Just give me twelve more days.

That’s all I ask.  Just twelve days.

For now, I find images like this one irresistible, even when I’m not a fan of the caption (for multiple reasons).

So good:

Be careful with those political signs!

After moving to the Back Bay, I got rid of my car.  Before, however, I refused to put any political bumper stickers on it.  This is despite the fact that I’m crazy about politics, that I live and breathe for new election news, that each morning I wake up already thinking about Joe Biden or Sarah Palin or Ted Kennedy.  No stickers, however.

The main reason?

Road rage.

Putting a political bumper sticker on your car makes you a target to drivers of the opposite political persuasion.  And while the chances of anything dangerous happening are low, you could still be cut off, tailgated or flipped off.  I’d rather stay safe on the road.

It’s the same thing if you wear political merchandise.  You need to be on your best behavior at all times when wearing an Obama shirt or a McCain button.  If not, you’ll be the jerk who wouldn’t move out of the way on the subway in an Obama shirt or the moron who stood on the left side of the escalator with a McCain button.

And in that moment in this hypothetical situation, Obama supporters become assholes and McCain supporters become dumbasses.

This is why you need to be careful with political signs — especially the ones you make yourselves.  Grammar and spelling come into play.  They sure do in these circumstances:

You could end up with this.

Or this.

Images via Pundit Kitchen and CFNews13.

THE GREATEST GRAMMAR ERROR OF ALL TIME

This needs no introduction.

Well, maybe a bit.

My dear friend Ryan was perusing JohnMcCain.com, for some odd reason, and came across the most delicious grammar error I’ve ever seen.

Oh, my God…

This is fantastic on SO many levels.

What’s most hilarious is that this is on McCain’s official Web site.  This isn’t a souvenir put together by an enthusiastic member of the GOP to make some extra cash.  This is official stuff.

I must ask…is our children learning yet?

Since Ryan sent this to me on Friday, McCain’s site has changed the pen to the proper grammar.  But if you don’t believe me, you can still see documentation of this hilarity here and here.

Forgive me….a subject about which I am passionate

I try to keep the political blogging restricted to Kate’s Adventures, but this made me so excited, I just had to share it.

First I came across this piece written by Bil Browning on the Bilerico Project, which says that Barack Obama will be announcing Indiana Senator (and former governor) Evan Bayh as his running mate on Wednesday.  That, by itself alone, made me squeal with excitement.  I am crazy about this election!  (And I LOVE that Barack is celebrating his birthday in my beloved Boston tonight!)

And then it got even better.  Watch the last sentence in this speech by Evan Bayh:

Together, we can build an America of which we can be proud.

Not an America we can be proud of.

I knew that Bayh was one of the top contenders, but he wasn’t my first choice of a running mate.  Watching him say that beautiful sentence made me grin.  It’s going to be good.

America’s Most Smartest

Look what I just found at one of my new favorite sites, Pundit Kitchen:

Can you believe it?

What makes this even more ridiculous is that the test to become an American citizen is so difficult.  It draws not only on the English language, but also on extensive history, geography and government.  Even college-educated people would have difficulty passing it without studying.

All in all, it’s a lot more difficult than spelling the word amnesty!

“Is our children learning?”

During both of my interviews on NPR, I learned that it’s difficult to speak perfectly while under intense pressure.

George Bush must be under a hell of a lot of pressure.  Maybe that explains why he’s taken all those vacations to Texas.

Back in Massachusetts!

I’m back from New Mexico!  Here are a few things that I learned on my trip:

• White Sands National Monument is unbelievable.  If you visit the state, you must visit this place!  It’s sand — technically, gypsum — but it looks like snow!  Check it out:
• 
• I noticed that most of the rural landscape looks just like the scenery in No Country for Old Men.  A few days later, I found out that the movie was filmed primarily in New Mexico!
• If you are a RENT fan, or even if you’re only slightly familiar with the show, you will have the song “Santa Fe” stuck in your head for the duration of your visit.  (It didn’t help that we also stayed at a Holiday Inn, or that it began to snow on our last day…)

I’m glad to return to the blog.  Thanks for your nice emails during my time away!

I also made sure to catch the latest debate.

Yikes.

I will be voting for Senator Obama, but….

How about the slogan on those signs?

Does it make you internally cringe, just a little bit?

We can only break the glass ceiling so much….

I found this on Facebook and it’s too good not to share here:

When you don’t understand the question….

I was excited to watch the LGBT issues debate on LOGO last night, and the historical debate didn’t disappoint.

(I only wish I had LOGO — I had to watch the debate on my computer, and my internet can be awful at times. I missed part of Senator Edwards and all of Senator Clinton. My internet then cut out for the rest of the night, which is why there were no posts from yesterday.)

The most shocking moment of the debate was when Governor Richardson took his seat. Melissa Etheridge, one of the panelists, asked him if he believed that homosexuality was biological or a choice.

“It’s a choice,” he said simply.

My mouth dropped open. Richardson has always been one of the worst speakers of all the candidates, but this was something beyond egregious. (You should have heard the gasp my roommate, Christie, made when I told her about it later.)

“I — um, I don’t think you understand the question,” Etheridge said. She was clearly in shock as well.

Richardson went on to say, “I’m not a scientist, but all people should be equal,” a half dozen times, and as time went on, it became clear that he simply misspoke. His camp also released a statement after the debate saying that he does not believe homosexuality is a choice.

Why am I bringing this up here?

I felt the same way when I had my interview on NPR. I totally missed the point of the first caller’s question, and because of that, I got so much hate mail from listeners.

I don’t think that Melissa Etheridge phrased the question incorrectly. There wasn’t anything wrong. I think that this just goes to show how complicated language can be, at times, especially when you have to answer questions cold. Writing is different; at least you get a chance to look over your work before submitting it.

Sometimes, words do not take effect immediately. You need a few moments to let them take shape the way you need to let one of Mario Batali’s risotti cool before you can taste the subtle pumpkin flavor. (Can you tell it’s Restaurant Week? I went to Smith and Wollensky last night, or as my family now calls it, F—ing and Awesome.)

Sometimes, you need a minute. Bill Richardson did not get that minute. Most people understood what the question meant — I sure know that I did, and I’m sure that most people did — but he didn’t.

That being said, I knew it was over for Richardson as soon as I saw the first Democratic debate. It was painful. He has done so much great work and he has, after Senator Clinton, the best political experience of all the Democratic (and Republican) candidates. It’s too bad that his public speaking skills are costing him his candidacy.

If a Democrat gets elected, he’ll be in the Cabinet, for sure.

I don’t mean to get political, but….

I want to keep this blog free of politics. This is a grammar blog, not a political blog. If you want to learn more about my views on politics, look me up on Facebook or read some of katesadventures.com.

However, this picture was too good to resist:

We’ve got quotation marks. This guy is clearly a Catholic. You can’t forget about original sin! Those fetuses aren’t really innocent!

The best thing about this picture is that it could easily be changed with punctuation marks:

STOP THE DEMOCRATS! WAR AGAINST INNOCENT UNBORN CHILDREN!!!!

I think I like that much better.

From the emails I’ve received from you, I know that you feel the same way: because of this guy’s bad grammar, I seriously doubt his credibility. It has nothing to do with his views; I say this from a politically neutral position.

To all political protesters: If you want people to take you seriously, learn to use grammar correctly on your signs. That’s the first of many steps.