Chris and Panayiotis give their final thoughts on the Democratic Convention

(I've been sitting on this post, postponing it because of Hurricane Palin. So I'm posting this now, lest it never get up - JOHN.)

Chris in Paris, and my Greek blogger friend Panayiotis Vryonis, were sitting in our usual spot on Thursday night, right after Obama's speech, and I asked each of them to give their final thoughts on how Obama did, and the convention overall.

Here is Panayiotis (video length 2:20)



Here is Chris (video length 0:31)

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McCain campaign uses hurricane to attack Obama's patriotism (again), while Obama gives McCain a pass

I don't think I've seen a single thing that Obama has said about McCain and the hurricane. Zero. Yet John McCain's spokesman today used Hurricane Gustav to attack Barack Obama's patriotism yet again. Surprise!

Obama could have talked about how McCain going to the hurricane zone was irresponsible, self-aggrandizing, and endangered the lives of those in the region whose leaders would better spend their time evacuating their citizens rather than holding court with John McCain. Obama could have talked about how tacky and sleazy and opportunistic it is for John McCain to be considering using the Hurricane Gustav disaster zone as a backdrop for his political convention acceptance speech. Obama could have talked about Mccain's vote against the Katrina Commission to hold the Bush Administration accountable for their disastrous non-handling of the previous hurricane. He could have talked about McCain's vote against extending unemployment benefits to Katrina victims. He could have talked about McCain's vote against Medicaid for Katrina victims. He could have talked about McCain voting against funding the Army Corps of Engineers. He could have talked about McCain seeking and receiving the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee after Hagee said Katrina was God's punishment against New Orleans.

And finally, Barack Obama could have talked about how John McCain went and ate cake with George Bush while people were literally dying in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina struck. Hell, Obama could have, and should have, made this photo into a TV ad that he should run doing the entire Republican convention this week.

But Obama didn't do any of that. And now John McCain is using the hurricane to attack Barack Obama's loyalty to our great nation. Being nice to Republicans earns us nothing. How many times do we have to be taught this lesson before Democrats get it? Read More......

Sarah Palin wasn't vetted

There are reports that the McCain campaign came up with the idea to pick Palin a week ago, and then only vetted her for four days. That would explain the plethora of bad news the blogs and the corporate media have been able to find on her in such a short period of time. And now we have even more evidence that John McCain simply wung it in picking a neophyte with no national security experience as the person who may replace him as president in as little as six months. McCain didn't even check her hometown paper to see what it had to say about her. At some point, McCain's actions become reckless. You don't choose a vice presidential candidate who isn't qualified simply because she might help you pick up a few votes here and there. It's Dan Quayle, and Harriet Miers, and Brownie all over again. And it speaks very poorly of John McCain's first significant decision as our potentially future commander in chief. Read More......

Bush heading to Texas to prep for hurricane. Will the sun ruin his photo-op this time, too?

ABC News just sent me an email that reports "PRESIDENT BUSH PLANS TO TRAVEL TO TEXAS MONDAY IN REACTION TO HURRICANE GUSTAV; WILL GO TO LOUISIANA WHEN CONDITIONS PERMIT."

Bush wants to show the nation that this time he really, really is ready -- this time. We've seen this before. Several weeks after the Katrina debacle, during Hurricane Rita, Bush went to Texas to show us all that he was in command. But, the Bush team cancelled the photo op because the weather didn't cooperate. Here's my post from September 24, 2005, titled, "Texas Trip cancelled because it was...too sunny":

Interfering with on-going storm preparations wasn't the reason Bush ditched going to San Antonio yesterday. No, that's not why. The reason was a bad visual:

It was too sunny.

Not kidding:

Another White House official involved in preparing Mr. Bush's way noted that with the sun shining so brightly in San Antonio, the images of Mr. Bush from here might not have made it clear to viewers that he was dealing with an approaching storm.

The White House is desperate.

Some things never change. It was all about the photo op for Bush, just like today it's all about the photo op for McCain. Read More......

What earrings would you choose for visiting a national disaster?

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Why do McCain and Bush disrupt emergency services during the hurricane - for their photo ops?

Remember what happened the last time George Bush staged a photo op during Katrina? It halted food delivery to the hurricane victims. And don't forget, now that McCain is the GOP candidate, it takes a 9-car caravan to buy him a cappuccino at a Starbucks. McCain and Bush are going to make a disaster of a disaster. Why are they going to the region at all? If they really want to help, if they really wanted to help, they'd be chairing task forces in Washington, not posing for photographers in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Read More......

McCain considering using Gustav disaster area as prop for convention acceptance speech

This is simply sick.

John McCain [is] floating the idea that he might deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night from the area blasted by the storm.

What, McCain missed Katrina, because he was off having birthday cake with George Bush (though the corporate media isn't mentioning this in their coverage of Gustav, isn't that interesting), so this time he wants to take full advantage of the storm by using the victims as political props? Wow, that is simply sick. Then again, the McCain people like thinking of national disasters as political props. And don't forget, it was John McCain himself who said he'd never cancel a visit with our injured troops, even if the visit were considered a photo op. So, big surprise that McCain is now using Gustav as political theater. Read More......

GOP operative: "Gustav may be a positive" for McCain

From Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post:

"As long as we properly handle the Gustavication of the convention, it may be a positive," said one GOP operative.

That's nice. Then again, the McCain people are kind of big on finding the brighter side of national disasters. Read More......

