Subscribe"I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin said. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"To be quite inspiring.
I don't know Dan Quayle. But I hope that whatever golf course he's on, he's duly offended by the day's frequent comparisons between John McCain's frantic selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate and his own selection in 1988. Let's look at the record:posted by XQUZYPHYR at 9:45 AM on August 29, 2008 [12 favorites]
* Quayle: Two terms in the U.S. House, eight years in the U.S. Senate, representing a state of 6.5 million people.
* Palin: City council member and mayor of a town of 8,500 people, 20 months as governor of a state of 650,000 people.
No, Governor Palin, you're no Dan Quayle. Maybe in a few years.
Though McCain's a seasoned politician, when he strays from prepared speech, he can really stick his foot in his mouth.Heck, Biden can't give a prepared speech.
Yeah, at least Biden doesn't do that.
Palin has more executive governmental experience than Obama and Biden combined.
If I'm not mistaken McCain, Obama and Biden all profess to believe in the Zombie Carpenter From Galilee so what does that say about them?
Jesus tap-dancing Christ. If McCain wanted a former beauty queen with no experience and a criminal investigation on her record I don’t know why he didn’t just pick his own wife.Tell us how you really feel . . .
Is there a source that shows Palin is a young-Earth creationist (Earth is only 6000 years old), or is she just a creationist (God got things going 4.5B years ago)? The two are pretty different.
Wait, so as far as her creationism goes, wanting it to be part of the state educational curriculum isn't damning enough?
Palin made the decision to travel to Texas to a Governor's conference while 36 weeks pregnant, a time during which obstetricians would tell you it’s foolish to travel via plane. Air travel is a known risk for pregnancy complications, which is indeed what happened. The governor, while on a self-promoting trip to deliver a speech, had premature rupture of fetal membranes: her water broke.I don't know much about obstetrics, so I can't really judge whether JakeW's accusations have any merit. But it's an interesting take on a story that's going to be coming up a lot.
Call your local OB department and ask what to do if you think that your water has broken. You’ll be advised to seek an immediate hands-on examination by an obstetrician. The baby will be placed on a monitor to make sure it’s OK. Premature rupture of membranes can lead to life-threatening infection and premature delivery.
What did Sarah Palin do? She did NOT go to a local hospital and did NOT have her baby checked on a fetal monitor to make sure it was OK. She called her family practice doctor in Alaska for advice. What advice was given isn’t clear, but it’s clearly quoted that she "did not ask for a medical OK to fly". Whether it was OK to fly should be the FIRST question anyone considering traveling by air should have, if they were at all interested in protecting the life of the unborn. Regardless, she decided to give her speech at the conference without having any evaluation other than the long-distance advice of a family practitioner. Her speech was more important to her than making any effort to make sure her unborn child was OK. Then, she decided to fly back to Alaska, an 11-hour trip. In addition, she failed to inform flight personnel that her water had broken.
[Todd] Palin's advocacy dovetails neatly with his wife's No. 1 priority: forging a construction contract with private companies to transport natural gas from the North Slope to the Lower 48. The export of natural gas would presumably replace revenue from the state's dwindling oil reserves, which funded 80 percent of the state budget last year.
I agree that most mainline Christians don't take the Bible literally, but if you don't why bother calling yourself a Christian? I would think Unitarian might be a better choice. Is it just me?
Only recently have McCain's aides urged him to pull back from the pastime. In the heat of the G.O.P. primary fight last spring, he announced on a visit to the Vegas Strip that he was going to the casino floor. When his aides stopped him, fearing a public relations disaster, McCain suggested that they ask the casino to take a craps table to a private room, a high-roller privilege McCain had indulged in before. His aides, with alarm bells ringing, refused again, according to two accounts of the discussion.Did McCain roll the dice with the vice presidency?
"He clearly knows that this is on the borderline of what is acceptable for him to be doing," says a Republican who has watched McCain play. "And he just sort of revels in it."
How would the stresses of such a job combine with a pregnancy? She's had babies while in office in Alaska, but how does that translate to the far bigger job of VP or POTUS?
Either way, the past two elections and their practical results have taught me that whatever the outcome, as a whole we pretty much get the president we earn and deserve.If the vote hadn't been oursourced to private, for profit, Republican organizations, who view tallying MY VOTE as a "trade secret", I'd agree with you.
Kaiser, Dannote: web.me.com and mac.com are apple services that host user content. So dnksr@mac.com and web.me.com/dnksr/ are likely the same person.
6111 97th Ave Ct W
Tacoma, WA
98467
US
Phone: +1 253 565 XXXX
dnksr [at] mac.com
The stories behind the customized vanity license platesCongrats, Dan Kaiser, you're a dick.
IAN DEMSKY; ian.demsky@thenewstribune.com; 235-597-8872
Published: February 27th, 2008 01:00 AM
[...]
Dan Kaiser of University Place didn’t fare as well. State officials revoked his plate joking about President Bush. It read “F DUBYA.”
The big downside is that she completely eviscerates McCain's 'experience is important' message,
I'm not objective here, but that one big downside seems to me to outweigh all the positives combined,
“Before her meteoric rise to political success as governor, just two short years ago Sarah Palin was the mayor of Wasilla. I had a good chuckle at MSN.com’s claim that she had been the mayor of ‘Wasilla City’. It is not a city. Just Wasilla. Wasilla is the heart of the Alaska ‘Bible belt’ and Sarah was raised amongst the tribe that believes creationism should be taught in our public schools, homosexuality is a sin, and life begins at conception. She’s a gun-toting, hang ‘em high conservative. Remember…this is where her approval ratings come from. There is no doubt that McCain again is making a strategic choice to appeal to a particular demographic - fundamentalist right-wing gun-owning Christians. And Republican bloggers are already gushing about how she has ‘more executive experience’ than Obama does! Above is a picture of lovely downtown Wasilla, for those of you unfamiliar with the area. Behind the Mug-Shot Saloon (the first bar I visited when I moved to Alaska long ago) is a little strip mall. There are street signs in Wasilla with bullet holes in them. Wasilla has a population of about 5500 people, and 1979 occupied housing units. This is where your potential Vice President was two short years ago. Can you imagine her negotiating a nuclear non-proliferation treaty? Discussing foreign policy? Understanding non-Alaskan issues? Frankly, I don’t even know if she’s ever been out of the country. She may ‘get’ Alaska, but there are only a half a million people here. Don’t get me wrong….I love Alaska with all my heart. I’m just saying.”posted by ericb at 2:26 PM on August 29, 2008 [3 favorites]
"We should all be proud of Governor Sarah Palin’s historic nomination, and I congratulate her and Senator McCain. While their policies would take America in the wrong direction, Governor Palin will add an important new voice to the debate."Not exactly what DaShiv was predicting, I think.
"I'm going to be very blunt, here. I wish Senator McCain a very long and happy life. But, at age 72 with a history of cancer, John McCain may not live through his first term, if elected. That would make Sarah Palin our Commander in Chief. I, and other vets and troops, have about 60 days to determine if she'll grow to be ready.posted by ericb at 4:28 PM on August 29, 2008 [9 favorites]
She's not ready now -- not based on the complete blank resume on global strategic issues and veterans issues. To be fair, Barack Obama wasn't ready to be Commander in Chief when he became Senator in 2005.
But, over the course of the last few years, and the last year-and-a-half in particular, I've been able to soundly judge Senator Obama, and watch him grow into a readied potential Commander in Chief. In the Senate, serving on the Foreign Affairs committee, he's tackled some of the major issues of our time, asking probing and highly informed questions of military leaders and diplomatic leaders.
I've been able to watch his thought process in action, and have seen him been proven right on Iraq, right on Afghanistan, right on talking to Iran, and right on the war on terror. He's shown an incredible ability to think in much larger strategic terms than this president, to the point that I'm supremely confident he is ready to lead our Armed Forces.
Sarah Palin? God only knows."
-- Jon Soltz, Co-Founder and Chair of VoteVets.org
“As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”Excuse me?
"In an August 14 interview with Time Magazine, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), now Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) running mate, suggested that McCain had not shared his plan for Iraq with her. Palin, who has not been to Iraq, said she does not know 'what the plan is to ever end the war.' She later said its 'tough' to 'talk about the plan for the war' because her son will be deployed to Iraq this September. 'Let’s make sure we have a plan here,' she said. Palin then added, 'respecting McCain’s position on that too though.'posted by ericb at 4:40 PM on August 29, 2008 [2 favorites]
Matt Duss notes that by trying to 'make news with an unknown, stunt VP pick, McCain has shortchanged the issue which he himself insists is the most important — national security.'"
It's not the team sitting on a safe lead that calls for a Hail Mary -- but then again, the play's been known to win many a game. It's not exactly a smart play, but not quite as desperate as an onside kick or faked punt, either. It's a risky, usually unsuccessful maneuver that occasionally reaps massive dividends. Palin means McCain is a gambling man.Well that's certainly a fantastic characteristic for a President.
so, dearest barack: you may have a funny name, you may be black, you may be against abortion, you may have a real problem with the hillary crowd but the republicans seem to have acquired a taste for that old dance the democrats have very nearly perfected since the days of good old hapless george mc govern. you may be hopeful.Barack Obama is a consistent and strong supporter of the right to choose.
“MSNBC Pat Buchanan – ‘It was a genuinely outstanding speech. It was magnificent. It is the finest – and I saw Cuomo’s speech, I saw Kennedy in ‘80, I even saw Douglas MacArthur, I saw Martin Luther King – this is the greatest convention speech, and probably the most important because unlike Cuomo and the others this is an acceptance speech. This came out of the heart of America and he went right at the heart of America…’posted by ericb at 5:45 PM on August 29, 2008 [12 favorites]
FOX Bill Kristol – ‘Barack Obama faced very high expectations tonight and honestly I think he met them and I honestly think he exceeded them…He eloquently explained America’s promise. He explained why the Bush Cheney administration had fallen short of that…I thought it was an awfully impressive performance.
