Mitt the Moron

While I was traveling back home, I listened to a Meet the Press podcast with Romney. After listening to Tim Russert grill Romney on his flip-flopping, I generally thought that Romney did a decent job explaining his change in beliefs. Not that I really believed him, but they were the best answers he could have given in his situation. Plus, he is not trying to prove himself to skeptics like me.

He also did a good job of defending his religion- particularly his religion's history of segregation. I was even impressed to learn that Romney's dad marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. Little did I know I would learn this was all a lie watching the news last night.

". . . Romney never did witness his father march with King, as the campaign now acknowledges.

Romney's presidential campaign says that the elder Romney marched with the civil rights leader, that he told his sons he had, and that written accounts from the time back up the claim.

But experts quoted in a Boston Globe investigation this week concluded that the event never happened."

So we're going from Mitt Romney saying he and his father marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. (he told that to the Boston Globe in 1978), to saying that he saw his father, to saying that he saw his father in a figurative sense, to the possibility that this never even happened? I love the Washington Post's Fact Checker: Marching with King.

I know all candidates stumble, but you would think that they would be more careful when there are people who fact check. And you would think that a candidate, whose biggest weakness is coming off as "slick" and dishonest, would not cover things up with another lie.

My favorite part about this Romney story is how he is trying to explain that his statement was figurative.

"The reference of seeing my father lead in civil rights, and seeing my father march with Martin Luther King, is in the sense of this figurative awareness of and recognition of his leadership," he said. "I've tried to be as accurate as I can be. If you look at the literature or look at the dictionary, the term 'saw' includes being aware of -- in the sense I've described."

"I'm an English literature major. When we say, 'I saw the Patriots win the World Series,' it doesn't necessarily mean you were there," he said.

For those non-sporting folks, the Red Sox (baseball) won the World Series last year, and the last time the Patriots (football) won the Super Bowl was in 2005.

I am not going to discount a candidate just for misspeaking, especially when talking about sports. But if I wanted to have a President who I disagree with on every nearly every issue and misspeaks, well . . . I have that now with President Bush.

I think being in the conservative pockets of California (Santa Clarita and Orange County) brings out my uber liberal side.

[Picture courtesy of The Grand View]

Winter Wandering

I have often been told that I walk with a purpose and it always seems like I am in a rush to go somewhere. Even if I am not in a hurry to go somewhere, I guess I do appear pre-occupied because I typically have a running dialogue in my head of everything that I need to do.

Today though, I just wandered around the mall and some other stores aimlessly. I bought my first Pinkberry frozen yogurt with fresh strawberries, and just wandered.

I was not looking for anything in particular because I had finished the majority of my Christmas shopping. I had no more lists to cross things off of. I simply enjoyed looking at all the window displays, watching people interact, and playing with all the nifty 'worldy gadgets' at Cost Plus World Market.

It was a very strange feeling, this whole not having a million things to do right now. I still have some job application and journal activities, but I figured that can wait until after Christmas. I am taking my vacation, even if that just means walking around the mall in Santa Clarita.

Dinners with Dad

People always ask me if my parents are involved in politics, and if so, if that is why I got involved in politics. I tell them that my parents are not, but they do follow the news attentively and vote in every election. In fact, I probably got my obsessive news checking tendencies from my dad. Every morning we would watch the morning news and read the LA Times, and at dinner every night we would watch the evening news.

So that is what we talk about, the news. My brother and my dad get to talk about engineering and other manly things, I get to pick my dad's brain about politics. Last night, after my dad picked me up from my flight, we discussed the 2008 election. He is for Hillary, believes Obama is too young, thinks Huckabee will be the Republican nominee, does not trust McCain, and reckons that Iowa is not as important as everyone makes it out to be.

I like getting the perspective of someone who is aware, but is not a junkie like me. I am not really an insider, but I do read blogs, Politico, and Slate. I also live inside the beltway now. Moreover, my dad is the only registered independent in my immediate family, the rest of us are card-carrying Democrats. Therefore, he is arguably more objective than the rest of his flaming liberal family.

