A Female Perspective

2008-10-29T08:46:00.001-07:00

Dear Red States:

If you manage to steal this election too we've decided we're
leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the
other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes
California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will
be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly:

You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states.
We get stem cell research and the best beaches.

We get the Statue of Liberty.
You get Dollywood.

We get Intel and Microsoft.
You get WorldCom.

We get Harvard.
You get Ole' Miss.

We get 85% of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs.
You get Alabama.

We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states
pay their fair share.

Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22% lower than the Christian
Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families.
You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and
anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq at
once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have
kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no
purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their
children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq , and
hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80% of
the country's fresh water, more than 90% of the pineapple and lettuce,
92% of the nation's fresh fruit, 95% of America's quality wines, 90%
of all cheese, 90% of the high tech industry, 95% of the corn and
soybeans (thanks Iowa!), most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living
redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy and Seven Sister schools plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT.

With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with
88% of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs),
92% of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100% of the tornadoes, 90% of the
hurricanes, 99% of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100% of all
televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia.

We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38% of those in the Red states believe Jonah was
actually swallowed by a whale, 62% believe life is sacred unless we're
discussing the war, the death penalty or gun laws, 44% say that
evolution is only a theory, 53% believe that Saddam was involved in
9/11 and 61% of you crazy bastards believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

Finally, we're taking the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed
they grow in Mexico

Peace out,
Blue Staes

Someone give that moron a map!

2008-09-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

McCain Proposes Sending Troops to South America to Invade Spain...

GOP presidential nominee John McCain said today that if elected he would send U.S. troops to South America in order to invade "one of America's deadliest enemies," Spain.

Sen. McCain accused Spain of "picking a fight" with the U.S. in recent days, but warned that their "aggression and bellicosity will not stand."

"Spain can run, but it cannot hide," he told his audience at a rally in St. Louis. "I am fully prepared to invade Spain, and if that means sending troops to South America, where Spain is located, then so be it."

The Arizona senator seemed momentarily caught off-guard when a reporter suggested that Spain might be located in Europe, and not in South America, but Mr. McCain soon shot back, calling the reporter's comment "naïve."

"That's the old kind of thinking that I'm going to change when I get to Washington," Sen. McCain said. "My friends, when I am President, I will redraw the map."

His running mate, Alaska governor Sarah Palin, agreed with Sen. McCain's placement of Spain on the world map, telling the St. Louis crowd that "Spain is much closer than any of us realize."

"If you stand on the southern border of Mexico and get up on your tippy-toes, you can practically see it," she said.

by: andy borowitz

Oh Simple Sarah...

2008-09-17T06:19:00.000-07:00

I just heard Simple Sarah Palin say that Obama tells people to protest McCain. I guess she believes he must have secret meetings telling a secret underground network to protest. What Simple Sarah Palin, Six year Sarah, Six School Palin doesn't understand that a majority of people don't agree with so-called neoconservative policies and they come out to say so. Nobody tells them to protest. People have that right here in the lower 48 (well so far...)

Simple Sarah, maybe you should go back to school and get a degree in something other than journalism. And please, stop lying...

We should be worried...

2008-09-08T12:54:00.001-07:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-foner/were-in-big-trouble_b_124686.html?page=2&show_comment_id=15491709#comment_15491709

by: Naomi Foner

We're talking to ourselves.

And we're not saying anything that's going to help win this election.

Everyone who cares knows that Sara Palin is a born again, right wing Republican. That she's a right-to-life, anti-gay, anti-global-warming, book-banning kind of gal.

No one seems to care.

The package and not the content is what's attracting interest. How cute she is when she says it. How cute she is when she skins a caribou. How cute are those barely grown expectant children of hers.

My first instinct was to scream from the roof tops that no self respecting woman was going to fall for this McCain manipulation. But apparently, plenty have. Plenty share her views and the crowds and the TV ratings are growing. The same way they grow for American Idol and other reality shows. Seems like we would rather watch ourselves, however diminished, on TV and in the public eye than people watch people with actual skills and talents. Watching people just like ourselves eating bugs and falling into vats of peanut butter has become a favorite American past time. And apparently, we would rather have an ill informed, inexperienced leader than one with experience and education. Experience has been denigrated to the level of liberal as a word. It's to be laughed at and ridiculed. And a lot of people are buying it. And we're supposed to slink away, like the nerd in high school being attacked by the football player.
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But this isn't high school and we're supposed to know better. We have got to take back these words and what they stand for. Leaders need to be chosen from the most talented among us, not from the bottom of the barrel. And we shouldn't be afraid to say so.

What kind of misplaced chivalry would keep the Democrats from calling Sarah Palin what she is? An ignorant, misinformed, inexperienced, bigoted fraud. And unless we find a way to do it, she will be running the country before we have time to turn around.

This will not be easy. I spent hours on the telephone to Ohio Democrats last presidential election. There was no way I was going to convince these working class Democrats that they were wrong to vote for Bush. Kerry scared them. And no manner of logic would turn it around. They voted against their own economic interests, against college for their kids, against their own medical care, against their first amendment rights. Why, because they had been told that Kerry was going to challenge their belief systems. He was "for abortion", "against the troops."

We're going to have to frame the argument in the same way. Who is Sarah Palin? A woman for sure. The package is nice, but the content is out of date and spoiled. If she gets anywhere near power we can expect global warming, the destruction of the constitution, the end of Choice, and books banned in our libraries. And we've got to make people understand this. And even if we can frame it this way, the question remains, are there many Americans who would care? Enough to sustain the constitution? Life as we know it?

I am terribly afraid that we are counting on good sense, and decency and it has gone the way of the ten cent subway ride. We are not thinking about each other. We are thinking about ourselves. Why else would we even consider a woman who tried to get her brother in law fired from his job for daring to divorce her sister. Who tried to get a local librarian to remove books she disapproved of from the library.

Politeness is not in order. We need to be scared. Terribly scared. We need to pull out all the stops. She's not going to self destruct in front of an audience who likes these things about her. Who abhors the clarity and thoughtfulness of Obama. There is no drama in it. There's drama in teenage pregnancy, political scandal and moose hunting.

