Return of the Booth Babes: The 2007 SHOT Show
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More on Sarah Palin, Moose Hunting, and Other Stuff
Pregnancy seems to be a big issue right now, so I would like to state the following for the record:
For all I care, the Palins can breed like rock rabbits and Sarah will still have my vote.
No one quizzed Chelsea Clinton about her reproductive plans when her mom was in the race. How come?
I am not pregnant. Phil Bourjaily is not pregnant (at least, I assume so. We haven't talked in a while.)
As far as I'm concerned, Sarah Palin has only one flaw; she has a worse speaking voice than the aforementioned Hillary, and the tame ravens at the Yellowknife (NT) airport have more mellifluous speaking voices than Senator Clinton.
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The media, in its condescending coverage of Sarah Palin's moose hunting, don't give her the credit that she is due. Turning a moose into mooseburger is not like whipping up a souffle. Shooting it is the easy part; getting it out of the bog requires more fortitude than standing up to Vladimir Putin. Actually, field-dressing a moose takes three people: one to do the actual hacking and slashing, one to push, shove, and hold legs, and one to stand there with a serious rifle waiting for a bear to show up. Then you get to packing it out, which takes yet another two people unless one of you is Clark Kent.
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And speaking of manhandling moose meat, a while back someone asked about pack frames. The best one I've seen was the one I took to Alaska to pack out my moose--the Bighorn Pack Frame made by Wilderness Pack Specialties. It's made of some kind of super-strong polycarbonate, has an excellent suspension system, and is rated to carry 120 pounds. The price is $139 from Schnees.com.
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I would like to add a heartfelt amen to Phil Bourjaily's report on the Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing Company. It is truly a place of wonders. I think the nicest gun they make is their A.H. Fox reproduction, which is probably better than the original. Also, their wood room requires a whole new set of adjectives to describe. Grown men emerge from it weeping and struck dumb, and some have actually soiled themselves.
I agree 100%. I can't believe that there are folks on these blogs that are going to vote for Obama. Amazing to me.
Posted by: Jay | September 03, 2008 at 02:33 PM
-Yes. It is easier to build a temp homestead next to a shot moose and eat it than to cut it up and pack it out.
-A. H. Fox doubles??? Slurp!
-After watching the media coverage of this election it makes me wonder where journalism has gone. The media coverage is about as deep as a bird bath. Disgusting.
Posted by: Mark-1 | September 03, 2008 at 03:00 PM
Alaska is alright. Look what they've given us in the last couple of months: Corey Cogdell, Matt Emmons and Sarah Palin. Nice.
Posted by: Chaz | September 03, 2008 at 03:12 PM
I was excited about McCain/Palin when she was first announced. I like the idea that she's a hunter, NRA member, etc.
But this teen pregnancy/state trooper-brother-in-law crap makes her look like white trash. Sorry. That's the way I see it.
I'll vote for them, but I'm really not voting for them. I'm voting against Obama.
When are the national parties going to get it right and give us some good middle-of-the-road candidates we can really get behind?
I had a great friend with a colorful vocabulary who had a great way of expressing it when someone had messed up.
He said that person had "stepped on his ding-dong" with the decision in question.
I think McCain may have stepped on his ding-dong when he picked Palin.
Posted by: Tony C. | September 03, 2008 at 03:13 PM
Has anyone else noticed the resemblance that Sarah Palin has to Peggy Hill from the "king of the hill" tv show on fox.
It's uncanny (and sorta funny).
Jim
Posted by: jstreet | September 03, 2008 at 03:30 PM
Right on, Dave. Regarding her speaking voice, too. Oh well - the woman hunts moose, she can't be too bad - of course her decision to involve herself in politics is a mark against her.
Posted by: Tom Sorenson | September 03, 2008 at 03:36 PM
Is Sarah Palin 5 months pregnant? Does she totally control her daughter. Man, if she can, I'd like to know how to have total control over my 3 daughters. Is her daughter running for VP. Man, politics. I liked it when Rip Torn said "the only thing worse than a politition is a child molester"
Posted by: MMM | September 03, 2008 at 03:41 PM
As long as individuals (and their family members) have to undergo the media equivalent of a "body cavity search" we will never attract quality people into the presidencey. Let's face it, by the time we get a "worthy" candidate with name recognition interested in the Whitehouse they have committeed so many political shenanigans that they can never endure scrutiny from the media which has become more akin to tabloid journalists. Not to mention the fact that these clowns (the media) don't mind making up stuff, then printing a retraction on page 56. Example: Dan Rather
Add in the fact that political parties are so polarized on ideals that "middle of the road" folks don't fit the mold anymore. You must be an extremist to be attractive to the "party". Our political party system is definitely broken!
If I were hiring for the position of president I would have sent the whole slate back and asked for a new one...
