Sarah Palin Watch

Post Script: Palin Even Worse Than we Thought

2008-11-06T10:38:00.006-06:00

OK, I said the last post was my last, but this is a kind of post script. Turns out Palin was more of a thorn in the side of the McCain campaign than previously thought. It also turns out her shopping spree was even more splendrific than earlier reported.

This woman truly is a disaster.

Here's the ABC report that finally brings the truth to light:

Strains Between McCain and Palin Aides Go Public

Report: Palin's Wardrobe Is to Be Audited by GOP

By KATE SNOW

Nov. 6, 2008 —

Now that the defeated team of Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have gone their separate ways, the knives are out and Palin is the one who is getting filleted.

Revelations from anonymous critics from within the McCain-Palin campaign suggest a number of complaints about the Alaskan governor:

Fox News reports that Palin didn't know Africa was a continent and did not know the member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement -- the United States, Mexico and Canada -- when she was picked for vice president.

The New York Times reports that McCain aides were outraged when Palin staffers scheduled her to speak with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, a conversation that turned out to be a radio station prank.

Newsweek reports that Palin spent far more than the previously reported $150,000 on clothes for herself and her family.

Several publications say she irked the McCain campaign by asking to make her own concession speech on election night.

The tension is likely to continue or get worse. Lawyers for the Republican National Committee are heading to Alaska to try to account for all the money that was spent on clothing, jewelry and luggage, according to The New York Times.

Reports of agitation between the two camps bubbled up in the final weeks of the campaign as Barack Obama began pulling away and the GOP duo was unable to regain the momentum.

But those reports are no longer in the rumor stage as McCain loyalists are now blasting away at the Alaska governor, who was a favorite of the Republican right during the campaign, but was cited in numerous polls as a reason why many Americans wouldn't vote for the Arizona Republican.

Perhaps the most dangerous allegation for Palin are reports in The New York Times and Newsweek that when she was urged by McCain adviser Nicole Wallace to buy three suits for the Republican convention and three suits for the campaign trail, she went on the now-infamous shopping spree at swank stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

A Republican donor who agreed to foot a majority of the expenses was stunned when he received the bill, Newsweek reported. Both the Times and Newsweek report that the budget for the clothing was expected to be between $20,000 and $25,000. Instead, the amount reported by the Republican National Committee was $150,000.

That wasn't the whole tab, however, according to Newsweek. The magazine claims that Palin leaned on some low-level staffers to put thousands of dollars of additional purchases on their credit cards. The national committee and McCain became aware of the extra expenditures, including clothes for husband Todd Palin, when the staffers sought reimbursement, Newsweek reported.

McCain Aide Calls Palin Family 'Wasilla Hillbillies'

There is one comment in particular from a McCain aide that guaranteed to heighten friction between the two camps. The angry aide described the Palin family shopping spree to Newsweek as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast."

It's unclear how much McCain knew about the clothing debacle. Reports suggest that he was kept out of the loop for fear that he would not approve.

Both Newsweek and The New York Times say McCain and Palin had little contact with each other.

"I think it was a difficult relationship," one top McCain official confided to The New York Times. But a high level McCain adviser told ABC News that the two had a good working relationship.

"He likes her," this senior McCain adviser said last week. "He's had no problem with her. He's very appreciative of what she's done."

The adviser said McCain and Palin talked at least once a day. He also said McCain frequently joked about how large Palin's crowds were compared to his.

However, press accounts today suggest that Palin rubbed many of the McCain aides the wrong way. On election night when it was clear that McCain would be giving a concession speech instead of an acceptance speech, Palin approached McCain with a speech in hand hoping to make her own concession speech, according to published reports.

Vice presidential candidates traditionally leave the spotlight to the top of the ticket on election night and McCain aides made it clear to Palin that she would be a spectator that night, not a speaker, The New York Times reported.

And when McCain and Palin split up in Arizona Wednesday, the personal differences were stark.

McCain drove himself home in a Toyota sport utility vehicle. Palin's departure was a grander event. She left with an entourage of 18 family members and friends and a Secret Service detail, heading to the airport in a motorcade stretching more than a dozen vehicles, flanked by a dozen more cops on motorcycles.

FULL ARTICLE

Obama Wins! No More Sarah Palin!

2008-11-05T18:10:00.004-06:00

With this post our task is done. And the good news is that this blog achieved its purpose. In some small way,perhaps, our voice was joined with that of many others to show what a disaster it would have been to elevate Palin to a position of national authority. The disaster was averted. Halleluia!

So we end with a video I took at the Obama rally downtown Chicago last night. What a night of joy it was!! (the blog will remain just as a reminder of what might have happened if we hadn't been vigilant).

My Neighborhood: Barak Obama's Hyde Park, Chicago

2008-11-04T09:20:00.007-06:00

Here's a video highlighting my neighborhood and our next president's neighborhood, Hyde Park, Chicago.

Walked our dog past his house this morning. Found the whole block in front of it blocked off. Stopped to say a prayer for him and his family. Just missed them coming out to vote.

Here's a couple of videos highlighting our unique community.

NOW GET OUT AND VOTE!!

Obama Wins!

2008-11-04T00:39:00.006-06:00

OK, here's a portent of things to come. Tiny Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, which is always the first town in America to vote, registered 21 votes at midnight eastern time. 15 went to Obama. 6 to McCain.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS LITTLE TOWN HAS VOTED DEMOCRATIC SINCE 1960!

A portent of things to come.

Prediction: Obama wins with 52% of the popular vote and 346 electoral college votes.

And I'll be downtown Chicago to celebrate.

Bets anyone???

Story from CNN:

Dixville Notch Has Spoken: It's Obama in a Landslide

Sarah Palin Cleared - By Board She Can Fire!!

2008-11-03T22:39:00.006-06:00

Before people go to the polls tomorrow morning they're going to read that Sarah Palin has been cleared of any ethics violations in the Troopergate scandal by an Alaskan Personnel Board . This runs counter to an earlier finding by a bi-partisan committee of investigation which did find her guilty of ethics violations. So what does this mean?

It means that the board she wanted to investigate her, once she found out there was good evidence to convict her, has sided with her, a board consisting of people over whom she has control. Surprised? Not if you have followed what has been noted all along in this blog - that this is a controling woman who uses threats and favors to keep people in line.

Here's the story as our favorite Alaskan blogger, AKMuckraker, has it. AK is also clear that this is not over as the trooper is going to file suit, in which case Palin is going to have a much harder time controling the outcome.

This from AKMuckraker:

THE BREAK DOWN OF THE TROOPERGATE INVESTIGATION:

The Legislature decides to investigate Palin for ethics violations. Palin says she will cooperate, so no subpoena is issued. Palin sends out Attorney General Talis Colberg to interview witnesses in advance of the Legislature’s investigation, so she knows what they’re going to say. Palin discovers a taped phone call made by her administration pressuring Troopers to fire Wooten. Palin says she is surprised by phone call and concedes it looks bad. Palin files ethics complaint against herself so that the Republican governor appointed Personnel Board, made up of people that she can fire, will be the group that investigates. Palin says Legislative investigation has become partisan and refuses to cooperate. Attorney General tells state employees they don’t need to comply with Legislative subpoenas. They don’t show for depositions. At the last minute they provide written testimony, but Palin still does not cooperate because she was not subpoenaed. Legislature releases report that says Palin abused her power and violated the Executive Ethics Act. Then, the day before the election, The Personnel Board releases a report clearing Palin and all state employees of everything.

My contacts at Alaskans for Truth, who were involved in supporting Walt Monegan in his request for a hearing, are not pleased. This isn’t over by a long shot. It’s unlikely that this grass roots group is going to let Palin skip off into the sunset without a fight.

Stay tuned for updates as they become available. I expect we’ll be hearing from members of the Legislature soon.

FULL POST HERE

Sarah Palin Pranked, Thinks She's Talking to French Premier

2008-11-03T22:23:00.002-06:00

This is too good to miss. Listen to Sarah Palin get pranked by Canadian comedians thinking she's talking to the French Premier, Nicolas Sarkozy. Transcript follows.

She really is clueless . . .

Transcript:

Sarah Palin: This is Sarah.

Masked Avengers: Ah, yeah, Gov. Palin.

Palin: Hello.

Avengers: Just hold on for President Sarkozy, one moment.

P: Oh, it's not him yet, they're saying. I always do that.

A: Yes, hello, Gov. Palin.

P: Hello, this is Sarah, how are you?

A: Fine, and you? This is Nicolas Sarkozy speaking, how are you?

P: Oh, it's so good to hear you. Thank you for calling us.

A: Oh, it's a pleasure.

P: Thank you sir, we have such great respect for you, John McCain and I. We love you and thank you for taking a few minutes to talk to me.

A: I follow your campaigns closely with my special American adviser Johnny Hallyday, you know?

P: Yes, good.

A: Excellent. Are you confident?

P: Very confident and we're thankful that polls are showing that the race is tightening and...

A: Well I know very well that the campaign can be exhausting. How do you feel right now, my dear?

P: I feel so good. I feel like we're in a marathon and at the very end of the marathon you get your second wind and you plow to the finish.

A: You see, I got elected in France because I'm real and you seem to be someone who's real, as well.

P: Yes, yeah. Nico, we so appreciate this opportunity.

A: You know I see you as a president one day, too.

P: Maybe in eight years.

A: Well, I hope for you. You know, we have a lot in common because personally one of my favourite activities is to hunt, too.

P: Oh, very good. We should go hunting together.

A: Exactly, we could try go hunting by helicopter like you did. I never did that. Like we say in French, on pourrait tuer des bebe phoque s, aussi.

P: Well, I think we could have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done. We can kill two birds with one stone that way.

A: I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun. I'd really love to go, so long as we don't bring along Vice-President Cheney.

P: No, I'll be a careful shot, yes.

A: Yes, you know we have a lot in common also, because except from my house I can see Belgium. That's kind of less interesting than you.

P: Well, see, we're right next door to different countries that we all need to be working with, yes.

A: Some people said in the last days and I thought that was mean that you weren't experienced enough in foreign relations and you know that's completely false. That's the thing that I said to my great friend, the prime minister of Canada Stef Carse.

P: Well, he's doing fine, too, and yeah, when you come into a position underestimated it gives you an opportunity to prove the pundits and the critics wrong. You work that much harder.

A: I was wondering because you are so next to him, one of my good friends, the prime minister of Quebec, Mr. Richard Z. Sirois, have you met him recently? Did he come to one of your rallies?

P: I haven't seen him at one of the rallies but it's been great working with the Canadian officials. I know as governor we have a great co-operative effort there as we work on all of our resource-development projects. You know, I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally and your beautiful wife. Oh my goodness, you've added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of yours.

A: Thank you very much. You know my wife Carla would love to meet you, even though you know she was a bit jealous that I was supposed to speak to you today.

P: Well, give her a big hug for me.

A: You know my wife is a popular singer and a former top model and she's so hot in bed. She even wrote a song for you.

P: Oh my goodness, I didn't know that.

A: Yes, in French it's called de rouge a levre sur un cochon, or if you prefer in English, Joe the Plumber...it's his life, Joe the Plumber.

P: Maybe she understands some of the unfair criticism but I bet you she is such a hard worker, too, and she realizes you just plow through that criticism.

A: I just want to be sure. That phenomenon Joe the Plumber. That's not your husband, right?

P: That's not my husband but he's a normal American who just works hard and doesn't want government to take his money.

A: Yes, yes, I understand we have the equivalent of Joe the Plumber in France. It's called Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit.

P: Right, that's what it's all about, the middle class and government needing to work for them. You're a very good example for us here.

A: I see a bit about NBC, even Fox News wasn't an ally as much as usual.

P: Yeah, that's what we're up against.

A: Gov. Palin, I love the documentary they made on your life. You know Hustler's Nailin' Paylin?

P: Ohh, good, thank you, yes.

A: That was really edgy.

P: Well, good.

A: I really loved you and I must say something also, governor, you've been pranked by the Masked Avengers. We are two comedians from Montreal.

P: Ohhh, have we been pranked? And what radio station is this?

A: CKOI in Montreal.

P: In Montreal? Tell me the radio station call letters.

A: CK...hello?

The Final Reason Not to Vote McCain/Palin Tomorrow

2008-11-03T18:38:00.002-06:00

As if there weren't enough reasons not to vote for McCain/Palin here's another. Not for weak stomachs.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow. Too much is at stake to let this opportunity for hope to slip by.

Countdown to Election Day: Six Reasons Why Sarah Palin is Unqualified for President - REASON NUMBER 1

2008-11-03T11:08:00.009-06:00

Reason Number One: She is a Divisive, Vindictive Person

Can you believe it? One more day and all of the distortions, bone-headed accusations, mud-slinging nonsense that have been defining characteristics of the McCain/Palin ticket will be over. One more day and we can say "goodby and good riddance" to the most unqualified vice presidential candidate ever to grace a national campaign. The incredible thing is that there are actually people who are beginning to tout Palin for a presidential run in 2012. From where I sit that may be a good thing. It will mean yet another victory for the Democrats.

In our countdown to tomorrow's history-making vote, here's reason number two why Palin is supremely unqualified to serve as VP (much less president! God forbid!):

She is a vindictive, divisive person

A quick glance back at the letter I have put up on this blog more than once from Anne Kilkenny, shows that Palin's vindictive streak has been a defining characteristic of her governing style from day one. In fact, there is evidence that this is what she's been about since high school. Here are just a few things that give credence to this accusation:

She tried to get a small town librarian fired simply because she wouldn't go along with her ideas about what books to stock in the library.
She had a police chief fired because she found him intimidating.
She used her aides and husband to go after her brother-in-law to make sure he got fired. When a police chief failed to follow through she went after him. A bi-partisan committee found in this case clear evidence of abuse of office. She dismissed it as though it was a matter of little account.
Starting at the Republican National Convention she has gleefully twisted the truth about Obama's record, belittled and berated her opponents and gotten crowds fired up with sound byte distortions: "he palls around with terrorists," "he's a socialist" "he's not one of us" so that her campaign rallies have begun to resemble lynch mobs. And through it all she acts as though she is oblivious to the hate she is whipping up.

Watch the following videos and make your own decisions:

Palin Attacks Obama with no real understanding of what he is proposing:

Obama "palls around with terrorists"

A typical Palin crowd:

A Conservative Republican Re-Assesses What This Election is About

2008-11-02T16:30:00.003-06:00

This is a digression from the theme of this blog, but only slightly. Written by a conservative Republican, it may be the most touching, truth-filled article I've seen anywhere about what this election is about.

It's so good that I'm pasting it here in its entirely, but I do urge you to go to the Christian Science Monitor where it appears. The link to the article is below.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

My wife made me canvas for Obama; here's what I learned
This election is not about major policies. It's about hope.

By Jonathan Curley

from the November 3, 2008 edition

Charlotte, N.C. - There has been a lot of speculation that Barack Obama might win the election due to his better "ground game" and superior campaign organization.

I had the chance to view that organization up close this month when I canvassed for him. I'm not sure I learned much about his chances, but I learned a lot about myself and about this election.

Let me make it clear: I'm pretty conservative. I grew up in the suburbs. I voted for George H.W. Bush twice, and his son once. I was disappointed when Bill Clinton won, and disappointed he couldn't run again.

I encouraged my son to join the military. I was proud of him in Afghanistan, and happy when he came home, and angry when he was recalled because of the invasion of Iraq. I'm white, 55, I live in the South and I'm definitely going to get a bigger tax bill if Obama wins.

I am the dreaded swing voter.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

At the Obama headquarters, we stood in a group to receive our instructions. I wasn't the oldest, but close, and the youngest was maybe in high school. I watched a campaign organizer match up a young black man who looked to be college age with a white guy about my age to canvas together. It should not have been a big thing, but the beauty of the image did not escape me.

