parah salin?

[cacophony]

while i'm in the hospital i have daily access to the lactation consultants to get information and guidance on proper breastfeeding. today my consultant was a middle-aged native georgian. i've been avoiding the news partially intentionally, partially unintentionally for the past couple of weeks because (go figure) i've had other things on my mind. unfortunately my husband turned the TV on just as the consultant arrived and left the room to give us some privacy. the TV was on CNN when it came on and it was just sort of on in the background during my consultation. of course CNN was talking about all of the stock market stuff and at one point the consultant looked up at the TV and snorted in disgust. she said, "the things these CEOs do, it should be illegal. but they have all of the money so nothing ever changes."

then she said this:

"that's why i'm so interested to see what sarah palin has to say about this because it's just time we get a politician with no connections. she doesn't have any ties, she can get things cleaned up."

my polite inclination was to say nothing because i tend to dislike discussing politics with complete strangers. but i couldn't just be silent about it. before i spoke up these are the thoughts that flitted through my head and i considered saying each one:

1) you're an idiot, get out of my room.

2) sarah palin is not the presidential candidate. if you're looking for someone without "connections" you should think about the fact that the PRESIDENTIAL candidate is john mccain. with two decades of "connections."

3) what exactly do you think a vice presidential's campaign promises on a subject like this are worth?

4) no "connections" is more valuable than ANY experience that would qualify someone for the job? you might as well say, "that's why i'm so interested to see what my dry cleaner has to say about this because he has no connections."

ultimately what i ended up doing was rolling my eyes laboriously and saying flatly, "i'm not a fan of sarah palin. don't kid yourself, there isn't a politician on god's green earth who doesn't have connections. they have even found special interests connected to sarah palin."

she just sort of frowned thoughtfully and said, "huh. maybe that's true."

then i forcefully changed the subject away from politics and didn't give her a chance to bring it up again.

so. yeah. fucking stupidity running rampant.