Sarah Palin should withdraw from the McCain ticket

No one represents the Republican "culture of corruption" in Alaska more than the reprehensible Senator Ted Stevens.

Sarah Palin has long been a friend and supporter of Ted Stevens.

Contrary to the portrait Palin paints of herself, she has also been very much part of Alaska's "culture of corruption." As National Affairs says, Palin "...not only owes her governorship to Stevens' throaty endorsement, but as recently as 2005 served as the director of 'Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service' 527 group.

The Anchorage Daily News has a video which includes a "last-minute 2006 campaign commercial in which Stevens passes the baton to Palin's 'new generation' of leadership, asking his fellow Alaskans to 'help Sarah become governor, which we all want to see.'"

Another later segment of the video includes Steven's saying "Hell, I don't know if you know it but when Frank Murkowski was first elected, this lady and I ... traveled around the state for two weeks. We've know each other a long time. Worked together a long time."

Further along yet, Palin says "I have great respect for the senator.... His voice, his experience, his passion needs to be heard across America. So that Alaska can contribute more. So that we can be producers. So that we can help lead the rest of the U.S. ..."


Fast-forward to late October 2008.

Palin is calling upon Stevens to resign his Senate seat. "After being found guilty on seven felony counts, I had hoped Senator Stevens would take the opportunity to do the statesmen-like thing and erase the cloud that is covering his Senate seat. He has not done so."

She went on to say that even if the voters re-elect him next week, he should "step aside to allow a special election to give Alaskans a real choice of who will serve them in Congress."


Well, now. Stevens was convicted of lying about gifts and services he received from VECO, an Alaskan oil services company. Palin had the gall to say that the company's influence "was part of the culture of corruption that I was elected to fight." Hmm. Seems to me that Palin herself, along with her cronies, have accepted money from VECO in the past.

Not only so, but Palin has just been judged to have abused her power as the governor of Alaska, and she is currently under investigation for additional, similar charges. She is known to have extended the so-called "culture of corruption" by hiring friends and cronies for state office in spite of the fact they were not qualified for the positions involved.


It is therefore obvious that, Sarah Palin, who pals around with convicted felons, and is herself convicted of abuse of power, ought to resign the McCain ticket so that Republicans, at least, will have a "real choice" as to who they want as a vice presidential candidate!

Palin's propensity for lying continues

The "Christian" governor of Alaska, placed in that office with the help of prayers by an African pentecostal witch doctor, just cannot stop lying about her political opponent, Barack Obama.

In State College, Pennsylvania, she dropped the "palling around with terrorists" bit to take up a new lie. She told her adoring crowd that in 2001 Obama said that the Supreme Court's "failure to take up the redistribution of wealth" was "a great tragedy."

That is not true!


Here's the real story:

Between 1998 and 2002, Obama made three appearances on a talk show called Odyssey, produced by Chicago Public Radio. According to Kris Broughton at Open Salon, the producer of the show, Josh Andrews, said that "Obama participated in discussions on the evolution of the right to vote, the politics of electoral redistricting, and the uneasy relationship between slavery and the constitution in early America."

Palin's reference derives from excerpts of a discussion on January 18, 2001. Here's what Obama actually said:

"You know, if you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples, so that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at a lunch counter and order - as long as I could pay for it I'd be okay.

"But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical.

"It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, at least as it has been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted it in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can't do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf.

"And that hasn't shifted, and one of the, I think, the tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court focused. I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change, and in some ways we still suffer from that."

There is much more to this interview which you can read here.


What is immediately obvious and significant is that, in fact, Obama does NOT say that the Supreme Court's failure to consider the redistribution of wealth is a tragedy. In other words, to repeat myself, PALIN IS LYING!

Now, it's possible she read that interview and couldn't understand it. She's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. The interview in question shows Obama to be a careful and nuanced thinker who has actually thought through some of the important questions of our time. It has become quite obvious that Palin doesn't even know what those questions are!

But I think she's just reading stuff the McCain nasties have written for her. She's the attack dog, remember. McCain uses her so he doesn't have to get his hands quite so dirty.

Palin the prevaricator

Sarah Palin, the Christian theocrat who believes God has ordained her to be not only the governor of Alaska, but the president of the United States in these "end-times," has, as we have noted numerous times before, no ethical core.

In other words, she knows not the truth, nor does she care about the truth. She is one of those so-called "Christians" for whom the end justifies the means. If her god fails to respond to the "prayer warriors" pleading for her victory, and is unable to put her a heartbeat away from the Oval Office, she will just have to help out her god.

Thus, on Sunday, she repeated for the third time the lie that Senator Barack Obama has rented a stadium in which to hold a victory celebration following the election.

"...the stadium that he's already rented out for what he would hope to be his victory party that he's planned," cried Palin to the crowd which responded with boos.


There's nothing wrong with renting out a stadium, of course. But that's not what Palin was about. When you have no program or proposals to attract voters, you're left with only one possible road to victory - the low road - which Palin walks with ease: You attack the character of your opponent.

Thus, Palin repeats this lie in an attempt to portray Obama, in the words of Scott Conroy of CBS News, as "arrogant and presumptuous."


Palin knows, however, that she is telling a lie. Obama never rented out a stadium. He intends to hold a post-election celebration in Chicago, at Hutchinson Field at the south end of Grant Park.

Palin is a prevaricator.

John McCain fighting - but going down!

[Photo of McCain supporters waiting to be roused]









From telegraph.co.uk news:

"In heated exchanges the Republican presidential candidate made clear that he will not tolerate the blame game that some of his aides have engaged in over the last week as Barack Obama retains a comfortable lead in national and swing state polls.

"Mr. McCain's aides have been labelled 'incontinent' for leaks last week that revealed failing morale in his inner circle and mutual recrimination about his lacklustre campaign. Mr. McCain has now rolled out a defiant new stump speech in Colorado, where he roused a 5,000 strong crowd with a call to arms, making clear that if he to to go down, he will go down fighting."


Several things:

How can you run anything BUT a lacklustre campaign when you have a lacklustre candidate? The only people really excited about John McCain seem to be the racists and haters, the anti-gays and super-Christians who see McCain, not as a viable candidate, but the only one to stop the "Muslim terrorist" Obama who, they fear, will bring an end to the American way of life [read "white rule"].

It is never good to blame the people (many of which are volunteers) when things go wrong. McCain should shoulder the blame himself and express sympathy for those who have worked all these months to see it all go up in flames.

Obama, without any recruiting, attracted 100,000 people to a rally in Denver, and seemed almost stunned by the turnout. McCain, the lacklustre candidate, "roused a 5,000 strong crowd" -- soporific, no doubt, from reading McCain campaign literature.

I really don't care how McCain goes down -- sleeping, scratching, clawing, crying, fighting -- just so long as he goes down!

The Wall Street Bailout Fallout

The following comes from an article by Amey Stone, titled "Eight Ways the Wall Street bailout is adding insult to injury."

1) It is estimated that $70 billion of the $700 billion bailout will go as bonuses to bankers this year. Ms. Stone says "the goal was to provide funds to shore up banks' capital bases so they would start lending again. It wasn't to help them fund the bonus pool." Oops.