Instead of walking the tree-lined streets near our home, my wife and I were instructed to canvass a housing project. A middle-aged white couple with clipboards could not look more out of place in this predominantly black neighborhood.

We knocked on doors and voices from behind carefully locked doors shouted, "Who is it?"

"We're from the Obama campaign," we'd answer. And just like that doors opened and folks with wide smiles came out on the porch to talk.

Grandmothers kept one hand on their grandchildren and made sure they had all the information they needed for their son or daughter to vote for the first time.

Young people came to the door rubbing sleep from their eyes to find out where they could vote early, to make sure their vote got counted.

We knocked on every door we could find and checked off every name on our list. We did our job, but Obama may not have been the one who got the most out of the day's work.

I learned in just those three hours that this election is not about what we think of as the "big things."

It's not about taxes. I'm pretty sure mine are going to go up no matter who is elected.

It's not about foreign policy. I think we'll figure out a way to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan no matter which party controls the White House, mostly because the people who live there don't want us there anymore.

I don't see either of the candidates as having all the answers.

I've learned that this election is about the heart of America. It's about the young people who are losing hope and the old people who have been forgotten. It's about those who have worked all their lives and never fully realized the promise of America, but see that promise for their grandchildren in Barack Obama. The poor see a chance, when they often have few. I saw hope in the eyes and faces in those doorways.

My wife and I went out last weekend to knock on more doors. But this time, not because it was her idea. I don't know what it's going to do for the Obama campaign, but it's doing a lot for me.

Jonathan Curley is a banker. He voted for George H.W. Bush twice and George W. Bush once.

FULL ARTICLE

The Tickets are on the Way!!

2008-11-02T14:31:00.006-06:00

It's official. The tickets are on the way. I'm headed to the celebration Tuesday night!! Go Obama!!
------------

Jim . . .

Thank you for signing up to receive a ticket for the Election Night event at Hutchinson Field in Grant Park, Chicago.

Your ticket will be emailed to you on Monday, November 3rd, between 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Each ticket is personalized for the ticket holder and is non-transferable.

You must print your ticket and bring it with you to the event. Each ticket is valid for you and one guest.

Thanks,

The Democratic Party

Countdown to Election Day: Six Reasons Why Sarah Palin is Unqualified for VP (Part 4)

2008-11-02T13:38:00.012-06:00

Reason Number Two: What You See is Not What you Get

Only two more days. Can you believe it? I'll be there when history is being made. Yes, I've got tickets. (sound of fireworks going off). Unless the Republicans manage to pull off election fraud on a North Korean level, Barak Obama will be our next president. And I'll be there to help him celebrate.

In the meantime Sarah Palin is still out there pretending she's got what it takes to be a legitimate candidate for national office. She doesn't. Here's another reason why: what you see is not what you get.

* * *

People in Alaska who have watched Palin make her moves since high school speak of the disconnect between the person she appears to be and who she actually is. That's true of many politicians, of course, but with Palin it's almost pathalogical. Here are just a few of the anomolies in her biography:

She has been an active member of two fundamentalist churches. To become mayor of Wasila she played the fundamentalist card to the hilt. Made it a part of her campaign rhetoric - she was out to create a "godly" town. Her run in with the local librarian was connected to this. Tried to get her to remove "questionable" books. When she refused Palin tried to fire her. The only reason she didn't succeed is because towns people protested. She was Mrs. Fundamentalist then. But when she ran for governor, suddenly she was fundamentalist no longer. Why? Because she couldn't get elected with a fundamentalist agenda. Now she declares herself to be a generic Christian. In other words, don't ask, don't tell.

So who is she? Fundamentalist? Or not?

She likes to portray herself as a maverick opposed to the "old boy" network. Yet, those who know her best point out that she has played "old boy" politics to the hilt, firing people she doesn't like and replacing them with people she does, whether they're qualified or not. With Sarah Palin it's an extreme form of political patronage.

So who is she? Maverick politician or Boss Tweed in a skirt?

Palin loves also to portray herself as an opponent of ear marks and socialism. In point of fact she loves both. It's what has made her such a popular governor. Whatever the oild companies or tax payers in the lower 48 can do to help her buy her way into Alaskans' good graces she'll do.

So again, who is she? Maverick cost cutter or hands-in-our-pockets socialist? The later is closer to the truth.

I'll say it again: Sarah Palin is a hypocrite of the highest order. With her you never know what you're getting. Hardly the kind of person we need anywhere near the White House.

Countdown to Election Day: Six Reasons Why Sarah Palin is Not Qualified to be VP (part 4)

2008-10-31T22:36:00.009-05:00

Reason Number Three: She Speaks without Understanding

Conservative Wall Street Journal columnist, Peggy Noonan, wanted Palin to succeed. She had hoped that she would be a woman of substance, someone who could be an asset to the McCain ticket. What she discovered after seeing her on a national stage was less substance than symbol, a person who "just says things" without the kind of understanding you would hope for in a candidate for high office.

Noonan represents an interesting phenomenon: conservative columnists, often women, who have become Palin's harshest critics. It's a phenomenon driven by a deep sense of disappointment that of all the highly qualified female candidates McCain could have chosen, he chose a woman of such little substance.

Here's Noonan's devastating critique:

--------

From the Wall Street Journal:

We have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office. She is a person of great ambition, but the question remains: What is the purpose of the ambition? She wants to rise, but what for? For seven weeks I've listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite—a spender, to speak briefly, whose political decisions seem untethered to a political philosophy, and whose foreign policy is shaped by a certain emotionalism, or a conservative whose principles are rooted in philosophy, and whose foreign policy leans more toward what might be called romantic realism, and that is speak truth, know America, be America, move diplomatically, respect public opinion, and move within an awareness and appreciation of reality.

But it's unclear whether she is Bushian or Reaganite. She doesn't think aloud. She just . . . says things.

Her supporters accuse her critics of snobbery: Maybe she's not a big "egghead" but she has brilliant instincts and inner toughness. But what instincts? "I'm Joe Six-Pack"? She does not speak seriously but attempts to excite sensation—"palling around with terrorists." If the Ayers case is a serious issue, treat it seriously. She is not as thoughtful or persuasive as Joe the Plumber, who in an extended cable interview Thursday made a better case for the Republican ticket than the Republican ticket has made. In the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand. This is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts. . . .

In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.

FULL ARTICLE

A Halloween Horror Story

2008-10-31T08:11:00.004-05:00

Here's a horror story to scare the little trick or treaters tonight.

Sarah Palin, a heart beat from the presidency

Dress Like Sarah Palin: What Could You Buy with Sarah's Clothing Budget?

2008-10-30T23:26:00.005-05:00

This one is just for fun, but thoughtful at the same time.

Let's start with the facts. Verifiable, undeniable facts. Sarah Palin spent $150,000 on clothing and accessories for herself and her family. No one forced her to do this. She did it because she could.

The question is, what could you do with that money, money that represents more than an average American family would spend on clothes IN 80 YEARS!

To play the game - click on the picture:

Countdown to Election Day: What We Have Learned About Sarah Palin (part 3)

2008-10-30T22:14:00.017-05:00

Top Six Reasons Why Sarah Palin is Not Qualified to be Vice President (much less president!)

****

Reason Number Four: She is a serial hypocrite. She can't be trusted.

The word "hypocrisy" comes easily to mind in reviewing what we've learned about Sarah Palin so far. It may be what is most definitive about her.

Here are a few examples:

Yesterday she launched into a tirade against Obama's supposed inability to meet a security threat, this, the most calming, thoughtful, steady-in-a-storm presidential candidate we've had for a long time.

And who is she? She is a person who touted her national security credentials on the basis of being governor of a state that borders Russia. Never actually met anyone from Russia. But there they are, right next door! She also went to the airport to send off a national guard contingent heading for Iraq. That qualifies her for "commander in chief."

America at crisis with Sarah Palin in the White House (horrors!) may signal the end of the free world. But we can't trust Obama . . .

She derides Obama (wrongly - as is true with most all of her accusations) of being a "socialist," when, in fact, she presides over the most socialist state economy in our country. But don't take my word for it. You can read it on Fox News: LINK.

The only truly socialist governor in our country attacks Obama for a socialism he has never espoused.

She touts her qualifications as a crusader against pork. But those who have watched her astonishing rise from small town mayor to governor of a small state, note that she has had her hand out for pork from the beginning. It's one reason she's been so popular. And then there's that bridge she was for before she was against.

She is against ear-marks except when she is for them.

Sarah Palin is a hypocrite. She cannot be trusted.

Countdown to Election Day: What We Have Learned About Sarah Palin

2008-10-29T23:49:00.007-05:00

Top Six Reasons Why Sarah Palin is Not Qualified for VP

Reason Number 5: She doesn't Know Squat About the Things a VP is Supposed to Know

All we need here is a replay of the Katie Couric interview.

If you didn't see it the first time around, here it is. I warn you, it's painful to watch. I dare bet, in fact, that you can't watch it all the way through without putting your hands on your head or groaning out loud. Can't be done.

See What Sarah Hath Wrought

2008-10-29T13:51:00.004-05:00

This may be the most disturbing video to come out of this election campaign - McCain supporters whipped into a frenzy of hatred. One can only wonder if we would be seeing anything like this if McCain had made a different choice for VP candidate. I don't think so. Sarah Palin has been McCain's attack dog. She has helped the dark side of the American psyche to rise to the top of a bubbling stew of now overt racism. And she's done nothing to tamp it down. McCain hasn't done much about it either as he is now so desperate to get elected that anything goes.

Countdown to Election Day: What We Have Learned about Sarah Palin

2008-10-29T10:08:00.008-05:00

Call this the highlight reel, a chance to go over what we have learned since Sarah Palin made her astonishing appearance on the public stage as John McCain's running mate. We've got six days. Each day I'll put up something we've learned that underscores what was apparent from day one: this woman is not qualified to be vice president much less (God forbid!) president.

THE TOP SIX REASONS WHY SARAH PALIN IS NOT QUALIFIED TO BE VICE PRESIDENT:

Reason Number Six: She abuses power for her own gain

Evidence: Highlights from a letter from woman who has known her since high school.

From Alaska: The Palin Letter

A note to all by Anne Kilkenny
Dear friends,

So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the
last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .

Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
common: their gender and their good looks. :)

Thanks,
Anne

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.

-----
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.
---------

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.
------------

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.
--------

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.

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.

---------------------

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.
-----------------------------

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.

Anne Kilkenny
August 31, 2008

How Do You Know When Sarah Palin is Lying?

2008-10-28T13:13:00.015-05:00

Of the many endearing traits of Sarah Palin that have been revealed to us in the two months she's been in the public eye, none is less attractive than her penchant for lying. And I'm not just talking about little white lies. I'm talking about the kind of whoppers that deserve a whole bar of soap.

What's most unnerving is how good she is at it; the kind of good that says "red" is "yellow"so convincingly that people actually believe it. She's sure got a lot of Republicans fooled. They not only listen to her lies. They repeat them as though they came straight from the mouth of God.

Her biggest whopper was when she was confronted with this:

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 2952.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 2952.110(a) provides

“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

to which she responded with this:

"Well, I'm very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing, any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

Then, confronted with the evidence of her excessive expenditures on clothing and accessories to the tune of 150,000 which broke down like this:

According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August."

she responds with this:

"It's kind of painful to be criticized for something when all the facts are not out there and are not reported," said Palin, saying the clothes are not worth $150,000 and were bought for the Republican National Convention.

She's also been telling some whoppers about Obama. True, they come mostly from her Republican handlers. But she says them with such relish that you know she's speaking from her heart.

There's the one about Obama being a Marxist (which was convincing enough that a dim-witted local TV reporter fed it back to Biden who was so astonished that he could only say: "Are you kidding?"). And, of course, the one she's been repeating over and over and over again: "He's paling around with terrorists!" (notice the plural). Even McCain found that whopper to be over the top. "Well, you know. Sometimes things get exaggerated in a campaign."

Politicians, we're told, do this kind of thing. They lie. But this is the big leagues; humongous, hit em out of the ballpark lies; all told with such a straight face that some commentators have wondered if she isn't pathological.

The richest part of all this is to hear lying Sarah Palin say that Obama can't be trusted. Not her. Obama. He can't be trusted.

Which for some reason brings to mind that old lawyer joke:

How do you know when Sarah Palin is lying?

Her lips are moving.

Former Reagan Official Jumps Ship Because of Palin

2008-10-27T07:53:00.009-05:00

It is now clear that Sarah Palin has become radioactive to the McCain ticket. McCain himself continues to defend her, blaming the press for her troubles (as though the New York Times forced her to spend $150,000 on clothes or use her governor's office to fire a police chief). But the evidence is mounting that she has become a huge liability to McCain.

The latest proof of this may be the most damning. According to the Michigan Messenger , former Reagan Justice Department official, Charles Fried, who served on McCain campaign committees, has voted for Obama by absentee ballot. When asked why, he made it clear that Palin was the reason. He couldn't vote for McCain because of Palin.

Here's the story:

Shocking endorsement of Obama by conservative legal titan Fried

By Ed Brayton 10/26/08 7:26 PM

In perhaps the most significant Republican defection yet, former Reagan Justice Department official Charles Fried, who had previously endorsed McCain and served on committees for the McCain campaign, has announced that he voted absentee ballot for Obama.

Fried also asked that his name be removed from McCain campaign literature. One of the primary reasons: Sarah Palin. From an article in the New Republic:

This week, Fried announced that he has voted for Obama-Biden by absentee ballot. In his letter to Trevor Potter, the General Counsel to the McCain-Palin campaign, he asked that his name be removed from the several campaign-related committees on which he serves. In that letter, he said that chief among the reasons for his decision “is the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis.”
FULL ARTICLE

A View of Palin from the Other Side of the Atlantic

2008-10-26T17:30:00.010-05:00

Do you wonder what Europeans think of Palin? Here's one perspective from the UK where the attempt of some to compare her to Margaret Thatcher is dismissed out of hand. So is the idea that there is anything about her that qualifies her for VP. Sarah Palin is, according to this commentator, "the last kind of potential leader America or the rest of the world needs."

Here's why:

From the UK Telegraph:

Sarah Palin: the Character Question Should Rule Her Out

by Iain Martin

In Christine Toomey's profile of Sarah Palin there is a short passage which gets to the heart of the doubts so many have about the Republican Vice-Presidential candidate.

"There is a high body count of people who have dared to disagree with Sarah Palin, shown a reluctance to do her biddingn her eyes, failed to support her wholeheartedly – among them some who say they too have been hunted, carved up and cast aside along her path to power. These people warn, as do even her closest friends and family, that in Palin’s eyes there are no grey areas, no room for doubt. There is only right or wrong, black or white, “good or evil”. Her father Chuck’s word for it is “stubborn”. One of her friends calls her “dogged”. If Palin believes something to be true, it is – no amount of evidence to the contrary will sway her, and everybody else had better believe it too."

If you like Palin the description makes her sound like Margaret Thatcher, only a little tougher and armed. But that section - "If Palin believes something to be true, it is – no amount of evidence to the contrary will sway her, and everybody else had better believe it too" - is damning.

All the evidence suggests she lacks any curiosity about ideas, others and the outside world. In these dislocated times, of economic crisis and multiple threats on the foreign policy front, that is the last kind of potential leader America or the West needs.

Thatcher, to whom some Republicans want to compare Palin, was intellectually curious, otherwise she would not have made the journey from the fairly bland small c conservatism which she advocated in the 1950s, 1960s and first half of the 1970s. She was open to new thinking. She became stubborn, or too dogged, only after she had turned around her country's economy and altered its standing in the world - not before.

