Palin is still here....

Why do we have to keep hearing from this person?

From AOL:
"Palin, who has long criticized media coverage of her campaign performance, also said she is interested to see if reporters are equally tough on Caroline Kennedy as she pursues the appointment to the likely-vacant Senate seat in New York."

Every morning I peruse the headlines in 5 or 6 news sources (yes Sarah, I can name them: Google, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Hartford Courant, The Huffington Post and periodically AOL (AOL really isn't news, it's like reading the front page of the National Inquirer)) and each day I see more blathering from the Governor of Alaska. Apparently now she's mad at Katie Couric and Tina Fey.

I'm still trying to figure out if/when/who is going to show this woman out of the national spotlight and back to the back water she crawled out of. I hope this Walmart Politician isn't what the Republican's are pinning their hopes to.

Marc

PS I agree with Krugman's assessment of the economy. Let's hope the smart people Obama is surrounding himself with haven't revealed everything the Republican's won't agree to yet.

McCain/Palin On Their Merits: Not The Smart Choice

From a friend:

What if the candidates lives were reversed? What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review? What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class? What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said "I do" to? What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards? What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not only became addicted to painkillers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization? What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard? What if Obama were a member of the Keating-5? What if McCain were a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If the above questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are? This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.

You are The Boss... which team would you hire? With America facing historic debt, 2 wars, stumbling health care, a weakened dollar, all-time high prison population, mortgage crises, bank foreclosures, etc.

Educational Background:

Obama: Columbia University - B.A. PoliticalScience with a Specialization in International Relations. Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Biden: University of Delaware - B.A. inHistory and B.A. in Political Science.nbsp; Syracuse University College of Law - Jurist Doctor (J.D.)

versus

McCain: United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester, North Idaho College- 2 semesters - general study, University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism, Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester, University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Now, which team are you going to hire?

PS: What if Barack Obama had an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter...

The Second Great Depression?

The next administration’s economic team had better be ready to hit the ground
running, because from day one it will find itself dealing with the worst
financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. - Paul Krugman in today's New York Times.

I've heard a few people in the know say that no matter what happens with the "bailout" bill, the American economy is going to get a lot worse in the next few months. It looks like it might be a bleak holiday season. If Americans elect McCain-Palin, it will be even bleaker.

Jim

Chatterbox Palin

My, she now is a non-stop chatterbox! She certainly has been programmed. What a talking Barbie Doll!

Jim

Palin And Biden: Should Be Interesting

Of course, Biden should be able to "win" any debate with the soccer momish, gun toting, six pack carrying governor of Alaska, but we'll have to see how the personal dynamics play out. Palin is someone I can't even bear to watch. I hope Biden can control his contempt of her better than McCain, who clearly hates Obama.

Jim

Cafferty On Palin

Jack is one of my favorite people on TV. Not because he makes statements but because he has the guts to ask questions.

I was watching 60 Minutes last night and I saw three idiots from a University prattling on about how they would be comfortable with Sarah Palin as President. Really? You've got to be kidding. I wasn't too enamored with the concept of Hilary as President but boy, I would vote, donate and jump through any hoop before I'd let Sarah Palin roll her brood up onto the Whitehouse lawn.

Take a look:

Funny Sarah Palin Joke

Jimmy Kimmel:

"John McCain showed up without running mate Sarah Palin, which is a shame
because she actually has a lot of experience with financial matters. You know,
she lives right next to a bank."

Why Sarah Palin Is Babbling

Blogger Matt Yglesias offers an explanation of Sarah Palin's increasing level of incoherent babble:

"It’s possible that all this cramming is causing Palin to become less
coherent — instead of just parrying questions she knows she doesn’t have good
answers to, she’s trying to remember canned lines but it’s too much all at once
to actually get right."

It would be funny if it were not so tragic. This person could well be the next president of the United States!

Jim

Yet another dump on Democracy...

From the NY Times Today:

"The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday."

In the article, there seems to be some "wrangling" over debates. Please Mr. McCain, yet another pile of shit on democracy? Hell, you've been prattling on about town halls and Obama for the last 4 months. Why would you be so afraid to have you and Sarah Palin debate like the rest of your colleagues before you? Afraid of Joe Biden? Afraid of Barack Obama?

Why the fear?

Marc

McCain Sucks - Gloves Off

OK here goes. The current financial meltdown is due to the last 40 years of Republican/Conservative hate of government and hate of regulation. Let greed run rampant and get the government out of the way of corruption and greed (except call the Feds back in to bail out the worst offenders.) That was the Republican/conservative program and now the chickens are coming home to roost. It's time that boobus America wakes up - you have been ROYALLY SCREWED by Reagan/BUSHONE/ and BUSHTWO. Wake the fuck up! If you put that lying sack of shit McCain in office with the wicked witch of the North the hateful bigot Palin you WILL GET WHAT YOU FUCKING DESERVE!