The Ruskies

Today I found out the Vladamir Putin was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year. I was a little surprised that he beat out names that appear in the headlines more often, so I cannot wait to read the article about why he was chosen. I do not follow foreign policy as much as I would like, but it makes me wonder if the Russians are coming (back).

Now I have many friends, and in fact blog readers, who are very lovely Russians. However, I will admit that Russian people equally intrigue and intimidate the heck out of me. Maybe it was watching too many James Bond movies or episodes of Alias with Russian villains. Maybe it was watching emotionless Russian gymnasts and figure skaters pose the greatest challenges to American Olympians. Maybe it is my fascination/fear of organized crime. Maybe I was indoctrinated when I was in the womb with Cold War Rhetoric.

Ok, I am not against the people of a country as a whole, but tell me that Vladamir Putin's picture does not intimidate you. Now if that is not the icy cold stare of a James Bond villain, I do not know what is. This image is of course reinforced with news stories of the murder of a journalist critical of Putin, the bizarre radiation poisoning death of a KGB Officer investigating the murder, and more. I remember being enthralled by those stories because it read like an Agatha Christie novel.

Maybe I should make a new years resolution to read more about world news, and not just the juicy conspiracy theory stories. Then I would have a better idea of why Putin is staring at me from the cover of Time.

Bartlet for America

Watching the third season of the West Wing on DVD, there is an episode entitled "Bartlet for America," which has flashbacks of President Bartlet's road to the White House.

As the episode shows images of the beginnings of the campaign in New Hampshire and talk about Iowa, and I cannot help but be slightly envious of my friends who are working for "_______ for America." They are working full-time and volunteering for almost every nominee on both sides, and I love hearing their stories. I have waves of nostalgia from 2004 and even USAC campaigns.

Then I remember how campaign life is not as glamorous as it seems on television. Freezing in Iowa, getting stuck in airports on the way to New Hampshire, fearing losing one's job when the campaign is scaling back, dealing with a lot of crazy people, etc. As much respect as I have for people who devote everything to candidates that they believe in for little or no money, it is not for me right now. And I certainly would not have known who I would work for a few months ago, and sometimes even today.

Perhaps one day I will come out of political retirement, and maybe the candidate I will work for will actually win.

Real Housewife of DC

My Day of Freedom, by the numbers:

• 1 trip to the gym
• 1 floor mopped
• 1 refrigerator cleaned out
  
• 2 rugs vacuumed
• 3 episodes of the Real Housewives of the OC courtesy of a Bravo marathon
• 4 loads of laundry
• 4 episodes of the West Wing on DVD
• 5 minutes ordering my brother's present online once he finally told me what he wanted (I LOVE online shopping now).
• 9 am was the time I woke up

Off to Virginia for a cookie decorating party. The holidays are so much more enjoyable when you can actually enjoy them.

Luckiest Girl in the World

Last night, my friends and I went out for dinner to celebrate the completion of finals and being half way done with law school. Just when I thought the night could not get any better, Alex and I decided to exchange Christmas gifts early.

After I gave Alex his cute blue nano, he told me to close my eyes. Needless to say that I was equally shocked and giddy when I opened my eyes and saw a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. I was even more excited when I opened the box and found out that it was purple. Even after perusing the KitchenAid website many times, I did not even know that they had the mixers in purple.

The majority of my law school friends also happen to be domestic divas, and we have all talked about how we the stand mixer would be our first purchase when we established our homes or the first item on our wedding registries. I never thought I would be getting one so soon, but I was thrilled to put it to use right away.

Since Alex's staff is having a Holiday Party on Friday, I whipped up Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Cookies and Peanut Butter Secrets. Things are so much more fun to make from scratch when you have premium equipment. I felt like a Top Chef or Food Network chef multitasking while my ingredients were mixing.

Although I only tried half a Peanut Butter Secret, Alex said that both were great. The finished product...