Palinic bumper sticker

This is just too good. Thanks to the Pensito Review!


Bumper Sticker du Jour

Jesus was a community organizer; Pontius Pilate was a governor

--Bumper sticker in Lincoln, Mont. submitted by Thomas Kent


I want one! And you can buy one here for $3.95.

Business as usual - Republicans try to derail Palin investigation

You can read some tidbits about the Palin investigation here.

Yesterday Newsweek reported that some friends of John McCain are busily trying to derail the investigation of Sarah Palin by the Alaska State Legislature. Why is that not surprising?

They are afraid. They are very afraid. They don't know what to expect and it could be bad, bad, bad for the McCain team!

John Coghill, who is the Republican chair of the state House Rules Committee, "wrote a letter seeking a meeting of Alaska's bipartisan Legislative Council in order to remove the Democratic state senator in charge of the so-called 'troopergate' investigation."

This action was "endorsed" by the McCain campaign last night!

Coghill is charging that Hollis French, the senator in question, has "politicized" the investigation by making various comments in public! He even had the gall to suggest to ABC News that Palin had a "credibility problem." Furthermore, Senator French expressed the thought that "the investigation into the firing of public safety commissioner Walter Monegan was 'likely to be damaging to the administration' and could be an 'October surprise.'"

Senator French hired a special counsel to discover whether or not Palin "used her public office to settle a private score." [Here's some unsolicited advice: Check Palin's emails to see if she's been corresponding with Karl Rove or Dickie Cheney!]

Coghill, who claims to have the support of the Republican Speaker of the House, wants the investigation shut down completely. He says it has been "botched."

Newsweek reports that a Democratic legislative aide asked, "How can this possibly be read as anything but a partisan attempt to shut down a legitimate investigation that was approved and funded with bipartisan support?"

It gets juicier. Todd Palin has hired his own lawyer. It's been said that he was one of those who made phone calls on behalf of the governor to get Wooten fired.


Now here's the problem. Palin strongly denied that anyone in her administration had put any pressure on Walter Monegon to fire Wooten. Oops! A few weeks later a tape recording came to light where one of her aides, Frank Baily, talking to a police lieutenant, said "Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads, 'Why on earth hasn't this, why is this guy [Wooten] still representing the department?'"

Bailey has, in a deposition, said that "Palin had herself raised Wooten's name with the state police during her first security briefing after she won election as governor in November 2006." She was concerned, he said, about the safety of "their family, their kids, their nieces, nephews, her father, regarding Trooper Wooten."

Additionally, Bailey claimed Palin "never asked him to do anything about Trooper Wooten, but that Todd Palin did talk to him about 'issues about Trooper Wooten,' and expressed 'frustration' that the state police were doing nothing to respond to the Palins' concerns."


It just never ends. Why, if Sarah Palin was not personally involved in trying to get Trooper Wooten fired, do they worry about the investigation?

Well, hell, they're Republicans. They always worry about investigations because they don't tell the truth about their chicanery.

One thing for sure. If the Repugs win this election, Sarah Palin can move right into Dick Cheney's chair without breaking stride. We're finding out she can dissemble as well as he can - or better!

(h/t to Andrew Sullivan)

Palin to hide out in the tundra

[Photo from wiredblogs.typepad.com]

Well, I don't know if she'll actually hide in the tundra, but she is going to hide - from the press, mainly. That's unusual, as for the last few years, the press has given the Republicans just about every talking point they made - without question. Lately, thank god, the MSM has been asking real questions about real issues and some, at least, have even pointed out when the Repugs are lying through their teeth - which is most of the time!

So Sarah's going to hide - somewhere in Alaska. Perhaps at her lake house. Surrounded by guns, no doubt. And kids.

Other than hide, she's supposed to study the Republican playbook. From all I've seen so far, she knows that playbook pretty well: Lie, and then lie some more, and, if criticized, cry "sexism" and show anger at the "elitist" Eastern media who are mostly martini-drinking weenies, anyway.

And never, ever, talk about real issues. Talk about what kind of coffee you drink in the morning, or how many mooses (sic) you've shot, or how exciting it was when you were named "Miss Wasilla," or how you "sold" a plane on eBay, or the massive amount of executive experience you gained while mayor of a piddly-ass little town of 5,000 people. Or maybe you could talk about that SOB who married your sister.

I've got an idea! She can talk about the importance of the vice president's job. Oh, that's right. She doesn't know what a vice president does!