CNN David Gergen – ‘In many ways it was less a speech than a symphony…It was a masterpiece’
MSNBC Tom Brokaw – ‘It was a wonderfully crafted political speech and the Republicans I’m sure were looking in and wondering what they’re going to be able to do next week to match it’
CNN Paul Begala – ‘He went fearlessly at John McCain’s greatest strength, national security. He went proudly into the social issue terrain that Democrats are usually so afraid of. He went boldly attacking the status quo of George Bush, Dick Cheney and John McCain, and then he went very comfortably in your living room…This is my ninth convention, it was as very nearly a perfect convention speech as I can imagine…’
MSNBC Chris Matthews – ‘I thought it was amazing – I’ve written speeches all my life, of course nothing like this…It was a great way of throwing back the other side’s best shot and saying it’s full of crap’
CNN Campbell Brown – ‘If anybody ever thought that Barack Obama was not tough enough to run against John McCain this speech should really put an end to that…’
FOX Chris Wallace – ‘I thought it was an exceedingly smart speech in which Barack Obama played offense and defense very effectively.’
CNN – Sen. Clinton delegates on Obama’s speech:Jessica Yellin: ‘I have three people who as you say have been following this for a long time. Two of these women are Hillary Clinton supporters and I wanted to ask you first…
Woman: ‘Were.’
Yellin: ‘Were Hillary Clinton supporters. What turned you tonight?
Woman: ‘His speech, and I like her enjoyed it all but the end is what got me. You know, it’s a dream and it’s going to come true we gotta’ work for it. That’s what I got out of it.’”
Just chiming in here with those who said that abortion will be one of the central themes of this election -- except that it will probably be embedded into a broader theme. Something like 'family values' or 'American values'.Are you kidding? Did you actually watch the democratic convention? Democrats talk constantly about the need to protect Roe, about how the republicans are going to take it away, etc. Meanwhile the republicans tiptoe around it, talking about 'judicial appointments' and 'strict constructionists' when what they mean is they'll nominate judges who will overturn Roe v. Wade
This is bad news for Obama: He will try to tip-toe around the issue, giving non-committal statements, whereas the other camp will just state their opinion straightforwardly. Straight-talk indeed. -- sour cream
"Party Unity, My Ass!" It refers to Hillary supporters who don't want to support Obama because they hold a grudge about how Hillary was treated.No. It refers to a Republican-funded disinformation campaign.
what he saw when he looked at her, according to the people I spoke to, is someone who fights the same fights I fight. The first gateway sort of fight that he thought they have in common was the bridge to nowhere. He's been talking about that for years. She's the one who killed it...a minimum of executive experience
The second thing he liked was she took on the Republican Party. She had a corrupt Republican Party. It was her own party. She took it on in a very risky way. McCain sort of sometimes sees himself in that role, Jack Abramoff.
And the third thing was the fight she had with the oil companies over the pipeline, which was a big fight. And he saw her -- he goes after Boeing, she goes after the oil companies.
So he said, "This is someone who's like me." I mean, I'm sure he appreciated that she's a woman and all the differences. But the essential thing was a reformer like me, even though he doesn't know her that well.
"The other thing you have to remember is Alaska is in a period of affluence now. The state treasury is filled with money. The high oil prices the rest of the country are paying has made the rest of us up here -- given us a full treasury, and now we don't have to worry about taxing.in part because of her windfall profits tax on oil companies & support for drilling :P altho...
"We can spend money on people and just -- we don't have to make the tough choices that you have to make where you live." -- Michael Carey, host of a weekly political program for Alaska Public Television and a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, how does she get along with state legislators?cheers!
[Alaska State Representative (D)] LINDSEY HOLMES: Well, I think it depends on the state legislator. There's been a bit of a hands-off approach, I would have to say. It's not...
JUDY WOODRUFF: A hands-off approach on whose...
LINDSEY HOLMES: To the legislature, from the governor's office to the legislature. There are definitely people in the legislature she just doesn't get along with at all.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Are they all Democrats?
LINDSEY HOLMES: No, actually, they're mostly Republicans, a lot of Republicans, some Democrats. It kind of depends on the issue. There have been some arguments over handling of things like budget vetoes without communicating them ahead of time to the legislature, just a lack of communication, I think, on a lot of things that we've been working on.
she is an under-45 Republican. That means she's unwedded to Reaganism. She's Evangelical, but she's pretty progressive on gay and lesbian issues. She's for drilling in ANWR, but she talks about global warming quite a lot.that's the hope anyway!
She's got different categories in her head than, I think, the older conservatives who are pretty much down the line ideologically.
She's for drilling in ANWR, but she talks about global warming quite a lot.This is like implying that Strom Thurmond was a stalwart civil rights activist because he spoke about black people a lot.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCain's surprise vice-presidential pick, is the subject of a legislative probe into claims that she abused her office by trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as an Alaska state trooper.Well, middleclasstool, I don't know anything about the government of Arkansas, but I can guess that it's no more corrupt than the Alaskan government! (See that! I diverted the derail!) Louisiana comes to mind, though. and florida, but it's arguable that they aren't 'really' Southern.
Palin is likely to be deposed soon in the case, according to State Sen. Hollis French, who leads the state Senate's Legislative Counsel Committee.
Alaska State Senate President Lyda Green (R): “She’s not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president? Look at what she’s done to this state. What would she do to the nation?” (Green is from Palin’s home town of Wasilla.)posted by XQUZYPHYR at 5:37 AM on August 30, 2008 [8 favorites]
Alaska House Speaker John Harris (R): “She’s old enough. She’s a U.S. citizen.”
Alaska Democratic Party Chair Patti Higgins: “In this very competitive election for them to go pick somebody who is … under a cloud of suspicion, who is under investigation for abuse of power. It just sounds like a pretty slow start to me. We need a vice president who can step in if, God forbid, something happened to John McCain. I don’t think she’s someone who is ready for that 3 a.m. phone call.”
Randy Ruedrich, Alaska Republican Party Chair: Not giving interviews.
Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg: “a mixed set of emotions, kind of an odd sense of Alaska nationalism or pride. This is like watching a moon landing or something. It’s just something you don’t expect to see very often. It’s wonderful. It was an emotional thing to see the governor walk out with her family and I say, wow, I work for her.”
McHugh Pierre, Alaska Republican Party Spokesman: “She brings her voice of new energy and change. And she knows Alaska.”
Indicted Alaska Sr. Senator Ted Stevens (R): “it’s a great day for the nation and Alaskans.”
Putting aside the creepiness of a top McCain adviser having to reassure the nation that McCain, at 72 years of age with four bouts of cancer, won't die in office, what Charlie Black said today was particularly damning of McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin:While Palin crams for the "Commander-in-Chief" test, Bill Frist reviews McCain's medical records and guarantees him immortality!Mr. McCain’s advisers said Friday that Mr. McCain was well aware that Ms. Palin would be criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, but that he viewed her as exceptionally talented and intelligent and that he felt she would be able to be educated quickly.So Black, the guy who said another 9/11-style attack on America would help McCain's campaign, is saying that McCain's VP doesn't know a thing about national security, but she can learn on the job over the next four years, you know, like night school. We're at war. And they're admitting that Palin may be our next commander in chief on day one, if McCain were to die or fall ill in office, yet she knows nothing about national security, and has never met a world leader.”
‘She’s going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he’ll be around at least that long,’ said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain’s top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain’s health, which Mr. McCain’s doctors reported as excellent in May.
“Earlier this month, Karl Rove repeatedly argued that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) would not be ‘capable’ of being Vice President. He complained that ‘he’s been a governor for three years’ and said Kaine was mayor of only the ‘the 105th largest city in America,’ referring to Kaine’s tenure as mayor of Richmond, VA. ‘It’s not a big town,’ he quipped.posted by ericb at 7:29 AM on August 30, 2008 [10 favorites]
Yesterday, however, Rove argued just the opposite with regard to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R). He explained on Fox News that Palin was a good choice as McCain’s vice presidential nominee because she was ‘mayor of the second largest city in Alaska’:ROVE: She’s a populist, she’s an economic and a social conservative, she’s a reformer, she took on the incumbent governor of the state Frank Murkowski — Republican — beat him in the primary, won an upset in the general election. She’s a former mayor. She’s the mayor of, I think, the second largest city in Alaska before she ran for governor.Kaine was indeed mayor of the ‘the 105th largest city in America.’ While there, he governed nearly 200,000 people and managed a bureaucracy of over 8,000 employees. By contrast, Palin was mayor of Wasilla, AK, a town of just over 8,000 people that currently employs just over 100 individuals and — contrary to Rove’s claim — didn’t even make it into the 10 largest cities in AK while she was mayor.”
"Ms. Palin appears to have traveled very little outside the United States. In July 2007, she had to get a passport before she visited members of the Alaska National Guard stationed in Kuwait, according to her deputy communications director, Sharon Leighow. She also visited wounded troops in Germany during that trip."posted by ericb at 7:32 AM on August 30, 2008
“The case for Palin.posted by ericb at 1:36 PM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]For McCain, the biggest thing Sarah Palin brings is buzz. It's something the campaign has been seeking for some time. In fact, it has bothered Team McCain that it doesn’t get the same ‘gee whiz’ kind of coverage that Obama gets. Palin changes that discrepancy -- for now. She also helps McCain re-introduce himself as a change-reform candidate. Palin's whole shtick in Alaska is reformer; it's what got her into the governors mansion. Indeed, the Palin pick may signal that the McCain folks have concluded that ‘experience’ as a message isn't a winning one, even though they spent the entire summer developing that argument. So they are hoping Palin helps redefine GOP ticket as change. What's more, she brings a historical first to the McCain campaign. And finally, there's Palin's gender, which the McCain folks hope reopens some of the Clinton-Obama wounds that the Dem convention seemed to heal.The case against Palin.The biggest negative about the pick is that on its face, it looks like a political gimmick, a political calculation. And McCain's supposed to be anything but a calculating or gimmicky pol. Indeed, as the Los Angeles Times wonders, isn’t McCain supposed to be the guy putting ‘country first’ and not playing politics? The fact that McCain doesn't know Palin and spent all but a couple of hours getting to know her before making his pick is going to invite A LOT of judgment criticism. The perception is going to be that McCain panicked and wanted to do something radical to shake up the race. Well, he may have shaken up the race, but at the cost of undermining his best asset: that he was ready to lead. This decision doesn't look like it was well thought out, even as Palin has made a tremendous first impression.The vetting question.Just how well was she vetted? There's going to be a race to define Palin, and while the McCain has bought time by shocking the world with the pick, there's going to be a lot of interest by the press to dig around in Alaska. And this ‘Troopergate’ story is perhaps just the beginning. What's more, since she isn't well known, any little thing could get blown up pretty quickly.”