Our future Commander in Chief

Watch Sarah Palin's sportcast below. Now imagine her staring down the likes of Vladimir Putin. This has nothing to do with Sarah Palin's gender. I'm all for a woman president - while we preferred Obama, Hillary would have been a fine commander in chief. But Hillary spent her life in jobs preparing her for sitting in "the" chair. Sarah Palin did not. The more we learn about Sarah Palin, the more she comes across as just goofy. Watch the video:

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MoDo on Palin (I laughed out loud reading this)

Maureen Dowd:

Enthusiastic Republicans don’t see the choice of Palin as affirmative action, despite her thin résumé and gaping absence of foreign policy knowledge, because they expect Republicans to put an underqualified “babe,” as Rush Limbaugh calls her, on the ticket. They have a tradition of nominating fun, bantamweight cheerleaders from the West, like the previous Miss Congeniality types Dan Quayle and W., and then letting them learn on the job. So they crash into the globe a few times while they’re learning to drive, what’s the big deal?

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Former Palin staffer: "She's not qualified, she doesn't have the judgment, to be next in line to the president of the United States"

Bloomberg:

``She's not qualified, she doesn't have the judgment, to be next in line to the president of the United States,'' Larry Persily, who until June worked in the governor's Washington office as a congressional liaison, said in a phone interview yesterday.

A supporter of Palin's campaign for governor, Jim Whitaker, the Republican mayor of Fairbanks, also questioned Palin's readiness to serve as vice president in a phone interview yesterday.

`Avid Supporter'

Whitaker said that while he is ``still an avid supporter'' of Palin as governor, he will continue to back Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

And just four months ago, when Persily left his job with Palin, Palin said that she was hoping to find him another job back in Alaska. So she publicly endorsed this guy. They did not leave on bad terms.

Palin says she hopes to find a position for Persily in state government here.

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CNN has already begun the split screen: GOP convention vs. Gustav

Bill Bennett isn't looking very happy. He should cheer up - if anyone can turn the personal tragedy to their own political advantage, it's the Republicans. I'm sure they'll come up with something appropriately warm and fuzzy, and opportunistic, to take advantage of Gustav. Stay tuned.

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Comatose-looking McCain faces his first national crisis as presidential candidate

It was creepy. McCain just spoke to the nation about suspending some of the festivities at the Republican convention this week, and he seemed mildly confused, repeated himself (he quoted the same quote by Haley Barbour twice in a minute, seemingly without even realizing it), and was somewhat comatose. It was simply creepy. He had no energy whatsoever. Exuded no confidence. It was as if he was a very bad actor reading a very bad teleprompter. Wow. He just plain looked old. Not mom and dad old - grandpa old. Joe is going to be posting the vid soon. Videos like these may start Americans thinking that McCain passed his prime a few years ago.

Keep in mind, Mccain voted against the Katrina Commission to hold the Bush Administration accountable for their disastrous non-handling of the previous hurricane. He voted against extending unemployment benefits to Katrina victims. He voted against Medicaid for Katrina victims. He voted against funding the Army Corps of Engineers. He sought and received the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee after Hagee said Katrina was God's punishment against New Orleans. And finally, McCain celebrated his birthday with his bff George Bush and a big cake the very minute that Katrina was destroying New Orleans. McCain has already been battle-tested in disaster response. And he lost. Read More......

Palin lied about opposition to "Bridge to Nowhere"

Well, at least she has one major qualification to be a Republican president. She's a liar. This, from her home state paper, the Anchorage Daily News:

When John McCain introduced Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate Friday, her reputation as a tough-minded budget-cutter was front and center.

"I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere," Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge.

But Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it.

The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere." They're still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin's subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects -- and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines.

She stood up with John McCain and flat out lied to the national press and the American people. Every single reporter should dogging her and asking why she lied to the American people on the first day of her campaign. Read More......

Why did John McCain bring any press at all with him to the hurricane?

Joe found this little tidbit in an article earlier today:

Mr. McCain plans to go to Jackson, Miss., which is inland, with his wife, Cindy, and his newly-selected running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, his campaign said. Mr. McCain will take only a small pool of reporters, and will tour a hurricane center with Gov. Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor.

Why did he take any? Would he take reporters to a funeral? No. Why take reporters on a trip that supposedly isn't political? A trip to a national disaster? And the fact that McCain is only taking a "small pool of reporters" means that McCain has control over how many reporters he takes - McCain CHOSE to take this small pool. That means he could have chosen to take no reporters at all. And, guess who was chosen to be in that "small pool"? Carl Cameron from FOX, of course.

When Barack Obama had planned to visit injured troops in Germany, he wasn't going to bring any reporters at all. Obama canceled his trip to visit the troops because the Bush-McCain Pentagon tried to claim that the trip was political theater. But John McCain apparently isn't beyond political theater. The media needs to ask John McCain why he is bringing reporters with him on a trip to this looming disaster. It looks an awful lot like McCain is trying to take political advantage of human suffering. Though I guess it's a step up from sharing a birthday cake with George Bush. Read More......

Does Sarah Palin count duty-free shopping as foreign policy experience?

UPDATE: Yep, it's confirmed. Palin counted a refueling stop-over in Ireland - 30 minutes? 60 minute? - as an in-depth visit to the country. Amazing.

Irish blogger Maman Poulet notes:

So the Republican’s Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin has visited Ireland - this is listed as part of her foreign travel experience. She only got a passport last year and visited US troops (Alaskan National Guard) in Kuwait and Germany.

Two words to describe that visit to Ireland I think.

SHANNON STOPOVER! *

I could of course be wrong and Governor Palin was over to find her roots?? More as I get it.

