Sarah Palin meets -- and lies -- to America

UPDATE @ 11:53 PM: NBC's Chuck Todd just said "The speech was very thin on substance. I thought what was interesting is they were very careful not to have her talk about things that she hasn't dealt with right now." You think??? John McCain wants Palin to be vice president of the United States but his campaign wont let her talk about substance because she can't talk about substance. That's comforting.
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Ballsy move to lie to America during one's introductory speech. But, that's what Palin did tonight. AP said Palin "stretch[ed] the truth. She lied:

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

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

She's been lying about the "Bridge to Nowhere" for days now. She's like George Bush -- just keep repeating the lie.

From the August 31st Anchorage Daily News:

Palin touts stance on 'Bridge to Nowhere,' doesn't note flip-flop

By TOM KIZZIA
tkizzia@adn.com

Published: August 31st, 2008 12:01 AM
Last Modified: August 31st, 2008 03:06 AM

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.

"I think that's when the campaign for national office began," said Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein on Saturday.

How many times can Palin repeat this lie before it really starts working against her.

My guess is that the McCain campaign think its attacks on the media will prevent the political reporters from actually covering Palin's lies and mistakes. The jury is out on that. Read More......

452,000 views in just four hours

Holy cow. To recap, two top GOP pundits say the Palin pick is a joke and that Mccain is going to lose, without realizing their mics are on. 450,000 people have viewed the video in just the past four hours or so. Wow. You can read the transcript here, watch the video below:

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Obama campaign on Palin speech: More of the same

“The speech that Governor Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush’s speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we’ve heard from George Bush for the last eight years. If Governor Palin and John McCain want to define ‘change’ as voting with George Bush 90% of the time, that’s their choice, but we don’t think the American people are ready to take a 10% chance on change,” said Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Give to Obama now, folks.

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Palin speech live blog

Joe @ 11:11 PM: No, John McCain, we don't think you made the right choice. Are you kidding? How many people in that hall think they're much better qualified than Palin? Hundreds, I bet.

Rob @ 11:09 PM: Well, even if someone wanted to elect "a great man President of the United States" I have a hard time imagining they'll be willing to trust Sarah Palin with being a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

John @ 11:08 PM: Someone wrote her some good lines, but what did she tell us that explains one qualification she has, or that cleared up any of the 100 horror stories we've read about her in the past five days?

Rob @ 11:06 PM: I've yet to hear anything in this speech that indicates that Sarah Palin is ready to be the Vice President of the United States. Plain and simple, this person is not ready for this job.

Joe @ 11:04 PM: Thanks for telling the world that Harry Reid can't stand John McCain, Sarah. That's one reason we love Harry Reid. (p.s. You might want to talk to John McCain's GOP Senate colleagues. They can't stand him. They really hate him. His temper scares them. You'll find that out soon enough, no doubt.)

Joe @ 11:03 PM: This must be so hard for Romney and Pawlenty and Lieberman to watch. They all thought this would be their speech...hell, they probably even rehearsed it. And now, it's being delivered by someone who doesn't even know half the things in the speech.

Rob @ 11:01 PM: Not ready for prime time really applies here.

Joe @ 10:57 PM: Palin is playing to that crowd inside the arena. She is bashing her opponent with all kinds of inside jokes. Not sure how it will play outside the arena.

John @ 10:54 PM: In many ways she's another Cheney, totally tied in to the energy industry and oil industry. She won't get us off oil.

Rob @ 10:52 PM: She's talking about vetoes?? She vetoed -- personally vetoed -- funding for unwed mothers.

Joe @ 10:50 PM: Wow. She believes her own spin. She came to office promising to support the "Bridge to Nowhere" -- now she opposes it. She stood there and said she opposed it...she lied...she supported it...check out this picture....And, no worries about the jet, maybe she can use the McCain's private jet.

Joe @ 10:46 PM: Perfunctory media bashing. Remember when, like just two weeks ago, the media was John McCain's base. And, they're saying you're not qualified, because YOU'RE NOT QUALIFIED.

John @ 10:44 PM: San Francisco? Gay-baiting from the GOP, it is 1984 all over again.

Rob @ 10:42 PM: Wow. This person is going to sit across the table from Vladimir Putin, former KGB?

John @ 10:41 PM: She thinks she's Harry Truman?

Joe @ 10:38 PM: Yes, we believe Todd is a story all by himself...and I think we'll be hearing more stories about Todd. And, what's up with that background of rotating pictures. It's disorienting.

John @ 10:36 PM: She just lied. Her son is not being deploiyed on September 11th -- and if he were, it's crime to tell anyone. See this post from Jon Soltz from VoteVets.org.

Rob @ 10:35 PM: I was promised that she would knock it out of the park. This isn't that.

