For the first time in years, I watched David Letterman last night. I watched because, when my wife was watching Keith Olberman’s Countdown earlier, Olberman made mention of his appearance that evening on Letterman replacing McCain and, apparently, Dave was on fire. I used to be a huge Letterman fan, but his humor is getting old and repetitive, and watching last night was a bit of a painful reminder of that.

But that’s not my point.

McCain canceled his appearance on Letterman at the last second, apparently calling Dave personally to inform him that he’d be “racing back to Washington” to help out with the financial crisis which was “cratering.” Dave made the excellent point that, when a crisis happens during a campaign, a senator running for president is wise to go back to Washington to take care of business, but you don’t suspend your campaign – you let your running mate shoulder the responsibility. As Barack Obama pointed out in his response to McCain’s suspension announcement, a president usually has to deal with multiple things at once, and a campaign 40 days away from election day is just about as important as the financial crisis.

But, OK, McCain could theoretically be forgiven for canceling his appearance on Letterman. And it’s conceivable that Palin, who’s on her whirlwind hand-shaking foreign policy tour in New York, may have had a scheduling conflict, so it shouldn’t indicate anything.

Except, McCain didn’t rush back to Washington. Instead, he held an 11-minute unscheduled interview with CBS News’ Katie Couric at the same time he was scheduled to appear on Letterman. During a time of crisis, appearing on CBS News as opposed to appearing on Letterman certainly lends some amount of gravity to him and this situation – after all, if he had appeared on Letterman after suspending his campaign, it could be argued that he wasn’t taking it that seriously. However, he flat lied to David Letterman. This alone is not all that damning, but how clueless must McCain be to think that Letterman wouldn’t talk about it on his show? And how big a slap in the face is it for Dave, in the middle of discussing the current situation with Olberman, to learn that McCain is not only still in New York, but on live TV in another CBS studio giving an interview when he’s supposed to be on a plane back to Washington?

In choosing to appear on CBS News instead of Letterman – and lying about his choice – McCain clearly proved once and for all that this entire suspension of his campaign is pure political stunt. He apparently arrived in Washington this morning. And what has his presence so far done? Well, certainly, congress appears to have come to an agreement on the proposed bailout, long before both McCain, Obama and other congressional leaders are scheduled to meet with President Bush. But is this because McCain – who, by the way, has not been an integral part of the process leading up to this bailout – made his presence known, waved his hand and fixed everything? Of course not – McCain’s presence did nothing but add a vote.

Right now, the very worst thing that can happen to John McCain’s candidacy is for Congress to pass the bailout legislation before Friday evening. If it turns out he suspended his campaign and threatened to boycott the debates for no reason, he’s going to have a hell of a time explaining himself to this nation. If his running mate – a governor with absolutely no say or stakes in this bailout – can’t carry on his campaign when he’s needed in Washington, how can anyone expect her to carry on the work of the country should something happen to him while in office? And what does it say of a man who can’t focus on more than one thing at a time? If this is how McCain is going to react in a national crisis as president, this country is screwed, even more screwed than it is now.

As Olberman pointed out last night, delaying the debate may lead to the cancellation of one of the other debates. And, at the end of the day, which debate is more important – presidential or vice-presidential? If they cut the VP debate, we may never get a real glimpse of Sarah Palin outside of the tightly scripted box they’ve put her in. It’s clear the GOP leadership doesn’t believe she can hold her own and must absolutely be regretting their decision to put her on the ticket. Biden gaffes – and gaffes often – but he can hold his own in debates, speeches, interviews, etc. Palin clearly lacks the experience and knowledge to be able to stand up against questions from the press. McCain;s staff explained their sheltering of Palin as keeping her from the attacks from a hostile press. If she’s thin-skinned now, what will happen when she’s the second in command? Do you think Cheney needs to be protected from the vicious media? Just last night, John Stewart said that plants die three days after Cheney brushes up against them, implying that Cheney is the ultimate evil. Is Palin going to run off and be all emo the first time some reporter says a bad thing about her? Then she shouldn’t be allowed to take office.

