A candidate to unite the country

WHAT?
Someone nice, intelligent, honest, decent, with a sense of humor for US president???
He has none of the qualities needed in a US president, judging by the last 10 or so.

Wasn't he once vice-pope?

Another point in his favor! He'll get the religious vote!

The best nontraditional candidate since Bullwinkle!

Sorry, but he's not the latest Presidential candidate - he's just a very naughty boy. ;)

Ghost of George Carlin for V.P., perfect ticket.

Well - he would have my vote. I still have to keep pinching myself about the choices that are "real." When did we slip into an alternate universe ?

I would certainly vote for him "Help, help I'm being repressed!!"

Dearest Americans,
Please don't elect McCain. Seriously. Obama and McCain are actually tied in terms betting odds now. That's insane.

McCain sees EVERYTHING in terms of his own past. When Fidel Castro stood down Clinton and Obama made reasonably sensible (although cautious, conservative) statements about how US-Cuban relations might be able to move on. McCain said "Cubans? Let's talk about the Cuban that tortured me in Vietnam".

He's the Tyra Banks of foreign policy.

I've been waiting for this.
Palin/Jones 2008!

I was honestly confused when I first heard of Palin for VP. Ok, so I'm not American and live in the UK, si it was sort of legitimate :)

I'm an absolute fan of former Python Palin, especially his travel documentaries (Around the World in 80 days, Pole to Pole, etc...)

http://www.palinstravels.co.uk/

I'm rarely motivated to jump into the whitewater torrent that is PZ's comment area, but here's a cause worthy of the soaking. Bravo!

Where can I get a yard sign?

Cue all the Python quotes...

Wasn't he recently voted the "nicest guy on the planet" or something, recently?

Abominably rude, lying, untrustworthy, decadent, hypocritical, cheese-eating delinquent from hell. (according to the man himself.)

Well you can't have him for president, so there. We want him for Prime Minister.

What!? Choosing a candidate purely on the basis of their name? Why, that's just silly political gamesmanship. The selection of a candidate for the executive ticket is serious business, people! We're going to need to take a look at this thing, seriously evaluate his credentials, his background. He could well wind up in charge of the largest and most powerful economy and military in the world, in the event the Ghost of George Carlin dies... ummm... again. Anyway, speaking on behalf of the selection committee's vetting team, we're going to have to do some work on this, get back to you.

(Gets off soapbox... Flips thru' phonebook... puts it down, picks up phone, dials...)

M. Palin: (on phone) Hullo?

Me: Is this Michael Palin?

MP: Yes. Who is this?

Me: Is this *really* Michael Palin?

MP: Yes, it really is.

Me: Really really?

MP: Yes, really really.

Me: Spell 'dog'.

MP: What?! Look, who is this?

Me: Close enough. Thank you for your time, Mr. Palin.

(Hangs up.)

...Right then. That'll do. He's in.

Sorry for my not quite on topic cry of anguish above.

Michael Palin is by all accounts the nicest man who ever walked the Earth. Is there not a risk of this campaign splitting the nice people vote?

It's a kind of running joke how nice Michael Palin is. All the other Pythons got stressed out and moaned a lot but Palin got through it all without any complaints. In fact, the only time he did get noticeably angry was when he was defending 'Life Of Brian' on a television talk show, against two hypocritical, bigoted clergymen who hadn't even seen the film.

What can I say? http://www.amendforarnold.com...

Obama and McCain are actually tied in terms betting odds now.

O RLY?

Ah, the link to http://amendforarnold.com got misinterpreted.

I should have checked it first. "Website on hiatus". No point in linking to it anyway. Well, just read the URL.

While Sarah was in Hypocrite Training, Michael Palin was traveling the globe, seeing how others lived and being about as non-judgemental as anyone on TV. Sarah has the signs and symptoms of Ugly American. She will call an American citizen with accomplishment, "Sambo". Palin ate with people and thanked them for their gracious hospitality. Sarah expects deference.

Well ... the gratuitous penes should land him the Republan vote if nothing else.

DM,OM: I'm getting time out errors on that "electoral vote" site, but based on intrade YA RLY (well, within random noise).