I found this at The Daily Dish, Andrew Sullivan's sumptuous fare...

"This is incredible, totally incredible. A vice presidential candidate isn't going to be available to the press for two weeks? Two weeks? In September. We have this total unknown who could be president of the United States next January. And she's in hiding for two weeks. ... She needs to be in front of the press now. The United States and the world cannot have this total unknown foisted on the presidency without any serious vetting and without any press interaction. This is absolutely third world. Since when is the governor of a state give tow weeks in hiding?"


Has McCain gone totally batshit crazy?

Mistaken Mansions - a sign of things to come

The Republicans come off as being just plain incompetent. The major proof for that statement lies in the choice of Sarah Palin as vice presidential candidate; a choice that was not even made by McCain, but by the powers of the Religious Right; a choice that was not properly vetted, if at all.

Then we have the Mansion thingy.

The Republican National Committee had been months or maybe years in the planning of the Convention just concluded in St. Paul.

How could it be that on the night of McCain's big speech - that's the one in which he told the story that he is really reluctant to talk about - his POW experience; the one in which he proceeded to spill lies about the Democrats and Obama (energy and taxes, for two); the one in which he was supposed to show the country what a great leader he would be if they would only give him the chance; the one that put everybody outside the Convention floor in a deep stupor - that the Convention planners would show a huge mansion on the huge screen that dwarfed Mr. McCain's balding pate?

My first thought was, "My god, they're showing off one of his many mansions!"

Could that be possible?

Well, no. That's not what they had in mind. But I don't think anyone knows what they had in mind. It turns out the photo on the screen was of the Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, California!

What the Walter Reed Middle School has to do with anything, no one knows. I read that personnel from the school initially said they were happy to see their school displayed before the Convention, but they didn't know anything about it. Now the principal of the school has expressed a muted outrage that the photo was used without their permission and wanted the world to know they knew nothing about this and they do not support any political party!

Could it be that the RNC intended to show a photo of Walter Reed Army Medical Center as some kind of link to McCain's long-ago military service? Did they intend to intimate that McCain was pro-military or pro-veterans or pro-war?

But it wouldn't make sense to show the Walter Reed Medical Center for McCain has voted against improving the care of veterans at every opportunity for the past several years!

The Repubs are refusing comment. Naturally.

Whatever. It does make you wonder, though, how these clowns think they can ask for your vote to put them in charge of running the country, when they can't even run a convention!

Palin, the Pit Bull behind a stone wall

[Photo of Pit Bull without lipstick]

Ah, Sarah. You promised you would practice "open and transparent, ethical and accountable government when running for governor." Now, you brag about yourself on the "national stage," but you are not living up to your promise!

As reported by the Anchorage Daily News, Ms. Palin "has begun stonewalling the Legislature's attempt to get [to] the bottom of allegations that she, her family or staff violated ethical or state personnel rules."

The allegations are old news - she or someone in her administration or her family put pressure on Walt Monegan, the Public Safety Commissioner, to fire her ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten. Mr. Wooten had become embroiled in a bitter divorce settlement with Palin's sister.

At first, Palin denied any complicity in the incident "and said she welcomed an investigation.

"'Hold me accountable," she said."


Now, she doesn't want to be held accountable. Her lawyer has requested the Legislature to stop the investigation. Then, in either a crazy or brilliant move, her lawyer had her "file an ethics complaint against herself, in a bid to turn the entire matter over to the state Personnel Board, which would hire an independent investigator."

As I recall, the state Personnel Board is comprised of Palin cronies - people whom she appointed to the Board.

Furthermore, as the Anchorage Daily News points out, "This is not an open and transparent attempt to establish Gov. Palin's accountability. It is an attempt to drag out the investigation until after voters decide the fate of her vice-presidential bid."


It gets worse. The ADN says that Palin's lawyer threatened to bring in the Secret Service! A legislative investigator, Steve Branchflower attempted to phone Todd Palin on "a secure and confidential line." Palin's lawyer, one Thomas Van Flein, called that a "serious security breach that we may be obligated to report to the Secret Service."

Hello? "Security breach?" Please! Branchflower is working for the state Legislature!


My god, this is a replay of Bush/Cheney and now McCain politics: Operate as if there is no law. Use your office to push people around. Deny that it ever happened. When someone tries to discover the truth, stonewall. When that doesn't work, threaten to use the powers of government to silence them!

