Words fail me 
nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/ … en/656281/
Vic:
Your single most valuable post ever. I have been laughing at this for days, and have been answering my phone “I can see Russia from my house!” Scary, though, how close the parody is to the truth. If they win (they won’t), I apologize on behalf of thinking Americans to my fellow Scrivernerers abroad.
I could go on (in fact, could copy/paste my letter to the NY Times), but I want to let the SNL skit sink in before I declare the end of the world.
Oh, man! I’m still laughing at that skit! But if McCain/Palin win, I don’t think I can apologize for my unthinking fellow Americans. 
I’d rather skip it, and move to Canada.
Jaqui:
Canada, while a lovely country, is not nearly far enough away in that eventuality. I’m thinking Amsterdam.
OK guys, don’t give up the faith.
If greedy capitalists keep on failing, the USA will be in a New Deal mood.
This morning, Biden was giving the bankers hell and calling for public works projects.
Shades of 1932…
BTW, do you know about Hulu? Outstanding streaming quality, great place to catch SNL skits, TV shows, and films, all free. See hulu.com/
I’ve got to know Tina Fey only this summer when I visited a friend of mine in England who had the first two seasons of “30Rock” on DVD. We had some nice evenings looking all of them in five days. It’s great. Do anyone know if there will be a third season?
And who is the lady in the role of Hillary Clinton?
juh
That skit was hilarious. Let it not be said, however, that those that do not vote for McCain but for Obama instead are the thinking Americans.
They are both atrocious.
I will not apologize for my fellow Americans for voting either one into office. Nor for the fact that these two zero’s are our choices. Can we have Clinton/Dole back? Bush Kerry/Dole? Nixon/McGovern?
Johnson/Goldwater? That’s one I’d like us to do over. Obama and Johnson have little difference between them (except that Johnson did more than write two autobiographies before accomplishing jack). Goldwater (and any trace of him in the party) is dead and now we have Johnson vs. Bush (-1).
BARF!!!
Before we start trying to determine which noters are “thinking” we need to remember that politics and religion have one very important similarity. That is the fact that MOST participants NEVER think about why they choose one side or the other. This holds true of both US parties.
Now I think someone else stated that neither candidate is really good. I know that is blasphemy to all the Obama supporters, but a quick review of policy and rhetoric show a very immature view. He is simply not able to do 90% of what he claims he will accomplish. This is not knew, but the impact of missing these unattainable goals will be devastating to this country.
McCain is an a**. Did he just wake up yesterday and realize that he needs to at least pretend to know what is really going on? His “maverick” position has been compromised by his actions and speeches supporting the “establishment”. Why does he continue to even try to separate himself this way?
This leaves “thinking” Americans with the regrettable choice of picking between two extremely bad choices. Do we choose the “lesser of evils” or use some other criteria or just walk into the booth with a yard stick so it is easier to vote party line ?[size=75]if you don’t understand that one I can explain as it may be southern.[/size] As I see it the fan and “stuff” are set on a unalterable collision course and the only choice we have is what color the ensuing “stuff spray” will be.
Let’s not even start on what the “unthinking” American will do to this whole mess.
At the end of the day we are screwed. The idea of immigrating out of the US is becoming more and more attractive.
I won’t take time arguing that Obama is the better choice. McCain, demonstrably unfit and unworthy, is de facto the worse choice.
Our underlying problem – one of them, anyway – is nicely summed up by Roger Schrank, in a post at Edge. <http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/haidt08/haidt08_index.html>
Let me again recommend the promo for the other Palin.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1y9s73Nos>
ps
While I may or may not agree with you.I see this much like having to choose between asphyxiation or cyanide. Which is the better choice?
Again, my point is the NEITHER is actually suited to the job. The last 2 weeks are the tip of the iceberg. It is just a matter of how fast things gets worse, not if they get worse.
