Idiomatic Pet Peeve

I have a pet peeve. Well, it's more likely that I have many. But I have one in particular that's on my brain right now. Choose which is correct:

"I could care less."

OR

"I couldn't care less."

Though I can't remember the last time I've heard someone say the latter, it happens to be the correct usage. Let's break this down: If you say that you could care less, you are saying that you care. In other words, you are saying that you could care quite a bit less than you care right now. That's not what people mean when they say that. What they mean to say is, "I care so little that I could NOT care any less than I do right now. In other words, I couldn't care less."

If anyone doubts, I did look it up here. Thanks for listening. Yes, I know I'm anal-retentive when it comes to these things, but that's okay.

Used Car Ads and One Guy I Want to Punch in the Hereafter

So, I think that it's safe to say that there are a handful of people whom we're all eager to punch in the face when we all meet up in the hereafter. High on my list is whoever the guy is who first decided that all used car ads have to be obnoxious, belie all intelligence, and slightly resemble South American TV all around. This is the guy who decided that balloons, cameras with no filters, random farm animals, cowboy hats, cheesy graphics, clowns, and the sacrilegious butchering/parodying of beloved oldies and classic rock was the appropriate way to generate interest in checking out a used car lot this weekend? It genuinely raises my blood pressure.

I give you a man who made such ads great, Southern California's Cal Worthington:



What blows my mind is the stark contrast between used car advertising and new car advertising. As an example...



New car ads are, with few exceptions, clever, well-produced, often exciting, and at worst just not any more annoying than any other commercial. Smart dealerships just buy the rights to tack their dealer's name and location on a screen at the end of the manufacturer's commercial.

TV watchers of the world, unite! Change the channel and let's hope that the collective antipathy will change this horrific trend for future generations. But who am I kidding? As long as there are morons in the world, there will be plenty of marketing folk to pander to them and sell them stuff.

Of Strange Brew and the Two Party System

I got some good response from my last post sort of defending party politics. I'd like to respond to a response to a response. :) If you have no interest in intellectualizing over party politics, this may not be the post for you. You've been warned.

(Original post and comments here)

By his comments and general tone, my buddy Mike seems concerned about the adversarial nature of the two-party system. I agree that's always a concern. I took a good class in my undergrad called "Principles of the Founding." The class's objective was to understand the cultural roots of American government by understanding common threads and priorities basically from the Pilgrims through the modern era. The ironic thing was that it was taught by a Canadian-born, naturalized American. I can't tell you how odd it was to hear about theories as to the core of American culture as told by a guy who sounded, essentially, like a hockey nut in a bar at best and Bob or Doug McKenzie from Strange Brew at worst. (Sans the beer, of course. It was BYU, after all.)


My buddy moved from a more bold suggestion that we move to a multi-party format in order to foment a more conversational, collaborative tone, to merely pleading for that attitude generally. I would submit that the latter is more crucial, but at the same time, more difficult, given our political/cultural heritage.

One thing that I'd never realized until I took this class was how completely the rhetoric of right v. wrong, black v. white, us v. them is embedded into our culture. We looked at some sources that gave us a more realistic vision of the pilgrims, for example, who didn't truly come to America seeking a land of tolerance. Rather they came looking for a land of opportunity for them to put forth their vision of an ideal society. They became annoying in Britain for their desire to convert the British into a more ideal society and got kicked out for it. Hence, in America, you have wonderful conventions such as the stocks, scarlet letters, and witch hunts.



When we Americans make up our mind that we're right, we don't typically look for compromise, for better or for worse. We've always had an interesting religio-political scene wherein the sermons of the pulpit intertwine so curiously with the speeches from the polls. The rhetoric of the French and Indian War, of the War of Independence, and of the Civil War was preached in chapels as much as it was in town halls, and with the arguments of fire and brimstone. The great whore of Babylon and the Apocalypse was used in reference to the French, the British, and the Union/Confederacy in succession.

Looking at some other sources, it becomes clear that one of the reasons why we won our independence was because Britain was so fully unprepared for the depth of our resolve. They couldn't figure out why we were so upset and weren't a bit more willing to come to the table and ride it out. (In an interesting contrast, Professor Canada's short version of the story of Canadian independence was that a bunch of guys got together in a tavern late at night, had a few beers, signed some papers, and boom! There's Canada.)