John, Rob and I will all be weighing in during the speech. Rudy, who sounded really crazy in a Pat Buchanan way, went way over so the GOP had to cut the video introduction. Read More......

A reader live blogs Giuliani's speech for us

A reader writes:

Only at the RNC can people who one night before asked the country to do service for their country then now boo when Giuliani mentions community organizing.

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General Palin gets demoted

From McClatchy:

When presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain introduced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate last Friday, the Arizona senator emphasized her role as the commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard.

Later, when questions were raised about Palin's lack of experience in national and international affairs, the McCain campaign pointed again to her military command experience as governor. Some reporters have tried to follow up.

"Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?" CNN journalist Campbell Brown asked Monday while interviewing McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. "Just one?"

Bounds couldn't, because Palin has never personally ordered the state guard to do anything.

To be fair, here are some crises during which Palin did exercise her commander-in-chief oversight: a marathon; some soil erosion; and a lady needed a ride from an island.

"We've deployed individuals in state service all over the state under Sarah Palin," he said. “We had defense men down in Seward for the (Mount) Marathon run doing security.

"Out west and northwest we had erosion problems, and the National Guard was involved in some of the protection out there. About three days ago, the Army National Guard picked up a lady from Little Diomede (Island) . . . at the request of state troopers."

Did Palin directly approve each of those activities?

No, Campbell said. The governor has granted him the authority to act on his own in most cases, including life-or-death emergencies — when a quick response is required — and minor day-to-day operations.

Oh, never mind. Read More......

Sarah Palin, the first time we met you lied to us. That's why we think you're unqualified.

Sarah Palin is going to say tonight that people don't like her because she's not a member of the Washington elite. No. We don't like you because you're a liar. You lied about opposing the Bridge to Nowhere. And you lied about your foreign policy experience (shopping at the duty-free does not a trip to Ireland make). You embellish your resume left and right - living close to Russia doesn't make you a Russian expert - and there's an air of scandal around you that isn't very becoming for a person who calls themselves a "reformer." Rudy Giuliani went so far as to compare governing Wasilla, a town of 7,000 people, to running New York City, a town of nearly ten million. They're not the same, and we shouldn't have to tell you that. But you want us to believe that they're the same. You want us to believe that you opposed earmarks, but you didn't. Story after story, you simply didn't come clean with us. Sorry, Sarah, but when I'm hiring someone for a job, if they lie on their resume, if they lie in the interview, they don't get the job. That's why everyone thinks you're unqualified. Because you're are. Read More......

AUDIO: McCain's voice mail asking Sarah Palin to be VP

This is really good. Read More......

Wednesday Convention Night Open Thread

Well, hope you're all enjoying the rerun of the 1988 Republican convention - is there a single speech that you've seen tonight that couldn't have been given back in 1988?

According to GOP talking points tonight is Sarah Palin's night "to stand up on that stage and hit it out of the ballpark. ... Tonight she's going to prove she's a world class performer." I'm sure it will be a performance. Read More......

Why is Palin trying to obstruct the investigation of her acts in troopergate??

I was going to post a new story from the Washington Post on how new emails show Palin expressing "intense interest" in the case of a state trooper she wanted fired, who just happened to be her ex-brother-in-law. But then something else stuck out, buried in the article:

Palin had promised to cooperate with the legislative inquiry, but this week she hired a lawyer to fight to move the case to the jurisdiction of the state personnel board, which Palin appoints.

Palin, our future commander in chief, the "reformer," Ms. Ethics in Government, is trying to get her case moved to a board governed by her own self-appointed cronies. Hello? What is this, the Senate Ethics Committee? I thought we were promised that Palin would be a new kind of politician. She sounds a lot like the old kind, and most of them are now in jail. Read More......

TIME's Joe Klein rips the McCain camp, calls them 'angry amateurs'

From TIME:

The story of the day out here in Minneapolis is the McCain campaign's war against the press....

So what's going on here? Two things. McCain is just plain angry at us. By the evidence presented in the utterly revealing Time interview, he's ballistic. This is a politician who needs to see himself as the man on the white horse, boldly traversing a muddy field...any intimations that he's gotten muddied in the process, or has decided to throw mud, are intolerable.

The second thing is more insidious: Steve Schmidt has decided, for tactical reasons, to slime the press. He wants the public to believe that there is an unfair--sexist (you gotta love it)--personal assault going on against Palin and her family. This is a smokescreen, intended to divert attention from the very real and responsible vetting that is taking place in the media--about the substance of Palin's record as mayor and governor....

There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.

Keep in mind, McCain now thinks the NYT, TIME and CNN are all out to get him, he can't stand Tom Brokaw, and doesn't trust CBS. At some point, it all starts to sound a bit unhinged. Read More......