John McCain has gone past being a disappointment. This latest stunt proves him to be a cynical douchebag of the highest caliber. He has sold out everything – his convictions, his heroic past, the support from those who respected his reformist past – in a desperate last-ditch effort for the presidency. This is it. When he loses in November – and, mark my words, his campaign will only get worse before it gets better – he will never be able to run for president again. Those who lose presidential bids after obtaining their party’s nomination rarely get a second chance, and this country does not tolerate a loser, especially one who would be 80 years old by the end of his first term. He knows this is his one, best chance. In his desperation, he has made appallingly poor judgement calls – abandoned the ideals he once championed, selecting an inexperienced woman in a bid for the womens’ vote, suspending his campaign to deal with a crisis that is better than half over – that prove he is unfit to lead this nation. When he was a POW, his bravery and stamina were beyond reproach. But this country needs to learn that being shot down and tortured by monsters does not make one qualified to lead. John McCain proves this point stronger every day and, in a time when everything we’ve built as a nation looks ready to crumble, he is not qualified to be our president.

Want. Want want want want want want.

I mentioned some time ago my fear about what I refer to as “the device” – a single, pocket-friendly piece of electronics that connects everything – amd how it will mean difficult times as a parent. The iPhone, which is locked down, suffers from a lot of technical issues and a lot of hubris, was the foreshadowing of this device. The G1 is that device – generation one. With an open operating system that any third party developer can openly build to and an amazing array of functionality, this thing will take the world by storm. And, yeah, it’s one more step in Google’s total domination of the information age, but the fact that Android is Open Source (Apache license) more or less protects it from being completely dominated by Google alone.

Though I fear it as a parent, as a technologist, developer and consumer, I’m all for it. And, really, as a parent it just means I’ll have to be more frank with my kid(s) when the time comes and give them the tools to make the right decisions rather than do my darnedest to shelter them. That’s called “good parenting”, by the way, and it ain’t easy.

And, though I REALLY want to rush out and get this thing when it comes out, I know better. I;ve been an early adopter before and I have no time or patience for it. I’ll be waiting for the G2 or the G3, though, If I can squeeze it in, I’ll try developing for the G1 now.

I’m not kidding, though, when I say this changes everything. Welcome to the opening days of Web 3.0.

Seriously, I do. I’m reading this report on CNN about Palin meeting with nine foreign leaders – including, and I’m not making this up, Bono from U2 – in a 30-hour blitz at the UN when I get to this quote:

“The first thing you do is burnish their foreign policy credentials. You buy them a Rand-McNally, you meet with generals, you get a lot of flags on the stage and you give a big speech on foreign policy to display you have some command of the world,” said Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor. [emphasis mine]

You buy them a Rand-McNally? I’m sorry, but if in a time of war your foreign policy knowledge is limited to the chief exports and total square miles of a country, chances are good you’re too inexperienced to be a 72-year-old’s heartbeat away from the highest position in the land. How substantive can a conversation with a foreign leader be when you need to cram nine of them into a 30-hour period? “Oh, Mr. Medvedev, I can see your hinterlands from my house in our hinterlands!”

CNN, by the way, isn’t taking any video or photos of Palin while she meets with foreign leaders (though they’re not above using photos from the AP on their web site) because the Republicans, apparently fearful of what should happen if Palin goes off script, have barred editorial staff from sitting in on the meetings, only allowing for photo ops. The tight control they’ve had over Palin – and the fact that she’s delivered the same damn speech no fewer than 14 times – screams volumes about their feeling about this candidate. They call her a barracuda, she says she’s a pit bull with lipstick, but they can’t leave her on her own for five minutes?

I was thinking about all this yesterday when I realized I had more foreign policy experience than the Stepford Veep. I spent two years in Model United Nations in high school, competing – and winning, along with my partner Kelson Vibber – at the national level in Washington D.C. I had to read actual resolutions drafted by UN committees and stick to my country’s stated policies (I represented China, Italy, the Ukraine and several other countries during my MUN days) while in committee. Along with my partner, we worked with other “national” representatives to come up with realistic solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems at the time – Libyan terrorism, the peaceful uses of Outer Space, Iraqi incursion into Kuwait. It was a fascinating experience that gave me a completely different view of the world. I have also had the opportunity to speak with actual diplomats to prepare for some of our competitions.

Sarah Palin, as has been noted, can see Russia from an island in the Aleutian chain. Marvelous.

I’m REALLY excited for the debate on OCtober 2nd between Biden and Palin. I’m a little concerned that Biden may come off as too patronizing, much as Bush Sr. did against Geraldine Ferraro in ’84, but, mostly, I’m hoping he’ll just cry havoc and rip into her on experience, foreign policy, hypocrisy and general ability to lead the nation. The GOP keeps trotting her out for the cameras, and she does cut a fine figure, but this country really needs something more substantive than a respectable Republican cloth coat model as its second in command.