Now we live in a world where religion is a bit more removed from the political scene, though not as much as we'd think. (Think Jeremiah Wright, Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, etc.) But even those issues which we don't argue from the pulpit, especially as we become more secularized as a society, we argue with the zeal of religion. We argue with them as though people are evil for thinking differently. It's just how we're wired.

I said it before, we need to remember that we're arguing about things at the margins. In large part, we've settled most of the main issues that other countries struggle with: What are we going to be about? What is to be our identity? What are our values? We argue more about the expressions of those values than on those values alone, except we never learned how to NOT argue in terms other than us v. them, right v. wrong, etc. So it seems like we're arguing about issues that are the end of the world. I'm not going to belittle how important subjects like abortion, gay marriage, or the second amendment are to people. They're important to me.

What I will point out, again, to keep things in perspective and to, hopefully, encourage a more conversational, collaborative atmosphere, is that we realize that although we argue about these things as though they're life and death sometimes, we're arguing about them from within the context of issues that have been settled. We're arguing about them all in terms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, issues which we've already decided. Maybe that'll be the sign of our nation's maturity when we can accept that common expression of the American Dream and recognize that we're often talking about what's best for the country, which is different than what's right for it.

The Election and Independents

Defending the Party System

I haven’t taken the opportunity to rant about the elections or the candidates, and although we’re still about six weeks out (I’m pretty sure this election has been going on for at least 5 years), My buddy Bitner’s recent election post and some good commentary I heard on the radio got me thinking.

I’ve got a good friend who fancies himself something of an independent. He maintains that he thinks it’s more important to vote for the person he thinks is best qualified for the job, regardless of party lines. This is a pretty common mentality and is all well and good for some people, and I’m sure that there are a good many who are sincere.

But I personally think that a lot of people like to claim that level of independence for two reasons: 1) They’re really conservatives but it seems like everyone around them is a liberal; claiming to be a liberal would make them throw up in their mouths, but they don’t want to be written off as ignorant (common liberal-to-conservative attack) or otherwise stigmatized by their liberal friends. 2) On some level they’ve convinced themselves that the party system is evil. These are the folks who don’t like being pigeonholed or made to feel like they’re being pigeonholed. In the end, if they even decide to vote, they’ll probably do so with one party or the other the vast majority of the time. They just won’t register with the party and thereby avoid the accompanying phone calls and letters soliciting donations. Good for them.

The bottom line is this, and allow me to dust off my political science degree to explain: the party system isn’t as big of an evil as it’s sometimes hip to act like it is. Specifics of the way our legislative and executive election process are designed contribute to a two-party only system. As such, each party represents a myriad of interests, none of which apply to every member thereof. Although this can provide some frustration as no one elected official seems to harmonize exactly with your interests at any one time, I suggest that it should be embraced for the convenience that it is.

For example, the relative strengths and weaknesses of Obama’s or McCain’s character is fun to talk about and can do a lot to inspire or deflate the enthusiasm of lukewarm voters. But it’s largely irrelevant to the policies they will be able to enact, for two reasons: 1) Who runs Congress is a vastly underrated question when it comes to domestic policy. Ask Slick Willy how easy it was for him to get things done under Newt’s regime. And 2) Once Mr. Personality motivates the right amount of voters to get him or her elected, Mr. Personality becomes, quite simply, Mr. President and, with few exceptions, acts like most other presidents of their party would under the same set of circumstances.

So don’t hate on parties. I’ve had a couple of buddies and family members say that this election boils down to which candidate will do the least amount of damage for the next 4 years. Cynical, yes, but that’s probably a pretty good summation. In the end, I think you’ll answer that question by picking the one who belongs to the party that, generally, has a coalition of values, special interests, and platforms that most align themselves with your viewpoint. Isn’t that about the best you can ask for in a president?

Miscellaneous Golf Thoughts and the Ryder Cup

I was chatting with my buddy Bitner earlier this morning and we were getting to talking about the Ryder Cup before we were both rudely interrupted with actual responsibilities to attend to, it being the middle of a work day and all. I hadn't hit on golf yet, so I thought I'd take a moment to give my thoughts on the Ryder Cup and on golf generally. For some good preview reads on the tournament, check out ESPN Rick Reilly's article (here) and Jeff Bradley's comparison of the two teams' approaches to the tourney (here).

