But what I'm really thankful for this week is

Thanksgiving itself completely absorbing the attention of Americans and leaving me two days to think of other things, like vacuuming, and our renovations instead of the Grassroots Ball all the time!

Not that I am not grateful that the ball is succeeding enough to require that time, but. You know what I mean.

The gable end

Some of you might remember that things got very, very tense with the contractor, Joaquim. That was not nice at all.

It all started in the day or so after the chaux -- call it "natural stucco", if you like -- went up on the street side. Ball business was pressing and immediate, the emails coming in like enemy fire, and the phone ringing, and I was still adjusting to working American hours while living in the muddy French countryside, and Joaquim was being more demanding than a hyperactive 2-year-old.

"Jacqueline! Jac-que-line [imagine, my first name in 3 syllables]! Viens vite. Viens!"

(I remind you that there is a translation tool to the right. You can put whole sentences in to find out what on earth I'm saying.)

"J'arrive, Joaquim. Attendez une seconde; je suis en ligne." That I was on the telephone made absolutely no difference whatsoever to him. I should hang up instantly. The second he calls my name, "Jacqueline!"

"Viens voir, viens voir!" It makes a mother feel like saying, "That's won-der-ful, darling! What a beau-ti-ful picture you have made. Shall we hang it on the refrigerator together?" Instead, I apologized into the telephone and tried to keep breathing normally to keep my heart from taking off.

One.

Two.

Thr--

"Jacqueline!"

"I'm sorry, I'm really going to have to go. My contractor is calling, and I have to go -- Yes, yes -- absolutely -- okay, bye!"

"Jacqueline! Tu viens ou quoi?" Yes, I am coming. I am really coming, right.this.very.instant.

If his heart rate was normal, I don't know how. He held up a plastic jar of yellow pigment. I caught the lid, "Jaune de chrome". Chrome yellow.

"Tu n'auras pas un bouchon de bouteille, non? N'importe quel bouchon de bouteille. J'ai changé de pigment. Celui-ci est beaucoup plus concentré alors il en faut beaucoup moins mais il faut le doser." I handed him a Coke bottle cap I happened to have.

"Will this work?"

"Parfait, parfait." He headed back out to the mixer. But not for long. I was hardly back at work on the ball, when I heard my name again, in urgent tones. This time, he wanted to show me the chaux he had just mixed. I followed him and the dollop on the trowel to the wall, where the sample we had selected had waited these three weeks or more.

"C'est pareil, non? C'est la même chose." I looked closer. It looked about the same, but like Joaquim himself never ceases to tell me, it changes over time. The chaux on the wall had been there at least three weeks, the liquid in it being drawn into the brick behind, and the acid in the lime working on the pigment.

"Ca a l'aire d'être ça," I said. Hoping it was, but Joaquim had spent entire days telling me how serious he is about his work, and I believe him. He's nothing if not serious about his work, and seriously needy to hear that he does it well. Let me not, however, appear to knock it. He is good at his work.

He is also a really good mixer of color. I told him what I wanted for the paint for the windows, showing him the flowers whose petals should serve as the color to add to a chocolate brown, and he came back with exactly the color I wanted. Try that yourself.

I went back to work, and he retured to Georges, José and the mixer. By a couple hours later, I heard my name again. It was time to go see the ochre chaux in place. It looked good.

"Jacqueline, tu as ton appareil de photo? Il faut que tu prennes des photos. Il faut que tu prennes des photos de José en traine travailler. Tu l'as, ton appareil de photo?" There wasn't a single pause for breathe in there. Not one. Don't be fooled by my punctuation.

"Of course I have my camera." I started taking pictures.

"Mais il faut que tu en prennes de José, en traine de travailler, de plus près, là, comme ça. Non, mais, non. Plus près -- mais, qu'est-ce que tu fais là? D'ici --"

"Joaquim, je t'assure, je l'ai. Je suis en traine de prendre les photos que tu veux, comme toujours." I am the one who started taking the pictures, telling him that he really should document his work. That day, I became the official documenter of his work. The next time, he came with his own camera, but that was mostly because he was very, very angry with me because over the weekend, we had decided that the color was too greeny-yellow, too mustard.