2) The person in charge of dispersing this pile of bailout moola is "Neel Kashkari, a 35-year old former Goldman Sachs whiz kid who believes in free markets." Isn't that sort of like hiring an awfully young fox to guard the chicken coop?

3) AIG received an $85 billion line of credit. Soon thereafter, the company held a $440,000 retreat at the St. Regis resort in Monarch Beach, California. Another retreat was planned, but cancelled when the project was leaked to the press.

4) How about ex-bankers getting bonuses to stay at the banks "that acquired their divisions in bankruptcy proceedings?" Yup. Some Lehman ex-bankers getting money to keep their jobs.

5) A number of CEOs of firms that failed got fired, but...they got a few million buckeroos to help them over the rough spots.

6) Pity the poor CEOs who screwed up, like Leman's ex-boss, Richard Fuld, who's lying awake at nights wondering what he did wrong. And poor Alan Greenspan. Pity poor Alan, who "made a mistake." About 8 gazillion people are suffering from Greenspan's mistake...how 'bout a little pity and a few mil for them?

7) If you thought the banks had to use the largess they received in the bailout to help the economy, think again. They can do any damn thing they want with it, like "buying other banks -- not adding it to the lending pool so they can make more loans and end the credit squeeze."

8) And guess who really wins - the lawyers!


Read all of Ms. Stone's article here - and weep!

Is Sarah Palin a socialist?

[Drawing of the Alaska State House in Juneau]

That may sound like a silly question. Of course, Sarah Palin is no socialist! She is a capitalist from Nome to Rome (Georgia, that is!).

Or maybe she doesn't know the difference.


Lately, we've heard Ms. Palin take off on Senator Barack Obama for his off-hand statement to Sam the Plumber (who hasn't paid his taxes!) about "sharing the wealth." Obama's comment was perfectly legitimate as it was in reference to the place of taxes in a democratic society, but it has been mutiliated beyond recognition by the McCain campaign in another attempt to slur Obama and paint him as a "socialist" who would take money from your pocket to give to the lazy and undeserving poor.

Palin's rallying cry of late has including mocking Obama for wanting to "spread the wealth." She curls her lip and sneers about "Barack the wealth spreader."


Steve Benen at the Washington Monthly says these attacks are filled with irony, for as noted by Ryan Powers:

"Just last month, in an interview with Philip Gourevitch of the New Yorker, Palin explained the windfall profits tax that she imposed on the oil industry in Alaska as a mechanism for ensuring that Alaskans 'share in the wealth' generated by oil companies. [...]

"In fact, Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES) program, which manages the redistribution of oil wealth in Alaska, brings in so much money that the state needs no income or sales tax. In addition, this year ACES will provide every Alaska with a check for an estimated $3,200."


Back to Benen: "I realize that even McCain, Palin, and Fox News don't take this 'socialism' nonsense seriously, and that this is just rhetoric borne of desperation. McCain has always struggled with new ideas and a changing world, so it stands to reason he'd rely on a red scare as his closing argument.

"But the truth is, Sarah Palin's Alaska is about as close to socialism as America gets. ..."

The threat of violence and the McCain campaign

August 13, 2008. A gunman shot dead Bill Gwatney, the Democratic Party chairman, in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Later in August, Federal authorities arrested three people in Colorado with a weapons cache. At least one of these clowns said the weapons were part of a plot to assassinate Barack Obama. The feds, incredibly, said this "plot" was never a credible threat to the Senator.

Ryan Powers, at Think Progress, tells how, last Friday, "two staffers for Judy Feder, the Democratic nominee for Virginia's 10th congressional district, were assaulted by two individuals accompanying Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA). Feder's staffers were trying to ask Wolf about his support for Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) proposed $5,000 health care tax credit. Wolf stood idly by as the assault took place. Lowell Feld at Raising Kaine described the encounter:

"The first Feder staffer was hit with a cane and then punched. The second staffer ... was pinned to a wall and forcibly held there. All of this took place in the presence of Congressman Wolf, who stood by and did nothing to intervene."

Yesterday, October 26, ATF agents halted another neo-Nazi skinhead project which included shooting and/or decapitating 102 black people in Tennessee, a national killing spree, and the assassination of Senator Obama.


Perhaps we should not be surprised. At McCain/Palin rallies around the country, some of their supporters, when Obama's name was mentioned, yelled "Kill him!," "terrorist," "Obama bin Laden," and other slurs, one Minnesota woman telling McCain that Obama was "an Arab."

McCain and Palin have continually and falsely accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists." Palin, in particular, has expanded on that, claiming that Obama does not believe in America, that he doesn't care about "real" Americans, that he wants to talk to our enemies instead of bombing them into oblivion. Palin has over and over again called into question Obama's patriotism.


In his book, Constantine's Sword, James Carroll notes how, "In 1998, a young gay man, Matthew Shepard, was murdered in Wyoming. His killers had tortured him and, in effect, crucified him by hanging him on a fence. They smashed his skull. This incident occurred amid heated anti-gay campaigns, some conducted by Christian groups.

The question poses itself: What is the relationship between violent attacks on homosexuals and open contempt for homosexuals expressed by respectable people and organizations?" [My emphasis]

Let's revise the question: What is the relationship between violent attacks (or plots to exercise violence) on a political candidate and open contempt for that candidate expressed by respectable people and organizations?

Carroll quotes Frank Rich, a columnist for The New York Times: "It's a story as old as history. Once any group [liberals? Democrats? Blacks? Jews? Arabs? Muslims?] is successfully scapegoated as a subhuman threat to 'normal' values by a propaganda machine, emboldened thugs take over."


Unfortunately, I don't think the McCain people give a damn, but they ought, at least, to consider the potential liaison between their rhetoric and the unnerving of a nation as well as the unleashing of those with a propensity for violence as a means of resolving conflict.

McCain's falsehood about founder of eBay

From Satyam Khanna at Think Progress.


We have all heard McCain brag about one of his "economic" advisers, eBay CEO Meg Whitman. McCain has even suggested that he might chose her to be Secretary of the Treasury.

We have all heard McCain speak of Ms. Whitman as the "founder" of eBay.

We have come to realize that much of the time, McCain doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

In fact, as reported by the Huffington Post: "Whitman joined eBay as CEO in 1998, three years after it was founded by Pierre Omidyar, a Barack Obama supporter."

Mine has nothing to do with King Solomon

Biblical scholars and archaeologists have known for a number of years that archaeology cannot and does not confirm any ancient biblical records. Archaeology cannot "confirm" a world-wide flood, the existence of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or any of the colorful biblical characters.

Archaeology cannot confirm Jews in Egypt. There is absolutely no evidence of an "exodus." The evidence actually points in another direction - that the "exodus" is a folk tale based on theological needs, not historical events. The Egyptians kept detailed records and nowhere do we read of a large body of Jews in Egypt. If the biblical stories of Joseph and Moses were "historical," surely the Egyptians would have their own version. If there were a series of plagues, or a parting of the Sea of Reeds, the Egyptians would have noted both, if for no other reason than their remarkability. In fact, at the time of the Exodus, the Egyptians had police stations throughout the Sinai Peninsula all the way up to Palestine. Hundreds of thousands of Israelites wandering through the desert would have hardly escaped Egyptian notice.

