Palin Said What?

If a waitress named "Lucille" says so, it must be true? No, really, I'm skeptical, particularly of the "Sambo" part:

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

The "beat the bitch" line, if said, could have been a reference to the infamous McCain event where he fumbled his answer to the question, "How do we beat the bitch". But "Sambo"? Well, if in fact Plain is inclined to refer to Obama as "Sambo", I doubt that she would have done so on just the one poorly sourced occasion.

Perhaps Florence (Sorry - that was a waitress from "Mel's Place") Lucille did relate what she though she heard. And I'm prepared for the possibility that other incidents will come to light. But right now I'm operating from the position that this is an ill-conceived smear or the misunderstanding of something overheard in a conversation taking place across a room. It's a catching, emotional way to open an essay, but when the opening kick in the gut turns out to be that "convenient" yet that poorly sourced it calls the author's motives (and other assertions) into question.

I Am Not Impressed....

With Andrew Malcolm of the L.A. Times. Regarding Bill Clinton's statement, "I am not a racist," Malcolm says,

Former presidents get a whole lot of leeway in what they say in public. But former President Bill Clinton just violated one of the prime rules of political communications: Never say what you are not.

"I am not a crook," said Richard Nixon, which, of course, raised or confirmed the issue in the minds of millions during the long-running Watergate scandal that forced him from office. And provided a historic sound bite.

Uh oh... I said what I'm not. Does Malcolm think that means that I am, in fact, impressed?

Don't count on it.

Let's apply Malcolm-think to some of McCain's statements:

• McCain's an economist!

• McCain has guaranteed the success of 'the surge'!

• McCain's in the habit of making promises to his country that he does not intend to keep!

• McCain is unappreciative of blogs! (Okay, that may in fact be his actual thought.)

A similar list could be compiled of Obama's "I am nots" - some keep trying with this one - but I picked McCain out of the apparent partisan nature of Malcolm's potshot.

I Know It's Michelle Malkin, But....

After somebody at Fox News decided to run text in front of a news segment featuring Michelle Malkin, describing Michelle Obama as Barack Obama's "baby mama", Malkin came out in defense of the network....

But I do know that it was Michelle Obama herself who referred to Barack as her “baby’s daddy” and has used the phrase “baby daddy” to describe Barack while on the stump this year.

Her sources? A clear reference by Michelle to her husband as her "baby's daddy", and an unsubstantiated comment attacking her in the Topix John McCain forum. I guess she felt compelled to add the latter, given that even she knows how idiotic she would look if her sole argument was that referring to your spouse as your "baby's daddy" and referring to a black woman as a "baby mama" (or a black man as a "baby daddy") are comparable.

But even assuming a "baby daddy" reference exists, applying Malkin-think, is it now fair game to ask in relation to Cindy McCain if the nation is ready to have a First Lady who is a trollop? Would she argue that calling Cindy McCain a trollop or the C-word cannot be considered sexist, because McCain used those words first? Oh, I'm sure she would were McCain a Democrat, but as he's a Republican even Malkin could seek through that sort of specious, brainless Malkin-think, couldn't she?

Malkin's kind of like an intellectually flyweight version of Ann Coulter (a flyweight version of a welterweight). I'd suggest that she keep her mouth shut and simply be thought a fool, but every day she proves that you can make a small fortune playing court jester to the Republican establishment.

Kathleen Parker And The Half-Blood Prince

Incredible.

"A full-blooded American."

That's how 24-year-old Josh Fry of West Virginia described his preference for John McCain over Barack Obama. His feelings aren't racist, he explained. He would just be more comfortable with "someone who is a full-blooded American as president."

It's not about "race", Parker assures us. It's about "blood equity". And apparently Obama's problem is that only one of his parents was white had "blood equity"?

You know, if you're going to take a page from Harry Potter, why not be more direct about it and simply call Obama a "mudblood". Or would that make your meaning too clear?