Ebert Gives A Thumbs Down To McCain

We all know Roger Ebert for his famous movie reviews, but he recently reviewed John McCain's debate performance and found him lacking. Man--Ebert must have his own riot corner.... Well said Ebert! Two Thumbs Up!

Guess who's not coming to dinner - by Roger Ebert

I do not like you, John McCain. My feeling has nothing to do with issues. It has to do with common courtesy. During the debate, you refused to look Barack Obama in the eye. Indeed, you refused to look at him at all. Even when the two of you shook hands at the start, you used your eyes only to locate his hand, and then gazed past him as you shook it.

Obama is my guy. If you are rude to him, you are rude to me. If you came to dinner at my house and refused to look at or speak with one of my guests, that would be bad manners and I would be offended. Same thing if I went to your house. During the debate, you were America's guest.
What was your problem? Do you hold this man in such contempt that you cannot bear to gaze upon him? Will you not even speak to him directly?

Do you think he doesn't have the right to be running for President? Were you angry because after you said you wouldn't attend the debate, he said a President should be able to concern himself with two things at the same time? He was right. The proof is, you were there. Were you angry with him because he called your bluff?

During the debate, Jim Lehrer repeatedly called upon both candidates to speak directly to each other. Obama looked at you. He addressed you as "John," which as a fellow senator is his privilege. His body language was open. You stared straight ahead, or at Lehrer, or into space. Your jaw was clinched. You had a tight little smile, or a grimace, or a little shake of your head.
I had to do two things at once while watching the debate. I had to listen to what was being said. And I had to process your rigid and contemptuous behavior. If you were at a wedding and the father of the groom refused to look at or speak to the bride, how would that make you feel? Especially if you were the father of the bride?

You made a TV commercial showing the moments Obama agreed with you. Everybody knows he did. Did his agreement show honesty, or weakness?

It is significant that you said it proved he was not ready to lead.
What is the better leadership quality: (1) Willingness to listen to your opponent, and keep an open mind? (2) Rigidly ignoring him? Which of the two of you better demonstrated the bipartisan spirit you say you represent? Was there anything he said that you agreed with? Could you have brought yourself to say so?

I'm not the only one who noticed your odd, hostile behavior. Just about everybody did. I'm sure many of your supporters must have sensed the tension. Before the debate, pundits were wondering if you might explode in a display of your famous temper. I think we saw that happen, all right, but it was an implosion. I have instructed my wife to exclude you from any future dinner parties.

The Riot Corner

We're starting a new segment on CITC. I was having lunch with a friend and we were discussing the election; and my friend said he didn't know what he would do if Barack Obama lost in November. After some thought, I said jokingly, "I would riot in the streets." That lone silly comment gave me the idea to start a segment where we can just rant on about whatever issue is plaguing us on a given day. It's called The Riot Corner. Take a seat.

My first rant is on GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. As a thinking, educated woman, I find her nomination to be an insult to the American people. She clearly lacks substantive knowledge of the domestic and foreign issues facing us today. First Lady Laura Bush said that Palin did not have any foreign policy experience, but she is a "quick study." Campbell Brown called on the McCain campaign to free Sarah Palin--since it is shielding her completely from questions from reporters and not allowing her to do press conferences. And in a recent Palin interview with Katie Couric, the following exchange was had:

Couric: “But [McCain's] been in Congress for 26 years. He's been chairman of the powerful Commerce Committee. And he has almost always sided with less regulation -- not more.”

Palin: “He's also known as a maverick though. Taking shots from his own party, and certainly taking shots from the other party. …”

Couric: “I'm just going to ask one more time, not to belabor the point -- specific example in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.”

Palin: “I'll try to find you some, and I'll bring them to you (she actually said "bring 'em to ya").”

Are you friggin' kidding me? I don't want someone leading me who is a "quick study." I want someone who knows what the h*ll she is doing! Reading the transcript cannot even show how inept she was at answering the question. She can't name one example of her running mate's deregulation efforts? She can't give one example of John McCain taking it to Wall Street?! Now we know for certain why the campaign has been shielding Palin from the press--she is a female George Bush! I'm HORRIFIED that she is a serious contender and I pray that the polls are right and the economic downturn is pushing people towards a change in Washington--because frankly, this beauty pageant runner up, mooseburger eating, weather girl reporting, 5 college attending, gun-toting nitwit cannot lead me out of a paperbag.

