Sarah And Me

I think to understand why this whole Letterman thing is bothering me, I need to take a step back and explain how Palin's candidacy and her subsequent treatment by the media affected me.

My mother is a staunch Democrat. I think my dad had Democrat leanings, but he didn't talk about politics as much. So growing up, and through my college years, I considered myself a liberal. I would watch the news and it generally concurred with my beliefs. Therefore, I knew I was smart. If other people would just be as smart and caring as me, they'd be liberals, too. It really seemed that simple. I despised Reagan, and couldn't understand how he could have been elected, twice.

I can remember in 1988 I voted for Al Gore in the primaries because he was the only Dem who identified himself as pro-life. (I would probably be hard pressed to find any evidence now that he had taken that position then) I voted for Dukakis in the general election, but I was surprised to find myself relieved that Bush had won. That election was the turning point. The abortion issue, combined with the fact that I had an actual job, (working with prisoners who were, surprisingly, not just misunderstood but actually deserving of their punishment) pushed me squarely into the Republican camp by the 1992 election.

So, as a liberal I did not understand the appeal of Reagan. As a conservative, I have always considered the Clintons hollow, willing to sell their souls for a few votes. I voted for G.W. twice, because he was the best option. I'm certain he did a better job than Gore or Kerry would have done, and I'm thankful he had the guts to take unpopular stands in the interest of keeping my family safe. However, there are number of ways that he disappointed me.

This is all to say that I had never felt a strong connection to a politician. While I can admire McCain's courage fighting for our country, as a candidate I was less than enthusiastic about him. I had not decided if I was even going to vote in the election. When he picked Sarah Palin, I was ecstatic. Finally, someone I could relate to.

She's my age. She values her family. She has a strong marriage. She's pro-life. She had the kind of college education I had. She worked for everything she had.

Sarah Palin was me. The connection was immediate and total. Finally, someone who represented me. Someone who could relate to me and to the kind of life I lead. I felt on top of the world. For about a week.

And then they tore into her and her family. I was new to the world of reading political blogs, and I had never seen anything so vicious in my life. I'm not saying Sarah Palin is perfect, but she certainly did not and does not deserve the attempts at annihilation that the media, the pundits, the comedians, the lazy joke tellers who think they're comedians, have heaped on her.

After the election, I was exhausted. It was more than just having my guy lose the election. It was personal. The attacks against Sarah Palin weren't just attacks against her policies, they were attacks against her person. They were attacks against me.

So, you see, when Mr. Letterman makes jokes about Sarah Palin and her daughters, he's making jokes about me and my daughters.

I remember during the last election (and maybe I've already made this point in a previous post) there was a poll done concerning republicans and democrats, and their attitudes towards each other. Republicans could understand why democrats held their beliefs, but democrats had no such empathy for republicans. Going back to my days as a liberal, I can kind of understand that. I honestly felt it was just a matter of the other guys not being as smart as me. Their viewpoints weren't nearly as enlightened as mine and couldn't possibly be valid.

I'm so glad I grew up.

I believe that the reason there isn't an outcry against Letterman's statements from the feminist community and other liberals in the media is that they've marginalized the Palins to the point where they consider them less than human. Therefore, it's okay to say whatever they want about her, and by extension, me.

And so this is the end of my post-election complacency. I'm still tired, mind you. I'm tired of having my opinions belittled and marginalized. I'm tired of the public discourse being so thoroughly one-sided. I'm tired of people confusing snarks and mean-spiritedness as some kind of deep thinking.

I'm tired and I'm angry.

Letterman

On any given day, I can probably find something that irritates me about the main stream media. The smugness, the little jibes against conservatives, the lack of significant examination of our current president (especially compared to how the former president was treated), etc. The one or two of you who read this thing know what I'm talking about.

For the last couple of days, it's gone beyond being irritated. I'm fuming. It's been a long time since I could tolerate Letterman. He's been so over the top with his Bush and Palin bashing and Obama adoration that I found him unviewable.

In case you haven't seen the reference, he made a joke the other night about Sarah Palin being at the Yankees game with her daughter and that her daughter was impregnated (not the phrase he used) by one of the ball players (Alex Rodriguez). The daughter she was with is 14 years old. Basically, Letterman made a joke about a conservative woman's daughter being raped. HaHa.

It's impossible to imagine if Rush Limbaugh had made the same kind of remark about a liberal politician's daughter that it wouldn't be playing front and center in the media right now. And deservedly so. I haven't been watching much news, so I don't know how this is playing out. (Hold on, let me check some websites)

Okay, I probably shouldn't have done that. At least the Today Show had a video clip and seemed to do a fairly good side presenting both sides. (Frankly, in this situation, I think showing Letterman speak and try to defend himself actually helps my point of view). The ABC site headlined their story , "Palins Can't Take a Joke". Excuse me, exactly how many thousands of jokes have the Palins had to take until it got to this point? But boy, they're poor sports because they're making a big deal about this little perverted joke aimed at their daughter.

Letterman made a statement that he never intended to make a joke about their 14-year-old daughter. Never mind the fact that she was the one at the Yankees game. The joke was aimed at their 18-year-old daughter. Never mind the fact that she's home in Alaska.

Well, that's so much better. It's okay to make a joke about Bristol because she had a baby out of wedlock. Haha. (Never mind the fact that Letterman impregnated - feel free to use the term he used - his girlfriend when he was in his 50's).

