Two for the Price of One

Two posts in one. Tell your friends!

Post 1

I have a working theory that GOPVP candidate Sarah Palin is a brilliant stroke by the McCain folks. No, really! Wait! Hear me out. The heart of my thesis is this: the instant coverage of her daughter's pregnancy, etc., paints her as the victim of a heartless media onslaught. She can play the righteous indignation card, on that'll play well with the GOP base.

Picking Lieberman as VP was a no-go, picking Romney was a yawner. Picking Palin, get the sense that the evil liberal-biased media is picking on a 17-year-old girl and her mom, and you win back the conservatives who were not exactly jumping on the McCain bandwagon.

Okay, it's only a theory. But watch her speech tonight, watch the father of her kid's baby standing behind her. Watch and hear as the righteous indignation card is played to a roaring and receptive crowd, energized

Post 2

Interesting column in Tuesday's NYTimes called Fish or Foul? It has to do with how certain people are more easily fooled, that "the ideal victim is not an ignoramus but an expert." In other words, the more you know or think you know, the more likely you are to jump to conclusions based on a few hints.

"Expectations are everything," writes Edward Dolnick, using as a terrific example an experiment where people were handed strawberry yogurt, the lights turned off for a "fair taste test" and instead they were given chocolate yogurt. Nineteen of 32 praised the chocolate flavor, including one who said strawberry was her favorite (expert?). The fish or foul title refers to an earlier NYT story on sushi and food expecations.