McCain seems to have known just what he was doing. Now the question remains, do we?

Sarah Palin - George Bush in Lipstick

2008-09-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

by: Nico Pitney

A core Democratic talking point against Sarah Palin is beginning to take shape: she is, critics say, the female counterpart of the current President of the United States, not only in terms of policy and social conservatism, but even personality.

"She's not a pitbull in lipstick," said one female Democratic operative, referencing a line from Palin's convention speech. "She's George Bush in lipstick."

From her hard-right stances on abortion and contraception and the deep affection she engenders from conservative evangelical leaders, to her involvement in a possible "abuse of power" scandal in Alaska and even her charming demeanor, some see in Palin the second coming of the 43rd president.

The Palin-as-Bush theme comes just in time: with less than two months before election day, Democrats have a limited window to define McCain's vice presidential pick in the eyes of voters. Her relatively sparse record, particularly on key national issues, made finding a line of attack more difficult. And the McCain campaign's efforts to paint the media coverage of Palin as sexist, and to link the Obama campaign to that coverage, only complicated matters further.

Obama himself made the Palin-Bush comparison during his Sunday appearance on ABC's This Week, calling her "somebody who may be even more aligned with George Bush - or Dick Cheney, or the politics we've seen over the last eight years - than John McCain himself is."

Later, Robert Gibbs, senior aide to the Democratic nominee, fleshed out the case in an interview on CNN. "Sarah Palin doesn't think climate change is man made. Both John McCain and Sarah Palin want to outlaw abortion, even in the case of rape and incest. I'll let you decide who you think is extreme, but you've got a candidate in Sarah Palin who says she's against the bridge for nowhere, but she campaigned on it. She says she's against lobbyists getting pork for her state when she hired a lobbyist to get pork for her state. And now she stands in the way of an ethics investigation to look into her actions that was approved by the Republican legislature. I'm telling you...she's going to fit in just great at Washington because that's what happening right now."

Moreover, on a relatively high-profile environmental issue, Palin actually went to court to take on the Bush administration from the right, objecting to the president's decision to list polar bears on the endangered species list. (The UK Independent, in its understated form, noted that Palin "has an environmental policy so toxic it would make the incumbent, George Bush, blush.")

The McCain campaign's reply to this message was summed up by Nancy Pfotenhauer, who responded to Gibbs on CNN: "That is a total crock, Robert, and you know it." McCain staffers say the ethics investigation in Alaska will find Palin did nothing improper, and that she has worked against earmarks as governor.

Unfortunately for McCain, however, it is not only Democrats who see ties between Palin and the current President.

On Saturday, former Bush speechwriter David Frum wrote on his National Review blog, "George W. Bush had very slight executive experience before becoming president. His views were not well known. He won the nomination exactly in the same way that Palin has won the hearts of so many conservatives: by sending cultural cues to convince them that he was one of them, understood them, sympathized with them. So that made everything else irrelevant in 2000 - as it seems again to be doing in 2008."

But in the end, Frum wrote, Bush lacked "important aspects of leadership which is how we got into the mess from which he needed to rescue the country and himself."

A talk between a RNC security guard and Charles Hunter, Delegate of NH

2008-09-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

Charles Hunter, an environmentalist delegate from New Hampshire and a veteran of Republican conventions going back to the 1980 coronation of Ronald Reagan at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena, can't sleep at all.

"This is my last convention," he tells me, lighting a cigarette.

"Why?"

"I'm a real McCain guy. I served. But I liked the old McCain -- when he was a true hero, before he signed on with the yahoos. I actually believe in 'country first.'"

"Not a fan of Palin?"

"If I were McCain I'd probably bring her onto my ticket, too. That's exactly the problem. I guess I tricked myself into thinking that McCain, even after he watered himself down for the election, could somehow restore sanity. The Democrats tried to paint him as a twin of Bush. Not true. But Palin ... she does remind me of Bush. McCain has made a devil's pact and sealed this party's fate."

Even though he's older, he smokes his cigarette like a young man, with earnest haste, before he flicks it off into the dark.

"That's it," he said, "we're through. Even if we win, we've lost."

What Inexperience looks like...

2008-09-07T10:31:00.001-07:00

Palin's Hockey Rink Leads
To Legal Trouble in Town She Led
By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS
September 6, 2008

WASILLA, Alaska -- The biggest project that Sarah Palin undertook as mayor of this small town was an indoor sports complex, where locals played hockey, soccer, and basketball, especially during the long, dark Alaskan winters.

The only catch was that the city began building roads and installing utilities for the project before it had unchallenged title to the land. The misstep led to years of litigation and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for a small municipality with a small budget. What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla.

"It's too bad that the city of Wasilla didn't do their homework and secure the land before they began construction," said Kathy Wells, a longtime activist here. "She was not your ceremonial mayor; she was in charge of running the city. So it was her job to make sure things were done correctly."
[Hockey rink]
Associated Press

Ms. Palin, now Alaska's governor and Republican Sen. John McCain's running mate, has pointed to her two terms as Wasilla's mayor, from 1996 to 2002, as evidence that she has enough executive experience to take on the presidency, should the need arise -- more than Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who touts his own background as a community organizer in Chicago.

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities," Ms. Palin said Wednesday in her acceptance speech at the Republican convention.

Litigation resulting from the dispute over Ms. Palin's sports-complex project is still in the courts, with the land's former owner seeking hundreds of thousands of additional dollars from the city.

Hockey is much loved in Wasilla, and Ms. Palin, whose son was a star player, wanted to build an indoor rink, with a track, basketball courts and soccer field. In the late 1990s, the city sought a 145-acre parcel owned by the Nature Conservancy, which wanted to sell the land to buy more environmentally sensitive property elsewhere. City officials negotiated a price of $126,000. Months passed without the city's securing a signed purchase agreement, according to the city's attorney, Tom Klinkner of Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot.

At the same time, Gary Lundgren, a Fairbanks real-estate investor, was in talks with the Nature Conservancy to buy a larger adjacent property. As discussions between the environmental group and the city dragged on, Mr. Lundgren said, he purchased the entire site for about $1 million.