I am TravelDiva and I approved this message.

Feel free to riot on this or any other topic that strikes your fancy. LOL.

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The Bailout

So, Congress is trying to decide whether we should pay a trillion dollars to bail out Wall Street and Main Street. I am not an economics scholar by any stretch of the imagination. But I am seriously conflicted. If this is absolutely necessary, then okay, let's do it. But I am really not happy about bailing out greedy companies, investors, and people who made poor choices and bought houses they can't afford. I'm all for "it takes a village," but this is ri-damn-diculous if you ask me. Why should I be on the hook for the rest of my natural life? I've got my own debt to contend with. Why should I be burdened with the rest of America's debt? And must action be taken now? I'm all for a real solution, but something that has just been kicked around for a few days seems hasty to me.





What say you?

P.S. Don't get me started on a certain Fox news analyst who says that giving loans to minorities and other risky persons was the root of the downfall. Joker.

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Joker of the Week Nods

OH MY. Congrats to Sarah Palin for a first in CITC history. She was named the Joker of the Week two weeks in a row! Not only that, but she has garnered more votes than any other nominee in CITC history. Let's put that in perspective--former nominees include George Bush, Bill O'Reilly, Larry Craig, Naomi Campbell, Kanye West, Diddy, murderers, rapists, racists, sexists, a rapper who tried to sneak a cake file into Rikers' Island to visit his girl--some real losers. But Sarah "moose-huntin' hockey mom" Palin beat them all. This is clearly one contest that she will not come in second. I'm tempted to nominate her again because when pitched a softball question to outline her foreign policy credentials at a recent town hall meeting--she couldn't name one!! She just said she'd be ready by January. (insert blank stare).

I won't nominate her, but I've got some other whoppers this week for you to choose from. Happy voting!

• Sen. John McCain - For saying that the "fundamentals" of the American economy are strong on a day when the stock market dropped five million points, and then having the audacity to say that the "fundamentals" of the economy are the American people. Yeah, right John; For having a surrogate spokesman for his campaign say that neither McCain or Sarah Palin have the skill set to run a company (LOL); AND for not knowing who the prime minister of Spain is, saying Spain (A NATO ALLY) is an adversary, and he won't meet with Spain basically if they don't agree with us. His attitude and ignorance are making headlines across the world--as Spain is shocked to find out that it is an enemy of the U.S. Spain is now an adversary??! Who knew? Why because Zapatero pulled Spanish troops out of Iraq when he took office? This is truly unbelievable. McCain's ignorance/belligerence is ridiculous given that foreign policy is supposed to be his area of expertise...Even the White House issued a statement saying that Spain is our friend.

• Kanye West - I could not let his revenge of the nerd style attack on the paparazzi at the airport go unnoticed. Easy Yeezy.

• Dr. Phil (courtesy of Lily Lily) - Apparently, Dr. Phil was on Larry King live and was asked to discuss the psyche of the female voter during this election. During that interview, Dr. Phil said he was undecided. First--who the heck cares what he thinks? Shouldn't he be off stalking Britney Spears or some other troubled starlet? Second, he's undecided? WHAT? Umm, unless you have been under a rock, don't know the issues, and don't know your own views--what the heck is there to be undecided about? There could not be a clearer choice between Obama and McCain as they are polar opposites and anyone who is trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing is actually baffling to me--particularly someone in the "media" who by trade should have been following this from the beginning.

• Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild - This insanely rich former Hilary Clinton backer publicly endorsed John McCain this week. Why? Lady Rothschild said, "Frankly I don't like him. I feel like he is an elitist. I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him." She then went on to say that Obama offended "rednecks" by calling them bitter. Umm--Rothschild is married to a billionaire, lives on a massive spread in Buckinghamshire and jet sets between London and New York. And the very people she says Obama is out of touch with--she called "rednecks." Wow. Hypocrisy at its finest. She's just salty because her candidate lost and she's letting her bitterness and likely racism drive her to a candidate that presumably is diametrically opposed to her views. Loser.

• Wall Street insiders, greedy corporation, Republican de-regulators, the Bush administration, etc. - Whoever is to blame for the Wall Street woes...