*For US readers the Shannon Stopover refers to planes landing at Shannon Airport to refuel when on their way to and from parts of Europe/Middle East. Shannon Airport sees many US Military and contractor flights arrive there each month for refueling - passengers get off the plane for a while and then get back on again. Hardly a visit to Ireland?

If true, that would be one-third of Palin's entire national security/foreign policy experience. A 30 minute shopping trip at the Shannon airport. (It would also be an outright lie from the Bush-Palin campaign about our possible future wartime president.) I think we deserve to know the details of Palin's extensive foreign policy adventure in Ireland.

(I bought a cute shamrock mug in Shannon on a stopover, can I be VP too?) Read More......

Sarah Palin is my mom, without the foreign policy experience

Was talking to mom this morning, and apparently all of her friends are calling from around the country to say that McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, looks just like her - well, looks like mom back in the 1970s. (See photos, left, of mom in 1972 or so (left) and Palin (right) - mom also wears glasses).

Which got me thinking. Sarah Palin has met no world leaders, and she's visited a whopping total of 3 countries in her entire life (and at least two of those in the past year). I've attended meetings with 2 current or former heads of state, have been in the same room with at least 3 more, and have visited around 28 or so countries. Mom hasn't met any heads of state, I think, but she's probably visited almost as many countries as I, if not more. So basically, mom and I (and probably my entire extended family) are far more qualified than Sarah Palin to be vice president during war time. Read More......

The Theocrats are in a frenzy over Palin

McCain often talks about America's "Judeo-Christian" values, a term which The Boston Globe said "puzzles":

Such comments may pass unnoticed by most American voters and may be reassuring to some religious Christians and Jews. They may even go over well with some secular Americans who are pleased that he is using more inclusive language than some members of the religious right.

But his repeated invocation of "Judeo-Christian values" is sure to stick in the ears of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and people of other non-Christian, non-Jewish faiths. And they're sure to be asking themselves: Just what is McCain trying to tell us?

Those people, and people of the Jewish faith, better ask: What is Sarah Palin trying to tell us? The Governor of Alaska is even less inclusive. She just sticks with the Christian part. Via Political Wire, I came across this column from David Brody at Christian Broadcasting Network. As Governor, Palin declared a "Christian Heritage Week" last year. Palin wants a theocratic Alaska. If she wins, she can impose her theocracy on the nation. Brody reports the theocrats are loving this pick:

I'm telling you folks. The Evangelical base is revved up about this pick. A McCain campaign source told me that there is so much excitement from the Evangelical community about this pick that it's making their head spin.

Following the Rove playbook on evangelicals isn't all the maverick. Read More......

When John Met Sarah

John McCain is getting to know Sarah Palin. He seems to like what he's seeing:



Read a sample of the comments Jed got when he posted this video. Hysterical. Read More......

McCain, Cindy and Palin all heading to Gulf Coast for photo op. He did the same thing in Iowa during the floods.

Last June, when Iowa was inundated with massive floods, Iowa officials asked the presidential candidates to stay away. Barack Obama did. John McCain and his entourage arrived to insure he got some photos. George Bush showed up, too.

Today, John McCain, Cindy McCain and Sarah Palin are flying to Mississippi for a pre-hurricane photo op. They're meeting with state officials. The Governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour, used to chair the RNC, "invited" them -- so he's letting his staffers be used for the politicking on the eve of a massive hurricane striking. Do the McCains and Palin really need to show up with all of the staff, their security and the press? McCain did it in Iowa during the floods. Now, he's doing it during Gustav:

Mr. McCain plans to go to Jackson, Miss., which is inland, with his wife, Cindy, and his newly-selected running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, his campaign said. Mr. McCain will take only a small pool of reporters, and will tour a hurricane center with Gov. Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor.

Senator Barack Obama said that he had talked to the Louisiana governor and other officials. He added that he was monitoring the storm, but was planning no tour of the coast because he wanted to stay out of the way.

Come on. Only "a small pool of reporters"? Those reporters are the whole point of the visit. McCain could get this briefing over the phone or as a web conference (not that he knows what that is). He doesn't want information. He wants pictures. This is just another example of McCain putting politics first.

As a Senator, there is basically nothing McCain can do right now to help anyone in the Gulf Coast prepare for a hurricane. Not a thing. Just like there was not a thing he could do in Iowa during the floods. This is pure politics -- and McCain doesn't care how it interferes with the ongoing operation. It's actually pretty craven. Once again, McCain puts McCain's political interests first.

This you know is true: If Obama, Michelle and Biden headed to the Gulf Coast today, Haley Barbour would be the first one to criticize him for interfering with hurricane operations. And, the entire political press corps would dutifully report it. Read More......

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

The shows are chock full of Republicans today -- and this all plays out against the backdrop of Gustav.

Cindy McCain is making a couple of appearances. There are so many questions to ask her. Start with this one: In February, you were quite sure that your husband wouldn't have an affair. Yet, you started dating McCain while he was married. So, how can you be so sure? Yes, it's a fair question. Oh, and see if she knows how many homes she owns.

Also, be good if any of the hosts could get any Republican on the record about the McCain/Palin position on birth control. Try that one on Carly, she brought it up herself already.

Make Rudy and Lieberman defend Palin. They both talk sooooo tough on national security. Make them defend her national security credentials.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Cindy McCain, wife of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain; Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Kerry, D-Mass.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-N.Y.; Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.; Carly Fiorina, adviser to the McCain campaign.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., and Doris Kearns Goodwin, presidential historian.

