soon

sjack@fas.harvard.edu — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:00:00 +0100

I'm being driven slowly insane by the media coverage of Obama's VP choice. Here is the status of Obama's selection, as well as I can divine it: No one has any information other than that Obama has decided, and that he will announce it within the next few days.

That exhausts the category of things known. But those facts aren't anywhere near enough ground to cover. People are interested, so it's important that when they turn on the television, pundits are yapping about the Veepstakes. Eve [...]