More relative to our discussion is the fact that absolutely no evidence of any kind has been found to confirm that Israel was a large, powerful kingdom under one King Solomon in the 10th century BCE. Again, if anything, the evidence points to the contrary.


Nevertheless, fundamentalist Christians and others cling to their desires in hopes they are true. If the bible is the "word" of God, how could it be any different? If there is no evidence for the patriarchs or for the kingly and wise Solomon, it isn't that there is no evidence, it's that evidence has not yet been found.

That's why, when an archaeological discovery is made which has even the most tenuous connections with a biblical story, it is trumpeted in the religious and secular press as something much more than it really is.


Here's today's contribution to that lingering hope.

"Researchers led by Thomas Levy of the University of California, San Diego, and Mohammad Najjar of Jordan's Friends of Archaeology, discovered a copper-producing center in southern Jordan that dates to the 10th century B.C., the time of Solomon's reign. ... Located south of the Dead Sea, the region was known in the Old Testament as Edom."

This site has been dug for years, and 20 or 30 years ago researchers uncovered evidence that metalworking at taken place there in the 7th BCE, some 300 years after the legendary King Solomon is said to have reigned.

Now, Levy and Najjar, after further digging, have found seeds and sticks dating to the 10th century BCE.

This leads Levy to announce, "We can't believe everything ancient writings tells us. But this research represents a confluence between the archaeological and scientific data and the Bible."


Oh, if it were only so. Actually, it does nothing of the kind. His sticks and seeds provide no connection whatsoever to the fictional King Solomon, nor does it tell us anything of Israel or the Israelites in the 10th century BCE, or anything else biblical.

Mr. Levy is wrong. Archaeologists have found sticks and seeds from the 10th century BCE, and some Egyptian artifacts. That's it. To claim this confirms the existence of King Solomon, or Israel as a world powerhouse, or anything from biblical folklore is merely wishful thinking.

Defending the indefensible - Sarah Palin

On yesterday's talk shows, Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham "defended" the indefensible Sarah Palin.

John McCain on "Meet the Press" with Tom Brokaw, said, among other things:

Sarah Palin has already returned a third of the clothes bought for her by the RNC. (Wait, Sarah said most of them were still on the plane! And to where did she return them? Needless to say, Brokaw, who thinks McCain's the "best," did not ask those questions.)

Sarah Palin lives a "frugal" life, said McCain. She and her family are not wealthy. (Remember, now, that wealthy to John McCain means you make $5 million a year!)

"I don't defend her, I praise her," said McCain. "She is a role model to millions and millions and millions of Americans." (McCain did not elaborate on what kind of role model she was.)


Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), was even more fawning that McCain. But then, Graham is a bit...you know...fawning himself. Actually, it appears that Graham is living in some alternative reality. On ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," he said that Palin has actually benefited the GOP ticket! "Sarah," said Graham, has "energized our base better than anybody we could have picked, and we needed that."


Oh hum.

Let's see how Palin is energizing the base ("base" being a euphemism for "mad dogs"). Sam Stein, writing at the Huffington Post put it this way:

"Sarah Palin had a few memorable moments during her campaign stop in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday. But the most eye-opening of them all came, it would appear, when the Alaska Governor somehow drew a connection between Barack Obama's tax policy and an encroaching, nightmarish, communist government. The Illinois Democrat, she hysterically suggested, would, through his proposals, create a country 'where the people are not free.'"

Here's part of Palin's speech:

"See, under a big government, more tax agenda, what you thought was yours would really start belonging to somebody else, to everybody else. If you thought your income, your property, your inventory, youir investments were, were yours, they would really collectively belong to everybody. Obama, Barack Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes, and I say this based on his record ... Higher taxes, more government, misuing the power to tax leads to government moving into the role of some believing that government then has to take care of us. And government kind of moving into the role as the other half of our family, making decisions for us. Now, they do this in other countries where the people are not free. Let us fight for what is right. John McCain and I, we will put out trust in you."



I'm not sure if Mr. Stein is aware that these are the talking points of the extremist Christian right. This is the crap (and it is all CRAP!) that comes right out of the James Dobson camp. Sarah Palin is simply mimicking what her mentors want her to say, those mentors who believe God is helping them put Sarah Palin in the White House (eventually) to preside over the "end-times" when Jesus comes back to kill all the infidels and establish a righteous government.


Mr. Stein points out how ignorant Palin really is. The McCain/Palin ticket supports a progressive tax system..."In fact, back in 2000, the Arizona Republican said rich people paid more in taxes because they could affort to do so.

"'I think the first people who deserve a tax cut are working Americans with children that need to educate their children, and they're the ones that I would support tax cuts for first."

Hmmm. Maybe McCain's changed his mind. While he still supports a progressive tax system, it shouldn't be too "progressive." He has vowed to extend the Bush tax package which brings relief to the rich on the backs of the poor and middle class.


In the end, though, you have to jump through a lot of insane hoops to defend Sarah Palin. It would be hard to find a vice presidential candidate within recent memory who is as sullenly and stubbornly ignorant and hateful and deceitful as she is. Even Dan Quayle doesn't come close.

Barack went to Denver...

Senator Barack Obama went to Denver, Colorado...to Denver's Civic Center Park.

ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND people showed up to see him and hear him speak about hope and politics without fear, and the kinds of changes which will provide "real" Americans -- that's all of us -- the opportunity to once again live in peace upon the land and share in the American dream.


Meanwhile, John McCain, in a TV interview with his dear friend and defender, Tom Brokaw, said the McCain/Palin ticket was going to win this election. McCain was serious. I think. It's hard to tell, because those hard, black eyes keep blinking and twitching and staring into space, and his face goes through myriads of contortions...

Then, right after the interview with Brokaw, McCain stepped outside to be greeted by a throng of two and a half, quite rumpled, people. They held up little tin cups. McCain shoved past them, knocking them to the ground, got into his limousine and drove away.

Nah...I made that last part up. Just funnin' folks. You know, like a real Amurrican.

But it could have happened that way.

The Intelligentsia v. McCain/Palin

This from PZ Myers at Pharyngula.


"Elitism is not a four-letter word. ...

"Dear friends, In these times, with extremely serious, complicated crises confronting us both economically and internationally, we need to have intelligent, educated people as president & vice president."

Education Background:


Barack Obama:

Columbia University - B.A. (Political Science with a Specialization in International Relations.)

Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude. Editor of the Harvard Law Review.


Joseph Biden:

University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.

Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)


vs.


John McCain:

United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899


Sarah Palin:

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

Barack's "inaugural" address

The McCain campaign and its supporters in the media are becoming more frantic and more frenetic in these last days - or, as Ms. Palin might say, "the end-times."

It may have started with Palin, but I don't think so. A McCainiac would have had to spoon-feed her the information. Or maybe it started with McCain. The New York Times jumped on the bandwagon along with CBS News and then yesterday, late, AOL News came out with a bitter and caustic piece about it.

"It" is the faux inaugural address that Barack Obama is supposed to have written already, showing, of course, that he so presumptive, is such an elitist, is so anxious to usurp power, that, indeed, he is so power hungry, that, as McCain said before, he's already measuring the drapes in the White House! How dare he?


Well, "It" is all bullshit! The NYT, which may be the place all this BS started, reported that "Mr. [John] Podesta has been mapping out the transition so systematically that he has already written a draft Inaugural Address for Mr. Obama, which he published this summer in a book called The Power of Progress."