Jim

McCain-Palin Lies Exposed!

The drumbeat is increasing about the sleazy, lie-filled Republican campaign against Obama. Some observers are telling Obama to play it coll, stay on message (against McCain, not Palin) and let the avalanche of Republican sleaze bury McCain. Others are calling for Obama to fight back. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the next couple of months.

Jim

PHOTO: Dahlias in pots on our deck at the beach.

Friedman's Lament: McCain-Palin

"Who cares how much steel John McCain has in his gut when the steel that today
holds up our bridges, railroads, nuclear reactors and other infrastructure is
rusting? McCain talks about how he would build dozens of nuclear power plants.
Oh, really? They go for $10 billion a pop. Where is the money going to come
from? From lowering taxes? From banning abortions? From borrowing more from
China? From having Sarah Palin “reform” Washington — as if she has any more clue
how to do that than the first 100 names in the D.C. phonebook?

- Tom Friedman in today's New York Times.

Yet boobus America, or half of it, is ready to elect McCain and his clueless female Alaskan put bull with the bouffant hair. Go figure.

Jim

Herbert: "Dimwitted" Americans May Elect McCain-Palin

John McCain, who is shameless about promoting himself as America’s ultimate
patriot, put the best interests of the nation aside in making his incredibly
reckless choice of a running mate. But there is a profound double standard in
this country. The likes of John McCain and George W. Bush can do the craziest,
most irresponsible things imaginable, and it only seems to help them
politically.

- New York Times columist Bob Herbert

McCain Dishonest And Dishonorable

"...we do not have a serious pick for the vice-presidency in the GOP,
do we? We have an absurdity. And a joke."

"John McCain is dishonest and dishonorable. That much we now know. "

- Conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, one time Bush supporter and one time admirer of John McCain.

Sullivan's fierce criticism of the Republican ticket is raising eyebrows...including mine.

Jim

Of Fish, Pigs, and Lipstick

The Repubs are all in a tizzy this morning over Obama's comments about McSame and change. "You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig," says Obama, and you can "wrap a fish in newspaper but it still stinks." This, says McSame, is an unfair, sexist slap at Palin.

Really? I think it's a pretty good analysis of the McSame program.

Jim

Banned Books by Sarah Palin

For those of you giving the bounce to John McSame because of Sarah Palin, here's a list of books she tried to have banned from the Wasilla library. This is forgeting for a minute that she tried to fire the librarian when she wouldn't pull the books at Sarah's request...

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Blubber by Judy Blume
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Cujo by Stephen King
Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite
Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
Decameron by Boccaccio
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) by John> Cleland
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Forever by Judy Blume
Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowlin
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K.Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Have to Go by Robert Munsch
Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Impressions edited by Jack Booth
In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
It's Okay if You Don't Love Me by Norma Klein
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Love is One of the Choices by Norma Klein
Lysistrata by Aristophanes
More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
My House by Nikki Giovanni
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Night Chills by Dean Koontz
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
One Day in The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ordinary People by Judith Guest
Our Bodies, Ourselves by Boston Women's Health Collective
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz
Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
Separate Peace by John Knowles
Silas Marner by George Eliot
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Bastard by John Jakes
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Living Bible by William C. Bower
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
The Pigman by Paul Zindel
The Seduction of Peter S. by Lawrence Sanders
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary by the Merriam-Webster Editorial Staff
Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween Symbols by Edna Barth

Still interested in what Sarah Palin thinks? Still interested in her history? I'm a little more interested in why John McSame picked another loser as his running mate.

As a matter of fact, I'm more interested in how Obama is going to dig us out after 8 years of Republican rule.

Folks, look away from John McCain's sphincter for one minute and look at Obama. The guy that may help pull us out of this mess. Hey and by the way, you may also want to look at some of the highly intelligent people running in November as well that won't take a massive dump on the Constitution. Al Franken in MN. might be a good place to start.

Marc

Palin, A Scandal We Can Look Forward To...

Well, Palin Troopergate is in full swing with the McCain suppression and denial rolling forward in full force.

In a revealing Newsweek article this week:

"In a move endorsed by the McCain campaign Friday, John Coghill, the GOP chairman of the state House Rules Committee, wrote a letter seeking a meeting of Alaska's bipartisan Legislative Council in order to remove the Democratic state senator in charge of the so-called "troopergate" investigation."