The city sued Mr. Lundgren and the Nature Conservancy, arguing that Wasilla had had a deal. In 2001, a federal district court judge ruled in Wasilla's favor. Mr. Lundgren appealed, but the city believed it would prevail, according to Mr. Klinkner.

Ms. Palin marched ahead, making the public case for a sales-tax increase and $14.7 million bond issue to pay for the sports center, which was to feature a running track, basketball courts and a hockey rink. At the time, the city's annual budget was about $20 million. In a March 2002 referendum, residents approved the mayor's plan by a 20-vote margin, 306 to 286. The city cleared roads, installed utilities and made preparations to build.

Later that year, Ms. Palin's final one as mayor, the federal judge reversed his own decision and ruled that the property rightfully belonged to Mr. Lundgren. Wasilla had never signed the proper papers, the court ruled.
[In Wasilla, Alaska, the construction of an indoor sports facility (shown above), initiated during Sarah Palin's term as mayor, has led to years of litigation over property rights and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for the town.]
Greg Hensel /Alaska Stock
In Wasilla, Alaska, the construction of an indoor sports facility (shown above), initiated during Sarah Palin's term as mayor, has led to years of litigation over property rights and at least $1.3 million in extra costs for the town.

Mr. Lundgren said he had offered to give smaller parcels to the city free of charge, but the city held out for a larger tract. The former chief of the city finance department, Ted Leonard, says he doesn't recall such an offer.

After Ms. Palin left office, the city decided to take 80 acres of Mr. Lundgren's property through eminent domain. An Alaska court confirmed the city's right to do so and ordered that an arbitrator determine the appropriate price.

Last year, the arbitrator ordered the city to pay $836,378 for the 80-acre parcel, far more than the $126,000 Wasilla originally thought it would pay for a piece of land 65 acres larger. The arbitrator also determined that the city owed Mr. Lundgren $336,000 in interest. Wasilla's legal bill since the eminent domain action has come to roughly $250,000 so far, according to Mr. Klinkner, the city attorney.

Mr. Lundgren has appealed the decision, arguing that the arbitrator should have awarded him more interest. "It has been 10 years; it's just insane," said Mr. Lundgren, who now lives in Panama. "All [Ms. Palin] had to do was close the transaction."

The McCain-Palin campaign referred questions about the sports complex to Mr. Leonard, the former city finance chief. He blamed the Nature Conservancy for dealing with two different potential buyers at one time. "That's what caused the confusion," he said.

"At the time, with the information she had, [Ms. Palin] made the right decision," Mr. Leonard said. "But you know what? Litigation happens."

The sports facility is finished, set against forest and mountain ranges. Inside, locals kick soccer balls and skate laps on the rink. Last year, it hosted a statewide wrestling tournament.

"All I can say about the sports complex is that it was done on time and under budget," said Donald Moore, a Palin ally who managed the construction. "It was done legally, and for someone else to say it could have been done differently in a better way, that's strictly their opinion."

Ms. Palin cited her mayoral duties as partial evidence of her executive experience. Dianne Woodruff, a Wasilla city councilwoman and critic of Ms. Palin's performance, agreed.

"If people are going to be voting on her based on her experience as Wasilla's mayor, then they should know how she did in the job," Ms. Woodruff said, "the good, the bad and the ugly."

Watch out Log Cabin

2008-09-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

"You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years.

Palin's conservative Christian views have energized that part of the GOP electorate, which was lukewarm to John McCain's candidacy before he named her as his vice presidential choice. She is staunchly anti-abortion, opposing exceptions for rape and incest, and opposes gay marriage and spousal rights for gay couples.

Focus on the Family, a national Christian fundamentalist organization, is conducting the "Love Won Out" Conference in Anchorage, about 30 miles from Wasilla.

Palin, campaigning with McCain in the Midwest on Friday, has not publicly expressed a view on the so-called "pray away the gay" movement. Larry Kroon, senior pastor at Palin's church, was not available to discuss the matter Friday, said a church worker who declined to give her name.

Gay activists in Alaska said Palin has not worked actively against their interests, but early in her administration she supported a bill to overrule a court decision to block state benefits for gay partners of public employees. At the time, less than one-half of 1 percent of state employees had applied for the benefits, which were ordered by a 2005 ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court.

Palin reversed her position and vetoed the bill after the state attorney general said it was unconstitutional. But her reluctant support didn't win fans among Alaska's gay population, said Scott Turner, a gay activist in Anchorage.

"Less than 1 percent of state employees would even apply for benefits, so why make a big deal out of such a small number?" he said.

"I think gay Republicans are going to run away" if Palin supports efforts like the prayers to convert gays, said Wayne Besen, founder of the New York-based Truth Wins Out, a gay rights advocacy group. Besen called on Palin to publicly express her views now that she's a vice presidential nominee.

"People are looking at Sarah Palin as someone who might feasibly be in the White House," he said.

Huffingtonpost.com

McCain is not George Bush, Sarah Palin is

2008-09-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

I thought McCain was the next Bush. I said so, like countless others, on this blog. More war. More debt while keeping taxes low and mocking the Democrats who want to pay down that debt. No vision regarding the energy issue. Or education. Or health care. More fear. Less solutions. No call for sacrifice where it really counts in terms of America's consumption. More favored treatment for American corporations. More foxes called to guard the henhouse in terms of our government's regulatory stewardship. And on and on. The Bush Nightmare, chapter three.

But McCain is not Bush. No matter what you think of McCain, you can't pin that on him. Now Palin? Palin is Bush. What helped propel Bush into the White House was not only some effective electoral nullification. It was his lack of a record in public office. The governorship of Texas is one of the more ceremonial of all the governorships in this country. The state legislature calls the shots. Bush came into power with less foreign policy experience than Barack Obama has now. And was "elected" to two terms. Bush had no foreign policy record to examine. He had only his father's rich friends and their stranglehold on the Republican National Committee to call upon. It proved to be more than enough.