AP: Palin/McCain using their own kids more than the media

AP fails to mention why we all started talked about Palin's daughter's pregnancy. Because John McCain leaked it to Reuters. AP

The Republican message about the Palin offspring comes across as contradictory: Hey, media, leave those kids alone — so we can use them as we see fit.

If you doubt this scenario, consider this: On Wednesday morning, a teenage boy from Alaska stood in a receiving line on an airport tarmac, being glad-handed by the potential next president of the United States — because he got his girlfriend pregnant. TV cameras were lined up in advance. The mind boggles.

"Either the children are out of bounds, and you don't put them in the photo ops, or you don't complain when somebody wants to talk about them. You can't have it both ways," said John Matviko, a professor at West Liberty State College in West Virginia and editor of "The American President in Popular Culture."

"Right now, it looks like they're being used by the campaign more than the media are using them," he said....

Yes, she has asked the media to "respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition." Yet Palin has packaged herself as a PTA member and "hockey mom" — culturally loaded terms calibrated to evoke appealing images of middle America, the middle class, exurbia and strong 21st-century family values.

Using one's relatives as accessories in the political arena, however, can have its pitfalls, despite John McCain's remark to ABC News on Wednesday that Palin has "got an incredible resume, including a beautiful family." Candidates open themselves to charges of hypocrisy if they demand the ability to boast but reject the attention that can ensue when the road gets rougher....

The road is bumpy for sure, and the media probably aren't helping. Sadly, though, the candidates themselves aren't doing much to make things better, either.

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The image that proves McCain has lost this one

Rick Klein at ABC (via Dkos) offers a very interesting analysis on why something as silly as US Weekly matter:

This, to me, is the clearest evidence yet that the McCain-Palin campaign is losing the battle over Palin’s image. US Weekly readers are the voters her selection was designed to attract. There’s not much to like in this early take -- and not much to indicate that the next round will be much better.

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Will Sarah Palin vote for Ted Stevens in November?

Last Tuesday, August 26th, was primary day in Alaska. Indicted Senator Ted Stevens was on the Republican ballot. He won a contested primary and will be on the ballot again on November 4th. In between, Stevens will be on trial for public corruption. Sarah Palin has a long history with Ted Stevens. In 2003, she ran a 527 for Ted Stevens. Not sure if the media will ever have access to Sarah Palin. But, if they ever do get to ask questions, here's one -- Is Sarah Palin supporting her fellow Republican, Ted Stevens, for Senate?:

As Governor Sarah Palin prepares to take the national spotlight tonight on claims that she is a reformer who fought corruption in Alaska, where will she be on the reelection of indicted Senator Ted Stevens? Earlier this summer, Governor Palin appeared ready to endorse Senator Stevens for re-election, but in her new role as Senator John McCain’s presumed running mate, will she prove to be a true reformer or continue to support Stevens as he faces seven felony criminal charges?

“Governor Palin can’t have it both ways,” said Bethany Lesser, spokeswoman for the Alaska Democratic Party. “Palin claims to spearhead reform in Alaska, rooting out corruption. But so far, she has stood steadfast by indicted Senator Stevens’ side. Alaskans and the nation deserve to know once and for all – where does Palin stand on Stevens for Senate?”

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MItt Romney is a petty, petty man -- and he's got his facts wrong

In Mitt's speech, he's going to say, "Just like you, there has never been a day when I was not proud to be an American." It is, of course a veiled reference to a misconstrued statement from Michelle Obama. It's very petty, unseemly and tacky, but that's who Mitt is.

Also, Mitt is wrong.

There is someone at the GOP convention who didn't love his country every day. According to his own words, that would be the GOP nominee, John McCain. McCain said "I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company." McCain said versions of that repeatedly. But, he didn't become a POW til he was 31. Shocking as it is, the GOP nominee didn't love his country til he was in his fourth decade. Watch for yourself:



Now, that's not what McCain really meant, some of you are thinking. Well, it's not what Mrs. Obama meant either, but the Republicans are attacking her during prime time of the convention. (Funny, no Democrats brought up Mrs. McCain's drug abuse during our convention, nor the fact that Cindy McCain stole drugs out of the mouths of poor children in developing countries).

I know, we're never supposed to question anything John McCain says about America -- even when he says he didn't really love our country until he was 31 years of age. But, those were his words. And, he said the same thing over and over and over, so it wasn't just a mistake. Just for fun, imagine some Democratic candidate saying he or she didn't love America until they were 31. The GOPers would go ballistic. Ballistic. Look what the Republicans did to John Kerry, who was an American war hero. And, Kerry never said he didn't really love this country, ever, even when he protested against the war.