That wasn't an apology, Mr. Letterman, that was weasly backtracking. You're not funny, Mr. Letterman. Someone pays you money to tell lazy, sloppy jokes. You're just lucky.

Using Up Crudites

We hosted a graduation party over the weekend, and I ended up with a gallon bag full of cut up broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and celery. I'm not a real big raw veggie eater, but I also didn't want them to go to waste.

What I've done in the past, is cook them up in a big pot of broth, then mash the veggies real good. I'd portion that in maybe 6 cup sizes and freeze it. That would be a base for future cream soups. To serve, heat it on the stove, then add cream and cheese at the very end. You can also add a little cornstarch mixed with water (before adding the cream). Heat until thickened, then add the cream and cheese.

Anyway, this time I didn't feel like doing the big soup thing. For supper last night, I cut up a bunch of the carrots and celery (I shouldn have added an onion, but didn't feel like it) and cooked them in coconut oil. Then, I added not quite a cup of chicken broth, about a teaspoon of cajun seasoning and a teaspoon of oregano. I let that cook covered until the veggies were soft, then I added some cut up turkey and ham, also leftover from the weekend. I served it in bowls over rice. It was pretty good, but maybe a little too salty from the ham. I think that overpowered the other spices. Next time I wouldn't add as much ham.

I cut up the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots into smaller pieces and put them in a quart jar. I added a little brine from a jar of cortido. I made some more brine using about 2 cups of water and enough salt so that it's too salty to be pleasant, but not so salty that it's disgusting. I'm going to let that sit on the counter for a few days to and see how it ferments.

I still have some carrots and celery left in the refrigerator. I plan on cutting them up, along with an onion, and cooking them in coconut oil. I'll freeze them in a couple portions (or possibly in ice cube trays) to add to future soups.

A Couple More Brett Things

Shortly after my last post, Grace decided that she wanted to wear her Favre jersey. Madeline told her that he was going to play with the purple team. So, Grace started shaking her head and saying, "This is not good. This is not good." Then, she put on her green #4 shirt and a pair of purple pants.

Last night, I saw on the news a poll that said only 28% of Vikings fans wanted them to sign Favre. I guess they're getting as tired of him as I am (I still love Deanna, though).

Brett, Brett, Brett

You have to understand that I love the Packers. I have no memory of the good years in the 60's, and there were many, many lean years during my impressionable youth. But I watched them. If there was one place where I fit in with the rest of my family, it was as a Packer fan. There were even a few years where my career goal was to be a statistician for the Packers, so I could be on the sidelines. Yes, I'm a dork.

When the Packers got Reggie White and Brett Favre and actually started winning some games, it was huge. And fun. Watching Brett Favre was like watching a little kid who was really, really good (but when he was bad, he was horrid). And he was ours!

And then there was the debacle with his unretirement last year. I struggled, but I decided that the reason he was being such a jerk was because he wanted the fans to support Aaron Rodgers. (That's my story and I'm sticking with it) It would be so much easier for the fans to forget about Brett if he was being a nincompoop. (Sorry, schmuck or stinker were my next best thesaurus choices) And it worked. Fans and TV announcers were bending over backwards to champion Rodgers.

But, alas, my erstwhile sports hero must have decided that there were a few remaining fans he needed to alienate. He wants to be a Viking. Yeah, that should turn any remaining Favre fans into Rodgers fans.

I just read a column that postulated that Favre is mainly looking forward to the Vikings/Packers game at Lambeau and the great reception he'll receive from his fans. Well, I guess that's a possibility, too.

Good luck with that one, Brett.

A Mean Green Bean Making Machine

Actually, I didn't make green beans. I made great northern beans, pinto beans and black beans. I think I have my bean making system down.

Usually in the late afternoon (probably after I get home from purchasing the beans), I'll start soaking my beans. I rinse and sort them, and then put them in my nice bowl with a handle and a spout. I use the hottest water I can get. In an hour or two, they've usually used up most of their water, so I drain and rinse them and fill with more hot water. Probably before bed I'll rinse and refill one more time. In the morning, I'll rinse and refill, and do that a couple more times during the day.

When I'm done with cleaning up after supper, I'll put them in the crockpot overnight. I rinse out the bowl and start with soaking a new batch of beans. Then I repeat the process.

I ended up with 10 cups of each type of bean, stored in 2 cup portions in the freezer. These should last me a few months.

For the few days that I'm in the middle of the process, I keep my metal colander upside down on top of the bowl. It just fits. It kind of make it looks like the bowl is an alien.

I base my bean cooking method on these recommendations.

Two Things I Googled

At lunch today, we were discussing how olives are pitted. Madeline was telling Henry that they go through a machine, and she said that Mr. Rogers probably made a video about it once. That made me a little nostalgic for Mr. Rogers' factory tours. "How People Make _______" I checked to see if there are any DVD's out there with just the factory stuff. I'd love something like that. I only scanned a couple pages of hits, and I didn't see any factory DVD compilation. This PBS site does have a few of them, though.

Last night, Dave & I were having a discussion about how to get Madeline interested in reading better books. He suggested that she might like some of the books that are referenced in A Series of Unfortunate Events. So, Madeline, here's your summer reading list. :) Actually, I probably better okay your choices from that list. I only briefly scanned it, but it has a ton of information on the literary and historical allusions in the series.