While this is mostly a political blog, I do love the domestic arts. Christmas is my favorite time of year, and decorating for Christmas is an art form. Yesterday, I decorated both of the Christmas trees in my apartment, a giant 7.5′ tree, which looked much smaller in Target than in my apartment, and a 4′ silver tree covered with my collection of vintage Shiny Brites.

Anyway, this is to premise my questions on this year’s White House Christmas decorations, which are the pinnacle of Christmas regalia.

I looked at a number of sites showcasing this year’s decorations. I don’t know. It’s not bad, but it’s not great. Something is just off. This isn’t to slam the Obamas because I disagree with nearly every policy they support or sometimes dislike the First Lady’s wardrobe. I just love Christmas and look forward to seeing the White House decorated each year. For the record, I also disliked a few years of the Bush Administrations’ decorations, particularly 2006 when I got to tour the White House at Christmas.

The theme this year is “Reflect, Rejoice, Renew,” which is perfectly fine. Vague themes are harder to decorate around since they have no parameters. My favorite year to date was in 2001 when Laura Bush chose “Home for the Holidays” and had an abundance of flocked trees, icicles and “snow.”

Overall, the decorations are just ok. I think that might be my problem. There’s no “wow!” factor. It’s Christmas at the White House for goodness sake. Decorations should be magical or over-the-top. This year is ok, but it’s not anything special. They look like decorations that could be seen in my mom’s living room or any random issue of a holiday decorating magazine. There’s nothing original.

My biggest issue is the tree in the Blue Room. Something is just off. I think that it’s the  proportions. The gold bows simply overpower the tree, and you don’t notice that it’s covered with unique ornaments. I think it would look better if the ornaments were oversized to match the giant ribbon. When you have a huge tree, decorations need to be big as well.

Compared to up close:

I do like the cranberry mantle decorations in the Red Room. I’m a fan of using fruit and natural decorations

And I love the red topiaries in the Green Room.

There you have it. It’s ok and everything matches, but it looks like Michelle hired an upscale florist found in every American city. It’s not what I would expect with the resources of the East Wing staff who spend months working on Christmas plans. The White House should look more impressive than any random house in upscale suburbia, which is most evident in this slideshow. Pinecone wreaths in the East Hall?

At times, it’s a nice reminder that the left has far bigger issues than the right. After all, we have an actual philosophy on which we base our values, policies and beliefs. Liberals just have identity politics, anger and entitlements. Sometimes liberals make their issues known in very funny opinion pieces that could be cross-posted in The Onion. For example, this open letter to students at Pace Universty in which Karla Jay, an early feminist, bemoans the lack of uprising going on today with America’s youth:

Reflecting back on these catalytic events, I wonder why you, my beloved students in women’s and gender studies at Pace University, aren’t out at the barricades in the fight against the interminable wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, widespread genocidal acts against women, the lack of equality for the queer community and evildoing by the banking industry.

Aside from “wahhhhh!” I can’t really think of anything else to say. But why aren’t student’s protesting in the streets (unless they attend a college in the UC system)?

It seems to me, that many of you don’t see current “issues” as connected to you. That nothing is “real” unless you’ve seen it on reality TV. The violence in the world can’t match the latest hit film. Since there is no draft, attending college is no longer a prelude to going to Iraq or Afghanistan, except for those on ROTC scholarships. You think feminism is passé. For those of you who are white, racism is over, too, because Obama is president. There is no gender or racial gap at your minimum wage jobs at Abercrombie, The Gap and as student aides, but you haven’t entered the real work force yet. There’s a Stonewall Coalition at the university, but you don’t need that because New York City has so many queer bars and you have the fake I.D. to get in. You’re oh-so-out, though most of you can’t apply the LGBTQ words to yourself in my queer courses.

Those harmful reality shows. Watching the Biggest Loser or Dancing With the Stars just ruins everything for us. Then there’s the evilness of The Gap. Those overpriced khakis are seriously hurting our society. I guess that I was wrong in assuming that not having a draft was a good thing. Shouldn’t we be proud that our voluntary armed services are protecting us? But is that all? Nope.

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Tea Parties are every where these days. They’re even on your TV now.

Next Tuesday, December 2, Tea Party: The Documentary will premiere in DC aptly at the Reagan Center. I plan on attending. Rumor has it that the event is black tie optional, so it looks like another opportunity to pull out a cocktail dress.

The film:

follows the struggles of five grassroots individuals and their transformation from home town rally goers and rally organizers to national activists in the 912 March on Washington. In the process, the film reveals what is at the heart of this nationwide surge of civic engagement – a return to and respect for a Constitutionally limited government, personal responsibility and fiscal restraint at the Federal level.

This week, you can watch a 30 minute sneak peak. A great way to escape family this Thanksgiving or rile up some liberal relatives.

Perhaps it’s my job, but every day I grow more and more disenchanted with the academic world. Between the supression of free speech to the the politization of research, academics are doing their best to create a completely insulated world that only furthers a few pet causes.