Palin, in a very recent speech, said something to the effect that for Mr. Obama to write an inaugural speech before the actual election was highly presumptive, the implication being, again, that there's something wrong with his character.

McCain said, "There's ten days left in this election, maybe Barack Obama will even have his first State of the Union address ready before you head to the polls. I guess I'm a little old fashioned about these things. I'd prefer to let the voters weigh in before presuming the outcome."

What a crock! McCain's "old-fashioned" all right, but only about things that really matter, like taxes, war, health care, lobbyists, and deregulation of the financial institutions.


THE CHARGE THAT OBAMA HAS WRITTEN HIS INAUGURAL ADDRESS IS FALSE!!!!!

This so-called inaugural address was written by Mr. Podesta for a hypothetical "progressive" candidate, and is, in the words of Matt Yglesias, a "literary conceit." Yglesias also says that "The book was in the works for over a year, and the 'inaugural address' section was submitted to the publisher in March before Obama was the nominee and when, indeed, Podesta was supporting Hillary Clinton's campaign."


But, when you think about it, why wouldn't you want your president to be prepared, especially in light of the fact that the polls indicate he's going to blow the old man and his ignorant sidekick out of the water?

Do you think those actors who win Oscars and run up on stage to accept write their acceptance speeches on the trek from chair to podium? If there was a chance you might be elected as mayor of a little itsy-bitsy town in the wilds of Alaska, don't you think you'd want to write down a possible acceptance speech so you don't stand up in front of your family and friends and sound like a total idiot. [I guess that so far as one Alaskan mayor goes, you wait until you're standing in front of the whole world -- then you prove to everyone that, indeed, you are a total idiot.]

So, I hope that Obama's working on his speech. He should be. It will be an important speech. It represents the beginning of a new American dream after the Republican Party completely destroyed the old one!


What we have here is John McCain and Sarah Palin making another false charge against Obama, attacking his character. It isn't true. But even if their "charge" was true, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being prepared for the future. That, contrary to what McCain/Palin snidely suggest, is a plus for Barack Obama.

The Creation Museum - a monument to ignorance & superstition

A few days ago, I wrote a "mocking" little post on that monument to ignorance and superstition, the Creation Museum, located just south of Cincinnati, in the great state of Kentucky.

A small number of Xtian fundys got their hackles raised and started whining about my lack of biblical understanding and how I needed Jesus and they would keep praying for me so that I would find Jesus (I didn't know he was lost!) and have my sins taken away and live forever in the heavenly realm (wherever that is) with their skygod.

Lest anyone is even a tad confused that the Creation Museum and/or what is oxymoronically called "creation science" is anything more than a scam perpetrated by Xtian fundamentalists who believe they are called to force this nonsense down the throats of our "innocent" little school children, I'm including a link to a post on PZ Myer's blog, Pharyngula, which provides a wealth of information dealing with the Creation Museum and the crap it promotes as science. Myers is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota.

Myers wrote this post on May 27, 2007. His introductory comments follow:

"This week, the creationist Ken Ham and his organization, Answers in Genesis, are practicing the Big Lie. They have spent tens of millions of dollars to create a glossy simulacrum of a museum, a slick imitation of a scientific enterprise veneered over long disproved religious fables, and they are gathering crowds and world-wide attention to the grand opening of their edifice of deceit. You can now take a photographic tour of the exhibits and see for yourself--it's not science at all, but merely a series of Bible stories dolled up in dioramas.

"The blogosphere is also giving them some attention -- almost none of it favorable. What I've done here is collect recent reactions from all over to the Creation Museum, and compile[d] them down into a link and a short and (I hope) representative extract. Browse through this long, long list, and when you find some quote that tickles your interest, follow the link to find the complete article. The National Center for Science Education has also compiled reactions from journalists, educators, scientists, and scientific organizations for yet more reading on the subject."


There are many links in Myers' post. If, however, you've been fooled by this pseudo-scientific, religious hokum, you should seriously consider reading through at least some of the material that is available.

One last thing: One gentleman asked if I had visited the Creation Museum, as if that would make a difference in my outlook. No, I have not. For one thing, I have not felt the need, as I've studied carefully material made available by the museum and have no interest in looking at what Myers calls "Bible stories dolled up in dioramas." Pictures of these dioramas are enough, thank you.

The other reason I won't soon visit the Creation Museum is the same reason I quit reading Mickey Mouse comic books years ago. I have no need for such fantasies as a grown-up adult.

You will find Myers' blog post here.

P.S. I "borrowed" the above photo from Pharyngula.

Freedom - GOP Style

[Reince Priebus photo, by Jon Massie, 2004]

The chairman of the Wisconsin Repugnican Party has, according to The Chicago Tribune, "accused the Racine school district of bolstering Obama's campaign by selecting a book that includes excerpts from the Democrat's 1995 autobiography 'Dreams from My Father' and his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention."

Reince Priebus, the GOP fanatic who believes he has the right to censor public school textbooks, said "These are [impressionable] kids. Using taxpayers' dollars to promote one candidate over the other is an abuse of power."


Hmm. Let's see, if Mr. Priebus is correct, then all textbooks that contain mention of or writings by John McCain would have to be excised. Or take it back to the primaries: All textbooks who so much as mention the numerous Republican wannabees or the Clintons or the other Democratic aspirants, would also have to be excised.

Mr. Priebus also forgot to mention how his own Repugnican Party has striven mightily to censor textbook selections in states like Florida, Texas and California. The Repugnicans targeted those states because of their size and because as they go so goes most of the other school districts in the country.

Unfortunately, in Wisconsin, this Priebus moron got his way and the publisher of the book in question, Houghton Mifflin, caved.

Christine Bowman, writing at Buzzflash chastises the moron:

"Whether you like it or not, Mr. Priebus, Barack Obama is a significant figure in American history. Like it or not, Mr. Priebus, the keynote address Obama delivered in 2004 was historic and merits study. Like it or not, Mr. Priebus, your job as Republican party chair for Wisconsin does not call for intimidation of school districts and book publishers.

"As for Houghton Mifflin? Their knee-jerk cave-in is ridiculous.

Bowman also notes, via The Chicago Tribune, that the excerpt under scrutiny is "in an optional chapter in a unit about diversity. In it, he writes about feeling out of place in his Hawaiian classroom because he didn't look like his classmates.

"Publisher Houghton Mifflin Co. has said the excerpt was chosen in 2005, before Obama announced his White House bid..."


Priebus, like so many Repugs, think they have some mandate from god and can reorder the universe to conform to their deranged minds. Pretty soon, if these clowns have their way, we'll have to excise all reference to FDR in our public school textbooks because it was under his administration that the New Deal started and you know how awful that has turned out what with giving help and aid to the poor and needy. Can't have that, can we, Repugs?

And Houghton Miffllin should hang its corporate head in shame!

The McCain Campaign unravels and Palin's a "rogue"

A "rogue" is an "unprincipled person; a scoundrel."

One of McCain's campaign aides called Sarah Palin a rogue or said she was "going rogue." Same difference.

Those who work in the McCain camp are turning on each other. Some of McCain's campaign workers, seeing the writing on the wall, have sent their resumes off to other, more attractive enterprises.