We do know that Michael Palin came from poor conditions to become one of the Four Yorkshiremen. He can relate to us. He lived for three months in a rolled up newspaper within a septic tank.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

dunno what i did to that link http://www.intrade.com/

While Sarah was in Hypocrite Training, Michael Palin was traveling the globe, seeing how others lived and being about as non-judgemental as anyone on TV. Sarah has the signs and symptoms of Ugly American. She will call an American citizen with accomplishment, "Sambo". Palin ate with people and thanked them for their gracious hospitality. Sarah expects deference.

Shorter Mold: COMPLETELY UNELECTABLE!

Sarah reminds me of a boss that was KKKristian. He too, demanded deference. Because he graduated from Penn State. Another govenment employee at the same rate pointed out that Penn State graduates about 15,000 students per year.

Both Sarah and The Weasel lie...constantly...for no compelling reason. Gonzales and Goodling told falsehoods...but telling the truth would have put them in a real jail. Sarah and The Weasel delight in being KKKristian; they never miss an opportunity to mention their 'faith'. This should encourage you to check your wallet.

The Weasel and Sarah overhype marginal accomplishments while denigrating the real achievements of others. In one year I did more work than the Weasel did in nine.

Vote Obama. Not only will having a Black President cause racist heads to explode...we will once again place competence and achievement as the standard by which all are judged.

From the mouth of the man himself (again):

"Well, after reading gross and profane slanders like that who could possibly believe that I am the nice Python? In fact I'm thinking of invading Poland next week. And having myself tattooed. Oh, and I'm a Satanist. And I once lent Hillary Clinton money for a house..."

Still sure you want him for pres?

From the mouth of the man himself (again)...

Speaking on behalf of the Ghost of George Carlin/Palin (The One You've Heard Of) ticket, we insist the liberal media stop these feckless, biased, unwarranted attacks on our candidate, motivated as they clearly are by unthinking, reflexive hatred of English comedians. We have done our research, are confident in our selection, and therefore must demand you stop doing your own. Furthermore, we were perfectly aware of the 'invading Poland' issue of which you speak and assure you it is of no consequence... This was a minor, youthtful indiscretion, and he gave it back almost immediately anyway...

Also... as long as we're talking, erm... how did you find this information?

Erm... okay... Google? What's a 'Google'? Is this some kind of joke?

The 'internet', huh?

Sounds like it could be useful. We'll look into it.

Well, as a long time Python fan, that's a campaign I can get behind.

And the most important is :

A Palin always speaks the truth :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tc7BF_Fd7I
(S.Palin's lies documented by CNN)

... and so does a key Palin's spokesman :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jRhN5Et9QQ
(watch Tucker Bonds getting pawned by a journalist)

At last, a palatable Palin!

He's got my vote.
Qlso a pointed stick.

Yay! Michael Palin for VP! And finally we will get to see the Ministry of Silly Walks fully realized, as it should be. That's a department that we can be guaranteed the GOP will run without fault.

Is it a form, or subcategory, of Poe's law that I would actually vote for a British comedian before I would ever even consider voting for Sarah Palin?

The democratic party, my party, has lost its way.
We say we are for the people but then we make fun of their religion, the fact that they come from small towns in Alaska or that they went to a "cow" college. We (the obama camp at least) call them ugly names like "red necks" or "hicks", exploit their their teenage daughters, spread lies about them that they wanted to ban books, etc etc.
We do not give them respect and that is why we are called elitists.
Good luck winning this year. It should've been EASY. we have the money advantage, economic advantage and the 8 years of bush advantage.
Get ready for another 8 years of republican control.

-former dem

Oh, noes! Electoral-vote.com appears to have been pharyngulated. When it comes back up, check out the electoral college graphs -- the second one shows votes from states with a more than 5% margin to either candidate -- and it appears that if McCain is to win, he has to run the board with every single undecided state.

This gives me hope.

Also, it seems clear that the RNC bounce ... well, it didn't happen. Please, Americans, don't fuck this up. A sobering graph is the one for 2004 -- look what happens just after Kerry got swift boated.

will he declare spam, spam, eggs and spam a 'healthy school lunch'? None of that reaganesque claptrap for me.

