A St. Paul woman reports to the Minnesota Independent that she’s been stricken with a self-diagnosed case of Palinsomnia. The symptoms:
Waking up at 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am in something of a panic and then staying awake, thinking about the prospect of Sarah Palin & John McCain being elected with that lunatic fringe corrupt anti-choice creationist secessionist corrupt ignorant radical being given the launch codes when McCain implodes and keels over in the Oval Office in 2010.
Emily Stevens says she’s had Palinsomnia since the Republican National Convention but didn’t have a name for it until one came to her at 4:49 a.m. on Saturday, when she posted a cry for help on Facebook:
Drink doesn’t help, Stevens tells MnIndy, though a sleeping pill before bed seems to stave off McCain/Palin nightmares for at least a couple of hours.
That regimen may seem effective, says Dr. Steven Miles, a Minneapolis physician, especially if Stevens’ Palinsomnia appears to cure itself on Election Night. But in reality, her condition — from which Miles says his 80-something mother also suffers — is “not really a form of insomnia but more in the zone of a delusional disorder.” Miles recommends an antipsychotic like Thorazine but warns that “people prone to this disorder don’t so much get cured as they relapse with a different attachment.”















15 Comments »
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 9:14 am
For the record, that is not my picture, but it is my malady. This morning, up at 4:45am.
-Emily
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 9:22 am
I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight…..
If you graduate from Harvard law School, you are unstable.
If you attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing state of 3 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
If your total resume is: beauty queen, local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while a member of your own family could have benefited from that education. You champion of womans rights
If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
If your husband is nicknamed “First Dude”, with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
Quit frankly the thought of Ms. Palin sitting across the table from the likes of a Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chills me to the bone. Given McCains health issues and age Ms. Palin could in deed become the President Of The United States. Scary Very Scary
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 9:30 am
Oh, please Emily. What a whiner you are. Didn't the fact that the messiah Barack has no worthwhile experience, added to the fact that he is a socialist…….didn't those keep you up at night? Of course not. I'm sure you were sleeping like a baby before Sarah Palin came on the scene. Mmmmhmmm. No, you were counting on an easy election of Mr. Obama, relying on his social promises to make everything all better. Well, grow up now Emily. The real world is not so simple as you dems believe. And the Minnesota “Independent” (hahahahahaha) is feeding your neuroses, shame on them. Well, you can always join Matt Damon, Susan Sarandon and the like when they move to another country. Now that will be a day of celebration, and then I will get a good night sleep. It's time to get your head out of the liberal sand and grow up, and go to bed until November.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 10:11 am
Rochelle,
You are funny. You should be on Comedy Central.
Call me whatever you like, but no I wasn't sleeping easy before Palin was on the scene. Why? Because after 8 years of Republican leadership we have a severe economic crisis, gas was $1.50 in 2001 and now it's $3.50-$4.00, unemployment is way up and the good jobs are way down, the $236 billion budget surplus that Clinton left us is now, thanks to Bush and 6 years of a Republican controlled Congress, a deficit of $400+ billion and rising, an infant mortality rate worse than most of the western world, a huge uptick in people living below the poverty line, the list goes on and on.
But McCain/Palin (aka Unstable/Unable) scare the crap out of me, and a lot of other people who think intelligence should be a requirement for holding the highest office in the land.
Emily
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 10:36 am
Boy, Rochelle, you sure put Emily in her place. To heck with the facts. Facts. Who cares about them? People who try to focus on the facts are whiners. People who try to find some rationality to this process deserve to lose sleep. How dare t hey try to stick to the truth? Since when does honesty matter? Gee whiz. If repeating lies and repeating lies wins the election, what's wrong with that?
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 10:40 am
No, Emily. I'm not funny. I'm very serious, in fact. Speaking of facts, I love how you spew your “facts” about the Republican leadership being responsible for every problem in our society, economic or otherise……again, grow up and read a few more articles from sources other than the New York Times and the Minnesota “Independent”. Lots of other facts out there, Emily, if you have the stamina to look. The halos around your revered Democrats are fake. They could care less about you or I. They are “championing” women's rights, all the while forgetting that half of the aborted children in the world are female. And why is it the Republican's fault that gas prices are so high? Are you kidding me? Read the facts about speculators and drilling for oil, Emily. Stop believing everything you hear from your sources. There's a whole other perspective out here that you could learn from. And I love your nicknames for a war hero and the most popular American Governor in the country. Ok, you want nicknames…..how about Socialist/Plagiarist ??????? How do you like it, Emily? Grow up and live in the real world.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 11:23 am
Emily, thanks for naming it! I realize that I too have this disorder! One thing I've decided to do about it is stop reading blogs, newspapers and watching news on TV for a while. I'm trying to resist opening emails with the word Paliin in the subject line. I hope that in a week or so it will all die down and people who support the Republican ticket (who I do not know) will come to their senses about the insanity and the lies. I can only hope and in the meantime, thank goodness I have sleeping pills to get me through the night.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
Thanks, Emily!