Joaquim had quit the job by Sunday afternoon.

By Monday evening, he was discussing the history of the Euopean Union with Sam and women, fidelity and libido (don't forget, my husband is a gynecologist, so this is all very professional and normal around here) over dinner. While preparing my apple tart during drinks, he saw me start to sprinkle something on the apples.

"C'est quoi ça," he demanded.

"Cinnamon."

"Ah, c'est bon! Tu as déjà gagné des points!" He wanted good food, his ex-wife wanted more attention and more attentive sex, I am guessing.

(It's okay, I have checked my demographics. You're all old enough to read that.)

I'll save you all the discussion about the color. In the end, it did change a bit on the wall, he promised to work it with a bit of a siena wash if it still needed it, and we're all okay now. The brown for the motifs is drying out too light, so we're going to darken it with a stain. I went lighter for Audouin, and I still want it darker. Like it is when it's wet. That's easy to do.

Work now has moved to the garden side. The scratch coat is up, the holes are being prepared for the brackets for the balcony, which will be delivered Monday, and the wood strips to make the forms for the half-timber motifs are on their way.

It's getting colder for Georges and José, but they're not complaining much. After all, we were the ones who wanted to get this show on the road earlier this fall. Snow fell Sunday morning, but this is nearly the Norman countryside. It's mild here, even in the winter. The cold never lasts very long when it gets its coldest.
....

I'm thankful for...

http://www.americanprogress.org/cartoons

a husband who's employed by the French public hospital system.

We're not rich, but we're not quaking in our shoes.

H A P P Y * T H A N K S G I V I N G !

eat lots of pumpkin pie for Sam and I

(with whipped cream!)

....

May I interest anyone in a

nice game of Bubble Shooter while I plan the ball instead of writing?



Here, it's easier to win online.

My laptop is broken (Damn you, Dell, damn you!), so I can't even update the photos of the work on the house. I'd have to bother getting it all set up on the old desktop (nice old desktop, nice desktop, there, there).

The speakers are even broken.

And I have nothing whatsoever to wear.

Oh, so much to say.
....

Drum roll, please!

We have an announcement!

The Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009 Organizing Committee has selected a site for our very own, first-ever grassroots inaugural celebration in Washington, DC, by the People of MYBO, for the People of MYBO.

And all their friends from the Obama campaign offices all across the country.

Hold the date, January 19, 2009.

Details to follow, once it has all sunk in.

We'll talk about the contractor drama when I can peel my self away from urgent ball business.
....

Can someone tell me what he said?

The President-elect's first weekly address.

my speakers stopped working

I think the election tired them out.

And Dell still hasn't set the appointment to come repair my laptop. Don't get me started.

And they tried to steal the BMW station wagon from out in front of the house Friday morning.

And the color is wrong for the chaux (natural stucco) on the house, and we are possibly going to lose the contractor over it. (I'm almost relieved, if he just gets the stucco done). More later.

And I can't read lips.

But, the ball planning is flying along, the sponsorship support from the members of the MYBO committee to raise the down-payment on the venue and help lower ticket prices is strong (Obama supporters are a wonder and a half), and we might actually start getting more than 3 1/2 hours of sleep a night, my organizing partners and I.

A plus tout le monde.
....

Dinner is not optional

"Mom, dinner is not optional."

I looked at the hour in the corner of the task bar on the screen, glowing in a room that had been dark for hours. Husband on duty at the hospital, no one to reprimand me for ignoring my motherly duties. Or so I thought. There was my son to remind me.

"Right now, Sam, right now. I promise. What do you want? Chinese? Can you get me the menu?" He sighed, aggrieved.

"Mom? dinner?" I looked again at the time. A half hour had passed.

"Sam? Did you bring me the menu?"

"It's right next to you."

Oh.

They are starting to know us at the Mandarin Chinese in Bonnières. As it was, they weren't doing steamed food anymore.

