IS THERE SOMETHING IN THE WATER AT FAUX NEWS?

Something like a "truth serum"? I ask because on top of the shocker of Major Garrett eviscerating some of McCain's lies about Obama's tax plan, Chris Wallace turns reality-based about Sarah Palin. From Ali at ThinkProgress:

WALLACE: During her 1.5, 2 years as Governor, Alaska continued to get more federal money for pork-barrel projects per capita than any state in the country and…she supported the Bridge to Nowhere. And it was only after the federal government dropped it out, killed it, the Congress killed it that she then opposed it. And in fact she still got the money for the approach, the ramp to the Bridge to Nowhere.

FAUX is one of the best avenues to reach the wingnuts and maybe this is a sign that even FAUX realizes it can't keep on being a water-carrier for the GOP.

MORE McCAIN EKOGNOMIKS

We can't let this guy become President. He simply is in thrall to the Free Market Fairy and doesn't know any better. Quiddity at UggaBugga found this astounding statement from Granpa McCain on Slate:

Staying on Bush's Course
Here's some straight talk: McCain's fiscal program is either a joke or a fantasy.
By Daniel Gross
Posted Friday, March 28, 2008, at 2:56 PM ET

McCain's housing speech, delivered in Orange County, Calif., ground zero of the housing crisis, was a mixed bag. He provided a good description of the problem. But his solution to an era in which financial deregulation set the stage for federal bailouts, rampant speculation, and reckless lending is ... less regulation. "Our financial market approach should include encouraging increased capital in financial institutions by removing regulatory, accounting, and tax impediments to raising capital."

BS FROM BOORTZ

I caught a bit of a re-broadcast of the Neil Boortz show today and a female caller raised a question about how many votes Biden and Palin had received. At the GOP Convention, Huckabee claimed that "said that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin outpolled her Democratic counterpart, Joseph Biden." The woman was watching MSNBC and Keith Olbermann debunked the Huckster's claim and she wanted Neil to tell if if Keith was correct or not.

Neil's only response was to claim that Keith was suffering from "dementia" and that statement implicitly meant that the Huckster was correct. In reality, Keith was correct:

Biden's Vote Total? Higher Than Palin's
By Juliet Eilperin
THE TRAIL
Washington Post

ST. PAUL -- Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee got a big laugh from the crowd at tonight's convention when he said that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin outpolled her Democratic counterpart, Joseph Biden. "She got more votes running for mayor of the town of Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States," Huckabee declared, sparking applause.

There's just one problem with Huckabee's statement: it's not true. Biden collected a total of 63,157 votes during the Democratic primaries and caucuses this year. By contrast, Wasilla boasts a population of 9,780. Running statewide, Biden still comes out on top. Palin got the backing of 114,697 Alaskans in her 2006 gubernatorial bid, compared to the 135,253 votes Biden got in his 2002 Senate race.

COUNTRY FIRST???

Not so much, really. The theme of McCain's campaign was shredded by Rick Davis, a senior adviser. In fact, the campaign's top priority is winning and to hell with what America needs.

From Ali at Think Progress:

Yesterday, McCain adviser Nicolle Wallace dismissed the fact that Gov. Sarah Palin has yet to take any questions from the press. “So what?” she scoffed. Today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, campaign strategist Rick Davis suggested Palin might never sit down for an interview if, he said, it’s “in our best interest” to keep her away from the media:

SCARBOROUGH: Yesterday Nicolle Wallace suggested that she was sitting right there and told Jay Carney of Time magazine ‘Sarah Palin doesn’t have to talk to you, she doesn’t’ have to talk to the press.’ … Can we expect Sarah Palin on Meet the Press and other one on one interviews throughout the course of this campaign?

DAVIS: We’re going to do whatever we think is the best to win. We have 60 days left and if we think it’s a good idea to go out there and do those shows, we’ll do them.

SCARBOROUGH: Can you avoid it? Meet the Press?

DAVIS: We can afford anything we want to do. … We’re going to do what we think is in our best interest. If that means access to the press, we’ll give it to you.

PALIN, WASILLA AND AMERICA

Part of the myth-making about Palin involves describing her as a "real American" or some equivalent. The problem with this approach is that it defies reality. She's from Wasilla, a town of maybe 9,000 people now. That means she's from a small part of America, according to the 2000 Census. Places like Wasilla accounted for about 9% of the population and that's including places up to 50K in size. Places larger than that accounted for almost 70% of the population. Truly rural areas accounted for 20% of the total.

U.S. Population Living in Urban vs. Rural Areas ¹

Geographic Division:	# of Areas	Total Population	Percent of U.S. Total
Total U.S. Population		285,230,516	100
Population living in Urban Areas 2	3,629	225,956,060	79.219
Population living in Rural Areas		59,274,456	20.781
Urban Area Categories:
1. Urbanized Areas over 200,000 population	153	166,215,889	58.274
2. Urbanized Areas 50,000 - 199,999 population	310	29,584,626	10.372
3. Urban Clusters 5,000 - 49,999 population	1838	25,438,275	8.918
4. Urban Clusters 2,500 - 4,999 population	1328	4,717,270	1.654

¹U.S. population is defined as residents of the 50 States, plus the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It does not include residents of the U.S. Virgin Islands or U.S. Pacific Trust Territories.

²Urban areas include all urbanized areas (over 50,000 population) and Urban Clusters (2,500 to 49,999 population) as defined by the Bureau of the Census in the 2000 Decennial Census.

This page last modified on February 9, 2004

RAINING ON THE PALIN PARADE

I was listening to Al Hunt's radio show and he was taking calls about Sarah Palin. There were several callers who were very positive but it wasn't unanimous. One caller spoke about Palin as a woman going "against the Natural Order" and another said Palin should take care of her new baby and pregnant daughter instead of running for VP.

Charles Krauthammer, the most widely syndicated print wingnut, also has reservations about Caribou Barbie:

Palin's Problem

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, September 5, 2008; Page A21

"There are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, 'Who is this man?' and 'Can we trust this man with the presidency?' "

-- Fred Thompson on John McCain, Sept. 2

This was the most effective line of the entire Republican convention: a ringing affirmation of John McCain's authenticity and a not-so-subtle indictment of Barack Obama's insubstantiality. What's left of this line of argument, however, after John McCain picks Sarah Palin for vice president?

The vice president's only constitutional duty of any significance is to become president at a moment's notice. Palin is not ready.

David Frum, a former speech writer for Pres. Fredo, also wasn't amused:

David Frum: Palin the irresponsible choice?
David Frum, National Post
Published: Friday, August 29, 2008

Ms. Palin's experience in government makes Barack Obama look like George C. Marshall. ... Mr. McCain's supporters argue that he is more serious about national security than Barack Obama. But the selection of Sarah Palin invites the question: How serious can he be if he would place such a neophyte second in line to the presidency?

YEAH, PALIN FITS RIGHT IN...

like most GOP politicians and appointees (e.g., Michael Brown at FEMA), she's hopelessly incompetent.

Palin's Hockey Rink Leads
To Legal Trouble in Town She Led
By MICHAEL M. PHILLIPS
September 6, 2008; Page A5
Wall Street Journal

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

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

GOP HYPOCRISY ON TAPE

(h/t Ellen at FOX NewsHounds)

Jon Stewart absolutely demolishes the GOP talking points about Palin. He has tape of Rove, O'Reilly and Dick Morris obviously contradicting themselves.

ACCORDING TO WAR WHORE INGRAHAM...