Patriotic-type events are always fun. It's probably the biggest reason we like the Olympics, even when we have no interest in gymnastics any other time of year. (Thank goodness for reality TV's ability to provide subjectively-judged inane competitions--otherwise what would we do?) American athletes generally with American golfers as no exception typically are among the top in the world. Nonetheless, in the Ryder Cup, the American team is winless since 1999 in this biennial event against the European team. (As a note, if you believe in karma, the 1999 American team provided a pretty poor display of sportsmanship after that victory.)

U.S. Ryder Cup Team courtesy ESPN.com

The big story is that Tiger's not going to be participating, though his record in the Ryder Cup is surprisingly dismal. It's definitely not what you'd think from THE Tiger Woods. So, with the American team as quite an underdog, the consensus is that even if Tiger were there, the European team trumps the Americans in chemistry year after year after year, and that translates to a far superior performance in this team-oriented tournament.

Bradley's article spends a good time dealing with that, and he points out that while the Europeans grow up playing team-oriented golf, the Americans grow up as favored sons trained in a more individual mindset. On the Euro tour, it's apparently not uncommon for all the players to end up at the same hotels, eating at the same restaurants, and drinking at the same bars, it's more common on the American tour for players to charter private jets and travel with their own family entourage of family, nannies, etc. and stay at any number of hotels.

I think that's just sad.

Not that I'm expressing any pity for the uber-wealthy PGA tour golfers, but I think it's a shame that the professional golf experience is so disconnected from the average-joe golf experience. I think that in pickup basketball or beer league softball, there is some relationship between what the professionals enjoy about their sport and the amateurs enjoy about their sport, regardless of the disparity in talent and compensation.

Now, one of the things I enjoy most about golf is that it's the ultimate competition of self against self. Few of us are good enough to provide real competition against each other, and while golf is easily the greatest sport around for reconciling divergent skill levels to provide genuine competition via the handicap system, most of us concede that the occasional friendly bet is about all the competition we really can handle. For the most part, you play against yourself. You play against your last round or your best round, or even your last best shot.

That being said, the reason that most of us stick with golf despite how poorly we play is the camaraderie. Most of our rounds look a lot more like this...

3 European Team Players courtesy ESPN.com

...than like this:

2 American Team players courtesy ESPN.com

In the end, the poor American team performance is embarrassingly bad any way you look at it. It'd be bad enough if they just lost. It's worse that they lose and have that loss explained by a selfish, spoiled, "I'll-find-a-way-to-put-an-I-in-team" mentality that reflects the worst of American stereotypes. Some American players lately have even complained that, since it's not a paid event, they feel like "slaves" for a week. Never mind that they're wined and dined for the whole week, get the opportunity to be ambassadors for and representatives of our country, and play some of the most competitive golf available. That sure sounds like slavery!

I hope that this year's different. There are some good young players on the American team this go-around. The tournament's at a great course, the weather's supposed to be good, and the whole setup should favor the American strength of driving distance and putting. Best of luck, boys! Try not to embarrass us too badly.

Barack and his Teleprompter

Whatever your political persuasion or feelings about Senator Obama, you've got to find this short article funny:

CNN Political Tracker: Obama's teleprompter hits the campaign trail

It says:

(CNN) — It appears Barack Obama's teleprompter is hitting the campaign trail.

The Democratic presidential nominee has never tried to hide the fact he delivers speeches off the device, though normally he doesn't use one at standard campaign rallies and town hall events.

But the Illinois senator used a teleprompter at both his Colorado events Monday — making for a particularly peculiar scene in Pueblo, where the prompter was set up in the middle of what is normally a rodeo ring.

Just had to laugh and thought I'd share.

Saddening News

I came across this article (AP article printed in Utah's Deseret News) that made me kind of sad, and opened the door for a bit of reflection:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700257923,00.html

It's a short story, but to save the click the upshot is that the front doors of the Mormon temple in Minnesota were burned by an arsonist. Fortunately, the building itself was not seriously damaged, but the sacred nature of the building makes it horrifying to imagine what would have happened had it burned down.

