The lost speeches of Palin, and why I think Americans are fat

So you may be happy or sad about this, but blogging may be a little light the rest of the week. Family is in town from New York and I’m showing them all the excitement that Central Florida has to offer. Today, the Kennedy Space Center. Truly a cool place that I think the ‘rents will enjoy.

So one of the beauties of the Internet age is that nothing, nothing is ever really lost. Someone, somewhere, always has a Xerox or an email or something proving a document existed.

And so my friends (John McCain tone intended), thanks to The Daily Beast, I give you links to the two speeches the great former governor of Alaska never got to give. If you remember back then, on Election Night, Mrs. Palin desperately wanted to give a nationally televised concession speech after John McCain’s eloquent words, but the McCain campaign wouldn’t let her.

That’s too bad. I would’ve loved to heard these beauties. Enjoy.

**OK, I know this isn’t exactly breaking news, but here’s one small reason Americans are so overweight. There is candy everywhere, in every store now. I was standing in line at Bed Bath & Beyond Tuesday and there, in front of the register, were a dozen candy options. Chocolate, gummy bears, you name it. And I’m thinking: We’re in a linens and housewares store, why in the name of Willy Wonka is candy for sale?

Happens everywhere. At Staples, at Office Depot, no matter where you go, there’s candy for sale. Are we that pathetic of a nation, so dependent on instant gratification, that junk food as to be available to us, at all times?

I guess so.

**Finally, the Denver Post did something last week that I’m amazed more papers haven’t done: They forbid their sports writers from picking winners of games of teams they cover. I always thought it was kind of silly that we sports writers picked who we thought was going to win. Does it compromise our integrity, as Post editor Greg Moore said? I don’t know.  But he’s right: Do political reporters pick election results? No.

I know it may seem like no big deal, but Moore is absolutely right. Most sportswriter I know hate picking games, because no matter what you do, the team you cover, or its fans, will be mad at you.

And believe me, if there’s one thing sportswriters don’t need, it’s more people mad at us.

The disgusting last-second abortion amendment to the health care bill. And a 5-year-old channels Herbie Brooks.

Leave it to a devious Democrat to screw other Democrats, and a woman’s right to choose.

Not sure how much everyone heard about this, but in the euphoria of, well, the media and others celebrating the health care bill’s passage in the House of Representatives Saturday night (and how bizarre was it that they passed this bill late on a Saturday night?), there was a slick and wholly underhanded move by Mr. Bart Stupak, Representative of Michigan. And a Democrat.

After months of saying nothing about what he was about to propose, Stupak slipped what many are calling “a coathanger amendment” into the House’s health care bill. This amendment, which, sadly, passed with 240 votes (to 194 opposed), not only banned direct funding of abortion from the federal government’s new health-care bill, but it also prevents private insurance plans that cover abortion from receiving subsidies if they participate in performing abortions.

Stupak was planning this all along, and he knew, he knew, that he could get away with slipping it in at the last second, because after so many months of this health care debate, there’s no way liberals and other Dems would take the chance of letting the health care bill blow up, just to stop this odious bill.

Nancy Pelosi, the New York Times reports, said she thinks changes might be able to be made to the Stupak amendment in the weeks ahead, that nothing is final, etc.

Slowly, piece by piece, women’s rights are more and more in jeopardy. Two Supreme Court justices, both young Bush appointees, have said they won’t overturn Roe vs. Wade. But I don’t believe nor trust them.

And now, if Stupak’s amendment stands, it’s going to be more and more difficult for doctors and nurses to perform abortions. Fewer and fewer will be able to afford it, and the journey of women’s reproductive rights will march back toward the early 1970s.

Disgusting. I hope Stupak’s proud of himself.

Update: Well, this story from NPR makes me feel a little better about the House. But I’m still pissed.

**OK, on a happier note, have you seen this 5-year-old kid imitate, word for word, Herb Brooks’ famous speech before the 1980 U.S.-Soviet Union Olympic hockey game? Kid is awesome.