It's gotten to the point where the sight of Sarah Palin makes me feel ill.

>her gift of the glittering generality

I keep hearing this, and I just don't get it. Same as I didn't get it when people were saying it about Bush.

A lot of human communication is based on stuff other pure content. Body language, tone intonation, style, key words - signals. And if you ignore actual content she comes across very well. Imagine she was talking about a subject you know almost nothing about. She speaks decisively, like a tough Mom who loves her kids but won't a seconds nonsense from them. Until she was caught on tape speaking gibberish, she sounded bright besides. (She may combine ignorance with a bad memory and poor skills in covering these up, but still be intelligent in certain ways.) Also the resemblance to Tina Fey is definitely not a negative, and she also has general appeal to anyone with a hot-chicks-with-glasses fetish. (Who me?).

I will say that in a less extreme way, people who supported Obama with illusions that he is some sort of lefty were guilty of the same sort of decision making. I supported him as a lesser evil, without illusions. But when people are shocked, shocked at some of his choices, it is because they judged him by style and keywords and signals rather than by the actual content of his proposals and speeches. And yea, I understand the as person the differes are huge. Obama is brilliant, with decades on knowledge. Whatever her native intelligence, Palin is in practice a dumbass. But what they have in common is that lot of supporters of both judged by all sorts of dog-whistles and signals over content. That applies I think to all the candidates - certainly to Clinton.

My parents: [link]

Your dad's a handsome sonofabitch, and your mom looks a whole lot like Elizabeth Moss on Mad Men.

Timelies all!

Have a bit of a headache. Am hoping the combination of food, caffeine and Tylenol will make it go away.

Imagine she was talking about a subject you know almost nothing about. She speaks decisively, like a tough Mom who loves her kids but won't a seconds nonsense from them.

huh. We must be listening to different things. Of course I'm biased but she sounds hesitant and incoherent to me.

Of course I'm biased but she sounds hesitant and incoherent to me.

In interviews or even in response to casual quetions, yeah, but given a script...

Oy, I still can't believe this picture. [link]

Loving everyone else's pictures. I should scan some of my mom.

Okay, I'm jumping in with family pictures:

My parents' wedding day (Mom was 23, Dad was 27)

Our family, around 1972 (shield your eyes!)

Mom and Dad, now-ish (at the time of the picture, Mom was 60 and Dad was 64 )

In which my young grandparents HORRIFY me

Thank goodness for people's pictures, because I'm about to punch someone in the head, here. Someone outside my job is trying to set up a meeting with several other people. I know this is difficult. But when I tell her that our people are available on Monday afternoon, why are you going to send a meeting request for 10:30 am??? That is not afternoon!!

Oh, my dad has some old family pics posted! Real old

here's my grandfather's family

[link]

My grandfather is in the suit on the far right. I don't know when it was taken but his mom died when he was about 13 so probably a year or so before that (so around 1925).