FULL ARTICLE

Weekend Update: The Latest Scandals and Other Related Palinical Nonsense

2008-10-26T14:05:00.003-05:00

Here are a few of the latest scandals and other juicy tid-bits swirling around Champagne Sarah Palin. Stay tuned for updates:

From the AP:

AP INVESTIGATION: Palin pipeline terms curbed bids

By JUSTIN PRITCHARD and GARANCE BURKE – 7 hours ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Gov. Sarah Palin's signature accomplishment — a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 — emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.

FULL ARTICLE

--------

.Palin wrongly suggests Congress bans oil exports

By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer

Published: Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, touted by GOP presidential candidate John McCain as his expert on energy, seemed to have problems Thursday explaining whether the government bans oil exports - especially from her state's North Slope fields.

-----

From Fox News:

Alaska’s Biggest Paper Backs Obama

by Bonney Kapp

ALBUQUERQUE - If it were up to the nation’s newspapers to decide, Barack Obama and Joe Biden would win in a landslide. According to Editor & Publisher - a journal covering the newspaper industry - the Democrats are favored over their GOP rivals by editorial boards 147 - 57 with just nine days until E-Day.

So it was really no surprise when papers like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The LA Times came out for Obama for president — but the Anchorage Daily News? Governor Sarah Palin lost the endorsement of her hometown paper - Alaska’s biggest newspaper

FULL ARTICLE

A New Nickname for Sarah Palin: Rogue Diva

2008-10-25T22:00:00.011-05:00

Sarah Palin has had a lot of nicknames. Already in high school she earned the name, Barracuda. With what we have learned about her petty vindictiveness in the troopergate affair, we now know why.

Palin herself claims the title "hockey mom" even though what it suggests has more or less been blown out of the water by the revelation of her "polo mom" taste in clothing. ("But she did it for charity," whines the McCain campaign. Which sounds a lot like the Republican platform - it's a trickle down wardrobe!) This suggests a new name: Champagne Sarah Palin.

Now key McCain aides are calling her a "diva" who is raining on their parade. Even worse, she's a "rogue" diva, completely out of control. (Don't say we didn't warn you!)

That's what a piece that just appeared on CNN claims. Palin is "going rogue." And it's causing some bitter in-fighting in the Republican party.

Here's the piece from CNN:

Palin's "Going Rogue" Says McCain Aide

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at a rally in Sioux City, Iowa, on Saturday.

Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

FULL ARTICLE

Sarah Palin, Hypocrite

2008-10-24T11:37:00.005-05:00

In recent interviews Sarah Palin has decried the abuse she has taken from the press over such things as her $150,000 wardrobe and the troopergate scandal. It's because she's a woman, she says, that she gets such negative press. She's "hurt" that they would treat her that way.

But then she turns around yesterday and says this about Obama's associations with Bill Ayers and Dr. Jeremiah Wright in an interview with the scurrilous Sean Hannity:

"What did those characters see in Barack Obama? Why would they have wanted to be associated with him?"

Note what she's insinuating here, that there must be something wrong not with Obama's policies, but with his character. It is character assassination of the most vile form. A man she labels a "terrorist" another "anti-American" are attracted to Obama because they see something of themselves in him. And then she repeats the canard that is patently untrue - that Obama launched his campaign in Ayer's living room as though Ayers himself was behind it.

So what are we to assume here? That it's OK for Sarah Palin to traffic in character assassination and National Enquirer-type slander, but not for the press to take a critical look at her own behaivor? Are we to do as she does - simply dismiss the finding of the investigative body that shows without a doubt that she was guilty of abusing her governor's office, or ask no questions about why it was necessary for her to use Republican campaign funds to buy an extravagant wardrobe for herself and her family while claiming middle-class angst?

The Obama campaign has studiously avoided engaging in the kind of spurious, slanderous attacks Palin and McCain have used to try to discredit their opponents. They have not questioned her character, even though there is good reason to do so. In fact, the one time Obama was asked to speak directly to the question of whether or not he felt Palin was qualified to be president, he did what he could to praise her. Her response has been to find more ways to slime Obama.

There is no reason whatsoever for anyone to feel sorry for what the press has done to Sarah Palin. If anything they've been far too lenient. It's time they took off the kid gloves to expose what she is really about -- pure, unbridled self aggrandizing power.

James Dobson Interviews Sarah Palin

2008-10-24T10:16:00.004-05:00

This is not necessarily put up to be critical of Palin, but to give another perspective on who she is. It's an interview she recently did with James Dobson on his radio program that came under the radar screen of the main stream press.

It's in two parts below. Check it out and draw your own conclusions.

The Polls

2008-10-23T21:48:00.006-05:00

Since I got off topic on the last post, I need to follow up with this.

Despite what you've heard about a couple of polls showing McCain making a move on Obama, they are not at all representative of what all the other polls are saying.

Remember - trust the numbers.

-----------

The Latest Polls: Oct 23, 2008

Poll Date Sample MoE Obama (D) McCain (R)

Spread RCP Average 10/16 - 10/22 – – 50.1 42.6 Obama +7.5

====
CBS News/NY Times 10/19 - 10/22 771 LV – 52 39 Obama +13
Rasmussen Reports 10/20 - 10/22 3000 LV 2.0 52 45 Obama +7
Gallup (Traditional)* 10/20 - 10/22 2384 LV 2.0 50 46 Obama +4
Gallup (Expanded)* 10/20 - 10/22 2299 LV 2.0 51 45 Obama +6
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby 10/20 - 10/22 1208 LV 2.9 52 40 Obama +12
Hotline/FD 10/20 - 10/22 769 LV 3.5 48 43 Obama +5
FOX News 10/20 - 10/21 936 LV 3.0 49 40 Obama +9
ABC News/Wash Post 10/19 - 10/22 1335 LV 2.5 54 43 Obama +11
IBD/TIPP 10/18 - 10/22 1088 LV 3.0 45 44 Obama +1
GWU/Battleground 10/16 - 10/22 1000 LV 3.1 49 45 Obama +4
NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl 10/17 - 10/20 1159 RV 2.9 52 42 Obama +10
Associated Press/GfK 10/16 - 10/20 800 LV 3.5 44 43 Obama +1
Ipsos/McClatchy 10/16 - 10/20 773 LV 3.5 50 42 Obama +8
CNN/Opinion Research 10/17 - 10/19 764 LV 3.5 51 46 Obama +5
Pew Research 10/16 - 10/19 2382 LV 2.5 53 39 Obama +14

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html

Revisiting 2004: Assessing the Polls

2008-10-23T15:43:00.005-05:00

This represents a diversion from the normal topic of this blog. But it struck me that with all the back and forth on the polls - one suggesting McCain gaining, most not, that it would be good to re-visit an assessment that was done after the last presidential election. What they found is that a majority of the polls - the same ones that are showing Obama with commanding leads - were essentially correct within the margin of error.

But don't take my word for it. Check out it out below. And note, if you will, how close it was. The difference now is that Obama is polling far ahead of where Bush was at this time. Believe the numbers.
--------------

From the Pew Research Center:

November 23, 2004

Pre-Election Polls Largely Accurate

Lessons From Campaign '04

Facing an array of new and difficult challenges, the pre-election surveys performed fairly well in predicting the outcome of this month's election. Once again, the final surveys by most national polling organizations fell within the margin of error, in spite of widespread concerns over rising refusal rates, "missing" cell-phone-only voters and supposedly flawed likely voter screens. In the wake of such a demanding election, there are a number of lessons to be drawn from the performance of the polls in Campaign '04:

Follow the Data. The campaign showed the dangers of making a priori judgments about voter opinion. This concern arose, most notably, with the practice of weighting polling data to meet predetermined parameters of party identification. Until recently, this approach has been mostly used by partisan pollsters but it also has been adopted by some media polling organizations.

As we noted in an earlier commentary, weighting results on the basis of party in the same manner that pollsters weight data to meet demographic parameters is misguided for a number of reasons (see "Party Affiliation: What It Is and What It Isn't," Sept. 23, 2004). It represents a fundamental misreading of party identification, which is an attitude that changes over time and not a demographic characteristic.

The election exit poll underscored the problems inherent in weighting by party. According to the exit poll, the electorate had equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats (37% each). That represents a change from the past three presidential elections, when Democrats held a slight edge in party identification. Consequently, pre-election surveys that adjusted the partisan composition of likely voters to the exit poll results from 2000 would have misrepresented the partisan make-up of the actual electorate.

Follow the Data (Part II). Among the staples of conventional wisdom in this campaign was that, in an incumbent election, voters who are undecided in the late stages of the race break overwhelmingly against the incumbent. Historically, this so-called 'incumbent rule' has proven to be predictive.

But this year's exit poll showed that Kerry had only a modest advantage among the late deciders. Among those who decided in the final three days before the election, Kerry led by 53%-44%. That was a far cry from what many analysts and pundits had predicted. Pew's analysis of undecided voters for its final pre-election estimate which was based on statistical modeling and follow-up questioning of the undecideds predicted they would break about evenly with a small advantage for Kerry.

This proved more reliable than history in gauging their intentions. There is no doubt, however, that predicting the vote among the undecideds and estimating the final outcome are among the most formidable challenges confronting pollsters.

Cross-Pressured Voters Are Hard to Read. The national polls were fairly stable during the summer, with most showing the race about even or Kerry with a slight to modest lead. But in the wake of the GOP's successful convention in late August, voter opinion was less stable and much harder to track. Similarly, the polls fluctuated after the three presidential debates; most polls showed Bush with a lead, though they differed over its size.

Much of the movement in the polls came among cross-pressured swing voters. These voters, who still comprised about 14% of the electorate in Pew's final pre-election survey, were not happy with the president yet still could not comfortably support Kerry. And they wreaked havoc with the polls, as Pew Research Center Director Andrew Kohut observed in the New York Times (Oct. 21, 2004):

"The round of national surveys taken after the third presidential debate indicates that the polls are not going to give us a clear picture of who will win the election until the final days of the campaign, if then. This is not because polling no longer works it's because voter opinion is highly unstable."

This turned out to be the case. Pew and Gallup had similar pre-election results before making their final estimates Pew showed Bush with a three-point lead among likely voters (48%-45%), while Gallup had Bush up by two points (49%-47%). The CBS News/New York Times survey also showed Bush with a slight 49%-47% advantage.

Although the three polls ended up in pretty much the same place, they all got there differently. The Pew survey showed Bush gaining some ground since mid-October, while Gallup showed Kerry gaining over the same period. The CBS News/New York Times survey showed voter opinion as more stable. Consequently, one could draw very different conclusions about the direction of the race by looking at these polls over the last few weeks of the campaign.

State Polls: Helpful But... The number of horse race polls has been rising for the past several elections, and this year brought an increasing number of polls in the battleground states. Facing a difficult political terrain by definition, all of these states were closely divided the state surveys had varying degrees of success.

In Michigan, for instance, most of the final week polls showed Kerry with a slight advantage. Of the six polls conducted between Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, the website RealClear Politics found that, on average, they showed Kerry with a 3.5% lead; Kerry won Michigan 51%-48%.

By contrast, the polls did not fare nearly as well in Florida, which Bush won by a fairly comfortable margin (52%-47%). Four polls conducted in the campaign's final weeks had Bush ahead anywhere from a point to as many as eight points; three others showed Kerry leading, with Fox News showing Kerry with a five-point advantage. The main shortcoming of the state polls is that typically they have small samples. But even some that had sizable samples missed the mark in Florida. The highly diverse make-up of the Florida electorate may present special challenges to polling.

Cell Phones: Not a Major Problem Yet. Throughout the campaign, pollsters were frequently asked about the potential bias created by the fact that cell phones are not reached in telephone surveys. A growing number of people, especially young people, are believed to be relying solely on cell phones for phone service.

The exit polls indicated that approximately 7% of all voters are cell phone-only; this group skews heavily toward younger voters, with about half of them (48%) falling under age 30. But although cell-only voters were somewhat more Democratic than the electorate as a whole, the difference was relatively small. Cell-only voters went for Kerry by a margin of 54% to 45%, compared with Bush's 51%-48% advantage among all voters. This difference, and the relatively small size of the cell-only group, was not large enough to create an error in pre-election poll estimates.

Moreover, young voters with and without cell phones were virtually identical politically, suggesting that young people reachable by conventional land-line service remain representative of their cell-only counterparts. About one-in-five (19%) voters under 30 years of age indicated they relied solely on cell phone service. These voters favored Kerry by 58%-41%, close to the advantage he had among the rest of this age cohort (56%-43%).

Champagne Sarah Palin Doesn't Know what a Vice President Does!

2008-10-23T08:27:00.004-05:00

This is great TV. Chris Matthews, one of the few talking heads who doesn't represent the Darth Vader side of Republican politics, takes on sorority queen, McCain spokesperson, Nancy Pfotenhauer (have you ever noticed how many of these sorority queens the McCain camp has working for it? The party of Joe Six Pack is packed with privileged rich kids with perfect skin and teeth making their appeal to the "middle class" one of the greatest scams ever unleashed on this country) over Champagne Sarah's taste in clothes and apparent inability to grasp exactly what it is she might be doing in January.

I will say it again: Sarah Palin is a joke. Makes me almost feel sorry for people like Pfotenhauer who have to defend her. Almost.

Champagne Sarah Palin

2008-10-22T21:43:00.005-05:00

Here's what the Press is saying about Champagne Sarah's $150,000 wardrobe.

But she feels your pain . . .

CHAMPAGNE SARAH:

$150000 Wardrobe for Palin May Alter Tailor-Made Image
New York Times

Expensive Wardrobe Goes Against McCain-Palin Story Line
Washington Post

Palin's Spending Spree Sheds Light on Campaign's Priorities
ABC News

Did Palin really need 150k for a new wardrobe?
Christian Science Monitor, MA

Hillary Designer: Palin Spending Strange
CBS News, NY - 3 hours ago

Fashion Experts on Palin's $150000 Wardrobe
The Weekly Standard

GOP spent $150000 in donations on Palin's look
The Associated Press

Palin's New Clothes Augur Tax Troubles
Huffington Post, NY

If You're Feeling Tempted to Vote for McCain/Palin

2008-10-22T14:55:00.007-05:00

Here's a couple of delicious videos that nees to be passed on to as many people as possible.

Hilarious . . . . but maybe not so hilarious.

From: Partnership for a McCain-free White House

Sarah "I'm Just a Hockey Mom" Palin Spends $150,000 on Clothing and Accessories this Month Alone!

2008-10-22T08:05:00.006-05:00

This just in from the New York Daily News.

Turns out that the same Sarah Palin who wants us to believe that she's just a normal down home, struggle-to-make-ends-meet, working class, hockey mom, Joe Six-Pack-loving kind of gal, has been on a clothes shopping spree since she was chosen as the VP candidate. And the Republican National Committee has been picking up the tab. All $150,000 of it!

$150,000 for clothing and accessories for herself and her family. In one month. From some of the ritziest stores in America. The kind that Joe the Plumber would never shop at.

But she feels your pain, so that's OK. Whatever this woman wants, get it for her. She feels your pain.

----------------

Here's the story from the New York Daily News (not that liberal rag from the same city):

RNC spends thousands on dresses, make-up for Sarah Palin & family

By KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

Updated Wednesday, October 22nd 2008, 6:25 AM

Jamison/AP

Dressing up Sarah Palin and her family has cost the RNC upwards of $150,000, according to a report. Click HERE to see more of Palin's pricey fashions.

WASHINGTON - Lipstick isn't the only difference between America's top hockey mom and a pit bull.