According to a report by AOL News (written by CNN reporters Dana Bash, Peter Hamby, Ed Hornick and John King), McCain's people are "frustrated" because Palin "has gone off message several times," e.g., on McCain's decision to pull out of Michigan, and on robo calls. There is some concern that she may have decided this campaign is over, and she's prepping herself for a future run at the White House.

One McCain "source" said: "She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone. She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else."

Whew! That's heady stuff.

Palin's associates disagree, naturally, and say that Palin feels she was "mismanaged" from the beginning and she's merely trying to take control of "her message." But why should "her message" be different from McCain's message?

According to the CNN people who wrote the article, this kind of infighting is not new and they cite several campaigns in recent memory where similar things happened.

That does, not, however, mitigate the fact that the McCain campaign is a mess. Or as one "senior adviser" told CNN: "This is what happens with a campaign that's behind, it brings out the worst in people fingerpointing and scapegoating."

It does? This is inevitable? I don't think so. I think it shows McCain's choice of Palin was disastrous. It think it shows McCain's own people have lost faith in him. I think it shows their loyalty may not have been all that strong to begin with. McCain has always gathered people around him because of what he could do for them, e.g., lobbyists - and his campaign is stacked with lobbyists!

It appears McCain's going to lose this election big-time. McCain will not longer represent a means to the Federal treasury. Their source of goodies is going down the tubes, and the rats are deserting the sinking ship, blaming one another for the looming disaster.

Sure is fun to see, though.

Fruit flies and Sarah Palin

Thanks to Joe Aravosis at Americablog for this.

In a speech last Friday, Sarah Palin, mocked fruit fly research as an example of stupid and unnecessary federal pork. She said:

"This is a matter of how we prioritize the money that we spend. We've got a three trillion dollar budget, and Congress spends some 18 billion dollars a year on earmarks for political pet projects. That's more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA. And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good -- things like fruit fly research in Paris, France."

[When Palin was mayor of Wasilla, she hired lobbyists in Washington to help her obtain $27 million in earmarks for her town. Federal money, i.e., earmarks, for her little bitty town are OK, but fruit fly research is bad, bad, bad.]

Back to her statement. Aravosis quotes Richard Wolfe, writing in Newsweek:

"This is the most mindless, ignorant, uniformed comment that we have seen from Governor Palin so far, and there's been a lot of competition for that prize."


Why would Wolfe say something like that. Aravosis explains with a quote from the science blog, Biochemicalsoul.com:

"The fruit fly (Drosophila) has probably been the single most important organism for the study of genetics for over a century now. Almost everything we know about genetics, development, cell biology, neuroscience, and every other field of biology has strong roots in previous and current work on Drosophila. The fruit fly is one of a small handful of 'standard model organisms' used by thousands of scientists across the world to learn how our bodies, organs, genes, and proteins work. Most of what we know about how a single fertilized cell becomes the amazingly complex beings we are comes from studies initially done in Drosophila. Vast amounts of our understanding of the brain (and brain disorders, diseases, and defects) also come from initial studies in fruit flies.

"'In fact, recent research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown that a protein called neurexin is required for ... nerve cell connections to form and function correctly. The discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies may lead to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders, as recently, human neurexins have been identified as a genetis risk for autism.'

"To decry research in [condescending and amazed tone] 'the fruit fly' is a testament to the true idiocy of this woman and to the failure of our public education system..."


'Nuff said. Palin is an idiot!

Anchorage Daily News for Obama

The Anchorage Daily News, the largest newspaper in the state of Alaska - the governor of which is Sarah Palin - has endorsed Barack Obama for president.

The ADN lays out its case carefully, noting the failures of John McCain -- his erratic behavior, his lack of grasp of the issues, his Rovian campaign tactics. The ADN notes McCain's inability to comprehend the nature of the economic crisis and his frantic flailing about in a futile attempt to lend his "expertise" to its rehabilitation. Furthermore, while Alaska is "proud" to have its governor in the national limelight, she is clearly not ready to lead the nation; in other words, McCain's first "presidential" decision was a bummer!

On the other hand, Barack Obama has shown a clear head and a steady hand and gives all indications that he not only understands what the important issues are but will be better able to deal with them. For instance, two years ago Obama discussed the need to better regulate the financial markets. His advice was not taken. But he will bring a calm and cool intelligence to the table as our leaders attempt to turn things around and ensure this kind of financial disaster does not happen again.

There's much more and you can read it here.

McCain's take on clothes and campaign funds

Think Progress notes that in 1993, on the floor of the United States Senate, John McCain lent his support to "restrictions on the use of campaign funds for 'inherently personal purposes."

Here's what he said:

"Madam President, the amendment before the Senate is a very simple one. It restricts the use of campaign funds for inherently personal purposes. The amendment would restrict individuals from using campaign funds for such things as home mortgage payments, clothing purchases ... and vacations or other trips that are noncampaign in nature. [...}

"The use of campaign funds for items which most Americans would consider to be strictly personal reasons, in my view, erodes public and erodes it significantly."


You betcha!

Two more for Obama

Two more Republicans of note have deserted McCain's sinking ship.

William Weld, the former governor of Massachusetts, announced yesterday that he was supporting Barack Obama for president. This is the first time he's ever endorsed a Democrat, he said. While not overtly criticizing John McCain, Weld gave several reasons for going with Obama:

Obama, said Weld, exhibits good judgment and a "deep sense of calm," and has a "first-class political temperament." Weld also noted that Obama has, in the past, brought Democrats, Republicans and Independents together.

"It's not often you get a guy with his combination of qualities..." said the former governor.

h/t to Americablog


Another noted Republican, Charles Fried, announced that he had already voted for Obama by absentee ballot. Fried, who is a Harvard Law School professor and an important conservative thinker, served as Solicitor General of the United States in the Reagan administration.

Back in January, Fried was supporting John McCain. Not anymore. He's asked that his name be removed from McCain's campaign committees as he will no longer serve on them.

He voted for Obama, he said, for several reasons the most important of which was "the choice of Sarah Palin at a time of deep national crisis."

h/t to Andrew Sullivan


It's always a pleasure to hear voices of reason in a season of discontent.

Obama's America circa 2012 by Dobson & Co.

Just when you think the extremist Christian right can't possibly sink any lower into the slime, a "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America" arrives on the Net.

The "letter" is a pretend look into the future after four years of an Obama presidency. It is written and published by James Dobson's Focus on the Family Action. FOFA is a separate corporation from Focus on the Family, so they can legally get by with this kind of bullshit.

Much of the letter is standard extremist Christian crap -- the Supreme Court will legalize gay marriage, and homosexuality will be taught to little bitty kids in the public schools, and abortion will also be legalized, and the poor Christians in America will lose their freedom to enact their hatefilled laws on all citizens.


The letter begins with a maudlin ode to the Star Spangled Banner, which the writer "can hardly sing ... any more." He/she just tears up and gets a lumpy throat when he/she hears those words about the land of the free and home of the brave!

For "true" Christies, things have gone downhill in four years. In 2012, the Supreme Court has been stacked with ultra-liberal, non-Christian judges who believe in making the law instead of interpreting the law.

That means same-sex marriage is OK everywhere. Oh, and the Boy Scouts have disbanded they were being forced to hire gay scoutmasters who had to sleep in tents with the young lads.