It absolutely sick! The Republican Party hasn't changed. McCain has become just like the gang who for eight long years have brought our country to its knees. And Sarah Palin is just another attack dog sporting an American flag lapel pin. Pit Bull fits perfectly!

Track Palin in Michigan

Some say, including Obama, that a candidate's children are off-limits. That is a good policy.

But...but...when the candidate herself and the McCain campaign brings them into the spotlight as a means of showing off the candidate's "mothering" skills, they become fair game, so to speak; not in a way to purposely demean them, but to ensure that the truth be told.

There may be nothing to any of this, as we have said about other Palin rumors.

Yet, there is something very odd about this woman who attended six colleges in six years in various states prior to finally completing the courses necessary for a degree.

There is more than just "something" in her attempting for get her ex-brother-in-law fired. There is more than just "something" in the saga of her last presumed pregnancy when her own staff didn't know she was pregnant at seven months.

There is more than just "something" when one reads the history of her rise to power in the hardscrabble town of Wasilla.

There is more than just "something" when her teenage daughter turns up unwed and pregnant-- the same daughter who was pulled out of school for 5-8 months for mono, but who, during that time, is in a car accident for which she is given a ticket.

There is more than just "something" when her first major political speech for the McCain bunch is peppered with obvious lies.

Now there's "something" about her son, Track. Track is the young man who is off to war or something like it. He is being lauded as, if not a hero, certainly "heroic," for donning the uniform and promising to protect his country, even if his mother did put him in possible danger by informing the world when he was deploying to Iraq.

Chris Christoff, of the Free Press Staff, wrote on August 29, that Track lived in Portage, Michigan "during most of his senior year in high school. He played junior major hockey. During an interview at the National Governors Association conference in 2007, she [Sarah Palin] told a Free Press Reporter that her son went back to Alaska in March to graduate with his class. ...

"Palin said she didn't know much about Michigan until the weekend she spent [there] last summer, but was impressed [with] the Traverse City area.

"'What a stinker,' she said of her son. 'He never told me how wonderful it is.'"

There's more. From an Alaska blog called Mud Flats.

"The newest rumors starting to get teeth involve Track Palin and 3 friends being arrested for vandalizing several school buses. Troopers showed up. And yes, this is Mike Wooten's area."

These young men "disabled a school bus fleet, closing core-area schools for a day in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District..."


One question comes to mind: Was Track given the option of joining the Army or going to jail?

Recycled verbiage by Giuliani and Palin

Sarah Palin's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention contained that funny line about the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom. It was "lipstick," in case you forgot.

Dick Cheney used a similar phrase a couple of years ago, only his involved a pig and lipstick. And the punch line was when you took off the lipstick, it was still a pig.

Needless to say, Palin's version was revised. Can't blame her, though, as a Bush speechwriter wrote her speech before anyone knew who would be the Republican vice presidential candidate. Maybe the writer initially intended to use Cheney's version. The McCain campaign admitted the speech had to be "feminized" once the discovered Ms. Palin would be on the ticket.


BarbinMD, writing at Daily Kos was listing to Giuliani's speech -- the part where he attacked Obama's experience:

Giuliani said: "...he's never run a city, never run a state, never run a business. He's never had to lead people in crisis."

BarbinMD recognized those words. They were spoken by Giuliani last year when he was attacking John McCain for his lack of experience and inability to lead:

Giuliani said of McSame: "...has never run a city, never run a state, never run a government. He has never been responsible as a mayor for the safety and security of millions of people."


Talking points. That's all the Republicans have to offer. They are simply devoid of substance or truth! GOPers must stand for "Gobs of perpetual, errant, rotten shit."

Update - McCain praises Sarah selling plane on eBay

Yo, Repugnicans! Are you sure you want this man to be prez?

Yesterday, September 5, after everybody in the world had reported Sarah's lie about selling the plane on eBay, John McCain still hadn't gotten the word.

(He doesn't know how to use the Internet, so maybe that's the problem?)

You remember: In her "acceptance" speech she said "That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay."

Anyway you look at it, the implication slaps you in the face: she sold the damn thing on eBay. But she didn't and what happened is explained here.


Everyone in the world knows the story - except for John McCain - who, in relating Sarah's tall tale once again, said:

"You know what I enjoyed the most? She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay -- made a profit."


Not so, John! She didn't sell it on eBay and she lost a half million of Alaska's taxpayer dollars! Hello? Anyone home?

The Palin Affair

Old news. It is being reported that later this month the National Inquirer will print a story alleging that the Republican vice presidential nominee had an affair with a man who was a friend and business partner of her husband.