"Mom? Isn't it time to leave to get the food?" Oh god. Another half hour had past, emailing and IMing at breakneck speed, planning for our Grassroots Inaugural Ball 2009. A ball of our very own for Obama's Internet Army soldiers.

"Yeah, right -- yeah, right now. You come with me." I couldn't face going in. I haven't changed clothes since Sunday.

"Mom, are they closed?" He sounded really aggravated this time.

"Ah -- no. No. Of course not --" They looked really closed. The owner's wife stuck her head out the door of the darkened restaurant, and I pulled a hard right into a parking space near the door, barely breaking. I glanced at the orange digital numbers glowing in the dark. 23:08.

"Mom. They are closed." I have never heard him sound so -- firm.

"Go ahead, go on -- tell them how sorry I am, anything, just apologize. A lot."

"No," he muttered, hauling himself out of the car. I got it. I really did. He felt like I should come in and apologize to the three of them. The owner, his wife, and him. But this was important. This is about history. It isn't happening again.

We didn't get a free treat last night like we usually do. Last time it was a bottle of Tsing Tao.
....

A Grassroots Inaugural "Ball" of our own

Joel Pett's Cartoon
http://www.kentucky.com/947/image_media/580639.html

I had an idea.

It turned out I wasn't alone.

We needed an inaugural party for Obama's "Internet Army". All of us who made profiles on MYBO (Mybarackobama.com), raised money for the campaign on our fundraising pages, blogged, worked the phone banks and made calls from home, posted to the groups -- like Writers for Obama, Environmentalists for Obama, Barack Fans in the Colbert Nation, Harvard for Obama, Columbia University Alumni for Obama, SiCKO Universal Health Care HR 676, 10th Congressional District of Illinois for Obama, and on and on -- knocked on doors, hosted events, wrote letters to the editor of our local papers, forwarded articles, Dugg others still, traveled to battleground state to campaign, volunteered to Protect the Vote, and worked to register voters and GOTV.

Over the months, bonds were formed. Some of us made a "fambly" and adopted one another. Sometimes we argued. Tensions ran high as the last days of the campaign approached. We laughed, and we cried. And, we did both through the Sarah Palin days.

You betcha' we did.

Wink! (Excuse me. It's become a tic).

In the end, the press credited us with being an army of 3.1 million volunteers, ready for any mission the Obama campaign, and, now, the Obama administration can think up for us. Get him elected?

No problem.

Get that needed support for legislation in our congressional districts?

You need but ask, and it is yours.

In a matter of a few short hours, we have three organizing committees -- in Cambridge, MA, NYC, and Washington, DC -- coordinating with two of us, Columbia University grads who never imagined back in 1986 that destiny would bring us back together again to put on the party of our lifetimes.

I am keeping a little mum on the details for now, except that it will very possibly be in the social hall of a Capitol Hill church that can handle several hundred people. We want to make this a party by The People, for The People, particularly those who worked for the campaign in any fashion, on MYBO or through a local office. We want to keep it in the spirit of the campaign -- the spirit of community and Obama's roots as a community organizer.

The Obama Gospel Glee Club (500 people have volunteered from as far away as Alaska to sing with it) of Charlottesville, VA has asked to come and sing. We are starting small for music -- everyone's iPods, and working up to some big names for entertainment. We are working to get support from any soul that might still be answering phones for the Obama campaign to see if there are a few spare dollars in that war chest to offset ticket costs and officially make our "ball" a MYBO campaign ball. And, if we are very, very good, we hope to get ourselves on Michelle and Barack's and Jill and Joe's inaugural ball itinerary.

After all, we're the ones that helped get them into office, and we're the ones we've been waiting for!

Pass the word. If you want to come, just leave me a comment with your contact information, and I'll add you to the emailing list.
....

Meanwhile, back at the house

The work goes on

My husband is home today. He was able to see the half-timber motifs in chaux by daylight.

"Tu trouves pas qu'ils sont pas très, très bien fait? Je veux dire qu'ils ne sont pas très lises et réguliers."

"Oui. C'est moi qui ai demandé qu'ils font comme ça. Je ne voulais pas qu'ils soient trop lêchés, tu sais, pour leur donner l'aire du bois, un peu ancien."