Bush was elected and, of course, allowed a cast of neocon savages to take over from there. We knew next to nothing about Bush and even less about how Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Powell, Ashcroft, Gonzalez, Paddington, Bolton, et al would manage the world post 9/11.

We know nothing about Sarah Palin. Nothing. Which is not anywhere near enough information to elevate her to the position whereby she would succeed McCain if he died in office or suffered a catastrophic illness. At 72 years of age and in questionable health, McCain's fitness to coach a high school football team would be in doubt, let alone the grueling reality of the presidency of this country.

John McCain is, statistically, more likely to die or suffer some catastrophic illness during his first term than any other man that has sought the office. Who would succeed him? George Bush would succeed him. Someone with no record. No experience. Only question marks. Everywhere. Forget about the fact that Palin looks a lot like a really attractive TV star I know. Underneath all the Tina, she's George.

Trig and Track starting to make sense now...

2008-09-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

"Trig" and "Track" starting to make sense

In addition to introducing the world to herself, her children, her soon-to-be-grandchild, and, depending on whether Trig, or Bristol's fetus, is pregnant yet, her possible great-grand-child, Wednesday night the straight-talkin' Sarah Palin introduced us to a new word.

TNR's Michael Crowley happened to catch it in reading over the prepared text of Palin's speech:

Terrorist states are seeking new-clear weapons without delay.

Oh my god, new-clear weapons? And they're not even delaying their seeking of them. That's not good, right?

By the way, a word not mentioned in the speech: "burrthcuntroll."

The Evangelicals Aren't All Behind Palin

2008-09-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

Lost in the stampede of social conservatives to embrace Palin this past week is the fact that she is culturally outside the mainstream of Evangelicalism. Over the past few years, a growing number of Evangelicals have been consciously distancing themselves from the more extreme stands of the Christian right. They live in the suburbs, hold graduate degrees, and while they might not want their children reading certain novels, would be embarrassed by attempts to ban certain books from libraries, as Palin is reported to have briefly considered while mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. They don't attend churches where speakers charge that violence against Israelis is divine punishment for the failure of Jews to accept Jesus, as happened at one of Palin's churches two weeks ago (though Palin has now issued a statement saying she does not agree with those views). And they would disagree with Palin's decision to use her line-item veto as Governor to slash funding for an Alaska shelter that serves teen mothers.

That goes double for younger Evangelicals. These voters tend to be even more pro-life than their parents, but abortion isn't always a priority that moves their votes — it wasn't when McCain was alone on the ticket, and there's no reason for that to change with the addition of Palin. More important, Palin has problematic stances on many of the issues that do motivate young Evangelicals. Her insistence that global warming is not man-made, for instance, is unlikely to appeal to those Evangelicals who have embraced so-called "creation care" in the past few years. This is particularly relevant to the current race, as young Evangelicals account for much of that demographic's undecided bloc. No one knows what the size of their impact may be in November because young Evangelicals are consistently underrepresented in polls of white Evangelicals. (Even a TIME poll of likely white Evangelical voters conducted last month used a sample in which just 10% of respondents were between 18 and 35. That age group made up 22% of the total electorate in 2004, and its share of the electorate is expected to increase this year.)

At first glance, it may seem ridiculous to say that McCain has an Evangelical problem at all, considering that he already has commanded support in the high 60s or low 70s. As of last week, however, the percentage of white Evangelicals who planned to vote for McCain was still 10 points lower than the final percentage of those voters who went for Bush in the last presidential election. The most conservative Evangelicals — the ones who served as foot soldiers for the Bush-Cheney campaign, mobilizing their neighbors and fellow parishioners — were the least enthusiastic about McCain's candidacy. And many leaders of the Christian-right establishment were ostentatiously withholding their endorsements of the Arizona Senator.

McCain's difficulty exciting white Evangelicals has been twofold. The people in the pews had lingering questions about his commitment to the pro-life cause. McCain's "maverick" political reputation has led many women, including some angry Hillary Clinton supporters who have thrown their support behind him, to assume that he must also buck the GOP's staunch opposition to abortion — and many Evangelicals worry about just the same thing, despite the Senator's lifelong record of supporting nearly all abortion restrictions. While McCain tried to address that concern by declaring at Rick Warren's Saddleback Forum held last month that "life begins at conception," his continued flirtation with pro-choice running-mate possibilities like Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge hurt his efforts to make inroads.

His tense relationship with Christian-right leaders has had different roots. They have spent the campaign looking for signs that McCain, who during his 2000 presidential run famously referred to some of them as "agents of intolerance," is one of them; instead he revealed that while he attends a Baptist church in Phoenix, he has not been baptized. But what about that moving POW guard story, you might ask? The one about the guard who drew a cross in the sand to share his Christian identity with McCain? That tale, it turns out, is actually a large part of the problem for Evangelical leaders. In off-the-record conversations, they complain that the story is about someone else's faith — which is one reason McCain has recently added a line about how he and the guard "were just two Christians, venerating the cross" — and that surely McCain must have an example of his own faith from the past 40 years.

But they're mostly annoyed that it's the only answer McCain gives to any question about religion or faith. It's the story he told last spring at a gathering of conservative leaders when asked to explain his faith in God. "He blew that question off by telling us about the faith of his jailer," direct-mail pioneer Richard Viguerie fumed to the Los Angeles Times afterward. "It was very obvious to those three or four hundred conservative leaders there." One month later, McCain pulled out his trusty tale once again when a student at a town-hall event asked what effect his faith would have on his "executive decision-making."

There is no doubt that Palin will help calm the doubts of that core Evangelical base and leadership. While many pundits have wondered whether social conservatives will recoil from the news that Palin's 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant, they're clearly not grasping the mores of that community. If Bristol Palin were the daughter of Democratic parents, she would undoubtedly be held up as an example of the failures of a liberal, permissive culture. Instead, she is viewed — as are the majority of teenage mothers in Evangelical churches — as a Christian who sinned, is forgiven, and needs to be embraced and supported.