___

CNN's "Late Edition" — Govs. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., Mark Sanford, R-S.C., and Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; former Sens. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and Tom Daschle, D-S.D.; Reps. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Eric Cantor, R-Va.; Nancy Pfotenhauer, adviser to McCain; Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn.; R. David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"Fox News Sunday" _ John McCain, Cindy McCain; Mike Miller, director of operations for the Republican National Convention.

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Palin praises Hillary, GOP crowd groans and boos

Quite the outreach program and I'm sure the Hillary supporters will feel welcome within the GOP circles. After just a day, the GOP crowds have gone from "mild" to "groans and boos" when Palin mentions Hillary.

This might not be the best way to reach out to those disillusioned Hillary Clinton supporters.

In just her second appearance on the campaign trail with John McCain, newly-minted GOP running mate Sarah Palin was showered with boos on Saturday for attempting to praise Clinton’s trail-blazing bid to become the first female president.

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How divided is the GOP heading into the convention?

As much as the GOP tried to promote the idea of a divided Democratic party, it increasingly sounds like they are projecting. Despite adding a PTA star from Wasilla, Alaska, the right still distrusts and dislikes McCain. The right loves the anti-choice, pro-gun positions of Palin and her lack of international experience (save that one visit overseas, to Ireland) is probably another bonus since the GOP almost bragged of the lack of international exposure Bush offered when coming into office.

But look who's divided now: the Republicans. As John McCain heads for St Paul this weekend - with his photogenic but almost comically inexperienced running mate, Sarah Palin, in tow - it is the GOP that struggles to find real unity. John McCain now leads a party saddled with fierce internecine disputes about everything from civil liberties to budget policy to America's role in the world. While these Republicans may lack a soap opera akin to the Clinton-Obama psychodrama, their ideological stitching has come dangerously loose. It is McCain's challenge to ensure that the seams don't burst open before election day.

How times have changed. During the first half of the Bush era, the Republican party brooked about as much dissent as the North Korean Communist party. But nothing breeds division like failure and the collapse of Bush Republicanism has a long list of party factions pointing the finger at one another.

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Inflation up again, consumer spending drops

So you mean the "rebate" checks are finished already? No! I can't believe it! Let's face it America, we're a nation of whiners. Just imagine what a McCain/Gramm economy would look like in four years.

U.S. personal income tumbled unexpectedly in July and spending slowed as the effects of government stimulus wore off and an inflation measure was at a 17-year high, a government report released on Friday showed.

Personal income fell 0.7 percent in the month, the sharpest decline since a 2.3 percent plunge in August 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, the Commerce Department said. Analysts were expecting July income to stay flat.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of national economic activity, rose 0.2 percent, as expected, the slimmest gain since February, after gaining 0.6 percent in June. However, inflation-adjusted spending dropped by 0.4 percent, the sharpest slide in four years.

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Mayor Nagin orders mandatory evacuation from "the mother of all storms"

Mandatory evacuation from a storm that is "worse than a Katrina":

Mayor Ray Nagin late Saturday warned that Gustav is the "mother of all storms" and ordered a mandatory evacuation for the West Bank of New Orleans for 8 a.m. Sunday and noon for the East Bank.

"We want 100 percent evacuation," said Nagin. "It has the potential to impact every area of this metropolitan.

Katrina had a footprint of about 400 miles, he said. Gustav is about 900 miles and growing, Nagin said.

"This is worse than a Betsy, worse than a Katrina," Nagin said.

The mayor speculated that Gustav is so fierce Baton Rouge likely will experience 100 mph winds.

This is very, very, very scary. Our thoughts are with all the people of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast.

Check out this image from NOAA:

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Palin's buddy Pat Buchanan on women

More of the views that apparently attracted McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, to Pat Buchanan:

2007: "The rise of women to power in a civilization is very often the mark of its decline."
-- Pat Buchanan, On The McLaughlin Group, July 6, 2007

1983: "Rail as they will against ‘discrimination,’ women are simply not endowed by nature with the same measures of single-minded ambition and the will to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of Western capitalism…The momma bird builds the nest. So it was, so it ever shall be. Ronald Reagan is not responsible for this; God is."
- Pat Buchanan, Washington Times. November 18, 1983

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So is this what McCain means by putting country first?

"I know the power of the Israeli lobby and the other lobbies, but we need a foreign policy that puts our own country first." - Pat Buchanan, Meet the Press Interview. September 12, 1999.

Buchanan is the guy Sarah Palin, McCain's VP choice, supported for president. Brings a whole new meaning to McCain's slogan of putting country first. Read More......

RNC's sick abortion plan

These people really are sick. And this time they got caught. Read More......

First poll, Palin a bust

From Editor & Publisher. Read More......

Gustav soon to be Category 5 hurricane

UPDATE: McCain is talking about postponing the convention. I don't buy it. I think he's just saying this to look nice and concerned - you know, he CONSIDERED postponing the convention, so it's okay now if they move ahead anyway. Having said that, as I note below, it's very difficult to hold a political convention, with people hooting and hollering, wearing funny hats and swigging down beers, while the TV shows a split screen of a hurricane destroying an American city. Then again, if anyone can celebrate while a hurricane destroys our homes, it's John McCain and the Republicans:



Category 5. Time for the Republicans to drag out a big birthday cake for John McCain at their convention this week. I really am curious as to how the GOP is going to "celebrate" while American cities are getting wiped off the map, again. John McCain was AWOL when Katrina hit New Orleans - in fact, McCain was with George Bush out west sharing a birthday cake. We posted about the outrage at the time. This, the anniversary of Katrina, the anniversary of John McCain's birthday snafu, is a bad time for the GOP to again show America how out of touch they are with anything that happens inside or borders. Let's all remember this photo, still on the White House Web site, of John McCain and his buddy George Bush laughing over a birthday cake as Katrina was quite literally obliterating New Orleans. Read More......

