exit stage-left

Can we admit the Wall Street Journal is just FOX NEWS in print?

2011-11-21T09:35:00.000-05:00

On the same day President Obama will start Thanksgiving week by signing legislation that will create tax breaks for businesses that hire veterans. An editorial in The Wall Street Journal urges President Barack Obama to abandon his candidacy for reelection and allow Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to become the nominee of the Democratic Party.

This editorial, written by Democratic pollsters, suggests the President step aside for the good of country and party because even if he wins, he won't be able to do anything. It lays the blame for this squarely on the President, not the opposition party who despises him and has worked with the singular goal of destroying him and his presidency.

It's kind of unbelievable.

By going down the re-election road and into partisan mode, the president has effectively guaranteed that the remainder of his term will be marred by the resentment and division that have eroded our national identity, common purpose, and most of all, our economic strength. If he continues on this course it is certain that the 2012 campaign will exacerbate the divisions in our country and weaken our national identity to such a degree that the scorched-earth campaign that President George W. Bush ran in the 2002 midterms and the 2004 presidential election will pale in comparison.

We write as patriots and Democrats—concerned about the fate of our party and, most of all, our country. We do not write as people who have been in contact with Mrs. Clinton or her political operation. Nor would we expect to be directly involved in any Clinton campaign.

If President Obama is not willing to seize the moral high ground and step aside, then the two Democratic leaders in Congress, Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, must urge the president not to seek re-election—for the good of the party and most of all for the good of the country. And they must present the only clear alternative—Hillary Clinton.

I like Hillary Clinton. She's be an amazing president. But, what the...? Just give in and give the GOP what they want? You really think Obama quitting would make the GOP have to focus on ideas? You're completely delusional.

Okay... whatever.

Here's a Twitter flyer for #Nov17 #17NOV distribute wide... on Twitpic

2011-11-15T23:28:00.000-05:00

Here's a Twitter flyer for #Nov17 #17NOV distribute wide... on Twitpic

Scalia and Thomas dine with healthcare law challengers as court takes case

2011-11-15T11:10:00.000-05:00

Think they'll recuse themselves? Especially Justice Thomas, whose wife, Ginny, was one of the primary political forces behind the Tea Party effort to repeal the healthcare law... and made millions doing so?

Yeah. Probably not.

Scalia and Thomas dine with healthcare law challengers as court takes case

I'm back!!!!

2011-11-15T09:33:00.002-05:00

The combination of some snarky prick posting on my heartfelt goodbye and the #OWS movement and the bumbling of the people who were supposed to make things better for 100% of Americans and instead continued on this path of coddling the rich and punishing the 99% of us who rely on our government to simply work effectively... I'm back, bitches!

Harvard Students Join the Movement | Truthout

2011-11-15T09:30:00.000-05:00

Harvard Students Join the Movement | Truthout

Shutting down

2009-10-06T16:37:00.002-04:00

As anyone can see, I have not posted in months. There are reasons for this.

I am finished with this blog.

I find writing a screed about politics tedious and it's like peeing against the wind... Only without the satisfying feeling of accomplishment that one gets afterward.

I have had several disagreements with family and friends because of this blog and never because of my stance or disputing facts and figures... always personal attacks that I don't "Love America enough."

Much of what I've written or pointed out has been dog chasing it's tail work to rebut the lies and misleading statements or rumors started by the other side to distract and confuse people about real issues.

It doesn't really do much good.

I will still pull out interesting articles and have discussions with them with my friends on facebook, I am still me... but I'm finished with writing about our broken system.

I am soon to be a father. That interests me. There are stories there. As I'll be a stay at home dad... there are definitely stories there.

I'm working on a screenplay with Ambarish Manepalli, the best friend and partner anybody could have. We've been commissioned to write it and that interests me. The process interests me.

I'm still acting. I'm still Associate Producer of Partial Comfort Productions - the best, most talented, no holds barred theater company in New York.

My life is more interesting than this blog.

I will still scream at idiot Republicans from South Carolina when they are on the TV. I will still watch Olbermann and Maddow and Bill Moyers and Bill Maher and John Stewart and laugh at people's lack of common sense, common decency and sense of public good. I will still get angry at the greed that is so pervasive in our great nation.

I'll still be me.

But my life is just so much more interesting than this little blog could ever be.

Feel free to read about it. I'll be blogging through it all, but not here.

Shutting down.

Rachel Maddow Takes On Pat Buchanan (VIDEO): "You're Playing With Fire... You're Living In The 1950's"

2009-07-17T10:26:00.001-04:00

So sad. Just another example of the GOP screed. He obviously has no idea what the Ritchie case involved, nor the statutes of the law governing that case. The only reason the SCOTUS overturned that case is because they changed the fundamental rules regarding the case, which Sotomayor then admitted was correctly ruled.

Pat and his ilk can't stand the fact that the country is more diverse than ever and we are seeing the true legacy of the civil rights movement coming to fruition. In particular, Judge Sotomayor is a great judge. She has been for a while and if the GOP would focus on her cases, they'd find that she is not an "activist judge" like their beloved Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Roberts. She's a judge who wants the facts, bases her judgment solely on facts and is possibly the most qualified JUDGE to sit on the court.

Racism is going to be the next big "thing" to rear it's head. Domestic terrorism, right wing groups and racial crime... just watch. And it's starting with Pat... Thanks, Pat.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

The Savaging of Sarah Palin

2009-07-07T20:09:00.001-04:00

Mrs. Palin makes her children and her family an issue every time she trots them out. And the media never "savaged" the family. Comedians make jokes about politicians' and often their families. Sarah Palin is one of the few who not only fought back, but who fought when there was nothing there to fight. Her talent lies in her ability to filter the truth. Her perceived truth was that Letterman made a sexual joke about her eight year old daughter. The actual truth, plain to every rational thinking person, is that he made a joke about her 18 year old daughter who had a child of her own at age 17. A daughter who is now a legal adult.

Palin understands that perception is everything in politics. It is her true talent. She was not savaged by the press. She was asked simple questions that any politician should be able to answer, but was unable to do so. Her inability to do so was then rightly questioned. Instead she creates the perception that she is being "savaged", that the press is out to get her. They are not. They did the job we expect from them: to tell us when the Emperor has no clothes.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Guardrails for the Internet: Preserving Creativity Online

2009-05-27T10:52:00.001-04:00

As an actor and writer, thus a creator of creative content, the internet scares the hell out of me. And while much artistic work created is pirated online, corporations do their fair share of thievery. Sites like HULU or network websites show content for "free" while refusing to pay the creative forces behind those shows. The latest contract negotiated by my union attempts to address the issue. The industry claims they make no money from showing the content online, however, they have also admitted the "limited" commercials bring in billions... Billions that go to the network, not the artists. They are also not forthcoming with the actual numbers from online advertisement during their streaming broadcasts.

I have no problem with the networks or sites like HULU showing content. I love it. It makes entertainment more accessible and continues to provide employment, but they need to be better about sharing the money that comes in.

I would love to see the internet be free for everybody, a system that uses the current television airwaves to give free net access to all people. It will never happen. Giant telecom corporations have too great a financial stake in continuing as the gatekeepers of the internet.

Perhaps they could spearhead putting a system in place to fight piracy, a way of putting guardrails on the internet, of promoting good responsible net journalism, of allowing the providers of artistic content the means to pay their artists, of ensuring a transparency in the net marketplace.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

For Memorial Day: How KBR Killed U.S. Soldiers

2009-05-25T12:29:00.001-04:00

It keeps piling up and all roads seem to lead to Dick Cheney.
About Iraq
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Former Senior Interrogator in Iraq Dissects Cheney's Lies and Distortions

2009-05-25T12:28:00.001-04:00

Great read. We need to hear more from the people who were directly affected by the former administration's bumbling decisions.
About Harsh Interrogations
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Saving the Brooklyn Bridge

2009-05-21T12:04:00.001-04:00

Already wrote in, Anna. Thanks for posting this! Hiding the Brooklyn Bridge behind another cookie cutter shoe box of glass and steel is a crime. It's akin to building skyscrapers around the Eiffel Tower or the Pyramids of Egypt.

It's being done only for profit and greed. The money they make is temporary, this eyesore is permanent.

Sad.
About Real Estate
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

A COUPLE THINGS:

2009-05-20T12:12:00.002-04:00

If the GOP can vote the "rename" the Democratic Party, "The Democratic Socialist Party", then can the Dems rename the GOP the "Republican Fascist Party"?

Donald Rumsfeld is creepy... (read more here.)

Go do your Style Statement! And then go to White Hot Truth.
Still working on mine... Thinking - Genuine Passion. The wife's is - Composed Grace.

Politicians are idiots.
cases in point: President Obama railed against the Bush Administration policies on Terrorism... (rendition, torture, surveillance, military tribunals, targeted killing... etc.) But they have done nothing to end it.

END Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Just watched an eighteen year A.F. vet... a decorated fighter pilot with two years service left... Mandatorily discharged because he's gay. Stop the discrimination and stop the witch hunt like you promised, Mr. President.

Dems and Republicans... The argument for not closing Guantanamo because you don't want terrorists on US soil is a red herring and a false argument made for your own political gains. On US soil we are housing (or housed) Timothy McVeigh, The Unibomber, Charles Manson, The Blind Sheik, the 1993 World Trade Center bombers, serial killers, rapists... Don't tell me that you won't close Guantanamo because you don't want bad people in US prisons. That's bullshit.

Why are Dems still cowering in the corner? You fucking won!!! By a lot!!! In two elections in a row! Grow some balls! Get a pair and do what you were elected to do or get the hell out of the way.

The only difference in the Bush Administration's redistribution of wealth and the Obama Administration is the direction the wealth flows. It's corporate welfare to personal welfare. Think about it.

Play reading Monday went very well. Thanks to everyone who came and gave such wonderful feedback.

End for today.

Evangelical Christians support torture. Unbelievable.

2009-05-02T08:29:00.004-04:00

This report on CNN really got to me. It makes no sense. Torture is not exactly the Christian thing to do. My own religious beliefs are extremely personal but a I am well versed in Christian tradition... I do know that the story is Jesus includes torture.

JESUS WAS TORTURED.

How can any Christian possibly think torture is okay? How many Christians were tortured throughout the centuries.

What is most telling is that Evangelical Christians were most likely to support torture while the religiously unaffiliated were the least likely to support torture. This tells me more about Evangelical Christian religious thought (different from "evangelical") and their political goals than their understanding of Jesus' teachings.

According to a 2003 survey taken before the Iraq War by beliefnet and the Ethics and Public Policy Center, 81% of Evangelical Christians believed it was "very important" to evangelize Muslims in other countries, 83% believed it was "very important" to evangelize Muslims in the United States.

While 76% believe Islam opposes religious freedom and 73% believe stopping religious persecution should be a top priority of American foreign policy, only 52% believed Muslims should be welcomed in America, 54% believed there should be a dialogue with Muslims, 17% believed Muslims prayed to the same God and whopping 2% believed the other religions in the world are equally true and good.

Which faith opposes religious freedom?

And while only 45% believe the current conflict is between the United States and Islam only 9% believe there could be peace with Islamic nations if conditions of poverty were eliminated.

It's not hard to see how Evangelical Christians came to this world view. Their leaders teach it. Franklin Graham, whose charity, Samaritan's Purse, has done wonderful work, is one of the leaders in the anti-Islamic movement. He has said, "We are in a Third World War... It is a global fight against Islamic fundamentalism." (Franklin Graham, Oct 17, 2004)

A November 16, 2001 article in MSNBC discusses comments made by Franklin Graham, Chairman and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse:

“But now Franklin is in trouble with political friends for comments made recently, calling the entire Islamic religion ‘wicked, violent and not of the same God’. “I don’t believe this is a wonderful, peaceful religion’, said Graham. Asked by NBC News to clarify his statement, Graham repeated his charge that Islam, as a whole, is evil.”

Is it any wonder then, that the majority of Evangelical Christian's believe torture is justified? If the question asked were, "An Evangelical Christian knows of a terror attack imminent in the United States, would torture be justified in gaining information?" would the answer be different.

The new survey by the Pew Research Center shows that "mainline" Protestant groups - such as Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians - are the religious groups least likely to support torture. They are also the religious groups most involved in social justice, ending poverty, promoting social principles that are thoughtful and prayerful.

The Pew survey really speaks more to the xenophobia, racism and religious intolerance of this countries most vocal religious group than to the honest beliefs of American Christians. It once again puts Evangelical Christians on the wrong side of almost every social/political issue we face today. While they can quote chapter and verse, it exposes them as woefully ignorant of the true nature of Christ's teachings.

Torture is wrong.

Period.

Christians should know this.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

The Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture rallied on Capitol Hill in March 2008.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.
The analysis is based on a Pew Research Center survey of 742 American adults conducted April 14-21. It did not include analysis of groups other than white evangelicals, white non-Hispanic Catholics, white mainline Protestants and the religiously unaffiliated, because the sample size was too small. See results of the survey »
The president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Leith Anderson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The survey asked: "Do you think the use of torture against suspected terrorists in order to gain important information can often be justified, sometimes be justified, rarely be justified, or never be justified?"

Roughly half of all respondents -- 49 percent -- said it is often or sometimes justified. A quarter said it never is.
The religious group most likely to say torture is never justified was Protestant denominations -- such as Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- categorized as "mainline" Protestants, in contrast to evangelicals. Just over three in 10 of them said torture is never justified. A quarter of the religiously unaffiliated said the same, compared with two in 10 white non-Hispanic Catholics and one in eight evangelicals.

I COME FROM THE REDDEST STATE IN THE COUNTRY!

2009-05-01T12:29:00.002-04:00

How is it then, that I'm so blue? My family is blue, my wife is blue... Very blue.

Very interesting. You keep being RED, Utah. Still love you.

January 28, 2009

State of the States: Political Party Affiliation

Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and District of Columbia are most Democratic

by Jeffrey M. Jones

Page:1 2

This is the first in a four-part series on the "State of the States" to be released this week on Gallup.com. The series examines state-by-state differences in party affiliation, religiosity, consumer confidence, and employer hiring and letting go, based on Gallup Poll Daily tracking data collected throughout 2008.

PRINCETON, NJ -- An analysis of Gallup Poll Daily tracking data from 2008 finds Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Hawaii to be the most Democratic states in the nation, along with the District of Columbia. Utah and Wyoming are the most Republican states.

In 2008, Gallup interviewed more than 350,000 U.S. adults as part of Gallup Poll Daily tracking. That includes interviews with 1,000 or more residents of every U.S. state except Wyoming (885) and North Dakota (953), as well as the District of Columbia (689). There were more than 15,000 interviews conducted with residents of California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Florida.

This large data set provides the unique ability to give reliable estimates of state-level characteristics for 2008. Each sample of state residents was weighted by demographic characteristics to ensure it is representative of the state's population.

In order to rank the states on partisanship, Gallup analyzes "leaned" party identification by state. This measure adds partisan-leaning independents to the percentage who identify with either of the parties. Thus, the Republican total includes Republican identifiers and independents who lean Republican, and the Democratic total likewise includes Democratic identifiers and independents who lean Democratic.

This helps makes the state data more comparable because the percentage who identify as political independents varies greatly by state, from a low of 25% in the District of Columbia to a high of 53% in Rhode Island.

The accompanying map shows party strength by state for 2008, ranging from states that can be considered solidly Democratic (a Democratic advantage in party identification of 10 percentage points or more) to those that can be considered solidly Republican (a Republican advantage in party identification of 10 percentage points or more). States in which the partisan advantage is less than 5 points in either direction are considered "competitive." (The full data for all states appear at the end of the article.)

What is immediately clear from the map is that residents of the United States were very Democratic in their political orientation last year. In fact, Gallup has earlier reported that a majority of Americans nationwide said they identified with or leaned to the Democratic Party in 2008.

All told, 29 states and the District of Columbia had Democratic party affiliation advantages of 10 points or greater last year. This includes all of the states in the Northeast, and all but Indiana in the Great Lakes region. There are even several Southern states in this grouping, including Arkansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky.

An additional six states had Democratic advantages ranging between 5 and 9 points.

In contrast, only five states had solid or leaning Republican orientations in 2008, with Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska in the former group, and Nebraska in the latter.

The most balanced political states in 2008 were Texas (+2 Democratic), South Dakota (+1), Mississippi (+1), North Dakota (+1), South Carolina (even), Arizona (even), Alabama (+1 Republican), and Kansas (+2 Republican).

We are too damned sensitive.

2009-03-20T17:45:00.003-04:00

I watched the President's interview with Jay Leno last night and I hear the words "Special Olympics" as Jay Leno made fun of the President's bowling score. I didn't find it funny, or particularly of note. That a guy would say he's awful at bowling and that his score may not qualify him for the special olympics, let alone the professional bowling circuit, wasn't much of anything. I was much more interested in his candor when it came to the economy, AIG... And all that's on the news is this "teachable moment" and outrage about two words.

A Republican assemblyman from New York got on the local news and spewed his outrage and demanded... fucking demanded... that the President of the United States get on television and give a prime time apology.

Are you kidding me? Are we so sensitive? And it's not the atheletes of the Special Olympics making all this noise. It's the president, the fully able president of the Special Olympics calling it a "teachable moment" and using the word "bully" when talking about the President of the United States. The same President who called him before the show even aired, to apologize for the off the cuff remark.

Barak Obama is many things, but I don't think bully is one of them.

Joining the chorus of "how dare you" are "advocates" for the atheletes of the Special Olympics and of course... Republicans. It's all they want to talk about. Since it's painfully obvious they have no ideas other than be against anything President Obama may propose, they have jumped on this like it's their last life preserver. Way to try to stay relevant.

If you were to ask any of the actual athletes of the Special Olympics, they may tell you that, "Yeah... of course they'd beat the President... Why wouldn't they?"

That's the real prejudice.

Stop being so sensitive.

Chuck Grassley... you logic is dizzying...

2009-03-14T10:07:00.002-04:00

If people are forced to pay higher taxes, "they'll drop out of the workforce to avoid it"

Are you for real?

You're saying that people whose taxes are increased, mainly those who make over $200,000 a year whose Bush tax cuts will expire, WILL QUIT THEIR JOBS RATHER THAN PAY THE TAXES!

You're an idiot and I hope the people of your state fire your ass just for being stupid.

Stop whining about the stimulus!

2009-03-12T16:29:00.003-04:00

FDR... The New Deal... Government spending on infrastructure and investing in the country... it's what Obama is starting to do.

This is the first and only real experiment we have had in U.S. history that gives us actual empirical proof of what works and what doesn't.

By the way, in 1937, FDR cut spending and cut taxes. In 1938 he saw the effect and rolled back his tax cuts and increased spending again... Do you see what happened?

Thanks to http://open.salon.com/blog/caveat_canem_croceum for the charts!

Source: BEA⁽²⁾

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Growth:

Real GDP declined by 25% in three years. ("Real" in economic jargon is used as an adjective to denote the elimination of the effects of inflation or deflation so that statistics are comparable over time.)

Under FDR's stewardship, the economy turned around almost immediately due to active Federal intervention and Real GDP grew at 7% per year compounded from 1933 through 1939.