"Ah bon?"

"Tu ne l'aimes pas comme ça?"

"C'est juste que les voisins le remarquent aussi. François [the guy who works as the village care-taker, or cantonnier, one of the first government positions created in France under Napoléon to insure that the roads through France and its miniscule villages, peppered throughout a vast and muddy countryside and strewn along the sides of its mountains, remained passable and maintained. It was a post that was highly desirable because it was an appointment for life, with regular income for people without an education] disait que les gars fusaient un travail pas trop super; ça pourrait être beaucoup plus lise et on ne doit pas voir les traces de la taloche."

"Je sais." But I don't want it too smooth. I want to see the traces of the trowel and I want the light to hit the little bumps here and there in the chaux, like the irregularity and organic quality of wood.

Let's hope I am not the biggest idiot on the face of the earth.

Later, my husband came back in from saying hello to Georges and José, and said, "Georges viennent de me dire qu'ils peuvent faire mieux mais c'est toi qui le veux comme ça." He laughed.

Tomorrow, Joaquim returns to make the first batches of the ochre. I swear that he told me that two he made after we had picked the one we want were the same (they weren't), and later he told me, "Oh? Non. Non, ce n'est pas de tout pareil. J'ai fait exprès."

Un-hunh. Well, it's not going on the wall until it is exactly the one we selected!

Meanwhile, my husband, who liked the reds for the half-timber motifs, is not complaining about the brown.

I think he likes it.

Well enough.

....

Anyone else feel like dancing,
with Barack ?

yeah.

Michelle is so lucky.
....

Délicieuse provocation

By Pistol Tanker Palin

"I think that Barack Obama does not belong to America only this morning, but to the whole world."

Rama Yade
French Secretary of state for Human Rights and Foreign Affairs

The election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States is already raising the pressure on the government here.

Tonight, France 2 evening news anchor David Pujadas interviewed France's only black member of the national government, the sublime and articulate Senegal-born Rama Yade, graduate of France's elite Sciences Po, protégée of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Secretary of state for Human Rights and Foreign Affairs under Bernard Kouchner. The 32-year-old Muslim Yade is married to Joseph Zimet, an adviser to Secretary of State Jean-Marie Bockel and son of the Yiddish singer Ben Zimet.

Pujdas asked Yade what Obama's election meant for France. With her smile, especially winning this evening, lit by her own satisfaction in the Obama election, Yade said, "C'est une délicieuse provocation," which in itself was a délicieuse provocation, containing as it did her meaning that it will now be incumbent on France and other Western democracies to make way for more black and minority representation in their governments.

Earlier today, in the AP piece in the online version of French newspaper le Nouvel Observateur, known fondly as "le Nouvel Obs", nouvelObs.com, Yade called the election of Barack Obama "the fall of the Berlin Wall times 10".

AP | 05.11.2008 | 10:15

Rama Yade a estimé mercredi que l'élection de Barack Obama à la présidence des Etats-Unis était "une chute du mur de Berlin fois dix".

"Ce qui s'est passé là, c'est une chute du mur de Berlin fois dix", a-t-elle déclaré sur France Info. Très émue, la secrétaire d'Etat aux Affaires étrangères et aux Droits de l'Homme a soufflé: "Je crois que ce matin, nous avons tous envie d'être Américains."

"J'ai le coeur, pardon, alourdi par l'émotion, une émotion qui me fait dire que si elle est comme ça la vie, elle vaut la peine d'être vécue", a-t-elle ajouté.

Rama Yade a estimé que cette élection était "un défi qui est lancé à une bonne partie du monde". "C'est à nous de relever le gant pour ne pas vieillir trop vite", a-t-elle ajouté.

"Je crois que Barack Obama n'appartient pas ce matin à l'Amérique seulement, mais à l'ensemble du monde", a conclu Mme Yade.

Imagine someone in our government calling anything a"délicieuse provocation". Ah, mon dieu, que j'aime la France!