What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I'm not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities. And for the gun-totin' Miss Wasilla then to go on to become Governor while having five kids makes it an even more uniquely American story. Next to her resume, a guy who's done nothing but serve in the phony-baloney job of "community organizer" and write multiple autobiographies looks like just another creepily self-absorbed lifelong member of the full-time political class that infests every advanced democracyThe always amusing Mark Steyn. NB: Link goes to NRO, so if you have some principle about not going there, as I do about Daily Kos, don't click link.
What child is this, who, laid to rest
On Sarah's lap, is sleeping?
Whom Repubs greet with anthems sweet,
While pollsters watch are keeping?
This, this is McCain’s one hope,
Whom operatives guard and Fox News sings:
Haste, haste to bring him forth,
The Babe, to slay Obama!
So bring him incest, gold, and beer,
Come NASCAR things to own just him,
The one from one (?), freedom rings,
Let loving hearts think he’s of her.
Raise, raise the song on high,
But isn’t he from Bristol’s thigh?
Joy, joy, for Trig is born,
The Babe, the Grandson of sweet Sarah!
"In her speech in Dayton today, Gov. Sarah Palin announced that she and her husband are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary, which means they were married on August 29, 1988.posted by ericb at 3:06 PM on August 30, 2008 [1 favorite]
On April 20, 1989 – less than eight months after they eloped – their first son, Track, was born.
I think I can guess the real reason why they eloped, and it wasn’t to save money on an expensive wedding."
"A reader has found some evidence that [Palin] has thought about foreign policy at some point in her 44 years. Drum roll, please:posted by ericb at 3:23 PM on August 30, 2008'Alaska Business Monthly: We've lost a lot of Alaska's military members to the war in Iraq. How do you feel about sending more troops into battle, as President Bush is suggesting?She heard about the surge, McCain's campaign centerpiece, on the news. Does she still favor an exit plan?
Palin: I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe. Every life lost is such a tragedy. I am very, very proud of the troops we have in Alaska, those fighting overseas for our freedoms, and the families here who are making so many sacrifices.'
here's the distinction between Senator Obama and Senator McCain. Senator Obama believes abortion is a grave moral issue, that we can do things to reduce unwanted pregnancy and abortion but that we shouldn't criminalize the health care decisions of doctors and women to fight abortion.cf. cheers!
Senator McCain, on the other hand, says he wants Roe vs. Wade to be overturned and that will be a step toward criminalizing the decisions of women and doctors with respect to abortion. We can reduce abortion and unwanted pregnancy in this country. We've shown it during the Clinton years. We can do it by--without making women and doctors criminals if they engage in abortion, in that procedure. And we shouldn't use the criminal laws of one instrument against women and doctors in this way. We can reduce abortion through access to education, access to contraception, abstinence-focused education, all those things can help us reduce abortion.
MR. GREGORY: When do you believe...
GOV. KAINE: But the criminal, the criminal law is not the way we should do it.
MR. GREGORY: When do you believe human rights begin?
GOV. KAINE: Well, human, human rights, broadly, my church teaches and I do believe that human rights begin early in life, at conception or shortly thereafter, and that is my personal belief. But I do not believe the force of the criminal law should compel others to necessarily follow that to the greatest degree. And that's why the strategy of Senator Obama is reduce abortion through education, health care access, point out the grave issue, support reasonable, common-sense restrictions on abortion, I think that's important. But you shouldn't be talking about overturning Roe vs. Wade or criminalizing women and their doctors.
In fact, as Palin's cultural views become better known -- she oppose (sic) abortion in all cases and opposes the use of birth control pills and condoms even among married couples -- she will undoubtedly scare the hell out of the soccer moms and 98% of Hillary voters.-- from "Worst Pick Ever?" by pollster Del Ali, the president of Research 2000.
Feminists for Life's mission is to address the unmet needs of women who are pregnant or parenting. Preconception issues including abstinence and contraception are outside of our mission. Some FFL members and supporters support the use of non-abortifacient contraception while others oppose contraception for a variety of reasons. FFL is concerned that certain forms of contraception have had adverse health effects on women.This article indicates FFL like most other pro-life groups is against contraception
Our membership enjoys a broad spectrum of opinion that reflects the diversity of opinions among the American public.
Today, pro-life groups in the U.S. are reclassifying the most common contraception methods, including the birth control pill, the patch, the IUD and the depo-shot, as “abortifacients,” claiming, with no scientific backing, that they cause abortions. On their website, Feminists for Life classifies emergency contraception as an abortion method. If this were true, Feminists for Life should also classify 40 percent of all birth control methods as abortion methods because they all have the same mode of action as emergency contraception.Now Gov. Palin may be "pro-contraception" as she indicated in the interview torticat linked to, but that doesn't mean it is policy of FFL. This post on DailyKOS has some interesting notes on FFL's position or non-position on birth control.
but there are lots of below average Americans who are too stupid to know what's going on, and are therefore easily manipulated by bullshit.And lots of them are also left-wingers. Trust me- the right doesn't have a monopoly on uninformed idiots.
"More of the views that apparently attracted McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, to Pat Buchanan:posted by ericb at 12:16 AM on August 31, 2008 [2 favorites]2007: 'The rise of women to power in a civilization is very often the mark of its decline.'
-- Pat Buchanan, On The McLaughlin Group, July 6, 2007
1983: 'Rail as they will against "discrimination," women are simply not endowed by nature with the same measures of single-minded ambition and the will to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of Western capitalism…The momma bird builds the nest. So it was, so it ever shall be. Ronald Reagan is not responsible for this; God is."'
-- Pat Buchanan, Washington Times. November 18, 1983"
DEMOCRATS TAKE WARNING: McCain just closed the evangelical voteOh please. Evangelicals are extremists, and will show up to vote for Republicans no matter who is on the ticket. Does anyone seriously believe otherwise? Is there any data suggesting right-wing extremists were going to stay home on election day until Palin was announced? Color me extremely skeptical. Yes, they may now be making ringing endorsements of her, but that is not the same as them changing their vote. These people are thoroughly invested in the Republican party and will vote for them no matter who is VP.
I assume that you have never met or been a teenager.So can we please stop humiliating a teenage girl yet?It's only humiliating if it's true
The Republican party grokked this over a decade ago and have had so much success that they've transformed every aspect of this country to be in line with their beliefs, but somehow the supposedly smarter Liberals still have no fucking clue.
"Some, particularly women leaning toward a Republican ticket or who share Palin's staunch anti-abortion views, see it as a winning choice that they can happily embrace. But others, particularly the undecided women McCain is trying to reach, say this is the wrong woman, lacking experience and on the wrong side of the issues, like abortion, the Iraq war and the environment, that matter most to them.posted by ericb at 10:41 AM on August 31, 2008 [1 favorite]
Some Clinton stalwarts took offense, saying they felt as if McCain had decided that, for women disappointed that they could not vote for Clinton, any woman would do. 'It's an insult,' said Jan Roller, a Clinton delegate from Cleveland, as she arrived home from the convention. 'You have to be qualified for the job.'"
"This surely is the kind of decision-maker McCain turns out to be: ignore your true instincts (Lieberman), throw the dice and hope you don't shoot craps. It's how the Palin decision seems to have been made, and the lack of input and communication has upset Republicans from Romney to Pawlenty, stuck on the Sunday shows to gamely bear witness to the 'good first impression' unknown who nonetheless is a weak VP pick based on qualifications. Hockey mom that she is, she herself should understand that she is an up-and-comer, a future draft choice, not a current first line player. That has nothing to do with her, and everything to do with her resume. No one can 'make up for that' by being charming, and, by the way, a mom. Those are not the only qualifications for being President, something we'll (alas) see on Monday and Tuesday when Gustav hits (a warning to Republicans: politicizing a storm of this potential is a career ender.)posted by ericb at 10:47 AM on August 31, 2008 [3 favorites]
The one thing it does is excite the creationist base. And the one thing that an Obama win will do is to drive home the point that they are not the majority in this country, merely the decision-makers in the Republican party.
If you read the pundits and the news stories, the longer the Palin choice is out there, the worse it looks. And it highlights the essential element of the Republican party, the social conservatives, who simply are not a majority in this country. Presumably the people who think we are moving in the right direction as a country and think Brownie did a heckuva job will love it." *
"The main reason McCain knuckled under to the religious right by picking Palin is that he actually believes there’s a large army of embittered Hillary loyalists who will vote for a hard-line conservative simply because she’s a woman. That’s what happens when you listen to the TV news echo chamber. Not only is the whole premise ludicrous, but it is every bit as sexist as the crude joke McCain notoriously told about Janet Reno, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.posted by ericb at 10:49 AM on August 31, 2008 [1 favorite]
Given the press’s track record so far, there’s no reason to believe that the bogus scenarios will stop now."
"The choice also says a lot about McCain. First, that he is a bit desparate. McCain likely thought it would be difficult to make a splash with a conventional Republican sidekick. Changing the subject from Thursday's Obama-thon would be difficult with Mit Romney or Kay Bailey Hutchinson (who would have been an awful choice anyway) by his side. The choice of Palin certainly gives us all something new to talk about. And she is fresh, smart (as far as I can tell from a brief time studying her), enthusiastic and energetic. But it is a bit of a political Hail Mary pass. Second, that he is one arrogant SOB. McCain is essentially telling the world that he doesn't really need a Vice President. It is hard to imagine Palin playing the same sort of role that modern Vice Presidents like Gore, Bush, Cheney, or Mondale played. Rather, the Office would seem poised to return to the 'proverbial warm bucket of p***' category. McCain has thus made a purely political play without regard for the governance concerns. And how could he really have a good idea of how she would govern? My understanding is that he only met with her once before choosing her."posted by ericb at 10:52 AM on August 31, 2008 [2 favorites]
"There could be calls...that this type of information [investigating the Bristol Palin preganancy rumor] is muckraking and 'below us'. The truth is not below any progressive, nor any citizen of the world that is one heartbeat away from having Palin as leader of the free world. We simply ask that she be forthright, honest, and not waste our time with such juvenile games that anyone with eyes can see as fabrication.posted by ericb at 11:00 AM on August 31, 2008
Bristol Palin rightfully should be able to embrace her child in public as her own, with no shame, and no quarter. And a mother should be just as accepting." *
"80% of the cases of Down's Syndrome are in mother's under the age of 35."ericb, that's one of the most disingenuous uses of statistics that I've seen in a long, long time.