For the record, I have loved America every day of my life. Read More......

Palin either lied or violated operational security about her son deploying to Iraq

Sarah Palin claimed her son is deploying to Iraq on September 11 of this year. It turns out he's not deploying on that date. So Palin either lied, or she thought he was deploying on that date, and in that case, she divulged information that's a violation of Operational Security (OPSEC) and illegal, according to Jon Soltz, Iraq vet and a member of VoteVets. Funny that someone living so close to Russia doesn't know the rules about deploying our forces in the Middle East. Then again, perhaps they didn't cover that one yet in her "my first vice president" crash course the McCain campaign is reportedly giving her. Read More......

MUST-SEE TV: Top GOP pundits on accidental open-mic say Palin pick is 'bullshit,' race 'is over'

Watch this now (below). Then send this link to everyone you know:
http://tinyurl.com/open-mic-palin

Two top Republican pundits, Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy, were just on MSNBC with Chuck Todd, and after their segment was over kept talking about McCain VP pick Sarah Palin. But their mics were still on. Oh my God. Everything we've suspected is true. The GOP is flipped out over this pick. Maybe the evangelical base is happy - maybe - but core Republicans, core conservatives, appears to be apoplectic and demoralized. Noonan was Reagan's most famous speech writer. She's no lightweight in the party, and she's no sexist. Here's the video, and the transcript is below.



Here's the transcript, courtesy of TPM:

CHUCK TODD: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we'll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We'll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman.
(cut away)

PEGGY NOONAN: Yeah.

MIKE MURPHY: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

PEGGY NOONAN: It's over.

MIKE MURPHY: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CHUCK TODD: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PEGGY NOONAN: Saw Kay this morning.

CHUCK TODD: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

MIKE MURPHY: They're all bummed out.

CHUCK TODD: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PEGGY NOONAN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CHUCK TODD: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MIKE MURPHY: I totally agree.

PEGGY NOONAN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

MIKE MURPHY: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CHUCK TODD: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MIKE MURPHY: Yeah.

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With GOP in his town, Norm Coleman's approval at lowest point ever

This is classic.

In one of the most hotly contested Senate races, Norm Coleman is being challenged by Al Franken. Norm's never been a favorite of Minnesotans. But, this week while all of his Republican colleagues are in his town of St. Paul, it was revealed that Coleman's approval ratings have hit a new low:

KSTP: Coleman’s “Approval Ratings Are Holding Near The Lowest They’ve Been Since Taking Office.” Tonight, KSTP News reported, “Some bad news for Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman. The senior Senator’s approval ratings are holding near the lowest they’ve been since taking office. The new SurveyUSA poll shows that Coleman’s approval rating is at 44%, that’s down from 55% in January. By contrast, 59% of voters say they approve of the job Senator Amy Klobuchar is doing.” [KSTP, 9/2/08]

Coleman’s Disapproval Rating At An All-Time High. According to tonight’s SurveyUSA poll, 51% of Minnesotans disapprove of the job Norm Coleman is doing in the Senate. This is the highest Coleman’s disapproval rating has been since he took office in 2003. [SurveyUSA, Coleman Historical Approval Ratings]

Norm Coleman never should have been a United States Senator in 2002. He won after the tragic death of Senator Paul Wellstone. And, remember how the right wing noise machine went into a frenzy after Wellstone's funeral? It was horrible. But, that was before the rise of the progressive blogs and is one of the last times the GOP's attacks went unanswered. It's six years later, but beating Coleman will be the best way to avenge that attack by the GOP smear machine. Read More......

Rest assured America. Sarah has been studying issues since Sunday

Sarah Palin gives her first big speech tonight. She's been practicing for days and will be reading from a teleprompter. It's already clear she knows how to give a speech. The pundits will ooh and aah, but the question isn't whether she can read a speech before a crowd of adoring GOPers. As Rob notes below, the GOP's expectation is that she'll "hit it out of the ballpark."

Palin will have the style. That's a GOP hallmark, plus she started her career reading copy for a t.v. station. This isn't new for her.

Besides the scandals engulfing Palin, the real question is the substance.

The McCain campaign has leaked word that Sarah Palin is on top of all the issues that affect America -- because she has been studying since Sunday:



Don't you feel better now?

Said it before (many times) and I'll say it again: This decision is about John McCain. He's got a running mate who has to go to school. McCain made a rash, reckless decision -- and the rest of the country would suffer for it.

Rudy, who built his career on being Mayor of NYC during 9/11, thinks the Mayor of Wasilla is equal to the task:

In an interview Wednesday on ABC's "Good Morning America," Giuliani was asked, "If she were the president on 9/11, you would have been confident?"

