The shocking Sarah Palin turkey story

The folks over at Huffington Post are shocked, shocked I tell you, that Sarah Palin would be interviewed while turkeys are slaughtered in the background.

Here is the story:

Some videos you just have to see to believe. On Thursday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin appeared in Wasilla in order to pardon a local turkey in anticipation of Thanksgiving. This proved to be a slightly absurd but ultimately unremarkable event. But what came next was positively surreal. After the pardon Palin proceeded to do an interview with a local TV station while the turkeys were being SLAUGHTERED in the background!!

Seemingly oblivious to the gruesomeness going on over her shoulder, she carries on talking for over three minutes. Watch the video below to see for yourself. Be warned, it's kind of gruesome.

They just can't believe it. It is "positively surreal". Huffington even has to put "slaughtered" in all caps. They have to use two exclamation points to make their point. It is "gruesome." OK, watch if for yourself.

I am really not grossed out. I am not shocked.

I did not grow up on a farm, but we had a couple acres and raised chickens and pigs. I never witnessed the slaughter of the pigs, but saw the dead carcasses after they had been killed and cleaned. I have eaten the sausage and bacon and ham of the pigs I fed every morning and enjoyed it. I have caught chickens and cut their heads off for my mom to cook for dinner. My classmates were farm kids and raised calves for their 4-H project. They fed them and groomed them and showed them at the county fair where they were sold at action to become meat.

I never went hunting myself; my dad was not a hunter. But, I grew up with people who regularly went hunting. The seasons of the year were rabbit season, and deer season, and dove season.

I think that Sarah Palin can give an interview in front of a man going about the business of killing turkeys and think nothing about it, is an indication of a cultural divide. I doubt people in Alaska think it is that unusual that animals are killed for food. It is probably something they take for granted. I doubt Sarah Palin has been socialized to be squeamish about it or be sensitive to the squeamishness of others. The fact that animals are killed for food is not something so strange for her or for many of us who grew up in rural areas. I know that fewer and fewer people have a connection to the food they eat, but guess what: that meat in the supermarket wrapped in cellophane and Styrofoam was once an animal. Shocking to discover, I know. I have known for a long time were meat comes from.

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Are the Good Times Really Over for Good

I wish it was Morning in America, but I keep wonderning if The Good Times are Really Over for Good. If seeing the film I.O.U.S.A doesn't depress you, then here is a theme song to go along with the movie. This ought to do it. If you would like to Just Stay Here and Drink, open a beer and sing along.

I wish a buck was still silver.
It was back when the country was strong.
Back before Elvis; before the Vietnam war came along.
Before The Beatles and "Yesterday",
When a man could still work, and still would.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell?
With no kind of chance for the Flag or the Liberty bell.
Wish a Ford and a Chevy,
Could still last ten years, like they should.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

I wish coke was still cola,
And a joint was a bad place to be.
And it was back before Nixon lied to us all on TV.
Before microwave ovens,
When a girl could still cook and still would.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Are we rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell?
With no kind of chance for the Flag or the Liberty bell.
Wish a Ford and a Chevy,
Could still last ten years, like they should.
Is the best of the free life behind us now?
Are the good times really over for good?

Stop rolling down hill like a snowball headed for hell.
Stand up for the Flag and let's all ring the Liberty bell.
Let's make a Ford and a Chevy,
Stil last ten years, like they should.
The best of the free life is still yet to come,
The good times ain't over for good.

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I.O.U.S.A., One Nation, Under Stress, In Debt.

Last night I attended a special screening of a documentary film called I.O.U.S.A. The documentary was produced and directed by the award-winning team of Christine O'Malley and Patrick Creadon. Their most famous documentary is Wordplay which was a hit at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It was about the editor of the New York Times crossword puzzle and was the second-highest gossing documentary of 2006 and won several awards.

The screening of I.O.U.S.A. was presented locally by Nashville Public Television and Nashville Public Library as part of the Independent Television Community Cinema. Prior to the screening was a wine and snack reception and following the showing was a group discussion led by a panel of prominent Nashvillians.