Sarah Palin also has a spectacular new wardrobe, and Republican campaign donors picked up the breathtaking tab.

The Republican National Committee spent $150,000 on clothing and accessories for the vice presidential candidate and her family since early September, according to a report by the Politico Web site.

At Saks Fifth Avenue stores in Manhattan and St. Louis, the RNC paid for $49,425.74 in Palin apparel, the report said, citing financial disclosure records.

There also was a $75,062.63 shopping spree at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, where the Palins stayed during the Republican National Convention last month; $9.447.71 at Macy's in Minneapolis; and $5,102.71 at Bloomingdale's in New York.

That much cash can buy a closet full of the pumps, hot red leather jackets and form-fitting business suits for the Alaska governor to wear on the stump

Another $4,716.49 on hair and makeup came from the GOP while wooing "Joe Six-Pack" to vote for John McCain, the records showed. And more than $5,000 went to a men's store and a baby clothing store.

FULL ARTICLE

Sarah Update: 1) Another Scandal 2) More People Get it: She is NOT qualified to be president

2008-10-21T18:28:00.012-05:00

Here's the latest on the most under qualified candidate ever to grace a presidential campaign.

We start with the latest scandal: more proof that this woman has been treating the governor's office like her own personal fiefdom.

------------------

From ABC News:

AP INVESTIGATION: Palin charged state for children's travel, later amended expense reports

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE, ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO Associated Press Writers

The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

Alaska law does not specifically address expenses for a governor's children. The law allows for payment of expenses for anyone conducting official state business.

As governor, Palin justified having the state pay for the travel of her daughters — Bristol, 17; Willow, 14; and Piper, 7 — by noting on travel forms that the girls had been invited to attend or participate in events on the governor's schedule.

But some organizers of these events said they were surprised when the Palin children showed up uninvited, or said they agreed to a request by the governor to allow the children to attend.

FULL ARTICLE

------

From NBC News:

Finally, more people are getting it. She is NOT qualified to be president, much less vice president. Governor maybe . . . well, I'll have to think about that.

Sarah Palin: Governor of the SOCIALIST State of Alaska

2008-10-20T07:41:00.012-05:00

Last year Sarah Palin and her family got a check for over $1500 per person from the state of Alaska. What did they do to earn that money? Nothing. They got it simply for being Alaskans. It's their share of the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend which assures that all Alaskans get a cut of oil company profits.

That's at least part of what made Sarah Palin such a popular governor, the way she coerced the oil companies into spreading their wealth .It's socialism on a scale unknown in any other part of the United States.

Which means she was for it before she was against it.

Here's the point: Sarah Palin who is on the circuit decrying Obama's socialist agenda has been presiding over the biggest and most blatant socialist hand-out in American history. McCain applauds her for "taking on the oil companies," but, in fact, what she did was tantamount to extortion - holding them hostage for increased oil revenues that she could distribute to her fellow Alaskans as welfare whether they needed it or not.

The only socialist agenda in America right now is Sarah Palin's.

I believe that's called hypocrisy.

-----------------

From historymania.com

Alaska Permanent Fund Divi dend

The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend program was created by state legislation in 1980 to share the wealth of the Alaska Permanent Fund with the people of Alaska. The original program was to give each adult Alaska resident $50 for each year of residency, but this was challenged in court by Ron Zobel and payments were put on hold. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the program unconstitutional, and the legislature authorized equal dividend payments to all people who had lived in Alaska at least six months. In 1989, the Legislature changed the residency requirement to 24 months, but that was challenged in court and dropped to one calendar year, which is still in effect.

The first dividend payment was $1,000 per person. The next year, the payment dropped to $386.15 and fell to an all-time low of $331.39 in 1984. It climbed the next year to $404.00 and enjoyed fairly steady growth to peak of $1963.86 per person in 2000. Low oil prices and a stock market recession caused the dividend to drop to $919.84 in 2004. The 2005 amounts will be announced in October. (2008: $3,200/person)

The dividend payments are based on a five-year average of the Permanent Fund's earnings, which helps to stabilize the dividends as the stock market and oil market changes from year to year.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation has pushed in recent years for a change in the fund's management style to a Percent of Market Value approach, which is used by many other trust fund management agencies. Changing the fund's management approach requires a state constitutional amendment. This will also affect how dividends are calculated and is a subject of controversy in Alaskan politics. (See the article on the Alaska Permanent Fund.)

See Also:

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation webpage http://www.apfc.org
The State of Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend Division webpage http://www.pfd.state.ak.us/
Previous Dividend Amounts http://www.pfd.state.ak.us/dividendamounts/index.aspx

-----------------------------

From the Jackson Free Press:

Palin's Alaska: Funded by Oil Profits Tax

If Sarah Palin gets past this press cycle and remains the Vice Presidential nominee on the GOP ticket, there might be one interesting item from her brief tenure as governor of Alaska that would be worthy of discussion on the national stage -- her state's windfall profit sharing from oil leases. It turns out that every person who has lived in Alaska for over a year gets a $3,200 payout from the government thanks to taxes on oil companies; a family as large as Palin's would receive over $22,000 a year.

Sure, you'd be hard pressed to live off that. (Some might try.) But who wouldn't mind that scratch just because you live in an oil-rich state?

No wonder she is popular with voters in a state whose residents pay no income or sales taxes but are blessed with state coffers rolling in cash at a time when all other states are suffering. Indeed, when the oil companies pay more taxes to the state of Alaska, they get to write that off against their federal tax obligation, leaving the rest of us to make up the shortfall.

But wouldn't it be -- I don't know -- communism to take money from the oil companies and give it to citizens? Not according to Governor Palin. When John McCain says that she "took on" the oil companies as governor, what he means is just that -- she raised taxes on oil companies.

FULL ARTICLE

Spreading the Wealth??

2008-10-19T21:29:00.008-05:00

They're at it again. One more item to add to the growing list of distortions and half truths and, yes, LIES.

Earlier Palin accused Obama of "paling around with terrorists." Not "terrorist", but "terrorists." And not a "terrorist" that is on any list of "terrorists", but a "washed up old '60s radical" who is now a noted educationalist. Not exactly a lie, but about as close as you can get.

Then came the troopergate report with it's undeniable condemnation of Palin's abuse of office. Her response? To deny it. "I'm so glad I was vindicated," she said. This was a bald faced lie. But she says it with such a lack of guile that the press lets it slide on by.

Now, she and McCain are on the trail claiming that Obama is a socialist who wants to "spread the wealth." They base this on the Fox News expose of Obama speaking to "Joe the Plumber" (who isn't - another lie).

Well, now it turns out that Obama wasn't suggesting this at all. The clip that Fox News used was a carefully edited attempt to smear Obama (surprise, surprise). And the McCain/Palin team carried the Fox football.

"He wants to spread the wealth!" they say. "He's a socialist. No, he's a Communist!" And the red meat crowd eats it up.

But here's what he actually said. Socialism? Not even close . .

From The New York Times:

“My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s going to be good for everybody,” Mr. Obama said, according to the transcript, adding that plumbers are better off when there are more customers who can afford to hire them. “And right now everybody’s so pinched that business is bad for everybody, and I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” Mr. Obama said.

Full Article Here

Sarah Palin Yuks it Up on Saturday Night Live

2008-10-19T09:10:00.006-05:00

Just one word for Palin's appearance last night on SNL:

BIZARRE.

Almost made me feel sorry for her sitting there while the SNL folks folded into a rap everything she has said or done that disqualifies her for national office. Embarassing, but also revealing.

But then, her story is ready made for SNL.

Sarah Palin is a joke.

---------------
The Sarah Palin Rap:

Huge Crowds!

2008-10-18T18:21:00.006-05:00

The McCain camp has been crowing about the large, enthusiastic crowds Sarah Palin has attracted. And she has. Or mobs. Some have had more of the characteristic of a mob. But, certainly, there is no doubt that she has her fans.

The crowds are large. Even huge. Some say these may be the largest crowds any politician has attracted during a presidential campaign.

Just consider the crowd in St. Louis today. Estimates put it at 100,000.

The crowds are overwhelming.

For Obama.

From the Washington Post: Obama Draws 100,000

2008-10-17T12:52:00.003-05:00

This one is for your enjoyment.

Click on the picture below for an interactive exercise imagining what it would be like to have Sarah Palin in the White House.

God forbid!

Palin's Joe, McCain's Joe: Who Cares?

2008-10-16T20:28:00.007-05:00

Sarah introduced us to Joe Six Pack. Senator McCain to Joe the Plumber. Both were determined to convince us that they were champions of the "little guy." They cared. They were there for the "little guy."

Then the truth came out.

Sarah Palin cared so much for a popular sheriff that she used her muscle to get him fired. Tried to get a small town librarian fired, too, but the "little people" she claims to care so much for stood up and shouted "shame!" and she was forced to back down.

Turns out Sarah Palin does care . . . for herself.

Senator McCain tried to convince us that he was there for Joe the Plumber, this poor man who wouldn't be able to start his own business because evil Barak Obama was going to take away his hard earned money. Evil Barak Obama didn't care for the poor plumber who only made $250,000 a year.

Then we find out that: A) McCain didn't ask Joe's permission to use his name. Now the poor guy is being harrassed to death. B) McCain had no idea who Joe was. Turns out he's not anywhere near to making $250,000 nor opening his own business. Turns out, in fact, he isn't even a licensed plumber. And he owes $1,200 in back taxes. And the court has a lien on his house for failure to pay those taxes. Turns out he doesn't only not want to pay taxes on $250,000, he doesn't want to pay taxes at all!

Senator McCain was using Joe. That's how much he cares for the "little guy." Feigning a concern so he could claim a "gotcha" moment with his opponent, a man he hates so much that he'll do anything to make sure he doesn't get elected. Even use a "little guy" like Joe the Plumber.

Senator McCain cares like Sarah Palin cares . . . . for himself.

And he is still so clueless that he thinks a person who makes $250,000 a year is "middle class." But then how can he know? He doesn't even know how many houses he owns.

They don't care. That's why they're going to lose. They don't care.

Former Republican Denounces Palin's Hate Speech

2008-10-15T08:05:00.010-05:00

When I was in high school I discovered the writing of Francis Schaeffer whose Christian commune in Switzerland attracted disenfranchised youth looking for something more solid upon which to build their lives. What Schaeffer provided was a space and place for young people to ask questions and probe issues, helping them see that Christianity might provide them with the answers they sought.

Unfortunately, like many evangelicals in the '60's Schaeffer allowed his solid evangelical ministry to get hijacked by the divisive politics of the religious right. He became, in fact, one of the early ideologues of the movement when they were finding their political voice in the early 70s.

His son, Frankie, grew up in this politically charged evangelical hothouse, which also pushed him into the politics of the Christian right, joining his father to become one of its more militant camp followers.

He's since had a change in heart, feeling that the politics of the Christian right is a betrayal of true Christianity. He's seen the hatred it engenders. He's now become one of its most outspoken critics.

Until recently Schaeffer was a strong supporter of John McCain. But he's now seen what many others have seen - the inclusion of Sarah Palin has meant a resurrection of the politics of divisiveness and hatred, once again being done in the name of Christianity.

Here's an op-ed piece he just published in the Baltimore Sun.

Yes, he's angry. And has every reason to be.

Remember this when you're listening to the latest re-invention of John McCain tonight in the debates.
-------------------

From the Baltimore Sun:

McCain’s Attacks Fuel Dangerous Hatred

By Frankie Schaeffer

John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.
At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

John McCain: In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush. In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain.

You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate.

John McCain, you are no fool, and you understand the depths of hatred that surround the issue of race in this country. You also know that, post- 9/11, to call someone a friend of a terrorist is a very serious matter. You also know we are a bitterly divided country on many other issues. You know that, sadly, in America, violence is always just a moment away. You know that there are plenty of crazy people out there.

Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs.
John McCain, you're walking a perilous line. If you do not stand up for all that is good in America and declare that Senator Obama is a patriot, fit for office, and denounce your hate-filled supporters when they scream out "Terrorist" or "Kill him," history will hold you responsible for all that follows.

John McCain and Sarah Palin, you are playing with fire, and you know it. You are unleashing the monster of American hatred and prejudice, to the peril of all of us. You are doing this in wartime. You are doing this as our economy collapses. You are doing this in a country with a history of assassinations.

Change the atmosphere of your campaign. Talk about the issues at hand. Make your case. But stop stirring up the lunatic fringe of haters, or risk suffering the judgment of history and the loathing of the American people - forever.

We will hold you responsible.

The Latest Palin YouTube Videos

2008-10-14T23:12:00.003-05:00

And now for your entertainment and edification here are the latest Palin videos available on YouTube.com

See What Sarah Hath Wrought:

Continued Questions on Palin's Ties to Seditious Alaska Independence Party

She Lies

Palin and Ayers: Clueless Again

2008-10-14T11:50:00.003-05:00

Buried on the fifteenth page of today's Chicago Tribune is an article by Eric Zorn that needs wide exposure. Zorn, it turns out, did an extensive historical fact check on the person Sarah Palin calls a "terrorist" and found, much to the surprise of no one, that whatever Ayers may have done in the past, he can no longer by any stretch of the imagination be called a "terrorist" today.

What continues to be puzzling to many is why the press hasn't pushed the McCain camp to explain how Obama's associations with William Ayers in the 1990's has anything to do with anything except what it was always about - working with someone who is a noted expert on educational reforms. "Paling around with terrorists" (note how Palin always uses the plural - as though Ayers is representative of a whole group of shady characters Obama consorts with) suggests at the very least that Obama and Ayers were hatching plots against America. If that were the case, if Ayers was, indeed, a "terrorist" when Obama was meeting with him, well, then our law enforcement officials have fallen down on the job. He should be in jail. He isn't because he isn't.

Here's just a few of the things Zorn turned up in his research:

The late celebrated Tribune journalist, Mike Royko, once wrote that Ayers was a jerk with a shady past. But now he ". . . is working for a good cause, improving public education. He's become a leader in the so-called school reform program."
Other articles written in the 90's did refer to Ayer's radical past, but most didn't. In fact, only two articles out of 60 mentioned it. Most referred to the books he had published on education reform and his laudable work to get grant money for schools which landed him the honor of being recognized as Chicago's "Citizen of the Year" in 1997 (the time when Obama was "paling around" with him).

Noting this, Zorn says:

Today, some would say that this was an outrage. Ayers should have been shunned and marginalized, loudly criticized, not embraced, by the city's political and academic establishment.

But the record shows he just wasn't a very controversial figure. Aside from Royko's "I still think he's a jerk" column in 1990, I found only two objections to Ayer's civic rehabilitation in the decade's news archives: a 1993 letter to the Tribune and a 1999 guest editorial.

Zorn goes on to describe McCain and Palin's attempts to smear Obama with Ayers as "revisionist history" of the worst sort, particularly in their use of the "implicit present tense" as though Ayers is still a terrorist, a charge that has not been challenged as it should be by the mainstream press. He is not, says Zorn. Nor was he a terrorist when Obama met him to discuss educational reforms in the 90s, he as well as many other prominent Republicans and Democrats who care about the education of our children.

Zorn's most cutting comment cuts right to the heart of the matter when he says:

If Ayers is a terrorist, then McCain is an adulterer and I am a 6th grader.

Which brings to mind another article that is worth reading - the Rolling Stones Magazine expose on a past that John McCain is desperate to keep buried.

You can read that one by clicking on the picture below.

From the Rolling Stone Magazine:

Make-Believe Maverick

A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

Sarah Palin's Fickle Fandango with the Press

2008-10-13T20:18:00.009-05:00

According to an Associated Press article which appeared in the Anchorage Daily News this evening, Sarah Palin has not always distanced herself from the press. During her gubernatorial days (ah, the good old days) she couldn't get enough of them. Loved seeing her name in print and her face on the front page. Loved telling them what was on her mind. Back then she was an open book. So what's the deal now?