Giuliani responded: "I'd be confident that she'd be able to handle it. She's been a governor of a state, she's been mayor of a city."

Inside, it must make Rudy seethe to compare himself to the Mayor of Wasilla. NYC has neighbhorhoods and housing complexes with more people than Wasilla. Read More......

Tonight's Palin Expectations

Well, the Republicans have set the standard for Palin's performance tonight. On MSNBC earlier today, Utah Governor Jon Huntsman had the GOP talking points:

She's going to stand up on that stage and hit it out of the ballpark. ... Tonight she's going to prove she's a world class performer.

If your party standard of "world class" is record deficits, stagflation, Osama bin Laden still out and about, no WMD in Iraq, Abu Ghraib, illegal wiretapping, Katrina, etc. I guess Sarah Palin really is as ready to screw up America as George Bush did. No wonder the Republicans are satisfied with Palin.

NOTE FROM JOHN: I'll add that Sarah Palin, by all accounts, is a great speaker and good debater. She'll probably be great tonight - after all, she worked on camera on the evening news in a previous life. She knows TV, she'll probably recite an excellently written speech that she had no input on whatsoever. So that makes her a good actor. It doesn't change any of the nasty revelations of the past 5 days. Read More......

McCain stages photo op with pregnant teen's unwed boyfriend

As Josh Marshall notes, it's now clear that the McCain campaign WANTS all of America talking about this story. The McCain campaign leaked the story to Reuters. The McCain campaign clearly must have approved, if not cajoled, the 18 year old father to come to the convention. And the McCain campaign staged today's photo op with John McCain touching the boy's shoulder. They want the media to talk about Sarah Palin's unwed daughter's pregnancy. Why? Because it's clearly hurting them with their base, and they're in damage control. And what's a few teenage kids and a baby when the Republicans have an election to win. McCain now feels that he needs to show religious right Republicans (are there any other nowadays?) that the two kids are "nice" kids, and that they shouldn't blame McCain or Palin for the unwed pregnancy. Talk about hypocritical. Dragging the young man in front of millions of Americans in order to serve John McCain's political ambitions. Talk about reckless. I'm hoping the media is going to ask why the McCain campaign spent the past 24 hours berating the media for covering this story (a story the McCain campaign leaked in the first place), and now the McCain campaign is further the "private" story with public photo ops. Read More......

Time to make the donuts: AP's Liz Sidoti and Ron Fournier deliver for Sarah Palin

AP's Liz Sidoti and Ron Fournier have delivered donuts to John McCain both literally and figuratively. It's really quite appalling how slanted their reporting has been -- but then again, Fournier did want to work for the McCain campaign.

Today, Sidoti and Fournier team up to deliver Sarah Palin the first of what will probably be many gifts from the Associated Press -- it's an article chock full of McCain spin and pushback. Yet, not surprisingly, it's an article without any comments from anyone on the other side. The AP duo quote three McCain aides (Schimdt, Davis and Eskew) and a McCain ad featuring language from a Wall Street Journal editorial page. But, Sidoti and Fournier do not quote anyone on the Democratic side. Did they even talk to anyone at the Obama campaign? My guess is no.

Sidoti and Fournier were probably too busy trying to figure out which kind of donuts Sarah Palin likes. Here, one more time, are Sidoti and Fournier handing McCain what he likes:

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McCain: Only sexists don't like Sarah Palin

UPDATE: McCain's own campaign co-chair says she doesn't think it's sexism at all. Oops.

Yes, the Republican party. Great defender of the oppressed. Promoter of equal rights. Standard-bearer of the right of women. Now claiming that the only reason anyone in the media or the public is concerned about Sarah Palin is because she's a woman. Almost brings a tear to my eye how much they care.

McCain is desperate to change the conversation. First it was complaining about those crazy bloggers. Then the rude media that just wouldn't stop talking about "the pregnancy" (ignore the fact that McCain leaked news about the pregnancy to Reuters). Then it was sexism. Then it was a few other things I can't recall, and now we're back to sexism again.

Yes. The only reason anyone has a problem with Sarah Palin is because she's a woman. We'd be tickled pink if an uber-conservative man, who wanted to ban all abortions (unless the mother were going to die), who lied about her foreign policy experience (duty-free shopping in Ireland, anyone?), who was under investigation in her own state for corruption, whose husband was a tad sketchy, who courted an anti-American political party for votes, whose church invites anti-Semitic speakers who think terrorist attacks against Israel are God's revenge on the Jews for not turning Christian (and whose church seems to hink you can "cure" gays), who wants to ban books, who sought and received the most legislative pork of any governor, who lied about her opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere (she supported it), who thinks the Iraq War is God's will, whose church's preacher suggested that if you vote for John Kerry you might not go to heaven, who seems to have fired a trooper because he was married to her sister, who doesn't even know what the vice president of the United States does - yes, we'd be silent if a guy were nominated who had done all of that.