Source: Census Bureau⁽³⁾

Per Capita Income Growth:

All the talk about growth in GDP or aggregate output (jargon, means the same thing) would be for nought if personal disposable income (i.e. after taxes) did not increase concomitantly.

Following a decline of 30% during the Hoover years, real per capita income in the US increased by 50% in the first seven years of the New Deal. By 1937 it had surpassed the highest it had been during the Hoover administration -- at its inauguration!

To summarize :

By 1936, in just three years, GDP had surpassed the 1929 level where Hoover began his assault upon it.
By 1937, per capita income, which had been also been Hoovered, surpassed 1929 levels.
The economy continued to grow at this pace through 1939, despite a small hiccup in 1938 (when stimulus had been mistakenly reduced; but FDR was smart enough to recognize this and get back on course).
WW II HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS. The recovery had been ongoing for six years when the war started in late 1939. ( GDP growth in the US accelerated to 11% per year during 1939-45⁽²⁾, but only loonies living in undisclosed locations believe in wars as prescription for economic recovery.)

So what was that about the New Deal not working?

Source: Census Bureau⁽⁴⁾, Darby⁽⁶⁾

Behind the Numbers:

Few would know that the only contemporaneous numbers in the series are the decennial ones i.e. 1930 and 1940 when the censuses occurred⁽⁴⁾. The interpolating years are the result of brilliant econometric analyses done in the mid 1940s by Stanley Lebergott⁽⁵⁾ at the Bureau of Labor Research. But it has a problem which has been known for some time: the series leaves out of the employment rolls an average of almost 2 million workers a year employed by the WPA during the peak years of the New Deal⁽⁶⁾.

This was not by accident. Officials regarded these workers as the equivalent of welfare recipients⁽⁵⁾, even though they could earn upto $1200 per year, almost twice the national per capita income at the time.

Michael Darby⁽⁶⁾, another distinguished economist, was the first to correct the record in a 1976 article. His work is reproduced in Chart III above (purple line) to show the "adjusted" employment figures including WPA workers. In this view, unemployment fell rapidly from 25% to 10% and thence to 7% by the start of WW II. It should also be noted that the civilian labor force comprised "persons 14 years old and over"⁽⁴⁾ in those days.

So, unemployment fell rapidly, with a concomitant increase in per capita income, from the very inception of the New Deal.

So what was that about the New Deal not working?

Source: OMB⁽⁷⁾

How this growth was achieved:

Gross Domestic Product, the aggregate measure of the size of a national economy, has just four terms.

GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + Trade

When consumers are beset by massive unemployment and investors, be they bankers or businesses, do not have the wherewithal or the stones to invest -- does the picture sound faintly familiar? -- there are not too many options left in terms of reenergizing the economic engine.

The New Dealers saw this and dealt with it immediately, as shown in Chart IV. From 1933 to 1939 Federal spending was doubled from $4.5 billion to $9.1 billion, in current or "then" dollars. And the economy responded by expanding almost 50% during that period in terms of Real GDP (more than 70% growth in current dollars).

fifteen percent?

2009-03-10T11:52:00.003-04:00

I read that "non-religious" persons now number 15% of the American population. I am someone who has been counted among that number and even now, attending a church, I still consider myself somewhat non-religious. I'm not a fan of religion. I'm interested in it, I'm fascinated, but I don't know how I feel about the evangelical bent of organized religion, the push to convert not only non-religious people, but people who are non-Christians.

I believe in faith, a creator, a spiritual yearning that needs to be addressed in all of us. I go to church. I go because I share a connection with the people and I love the message I get. I go for the communion with people I care about.

Not to spread the word. Certainly not to promote my own morality.

In a discussion about the stem cell debate I heard someone use religion to explain why an unused embryo - medical waste - being used for research to potentially save the lives of living, breathing human beings was murder... MURDER? Really?

It is these people who use religion as a shield, rather than the truly beautiful experience it can be, to force their morality on all of us through legislation. It has caused religion to be a word that sparks spirited debate. Fifteen percent of the American population is excluded from this conversation. To put that into perspective, people of the Mormon faith comprise 1.5% of Americans. One tenth.

________________________________________________________

Cenk Uygur has a great piece at HuffPo about it.

There is a minority group in America that is a bigger percentage of the country than blacks or Hispanics. But they are often ignored or derided in public. Almost no politician would ever admit to being one. And they are given no voice in the public arena.

They are the non-religious. A new comprehensive study by The Program on Public Values at Trinity College shows that this group is now a whopping 15% of the country. Mormons by comparison are a puny 1.4% of the population, and people can't shut up about the Mormons. The Senate Majority Leader is a Mormon, one of the top Republican presidential candidates was Mormon and even HBO has a whole show devoted to them.

Even though the non-religious are more than ten times larger, other than Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA), not one member of Congress would even admit to being in the dreaded minority of non-believers. They are almost never accounted for in any political discussion of religion in the country. The devout view them as amoral at best and destined for eternal damnation at worst. Yet, this kind of abuse and scorn is widely accepted and expected.

And, if God forbid, they should ever fight back and forcefully present their opinions, they are often considered rude and offensive.

I've always been amused at the idea that a religious person can say that an atheist will burn in hell as a result of their beliefs, and that is not considered offensive; but if an atheist says that believing in God makes no sense, that is considered deeply offensive. One person is charging the other with faulty logic; the other is charging them with a base immorality that warrants eternal torture. How is the former even vaguely more insulting than the latter?

The stimulus plan

2009-02-15T10:17:00.002-05:00

A couple thoughts:

1) "The Bailout," that has been used by corporate CEO's to pad their own pockets and spend on lavish junkets, was rushed through by the LAST administration. Republican's can't lump this stimulus plan together with the bailout and say it's all the Obama Administration.

2) "The Stimulus" was not supported by Republicans because they are still, and only, concerned with the next election and how they can regain power. They are hoping it will fail. Then they can blame Democrats and hope to win seats and possibly the majority. Dream on.

If they were smart, they'd try participating... but what can you expect from people who want to destroy big government.

I've never understood why people who hate government run for positions in government...

3) Which would you prefer?

$1 Trillion to destroy and then rebuild Iraq, spent with zero oversight or accountability?
$780 Billion to rebuild the America's economy, rebuilding and greening our infrastructure, secure and create American jobs, build American schools, American roads, invest in the American public?

It's your choice...

Obama is Driving Republicans Insane!!

2009-02-12T11:37:00.001-05:00

Thank you Bob Cesca! He says it exactly how I've been trying to...

The historical record of far-right ridiculousness has been well-documented here and throughout the blogosphere.

Who can forget Michelle Malkin's inspired cheerleader skit? Or when Rush Limbaugh mocked a guy's Parkinson's Disease tremors. What about John Boehner's public sobbing jags? Pat Robertson insisting he could leg-press 2,000 pounds. Sarah Palin's turkey geeker photo op. George W. Bush telling us that Iraq is a "peeance freeance." Remember when Bill O'Reilly shouted down the son of a 9/11 victim? Already, we're talking about a mélange of weirdness and upside-down logic suitable for the ages, and that's all prior to January 20, 2009.

But I don't think we ever anticipated that the presidency of Barack Obama would, among other things, send the far-right into a freakazoid display of shockingly deranged conniptions and outright crazy talk -- their manic hyperdrive engines, fueled by Rush Limbaugh's gesticulating arm flab, blasting them out of their political Mos Eisley cantina scene and expelling them a thousand parsecs beyond the zero barrier of insanity.

Too much?

Just to be clear, I'm not talking about the lies or distortions or their utter lack of credibility (zero cred) on broad-ranging issues like, you know, foreign policy and the economy. What we have here is the equivalent level of chaos as, say, the first group therapy scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. In other words: a total berserker meltdown.

Seriously, have you ever seen the Republicans more twisted and kerfuffled than they are today? Movie metaphors aside, I've been hard pressed to find greater examples of insanity from the far-right than have been exhibited in the past week alone. Here we have a Republican Party that's been discredited and bloodied, and yet in the face of an enormously popular president who is confounding conventional wisdom while building a working consensus among American voters, the Republicans appear to be reflexively coughing up the most intellectually violent chunks of hooey on record.

They're screaming about fear-mongering, even though we had eight years of this.

They're screaming about fiscal responsibility, even though we had eight years of this.

They're screaming about free speech, even though we had eight years of this and this and this.

They're honest to God screaming about fascism, even though we had eight years of this and this and this.

Yes, the Republicans have claimed to have "found their voice." If this is true, then their "voice" sounds exactly like Rush Limbaugh, Matt Drudge and Michelle Malkin, depending on the day.

So what are these voices saying exactly?

For starters, Rush Limbaugh -- the de facto leader of the Republican Party -- said on his show Tuesday that the entire economic meltdown was actually precipitated by a conspiracy between George Soros and a cabal of billionaire liberals who deliberately sought to sabotage the world economy in order to get Barack Obama elected.

He, of course, has no real evidence for this, other than what the shadow people told him while he was tweaking his TV remotes.

Okay, so I made up the part about the shadow people, but the rest is seriously what Limbaugh was telling his audience of dittoheads yesterday. What Limbaugh doesn't know, however, is that Soros is actually a hobbit who's conspiring with Elvis to fake another Moon landing. (Shh!)

Confined to its own phantom zone of crazy, there's only so much harm this can do. After all, Limbaugh's puffy melon has been bombarded with a mountain of hillbilly heroin large enough to crush God. But I wish I could report that this was wholly the product of Limbaugh's condition. It's also a theory that was also repeated by Donald Luskin: a seriously wrongheaded economist and, go figure, former economic adviser to Senator John McCain.

Speaking of John McCain, he was pilfering extra helpings of rich, creamery crazy from Michelle Malkin this week. Senator Coburn and Congressman Boehner were doing it, too. Last month, Malkin nicknamed the president's recovery bill the "generational theft" bill, arguing that the debt it would create will serve to rob future generations. This, naturally, disregards the nearly doubled national debt and record-breaking deficits created by George W. Bush with programs that, when taken individually, were enthusiastically endorsed by Malkin (Iraq, tax cuts and so on). But there was Senator McCain on Face the Nation on Sunday talking about "generational theft." Whatever, senator, the fundamentals are strong so what's does it matter, right?

Meanwhile, Michael Steele, the newly elected head of the RNC and preemptive excuse for the next time a Republican talk radio host blurts out a racist remark, tried to tell a national television viewing audience that the government has never in the history of the United States created a job -- only "work." Yep. Do I really need to outline why this is crazy?

Former White House chief of staff Andy Card, meanwhile, attacked President Obama for violating a totally nonexistent Oval Office dress code. Republican columnist Fred Barnes cited a former Limbaugh producer named Marc Morano as his "scientific" source on global warming. FOX News is reading Republican talking points verbatim and passing them off as news copy -- typos and all. And after eight years of the smirking frat boy named George W. Bush, Malkin went so far as to accuse President Obama of being "snippy" during his prime time press conference.

Elsewhere, another far-right blogger is vowing to never again fist-bump with her friends at her tennis club. And when she's at the grocery store and is confronted by magazines with the president's face in the checkout line, she turns the magazines backwards. All of them. I'm not making this up.

They have indeed totally lost their shpadoinkle and despite purely involuntary spikes in my blood pressure, it's so much fun to watch. By successfully debunking their lies, rising above their bait and merely presenting a contrast of character, President Obama is making the Republican A-listers appear small, petty and absolutely befuddled. They're frantically struggling to figure out how to counterpunch, so they're grabbing, borrowing or downright plagiarizing ideas from anywhere, irrespective of the general quality of the idea. And if the Republicans are at all interested in continued survival, someone they respect should probably smack their hands and scold: Drop that filthy Limbaugh quote! You don't know where it's been!

But if this is their "voice" and they're satisfied with it, I for one welcome the new Republican "voice" and wish them a hearty and very sincere: Good luck with that.

BobCesca.com

Sorry, I need to rant.

2009-02-10T14:20:00.002-05:00

Republicans really piss me off.

Transparency? After 8 years of LOCKING THE DOORS to Democrats. LOCKING THE DOORS to make sure no Democrats are even allowed to see legislation before it comes to the floor then rushing it through without allowing them to read it.

Transparency?

How dare you. You've had 8 years to destroy this economy, tear down everything we hold dear in our government. You have been told that what you have tried does not work. It's time for some new ideas to be implemented. New ideas that are really old... that reach back to the most successful programs of the New Deal and restart them.

It's a stimulus package! It by definition is about spending. And it's about job creation. And yes, Ethel, it's about the government creating jobs, by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and simultaneously putting money into the pockets of people who are currently unemployed by hiring them.

Republican's think the only jobs that the government should create are soldiers who go and fight wars for oil. Wrong.

You are wrong. On this issue, you are showing your true colors. You will do anything to stop this stimulus because it's a Democrat and you want payback for losing. It's not going to work.

It's hurting the country.

It's hurting the citizens you work for.

Put your pride aside and do what's right. Stop whining about losing. We are no longer listening to you as a party because you no longer have any ideas other than NOT doing whatever idea a Democrat puts forth... which right now is all of them since you people have none of your own.

Grow up, you petulant children.

Is anyone else bored?

2009-01-31T10:12:00.002-05:00

The soap opera just keeps getting better and better.

Why am I so bored by it.

The GOP tries to obstruct anything they can because they are petulant children. The Dems point fingers and say, "See?"

It's been barely two weeks. Obama and the Dems won. They won because the majority of the people in this country said, "Yeah, this is what we want done."

So let them do it. If they fail, then you can be dicks and gloat. But let them do what we sent them there to do: clean up you mess.

Vive la revolution!

2009-01-22T19:07:00.004-05:00

I spent the past 10 days in Paris filming. Ernest Hemingway once wrote "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." It's true.

I wish I had been able to live there for quite a while, rather than just live there for 10 days while working.

There is something interesting about that city, that country, and our own. They gave us the ideas of Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood. Their ideas helped shape our Constitution. Great men lived, learned and studied there... they found themselves... Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Ambarish Manepalli...

Inauguration day was spent in an American Bar called Wide Open Spaces near the Sorbonne. It was full of American expatriates and many French friends.

We stood and cheered when President Obama was introduced, we stood for his swearing in, we stood and sang our national anthem, hand on hearts, in a rousing chorus of voices. We stood, Americans in a foreign land, celebrating our own liberte, egalite, fraternite.

Last night, my final night in Paris, my friends and I walked from our cafe. Four American men and three French women. One of us started God Bless America very quietly as we walked. The rest of us quietly joined in and suddenly there we were, four American's walking through the streets softly singing God Bless America.

For eight years the word, America, has meant something dark. We have a chance right now for a clean start. A clean break from what we have been doing. And we are ready to change.

And already, two days in, Republicans are screaming about how awful Obama has already been on the economy, the war on terror, undoing the ridiculous, illegal, immoral things the Bush administration has done. How dare they!

My advice to Republican politicians is to shut up for a while. Shut your collective gobs. For eight years you have fucked this country and now, two days after losing power, you feel entitled to criticize?

Uh, uh. Don't think so.

Take a seat. Sit back while someone comes in and tries to fix your mess.

Vive la revolution! Yes. We certainly can.

An Open Letter to NBC

2009-01-07T08:06:00.001-05:00

Your decision to cancel Ann Coulter's appearance was the right thing
to do. Your decision to bend to the pressure of the Drudge Report or
the small, loud group of crazies who scream about their first
amendment rights, was not.

The first amendment does not protect their right to appear on the
televisions of millions of people across the country.

Allowing her on television again, does several things:

It gives her a platform to spew her special brand of hate, xenophobia, racism, sexism and bigotry. If she were giving her rants on the street corner, I'd cross it so I wouldn't have to deal with it. So would most of the country, which leads to...
It makes us, your loyal viewers, want to change the channel. Heaven forbid we find something more interesting on, say, Morning Joe (where sane, reasonable conservatives... and Joe Scarborough, play).
It takes up space that could be used to bring us actual news or an interview with someone who actually contributes something of worth to the world.
It makes Matt Lauer have a coronary... or nearly. He always looks like he's holding back when he interviews her. (And he goes at her, make no mistake. But he holds back.) So please, for the health and happiness of your host...
It makes the claims of the craziest among us seem legitimate. No matter how much you might think you are showcasing just how backwards and ridiculous her claims are, there is a small, violently vocal group of people out there who think like she does. Who think her outrageous claims have validity despite their glaring lack of factual evidence or the fact that she contradicts herself every other sentence.
Ann Coulter's books and her statements are filled with factual inaccuracies... also called lies. Much of what she writes she must simply make up, because it flies against, not only the facts, but simple common sense. While you may think the viewing public can see through her lies, she says them with such confidence, some of can't help but be true, can it? The sky could at times be red, right? I know it's not, my eyes tell me that's untrue, but she's so convincing. Please stop giving her the free airtime to promote these lies and blatantly hateful statements.

I watch the Today Show every morning. It's where I get my news, my weather, get just enough pop culture to keep me from looking foolish and to catch up on what is happening in the world. It is my chance to invite my friends Matt, Meredith, Al and Ann into my day. Having to watch and listen to Ms. Coulter makes my skin crawl, sets my teeth on edge and my heart beats far too quickly for seven in the morning. My entire day is tainted by her black heart and venomous bile. Please do not give this woman a free platform anymore. We, your viewers, expect more from you.

Thank you.

A loyal viewer.

Christopher T. VanDijk

I'm back

2009-01-07T07:13:00.003-05:00

It took Ann Coulter to bring me back.

The Harpy is trying to hawk a new book. She blames everything, every societal ill, on single women, liberals (Democrats) and the media.

Why NBC acquiesced to allow her on the Today Show, to sell her brand of hateful lies, is amazing. She compared NBC's journalistic integrity as worse than the Drudge Report because Drudge has never had to retract as story.

DRUDGE ISN'T A JOURNALIST! HE ISN'T ACCOUNTABLE TO ANYONE. HE'S A JOURNALIST THE SAME WAY I AM. HIS SITE CONSTANTLY HAS HEADLINES THAT MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEAR BECAUSE THE STORY IS FALSE.

Finally, she thanked George W. Bush for keeping us safe for the last eight years. For the last eight years? Was she not here on September 11, 2001? Perhaps her definition of a year is different.

Dear NBC (and ABC and CBS), please quit giving this hateful liar a venue to spew her bullshit.

Thank you.

The crazies are already out.

2008-11-13T11:04:00.008-05:00

First: Obama isn't even president yet and the far right wants him impeached because he's already an overlord and a fascist dictator?

He hasn't even taken the job yet!

There is some crazy stuff out there.

One blogger posted this after Obama made an off hand remark about Nancy Reagan style seances:

Hinderaker wrote this week:

Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn't raise his standards, he will exceed Bush's total before he is inaugurated.

What are you smoking? There have been volumes of books on the mangling of the English language by our current president. Obama is one of the greatest orators and has a great mind and an unique intellectual curiosity. Bush simply does not. But having that argument with a member of the far right is like peeing in the wind.

The only way to combat this?

Be as moon-batty as they are. Republicans try to argue with fantasy land crap that doesn't make any sense or even exist in any kind of reality! Arguing with facts is just a waste of time and energy. But we can join the chorus!