Palin is fit to be VP because she can recite a speech from memory - "My goodness that's hard."

WAR WHORE JOHN PODHORETZ LOVES EXTREMIST CHRISTIANS

He defends Palin's war whore pastor by claiming:

The point here is that by treating the views of such people as though they are exotically fascinating at best and terrifyingly Other at worst...

I'd say talking about a world-wide religious war is pretty terrifying but of course, Pod's father thinks pretty much the same way.

I DON'T KNOW IIF THIS IS TRUE...

and I was wrong about the Sarah/Bristol story but Palin's actions as mayor of a small town make this plausible:

Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is “Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean”
September 5, 2008
by Charley James –

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

“The GOP is kind of like organized crime up here,” an insurance agent in Anchorage who knows the Palin family, explained. “It’s corrupt and arrogant. They’re all rich because they do private sweetheart deals with the oil companies, and they can destroy anyone. And they will, if they have to.”

“Once Palin became mayor,” he continued, “She became part of that inner circle.”
En route to the governor’s igloo, Palin managed to land what Anne Kilkenny says is the plumb political appointment in the state: Chair of Alaska’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), a $122,400 per year patronage slot with no real authority to do anything other than hold meetings.

But when a local reporter dared to suggest that the reformer Empress has no clothes, Palin tried to get her fired.

“She came at me like I was trying to steal her kids,” said the targeted reporter, who now works for an oil company in Anchorage. “I heard she had a wild temper and vicious mean streak but it’s nothing like you can imagine until she turns it on you.”

YEAH, THEY ARE THAT STUPID

Some moron who works for the McCain campiagn mistook a middle school for a military hospital. The campaign tries to ooze out of this blunder by claiming that the images behind Granpa were rotated to match the points he was making in his acceptance speech. The truth is that there was little rotation:

Those of Us Who Are About to Tire Swing ...
09.06.08 -- 11:10AM By Josh Marshall

But that's not what happened with McCain. Our crack analysts at TPM HQ pulled the tape. And what happened in McCains case was that the green screen was up for 5 or 6 minutes. Then it got pulled. It was replaced briefly by a cornfield. And then after a few moments of that it was the picture of the flag, which appeared as a blue screen to viewers on tv. That remained through McCain's entire speech. No more changes. It was pretty clear that someone on McCain's staff realized the goof a few minutes into the speech, cancelled the pre-programmed order of images and hurriedly slotted in flag image to save the day.

THE STUPID IS AMAZING

Roger L. Simon is still an ignorant, intolerant, biased wingnut hack. In a an attempt to attack Obama that will only be believed by morons, he writes:

(BTW, in the snippet above, Obama interprets the Sunni-Shia dichotomy in the most conventional sense. He appears not to realize that Shia Iran has on numerous occasions aided Sunni terror groups, including Al Qaeda.

Simon does not bother to provide any evidence for his outrageous claim but with readers like this one -

Sandy P:
the political situation is still so far from being stable,
we’re at it 230 years - we’re still not stable - we’re 60++ days away of maybe electing a marxist.
Sep 6, 2008 - 10:20 amhe doesn't have to.

AUTHENTICITY, PART III

(h/t COUNTY FAIR)

Jay Carney of TIME Magazine and Andrea Mitchell also pushed the "Palin is authentic" meme. From MSNBC¹:

CARNEY: She seems like a regular person. It is not an agenda-based belief set. It is an honest and authentic one. I think her authenticity is what drew McCain to her. She`s got the chops and she just comes across as quite real.

MITCHELL: In fact on those traditional values, I talked to one prominent Texan who said that it doesn`t work in Texas, that her positions on issues are too conservative for most Texans. This was before the speech. Afterwards, I think the fact that, exactly as you said, Mika, she has an accessible, friendly, authentic face on those cutting issues, and I think she crosses a lot of boundaries, especially as Chuck mentioned on special needs children, an activist group for parents and families of these kids, and energy policy.

¹MSNBC
September 4, 2008 Thursday
SHOW: MSNBC SPECIAL 7:00 AM EST
For September 4, 2008
BYLINE: Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews
GUESTS: Jay Carney, Nicole Wallace, Jim Matthews
SECTION: NEWS; Domestic
LENGTH: 7262 words
HIGHLIGHT: Governor Sarah Palin got positive reviews for her convention speech as vice presidential candidate.

PALIN'S VERY OWN "TROOPERGATE"

Unlike the fuss the wingnuts made about Bill Clinton, Palin really does seem to have a problem. First, she denied that anyone talked about firing the trooper but we even have her own personal e-mails that contradict this claim. Then she made several promises to cooperate with the investigation and CREW finds that those promises are really just words. Now, Newsweek finds in "Team McCain and the Trooper" that some allies of McCain are trying to postpone or perhaps cancel the investigation.

THE NOISE MACHINE COMES TO BARBIE'S DEFENSE

Lasy night, Ann Coulter was defending Palin on Jerry Doyle's radio show and the NewsHounds caught her on Cavuto's "business" show. Jake Tapper of ABC News found that Laura Ingraham was defending Palin on her radio show and the NewsHounds found that she had been on O'Reilly's TV show doing the same thing.

The reall issue here is the fact that another GOP narrative, the one about "family values," has been contradicted by Palin. Dr. Laura understands that and so does Howard Gutman:

Gutman cited approvingly Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., in 2004 and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner in 2008, both of whom said they weren't going to pursue the presidency because it wasn't the right time for their families.

"They put their family above their career," Gutman said. "Your responsibility is to put your family first."

"So you're saying she's not putting family first," Ingraham said.

"Absolutely not," Gutman said. "If you take a daughter who's got this emotional strife and subject her to the most intense scrutiny of the world at this time in her life, I think you've put your career above your family."

THE GOP PLATFORM ON ABORTION

These selections come from the 2008 party platform and someone should ask McCain and Palin about each one.


- Because the UN has no mandate to promote radical social engineering, any effort to address global social problems must respect the fundamental institutions of marriage and family. We assert the rights of families in all international programs and will not fund organizations involved in abortion. We strongly support the long-held policy of the Republican Party known as the “Mexico City policy,”which prohibits federal monies from being given to non-governmental organizations that provide abortions or actively promote abortion as a method offamily planning in other countries. We reject any
treaty or agreement that would violate those values. PAGES 7-8

- We oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for abortion and contraception. PAGE 45

- We oppose using public revenues to promote or perform abortion and will not fund organizations which advocate it. PAGE 52

- At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. PAGE 52

A SIGN OF THE END TIMES?

A FAUX News reporter calls out McCain on his lies about Obama's tax plans. (h/t COBRY4949 on AOL)


Does John McCain Have a Tax Problem? Answer: Probably
by Major Garrett
August 31st, 2008
9:37 PM Eastern

Add to this the mounting evidence that McCain’s TV commercials assailing Obama’s tax policy contain serious distortions, if not out-right lies.

On Aug. 8, FactCheck.org, published this report on a spate of new McCain TV spots on Obama and taxes.

Read it here: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/more_tax_deceptions.html
That report followed one in July that raised similar concerns about the truthfulness of the McCain attacks on Obama. Read it here: www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_32000_question.html

And today The Washington Post published this blistering editorial that comes as close as any Beltway publication can to using the word “lie” to describe McCain’s criticism of Obama’s tax policies. Read it here:
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/30/AR2008083001681.html

The Post editorial specifically mentions a side-by-side analysis of McCain and Obama tax policies by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Here is the link to the center’s updated comparison posted on Aug. 28: www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=411750

Both McCain and Obama would cuts taxes, but Obama’s tax cuts would be targeted to the middle class and partially offset by higher taxes on the wealthy (those earning more than $250,000).