Posted by: Beekeeper | September 03, 2008 at 04:43 PM
Beekeeper,
Unfortunately you are correct.
I'd never run for office. Any of my youthful indiscretions wouldn't bother me, I could plead stupidity, but would be terribly unfair to the innocent other people they would involve.
Witness what's happening to the Palin family right now.
Disgraceful.
Don't much care for BHO, but he got this one right, kids...especially young ones...should be off limits.
Posted by: johnl | September 03, 2008 at 05:00 PM
Is my hearing gone? I didn't notice anything wrong with her voice. Hillary's voice is almost unique. I hadn't heard anything similar since hearing tapes of Adolf Hitler.
Anyone who criticizes Sara Palin for firing her brother-in-law must both drink and drive, and abuse children.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | September 03, 2008 at 05:06 PM
Yooper,
I agree, I thought her voice was fine. Wasn't screeching like fingernails on a blackboard, nothing like Hillary or Nancy Pelosi.
Looking forward to hearing her tonight, and hopeful that it's a positive message and not an attack.
Getting REAL TIRED of those.
Really enjoyed Fred Thompson's speech last night, he took 'em to the woodshed with a smile on his face and no yelling.
Posted by: johnl | September 03, 2008 at 05:14 PM
Tony C.
wou asked "When are the national parties going to get it right and give us some good middle-of-the-road candidates we can really get behind?"
what do you think McCain is? He certainly isn't a Republican in the sense of Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan. His best bud is Lieberman, and he sided with Kennedy on the immigration issue, what more could you ask for.
too me basically what you want is even less of a decision. How bout in 4 years we just have one person/party run for the presidency, we'll call them the Republicrats.
Me on the other hand want more of a choice, I want third, fourth, fifth partys, I want the full spectrum of ideas to be laid out before us. I would love to vote for Palin, if she were the head of the ticket I'd be down, but I can't vote for McCain. And no I"m not voting for Obama. I"ll be voting either Baldwin of the constitution party or Barr of the libertarian party, whichever will be on the ballot in Virginia, if niether are then I will walk out without voting. Is McCain going to lose my vote, NO, he never had my vote.
Posted by: Scott | September 03, 2008 at 05:24 PM
that "wou" is supposed to be "you" obviously
Posted by: scott | September 03, 2008 at 05:25 PM
Dave, I strongly disagree with you for the first time ever. I think Palin's voice is just fine. Nobody's voice has the edge to it that Hillary's has; in the deepest pit of Hell, the justly damned have to listen to Hillary singing the National Anthem over and over.
And you still didn't tell us what kind of wood those shotguns are stocked with, although if it is pretty enough to make strong men mess themselves, maybe it doesn't matter.
Posted by: eyeball | September 03, 2008 at 05:33 PM
I have raised five kids. Five children, five personalities and five different temperaments. If anyone thinks they can control five individual beings actions all of the time outside a boot camp or maybe even in haven't tried.
At least Mrs. Palin didn't "make the problem go away" as many Liberals do. I am proud she isn't pro-death... no wait I mean choice.
Posted by: Dr. Ralph | September 03, 2008 at 06:53 PM
DP: I agree that the reproductive habits of the Palins are irrelevant. But I gotta admit it really frosts me that the GOP has been screaming "family values" year after year and suddenly gets on board with premarital sex. If Bristol were Joe Biden's daughter we'd have the religious right frothing at the mouth about liberal immorality. Lots of the GOP would like to burn lesbians at the stake--unless it's Cheney's daughter. Can you spell "hypocrite?"
Posted by: jim in nc | September 03, 2008 at 07:32 PM
jim in nc:
What would you do? I raised 4 kids. It was always in the back of my mind that it could happen to us. I resolved that, if it occurred, we would counsel strongly against abortion and I wouldn't beat up either my daughter or the boy. A shotgun wedding would've also been out of the question. Too many divorces from them. If they want to marry, fine. But don't get married simply because of a pregnancy.
I think the Palin's handled this as best they could.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | September 03, 2008 at 07:46 PM
YooperJack,
Do you think our illustrious governor will actually get rid of the mayor of Detroit. Or do you think that she will back down because he has too much dirt on her? I still say that she had him rig the ballots down in Detroit for governor. I just can not prove it. But I guess we will find out tomorrow morning what type of plea bargin she is going to let him get away with. If I was attorney general Mike Cox I would hold him to all ten felony counts and throw his butt in jail where it belongs. State Attorney General Mike Cox is a local boy from my neck of the woods,around Mayville, MI (a small po dunk town of less then 1000.) He is, Pro Gun, Pro Life and pro other things. Why a low life democratic snake like Granholm elected him puzzles me to no end. Maybe she figured if something goes wrong she can pin it on him.