I’ve written before about the silly “bingo” game for gender equality. I’ve also written about the absolute lack of academic research done on female conservative voters. Now, thanks to Russian hackers, we know that academia whored itself for research money and covered up the truth about global warming. Not surprising. While I’m a strong conservationist, I’ve questioned global warming for a long time.

All of this actually makes me sad. It’s heartbreaking actually.

I’m a nerd. I’m one of those people who love school. Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be a professor and share my love of learning and research with others. I’ve always been drawn to the ideal of study, debate and research to further knowledge. “The marketplace of ideas” concept is a beautiful thing. I love the idea that places exist in our society for people to just pursue ideas, enjoy the freedom to debate and question existing bodies of knowledge or the status quo. Historically, academics have been the true rebels.

Those ideals simply don’t exist on the modern college campus.

Politics long ago entered the classroom, and dissenters are not allowed to question. Academia is such a police state that individuals are not allowed to pursue entire fields of research because it’s not politically correct. Does anyone else find it ironic that the academy now resembles the Catholic Church in the days of the Spanish Inquisition?

Phi Beta Cons at National Review linked to an article in Harvard Magazine, “The PhD Problem,” which covers some of my qualms about academia.

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With weekend travel, I haven’t had time to do much writing, and it’s time to clear out saved links. The good news is that I’m now back in Chattanooga and have secured my copy of Going Rogue. Lots of reading to do this vacation.

Animation of unemployment rates
Wow. Just wow. (H/T Red State)

The Hate Kate Gosselin Movement Exposed
Matt Heckman’s Blog
The truth behind the Kate hate. Interesting that the owner of Gosselins Without Pity is a pro-abortion writer in Pennsylvania who was angered that Kate chose not to “selectively” murder any of her brood. Nice when your political views can be conveniently altered to fit tabloid covers.

Organizing for America: Palin is ‘Dangerous’
Political Pyromania, Matthew Hurtt
Yes. According to an email from President Obama’s former campaign, traveling around the country and promoting your book is “dangerous.” Well, I suppose that capitalism is a scary thing to most liberals. Could it be that liberals are terrified of someone like Palin exposing healthcare for the socialist sham that it is?

GOP leads media charge
The Hill, Kim Hart
A bit of happy news after so much awfulness from Congress. Long-time readers may remember that in 2006, pretty much every post was about how Republicans were behind online. At the time, I was writing a master’s thesis on it, so it was the only subject I was reading. Some good things have happened in 2008. This is a particularly good story after the earlier editorial declaring Palin as the savior of new media for the right. While Palin is extremely adroit at Facebook, she’s hardly mistress of the interwebs.

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Wondering who the targets are to stop the Reid bill? The RNC has set up “Health Care Flip Floppers” to help stop the seven Senate Democrats who are opposed to the bill but will vote for it to go to the floor.

• Kay Hagan (NC)
• Evan Bayh (IN)
• Ben Nelson (NE)
• Mary Landrieu (LA)
• Mark Blegich (AK)
• Kent Conrad (ND)
• Byron Dorgan (ND)
• Blanche Lincoln (AR)
• Mark Pryor (AR)

The American people simply need more time to debate and read through this version of the bill. It’s even longer than the House version  (2,074 pages) and does not protect life. National Right to Life exclaimed that the Reid bill is “unacceptable:”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv.) has rejected the bipartisan Stupak-Pitts Amendment and has substituted completely unacceptable language that would result in coverage of abortion on demand in two big new federal government programs.

According to Patient’s First (part of Americans for Prosperity), here are just three problems with the bill. They’ve also outlined 10 more problems.

1.”The Reid bill starts hiking taxes and cutting Medicare immediately, while the new spending programs are delayed until January 2014…Without this gimmick, the fully phased in 10-year cost would be not the much-touted $848 billion is about $2.5 trillion.”

2.”The Reid bill pretends Medicare payments to doctors will be cut by 23 percent in 2011 and stay at that low level. That’s totally dishonest, because it would drive most doctors out of Medicare. That raises the real price-tag of the bill another $247 billion.”

3.”The bill includes yet another new entitlement program, a long-term care insurance program called the CLASS Act. This new federal entitlement program will supposedly reduce the deficit. That’s because the CBO counts the program’s 10-year revenues of $72 billion as deficit reduction to help pay for the Reid bill, even though it will cost far more than it raises once benefits start being collected in the future. This is another new entitlement time-bomb, when Social Security and Medicare already have staggering multi-trillion dollar unfunded liabilities.”

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There’s a good chance that a small part of hell froze over for Jezebel staffers today. After the New York Times interviewed Lisa A. Kline,  the stylist behind “Wardrobegate,” the gossip site sort of posted a compliment and begrudgingly titled the post, “One McCain Campaign Disaster That Wasn’t Sarah Palin’s Fault.”