I am eternallly curious. Why would anyone stop an investigation? If Sarah Palin and crew have nothing to worry about, than why not let the investigation roll forward? Why not ask for a bi-partisan set of investigators? I'm also curious, if she thought that her Ex-Brother in law was so dangerous to herself and the state, why not build a case for firing him like every other employer has to do?

Says volumes, doesn't it? It means that if these people are elected, starting right at the top we can look forward to the further destruction of the executive branch of our government. I'm accountable for my actions. The big problem with Republicans and specifically the two running for the oval office is that they don't seem to be accountable for anything, ever.

Don't elect these people. No way, no how.

Marc

Politics In America: A Nation Of "C" Students

Here is Michael Moore commenting on the selection of Sarah Palin as the Republican VP candidate. But he is really saying much more about the average American, the people who make up a large part of the electorate; the same people that elected George Bush twice...and the same people that could possibly elect McCain-Palin:

"But before everyone gets all smug and self-righteous about the Palin selection, remember where you live. You live in a nation of gun owners and hunters. You live in a country where one out of three girls get pregnant before they are 20. You live
in a nation of C students. Knocking Bush for being a C student only endeared him
to the nation of C students. Knock Palin for having kids, for having a kid who's having
a baby, for anything that is part of her normalness -- a normalness that looks very familiar to so many millions of Americans -- well, you do this at your own peril. Assuming she's still on the ticket two weeks from now, she will be a much tougher opponent than anyone expects. You live in a country that voted for Dan Quayle."

It's scary, isn't it? We live in a country heavily populated by uneducated, unsophisticated people who can be easily manipulated by right wing demagogues on talk radio and right wing politicians waving the flag, praising God, and demonizing gays and immigrants.

This is why the Democrats, who should be a cinch to win the white house this year after eight disastrous years of Dubbya Bush, are in danger of losing the presidency in November. Bill Clinton won by becoming more like Republicans...moving to the right, and "triangulating" (being all things to all people.)

Obama is not that type of Clintonesque unprincipled politician, I don't think. He and Biden need to make a strong case that they will best serve the interests of the average American rather than the rich; that America can once again be great in the eyes of the world; that diplomacy and alliances are more valuable than "go it alone" military force; and that all Americans should have jobs and health care. Obama and Biden need to hammer home small "d" liberal democratic values, not Democratic Leadership Council centrist claptrap. Maybe then they'll will be able to convince Moore's "nation of C students" to vote Democratic.

Jim

One Blogger's Advice For Sarah Palin

Blogger Richard Rothstein has some advice for Sarah Palin:

Sarah, sweetheart, go back to Alaska and feed your hideous self to one of those
Polar Bears starving to death because your political party thinks global warming
is a leftist plot to lower the value of your stock portfolio.

...and this is mild, compared to what Rothstein calls the Republican Vice Presidential nominee on his blog site (Proceed At Your Own Risk.)

Jim

Can't stop puking

After watching about 10 minutes of Newt Gingrich and Joe Lieberman I had to go walk my dog. I felt like I was going to puke. That isn't an exaggeration or a joke. I actually could feel the hamburger I ate for dinner on its' way back.

I'll cut to the chase; the Republican party really isn't a party at all, it's a movement, a way of life. And that way of life is a way that only reacts to problems, looks for easy answers and doesn't actually ask any questions (easy or hard).

The last part of the above sentence is key. That not asking questions part. Human beings can't solve problems until we understand the questions. We can't have any meaningful debate or hope that our elected representatives represent their constituency.

The Republican's did a Hail Mary last night and used the same kind of nationalistic crap the Bush Co. has been using since they architected a war for oil in January of 2001 (please don't be fooled by the cheaply printed "Country First" signs all over the convention).

All I can say is that the hamburger I was pushing up has more substance than what I saw last night. By the way Newt, I saw you jumping the reporter from MSNBC about Sarah Palin. You were right, she has some significant experience that means alot to Republicans; cronyism, scandals and a total disregard for the environment. You were right, she's an absolutely perfect choice.

I hope the American people see through this sham. By the way, I am not so sure the Republicans that re-elected Joe Lieberman in CT are too happy with their choice either. The guy has sent many more $$$ to Baghdad than helping to create new jobs in New Haven. Stop by New Haven some time and see how Holy Joe's city is doing. Besides Yale University (which will always be there)the next biggest employer is iKea. Ever try to live off an iKea salary Joe?

Regardless of how I feel, a Salon.com reporter Walter Shapiro said it best in an article today "Why should the voters, worried about the economy and weary of war, reward the party of George W. Bush with another four years in the White House?" Ask the questions.

M