Cindy McCain: Palin knows foreign policy because 'Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia.'
the 'is-she or isn't-she Trig's mom?' story is a non-starter
"On Friday, April 18th, 2008, Sarah and her husband Todd were in Dallas, Texas for a Republican Governor's Convention. They had been in town for three days already, but Sarah had yet to give her keynote speaker address on energy policy. Then early Friday morning at 4:00am, Sarah began leaking amniotic fluid. Instead of checking into a hospital, she instead made a call to her doctor, and delivered the keynote speech.posted by ericb at 1:13 PM on August 31, 2008 [3 favorites]'I was not going to miss that speech,' she says.The oddities only grow from here on, as instead of rushing to a Dallas medical facility that could treat a mother who's amniotic fluid has been draining for hours on end (made even more crucial due to the fact that this is occurring a full month prematurely), Sarah & Todd instead opted to... fly all the way back from Texas to Alaska. A dangerous choice, as with each pregnancy (once again, in this case after four previous), a mother's window of labor to delivery grows shorter and shorter.
She rushed so quickly from the podium afterwards that Texas Gov. Rick Perry nervously asked if she was about to deliver the baby then.
Aboard Alaska Airlines, the flight lasted for eight hours, with an additional landing in Seattle. The majority of commercial airlines require mothers seven months pregnant to provide a doctor's letter to fly, but Sarah did not inform the airline of her condition. Alaska Airlines is one of the few airlines that do not require such a notice, despite the possibility of an emergency landings being required in such scenarios. That said, no one on board noticed that Sarah was going into labor:'"We leave the decision to fly up to our customers and their medical advisers," according to Alaska Airlines representative Caroline Boren.Eight months pregnant. A 6.2 pound fetus. No one notices a visible trace. By the third trimester, a perfectly fit woman not wearing anything less than a space suit should be easily spotted as pregnant. Not in Sarah's case.
...'Governor Palin was extremely pleasant to flight attendants and her stage of pregnancy was not apparent by observation as she didn’t show any signs of distress,' Boren said."
The plane then made a landing in Anchorage, Alaska. Does Sarah then visit a medical facility that can accommodate a premature birth in Alaska's most equipped city? No. She drives 45 minutes away, to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, right outside the small village she used to govern as Mayor, Wasilla. Trig Palin is then delivered one month premature, Friday night. Sarah returned to work after three days.
The inherent need to absolutely have Trig delivered in a remote and possibly ill-equipped facility for premature deliveries, where Sarah would likely have numerous contacts and pull, does not sit well. The doctor, Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, approving of all of these actions borders on malpractice. Not treating leaking amniotic fluid causes infections, and time is of the essence after water breaks. Husband Todd Palin simply delivers this winner of a line:'You can't have a fish picker from Texas,' said Todd."*
I bet Cheneys gotta be shitting himself that such a naive piker is going to be trying to fill his steel-toed loafers.Joe Biden is not a naive piker.
Anchorage Daily News:posted by ericb at 1:33 PM on August 31, 2008 [1 favorite]"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."
Palin kept in close contact with Baldwin-Johnson. The contractions slowed to one or two an hour, "which is not active labor," the doctor said.So Palin made a judgement call in consultation with her doctor, confident that she was the best placed to determine what was going on with her body, and if the above is accurate, turned out to be right. She had a slow leak. She wasn't in labour, and in fact had to have an induction that resulted in a live birth 22 hours later - well within the 24 hour advisory window for antibiotics if labour doesn't kick off.
"I am not a glutton for pain and punishment. I would have never wanted to travel had I been fully engaged in labor," Palin said. After four kids, the governor said, she knew what labor felt like, and she wasn't in labor.They landed in Anchorage around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and an hour later were at the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.
Baldwin-Johnson said she had to induce labor, and the baby didn't come until 6:30 a.m. Friday.
...someone mentioned up thread that Down Syndrom is very rare in babies born to teen mothers, and it's much more common in women who have children later in life."80% of the cases of Down's Syndrome are in mother's under the age of 35."
odds of Sara Palin having a child with downs syndrom at her age:Frankly, this "Teen daughter conspiracy" is as bullshit as the "Obama is a muslim" slurs, with the added bonus of being completely scientifically illiterate.1/41The odds of a 16 year old having a child with Down's Syndrome:less then 1/1,300
In fact, were I on a hiring committee, I would strongly advise against hiring a person who had done something such as what she is alleged to have done --lord_wolfUgh, you're kidding right? It's illegal to take pregnancy and reproductive choices into consideration when hiring!! My guess is you've never been anywhere near a hiring committee. If you did that, the woman could sue your company into the ground.
But konolia, it isn't stupid at all, and the available evidence strongly supports it. --docpropsNo, all the real scientific evidence, taken over decades, shows that teenagers hardly ever give birth to kids with Downs Syndrome, and that women in their 40s often do. Anyone who could believe this rumor would be a complete scientific illiterate, and that includes you, if you seriously believe it's possible.
"Enthusiastic Republicans don’t see the choice of Palin as affirmative action, despite her thin résumé and gaping absence of foreign policy knowledge, because they expect Republicans to put an underqualified 'babe,' as Rush Limbaugh calls her, on the ticket. They have a tradition of nominating fun, bantamweight cheerleaders from the West, like the previous Miss Congeniality types Dan Quayle and W., and then letting them learn on the job. So they crash into the globe a few times while they’re learning to drive, what’s the big deal?posted by ericb at 3:36 PM on August 31, 2008
....The legacy of Geraldine Ferraro was supposed to be that no one would ever go on a blind date with history again. But that crazy maverick and gambler McCain does it, and conservatives and evangelicals rally around him in admiration of his refreshingly cynical choice of Sarah, an evangelical Protestant and anti-abortion crusader who became a hero when she decided to have her baby, who has Down syndrome, and when she urged schools to debate creationism as well as that stuffy old evolution thing.
Palinistas, as they are called, love Sarah’s spunky, relentlessly quirky 'Northern Exposure' story from being a Miss Alaska runner-up, and winning Miss Congeniality, to being mayor and hockey mom in Wasilla, a rural Alaskan town of 6,715, to being governor for two years to being the first woman ever to run on a national Republican ticket. (Why do men only pick women as running mates when they need a Hail Mary pass? It’s a little insulting.)"
And in this case we know Sarah Palin was having unprotected sexwhat the FUCK? You have a cite?
"'She's not qualified, she doesn't have the judgment, to be next in line to the president of the United States,'' Larry Persily, who until June worked in the governor's Washington office as a congressional liaison, said in a phone interview yesterday.posted by ericb at 3:42 PM on August 31, 2008
A supporter of Palin's campaign for governor, Jim Whitaker, the Republican mayor of Fairbanks, also questioned Palin's readiness to serve as vice president in a phone interview yesterday.
Whitaker said that while he is 'still an avid supporter'' of Palin as governor, he will continue to back Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama." *
"Well, I don't know Governor Palin, I have not met her before. I had a brief conversation with her after she was selected to congratulate her and wish her luck - but, not too much luck! - on the campaign trail. And she seems to have a compelling life story. Obviously, she's a fine mother and a up-and-coming public servant. So, it's too early for me to gauge what kind of running mate she'll be. My sense is that she subscribes to John McCain's agenda. And ultimately, this [election] is going to be about where I want to take the country and where Joe Biden wants to take the country, and where John McCain and his running mate want to take the country."posted by ericb at 3:50 PM on August 31, 2008
"[Former Republican Sen. Fred] Thompson [of Tennessee]: 'She's a mother of five children. ... And she has more experience than Barack Obama.'posted by ericb at 4:39 PM on August 31, 2008
Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina: 'Governor Palin took on Ted Stevens. If she can take him on, she can take on the Russians.' Stevens, a Republican senator, is facing corruption charges and running for re-election.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty: 'Palin is commander-in-chief of the Alaskan National Guard.' The state's Guard has about 4,000 members."
There is a small subset of Christianity that right now is having a hissy fit that a woman has been nominated, but they just need to get over it.Why? 1 Timothy 2 seems pretty clear - women shouldn't be in positions of authority. They should be silent.
It's just that in the world of conservatives, human frailty as it pertains to sexuality or is in direct conflict with the teachings of Jesus, has to be suppressed
I want to vote for people who are interested in doing the right thing, not the popular thing.
Governor Palin took on Ted Stevens. If she can take him on, she can take on the Russians
[Question on a candidate questionnaire by the Eagle Forum Alaska:] you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?Forget the babby. This woman's a blockhead. Whatever you want to say about Hillary, Palin is no Hillary replacement.
Sarah Palin: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance
Flunkie, go google Deborah in the Bible.Deborah was Old Testament. Timothy is New. A new and everlasting covenant.
Today, while I watched her hop out of the “Straight Talk Express” bus, and give the second reading of her acceptance speech, one of my fellow viewers said, “You know, I don’t remember her opposing the Bridge.” And it hit me. I don’t remember that either. A quick double-check with the third member of our watch party confirmed our confusion. We all live here. We all watch the news, read the paper, and pay attention to the local political circus, but none of us connected Sarah with her claims of rebuffing the controversial earmark.
...
Today, Palin called in to a local radio program, and bubbled, “This is so amazeen!” Then she said that her children and she had only learned of her selection the day before the announcement was made. I think of the extensive vetting process that the Democratic VP candidates went through. Evan Bayh said that he was grilled extensively about skeletons in the closet, and even whether any of his kids had a Facebook or MySpace page that might come back to haunt him.
...
But many Alaskans are just giddy over the whole thing. The local sportscaster, after reporting on the high school basketball scores, said, “You know Sarah Palin used to be a sportscaster….and she’s the Vice Presidential candidate. So, I think I wanna do that…yeah.” (eyeroll) And one woman who was interviewed said she was totally in support of Palin because, “This is really going to put Alaska on the map. Now people are going to find out what we’re really all about.”
Because this is what we’re looking for in the next Vice President. We want Alaska to be on the map. And not in that little box in the South Pacific you guys always stuff us in. This election is about Alaska’s road to legitimacy! Sar-ah Sar-ah Sar-ah! (banging head on desk and going to bed)
11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?The Pledge of Allegiance did not originally contain the words "under God."
SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.
-Eagle Forum Alaska questionnaire for GOP candidates
"There are reports that the McCain campaign came up with the idea to pick Palin a week ago, and then only vetted her for four days. That would explain the plethora of bad news the blogs and the corporate media have been able to find on her in such a short period of time. And now we have even more evidence that John McCain simply wung it in picking a neophyte with no national security experience as the person who may replace him as president in as little as six months. McCain didn't even check her hometown paper to see what it had to say about her. At some point, McCain's actions become reckless. You don't choose a vice presidential candidate who isn't qualified simply because she might help you pick up a few votes here and there. It's Dan Quayle, and Harriet Miers, and Brownie all over again. And it speaks very poorly of John McCain's first significant decision as our potentially future commander in chief."posted by ericb at 8:14 PM on August 31, 2008 [2 favorites]
“Meanwhile, Palin’s mother-in-law, Faye Palin, told a New York Daily News reporter that she didn’t agree with Sarah on everything and hadn’t yet decided how she would vote. She added: “I’m not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she’s a woman and a conservative.posted by drezdn at 9:36 PM on August 31, 2008
"Alaska is the first line of defense in our missile interceptor defense system. The 49th Missile Defense Battalion of the Alaska National Guard is the unit that protects the entire nation from ballistic missile attacks. It’s on permanent active duty, unlike other Guard units. As governor of Alaska, Palin is briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counterterrorism. Her exposure to classified material may rival even Biden's.
She's also the commander in chief of the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), a federally recognized militia incorporated into Homeland Security's counterterrorism plans.
Palin is privy to military and intelligence secrets that are vital to the entire country's defense. Given Alaska's proximity to Russia, she may have security clearances we don't even know about."
One person said: I forgot to mention-when one of my fitness instructors told me she was voting for McCain, she also said-and her exact words were something like this: "she wasn't voting for that Communist" meaning Obama.Or we can describe her as an effective "Republican by Faith" who proselytizes her single-issue insanity to very great effect. "Republican" has come to mean "Christian Fundamentals" in the USA. It means effective theocracy: the law will be guided by the fundamentals of the Christian faith.
....
Then another one responded: Seriously, what are we supposed to do about someone that stupid? That's like me saying, hey, McCain fans, watch out, a kid at the record store today told me he wasn't voting for "that Nazi McCain".
Lastly, jb chimed in with: You can't just dismiss a voter like this as stupid - she probably isn't.
Sure we can dismiss this person as stupid.
I still like George [Bush]. My son just graduated from USAFA, and Bush was there, saluting and shaking hands with every grad. My son said to him, "Sir, your approval rating is high with me!" You can see on the DVD (yes, I have one) where Bush pulls him back and says something to him. What he said was this: "Approval ratings are not important. What is important is doing the right thing."They are single-issue morons. Regardless the economic harm to the country as the result of incompetence or malice, regardless the security risks as the result of incompetence, regardless the rights reductions as the result of malic and power-seeking, regardless the wholesale theft of public services and public interests, she will vote for only those candidates who oppose abortion to the point of banning it entirely. Fuck the rest of you, your best interests, your health and welfare, abortion must be banned.
I want to vote for people who are interested in doing the right thing, not the popular thing.
There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerfull ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus, God, or Allah, or whatever one calls the supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God’s name on one’s behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A,B,C, and D. Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me? And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of conservatism.posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:23 PM on August 31, 2008 [4 favorites]
But here's the thing: you want her to have to "answer questions" about it, but don't you see that - given the extreme unlikelihood of anybody being able to find a smoking afterbirth, even if the rumours somehow were true - it won't mean probing questions about her integrity and judgment from seasoned political reporters? It'll mean heart-to-hearts on the morning talk shows, on which she'll be able to talk about how important her faith is to her, and how these vicious attacks have been deeply hurtful, but ultimately have brought her family even closer together. -- flashboyExactly! The people pushing this are crazy. Crazy to think it could ever happen in the real world, crazy to think 'asking questions' about it could do any good, crazy to think they could ever be proven right, and most of all, crazy to think this could possibly convince people to vote for Obama.
I forgot to mention-when one of my fitness instructors told me she was voting for McCain, she also said-and her exact words were something like this: "she wasn't voting for that Communist" meaning Obama....
“I guess that puts me in a box of being hard-core Republican ... the Democrats also preach individual freedoms and individual rights, capitalism, free market, let-it-do-its-thing-best, let people keep as much of their money that they earn as possible. And when it comes to, like, the Party machine, no one will accuse me of being partisan.” -- Sarah Palin
How about for filing a false birth certificate? I don't know about Alaska specifically but it is illegal in many states because they want to chase down deadbeat dads instead of providing welfare.-- Birth Certificates are sealed for 100 years in Alaska (It's sad that I even know this). No one has accused her of faking his birth certificate. Jesus.
Sometimes, I read things and I feel as if I am going crazy.The republican party is about to have convention halfway canceled due to a hurricane, and McCain is going to deliver his acceptance speech from Louisiana via satellite. Republicans are seriously trying to argue that this half a term governor has national security experience because Alaska is close to Russia, and they apparently didn't do a background check at all.
Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?All that proves is that she thinks the Founding Fathers used the phrase "Under God."
SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.
I don't want a political label, but Obama bears traits that resemble the anti- Christ and I'm scared to death that un- educated people will ignorantly vote him into office. My mom likes him because his children are well dressed!--Saturday Night Live alum best known for playing the role of a ditzy blonde, Victoria Jackson.
You see, what bothers me most, besides being a Communist, and a racist ...
It has come out in the past couple of days that she and her high school boyfriend had a quickie wedding and that she is home schooling her senior year. The Anchorage Daily News has known about this for months - and haven’t touched the story.The rabid desire for someone in Palin's family - anyone! - to have failed to meet the standards of the conservative chastity brigade is pretty phenomenal.
ST. PAUL, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is pregnant, Palin said on Monday in an announcement intended to knock down rumors by liberal bloggers that Palin faked her own pregnancy to cover up for her child.Has me laughing my ass off. It's like some bizarre parody.
So that explains the wedding ring I spotted. From the Palin family ... Now all we need is confirmation from the obstetrician who delivered Sarah's baby, Trig.And from another post
Now they've cleared the air on this - and good for them - what harm would it do to release the medical records showing that Sarah Palin delivered Trig on April 18 in Wasilla? This is not hard: there must be an obstetrician, medical records, and data that can easily refute this rumor. It is not out of the ordinary either: candidates routinely issue medical records. So let's have them. And then we can move on.He can't give this crazy rumor up. What the hell would be the point in her faking a pregnancy at this point?
When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include -- which should include abstinence education and teaching the children -- teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual. But it should also include -- it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I've got two daughters. 9 years old and 6 years old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at the age of 16. You know, so it doesn't make sense to not give them information.Although the wording is clumsy, what he's saying here is that it's important that people make informed decisions. This should be clear to anyone. Pulling part of a sentence out of context to make it seem as though Obama believes children are a punishment is crass and ludicrous.
Is the often cited "most liberal" ranking (http://nj.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/?loc=interstitialskip) wrong/skewed/misleading in some way?Yes, very much so.
(intended as a serious non-snarky question)
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad~Nick Cave
They can comfort you, some even try
They nurse you when you're ill of health
They bury you when you go and die
It ain't that in their hearts they're bad
They'd stick by you if they could
But that's just bullshit
People just ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good
People they ain't no good at all
As a conservative-leaning independent, I've been giving serious consideration to voting for Obama. But if it puts me on the same side as some of people posting here, I think I'd rather stay home. -- Fuzzy SkinnerLook, it's certainly embarrassing for me as a liberal, but keep in mind there are just as many lunatics on the Right, people who have been spreading "Obama is a Muslim" rumors and stuff like that. There's no "Side" in a two-party nation that's totally free of crazies. Besides, there are plenty of people here who have been arguing against the rumors (Including me)
I must be an evil fuck too but, I am incredibly happy that Palin's daughter is pregnant. This completely neutralizes any blow back to Obama from people speculating about her faking the pregnancy. -- afu
And, hey, since you all brought it up, sometimes unmarried teen daughters get pregnant. And just like my daughter, this girl is planning to marry the father. Imagine that. Taking responsibility for your actions. Taking responsibility for a new life.-- konoliaAnd if Sarah Palin had taken responsibility to teach her daughter about birth control, she wouldn't be pregnant in the first place. That to me is the huge irony about pro-lifers. They claim to be opposed to abortion, and at the same time they're also opposed to sex-ed unless it's abstinence only and contraceptives, which leads to some teens giving into human weakness and getting pregnant.
I don't know him personally, but has he said anything like this? As far as I know, he's been off giving speeches on trade policy, employment and hurricanes. Babies weren't mentioned. -- jbInterestingly, Obama did stress the need to reduce unplanned pregnancies in his big speech just last Thursday.
Do you not realize that the Republican party wants abortion to be legal? And do you not know why? The Republican party wants - needs - legal abortion so every four years they can get you to come out and vote for their candidate.This is an incredibly stupid and dangerious idea. The GOP has been hitting the Abortion issue for Decades, and now you've got people, like Sarah Palin in power who genuinely want to stop abortion. And they'll be able to do it too, if they can stack the court. Furthermore, If they do succeed, they can still use it as a campaign platform but claiming that if they don't keep power, or get back in, Abortion will be re-legalized.
Because if it weren't for that single issue, you would vote for the party that fights for prenatal care for mothers, for better healthcare for children, and for tax cuts for the poor and middle-class.-- Optimus Chyme
Is the often cited "most liberal" ranking (http://nj.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/?loc=interstitialskip) wrong/skewed/misleading in some way? -- PerplexityOf course it is. In 2004, Kerry and Edwards were the first and second most liberal senators, in 2008, it was Obama and Clinton, and now they're claiming that Biden is the 3rd most liberal. Notice a pattern? The "most liberal" rankings are designed specifically around the most likely presidential candidates. It's all bullshit.
Reposted for Konolia, so that she won't miss it, and she can make her statement of approval clear. -- cashmanUm, Konolia already responded to that, and she said the statement was fine.
Derek, who was thrown from the vehicle, was not wearing a seat belt, Lefler said. He said Havermann and Uphoff were wearing seat belts at the time.posted by troy at 2:21 PM on September 1, 2008 [1 favorite]
In a column written for the Daily Nebraskan in September, Derek attacked seat belt laws as intrusions on individual liberties and expensive to enforce.
