Ask Grandstander

[phenweigh]

Are you surprised somebody didn't photoshop Sarah Palin into that picture?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

Are you surprised somebody didn't photoshop Sarah Palin into that picture?

We already suffer from a surfeit of Palin flaming and sanctification, the CE board is fully loaded with such confrontations. I would just as soon it doesn't spill over into this thread.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

What were your impressions of the first episode of Survivor:Gabon?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

What were your impressions of the first episode of Survivor:Gabon?

When looking at the profiles and videos of the players on the CBS website, I was left with the impression that they have deliberately assembled a cast of difficult and eccentric personalities which are certain to clash. The first show confirmed this suspicion. They are going for heavy duty soap opera this season. Bob seems to be a Caucasian Yao-Man, Charlie the gay lawyer will be the gabby go to guy for the camera solo appearances. Sugar the pin up model gets on my nerves with her relentless habit of adding a laugh at the end of every sentence she speaks.

Too early for long range predictions.

[phenweigh]

Originally Posted by Grandstander

We already suffer from a surfeit of Palin flaming and sanctification, the CE board is fully loaded with such confrontations.

I'll take that as a "yes".

Did you pick up some bargains on the market on Tuesday?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

I'll take that as a "yes".

Did you pick up some bargains on the market on Tuesday?

My response to all the market turmoil has been to do nothing, sell nothing, buy nothing. In the 2.5 weeks so far, my portfolio has been all over the place, up and down, but at the moment is about 2 % higher than when all of this started. I've really no idea why, which is why I do nothing.

[vtred]

Weekly "what if" fight match-up:

Sarah Palin vs. Dan Quayle?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by vtred

Weekly "what if" fight match-up:

Sarah Palin vs. Dan Quayle?

Tina Fey's Dan Qualye was never very convincing.

Palin is definitely the bigger splash. In the case of Qualye, he was perceived as a light weight pretty boy ticket decoration and had the sort of barbs aimed at him which you would expect from that perception, but he did not dominate the campaign focus the way that Palin has. It was later, after he was in office, that he made the potato goof which gave him his perpetual image. Palin has forged herself an image because she so loudly lends herself to satire. The high velocity squeaky voice, the self styling of herself as a pitbull in lipstick, the gosh darn it don't you just love me cause I'm a maverick salesmanship...perky perky perky. Qualye could be safely ignored during Campaign '88, not so with Palin. The most fun has been watching the McCain supporters having to pretend that she is just perfect.

[phenweigh]

Dick Enberg vs Dick Martin

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by phenweigh

Dick Enberg vs Dick Martin

C'mon, let's not get into one of those "Who is the bigger Dick?" contests.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

In another thread, you listed Burr, cheney and Breckenridge as our three worst VPs. Have we ever had a really good Vice President? I'm only talking about what they did as VP, not what they did upon becoming president, such as Roosevelt or LBJ.

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by LongtimeBravesFan

In another thread, you listed Burr, cheney and Breckenridge as our three worst VPs. Have we ever had a really good Vice President? I'm only talking about what they did as VP, not what they did upon becoming president, such as Roosevelt or LBJ.

Actually I listed Burr and Breckenridge as the two worst, and that Cheney must battle with Agnew and Calhoun for the # 3 slot.

I don't know that we've ever had a truly distinguished vp. They typically wind up doing a lot of honorary stuff, attending state funerals, chairing this or that vital committee for critical something or other. Since the Constitution assigns the vp little to do, whatever the president decides the vp should do is it. To date, I'm unaware of any of them being as important as other cabinet officers or staff members. Notice that no president has ever named a vp as a cabinet member? Never made the vp chief of the security council or our represenative to the UN or anything like that? Why not? They get projects, like LBJ running the space program, which of course is why we got "Houston, we have a problem" rather than "Sante Fe we have a problem" or "Mobile, we have a problem." Johnson milked it for all the pr that he could, whether he actually made any important decisions, I doubt. Maybe he helped by squeezing extra bucks out of Congress, that would have been his style.

Ike tired to keep Nixon out of the domestic spotlight by sending him on assorted tours and keeping him moving from one ceremonial deal to another. Having learned his lesson, Nixon mostly played Hide-the-Greek with Agnew, trotting him out on an episodic basis to make a right wing attack speech. (Nittering nabobs of negativism) From what I've read, LBJ treated The Hump like an low status errand boy, ruthlessly exploiting Humphrey's incredible respect and desire for the office.

[canesfan68]

Why do people have to pick on people who have handicaps?

[Grandstander]

Originally Posted by canesfan68

Why do people have to pick on people who have handicaps?

They don't have to, they just do. All of history seems the story of the more powerful exploiting the less powerful, so, it also happens on a smaller scale.

And humans seem driven to avoid being at the bottom of any social hierarchy, thus inferiors are needed. If not readily available, they must be invented.

[perfectstormhits]

Is Harold Stassen running this year?