Sarah Palin and children conceived out of wedlock - an uncomfortable question needs to be posed

FOX News' Alan Colmes reports on this same issue, and notes that Sarah Palin's son was born on April 20.

Now a word from religious right leader James Dobson:

"[O]ur conviction is that birth and adoption are the purview of married heterosexual couples. Traditional marriage is God's design for the family and is rooted in biblical truth. When that divine plan is implemented, children have the best opportunity to thrive. That's why public policy as it relates to families must be based not solely on the desires of adults but rather on the needs of children and what is best for society at large." - James Dobson of Focus on the Family, TIME, December 2006

Joe and I discussed this post before writing it. We weren't even sure we were comfortable posting this because, as Democrats and progressives, we don't pass judgment on children born out of wedlock, or their parents. Every child is a gift, and we don't believe it's the government's, or anyone else's, business what you do in your own bedroom.

But the conservative base of the Republican party, the very base that McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, was chosen to woo, does care about legislating your sex life. Though it was 20 years ago, who can forget the infamous Murphy Brown controversy, when then Republican VP Dan Quayle criticized a fictional TV character, Murphy Brown, for having a child out of wedlock. For conservative Christians, aka "values voters," getting pregnant while not married is still severely frowned upon. Remember, it was only 18 months ago that religious right leader James Dobson famously, and publicly, criticized vice presidential daughter Mary Cheney in a column in TIME magazine for having a child out of wedlock. It is exactly Dobson who McCain is wooing with the choice of Palin.

As Joe notes in his post below, pregnancy and birth control - and overall sexual mores - are key issues for conservative voters, and for the Republican party leadership. It is therefore newsworthy, and a legitimate issue, while admittedly somewhat uncomfortable, to inquire as to the practice of those very same issues in Sarah Palin's own life. Let me walk you through the issue:

1. Sarah Palin's first son, Track Palin, was born in April 1989 (we don't have the exact day). Actually now we do, courtesy of FOX News' Alan Colmes. He was born on April 20. For the purposes of this analysis, we will give Sarah Palin the benefit of the doubt and assume that her son was born on April 30, 1989, the longest possible April date from her marriage.

2. Sarah Palin was married on August 29, 1988. She eloped.

3. 38 weeks is the typical human pregnancy.

4. 38 weeks before her son's birthday, April 20, 1989, is July 28, 1988 - i.e., that would be the hypothetical day of conception.

5. If this data is correct, that would mean that Sarah Palin eloped four weeks after her son's conception.

6. Sarah Palin's son could still be legitimate if he was born four weeks premature, AND if he was conceived on the night his parents eloped.

Again, Joe and I aren't very comfortable discussing these kind of issues because, honestly, we don't care when Sarah Palin's son was conceived. But Sarah Palin and John McCain and James Dobson care very much about the conception of your children. James Dobson, the very man McCain is wooing, himself decided that Mary Cheney's out of wedlock conception was worthy of an entire commentary in TIME magazine only 18 months ago. It is at least fair to ask that Sarah Palin meet the James Dobson/Mary Cheney standard, and clarify for James Dobson and values voters everywhere whether her actions match her words. Read More......

We know McCain, Palin and the GOP will reverse Roe v. Wade. They also want Griswold gone. That means birth control.

The traditional media thinks the Palin pick means Roe v. Wade is now part of the presidential debate. It always has been -- McCain wants to reverse Roe (although the punditry often overlooks that extreme view.) The real question isn't Roe. We know how the GOPers feel about that. The bigger issue is birth control. Remember how freaked McCain got when he had to answer a birth control question?

Roe is based on the holding in Griswold v. Connecticut, which held we have constitutional right to privacy. If Roe goes, Griswold is on the chopping block. Griswold overturned a Connecticut law that prevented the use of contraceptives by married couples. That case was decided in 1965. Think about that: 43 years ago, in Connecticut (not Alabama or Utah), married couples were prevented from using contraceptives.

Here's are a couple questions for any reporter who has access to the GOP ticket: Do John McCain and Sarah Palin want to reverse Griswold v. Connecticut? Do John McCain and Sarah Palin want to prohibit any forms of contraception? Do John McCain and Sarah Palin think "the pill" is an abortifacient?

These are important questions.

In case anyone doesn't think that Republicans want to ban the use of contraceptives like the pill, watch this video of Mike Huckabee, who is from the same theocratic wing of the party as Sarah Palin. Huckabee thinks the pill is abortion:



Then read the draft RNC platform with that in mind:

Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children. We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. We support the appointment of judges who respect traditional family values and the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life.

For the GOP, the pill is abortion and all abortion must be stopped. Ergo, no pill.

Earlier this month, we did an online chat with Congresswoman Diana DeGette about her new book, "Sex, Science and Stem Cells: Inside the Right Wing Assault on Reason." In the chat, I asked her this question:

I’m interested in the issue of birth control. In the book, you describe the debate about expanding insurance coverage for birth control - an issue that has recently come up in the presidential race. It sounded like Rep. Chris Smith and some of his right wing colleagues really would just prefer to ban birth control. Are there people on Capitol hill who would ban access to contraception?

DeGette gave this response:

There are many examples in my book where far-right members have tried to deny access to birth control. For many years, we gave international HIV/AIDS prevention money to religious organizations which would not provide information about condoms about AIDS prevention. Rep. Smith tried to exclude certain types of birth control methods to be covered in federal employees' insurance plans and exclude birth control pills, IUD's the patch, and others. There are other juicy examples in the book.