AUTHENTICITY, PART II

The Noonan gets her own entry on the Making of the Palin Myth history:

'A Servant's Heart'
September 5, 2008 11:24 a.m.
Sarah Palin killed. And more than killed.

Much has been said about her speech, but a few points. "The difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick" is pure American and goes straight into Bartlett's. This is the authentic sound of the American mama, of every mother you know at school who joins the board, reads the books, heads the committee, and gets the show on the road. These women make large portions of America work.

She has the power of the normal.

Being a Jeebus freak and a near absolutist on abortion is NOT normal, Peggy.

THEY LOVE TALKING ABOUT E-BAY

Way back in 2004, Dick Cheney was invoking the Republican Good News Fairy by claiming that many people are making money selling things on E-Bay, so the economy actually is doing pretty good (h/t Garth):

Cheney defends invasion of Iraq
Posted 9/9/2004 9:42 PM
USA Today

Cheney also talked up the economy. He said national employment statistics miss many people who are making money, such as those selling items on eBay.

"That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," he said. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay." It's unclear how many of those are making enough to support themselves.

A few years later, Karl Rove improved the story (h/t A Tiny Revolution):

Party Unfaithful
The Republican implosion.
by Jeffrey Goldberg
June 4, 2007
The New Yorker

Rove thinks that more voters now are being influenced by technology and religion. “There are two or three societal trends that are driving us in an increasingly deep center-right posture,” he said. “One of them is the power of the computer chip. Do you know how many people’s principal source of income is eBay? Seven hundred thousand.” He went on, “So the power of the computer has made it possible for people to gain greater control over their lives. It’s given people a greater chance to run their own business, become a sole proprietor or an entrepreneur. As a result, it has made us more market-oriented, and that equals making you more center-right in your politics.”

So, McCain's mistake about Palin selling the state plane on E-Bay is understandable. Will we know see Fannie and Freddie Mae on E-Bay?

U.S. Rescue Seen at Hand for 2 Mortgage Giants
By STEPHEN LABATON and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
Published: September 5, 2008
NY Times

WASHINGTON — Senior officials from the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve on Friday called in top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, and told them that the government was preparing to place the two companies under federal control, officials and company executives briefed on the discussions said.

The plan, which would place the companies into a conservatorship, was outlined in separate meetings with the chief executives at the office of the companies’ new regulator. The executives were told that, under the plan, they and their boards would be replaced and shareholders would be virtually wiped out, but that the companies would be able to continue functioning with the government generally standing behind their debt, people briefed on the discussions said.

BI-PARTISAN McCAIN? NOT SO MUCH, REALLY

On NPR's Morning Edition, Mark Mellman pointed out the inconsistency between McCain's call for "reaching across the aisle" and the highly partisan speeches made by others, including Romney and Palin.

Who are we supposed to believe?

THEY GOT THIS WRONG, TOO

Remember Palin's cute story about putting the state jet for sale on E-Bay, something only an "authentic" non-elitist would do? Well, she DID put it on E-Bay BUT IT WASN'T BOUGHT. They managed to sell it through traditional means later but NOT for a profit, as McCain falsely claimed. It seems that there's a false statement or some other blunder almost every day on the Bullshit Express.

I understand that running a campaign is quite a bit different from running the Executive Branch but we are getting in the question of basic competence and knowledge.

ARE THEY REALLY THIS STUPID?

It's a little hard to believe that McCain's campaign is this incompetent but...

You might recall that backdrop Granpa used for his acceptance speech:



Josh Marshall found that this is a picture of the WALTER REED MIDDLE SCHOOL in North Hollywood, California.


Because McCain is making such a fuss about his veteran status, is it possible that his campaign really wanted a picture of Walter Reed Hospital instead? The campaign won't say but it makes sense that GOP chicken hawks wouldn't know the real Walter Reed.

YEAH, WE'RE "WHINERS"

I'm surprised Phil Gramm is still walking around without a caretaker. From the U.S. Dept. of Labor.


Series Id: LNS14000000
Seasonal Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate
Labor force status: Unemployment rate
Type of data: Percent
Age: 16 years and over

DID 9-11 RUDY AND CARIBOU BARBIE MAKE A HUGE BLUNDER?

They dissed community organizers and many of these organizations are pissed off. These are the people that put the "roots" in "grass roots" and perhaps will do more to turn out the vote for Democrats.

PALIN & AUTHENTICITY

A few days ago I heard James Zogby say that Palin embdies "authenticity" and that struck me as something Hannity and the Noise Machine would gladly peddle. I wondered how widely this meme spread in Wingnut World, so I poked around the Net to find these examples.

If McCain Cannot Be McCain, Can Palin At Least Be Palin?
By Christopher Coffey
Republican Consultant
THE FOX FORUM
September 3rd, 2008 9:53 PM Eastern

There is something authentic about Governor Palin.

Huntsman: My fellow guv Palin will 'raise a little hell'
By Thomas Burr
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 09/05/2008 01:19:57 AM MDT


ST. PAUL, Minn. - Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. brought the Republican National Convention to its feet Thursday night with chants of, "Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," as he nominated "fellow Westerner" Sarah Palin as the GOP vice-presidential nominee.

"She's a hockey mom, a hunter, a hard-hitting reformer, and quite frankly, she's not afraid in a little town called Washington to kick a few fannies and raise a little hell," Huntsman said, a cold making his voice crack.

"In a world of artificiality, we are looking for originality, we are looking for authenticity, we are looking for a rebel, a renegade - we are looking for Sarah," Huntsman shouted.

Palin-Obama Comparisons Ramp Up
By WILLIAM MARCH and BILLY HOUSE
The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 5, 2008

In a roundtable with battleground state political reporters Tuesday, Doug Holtz-Eakin, senior policy adviser for the McCain campaign, compared Palin at length with Obama.

"It's remarkable that the discussion is between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin," Holtz-Eakin said. "Palin brings an authenticity that's powerful. It's not just Republicans, people are excited by her.

"She's an accomplished woman, she's got an extraordinary story. ... She's a real American. And he's, you know, been a lot of things. ... But he's not very authentic."

Lingle, Palin put spotlight on Republican women
Posted: Sep 3, 2008 09:09 PM MST
Updated: Sep 3, 2008 10:02 PM MST


ST. PAUL, Minnesota (KHNL) - Besides Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska), another woman getting a lot of attention at the Republican National Convention is our own Gov. Linda Lingle (R-Hawaii).

"She's genuine," said Gov. Lingle. "She's comfortable in her own skin, truly authentic."

And Gov. Lingle hopes that authenticity carries the McCain-Palin ticket all the way to the White House.


Exclusive photos show Sarah Palin has convinced John McCain
By Thomas M. DeFrank
Daily News Washington Bureau Chief

Wednesday, September 3rd 2008, 7:13 AM

A senior GOP official told The News Palin's disappearing act was designed not only to keep her away from prying media queries but also build anticipation for her speech.

He predicted the prime-time rollout will "reinforce her authenticity" and embellish McCain's credibility.

Wide range of reaction to Palin
Last update: August 29, 2008 - 8:00 PM
Minneapolis Star Tribune

"They're [conservatives] going to be excited about this pick because here's an authentic person who believes and does what she says in her policy atmosphere and can authentically carry that message to the country."

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.