Elementary schools have been compelled to train their kiddos "in varieties of gender identity." Beginning in first grade! Christians can't home school anymore and they have no say in the public schools. Most "true" Christians have left the teaching profession. Can't say the Pledge of Allegiance any more, either; in fact, "under god" has been taken out of the pledge.

Adoption agencies are forced to place children with gay families. Business with government contracts have to hire gays. You can't say anything against gays on the air waves or from the pulpit or you might be put in jail!

Abortions are rampant since they've been made legal. Infants "can be killed outright just seconds before they [are] born." Doctors and nurses had fled the medical profession rather than be forced to participate in killing babies.

No more guns. No more home schooling.

Obama "has been reluctant to send our armed forces to any new overseas commitment." Al-Qaeda has taken over Iraq. The U.S. has suffered two terrorist attacks. Russia has invaded, occupied and re-taken "several Eastern European countries.

In Latin America, Prez. Obama has strengthened ties and trade agreements with commie nations.

Tel Aviv was mostly destroyed in a nuclear attack by Iran.

Health care is down the tubes because it's now run by the government and there are long waits for treatment. "Euthanasia is becoming more and more common."

Obama's tax policies made the deficit grow much larger and he spent so much money we couldn't afford to cut taxes. We have decreased production and increased inflation and unemployment.


Ah, hell, this goes on and on. What it does, I think, is show the depth of depravity of the Christian extremists. They will, literally, say and/or do just about anything to stop Obama from winning this election. Truth matters not at all. They claim Obama is not a "real" Christian because he believes that people might be able to come to god outside of the Christian faith. Hell, the Catholic church believes that!

This "letter" almost makes me believe in a devil. He or she couldn't do any more damage to our national well-being or to the character of the CHRISTIAN Barack Obama than this so-called "Christian" letter.

Evil is as evil does. Focus on the Family Action is evil.

If you wish to read it in its entirety, click here. (It is a PDF file)

James Dobson - "Christian" without a conscience

AOL News published an AP article yesterday titled, "Christian right intensifies attacks on Obama."

It is an excellent summary of how the extremists on the Christian right are trying to bury Obama with outright falsehoods, rumors, and scare tactics.

You can read it here.


I was taught as a child that the devil never appears in recognizable form. The devil does not wear a red suit with a tail and horns. To the contrary. The devil appears in righteous form. The devil wears a three-piece suit, a striped tie, and smells of expensive cologne, or maybe a Roman collar and chasuble. The devil speaks softly, quotes scripture, denounces evil, reeks of a close relationship with god. He is neat and clean and his hair is scissor-cut.

The devil might appear as a female, of course: an attractive, well-groomed, charming delight in 3-inch heels (they could be red). She might claim to be born-again, a lover of God, a worker for the kingdom of god, a friend of Jesus and little children. It's possible she would run for political office as god's candidate.

It's a problem. How do you discern the devil? Things ain't always what they seem.


Enter James Dobson of Focus on the Family. I'm not going to say he's the devil, even though a number of people on his side of the fence have labeled Senator Obama as the anti-Christ. I'm going to let Dobson speak for himself.

Dobson has a bit of a problem, though. He has to be careful that his tax-exempt corporation remains that way. But he's good at dodging bullets, so he has set up separate corporate outfits to do his dirty work - like Focus on the Family Action.

It was under that umbrella that Dobson sent out his October newsletter to his minions--those millions of deluded fools who actually think he represents righteousness. The newsletter, like all hate material, contains numerous lies which are used to attack the character of a fellow-Christian, Barack Obama.

For Dobson, the upcoming election rides on two issues, mainly: abortion and homosexuality. There are other things Dobson worries about, but only tangentially. Abortion and homosexuality are his major concerns.

So, if, like Dobson, you "embrace a biblical worldview," whatever the hell that means, you will agree that we "need to elect a pro-family, pro-life president." And you will understand that "The importance of this objective cannot be overstated."

If we fail to do that, the Supreme Court will be stacked by an infidel president and will proceed to "impose a liberal agenda on the nation ... [also affecting] the definition of marriage, religious freedom, and the protections (of lack thereof) of life in the womb."


Dobson is a true charlatan. He says "...I will not endorse either candidate this year." In the very next breath he says, "I can say that I am now supportive of Senator John McCain and his bid for the presidency."

The rest of this diatribe is packed with extremist lies. For example: Senator Obama wants to allow the killing of babies born alive after a botched abortion. I'm sorry, but that is simply not true and to continue to perpetrate such nonsense is an "offense against god." Did you hear that Dobson - you have committed an offense against god!

Dobson goes on to claim that Obama wants "comprehensive" sex education for children in kindergarten. (I don't know why that would bother Dobson. He wants to close down ALL public schools!) But his charge against Obama in this case is again not true, and a deliberate attempt to smear the senator.

Dobson goes on to claim that the "homosexual agenda" will be given priority under a Democratic administration. That's scary to Dobbie, 'cause god hates queers. And he wants to be on god's side!

Dobson says that America under Obama would be an unmitigated disaster for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ!

But Palin! Wow, Dobson thinks she's the cat's meow! She is, says Dobbie, "a deeply committed Christian ... who is pro-life ... a portrait of Christian motherhood and womanhood."

Oh, and she's much more qualified than Obama. Her mayorship of Wasilla gave her all the experience she needs to be vice president or prez.


There's much more of this crap and it's worth reading if only to give you a sense of how Dobson really has no conscience. Perhaps it's all a matter of power. If Obama wins, Dobbie is out in the cold. No more weekly calls to the White House. No summoning to Washington to hear his "advice" on important matters. No pandering to his pontifical, self-righteous self.

Dobson is, indeed, a egotistic, self-righteous, pompous, gas-bag who, by his writings and speeches, comes off as the devil in a three-piece suit. He wouldn't know Jesus Christ if his legendary savior hit him on the head with the Torah!

You can read all of Dobson's letter here.

Hate on the right

The rabid right-wingers in our midst are increasing their hate-attacks on Barack Obama. They seem to be in panic mode, their rantings becoming even more inane and insane. Although they will always attract a certain number of crazies to their loony-bins, it appears, fortunately, that many Americans are sick and tired of their madness.

Jamison Foster at Media Matters has summarized some of their "vitrolic and irrational" messages:

The following have attacked Senator Obama for visiting his very ill grandmother: Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Jerome Corsi, et. al.

A columnist for the Washington Times (the Moonie paper) said Obama was a "'Marxist' who believes that 'murdering innocent babies ... is an inalienable right.'"

Some nutcases writing at WorldNetDaily are claiming Obama not only supported but actually campaigned for "radical Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga" while in Kenya in 2006. This is, needless to say, absolutely false!

Thomas Sowell, one of our lesser columnists, "compared Obama to Hitler, Mao and Jim Jones." Why? "...they all spoke inspiringly of 'change.'"

Bill O'Reilly, the master of mud, stated that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "practices her speeches too much, noting that Hitler also practiced speeches before delivering them."

Bill Cunningham, a radio klutz, thinks of Obama as the anti-Christ, and often refers to Obama by his middle name. He once used the term, "Barack Mohammed Hussein Obama."