The revelation about her daughter's pregnancy, and the fact that Palin herself chose to give birth to a baby with Down Syndrome, are just another part of the compelling picture Palin can paint of her faith. She was baptized in the Catholic Church and for most of her life belonged to an Assemblies of God congregation — a Pentecostal denomination. In high school, Palin was the local leader of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and most recently she moved her family to a nondenominational Evangelical church in her hometown.

That move away from the Pentecostal Church, which took place in 2002 when Palin first ran for lieutenant governor in Alaska, is the only potential sign she has given that her religious beliefs might be a political liability. Her spokeswoman now says that Palin does not identify herself as a Pentecostal. Historically Pentecostals and other Evangelical Protestants haven't always gotten along, largely because of theological differences. Pentecostal theology elevates the role of the Holy Spirit and includes belief in spiritual gifts, such as healing and speaking in tongues. But the groups have often been able to set aside their doctrinal disagreements for political purposes. Pat Robertson, a Pentecostal, and the late Jerry Falwell, a Fundamentalist, famously had bitter theological disputes but still joined forces as leading figures of the Christian right. (See photos of Jerry Falwell here.)

Palin's red-meat conservatism and Evangelicalism will almost certainly play well with those party faithful who attended the Republican National Convention this week. But with fewer than 60 days until Election Day (and a month before the start of early voting in many states), the McCain campaign's continued courting of the more traditional base spells trouble for any efforts to expand his appeal to independent voters and less conservative Evangelicals. If so, McCain may find himself quoting a bowdlerized verse of Scripture in November: What does it profit a man to gain the Christian right and lose the White House?

Another day another lie revealed...

2008-09-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

Politicians lie. They all do. The ones we have running all will lie, and if you're not choked with pure idealism you'll admit it. In fact, if you're jaded enough, you might even come to accept it, even respect it when it's done well. The concept isn't perplexing, especially when a deftly placed, glibly drawn half-truth can get yourself out of a dead-end argument.

What is perplexing, however, are unnecessary lies. Silly falsehoods, said for no apparent reason, on topics that the world would have totally avoided had you not lied about it in the first place. One strange Sarah Palin falsehood, which she acclaimed as truth yesterday and the campaign reaffirmed tonight in video was that she successfully auctioned a private jet she deemed unnecessary for the State of Alaska to maintain on eBay. It's a strange falsehood because, in the first place, really, who cares? Moreover, it's bizarre because eBay founder Meg Whitman works for the McCain campaign! She's right there! In the building! And surely she can explain to Palin that she is getting that weird bit of biography wrong.

Via Radar, the facts are these:

After going unsold for months, the jet was put into the hands of Turbo North Aviation, an Anchorage aircraft broker, which put an asking price of $2.45 million on the nearly $2.7 million jet. It quickly sold to Alaska businessman Larry Reynolds for $2.1 million ($31,000 of which went to Turbo Aviation). Today the Westwind II jet spends its days ushering wealthy hunters around Alaska and Russia.

So why on earth would Palin lie about this, knowing that it would bring scrutiny to this story, and knowing that the scrutiny would reveal that a) the auction wasn't successful, b) she lost the State of Alaska's money on the deal, and c) the state's valuable resource had basically become a luxury for wealthy elites? I have no idea! But whatever! It's definitely not the worst lie she's ever told.

Let the show continue

2008-09-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

The circus show of the Palin family continues. Earlier this week I talked about how much the Palins are making Levi change so that he might look like a great prospect for future husband. First he had to shave, get a haircut and go against his "f***in' hickboy" ways by dressing like a young prep, then at the convention he had to hold Bristols hand throughout the entire night, except to let go for a quick kiss to (her) baby...now he's marked for life...

In addition to wearing a ring on her left ring finger, Levi wore something on his. Look at the photo below for the up-close look at "Bristol" tattooed on his left ring finger.

You do not have the right to speak...

2008-09-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

The repression going on up in St. Paul is outrageous.

Police raided a half dozen people’s homes over the weekend and detained people before they’d even done anything.

“Conducting mass arrests and raiding meeting places of innocent Americans exercising their constitutional right to express political dissent are antithetical to the fundamental values of our democracy," says Anthony Romero, head of the ACLU.

Mike Whelan had invited independent observers from the group LegalWatch to stay in his duplex, as Lindsay Beyerstein reported for firedoglake.com.

At about 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, police surrounded his house with automatic weapons drawn. “One of my roommates said, ‘I want to see a warrant,’ and she was immediately detained,” Whelan told Beyerstein. He said the officers were wearing black uniforms and driving nondescript vans.

“You figure this would be going on in South Africa, or Russia, not in Saint Paul,” he said.

Here is an account from another house that was raided.

Police also swarmed a bus carrying members of the group Earth Justice.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that the Minneapolis Joint Terrorism Task Force actively recruited area residents to infiltrate local protest groups.

One of the groups affected by the raids was Food Not Bombs, and you can’t find a more nonviolent bunch than that.

Bruce Nestor of the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild saw some of the police actions.

“I was personally present and saw officers with riot gear and assault rifles, pump action shotguns,” he told Amy Goodman of Democracy Now.

“The neighbor of one of the houses had a gun pointed in her face when she walked out on her back porch to see what was going on. There were children in all of these houses, and children were held at gunpoint.”

Later, of course, the police arrested two producers from Democracy Now and then arrested Goodman, who was trying to ask police about what happened to her employees.

Her producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, are charged with “suspicion of felony riot.”

Goodman, who was acting in her capacity as a journalist, as were her producers, has been charged with obstruction of a legal process and interference with a peace officer.

Glenn Greenwald of salon.com has been doing an excellent job covering these civil liberties infringement. He notes that the FBI has been involved with local law enforcement. He even provides a photo (see update, deep into his piece).

Infiltrations, false arrest, preventive detention, suppression of dissident media—these are the hallmarks of authoritarian rule.

Right here in America.

(Progressive.org)

Palins Lies Continue.

2008-09-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

(Huffingtonpost.com)

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform _ not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars."

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama's plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain's plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded.

Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families.

He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America," he said in an interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain's phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state _ by population.

MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities," he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under "federal status," which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska's national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOV. MITT ROMNEY: "We need change, all right _ change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington _ throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin."