WINGNUTS ON PALIN

Dennis "The Pious" Prager thinks Palin is the American Margaret Thatcher and Michael Barone thinks that is a definite possibility. Thatcher studied chemistry at Oxford University and worked as a research chemist. Palin? Not so much.

RADIO TIDBITS

I'm listening to a re-broadcast of today's Janet "Jeebus Witch" Parshall's radio show and one female caller made it clear that abortion is THE single issue for the Fundies. As far as the economy goes, she said we just need to trust in the Lord (and presumably not the Federal Reserve).

Another caller objected to Rudy and Palin belittling community organizers and Parshall had no direct reply.

THE PACKAGING OF PALIN BEGINS

Jay Carney writes about a revealing set of statements made by Nicole Wallace, a senior advisor to McCain. We can expect Palin to be very carefully packaged by the McCain campaign because they really don't want her to take questions from reporters. In fact, Wallace said that taking questions from reporters isn't important because Palin can talk directly to the American people. This reminded me of a couple of things. First, all the staged town halls Pres. Fredo appeared in to sell his plan to destroy Social Security and second, the remark by a WH advisor to Ron Suskind:

The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

The campaign will try to create it's own, self-serving, version of the Reality of Sarah Palin and reporters need not apply. As Wallace put it on MSNBC¹:

WALLACE: The media has called -- the media did something to this family that I`ve never seen before, in my life! And I think she took the stage last night and you know, she made her own points. She put this discussion and this race and this convention in her own trunk. And she didn`t do it by talking, with all due respect, to people like you. She talked to the American people about things they care about. How they`re going to stay in their homes --

¹MSNBC
September 4, 2008 Thursday
SHOW: MSNBC SPECIAL 7:00 AM EST
For September 4, 2008
BYLINE: Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell, Chris Matthews
GUESTS: Jay Carney, Nicole Wallace, Jim Matthews
SECTION: NEWS; Domestic
LENGTH: 7262 words
HIGHLIGHT: Governor Sarah Palin got positive reviews for her convention speech as vice presidential candidate.

WHAT? NO FLAG LAPEL PIN???

Republican presidential nominee John McCain is joined by his running mate, Sarah Palin, after his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008.
(AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)




What will Sean Hannity and Mark Levin say? Isn't a pin the mark of a TRUE PATRIOT?

"I GOT OTHER THINGS TO DO"

That's what Commander-in-Chief Fredo told Woodward when asked about who decided to send 5 brigades to Iraq.

Responding to a question about how the White House settled on a troop surge of five brigades after the military leadership in Washington had reluctantly said it could provide two, Bush said: "Okay, I don't know this. I'm not in these meetings, you'll be happy to hear, because I got other things to do."

THE RAT BASTARDS CAN'T STOP PLAYING ON OUR FEARS

Al Gore was correct in 2004 and he's still correct about the GOP.

The death of a taboo
Posted by Sasha Issenberg
September 4, 2008 08:41 PM
The Boston Globe


ST. PAUL -- One of the most enduring taboos in American politics, the airing of graphic images from the September 11 attacks in a partisan context, died today. It was nearly seven years old.
The informal prohibition, which had been occasionally threatened by political ads in recent years, was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 CST, when a video aired before delegates at the Republican National Convention included slow-motion footage of a plane striking the World Trade Center, the towers' subsequent collapse, and smoke emerging from the Pentagon.
The September 11 precedent was one of the few surviving campaign-season taboos. It is survived by direct comparisons of one's opponents to Hitler.

GREAT PIC OF 9-11 GIULIANI

(h/t Atrios)

THE LONG ARM OF AIPAC

The Israel-Firsters don't waste any time vetting U.S. candidates.

GOP Tightens Image Control
As Palin Prepares for Debut
By LAURA MECKLER, MONICA LANGLEY and ELIZABETH HOLMES
September 3, 2008; Page A1
Wall Street Journal

In Minnesota she has stayed out of the public eye, a contrast with Democratic vice-presidential pick Sen. Joe Biden, who milled about the convention in Denver last week. Gov. Palin refused media interviews and canceled plans to appear at the Republican National Coalition for Life Tuesday.

She spent Tuesday in her hotel suite meeting with campaign aides and working on her speech. She had private sessions with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and members of the pro-Israel group AIPAC, said people familiar with her schedule. An AIPAC spokesman said Gov. Palin told its members she would "work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Israel."

Meeting with AIPAC is even more important than meeting with Schafly's extremists:

It’s worth noting that Palin, who has obviously been completely off-limits to reporters since she was rolled out as McCain’s running-mate in Dayton Friday, stiffed a reception in her honor sponsored by none other than Phyllis Schlafly a couple hours later. (One wonders what other lobbies have tried to arrange a meeting with Palin in the last 96 hours and with what success.)

UM, WHO'S "ELITIST"???

Vanity Fair estimates that the outfit Cindy McCain wore this Tuesday cost at least $299K.

Cindy McCain
Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000–$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600
Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100

THE SURGE WORKED???

Not so much, really, otherwise we would be able to withdraw more troops, sooner.

Sources: Bush advised to delay troop cuts in Iraq
Sep 4 07:15 PM US/Eastern
By LOLITA C. BALDOR and ROBERT BURNS
Associated Press Writers


WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush's top defense advisers have recommended he maintain 15 combat brigades in Iraq until the end of the year contrary to expectations that the improved security in Iraq would allow for quicker cuts, The Associated Press has learned.

It had been widely expected that Petraeus would recommend a faster pullback in Iraq, perhaps reducing the number of combat brigades from 15 to 14 this fall. But several recent events may have changed the calculus.

CHANGE FOR ME BUT NOT FOR THEE

Obama took a lot of criticism from the wingnuts for his campaign for "change we can believe in" but when it comes to McCain and Palin, not a peep.

McCain's convention message: Change is coming

Sep 4 07:10 PM US/Eastern
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer
McCain, a four-term Arizona senator, also issued a warning "to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first, country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming."

Caribou Barbie also talked about change:

Palin mocks Obama; McCain claiming nomination
Sep 3 07:57 PM US/Eastern
By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Claiming her historic place on the Republican ticket, vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama's experience and promise of change Wednesday night and pledged to help John McCain upend the Washington establishment.

"In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers," she said in a barbed reference to Obama's campaign theme. "And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change," she added in remarks prepared for her prime time address to the Republican National Convention.

PALIN'S NOT ALL BAD

I wrote a little about this before and here's some more info. I don't know how much she had to do with drafting this tax bill but she did sign it, so I have to give her some credit for good fiscal sense.

Palin and Obama Have Pushed Similar Plans to Raise Oil Taxes
By Richard Rubin, CQ Staff
CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – ENERGY
Sept. 4, 2008 – 12:29 a.m

...the tax functions exactly like a windfall profits tax, said Jerry Burnett, acting deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue. As the price of oil goes up, oil company profits rise. And as profits rise, so does the tax rate on oil production.

When prices are $80 a barrel, the tax rate is roughly 37 percent, and the state’s budget runs a slight surplus. When oil hits $120 a barrel, the tax rate reaches about 50 percent of profits, and the state collects about twice what it spends, Burnett said. For fiscal year 2008, the state projects that the tax increase Palin pushed will generate an extra $2 billion for the state.

That progressivity came mostly from the legislature, said Richard Fineberg, a consultant who said he worked for the Palin administration on the issue. Although she did take on the oil industry and ultimately signed the bill, Palin seemed detached from many of the details, he said.