You might think that's just blowing smoke. I mean, the National Inquirer? C'mon!

However, it was the National Inquirer that broke the story of Gary Hart's bimbo so many years ago and it was the National Inquirer that discovered and first reported the story of John Edwards' extramarital misdeeds, so...who knows?

Furthermore, the ex-friend and ex-business partner of Sarah's Todd, a man by name Scott Richter, went to court to seek an "emergency" sealing of his divorce records on September 3! That, of course, doesn't mean that Sarah Palin had an affair with Scott Richter, or anyone else.

It is interesting, though. Why would Mr. Richter, all of a sudden, out of the blue, file an emergency motion to seal his divorce papers? There could be a number of reasons. Those papers could reveal some nasty domestic stuff which he wants, naturally, kept quiet. Those papers might indicate shady business dealings. Those papers could show that Mr. Richter believes God is a polar bear. They could prove that Palin's the anti-Christ, not Obama! Who knows?

Still...

The motion was denied, however. Divorce records are open. What I haven't seen is what those records contain.

Here's a link to this whole mess.

And Daily Kos has more here. Check the link to property records here.

They want John McCain to die - for Jesus' sake

Frederick Clarkson tells about certain theocrats hiding in the swamps of theological, biblical and moral idiocy, who are advocating prayers for the death of John McCain so Sarah Palin can ascend to the Oval Office and institute the rule of God!

This kind of thing is not new: "Last year," says Clarkson, "...Rev. Wiley Drake, then a Second Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention made news when he called on his followers to pray for God to smite members of the staff of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Drake was angry that the organization had reported Drake to the IRS for endorsing Mike Huckabee on church stationary, among other apparent abuses of his church's 501(c)(d) tax-exemption."


The goofballs on the religious right use the phrase "imprecatory prayer." According to Townhall columnist and radio talk show host Doug Giles, "It is a prayer asking God to crush a clear enemy of His, an enemy which is an aggressive adversary of freedom and peace loving people." In this instance, Giles was speaking of Islam.


Something else has happened now and imprecatory prayer is being spoken of as the method for ensuring God's will be done with regard to the election. Clarkson notes that "at least two people have written in recent days that hope that McCain/Palin are elected so that they can pray for God to crush John McCain and to elevate Sarah Palin to her rendevous with destiny.

"Antiabortion militant and all-round theocratic activisit Jay Rogers of Florida, [naturally! damn!] whose blog is called The Forerunner, writes:

"'Pray for John McCain's salvation and speedy death' (Google The Forerunner's articles on Imprecatory Prayer in you think this is harsh.)

"And then there is this guy, a self-described Christian Reconstructionist whose blog handle is Ixion and is apparently from Tennessee:

"'McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, suddenly made me want to vote for him, as long as the LORD smites him while he's in office. She's consistently conservative on all the issues, and if she's good enough for The Forerunner, she's good enough for me. The Forerunner agrees with me that McCain must be smitten, as well, so I'm obviously not alone in my viewpoints.'"

But Ixion isn't done. "May the LORD cause McCain/Palin to win the White House in 2008, and then smite the godless McCain in favor of Palin. Amen.'"


I wonder if old John knew why certain members of his base were so excited about Sarah Palin? I'll betcha James Dobson and crew kept him in the dark about that!

Palin energizes Obama supporters!

No doubt ol' John McCain thought that Palin would revive his base - all those fundamentalist, extremist Christian theocrats and dominionists who want to put their particular Jesus in the White House and substitute the Old Testament for the Constitution.

From all indications, that happened.

But something else happened. A nice surprise for those of us across the aisle and miles away, theologically and philosophically, from the fundamentalist fruitcakes!

NBC first reported that after Palin's speech the Obama campaign had raised $8 million dollars. I have since read that figure is now $11 million and growing.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the RNC raised $1 million after Palin's speech.

Obama's spokesman, Bill Burton, echoed the elation many of us felt (although we certainly would not want to listen to any more of Palin's falsehoods): "I hope she gives a speech every day until the election."

Palin and the pipeline - another lie

Sarah Palin is, as we have come to realize, is severely truth-challenged. Her lies relative to the "bridge to nowhere" are now part of her baggage, but Americablog points out another, perhaps more important lie, which she fed to her adoring fans at the Republican Convention.

Palin said: "I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history. [Wow, that's really impressive!] And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence. [Again, very impressive!] That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart."