Obama is an alien! Yes, you're right he's going to have his private army take over the country, right after he erects the giant altar to Zeus on the White House Lawn! You didn't think those Greek columns were just for show, did you? It's all part of a plan laid down centuries ago...

I know it will be hard. These kinds of arguments are the perfect bait for intelligent liberals.

We've had to deal with President George W. Bush trampling our Constitution for eight years, and Conservatives can't even deal with a President-elect Obama for eight days?

We can't ignore it, because no matter what, the crazies will somehow manage to get their loopy crap out there on CNN. (Is Obama an alien? Wolf Blitzer finds out, talking to John Q. Racist-Prick on the Situation Room.)

We can point out how absolutely fracking insane it is, though.

Personally I think every time Michalle Malkin or some Conservative tool starts railing with the most far fetched crap the best option is to sit back and laugh and laugh and laugh...

Yes. Laugh... at them.

The laugh that says, "You're such an idiot."

Pointing at them while you do it helps.

Refuse to even engage in an actual debate with the tin foil hat types. Engaging give legitimacy to their argument. Arguments that are in no way legitimate.

Second: Oh, God Sarah Palin... Will you just go away!!!!

She's still campaigning. She's still going after President-elect Barack Obama.

She's started her 2012 Presidential bid. The body of the McCain/Palin campaign isn't even cold and she's already started.

In her CNN interview, in between incomprehensible answers to most of Wolf Blitzer's questions, she tossed in the William Ayers thing! Again!

This as she decried "partisanship" and said, "Let us not become the negative party."

Too late! You're the most negative candidate the party put out this year. You had no policy ideas, you just went out and spread lies. Nice try.

She gave a press conference today!

A PRESS CONFERENCE!

At the Republican Governors Association meeting!

Why? She didn't say anything new. She just drug out the same old crap from the campaign. She was asked about the charges that she was out of her league and hard to deal with, all things reported by campaign staffers and she refused to answer, in that folksy aw-shucks way of hers that is so manufactured.

And four questions? FOUR! For three and a half minutes.

That's not a press conference... That's a publicity stunt.

Can't wait until you answer real questions. REAL QUESTIONS.

She gave a speech after that and it was her pat campaign speech. The same one that she has given over the last couple months.

Is she really looking ahead to the future of the party?

She didn't even participate in the governors' panel on this years election.

Why can't she just go away? Why is she even doing this? What's the benefit for her? I understand trying to combat the bad press she got after the campaign, but by doing this, she's reinforcing the image people have of her.

That she's nothing more than a hyper-partisan, entitled, angry, bitter, politician who is still playing out of her league.

Newsflash, Sarah:

You lost.

No, you didn't just lose, you got your ass kicked.

And you were not the top of the ticket. You were the bottom of the ticket and yet, you were the main reason people ran screaming from your candidate.

The fact that he chose you was the biggest factor to why people chose not to vote for John McCain. Shouldn't that tell you something?

(A very selfish part of me wants her to be the future of the GOP... Just because progressive ideas will continue to defeat her anti-intellectual, bigotted crap. But that's bad for our democracy, so let's hope for Governor Crist or Governor Jindal.)

Please... go back to Alaska and try doing your job. Do it well. Learn more. Read something... anything. You can start with Strunk and White's elements of style - learn how to structure a comprehensible sentence.

Because the truth is, you've got a long, long, long, long way to do before you are remotely intellectually qualified to be out president. That's once again the requirement. We've had an incurious, intellectually average President. We're through.

Do that and then we'll talk.

And if you're wondering, Governor, I'm in my pajamas.

the Prop 8 mess is heating up...

2008-11-08T20:45:00.003-05:00

I'm embarrassed. I'm embarrassed to say I am from that state that fought so hard to take away the rights of other Americans; Americans from another state!

Any church that engages is this kind of political activity should have its tax exempt status revoked.

And then to blame black voters?

No. It wasn't the fault of black voters. It's the LDS Church. (And to a lesser extent, it's the Catholic Church.) The LDS Church contributed $4 out of every $5 given to pass Proposition 8. The Church funded hate and is now saying, "What, us?"

These churches are now scrambling to defend themselves and playing innocent, sending out press releases that say:

"Proposition 8 is not against any group in our society. Its sole focus is on preserving God's plan for people living upon this earth throughout time."

No, Cardinal Mahony, that's exactly what Proposition 8 was. It was against ONE group in our society. It was legislation written to eliminate the rights of ONE group in our society.

And for the Mormons to say:

"it is wrong to target the Church and its sacred places of worship for being part of the democratic process.
Once again, we call on those involved in the debate over same-sex marriage to act in a spirit of mutual respect and civility towards each other. No one on either side of the question should be vilified, harassed or subject to erroneous information."

Really? A church doesn't have any part in the democratic process. People do. If your members want to vote on a bill or initiative, they can. But for the Church to come across state lines, funnel millions into a campaign to take the rights of other citizens away, is not free speech, it is not part of the democratic process.

According to IRS law, "no organization, including a church, may qualify for IRC section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying)." [Emphasis added.]

It is evidence that your church must lose its tax exempt status.

And to innocently preach tolerance and civility and mutual respect? The sheer hypocrisy. You have just spent millions and promoted hatred and vitriolic condemnation and you are trying to piously preach tolerance, civility and mutual respect?

Really?

There are plenty of Mormons who were fighting against their church's money and pressure, but the LDS army is far too strong.

MUST READ: To understand more, go here! http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com/

http://mormonsformarriage.com/

More here, here, here, and here.

A retraction...

2008-11-08T19:58:00.003-05:00

What I said about Governor Palin... about her just being in over her head... forget it.

There is one thing I think is pretty awful about her run as the VP candidate...

The Telegraph reports that the Secret Service blames Sarah Palin for the increase in death threats to the candidate and now President-elect Barack Obama.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.
But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.
The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.
Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"
The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Mrs Palin's credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time.
Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: "Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues."
Irate John McCain aides, who blame Mrs Palin for losing the election, claim Mrs Palin took it upon herself to question Mr Obama's patriotism, before the line of attack had been cleared by Mr McCain.

It just keeps getting more jaw dropping all the time.

Otherwise, I have to agree with Campbell Brown. All the stuff we hear coming from the campaign is just petty and small. It's crap.

Governor Palin is who she is and she was only on the trail for little over a month. She did her job.

filming, so just a few toughts.

2008-11-06T08:22:00.007-05:00

1) I hate the Mormon church right now. I grew up in Utah, have lived with them for thirty years of my life and have always thought them a good people, but what they did in California, pumping money and their fanatical organization into that state to pass Prop 8 and prove that they are small minded, hateful people.

I went to Catholic Schools from pre-school through high school... And I'm not too pleased with the Catholic Church either... Just hateful people. Hateful, hateful human beings.

Hiding behind God.

What would Jesus truly do?

Why are you so afraid of homosexuals?

It's a civil rights issue. Californians just voted to strip other Americans of their civil rights, their basic civil rights.

The sheer audacity.

No on 8's lead donor David Bohnett said, "There's no amount of money that can buy equal rights for the minority, and endless amounts that can buy tyranny for the majority," Bohnett continues, "Today was not our day, but full equality will be ours and let those who deny us our rights suffer the consequences of their misguided faith."

Just hateful...

2) I am so happy with the election... Now the real work begins.

3) George Bush said something really cool. You just have to read this. Bob Cesca... Says it perfectly.

Today, President Bush, of all people, described the forthcoming Inauguration Day and, perhaps inadvertently, presented the ultimate historical bookend to that scene from John Adams when he remarked, "It will be a stirring sight to watch President Obama, his wife, Michelle, and their beautiful girls step through the doors of the White House."

Indeed it will, sir. After eight years of awfulness, George W. Bush actually managed to say something that touched me in a way that didn't precipitate, you know, me breaking something. Damm you, Mr. President, you magnificent bastard.

To arrive at this moment has required a too-long and too-painful journey. For African Americans, yes. But also for the maturation of the ideals championed by John Adams and his generation of founding patriots. For a nation that professes to spread freedom and yet continues to deny it to some its own people. For those of us who have hungered for some kind of redemption to help wash away the original sins lurking between the lines of our Constitution.

Go read the rest here.

Pinch me.

2008-11-05T11:50:00.005-05:00

Ohio.

That's when I knew.

Ohio.

That's when my cousin also offered me a bet of $100... only if he could get a 100 electoral vote handicap.

That's a lot of pizza. I should have taken it.

At 11:00 Harlem literally exploded last night. People dancing in the street. We all were just waiting. California, Oregon and Washington? Really? It came down to the most hippie dippy liberal states in the nation? Really?

People were dancing in the street.

Dancing.

My joy wasn't about him being black, wasn't about him being an agent of change, wasn't about Sarah Palin... although she was hella-frightening to me... (Who, btw, gave an interview this morning on MSNBC, and she was lovely, smart and charming... She's had a rough go. Lots of people piled on, myself included. She was simply a minor leaguer playing in the World Series. Give her time.)

This election was about a confluence of things.

This is the first election where things really clicked for me. Things mattered. My wife was the first to express it. In our twenties, we didn't think about health care, the economy... these things did not resonate. In our mid-thirties, they matter.

Policy. It's about policy. I believe in Barack Obama's policy. I believe in his ability to get things done.

The fact that he has inspired generations: young people who are voting for the first time, my teenage niece in Utah who is now paying attention to what happens in politics, my parents who volunteered for Obama's Colorado offices in their sixties... this is just icing on the cake.

This is my generation's Kennedy moment. Our chance to stop expecting government to do for us, and to take the opportunity to "do" for our nation. We are finally being given the chance to do more than "go shopping" as a solution of a crisis. We have just been empowered to take part.

And I'm happy.

What do I do with this blog, now? Who do we keep the pressure on now? Who do we rail against for wasting our time and government money? Who do we keep pressure on to ensure the reinstatement of our basic liberties; our basic rights; to remind of their oath to uphold and defend the constitution, not tear it apart?

...What's Congress been up to?

MSNBC finds the one Republican at Spellman College

2008-11-04T16:50:00.002-05:00

MSNBC found the one Republican student at Spellman, an historically African-American College.

The reporter said, "Even here there is a large Republican presence."

Then she asked the student about being Republican...

And he said, "I haven't met any others. I think I'm the only one."

"So you voted today for John McCain?"

"No... I mean, I tend to agree with Republican's, but, I just felt like McCain stumbled on some issues. I agree with the other side on most issues. And he did vote with President Bush most of the time... So..."

"So you voted for?"

"Obama. I just feel we need a change. The Republican's just didn't do a very good job... they actually were really bad... even though I agree with them..."

WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS KID TALKING ABOUT? DOESN'T MSNBC VET THEIR INTERVIEWS?

WHAT?!

Just so sad.

JUST VOTED!!!

2008-11-04T16:25:00.004-05:00

I just voted. No issues. short lines.

However, I heard from the poll workers that this morning was a zoo.

Very different, though, than the problems we heard from all over the country.

People put in a line for an hour by someone who ended up not even working at the election site, and left there!

But Harlem is having a blast! People are upbeat, beaming, talking about the election, extremely informed, educated, talking about issues...

And they have hope! They believe.

They are partying in the street.

If Obama doesn't win, Harlem my burn to the ground.

GO VOTE! DON'T LET THEM GIVE YOU A PROVISIONAL BALLOT! GET A JUDGE TO CHECK AND MAKE SURE YOU CAN VOTE.

CALL 1-866-OUR-VOTE TO GET HELP!

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE!

IF THEY DON'T LET YOU, MAKE NOISE! VIDEO YOUR STORY AND POST IT, CALL VIDEO THE VOTE TO HAVE THEM DO IT FOR YOU!

GO CHECK IT OUT! videothevote.org

video the vote!

2008-11-04T12:07:00.000-05:00

Lots of problems with Rock the Vote!

2008-11-04T09:02:00.001-05:00

There are lots of problems with Rock The Vote registrations. People who registered with Rock the Vote are not showing up on the voter rolls.

Go Vote!

2008-11-04T06:35:00.002-05:00

Quiet election day so far. It's 6:30 on election day and we're hearing a few calls with problems already. Nothing major. But, it's begun.

Sitting in a room full of lawyers for Election Protection. It's a pretty amazing sight. All these people working just to ensure a strangers right to vote.

If you have any issues, call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

Federalized Democracy: How We Elect the President--and a Prediction

2008-11-03T10:34:00.001-05:00

I can't see how tamping down true democracy is a virtue. Only two parties are legitimate?

Heaven forbid we actually get to hear ideas from the Green Party, The Libertarian Party, The Democratic Socialists. Heaven forbid.

The electoral college also forces only a handful of states to decide the most important decision this country makes every four years.

How is that a virtue?

A popular vote, with the technology currently available, forces the candidates to run everywhere, to compete for every vote. As a Democrat formerly living in Utah, I knew my vote did not count for anything more than a handful of local races. Many Democrats chose not to even vote.

I currently live in New York City and my Republican friends feel their votes don't matter here.

They are right.

Instead candidates are forced to divide and conquer a small handful of voters; one in every six states.

One sixth of our nation decides who is president.

And since you mention the theft of the election in Florida, we might as well mention the theft of 2004 in Ohio and possibly the theft of 2008 in Virginia, Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida.

Is it any surprise that the GOP has only targeted voters in the "swing states" in their attempt to prevent people from voting? How much more difficult would it be for parties to highjack the electoral process if they had to do it in all fifty states.

The electoral college has to go.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Really? It's come to this?

2008-11-02T12:25:00.003-05:00

A Michigan woman, Sheri Nagel, refused to give candy to trick or treaters if they or their parents supported Senator Obama in the Presidential race. She was giving away candy and McCain/Palin literature to trick or treaters, but only if their parents supported John McCain.

Again, it's hope versus fear, acceptance versus hatred.

Pick your side.

Really... Hasn't anyone over there handed this woman a copy of the Constitution yet?

2008-10-31T23:19:00.004-04:00

The CONSTITUTION!!!! It's what you're hired to defend.

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

It's the same oath I made to get into the Navy. It's the same oath every Congressman, Senator and yes, PRESIDENT, makes.

Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

You'd think someone would actually hand one to her!

What does the Vice President do?

PALIN: "Runs the Senate and gets in there to make policy."

US: Nope. You get to break a 50/50 tie, but nope. You don't make policy in the Senate. Your job is to take over for the President in case... (dear God, please don't do it...) In case the President dies. Your job is to be ready to be President... whose job is to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

HAND HER ONE FOR CHRISSAKES!

And now this. Sarah Palin thinks the Constitution defends her, as someone from the government, from the press questioning her when she lies. She actually thinks The First Amendment protects politicians from the press?

NO! It doesn't protect politicians from the press. The first amendment does not protect your right to say whatever lies come out of your mouth from scrutiny by the press.

It protects the PRESS from your dangerous lies. If protects the PRESS from the GOVERNMENT. It's the other way around!

Here's more. Frightening.

ABC News reports:

In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.

Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

Salon's Glenn Greenwald explains why this argument is frighteningly wrong:

If anything, Palin has this exactly backwards, since one thing that the First Amendment does actually guarantee is a free press. Thus, when the press criticizes a political candidate and a Governor such as Palin, that is a classic example of First Amendment rights being exercised, not abridged.

This isn't only about profound ignorance regarding our basic liberties, though it is obviously that. Palin here is also giving voice here to the standard right-wing grievance instinct: that it's inherently unfair when they're criticized. And now, apparently, it's even unconstitutional.

According to Palin, what the Founders intended with the First Amendment was that political candidates for the most powerful offices in the country and Governors of states would be free to say whatever they want without being criticized in the newspapers. The First Amendment was meant to ensure that powerful political officials would not be "attacked" in the papers. Is it even possible to imagine more breathaking ignorance from someone holding high office and running for even higher office?

Yo, chowderheads!

2008-10-31T22:59:00.004-04:00

If you have not voted early... Why not?

If you can't, then get ready to hit it on Tuesday.

If you have any problems, remember, you can call 1-866-OUR-VOTE or email tips@videothevote.org and we'll make sure there is someone there to help you and to archive what is happening.

Do not take a provisional ballot. You can vote.

Ask for help, there are things you can do.

Here's what you can do to make sure!

The following is an excerpt from the Steal Back Your Vote! investigative comic by Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. available as a free download at www.StealBackYourVote.org

1. Don't don't don't Mail In Your Ballot -- unless...

For those of you who mailed in your ballot, please tell me, what happened to it? You don't know, do you? I can tell you that officially, three-fourths of a million absentee ballots were never counted last time, on the weakest of technical excuses. And you won't even know it. Furthermore, tens of thousands of ballots are not mailed out to voters in time to return them -- in which case you're out of luck. Most states won't let you vote in-precinct once you've applied to vote absentee. Every time I hear of a voter going "absentee" to avoid computer screens, I want to "go postal" myself.

But for gosh sakes -- don't throw out your ballot if you have a mail-in. Either mail it in, making sure to include ID if required (you first-time voters) or, better, WALK it into your county clerk's office.

2. Vote Early...very early

Every state now lets voters cast ballots in designated polling stations and at county offices in the weeks before Election Day. Do it. Don't wait until Election Day to find out you have the wrong ID, your registration's "inactive," or you're on a challenge list. By Election Day, there's little to do but hold up the line.

3. Register and Register and Register

Think you're registered to vote? Think again. With all this purg'n going on, you could be x'd out and you won't know it. Check online with your Secretary of State's office or call your County Board of Elections. Then register your girlfriend, your wife, your mailman and your mommy. Contact the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the League of Women Voters, and your local party organization, and commit to a couple of days of door-to-door registration, especially in minority neighborhoods or at social service agency offices. And if you've served the time, you can sign: in almost every state, ex-cons can vote.

4. Vote Unconditionally, Not Provisionally

In 2008, they'll be handing out provisional ballots like candy, especially to Hispanic voters. If your right to vote is challenged, don't accept a provisional ballot that will likely not get counted no matter what the sweet little lady at the table tells you. She won't decide; partisan sharks will. Demand adjudication from poll judges on the spot; demand a call to the supervisor of elections; or return with acceptable ID if possible. And be a champ: defend the rights of others.

If you've taken Step 1 above and voted early, you have Election Day free to be a poll watcher. Run into trouble -- you've been caged or purged or challenged -- call Election Protection at 1-(866) OUR-VOTE. Then challenge the challengers, the weird guys with Blackberrys containing lists of "suspect" voters. Be firm, but no biting.

5. Occupy Ohio, Invade Nevada

The revolution will not be podcast. Let go of that mouse, get out of your PJs and take the resistance door-to-door--to register the vote, to canvass the voters, to get out the vote. Donate time to your union (if you're not in a union, why not?) or to the troublemakers I've already listed here and on our site. This may seem a stupendously unoriginal suggestion, but I know of no other method more effective for confronting the armed and dangerous junta that has seized the White House.

6. Date a Voter

Voting, like bowling and love, should never be done alone. As our sponsor, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, says, make a date to 'Arrive with Five.' And keep this comic book in your holster - with our 800 numbers and your photo ID in your hand. And Bobby, make sure your ID says, "Robert Kennedy JUNIOR" or your vote is toast.

