TOBY PETZOLD

Watching C-SPAN on a Saturday night and there’s a man with the floor from Michigan’s 11th Congressional District who I am completely digging. Old school eloquence. Not dumbed down and plenty offended. Tell it, brother! Not ready to go along with Nancy Pelosi’s opinion of you as “unpatriotic” for not supporting a $700 million bail-out of plutocrats and con artists? Good. Don’t go out like a sucker. Kick ‘em in the nads. Represent your constituents’ interests. If Bush and Reid and Pelosi and Paulson want the money that badly, then let them take it. But you can hold your head high, Mr. McCotter.

God Bless America.

I’m sorry to hear that Michelle Valles might be on her way out at KXAN. She’s been an absolute joy to behold for many years now. I hope she finds something else locally because she truly is one of the most mesmerizing women to ever work in this market.

I remembered just then to catch what I could of Charlie Gibson’s interview with Sarah Palin —and I’m glad I did. She is such a polished woman. Not in the cheesy and insincere way that mere politicians are, but primarily and specifically as a woman of grace and competence. I recognize her as the sort of classy, self-possessed professional that many of the women in my life are —and I find it comforting and refreshing. This is an accomplished person from my generation whose candidacy excites me and gives me confidence in our culture.

She was unambiguously pro-life, too. I didn’t flinch once.

This story out today about Oprah’s refusal to invite Sarah Palin on her show is very curious. How do we even know about it? Did Oprah actually come out and publicly declare that she will not have the Governor of Alaska on or is this all leaky and second-handed disinformation? Unless Oprah is orchestrating this as a prelude to some grand concession to popularity and sisterhood, I think it’s a bad idea for her business for her to be seen as such a recalcitrant beeyotch. What does it get her? Is Obamessiah putting some pressure on her to not give in? Who knows? But it makes her look like a partisan and that’s not the way to keep a lot of her audience happy.

One would normally say that the host of a show can invite whomever he or she pleases, but the usual rules don’t apply to Oprah. Her favor is a cultural imprimatur. Her appeal is supra-racial. She is an icon. And icons can spot other icons in the making from a hundred miles away.

and I’m totally relaxed. She’s electric.

Sorry, hippies: if Obama can starch your britches, then this lady can put a spell on me.

Jesus! She’s direct! Not much gravitas, but she’s going with her strengths. It’s good stuff. Teacherly. Unvarnished. Wasillan.

For some reason, I liken John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin to General Eisenhower picking Richard Nixon for the Vice Presidency in 1952. I think McCain is rewarding her primarily for the potential she represents, as well as hoping that he will stand to reap the benefits of choosing a woman. He made a boldly political decision that is justified by what he sees as a woman of character and strength. This could be a stroke of genius and an appeal not only to women but to younger Americans. I am trying to learn all I can, although I heard from a relative of mine this morning that the Wikipedia entry for her said that she “began life as a man.” Interesting.

She’s a beautiful lady and she did her husband a great service tonight. It was an almost perfectly delivered speech with many of the same oratorical tricks Obama himself uses to mimic human concern. But then he showed up as some sort of disembodied head —like them spooky fuckers from the trial scene at the start of Superman. What a thoroughly unnecessary intrusion into what was otherwise a thespian triumph. The man is absolutely helpless before the might of his ego. Sheer preposterity!

Nancy Pelosi, who showed how to wear white out (yeow!) before Labor Day this evening, apparently doesn’t know that natural gas is a fossil fuel. In her appearance on Meet the Press yesterday, she repeatedly made this ignorance clear, as John Hinderaker culled from the transcript in the quotes below:

BROKAW: Well, I think most people understand that, but at the same time, if we work our way off carbon-based fuels, in the meantime, this is not going to happen overnight.

PELOSI: No, it isn’t, but you could — again, you could reduce the price at the pump immediately with (inaudible). You can have a transition with natural gas. You can have a transition with natural gas. That is cheap, abundant and clean compared to fossil fuels.
***
PELOSI: I’m — I’m investing in something I believe in. I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels.
***
PELOSI: Well, that’s not — that is the marketplace. The fact is, the supply of natural gas is so big, and you do need a transition if you’re going to go from fossil fuels, as you say, you can’t do it overnight, but you must transition.

These investments in wind, in solar and biofuels and focus on natural gas, these are the real alternatives.

That’s remarkable. Does she really not know that natural gas is a carbon-based fuel? This is the woman who has the power of life and death over our energy policies? Remarkable.

An intellectual infatuation between a man and a woman is the beginning of lies. Big, throbbing, mind-wandering, 3-D rendering lies. Is such a dynamic tenable? Of course not. But it is a test of a man’s character to act on what is right in every respect and to abide by that standard at the moment of truth.

I’ve had Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” in my head all day.

It must be some measure of Ellas McDaniel’s power that he actually owns a particular beat. Thank you, sir. You are an American treasure.