(photo from http://www.lds.org/temples/main/photo/0,11505,2020-1-105-0,00.html)

It made me think of a sad memory. For those of you who aren't Mormon, during high school I attended class every school day from 6:00-6:45 at my church. It's a program called Seminary where we spend one year each on the books of scripture the Mormon church considers canon (Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants). Outside of Utah and Idaho, it's held at the church building in one of the classrooms, and we usually would roll out of bed, throw on something presentable, cover our bedhead with some form of hat, maybe brush our teeth, and attend this class where dedicated teachers tried desperately (with more success than they probably appreciated) to teach us the gospel of Christ and the scriptures. On Fridays we'd have donuts or something similar. Good times.

One morning, we arrived to find our little classroom in shambles. The carpet was incinerated, there was smoke and soot stains on all of the walls, the room's lone window was broken, and in almost the direct center of the room was a small crater with the telltale broken glass of a liquor bottle around it that had been converted into a Molotov cocktail.

It was obviously quite a solemn experience to see the room in such a state. As I look back on it in light of the news in Minnesota, a few things strike me. I'm fairly certain that although the requisite Police report was filed in conjunction with the insurance claim, there was no report to any media. I don't imagine that it got much attention publicly, and the very private way in which we merely took our books from the closet of the damaged room into another room in the building without even an afterthought is apropos of how the Church handles theses situations generally--understated, low-key, very little response at all. I'm actually curious as to how the AP even caught wind of the story of the temple in Minnesota.

Part of what disturbed me a bit, and you'll forgive yet another rant, is that although the fire was characterized as arson, the police don't suspect that it was a hate crime. I wonder what it was characterized as, then. I hope I'm not being over-sensitive, but I can't help but think that the reason it's not being called a hate crime is because it is perfectly acceptable to treat the Mormon faith publicly in a way that it would completely unacceptable to treat most other religions.

The mainstream media commonly misrepresents the Mormon faith, commonly taking as authoritative the opinions and declarations of non-members, former members, or pure rumor as representative of the Church. If the media were to approach any other cultural, social, or ethnic group similarly I'm sure there would be at least some feedback if not outrage.

On some level, I appreciate that the Church takes the posture that it does. I'm not sure I want my Church to have a special interest group or a lobbying firm or a foundation dedicated to making a stink every time there is a misunderstanding or an error based on stereotype or what have you. But at the same time, you have to admit that there's a bit of injustice in that.

When it's all said and done, I don't think we quirky Mormons have that much to complain about. The Mormon faith has probably never been seen in a better light than it is right now. Mormons typically do well in business, don't face barriers to entry in the work force, have a good support system in place, and by no means suffer a lot of the indignities and prejudice that other cultural, social, or ethnic minorities face. We do face a lot of bigotry from within mainstream Christianity, but apart from being blown off or having our faith discounted out of hand by those whom we can easily write off as those who "know not what they do," we have it pretty lucky.

But still, it hurts to have one of your most sacred structures, a symbol of your faith and worship of God, be desecrated. I don't care what the police don't investigate. That temple is located in the middle of a middle class residential neighborhood. Whoever tried to set it on fire did it knowing what the structure stands for and for whom. And that's just sad.

More On My Fried Hard Drive

This is a follow-up to my receiving the wrath of the computer gods (http://cdubgee.blogspot.com/2008/08/punished-by-computer-gods.html).

I got a second opinion, and it's not looking good. My hard drive needs major surgery and it's not covered by my insurance. I was hoping that my second opinion would be sort of like going to a surgeon in India who used to practice in the U.S. but got his license revoked for some kind of nasty malpractice (drunk in surgery, something like that--sort of like the drunken has-been surgeon who initially helped Jason Bourne in the novel) but has great hands while sober so could fix my computer for cents on the dollar.

No such luck. Drive Savers gave me a quote that could range from $500 to $1500 for data recovery (real surgeons), and Best Buy's Geek Squad (drunk surgeon in India) gave me the same quote. The drive has a heartbeat, but it's slipped into a coma. I suppose that the bright side is that what data there still is won't deteriorate or anything over time, so as soon as I can drop a grand to recover my journals, past school work, etc., I should be able to get it.

Can I just gripe a bit about Apple's customer service? I can remember when Anna's 1st generation iPod was giving us fits after a year and a half of use. Apple was already well into the 3rd generation iPod, so when we called to get some help, their advice was that we buy a new iPod because ours was really old. I think the little customer service rep even said that there wasn't anyone around who'd worked there long enough to have ever worked on 1st generation iPods. Ouch.