Prior to the event, I enjoyed pleasant chic-chat with interesting people along with the wine and cheese and after the showing, enjoyed the lively discussion.

This documentary examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. People interviewed in the film include Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul O'Neill, Robert Rubin, and Paul Volcker. I already knew some of what the film presented but did not know just how gloomy of a situation we face. With charts and grafts and historical context, this film put the financial problem of the US’s debt in perspective.

The debt of United States is 8.7 Trillion dollars or about 64% of our 13.5 trillion dollar GDP. The level of debt to GDP however is not the real problem, disturbing though it may be. The real problem is the unfunded obligations for social security and Medicare, which amount to $53 trillion and getting greater all the time. Under the Bush Administration the problem was made much worse due to the passage of the Medicare drug benefit. With budget deficits and recent financial bailouts we are digging a deeper hole daily.

In addition to this enormous debt obligation of the United States, we have a huge trade deficit. Much of America’s debt, unlike in the past when American debt was held by Americans, is held by foreign nations. Also, individual American households are collectively debtors. For most of our history, American households saved money; now, Americans are deeply in debt with more and more people living beyond their means.

This film paints a disturbing picture. At the conclusion of the film you are urged to call your congressman and tell them to “do something.” If I have a criticism of the film, it is that it does not tell you what to tell your congressman to do. I think the film is very good at defining the problems but is short on providing solutions. There are no easy answers. Many politicians call for cutting waste and ending earmarks or ending the war in Iraq. If we did all of this, it would only make a very small dent in the problem. It would only slightly slow the rate at which we are digging a deeper hole; it would not stop the slide into deeper and deeper debt. Cutting current spending will not get us out of this hole.

I am not sure anyone knows what the solution may be. Raising taxes to balance the budget may be counterproductive and actually result in a slowing economy and increase the debt and American would not toleration a repudiation of the benefits promised retiring Americans. With the first of the baby boomers ready to retire starting next year, we face a severe crisis. If we inflate the money supply to meet our obligations, that will also have dire consequences.

If this film event comes to your city, I urge you to go see it. The bad news goes down easier with cheese and wine and in the company of interesting people. Below is a link to a 30-minute version of the film: I.O.U.S.A.

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Bailout like a bad rerun from 1970s

by Ben Cunningham, The Tennessean, November 12, 2008

Fool me twice, shame on me. In 1979, U.S. taxpayers saved Chrysler management from many years of stunningly bad judgment. (link)

Comment

This is a very good article by Ben Cunningham that was published in the Tennessean last Wednesday. Ben is a citizen activist who was the leader a couple years ago of the movement that stopped Tennessee from adopting a state income tax. I belong to an informal organization along with Ben called Right of Center Bloggers. From time to time the group meets to hear from guest speakers and to share ideas. Ben's blog is Taxing Tennessee.

In this insightful article, Ben argues that we should not prop up mediocrity by bailing out the auto industry. Obviously, I agree.

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Socialism? It is already here.

In his column today, “Socialism? It is already here”, George Will makes the point that spreading the wealth is nothing new. That is what any government action does that takes money from some people and gives it to others.

George Will argues, “The supreme law of the land is the principle of concentrated benefits and dispersed costs.” He gives the example of the protectionism provided the sugar industry. “Sugar import quotas cost the American people approximately $2 billion a year,” writes Will, “ but that sum is siphoned from 300 million consumers in small, hidden increments that are not noticed. The few thousand sugar producers on whom billions are thereby conferred do notice and are grateful to the government that bilks the many for the enrichment of the few.”

It struck me as phony that the Obama’s remark about spreading the wealth was treated as if it was a major revelation revealing Obama’s socialist, if not Marxist, ideology. In my post of November 7, “If Obama is a Socialist…So was Ronald Reagan” I made a point similar to what Will makes in his article today. Spreading the wealth is not new.