As I say in the forward to the book, I have concluded that many powerful politicians want to ban birth control altogether and think we should have some sort of Christian nation (according to their views) where people should be abstinent until marriage, and then only have sex for procreation. I have not arrived at these conclusions lightly.

This is real. And, the American people need to know where McCain and Palin stand. Will any reporter dare to ask them about birth control? Read More......

McCain impressed by Palin's courageous work at the PTA

My sister, Karen, directed me to this quote People Magazine. This says a lot more about John McCain than Sarah Palin:

Sen. McCain, of all the candidates you considered, what drew you to her?

JOHN: Obviously, I found her to be very intelligent and very well-versed on the issues. But I think the important thing was that she's a reformer. She's taken on special interests since she ran for the PTA and the city council and mayor. The courage, I guess, is what most impressed me.

That's what most impressed John McCain. Granted, McCain doesn't really know Palin, but that's still frightening. Knowledge and understanding of all the foreign policy crises to which McCain is always referring -- al Qaeda, Islamo-facists, Iran, Russia, Georgia -- that stuff doesn't really matter if one stands up to the special interests at the Wasilla PTA, according to John McCain.

John McCain showed once again that he doesn't have the mindset to be President. Read More......

Alaska's GOP State Senate President on Palin: "She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?"

Did the McCain campaign do any research on Sarah Palin? Talk to anyone in the state? Even do a google search?

Apparently not. Check out this hometown smack down:

State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news.

"She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

All politics is local. Palin doesn't like State Senate President Lyda Green. Palin laughed out loud when a radio talk show host called Green a "bitch" -- and a "cancer" (Green is a cancer survivor):


Now, if Palin had been vetted by the McCain campaign, some of this stuff might have come up. But, McCain is erratic and impulsive. It was more important for McCain to "win" the news cycle than pick a v.p. who was qualified. Read More......

Sarah Palin doesn't know much about the Iraq war.

You have to hear Sarah Palin's views on the war in Iraq -- from Sarah Palin. She really doesn't know what "the plan" is or too much about Iraq or foreign policy.

Just listen to excerpts of Sarah Palin from an interview with TIME magazine. It's from August 14, 2008. That's just two weeks ago. This should make you feel safer. She'd be one heart beat (or another bout of cancer) away from the being the leader of our nation. In these dangerous times of which John McCain so often speaks, John McCain made a craven political decision. He's willing to entrust the safety of our country to someone who knows nothing about keeping us safe.



I can confidently say that the readers of AMERICAblog are far more clued into foreign policy then McCain's choice for vice president. Read More......

Gustav is gathering strength, headling towards Gulf Coast states

From the National Hurricane Center:

DATA FROM AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE CONTINUED TO INCREASE AND ARE NOW NEAR 120 MPH...195 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER GUSTS. GUSTAV IS A DANGEROUS CATEGORY THREE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE. GUSTAV IS EXPECTED TO PASS OVER WESTERN CUBA AS A MAJOR HURRICANE...AND COULD REACH CATEGORY FOUR STATUS BEFORE MAKING LANDFALL THERE. ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE OVER THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO

And, the latest projected track has it hitting the coast of Louisiana in the very early hours of Tuesday:



Scott McClellan thinks this good be good for the Republican Party. Seriously:

"If it's a major hurricane, I think that they certainly need to show they learned lessons from three years ago, both from a policy and perception standpoint," McClellan said.

He also suggested that McCain could benefit politically from such a scenario: It would allow Bush to mount an effective GOP response to a disaster while removing the unpopular president from the convention roster.

"It could be a two-fer," McClellan said.

Read More......

Palin supported anti-Semitic Pat Buchanan for president

1. McCain is 72 years old.
2. He's had 4 bouts of cancer.
3. His VP choice has no experience in foreign policy or national security whatsoever.
4. She wanted anti-Semite Pat Buchanan to be president.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess how good a friend of Israel, and Jews more generally, President Palin will be if President McCain, God forbid, dies or becomes incapacitated in office. Would President Palin appoint Pat Buchanan to her administration? Would he have her ear?

Watch Pat Buchanan praise his former suppoter Sarah Palin:

Read More......

Bankruptcies soar for senior citizens

I'm guessing those declaring bankruptcy might be wishing they had even one house, let alone twelve. To be fair to McCain, seniors don't really show up to vote anyway so this shouldn't present a problem.

First came the health problems. Then, unable to work, Ada Noda watched the bills pile up. And then, suffocating in debt, the 80-year-old did something she never thought she'd be forced to do.

She declared bankruptcy.

While the bankruptcy filing rate for those under 55 has fallen, it has soared for older Americans, according to a new analysis from the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, which examined a sampling of noncommercial bankruptcies filed between 1991 and 2007.

The older the age group, the worse it got — people 65 and up became more than twice as likely to file during that period, and the filing rate for those 75 and older more than quadrupled.

"Older Americans are hit by a one-two punch of jobs and medical problems and the two are often intertwined," said Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School professor who was one of the authors of the study. "They discover that they must work to keep some form of economic balance and when they can't, they're lost."

Read More......

FDIC warns on banks

Can you imagine how much worse things can get with ? His good friend Phil Gramm helped create this record of failure and that's who McCain believes is an expert. The worst thing is that this is not even close to being finished. But remember, the Republicans are the economic experts. From CNBC:

The number of problem banks on a regulatory watch list increased to 117 by the end of the second quarter from 90 at the end of the first quarter, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.