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. Only since January 2007 have Democrats have been in charge of the House and Senate.

Obamas Resume for all those who think Palin is as qualified...

2008-09-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Obamas resume

Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
Undergraduate, 1981-1983
Columbia University
B.A. Political Science with specialization in international relations
Thesis topic: Soviet nuclear disarmament
Graduate
Harvard Law School
J.D. magna cum laude 1988-1991
President, Harvard Law Review
Illinois Senate 1996-2004
• chairman, Health and Human Services Committee
• Spearheaded a successful bipartisan effort in Illinois to pass the broadest ethics-reform legislation by any state in 25 years, and also gained bipartisan support for his successful bills reforming death penalty interrogations and ending racial profiling by police. Worked with the Republican-led effort to reform welfare
• Also sponsored successful bills expanding tax credits and child-care subsidies for low-income working families, protecting overtime pay for workers, expanding health care for children, and providing job skills training for juveniles
United States Senate 2004-present
• Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
• Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs
• Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
• Member, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
• Member, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
• Shares responsibility for the bipartisan Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, requiring full online disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds, and the bipartisan Lugar-Obama Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006, deepening non-proliferation work with WMD and including surface-to-air missiles, land mines, and other weapons that may be used by terrorists
Bills / Amendments Passed
• Barack Obama has introduced nearly 300 bills during his time in the U.S. Senate, and cosponsored close to 1,000 others. If you would like a full look at his legislative efforts, search the 109th Congress at http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d109query.html and 110th Congress at http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d110query.html
• S.AMDT.1041 to S.1082 To improve the safety and efficacy of genetic tests.
• S.AMDT.3073 to H.R.1585 To provide for transparency and accountability in military and security contracting.
• S.AMDT.3078 to H.R.1585 Relating to administrative separations of members of the Armed Forces for personality disorder.
• S.AMDT.41 to S.1 To require lobbyists to disclose the candidates, leadership PACs, or political parties for whom they collect or arrange contributions, and the aggregate amount of the contributions collected or arranged.
• S.AMDT.524 to S.CON.RES.21 To provide $100 million for the Summer Term Education Program supporting summer learning opportunities for low-income students in the early grades to lessen summer learning losses that contribute to the achievement gaps separating low-income students from their middle-class peers.
• S.AMDT.599 to S.CON.RES.21 To add $200 million for Function 270 (Energy) for the demonstration and monitoring of carbon capture and sequestration technology by the Department of Energy.
• S.AMDT.905 to S.761 To require the Director of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education to establish a program to recruit and provide mentors for women and underrepresented minorities who are interested in careers in mathematics, science, and engineering.
• S.AMDT.923 to S.761 To expand the pipeline of individuals entering the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields to support United States innovation and competitiveness.
• S.AMDT.924 to S.761 To establish summer term education programs.
• S.AMDT.2519 to H.R.2638 To provide that one of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5 million or to award a grant in excess of such amount unless the prospective contractor or grantee certifies in writing to the agency awarding the contract or grant that the contractor or grantee owes no past due Federal tax liability.
• S.AMDT.2588 to H.R.976 To provide certain employment protections for family members who are caring for members of the Armed Forces recovering from illnesses and injuries incurred on active duty.
• S.AMDT.2658 to H.R.2642 To provide that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5,000,000 or to award a grant in excess of such amount unless the prospective contractor or grantee makes certain certifications regarding Federal tax liability.
• S.AMDT.2692 to H.R.2764 To require a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction and security plan.

Will someone please fight back?

2008-09-04T06:49:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Republicans on a job well done. You know how to throw punches. Despite your inability to discuss anything to the nation about how you're going to make positive changes, you delivered powerful speeches directly attacking those loyal to the democratic party. I mean who really cares if you have no plan for our nation other than drilling oil in all the natural preserves. That's really all that matters in the end anyway...I want cheaper gas. (sarcasm) The hypocrisy that is the Republican party has become deafening...for the past year they've harrassed the Democrats, talking about gender, lack of experiences, the liberals being the problem with teen pregnancies for not teaching abstinence...But now here we are. The Republicans whining that Palin is being attacked by sexist people, they've also now chosen someone with no experience in a real government (i.e. Alaska). And they've managed to select someone whose abstinence teachings have led straight the pregnancy of her 17 year old unwed daughter. Oh but Levi WAS there last night...and he was so interested in all the happenings that he chewed gum on stage. The father FINALLY made sure to hold the baby in front of the nation and Levi never let go of Bristols hand. Have you ever seen anything more staged? Well done McCain, way to prep them. For someone slamming the media they sure are making the adjustments they need based on the media's tips. Can you imagine having this fake family in office if McCain dies? If the Republicans win, I'm moving to Canada.

Come debate time Obama and Biden need to take out their boxing gloves. They can't keep letting the Democrats look like they can be bullied around. We are in a war. We can't look like pushovers...too many undecideds are on the edge about the party's strength...Please fight back...Though at present that possibility doesn't look so good...

Biden said he would stick to policy issues when the two meet to debate on October 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

"When we debate -- and, boy, she's going to be a tough debater, she's going to be a skillful debater -- I'm going to try to talk about the differences of our worldview here and what we're going to do for the country," he said.

"If it's going to get down to who can deliver the toughest lines, then she's going to win the debate," Biden added. "But I'm not going there.

Please Biden, don't let a female make you look like a wimp. Trying to make the Republicans look like a bully hasn't worked the last 8 years, its not going to work now.

We are not fools.

2008-09-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

You aren't fooling anyone. The Palins / McCain / the Republican party has counted too long on the stupidity of America...You aren't fooling us.

My problem with Palin...

Palin is a big oil exec, who for profit only purposes wants to ruin the only natural preserves in Alaska by drilling for more oil. By producing more oil we only diminish the dire need for alternative fuel methods. The last 8 years of the current presidency was driven by oil and look where we are now. Having Palin in office will only continue to jeopardize this country in regards to the economy and environment.