Aramael: The RNC bounce did happen. It basically just erased the DNC bounce, leaving them where they were before.

Electoral-vote.com is a great site, but its state-by-state polls mostly date from before either convention.

To follow the nitty-gritty of American electoral politics I highly recommend:

538: A nuts-and-bolts electoral college/popular vote site run by some sports statisticians. They've been the most consistently accurate in voting predictions so far in this election cycle (quite a feat).

Pollster: A poll of poll tracker, concentrating on the "momentum" and "direction" of polling results. They've nailed quite a few elections during the primaries, and their charts are quite pleasing to the eye. (538 disputes some of their methods, however.)

TalkingPointsMemo: Actual responsible political reporting by the new media. They have a heavily left-leaning sentiment (i.e., they are part of the "reality based community"), but they are punctilious about their facts.

Electoral-Vote is great too, of course.

Forgot to mention: I'm an Obama supporter, but I'd be quite torn if Mr. Palin were to step in and split the vote. Python jokes aside, everything I've heard about him indicate that he's the nicest man on Earth.

Oh. And the Python jokes, too. That'd be a major plus.

Palin/Jones '12! Michael and Terry and the Python Party, FTW.

Wait, I'm lost. So how are the two different? One is joking, one IS the joke? Personally, I think we would be better off returning to feudalism if McCain wins, or perhaps not so far back and bringing back the Confederate system we were founded under. This would, at least, banish Palin back to the freezer of Alaska that slowed her brain backward to the 1400's.

Thank you, though, PZ. You reminded me I need to get my passport and my emergency November 4th "I Love Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, and/or Lichtenstein" suitcases by the door.

Why are all the countries I'd like to emigrate/flee to are so darned cold?

An elegant video showing through comedy all that is wrong with American politics today.

(Still, as a military man, I wish they didn't use the lead-in to "ruffles and flourishes" right at the end. The set they used would be for a 4-star general/admiral...)

I'm pretty sure a person has to be born in America to be president, so Michael Palin can't be a candidate.

Sarah Palin has a lot of problems. She's a creationist. She doesn't care about the environment and endangered species. She is unlikely to support science education and scientific progress. She has no foreign policy experience.

Certainly it would be wrong to choose a candidate purely on the basis of liking the person, but I might do that anyway. The more I listen to Sarah's speeches, the more I like her. She is wrong about almost everything but she's the first politician who didn't bore me to death. Her speech at the convention was the first political speech I could stand listening to all the way to the end. There's not too many women who have hunted and killed a moose, and are able to be a mother of five while being a governor of a state. She might be America's last chance to have a female vice-president for the next century. She's a religious nut, but as governor she has not tried to stick her disgusting religious ideas into Alaska's government and schools.

All these are terrible reasons to vote for anyone but I just might vote for her anyway. What an idiot I am but I'm nuts about her.

I'm pretty sure a person has to be born in America to be president

No, they only have to be a natural citizen, and there are other ways to qualify (e.g., being born of an American citizen abroad). Of course, MP doesn't qualify.

What an idiot I am

No argument there.

Also, it seems clear that the RNC bounce ... well, it didn't happen.

Definitely not true ... McCain now leads Obama in national polls by about 2%.

The more I listen to Sarah's speeches, the more I like her. She is wrong about almost everything but she's the first politician who didn't bore me to death. Her speech at the convention was the first political speech I could stand listening to all the way to the end.

There was a politician who was wrong about almost everything but made the most incredibly subjugating speeches.

A certain German politician in the 30s.

Her speech at the convention was the first political speech I could stand listening to all the way to the end.

So you like childish, vindictive, vapid sniping. Might I suggest Big Brother After Dark for your fix of that, and voting for someone sane?

I think there's better evidence of Michael Palin's Pro-Torture stance, watch the movie Brazil.

The democratic party, my party, has lost its way.

Enter Republican talking points in...

We say we are for the people but then we make fun of their religion

Who did?

the fact that they come from small towns in Alaska or that they went to a "cow" college.