[Don't you just love the fear tactic: "...dependence on dangerous foreign powers." Actually, one of the most dangerous is Exxon-Mobil.]

This speech could have been written by Karl Rove.

Here's the truth - from Joe Sudbay at Americablog:

"Palin implies that construction has begun on a major natural gas pipeline from the top of Alaska into Canada. That is not correct.

"In fact, no building has begun and actual construction is years away, if it ever happens. This summer the Alaska Legislature, at Palin's request, passed a bill under which the state will issue a 'license' to a Canadian energy company, TransCanada Corp., and pay it up to $500 million as an incentive to someday build this enormous project, which Alaska politicians have long sought with little success. The license is not a contruction contract, and federal energy regulators have not yet approved the project.

"Palin also puts the price tag for the project at $40 billion, an exaggeration. This is roughly $10 billion more than most cost estimates industry players and consultants have made to date."


Okay. So, it's a dream of Ms. Palins. She did not make that clear. Everyone thought she was a hero for bringing energy independence to the good ol' U.S. of A. Everyone thought we'd soon be free of those "dangerous foreign powers."

Another question: With all the talk about jobs departing this country for foreign lands, why in god's name would Palin strike a deal with a Canadian company to maybe, someday, build this pipeline?

Maybe there are no American companies that are capable to handling this type of project. Maybe. But I don't think so.

Perhaps Ms. Palin should buy back her jet. She's flying on a wing and a prayer and she's gonna crash one of these days. You can only lie so long until you're caught. The American people seem to have finally caught on to the fact that the Bush administration was built on lies from the very beginning. It may take a while, Ms. Palin, but your time will come.

The GOP - God's own people - Christian and white

The demographics of the United States are in flux. The percentage of "people of color" is growing dramatically and social scientists predict that Hispanics will be the majority by the middle of this century.

You'd never know the extent of our cultural and racial diversity by looking at the Republican Party in convention!

"Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor are black, the lowest number since the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies began tracking diversity at political conventions 40 years ago. Each night, the overwhelmingly white audience watches a series of white politicians step to the lectern -- a visual reminder that no black Republican has served as a governor, U.S. Senator or U.S. House member in the past six years."

John Amato at Crooks and Liars tells what happened when Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland from Georgia appeared as a guest on The Colbert Report.
While Westmoreland is not the Republican Party, he represents the GOP base of which there are millions!

After admitting he had not introduced one piece of legislation since he was elected to Congress, Colbert asked him how we could balance the budget. Westmoreland thought we could get rid of the Department of Education [note how this conflicts with Mr. McCain's speech of last night!].

Westmoreland was a co-sponsor of a bill that would re-introduce the Ten Commandments to public areas of American life. Colbert asked him to name the Ten Commandments. Westmoreland was flummoxed - he couldn't do it.

The worst is yet to come. Politico describes what happened when Westmoreland "was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber." Reporters asked him to compare Palin with Michelle Obama.

Here's what the moron said: "Just from what little I've seen of her and Mr. Obama, Sen. Obama, they're a member of an elitist-class individual that thinks that they're uppity."

When he was asked to clarify that he actually said "uppity," Rep. Westmoreland replied, "Uppity, yeah."

As Amato notes, "Westmoreland is from Georgia. He knows full well the import of the word he used:

"Political consultant David Gergen, who has worked in both Republican and Democratic White Houses, said on ABC's 'This Week' that 'As a native of the south, I can tell you, when you see this Charlton Heston ad, "The One," that's code for "He's uppity, he ought to stay in his place." Everybody gets that who is from a Southern background.'"

Hell, I get it and I was raised in the Midwest and the West!

Amato is right on target: "They're not even pretending anymore. The mask of inclusivity has shattered."

Palin and eBay

[Photo of a Westwind II jet]

From what she said in her "acceptance" speech given the night before she was nominated, Sarah Palin, with a glint of snark in her eyes, said she turned things upside down when she reached the governor's office in Juneau, Alaska.

She got rid of the governor's chef. A major achievement to be sure, and an unhappy one, she indicated, for the governor's children. Does that mean she can't cook? Or maybe she doesn't have time to cook?

Then, she told the story about the governor's jet. High-minded and reform-minded as she was, she said, she just didn't need a jet to go jetting about the Alaskan tundra. "I came to office promising major ethics reform to end the culture of self-dealing, and today that ethics reform is the law. While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the Governor's Office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for. That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay."