7. Make the Democracy Demand: No Vote Left Behind!

I have this crazy fantasy in my head. In it, an election is stolen and the guy who's wrongly declared the loser stands up in front of the White House and says three magic words: "Count the votes." You can have all the paper ballots in the world, but if you don't demand to look at them, publicly, in a recount, you might as well mark them with invisible ink. Democracy requires vigilance The Day After. That's when you check in at www.stealbackyourvote.org one more time.

Nation Institute fellow Greg Palast and election law expert Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are authors of an investigation of vote suppression in Rolling Stone.

WHY? WHY GO TO SO MUCH TROUBLE?

From Judah Freed:

Republicans are actively seeking to suppress the voter turnout among the youth and minorities and poor people likely to support Obama.

In Indiana, for example, Republicans filed a lawsuit to block early voting in and around the struggling industrial city of Gary. Republicans lost the suit, but they are appealing.

Republicans are sending private investigators to intimidate lower-class Democratic voters in New Mexico who were legitimately registered by ACORN and other grassroots organizations. (Please see related postings exposing the fraudulent swiftboat-style attacks on ACORN to distract public scrutiny of the Republican vote scams.)

Under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), voter ID laws or being erratically enforced around the country. Some (not all) Republican election officials have been accused of requiring government-issued photo IDs from all voters, which impacts those in poverty as well as legal immigrants who often lack the means to obtain birth records and other documents needed for photo IDs.

While Ohio now allows voters to prove their identity with any array of documents, for example, Republican dominated states like Kansas and Missouri are enforcing the strictest possible interpretation of the law in urban areas likely to vote Democratic.

Another tactic is removing American citizens from the voter registries for dubious reasons. Here in Colorado, for example, as reported by the New York Times, more than 37,000 names were purged from the registration database by the Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who critics contend should have resigned his post from the conflict-of-interest when he won the Republican nomination to run for congress. The Colorado court of appeals on October 30 ordered these voter registrations restored, fortunately.

Also here in Colorado, as another example, Republicans last month told students at liberal Colorado College (in conservative Colorado Springs) that students could not register to vote if their parents live out of state, which as untrue.

And right here in predominantly Democratic Denver, Republican-owned Sequoia voting systems company failed to deliver to the post office more than 10,000 mail-in ballots while telling city election officials that all of the expected 21,000 ballots had been mailed. (This incident represents only one of the required mailings.) Sequoia now admits they made a "technical" error, and the ballots have been mailed to waiting voters.

Elsewhere around the country, as you can learn with a simple Web search, we're seeing Republican voting officials being accused of disenfranchising voters in Democratic districts by not printing enough paper ballots, not assigning enough voting machines, or even reducing the number of polling places.

If Republicans can prevent enough Democrats from casting ballots, McCain could win the election. Going further, those votes that Democrats actually do cast many not be properly counted.

As reported in The Brad Blog and other investigative websites, many of the touch-screen voting machines, like the Sequoia Edge and ES&S iVotronic, tend to malfunction after heavy use. The machines do not record votes properly or at all, in some cases.

The most prevalent problems is what called "vote flipping," where you press the screen for one candidate and the machine shows you voting for someone else. Vote flipping has been reported in Colorado, West Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, and elsewhere.

Vote and make sure it counts!!!

why Obama now?

2008-10-28T11:40:00.002-04:00

I was pretty hard on Barack Obama during the primaries. I was an Edwards guy. I hated that he drove the debates, he formulated the platform and was ultimately ignored. Hated it.

But then I became what I hoped I would never become. I was that guy who put on blinders to the other candidates. I missed Chris Dodd's fantastic ideas about public service. I missed Biden's acumen on foreign affairs, Clinton's domestic policy ideas and ultimately missed Barack Obama's desire to do what I think is our best hope... starting a revolution from the bottom up.

So I have looked at the general election through that lens. Taking off the blinders.

And I have yet to hear a single original idea from John McCain. Even his ideas for the economic quagmire are already in the current bailout package.

He's out of his depth. His VP is a disaster in heels.

Obama has proven that he is the right man for the moment.

Please vote. Vote.

More Palin fueled racism and hate in Pennsylvania.

2008-10-28T11:34:00.002-04:00

This woman needs to go back to Wasilla.

Her brand of snarky politics embody everything wrong with our political process. We continually reward mediocrity. We deify those whose vitriol and venom are so harmful to thoughtful, intelligent debate and discussion.

She has to go away.

This is what she bubbles up. These are the people she speaks to.

VOTE!!!!! Don't let anyone stop you!

2008-10-24T11:26:00.000-04:00

Just for fun

2008-10-22T14:24:00.001-04:00

Palin a secessionist plant?

2008-10-12T14:45:00.003-04:00

Sure seems that way.

If she's not... what's she doing "pallin' around with them?"

Ever since we "won" in Iraq, the Axis of Evil has been short one member. Perhaps it's time to add Alaska.

http://video.236.com/services/link/bcpid1348279983http://www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=1126366244

We've found the lone gunman!

2008-10-12T14:25:00.004-04:00

THIS HAS GOT TO STOP!!!

We're seeing the true colors of Palin's followers. I don't think John McCain is part of this. I think he's just caught up in the kind of politics that are necessary for him to win. He can't win on issues, so it's up to the racists and hatemongers to do it for him.

Scary and sad that this exists in the United States today.

The irony... for those of us liberals who can appreciate it, is that he's holding a Curious George doll... ironic since that has been a nickname of the last president.

This... this is something entirely different...

CBS reports:

As the crowd cheered at a Sarah Palin rally this morning in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a man in the audience grinned as he held up a stuffed monkey doll with a Barack Obama bumper sticker wrapped across its forehead.
After Palin finished her remarks this morning, the man holding the stuffed monkey seemed to notice that a video camera was pointed at him, at which point he removed the Obama sticker from the doll's head and crumpling it up in his hand. He then handed the doll to a young boy who was watching the rally from his father's shoulders. The boy's parents later told CBS News that they weren't acquainted with the man who gave their son the stuffed monkey.

But in this video, the man is clearly proud of his work:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Who is Barack Obama?

2008-10-11T16:20:00.002-04:00

Sarah Palin keeps asking. I would answer that with another question... Who are you?

Five weeks out of obscurity and we already know that you are a hateful, fear mongering, shrill woman who has run a corrupt, amateur administration bent on fulfilling an agenda that benefits only you and your ambition. We know you can string words together into a nonsensical barrage of doublespeak, twittering nothings and musings akin to that of a high school sophomore faking their way through a test.

But, really, who are you?

Here's who Barack Obama is:

GOP strategy? The politics of hate

2008-10-11T15:20:00.002-04:00

Typical of the modern Republican Party. They have been on the wrong side of every issue of last hundred years. The party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt is gone. Dead.

The party that opposed the New Deal, Social Security, called Medicare and Medicaid the rise of socialism in America, opposed the balanced budgets of Bill Clinton, practiced the voodoo economics of Ronald Reagan and resurrected them in this administration (Raise military spending, cut taxes and balance the budget? It has instead lead to trillions of dollars of debt and deficit).

Heck, Reagan was even against the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. It's no wonder Republican's are so against the fundamental right of citizens to vote to this day. Look at how they are actively fighting to challenge the rights of hundreds of thousands of voters, but only in swing states. They never come to New York or California, they never go to Utah or Wyoming. ONLY swing states that will effect the election they want to win.

The modern Republican party has become about greed and power.

Hate is their tool.

McCain-Palin have spent the last week rallying their soldiers of hate into calling for the death of a presidential candidate, calling him a traitor and a terrorist. How has our politics de-evolved this way?

DU blogger Heather located this document - a political ad that ran in Dallas the day before John F. Kennedy was assassinated - from the national archives:

McCain and Palin are willing to incite violence in a fearful populace. The fringe of the right-wing does not any encouragement.

Think she think she's running for President?

2008-10-09T14:14:00.003-04:00

The crowds seem to think she is...

That enthusiasm was even more present during Palin's remarks, and as other
observers have reported in the past, today there was a sizeable number of
people making their way towards the exit after McCain's running mate left the
podium.
-MSNBC

It's been a recurring theme. He's not popular with the party, but the new brainless twit messiah of the GOP sure it.

Why?

"Cause she's just like ME!!!!"

Only dumber.

Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United
States. As a representative of our political system, she's a new low in
reptilian villainy, the ultimate cynical masterwork of puppeteers like Karl
Rove. But more than that, she is a horrifying symbol of how little we ask for in
return for the total surrender of our political power.
Not only is Sarah Palin a fraud, she's the tawdriest, most half-assed fraud imaginable, 20 floors below the lowest common denominator, a character too dumb even for daytime TV -and this country is going to eat her up, cheering her every step of the way.
All because most Americans no longer have the energy to do anything but lie back
and allow ourselves to be jacked off by the calculating thieves who run this
grasping consumer paradise we call a nation.

People are truly stupid...

2008-10-09T12:04:00.007-04:00

We live in a culture that obsesses about "things" and what people own and we are consumed by a desire for heroes and myth.

We create these myths out of thin air and we are, as a consumer society, told what is in, what is hot and what to buy.

This is the only way to explain the SARAH PALIN phenomenon.

Five weeks ago no one outside the state of Alaska had every heard of her. Today she is not running for Vice President, but rather for President. John McCain is mearly a placeholder for her. She has become the latest personality to a myth driven group of xenophobes.

No one is taking her to task and calling her a LIAR.

Let me re-phrase that. No one in the main stream media aside from Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow is calling her a LIAR.

She is dangerous for our country.

She has managed to make a sitting United States Senator and candidate for President of the United States a terrorist.

Her LIES have done this. Her LIES have brought us to the point where her followers are screaming "Kill him!" at her rallys. Her LIES will lead to a group of Americans who will never see Barack Obama as anything but a terrorist guilty of treason - guilty of nothing more than having a strange sounding name and of living in the same city and having met a man who spoke out against the last illegal war we waged.

She has done this with no evidence, not one single fact... simply plain spoken fearmongering in a dialect that is as forced as our current president's folksy Texas twang. Every time they get deeper into the "heartland" it gets crancked up a notch or two.

She has become the very thing she accuses Obama of being... a domestic terrorist. Her rhetoric has riled up her followers and, while she has said several times, "he must be stopped", she has not yet made it clear to them that she does not call for his death.

Her silence on this is defening. Odd that it is the only thing she has managed to keep silent about.

With a grin, she stands before her crowds, taking them in, a woman of endless ambition with a voice and what she percieves as power. She is a false messiah of the right, with little depth waging a war on reason, intelligence and... well, the English language.

But beneath that is a woman whose ambition is dangerous. As Frank Rich wrote in the New York Times, she is not a woman who is running for vice president, she's running for president...

And she thinks she's ready.

Here's just some of the people following her. Reason and rational thought go right out the window.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-feldman/is-palin-trying-to-incite_b_132534.html

Didn't we say this was dangerous?

2008-10-08T07:58:00.002-04:00

Sarah Palin, working as John McCain's surrogate, is calling Senator Obama a domestic terrorist. Isn't this dangerous? They keep lying that he's a muslim and a domestic terrorist. Someone is going to take this seriously and try to take his life.

It's scary...

UPDATE: Radar reports that the Secret Service is investigating the potential threat against Barack Obama at a Sarah Palin rally:

The Secret Service is following up on media reports today that someone in the crowd at a McCain/Palin event suggested killing Barack Obama, according to Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley. The shout of "kill him" followed a Sarah Palin rant on Obama's relationship with radical Chicagoan Bill Ayers.

Wiley says the Secret Service did not begin looking into the matter until press reports, namely Dana Milbank's article in the Washington Post, surfaced today, because no agents at the event heard anything. "The Secret Service did not hear any threatening statements directed at targets under its protection and no threatening statements were reported to us by law enforcement or citizens at the event," Wiley told Radar. Also unclear: whether the remark was directed at Obama or Ayers if the words were actually "kill" and "him."

In the latest instance of inflammatory outbursts at McCain-Palin rallies, a crowd member screamed "treason!" during an event on Tuesday after Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of criticizing U.S. troops.

"[Obama] said, too, that our troops in Afghanistan are 'air raiding villages and killing civilians,'" Palin said, mischaracterizing a 2007 remark by Obama. "I hope Americans know that is not what our brave men and women in uniform are doing in Afghanistan. The U.S. military is fighting terrorism and protecting us and protecting our freedom."

Shortly afterward, a male member of the crowd in Jacksonville, Florida, yelled "treason!" loudly enough to be picked up by television microphones.

Here's the video:

John Aravosis at AmericaBlog wrote about a similar outburst yesterday:

McCain was speaking today in New Mexico, doing his usual personal attack on Barack Obama, as the stock market plummeted (you can see the ticker next to McCain on the screen, an apt reminder of what McCain and his fellow Republicans represent), and McCain asked the crowd "who is Barack Obama?" Immediately you hear someone yell "terrorist." McCain pauses, the audience laughs, and McCain continues on, not acknowledging, not chastising, not correcting. Oh, but McCain does say in the next sentence that he's upset about all the "angry barrage of insults."

Story continues below

Watch:

Marc Ambinder notes that the shouter advances McCain's Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright attacks, while Jonathan Martin suggested the campaign would need a third party to do it:

Judging by McCain's slightly startled reaction, he clearly didn't anticipate that reaction, and McCain's in no way responsible for the utterances of anybody in his audience. But he must have some idea of how deeply this fear/outsider/other meme has spread. A tripartite strategy isn't needed.

The Washington Post reported on a similar moment at a Palin rally on Monday:

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said.

"Boooo!" said the crowd.

"And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued.

"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

And Dana Milbank highlights another incident from Monday:

Worse, Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

"Getting ugly out there," says ABC's Jake Tapper.

American News Project went inside a pro-Palin rally set up by the McCain campaign to watch the vice presidential debate, where supporters booed moderator Gwen Ifill and laughed when Sen. Joe Biden got choked up talking about his first wife and daughter's deaths. Watch:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1417423198/bctid1834283910

Palin and the Christian Dominionist theory... from an expert.

2008-10-06T13:46:00.001-04:00

I love this article. I wanted to link to it, but it's so good I have to just post the whole thing.

Why Palin is Such a Good Liar For God.
Frank Schaeffer
Posted October 6, 2008 |
Speaking as a former right wing Evangelical who helped organize the Religious Right in the 1970s and early eighties, nothing instills conviction like believing you're on a mission from God. If you're going to fool others, you have to fool yourself.

It takes sincerity to tell a series of barefaced lies with enough conviction to carry the day. As we close in on the 2008 election, the increasingly desperate Republicans will do what they have learned to do best: court the sincere but misinformed Evangelical voters by lying to them.

Let me explain...

The Evangelicals live in a resentment-fueled, inward-looking subculture. They are convinced that the world is out to get them and put them at a perpetual disadvantage. They equate knowledge, facts and education with an elite that they feel belittled by.

The Evangelical "base" have unwittingly become the enemy of democracy. They are democracy's enemy because a grossly misinformed Evangelical public that celebrates its ignorance as the antithesis of an informed people who can manage their own affairs. Bush was their boy... twice! Enough said.

It is to the white ghetto of willfully ignorant Evangelical Americans to whom Sarah Palin is aiming her smears and lies (and not so subtle racism) about Senator Obama and his "terrorist connection" and his being "not a real American like us." Palin's lies depend for their success on those who are willfully blind to facts. It's the same obdurate blindness that allows a segment of the American public to still believe that Saddam Hussein was behind the attacks of 9/11. But it goes further than that.

The Republican leadership and John McCain are counting on Palin's grass roots sincerity that most Republican leaders no longer have. Palin is a true believer. And true believers put the mission they sincerely believe in -- that God has "laid on their hearts" -- above mere details such as truth or honesty, let alone honor. They also speak with conviction.

Palin doesn't actually believe the rehearsed smears she's telling about Obama, but she does believe that she is morally right in lying.

If lies will help her win, Palin believes God's will is being done. McCain just wants to win an election. Palin has bigger fish to fry. Her "call" is to restore America to its "Christian heritage." In that sense Palin is the product of my late father Francis Schaeffer, who helped politicize the Evangelicals into the so-called Religious Right through his incendiary books such as A Christian Manifesto(1980) wherein he called for the takeover of America in the name of Christ if, need be, by force if all else failed.

You can't understand Palin without understanding her movement's mentors that crafted the modern Evangelical involvement in politics "for the cause of Christ." These mentors include my late father and also the so-called Dominion Theology movement, led by people even more radical than my father was. Dominion Theology is a subset of Dominionism and Christian Reconstructionism or the "Theonomy" movement. Followers believe that the God revealed in the Bible is the sole source of all human law, and that "God's law" must be established in America. This is the American version of the Taliban.

The key Dominionist leader, the late Rousas John Rushdoony, said that Christians should have "dominion" over the earth and every nation in it in the name of not just Jesus Christ but also in the name of the God of the Old Testament. Thus in the best of all worlds we'd be enforcing Old Testament law. We'd be the new version of Calvin's harsh Reformation Geneva wherein heretics were burned and women with illegitimate pregnancies were drowned along with their unborn babies.

The Dominionists have a wide and under-the-mainstream-media radar following in many Evangelical circles. Palin is an ardent Dominionist. I know what her agenda is because I know who shaped the theology of Evangleical political involvement she follows. And anyone familiar with her lingo can hear it in all she says.

I remember sitting down with Dominionism leader Rushdoony (over 30 years ago) and him telling me this:

"Frank, we must establish God's kingdom by degrees. We can't start by saying that God demands that we put homosexuals to death!" (He laughed heartily) "We need to begin with things like helping form home schools and electing our people. Someday we'll be in a position to establish biblical law in America."

McCain and Palin are two very different people. McCain was never able to energize the Evangelical base because the base knew that as a world-weary, philandering, gambling-addicted, hard-living fly boy, politician McCain lacked the sincerity of fundamentalist conviction. When trying to speak their language of absolutist morality McCain's words rang hollow. But Palin is the real thing.

Palin is by the very nature of her beliefs a born, in fact eager, liar. She can do no other. She must lie or admit she is wrong, about just about everything she believes in, from a young earth, to dinosaurs roaming the planet six thousand years ago, to the nature of global warming, to Israel's place of primacy in the prophetic "End Times" and, lately, as to the causes of the economic meltdown. Get inside Palin's head and you'll hear a little girl telling herself biblical stories where she's always the hero. Palin's fantasy world is about being "called" -- Esther-like -- to "save" her people. And lying for God is okay, in fact it's good. Her biblical heroes (King David, Samson, Queen Esther...) all lied for God when they needed to in order to defeat God's enemies.

Palin is the female version of Bill Murray in the movie Caddyshack fantasizing... "A hush falls on the crowd..." about her destiny of insane godly glory. Only it's not insane, but real, real as McCain's calculated I'll-win-at-all-costs ploy in choosing a fanatic as a running mate.

The election of 2008 is best be understood as (what I and all sane Americans hope) is the last gasp of the desperate born-again religious movement that that has been running America into the ground for the last eight years. A pessimist might see it otherwise. Maybe it's the first shot in the next phase of our internal wars of religion, otherwise known as the culture wars, wherein an ignorant hate-filled, frightened American minority is trying to impose on the United States its own version of religion, in the same way that Saudi fanatics have imposed strict Islam on their unfortunate fellow citizens.

