At a time when our country has never been in more dire straits with an election offering one of the clearest sets of choices ever, thoughtful people need to become more resourceful. Stupidity has so saturated our society that short of violence or subversiveness, ALL strategies must be considered so that we come to our senses soon enough in order to preserve all that we know, love and cherish in our country before it's too late. What a 72-year-old cancer survivor suffering from frequent fits of temper or memory challenges, and an extremely shallow 44-year mother of five, most of whom carry excessively heavy social and emotional baggage will do to this democracy is simply too horrific to consider.

I keep thinking about the Pit Bull joke: I'm a hockey mom. That's a Pit Bull with lipstick. Two months ago, a pit bull jumped over a fence across the street from me and eviscerated a chihuahua. Two years ago, I was walking down a sidewalk in Portland headed for a bus to get to work. A woman and her toddler grandson were standing by a door into a building. Two pit bulls ran up, each grabbing a different arm of the toddler, and began pulling in different directions. The grandmother froze. I lowered my voice to its deepest debt and roared, "Go home" and threw my brown bag of chicken soup at them. The soup got their attention giving me enough time to scoop up the child and push the grandmother into the building before I called the police. A woman from Berlin talking on NPR this morning talked about the Nazis siccing pit bulls on helpless Jews. What an image to choose to characterize herself to the world. I lived in Alaska for 25 years. Alaska is full of eccentrics and mavericks, and yes, Alaskans can have a bizarre sense of humor. And most Alaskans, Republican or Democrat, wouldn't think anything wrong with the joke,or they'd think it was tasteless, and laugh anyway. But I am saddened that the first woman to be nominated to a national presidential ticket would so characterize herself.

My spouse and I decided to have a cocktail during Palin's speech and ended up having two before it was over. Her daughter is the casualty of her religious dogma she would impose on everyone. I heard this morning an article from an Alaskan newspaper read aloud concerning Palin's attempt to censor certain books in the local library. It wasn't clear which passages or which books were objectionable. The librarian made it clear she would not buckle and give in to censorship. It's a fact, not a lie, that the librarian was fired. It is also a fact that Palin didn't retreat from this action until parents showed support for keeping the books in question on the shelf. She lied about getting the oil interests running away from her town and state with tail between their legs. She lied about her support for the bridge to nowhere. But isn't this the norm for the RNC and Republican pundits and most politicians who espouse ad infinitum their "values?" Isn't this their strategy, to say red is white and more often they are caught being the pot calling the kettle bIack. (Projection, I believe the psychologists call it.) 'm sickened that some of my Republican friends will swallow that shallow speech because they think they may have something to shout about now. Sarah Palin.

First they trash the schools. Then they bring religion into politics. Then they steal the election. Then they destroy the Constitution. Then they kill America.

This morning, on ABC, Biden was praising Palin. When asked, he stated he would not go down the "attack" road in the same fashion as Mccain/Palin have. You gotta be kidding me. Hasn't the lesson been learned yet? Isn't this the same tact Kerry took? Kerry who? exactly. We do need to fight. We don't need to be caddy, or patronizing. or rude. or liars, or cheaters.We (the Dems) have the facts. They need to be voiced and heard.

A couple of questions. The Republicans last night seemed determined to underscore Palin’s experience as mayor and governor as “executive experience” and then consistently contrast that with Obama’s work as a community organizer. I accept the premise that serving as a mayor or governor entitles one to claim to executive experience. It is my understanding, and I hardly know Sarah Palin, so I could be wrong, that she is a first term governor and was mayor of her home town in Alaska for 4 years prior to that. So roundup and call it a total of 7 years of political experience. She refers to her experience (prior to becoming a mayor) as a soccer mom. I saw a picture of Palin on the Internet in a very sexy short skirt, pumps and blouse (wow!) apparently the photo was taken while working for tips as a cocktail waitress (I bet she made great tips!). My point is simply that during the time Obama was working to make his community a better place, Palin was pushing drinks and hustling tips. Does anyone know of a full timeline comparing the work she was doing during the same timeframe that Obama’s was working as a community organizer? Did she have any income or experience in other jobs prior to becoming mayor? And the other question I was wondering about, does John McCain have any executive experience?