You will become an accomplished writer.
"He's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many, many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years," Palin said.
What a fantastic picture. It tells the story of how most people feel when they think about Washington: scared. What will happen next?-CNN.com"Nobody wants to have to support this bill, but it's a bill that we believe will avert the crisis that's out there," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters.
But the bill did draw some opposition during the morning debate.
Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, said the measure would leave a huge burden on taxpayers. "This legislation is giving us a choice between bankrupting our children and bankrupting a few of these big financial institutions on Wall Street that made bad decisions," he said.
Other conservative Republicans argued the bill would be a blow against economic freedom.
Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., said the bill posed a choice between the loss of prosperity in the short term or economic freedom in the long term. He said once the federal government enters the financial market place, it will not leave. "The choice is stark," he said.
But there were also Democrats who opposed the bill for not doing enough to help those who taxpayers facing foreclosure or needing unemployment benefits extended, or taxing Wall Street to pay for the rescue package.
"Like the Iraq war and patriot act, this bill is fueled by fear and haste," said Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.
Mr. McCain defended himself from critics who said he had acted impetuously by returning to Washington last week to work on the bailout proposal, which some said had made a deal more difficult.
“Some people have criticized my decision to put my country first, but I will never, ever be a president who sits on the sidelines when this country faces a crisis,’’ said Mr. McCain. And Mr. McCain, who spent this weekend in Washington working the phones, but did not actually return to Capitol Hill , said: “I know that many of you have noticed, but it’s not my style to simply ‘phone it in.’ ”
Also, Sarah Palin is currently at "debate camp" where she is "catching up" on foreign policy issues she's never faced before. You're running for VP and you know less than most Americans about foreign policy?
She debates Democratic VP nominee Joe Biden on Thursday.
Here's a question CNN.com commenter brought up: If McCain were to win the election, are we going to send her to Vice President camp, too? Hand-holding is unacceptable. Sarah Palin is unprepared and, as some people are suggesting, should be removed from the ticket.
"From an inspirational notion, however flawed in execution, that has buttressed the global spread of liberty, American exceptionalism has morphed into the fortress of those who see themselves threatened by “one-worlders” (read Barack Obama) and who believe it’s more important to know how to dress moose than find Mumbai.
That’s Palinism, a philosophy delivered without a passport and with a view (on a clear day) of Russia.Behind Palinism lies anger. It’s been growing as America’s relative decline has become more manifest in falling incomes, imploding markets, massive debt and rising new centers of wealth and power from Shanghai to Dubai.
The damn-the-world, God-chose-us rage of that America has sharpened as U.S. exceptionalism has become harder to square with the 21st-century world’s interconnectedness. How exceptional can you be when every major problem you face, from terrorism to nuclear proliferation to gas prices, requires joint action?
Very exceptional, insists Palin, and so does John McCain by choosing her. (He has said: “I do believe in American exceptionalism. We are the only nation I know that really is deeply concerned about adhering to the principle that all of us are created equal.”)
America is distinct. Its habits and attitudes with respect to religion, patriotism, voting and the death penalty, for example, differ from much of the rest of the developed world. It is more ideological than other countries, believing still in its manifest destiny. At its noblest, it inspires still.
But, let’s face it, from Baghdad to Bear Stearns the last eight years have been a lesson in the price of exceptionalism run amok.
To persist with a philosophy grounded in America’s separateness, rather than its connectedness, would be devastating at a time when the country faces two wars, a financial collapse unseen since 1929, commodity inflation, a huge transfer of resources to the Middle East, and the imperative to develop new sources of energy.
Enough is enough."
Saturday I again worked on my project but made little progress. It was Saturday that the most delightful part of my weekend revealed itself...two little bird eggs hidden in a nest on our porch. The mother, whom we have nicknamed "Lu Lu," was causing a ruckus, and it took me a while to catch on to the idea that she might have something on the patio worth sticking around for. She sits on the eggs, nuzzled between the patio wall and the cactus pot, all day and keeps a watchful, suspicious eye on the three of us when we make our presence known. Strangely enough, my mom discovered two eggs on her patio, also. It's really Springtime, and it's really great.
We went back to the apartment and had a few drinks, played some card games, and ate some cake. Liz and Caitlin had me open one of my presents, bubbles! Then we went to Campo dei Fiori for the closest thing I was ever going to get to an American 21st birthday. Margi showed up with her friend Lisa and brought me a rose and a selection of pastries, which I didn't open until Sunday morning, after they had been properly handled (I mean dropped seven times). I had a good time. Sunday we lounged around the house and I made pancakes for the three of us. I watered my new basil plant, checked on Lu Lu and had a birthday conversation with Spencer.