Apparently the Republican National Committee has been aware of her not-ready-for-prime-time status from the beginning. Which begs the question as to why McCain chose her in the first place. That question can only ultimately be determined by the maze which is the mind of John McCain. But an educated guess is that she has always been more symbol than substance. McCain knew she would whip up support from the right wing of the party. He hoped she would appeal to women, and maybe give a boost to his shaky candidacy. But he and his team knew this would only happen if she could be kept as far away from the press as possible given their tendency to ask uncomfortable questions, the kind that might actually expose her for the empty gesture she is.

What needs to be challenged here is less McCain's right to choose whomever he wishes, but the fact that this person, who may be a heartbeat away from the presidency, continues to play hard to get with the press. She has done no press conferences, taken no questions except in carefully staged venues (even the Katie Couric interview was at a time and with a person of her own choosing), she has not faced what ever other candidate in every other presidential campaign has been forced to face - an inquisitive press doing what they're supposed to do -- ferret out the truth.

Clearly the time has come for the press to demand that Palin step outside the Republican zone of silence. If she refuses, then the press should refuse to give her any air time whatsoever. Let Fox News be the only venue open to her. That should force her out into the open.

Come on, reporters. Show some mettle here! Make Sarah Palin deal with you like every other candidate is forced to deal with you! Don't let her freeze you out!

-----------

Here's the story from the Anchorage Daily News:

At One Time Sarah Palin Courted the Press

By RITA BEAMISH / The Associated Press

Published: October 13th, 2008 12:31 AM
Last Modified: October 13th, 2008 12:52 AM

GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is keeping reporters at arms' length in her campaign, but she had a very different approach as Alaska's new governor: She couldn't get enough of them.

Palin cultivated interviews with local and national journalists and welcomed them from as far away as London, earning time in the spotlight even before Republican presidential candidate John McCain selected her as his running mate.

That contrasts with the restricted access the McCain team imposed after Palin joined the GOP ticket, and the tone of the campaign's current criticism of the media, which is feeding anger among her supporters. People at a Wisconsin rally last week glared at reporters, and one woman called them "a bunch of leftists." Another made an obscene gesture.

FULL ARTICLE

Press Discovers the Truth about Palin: She's a Delusional Liar

2008-10-12T21:18:00.006-05:00

What our friends in Alaska have been saying all along about Sarah Palin is finally coming out into the open. She is a vindictive, self-aggrandizing, self-serving politician who will do anything and everything to get what she wants including lying through her teeth.

The lying part is now so clear that even the otherwise reticent mainstream press is taking note of it. Jake Tapper of ABC news makes no bones about it: Palin Makes Troopergate Assertions that are flatly false is the title of a blog post he writes about her astonishing conversation with the Alaskan press (see previous blog). Among other things he writes:

"Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing," Palin said, "any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that."

That's just not the case.

One can make the argument, as Palin and her allies have tried to do, that this investigation -- launched by a bipartisan Republican-controlled legislative body -- was somehow a partisan Democratic witch hunt, but one cannot honestly make the argument that the report concluded that Palin was "cleared of any legal wrongdoing" or "any hint of unethical activity."

Andrew Sullivan, writing for the online Atlantic, is even more scathing about this particular trait of Palin's. He wonders if there isn't something pathological about her, the way psychologically disturbed people are unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Her lies, he says, are not just ordinary lies, they are odd lies.

[T]his is the clear pattern with Palin: she publicly denies reality, insists on repeating that denial and is unable to deal with real world the way psychologically healthy people do. That's why I called her lies "odd lies." They are not the lies of a devious politician. They are much more troubling than that. They reflect a psyche unable to process fact when it conflicts with a delusional self-image. She is even worse in this psychotic denialism than Bush. She is a politician who can only survive in a propaganda state.

And it just gets interestingner and interestinger . . . . .

Sarah Palin, Master of Doublespeak

2008-10-12T14:39:00.009-05:00

Our favorite Alaskan blogger, AKMuckraker, has just put up a post with the deliciously surreal transcript of a phone interview Palin did with Alaskan reporters giving her take on the Troopergate scandal. Here is political doublespeak at its best - the same kind of dissembling nonsense she tried to pass off in the Katie Couric interview which did more to advance Tina Fey's career than her own.

Be sure to read the whole post as AK's comments put it all in the right perspective.

What was it that John McCain said about nailing jello to the wall? Perhaps he had his running mate in mind. I mean, this is one slick politician, so slick that leeches would have trouble sticking to her.

THE INTERVIEW

Excerpted from Through the Looking Glass with Sarah Palin by AKMudraker.

Palin: Hey, thank you so, Meg. Thank you so much. Thank you also to our local reporters up there in Alaska. Even hearing your names make me feel like I’m right there with you at home. It’s good to get to speak with you. Let me talk a little bit about the Tasergate issue if you guys would let me and, Meg, you want me to just jump right on in there?

Stapleton: Sure governor, go ahead.

Palin: OK cool. Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing … any hint of any kind of unethical activity there. Very pleased to be cleared of any of that. Todd did what anyone would have done given this state trooper’s very, very troubling behavior and his dangerous threats against our family. Todd did what I think any Alaskan would do.

And he, Todd did what the state’s Department of Law Web site tells anyone to do if they have a concern about a state trooper. And that’s you go to the commissioner and you express your concern. And Todd did what our personal detail asked him to do. Bob Cockrell early on as I was elected and was asked are there any threats against ya, and Todd brought the concern as I did to Commissioner Monegan about the state trooper’s threats. He did what any – I think — any rational person would do so again, nothing to apologize there with Todd’s actions and again very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing.

(Stapleton invites the first question).

ADN: Governor, finding No.1 on the report was that you abused your power by violating state law. Do you think you did anything wrong at all in this Troopergate case?

Palin: Not at all and I’ll tell you, it, I think that you’re always going to ruffle feathers as you do what you believe is in the best interest of the people whom you are serving. In this case I knew that I had to have the right people in the right position at the right time in this cabinet to best serve Alaskans, and Walt Monegan was not the right person at the right time to meet the goals that we had set out in our administration. So no, not having done anything wrong, and again very much appreciating being cleared of any legal wrongdoing or unethical activity at all.

ADN: Have you read the whole report? (No response; Stapleton invites question from KTVA reporter).

KTVA-Channel 11: … The report that came out yesterday, do you think that the end result is partisan?

Palin: Yeah, I did think it did turn into a partisan circus to tell you the truth. Yes I did. You know from Day One it’s been the Personnel Board that clearly laid out in state statute there — Personnel Board deals with any issue of question regarding a governor, a lieutenant governor or an attorney general in the state of Alaska. What this legislative investigation — quote unquote — turned into was a political circus.
.
KTUU-Channel 2: Governor, so good to hear from you. Do you approve of the way that your campaign has handled themselves here in Alaska? We’ve had a lot of people voice concerns about what they call attacks of good people in our state while you are away.

Palin: Well I haven’t heard of any attacks on good people in Alaska from our campaign. If you have specifics there, maybe I could answer specifically. But no, in John McCain’s mission here, in taking the high road, as you’re going to see too with a lot of unfair shots he has taken in this campaign with some of his opponents’ supporters, McCain and I taking the high road, being positive. I wouldn’t support nor would I condone taking shots at any good Alaskans.

KTUU-Channel 2: Let me answer your question since you asked for specifics.

Palin: Sure.

KTUU-Channel 2: Walt Monegan was called “rogue.” How do you feel about that?

Palin: Rogue isn’t a negative term when you consider that in a cabinet you need a team effort going forward with a governor’s agenda. And our agenda has been to find efficiencies in every department and make sure that we are serving the people of Alaska to the best of our ability given the resources that we have. And remember I fought very hard to increase funding for state troopers so that we could fill positions there and goals not being met that included not being able to recruit and retain all the state troopers that I wanted to best serve Alaska. That could be characterized I think as a cabinet member who – it’s not a negative term I think — being rogue in terms of not meeting those goals.

FULL POST HERE

Is Sarah Palin Putting Obama's Life in Danger?

2008-10-12T10:56:00.008-05:00

Frank Rich from the New York Times has now raised the question that is beginning to get traction among those who understand how dangerous incendiary political rhetoric can be. The question is: is the exagerated, inflamatory anti-Obama rhetoric of Sarah Palin encouraging the kind of rage that can turn into violence? Is Obama's life now in greater danger because of her ill-informed attacks?

Rich believes so. And I think he's right. Sarah Palin has gone from being a bad joke for late night comedians, to a dangerous demagogue whose words could incite the kind of violent rage that led to the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy. It's not too much of a stretch to believe that this could be the case.

Here's how Rich puts it:

From the New York Times:

Excerpt from "The Terrorist, Barak Hussein Obama"

John McCain and Sarah Palin have every right to bring up William Ayers, even if his connection to Obama is minor, even if Ayers’s Weather Underground history dates back to Obama’s childhood, even if establishment Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated with the present-day Ayers in educational reform. But it’s not just the old Joe McCarthyesque guilt-by-association game, however spurious, that’s going on here. Don’t for an instant believe the many mindlessly “even-handed” journalists who keep saying that the McCain campaign’s use of Ayers is the moral or political equivalent of the Obama campaign’s hammering on Charles Keating.

What makes them different, and what has pumped up the Weimar-like rage at McCain-Palin rallies, is the violent escalation in rhetoric, especially (though not exclusively) by Palin. Obama “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists” (note the plural noun). Obama is “not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” Wielding a wildly out-of-context Obama quote, Palin slurs him as an enemy of American troops.

By the time McCain asks the crowd “Who is the real Barack Obama?” it’s no surprise that someone cries out “Terrorist!” The rhetorical conflation of Obama with terrorism is complete. It is stoked further by the repeated invocation of Obama’s middle name by surrogates introducing McCain and Palin at these rallies. This sleight of hand at once synchronizes with the poisonous Obama-is-a-Muslim e-mail blasts and shifts the brand of terrorism from Ayers’s Vietnam-era variety to the radical Islamic threats of today.

That’s a far cry from simply accusing Obama of being a guilty-by-association radical leftist. Obama is being branded as a potential killer and an accessory to past attempts at murder. “Barack Obama’s friend tried to kill my family” was how a McCain press release last week packaged the remembrance of a Weather Underground incident from 1970 — when Obama was 8.

We all know what punishment fits the crime of murder, or even potential murder, if the security of post-9/11 America is at stake. We all know how self-appointed “patriotic” martyrs always justify taking the law into their own hands.

FULL ARTICLE

Sarah Palin: But I didn't break any laws (wink, wink)

2008-10-11T17:05:00.011-05:00

Here's a headline from the New York Daily News:

Sarah Palin: Troopergate Probe Findings Show I didn't Break Any Law

This is Sarah Palin's defense in the face of the damning evidence of her abuse of office. "But I didn't break the law!"

What's disturbing about this is that she actually believes this exonerates her. Which only underscores a point many have made about her. She really is George Bush in a skirt. And not only because of the way she tortures the English language.

Here's the point: the Bush administration has made a fine art of skirting the edges of legality. Wire tapping? We didn't break the law. Torture? Where does it say we can't do that? Getting rid of lawyers we don't like? Can't convict us of anything here.

That, essentially, is Sarah Palin's defense. Can't convict me, so it must be OK. Never mind evidence of the abuse of power. In Palin's eyes its OK as long as she didn't "break the law."

It's George Bush in a skirt.

When Barak Obama says that John McCain means Bush redoux what he usually has in mind is the way McCain has walked in near lock step with the Bush agenda over the past eight years. We can now add another element to this. To elect a McCain/Palin ticket is to have a Bush clone a heart beat away from the presidency.

God help us if that happens.

McCain/Palin: Guilty as Charged

2008-10-11T12:44:00.007-05:00

With the revelation of Palin's guilt in the Troopergate scandal we now know the difference between the McCain/Palin team and the Obama/Biden team.

It's guilt by association versus just plan guilt.
----------

The McCain/Palin team have done their best to smear Obama using the classic Republican tactic of "guilt by association." Obama, they say, is ill suited to be president because of the company he has kept in the past. It's what others have done rather than what he has done that convicts him, even though the ties they cite are inconsequential.

With the Republicans, on the other hand, its simply guilt.

McCain's abuse of office through unwise dealings with Savings and Loan shark, Charles Keating: Guilty.

Palin's abuse of office for a personal vendetta: Guilty.

Big difference between the two.

Sarah Barracuda: A Pattern of Guilt

2008-10-11T09:32:00.010-05:00

Those who have followed the career of Sarah Palin in Alaska, particularly Alaskans themselves, were not at all surprised by the findings of the investigative committee determining Palin's guilt. She has been engaging in this same kind of vindictive behavior ever since she got into the mayor's office in Wasila.

Here it's good to recall the letter written by a fellow Waslilian who has watched Sarah Palin's career unfold from the beginning. Not only her career, but her life. It hasn't been a pretty sight.

Below are excerpts from a letter by Anne Kilkenny which should have indicated to the McCain staff to proceed with caution with Palin. Or were they looking for someone with a record of petty-minded vindictiveness? If so they found the right person.

The main question here is why would anyone consider this woman suitable for national office.

What were you thinking, John McCain?
----------------

From a letter by Wasila, Alaska, resident, Anne Kilkenny:

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.

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

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated” her, she told the press.

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.

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.

Full text on thepresidentialcandidates.us

The Report

2008-10-10T22:41:00.006-05:00

Once again our favorite blogger in the frozen north, AKmuckraker, has come through for us. Make sure you visit her blog to get the most detailed report of the Troopergate investigation. Here's the actual wording of the investigative report:

No doubt about it. Palin is guilty as charged:

From Mudflats:

Findings:

Finding Number One:

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

Finding Number Two:

I find that, although Walt Monegan’s refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin’s firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.

Finding Number Three:

Harbor Adjustment Service of Anchorage, and its owner Ms. Murleen Wilkes, handled Trooper Michael Wooten’s workers’ compensation claim properly and in the normal course of business like any other claim processed by Harbor Adjustment Service and Ms. Wilkes. Further, Trooper Wooten received all the workers’ compensation benefits to which he was entitled.

Finding Number Four:

The Attorney General’s office has failed to substantially comply with my August 6, 2008 written request to Governor Sarah Palin for information about the case in the form of emails.
------------------
And if you've got stomach for legal reports (and a whole lot of time) here's the full report:
Branchflower Report on Sarah Palin Abuse of Power (pdf file)

GUILTY!

2008-10-10T20:08:00.011-05:00

Here's the headlines from the Anchorage Daily News:

TROOPERGATE REPORT: PALIN ABUSED POWER

Here's my guess: the McCain team will immediately claim that this is pure politics and appeal it to a date long after the election. They will then use it to get their already rowdy crowd even more riled up. "Look how they persecute us!" they will say.

Then the pitchforks and torches will come out as they storm the gates of Obama's house. Since he only lives three blocks down the road from me I'll make sure I take lots of pictures :)

So the crap has hit the fan . . . . Stay tuned.

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Troopergate report: Palin abused power

By DON HUNTER

Published: October 10th, 2008 04:45 PM
Last Modified: October 10th, 2008 04:52 PM

A legislative investigation has concluded that Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power in pushing for the firing of an Alaska state trooper who was once married to her sister.

The report by investigator Steve Branchflower was made public late this afternoon by a 12-0 vote of the Legislative Council, which authorized the investigation.

Branchflower's report contains four findings. The first concludes that Palin violated the state's executive branch ethics act, which says that "each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."