Palin was actually correct when, in her debate with Senator Biden, she said we need to stand up and "fight for freedom." What she didn't mention was that the greatest threat to American freedom is coming from the unhinged religious fanatics who are feeding on her poisonous lies, re-energized by a vision of overt "he's not like us!" racist politics on behalf of their God.

Frank Schaeffer is the author of Crazy For God -- How I Grew Up As One Of The Elect, Helped Found The Religious Right, And Lived To Take All (Or Almost All) Of It Back. Now in Paperback!

I'm done with Sarah Palin...

2008-10-06T11:01:00.002-04:00

Isn't this woman's fifteen minutes over yet?

I've figured out what it is that makes me dislike her so much. She actually thinks she's the smartest person in the room when she's obviously not. We all know her type. Charm and a wink got them everything they wanted and then they somehow get into a position they are so unqualified for and actually think they got there because of their intellect and hard work. It's kind of infuriating.

It wouldn't be so bad if she weren't such a small minded, vindictive, mean spirited bitch.

And those are the traits the GOP loves most!

When did politics become about putting the most hateful people up there to duke it out?

Just a mean spirited bitch who'll call you mother a whore and say it with that big condescending smile on her face...

Drives me nuts.

Yes, McCain wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid

2008-10-06T09:46:00.003-04:00

So, first he's going to tax employee health care plans, which would cause many of them to cut them leaving millions without health insurance... now he's going to cut medicare and medicaid... what?

From the Wall Street Journal:

John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts of $1.3 trillion over 10 years to the government programs.
The Republican presidential nominee has said little about the proposed cuts, but they are needed to keep his health-care plan "budget neutral," as he has promised. The McCain campaign hasn't given a specific figure for the cuts, but didn't dispute the analysts' estimate.

In the months since Sen. McCain introduced his health plan, statements made by his campaign have implied that the new tax credits he is proposing to help Americans buy health insurance would be paid for with other tax increases.

But Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. McCain's senior policy adviser, said Sunday that the campaign has always planned to fund the tax credits, in part, with savings from Medicare and Medicaid. Those government health-care programs serve seniors, poor families and the disabled. Medicare spending for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is estimated at $457.5 billion.

She's worst than W...

2008-10-06T00:46:00.001-04:00

When she speaks she doesn't sound stupid. She rambles the way most of us do, but when you read her words, then you truly see just how stupid this woman is. She strings words together in a mishmash that is simply incoherent. Our nation has always demanded better.

I'm rather upset that Republicans seem to love their party more than their country. I'm so proud of members of the GOP who have seen through this and see her and McCain's decision to pick her as the sham it is.

Palin on Freedom of the Press

Is this some kind of threat against freedom of the press, or just a completely incoherent ramble? I honestly don't know. Either she's sinister or just way too dumb to be president:

As we send our young men and women overseas in a war zone to fight for democracy and freedoms, including freedom of the press, we've really got to have a mutually beneficial relationship here with those fighting the freedom of the press, and then the press, though not taking advantage and exploiting a situation, perhaps they would want to capture and abuse the privilege. We just want truth, we want fairness, we want balance.

--Jonathan Chait

Gwen Ifill: Palin "Blew me off."

2008-10-06T00:22:00.000-04:00

There are no good reasons not to vote for Obama and one bad one

2008-10-05T00:35:00.002-04:00

2008-10-04T11:35:00.002-04:00

We just deserve better. Don't we?

Palin delivered lines well, like any actor, but go back and find the transcripts and read them... The logic is fuzzy, the sentences are a mangled barrage of words. Her answers... or whatever she decided to ramble on instead of answering... were a mess.

VIDEO: Watch Sarah Palin Read Her Answers In Last Night’s Debate»

For Sarah Palin, last night’s debate was an open-book exam. She spent much of the evening methodically reading and rehearsing answers from “carefully scripted talking points.” Palin’s notes were largely hidden from plain view, resting behind the lectern where she stood.

Because the cable and network television stations did not show a split screen of the debate, most viewers could not see that, during Joe Biden’s answers, Palin spent almost all her time looking down and studiously reading her notes. But viewers did see that when Palin delivered her answers, she would repeatedly glance down to check her talking points.

ThinkProgress has compiled a video documenting some of the instances where it was clear to the audience that Palin was propped up by written responses. Watch a video compilation:

Politico reports that “on at least ten occasions, Palin gave answers that were nonspecific, completely generic, pivoted away from the question at hand, or simply ignored it: on global warming, an Iraq exit strategy, Iran and Pakistan, Iranian diplomacy, Israel-Palestine (and a follow-up), the nuclear trigger, interventionism, Cheney’s vice presidency and her own greatest weakness.”

“The problem for Mrs Palin, however, is that she often seemed to run out of talking points - at which point her answers would devolve into the confusing ‘blizzards of words,’” writes Newsweek’s Andrew Romano.

UpdateAt the debates during the 2006 gubernatorial race, Palin "frequently stashed note cards behind her nameplate so that she could see them while seated at the candidates' table," the New Republic notes.
UpdateMarc Ambinder reports, "Debate rules prohibited candidates from bringing any pre-prepared material with them. Only blank paper and writing utensils were provided. So to the extent that Palin seemed to be reading, it was because she had, during the course of the debate or during Joe Biden's answers, written down some notes."

McCain Political Theater

2008-09-26T16:47:00.001-04:00

House GOP Aides: McCain ‘Not Familiar With The Details’ Of The Financial Bailout»

Bailout negotiations “dissolved into a verbal brawl” at the White House yesterday, as some House Republicans, led by Eric Cantor (R-VA), said they wouldn’t back a bipartisan negotiation on the package. The House GOP faction stunned the participants at the meeting yesterday by announcing their own plan which “advocates tax cuts and relaxed regulations.”

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has said the House GOP proposal would not work. “Democratic leaders questioned McCain’s involvement in the House Republicans’ opposition to the plan.” McCain met with House GOP leaders before heading to the White House, but neither party seemed to know what they were talking about:

Boehner and McCain discussed the bailout plan, but Republican leadership aides described the conversation as somewhat surreal. Neither man was familiar with the details of the proposal being pressed by House conservatives, and up to the moment they departed for the White House yesterday afternoon, neither had seen any description beyond news reports.

At 1:25 p.m., McCain left Boehner’s office through a back door, walking across the Capitol’s rotunda to the applause of tourists. Graham conceded the group knew little about the plan the nominee had come to Washington to try to shape.

At the bipartisan White House meeting that McCain “didn’t speak until 43 minutes into the meeting.” He “sat silently for more than 40 minutes, more observer than leader, and then offered only a vague sense of where he stood, said people in the meeting.”

Sen. Chris Dodd said, “Instead of being a rescue plan for our economy it was a rescue plan for John McCain.” Sen. Chuck Schumer urged Bush to “respectfully tell Sen. McCain to get out of town. He’s not helping.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid added, “We had [Republican] Senator [Bob] Bennett, a high ranking official, who said these are the principles. And then, guess who came to town? And it all fell apart.”

McCain’s handling of the negotiations serves to underscore his comment in Dec. 2007 that he is “not an expert on Wall Street” and “not an expert of some of this stuff”:

McCain still won’t say what his position is on the bailout. As Fox’s Carl Cameron reported, McCain has “studiously not taken a position.”

Sarah Palin... Post Turtle

2008-09-26T16:31:00.001-04:00

Sarah Palin is a post turtle. What’s a post turtle? When you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a post turtle. You know she didn’t get there by herself, she doesn’t belong up there, she won’t know what to do while she’s up there and you wonder what kind of moron put her there in the first place.

2008-09-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

Eloquent... So eloquent.

2008-09-26T15:32:00.001-04:00

George Washington: "Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism."

Thomas Jefferson: "Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies."

Abraham Lincoln: "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy."

Franklin D. Roosevelt: "No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country."

Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."

John F. Kennedy: "A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people."

George W. Bush: "This sucker could go down."

McCain just proved he'd be a crap president.

2008-09-26T11:23:00.002-04:00

McCain's political hackery just keeps getting better and better. Suspend the campaign (but not really) so he can ride in on his white horse to save the economy. The guy who knows nothing about the economy... right.

He went there and cocked everything up, didn't he. Sat in the corner and said nothing until the end when he tossed a giant GOP wrench in everything then left to claim victory.

What a jackass.

Schumer: McCain is 'not helping'

Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 10:30 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: White House, Congress, 2008, McCain, Mike Viqueira

From NBC's Ken Strickland and Mike Viqueira
During a speech on the Senate floor this morning, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D) urged President Bush to "respectfully tell Sen. McCain to get out of town. He's not helping."

Schumer also requested that Bush get the his House Republicans in line. "We need President Bush to take leadership. We need President Bush, first and foremost, to get the Republican House members to support his plan or modify it in some way to bring them on board," he said.

He added, "When you inject presidential politics into some of the most difficult negotiations under normal circumstances, it is fraught with difficulty. Before McCain made his announcement, we were making great progress. Now after his announcement, we are behind the 8 ball. We have to put things back together again."

"So this is a plea to President Bush, for the sake of America, please get your party in line. Get the House Republicans to be more constructive; get Sen. McCain to leave town and not throw fire on these flames. And maybe we can get something done."

McCain Makes it Worse

Indeed, even members of the conservative commentariat were forced to acknowledge that much of what was happening among Republicans was strict, bare-knuckled politics.
"At the end of the day, there's a lot of people thinking about how to rebuild this party," said GOP strategist Ed Rollins on CNN, "and do we want to rebuild it with John McCain, who's always kind of questionable on the basic facts of fiscal control, all the rest of it, immigration. And I think to a certain extent this 110, 115 members of this study group are saying, here's the time to draw the line in the sand."

"That's pretty scary stuff that they're thinking about party right now and not country, is that what you're saying?" responded host Anderson Cooper.

"I think they're, yes, they're thinking about themselves," said Rollins. "I think they don't think that the threat is as great as a lot of other people do."

When John McCain came to the rescue...he just made things worse.

The incredible thing is that when it was all said and done...he actually claimed that "we've made progress" on negotiations towards getting a deal done.

On what planet does this confused man live?

Couldn't this have come out eight years ago?

2008-09-21T09:10:00.000-04:00

Beneath the photo from the REAGAN DIARIES is an actual quote that Reagan wrote about George "W" in his diaries, recently edited by author Doug Brinkley and published by Harper Collins

"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his n'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida; the one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."

From the REAGAN DIARIES------entry dated May 17, 1986.

Drill, Baby, Drill

2008-09-19T11:26:00.004-04:00

Is Palin really the Presidential nominee?

2008-09-19T11:26:00.003-04:00

People are leaving rallies just after Palin speaks and McCain starts. What is happening here?

According to ABC and Politico:

A WHAT Administration? A WHO Administration?

September 18, 2008 4:16 PM

Uh-oh.

Gov. Sarah Palin is now talking about "a Palin and McCain administration."

I've also heard her refer to McCain as "my running mate" -- a term I don't recall ever hearing a VP nominee use when discussing the guy at the top of the ticket.

Maybe the fact that the crowds are leaving after she speaks, while McCain is speaking, is getting to her.

And then this:

For second time this week, crowds leave after Palin speaks

At a rally outside Youngstown, Ohio, Tuesday night, dozens of attendees left while McCain was still speaking.

I caught up with a few of them. Some explained that the airplane hangar where the rally was being held had grown crammed and uncomfortable. Others said they had other events or commitments to get to.

Notably, though, the exodous had only begun after Palin spoke.

Now, the same thing has happened again.

"I look up, about five minutes into McCain's address and see a steady stream of people walking out of the rally," writes Radio Iowa's Kay Henderson from a McCain-Palin event in Cedar Rapids.

Conservatives Slam McCain

2008-09-16T11:15:00.000-04:00

From Huffington Post

David Brooks writes in the New York Times that Sarah Palin is unqualified:

In the current Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward argues that the nation's founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn't just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

...

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she'd be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

Ross Douthat agrees at the Atlantic:

Now that we've seen the entirety of the Palin-Gibson tete-a-tete, I concur with Rich Lowry and Rod Dreher. The most that can be said in her defense is that she kept her cool and avoided any brutal gaffes; other than that, she seemed about an inch deep on every issue outside her comfort zone. Yes, the questions were tougher than the ones that a Tim Kaine or Tim Pawlenty probably would have been handed, but they were all questions that a vice-presidential nominee needs to be able to answer. And there's no way to look at her performance as anything save supporting evidence for the non-hysterical critique of her candidacy - that it's just too much, too soon - and a splash of cold water for those of us with high hopes for her future on the national stage.

And in the Washington Post, Richard Cohen goes off on McCain, seizing on the Palin pick as a sign of how far gone the candidate is:

McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains -- his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that's all -- but just as honorably. No more, though.
...

His opportunistic and irresponsible choice of Sarah Palin as his political heir -- the person in whose hands he would leave the country -- is a form of personal treason, a betrayal of all he once stood for. Palin, no matter what her other attributes, is shockingly unprepared to become president. McCain knows that. He means to win, which is all right; he means to win at all costs, which is not.

what if you were from another planet... or Europe?

2008-09-15T21:21:00.001-04:00

God love Tim Downing...

I just returned from a two week vacation to Spain where I was on a self-imposed news embargo, especially of the race for president. I spent the better part of the weekend reading blogs, newspapers, magazines, etc. catching up on all the coverage and here's what I've discerned (while I can't take credit for all of these, they accurately describe my observations of the corporate media's coverage of the Presidential race while I was gone):

* If you grow up in Hawaii and are raised by a single Mom and your grandparents, you're "exotic, different " and not a real American.

* Grow up on a number of military bases outside of the United States or in Alaska shooting moose and eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim; name your kids Bristol, Willow, Trig and Track, you're a real American and a maverick.

* If you graduate near the top of your class from Harvard Law School then you are an elitist who's not a real American and certainly not qualified to be President of the United States; finish close to last in your graduating class from the Naval Academy or attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded and the most qualified to hold the two highest offices in the U.S.

* If you spend 3 years as a 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 a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you're a not-to-be trusted pointy-headed intellectual and don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: 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, you're the "real" leader and qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

* If you can look out your window and claim you can see Russia, you're a foreign policy expert; however, if you've served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, traveled the world and actually met foreign heads of state, you're not only an elitist "celebrity" who cannot relate to "real" Americans, but completely unqualified to be president of the United States.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a maverick and someone to be looked up to as promoting Christian values.

* If you teach children about sexual predators, you are irresponsible and eroding the fiber of society but if while Mayor of your small town, you charge rape victims for rape kits you are to be applauded for your leadership.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

* 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 ; however if you can't remember how many houses you own, your wife is one of the richest people in America who inherited her money and wears dresses every day that cost several hundred thousand dollars, the two of you have more in common with and can relate better to "real" Americans than the snooty Harvard Law graduates who paid their own way through college and law school.

* 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 hates America and advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

* If you repeatedly lie about your own record and that of your opponent while your opponent refuses to make up lies about you, you're a maverick who is to be admired while your opponent is a weird, out of touch elitist.

I hope on November 4, Americans are not as stupid as the McCain campaign and the cynical corporate media apparently believe they are.

80% my ass... Welcome to Alaska! Meet 1500 of your neighbors.

2008-09-14T12:23:00.001-04:00

UPDATE: And the video is here! Gotta love iMovie!

The site of the rally.

At 10:30 AM, the sidewalk was empty.

So was the lawn.

Would anyone show up?

It started out small.

Then a few more showed up.

Was this it?

Nope - the rally gets bigger.

Holy cow!

Seriously. Wow.

Probably the biggest protest rally in Alaska history. I can believe that.

The Theme of the Day

This woman wasn't buying it.

And neither was this this one.

Or this whole family.

Oh, snap!

No shortage of Pitbulls and Lipstick.

Again with the Pitbulls?!?

A smart young girl.

Two of my favorites.

Another good one.

These two women weren't buying the hype, either.

An excellent question. Governor?

Lots of other folks here support her choice, too.

I sense a pattern developing here...

Folks weren't wild about her ideas on war, either.

Here's a hockey mom with a different opinion.

The McCain/Palin supporters came out in force.

This guy was too lazy to make a new sign. Or maybe he's just saying that Sarah's not fit to be VP, and should just remain Governor of Alaska. I'll drink to that!

Let me close with this one. Teach your children well, indeed.

Check out more pics here.

As you can see from these photos, the rally was AMAZING! With few exceptions, there was no friction between the two camps. To help keep things civil, the organizers set up some ground rules for the rally. Here is the "Code of Conduct" that they distributed to attendees:

ALASKA WOMEN REJECT PALIN RALLY
Saturday, September 13, 2008, 12:00 noon
Loussac Library, 36th and Denali

Welcome to the Alaska Women Reject Palin Rally. We invite you to introduce yourselves to each other and discuss legitimate policy concerns and what brought you out this weekend.

Please review the code of conduct outlined below. We are committed to exercising our right to free speech and assembly in a peaceful, respectful manner.
• This rally is non-partisan.
• Stick to issues and speak about your individual experience and views.
• Be respectful of all view points.
• Do not engage with counter rally participants in arguments about the merit of specific issues or value systems.
• No personal attacks on Governor Palin, her family, or her supporters.
• Do not use abusive language.
• Stay off the lawn and do not block sidewalk or road traffic.
• Please recycle this flyer and don’t litter.

And if you're still with me...
Ed Schulz held a town hall meeting here on Saturday night. He'll be broadcasting it on Monday. Be sure to tune in to hear real Alaskans tell the country what they think of Sarah Palin in their own words. Don't miss it!

Deer in the Headlights

2008-09-12T11:02:00.004-04:00

Holy crap! She was just a deer in the headlights. You could see her strain, struggle and try to remember all the stuff Karl Rove's handlers tried to cram into her tiny brain.

Roger Ebert is right: She's the American Idol candidate. She looks good on TV, she's just competent enough to read a teleprompter (or sing a song written for her), and she's personable.

But times are changing... That worked eight years ago. But we want more now.

Just watch! See if she actually answers his question...

Can you see her sink into her chair? So out of her league.

I predict she'll not only be back in Alaska by early November, she won't even win re-election for governor of Alaska.

Two things...

2008-09-10T11:35:00.003-04:00

1) Since we know now for a fact that Karl Rove has been running the McCain campaign and his forte has been to take the thing that is your weak spot and to run as if it's your strongest suit - it's all falling into place...

McCain's campaign is run by lobbyists and for lobbyists. His running mate got more earmarks for Alaska than any single governor (per capita). So, of course they are running as the candidates against lobbyists.... Don't believe the lies.

and b) I have cnn and msnbc on all day. Is it just me, or are McCain and Palin getting more coverage. Everyday I see the same stump speech LIVE on all the news networks. I have only seen one event with Biden and one with Obama. And they are always cut short on coverage.

National Guard commander tells truth, gets promoted, tells lies.

2008-09-09T13:08:00.002-04:00

Sunday 31 August 2008: Major General Craig Campbell, Adjutant General of the Alaska National Guard, tells the AP that:

he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.