Her family portrait seems staged. The never pregnant candidate had a baby in May. She never showed signs of pregnancy and on the day of the child's birth flew from Texas to Alaska. The next day back to work...Mysteriously enough...Bristol, the now pregnant daughter, missed several months of school due to a very "severe case of mono." Who do you think you're kidding? Her stance on the subject, that teenage daughters should be nurtured and helped. Last year Palin cut $1.1 million dollars from the Alaskan fund that provided shelter and help to teenage mothers. A nurturing mother who puts her child first would show some form of admiration towards her new born. Bristol seems to be the one in charge...Is it hers?

In an ongoing legal batter for a wrongful termination of a state employee. Sarah Palin follows in the footsteps of current political leaders by spending the taxpayers dollars. She paid $95,000 of state funds for lawyers in an ongoing case.

Sarar Palin and her husband are part of a group that is fighting for Alaska to secede from the United States. This is an definitely an example of patriotism. I'm sure by Alaska seceding she could have been Pres. Why are you settling for second Mrs. Palin?

After being nominated into office, Palin cleaned house by firing everyone who didn't have complete loyalty to her.

Palin is anti-abortion, now usually even i agree there should be some limitations on who can get an abortion, but Palin has crossed a line that only an insensitive, uneducated person would cross. She believes that even pregnancies caused by rape and incest should be forbidden to terminate. Maybe that baby is Bristols and her fathers.

Palin has no experience. Leading a small city in a state no one cares to think about does not equal experience. Her foreign policy experience can be described as minimal, after all she didn't get a passport until 2007.

When she was Mayor of Juneau she wanted to pull books that she deemed 'offensive' from city library shelves. When the head librarian refused she tried to get them sacked for 'insubordination'. That is a FACT, check it yourself.
She is nothing but a power-hungry self-serving harridan.

Sarah Palin is a fake. I mentioned this a bit earlier. Today, her son appeared straight from the military (well done on signing that order Mr. Bush). Her daughters baby daddy (who never wants children according to myspace) got off the plane a new man, haircut, shaven face, preppy clothes. Well done Mr. McCain.

Sarah Palin = George Bush. Nominating her into office means a country led by a religious dictator...i say led because ol' Johny boy isn't going to make it four years. Thats enough of my ranting for now.

Goodbye my little furry friends.

2008-09-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

As reported in the Alaska podcast, the Anchorage newspaper and the "Independent", people in Alaska have several other terms for Todd and/or Sarah. Todd is also known as "The Shadow Governor" because he sits in on state meetings that should be attended only by the governor. He has had access to private office emails. He had Sarah fire an aide of hers because the aide had the audacity to date the ex-wife of a good friend of Todd's. People also call Todd and Sarah "the tag team".

Here's something more people should know about Sarah. She single-handedly allows cattlemen to pay $1.00 to graze their cattle not on their own land but on taxpayer-owned land which has been set aside as a hunting habitat for the Alaskan Gray Wolf. The cattlement and other hunters then enjoy "aerial hunting" which means they go up in small planes to participate in the "sport" of shooting wolves and then just leaving them where they fall. This comes as no surprise because Sarah was raised in a house that is full of dead, stuffed animals. Sarah is also no friend of polar bears, believing their habitat is better served for building roads and other services for the additional land she wants to use for drilling. Polar bears could be extinct within our children's lifespans. If the people elect Sarah, we can be sure of it.

Furthermore, why is the pregnant daughter always holding the baby. Seems to me that she is no child of theirs (Sarah and Todd). They take little interest in the child and are never seen holding it. Well at least she's no hypocrit her daughter is a whore, and she keeps the baby.

What the hell are they naming their children after????

Sarah has a lot of skeletons in her closet. She cannot be trusted.

Uneducated people like to burn books...

2008-09-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

WASILLA -- Back in 1996, when she first became mayor, Sarah Palin asked the city librarian if she would be all right with censoring library books should she be asked to do so.

According to news coverage at the time, the librarian said she would definitely not be all right with it. A few months later, the librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, got a letter from Palin telling her she was going to be fired. The censorship issue was not mentioned as a reason for the firing. The letter just said the new mayor felt Emmons didn't fully support her and had to go.

Emmons had been city librarian for seven years and was well liked. After a wave of public support for her, Palin relented and let Emmons keep her job.

It all happened 12 years ago and the controversy long ago disappeared into musty files. Until this week. Under intense national scrutiny, the issue has returned to dog her. It has been mentioned in news stories in Time Magazine and The New York Times and is spreading like a virus through the blogosphere.

The stories are all suggestive, but facts are hard to come by. Did Palin actually ban books at the Wasilla Public Library?

In December 1996, Emmons told her hometown newspaper, the Frontiersman, that Palin three times asked her -- starting before she was sworn in -- about possibly removing objectionable books from the library if the need arose.

Emmons told the Frontiersman she flatly refused to consider any kind of censorship. Emmons, now Mary Ellen Baker, is on vacation from her current job in Fairbanks and did not return e-mail or telephone messages left for her Wednesday.

When the matter came up for the second time in October 1996, during a City Council meeting, Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla housewife who often attends council meetings, was there.

Like many Alaskans, Kilkenny calls the governor by her first name.

"Sarah said to Mary Ellen, 'What would your response be if I asked you to remove some books from the collection?" Kilkenny said.

"I was shocked. Mary Ellen sat up straight and said something along the line of, 'The books in the Wasilla Library collection were selected on the basis of national selection criteria for libraries of this size, and I would absolutely resist all efforts to ban books.'"

Palin didn't mention specific books at that meeting, Kilkenny said.

Palin herself, questioned at the time, called her inquiries rhetorical and simply part of a policy discussion with a department head "about understanding and following administration agendas," according to the Frontiersman article.

TEST OF LOYALTY

Were any books censored banned? June Pinell-Stephens, chairwoman of the Alaska Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Committee since 1984, checked her files Wednesday and came up empty-handed.

Pinell-Stephens also had no record of any phone conversations with Emmons about the issue back then. Emmons was president of the Alaska Library Association at the time.Books may not have been pulled from library shelves, but there were other repercussions for Emmons.