The combined assets of the problem banks increased to $78 billion from $26 billion, the agency said.

The housing slump and worsening economic conditions forced U.S. banks to set aside $50.2 billion in loan loss provisions during the second quarter, the FDIC said in its quarterly industry update.

That figure is more than four times the $11.4 billion that the industry set aside in the second quarter last year.

Read More......

Top McCain aide says McCain won't die during his first term in office, and admits Palin isn't ready to be commander in chief

Putting aside the creepiness of a top McCain adviser having to reassure the nation that McCain, at 72 years of age with four bouts of cancer, won't die in office, what Charlie Black said today was particularly damning of McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin:

Mr. McCain’s advisers said Friday that Mr. McCain was well aware that Ms. Palin would be criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, but that he viewed her as exceptionally talented and intelligent and that he felt she would be able to be educated quickly.

“She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long,” said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain’s top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain’s health, which Mr. McCain’s doctors reported as excellent in May.

So Black, the guy who said another 9/11-style attack on America would help McCain's campaign, is saying that McCain's VP doesn't know a thing about national security, but she can learn on the job over the next four years, you know, like night school. We're at war. And they're admitting that Palin may be our next commander in chief on day one, if McCain were to die or fall ill in office, yet she knows nothing about national security, and has never met a world leader. I, a blogger, have met more world leaders than McCain's VP.* Chew on that.

(*We had the two hour lunch with Bill Clinton two years ago, and when I worked on the Hill I attended a private sit down meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin in the early 90s. At the Rabin meeting, were only 8 or so of us in the room, and not enough chairs, so I was standing up against a wall, Rabin saw me, scooched over, and made me share the chair with him. I was mortified, and very impressed.) Read More......

Wash. Post interviews Public Safety chief fired by Sarah Palin -- and it seems Todd Palin was very involved in this process

This is going to get very interesting.

Today's announcement proved McCain is more interested in the politics of his v.p. pick then the substance -- and the dopes in the punditry fell for that. On Olbermann tonight, I saw Howard Fineman from Newsweek call this announcement "fun and makes it interesting" as if it has no real world implications. Fun.

But, Sarah Palin isn't the squeaky clean figure John McCain said she was. But, then again, McCain isn't all that pure either. McCain and Palin barely know each other, which leads to the question: How did the vetting process work?

Because on the day of the v.p. roll out, the Washington Post talked to the former Commissioner of Public Safety, Walter Monegan, who was fired by Sarah Palin over what appears to be a messy family issue. Sarah Palin -- and her husband, Todd -- sound more and more like operatives who worked for Karl Rove:

Monegan, 57, a respected former chief of the Anchorage Police Department, said in an interview with The Washington Post's James V. Grimaldi on Friday that the governor repeatedly brought up the topic of her ex-brother-in-law, Michael Wooten, after Monegan became the state's commissioner of public safety in December 2006. Palin's husband, Todd, met with Monegan and presented a dossier of information about Wooten, who was going through a bitter custody battle with Palin's sister, Molly. Monegan also said Sarah Palin sent him e-mails on the subject, but Monegan declined to disclose them, saying he planned to give them to a legislative investigator looking into the matter.

Palin initially denied that she or anyone in her administration had ever pressured Monegan to fire the trooper, but this summer acknowledged more than a half a dozen contacts over the matter, including one phone call from a Palin administration official to a state police lieutenant. The call was recorded and was released by Palin's office this month. Todd Palin told a television reporter in Alaska that he did meet with Monegan, but said he was just "informing" Monegan about the issue, not exerting pressure.

"She never directly asked me to fire him," Monegan said.

But he said Todd Palin told him Wooten "shouldn't be a trooper. I've tried to explain to him, you can't head hunt like this. What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake, and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference.

How did the vetting process work? Did anyone on McCain's team talk to Monegan? Or Todd Palin? Seems like Todd Palin would be a good subject for reporters rooting around in Alaska. His name pops up a lot. Read More......

Virginia GOP convention delegates cancel guide book order after they "discover" it has a section on gay nightlife

UPDATE: Sorry, here's the real link.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Yes, let's pretend that there are no gay Republicans in the Virginia GOP. McCain even considered selecting a gay running mate, and that's okay to these bozos, but gay travel destinations - not gonna fly. Read More......

T-Mobile charges US customer $2,367.40 in roaming charges for six phone calls in Montreal, refuses to prove charge is legit

This really sucks of T-Mobile to do this. The really fascinating part is that T-Mobile is apparently refusing repeated requests from the customer and the media to simply show proof that the roaming charges are real. The cell phone industry is the wild west. We pay ridiculous fees for things like text messages, that cost cell phone companies next to nothing. In Europe, they don't pay when they receive phone calls on their cells. In America, we do. Why is T-Mobile treating its customer like a piece of shit? Because it can. Until Congress finally holds some real hearings, and offers some real legislation, regularing the cell phone industry, we will continue to be treated like chumps. Then next up, we can hold some hearings on the cable TV, Internet and phone fiasco - we get charged several times more than they pay in Europe for worse service. Why is that? Read More......

Happy 72nd birthday John McCain

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VoteVets.Org's Jon Soltz: McCain "put political PR above sound judgment"

When Jon Soltz speaks, listen:

Maybe Palin could one day be someone who has the judgment and experience that would make me feel comfortable with her leading our Armed Forces. But not now. Not after just 60 days thinking about those issues, and even then, just toting the party line. What's this say about McCain's judgment - to put political PR above sound judgment when it comes to naming a potential, if not very possible, Commander in Chief? What's it say about his judgment vs. Barack Obama, who faced with the same question, answered, "Joe Biden."