Mr. Obama said the pregnancy “has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president.” He added that, “my mother had me when she was 18. How a family deals with issues and teen-age children — that shouldn’t be the topic of our politics.”Absolute class and too damn right. I love this man so much, I'd vote for him twice if only I could. Or, you know, lived in Florida.
“So,” he added, “I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories.”
I live in this Valley. I know the Heath/Palin families. I am a proud Republican. And I’m a conservative.
…
We all - every single one of us - even Sarah’s closest friends in the Valley (I know, I’ve been speaking to them) know she is in no way qualified for this position. At all.[*]
…
[H]er mayoral races were like a stroll through the park on a hot summer day. Her dad has basically taught everyone out here when they were in middle school science. She won her last mayoral race with less than 1,000 votes. It takes more than that to win a seat on the Valley’s school board.
What hasn’t been reported, at least not much, is that she was unemployed for almost three years before becoming gov. So, people talk about how she was gov for two years - make that 20 months. And before that? Unemployed for almost three years. She ran for mayor on a line of Positively Palin. Everyone knew her and her family. It wasn’t a nasty race.
The race for gov wasn’t exactly “nasty” either. She played the sympathy card constantly. It’s weird how people who aren’t paying attention will fall for it.
She ran for gov against the LEAST LIKED GOV IN THE UNION. His positive numbers were single digits. The local dog catcher could have run and won. Come on, people. This IS Alaska. She won b/c she got in the race so early and I think it kept more qualified people out. Also, the former gov took forever to decide if he’d run for reelection. If he hadn’t, the other guy on the Rep. side would have walked away with the win easily. But, the old gov and the other guy - John Binkley, who was the favorite in the business/thinking community - didn’t count on Sarah being served up no scrutiny in the press. The local press just ran pictures of her and whatdoyaknow? She won. And now she’ll apparently be VP and possilbly president.
Faye Palin said the entire family was shocked by the news on Friday.
"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative.”
Apparently that’s what blind ambition does for you, folks. It blinds you to the hearts and needs and lives and emotions and futures of everyone around you - incl. your own daughter who, God only knows how she’ll bear up under the shock and shame when this story finally comes out.I disagree with the "social reasons" thing and I'd like to talk about the "single page" idea instead of the stuff about her daughter. But it's an inside look into the inner workings of the town, the government and the potential VP's decisions that seems like rare and unique information.
No thank you. I would like a VP candidate who puts the lives of the people she’s supposed to be caring for first, above her own. Since, for social reasons (abortion and gay issues) I can’t in my conscience vote for Obama, I’ll show up in the booth this Nov and vote for congressional races then slip out before casting a vote for people who have no business being given the responsibility and honor of running our nation.
This whole thing is sick. Sick.
Advisers to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Sunday that Senator John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate would lead to a greater role for Mrs. Clinton as she campaigned this fall on behalf of her former rival, Senator Barack Obama.Oh yes, it's on.
Mrs. Clinton’s friends said she was galled that Ms. Palin might try to capitalize on a movement that Mrs. Clinton, of New York, built among women in the primaries.
My without-a-particualr-axe-to-grind friend Fred put together some fairly interesting assemblages of some MySpace pages that muddle this whole baby-marriage-family thing. -- jessamynOh my god no, that person is seriously out to lunch:
came across a link to the Myspace page, and was shocked at what I discovered. In a series of photographic captions, Sadie, brother of Levi, describes Sarah Palin as the mother-in-law of Trig. Furthermore, she cites Bristol Palin as her sister-in-law.The caption of the photos call Sarah the "Mother in law" but who's mother in law? Well think abou it. Sadie is Levi's sister, and Levi is Bristol's fiance. that means Sarah will be Sadie's mother in law! and it means that Bristol will be her Sister in Law Exactly like the captions say!
do you think the "white trash" comments would have started up on this thread,
Kerry and Edwards both mentioned it, but only Kerry caught flack for it, for whatever reason.
“Weird new talking point from the McCain campaign. They're now saying that Sarah Palin, or perhaps we should now be calling her General Palin, is ‘Commander in Chief’ of the Alaska National Guard that is fighting in Iraq. I'm sure the governor is the de jure chief of the state's national guard, but to imply that she's somehow the equivalent of the Commander in Chief of the US military, direct Alaska's forces in the fight against Al Qaeda, running through war plans and launching rocket attacks, is just laughable. Don't take it from me. Take it from the general who runs the Alaska National Guard:posted by ericb at 7:10 PM on September 1, 2008 [7 favorites]’Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard... said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.’Oops.
Th[e] interview…is simply astounding. CNN's Campbell Brown just obliterates McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds who simply refuses to answer, is unable to answer, the simple question as to what foreign policy experience Palin has. He couldn't name one decision she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard.”*
Ron Paul?McCain will pick up the Romney with the power sliding doors and the DVD players in the headrests.then at midnight everything will go *poof* and he'll find out that he's stuck with a lousy amc gremlin
Abstinence from vaginal intercourse being (no one will deny) the only foolproof method of avoiding pregnancy or STDs.I deny that abstinence from vaginal intercourse is a foolproof method of avoiding STDs.
Oh, hey! Looks like she may be lying about having been named Miss Congeniality.Lying about even trivial things which there's no reason to lie about? I'm surprised she doesn't already have a position in the Bush administration.
“The comedy of errors that is John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin continues. Except, when the issue is picking a potential leader of our nation in a time of war, it shouldn't be a comedy and it shouldn't be filled with errors.posted by ericb at 9:17 PM on September 1, 2008 [10 favorites]
Read this blockbuster article in tomorrow's New York Times. There is so much in it. The article reveals that John McCain didn't get the vice president he wanted (Joe Lieberman or Tom Ridge) because the religious right, which controls the GOP (and now controls John McCain), went ballistic on McCain last week because both Lieberman and Ridge are pro-choice. So McCain caved. Because of McCain's kowtowing to the theocrats, he hurriedly dumped Lieberman and Ridge and instead picked the very anti-abortion, but not much else, Palin without even fully vetting her.
Now, sure, the McCain campaign is claiming that Palin was ‘thoroughly vetted.’ But, that is clearly not true - the Times talked to all the key players in Alaska, and none of them were approached by the McCain campaign. In fact, McCain's vetter only just arrived in Alaska on Thursday, the day before McCain announced Palin as his VP choice.
This failure is actually quite stunning on many levels. It's just so fundamental to the process, the vetting of a vice presidential choice, that failing to do it properly is pretty much campaign malpractice. Clearly, Sarah Palin was not seriously vetted. An excerpt from the Times:‘In Alaska, several state leaders and local officials said they knew of no efforts by the McCain campaign to find out more information about Ms. Palin before the announcement of her selection, Although campaigns are typically discreet when they make inquiries into potential running mates, officials in Alaska said Monday they thought it was peculiar that no one in the state had the slightest hint that Ms. Palin might be under consideration.We've been saying for the past couple of days that this pick says more about John McCain than Sarah Palin. It really does. John McCain caved to the anti-abortion theocrats running the Republican Party, made a hasty pick for his v.p., and is now suffering the consequences.”
‘They didn’t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn’t speak to anyone in the business community,’ said Lyda Green, the State Senate president, who lives in Wasilla, where Ms. Palin served as mayor.
Representative Gail Phillips, a Republican and former speaker of the State House, said the widespread surprise in Alaska when Ms. Palin was named to the ticket made her wonder how intensively the McCain campaign had vetted her.
‘I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called,’ Ms. Phillips said. ‘I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven’t found anybody who was asked anything.’
The current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne M. Keller, said she had not heard of any efforts to look into Ms. Palin’s background. And Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican Party chairman, said he knew nothing of any vetting that had been conducted.
State Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who is directing the ethics investigation, said that no one asked him about the allegations. ‘I heard not a word, not a single contact,’ he said.
Mr. French, a former prosecutor, said that he was knowledgeable about background checks and that, he, too, was surprised that the campaign had not reached out to state legislative leaders.’
“Palin and her husband, Todd, said their daughter plans to marry the child's father - who sources said is Levi Johnston - and that both ‘are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.’posted by ericb at 9:26 PM on September 1, 2008 [2 favorites]
Johnston, 17, who is entering his senior year at Wasilla HS, plays on the school hockey team and was once teammates on a youth squad with Palin's older brother, Track, 19, who is now in the Army.
Despite suffering a cracked bone in his shin last season, Johnston scored 24 goals in 24 games.
‘We don't want to talk about this,’ said a woman who answered the phone at the Johnston home.
On his MySpace page, Johnston boasts, ‘I'm a f - - -in' redneck’ who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.
‘But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some s- - - and just f - - -in' chillin' I guess.’
‘Ya f - - - with me I'll kick [your] ass,’ he added.
He also claims to be ‘in a relationship,’ but states, ‘I don't want kids.’’’
On his MySpace page, Johnston (...) claims to be "in a relationship," but states, "I don't want kids."That's still (or at least very recently) on his MySpace page?
"Sarah Palin Nude Pictures, Bristol Daughter’s Second Child and more trouble."posted by ericb at 10:31 PM on September 1, 2008
So, with THAT NOTE, we OFFICIAL LAUNCH THE SARAH PALIN NAKED PHOTOSHOP CONTENT! Create, inspire, share! Send us your hottest pics of Sarah Palin — email to hollywoodnewsroom@gmail.com. So what’s the top prize? Um, we actually do have an unopened review copy of Tina Fey’s Baby Mama — ON BLU-RAY!Somehow I don't think that picture is legitimate.
he Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.Today, The Times just wrote an article about wikidrama potentially involving a U.S. major party vice presidential candidate.
The Times is the original "Times" newspaper, lending its name to many other papers around the world, such as The New York Times, The Times of India, and The Irish Times. For specificity it is sometimes referred to outside of (though never within) the UK as the London Times. The paper is the originator of the ubiquitous Times New Roman typeface, originally developed by Stanley Morison of The Times in collaboration with the Monotype Corporation for its legibility in low-tech printing.
The newspaper was printed in broadsheet format for 200 years, but switched to compact size in 2004 in an attempt to appeal to younger readers.
PAPPYposted by chuckdarwin at 3:13 AM on September 2, 2008 [4 favorites]
I signed that bill! I signed a dozen
a those aggi-culture bills! Everyone
knows I'm a friend a the fahmuh!