Naturally, one of McCain's flunkies tries to spin this away:

“The key difference between what the governor did and what Senator Obama is proposing is, the governor did not impose a windfall profits tax,” Holtz-Eakin said during a lunch with reporters this week. “It’s a permanent change. It’s not an opportunistic grab for ‘windfall profits’ and I think that’s a fundamental difference in the approach. She was trying to set the state up for both good and bad times in the oil industry and that’s very sensible.”

"SMALL TOWN VALUES"

Palin left out this important part of the local Wasilla values:

Troopers dub Mat-Su area the meth capital of Alaska
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASILLA - The Matanuska-Susitna area is the methamphetamine capital of Alaska, according to Alaska State Troopers.

In 2003, authorities uncovered nine meth labs in the area. Last year, the number increased to 42, said Kyle Young, an investigator with the troopers who works with the Mat-Su narcotics team.

Officials with the Office of Children's Services in Wasilla said the problem affects children. The office receives about 40 calls a month from people reporting abuse or neglect involving some aspect of the highly addictive drug.

Here are a few recent busts:

02/20/2008 Fielding, Thomas J 405 N Old Glenn Hwy, Apt #5 Palmer Downs Tract 1
12/17/2007 Cornforth, Fred 237 E. Kalli Circle, Apt #3 Wasilla Haley Hills Park, Lot 4 (building 237, Apartment #3, located on Lot 4)

ANOTHER COMMENT IS DELETED

UPDATE: I was wrong. My post was temporarily removed by the spam filter and is now visible again

A wingnut made a post on her blog about how she is just like Sarah Palin and I left a comment asking if that means she will also cut back on funding for teenage mothers. The comment was up for a few hours but has now been scrubbed.

THE NOISE MACHINE SHRINKS A LITTLE

Right Talk, a online purveyor of some of the wackiest wingnuts, has suspended operations:

A note to our loyal RIGHTALK listeners.

For four years, RIGHTALK has strived to bring our audience a conservative alternative to NPR and the list of "A-list" conservative guests that we have brought to our audience is almost endless. Unfortunately, we must now suspend our Internet operations.

RT seems to have identified yet another threat to America, although it's not clear from this exactly who they are referring to:

The radical Left will be spending many tens of millions of dollars on their broadcasting propaganda this year alone, mostly in non-commercial, non-profit broadcasting on three, 24/7 satellite TV channels and 700+ am/fm stations. By "radical left", we don't mean the usual NPR/BBC fare (which is bad enough), we mean the most virulent, socialist propaganda imaginable. We mean Marxist, pro-terrorist, anti-American hate from people who are bent on destroying this country and who are relentless in their attempts to do it.

We would rather not give them any publicity here, but this propaganda is being broadcast on over-the-air am/fm stations in 46 out of 50 states every single day. You may not have heard it yet but it's out there and trust us, it's much worse than you think. We cannot understate the magnitude and danger of this threat to our country and every effort, to include conservative programming on public radio stations, needs to be made to counter this assault.

They continue their hysteria:

RIGHTALK has produced a detailed and terrifying survey of the magnitude of the threat posed by radical, leftwing, non-commercial propaganda broadcasting - which has grown exponentially in the last 6 years largely under the radar of the Right. You can be sure that the Marxist propaganda attack on America is massive, organized, dangerous, and effective. The KGB Broadcasting Network is on the air at a college radio station near you.

WHAT MITTENS TALKED ABOUT

T. BOONE ADJUSTS TO THE WINGNUTS

His radio ad used to go straight from mentioning that some call for more oil drilling to "that won't work." Now, he says "drill, drill, drill" and then adds that that won't end our dependence on foreign oil.

THIS COULD BE SERIOUS FOR MID-LIFE BARBIE

Palin initially denied making any contact with the then-Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan about state trooper Michael Wooten and later backtracked by saying she didn't know about the contacts.

Now we have evidence that she personally sent e-mail to Monegan about the issue and it will be impossible for her to claim that she didn't know that.

Palin E-Mails Show Intense Interest in Trooper's Penalty

By James V. Grimaldi and Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, September 4, 2008; Page A27

EAGLE RIVER, Alaska, Sept. 3 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate for GOP presidential candidate John McCain, wrote e-mails that harshly criticized Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law and ridiculed an internal affairs investigation into his conduct.

The e-mails were shown to The Washington Post by a former public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan, who was fired by Palin in July. Monegan has given copies of the e-mails to state ethics investigators to support his contention that he was dismissed for failing to fire Trooper Mike Wooten, who at the time was feuding with Palin's family.

"This trooper is still out on the street, in fact he's been promoted," said a Feb. 7, 2007, e-mail sent from Palin's personal Yahoo account and written to give Monegan permission to speak on a violent-crime bill before the state legislature.

"It was a joke, the whole year long 'investigation' of him," the e-mail said. "This is the same trooper who's out there today telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organization, and that he'd 'never work for that b****', Palin'.)"

The second e-mail Monegan produced came from Palin's Yahoo address on July 17, 2007, after the local newspaper publicized a legislative proposal that would keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

THOUGHTS ON PALIN'S SPEECH

This was a sign that the GOP will try to use the same tactics it used 2004. Instead of change, we are back to the same old culture war and concentration on "character" rather than policy.

THIS SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO SINK McCAIN

Granpa McCain lied to the American people again about Sarah Palin:

GIBSON: Senator, since I've been following politics, every single presidential nominee has said that the first quality they look for in a vice presidential pick is the capability and the readiness to take over as president.

Can you look the country straight in the eye and say Sarah Palin has the qualities and has enough experience to be commander in chief?

MCCAIN: Oh, absolutely. Having been the governor of our largest state, the commander of their National Guard, she was once in charge of their natural resources assets, actually, until she found out there was corruption and she quit and said it had to be fixed.

Of course, it helps to be a mayor. When I think people compare her experience, in fact, and accomplishments, I think ethics in lobbying reform in a state that was beset by the influence of special interests, cutting taxes, giving the citizens back money.

I mean, she's got an incredible resume, including a beautiful family and a wonderful, loving, caring family. So I will think that, over time, people will compare her accomplishments with that of Sen. Obama, and his are very meager.

Later in the interview, Gibson hones his question:

GIBSON: But as you know, the questions revolve really around foreign policy experience.

Can you honestly say you feel confident having someone who hasn't traveled outside the United States until last year, dealing with an insurgent Russia, with an Iran with nuclear ambitions, with an unstable Pakistan, not to mention the war on terror?

MCCAIN: Sure. And one of the key elements of America's national security requirements are energy. She understands the energy issues better than anybody I know in Washington, D.C., and she understands.

Alaska is right next to Russia. She understands that. Look, Sen. Obama's never visited south of our border. I mean, please.

So she is experienced. She's talented. She knows how to lead and she has been vetted by the people of the state of Alaska. But most importantly, people in America want change. They don't want somebody from inside the beltway.

They want people who will come and stand up for change and do whatever is necessary.

She took on her own party. You'd have to describe to me one occasion where Sen. Obama took on anybody, any powerful interest in his own party.

Gibson doesn't give up and McCain is forced to tell another lie:

GIBSON: Sarah Palin does?

MCCAIN: I said that he didn't have the judgment. He doesn't have the judgment. He didn't have the judgment on Iraq. He still refuses to acknowledge that the surge has succeeded.

Gov. Palin knows the surge has succeeded. She's the commander of the Alaskan National Guard. He said that Iran was a tiny problem. He's never visited south of our border. He has no experience on these issues.

