A Republican Drinking Game

It's a tough week in the news, trying not to write about the Governess of the North. All of us liberal opinionators are like moose caught in the headlights of Sarah Palin's Suburban, paralyzed while she aims her gospel gun toward our bleeding hearts. I miss falling asleep to the soothing sounds of Barack Obama's dreamy voice offering hope and change to those of us who have not enjoyed the last eight years.

But that was so last week; it's been all-Sarah, all the time on the news ever since John McCain made his startling announcement. The McCain/Palin ticket promises two political strategies: pandering to a brand of fundamentalists who have about three issues on which they base all of their voting decisions, and remaining defensive and prickly about anything else the candidates might have said or done which deserves comment. If the National Enquirer doesn't find some John Edwards-level dirt on Mrs. Palin soon (and what a sorry state of mind I'm in to depend on the Enquirer for investigative reporting), I'm going to be engaging in electoral drinking games until November.

Join me in the fun! Head to the liquor store and follow these simple rules, and you'll be an advanced alcoholic (but for the left!) in no time.

- One shot of Svedka vodka every time Palin denies the man-made aspect of global warming
- One shot of Gummi Bear N' Schnapps whenever Palin defends her anti-polar bear protection position
- One shot of Sailor Jerry Rum every time Palin defends her anti-beluga whale protection position
- One sip of sacramental wine every time Palin suggests that God wants a $30 billion natural gas pipeline built in Alaska
- One shot of Jose Cuervo whenever McCain struggles to appease both pro-immigration Latinos and anti-immigration white coservatives
- One shot of Hennessy every time that you notice that the McCain-Palin ticket is failing to attract black voters
- One sip of a perfect mojito whenever Palin decries gay marriage
- One Miss Saigon for every instance of McCain retelling his Vietnam experience
- One gulp of Samuel Adams Brown Ale when Palin suggests that our Founding Fathers recited the Pledge of Allegiance
- One keg stand every time that Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston are trotted out as a young couple for whom "life happens"
- One sip of a Dirty Martini whenever you check out a YouTube video of John McCain staring at Sarah Palin's breasts or rubbing up against hapless female Republicans - One White Russian for each instance of Cindy McCain mentioning Alaska's proximity to Russia via the Bering Strait
- One Jager Bomb for each reference to Palin's extensive command of the Alaska National Guard
- One bottle of Dom Perignon for every time John and Cindy McCain realize that they own another home
- One liter of Fiji Water whenever some bitter Ron Paul supporter comes up and tries to convince you that bottled water lover Mr. Paul can still beat Obama and McCain
- One bong hit whenever John McCain talks tough about opposing medical marijuana
- One shot of Wild Turkey for every instance of Palin or McCain complaining about the liberal media
- One Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer each time multi-millionaire John McCain suggests that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party are elitist
- One Mind Eraser every time that John McCain neglects to mention the incumbent Republican George Bush
- One nuclear cocktail if McCain starts singing his perennial favorite "Bomb Iran, bomb, bomb Iran"

The drinking game continues until the Obama/Biden ticket wins and Palin heads back to Alaska for hunting season. However, if the Republicans prevail in the presidential election, keep up the game as long as possible. Crying in your beer and/or other remaining liquor will be perfectly acceptable for the next four years (as the economy tanks further, you may substitute malt liquor or My Wild Irish Rose). But do not - I repeat, do not - drink that Republican Kool-Aid.

NTD