With my recent hard drive mess, I wrote a letter to Apple expressing my discontent. I made no demands (I'm not naive enough to think I'd get anything out of it), conceded that I shot myself in the foot by not backing up my data, and merely wanted to tell them that I was disappointed in their product. They got back to me quickly, but their form letter basically said, "Don't blame me if you didn't back up your data! S&$! happens and you should know that!" It's amazing how far customer service can get with a mere apology, and it's amazing how rarely they give one.

Sports Weekend Wrap and Other Thoughts

May I just say that it's a welcome thing to say hello to the football season? ESPN's Mike Greenburg made the comment that he's pretty certain football season exists when it does to ease the grief of a departing summer. This California boy is struggling to adapt even after 10 years of having actual seasons, and fall appears to have made an early arrival in Colorado. Certainly, I can agree with Greenie's point as I couldn't be happier for football season.

BYU's Cougars overcame an obstacle by logging their first big-game road win in a long time, but it ended with something of an anticlimax. Even after out-performing the Huskies in basically every relevant category, UW's guts and grit (hello, sports cliches!) gave BYU everything it could handle. UW's Jake Locker ended up driving the length of the field to score the potentially game-tying touchdown, and was so happy to do so that he got up from scoring and threw the ball high in the air as he sought out his teammates to celebrate. This was good enough to earn him a 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike celebration, which contributed to BYU's defense blocking the PAT and winning the game.

Did BYU deserve to win? Probably. Did the referees call the penalty according to the rules? Yes. The rules explicitly prohibit throwing the ball in the air the way Locker did and the zebras called it accordingly. Should the game have ended that way? Probably not. Look, as a BYU fan, I'm happy enough for the win, but I hate to see it tainted like that. It's sad that the rule exists in such a way as to rob the referees from being able to make a judgment call. Some rules unfairly force the referees to make such a judgment, but in this instance I wish they'd had more discretion. The kid was so stoked to have made a tremendous play. He didn't taunt. He wasn't staring down BYU's defense. He celebrated with his teammates. He seems like a class act. He's a team leader and his actions led to his team losing.

I'll grant that there was still one more play and his PAT unit let them down equally. I'll also point out that I dislike blaming officiating for anything. My limited high school football experience provided coaching that taught us that officiating is part of the game, and if you lose because of a close call you shouldn't have put yourself in a position that one call could make a difference, so suck it up. When it's all said and done, go Cougs, but sorry it had to end that way.

In other football news, I'm having a sports ethical quandary. I'm finding myself smugly satisfied that Tom Brady's out for the season with a knee injury. I recognize how truly evil that is of me. So evil that it must be pronounced "ee-ville; like the froo-its of the de-ville." I just can't help it. I've always hated Tom Brady. I was a Bledsoe supporter. I thought it was royally unfair that Bledsoe lost his job to injury just as he finally had the talent around him to hide his flaws. I hate the Patriots. They are the Yankees. They are a class unto themselves. They contribute to everything I've always hated about Boston sports. I'm using the word hate. And I admit that it's fully rooted in the jealousy that every man feels for good-looking pro athletes. He's too much of a pretty boy and gets too much hype for me to be my hero. Sports heroes need to be chippy, scrappy types, and he's just too good. There. I said it. I'm happy he's hurt. My buddy Bitner says I'm now more evil than anyone who's ever rooted for Barry Bonds, Randy Moss, or TO. That hurts, but I think I can live with it.

To change sports, yes, I shamelessly root for Manny Ramirez now. I hated him when he was part of the rising evil empire that is the Boston Red Sox, I thought it was ridiculous that he shoved a middle-aged traveling secretary to the ground for not being able to respond to an unreasonable request, but now that he's sporting my Dodger blue and going the opposite field against one of the best arms in the National League (not saying much, I know), I'll root for him.

On a note completely unrelated to sports, I'm having the worst time trying to get motivated this semester. During the summer I had the opportunity to work at a great law firm, and now that I've tasted the workplace, school has lost its luster. I just can't get into it. It's shameful how little I feel that my classes are preparing me for legal work when I learn so much more through the work I do at the firm. I'll save my rant for how professional school is just a barrier to entry for another day, but I'm feeling it now. At least there's football to look forward to this weekend.