She has been in charge and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities. Sen. Obama has never had a position of responsibility to do with many of those responsibilities. I'm proud of her vision. I'm proud of her strength. And everybody knows energy is a key element in American strength and future. She knows how to address that issue.

WHAT PALIN SPOKE ABOUT

THE ABSURDITY OF BEING BILL BENNETT

You may have heard or read that Sarah Palin isn't well-travelled:

Palin not well traveled outside US
VP candidate, Alaksan governor got first passport in 2006, left N. America only once
By Bryan Bender and Sasha Issenberg
Globe Staff / September 3, 2008

ST.PAUL — Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin got her first passport in 2006 and has visited just four countries, and she had little involvement in her state's cross-border issues, raising questions about her supporters' assertions that Alaska's proximity to Russia has given her unique experience on foreign affairs.

This morning, Slots Bennett decided that the best retort to this claim is that James Madison didn't travel outside the country. Yeah, Palin is right in the mould of James Madison! On CNN, Slots made the connection to the Culture War¹:

BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. It's a different crowd. It's a different audience.

But the message is unifying. I thank Donna Brazile for that.

That video was interesting. That was an American video. It started with the Federalist Papers, the Declaration. I was thinking about what Carl said, just to gig him a little bit. He talked about Sarah Palin and her passport.

This is something I have heard of, her two things. Why didn't she get a passport and she's never been on "Meet the Press." See, this is the Eastern problem that people have. You can actually be somebody and not be on "Meet the Press." And James Madison, believe it or not, actually never left America. Jefferson was a great president. He spent too much time in Paris. The need for European experience wasn't in James Madison.

So, there's a lot...

BROWN: The world is a little different.

BENNETT: Yes, the world is a little different. And America is a much more dominant and predominant and important place than Europe is right now.

So, by the way, when she got her passport, she didn't go to Paris. She went to Kuwait to see the soldiers. So, there's a kind of cultural underpinning here, Wolf, and it's going to play itself out over the next three days.

[snip]

BENNETT: You know, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, one of the best people to ever grace the Senate, smartest people, said, politics is important, but culture is more important than politics. Cultural symbols. Look for the cultural symbol.
And if I can make one last comment, one name that hasn't been mentioned yet by us, you are going to hear a lot, the brooding omnipresence, Ronald Wilson Reagan. You heard the applause when his face appeared. He will be invoked a great deal.

And it is the mantle of Reagan. This is one of the questions, one of the ways we have been talking about this election this year. What would Ronald Reagan do? On whom will this mantle fall? And you will see him invoked, I think, many times, and appropriately so. He's one of our big heroes.

¹CNN
September 2, 2008 Tuesday
SHOW: CNN ELECTION CENTER 8:00 PM EST
Republican National Convention Day Two
BYLINE: Ed Henry, Kyra Phillips, Candy Crowley, Dana Bash, Gloria Borger, Leslie Sanchez, Carl Bernstein, Donna Brazile, Bill Bennett, Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown
GUESTS: Kendal Unruh, John Tyler Hammons, Hilary Rosen, Alex Castellanos, Leslie Sanchez, Donna Brazile, Carl Bernstein, James Carville
SECTION: NEWS; Domestic
LENGTH: 6999 words
HIGHLIGHT: Republicans highlight John McCain's biography on day two of the Republican National Convention.

MULLAH DOBSON GETS A LITTLE SMACK DOWN

(h/t Howard Kurtz of the WaPo)

Alan Wolfe of the New Republic has the appropriate take on our mullah of morality:

In rushing to Sarah Palin's defense, the leaders of the Christian right have made it abundantly clear how they define a Christian. We don't care if you sin. We are not bothered if you put your ambition ahead of the needs of your children. If you have lied or broken the law, we will look the other way. It all comes down to your stand on guns and fetuses. Vote the right way, and you have our blessing. If any proof were needed that James Dobson is a political operative rather than a spiritual leader, his jumping on the Palin bandwagon offers it.

This should be part of a larger campaign that points of conservative hypocrisy. Almost any time you look at conservative claims, you either find hypocrisy, lies or contradictions. Here's just one example of the latter:

Analysis: GOP contradicts self on Palin family
Sep 3 07:32 PM US/Eastern
By TED ANTHONY
AP National Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - People: Make up your minds.
For two days, the chorus from Republicans on TV news and in the halls of the convention has been resounding: Back off and let the Palin family be. "That's out of bounds," said Minnesota's Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty. "There's no need to be intrusive and pry into that."

Yet Wednesday found the following scenes unfolding:

_Sarah Palin's pregnant, unmarried 17-year-old daughter and probable future son-in-law stood in a nationally televised, politically packaged airport receiving line to meet and greet the Republican candidate for president.

_The extremely cute and bubbly Piper Palin, 7, made her debut on her mother's behalf, appearing in a video on John McCain's daughter's blog. "Vote for my mommy and John McCain," she said, giggling as Meghan McCain grinned.

_Bristol Palin and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Levi Johnston, were expected to appear together as part of the GOP political narrative at the convention Wednesday night, according to the young man's mother.

Huh? 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.

WOW! DESPITE ALL THE COVERAGE...

Palin still LIES about herself. In her acceptance speech, she falsely claimed that she was against the Bridge to Nowhere and against Federal earmarks. Did anyone vet her speech?

STEVE SCHMIDT DOESN'T GET IT

Marc Ambinder writes that Schmidt, Granpa McCain's chief strategist, threatens us with a paper tiger, the talk radio gasbags:

"There's an audience of 40 million people out there on talk radio" who are absolutely furious about the media's coverage of Sarah Palin, he said.

Someone should remind Schmidt that these gasbags did everything they could to prevent McCain from being the nominee and they failed miserably. In addition, many of them, notably Sean Hannity, have been trying to sandbag Obama for months and he still has a lead in the polls.

MEMO TO UNCLE JIMBO & TUCKER BOUNDS

GOV. Sarah "Mid-Life Barbie" Palin HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH NATIONAL SECURITY!

Official: Palin's never issued an order to Alaska Guard
Posted on Wednesday, September 3, 2008
By George Bryson Anchorage Daily news

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — 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.

"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.

NOONAN TRIES TO LIE HER WAY OUT OF "OPEN MIC" REVELATION

Like most conservatives, she has to lie to hide her real thoughts because they contradict her printed thoughts:

Because she jumbles up so many cultural categories, because she is a feminist not in the Yale Gender Studies sense but the How Do I Reload This Thang way, because she is a woman who in style, history, moxie and femininity is exactly like a normal American feminist and not an Abstract Theory feminist; because she wears makeup and heels and eats mooseburgers and is Alaska Tough, as Time magazine put it; because she is conservative, and pro-2nd Amendment and pro-life; and because conservatives can smell this sort of thing -- who is really one of them and who is not -- and will fight to the death for one of their beleaguered own; because of all of this she is a real and present danger to the American left, and to the Obama candidacy.

DR. LAURA BAILS ON IMPULSE BUY PALIN

The social conservatives, like Mullah Dobson, are usually so pro-family that they really don't like a mother working outside the home but we haven't heard to much from any of these gasbags until now. This is another case of a conservative narrative backfiring on the GOP.

Sarah Palin and Motherhood
September 2, 2008 on 1:35 pm
Dr. Laura Schlesinger

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


Any full-time working wife and mother knows that the family takes the short end of the stick. Marriages and the welfare of children suffer when a stressed-out mother doesn’t have time to be a woman, a wife, and a hands-on Mommy.