Wednesday 3 September 2008: Major General Craig Campbell does significantly more damage to Palin's credibility in this piece in the Boston Globe:

And while the Alaska National Guard operates a launch site for a US anti-missile system at Fort Greely, about 100 miles south of Fairbanks, the Alaskan governor is not in the site's chain of command and has no authority over its operations, according to Maj. Gen. Craig E. Campbell, the adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard who commands the roughly 3,800 state militia members.

Nor are the recent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan by the Alaska National Guard under Palin's purview, despite assertions this week by McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds to that effect. "She is head of the National Guard that has been deployed overseas," Bounds said. "That's foreign policy experience."

Campbell also said that Palin has authority over the National Guard's domestic missions -- such as fighting wildfires and rescuing stranded residents, but that she has a limited role in determining how the forces are trained or equipped.

About 75 percent of the Guard's budget, he said, is the purview of the National Guard Bureau in Washington, which is responsible for ensuring the Guard is prepared to be called up by the president in a time of war. Her primary role, he said, is in recruiting National Guard volunteers.

Friday 5 September 2008: Only two days later, Campbell's story has completely fip-flopped. Now he's suddenly praising Palin, appearing on Fox News to gush about what a superb commander-in-chief she is:

"I'll tell you, in the last few days, I've been watching the press, and I've not been very pleased with what I've been seeing about the chastising of the National Guard by having it diminished by the insinuation that a commander-in-chief of the National Guard doesn't really control the military. The National Guard has 500,000 people in it around this great country, serving in states and overseas. National Guards are state military forces run by governors, and Sarah Palin does it great."

Monday 8 September: After the weekend--and after his complimentary remarks-- Major General Campbell is promoted within the Alaska National Guard to the rank of Lieutenant General. The promotion is not recognized outside the state of Alaska, but he is promoted with his third star, nonetheless. Here is the release:

For Immediate Release
7 September 2008

No. 08-153

Alaska National Guard Adjutant General Promoted

September 8, 2008, Camp Denali , Alaska - Before a formation of Alaska Air and Army National Guard members, the Alaska National Guard's top leader was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General yesterday in front of the Guard's headquarters building on Fort Richardson .

Lt. Gen. ( Alaska ) Craig E. Campbell, the adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard and commissioner of the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs, received his third star, signifying Governor Sarah Palin's support of the Guard and her commitment to reinforcing the cooperation between federal and state military assets.

Palin took the opportunity to promote Campbell ahead of any pending emergency that may occur with the upcoming fall storm season. This allows Alaska to have more of a say in times of state disasters.

"This is about Alaskans serving Alaskans. The promotion is a statement that the Alaska National Guard is the state military force responsible for responding to state issues, at the direction of the Governor," Governor Palin said. "The decision to promote the Adjutant General to Lieutenant General is based on a fundamental states'-rights stance, for which Alaska has a strong historical position."

This issue gained momentum with governors following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the Department of Defense pushed a change in federal law that authorized the President of the United States to mobilize National Guard members to federal service in response to emergencies, without the consent of the governor.

The National Governors Association and the Adjutants General Association of the United States were unanimously opposed to this change, and the following year Congress reversed the law. Concurrently, Alaska Statutes were changed to permit the governor to promote the Adjutant General to the state rank of Lieutenant General specifically for state service.

Campbell was pinned with his third star by his daughter Amanda Rauckhorst and wife, Anne Marie Campbell. Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell was also in attendance and spoke on behalf of Gov. Palin about the importance of the Alaska National Guard in securing the state.

"The action of promoting the Adjutant General to Lieutenant General ( Alaska ) in one way serves to strengthen the concept that the federal and state forces are co-equal partners in providing support to the state of Alaska ," Campbell said. "It is also a positive statement by Governor Palin that the Adjutant General, as a senior state official and cabinet member of a state entity, correctly relates to the senior appointed federal officials in Alaska , when supporting the citizens of this great state."

Campbell will only wear the rank of Lieutenant General when he is in service to the state. His federal rank will remain Major General. This state promotion carries no financial benefit to Campbell . When serving in state status, the Adjutant General receives commissioner pay and benefits. When serving in active-duty status (federal), the Adjutant General is paid under the federally recognized rank of Major General.

Campbell now joins the rank of the adjutant general from the Texas National Guard, which currently has a lieutenant general as its top officer. Georgia and Maryland have also had adjutants general as lieutenants general in the past.

with friends like these...

2008-09-09T12:50:00.003-04:00

These are Sarah Palin's best friends...

2008-09-09T12:50:00.001-04:00

Palin as Mayor of Wasilla - Rape victims must pay for a rape evidence kit.

2008-09-09T12:26:00.004-04:00

What? The more you find out, the worse it is.

In 2000, Tony Knowles (Alaska's Governor) signed a bill that would ensure law enforcement around the state would cover costs of processing "Rape Kits" - the forensic evidence collected in each rape case.

"We would never bill the victim of a burglary for fingerprinting and photographing the crime scene, or for the cost of gathering other evidence, Knowles said. Nor should we bill rape victims just because the crime scene happens to be their bodies."

Only one town objected. It's mayor had refused to cover the costs to solve rape cases... It's mayor? Sarah Palin.

The local paper, The Frontiersman, reported:

While the Alaska State Troopers and most municipal police agencies have covered the cost of exams, which cost between $300 to $1,200 apiece, the Wasilla police department does charge the victims of sexual assault for the tests.

After firing the police chief, Irl Stambaugh, because she felt he was intimidating (which lead to a push for her recall) she replaced him with Charlie Fannon.

Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon does not agree with the new legislation, saying the law will require the city and communities to come up with more funds to cover the costs of the forensic exams.

How many rapes are happening in Wasilla? It's requiring them to "come up with more funds to cover the costs of forensic exams?" If there are that many rapes occurring in Wasilla, then there's an entirely larger problem happening there.

Fannon said he thinks it should be paid for by the rapist (if ever caught) and be paid back to the victim as restitution. Dumbest idea ever.

Palin had no problem charging for rape kits before Fannon and seemed to have none after the law was passed.

We know she does not support a woman's right to choose or access to abortion for women who have been raped, seems she also doesn't support their ability to catch the man who raped them without charging them for it.

Who is this woman?

The town of Palin has an entirely different view.

Palmer police chief Laren Zager said that to his knowledge, no sexual assault victim has ever been billed by the city of Palmer for an exam to collect evidence of a crime. Zager, who has been police chief since January, said he would never expect a victim to be burdened with the cost of a police investigation.
I'm prepared to pay every dime in an investigation. As long as I am chief, I would never bill a victim, Zager said.
The new bill would also make law enforcement agencies that are investigating a sexual assault responsible for the costs of testing victims for sexually transmitted diseases and emergency contraception. (emphasis added)

Ah.... there it is. They would also be responsible for emergency contraception. How can a woman carry the rapist's child to term if the city provides her with a morning after pill? How can this child, created in the cold embrace of hatred, power, fear and violence ever have a chance to live if the mother, the rape victim, is given emergency contraception.

Now I know Palin's objection.

I'm beginning to understand her more and more.

UPDATE:

Despite denials by the Palin campaign, new evidence proves that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin had a direct hand in imposing fees to pay for post-sexual assault medical exams conducted by the city to gather evidence.

Palin's role is now confirmed by Wasilla City budget documents available online .
Under Sarah Palin's administration, Wasilla cut funds that had previously paid for the medical exams and began charging victims or their health insurers the $500 to $1200 fees.

More Proof McCain Does Not Know His Running Mate

2008-09-09T12:14:00.001-04:00

Reposting 20 Questions for Sarah Palin by James Heffernan

Dear Sarah,

As I write these words, Charles Gibson of ABC News is undoubtedly preparing a bag of softballs--or rather marshmellows--for his forthcoming interview with you. Before the campaign is over, I would dearly love to see you field any or all of the following hardballs.

1. Since you freely and bravely decided to bear a Down's Syndrome child, do you think every pregnant woman who learns that her foetus is defective should be likewise free to make her own choice?

2. As the mother of a Down's syndrome baby, you have a deeply personal interest in the lives of what you have called "special" children? What specific steps will the McCain administration take to ensure that all such children get the help they need?

3. As a pro-life candidate for the vice-presidency of the United States, you surely know that at least twenty percent of women who choose abortion do so because they do not think they can afford to bear and raise a child. You must also know that premature births, which cost an average of $41,000 per baby (nearly fifteen times the cost of normal births), are chiefly due to the lack of pre-natal care. What then will you do to ensure that every woman who becomes pregnant gets the pre-natal care she needs, regardless of her ability to pay?

4. As a staunch supporter of babies, what will you do to ensure that every baby born in this country gets the health care that he or she needs?

5. While running for mayor in the city of Wasilla (population then about 5000), you campaigned as a "fiscal conservative." During your six years as mayor (1996-2002) you cut taxes on large property owners but also raised government expenses by more than 33 percent, increased tax collection by 38 percent, and raised the sales tax on everything, including food. Does fiscal conservatism mean raising taxes on ordinary citizens while cutting them on big corporations?

6. After taking office when Wasilla owed nothing, why did you leave it with a debt
of more than 22 million dollars?

7. Why did you promote a sports complex and park in a city with no sewage
treatment plant or storm drainage system?

8. When you borrowed more than 15 million dollars to finance the sports
complex, why did you fail to ensure that the city had clear title to the
land needed for it, with the result that the project has been stuck in legal limbo
for the past seven years?

9. Why are there even now no road signs in Wasilla, so that houses which catch on
fire there burn to the ground because fire trucks cannot find them?

10. As mayor of Wasilla, why did you try to fire the highly respected city librarian, and what made you back down?

11. As Governor of Alaska, you fired the police chief because he refused to
fire a state trooper who happened to be your sister's ex-husband. Why did you repeatedly pressure him to fire the trooper, and then fire the chief himself for refusing to do so?

12. When you tried to replace the fired police chief with a man whom
you knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment, what finally made you
withdraw your support for him?

13. While running for the governorship of Alaska in the fall of 2006, you were the only candidate who consistently supported the building of a bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island: the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost 400
million dollars, most of it in federal funds. Why did you support this project
as a candidate and then oppose it after you were elected?

14. During the present year, your administration has asked Congress for 31
earmarks totaling 200 million dollars. How then can you support Senator
McCain's demand for an end to all earmarks?

15. In making cabinet appointments as Governor of Alaska, why have you consistently over-ridden the recommendations of state advisory boards? On what basis have you chosen your cabinet officers?

16. According to the latest figures from the Department of Education, 64 percent of
Alaskan students--nearly two-thirds-- do not graduate from high school, and Alaska ranks 46 out of 50 states in its high school graduation rate. As the Governor of Alaska and a strong supporter of education, what have you done to persuade more students to finish high school?

17. With sea ice in the Artic ocean now shrunk to its second lowest level since 1979,
climate scientists such as Jay Zwelly of NASA say that "climate warming is
coming larger and faster than the models are predicting," and that in less than
ten years the Arctic could be wholly free of sea ice in the summer. If you don't
believe this loss of ice is due to global warming, how do you explain it?

18. With polar bears clearly threatened by the shrinking of Arctic sea ice, why has your state sued the Department of the Interior to stop it from listing the polar bear as a threatened species?

19. Why have you just opposed a ballot measure in your state that would have protected salmon from potential contamination caused by mining?

20. According to the Energy Information Adminstration, drilling in ANWR would
trim the price of gas by 3.5 cents a gallon in twenty years, and according to the
National Resources Defense Council, drilling in all offshore areas might
eventually cut the price of gas by four cents a gallon at most. But according
to the American Automobile Association, anyone who drives at 60
mph RIGHT NOW can save 20 cents a gallon over those who drive at 65,
and 40 cents a gallon over those who go 70. Given these facts, why do you
think more drilling--with all its risks to our lands, oceans, and wildlife-- is better
than slightly slowing down?

Can you say, GOD COMPLEX?

2008-09-08T10:48:00.002-04:00

Ms. Palin sent an e-mail message to her relatives and close friends about her new son, Ms. Bruce said. She signed it, “Trig’s Creator, Your Heavenly Father.”

That's how Sarah Palin signed an email to family and friends? Your Heavenly Father? She's now the voice of God? She speaks for him? She is the creator? What?

It all goes back to her church in Alaska and their views.

My wife and I believe in the divine in each of us, but this is a little ridiculous.

Daniel Radosh has this to say:

Show me where in the Bible it says, "How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, who has been his counselor?" Real Christians like Sarah Palin and George Bush not only know the mind of the Lord, they speak in his voice.
Robert McElvaine calls these people Jesus thieves. But few have been quite as brazen about it as Sarah "Your Heavenly Father" Palin.

The MSM continues to perpetuate the entirely GOP-invented meme about the Temple of Obama. Let's see if an actual e-mail from a candidate who thinks she is God gets remotely similar traction.

Can't wait to read Woodward's new book.

2008-09-08T10:31:00.002-04:00

Here's an excerpt:

By mid-2006, Casey, a stout four-star general with wire-rim glasses, had been the commander in Iraq for two years. As American military units rotated in and out, Casey remained the one constant.
He had concluded that one big problem with the war was the president himself. Since the beginning, Casey felt, the president had viewed the war in conventional terms, repeatedly asking how many of the various enemies had been captured or killed. Casey later confided to a colleague that he had the impression that Bush reflected the "radical wing of the Republican Party that kept saying, 'Kill the bastards! Kill the bastards! And you'll succeed.'

Casey was troubled by the thought that the president didn't understand the nature of the fight they were in. The large, heavily armed Western force was on borrowed time, he believed. The president often paid lip service to winning over the Iraqi people, but then he would lean in with greater interest and ask about raids and military operations, grilling Casey about killings and captures.

Months earlier, during a secure video conference with top military and civilian leaders looking on, he told Casey that it seemed the general wasn't doing enough. 'George, we're not playing for a tie,' Bush had said. 'I want to make sure we all understand this, don't we?' Later in the video conference, Bush emphasized it again: 'I want everybody to know we're not playing for a tie. Is that right?'

In Baghdad, Casey's knuckles whitened on the table. The very suggestion was an affront to his dignity that he would long remember, a statement just short of an outright provocation.

Mr. President,' Casey had said bluntly, 'we are not playing for a tie.'

Asked later about Casey's perceptions, Bush insisted in an interview that he understood the nature of the war, whatever Casey might have thought. 'I mean, of all people to understand that, it's me,' he said. But several of his on-the-record comments lend credence to Casey's concern that the president was overly focused on the number of enemy killed.

'I asked that on occasion to find out whether or not we were fighting back.'

[president Bush] said during the May interview. 'Because the perception is, is that our guys are dying and they're not. Because we don't put out numbers. We don't have a tally.' He said his overall question to his military commanders was, 'Are we making progress in defeating them?
''What frustrated me is that from my perspective,' he said at another point, 'it looked like we were taking casualties without fighting back because our commanders are loath to talk about our battlefield victories.'

Really? That's your question? Are we fighting back? ARE WE FIGHTING BACK? YOU'RE THE PRESIDENT AND YOU DON'T KNOW?

Okay. Fair question.

Deannie Mills post says it best:

I am so angry as I type these words that my hands are shaking. Please understand that our troops are being abused not just by the Bush administration but by the Bush/McCain campaign; they're being used as stage-prop backdrops for stirring patriotic speeches while heedlessly being dragged out of rehab centers where they're still recovering from wounds sustained in Iraq and then sent back, and all this time, those who would send them back and back and back again and again worry that maybe, just maybe...they haven't been fighting hard enough, because hey, we can't have that big photo-op victory parade that Rumsfeld actually budgeted for in his Pentagon.

I am sick unto holy death of these people and this mind-set.

I beg of all of you to read this Marine mom's words:

"Don't be fooled by the rippling flags and surging music and war-hero speeches."

John McCain wants to keep the Iraq war going into the next century, and he has given absolutely no suggestions for how he intends to keep sending the same troops back and back and back again and again in order to do that, while, at the same time, dealing with the growing mess in Afghanistan--or any of the other potential wars he seems to see on our horizon, whether they be with Iran or Russia or whoever else sets off his famous temper.

John McCain thinks Bush's War is one of the best ideas of the past eight years.

I beg of you. Do not put them back in the White House. Our boys and girls, our men and women--they have fought back enough. Enough.

THEY MUST THINK WE'RE STUPID

2008-09-08T10:04:00.003-04:00

McCain is not a maverick. He's bought and paid for by lobbyist. He's sold his soul to become president. He feels he's owed. He's entitled. He was a POW and damnit he deserves it.

BTW, the boring, narcoleptic fit inducing speech McCain gave was almost identical to the one given by George W. Bush in 2000 (as brilliantly pointed out by John Stewart and the Daily Show).

But who really runs McCain's 2008 campaign. Who did he bring on to run his campaign when he was losing?

Here's the list.

(from Janet Ritz)

John McCain's attempted co-opt of the Obama campaign's change message avoids the fact that McCain has surrounded himself with a campaign staff of top Washington Republican lobbyists:

When McCain huddled with his closest advisers at his rustic Arizona cabin last weekend to map out his presidential campaign, virtually every one was part of the Washington lobbying culture he has long decried. His campaign manager, Rick Davis, co-founded a lobbying firm whose clients have included Verizon and SBC Telecommunications. His chief political adviser, Charles R. Black Jr., is chairman of one of Washington's lobbying powerhouses, BKSH and Associates, which has represented AT&T, Alcoa, JPMorgan and U.S. Airways. Senior advisers Steve Schmidt and Mark McKinnon work for firms that have lobbied for Land O' Lakes, UST Public Affairs, Dell and Fannie Mae.

And this from the Washington Post :

Sen. John McCain's top foreign policy adviser prepped his boss for an April 17 phone call with the president of Georgia and then helped the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepare a strong statement of support for the fledgling republic. The day of the call, a lobbying firm partly owned by the adviser, Randy Scheunemann, signed a $200,000 contract to continue providing strategic advice to the Georgian government in Washington.

A look at McCain past and present campaign advisers/lobbyists' (partial) client lists:

Charlie Black, chief campaign advisor who stated that another terrorist attack on U.S. soil "certainly it would be a big advantage to him [McCain];" lobbied for Occidental Petroleum, Chevron Texaco, Philip Morris, Thales Group, Yukos Oil, Lockheed Martin, Blackwater, Ferdinand Marcos, Zaire dictator, Mobuto Sese Seko, Angola Rebel, Jonas Savimbi and Iraqi, Ahmad Chalabi.

Rick Davis, campaign manager: Verizon, SBC Communications.

Steve Schmidt, chief campaign strategist and Karl Rove's protege, worked for Dick Cheney and: "Steve Schmidt, the new man in day-to-day charge of the McCain presidential campaign, stoutly defended his lobbying and PR firm's hiring of Tim Griffin, a former prosecutor who figured in the U.S. attorneys firing scandal."