Is it sexist as well to think that John McCain must have lost his marbles to pick someone so unqualified with practically no vetting whatsoever?

No, Mr. McCain. Sexism is when you attacked Chelsea Clinton as a teenager.

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

Sexism is cracking jokes about women being raped, and liking it.



So please, let's do have a discussion of John McCain's record with women. John McCain is 72 years old and has had four bouts of cancer. There is a very real possibility that if John McCain is elected president, Sarah Palin will become president some time in the next four years. Sarah Palin is unfit to govern America in a time of war, and John McCain's recklessness in picking Sarah Palin won't be glossed over by the Republican party's sudden discovery that women suffer prejudice. You're a bit late to the parade, boys. Read More......

Palin's church shuts down part of Web site containing sermons

Yes, we wouldn't want those to get out. Otherwise we might find people saying that terrorism against Israel is God's way of punishing Jews for not converting to Christianity. Read More......

Dr. Laura blasts Palin's family values

From Dr. Laura Schlessinger's blog:

I am extremely disappointed in the choice of Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Republican Party....

I’m frankly and sadly caught in the dilemma of having to balance policy versus example in touting a candidate for the office of the First Family...

Role models are very important. Children and young adults look to those who are visible and successful as a road map of what is acceptable behavior and emulate those actions over the morals and values their parents and churches have taught and tried to reinforce. It’s a tough go these days, when the “bad that men or women do” is used for entertainment purposes without judgment, or is excused because of political or financial considerations.

I’m stunned - couldn’t the Republican Party find one competent female with adult children to run for Vice President with McCain? I realize his advisors probably didn’t want a “mature” woman, as the Democrats keep harping on his age. But really, what kind of role model is a woman whose fifth child was recently born with a serious issue, Down Syndrome, and then goes back to the job of Governor within days of the birth?

I am haunted by the family pictures of the Palins during political photo-ops, showing the eldest daughter, now pregnant with her own child, cuddling the family’s newborn. When Mom and Dad both work full-time (no matter how many folks get involved with the children), it becomes a somewhat chaotic situation. Certainly, if a child becomes ill and is rushed to the hospital, and you’re on the hotline with both Israel and Iran as nuclear tempers are flaring, where’s your attention going to be? Where should your attention be? Well, once you put your hand on the Bible and make that oath, your attention has to be with the government of the United States of America.

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Plain's church promoted conference that "cures" gays

UPDATE: It's in the current church bulletin (see left).

Hmmm, no one could have predicted that the gay Republicans were a tad overzealous - one might even say "reckless" - in their hasty endorsement of McCain and Palin yesterday (yes they did). I guess vetting isn't a Republican strong point, straight or gay. Here's Palin's church, from TIME:

"At the 11:15 a.m. Sunday service, hundreds sit in folding chairs, listening to a 20-minute sermon about the Book of Malachi and singing along to alt-rock praise songs. The only sign of culture warring in the whole production is an insert in the day's program advertising an upcoming Focus on the Family conference on homosexuality in Anchorage called Love Won Out. The group promises to teach attendees how to "respond to misinformation in our culture" and help them "overcome" homosexuality."

So does Palin think gays can be cured? Time for some enterprising reporter to ask the McCain campaign. Read More......

Viewer mail: What Obama should say about Palin

A reader writes:

Barack needs to jump in and define this as McCain is reckless, rash and risky. The press will define this in terms of Palin, and some percentage of people will feel for her and like her. But if Barack were to step up and say it's reckless to choose a VP - no matter how compelling - after one meeting and a fifteen minute phone call, I don't think anyone could disagree.

Barack needs to go out in public and say, "Each of us have made our first presidential decision. I chose someone who, God forbid, could be a strong and successful president from day one. I based that decision on thousands of hours I have spent with Joe Biden in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on the Senate floor, on international trips and traveling the country debating him in the primaries. John McCain has made his choice - and he based it on one meeting two years ago and a fifteen minute phone call. That's the kind of rash, reckless and risky decision-making that has typified the last eight years under George W. Bush. If that's how little thought John McCain gives to picking a running mate, how much thought will he give to other decisions of life and death? We cannot afford four more years of impetuous, impulsive, shoot-from-the-hip presidential decisions; it's time for a change."

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Fred Thompson: 'Being a POW doesn't qualify anyone to be president'

Sound familiar? (See quick 15 second video below)

Oh, and before anyone says "that's unfair - Thompson went on to say that it does show McCain's character - you didn't' show that part"... Yeah, and when Bob Schieffer and the rest of the media were excoriating Wesley Clark for saying THE EXACT SAME THING Thompson said last night, no one bothered including the rest of the quote in which Clark said that McCain's POW experience made him a hero.