Branchflower was investigating whether Palin abused her power by pushing for the firing of state trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a nasty divorce from Palin's sister. Palin and her husband, Todd, have accused Wooten of threatening Palin's father.

FULL ARTICLE

For the video that shows the twists and Turns of Palin's Attempts to Evade Justice click on the Sarah Palin picture.

She Isn't Like You and Me: Sarah Palin's Unpatriotic Associations

2008-10-10T08:28:00.014-05:00

A friend of mine who is a lawyer here in Chicago, just sent me a piece he did on a tie Sarah Palin has to an organization which is far more troubling than any ties Obama may have to education professor William Ayers. In this case the association can be labeled seditious. Here's what he says (note also video following).

She Isn't Like You and Me: Sarah Palin's Unpatriotic Associations

by Greg Brownfield

Sarah Palin’s most recent stump speech includes two scathing guilt-by-association riffs. First she says that Obama is “someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists (William Ayers) who attacked their own country.” Second, she suggests sedition with: “this (Obama) is a man that does not see America as you and I see America.”

Apparently Sarah wishes us to forget her association with the Alaskan Independence Party whose convention she endorsed earlier this year. The Alaskan Independence Party sees America as far worse than imperfect. It's so imperfect that their ultimate aim is to secede from the union. Which means that they do not see America as you and I see America. This is clear when you go to the introduction page on their website where you read this from the late founder of their party:

"I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

Joe Vogler
A quick comparison of the two associations will show how much more troubling Palin's is. When Obama met Ayers the latter was a noted education reformer and professor. Should Obama have checked into his past and made judgments about working with him on that basis? Perhaps. But that's not what brought them together. It was a community organizer meeting a noted education expert. End of story.

On the other hand, when Sarah Palin gave her warm words of support to the Alaskan Independence Party she was well aware that it is what it always has been—a radical secessionist movement. And her husband was a member from 1995 until 2000 (talk about guilt by association).

The bottom line is that it’s clear that there is a radical anti-American candidate in this race. But it’s not Obama. In the well-traveled words of Shakespeare, “the lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

Someone Like Me!!

2008-10-09T23:53:00.009-05:00

I saw a woman being interviewed today on CNN who was ga-ga over Sarah Palin. Ever since she first laid eyes on her she was head over heels.

This, according to the reporter, is an indication that Palin speaks to a certain demographic, in this case middle aged blue collar women; evangelical middle aged blue collar women. That's been her appeal all along. Not that she's qualified for this office. Not that she has the kind of knowledge and experience we usually demand in a vice presidential candidate. No, it's because "she's just like me."

I understand this. I want a candidate who is like me, as well. Which means first of all a "he," not a "she." That's what I am. I'm a "he."

He also has to be well educated and well traveled; have midwestern roots and like to listen to NPR. Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me will be his favorite show. His musical tastes should run to new age (instrumental only) for background music while reading, classic rock when he wants to kick back and let loose, the Waifs to get into a zone.

He has to be a Christian. Evangelical, but leaning more left than right. Politically progressive.

As for tastes in food and clothing, well, I'm a blue jeans kind of guy. He should be too. And pizza. He has to like pizza. Lot's of pizza. And Indian curry. The hotter the better.

That's the person I'm looking for. Someone who meets most if not all of those criteria.

If, perchance, I can't find someone like that, well, then I just won't vote. That'll show em. It'll show those Republicans and Democrats that next time they go to all the expense of running a big national campaign, they need to keep my kind of person in mind.

Experience in working with congress? Doesn't matter. Proven leadership abilities? Not important. Broad knowledge of national and international affairs. Who cares? The only thing that matters is that it be someone like me. I will only vote for someone like me . . .

Sarah Palin: Updates

2008-10-09T08:04:00.011-05:00

I started this blog as a way of ferreting out information about an unknown candidate for vice president whose qualifications for office were questionable at best. Now that we're only a few weeks from the election it may be good to review what we know so far.

Who is Sarah Palin?

It's now clear that despite her perky demeanor and ability to read cue cards like a pro, Sarah Palin is, as some have labeled her, George Bush in a skirt. Her curiosity about and knowledge of world affairs is dismal.

Comedians love her. But after eight years of putting up with bad (and good!) George Bush jokes its time we moved on to something more serious. Paula Poundstone's response to the question, "What will comedians do when Bush is gone?" on an NPR, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me segment is most apropos here:

"We'll get over it!"

As those who were familiar with her modus operatum in Alaska warned, she is mean spirited and vindictive. The red meat Republican crowd loves it. So do the racists and bigots who are now coming out in droves to her rallies. From shaking their fists and booing at the mention of Obama's name to racial epitats hurled at African American cameramen to screaming: "terrorist!" and "kill him!" she's bringing out the best in people.
Which makes her ever-present beauty queen smile seem more sinister than sincere.
Despite the best efforts of the McCain team to erase her past, the scandals from Palin's time as mayor and governor won't go away.

These include (among other things): 1) troopergate 2) attempts to fire a small town librarian for not agreeing to ban books 3) a mis-use of state per diem funds 4) the worst kind of cronyism in the hiring of under qualified friends for political purposes.

In all this it may be good to recall what AKMuckraker wrote about Palin back in 2006 when she was running for governor. She wasn't qualified then. She isn't qualified now.

FACTS ABOUT SARAH PALIN
from http://mudflats.wordpress.com

Palin Says She’s a Change from The Scandal-Plaued Republicans, But She’s More of

FULL DOCUMENT

New Video: Sarah Palin and the Rape Kit Controversy

2008-10-08T21:50:00.004-05:00

If you haven't seen this, you should. It's a short professionally-made film on the rape kit controversy. The group (http://www.wasillaproject.com/) who made it plan to make three more films on Sarah Palin before the election.

Who knows, the truth about Sarah Palin may still come out before the election. Before it's too late.

Here's what the project is about. The video follows.

Mayor Sarah Palin and the Rape Kit Controversy Video

Why did we produce this video?

Our initial reason for starting the Wasilla Project was to learn about who Sarah Palin is from the people who know her best, folks from Wasilla, Alaska, Palin’s hometown. A group of 7 filmmaker friends got together, organized the plans, raised money for flights and soon we were off to Wasilla, to interview real people there about the Sarah Palin they know, and make a series of films that hopefully give a thoughtful, authentic view of who she is.

While the team’s political beliefs tend toward left of center, we hope that the films we produce will reach people no matter where they fall in the political spectrum.

FULL ARTICLE

Is Obama in Danger from Palin's Words?

2008-10-07T23:22:00.008-05:00

Here's something Sarah Palin and her neo-con handlers need to consider. The incendiary language Palin has been using to insinuate links between Obama and terrorists may be creating an atmosphere in our country similar to what was found in Israel just before a crazed right wing student murdered then Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin.

Is it perhaps time for her to cool the rhetoric? This is dangerous stuff.

From Andrew Sullivan's excellent blog, The Daily Dish, on the Atlantic website.

The Danger to Obama

An Israeli reader writes:

Your post on "The Danger of Obama" immediately brought to mind what happened here in Israel in the period leading up to Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. Even allowingfor the differences in political culture between the two countries, some of the sounds we're hearing in the public debate around the election have a haunting echo.
Here no one would have thought it possible that an Israeli Jew would take the life of a high official. There's little doubt that the crescendo of demonization toward Rabin – including accusations of treason, flyers picturing Rabin as an SS officer – and the difficulty, in a society guaranteeing free speech, of 'civilizing' the public debate before it creates a fertile bed for actual violence, all helped create the context in which Rabin's murderer decided to take matters into his own hands.

I'd like to see which Republicans will denounce this turn towards demonization. And if there are no takers – maybe Joe Lieberman?

My Tea with a 'Terrorist', or Yet Another Reason Why Sarah Palin is Clueless

2008-10-07T21:44:00.004-05:00

So the second presidential debate is over. If anyone still thinks that John McCain is a compelling presidential candidate after this, well, they must have just arrived from Mars.

But this is a blog about Sarah Palin, so let me leave you tonight with a great piece from a man who . . . are you ready for this . . . . had tea with the notorious William Ayers. Yes, that's right. He had tea with a terrorist.

Are you listening, Sarah Palin??

From Seattlepi.com

Connelly: My tea with a 'terrorist'

By JOEL CONNELLY
P-I COLUMNIST

AFTER HEARING the unleashed Sarah Palin accuse Sen. Barack Obama of "pallin' around with terrorists" -- and John McCain's brother call northern Virginia "communist country" -- this scribe is moved to a confession.

Onetime Weathermen leader William Ayers, the target in Palin's day of rage, was once a guest in my kitchen. Not only that, but I brewed him a pot of tea and heated up a bagel.

Ayers consorted with our family's standard poodle, S'Murphy Brown, after she extended a paw to the top of his knee.

Circumstances don't matter in wing nuts' land of guilt-by-association, but I had no choice.

The Hi Spot Cafe, notorious liberal hangout in Madrona -- Seattle's equivalent to Chicago's Hyde Park -- had just closed. We needed to do an interview about Ayers' memoir "Fugitive Days," a timely topic since the terrorist atrocity of 9/11 had taken place just 16 days earlier.

The 2008 presidential campaign has taken an ugly turn. In tones reminiscent of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s, John McCain's campaign seeks to tie Obama to Ayers. (The two men are Hyde Park neighbors.) Media have been targeted: An African-American journalist at a Palin rally was reportedly told by someone in the crowd, "Sit down, boy."

It represents an incredible turnaround for a candidate who denounced guilt-by-association just last March.

Asked about Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright, McCain said: "I think that when people support you, it doesn't mean that you support everything they say. I know that, for example, I've had endorsements of some people that I didn't share their views but they endorsed mine. And so I think we've got to be very careful about that."

McCain has since put his soul in blind trust.

Breathlessly, Tuesday, the McCain-Palin campaign put out a "damming" release confirming that Obama "continued to serve on a charitable board" with Ayers even while knowing he participated in such Vietnam-era actions as the "Days of Rage."

What they were doing was deciding how to spend an educational grant from Walter Annenberg, a Republican and Richard Nixon intimate who served as ambassador to Great Britain.

Of Ayers, I am reminded of an old quip by longtime University of Notre Dame President the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. He reversed the adage about giving people enough rope and they'll hang themselves.

"If you give student dissenters enough time, they'll redeem themselves," said Fr. Ted.

FULL ARTICLE

Sarah Palin: Unleashed and Unhinged

2008-10-07T12:47:00.005-05:00

I've been disturbed by a whole lot of things related to the Sarah Palin candidacy. But this has got to be the most disturbing. She's now inciting crowds with her mindless accusations and overblown, ill-informed rhetoric.

This woman is dangerous.

Here's why:

from a Washington Post report by Dana Milbank:

The self-identified pit bull has been unleashed -- if not unhinged.

Barack Obama, she told 8,000 fans at a rally here Monday afternoon, "launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist!" This followed her earlier accusation that the Democrat pals around with terrorists. "This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America," she told the Clearwater crowd. "I'm afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country." The crowd replied with boos.

McCain had said that racially explosive attacks related to Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, are off limits. But Palin told New York Times columnist Bill Kristol in an interview published Monday: "I don't know why that association isn't discussed more."

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."

FULL ARTICLE

Sarah Palin and Christian Zionism: Is She or Isn't She?

2008-10-07T09:25:00.004-05:00

Interesting new twist on Sarah Palin's fundamentalist church background.

From: www.christianzionism.org

* * *

Sarah Palin and Christian Zionism: Is She or Isn't She?

One month before the presidential election, Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, has re-inserted the subject of Barak Obama's former membership in Jeremiah Wright's church into an already heated campaign. And this despite her running mate's disavowal of this tactic soon after Obama left the church. Many see this as an act of desperation in a campaign that has lost its bearings. Whatever the case what it does is lay open the need to offer a similar kind of critical scrutiny to Sarah Palin's radical church background.

Bruce Wilson, writing in the Huffington Post, suggests that Palin's church affiliation could be and should be an issue in this election, as the particular form of Pentecostalism practiced in the church which played the greatest role in shaping her spiritual life, the Wasilla Assembly of God, represents a radical form of fundamentalist Pentecostalism, so radical that it was repudiated by other Pentecostal churches back in the late '40s:

. . . 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.

For our purposes the more important issue has to do with the fact that this church, as well as the church in which Palin currently worships, is steeped in the kind of dispensationalist theology that undergirds the more extreme forms of ideological Christian Zionism. Key to this theology is a belief in the divine origin of the Israeli state, and the imperative for Christians to offer it unconditional support.

One would assume from this that Sarah Palin is a card carrying member of the Christian Zionist movement. But just as it is valid to question the assumption that Barak Obama absorbed the more radical elements of his pastor's black liberation theology during his time as a member of his congregation, so it is valid to question how much governor Palin absorbed the ideology of her church with regard to its dispensationalist perspective on Israel/Palestine.

There is no doubt that she is a strong supporter of the Israeli state. There is no doubt that this support is grounded in her Christian beliefs. But all that I have read and observed about her suggests that she is less ideologically-driven than politically-driven, defined primarily, as the New York Time's, Frank Rich, put it in a recent op-ed piece, by a "hubristic self-confidence and hyper-ambition."

This explains what is otherwise inexplicable - the quickness with which she affirmed a two state solution to the conflict in Israel/Palestine during the Vice Presidential debate, which an ideologically-driven Christian Zionist would never do. It is borne out, as well, by the fact that she has shown little inclination to wave the Israeli flag in her political career. Yes, she does have an Israeli flag in her office. But so do a lot of other Republican and Democratic politicians, Christian Zionist or not.

What Sarah Palin is mostly about is Sarah Palin. Pure naked ambition. Getting to the top no matter what it takes to get there. Given the fact that pride is one of the seven deadly sins, this is hardly a commendation. But it does throw into question claims that some are making that she and Hagee are in the same Christian Zionist camp.

Of course, we don't know who the real Sarah Palin is. She could be a raving Christian Zionist eager to light the Armaggeddon fuse. We don't know because at this point all we have is the Sarah Palin the Republican party wishes her to be, a persona crafted by her neo-con handlers for the sole purpose of winning an election. But all indications going back to her ascendency up the ladder of Alaskan politics, say that political ambition rather than Christian theology, is the greatest determinant of her positions. Whatever it takes to advance her political career is the real measure of her faith. That's not a reason to vote for her. But it is reason to hold off on attributing radical beliefs to her that may not define who she is at all.

Palin Mania: "Life Abundant" for the Christian Right

2008-10-06T12:43:00.007-05:00

A friend sent this on. Thoughtful piece on Sarah Palin's form of Christian triumphalism, hidden at this point in the campaign, but certain to inform any decisions she would make in office.

Palin Mania: “Life Abundant” for the Christian Right

Stan Moody

October 6, 2008

At a Democratic House caucus meeting on faith in politics in 2006, Congressman Tom Allen (D-ME) asked me as a panel member, “What role does Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount play in the politics of the Christian Right?” He prefaced the question with the answer he had gotten to that same question from an evangelical pastor friend of his in Portland, ME, who told him that the Sermon on the Mount was for a later time.

The question has haunted me ever since in the face of such revolutionary ideas as these:

loving and praying for your enemy

praying for and doing good to those who persecute you

turning the other cheek

doing your good works in secret rather than in public

avoiding public displays of prayer

forgiving those who offend you

avoiding the pursuit of money

avoiding worrying about your life

avoiding judging of other people

avoiding false prophets

When we measure our lives by the standards of the Sermon on the Mount, there remains little room for political assassination of the kind we are currently experiencing in this election season. The trend of the evangelical Christian Right to postpone this pesky worldview until Jesus returns reflects a church that has tired of waiting for God and has decided to take matters into its own hands.

