That Will Teach Him To Be Folksy

"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig."

How dare Senator Obama make such a mean and sexist comment about Governor Palin.

What? You don't see Palin's name in there anywhere? Why, it's clear as day! He uses the "lipstick," the same word she used as a punchline in her convention speech. She owns the word now. From now until November, anytime someone uses the word lipstick, they're clearly talking about Sarah Palin (and I think she gets a nickle for each use, too). At least, that's what the Republican Party seems to be suggesting.

Sigh. Whatever happened to the John McCain I was happy to vote for in the 2000 primaries? The one who seemed like a decent and reasonable guy. The one who wasn't afraid of speaking unpopular truths. One who fought against the corrupt politics that we've all gotten tired of. The one who's 2000 campaign was tanked due to a vile smear campaign. I guess he's taken an "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy. He's been adjusting his positions in a crassly political way in the years since 2000 trying to get this year's nominations, still, when it became obvious that he would win the Republican nomination this year, I had hopes that we might have a higher level of discourse this year. Maybe, just maybe, the candidates would debate policy rather resort to this old-school childishness.

Silly me.