"There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst of it is half of them are true."
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
By now you know all about my little red bench. The one that friends and neighbors use to leave me missives and masses of fruit.
Today was no exception to the wonders of the ever-replenishing red bench! Gail has been telling me about her prized subscription to 'The Week", a glossy 'best of British and Foreign Media' magazine which gradually makes its merry way around a myriad of ex-pat readers here in Petaluma.
And there it was, on the red bench, wrapped around a shoe box full of lovely, red apples from Gail's sprawling and scenic Chileno Valley Road property, flicked open in the breeze to the European editorials on Palin's nomination as McCain's running mate.
Let's just say it's time for a little 'Global Perspective' seeings as it is becoming increasingly hard to make heads or tails of the American media reports on the present financial fiasco of epic proportions.
"It remains Obama's election to lose," said the British daily Independent, according to The Week, though McCain should not be underestimated.
Then, there's his running mate, said the Times. "The former beauty queen, sports reporter and mother of five strikes a chord with Middle America," says The Week. Though, "If America passes up this 'once-in-a-generation chance for a fresh start', it will be a sad day for the US and the world," said Jonathan Freedland in the British Guardian.
According to The Week, the raison d'etre of a vice-president, said Andrew Sullivan in the Sunday Times, is to replace a president who dies or becomes incapacitated. "That's what makes McCain's choice of Palin so disgracefully reckless," wrote Sullivan. "He had only met her once before and seems to have picked her at the last minute "........Palin's family life is colorful to say the least, says The Week, and she has zero foreign experience: she only got her first passport last year. Her education? "Six colleges in five years ending with a degree in sports journalism."
That's the background of someone who could be a heartbeat away from the presidency, suggested The Week. "His choice betrays a deep unseriousness about governing the most powerful nation on earth at a time of great peril.
OK then, I guess that means the Brits are not backing the Republican ticket. The Week went on to report that the make-or-break moments in the campaign will come in the debates during which the British-based International magazine is predicting that the forte of John McCain is certainly not that of the US economy.
Had to pass up a mighty tempting invite to a "Debate Party" tomorrow night. How fabulous is that? Recycle all the Fourth of July decorations, whip up a big ol' batch of comfort food and come as your own voter stereotype.
In all my eighteen years in the States I have never experienced SO MUCH furor (and equal measures of incredulity and humor) over the political status quo, of lack thereof.
And now for those apples, pie, crumble, apple sauce... a few fine traditions we don't need to mess with..
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