Will is critical of the conservative’s attempt to pin the socialist label on Omaba. “Hyperbole is not harmless; careless language bewitches the speaker's intelligence.” And he says, “if conservatives call all such spreading by government ‘socialism’, that becomes a classification that no longer classifies: It includes almost everything, including the refundable tax credit on which McCain's health-care plan depended.”

I think Will is right.

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Bush to Declare Martial Law

Generally reading more conservative Blogs and chat groups than liberal blogs and groups, I have tended to think we on the right had a lot of nuts among us. However, in the last couple days I have been exploring the left side of the blogosphere and talk about nuts; the left may have more of the Tinfoil Hat Crowd than we do.

You would think the left would be joyous that they have won the recent election, and most lefties are; however, there is this contingency that really can’t enjoy their victory because they believe that there will be a right wing coup between now and inauguration day. They are really worried about it. They are downright gloomy. Many of them thought it would happen before the election, but now that Bush-Cheney allowed the election to occur, they think it will happen between now and inauguration day.

Type into Goggle “Bush to declare martial law” and you get 257,000 hits! There are whole websites devoted to the topic. Troops are coming home from Iraq. Good news? Nope! They are being brought home to take part in the coup.

Many think that Bush will start a war with Iran and use the unrest that would follow as an excuse to declare marshal law and prevent Obama from taking office. Others think that the excuse will be tied to the financial crisis.

Remember Naomi Wolf? She was the “third wave” feminist who a few years back gained notoriety for promoting the view that a woman’s desire to lose weight and look attractive was evidence of oppression. She is best known perhaps as the consultant to Al Gore who was paid a salary of thousands of dollars a month to tell Al how to appeal to women voters and which tie to wear. Well, Wolf is a big proponent of this view that a coup is imminent. Another person who has been warning of a coming coup is Ralph Nader. Lou Dobbs is also helping spread this fear as are web sites such as Daily Kos and the popular chat group Secular Humanist. I am not going to post a bunch of links or Youtube videos but if you doubt me, do the goggle search for yourself.

The Internet is a wonderful thing, but it does allow the nuts to get together. Those who read nothing but postings from other nuts can feel that they are the only one who possess the truth and know what is really going on. They can feel empowered, being part of what they perceive as a large movement. It can make them think that their nuttiness is normal.

Aware of all the crazies who believed that 9-11 was an inside job, I guess nothing should surprise me. It is disturbing, however, to think that so many people really expect a military coup in America. They don't just think it is possible, they expect it. There is one thing that is reassuring about this: I was concerned about the right-wingers who are stockpiling weapons in anticipation of Obama taking office, fearful that an Obama Presidency would spell the end of a free America and a revolution may be necessary. I was beginning to think the Republican party attracted a lot of nuts and maybe we were the party of stupid people. It is comforting to know that there are just as many, and maybe more, nuts on the other side.

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Republicans win in Tennessee

While Republicans took a beating all across the nation and we lost the Presidency and both houses of Congress, in Tennessee, Republicans won big taking control of both houses of the State Legislature. The Republican win was unexpected. It appears that McCain’s big win in Tennessee helped Republicans running for State House and Senate seats. Primarily in rural areas of the state, Republicans defeated Democrats and picked up seats.

I am delighted my party won. The Republican win probably weakens the Governor’s push to expand education down to the pre-pre-pre-Kindergarten level and means more emphasis on K-12 education. It probably means we are safe from a state income tax for a while. It may mean those Democrats who got jobs and contracts due to party affiliation may loose their jobs and contracts and they will be given to deserving Republicans. It means we will get more buildings, bridges, and roads named after Republicans rather than Democrats. This win will help Republican lawyers. Those who seek favor from the government will fire the lobbyist with Democratic connections and hire lobbyist with Republican connections. We will probably get some meaningless symbolic legislation passed that addresses abortion and gun ownership.

I am concerned, however about one issue that is important to me. With the election of these conservative, religious, rural legislators, does this mean I can forget about being able to buy wine in the grocery store?

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