…And even if it wasn’t at all worth the headache to the Republicans, you can’t deny that Palin and her family looked great that night — the night that was probably the peak of her glory.

I saw the NYT story last night and thought, “If I ever become wealthy, that’s the stylist I want to hire to dress me.” Palin looked great last fall. I loved her Valentino jacket at the convention and drooled over these Cole Haan boots. When you live in DC and are forced to wear business clothes all the time, Kline’s style is appropriate yet still fashionable. I wish she would leverage this announcement into a style guide for dressing fashionably and professional. I get tired of my closet always looking like an Ann Taylor store.

The hoopla last year was ridiculous, especially when Kline breaks down all the charges. She had less than 24 hours to completely build a wardrobe for Palin for the convention and dress six other people for the speech night over a holiday weekend.

In other circumstances, Ms. Kline said, she could have bought Ms. Palin’s wardrobe for far below retail through her relationships with designers. But it was the Friday of a holiday weekend and “there wasn’t a person around,” she said. “The only avenue was retail, straight retail.”

Perhaps the gossip-mongers have never watched an episode of the Rachel Zoe Project, but stylists buy lots and lots of clothes for their clients, help them put together looks, arrange for alterations and then bring back the unwanted clothes. Jezebel notes:

Those include Klein’s purchases for Palin at Barneys and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York (at retail, since it was so last-minute), a frenzied run at Neiman Marcus to the tune of $75,062 once Kline realized she needed to dress the whole family, plus her own fee of $54,900, which included an assistant, a seamstress, and round-the-clock labor on a holiday weekend.

You have to look nice with any public appearance, and since the Palins were coming from a more People of Walmart environment than Manhattan, they needed to do a lot of shopping. Plus, how do you dress an average, middle-class family to match Cindy McCain’s level of style? She always looks perfect, but that that kind of dressing is far above what most Americans could ever dream of spending.

Last night, I caught the end of O’Reilly when he was featuring Bob Dylan’s Christmas album.

Yes, that’s right. Bob Dylan. Christmas music. Santa hat.

Does this not remind you of Bill Nighy’s character in Love Actually?

At least Dylan isn’t releasing this album to stage a comeback. He’s donating all of the proceeds to Feeding America, formerly America’s Second Harvest. I interned for Second Harvest in Knoxville for two years. It’s a great organization. I’m not a Dylan fan, but I may buy this just to support them.

Monday night, I got an excited phone call and a tweet from a co-worker. On her drive home, she heard my blog mentioned on the Mark Levin show! Immediately, I called my mom to see if she had listened since she adores Mark Levin. No, she was busy and had missed the show.

I finally got to listen tonight, and it was nice to hear my words and opinions echoed by someone else. (Michael Berry, thanks for the shoutout!) A number of  people have commented and Facebook messaged that they’re excited to find a conservative woman out there blogging about these topics. This is not an unusual reaction. Most of the time I write these type of posts out of frustration because no one else is writing them.

The mystique of conservative women has suddenly emerged. We’ve always been here, but no one has ever listened to us before. Signs are showing that the political environment may be changing in our favor. Groups like Smart Girl Politics and Network of Enlightened Women are organizing and advocating for conservative females. The Tea Party movement is not just old, angry white guys, but little grandmas who have never attended a political rally, and homemakers who are learning to organize and events and contact the media in order to make their voices heard.

Since moving back to DC, I’ve met a number of women who are like me. It’s refreshing. I guess you could call it our version of “consciousness-raising,” only our issues aren’t with men, but other women who hate us and a media constantly on the attack.

It is encouraging to see. I’ve been a political junkie since the first grade and was always frustrated that women with my views weren’t very visible. Oh, I don’t want the conservative movement to become embroiled in identity politics but having representation is nice.

So, if you are new here at CosmoCon, welcome! Feel free to leave a comment or email me at cosmoconblog at gmail dot com. Also, check out my other blog, FourthWaveWoman.com if you are interested in women’s studies from a conservative perspective.

It’s not very often that you get to see a political smackdown like the feud between Palin and Nicolle Wallace. It’s interesting to watch, particularly when it involves the strategy behind the infamous Katie Couric interview.

Sadly, I haven’t been able to “go rogue” since Amazon is holding my pre-ordered copy hostage, but I’ve relished watching this debate unfold. Wallace may have worked for Republicans, but her choices of media outlets is puzzling. Last year it was Katie Couric and last night she chose Rachel Maddow to defend herself? Seriously? Rachel Maddow? That fair and open-minded reporter who is possibly only less partisan than Keith Olbermann?

As a communications professional, Wallace’s strategies have baffled me. Sometimes, the choice of media outlet  is more important than what is actually said in the interview. If you are concerned with the opinions of your peers, why talk to such a far-left show? A Maddow interview signals that Wallace is just as much as a sell-out as Brooks or Frum. She almost appears as if she had to go on a format that would push her to attack Palin in order to feed the hate-Sarah media monster.

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