Honorable Mention - The Blacks Against Obama who interrupted Senator Obama's speech today. It is fine for people to disagree with his views on abortion and rights for homosexuals. African Americans are not a monolithic group or blind followers of candidates based on race. But I believe one sign said that Jesse Jackson hates Obama--so basically Obama is not for African Americans. I'm all for free speech, but I hate stupidity.

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NEW ITEM! Every week we acknowledge the jokers--but we need to start acknowledging those we're proud of too. So, every nomination will now include a shout out to someone who did something we liked. This week's winner:

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who said of Sarah Palin:

"I think it's a stretch to -- in any way -- say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States. She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials. You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything...

I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia. That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

I couldn't have said it better myself Chuck!

Pic Source - Hagel

Pic Source - Kanye

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On the Grind

Hey bloggers! Unfortunately, I'm tied up at work and don't have time to blog today. I hardly can complain since Sassy has been up for basically four weeks straight doing an Erin Brocovich style investigation in Africa. LOL.

But CITC will return with a Joker of the Week post manana. I think.....

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Yes We Can

Okay, so unless you have never been to this site, or are living under a rock, you know we are huge supporters of Senator Barack Obama for President. Since February, I have been donating every month to his campaign. But this week, I decided to try to be a little more proactive and start my own Obama fundraising page. The monies raised will help him combat the string of lies being hurled from the Republican side and maintain a ground game in every state to get out the vote.

I don't know about you, but I am truly horrified and I do mean horrified at the prospect of continued Republican economic, domestic and foreign policies being imposed on the American people. It shocks the conscience that people can actually look at gas prices, look at the stock market collapse, look at the hundreds of thousands of lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan, look at health care costs, etc. and honestly say we should have four more years of a Republican administration. It boggles the mind that Senator John McCain admittedly does not know much about the economy, and still believes the economy is fundamentally strong. He's going to lead us out of this mess? What? And don't even get me started on "I only have a bachelor's degree from the University of Idaho after going to five other colleges first--mayor of 5 people-only travelled outside of the United States once in my life" Governor Sarah Palin. I'm supposed to trust her with my future? Seriously?

But as part of my proactive support for a new administration and a change in direction, I will be working election protection, and I have started a fundraising page:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/MBsObamaPage

Feel free, if you are inspired, to go and donate whatever you can. Thinking Americans cannot allow Bush 44! Also, you can set up your own fundraising page if you go to the site.

P.S. I've been awarded a blogger award by Smarty Jones. YAAAY!. I'm going to do that post manana chica.

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Random Monday Morning Tidbits

VERSUS

Oprah Winfrey - Oprah is facing a boycott from a group of Florida female Republicans because she refuses to have Sarah Palin on the Oprah Winfrey show until after the election. Oprah has reasoned that since she publicly supports Obama, she will not have any candidates on the show and try to even pretend to be objective and fair. That makes sense to me.





J Hud to marry Punk - What in the heezy? Word is that Jennifer Hudson is going to marry Punk from I Love New York 2. Huh? I know he's a Harvard-educated lawyer and all, but come on, he kissed New York! He expressed feelings for New York! Sweet merciful Jesus. Something about this is oddly reminiscent of Terry McMillan and Star Jones too... Since 12Kyle wasn't familiar with Punk, here's a pic. LOL.





Joe On the Attack - Okay, so Joe won't get my vote for Joker of the Week over his refusal to mess with his brand. I hear Joe is going to go on the attack this week, and it's about dang time.



Pic Source - O
Pic Source-Florida Federation of Republican Women

Joker of the Week Nods

Congrats to Sarah Palin for a resounding victory for Joker of the Week last week. Thanks to all who voted. I'm struggling to resist the temptation to nominate her AGAIN for her complete ignorance and lack of confidence during her first interview yesterday with Charlie Gibson. I'm struggling.....

But on to this week's nominees. This is a close call. I don't even know who I'm voting for...

• 50 cent - For saying that he and his little son spend quality time together by kickin' it with "h*es." Isn't his son like--10 years old? Way to teach your son how to respect and treat women.

• Elizabeth Hasselback - For disparaging Michelle Obama during the RNC convention.

• 
  Sen. Joe Biden - For worrying too much about his "brand," refusing to be an attack dog, and basically doing nothing to help the dems win the election. Where's all of the tough talk he's been known for all of these years? Man up Joe!