Win, draw or lose, the Christian Right is here to stay. Giving the “devil” his due, we can only hope for their sakes and for that of our nation that the principles of the Sermon on the Mount are indeed put on hold for a future time, for they have been violated in every sense of the Word with the rise of neo-conservatism in America. The frustration of being a “believer in an un-believing world” has evolved into a form of populist anarchy, where the proletariat – Christian and non-Christian alike – is rising against an elitist agenda of enlightenment and change with all their uncertainties.

Gov. Sarah Palin is the current poster child for this uprising of the disenfranchised, bewildered by a chronic fear of facing squarely the issues of our day and compensating by trafficking in certainty, no matter how irrelevant or arcane.

A recent article by author Sarah Posner sheds light on this phenomenon.[1]

According to Posner, the Wasilla City Council unanimously passed a resolution in April, 2000, joining some 200 other towns and cities nationwide that have committed themselves to becoming cities of character. As a “City of Character,” Wasilla endorsed 49 “character qualities” derived from the Bible and taught by the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP), an organization formed by evangelist Bill Gothard in 1974 for the purpose of “…giving families, churches, schools, communities, governments and businesses clear instruction and training on how to find success by following God’s principles found in Scripture.”

Posner writes that IBLP claims to have taught these principles to 2.5 million people (not the least being Sarah Palin in 2000) and boasts assets exceeding $100M.

The training has found its audience among conservative Christian churches that march in lock-step to 19^th Century Premillennial Dispensationalism, a doctrine that asserts the right of dominion of born-again Christians over America and the world. According to Posner, the objective is to fulfill God’s goal to “…transform believers into the image of His Son so that they may be a reflection of the character of Christ,” ignoring, of course, that worldly success and the character of Christ are opposing worldviews.

What this means to the Christian Right in America is to take hold of the political reins of power in our nation, restore to Israel the borders promised by God to Abraham no matter who gets in the way and replace with Old Testament precepts the Constitutional guarantees of protection of the minority from the tyranny of the majority, a decidedly New Testament concept. By so doing, a thin veneer of character masks the kind of underlying corruption that we have witnessed of late with unbridled, unregulated capitalism. It is a form of optimism that focuses on appearance rather than reality – the spin rather than the facts. Jesus referred to this kind of religiosity as cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside remains filthy.

Indeed, the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount have no place in a world in which Christians are focused exclusively on their own success and the avoidance of any semblance of persecution, historically the driving force behind Christianity.

[1] http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/18/palin_iacc/html

Stan Moody
www.thehopepartnership.org
207/626-0594

Stan Moody, founder of the Christian Policy Institute and The Hope Partnership (www.thehopepartnership.org), has served in the Maine House of Representatives...He is an Advisory Board member of "Jews-On-First" and the "Institute for the Study of Christian Zionism." Dr. Moody is the author of several provocative books, including, "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry." Pastor of a rural country church in Central Maine, Moody has enjoyed a long and productive career in small business development and management.

Stan Moody
www.thehopepartnership.org
207/626-0594

The Naked Ambition of Sarah Palin

2008-10-05T19:53:00.008-05:00

New York Times op-ed columnist, Frank Rich, raises an issue that few have dared raise about Sarah Palin - her naked ambition, what Rich calls her "hubristic self-confidence and hyper-ambition."

This was an underlying reason for my decision to start this blog - that display of "hubristic self-confidence" which Palin first put on display at the RNC. We saw it in the dripping disdain with which she spoke about Obama's work among the poor of south Chicago. We saw it in her saying that she didn't hesitate for a moment to accept the VP nomination. "I'm ready!" she said with the eager smile of a pre-schooler telling her dad she doesn't need the training wheels anymore.

When I held this up next to what I was reading about her "no-holds-barred" ascent to the top of the heap of Alaskan politics, I realized that this is what is most definitive about her - a "hubristic self-confidence" and "hyper ambition."

This, of course, could be said of many politicians. But few would say "I'm ready" with no hesitation when asked about running for an office for which they are not prepared nor qualified. This is the kind of pride the Bible condemns, the kind that "goeth before a fall."

Here's what Frank Rich says:

There’s a steady unnerving undertone to Palin’s utterances, a consistent message of hubristic self-confidence and hyper-ambition. She wants to be president, she thinks she can be president, she thinks she will be president. And perhaps soon. She often sounds like someone who sees herself as half-a-heartbeat away from the presidency. Or who is seen that way by her own camp, the hard-right G.O.P. base that never liked McCain anyway and views him as, at best, a White House place holder.

This was first apparent when Palin extolled a “small town” vice president as a hero in her convention speech — and cited not one of the many Republican vice presidents who fit that bill but, bizarrely, Harry Truman, a Democrat who succeeded a president who died in office. A few weeks later came Charlie Gibson’s question about whether she thought she was “experienced enough” and “ready” when McCain invited her to join his ticket. Palin replied that she didn’t “hesitate” and didn’t “even blink” — a response that seemed jarring for its lack of any human modesty, even false modesty.

In the last of her Couric interview installments on Thursday, Palin was asked which vice president had most impressed her, and after paying tribute to Geraldine Ferraro, she chose “George Bush Sr.” Her criterion: she most admires vice presidents “who have gone on to the presidency.” Hours later, at the debate, she offered a discordant contrast to Biden when asked by Gwen Ifill how they would each govern “if the worst happened” and the president died in office. After Biden spoke of somber continuity, Palin was weirdly flip and chipper, eager to say that as a “maverick” she’d go her own way.

But the debate’s most telling passage arrived when Biden welled up in recounting his days as a single father after his first wife and one of his children were killed in a car crash. Palin’s perky response — she immediately started selling McCain as a “consummate maverick” again — was as emotionally disconnected as Michael Dukakis’s notoriously cerebral answer to the hypothetical 1988 debate question about his wife being “raped and murdered.” If, as some feel, Obama is cool, Palin is ice cold. She didn’t even acknowledge Biden’s devastating personal history.

FULL ARTICLE

The VP Debate ala SNL

2008-10-05T19:17:00.003-05:00

Once again Tiny Fey nails it . . . .

From Saturday Night Live on nbc.com

Palin Protests in LA: Creative Signage

2008-10-05T19:02:00.009-05:00

Couldn't resist passing on some photos from a protest being held not too far from where I was in LA. Turns out Palin was there, too. Sorry I missed her :(

Pass it on . . .

From the Daily Kos:

Weekend in LA

2008-10-03T19:21:00.004-05:00

After all the excitement of the debate I need a little time off. . I'm in LA for the weekend. Will be back bloggin' again on Monday.

In the meantime be sure to keep up on the Sarah Palin saga as Troopergate unfolds in the frozen north.

Check it out at Mudflats where you always get the unvarnished truth . . .

Ciao.

Debate Wrap up: It's a Tie, but . . . .

2008-10-02T22:20:00.008-05:00

Wrap up

So who won? If you followed my stream of consciousness real time blogs (see below) to the end you'll see that I'm calling it a tie. I call it that because I think both sides did well enough, or at least did themselves no harm. Palin exceeded expectations (didn't I tell you that the"I'm an idiot" Katie Couric interviews were just a ploy?) which wasn't too hard given how low those expectations were. But Biden did well, too. No gaffes. No condescension. If anything Palin was the condescending one. It was a tie.

But now let's get honest here. Let's admit that what we were really looking at here, at least Palin-wise, was a high school debate student who followed her debate coach's instructions to a "t." And she had some of the best debate coaches in the country working with her.

And let's not forget that she was a sports announcer which means that she knows how to talk to the camera. I've been in front of a camera myself and this may be one of the most difficult things to get used to - speaking to a camera when someone near the camera is asking the questions. The normal humanresponse to do is to speak to the questioner, as Biden did most of the time. But Palin, given her TV experience knew that when the camera is on you speak to it because that's where the audience is. So here she came across better than him.

I'm watching CNN right now and what they see coming in from around the country is affirming what I'm saying here. People felt that Palin did better than expected, but not good enough to turn the tables for them mainly because they also felt Biden did a good job. In fact, when stacked up against each other more felt Biden won. And I would agree even though I still declare it a tie because both did well enough. Well enough to convince their supporters. Not well enough to convince those who aren't already on board. Independents, I believe, will remain confused.

In terms of memorable moments, Biden's tears made the most impact on me. Mainly because they were genuine. Thinking about the tragedy in his life, the death of his wife and daughter, what it meant for him to raise his sons on his own, that was real. Palin, on the other hand, was using this "I'm a working class mom" bit gratuitously. And, I must add, disingenously, as a recent report (see below) notes that she's a millionaire. Since when did millionaires start feeling our pain??

As for the best line of the night, or in this case, lines, it happened when Palin repeated her "maverick" mantra one too many times. Biden's response was to sound off a whole list of reasons why the maverick label does not fit John McCain. And he was dead on. It was much more effective than Palin's unrelenting attacks on Obama, partly because she kept saying things that clearly weren't true, like raising taxes on the middle class, partly because these were memorized lines; Republican talking points. Been there. Done that.

But here's the most important point. It isn't going to matter. What we just saw tonight isn't going to matter to the final outcome of this election. Not one whit. Not with two more presidential debates on the docket. That's what's going to stick in peoples' minds. Because in the end this is a race between Obama and McCain. And unless McCain has a personality change between now and November he's going to lose.

Did I mention that what I heard tonight hasn't changed my opinion of Sarah Palin one whit? She still reminds me of that self-absorbed, snarky prom queen student council president that made high school such a hell. No debate can change that. That's who she is.

Debate: Part Two

2008-10-02T20:52:00.004-05:00

Israel?

Biden: this administration's policy has been an abject failure with Israel.

Good come back.

Good statement on Iran . . . . They have been strengthened under a Bush adminstration.

"I don't believe that this administration's policy has been an abject failure."

Now she's playing a scolding mom -- telling the Democrats that they shouldn't be finger pointing at the Bush administration.

"We're going to put excessive partisanship aside." Huh???

Biden: "Past is prologue."

Good point, Joe. "I haven't heard how McCain's policy has been different from George Bush's."

Gwen: "What should be the trigger if nuclear weapons are put into play?"

Palin is now trying to distance McCain's policy from Bush after saying that it wasn't so bad

Woa, "Obama is hurting our cause" . . . . . . I knew it. She's done it. Obama is on the side of the terrorists. No matter what Biden says this one is going to stick.

One thing is certain -- Palin's handlers have prepped her well on all the foreign policy talking points.

She's winning simply showing more energy and apparent confidence in what she says. People aren't going to parse the content. It's the confidence she exudes that will stick in their minds.

Biden is losing . . .

"I'm a Washington outsider. . . "

She's jumping on Biden's differences with Obama that he had during the primary debates. Smart move.

She has been well trained. What I feared is true -- they let the press believe she was a light weight so she could come on strong here.

Even on foreign policy she's got Biden on the defensive.

"John McCain knows how to win a war and knows what evil is."

(scary stuff - its all about winning. Never mind the body count. As long as we win!!!)

-------------

Finally -- Joe Biden is looking at the camera and speaking about his folks in Delaware. Good move.

Palin: "doggonit" Does this work??

She's snarky . . . . . .

Now her confidence is feeling more like "I know better than you. I know better than anyone." This isn't confidence. This is a cockiness based on . . . nothing.

I think this is going to work against her. It's the prom queen, cheerleader, popular girl rubbing the noses of everyone else in the fact that they aren't as popular as she is.

Accepted wisdom - what about your weaknesses?

Palin: will not admit to having any weaknesses -- I'm very experienced. I'm attached to the homeland. I'm a mom. Special needs children. I was a poor person. "We've been there."

"But even more important is that world view - America is a nation of exceptionalism, we are a beacon of hope. We represent a perfect ideal ("God bless America. Land of the free . . . John Phillips Souza is heard playing in the background)

And now Biden is speaking of his experience - brings in his experience as single parent. I know too! (so there, Sarah. )

What's that about Biden's wife? That was a low blow - your wife has got her reward in heaven?? Please.

Biden - tears. Good move. Unrehearsed. He is a man of feeling up against an autobot blustering with a confidence that has been rehearsed.

McCain - maverick, maverick, maverick . . . . If I was playing Palin Bingo and I had maverick in line I would have won.

We get it, Sarah, John McCain is a maverick.

Biden: good comeback "John McCain is not a maverick!"

Best Biden bit yet.

Biden is now coming across as much more "real" than Sarah Palin. I think in the end he will be seen as connecting better with people than her. She's performing. He's speaking from his heart.

"There's been nothing that I've had to compromise on."

"I walk the walk and don't just talk the talk." She does love those memorized phrases.

Now she's repeating political mantras . . . parrot.

FINAL STATEMENTS:

Palin: "We're going to fight for America. I've been there. I've always been proud to be an American. We've got to fight for our freedoms." Quotes Ronald Reagan. "We will fight for it."

Biden: He connected well. He's a man of the people.

Final judgment: TIE

Debate: Hour One

2008-10-02T19:40:00.002-05:00

Here goes . . .

Was going to watch this on CNN, but they said they're going to be scrolling what looks like a heart beat machine along the bottom. Too distracting. So I've got NBC on instead.

And now the game is on . . . .

90 seconds? What can they say in 90 seconds??

Sarah - confident. "Thank you, Gwen, thank you, thank you, thank you . . .

Biden appears senatorial . . . could be a good thing. Or not. But good move to start right out to underscore that the mess we're in is because of the Bushites.

Sarah - better job of looking at the camera and speaking to Americans.

Aha, I knew it. Let's talk about the mothers and their fear. This will be the ploy. "I'm one of you. A mom just like you."

What? The other senators ignored John McCain when he tried to save the economy . . .

She has been trained well . . Confident. Speaks to the camera.

"Americans are craving something new and different . . . . Have to put the maverick in the White House." She's good . . .

There she goes "Joe Six Pack" "Hockey Moms" across America. We're being taken advantage of.

"Never again will we be taken advantage of."

She winning this debate. Biden speaks to the moderator. Palin speaks to the camera. She's got energy. He looks tired. He's talking policy. She's talking about ordinary people.

Loosen up, Joe!!

What' s clear is that all of these questions were anticipated. . . And she's getting in all the zingers. It's like a set up.

"When I was mayor I was a tax cutter . . . " Stretching the truth, but she'll get by with it because she's speaking with confidence.

What's on display here is a former sports broadcaster up against a politician. Sportscaster wins every time. Knows how to speak to a camera.

She winning. Hands down. She's winning.

Health care. Biden is doing better. But he needs to look at the camera more. Speak to us, Joe. Speak to us.

OK, Biden is hitting his stride. Speaking with more confidence and clearly knows his stuff. Good line about the bridge to nowhere.

"Tells one thing to one group of people and another to another group."

"I had to take on those oil companies" - brought it back to what she knows in Alaska. Good move. This is her strong suit . . . .

"There hasn't been a whole lot that I've promised. Only been around for five weeks." Huh? Is'nt that a weakness??

Here's what's clear. She has been coached to speak with authority and with confidence on subjects that are in the ball park of the subject matter.

"We have John McCain to thank for solving our ecnomic crisis." Again, because she speaks with authority people will believe this nonsense.

Biden is also shifting discussion, but he knows what he's talking about .

She's got that snarky look on her face as Biden is speaking . . . . .

And now - let's shift it back to energy. Her strong suit (or so she thinks). Is telling us that the answer to the energy issue is drill, baby, drill. But, Sarah, we weren't talking about energy. Good jujitsu move there.

Climate change is now on deck. What are the causes??

Alaska, Alaska, Alaska . . . . I'm from Alaska. That's clearly what they told her to say. I'm from Alaska and I know energy and climate change. blah, blah, blah.