I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world.

So tell me again how what Thompson said was any different than what Clark said. Anybody from CBS care to weigh in?

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Welcome to the 'GOP Vetting Emporium'

Another hysterical video from our buddy Andy Cobb and his wacked out friends in LA.

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As mayor, Palin wanted to ban books

God bless her.

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

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Did Lieberman actually get the call from McCain to be V.P. only to have the offer yanked after leading GOPers threatened a revolt?

Today's NY Times has this blurb recounting how McCain really wanted Lieberman to be his V.P., but was blocked by his party:

Only last month, friends say, Mr. McCain wanted to reach beyond his base and ask Mr. Lieberman to be his running mate; in that instance, though, party influence proved too strong, with many Republican officials and delegates insisting they would reject Mr. Lieberman because of his support for abortion rights and some gay rights laws.

There's more according to my sources in Connecticut (who have never steered me wrong). The word working its way through political circles in Connecticut is that John McCain actually called Joe Lieberman to ask him to be the GOP v.p. candidate. The "ask" was made. However, a revolt ensued, led by Mitt Romney and others, threatening a floor fight. That resulted in a second call a couple hours later to Lieberman from McCain pulling the offer.

There is so much in that little anecdote if my sources are accurate. First, it shows what a tool Lieberman is. Last night, Lieberman spoke at a convention where he's actually vilified, yet he went anyway and flat out lied about Obama. More importantly, it shows what a wimp McCain is. He's supposed to fight al Qaeda, but won't stand up to the religious fanatics in his own party. Instead, McCain made an impulsive choice, Sarah Palin, who wasn't vetted. McCain couldn't have the v.p. he wanted. So, he was forced to pick someone he didn't even know. Says a lot about John McCain's willingness to gamble with America's future.

We need more details. Read More......

Palin's Alaska led the US in pork

So much for the reformer image that is being promoted by McCain. She's more of the same, with independent-minded Alaskans gobbling up almost nine times the national average in federal pork money. Yes, oil rich Alaska can't figure out how to survive on it's own and needs the most money per person in the US. That's as bad as the freeloading corporate welfare types who always want cuts for everyone else. If she can't figure out how to run an oil rich economy without such lavish handouts, how can she possibly step in on day one to run a Republican damaged budget in Washington?

John McCain touts Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a force in the his battle against earmarks and entrenched power brokers, but under her leadership the state this year asked for almost $300 per person in requests for pet projects from one of McCain's top adversaries: indicted Sen. Ted Stevens.

That's more than any other state received, per person, from Congress for the current budget year, and runs counter to the reformer image that Palin and the McCain campaign are pushing. Other states got just $34 worth of local projects per person this year, on average, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog group.

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Where's the economy at the GOP convention? Do the Republicans just think Americans are too stupid to notice the economy is being ignored in St. Paul?

Notice how the Republicans, while managing to take swipe after swipe at Barack Obama, haven't told us a thing about McCain's plan for the fixing the failed economy. Nothing. The failing economy isn't just a political issue for American families, it's a harsh reality. The Republicans apparently don't want it to muck up their well-choreographed show. And, let's face it, if you don't know how many homes you own, you're not too worried about the economy.

Time Magazine's Joe Klein noticed:

But the most striking thing about the evening was what was missing: even the slightest wisp of substance. Not even a detailed tax cutting proposal, not even a paean to anti-missile defense or a rant against Iran. The strategy here seems crystal clear--indeed, it was stated today by McCain's campaign manager, "Issues don't matter." The Republicans are gambling that John McCain's inspiring biography will overcome the overwhelming--80%--feeling that the country has been moving in the wrong direction. They are gambling that people will turn to Republicans to clean up the mess that Republicans made. And they may be right, but I'd guess the euphoria over John McCain's story will last no longer than the next time most Americans have to pull out their checkbooks and pay the bills.

The Obama campaign noticed (via email)

At a time when millions of Americans are struggling like never before to pay their mortgage, their medical bills, and their gas bills, tonight’s speakers at John McCain’s Republican convention proved how out of touch their candidate is by saying not one word about his plans to put our economy back on track and provide real relief to middle-class families. Apparently, John McCain’s belief that we’ve made ‘great progress’ economically over the last eight years means he doesn’t have to offer any plans at all to fix our ailing economy,” said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

Washington Post columnist Harold Myerson couldn't find anything either:

Maybe it's a good thing for Republicans that Hurricane Gustav has abbreviated their convention. On an issue of some concern to Americans -- the economy -- they seem to have nothing to say.