• Congressman Lynn Westmoreland, - For saying of Barack and Michelle Obama, "Just from what little I've seen of her and Mr. Obama, Senator Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity." Then when the reporter rightfully asked whether uppity was the right word choice, he said, "Uppity, yeah." I guess they are keeping it real in Georgia--no need to hide the Klan hoods there.

Oh what the h*ll? I can't resist. Let's add Palin to the mix too! HA!

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Biden Doesn't Want To Mess With His Brand

I'm not going to turn CITC into all politics all of the time. However, this site is about discussing whatever comes to mind. And this morning as I drove into work, I was listening to the Young Turks on Air America radio and I heard something really disturbing. Joe Biden, the Democratic VP candidate, has said he will not be an attack dog during this campaign and he will not attack John McCain and Sarah Palin. Why? His exact words were - “I’m not going to be an attack dog. I’m not going to fool with my brand.” WTH? Well, what exactly are you here for Joe?

To be fair, his reasoning was that he wanted to work across party lines when he and Barack Obama win and not burn any bridges. That is consistent with the kumbaya, change message. However, let's be real--he needs to be on the attack. He needs to call Palin and McCain out on the issues--and run those jokers down. This is war and the Dems are down in the polls. This isn't time to hold hands and sing "We are the World." Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Biden should play dirty--but this is not the time to be concerned about his "brand"--this is the time to do what needs to be done to win in November. Step up Biden!

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Bridge To Lies

Since arriving on the scene a couple of weeks ago, GOP VP Nominee Sarah Palin has consistently denounced the "Bridge to Nowhere" and has claimed that she was against earmarks from the federal government. Yet fact checkers have repeatedly debunked those claims--citing her public support of the infamous bridge and her acceptance of hundreds of millions of dollars for the bridge and in earmarks. Yet she and the McCain campaign continue to make those claims, and the American people are buying it. And when people try to call the campaign on it--the McCain camp cries sexism.

It constantly astounds me how blind and uninformed we can be. And it's scary too. There is so much at stake in this election and the idea that the GOP may actually win this thing because people believe Republican propaganda is alarming. It happened in 2000 and it happened in 2004 (i.e. they magically turned John Kerry's Vietnam service into a negative when, G.W. never even served).

Thoughts on the election? Comments on Palin's avoidance of Sunday morning political shows and interviews? Nauseous over the claims of sexism?

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Early Joker Nod

Hater Hasselback is at it again. I seriously wish she was stranded on some Survivor island again. Apparently, she took a swipe at Michelle Obama and said that Cindy McCain was open when she appeared on The View, but Obama came in with a list of topics she didn't want to discuss. I'm not a journalist--but that seems like bad form to me. Smarty, you're a journalist--what say you?

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Ummmm, What? (Fashion Week Edition)

First the VMAs, now this. Is that a backpack? Is he going to school? I thought he dropped out? Is Kanye trying to put nerd chic on the map?

Signed
Befuddled and Confused in Maryland

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VMAs--UMMMM What?

Did anyone else see the VMAs on MTV last night? To be frank, I was completely underwhelmed. The show lost me somewhere between Lil Wayne's pants following to his knees and Britney Spears winning three awards for a song I've never heard....


At least there were interesting fashion selections....

• Can't we find a happy middle ground between Kanye and Weezy? I mean really. I know Kanye worked on Farnsworth Bentley's new album, but does he have to shop with Diddy's former manservant too? And Wayne, nobody and I do mean nobody wants to see your Calvin Kleins and overly tatooed upper torso.

Fiasco indeed.







What say you of the ladies? Katee Perry was clearly going for the Lil Kim day after buzz....

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Joker of the Week Nods

It's Baaaaack!!! Retrospectively, I'm giving awards to the U.S. men and women's 4 x 100 relay teams for dropping the friggin' baton, French swimmer Bernard for talking trash about Americans and then getting punked and defeated by said Americans during the relay, and the Chinese gymnastics team for "claiming" those 12 year old girls were 16!

Now, on to this week's nominees.