Nancy Pfotenhauer, campaign spokeswoman: Lobbied for Koch Industries
Koch Industries Is The Secret Dirty Energy King. With $90 billion in annual sales, Koch Industries is the largest privately owned company in the United States. Begun in 1940 as an oil refining business by Fred Koch, his company -- now controlled by sons David and Charles Koch -- has diversified into "refining and chemicals; process and pollution control equipment and technologies; minerals and fertilizer; fibers and polymers; commodity and financial trading and services; and forest and consumer products" -- a global warming pollution factory. [Forbes, 2007]

Randy Scheunemann, foreign policy adviser: Lobbied for the Republic of Georgia.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain told USA TODAY on Sunday that he has no problem with his top foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann's past lobbying work. [snip] Scheunemann and others at the think tank wrote to President Bush nine days after the 9/11 attacks, urging "a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq." Scheunemann founded a group called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq during the run-up to the March 2003 invasion.

Phil Gramm, past economic adviser (thrown under the bus, then let back in...), sponsored the Enron Loophole legislation, stated: "you've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," and "We have sort of become a nation of whiners."

Frank Donatelli: Lobbied for Exxon Mobil:
McCain tapped lobbyist Frank Donatelli to become deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee. The New York Times reported Donatelli will "act as the main liaison between the committee and the McCain campaign." Donatelli is a lobbyist at McGuire Woods and previously served as a lobbyist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. His clients have included AT&T, Exxon Mobil, PhRMA, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Verizon. [New York Times, 3/7/08]

Kevin Fay, McCain fundraiser, lobbied for "Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina was arrested at her Dhaka home and taken to a local court, her party said. It ws not clear on what charges Hasina was detained, but she had faced allegations of extortion and murder charges stemming from political violence last year." [Washington Post, 7/16/07]

Wayne Berman, National Finance Co-Chairman. Chevron Texaco, AIG, the American Petroleum Institute, AmeriChoice, AT&T, the NRA, Reliant Energy, Verizon and Visa.

The list goes on.

As for McCain's new vice presidential pick, foisted on the American people with too little time to thoroughly vet her connections, she doesn't get off clean either. During her gubernatorial run, Palin's campaign ads were paid for by the RGA, the Washington-based Republican Governor's Association, funded, primarily, by Jack Abramoff's firm.

McCain may say he wants to be our Commander in Chief.

Right now, he is his campaign's Chief of Republican Lobbyists.

More on this topic at THE ENVIRONMENTALIST

MORE LOBBYISTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To date, John McCain has 118 lobbyists either working or raising money for him. So far, he's fired only three of them:

Eric Robert Burgeson

Douglas B. Davenport

Thomas Loeffler

This is hardly even a slap on the wrist.

The remaining 115 lobbyists make millions working for special interests in Washington. They represent all kinds of industries like health insurance companies, Big Pharma, defense contractors, and Telecom. They represent foreign regimes like Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Burma. And they hold positions at the highest levels of the McCain campaign.

John McCain says he represents the American people, but the men and women Senator McCain has chosen to run his campaign have worked for years for special interests.

Here is the full list of the lobbyists working or raising money for John McCain:

Robert Aiken

Grant Aldonas

Philmore B. Anderson

Rebecca "Becky" Anderson

Stanton Anderson

Susan Auther Andres

Robert Asher

William J. Bailey III

William Ball III

David Beightol

Rhonda A. Bentz

Wayne Berman

Steve Betts

Charlie Black

Judy Black

Kirk Blalock

Carlos Bonilla

Christine Burgeson

Kerry Cammack

Kirsten Ardleigh Chadwick

Rob Chamberlin

Susan Charlton

John Clerici

Josephine "Jo" Cooper

James Courter

Bryan Cunningham

Alfonse D'Amato

Ashley Davis

Kurt Davis

Rick Davis

Mimi Dawson

John Diamond

Frank Donatelli

Melissa "Missy" Edwards

Kevin Fay

Christian Ferry

Chris Fidler

Thomas Jr. Fiorentino

Sally Furman

Samuel K. Geduldig

Ben Ginsberg

David Girard-di Carlo

Michael Glassner

Juleanna R. Glover Weiss

Phil Gramm

John Green

Janet M. Grissom

Wes Gullett

Kristen Gullott

Kent Hance

Robert Harding

Vicki Hart

Robert van Laer Hartwell

John D. Heubusch

Deborah Hohlt

Richard Hohlt

Gaylord T. Jr. Hughey

Peter Huntsman

Aleix Jarvis

Greg Jenner

Christine Jones

Nancy Johnson

Mary Kate Johnson

Ned Johnson

Charles N. Kahn III

Mike Kennedy

William Kilberg

Steve Kuykendall

William "Bill" Lesher

Jack Lichtenstein

Gail MacKinnon

Peter Madigan

Mary Mann

Paul Martino

Mary McAuliffe

John McGovern

Mike McKay

Timothy McKone

Alison H. McSlarrow

Kyle E. McSlarrow

Michael E. Meece

David A Metzner

Susan Molinari

John Munger

Ken Nahigian

Susan Nelson

Jack Oliver

Steve Perry

Nancy Mitchell Pfotenhauer

Steve Phillips

Elise Pickering

James L. Pitts

Timothy Powers

Anthony Principi

Michael Racy

Sloan W. Rappoport

James Rill

Steve Roman

Matt Salmon

Joseph Samora

Randy Scheunemann

Katie Stahl

Milly Stanges

Aquiles Suarez

Fife Symington

Jeri Thompson

Dirk W. Van Dongen

David Vennett

Raymond T. Jr. Wagner

Jeffrey Weiss

Richard "Dick" Wiley

Tony Williams

James Woolsey

Joseph Wright

Fred Zeidman

You can take a look at the people they worked for and the positions they hold within the McCain campaign over at McCainSource.com.

Does John McCain actually expect us to believe that of the 115 lobbyists left, none of them will come back to the White House looking for favors if he gets elected?

WTF??? What the F*#% is going on? This is Sarah Palin's Church.

2008-09-08T00:33:00.003-04:00

This shit is nuts.

My wife has been searching for a place to worship. It's been frustrating because the humility of a simple liturgical service has given way to places where individual members of the church seem to have taken the fore. People who come in late, saunter up to the front row, noisily settle in, and immediately stand with their hands raised in an intense show of piety and instantly begin to shake in the presence of "the holy spirit".

My wife says it's like group think takes over because when one person decides to show how "religious" and "god loving" they are, how moved they are, then everyone does it. Everyone wants to be part of the show what says, "I love Jesus more than you! See? I have my hands raised!"

It makes it uncomfortable for the rest of us who are simply there to be part of a community, to learn something from the myths, the liturgy, the parables of our faith - to take away something that can direct us to a deeper meaning of ourselves or our place in the world. It can feel like trying to get into an exclusive club.

Then there are those who take it to the extreme. The church that shaped Alaska Governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin is one of these. Speaking in tongues, preaching Christian dominionism, creating an actual army and country for Jesus to come take charge of.

I'm a cynic about the direction religion has been moving lately, but we should rally the National Guard on these crazies.

Sarah Palin's churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world.

Along with her entire family, Sarah Palin was re-baptized at twelve at the Wasilla Assembly of God in Wasilla, Alaska and she attended the church from the time she was ten until 2002: over two and 1/2 decades. Sarah Palin's extensive pattern of association with the Wasilla Assembly of God has continued nearly up to the day she was picked by Senator John McCain as a vice-presidential running mate. Palin's dedication to the Wasilla church is indicated by a Saturday, September 7, 2008, McClatchy news service story detailing possibly improper use of state travel funds by Palin for a trip she made to Wasilla, Alaska to attend, on June 8, 2008, both a Wasilla Assembly of God "Masters Commission" graduation ceremony and also a multi-church Wasilla area event known as "One Lord Sunday." At the latter event, Palin and Alaska LT Governor Scott Parnell were publicly blessed, onstage before an estimated crowd of 6,000, through the "laying on of hands" by Wasilla Assembly of God's Head Pastor Ed Kalnins whose sermons espouse such theological concepts as the possession of geographic territories by demonic spirits and the inter-generational transmission of family "curses". Palin has also been blessed, or "anointed," by an African cleric, prominent in the Third Wave movement, who has repeatedly visited the Wasilla Assembly of God and claims to have effected positive, dramatic social change in a Kenyan town by driving out a "spirit of witchcraft."

The Wasilla Assembly of God church is deeply involved with both Third Wave activities and theology. Their Master's Commission program is part of an three year post-high school international training program with studies in prophecy, intercessory prayer, Biblical exegesis, authority and leadership. The pastor, Ed Kalnins, and Masters Commission students have traveled to South Carolina to participate in a "prophetic conference" at Morningstar Ministries, one of the major ministries of the Third Wave movement. Becky Fischer was a pastor at Morningstar prior to being featured in the movie "Jesus Camp." The head of prophecy at Morningstar, Steve Thompson, is currently scheduled to do a prophecy seminar at the Wasilla Assembly of God. Other major leaders in the movement have also traveled to Wasilla to visit and speak at the church.

The Third Wave is a revival of the theology of the Latter Rain tent revivals of the 1950s and 1960s led by William Branham and others. It is based on the idea that in the end times there will be an outpouring of supernatural powers on a group of Christians that will take authority over the existing church and the world. The believing Christians of the world will be reorganized under the Fivefold Ministry and the church restructured under the authority of Prophets and Apostles and others anointed by God. The young generation will form "Joel's Army" to rise up and battle evil and retake the earth for God.

While segments of this belief system have been a part of Pentecostalism and charismatic beliefs for decades, the excesses of this movement were declared a heresy in 1949 by the General Council of the Assemblies of God, and again condemned through Resolution 16 in 2000. The beliefs and manifestations of the movement include the use of 'strategic level spiritual warfare' to expel territorial demons from American and world cities. Worship includes excessive charismatic manifestations such as hundreds of people falling, 'slain in the spirit,' and congregations laughing, jerking, and shrieking uncontrollably.
In early 2008 an outbreak of those phenomena commenced at the palatial former ministry estate of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, recently bought up and restored by prominent Third Wave author and leader Rick Joyner's Morningstar Ministries. The (spiritual) "breakout" lasted for many weeks and was publicized in an extensive collection of video footage available on YouTube. Healing services in the Third Wave movement claim to heal the sick and injured through methods that in some cases can appear bizarre - including, as in recent cases involving Todd Bentley, the patient being head butted or kicked by the anointed healer. Recipients of such "spiritual" or miraculous healing make a wide range of astonishing claims - to have been cured of life-threatening illnesses, had joints repaired or replaced, been given gold teeth or gold fillings, regrown stunted limbs and even had deformed skeletal structures straightened and reshaped. Worldwide mission efforts of the movement are built around the idea of combating witches, warlocks, and generational curses, which prevent churches from being able to take root.

Mike Rose, senior pastor of Juneau Christian Center has a long relationship with Rodney Howard -Browne, credited with being the instigator of the outbreak of 'Holy Laughter' around the world, including the Toronto Airport Revival. Thomas Muthee visited Wasilla Assembly of God and gave 10 consecutive sermons at the church, from October 11-16 2005. As both Palin and Wasilla AoG Head Pastor Ed Kalnins have attested, Thomas Muthee 'prayed over' Sarah Palin and entreated God to "make a way" prior to Palin's successful bid for the Alaska governorship. Muthee made a return visit to the Wasilla Assembly of God in late 2008. Thomas Muthee's Word of Faith Church is featured in the "Transformations" video which details an account on how Muthee drove "the spirit of witchcraft" out of Kiambu, Kenya, liberating the town from its territorial demonic possession and enabling a miraculous societal transformation. The "Transformations" video set is used as an argument for social improvement through spiritual instead of human means, and as the best method for fighting corruption, crime, drugs and even environmental degradation.

In the video, producer George Otis declares that after Thomas Muthee and his followers banished the "spirit of witchcraft" from the town, the crime rate in Kiambu dropped almost to zero, along with the rate of alcoholism, and according to Otis most of the residents of the town joined churches. The "Transformations" video has helped spark a network of 'Transformation' ministries and mission organizations and 'transformation' has become a buzz word for change based on supernatural instead of human efforts.

The Third Wave, also known as the New Apostolic Reformation, is a network of Apostles, many of them grouped around C. Peter Wagner, founder of the World Prayer Center. This center, which was built in coordination with Ted Haggard and his New Life Church in Colorado Springs, was featured in an article by Jeff Sharlet in Harpers, May 2005, "Soldiers of Christ." Sharlet was one of the first to write in the secular press about the World Prayer Center which is often referred to by those familiar with the Third Wave as the 'Pentagon for Spiritual Warfare.' It features computer systems that store the data of communities around the world, mapping out unsaved peoples' groups and spiritual mapping information for spiritual warfare. Wagner has his own group of about 500 Apostles in his council and each of these Apostles has ministries under their authority, sometimes hundreds or thousands. Recently various networks of Apostles came together to form the Revival Alliance. Leaders of the Revival Alliance including Rick Joyner of Morningstar anointed Todd Bentley whose Lakeland Healing Revival has recently been a controversial topic in the Evangelical world.

Wagner's top leaders often conduct spiritual warfare campaigns against the demons that block the acceptance of their brand of Christian belief, such as 'Operation Ice Castle' in the Himalayas in 1997. Several of their top prophets and generals of intercession spent weeks in intensive prayer to "confront the Queen of Heaven." This queen is considered by them to be one of the most powerful demons over the earth and is the Great Harlot of Mystery Babylon in Revelation. (The "Great Harlot [or 'whore'] of Mystery Babylon" theme also figures prominently in the sermons of Texas megachurch pastor and Christians United For Israel founder John Hagee, former endorser of John McCain's 2008 presidential bid.) Wagner and his group also claim that the Queen of Heaven is Diana, the pagan god of the biblical book Ephesians and the god of Mary veneration in the Roman Catholic Church. Following the 'Operation Ice Castle' prayer excursion which included planting a flag for Jesus on Mt. Everest, one of the lead prayer intercessors from the excursion, Ana Mendez, reported that there had been dramatic results including, "millions have come to faith in Asia... and other things happened which I believe are also connected...an earthquake had destroyed the basilica of Assisi, where the Pope had called a meeting of all world religions; a hurricane destroyed the infamous temple 'Baal-Christ' in Acapulco, Mexico; the Princes Diana died... and Mother Theresa died in India, one of the most famous advocates of Mary as Co-Redeemer."

Church of the Rock, led by Senior Pastor David Pepper, has taken their youth to participate in 'The Call, Nashville.' This event is held at various locations around the country under the leadership of Lou Engle, also featured in the movie "Jesus Camp." At these events youth are worked into a frenzy of anger and consternation at supposed national moral corruption. Engle, who shuffles while he preaches in imitation of Jewish prayer, is featured toward the end of the "Jesus Camp" video documentary.

The Third Wave movement is cross-denomination and is not synonymous with any specific denomination, nor is it synonymous with Evangelical or Fundamentalist. Although the movement emerged from Pentecostalism, it draws its support from a variety of denominations and religious streams. They believe they are forming a post-denominational church to take the world for the end times. To date, all of the writing and objections to this movement have emerged from other Evangelicals and Fundamentalists who believe the movement to be unbiblical. Also, it is other conservative churches that refuse to embrace the 'outpouring of the Spirit' that are targets of much of the anger of the movement.
You can find more information on the Third Wave movement and additional links to the activities of Palin's churches on www.Talk2action.org in the following articles:

Palin cut special needs education 62%. Is she really the poster mom for special needs kids just because she has one?

2008-09-07T10:01:00.002-04:00

From Michael Shaw at Huffington Post:

In presupposing what kind of advocate a Vice President Palin would be for the mentally disabled, Newsweek helps visually fortify the GOP's blatant exploitation of family and motherhood.

In making the leap, Newsweek undermines the process of the moment, which is to actually get beneath the ideological spin to flesh out an understanding of Sarah Palin and her record. Under the guise of a "Special Education" feature, all Newsweek accomplishes with this home page promo is to dish up an almost irresistible, heart-warming but 2-D empathy generator transforming Sarah Palin into poster Mom for Down Syndrome.

And from "Sandy on Signal" at 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera (by way of one of my readers):

Palin told families of special needs kids she would be our advocate in the White House. Since Palin became Governor of Alaska 18 months ago, she cut special education funding by 62%!!!! Wow. Who needs this kind of friend?

Another thing, Alaska has no residential care like an Orange Grove Center for the severely autistic. Can you believe this? This means the disabled have to go live in the lower 48 which means they are cut off from their true families. All that oil money in Alaska, and nothing for the "least among us".

Remember, Jesus was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a Governor

This is what the governor of Alaska has really done.

2008-09-06T23:18:00.003-04:00

Wow. This is disgusting.

A scrivener at the National Review on why they like Sarah Palin instead of smug elites:
"So along comes someone who really is from the working class. She likes it--and finds snowmobiling, hunting, fishing and living in small-town America not as a wasteful use of carbon-emitting fuels, cruelty to animals, gratuitous depletion of our resources, or proof of parochial yokelism. Instead it is a life of action in an often harsh natural landscape, where physical strength is married to intelligence to bring us food, fuel, and progress."

Well call me a smug elitist, but snowmobiling and ATVing are wasteful uses of carbon-emitting fuels, (you wouldn't know it from this election but there is a CO2 problem in the world) that tear up the landscape and disrupt wildlife. As they write in Thrillcraft, "there is no nice way to describe the true dangers thrillcraft pose to the integrity of our public lands: they terrorize wildlife and other people;destroy the quiet and peace of the woods; and pollute, degrade, and vandalize much of our natural legacy." The National Park Service tried to ban snowmobiles from Yellowstone National Park, (George Bush overturned it) noting issues of

"air quality, visibility, soundscapes, health and safety, impacts on wildlife and visitor experience. Their study found that in virtually all areas, snowmobile use damages the park. The agency says that visibility will be impaired around Old Faithful, visitors will hear more noise, and "employees and visitors who are susceptible to respiratory problems would likely be affected." Science implicates human health, of both visitors and park employees, in another way: snowmobile use spreads poisons, benzene and carbon monoxide among them, through both Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks."

-But hey, it's a life of action, right?

video on the evils of aerial wolf hunting

While I have personally never hunted I know many people who do, and they are appalled by the idea of hunting wolves from aircraft. It is of questionable legality; in 1972 it was made illegal by the Airborne Hunting Act, passed after a nationwide outcry against aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska. However a loophole in the act allows it for the purposes of "control." According to Defenders of Wildlife, it is promoted by

"the state's small but politically influential commercial hunting interests. Their clear intention is to eliminate as many of nature's major predators as possible to artificially increase moose and caribou numbers where it'll then be easier for urban and wealthy out-of-state hunters to shoot their trophy animals."

UPDATE!!

Palin Shows No Love for Baby Wolves

Cheri Shankar
On a beautiful Alaskan summer morning in July of this year, a litter of 4-week-old wolf cubs were napping in the safety of their natal den, cuddled together, little bellies full of mother's milk when suddenly they were roughly pulled, half asleep, into the light of day and one by one, had their brains blown out by a bullet to each one of their tiny little heads. Who could do such a thing? A group of Alaskan state employees who were helicoptered into the wolves habitat at the behest and with the blessing of Gov. Sarah "Terminator" Palin, that's who.

