Friday, September 05, 2008

Maverick

When I think of "Maverick" I think of the old James Garner television series and the Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster movie.

The term "maverick" is actually from a cattleman that didn't brand his cattle. At round-up time, a count was made to determine how many cattle each ranch had and the unbranded ones belonged to Maverick. So an unbranded cow was considered to be a Maverick cow. Later it came to mean a wild cow (still one without a brand). Cowboys would round up these wild cattle to get a start on their own herds and start their own ranches.

In using the term to describe McCain and Palin, I think that it is being misused. At one time it may have fit John McCain quite well. But any Senator that says he voted with the Bush Administration 90% of the time is definitely wearing the Republican brand. As for the young Governor of Alaska, I don't know if she is a "maverick" or not. I'll say this for her--she's definitely a politician!

She has been telling about changing the political culture in DC by putting an end to earmark spending and pet projects for states. She has repeatedly said that she told Congress "no thanks" when it came to building the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. That's not exactly the truth. True--they didn't build the bridge. But it gives you the impression that Alaska didn't accept the money for it or at least they gave it back. Not the case. Alaska kept the money and used it for other projects. Seems that earmarks are a good thing when money is coming your way and a bad thing when Congress wants to waste it somewhere else.

Sounds like Governor Palin will be a perfect fit in Washington. She already has the "Say what they want to hear/Do what you want to do" thing down pretty well.

I've seen this image on a couple of different sights.
Maybe she'll be like Diana Prince on Wonder Woman. Except Diana Prince lost the glasses when she put on the babe outfit and Wonder Woman didn't need a big gun. She had her Golden Lasso and bullet proof gold bracelets. (It's kind of creepin' me out that I remember this stuff!)

Washington may never be the same!

John

5 comments:

John A Hill said...

Busted with a fake pic!
CW forwards this site:
http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/palin.asp

You'll have to copy and paste 'cause I forget my html tags.

Mike said...

You know when I was putting the link to that site up I was wondering if the pipcture was real. I even tried to double check the neck area to see if I could see any digital manipulation. Whoever did it did a good job.

Sicilian said...

John . . . . I love it. . . I showed Sweetie. . . I think you have hit the nail on the head with your observations. . . . Let's see how well she does when she is not reading a script. . . . I predict that she cries fowl. . . not fair. . .but we will see.
VP debates should be great.
Ciao

SF Hill said...

I've lived inside the Washington Beltway for 20 years, so I'm not sure what people think out there in the heartland anymore. But, how exactly does one run against the elite when one is the elite? When one's party has been in charge, and made choices that help widen the gulf between the elite ans the rest of us?

Gotta hand it to 'em for some great messaging. But does anyone out there actually believe it?

John A Hill said...

For some (most) in the Midwest--all you have to do is say that you're pro-life. If you can say that (and say it like you really mean it) then people will believe anything else that you say. If you're pro-life, you must be an honest, God-fearing person. If you're pro-choice then you are the scum of the earth, bound to burn in hell and can't be trusted to speak the truth!