We'll all sleep better knowing that you've alerted folks here about why we must elect Obama-Biden.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 1:58 pm
Subject
THE issue: economy-energy-war&terrorism
Message
On 9/11-2008, Obama & McCain focused on service: what WE can do. A unity “platform” below, derived via Dialog07 balloting (http://co.net/dialog/) suggests WHAT to do!
A) Table, until 2012, divisive 3 G's wedge issues: “God, guns & gays” — in order to focus campaigns on THE “single” issue: C below.
B) Achieve global consensus as well as national unity via a Dialog09 process (which will be described to anyone who replies to this e-mail) that would guarantee actions to be taken – both in the US & worldwide — to resolve this multifaceted issue:
C) Save our democracy, economy, environment, health, security, lives and the entire world by focusing on this, as “the” ONLY (7-part) issue:
1) From the bottom up, families can become “energy independents” via a new Energy Internet or PowerNet powered by our own rooftop solar, backyard wind & pluggable hybrid cars.
2) From the top down, get the 8 nuclear powers to build tenfold larger multi-national Peace Corps to educate & to implement PowerNet globally by 2020.
3) Do not build new nuclear power plants until WMD stockpiles have been destroyed and no fearful country can thereafter build nuclear weapons.
4) Via tax incentives, Congress act now in 2008 to stimulate economic growth of new green industries that support energy independence & environmental security.
5) By 2010, replace all current income taxes that discourage work/savings by a new consumption Fair Tax — with pre-bates for necessities, healthcare & the elderly.
6) Fight root causes of terrorism and oil wars: implement the above reforms, and end (as Ike warned in 1961) “military industrial complex” corruption.
7) If global warming, our addiction to scarcer fossil fuels, and/or more oil wars & terrorism are global threats, then indeed we “will save the world.”
Campaigns, “change” now! Advocate ABC&1-7!
Consensus and unity are possible.
We already agree on service & maybe energy.
_______
I am in the process of trying to revise the above “independents platform” before trying to get it published and before both Obama & McCain. Comments from Minnesota Independents and others would be most welcome.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
First of all, with all due respect, quit telling me to grow up. I'm probably older than you are. And I live in the real world where people think, as opposed to spew the talking points.
The most popular governor in America? Now that IS funny.
You keep calling me a Democrat (ooooh what an insult) but for 20 years I was a registered Independent and I've voted Republican. I get my facts from a lot of sources besides the NY Times, but you'll never believe me because you are just so sure you are right no matter what the numbers say. No, it's not the Republicans who've directly raised gas prices, it's the oil companies which, gee whiz, interestingly enough several highly placed Republican leaders are huge stake holders in those companies. Oh never mind. This is way more complicated than this ridiculous debate deserves. But I note you make no mention of unemployment, the budget deficit, poverty, and btw, did you notice that our economy is basically crashing RIGHT NOW?
I'm sorry to admit that I've never read the Minnesota Independent until today, they heard about my Palinsomnia and wanted to write about it. Now I've discovered this great source of reporting not tainted by the mainstream corporate-owned media, and no not because my joke-malady is in it. There's many other stories worthy of attention and dissemination. I'm not sure why you bother to read this site, since it really sets you off.
Good luck and God bless.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 3:38 pm
Cawren,
Pay attention, she was a sports reporter! Mahmoud Ahmadinejad loves sports!
In all seriousness, thanks for your thoughtful comment and pertinent facts. Keep spreading them. Keep the faith.
Warmly,
Emily
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 4:35 pm
Rochelle, you said “The halos around your revered Democrats are fake. They could care less about you or I.” I meant to say, “about you and ME” — but as for ME, I happen not to be a Democrat nor a Republican but instead a lifelong independent. I need to see all these negative accusations, but the objective sources such as factcheck.com have determined that McCain ads contain more than twice as many lies or distortions than do Obama ads. I'm not going to call you a liar, but you are being unfair in what you wrote above. Who the heck are you calling a socialist or a plagiarist?
Biden in 1988 quoted a British politician several times by name and only once said what he said without mentioning that name. I was elected three out of four times and often used words that others had used before I had. That was not plagiarism, as I could've been accused of only if I had written a scholarly article with such unattributed quotes. My friend Mike Dukakis fired his campaign manager for having unfairly accused BIden of plagiarism back then. Like now, if you repeat a lie often enough, you start to believe that your “talking points” are indeed true, but implying Biden is a plagiarist is wrong. And shame on you if that's what you meant.