Lee Rodgers, another radio "host," went on air with the lie that Obama said he would "'stand with the Muslims" against "the Western World."


The aforementioned people represent just a small portion of those hate-mongers who, through lies and innuendo, and to increase their flock (and thus make more money), try to derail the movement toward truth and justice in this country.

But the worst is yet to come. Please checkout the upcoming post on James Dobson and his house of evil.

You can read all of Mr. Foster's article here.

Arne Carlson, former gov of Minnesota for Obama

The former governor of Minnesota, a "moderate" Republican by name of Arne Carlson, has endorsed Barack Obama for president.

Carlson based his decision on Obama's stance with regard to the war in Iraq, the economy, and the environment. Carlson was also put-off by recent comments suggesting Obama and other U.S. politicians may be "anti-American."

"He [Obama]", said Carlson, "has laid out for this nation a vision for a national purpose."

It is inspiring to see that there are a few Republicans left who put the national interest above the Party and what appears to be the Republican Party's main goal of obtaining and maintaining power to serve the interests of the high and the mighty.

Why is Palin hiding her medical records?

[Photo of Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson in her Wasilla office]

John McCain has released some of his medical records...more or less, to some reporters.. Not enough, and not for long enough. In other words, the release was something of a joke to satisfy the hoi polloi, but ended up with no one being confident as to what ol' John's medical condition is currently or his future prognosis. Which, of course, raises the question as to whether or not he has much of a future.

Palin, unlike John, won't release any of her medical records. Although she hinted to Brian Williams she might, possibly, in the future, release some.

What the hell's the problem here?

From Andrew Sullivan:

"When medical information related to Governor Palin's health is ready to be released we will make that information available."

Sullivan asks, rhetorically: "'Related' to her health?"

He also says: "The records were part of the vetting process. There is absolutely no reason why they couldn't be released immediately of why Palin's obstetrician, Catherine Baldwin-Jones, could not be allowed to talk to reporters about the evidentiary facts of Palin's controversial story of her last pregnancy. And yet we get this crap:

"'Comella declined to give any more information about when the records might be released or whether there were any particular issues holding up their release.'"


Sullivan, unfortunately, makes a boo-boo here. The pediatrician's name is Catherine Baldwin-Johnson.

But he's absolutely right that the "medical" records of Sarah Palin should be opened to the public now; not just those "related to her health." And Baldwin-Johnson should be allowed to speak to the press.

If all is as Palin claims, what the hell's the problem?

And why do they need more time? To alter the records?

The whole business stinks. It reeks of the kind of government in the shadows, a government predicated on lies and diversions, that has characterized the Bush/Cheney administration the past eight years.

McCain & Creation Museum lead in Kentucky

It isn't suprising, really, that McCain has a solid lead in Kentucky and should take the state with no problem come November 4.

You gotta remember, Kentucky, while a beautiful state in many ways, is the home of the so-called Creation Museum.

The people that constructed this monument to ignorance and superstition believe that their skygod created the entire world and everything that exists about 6,000 years ago - and John McCain was there!

No, he wasn't. That was a low blow.

But, there are some connections. The Creation Museum, although relatively new, is a relic of antiquated thought, to which no reputable scientist would give the least credence today.

McCain, too, is tied to ideas and programs which have been shown over and over again to be invalid and unproductive. He would, as he has promised on numerous occasions, continue the policies of the George W. Bush administration, policies which have resulted in disaster at home and abroad.

In Kentucky, the Creation Museum and McCain come together.

May they crawl together forever in the primeval mud.

Palin's clothes and the missing link

Ms. Sarah Palin, erstwhile guv of Alaska, is today defending the RNC's purchase of clothing and accessories in the amount of $150K or so, the purpose of which was to make her look "hot" on the campaign trail. Well, she didn't actually say that. She'd probably say she was "hot" enough.

Actually, she didn't say that, either. But in an interview with the Chicago Tribune yesterday, she "disputed accounts of her accepting $150,000 worth of designer clothing from the Republican Party."

She also said the media's coverage of this flap has been sexist and unfair. Poor Sarah. I mean, the clothes she got, she said, weren't even worth $150,000, and she hasn't worn most of them, and "If only people knew how frugal we are."

Ha, ha.

The RNC has provided the documentation for the purchases in its financial disclosure forms. So, sorry Sarah, there's no "disputing" the value of the stuff you got.

Then, to make matters worse, McCain said he buys his own clothes! Oh, my god. I don't think they love each other anymore. You know how, when McCain is asked about her qualifications, he kinda grits his teeth and stutters out, "She is so qualified!" And when they were interviewed on NBC, their body language said "Yuk!" and they could barely look at each other.


It gets weirder. Steven Benen, writing at the Washington Monthly, references a story from The New York Times that brought up a new question: "Why don't the numbers add up?"

"Some of the fashion experts consulted Wednesday, for instance, about the $150,000 in purchases that appeared on Federal Election Commission records were puzzled by where all of that money had gone, given what they had seen of Ms. Palin's wardrobe.

"Consider also the $4,902.45 charge at Atelier New York, a high-end men's store, presumably for Ms. Palin's husband, Todd, the famous First Dude.

"Karlo Steele, an owner there, said he had gone through the store's receipts for September, twice, and found no sales that matched that amount, nor any combination of sales that added up to the total. Because the store carries aggressively directional men's wear, he caters to a small clientele and knows most of his customers by name, as well as the history of their purchases... 'We have no recollection of that sale and no idea what they are talking about,' Mr. Steel said."

Then there's the charge of $98 "at a high-end children's boutique in Minneapolis, but after going through their receipts, the store owners found no record of the sale."


The whole scenario is very weird.

And maybe, ultimately, none of this has to do with anything, except, in the words of the McCain campaign, it goes to "character" - the character of Ms. Palin. And that's why she tried to pacify the troops with her lame defense that the clothing was not worth $150,000 and she had hardly worn any of it. She's just a plain ol' hockey mom, you know.

Won't work. You see, Ms. Palin is that born-again, evangelical Christian who believes in Jesus and, well, like, you know, god put her in the governor's seat, and, well, like, god now wants her in Washington so she can help people come to Jesus and just remake the country in god's image, like, you know, a real Christian nation, and like, well, change the whole world before it's too late and Jesus comes back and all those non-saved and Jews will burn in hell forever.

So, like, well, you know, it doesn't look too good if the vp candidate is dressed to kill, or too hot, I mean, like, you know, what would Jesus say? And if her fans should come to think she's an elitist, wow, like, that wouldn't be good dontcha know.


Not to worry. She can go back to wearing boots and mukluks and shooting mooses up thar in the boonies where the troops are growing a bit pissed because of all her shenanigans that are now, for the first time, being made public. Give it about 12 more days.

Governor Palin puts her cronies on the dole

Charles Piller writes in today's edition of the Los Angeles Times, that "Palin appointed friends and donors to key posts in Alaska..."

Piller notes that Palin has been quick to "tout" her reformist credentials as governor of Alaska.

At the Republican National Convention, Palin told the group assembled, "I took on the old politics as usual in Juneau when I stood up to special interests and the lobbyists and the big oil companies and the good old boys ... [I] shook things up, and in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people."

Well, maybe not.