On federal land it is illegal to kill pups in their den (a practice charmingly referred to as "denning") but the mother wolf had made the grave mistake of giving birth to her babies on state owned land, so Palin's posse had the legal right to kill those pups on the spot.

photo credit: First People

The reason Palin and her mighty hunter pals want to kill off most, if not all of the wolves (and bears) in Alaska is to reduce the hunter's competition for the elk and caribou. Even though generations of Alaskans have negatively impacted the caribou and elk population through over-hunting, logging and other human activity, somehow the wolves are being made to pay the price for the decimation of these herds. What state game officials in Alaska will tell you is that it is necessary to kill predators in order to sustain the elk and caribou population, but what they won't tell you is that they kill wolves, bears and other predators in order to artificially boost the herd numbers so there are plenty of animals for the hunters to shoot. Given that only a tiny fraction of the U.S. population must hunt for sustenance and given the fact that our grocery stores are brimming with meat for our dinner tables, why must we mess with the main source of a wolf's diet?

In her all out war against the wolves, Gov. Palin used the power of her office to help defeat a ballot measure in Alaska last month that would have banned the cruel and decidedly unsportsmanlike practice of aerial hunting of wolves. She approved a $400,000 state-funded propaganda campaign to promote aerial hunting and proposed to pay a $150 bounty for the left foreleg of every wolf killed. She is also helping to pass legislation to make it even easier to hunt wolves and bears from aircraft.

And if you are wondering what happened to the wolf cub's mother, well, she, along with the rest of her pack, were killed by the same state employees, only in the mother wolf's case, she died by a bullet (or two or three) shot from a helicopter.

No one can express how I feel about hunting better than Matthew Scully, author of Dominion: The Power of Man, The Suffering of Animals, and The Call to Mercy one of the most compassionate books ever written about animals. He writes: "Such terrifying powers we possess, but what a sorry lot of gods some men are. And the worst of it is not the cruelty but the arrogance, the sheer hubris of those who bring only violence and fear into the animal world, as if it needed any more of either. Their lives entail enough frights and tribulations without the modern fire-makers, now armed with perfected, inescapable weapons, traipsing along for more fun and thrills at their expense even as so many of them die away. It is our fellow creatures' lot in the universe, the place assigned them in creation, to be completely at our mercy, the fiercest wolf or tiger defenseless against the most cowardly man. And to me it has always seemed not only ungenerous and shabby but a kind of supreme snobbery to deal cavalierly with them, as if their little share of the earth's happiness and grief were inconsequential, meaningless, beneath a man's attention, trumped by any and all designs he might have on them, however base, irrational or wicked."

Irony of ironies, Matthew Scully also happens to have penned Palin's successful and effective vice presidential acceptance speech. How strange a world we live in and all its contradictions.

If you want to help the fight for the survival of American wolves, please visit Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to learn more. And here is a video that will show you all you need to know about aerial hunting.

A real platform done by citizens.

2008-09-06T23:14:00.001-04:00

Working families hold their own convention...

Linked via satellite, and using instant, touch-pad voting, working families in Los Angeles, Birmingham and Chicago voted to adopt a comprehensive platform to address issues of low-income families.

In the short video below Joyce Cook participates in the vote and celebration.

This platform was created by working families for working families and is the result of 65 town hall meetings across the country.

Below is the introduction to the platform - created by working families for working families. This is their vision for a better America.

WE BELIEVE

No family should live in poverty

Prosperity and security begin with every person's right to work in a well-paid job, to be healthy and educated and to live in a safe community.

Equal opportunity should lead to equal outcomes.

Public policies should promote everyone's ability to reach their fullest potential and advance the common good.

Families should have an equal voice in shaping policies and the future of their communities.

Society should support family unity, encourage the healthy development of children and youth and foster respect for all people.

Strong families make America stronger.

OUR COMMITMENT

We will work for change.

We will work collectively in support of families.

We will protect the rights and opportunities of all families.

We will be involved in our communities.

We will teach our children values and character.

We will support our youth.

We will inform others of the issues we face and what we need to do about them.

We will hold our elected officials accountable to the common good.

Great bit of writing.

2008-09-06T10:51:00.002-04:00

I've just started reading Judith Warner. She's great. Hit up her site at the NY Times online.

here's her latest, The Mirrored Ceiling.

September 4, 2008, 8:41 pm
The Mirrored Ceiling

Tags: Politics, sarah palin, women

It turns out there was something more nauseating than the nomination of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate this past week. It was the tone of the acclaim that followed her acceptance speech.

“Drill, baby, drill,” clapped John Dickerson, marveling at Palin’s ability to speak and smile at the same time as an indication of her unexpected depths and unsuspected strengths. “It was clear Palin was having fun, and it’s hard to have fun if you’re scared or a lightweight,” he wrote in Slate.

The Politico praised her charm and polish as antidotes to her lack of foreign policy experience: “Palin’s poised and flawless performance evoked roars of applause from delegates who earlier this week might have worried that the surprise pick and newcomer to the national stage may not be up to the job.”

“She had a great night. I thought she had a very skillfully written, and very skillfully delivered speech,” Joe Biden said, shades of “articulate and bright and clean” threatening a reappearance. (For a full roundup of these comments go here.)

Thus began the official public launch of our country’s now most-prominent female politician. The condescension – damning with faint praise – was reminiscent of the more overt misogyny of Samuel Johnson.

“A woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hinder legs,” the wit once observed. “It is not done well; but you are surprized to find it done at all.”

Palin sounded, at times, like she was speaking a foreign language as she gave voice to the beautifully crafted words that had been prepared for her on Wednesday night.

But that wasn’t held against her. Thanks to the level of general esteem that greeted her ascent to the podium, it seems we’ve all got to celebrate the fact that America’s Hottest Governor (Princess of the Fur Rendezvous 1983, Miss Wasilla 1984) could speak at all.

Could there be a more thoroughgoing humiliation for America’s women?

You are not, I think, supposed now to say this. Just as, I am sure, you are certainly not supposed to feel that having Sarah Palin put forth as the Republicans’ first female vice presidential candidate is just about as respectful a gesture toward women as was John McCain’s suggestion, last month, that his wife participate in a topless beauty contest.

Such thoughts, we are told, are sexist. And elitist. After all, via Palin, we now hear without cease, the People are speaking. The “real” “authentic,” small-town “Everyday People,” of Hockey Moms and Blue Collar Dads whom even Rudolph Giuliani now invokes as an antidote to the cosmopolite Obamas and their backers in the liberal media. (Remind me please, once again, what was the name of the small town where Rudy grew up?)

Why does this woman – who to some of us seems as fake as they can come, with her delicate infant son hauled out night after night under the klieg lights and her pregnant teenage daughter shamelessly instrumentalized for political purposes — deserve, to a unique extent among political women, to rank as so “real”?

Because the Republicans, very clearly, believe that real people are idiots. This disdain for their smarts shows up in the whole way they’ve cast this race now, turning a contest over economic and foreign policy into a culture war of the Real vs. the Elites. It’s a smoke and mirrors game aimed at diverting attention from the fact that the party’s tax policies have helped create an elite that’s more distant from “the people” than ever before. And from the fact that the party’s dogged allegiance to up-by-your-bootstraps individualism — an individualism exemplified by Palin, the frontierswoman who somehow has managed to “balance” five children and her political career with no need for support — is leading to a culture-wide crack-up.

Real people, the kind of people who will like and identify with Palin, they clearly believe, are smart, but not too smart, and don’t talk too well, dropping their “g”s, for example, and putting tough concepts like “vice president” in quotation marks.

“As for that ‘V.P.’ talk all the time … I tell ya, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me, What is it exactly that the ‘VP’ does every day?” Palin asked host Lawrence Kudlow on CNBC sometime before her nomination. “I’m used to bein’ very productive and workin’ real hard in an administration and we want to make sure that that ‘V.P.’ slot would be a fruitful type of position.”

And, I think, they find her acceptably “real,” because Palin’s not intimidating, and makes it clear that she’s subordinate to a great man.

That’s the worst thing a woman can be in this world, isn’t it? Intimidating, which appears to be synonymous with competent. It’s the kiss of death, personally and politically.

But shouldn’t a woman who is prepared to be commander in chief be intimidating? Because of the intelligence, experience, talent and drive that got her there? If she isn’t, at least on some level, off-putting, if her presence inspires national commentary on breast-pumping and babysitting rather than health care reform and social security, then something is seriously wrong. If she doesn’t elicit at least some degree of awe, then something is missing.

One of the worst poisons of the American political climate right now, the thing that time and again in recent years has led us to disaster, is the need people feel for leaders they can “relate” to. This need isn’t limited to women; it brought us after all, two terms of George W. Bush. And it isn’t new; Americans have always needed to feel that their leaders were, on some level, people like them.

But in the past, it was possible to fill that need through empathetic connection. Few Depression-era voters could “relate” to Franklin Roosevelt’s patrician background, notes historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. “It was his ability to connect to them that made them feel they could connect to him,” she told me in a phone interview.

The age of television, Goodwin believes, has made the demand for connection more immediate and intense. But never before George W. Bush did it quite reach the beer-drinking level of familiarity. “Now it’s all about being able to see your life story in the candidate, rather than the candidate, with empathy, being able to relate to you.”

There’s a fine line between likability and demagoguery. Both thrive upon manipulation and least-common-denominator politics. These days, I fear, this need for direct mirroring — and thus this susceptibility to all sorts of low-level tripe — is particularly acute among women, who are perhaps reaching historic lows in their comfort levels with themselves and their choices.

Just look at how quickly the reaction to Palin devolved into what The Times this week called the “Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition.” Much of the talk about Palin (like the emoting about Hillary Clinton before her) ultimately came down to this: is she like me or not like me? If she’s not like me, can I like her? And what kind of child care does she have?

“This election is not about issues,” Rick Davis, John McCain’s campaign manager said this week. “This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.” That’s a scary thought. For the takeaway is so often base, a reflection more of people’s fears and insecurities than of our hopes and dreams.

We’re not likely to get a worthy female president anytime soon.

Someone in Sarah Palin's hometown isn't afraid to speak up.

2008-09-05T16:06:00.001-04:00

Someone from Sarah Palin's hometown finally is speaking out. This was emailed to a contributor to Huffington Post.

ABOUT SARAH PALIN
I am a resident of Wasilla , Alaska . I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she's like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a "babe".
It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out
there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin's kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a "fiscal conservative". During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren't enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn't even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska . Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will
make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's
surplus, borrow for needs.

She's not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren't generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren't evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State's top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla's Police Chief because he "intimidated"
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska 's top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure
and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that
an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't
fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew
her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn't
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the
high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this
Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the "old boys' club" when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man's ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to
nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork".

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as "AGIA" that forced the oil companies to march
to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned "as a private citizen" against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State's
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior's decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there's a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT
•"Hockey mom": true for a few years
•"PTA mom": true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
•"NRA supporter": absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
•"Pro-life": mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
•"Experienced": Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska .
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•"a Greenie": no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla's history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn't make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska ), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen
when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because
few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out
of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no
fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that's life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100
or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's
attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are
swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the
population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The
day Palin's selection was announced a city official told me that the
current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was
5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90's.

Anne Kilkenny
Wasilla, Alaska

It's still about the guy at the top! Reactions to McCain's speech.

2008-09-05T11:57:00.003-04:00

Below is reaction to John McCain's Republican convention speech.

David Gergen thought the speech repeated the same old GOP ideas:

I did not think that the substantive part of the speech worked very well. It was mostly a rerun, retread of a lot of old Republican ideas that have brought us to where we are now. I think the country is looking for fresh answers. It's hard to separate yourself out from President Bush when you essentially have the same economic policies as President Bush. I thought that the policy presentation was a little thin."

Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson slammed McCain's speech on MSNBC

The policy in the speech was rather typical for a Republican. Pretty disappointing. It didn't do a lot of outreach to moderates and independents on issues that they care about. It talked, about issues like drilling and school choice which was really speaking to the converted. I think that was a missed opportunity. Many Americans needed to hear from this speech something they have never heard from Republicans before. And in reality, a lot of the policy they've heard from Republicans before.

The New Republic thought the speech was flat:

It's not over yet but this is a very underwhelming speech. Familiar points explained in pedestrian terms. No overarching themes--right now it's sounding like a State of the Union laundry list. Even the crowd in the hall isn't jazzed. This is the sort of reception Tom Ridge got.

MSNBC pointed out that the biggest applause of the night was for Sarah Palin. Watch clip:

Jeffrey Toobin told Wolf Blitzer on CNN that:

I thought it was the worst speech by a nominee that I've heard since Jimmy Carter in 1980.
I thought it was disorganized, themeless, I thought it was very, very boring until the end when he started talking about his personal story, which is, of course, remarkable and always important to hear. I personally cannot remember a single policy proposal that he made because they had nothing connecting them. I found it shockingly bad.

Watch clip:

The National Review also thought it fell flat:

Ehhhhh...maybe I'm missing some grand strategy or tactics, but I think it was a missed opportunity. Good that he did some policy. I liked that he championed free trade -- something he didn't have to do. I liked the fight, fight, fight stuff. Good that he was specific. I can come up with specific compliments about this or that. But it was flat, forced and basically a free pass for Obama.

The New York Times blog said people were falling asleep:

Sleepy? Our colleague Patrick Healy reports from the floor: There is a delegate in the Utah section and a delegate in Puerto Rico who are both drooping, eyes closed - look asleep - both are men.

ABC News asks whether McCain has a different take on community organizing:

ABC News' Deputy Political Director Karen Travers points out that despite all the "community organizer"-bashing at this convention, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., seems to like the notion, at least based on this passage:

If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed. Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier. Because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.

If a community organizer isn't someone "defend(ing) the rights of the oppressed," or getting involved to correct the mistakes of government, what is it?

TPM asked if McCain's speech smothered Palin's sizzle?

Not a lot to say about McCain's speech but how on earth did they not avoid this:
Prediction: There will be little to no bounce out of tonight; indeed, McCain's speech will smother Palin's sizzle like a wet blanket.

Time gave it a mixed review:

A mixed performance. The ending worked, though in the hall I doubt anyone could hear him very well as he spoke through the crowd's applause. The final peroration -- "We're Americans. We don't hide from history. We make history" -- was strong stuff.

It also noted McCain's struggle with the Teleprompter.

He's struggling, as he sometimes does -- misplacing the emphasis on words, sounding at times like he's reading the speech for the first time, losing energy during the sections on issues he's never been particularly passionate about, buring applause lines in a string of sentences. It's as if he can't bring himself to pretend he's not reading a teleprompter -- that the charade distracts and frustrates him.

2008-09-05T11:23:00.001-04:00

Keith Olbermann Apologizes For RNC's Graphic 9/11 Tribute (VIDEO)
crosslinked from

Huffington Post | September 5, 2008 08:29 AM

A visibly upset Keith Olbermann apologized to viewers Thursday night for the graphic 9/11 tribute played in the lead-up to John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention.

Olbermann said of the video:

"If at this late date, any television network had, of its own accord, shown that much video tape and that much graphic video tape of 9/11...it, we, would be rightly eviscerated at all quarters, perhaps by the Republican Party itself, for exploiting the memories of the dead, and perhaps even for trying to evoke that pain again. If you reacted to that video tape the way I did, I apologize. It is a subject of great pain, for many of us still, and it was probably not appropriate to be shown."

Watch Olbermann's reaction:

The graphic video in question (WARNING: MAY BE DIFFICULT TO WATCH):

Keith Olbermann

A visibly upset Keith Olbermann apologized to viewers Thursday night for the graphic 9/11 tribute played in the lead-up to John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Olber...

A visibly upset Keith Olbermann apologized to viewers Thursday night for the graphic 9/11 tribute played in the lead-up to John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Olber...

Nice Rebuttal to Sarah Palin's stupid cuts to community organizers

2008-09-04T15:28:00.001-04:00

Palin slams community organizers and McCain has to cancel a photo op with HABITAT FOR HUMANITY... Those crazy home building community organizers...

Which one is running for President?

McCain better get her in line...

Oh, and this.

Take that, crazy right wing lady!

exit stage-left

Can we admit the Wall Street Journal is just FOX NEWS in print?

Here's a Twitter flyer for #Nov17 #17NOV distribute wide... on Twitpic

Scalia and Thomas dine with healthcare law challengers as court takes case

I'm back!!!!

Harvard Students Join the Movement | Truthout

Shutting down

Rachel Maddow Takes On Pat Buchanan (VIDEO): "You're Playing With Fire... You're Living In The 1950's"

The Savaging of Sarah Palin

Guardrails for the Internet: Preserving Creativity Online

For Memorial Day: How KBR Killed U.S. Soldiers

Former Senior Interrogator in Iraq Dissects Cheney's Lies and Distortions

Saving the Brooklyn Bridge

A COUPLE THINGS:

Evangelical Christians support torture. Unbelievable.

I COME FROM THE REDDEST STATE IN THE COUNTRY!

We are too damned sensitive.

Chuck Grassley... you logic is dizzying...

Stop whining about the stimulus!

fifteen percent?

The stimulus plan

Obama is Driving Republicans Insane!!

Sorry, I need to rant.

Is anyone else bored?

Vive la revolution!

An Open Letter to NBC

I'm back

The crazies are already out.

the Prop 8 mess is heating up...

A retraction...

filming, so just a few toughts.

Pinch me.

MSNBC finds the one Republican at Spellman College

JUST VOTED!!!

video the vote!

Lots of problems with Rock the Vote!

Go Vote!

Federalized Democracy: How We Elect the President--and a Prediction

Really? It's come to this?

Really... Hasn't anyone over there handed this woman a copy of the Constitution yet?

Yo, chowderheads!

why Obama now?

More Palin fueled racism and hate in Pennsylvania.

VOTE!!!!! Don't let anyone stop you!

Just for fun

Palin a secessionist plant?

We've found the lone gunman!

Who is Barack Obama?

GOP strategy? The politics of hate

Think she think she's running for President?

People are truly stupid...

Didn't we say this was dangerous?

Palin and the Christian Dominionist theory... from an expert.

I'm done with Sarah Palin...

Yes, McCain wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid

She's worst than W...

Gwen Ifill: Palin "Blew me off."

There are no good reasons not to vote for Obama and one bad one

McCain Political Theater

Sarah Palin... Post Turtle

Eloquent... So eloquent.

McCain just proved he'd be a crap president.

Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 10:30 AM by Mark Murray Filed Under: White House, Congress, 2008, McCain, Mike Viqueira

Couldn't this have come out eight years ago?

Drill, Baby, Drill

Is Palin really the Presidential nominee?

Conservatives Slam McCain

what if you were from another planet... or Europe?

80% my ass... Welcome to Alaska! Meet 1500 of your neighbors.

Deer in the Headlights

Two things...

National Guard commander tells truth, gets promoted, tells lies.

with friends like these...

Palin as Mayor of Wasilla - Rape victims must pay for a rape evidence kit.

More Proof McCain Does Not Know His Running Mate

Can you say, GOD COMPLEX?

Can't wait to read Woodward's new book.

THEY MUST THINK WE'RE STUPID

WTF??? What the F*#% is going on? This is Sarah Palin's Church.

Palin cut special needs education 62%. Is she really the poster mom for special needs kids just because she has one?

Posted: Friday, September 26, 2008 10:30 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: White House, Congress, 2008, McCain, Mike Viqueira