Catching up.

A week away from the world is nice. The morning newspaper is scanned like an Evelyn Wood course and what I'm left with are a couple of things that are blown so far out of proportion that they are impossible to ignore, even on vacation. Sarah Palin repeats on America like a bad tuna salad:

David Letterman quipped that the Palin family went to a Yankees game and "there was one awkward moment during the seventh-inning stretch: Her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."
That, says Palin, "crossed the line."

What really "crossed the line" was putting Sarah Palin in front of America as a vice-presidential candidate. That's crossing the line.

"It's quite a sad commentary on where we are a culture, as a society, to chuckle and laugh through comments such as he made the other night," Palin said.

She may believe that Letterman's comments were inappropriate, but how about the premise that what makes someone a legitimate political force is the fact that she's a MILF and looks nice in a skirt? Isn't that a "sad commentary on where we are as a culture?" I think so. McCain wouldn't have picked her as a running mate if she was a 200-pound Rhodes scholar. He picked a hottie from Alaska whose political experience was as a mayor of a town that is smaller than some VFWs, and is the Governor of a state with fewer people than the city of Los Angeles. That's sad, but what is sadder is that she won't go away. Go away, Sarah.

"He doesn't have to apologize to me, I would like to see him apologize to young women across the country for contributing to that thread in our culture that makes it sound like it's OK to talk about young girls in that way," Palin said. Maybe somebody should apologize to America for making it necessary for someone to look nice in order to gain society's acceptance? That's a start.

Meanwhile, Chastity Bono is having a sex-change operation that, we are told, will make her a man. The medical term, I believe, is an Addadicktome. The usual press release followed:

"Yes, it's true. After many years of consideration, Chastity has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity," Bragman said."He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago. We ask that the media respect Chaz's privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time."

We're supposed to respect "his" privacy, even though "he" felt it necessary to tell us what "he" was doing. Make up your "mind." Do you want privacy or not? If you truly wanted privacy, you would have just done the damned thing. As a celebrity, you're irrelevant and as a 40-year old you're not recognized by any marketing agency as necessary, so just do it and leave us alone. What you're really doing is drawing attention to yourself, and isn't that the point? I think the term is "Attention Whore."

Courageous? Now that she is irrelevant as a marketable adult, Chastity has made the decision to discover her inner penis. Nice. How does that reflect courage? I'd say it's more like a mental illness treated by a medical procedure, but I'm just guessing.

You're a woman and always will be. What you tell yourself you are is your choice. You can dress up a cat and call it an elephant if you want, but it will always be a cat.