And greater shame on you if you mean to imply that Obama is a socialist. I am an economist and so is Emily. I expect we both know better than you what socialism really means. Obama's health care proposal is by far the least socialistic of any I've seen that would make health care coverage comprehensive. His other reform proposals also use free-market processes to achieve, yes, “social” goals that I believe in but perhaps you don't. Please don't use socialism and communism fears of the 1950s a half century ago. Instead tell us what you do or don't believe in about economic and energy issues.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
Dear Emily,
I, too, live in the real world and don't speak talking points. I'm speaking as a wife, a mom, a businesswoman and a concerned citizen of this wonderful country. I get so weary of all the negative attitudes and comments of people (like your Palinsomnia jibe), when we all should be remembering all the positives of this country and many of it's leaders. Do I believe all Republicans are wonderful? Heck no. On the contrary. That's why I think Sarah Palin deserves a bit more respect from us, as she confronted the Republican leaders in her own state and pushed for reform. Do I think she's perfect? No. Do I think she's the best pick for this job? Maybe not, but neither do I think Joe Biden or Barack Obama are good for this country. We can agree to disagree on many issues, but stop the name calling and the total disrespect of citizens of this country who are trying to do good.
You claim to be terrified of Sarah Palin but yet were you terrified when Bill Clinton was getting a blowjob under the Oval office desk while speaking to foreign leaders on the phone? And he was the GOVERNOR of Arkansas (wow) when he was elected.
As far as the other issues you mentioned, I could talk all day about unemployment, the budget deficit, poverty and the economy. Many of these issues can be blamed on both sides……Emily, the republicans cannot be blamed for everything! If you are older than me, then you can remember back to administrations that should take the blame for all kinds of negative things that happen, but in the end, this country is good and the people are good and they love to help one another. Many of my closest friends are Democrats and I love their passion on so many issues, but they never seem to go down the negative road and slump to name calling. Republicans care about the same issues that you care about, Emily. We are not all greedy selfish creatures who want to trash the environment. Really. We volunteer and donate time and money to worthy causes, we scrimp and save to send our kids to college. We don't like to lean on the government, especially when it comes to raising our kids. We are not elitists, but real people doing good in the world.
I had, until today, never gone onto the Minnesota Independant site, but was linked there by a tagline referring to your joke about insomnia. I read a good amount of their content and soon realized that it was a negative site. They obviously loved your fear of Sarah Palin and fed on it. So, now all who read it will get an impression of Governor Palin that's so ridiculous and naive.
I lose sleep, too, but it's over terrorists living in this country who want to kill you, me and my children. I lose sleep over good citizens of this country being trashed daily by the leftist media because they believe in God (oh no!) and who go to church on a regular basis and who hate that abortion is rampant and used as birth control. I lose sleep over things like taxes and deficits and the future for my kids.
I'm sad to say that I think the readers on this site hate all Republicans, no matter what. So this will be laughed at and spit out by most who read it. But you started this conversation by admitting your hatred and fear of a woman who works hard, who has raised a family while trying to improve her community. Wow….what's so horrible about that? She is a breath of fresh air.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 5:52 pm
Dear Lighthouse,
Yes, I know what socialism is. I'm not stupid. I'm educated and know plenty about economics and socialism. I know that Barack Obama thinks that the goverment can heal all problems and issues. Do I think he's the next Karl Marx? No, but what he says scares me and it's veiled in pretty text and utopian phrases. Read his speeches, verbatim, and socialism cries out as a theme.
By the way, Biden was accused of, and he admitted to, plagiarism in law school.
What my point was, Lighthouse, was that name calling is not the answer. Did Emily like me calling Obama and Biden a socialist and a plagiarist? No. Neither did you. But she can call an honorable, upstanding man, who happens to be one of the bravest war heroes of our time “Unstable”, and call an intelligent and clear-thinking modern woman, who happens to be very popular in her state “Unable” and expect to get away with it? Sorry……I'm not going to let her get away with it.
As the physician noted in the original article above, Emily's condition is “not really a form of insomnia but more in the zone of a delusional disorder.” To believe that Sarah Palin is so awful for this country, maybe she needs some meds. As her friend, maybe you need to help her with that.
Comment posted September 16, 2008 @ 8:58 pm
That's an R, not a U — in a nickname of not LighthoUse but LighthoRse “Harry” (not Lee, father of Confederate General Robert E. Lee) and not just a friend of Emily but her father whom you are addressing, Rochelle. (The “Harry” nickname was already taken when I decided to register here today.) And, while I do have a Ph.D. in economics from MIT, I am not the kind of doctor who could recommend “meds” to you or anyone else to cure what you refer to as “hatred and fear” of the terrorists, maybe radical Muslims, socialists, and maybe even terms you mention above, Marxist communists as in the Cold War, which extreme militarism policies of McCain's could easily trigger with the support of fear-filled voters like yourself. It is much different to call him “unstable” and her “unable” than it is for you to label the other team as socialist and plagiarist. You seem to have no argument to support the latter label, and all you have to say about the former is: “Read his speeches, verbatim, and socialism cries out as a theme.” So all I ask of you is to quote here, verbatim, wherever you see socialism crying out as a theme.
Please put aside your prejudices about folks online here, and give us a chance to see if we might agree with you, once you have come up with any such quotes to share with us here.
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