In times like these, with the stakes so high, and the decent chance that McCain might not live long into his first term, I can think of no scarier thought as a proud war veteran than someone with such an empty resume holding in her hands the lives of my buddies still in the service.

What's bizarre is how the political pundits and talking heads are oohing and aahing over the raw politics of McCain's choice. McCain wanted to steal the news from Obama so he picked a v.p. who he even doesn't know -- and who has no foreign policy experience. None. So, the punditry is thinking McCain "won the day," as if that's the most serious implication of McCain's gimmick. It's not.

Jon Soltz once again cuts through the crap and explains quite clearly that McCain's political ploy could, god forbid, have dangerous implications for our national security and our troops. Read More......

John McCain's gimmick: He doesn't even know Sarah Palin. They've only met once, maybe twice.

So, Sarah Palin doesn't know what the V.P. does. That's bad enough. It gets worse.

John McCain doesn't even know Sarah Palin, but he thinks she could lead our nation if something happens to him. (And, by the way, McCain is 72 years old today and has had cancer numerous times so we're not talking about some remote possibility.)

Watch this video Jed compiled. No one knows Palin:



Chuck Todd is right: "It's gimmicky." This is a gimmick -- a pure political gimmick. John McCain put politics before the best interests of his country. Read More......

Sarah Palin wants to let the polar bears die, too. On global warming, she's aligned with" most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints"

Earlier this morning, before I left Denver, I wrote a post about oil companies and their cronies fighting the new rules designed to protect polar bears. Little did I know when I was writing the post that one of those cronies would be picked as McCain's v.p. Yes, guess who else wants no protections for the polar bears? Sarah Palin:

The State of Alaska will sue to challenge the recent listing of polar bears as a threatened species, Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday.

She and other Alaska elected officials fear a listing will cripple oil and gas development in prime polar bear habitat off the state's northern and northwestern coasts.

Palin argued there is not enough evidence to support a listing. Polar bears are well-managed and their population has dramatically increased over 30 years as a result of conservation, she said.

Climate models that predict continued loss of sea ice, the main habitat of polar bears, during summers are unreliable, Palin said.

The announcement drew a strong response from the primary author of the listing petition.

"She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming," said Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biological Diversity. "Alaska deserves better."

Siegel said it was unconscionable for Palin to ignore overwhelming evidence of global warming's threat to sea ice, the polar bear's habitat.

"Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming," she said. "The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."

Another global warming denier. Great. Sarah Palin is grossly misinformed. Maybe she should spend some time with the biologists who've been monitoring the polar bears lately. A report on this very subject came out this week:

Government scientists reported seeing at least nine polar bears swimming in open water over a six-hour period on August 16, including one more than 50 miles offshore, World Wildlife Fund officials said.

That represents a huge increase over previous sightings, said Margaret Williams of the fund's Alaska office. A total of 12 polar bears were spotted in open water between 1987 and 2003, Williams said in a telephone interview.

In 2004, she said, four drowned bears were observed.

"Unfortunately it's what we might expect to see if bears are forced to swim longer distances," Williams said. "The Arctic is gigantic. When you have nine bears sighted in one transect (route) ... one can assume that there are likely a lot more bears swimming in open water."

Sounds like Sarah Palin thinks the polar bears should just die. Read More......

Sarah Palin not sure what the vice president does. (Here's one hint, Sarah: You might become President)

Jed posted video of Sarah Palin admitting she really doesn't know what the V.P. does. Okay, here's the thing: The main job of the vice president is to become president if something happens. It's especially relevant when the possible president is 72 years old ("McCain's advanced age" is how a top writer at the right wing National Review Online puts it), has had cancer numerous times and wouldn't really show the media his medical records.

All of this makes Sarah Palin's lack of experience is disturbing -- and lack knowledge about her new possible job even more troubling:



Inspire confidence? Read More......

Convention Ratings Sky High at Mile High

Nielsen has released their ratings for last night's Obama speech - 38 million viewers. Stunning results, beating even the Olympic Opening Ceremonies that had weeks of hype surrounding it. From AP:

Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was seen by more than 38 million people.
Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year. Obama talked before a live audience of 80,000 people in Denver.

Overall, here's the breakdown night-by-night (other days from MarketWatch):

Monday: 22.3 million
Tuesday: 25.9 million
Wednesday: 24 million
Thursday: 38 million

Those are really, really, great numbers. Read More......

GALLUP: Obama gets a bounce

Obama is now up 8 over McCain 49-41%. From Gallup:

The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking finds Barack Obama moving to an eight percentage point lead over John McCain, 49% to 41%. Obama's significant lead over McCain almost certainly reflects the effects of the Democratic National Convention. The two presidential candidates were tied at 45% in the last Gallup Poll Daily tracking results conducted entirely before the convention began. The latest results include interviews from Tuesday through Thursday night, though most of the interviewing was conducted before Obama's acceptance speech late Thursday.

And this batch of polling does not yet include results from last night's speech. Gallup also acknowledges that it's nearly impossible to find or expect the kind of post-convention bump that has been seen in years past when conventions ran earlier and there was more time between the two party conventions.

Gallup has measured the convention bounce for candidates in previous years by comparing the last poll conducted entirely before the convention began with the first poll conducted entirely after the convention concludes. That historical calculation is complicated this year by the intense media focus on McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate on Friday, and the increasing focus on next week's Republican National Convention.

The next batch of Gallup daily tracking will be interesting. Read More......