What do I gotta do, start diddlin'
livestock?!
JUNIOR
We cain't do that, Daddy, we might
offend our constichency.
PAPPY
We ain't got a constichency! Stokes
got a constichency!
ECKARD
Them straw polls is ugly.
SPIVEY
Stokes is pullin' ah pants down.
ECKARD
Gonna pluck us off the tit.
SPIVEY
Pappy gonna be sittin' there pants
down and Stokes at the table soppin'
up the gravy.
ECKARD
Latch right on to that tit.
SPIVEY
Wipin' little circles with his bread.
ECKARD
Suckin' away.
SPIVEY
Well, it's a well-run campaign,
midget'n broom'n whatnot.
ECKARD
Devil his due.
SPIVEY
Helluva awgazation.
JUNIOR
Say, I gotten idee.
ECKARD
What sat, Junior?
JUNIOR
We could hire us a little fella even
smaller'n Stokes's.
Pappy whips at him with his hat.
PAPPY
Y'ignorant slope-shouldered sack a
guts! Why we'd look like a buncha
satchel-ass Johnnie-Come-Latelies
braggin' on our own midget! Don't
matter how stumpy! And that's the
goddamn problem right there - people
think this Stokes got fresh ideas,
he's oh coorant and we the past.
ECKARD
Problem a p'seption.
SPIVEY
Ass right.
ECKARD
Reason why he's pullin' ah pants
down.
SPIVEY
Gonna paddle ah little bee-hind.
ECKARD
Ain't gonna paddle it; he's gonna
kick it real hard.
With his mouth forming an O around his dropping cigar, Pappy
looks sadly from one to the other, like a spectator at a
particularly boring tennis match.
SPIVEY
No, I believe he's a-gonna paddle
it.
ECKARD
Well now, I don't believe assa
property scription.
SPIVEY
Well, that's how I characterize it.
ECKARD
Well, I believe it's mawva kickin'
sichation.
SPIVEY
Pullin' ah pants down...
ECKARD
Wipin' little circles with his
bread...
The Washington Post reported Sunday, citing an interview with campaign manager Rick Davis, that the vetting process "included reviews of financial and other personal data, an FBI background check and considerable discussion among the handful of McCain advisers nvolved in the deliberations.Forget who you want answering that 3am phone call. McCain's doesn't even have a phone, apparently.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not participate in the vetting of Gov. Sarah Palin and did not conduct a background check as part of the process, an FBI spokesman said today.
City librarian Mary Ellen Emmons will stay, but Police Chief Irl Stambaugh is on his own, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin announced Friday. The decision came one day after letters signed by Palin were dropped on Stambaugh's and Emmon's desks, telling them their jobs were over as of Feb. 13.So she governs by heart. That's good to know, and reminds me of George Bush who "goes by his gut."
The mayor told them she appreciated their service but felt it was time for a change. ''I donot feel I have your full support in my efforts to govern the city of Wasilla. Therefore I intend to terminate your employment ...'' the letter said.
Palin said Friday she now feels Emmons supports her but does not feel the same about Stambaugh. As to what prompted the change, Palin said she now has Emmons' assurance that she is behind her. She refused to give details about how Stambaugh has not supported her, saying only that ''You know in your heart when someone is supportive of you.''
The actions have caused a stir in Wasilla, a town of about 4,600.When I first started reading about Palin...3 days ago...if was "the city of Wasilla, pop. 8000." Man, that place just keeps getting smaller and smaller.
Emmons, who has been the city's library director for seven years, would not comment about the affair.I hope Mary Ellen Baker nee Emmons changes her mind.
The GOP couldn't send a worse signal if their delegates lit their hair on fire and ran around the convention floor screaming "We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!"Huh? That worked very well for them in their 2004 convention.
And when liberals and progressives pounce on rumors like this one about Trig's "true" parentage — whether or not it is true, which I'm pretty sure it's not — or rumors about Republican politicians' sexuality (in the absence of crimes committed) we are conceding that conservatives are right, and personal choices do qualify or disqualify one for certain aspects of participation in public life and this democracy.Of course, many of the people supporting Obama really are social conservatives, who really do think that personal issues should matter. Andrew Sullivan is an economic conservative, I'm not sure what his stance is on personal stuff like this.
And the Washington Post's op-ed page is comparing Palin to Caligula's horse.Oh, well that's classy.
What kind of self-respecting Paulite would be swayed by putting a book banner on the ticket?McCain already had that vote locked upUh, no, he didn't.
Ever hear of Ron Paul? -- konolia
City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter.Well, that's encouraging. Maybe they should build a campaign slogan off of this:
"In March, 2008, Sarah Palin recorded a video welcoming the convention of the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party (AIP), saying 'we have a great promise to be a self-sufficient state, made up of the hardest working, most grateful Americans in our nation.'"John McCain has a problem with patriotism -- he keeps talking about putting America first, but his running mate, Sarah Palin, was a member of the Alaska Independence Party, a political party that would put Alaska first by seceding from the U.S. She addressed that group -- this year...
In October, 2007, Dexter Clark, the AIP's vice chairman, was recorded on video saying that Palin had been a registered member of the AIP before switching to the GOP to be viable.
In the same video, Clark says 'the Federal goverment is just plain a monster' and 'we don't say we are Americans, we say we are Alaskans.'
Clark's comments were delivered at 'The Second North American Secessionist Convention' in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
AIP's motto is 'Alaska First. Alaska Always'
[video | 01:23]
"Is the McCain campaign afraid of an 'October surprise' involving vice-presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska?An Anchorage Daily News story suggests that Palin's lawyer is helping stall the investigation. He's trying to get the probe into the hands of a governor-appointed board:
The Alaska state senator running an investigation of Gov. Palin says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31, four days before the November election.
'It's likely to be damaging to the Governor,' said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation of claims that Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired."
"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.And he's making it difficult for Special Counsel Steve Branchflower to interview Palin:
...Van Flein said the investigation should be handled by the state Personnel Board, not the Legislature, because it's 'statutorily mandated' to handle ethics cases. The three-member Personnel Board is appointed by the governor."
"Branchflower hasn't been able to set up an interview with Palin. French said the state will fly Branchflower to wherever Palin is on the campaign trail if needed.posted by ericb at 9:54 AM on September 2, 2008 [2 favorites]
'Clearly the governor's new political role will make it more challenging for her to make time for this investigation,' French wrote. But Palin needs to be interviewed sometime in September, he said.
Van Flein said the investigation is 'bad timing' in the middle of a presidential campaign. He said he couldn't guarantee her availability this month."*
"News continues to break regarding vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin that could, in the long term, pose serious problems to one of the main thrusts of the McCain campaign: the message of conservative reform.posted by ericb at 10:02 AM on September 2, 2008 [3 favorites]
The presentation of Palin as an anti-earmark, fiscally conscious pol is challenged by a review of recent political records. As mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, she hired the firm of Hoffman Silver Gilman & Blasco to help secure spending projects for her town. The expenditure apparently paid off. From 2000 through 2002, Wasilla received more than $5.5 million in federal cash for transportation and social service projects.
According to the group Citizens Against Government Waste, the city received $1 million for a bus facility in 2000. In 2001, the Wasilla Health Center was granted a half million dollars for a community mental health center. That same year the city's emergency shelter also was granted $500,000 for a transitional living program for homeless youth. A year later, the Wasilla regional dispatch center received $1 million in pork, the city was granted $1.5 million for water and sewer improvements, and received an additional $600,000 for a bus facility.
The use of the earmark system that -- as a vice presidential candidate -- Palin now criticizes continued into her tenure as governor. As the Los Angeles Times reported, the state of Alaska requested 31 earmarks worth $197.8 million for next year's federal budget. And according to Citizens Against Government Waste, Alaska received $379,669,715 in pork during fiscal year 2008, nearly $100 million more than any other state.
...John McCain has made earmark bashing a cornerstone of his campaign, calling the spending projects a 'gateway to corruption.' And since taking on the responsibility of running mate, Palin too has presented herself as a thorn in the side of the earmark culture."
Rudy Giuliani's been bumped tonight in favor of Fred Thompson. There's a part of me that wonders if it's because he's replacing Palin on the ticket tomorrow.
But, how many of you would have considered voting for John Edwards in the primary if it came out he was having an Affair?
"A real test of a presidential candidate’s judgment is his choice of a running mate — the person who is next in line to become the commander in chief. As we face serious global challenges and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, John McCain has chosen someone with virtually no national security or foreign policy experience. This choice calls into question both Sen. McCain’s judgment and a McCain administration’s ability to lead a nation in crisis. To the extent that this choice represents an effort to court supporters of Hillary Clinton’s historic candidacy, McCain misjudges the reasons so many voters rallied around her candidacy. It was Sen. Clinton’s experience, skill and commitment to change, especially in the areas of health care and energy policy, that drew such strong support. Sarah Palin’s opposition to Roe v. Wade and her support of Big Oil will not draw Democrats from the Obama-Biden ticket."posted by ericb at 10:12 AM on September 2, 2008
"My understanding is that Gov. Palin’s town, Wassilla, has I think 50 employees. We've got 2500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe 12 million dollars a year – we have a budget of about three times that just for the month...Our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the past couple of years and certainly in terms of the legislation I’ve passed in the past couple of years, post-Katrina."posted by ericb at 10:17 AM on September 2, 2008 [2 favorites]
I have been following this story since it broke via this thread. I have followed it rabidly over the past 72 hours. I am now very happy to see the mainstream media run with the story. That Carville piece on Larry King was priceless. All of the helpless tittering in the background is, I think, how most people serious about politics view this nomination.I think you mean "most people serious about governance.
"She didn't visit Ireland, which is what the McCain-Palin campaign claimed to Politico's Ben Smith on Saturday. She had a short refueling stopover, which means at best her extensive Irish diplomacy amounted to buying a sweater and a beer mug in the Shannon airport."posted by ericb at 11:56 AM on September 2, 2008 [6 favorites]
As to the predictions that Palin will withdraw--how?? in the middle of the RNC? How can they possibly get another person on the ticket (you know, they have to make the little introductory video for this person and all) in the next two days?I don't think she's going to withdraw. But I think that, if she is, yes, it's going to be in the middle of the RNC. They'll nominate her, and she'll give her I-Didn't-Have-An-Abortion spiel, there will be thunderous applause, and she will say "But the liberals are forcing me from this race with their dastardly attacks on my family, so I must decline the nomination".