Tom the Troll
Posted by: Thomas | September 03, 2008 at 07:52 PM
jim in nc,
Remember the phrase "hate the sin, love the sinner"?
We can support and promote, or dislike and abhore something, but still recognize that no one is perfect.
Yes, there are radicals on both extremes, but I don't believe either party has a monopoly on virtue or hypocracy.
I just appreciate Dr Ralph calling it what it is, "pro-death", rather than the Orwellian "pro-choice".
And find it rather curious that the side of the aisle that finds "pro-choice" acceptable for the innocents, usually is against the death penalty for the guilty.
Maybe we need a new, more politically correct name for it.
Posted by: johnl | September 03, 2008 at 07:58 PM
Why, johnl, it all comes down to fetal viability; That ain't a PC term, it's a medical term. Just as the argument around 2A is really at the margins, all this huff'n'puffin' on here by a bunch of middle-aged white guys about "death" and "murder" kinda flies in the face of consistent majority opinion that abortion should be legal. And granted, that majority hews back and forth,
Reminds me of a bumper sticker I usedta see a lot of:
"Against abortion? Don't have one."
Posted by: Gman | September 03, 2008 at 08:14 PM
Oh Puh-lease Jim in NC, when did YOU lose your virginity? And was it to a girl? Well, were the two of you married at that time you lost it? Before you start casting stones, maybe you should look in the mirror. You're doubly hypocritical for calling "hypocrite" on the hypocrites. Palin's the Hope and Change everyone's crying out for and you're going to start picking nits on stuff that 90% of the world's population does? You know, underage sex being a crime, is a machination of politics and people. Somewhere along the way, someone said, "Hey! I think 13 is too young to get married and start a family." Then it became 14, 15, 16 and so on and so forth. Nature (or God) gave mankind the ability to start reproducing at puberty. Man made it criminal. The laws of man are in direct conflict with the laws of Nature. Not saying that I would go out and have sex with a teenager, but you know there are those out there who believe there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Take the Muslims for example. They still marry off their daughters at 12, 13, etc.
Okay, so Bristol's 17 and pregnant. What do you suppose she do about it, as if it were even up to you? Obama's mother was 16 when she got pregnant with him, yet nobody seems to be pointing that out. His father was out "sowing his oats" while his mother handed him off to be raised by his grandparents (I'm not even going to go into what his mother was doing in Pakistan during his formative years). Where was his nuclear family? Where are his family values?
Where is Obama's Hope and Change when he picks a 30-year Senator who really hasn't done anything in all that time? Doesn't it frost you that he keeps spewing this rhetoric and then goes and picks someone who is as far away from Hope and Change as Biden is?
Again, you're nitpicking where there aren't any nits to be picked. She's going to have the baby. She's going to marry the father of her baby. She has the love and support of her family. What more do you want? Who are you to judge?
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Scott, you're not going to vote for McCain because why? One vote for anyone else is one less vote for McCain and Palin. You want Palin to get her foot in the door, you can vote her in as VP first.
Everybody talks about Hope and Change. Well, there SHE is, folks. Otherwise it's just going to be politics as usual. Nothing is going to change until YOU do.
Or are you all afraid of change? Possibly for the better? You know you're not going to get that on the Obama/Biden ticket.
That's my $0.02.
Posted by: OrangeNeckInNY | September 03, 2008 at 08:15 PM
Personally, I salute a man who can step on his own ding dong.
Posted by: KJ | September 03, 2008 at 08:50 PM
I like McCain's choice, but this didn't change my mind to be a Republican voter. McCain is a better choice as President to me; as far as I am concerned regardless of his VP pick.
Posted by: Ralph the Rifleman | September 03, 2008 at 09:02 PM
My .02 is that Palin's daughter Bristol is no different from any other White, Black, Yellow, Red or any other color male or female teenager. At some point you have to let them make their own mistakes and stand on their own two feet. At least she is 17 and not 12. I know 5 years does not make much of a difference but it does. From what I have seen on the electronic media she drinks, parties and has a good time. In one photo of her she is holding a shotgun in one hand and a pistol in the other hand.
http://img214.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=77796_bristol-palin-guns_122_234lo.jpg
Tom the Troll
Posted by: Thomas | September 03, 2008 at 09:10 PM
Tom the Troll:
When I first saw Sarah Palin last week, my first thought was "How did Michigan get screwed so bad with our lady governor?"
Actually, I'm surprised that the Mayor of Detroit is even charged! Being a Democrat, you would think that he would be able to squash the charges, especially because he's the mayor of a primarily black city. I can't imagine anyone finding a jury in all of Detroit that would convict him!
Also Tom, we elected Mike Cox! The Attorney General and Secretary of State run for office in MI. They are elected the same time as the Governor. Both the SOS and AG ran as Republicans and won.
YooperJack
Posted by: YooperJack | September 03, 2008 at 09:12 PM