I have combed the schedule of events here without finding a single forum, workshop or kaffeeklatsch devoted to what John McCain and the Republican Party propose to do about America's short- and long-term economic challenges. I've found four panels on what to do about the Middle East, but not one on what to do about the Middle West.

Not talking about an issue doesn't take if off the table -- especially when the issue is discussed at kitchen tables across this country every day. Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Well, that was a painful evening: George Bush. Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman. Hope you got a good look at Bush because he'll be joining Cheney at that undisclosed location for the next two months. The McCain campaign thinks if Americans don't see Bush, they'll somehow forget that Bush has handed the mantle to McCain. It really is just more of the same.

And, while we're on the subject of undisclosed locations, has anyone seen Sarah Palin lately? Is she ever going to talk to the media? Ever going to answer any questions? She'll be a heartbeat away from the presidency (the presidency of a 72 year old man who has had cancer multiple times). How long can they shield her from the American people? A canned, rehearsed speech doesn't count. Answers. Real answers. By hiding Sarah, John McCain is really just playing his pals in the traditional media for fools -- again.

Start threading -- it's shaping up to be another wild day. Read More......

Palin at controversial church: Iraq war and gas pipeline are God's will

Sounds like a continuation of Bush's idea of God's will in Iraq though I suspect if asked, Bush would also throw in a natural gas pipeline from Alaska as well just for good measure.

Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Religion, however, was not strictly a thread in Palin's foreign policy. It was part of her energy proposals as well. Just prior to discussing Iraq, Alaska's governor asked the audience to pray for another matter -- a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.

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Does adding a Target make Palin presidential?

This silly pitch somehow - can't imagine how, ha, ha - keeps popping up in Sarah Palin stories, as if to suggest Target and big box stores are progress. I lived with those stores for so many years and would never consider them progress. Cheaper prices, perhaps, but at a cost. They all have a reputation for negotiating cut throat deals with towns and counties, receiving government handouts for the honor of their presence as they drive out small businesses who were never afforded the same corporate welfare. And oh, to think of the beauty they bring to communities around the world.

Of course everyone loves lower prices but I still don't see why such a trivial turn of events that was no doubt promoted by the store itself (and accommodated by local politicians everywhere) is listed on her professional CV. Does ushering in a Target significantly transform a small suburb into somewhere important? Does this somehow make a person appear qualified to step in on day one to be President of the United States?

Her supporters say she helped Wasilla evolve from a ridiculed backwater to fast-growing suburb. The population of about 5,000 during her tenure as mayor has grown to nearly 10,000 now, and the city is filling with big box stores, including a Target that is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, one of three opening statewide that day in the chain’s Alaska debut.

But her critics say too much growth too quickly has made a mess of what not long ago was homesteaded farmland.

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Palin's newest problem: personal attorney on Alaska state payroll

I'm sure this also came out in the 15 minute vetting conversation with McCain as well.

Lawyer Thomas Van Flein, who also previously represented the Palin family in another matter, said there was no conflict of interest in the dual representation arrangement. Van Flein is permitted to bill the state up to $95,000 for work in the current case, in which Palin is accused by the state legislature of having the public safety commissioner fired after he refused to fire a state trooper who divorced the governor's sister.

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Republican economy scorecard shows losses across the board

This is the economy that McCain thinks is "fundamentally strong." Sure, when you own 12 houses, I guess life is pretty good. The bright spot of this report is that if you have work, the workplace is a safer environment, which is great but hardly comparable to having employment is rising income.

The Rutgers labor scorecard offered other sobering findings:

* About 530,000 were subject to mass layoffs in the last year, growth of nearly 5 percent, but a lower rate than five and 10 years ago.
* The median weekly earnings for American workers have not grown in real terms over the last eight years.
* At $6.55, the federal minimum wage is worth 40 cents less per hour, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than it was a decade ago.
* While employer-assisted childcare and employee wellness programs have grown quickly over the last decade, they still cover less than one quarter of American workers.
* Roughly 4 percent of the workforce wants to work full-time, but is working part-time because they can’t find full-time work.

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John McCain/Marge Gunderson '08

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Founder of group Palin courted professed "hatred for the American government"; cursed "damn flag"

Mommy, make it stop.

The founder of the Alaska Independence Party -- a group that has been courted over the years by Sarah Palin, and one her husband was a member of for roughly seven years -- once professed his "hatred for the American government" and cursed the American flag as a "damn flag."

The AIP founder, Joe Vogler, made the comments in 1991, in an interview that's now housed at the Oral History Program in the Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government," Vogler said in the interview, in which he talked extensively about his desire for Alaskan secession, the key goal of the AIP.

"And I won't be buried under their damn flag," Vogler continued in the interview, which also touched on his disappointment with the American judicial system. "I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home."

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