Gov. Sarah Palin (GOP VP nominee) - With all due respect, Mooseburger does not pass my commander-in-chief test. I'm a woman and I don't trust in her ability to lead--it's not sexist--the fact of the matter is McCain is 72 years old, has had 4 bouts with cancer. Frankly, who McCain selects as his VP matters. He picked someone who was a mayor in "I've never heard of it", Alaska and has been a governor for a hot second. She has no national experience and we don't know her views on Iraq, health care, the economy, etc. All I know is that she's pro life (no abortions even for rape or incest), she's a lifelong NRA member, she only supports abstinence education and not safe sex education (although that doesn't seemed to have worked in her own life), her children play hockey and she eats mooseburgers. Whoopty friggin' do. She also has engaged in some shady ethics issues and has a pending investigation.

Sen. John McCain - For nominating Sarah in a desperate attempt to make "history." He didn't even properly vet her! Nice judgement McSame!


Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick - For copping a plea and resigning in disgrace for Textgate.

Diddy (courtesy of 12Kyle) - For saying, .."I can't believe that I have to fly commercial now. That's how high gas is! I can't fly private like I used to. These airline gas prices are too high." Now, he can be called elitist. For real for real.

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Amendment:

How in the world could I forget Joe "Turncoat" Lieberman? Democrat my....... His RNC speech this week blasting Senator Obama was way out of bounds. I pray that the Dems win enough seats in the senate to toss that joker out on his ear!

TravelDiva is... ENGAGED!

Bet you didn't see that coming. LOL. This year has definitely been a roller coaster ride of emotional highs and lows. But just this past weekend, the love of my life, Mr. TravelDiva (he is going to shoot me) popped the question.

But let's rewind first--how did I meet Mr. TD? While I was on vacation of course! In December 2006, Lily Lily, Nadina and I were in Barcelona for New Years. Lily and I had been there earlier in the year, loved it, and knew that New Years would be sick. Our first night there--December 28--we decided to hit a club called Catwalk. It's one of the hot clubs in BCN--the lower level is club music, but the upper level is all hip hop all the time. So we set out around 12 or 1 and hit Club Catwalk. We got our complimentary drinks and basically posed by the d.j. booth basking in how fabulous we were. LOL. It was a hot scene and kind of like the United Nations of hip hop--Asians, Africans, Europeans and people from pretty much everywhere were groovin' to T.I., old school and whatever came on. We were definitely hot as the only Americans at the club.

Anyway, at one point, Nadina and Lily were sitting and my song at the time "Check on it" by Beyonce came on. So I started dancing and at one point I was spinning around in a circle (ladies I was gettin' it. LMBAO)--when I noticed this guy across the room staring at me nodding his head with the biggest grin on his face. I smiled at him to kind of encourage him, but he didn't come over. So I soon forgot about him and kept it moving. Little did I know, he watched me the whole night. So a couple of hours later, my friends were dancing and I decided to take a rest by the d.j. booth. While I was sitting there, I felt a tap on my shoulder and it was the guy from before and he asked me to dance. Of course, all fatigue instantly wore off, and I was like, "Yes!" We danced for awhile and kind of had an instant connection. I don't necessarily believe in love at first sight, but there was definitely an instant connection. We just were chillin' from the first moment we met--like we had known each other forever. I gave him one of my "leisure cards" (When I travelled, I came up with the idea of having a card with my e-mail address on it, pic, etc. to give to interesting people I met abroad. It actually worked out quite nicely. heeehee); and gave him my cell number. Anyway, I went back to my hotel with my friends--and figured I had an awesome first night out.

Little did I know that Mr. TD was very interested, and he called me the next day--twice. I hung out with him at clubs on Friday and Saturday, but then went my separate way for the rest of the trip. I really didn't think much of it--except that I'd met a cool guy and had fun in Spain. But when I got home from Barcelona, Mr. TD had sent me an e-mail and left phone messages expressing serious interest. Mr. TD is from Senegal, but he was getting his masters in the Netherlands at the time. We then began a long distance relationship. Yes--a long distance relationship on different continents. I used it as an excuse to travel to Amsterdam a couple of times. But eventually long distance got old. Last summer he came to the U.S. and ultimately stayed.

We've gone through the normal relationship ups and downs, but in the end, we knew that we were meant to be together. So last Saturday Mr. TD popped the question in grand style--on his knees in front of a restaurant full of people. Suffice it to say, we're very happy.