"We're allowing other countries to pollute." We're allowing them? So now are we going to send out the Marines to stop other countries from polluting? Invade China and India.

She's getting by with a lot here. But she says it so well that I'm afraid that's what people will remember.

"People are so hungry for that oil to be tapped into. . . " "Hungry?"

If they keep hammering away at energy she's going to win.

Oh, now it's same sex couples. Biden - must have constitutional benefits.

And she's got a "gotcha" moment here. Afraid that we will re-define marriage. But, of course, I am tolerant. "But in that tolerance, no one would propose that we shouldn't allow contracts and visits in the hospital." She supports full civil rights for gay couples?? Hmmmmm . . . .

Foreign policy . . this should be interesting.

And now she's on to Obama voted against funding troops and the surge. "We have got to win in Iraq!!" "We cannot afford to lose against the Sunni extremists."

She's got that snarky look on her face again. "Your plan is a white flag of surrender!" "We'll know when we're finished in Iraq when the Iraqis can run their own affairs."

She has been trained well. Confident now even on foreign affairs. "We're going to win!!!"

The questions are, unfortunately, so predictable that clearly Palin came armed with the answers. Gwen, give us a curve ball.

Iran.

"Israel is in jeopardy, of course." Here we go.

And there she goes -- Obama "goes beyond naivete" in wanting to speak to dictators without preconditions.

"These dictators hate what we stand for . . . " cannot be met with on a presidential level as Obama said we would do.

"Diplomacy is hard work by serious people."

She is good.

Unfortunately she has Biden on the defensive. She's taking the upper hand.

She's winning.

Come on, Biden. Go on the offensive.

Israel . . . "what has this administration done right or wrong? Two state solution?

"A two state solution is the solution."

Hmmm . . . she is saying the right thing here.

"We have got to assure them that we will never allow another holocaust.

The Main Event: Blogging the Debate "Live"

2008-10-02T19:29:00.004-05:00

Just a half hour from now the two VP candidates will be going at it. And rather than scream into a pillow or throw things at the TV, I thought I would do a live blog, writing down my impressions as they pop into my head. Not every thought. That would be unpublishable. But things that strike me as the fur is flying. I'll then hit the "post" button to make it as live as I can.

I imagine I may be the only one reading it, but it will keep me from screaming, so it'll serve its purpose.

The Main Event: Blogging the Debate

2008-10-02T18:37:00.004-05:00

The game is on! In an hour and twenty minutes it will be Biden and Palin, face to face, mono au mono, no holds barred.

Actually there will be a lot of holds barred as Biden will attempt to avoid gaffes without at the same time appearing to be too policy-wonkish, while Palin will be attempting to avoid answering any questions that call for actual knowledge of national policy matters.

With the debate ready to start in just over an hour, here are my predictions. See if I'm not right:

Watch for performing a kind of verbal jujitsui to bring it back to familiar ground. If the she gets a question like: "What policies need to be put in place to avoid the kind of financial crisis we are currently in?" She will respond: "Well, I would say the real issue here is what this has done to people in the kind of town I used to be mayor of. My neighbor, Marge Smith, lost her hair dressing business when the markets went south this week. That's the kind of person John McCain and I will be fighting for when we get to Washington."
Biden will address Sarah as Governor Palin to show respect for her office. Palin will say "Joe" to show how down to earth she is. "We don't stand on titles," will be the not so subtle message.
Both candidates will speak about the opposite's running mate rather than about each other. Sarah will go on the attack smiling as she all but accuses Obama of selling out to terrorists.
Palin will make sure we know just what down-home cooking, Walmart shoppin', five kid raisin', "aw shucks" kind of person she is; an every-woman that represents the little people that are ignored by the high muckety-mucks in Washington. Populism will be poppin' out all over.
Biden will also play the populist card. It will be blue collar union factory worker populism versus small town middle America populism. Palin will be suggesting elitism, but it will be a difficult card to play with Biden on the opposite podium. He's about as un-elitist as a Democrat can be.
Palin is going to do her best to get Biden riled to push him into making one of his infamous gaffes. Don't think she'll suceed. But she'll try, all the time putting on that plastic almost smile she wields so effectively.

Countdown: Palin Bingo!

2008-10-02T13:29:00.003-05:00

hours and counting . . . .

Palin Bingo Card

Afraid the debate might get boring? Try playing Palin Bingo. That should make it more interesting . . . . or nauseating, depending on your point of view.

Countdown: Sarah Palin is Unfit to be . . . Governor (facts from 2006)

2008-10-02T09:08:00.013-05:00

hours and counting . . . . . .

Fact Check for the Debate

Our favorite Alaskan blogger, AKMuckraker, published a fact sheet about Sarah Palin back in 2006 when she was running for governor of Alaska which may be good to have in front of you while you watch the debates tonight. The value of this is that it underscores the anomolies in Palin's story before she got enmeshed in national politics. This, you might say, is the unvarnished truth.

Note particularly the last point in light of the partisan White House-led firings of lawyers. This is one vindictive lady!

FACTS ABOUT SARAH PALIN
(from http://mudflats.wordpress.com in 2006)

Palin Says She’s a Change from The Scandal-Plagued Republicans, But She’s More of

the Same.

Palin built her reputation on criticizing state Republicans for ethics questions, but Palin has
questions of her own, as she used city resources when she campaigned for Lt. Governor; Palin chaired the campaign of another candidate in a race dominated by resource issues when she was on the oil and gas commission and said that she saw no conflict of interest. For years, Palin supported Murkowski, campaigning for him across the state, and he supported her campaigns as well.

Palin Touts Fiscal Conservatism, But She Increased Spending Tremendously and
Supported Tax Increases.

Palin constantly reminds us that she is a fiscal conservative. But during her time as mayor, she increased the city’s budget at a rate far outpacing the city’s growth with spending on large projects. She supported sales tax increases and left the city with thousands in per-capita debt, where none had existed when she came in. Palin brags about eliminating the personal property tax, butcwith the same legislation, the city increased motor vehicle fees that almost matched the lost income of the personal property taxes.

Palin Is Too Socially Conservative for Libertarian Alaska.

Palin is a strong conservative—something she repeated throughout her primary campaign but now seems to try to back off from. She is not only pro-life but is involved with—and even steered tax money toward—organizations that give misleading information on abortion. She called herself a “hard-core fiscal conservative” who wanted government to get to the bare bones. The Anchorage Daily News asked whether her “socially conservative positions square with Alaska's generally libertarian approach to those issues.” Palin also supported a flat tax, an idea even Bob Dole thought was absurd.

Palin’s Management Style is to Bully and Demand Political Loyalty.

Palin’s tenure as mayor of Wasilla was marred by tremendous staff turnover, first when she fired most of the top staff—including the city’s librarian—because she questioned their loyalty, and then later when staff quit because of her micromanaging style. Wasilla even lost the opportunity to hire a police chief because he said the job seemed too political.

Palin’s Not Ready for Primetime.

Palin argues that she was the mayor of the fastest growing city in Alaska. While that may be true, Wasilla’s population is still 1 percent of the rest of the state of Alaska. The last budget Palin approved, $12.5 million, is .2 percent of the $7.3 billion budget Tony Knowles approved.

Palin’s Not Tough Enough to Be A Strong Negotiator for Alaska.

As mayor, Palin fired someone because she said he intimidated her with his size and because he gave her a “stern look.” She asked her department heads to give her only good news and once complained because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture.”

Countdown: Joe Six-Pack, Sarah Palin, is a Millionaire

2008-10-01T20:03:00.014-05:00

till the Palin-Biden Debate

Sarah is a Millionaire

Turns out that Sarah Joe Six-Pack Palin, is actually Sarah Champagne Palin. That's according to an article in the Anchorage Daily News which reveals that Todd and Sarah Palin are millionaires; millionaires who also got their cut of the oil revenues paid out to all citizens in the socialist state of Alaska, which last year came to $1,654 for each member of the Palin family.

Yet another anomaly in the mythology being woven around the saga which is Sarah Palin -- a millionaire masquerading as "an everyday, working-class American."

Here's the article:

Estimates show Palin assets top $1 million

By SHARON THEIMER and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE
The Associated Press

(10/01/08 16:10:45)

WASILLA - Sarah Palin and her husband have pieced together a uniquely Alaskan income that reached comfortably into six figures even before she became governor, capitalizing on valuable fishing rights, a series of land deals and a patchwork of other ventures to build an above-average lifestyle.

Add up the couple's 2007 income and the estimated value of their property and investments and they appear to be worth at least $1.2 million. That would make the Palins, like Democratic vice presidential rival Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, well-off but not nearly as wealthy as multimillionaire couples John and Cindy McCain and, to a lesser extent, Barack and Michelle Obama.

One measure of financial health: While there is a home loan, Palin reported no personal credit card debt on her most recent financial report as Alaska governor. That compares to average household credit card debt among Americans of $9,840 last year.

A more complete picture will come when Sarah Palin outlines her personal finances in federal paperwork in coming days. It will include details of any mortgage debt and at least rough dollar totals for bank accounts and investments.

Palin this week characterized herself as "an everyday, working-class American" who knows how it feels when the stock market takes a hit.

The Palins' total income last year was split almost evenly between Sarah Palin's white-collar job and her husband's blue-collar work. Sarah Palin's salary as governor was $125,000; Todd Palin took in $46,790 as a part-time oil production operator for BP Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, plus $46,265 in commercial fishing income and $10,500 in Iron Dog snowmachine race winnings. These figures do not include nearly $17,000 in per diem payments Palin received for 312 nights spent in her own home since she was elected governor; she also has received $43,490 to cover travel costs for her husband and children.

In addition, each member of the Palin family received $1,654 in state oil royalties paid to all Alaskans.

FULL ARTICLE

Countdown: Video Highlighting Palin's Debating Skills

2008-10-01T14:48:00.003-05:00

More Day Till the Palin-Biden Debate

Want to know what to expect from Sarah Palin tomorrow night? Check out this video compilation put together by Jed Lewison from Huffington Post under the headline:

Why Sarah Palin is a Better Debater Than You Think.

Countdown: Smoking Gun Found in Troopergate!

2008-09-30T23:06:00.010-05:00

More Day till the Palin-Biden Debate!

Mudflats: Smoking Gun Found in Troopergate Investigation

Hold onto your britches, boys and girls, the crap is about to hit the fan. According to AKMuckraker, whose site went down yesterday*, a witness has come forth with what appears to be proof that the Palins did, in fact, act improperly in the Troopergate affair. It's serious enough that AKMuckraker predicts it will put an end to Palin's political career.

* - The site is still down, but the old Mudflats site is still up: www.mudflats.wordpress.com. The article is found there

From Mudflats:

I've been waiting for this one. One of the witnesses called by Stephen Branchflower (independent investigator of the legitimate Troopergate investigation) put herself in a tricky spot.

Murlene Wilkes, owner of Harbor Adjusting Services, and holder of a $1.2 million/yr. contract with the State of Alaska to handle workers compensation claims, apparently told a big fat fib. When Branchflower asked her if the governor's office had ever asked her to deny a workers compensation claim for Palin's ex-brother-in-law Trooper Mike Wooten (the trooper in "Troopergate"), she said no. Never. Really.

Mike Wooten, of course, is involved in a bitter custody dispute with Palin's sister Molly. The Palins do not like him. Some say they have made a vengeful and personal sport out of ruining his career.

Problem is, that there are actually honest people in the world....and one of them works for Murlene Wilkes at Harbor Investments. This unnamed worker made a little phone call to the tip line that Branchflower set up at the beginning of the investigation. According to the tipster, yes indeed, the governor's office DID put pressure to deny the claim.

Hard evidence contradicting sworn testimony has a certain effect on people. Murlene Wilkes, faced with this situation, decided to change her testimony according to a report in The Public Record <http://www.pubrecord.org/>. Now, with the little extra incentive of avoiding perjury charges, she has admitted that she *was* asked to deny the claim - *at the direct request of Sarah and Todd Palin.*

*chin hitting desk* (a moment of stunned silence)

Full Article

Countdown: Another Palinism

2008-09-30T20:37:00.003-05:00

More Days till the Palin-Biden Debate

Here's more proof that Bush has got nothing on Palin when it comes to near incomprehensibility. "The new energy?"

Palin on Biden

From the latest Katie Couric interview:

"He's got a tremendous amount of experience and, you know, I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas and he's got the experience based on many, many years in the Senate and voters are gonna have a choice there of what it is that they want in these next four years."

Countdown: Is it a Ploy??

2008-09-30T15:34:00.005-05:00

More Days till the Palin-Biden Debate

I'm not usually given to paranoia, but the thought just struck me that Palin's apparently empty-headed cluelessness in recent public appearances could be a ploy. The previous post seems to suggest this. Her nom de plume, Baracudda, also hints as such. This is a capable, savvy politician who has clawed her way to the top of Alaska politics. Can she be so clueless as to not understand how idiotic she appeared in the Couric interviews? Perhaps. But not likely.

Here's what might be the case. From the outset the RNC has been claiming victim status for Palin. The establishment press is out to get her. She is being vilified by rabid liberals.

When she came across as wooden and defensive in the Gibson interview (he of the establishment press) her Rovian handlers realized that this was their trump card. Let her come across as vapid and out of touch with international affairs in the Couric interview, which is McCain's strong suit anyway. Let the press continue their assault. Then at the debate, when expectations are lowered to a Loch Ness level have the assertive, self confident Sarah Palin we met at the Republican National Convention, suitably prepped , re-assert herself. Have her go on the offensive against Obama's liberalism with a self confident (yet charming) bluster. Prod Biden into blowing his top. Put on her best "I'm a pit bull hockey mom maverick who feels the pain of middle America" act and watch the disaffected independent voters line up behind her.

It would be a brilliant tactical move as in one fell swoop she would: A) confirm the essential meanness of the hated liberal press B) gain the sympathies of the swelling numbers of Americans who are angry and fed up with politics as usual. "Here's someone we can relate to," they will say. "She hates the establishment press and politicians just as much as we do. Let's get em back by putting this woman in office!"

And the ghost of Karl Rove will continue to haunt us.

It's just a thought. . . . An awful thought.

Countdown: What It's Like to Debate Sarah Palin (from a man who did it!)

2008-09-30T13:33:00.008-05:00

More Days till the Palin-Biden Debate

Want to know what to expect from Sarah Palin on Thursday night? Here's what someone who debated Palin in Alaska has to say.

* * *

From the Christian Science Monitor:

An Article by Alaska state representative and gubenatorial candidate Andrew Halcro

Anchorage, Alaska - When he faces off against Sarah Palin Thursday night, Joe Biden will have his hands full.

I should know. I've debated Governor Palin more than two dozen times. And she's a master, not of facts, figures, or insightful policy recommendations, but at the fine art of the nonanswer, the glittering generality. Against such charms there is little Senator Biden, or anyone, can do.

On paper, of course, the debate appears to be a mismatch.

In 2000, Palin was the mayor of an Alaskan town of 5,500 people, while Biden was serving his 28th year as a United States senator. Her major public policy concern was building a local ice rink and sports center. His major public policy concern was the State Department's decision to grant an export license to allow sales of heavy-lift helicopters to Turkey, during tense UN-sponsored Cyprus peace talks.

On paper, the difference in experience on both domestic and foreign policy is like the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing a bullet. Unfortunately for Biden, if recent history is an indicator, experience or a grasp of the issues won't matter when it comes to debating Palin.

FULL ARTICLE

Countdown: McCain as Palin Handler and Grandpa

2008-09-30T08:23:00.004-05:00

More Days Till the Palin-Biden Debate

Just in case you missed it last night: Palin AND McCain with Couric. Note McCain's attempt to extract Palin's foot from her mouth. Painful to watch . . .