THIS IS GETTING TO BE A COMEDY SHOW

McCain's impulse buy of Sarah Palin is turning into a continuing source of amusement. The hopes the McCain campaign has of trying to divert us from one of the most underqualified VP choices in history simply aren't working because every few hours, there's a new story.

Here's just a few since yesterday:

1) Palin is a war whore Fundie - the war in Iraq is "a task that is from God." This puts her in the Rod Parsley-class of religious freakshows.

2) Palin's former pastor, Ed Kalnins, is also a war whore freakshow, just like Rod Parsley:

Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

Kalnins has preached that the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq were part of a "world war" over the Christian faith, one in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice their lives.

3) Peggy Noonan and GOP consultant Mike Murphy trash McCain's choice of Palin:

After a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd ended today, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live mike ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin.

"It's over," said Noonan, who then responded to a question of whether Palin is the most qualified Republican woman McCain could have chosen.

"The most qualified? No. I think they went for this — excuse me — political bullshit about narratives," she said. "Every time Republicans do that ... because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it."

Murphy chimed in:

"The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical."

Here's the clip:

SLOTS BENNETT JOINS WAR WHORE INGRAHAM

This morning on his radio show, Slots was all exited about how Palin brings back the "culture wars," following in WWI's footsteps. He pushed the standard GOP meme that Palin's NOT an elitist and she's about as far removed from Northeast liberalism as one can get. (Bennett himself went to Williams and then Harvard Law and at least one of his sons went to Princeton)

Just like Palin, Bennett and Ingraham relish using the wedge issues for political gain. The good of the country places a distant second to electoral gain.

YES, SEAN, THERE REALLY WAS A BOUNCE

FROM Nate at 538:

Today's Polls, 9/2
It looks like Barack Obama may have gotten his convention bounce after all:

PALIN == TYPICAL GOP EXTREMIST

I was doing a survey recently for a mayoral race and I was surprised at the number of hot-button issues that a mayor has no say over were included, among them the abortion issue. I assumed that this was just another case of the GOP trying to motivate their base. When Palin first ran for mayor, she also used these hot-button issues, so she's really no different from your standard issue authoritarian/fundie GOP candidate. This is NOT the change we need.

Palin’s Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual

By WILLIAM YARDLEY
Published: September 2, 2008
NY Times

...one aspect of American life did not come to town until 1996, the year Sarah Palin ran for mayor and Wasilla got its first local lesson in wedge politics.

The traditional turning points that had decided municipal elections in this town of less than 7,000 people — Should we pave the dirt roads? Put in sewers? Which candidate is your hunting buddy? — seemed all but obsolete the year Ms. Palin, then 32, challenged the three-term incumbent, John C. Stein.

Anti-abortion fliers circulated. Ms. Palin played up her church work and her membership in the National Rifle Association. The state Republican Party, never involved before because city elections are nonpartisan, ran advertisements on Ms. Palin’s behalf.

In other words, the real issues didn't matter but the ideology did. Palin also showed the typical insistence on personal loyalty, just like Bush does:

During her campaign, Ms. Palin appealed to voters who felt that city employees under Mr. Stein, who was not from Wasilla and had earned a degree in public administration at the University of Oregon, had been unresponsive and rigid regarding a new comprehensive development plan. In turn, some city employees expressed support for Mr. Stein in a campaign advertisement.

Once in office, Ms. Palin asked many of Mr. Stein’s backers to resign — something virtually unheard of in Wasilla in past elections. The public works director, city planner, museum director and others were forced out. The police chief, Irl Stambaugh, was later fired outright.

ANOTHER GOP NARRATIVE COLLAPSES

For the Bill Clinton haters and their allies like Sean Hannity, Ken Starr is a hero. To normal people, he's a good example of the unscrupulous abuse of power. The latter view is even shared in Alaska (h/t SilentPatriot at Crooks & Liars)

Attorney challenges Monegan firing inquiry

By LISA DEMER
ldemer@adn.com

Published: September 2nd, 2008 12:01 AM
Last Modified: September 2nd, 2008 11:56 AM

The state has hired a private lawyer to represent Gov. Sarah Palin's office in the Legislature's investigation into the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. The lawyer already has challenged whether lawmakers even have authority to oversee the inquiry.

The state Department of Law hired Thomas Van Flein, an Anchorage attorney with expertise in employment law and professional liability, because Attorney General Talis Colberg has a potential conflict of interest and shouldn't represent the governor, Van Flein said Monday.

"Our concern is that Hollis French turns into Ken Starr and uses public money to pursue a political vendetta rather than truly pursue an honest inquiry into an alleged ethics issue," Van Flein said in an interview.

"How does he explain the unanimous vote (to pursue the investigation) by the Republican-dominated Legislative Council?" French shot back.

PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF IRONY

Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard and Michelle Malkin of anywhere they'll let her on have both objected to the US Magazine cover on McCain's mid-life Barbie. These two make a good living spreading lies and agit-prop so having them complain about media coverage is a bit much.

NO WONDER THEY CALL HIM McSAME

John McCain assigned 6 ex-Bushies to help mid-life Barbie doll. How is this "change"?

Bushies Come to Palin's Aid
Posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008 5:35 PM

By Michael Isikoff

Steve Biegun, who once served as the No. 3 National Security Council official under Condoleezza Rice at the White House, has been hired as chief foreign-policy adviser to the Alaska governor, campaign officials told NEWSWEEK.

Matt Scully, a former Bush White House speechwriter who helped draft some of the major foreign-policy addresses during the president’s first term, is working on Palin’s acceptance speech to the convention Wednesday night.

Mark Wallace, a former lawyer for the Bush 2000 campaign who served in a variety of administration jobs including chief counsel at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and deputy ambassador to the United Nations, has been put in charge of “prep” for the debate against Biden.

Wallace’s wife, Nicolle Wallace, the former White House communications director, has taken over the same job for Palin.

Tucker Eskew, another senior Bush White House communications aide, is serving as senior counselor to Palin’s operation.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the former chief economist at the Council of Economic Advisers who has been serving as top economics guru for the McCain campaign, has moved over to serve as Palin’s chief domestic-policy adviser.

OUR NEXT VICE PRESIDENT?

I DON'T THINK SO...NOT IF YOU MAKE THE COVER OF A SUPERMARKET TABLOID...





UPDATE:

Make that TWO supermarket tabloids:

INGRAHAM AND THE SANCTITY OF AGIT-PROP

Laura Ingraham, a noted radio War Whore, attended a pro-blastocyte conference organized by Phyllis Schafly, a longtime right-wing wacko. According to the Wall Street Journal, the McCain campaign asked the gasbags to attack the media and Auntie Laura obliged:

Then she launched into a diatribe against the New York Times, which ran a front-page story Tuesday about whether McCain’s staff had adequately vetted his running mate, given the surprise announcement that Palin’s unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

“The same elites who are launching a blistering assault” on Palin find her a “huge threat, right?” Ingraham said to wild applause. “Sarah Palin represents everything they hate.”

Yes, it's the same GOP whine we've been hearing for over 30 years now and I'm sure it goes over great with the GOP's base but for others, probably not so much. ABC New's Teddy Davis lets us know what WWI thinks we hate:

"Sarah Palin represents everything they hate," said radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham. "Life is the first. Big families. Hunting. Patriotism. Gun ownership. Beating back fat bloated bureaucracy. Holding government accountable. Fighting liberal corruption. Sarah Palin stands for all of these principles that if taken away from the Left, it's over for them. It's over."