We (the obama camp at least) call them ugly names like "red necks" or "hicks"

Who in the Obama camp did this?

exploit their their teenage daughters

Who in the Obama camp did this?

spread lies about them that they wanted to ban books

News flash: she did.

We do not give them respect

Who in the Obama camp has been disrespectful?

that is why we are called elitists

Take your "we" and shove it.

Get ready for another 8 years of republican control.

Yes. Your defeatist attitude and uninformed regurgitating of Republican lies does NOTHING to help that, of course.

Thanks. Could you go away now?

David #35

-former dem

Nice try !

Reminds me of the creotrolls who come on this forum to spread their nonsense pretending to be former atheists...

BobC,

Is there something going on with you? In your family, perhaps? I ask primarily because talking about voting for a creationist is, well, shockingly out of character for you. Of course, you don't have to answer and you're entitled to your views, but I've been kind of worried since the thread where we had the discussion about abortion. There just seemed to be a personal aspect on your part. I could be totally off-base. Maybe you just have a mad crush on Palin that's messing with your mind. Anyway, feel free to ignore me.

The democratic party, my party, has lost its way.

Thanks for your concern, troll.

-former dem

But not formerly your party? You can't even keep your own lies straight.

Entertaining. I'd vote for Michael Palin, though I think Eric Idle should provide the campaign song.

DM,OM: I'm getting time out errors on that "electoral vote" site, but based on intrade YA RLY (well, within random noise).

Well, on intrade.com I see "Barack Obama to win 2008 US Presidential Election" closing price: 56.6, and "John McCain to win 2008 US Presidential Election" closing price: 43.5. Looks like a large difference. What have I misunderstood?

http://www.electoral-vote.com/ works again, and (like for the last few days) gives Obama 301 electoral votes and McCain 224, with the 13 of Virginia being exactly tied. New poll data are supposed to come in in a few hours, though.

Thank you, though, PZ. You reminded me I need to get my passport and my emergency November 4th "I Love Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, and/or Lichtenstein" suitcases by the door.

Liechtenstein. :-}

There's not too many women who have hunted and killed a moose

But to be VP, it's enough to shoot people in the face with birdshot. She's overqualified.

And besides, look at her again. She is not beautiful. She looks like an evil teacher.

Of course, MP doesn't qualify.

And it says so right at the beginning of the video.

She might be America's last chance to have a female vice-president for the next century.

This is so stupid I had to read it twice to get a reasonable grasp on the full extent of its stupidity.

BobC,

wasn't it sarcasm ?

New Palin also has a tough stance on crime and admiration for a punishment that should keep the religiots happy.

Whoo. What a hoot. They have the same last name! Let the laughter begin!

Love all the "she's a hypocrite" and nasty comments that follow. She's been raising a family and working for a living. How dare she!!

Really.....she was asked to be VP and she said ok. Why bash her is such a nasty, sophmoric way? You are all so smug-sure that you are better than the other side.....I wouldn't be so sure.

She accepted. She's open to critcism of which there is plenty deserved.

Love all the "she's a hypocrite" and nasty comments that follow. She's been raising a family and working for a living. How dare she!!

Yes, how dare she?!? How dare she take unfavourable political positions and get criticism for them. Do these dirty liberals not know she's a working mom?!? Just like how dare McCain!!! He's a vietnam vet, spent half a decade being tortured by the Vietnamese. How dare he be criticised for anything. Have you been a prisoner? I don't think so!

It could just be that sexism is existing on both sides... Dressing her up like she needs protection is still sexist.

That made me LOL.

But now the video is down?

Mirror:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf1y9s73Nos

@Nemo: bugger.

She might be America's last chance to have a female vice-president for the next century.

That's pretty bass-ackwards. The nomination of SP - not to mention her eventual election (:shudder: I'm a pessimist) will likely to do more to harm women in politics for decades to come - in a multitude of ways!

He's the perfect man for the job!

It's BICYCLE REPAIR MAN!

Yes! whenever bicycles are broken, or menaced by international communism, Bicycle Repair Man is ready!