Tina Fey comes out swinging as new TV character...the VP

I have always liked Saturday Night Live from the early days in the 70s. Sure it's had some ups and downs (Joe Piscopo as the talent????), but it's lasted through out the years. One of the funniest segments has always been the News and not since Chevy Chase have we had someone as witty and creative as Tina Fey. I've really enjoyed her project, 30 Rock, and now she's catapulted back on to the National stage with a character that's a bit of stretch for her because of how bitchy and snarky she is while smiling smugly. Tina takes on her new role as Sarah Palin, an upstart political ploy and placation to women across the country, with sass and spunk to compensate for the hypocrisy of inexperience and absence of positions. She starts--

What?

What do you mean that's not Tina Fey? Is it Julia Louis-Dreyfus?

What?!?!?!?

THIS IS REAL????

Okay, someone explain who's smoking crack over at the RNC. Is Karl Rove pinching Rush Limbaugh's oxycontin???


In what can only be described as a sadomasochistic fever dream, the Republicans have selected Palin as their VP and on Wednesday night she, and a host of others, gave their junior high "in crowd" speeches. Normally, I'm very supportive of different political idealogies but after listening to the Molly Ringwald wannabes on Wednesday, the kid gloves are off.

Now the warm up act was Rudy "How Many Times Can I Invoke 9-11 in a sentence" Guiliani. With all the vim and vigor of the drunk uncle at the family reunion, Rudy gave his biting jabs with such stellar points as Barack has never run a city, never run a state, never run a business...apparently someone forgot to tell him that neither had McCain, his own nominee...

"Hello Pot? Yeah, this is the Kettle. You're black."



Oh and speaking of Black, you know that the world has spun off its axis when the RNC plays the Race card: "We began as a party dedicated to freeing people from slavery ... And we are still the party that is willing to fight for freedom at home and around the world. We are the party that wants to expand individual freedom and economic freedom ..."

Ah yes, the Party of Lincoln...unnnntil they dropkicked him to the curb in the middle of the Civil War and he formed his own party to get (successfully) re-elected in 1864 (National Union Party). A lot can change in 154 years... we no longer have Slavery, women have the right to vote, television and the Republican party has "flip flopped" so hard on its founding principles and where it came from you'd think Michael Jackson was the head of the RNC...but I digress.

Leaving aside that they must be working under a different definition of "freedom", "at home" and "around the world", they decided to pull Tina Fe- I'm sorry, Sarah Palin, out of a magic hat as a means of showing they're liberated and open...apparently no one was looking at the demographics and membership at the convention this week. I have seen a lack of diversity that great since the Idaho Grand Wizard Mayonnaise Festival and Grammar Jamboree, featuring Michael Bolton and Kenny G...but again, I digress.

People wonder what the draw and appeal is about Palin, and I think it's revealed in her speech...she is, in fact, a human talking point. She can invoke 9-11 and speak to the party's commitment to the war because her son and nephew are shipping out for Iraq (someone remind me when the tour of service was up for the Bush Twins...). She can laud her executive experience as mayor of a town that's just double the population of my alma mater, Morehouse College...in fact, the University of MN has about 7 times as many students as the population of Wasilla...does that mean Bob Bruinicks is more qualified to be the VP?

And keeping the executive experience, for the past 20 months she's been governor of the 47th most populated state...that's out of 50. For those of you keeping score on the home game, that's about 7% of the state of New Jersey or half the Bronx--just to put it in perspective. Of course, if she could actually handle the Bronx, I might have a little more respect for her...of course that would require her to actually have seen a brown person, and since Minnesota at ten times the population has more brown people, I'm thinking you can cross that off the list.

But the greatest pandering comes to special needs and family values crowds. Given that she and her sister both have special needs children, I have no doubt that she cares about the issues of special needs children...as long as you're just talking about her family. After watching the hypocrisy of the RNC being anti GLBT rights...except when it comes to Cheney's daughter, pro-abstinence, except when it comes to Palin's daughter, anti-drug, except when it comes to Rush Limbaugh, and pro-military...until it comes to the Bush Family and others, I'm pretty sure that while she did pledge that if they were elected, people would have a friend and advocate in the White House...she just didn't say it would be her.

But, I think the nicest part was the televised dump on the backbone of nonprofit and community organizations...the organizer. Perhaps it's because she hasn't had to work her way up or been in a true urban setting, she doesn't understand how challenging being a community organizer is and what one has to do. Hell, just being Black in America is a challenge, job, struggle and joy all in one feel swoop, add in real urban experience and there isn't any comparison...it's like the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.

Of course I did get a chuckle out of her criticizing Barack for scenery while she stood in front of a 30ft video screen showing scenery from around the country...I guess they don't get green screen in Alaska.

Now, it's nice that McCain got himself a cheerleader/librarian from Showtime After Hours, but this is a serious time and we need real commitment and real leadershp. and Barack fits the bill.