Yade speaking on the mobilsation of the UMP
for the second round of the presidential election
in France in 2007, with Rachida Dati

Also interviewed was Michaëlle Jean, the Haitian-born Governeur générale du Canada since September 27, 2005. Jean's family left Haiti in 1968 when she was 11 to escape the political dictatorship of François Duvalier.

Pujadas had just left-off with New York Times editor-in-chief and author of Twice as Good: Condoleezza Rice and her Path to Power, Marcus Mabry, who said -- and I translate:

Obama won many whites, more than John Kerry, the last Democrat, won, so it is a success for everyone, but it's also a success for the whole world, not just our country, but for everyone around the world. We saw this with all of the very moving moments all over the world. We can even ask ourselves -- it is also a challenge for France and the other great democracies -- , when will there be the first black president in France?

Jean spoke of Obama's tremendous ability to unite Americans, to give to America the sense that it can dare to recreate its own image, from a country built upon slavery and then the segregation of the races, to a country where people of all races can join to work together, and then she seized on Pujadas' earlier question about hope, saying:

Oui, l'espoir est essentiel. L'espoir c'est un carburant. L'espoir se rapporte aussi la confiance, et ce que Barack Obama a fait durant toute cette campagne c'est de redonner confiance aux électeurs américains, dire à chaque citoyen et à chaque citoyenne, "Vous savez, chaque geste compte, chaque geste compte et votre geste peut faire toute la difference."

I leave you with the broadcast of tonight's evening news in France. I know most of you don't speak French, but you can follow the images, perhaps get the gist of what is being said, and how this election has touched this country, where 84% of the French people polled say that they are satisfied with the result of our election in the United States.

There is here, too, the feeling that the expectations are high for our new president, and there is an understanding that it will take time, that he has the right to a certain measure of disappointment and even failure while he and the world put the pieces together to build a new working relationship and approach to the common problems we face in the areas of foreign relations, the global ecomony and our nations' security.

One thing I will follow very closely is the reaction of President Sarkozy as President elect Obama announcs his transition team and administration and begins the work of transitioning from the Bush White House to the Obama White House. It is widely felt in France that Sarkozy fawned a grat deal too much, was quite a bit too receptive of President George W. Bush, far too eager to be a friend of this very unpopular American president in the world, who is viewed as having the worst foreign policy program for many decades, and all eyes are upon him to see how he handles this much more satisfying American president-elect.

Please always bear in mind that the French conservative UMP, the political party of Sarkozy, while conservative remains much closer to our moderate Republican, even slightly conservative Democratic party positioning, while the PS, or the Parti Socialiste is a good deal more progressive than the most progressive aspect of the Democratic Party. I intend to avoid all future references to "right" and "left" in an effort to build a political language better able to help us accomplish our political goals.

Read George Lakoff's The Political Mind to get an idea why.
....

Interview4Obama STEAL BACK YOUR VOTE: What Do I Feel? It's All So New

Interview4Obama STEAL BACK YOUR VOTE: What Do I Feel? It's All So New

Obama Wins Presidency, Yes. We. Did!

OBAMA WINS!

Free video chat by Ustream

I need time before I say more than that.

We have cared so much and worked so hard, and now we rejoice and the world rejoices with us.

Congratulations, Barack.

Yes we can.
....

Paris, enthousiasmé par Obama!

By Pistol Tanker Palin

Au Troc

Ce fut hier soir.

Paris had a party for Election Day and Barack Obama, et j'ai réussi à l'ignorer. (There's a translation tool to the right. This is French and English class.)

The Eiffel Tower sparkles every hour on the hour for 10 minutes, so to be truthful, they coordinated the release of the red, white and blue balloons with an hour, très probablement. It only actually cost them the organization of the release of the helium-filled balloons.

Nonetheless, it is a lovely gesture of support and joy, relief and Hope in the Paris night by many French, who have been terribly frustrated not to be Americans in one of her finest hours. It has been quite a hardship for them to submit themselves to American campaign finance law and sit on their wallets and refrain from all other tangible means of helping to get Barack Obama elected our 44ème président. Of this we had to remind them many times, to their constant chagrine.