Prediction for BYU v. UCLA on Saturday: Cougs win 35-26

Google Chrome: Get It

This is a shameless plug, but I just downloaded the BETA version of Google Chrome, Google's new web browser.  I haven't worked out all the quirks yet, and you know what?  That's okay.  There aren't many.  As to its superiority over Internet Explorer and Mozilla, I can only say that it's a lot cleaner-looking, and every web page has downloaded MUCH faster than they have on the other browsers while on the same internet connection.  Here's a URL to download the BETA:

http://www.google.com/chrome

You know, a few years ago when Microsoft seemed poised to take over the world, it was a scary thing.  These days, now that Google is in the same spot, I feel slightly less afraid.  A company that is the poster child for taking care of its employees and making life simpler and easier generally has earned my trust, at least for now.  More Google products.  Less Microsoft all around.

Can't wait for the Mac version.  If Mac and Google want to accelerate their steady takeover of technology, they really ought to join forces.  And I say that while still fully angry with Mac right now for the hard drive debacle of a few weeks ago.  Yikes.

Rule of Being a Student: After-Class Etiquette

Can we put out a rule right now that, after class, questions to the professor must be kept to a maximum of 30 seconds? I love when students who don't have a subsequent class monopolize the teacher's times with discussions, anecdotes, pontificating, and general ego-massaging that are the very point of professors holding regular office ours at the expense of the 4 or 5 students who have quick administrative questions that don't merit a whole visit to the professor's office.

I suppose a certain degree of the responsibility lies with the professor to moderate conversations and extend the invitation to come to office hours, but come on, fellow-students! Be aware of those around you and of the schedules they keep.

Random note: were I still at BYU this would merit a "shocked and appalled" letter to the editor of the ever-controversial Daily Universe. I take great pride in the three inane entries to that beloved publication I logged in the course of my career. Keep the dumb rants coming, Cougs!

Goodbye DNC!!

I have to take a moment to express my happiness that the DNC has left Denver. Leaning the other way politically, it's already tough enough to deal with the litany of bumper stickers spouting left-wing paraphernalia from the back of the many 10+ year-old Suburu Outbacks you'll find here without having to co-exist with a convention celebrating the most extreme version of left-wing politics.

Though I had to put that obligatory dig in, my beef with the DNC probably had as much to do with my dislike for big events that aren't nearly as entertaining as they might be made out to be. For example, while everyone else seemed to enjoy the Winter Olympics' arrival in Utah, I fled the state since half of my apartment complex's available parking was appropriated by the ever-popular women's' ice hockey venue nearby. So, although I seem to be in the minority here, I was more than happy to stay as far away from downtown as possible during last week's festivities.

I find conventions to be a curious thing. Even though the biggest non-story of the primaries almost (but not really) happened with the near roll call vote to appease Hillaryland out there, the conventions never serve the purpose that they traditionally had--to elect the party's candidate. Instead, you get a few days of ego-stroking, glad-handing, and general schmoozing as people who are already way too excited about politics work themselves into a frenzy of extremely way too excitedness. I guess I could see some value in a trickle-down effect of some sort where these extremely way too excited folk get sufficiently pumped up to motivate some of the more apathetic of our populace, but I'm not sure that actually happens.

We'll see how the RNC pans out. I think that if they had any guts they'd bag the whole thing and tell everyone who bought a ticket to Minnesota to head down to New Orleans to start cleaning up. Apart from being a much more noble way of spending time and money, can you argue with the political capital they'd gain from that kind of service-minded, "let's forget all this crap and just get to work" mentality that would show? Nominating a woman was probably about as extreme as the Republicans are willing to get this year, though.

Speaking of which, I have to say that was a gutsy move. I'm impressed. Palin seems like a strong-minded individual and a good check against Obama. I'm not sure what her presence will actually be worth in the long run, but if McCain represents the establishment with his long tenure in the Senate and Obama is running as the fresh-faced voice of change, then Palin's as good a counterpart as any. I'm eager to learn a bit more about her.

WARNING: NERDISH REFERENCE FORTHCOMING

At a glance, Palin slightly resembles Mary McDowell (Dances with Wolves's Stands with a Fist) who plays the inexperienced-cabinet-member-who's-forced-to-assume-the-presidency-after-disaster-strikes in TV's Battlestar Galactica. Scary analogy, there, for those of you who know the show (Good first season that went downhill shortly thereafter, by the way, sort of a-la Friday Night Lights). Let's hope that her career doesn't go the same way, not because she wouldn't do a good enough job, but because that would mean something terrible happened.