The LA Times went a-hunting, and while they didn't shoot a moose, they did discover some interesting artifacts lurking amid the Alaskan records:

1) More than 100 appointments to state posts -- nearly 1 in 4 -- went to campaign contributors or their relatives, sometimes without apparent regard to qualifications.

2) Palin filled 16 state offices with appointees from families that donated $2,000 to $5,600 and were among her top political patrons.

3) Several of Palin's leading campaign donors received state-subsidized industrial development loans of up to $3.6 million for business ventures of questionable public value.

4) Palin picked a donor to replace the public safety commissioner she fired. But the new top cop had to resign days later under an ethics cloud. [He was paid $10,000 in 'severance pay.] And Palin drew a formal ethics complaint still pending against her and several aides for allegedly helping another donor and fundraiser land a state job.


Palin is a fraud in more ways than one. This is a devastating report and again makes obvious the fact she was not properly vetted, and that the Palin choice nothing more than a stab in the dark to cozy up to the extremist Christian right who didn't have much use for McCain in the first place.

Read all the gory details here.

Bush administration wants to talk to Iran

What? George W. Bush and his neocon cronies have long harped on the dangers of "talking" to terrorist or "axis of evil" regimes. Can't do that, they said. Talking doesn't work, they said. You can't talk to terrorists they said. Better we should bomb 'em, they said.

Now, McClatchy reporter Warren P. Strobel, tells us that the Bushites will next month serve notice they plan to set up an "interests section" in Iran - "the first U.S. diplomatic presence in Iran since the 1979-81 hostage crisis."

The "interests section," which is less than an embassy, will nevertheless be headed by an American diplomat. "Among other things," says Strobel, "the U.S. diplomats in Tehran would facilitate cultural exchanges; issue visas for Iranians to travel to the U.S.; and engage in public diplomacy to present a more charitable view of the U.S.


Dontcha just love it? When Senator Obama suggested it might be of value to sit down and talk with one's perceived enemies, that such talk might be more fruitful in terms of resolving differences than bombs, John McCain sneered and called Obama "naive." Throughout the presidential campaign, McCain and his sidekick, Palin, have continued to disparage Obama for his position - leaving the clear impression that he was "soft" on terrorists and terrorism.

No wonder McCain is thoroughly pissed with Bush. Just when McCain stakes out a position based on Bush policy, Bush undercuts him by flip-flopping.

What a bunch of morons!

Palin favors exporting Alaska gas

Sarah Palin, a self-described energy "expert," has turned the cry of "Drill, Baby, Drill!" into a mantra of the McCain/Palin campaign. Drill in the Arctic, drill in the Gulf of Mexico, drill everywhere, she insists. Unfortunately, Palin ignores the abundant evidence which indicates that such drilling would not come close to solving our energy needs, or even easing our energy needs.

Palin pouts to her supporters that the United States must drill for more oil and gas in order to become energy independent. At the one and only vice presidential debate, Palin said "It's a nonsensical position that we are in when we have domestic supplies of energy all over this great land. And East Coast politicians who don't allow energy-producing states like Alaska produce these, to tap into them, and instead we're relying on foreign countries to produce for us."

Once again it's obvious that Sarah has a difficult time stringing words together in a way that makes sense. But the real problem is that Sarah is a hypocrite and a political charlatan.


Last June, the U.S. Energy Department agreed to exend an export license for the Kenai [Alaska] Liquified Natural Gas Facility. The current license expires next year. The new license is valid until 2011.

Palin was ecstatic: "In these times of economic uncertainty, this is great news for the state and its residents," said she.

Kenai Liquified Natural Gas is owned by Marathon Oil Corporation and ConocoPhillips. In 1969 it began shipping its product to Japan.

Martha Mendoza, in an article at the Huffington Post, noted that "while the United States imported 771 billion cubic feet of natural gas last year from Trinidad and Tobago, Algeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Qatar, Alaska is expected to export 100 billion cubic feet to Asia over the next two years."


Sarah Palin is a gas-bag!

Read all of Menoza's article here.

Freedom of the press in the U.S.

According to a report released yesterday by Reporters Sans Frontieres, the United States is not doing so well in terms of freedom of the press. In fact, it is ranked 36th in the world, tied with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, South Africa, Spain and Taiwan.

First place consists of a tie between Luxembourg and Norway. Not surprisingly, Iran, China, Vietnam, Cuba and North Korea are in the bottom ten.

The rankings are achieved by measuring "the state of press freedom in the world ... [and] reflects the degree of freedom that journalists and news organizations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the authorities to respect and ensure respect for this freedom."

There's more here, at the Huffington Post.

More Repubs endorse Obama (Updated)

The latest Repubs to abandon a sinking ship are:

1) Ben Bernanke:

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is "endorsing" Obama. The WSJ came to this conclusion when Bernanke, on Monday, endorsed the Democratic version of how to go about stimulating the economy. In other words, Bernanke blessed the program proposed by Democrats in Congress and Mr. Obama to spend another $300 billion to get things moving on main street.

Bush and the Repubs are agin' it.

What's interesting about this is that it's unusual for the Federal Reserve chairman to become so directly involved in political matters, especially with the general election just a couple of weeks away.

The Huffington Post suggests Bernanke hopes to keep his job when Barack Obama is elected president.


2) Dr. K. A. Paul

I've never heard of this guy and would not consider his endorsement of Barack Obama of any consequence until I read that some consider him to be the "world's most popular Christian evangelist. Damn, I thought that was Billy.

Paul, born in India, lives in Houston and according to CNBC, is "a long time spiritual advisor to many Republican leaders and the world of big business." He gave three reasons for his endorsement:

a) Paul thinks the current administration has delayed the second coming of Jesus by Bush's Iraq war policies. The Iraq war forced many missionaries out of their posts with their work unfinished and everyone knows that Jesus ain't coming back until the gospel had been preached to the whole world.

b) Paul has noted that respect for the United States has dissipated around the globe. "Senator Obama," he said, "can change this trend and help restore our country to where we are once again respected around the world."

c) Paul's third reason has to do with Bush's economic failure. McCain, he says, represents a continuation of Bush's failed economic policy. "Senator Obama can restore confidence and vibrancy to our economy.


3) The Goldwater Clan

This is the most interesting one to me. I lived in Arizona when Barry was a senator and when he ran for president against JFK. At the time, Goldwater was considered a far-right wingnut, a danger to the world, and likely to begin a nuclear Armageddon. He was also powerful; powerful enough, as a newspaper owner, to shut down a rival paper in Phoenix by threatening businesses who placed ads in that rival paper. Many trucks drove around Arizona with a sign showing the words, "Goldwater, my..." and a picture of a donkey.

We've come a long way. The Bush administration and the Republican Party has fallen so far off the edge of center that Goldwater has been rehabilitated into some kind of gentle, moderate politician - a visionary, if you will.

Goldwater's granddaughter, C.C. Goldwater, wrote an article for the Huffington Post, explaining that she and her siblings and a few cousins "will not be supporting the Republican presidential candidates this year." CC talks about her grandfather's "honesty, integrity" and his stress on constitutional freedoms. "We reject," she said, "the constant intrusion into our personal lives, along with other crucial policy issues of the McCain/Palin ticket."

There's much more, which you can read here.

4) Scott McClellan - Bush's former Press Secretary said today he is supporting Barack Obama for president.