They consider that he will be a little bit their president, too. You know, very often, we Americans living outside the United States are reminded that they wish they could vote for the president of the United States because (s)he has so much power to influence their lives, as well.

Et, oui, there are many Parisiens et autres français (moi aussi, je te l'avoue) who find this sparkly spectacle of "bling" un peu beaucoup, but remember, ce fut pour le millenium qu'ils l'ont fait pour la première fois. And then, no more, until la mairie de Paris decided to spend 600,000 euros to make the show a permanent feature for the benefit of all the tourists who were unable to be there at midnight January 1, 2000.

And so it will be forever, à jamais.

Alors, c'est minuit, de la nuit du 3 au 4 novembre?

Je vous laisse savourer la victoire imminente de Barack Obama avec les français et leurs amis, qui je remercie beaucoup.

And, let me say once more for good measure, and anyone who doesn't usually read me, that just like French Minister for Foreign Trade Christine Lagarde said while interviewed tonight, the French have remained our friends, for as her boss President Nicolas Sarkozy has said, friends may sometimes disagree. So, while the French have not always agreed with us, particularly in recent times, and as unpopular as Bush Jr. could be, and has been, the French people still love the United States with the enthusiasm they have showed Barack Obama's candidacy -- it's really one and the same thing. They look for us to do Great Things, Big Things, Inspiring Things, and they have a little bit suspended judgement, giving us a much-needed pass for the shock we suffered on 9/11.

The fond de l'affaire is that our rise over these last months as a people, including the phenomenon of Republicans indicating a willingness, even a likliness to vote for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in their lives right now, is what they trusted would happen, when we would be ready again.

You see, France is so old that it has had time to learn what all who are older learn: patience and to not let their plumes be ruffled trop.

A noter, the Eiffel Tower is also lit blue since June, when the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, became President of the European Union for France's 6 month tour of leadership, which is set to come to an end at one minute before midnight, January 1, 2009. Blue is the field color of the EU flag, and the circle of yellow stars that are visible there on the side of the Eiffel Tower, facing the Seine across from the Place du Trocadéro, represent the first countries of her Union. It is generally agreed qu'elle est sublime en bleue, aussi la couleur de la France.

Allez les Bleus!, being the cri pour l'équipe nationale de football. That would be soccer.

Tous ensemble

What zee heck, 'ere eez another (do not pronouce the "th" correctly, the French cannot), l'un des plus grands "tubes" [trans.: One of the biggest hits] de Johnny Hallyday, ici au Parc des Princes -- the stadium of Paris-St. Germain soccer -- en 2003,


....

Sarah Punk'd, C'est la vie!

By Pistol Tanker Palin

"Hell-oh! This is Sarah, how are you?"

The give-aways she never caught. Unbelievable. Hysterically funny and ter-ri-fy-ing-ly ignorant.

It begins fort, with "Sarkozy" referring to his "special American advisor, Johnny Hallyday," who is none other than the iconic French signer, Johnny Hallyday.

Then, "Sarko" moves on to Palin's brilliantly promising political future:

"Sarko": You know, I see you as a president one day, too!

Palin: [Chuckle of delight] "Well, maybe in 8 years." I just love her humbleness and her modesty, always underestimating her surpassed capabilities.

And, on hunting,

"Sarko": We kill the baby foque, too. [Trans. "We kill baby seals, too."] I just love killing those animals, mmm-mm, taking away a life, that is so fun!

Palin: [GIGGLES. Serious. I am not joking you]

This is how she thinks phone calls from presidents of major world powers go? God help the Republicans who can't bring themselves to vote for a Democrat today.

On foreign relations,

"Sarko": You know we have a lot in common also, except that from my house I can see Belgium. That's kind of less interesting than you.

Palin: [Flattered] Well , see, we're right next door to the countries that we all need to be working with.

"Sarko": Some people said in the last days, and I thought that was mean, that you are not experienced enough in foreign relations, and that is completely false. That's the, the thing I said to my great friend, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stef Carse.



