You just have to love Philly fans...

I referred to this prior to the weekend, and now there's video. Ed Snider, the right-wing owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, thought it would be a good idea to have Sarah Palin drop the puck for his team's home opener. Let's just say that it didn't exactly go as planned. I hear quite a few boos in this video, and numerous reports from the game, including one by the NY Times, described the boos as "almost deafening" and "resounding."

What's worse, her strategy of bringing her daughter as a human shield to insulate against booing backfired, too:

A carpet was laid down and Palin, dressed in a beige trench, walked on to the ice joined by her daughters Willow and Piper. The GOP Vice-Presidential nominee said at an earlier fundraiser that she would stop some of the booing from the rowdy Philadelphia fans by putting her seven year old daughter, Piper, in a Flyers jersey. She said, "How dare they boo Piper!"

I think the proper observation would be, "How dare a parent put her daughter in that position?" I'm not a parent, and I'm normally loathe to criticize a parent for decisions they make, but it's a safe bet to say that this was a bad parenting decision, to say the least.


The best part was yet to come, though - our official State TV, Faux News, offered up its predictable spin...

Of course, Faux News was virtually obligated to try and spin Palin's bomb on the ice, so edit the tape they did. Draw your own conclusions. But, Fox is getting so bad, I'm really beginning to think that people who actually have the temerity to think the "network" is Fair and Balanced seriously have something wrong with them. For that matter, people who take at face value anything they hear on any of the corporate news channels in America are doing themselves an incredible disservice, at best.

Ed Snider more than deserves scorn for introducing politics into a sporting event. (By the way, drop Snider a line Here with your comment about his decision to inject his politics into hockey.) I've said it before, and I'll say it again - when I watch sports, I want to forget about politics and enjoy myself. NBC's decision to have Keith Olbermann on its Football Night in America, as well as ESPN's decision to hire Rush Limbaugh, were both mistakes. I write this even though I agree in most instances with Olbermann's political opinions, I don't think it's appropriate to put him on a football show.

I also found it funny that Snider would have the stupidity to feature Palin for a pregame show in a heavily Democratic city in a building named after a bank in the middle of a financial crisis precipitated in a number of ways by irresponsible banking.

Well played, Snider.

And bad parenting choice, Hockey Mom.

(By the way, pretty funny that the Flyers introduced her as a "hockey mom" and not the GOP vice presidential nominee.)

Apparently, Palin had better things to do

Last night following the presidential candidate debate between Obama and McCain, Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Joe Biden appeared on just about every network to discuss the debate. While his answers and insight were in large measure predictable, probably the most notable aspect to the post-debate coverage was the absence of Sarah Palin, the GOP veep nominee, but more on that in a minute.

Biden, via C&L:

This is a very difficult ground, in fairness to John, it’s really difficult to defend the terrain that he occupies. The terrain he occupies is he’s bought on the economic philosophy of George W. Bush and the sort of you know free market, let it run its way, let it be on its own, and now all of the sudden he’s talking about greed on Wall Street. The same way with his foreign policy. He went in and thought this was a…you know, he thought we were going to be over in a short time, that we were going to be greeted and so on and so forth. John’s judgment - here’s the point - John’s judgment has been fundamentally wrong on the basic, critical, foreign policy and domestic decisions we’ve had to make.

First off, Biden has to stop with his "in all fairness to John" crap. Why? For starters, it's a weak way to present strong points. And second, the courtesy certainly hasn't been, and will not be, reciprocated by the other side. Biden really needs to punch up his demeanor and remarks before next Thursday's vice presidential debate.

It should be blatantly obvious by now to even the most casual political observer that McCain and his cabal are keeping Palin far, far away from the national spotlight.

So, where was she last night? At a Rib BBQ, right here in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, which is not exactly a hotbed of conservatism (thankfully). Palin mingled among her supporters...

...at the Irish Pub on Walnut St. It strikes me as beyond odd that she would make a decidedly low-key appearance here in Philly, while the other three players on their respective tickets were very much in the limelight. I've never been one for conspiracy theories - in fact, I usually think they are for people with just a little bit too much time on their hands. But, not only was her selection for the ticket a curious and supremely superficial choice (LOOK! A hot hockey mom - issues be damned!), but the way she's being handled by McDrilly since her selection has been odd, yet telling. There's still plenty of time for some unpleasant and shocking surprises from the McCain camp, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see one before election day, with Palin smack dab in the middle of it all..

At right, Palin appeared at the Irish Pub last night with Flyers owner Ed Snider, another conservative rube. My only question is, where in the name of Rick Santorum was smug conservative douche bag Brian Tierney? Surly he must have been busy trying to keep the Philly Inky afloat, or he would have been there, kissing so much conservative ass, as he is often wont to do. Note to Palin - don't listen to what Snider has to say too much - his local team, the Philadelphia Flyers, have not won anything since 1975, when you were a burgeoning, young conservative religious zealot.

I took the picture at left last weekend right after the Philadelphia ING Distance Run concluded, and this one about says it all, really. (Click the picture for a larger view.)

Anyway, it's as if Palin was acting like a local celebu-tant last night, as opposed to being a candidate for the second highest office in the land. Again, this doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence, especially considering McCain's health. Much more on McLiar's health, and Sarah Palin, later in the weekend.