If you tried to use my handy-dandy contact form to shoot me an email today, you probably got frustrated by the fact that I broke it. It’s fixed now, though, and has an additional feature, a little something I call “Pictcha” (oh, how I wish I were the originator of the idea). I put this script together yesterday after spending far too much time dealing with spam being auto-generated by stupid spam bots, clogging up my inbox. This ought to stem the tide.

So, hey, send me an email and try it out! Let me know you’re out there, you care, and you don’t think I look like a llama.

I got TOTALLY suckered into the whole “Lipstick on a Pig” flap this morning. I caught the tail end of a story that featured Barack Obama saying, “I’m talking about John McCain’s policies – it’s more of the same – and say you can put lipstick on a pig, but it still a pig, and they think I’m talking about the Governor of Alaska.” I thought THIS was the lipstick flap everyone was so agog over and did a facepalm ’cause, seriously, that soundbite sounded BAD.

Then I hear the actual comment in its actual context. There’s positively no way you could construe that as a smear against Palin, not by any stretch. It’s a clear and simple attach from the McCain camp with positively no basis, even more of this faux outrage against non-exitent sexism.

Besides, if you’re going to smear Palin, just use one of these fun nuggets I picked up from various locations across the intarwebs: “McCain / Mooseburger ’08″ and “Caribou Barbie and her Grandpa.” They both make me inappropriately giggle, just like when someone says they saw a titmouse. Tee hee.

Never did this before, so bear with me. This post will update now and again over the next hour or so.

Giuliani says Obama voted “Present” on 130 votes while serving on the Illinois State Legislature. At least he was there – John McCain missed 63.8% of the votes in the Senate during its current session. Contrast to Obama’s 45.5% during the same period.

“Drill baby drill!” Dude…

Also – “My name is Rudy Giuliani and I’d just like to say, 9/11. Thank you.” Let’s not forgot who allowed it to happen…

The “Maverick” candidate voted for an unpopular surge. So unpopular that it passed. So unpopular that it was wildly supported by his own party. INCREDIBLE! This guy is COMPLETELY unpredictable!

“She’s already had more executive experience than the entire democratic ticket combined.” Or John McCain.

It’s not about how cosmopolitan her city is… it’s about how BIG it is, Rudy. A town of 6,000 people has FAR different issues than an entire nation.

Rudy Giuliani is still a douchebag.

Here comes Palin…

Rudy ran over time, so they skipped her video… seems like a bit of a disservice to her.

Pan across the half-empty auditorium… good job.

Interesting play for the special needs family vote…

Is it me, or is this speech devolving into the annual Christmas letter?

Did she just compare herself to Harry Truman? That’s… unwise.

Piper Palin is adorable.

The best they can do is pick on Obama’s work as a community organizer, which he performed BEFORE going to law school. It’s like picking on someone for working as a camp counselor as a teenager. Lame.

“Well, I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment.” She’s not a member of ANY political establishment.

What is Roberta McCain thinking? “All of this booing is undignified.”

“We got rid of a few things in the Governors office we felt the people of Alaska didn;t need.” Like her former brother in law.

“I told Congress ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ on that bridge to nowhere.” AFTER she initially supported it.

Heh, do five people sitting in a bar in Anchorage REALLY display strong support back home?

Snarky, I know, but I didn’t realize Alaskans sounded like Minnesotans.

Speaking of snark, I don’t recall the Dems being this snarky…

Make government bigger, take more of your money, take orders from Washington…. damn, sounds like Bush to me.

I like how she keeps mentioning states she’s never been to.

The people who fought so hard against a McCain presidency… were the REPUBLICANS!!! Wow.

I’ll say this – she hits all the notes to make them cheer and jeer. “Two Democrats walk into a bar… both sought socialized medicine for their resulting headaches.” HAW HAW HAW!!!

“When John McCain shuffled back from tortuous interrogations…” Keep this image in mind the next time McCain or any of his supporters talk about how waterboarding is not torture.

Were she speaking as the governor of Alaska as one of the sideline speakers, this would be a good speech. Comapre this speech to Biden’s, however, and she just doesn’t stack up. There was less discussion on policy and far more time spent on petty attacks on the opposition. This was a perfect speech to address the Republican base, but she did little to attract those folks on the fence, which brings into question again why he chose her over other, more qualified, more experience candidates of both genders. Kay Bailey Hutchinson must be fuming, and rightly so.

Just to clarify – that headline above is blatantly, unapologetically sexist. I point this out because, apparently, Carly Fiorina doesn’t recognize the difference between sexism and genuine questions about an individual’s experience in leadership (she jumps in on the second page of the story). I think it’s rather racist of her to call Obama a sexist for asking such questions. Because Obama is BLACK and, therefore, any attack on him is racist. It must be true – it’s the same logic she’s using.

