ustxtxb_obs_2008_10_03_50_00002-00000_000.pdf

Dialogue PALINTOLOGY Yes, it’s McSame’s cynicism, I agree keep thinking about ambition. There’s good ambition and bad ambition. The level of arrogance it takes to say yes to the VP proposal when you’re Sarah Palin is monumental. It’s like asking someone who’s flown model planes for a couple of years to suddenly pilot the most complicated jet in the world. What is the difference between Palin \(\(not blinking” when she said yes and the Wall Street greed that’s crashed all of us into a sea of debt? Emily Tracy Posted at www.texasobserver.org Palin may not make any sense as a candidate to people who examine the issues and see the vice presidency as being one heartbeat away from the presidency. But she makes perfect sense who delivered the presidency twice to W. She is the ultimate right-to-lifer, who made the courageous decision that defined her to them, and, as governor of Alaska, has the bare amount of legitimacy they require. Until Democrats stop allowing themselves to be painted as pro-abortion simply because they are unwilling to put 13-year-old girls in prison, they may very well find themselves losing yet another election against a pair of candidates they should have beaten easily. Paul Gottschalk Posted at www. texasobserver. org POSTHUMOUS PROPS Molly, we sure miss you \(“The Assault you didn’t have to watch America dying. This is the age of celebrating ignorance proudly. Your comment”But what is truly not funny is the pathetic spectacle of the United States of America, a nation with the greatest political legacy that the world has ever known, letting itself be gnawed to death by the greed in a corrupt system that can be so easily fixed:’is ever on my mind. John Bland Posted at www.texasobserver.org Unfortunately, this is just one of the many such reported activities by people who seem to believe that the Constitution is just an academic exercise. We who actually believe in our Constitution and the civil rights it enshrines must continue to be vigilant and give generously of our support to organizations like the ACLU that work to protect those rights in the face of unending hostility from the current administration and their puppets in the David King Posted at www.texasobserver.org I am 66 years old and have seen a few things after 26 years as a logger, schoolteacher, combat veteran, and lawyer. Never have I seen such corruption and arrogance and absolute stupidity as have been exhibited by the Bush-Cheney cartel. As far as I am concerned they are war criminals and common criminals. This story is just one little speck on a canvas of evil. Stoney Burk Posted at www.texasobserver.org CORRECTION name. The Observer regrets the error. LETTERS TO THE EDITORS: Dialogue, The Texas Observer, 307 W. 7th St., Austin, TX 78701 or [email protected] . Include full name and contact e-mail/ phone number. OCTOBER 3, 2008 TheTexas Observer FEATURES LETTER FROM GALVESTON 8 Dress rehearsal for disaster. by Tom Curtis INK-STAINED KVETCHES 13 Where are all the editorial cartoonists going? by Brad Tyer THE WINNEBAGO VOTE 18 How 12,000 RVers tilt East Texas elections. by Forrest Wilder DEPARTMENTS DIALOGUE 2 EDITORIAL 3 POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE 4 JIM HIGHTOWER 22 Cleaning up after the elephants. BOOKS & THE CULTURE POETRY 23 by Kurt Heinzelman & Kathryn Ridall BIG RIVER 24 The Gulf Stream: Tiny Plankton, Giant Bluefish, and the Amazing Story of the Powerful River in the Atlantic. by James E. McWilliams WRITING THE WAVE 26 Land of the Permanent Wave: An Edwin “Bud” Shrake Reader. by Stayton Bonner AFTERWORD 29 by Jake Miller Cover photo by Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle/ Rapport Press 2 THE TEXAS OBSERVER OCTOBER 3, 2008