Hockey Mom I'd like to...

"Would you like to solve the puzzle?"

I haven't written too much on this space at all since John McCain thought the national political arena was a giant craps table and tabbed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R-ears his head... Alaska) as his running mate in August.

I could explain that away in a lot of ways. I could say that reality had become so funny (Palin/Couric interview, any John McCain public appearance) that the blogosphere didn't need my particular brand of sarcastic wit. I could say that I was so overwhelmed with the economic collapse and my dwindling 401k that I didn't have the time or energy to write.

However, the real reason was that I was busy, lazy, and I had writer's block.

Some things happened over the past two weeks on the Palin front that kind of knocked me off my laurels.

1) The wink


I counted three times that Sarah Palin winked at me, and me personally, during her debate with Joe Biden two weeks ago. From the first wink going forward I have no recollection of anything else happening except the next two winks. I watched the debate again a few days later, and this time made sure to avoid her winks as to fully ingest her performance.

And..... she was terrible. She said nothing. Nothing substantive in an hour and a half. Nothing that could be construed as particularly insightful, or meaningful. Nothing that cut through the clutter and presented any actual solutions.

If Joe Biden had been debating any of the other possible VP candidates the Republicans had been tossing around (Pawlenty, Lieberman, Romney) and had given the performance he gave against Palin (minus the stupid gaffes) the punditry would have called it the best VP debate performance in history.

But she winked me so I gave her an A-. And I watched the debate 14 times.

2) The investigation


It always give me an extra kick in my step when an actual headline is funnier than a potential Onion headline on the same subject.

In advance of an investigation in Alaska of Sarah Palin attempting to fire her former brother in law, the McCain campaign released its own report completely exonerating Palin. Wow, I didn't realize that you could do that! In that case I have a 12 inch penis.

The McCain campaign also made John McCain 10 years younger, Barack Obama a Muslim, Joe Biden a Muslim, Sarah Palin John McCain's wife, John McCain's Bangladeshi daughter white, and the economy sound.

I still have writer's block.