Four days before the exchange at the City Council, Emmons got a letter from Palin asking for her resignation. Similar letters went to police chief Irl Stambaugh, public works director Jack Felton and finance director Duane Dvorak. John Cooper, a fifth director, resigned after Palin eliminated his job overseeing the city museum.

Palin told the Daily News back then the letters were just a test of loyalty as she took on the mayor's job, which she'd won from three-term mayor John Stein in a hard-fought election. Stein had hired many of the department heads. Both Emmons and Stambaugh had publicly supported him against Palin.

Emmons survived the loyalty test and a second one a few months later. She resigned in August 1999, two months before Palin was voted in for a second mayoral term.

Palin might have become a household name in the last week, but Kilkenny, who is not a Palin fan, is on her own small path to Internet fame. She sent out an e-mail earlier this week to friends and family answering, from her perspective, the question Outsiders are asking any Alaskan they know: "Who is this Sarah Palin?"

Kilkenny's e-mail got bounced through cyberspace and ended up on news blogs. Now the small-town mom and housewife is scheduling interviews with national news media and got her name on the front page of The New York Times, even if it was misspelled.

Are you serious?!

2008-09-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

Photo: Sarah Palin the fisher (wo)man

So, wow! John McCain really hit a home run with his VP pick, no?

Seeking to snag the disappointed Hillary supporters, he picked a woman. He really thinks we're that shallow.

Needing to convince the religious right, he picked an anti-choice, anti-gay, anti-stem-cell, evangelical who wants creationism taught in the public schools. She opposes abortions even for the victims of rape and incest.

Looking to shore up the Republican base, he picked a pro-gun, pro-oil, anti-environmentalist, who is suing the federal government for placing the polar bear on the threatened species list. She insists that human activities have no impact on climate change. To paraphrase my favorite line from John Kerry's campaign: What if we had a VP who believed in science?

Desperate to energize his campaign, he picked a 44 year old former beauty queen with less than two years in office. Sadly, the ploy might work, given the traditional demographic of McCain supporters. Pat Buchanan loves her, as does Rush Limbaugh, who calls her a babe. Um, eew. And then there's this bumpersticker already circulating on right-leaning websites. It should warm the heart of any woman in or seeking a leadership position who just wants to be taken seriously.

It does make you wonder why he passed over Kay Bailey Hutchison and Olympia Snowe for Palin. I thought Carly Fiorina might have been a good choice. What must she really be thinking?

When Sarah Palin was first introduced, I was truly intrigued, and hopeful, even if I'm not a McCain supporter. The more I learn about her, the more I am concerned that she may be a disaster for women - win or lose.

If she wins, and maybe even ascends to the Presidency, her beliefs and policies stand to set back women's freedom and their children's economic, environmental, and global security for decades.

If she loses, or has to step off the ticket because of her complicated family issues (I'm deliberately leaving it at that) she, and not Hillary Clinton will become the face of women running for higher office. It's been 24 years since Geraldine Ferraro's family finances sunk the Mondale campaign. I really hope we don't have to wait that long again.

In alarmingly short time, the Clintons' fabled bridge to the 21st century has been converted to a big ole bridge to nowhere. Perhaps Sarah Palin should have said "Thanks, but no thanks" to the McCain Campaign.

My Vote.

2008-09-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

When this election year started I was firm in my belief that Hillary Clinton was the best woman for the job as president. Unfortunately, the cards didn't unfold for her and now we have two options Obama or McCain. I've never been one of those people to strictly vote with party ties, though my beliefs tend to lean towards a moderate liberal side.

McCain had managed to get my interest after Hillary lost the nomination. In fact, I believed that come November I would be marking his name as my nomination. That was until he announced Sarah Palin as his V.P. What the hell was he thinking??? Does McCain believe that women are going to just vote for him because his V.P. is lacking a penis. He couldn't be more wrong. I am a Hillary supporter and I DO NOT support Sarah Palin.

In other news...

Gustav hits Louisiana, New Orleans Under Water.
President Bush cancels live speech at the Republican Convention.
The Republican convention is postponed...they need more time to prepare...
Sarah Palins 17 year old daughter is pregnant.
Tiger woods having second child.
A levee in Louisiana is near breaking point, a crew on the scene is covering it with dirt and sand.
Dark Knight reaches $500 million mark.

Obamas Speech

2008-08-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

The American Promise"
Democratic National Convention
August 28, 2008
Denver, Colorado

As prepared for delivery

----

To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation;

With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest - a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.

To the love of my life, our next First Lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia - I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.

Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story - of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.

It is that promise that has always set this country apart - that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.

That's why I stand here tonight. Because for two hundred and thirty two years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women - students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.

We meet at one of those defining moments - a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.

These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.

America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.

This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.

This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for twenty years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.

We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.

Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land - enough! This moment - this election - is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."

Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.

But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisors - the man who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.

Now, I don't believe that Senator McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under five million dollars a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than one hundred million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?

It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.

For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy - give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is - you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps - even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.

Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.

You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.

We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was President - when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.

We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great - a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.

I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as President of the United States.

What is that promise?

It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.

It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.

Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves - protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.

Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.

That's the promise of America - the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.

That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am President.
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Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.

Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.

I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

I will cut taxes - cut taxes - for 95% of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.

And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as President: in ten years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last thirty years, and John McCain has been there for twenty-six of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Senator McCain took office.

Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.

As President, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy - wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.

America, now is not the time for small plans.

Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American - if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.

Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.

Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.

And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.

Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime - by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less - because we cannot meet twenty-first century challenges with a twentieth century bureaucracy.

And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.

Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility - that's the essence of America's promise.

And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next Commander-in-Chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.

For while Senator McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell - but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.

And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush Administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.

That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.

You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice - but it is not the change we need.

We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans - have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.

As Commander-in-Chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.

I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.

These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.

But what I will not do is suggest that the Senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.

The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America - they have served the United States of America.

So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.

America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose - our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.

We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This too is part of America's promise - the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what - it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.

For eighteen long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us - that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.

America, this is one of those moments.

I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.

And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit - that American promise - that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours - a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead - people of every creed and color, from every walk of life - is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise - that American promise - and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.

WATCH HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ato7BtisXzE