Ingraham charged that the media would have celebrated Bristol Palin, the pregnant 17-year old daughter of the Alaska governor, if she had chosen to have an abortion. Palin announced on Monday that her daughter was keeping the baby and planning to marry the father.

"Look, the cause of life is the dividing line in our culture and it has been for some time now, for decades," said Ingraham. "Sarah Palin is a woman who dared to cross that line. And if Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol, had been the daughter of a Democratic candidate for the presidency, or the vice presidency, and if that daughter had come to her mother, or come to us, the public, and had said, 'look, my choice is to abort the child,' then that daughter, and that political family, would, we all know, be hailed by the same elites who are launching a blistering assault on this woman and her family."

"The jig is up fellas," she added.

In this last part, I don't understand what WWI is referring to when she mentions "cross that line." Since when is choosing to have a child some sort of bold act in America? That happens every day and is simply unremarkable. On the other hand, I think admitting to having had an abortion, especially for someone in politics, is crossing the line into the free-fire zone of wingnut hatred. Can you imagine the uproar on the Right if Michelle Obama came out and said she once had an abortion?

WWI got a little more specific about WHO she was attacking, according to TNR's The Plank:

As Ingraham put it: "All these journalists are ... all for equal rights for women... for women succeeding in a men's profession. Oh really? Then why are you treating this woman like dirt? They're doing it for one issue: If Sarah Palin were pro-choice ... It would have been, 'Oh, McCain is a maverick once again.' But, of course, Sarah Palin is a huge threat."

Like dirt? Has Ingraham completely forgotten all the hatred she and her cohorts directed at Hillary Clinton?

TALK RADIO COMES TO THE AP

The AP seems to be turning into another agit-prop outlet. There's been some concern about Ron Fournier, the AP's Washington Bureau chief, and others. Atrios finds another AP story that parrots a talk radio meme:

Analysis: Palin choice scrambles left-right roles
By TOM RAUM – 2 hours ago

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Liberals sound like conservatives; the right sounds like the left. John McCain's surprise choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate has upended conventional wisdom and brought about a seeming role reversal.

Many liberals are belittling the choice, suggesting that as a mother of five children — including an infant with Down syndrome — she has neither the time nor the experience to become vice president.

It's the conservatives now who are now sounding traditional feminist themes, claiming there's no reason why she can't multitask and be a mother and vice president at the same time. "She is the best possible choice," says Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED RIGHT NOW

The wingnuts the the Fundies have been praising Sarah and Bristol for their reproductive "choices" and we need to remind Americans that Palin, McCain and the GOP want to outlaw abortions.

Obama ad slams McCain on abortion rights
By BEN SMITH 9/2/08 9:39 PM EST
The Politico

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Barack Obama has launched a broadside against John McCain’s opposition to abortion rights and moved one of the most divisive issues in modern American politics to the airwaves on a large scale for the first time in this presidential campaign.

Obama’s new radio ad, airing widely in at least seven swing states, tells voters McCain “will make abortion illegal.” It’s airing as McCain courts female voters with the addition of the staunchly anti-abortion governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to his ticket.

In fact, the Arizona senator has long supported a ban on abortions, with exceptions for victims of rape and incest, and for pregnancies that threaten the life of the mother. Palin has an even firmer anti-abortion stance: She would require rape and incest victims to carry their pregnancies to term.
“Let me tell you: If Roe vs. Wade is overturned, the lives and health of women will be put at risk. That's why this election is so important,” says the nurse-practitioner who narrates Obama’s ad. “John McCain's out of touch with women today. McCain wants to take away our right to choose. That's what women need to understand. That's how high the stakes are.”

An announcer then claims that “as president, John McCain will make abortion illegal,” before playing an exchange on "Meet the Press" in which McCain told moderator Tim Russert that he favors “a constitutional amendment to ban all abortions.”

“We can't let John McCain take away our right to choose. We can't let him take us back,” says the ad.

THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

This is an improvement over The Bridge to Nowhere but it still isn't evidence that Palin is a fiscal reformer.

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

By TOM KIZZIA
tkizzia@adn.com
ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS

Published: August 31st, 2008 02:29 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."

Meanwhile, Weinstein noted, the state is continuing to build a road on Gravina Island to an empty beach where the bridge would have gone -- because federal money for the access road, unlike the bridge money, would have otherwise been returned to the federal government.

WHY THE PRESSING NEED TO FLY BACK TO ALASKA

Sarah Plain waited hours and hours to get to a hospital after she felt her water break. Why would one wait that long? Here's the only answer we have right now, from LexisNexis:

Anchorage Daily News (Alaska)
April 22, 2008 Tuesday
FINAL EDITION
Palin baby has Down syndrome;
FAMILY FEELS BLESSED: Back at work already, governor says she wasn't in labor in Texas.

BYLINE: By LISA DEMER ldemer@adn.com
SECTION: MAIN; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 1123 words

Baldwin-Johnson said she had to induce labor, and the baby didn't come until 6:30 a.m. Friday.

"It was smooth. It was relatively easy," Palin said. "In fact it was the easiest of all," probably because Trig was small, at 6 pounds, 2 ounces.

Palin said she wanted him born in Alaska but wouldn't have risked anyone's health to make that happen.

"You can't have a fish picker from Texas," said Todd.

OK, MAYBE THIS IS WHY BRISTOL MOVED...

Sarah wanted her to marry QUICK before word of the pregnancy got outand Bristol didn't want to. (h/t Atrios)

PALIN WAR: TEEN PREGO CRISIS


Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin attempted to quietly have her daughter Bristol get married before news of her pregnancy leaked out, the NATIONAL ENQUIRER is reporting exclusively in its new issue.

Palin planned for the wedding to take place right after the Republican National Convention and then she was going to announce the pregnancy.

But Bristol, 17, refused to go along with the plan and that sparked a mother-daughter showdown over the failed coverup.

ANOTHER BRISTOL PUZZLE

Why did she switch to another high school in another town, away from the father of her baby?

Bristol Palin's pregnancy was an open secret back home
BY NANCY DILLON, VERONIKA BELANKAYA and TINA MOORE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Tuesday, September 2nd 2008, 7:34 AM

Mark Okeson, the assistant principal at Wasilla High School, told the Chicago Tribune that Bristol started her junior year last fall, in the town where Sarah Palin grew up.

He said Bristol inexplicably transferred to an Anchorage high school midyear, leaving Levi behind.

"I never heard the story why," he said.

The WaPo has a little more:

No Surprises From Palin, McCain Team Says
Daughter's Pregnancy and Trooper Controversy Were Revealed Before Pick, According to Campaign Aide

By Michael D. Shear and Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; Page A17

Bristol Palin attended high school in Wasilla, where her mother grew up. But it was widely reported by town residents that while the Palins continued to live on Lucille Lake in Wasilla, she had moved to the home of an aunt in Anchorage and was attending high school there.

WOW! THEY ADMIT IT!

For those who follow the GOP's election tactics, this isn't a surprise but the open admission certainly is.

McCain Manager: 'This Election is Not About Issues'
THE FIX
Chris Cilizzaa
Washington Post

September 2, 2008; 1:07 PM ET

Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning.

"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

Davis added that issues will no doubt play a major role in the decisions undecided voters will make but that they won't ultimately be conclusive. He added that the campaign has "ultimate faith" in the idea that the more voters get to know McCain and Barack Obama, the better the Republican nominee will do.