Palin: Well, he's doin' fine, too, and, yeah, when you come into a position underestimated it gives you an opportunity to prove the pundits and the cirtics wrong. You work that much harder --

"Sarko": I was wondering, because so you are so next to him, one of my good friends also, the Prime Minister of Quebec, Mr. Richard Z. Sirois , have you met him recently? Did he come to one of your rallies?



Palin: I haven't seen him at one of the rallies, but it's been great working with the Canadian officials in my role as governor... I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally, and your beautiful wife -- oh my goodness! You have added a lot of [the tiniest hesitation here while she decides just what word to use] energy to your country with, um, with that beautiful family of yours!

"Sarko": You know my wife, Carla, would love to meet you, ah, you know even though she was a bit jealous that I was supposed to speak to you today. ha ha ha ha

Palin: ha ha ha ha! Well, give her a big hug for me!

"Sarko": You know that my wife is a popular singer and a former hot top model, and she is so hot in bed, and she even wrote a song for you.

Palin: [but here she doesn't miss a beat!] Oh my goodness, I didn't know that!

"Sarko": Yes, In French it's called the "Rouge à lèvres sur un cochon", or if you prefer in English "Joe the Plumber". [begins to sing]

Palin: Maybe she understands some of the unfair criticism, but I bet she is such a hard worker, too, and she realizes you just plow through that criticism.

"Sarko": I just want to be sure, I don't quite understand the phenomenon Joe the plumber. That's not your husband, right?

Palin: That's not my husband, but he's a normal [wtf?] American who just works hard and doesn't want the government to take his money.

Time out here. Wait a minute. Does she know she is talking to the French president, the president of the country with the world's best, uh, universal, single-payer health care program, La Sécurité Sociale, or La sécu for short?

"Sarko": Yes, yes, I understand, we have the equivalent of Joe the plumber in France, he is called Marcel the guy with bread under his armpit. [lol!]

Palin: Right, that's what it's all about is the middle class and government needing to work for them. [oh my gosh, mon Dieu! Mais, this is the socialism!] You're a very good example for us here.

Oh, Sarah, you know not what you say. Say it ain't so! Or, perhaps I vote for zee wrong candidate for zee people?

"Sarko": Ah, I seen a bit about NBC, even Fox news wasn't an ally, an ally, sorry, about as much as usual.

Palin: Yeah, that's what we're up against.

She's so glad to be understood. Poor Sarah Palin.

"Sarko": I must say, Governor Palin, I loved the documentary they made on your life, you know, ah, Hustler's Nailing Palin?

Palin: Oh, good! Thank you!

"Sarko": That was really edgy.

Palin: [Becoming a wee bit uncertain] Oh-- good.

"Sarko": I loved you, and I must say something, also, Governor, you've been pranked, by The Masked Avengers. We are two comedians from Montreal.

Palin: Oh, [brave girl] have we been been pranked? And -- what radio station is this?

The Masked Avengers: This is for CKY in Montreal.

Palin: In Montreal, tell me the radio station call letters?

The Masked Avengers: CK -- hello? If one one voice can change the world for Obama, one [can't quite get it] can change the world for McCain.

Becky: I'm sorry. [voices in the background] I'm sorry, I have to let you go.

Ouai, c'est la vie.

Et cela?

C'est Johnny.


....

John McCain, if he's the answer, then the question must be ridiculous

By Pistol Tanker Palin

Tomorrow I make my reservation for the all-night party being held by Democrats Abroad at Cinéaqua at the Trocadéro in Paris. My husband might be in attendence, as well, to celebrate the end of a long, long election season, and the recovery of his wife.

He has been warned that he is mistaken. There is legislation to accomplish before we rest.

One thing he has noticed, however, is that I have been noticeably nicer since Obama won the primary.

So, let's take a walk back down Memory Lane with Keith Olbermann to revisit some of the unforgettable moments of an historic, entertaining and exhausting (check out Hillary's black circles by February!) election season.

"An unprecedented election season"




"For the GOP, securing a nominee happened faster"




"The road to the running mate"

Oh, here's where it really starts to get good.