In other words [size=125]the sky is falling![/size]
Well…
I’m not going to apologize for my country to anybody. I am also not going to apologize for any of the good people, of either party (and I believe they are–all of them–good people) who are running for president and vice president of the United States.
As for me and my vote, I cast my ballot for Hillary last spring and thoroughly enjoyed doing it. In November, I’m voting for Sarah. I expect to get a kick out of that, too. If that bothers anybody, then they can just be bothered. I’m voting the straight female ticket.
With all due respect for my fellow Scriveners, I really don’t care for the view that both of these candidates are villains or worthless. I grew up in a political family in the Midwest. People who give themselves to public service are NOT all crooks. Many work long hours, are honest, don’t abuse power, and are selfless. The reason why the public dumps on them? Because somewhere along the way their basement floods or they can’t get a parking ticket fixed. The soft underbelly of democracy is that it allows voters to be selfish, arrogant, stupid, and then blame the government for reflecting those traits.
Anyway, I’m rooting strong for Obama because he was a professor, is an excellent writer (read his first book, especially, the memoir), and one of the most accomplished orators of our day. I don’t give a damn if his promises are too large or he’ll never achieve what he claims. No one ever does. The playbook goes out the window as soon as a president takes office, and the rest of the time he reacts to events. So I want someone who can inspire, can improvise, can remain cool, and who genuinely wants to counsel with others and bridge differences. Again and again, Obama has demonstrated that he has those qualities of personality and character. And Joe Biden is a savvy counselor and legislator who will help, big time. The other side? A ridiculous joke, and it’s sad to see McCain going along with the rabid right, whom he always vigorously resisted. End of my two scents.
I take it back. I will concede that there are thinking people who will, after much thought, vote the McCain/Palin ticket.
I will concede that there are a lot of unthinking Americans who will vote for Obama/Biden, and when I say that, it’s because there will be people who will vote for them for ridiculous reasons rather than for their ideas and their stands on substantive issues.
It’s the fact that a huge number of my compatriots will cast their votes for purely ridiculous reasons that scares me! The Republican Party has been profiting from this propensity for decades (Nixon said that Americans were a bunch of stupid sheep, and pandered to that characteristic in his '72 campaign.), and Palin’s selection strikes me as an attempt to pander to these single-issue voters. (Even one top GOP adviser called Palin’s nomination “cynical.”) There will be people who will vote against their own economic well-being to vote for McCain because Palin’s anti-abortion. There will be people who will vote for McCain because they wrongly believe Obama’s a Muslim (and the fact that being called a Muslim in this country is, or is tantamount to, defamatory could be the topic of a whole new thread ). There will be people who vote McCain because Obama’s black. There will be people who vote McCain because they will believe his TV ads, which have been shown in the press to be largely inaccurate or even downright false. The list goes on.
So, there will be thinking Americans who will vote for McCain. But when McCain’s party does a better job than the Democrats at feeding the the unthinking with the irrational and the untrue, it’s going to be a good bet that a whole lot of unthinking Americans vote for McCain.
I came up with – and typed most of, because this all makes me crazy – a long rant about the intellectual compromises one must make in order to vote for McCain/Palin. The flat out contradictions one must either ignore or… Anyway. I deleted it, because long rants are long and ranty, and a general turn off. But I do want to say this:
If you are an Obama supporter and you live in the U.S., please vote. If you are not yet registered, please do so. It’s getting close to the registration deadline in some states, and your vote is important.
I’d like to be a good, fair-minded citizen and tell the McCain supporters to vote as well, as that kind of participation makes for a healthy society and all that. But, frankly, I hope you stay home that day. Don’t even go out of the house. Take the day off, treat yourself to a nice bottle of wine and a good DVD box set. Northern Exposure! That was a good show, and I bet a lot of people haven’t seen it. And the characters on the show are in Alaska, and the actors say lines written for them by others, which has a Sarah Palin kind of vibe to it.
Doesnt it just, Sean, doesnt it just! 
Take care
vic