Tuesday, September 30, 2008

i'm not the only one

i just can't stop myself from venting about palin. her candidacy has been the most frustrating thing for me in politics... ever. i feel conflicted (i want a woman to succeed, but not this woman) and disappointed (her inadequacy is not only making women look bad, it is making the discussion more sexist and more paternalistic) all the time. and some republicans actually agree with me (or i should probably say that i agree with them). kathleen parker says,
Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted. (from the National Review Online)
i can hardly wait for the debate on thursday although, no matter the outcome, i doubt it will make me feel better.

oh, and for anyone who missed it, here is the second episode of tina fey as sarah palin. try to figure out which lines are lifted verbatim from the real interview with katie couric (i believe there are about 30 seconds, altogether).

Friday, September 26, 2008

bread and butter

i know the visitors to our blog come for updates and, especially, for photos of bryn and not for my shallow one-sided political commentary. so, here i go, back to our bread and butter. bryn has been consistently crawling on hands and knees for about two weeks now, as evidenced by some of our videos. she is also now quite adept at standing and holding on with only one hand, leaving the other hand free for banging on stuff or grabbing things that are off limits. some of her favorites include cat food, magazines and various types of cords.

bryn is obsessed with crawling and exploring, so much so that she hardly even plays with any of her toys (although she does develop fleeting attachments to non-toy objects... like whisks and brushes). diaper changes have also become much more difficult, and making sure that bryn doesn't ingest the wrong thing requires *constant* vigilance (the other day she almost ate one of truman's broken toenails... ewwww). and, while she has yet to try any real walking, she has figured out the walker and has a great time zooming around the kitchen (not while we're eating dinner though, of course).

what else... bryn has a new tooth, top front, and she has figured out how to make noise by clacking/grinding her teeth together. i'm transitioning bryn into the next size for clothing (6-12 or 9-12 months), so all her pants are either too short or too long. she did get to wear an awesome new onesie for adam's birthday though:



it says i (heart) dad, for those of you who don't read chinese. thanks to teresa and scott for that outfit! we're also contemplating shoes for fall/winter and for walking. some people tell us that shoes are essential for proper walking - did you other parents out there put your infants in shoes?

Monday, September 15, 2008

amateur

that's my current assessment of sarah palin. she might be intelligent (although i'm not totally convinced), and she may be an awesome multi-tasker. but in no way do i find her to be at all ready to lead this country. and it's not the lack of experience per se, it's the ignorance. she seems to know about as much about foreign policy and current events as i do, which is not very much at all. 

i'm happiest with this assessment of her because, for now (although i'm not sure for how long), i can still believe that she is an exceptionally intelligent and capable person who was just put into a position that she wasn't quite ready for yet. i can put aside our ideological differences (not enough to vote for her) and want her to succeed for the (metaphysical, at least) benefit of girls everywhere. what i cannot stomach is the nomination of a woman who is under-qualified when there are plenty of qualified women around (e.g., Harriet Miers, the Bush nominee for the Supreme Court that preceded Alito). it's like setting up a straw (wo)man just so it can be torn down and proven inadequate yet again.

and, to chime in with others (for example, dowd and warner, usually not my favs, and i still don't agree wholeheartedly, but we're definitely on the same page), the sexism we're seeing these days is truly outstanding. republicans and conservatives now get to champion gender equality and accuse the "liberal media" of sexism. i would have been ok with strange bedfellows if it meant that we could really make some inroads for women, but these accusations of sexism are thrown about every time sarah palin gets examined critically. so the new gender equity "champions" are saying that palin shouldn't be, and making sure that she isn't, held to the same standards as men. which, of course, begs the question of what equality actually means. and, for their part, the "liberal media" is doing a terrible job too - for all the times that you ignored complaints from conservatives, now you're backing off palin for fear of appearing sexist? all the critiques you were happy to print about hillary clinton, and not even a tiny fraction of that is relevant for palin?

finally, here is a great clip from SNL, although i'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.