“I spit on it.”

I fell in love with Claire McCaskill my Junior year of high school. I ‘got’ to go to Girls State, which was hands down, one of the worst weeks of my life. It was death by boredom (well, we almost died by tornado). The only time I smiled that week was when I got to hear Claire speak. She really inspired me.

I supported her full throttle when she usurped Bob Holden for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2004. I was crushed when she lost to Matt Blunt (who rode the coattails of an anti-marriage amendment, and has an approval rating so low, hes not running for a second term this year). I was all gung-ho again in 2006 when she tossed Jim Talent out of the senate (Talent ruined my damn college graduation) and recruited Michael J Fox to help pass MOs stem cell initiative.

Claire was ‘disinvited’ from speaking at her daughters high school graduation after the Vatican whined about her stance on abortion and stem cell research.

Shes taken pharm companies to task for bribing physicians.

She went nuts (in a good way) after the Walter Reed fiasco.

I love Claire.

Claire and Obama seem to have become good friends in the Senate (I was happy to see her next to Michelle at the last debate), and shes been doing the media circuit to support him. Well, a couple nights ago she was making a stop at MSNBC. Mitt Romney was the next guest, so he got her mic/ear piece/etc. Mitt, with the social grace you expect from a Mormon, took the ear piece and said ‘You dont have an ear infection, do you?’

Claire responded ‘No. But I spit on it.’

I love Claire.

Comments

#1 Jared
October 9, 2008

That is pretty good…
#2 Draconiz
October 9, 2008

LOL, nice comeback
#3 Anon
October 9, 2008

I did Boy’s State, in Ohio, in the late Paleolithic.

You have my pity. Er… empathy.

Oh, yeah… and Claire appears to rock.
#4 Chris (in Columbus)
October 9, 2008

Anyone sitting next to Michelle Obama is a friend of mine!!!
#5 RBH
October 10, 2008

After hearing that story I love Claire, too!
#6 Paul Lundgren
October 10, 2008

Hygiene: ur doin it wrong!

You know, compared to Palin, Romney actually looks like a viable alternative.

Hey, Abbie, nice to see you back. How’s Arnie doing after his scare?
#7 csrster
October 10, 2008

Didn’t she mean “I spat on it”?
#8 Johnny Vector
October 10, 2008

“spit” or “spat” is acceptable when it needs to be past-tensededed.

(Apologies to Sekou (tha Misfit))
#9 Rev Matt
October 10, 2008

That’s excellent. I’ve not been happy with everything she’s done (in particular the telecom bill), but I approve of this.
#10 Ranson
October 10, 2008

I did the Boys’ State thing back in the day. I had a weeklong allergy attack, but made some pretty good friends in the “outcast nerd” group.

The best part was one of them getting to conduct the WV symphony orchestra, and doing a better job than the real conductor. That pleased pretty much everyone, because the entire state hated that pscho-bitch.

But I digress. One of our better speakers was the “maverick” State Supreme Court justice at the time. He talked to us like adults and cussed up a storm in the process. The organizers were horrified, but we loved it. I also recall nearly impeaching our “Governor” for embezzelment.
#11 rrt
October 10, 2008

FWIW, both comments would have been straight-up good-natured jokes in my (admittedly weird) family. I like it better your way, though.
#12 pdiff
October 10, 2008

FN priceless!! I love it. Thanks for making me smile this morning
#13 Stacy .
October 10, 2008

Did she really?! That’s funny!!
#14 Alan Kellogg
October 11, 2008

If a friend had asked her that question?
#15 Dustin
October 11, 2008

You know, compared to Palin, Romney actually looks like a viable alternative.

I was just thinking that the other day. I even said to someone, “Hey, remember when we thought Romney was the scary one?”

I don’t care what anyone says to the contrary; the universe is capricious.
#16 Dustin
October 11, 2008

*sigh* You know, if people didn’t spend money on that lunatic Kurzweil’s books, he’d be forced to choose between the person he hired to organize the vitamins he’s overdosing on and his banner ads.
#17 Reynold
October 11, 2008

I know this isn’t on topic, but this is too cool to pass up.

Has anyone heard of this from the Orebro Life Science Center?

They’re counting on the mucosal lining to be of use:
Since an edible vaccine is transferred via the gastrointestinal tract the vaccination occur at mucosal surfaces. This will elicit the mucosal immune responses, which are difficult to elicit when vaccination occur via an injection into a muscle. The mucosal tissues in the body are immunologically interconnected and when exposing one particular mucosal tissue to the antigen immune responses occur in this tissue as well as in other mucosal surfaces. HIV is mainly transferred through mucosal sites, which strengthen the rationale of using the oral vaccination route.

They’re working on edible vaccines made from the Arabidopsis thaliana plant by having a bacteria do some sort of gene transfer from HIV to the plant.

The altered plants produce some kind of protein that they hope can be used to trigger immune systems in the mucosal areas for HIV; they’re testing it in mice now to see if there’s any potential for it.
#18 Bayesian Bouffant, FCD
October 11, 2008

The frothing mobs on the right are reporting McCaskill’s spit response without any mention of Romney’s setup question
#19 Brian X
October 13, 2008

It’s a funny thing about Mitt Romney — I was never scared of him per se, though a Romney presidency is a horrifying thought in a pathetic sort of way. I was just more concerned that his fans seemed so devoted, even though the Romney for President organization in Massachusetts could probably have fit on two tables at a Friendly’s on Cape Cod. He was an inept and ineffectual governor who tried to run the state like it was a business and wound up getting shoved through the Beacon Hill meatgrinder so many times that he just gave up and started running for president.

His successor, Gov. Patrick, hasn’t exactly been a world-rocker, but he learned his lesson quick about trying to run the meat grinder and has so far pulled off a couple of major accomplishments (mostly related to bioscience and the film industry) while avoiding getting shredded in the headlines by the Boston Herald and like-minded yellow rags.
#20 Brian X
October 13, 2008

(For those of you unfamiliar with Massachusetts politics, Patrick’s run-in with the meatgrinder involved trying to authorize three casinos in the state. The state legislature chewed him up like a piece of gum and spat him on the pavement in front of Boston Common. That’s why he mostly stays out of the headlines these days.)