"My first reaction was shock. Then anger. John McCain chose a running mate simply because she is a woman and one who appealed to the Republican's conservative evangelical base. Now, with news that Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter is pregnant, McCain's pick may not even find support among 'family values' voters.posted by ericb at 12:20 PM on September 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
...McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is a cynical and calculated move. It is a choice made to try to win an election. It is a political gimmick. And it's very high risk. I find it insulting to women, to the Republican party, and to the country.
This is nothing against Palin. From what little we know about her, she seems to be a bright, attractive, impressive person. She certainly has been successful in her 44 years. But is she ready to be president?
And now we learn the 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant. She and the father of the child plan to marry. This may be a hard one for the Republican conservative family-values crowd to swallow. Of course, this can happen in any family. But it must certainly raise the question among the evangelical base about whether Sarah Palin has been enough of a hands-on mother.
McCain claims he knew about the pregnancy, and was not at all concerned. Why not? Not only do we have a woman with five children, including an infant with special needs, but a woman whose 17-year-old child will need her even more in the coming months. Not to mention the grandchild. This would inevitably be an enormous distraction for a new vice president (or president) in a time of global turmoil. Not only in terms of her job, but from a media standpoint as well.
McCain's cynical choice has created a dilemma for many women. For still-angry Hillary Clinton voters, they will have to decide if they want to vote against their concscience and political interests by voting to elect a Republican woman who's even more conservative than McCain.
Evangelical women also will have to decide if they will vote against their conscience by voting to put the mother of young children in a job outside the home that will demand so much of her time and energy.
Southern Baptist leaders like Richard Land and Al Mohler have praised McCain's choice. But these are the same men who support this statement from the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message:
'A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.'
Palin's lack of experience and her family situation are both valid and vital considerations here, especially when she will be running with a 72-year-old presidential candidate who has suffered four bouts of a deadly cancer." [more]
John McCain has picked an unknown to run with him, a 44-year old mother of five with Alaskan sensibilities of the drill more for Alaska bent, and the women don't own our bodies, god owns our own bodies bent, which probably tells us all we'll ever find out about her.posted by designbot at 12:22 PM on September 2, 2008
There isn't much time before the election, but, one thing we can be fairly sure of is that she doesn't need to be vetted. It's highly unlikely that Sarah Palin is anything other than exactly what she says she is.
She's unlikely to have criminal connections, or have some lover stowed in the back room, caring for her love child. I'd venture to guess she owes no one financial favors, and so she won't have to pledge that she won't make good on any.
I doubt any rich guys have compromised her by seducing her with their connections and wealth. She can't have been planning all along to run for national office, but even so she probably didn't have to think much about keeping her background squeaky clean, or secret. She probably well knows that there is no such thing as a secret anyway.
Why? She's a girl.
It's a guy thing to lust for power and think they can keep secrets and get away with anything. It's a guy thing to keep some other woman on a string while staying married. Guys are good at compartmentalizing, and letting their ambitions blind them to their human shortcomings. Guys often think they can do anything, and get away with it. Girls often think they can't get away with anything, and anyway it'd be too much trouble.
Girls lives are often open books, cause someone knows where they are 24/7. This is double if you're a mom. This is triple if you're a wife too. Men may go out and not let anyone know where they are, wives and moms have to leave numbers and instructions for the babysitter so as to find them in emergencies. Girls rarely go out alone anyway. Girls share with their friends their innermost thoughts and feelings. Girls also know their friends share their secrets with everyone else they know.
Sarah's only possible weak spot would be her husband, and only if he refuses to show his sources of income might that harm her. Gerry's downfall was her Italian businessman husband, she was herself squeaky clean. If Sarah's husband has a love child somewhere, it won't hurt Sarah.
Even when Hillary was running as vetted, the only smeary thing pundits had the nerve to speculate on was Bill, no one thought she had any secrets that could derail her campaign.
So, why aren't all public figures girls? We're sooo vetted, sooo transparent, sooo uncompromised, and some, like Hillary, are sooo much smarter, and work sooo much harder and are just all in all sooo much better? (hint: the sexists want to keep us quiet, barefoot and knocked up)
Sarah may be a smarty too, but we already know about her desire to make us all carry all our fetuses to term and then be solely responsible for them. It's not a secret, she's a know-it-all born-again jerk.
How does such a facile observation that is made of nothing but sweeping generalizations contribute to the conversation?Don't you worry your pretty little head about that.
I'm not sure how we survive this as a party. The one thing I do know is this doesn't help us beat Obama in the fall, and all joking aside, though Alaskan Trailer Trash living in the VPs house in Washington isn't a good thing, it's MUCH MUCH better than Obama being elected.(Obviously Perez Hilton (the first link) isn't a republican, but still -- not everyone talking about this is doing so because they want to sink her chances, but because they're genuinely curious about what's going on. it's hardly surprising that people would be curious, given how popular tabloid style journalism is in this country)
I mean, this is so counter-productive. All we’re doing is showing the American people — who are to a one a nation of “fuckin’ redneck” hockey playing snowmobile racers given to leaping headlong into unprotected sex at the earliest age possible so that they might spend their government checks shooting wolves from airplanes and building wonderful bridges hither and yon with their enormous families in tow — that we’re out of touch with their concerns.(that's kind of an edgy site, those of you complaining about civility won't like the rest of what's written there, but I found that paragraph pretty funny)
"Bristol Palin's boyfriend plans to join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the convention in Minnesota.posted by ericb at 2:54 PM on September 2, 2008
Levi Johnston's mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska on Tuesday morning to join the Palin family in St. Paul.
Sherry Johnston also said there has been no pressure put on her son to marry Bristol Palin, the pregnant daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin."
Yeah -- right. "Country First."To be fair, they never specified "America". They might be talking about Alaska.
Sarah Palin is Your New Segway
And in an ongoing report here on the ground, McCain signs are going like crazy -people call my house looking for them-and people still are excited-incredibly excited-about Palin.
“As questions have been raised over how thoroughly Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign vetted Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the V.P. slot, it seems the McCain campaign was unaware of a video -- available online -- in which Palin talks about God's role in U.S. military action overseas, according to a political operative familiar with the situation.posted by ericb at 4:08 PM on September 2, 2008 [2 favorites]
The video, first reported by the liberal blog HuffingtonPost.com, is from a June Palin speech to the graduating class of commission students at Palin's former church in Wasilla, Alaska. While describing her family, Palin told students about her oldest son, 19-year-old Track, who is set to be deployed to Iraq this month with the U.S. Army. She urged students to pray ‘that our leaders -- that our national leaders -- are sending [soldiers] out on a task that is from God.’
She added, ‘That's what we have to make sure that we are praying for: that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan.’
‘It's pretty uncomfortable stuff,’ said the political operative, after watching the video online. ‘It's bad. It's really bad. … It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.’
In addition to talking about Iraq, Palin also referred to God's role in her work as governor.
‘I can do my part in working really, really hard to get a natural gas pipeline, about a $30 billion project that's going to create a lot of jobs for Alaska. … [but] 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. ‘I can do my job there in developing our natural resources, in doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded. But really that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's hearts aren't right with God.’
It wasn't all serious, though. At one point during the address, Palin praised the graduating class as ‘a bunch of cool-looking Christians.’ Then she picked out one student in the crowd and said with a smile, ‘Ben, I don't know you well enough yet, but looking at you, I'm thinking, people are going to interested in Jesus Christ through you because of the way you look - this red-headed Sasquatch for Jesus. You look good!’ The students cheered. ‘Times are really changin'. And with the times that change, looks even change.’
The seven-minute speech is posted on the Web site of Palin's former church, the Wasilla Assembly of God. But, the political operative said, the McCain campaign seems to have had no knowledge of it when Palin was announced as McCain's running mate on Friday.”
We now have a person running for office, who is potentially a heartbeat away from becoming President of the United States, who could potentially send us straight back to medieval times. She stated in a televised debate that she supports the teaching of creationism in schools... Regardless of one's political views, I find it hard to believe the majority of this country support the candidacy of a person with such narrow-minded, backward-looking beliefs. Divisiveness is not what we need at this critical point in the evolution of our society and of the world, especially when challenges to the status quo haven't been higher in generations. Do you think China, India and Russia are moving light-years backwards in their science programs to teach creationism? Do you really think we can continue to be competitive on an increasingly challenging global stage when science is something you learn from the Bible, and not from scholarly texts in biology, anthropology, chemistry and physics? I shudder to think what will happen to our knowledge economy in such a scenario.i think brooks (kinda) gets it:
I have been reading a fascinating book about Intel's Andy Grove by Richard Tedlow. It traces Mr. Grove's childhood and eventual escape from Hungary in 1956, and the remarkable life he has built since his move to the U.S. Mr. Grove is a man of science, of determination, of massive intellect and is a lifelong learner. He has used his powers to fight both prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease, and was employee #3 and the architect of growth at arguably the most important company to bring us into the PC generation and out towards the Internet generation. I wonder what Governor Palin would think of Mr. Grove's life story and the role of science in his personal and professional development? It is hard to imagine this self-proclaimed "hockey mom" being impressed. Rest assured, I am.
When I see the U.S. through my prism - being whatever you want to be if you work hard enough, inclusive, edgy, aggressive about ensuing our personal freedoms, innovative, caring, focused and fierce under duress, willing to change but without compromising the spirit of our Constitution - it saddens me to see where we find ourselves. Eight years of a fractious, troubled Administration, with the possibility of not more of the same, but perhaps much, much worse...
If McCain is elected, he will... be leading a divided and philosophically exhausted party. There simply aren’t enough Republican experts left to staff an administration, so he will have to throw together a hodgepodge with independents and Democrats...the logically-challenged need not apply!
meta question: This thread currently has about 185k words. How big a book would that be?About the size of the New Testament. Nowhere near the size of the Old Testament.
Oh, I'm sorry-was I supposed to take her out back and stone her?No, you were (well, your husband was) supposed to charge him fifty shekels.
Seems like a certain Someone has been quoted as saying, " Go-and sin no more."The "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" story is present in none of the known original
posted by ColdChef at 7:57 AM on August 29, 2008 [9 favorites]