She must be on the rag.

For the most part, I agree with Obama that a candidate’s personal life and family – especially the children – should be off limits in a campaign. I recall when Bill Clinton first ran way back in 1992 how unbelievably cruel the media was toward Chelsea Clinton who had the great misfortune of going through her awkward phase on a national stage. There was no good political reason to pick on her – it was just plain cruel.

However, the news that Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter Bristol is unmarried and five months pregnant, while certainly a personal family issue, also brings to light a number of issues that calls into question Palin’s leadership abilities and the values of the conservative party.

The Republicans are already turning this into a political issue, desperately trying to spin this as Palin and her family showing their support for the pro-life agenda. Obama reminded us over the weekend upon hearing the news that his own mother was 18 when he was born – a rather powerful statement considering he is now running for president. But he has also indicated that it was a struggle for his family to get by. Bristol Palin is in a position where her family really has no choice but to support her – this entire family drama would have played out on the state-wide stage in Alaska, but is now thrust to the national stage. It’s impossible to sweep this under the rug and, of course, a family values Republican on the Republican ticket must stand by her daughter during these tough times or face being called a hypocrite.

If only other Republicans not in the national spotlight could do the same. There are too many stories of young girls who make the mistake of giving in to their natural impulses along with their teenaged boyfriends with the somewhat predictable consequence of becoming pregnant whose families shun them. Even those families who stick by their daughters are not always able to provide the support they need. Bristol is lucky – no matter what happens, her family will be able to afford to support her, her child and her soon-to-be husband. She has a strong support structure that is in place no doubt thanks to her mother’s political position and her father’s line of work in the oil industry. What about those young women in middle class families who find themselves in the same situation? The Palins can use their influence to push Bristol’s boyfriend into doing the right thing and helping to support their child. Too many young men shirk their responsibility, leaving the girl’s family taking care of a single mother. Bristol’s reality, luckily for her, is not the reality most girls in this situation face.

The United States apparently has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the industrialized world, according to LiveStrong.com. Conservatives have sought to fight this by advocating teaching abstinence in schools instead of teaching about contraception. Young adulthood is the time when natural sexual stirrings start to express themselves in people. We candy coat it with images of puppy love and Taylor Swift songs, but that strong sense of attraction we feel at that age has a natural conclusion if we lack the self-control necessary to keep it in check. Abstinence is, indeed, 100 percent effective against STDs and pregnancy, but parents can not trust that their children will do the right thing and not be tempted to give in to their urges, as Bristol – daughter of a staunch conservative who herself has been a vocal advocate of abstinence-only sex education – has proven. Abstinence should be taught as part of a comprehensive sexual education curriculum, but it can not stop there – proper use of and access to contraceptive devices is not permission to have sex. Though we should teach our children that it’s best to wait until their lives are stable enough to accept the consequences of their actions, we also need to realize that, just as we tell them underage drinking is wrong and find MySpace profiles littered with 16 year olds proudly holding bottles of Captain Morgan, kids don’t always listen to their parents. They want to express their independence and push the boundaries. Though teenagers speed in their cars, they usually wear seat belts because it’s been driven home to them that they save lives. In the same way, we need to educate them properly on the use of contraceptives and drive home the idea that they, too, save lives. It would have been far better both for Bristol and her family had she and her boyfriend used more than one contraceptive device when they had sex, especially since it’s now clear they would have had sex regardless.

That Sarah Palin is the mother of a pregnant teenage daughter does not paint her as a hypocrite. But it does indicate that the policies she stands so strongly by – the ones she wants to impose on our whole nation -  don’t even work in her own family. Between dealing with this and taking care of a special-needs four-month-old child, she has a great deal of work on her shoulders in the coming months, not even counting her run for the vice presidency. One must question the wisdom of taking on such a workload that will keep her for long periods of time away from her family when they need her most. Between her three daughters and her husband, she may very well have enough hands on deck to help out around the house. But Conservatives emphasize that every child needs one father and one mother. A household with a full-time politician seeking election to the second-highest office in the land can pretty much guarantee losing that parent until well after the November election day. I imagine it was hard enough on the Clintons in 1992 with only one teenage daughter to care for. Bristol Palin is the oldest of the four Palin children. With the attacks on their family, the special needs of their youngest child and a new child coming in the next four months, they need both their mother and father right now perhaps more than ever.