Humor lightens political scene
In spite of dire news in the financial sector, the presidential campaign is getting sillier. Thank heavens for the levity provided by late-night comics and midday NPR programs like “Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me,” the hilarious news quiz that spoofs all political and other nonsense.
This week, one contestant said she was at the Republican Convention when Sarah Palin was introduced. Asked what that was like, she replied: “It was kind of like a rock concert with really old people.”
Later, a question of panelist Roy Blount Jr. produced this exchange:
Question: A new instructional video on judo features whom?
Answer: Putin. “Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir.”
Q: Can American kids get it?
Answer: Yes.
Q: Does Sarah Palin know about this?
Answer: She hasn’t seen the video but she endorsed it based on seeing the box from her home in Alaska.
As if this stuff isn’t funny enough, a recent study-by scholars with a generous grant and not enough to do-found that Wyoming residents are closed-minded, disagreeable and not very conscientious compared to people in nearly every other state. The study, published in the September issue of the academic journal, Perspectives on Psychological Science, was based on the personalities of more than 600,000 people nationwide. It found that Wyoming folks are, however, not very neurotic.
Wyoming was ranked second to last for openness to new ideas and new experiences and third to last for agreeableness, including how friendly and cooperative they are; and fourth to last for conscientiousness. Does this infer anything about Dick Cheney?
Wyoming did better on neuroses (15th). but then nearly all states rated low in neuroticism were sunny and laid-back Western and Midwestern states. New Yorkers and others in the stress belt of the Northeast were more neurotic.
The most neurotic state was West Virginia, followed by other relatively poor states Mississippi and Louisiana.
A University of Wyoming psychology professor said he wasn’t surprised that his state ranked low for extroversion and agreeableness.
“We’re a sparsely populated state and a rural state. If you like lots of people, cities, loud music, lights, a lot of social stuff going on, you’re not going to move to Wyoming. So there’s probably some selective migration going on.”
One wonders how this correlates with the political map of red and blue states. Is it possible that Sarah Palin migrated to Alaska from Wyoming?
Somewhere else I read about a poll asking which vice presidents were deemed least qualified for the job. Spiro Agnew and Dan Quail appeared near the top of the list, along with Aaron Burr, who shot somebody. They were out-polled by Dick Cheney who also, well, you know.
Would we rather have someone a heartbeat away, as they say, who makes verbal gaffes, or someone who shoots from the hip, so to speak. Personally, I’d rather not have someone in the White House who doesn’t believe in evolution.
Fact is, Palin has said she wants Creationism taught alongside evolution in public schools. She also believes in abstinence-only sex education, an oxymoron in my view, the ramifications of which apparently touched her own family. But let’s not go there. In her only debate appearance, she refused to answer what she believed was the cause of climate change, saying instead that the cause didn’t matter, only the solution. The dichotomy of this approach makes me wonder if she believes in the law of cause and effect. Maybe the “Maverick McCain” wouldn’t be a continuation of the Bush administration policies, but it seems Palin would.
This is no longer funny.
After eight years of policies that have done irreparable damage to our environment, could we be in for eight more?
The environmental organization Defenders of Wildlife is trying hard to see that doesn’t happen. Recent e-mails cite the support of 14,000 voters in key swing states who donated to the group’s video defining Palin’s role in her state’s brutal record on aerial hunting of wolves and other wildlife. Worse yet, the governor’s own proposal would dole out $150 for the “severed forelegs of dead wolves.” Yuck!
Responses from independent voters include: “Shooting animals from an airplane is as low as it can get. I take that back, offering $150 for each paw is even worse.”
Alaska’s wildlife hunting regulations mirror those of Wyoming. That state’s “Wolf Management Plan” led to the most lethal attack on wolves in the lower 48. The carnage was so swift and severe that a federal court reversed the EPA’s delisting of gray wolves.
I did a little dance when I heard that news. But much depends on the policies of a new administration. As much as I enjoy the humor of Tina Fey and others directed at Palin, I’d cheerfully give that up for a more environmentally responsible vice president. Boring would even be okay.
With any luck at all, our landscapes and wildlife won’t be at the mercy of anyone from Alaska or Wyoming.