Some highlights

"The work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on."
-- Senator Edward M. Kennedy, endorsing Senator Barack Obama, Los Angeles, California.


"We commited ourselves to building the world as it should be. So tonight, in honor of my father's memory, and my daughters' future, out of gratitude for those whose triumphs we mark this week, and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment, let us devote ourselves to finishing their work, let us work together to fulfill their hopes, and let's stand together to elect Barack Obama president of the United States of America."
-- Michelle Obama, the Democratic National Convention, Denver Colorado, August 2008

"Case, I think, closed."
-- Keith Olbermann, covering the Michelle Obama speech

And Hillary, wow. She still gives me the shivers. She was simply awesome and powerful.

"On the path to freedom, Harriet Tubman had one piece of advice, 'If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If they are shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going. And even in the darkest moments, that is what Americans have done, we have found the faith to keep going."
-- Hillary Clinton, Democratic National Convention, Denver, Colorado, August 2008

Here is the whole speech, in case that made you feel like listening to her again, from begining to end.


The roll call

Keith Olbermann: California should be interesting.

California: California passes.

Olbermann: And the great state of confusion, casts 60 votes for-- what is goin' on with the roll call?

New Mexico: We yield to the Land of Lincoln.

Illinois: We yield to the great state of New York.

Olbermann: Well, here we go.

Hillary Clinton: I move that Senator Barack Obama of Illinois be selected by this convention by acclamation as the nominee of the Democratic Party for the President of the Unites States.

Nancy Pelosi: Is there a second?

The delegates: Resouding cheers.

The Democratic party and its supporters: Tears, of joy and relief.


Bill Clinton

"President Bill Clinton is always fascinating to watch."

"Put him on TV for 60 minutes just reacting, and people would watch."

"Just watch his face."

"Last night, Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she is going to do everything she can to elect Barack Obama. That makes two of us. Actually, that makes 18 million of us."
-- President Bill Clinton, Democratic National Convention, Denver, Colorado, August 2008

And, signed, sealed, delivered, he is soon to be our president elect.

Olbermann: Vote for [Barack Obama] or do not, but take pride that this nation can produce men and speakers such as that.


"A surprise Republican VP pick"

BOO!

Did I scare you? Oh, sorry, then you might not have the stomach for this.

Oh, here we go... do we have to?

You betcha'!
wink

"The Sarah Palin."
-- Keith Olbermann

"executive experience"
"executive experience"
"more executive experience'"
"experience leadership"

"Sen. MCain has a record as a maverick"
"he's a maverick reformer"
"he is the maverick"
"the maverick McCain"
"Senator McCain's maverick style"

Oh, and don't forget the very first and original Joe, Joe Lieberman,

"What is a democrat like me doing at a republican convention like this?"

Damn good question, Joe. What the hell are you doing there?

The answer, Joe, is all in the democrat that you are not.

And then, she spoke, and we got our first taste of that inimitable pitbull style. Draw them in with that "Gee, golly gee whillickers, I just just don't know" sweetness, add a comma, make a little fist, squint your eyes, then train them into the camera and then bite their heads clean off. Reapply lipstick and -- you got it! -- wink!

"I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, [here we go!] except [here it is!] that you have actual [ah, she's gettin' you good here!] responsibilities [wow! She gotcha'. You betcha'!]."
-- Governor Sarah Palin, Repuiblican National Convention, St. Paul, Minnesota, September 2008

Ouf, as they say here. Pack that pistol back in the holster and take a bow, Annie Alaska.

Olbermann: She clearly gives a great speech. People who like this sort of thing will find this -- the sort of thing they like.

Well, Sarah Palin, you are not the one for whom American women have been waiting for 232 years.

And let me say, you are no Hillary Clinton.

Finally, there was John McCain,

"Stand up. Stand up. Stand up and, fight --"

Oh, never mind.

Here's Stand up! This is what Stand up! sounds like, and it takes courage.

EL-ECT O-BA-MA!

Or this, Wake up! Wake up, America!

That's what it sounds like. That's what I'm talkin' about. We don't need anyone who can't get any passion, anything goin'.
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