Here endeth her story. [Except for the part about her being the center of an ethics investigation by the state legislature regarding the firing of a state trooper who was giving her sister a hard time in a divorce case.]

What Ms. Palin, the reformer, also failed to mention, was that the jet sat "on eBay" for many months until finally, as Booman Tribune say, it "was put into the hands of Turbo North Aviation, an Anchorage aircraft broker, which put an asking price of $2.45 million on the nearly $2.7 million jet. It quickly sold to Alaska businessman Larry Reynolds for $2.1 million ($31,000) of which went to Turbo Aviation). Today the Westwind II jet spends its days ushering wealthy hunters around Alaska and Russia."

Ms. Palin didn't bother explaining all that. She let the Convention and the world think that she was one resourceful governor, selling a plane on eBay! Not a big deal, you say, but it does reflect her casual disregard for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Not only so, but the people of Alaska took a hit of more that $600,000.

Soulless executives - only in GOP land

The GOP choose as Sarah Palin's "theme" song, the 1977 hit, "Barracuda," by Heart.

It is about "soulless executives"!!!

Heart was irate.

The GOP, dissolute and soulless, played it after McCain's acceptance speech.

What the hell, it fits perfectly!

McCain is small change

John McCain is not a nice man. There. I've said it. Just ask his colleagues in the Senate about his terrible temper, his vindictiveness, his passion for vengeance against those he believes have wronged him.

The John McCain we saw last night was covered in makeup. But all the makeup in the world cannot cover up the kind of person that is John McCain.

And can we please get over this POW stuff? That was 40 years ago! But he can't let go of it because it is major reason why McCain himself and his Republican followers believe he should be elected president. He was a POW. He was a POW. He was a POW. Over and over again.

Then, last night, from the mouth of the same man who, when he's asked about his POW experience, gets all coy and smirky and says he really doesn't like to talk about it, spent a good portion of his speech recalling in boring detail how he was such an unassuming hero. Yes, he was tortured. Yes, it was hard. Yes, he wanted to give up. But, with the help of his friends, he stood up to his tormentors and became a true American hero.

Enough, already!

In fact, John McCain has nothing else to say and nothing else to sell. His speech was devoid of substance, but filled with snarky personal attacks (many of which were flat-out lies) against his Democratic opponent.

David Corn describes the speech as "a Tour of His Vietnamese Prison Cell," and rates it "a no-better-than-par speech that was mostly a series of tradition GOP buzz phrases: lower taxes, cut spending, open markets."

McCain, of course, couldn't run on Bush's record, even though he has been supportive of nearly everything Bush did in the past eight years, so he had to talk about "change." With a look of serious determination on his face, he warned the Washington "insiders" that he and Palin were coming and look out, 'cause they were gonna change things.

How do you not laugh at such nonsense? No one is a bigger Washington "insider" than John McCain! He's been inside Washington for nigh on to 30 years! He's the "go-to" guy when lobbyists want a favor. He's got 100 plus lobbyists working on his staff. He's a close personal friend of many of most notorious lobbyists in the country. He was involved in the Keating scandal, which brought him a reprimand, but brought the American people a bill in the billions!

The speech also replayed the old GOP record of fear. "The terrorists are coming! The terrorists are coming!" John McCain, the POW, is the man to deal with the bad guys! He knows how to fight wars and how to win wars.

Tell me, please, which war did he ever win? The only war in which he was involved was the war that tore our country apart, a war based upon ignorance and fear--the failed "domino theory," a war begun and continued in order to prop up a thoroughly corrupt and vicious South Vietnamese regime, a war in which millions of Vietnamese died, and in which we gave up 58,000 of our own men and women, a war that the French had fought and lost, a war in which McCain flew bombers over North Vietnam killing women and children. It really isn't surprising that he was tortured after being shot down on one of those killing runs.

But that's in the past. Well, except for John McCain. He's still reliving it every chance he gets and uses it to gain sympathy and support.

John McCain today says he hates war. That's an old mantra I've heard frequently from old vets who, in reality, because they found their souls in war, like war. It was war that gave them a reason to live. John McCain voted in favor of the Iraq war. He's been pounding the drums of war for eight years. The man who claims to hate war is the one who says, "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran." He doesn't hate war. If it wasn't for war, John McCain would be just one more salesman on a bar stool telling war stories about flying sorties with the U.S. Navy back in the good old days. He sure as hell wouldn't have come back a wounded "hero," able to casually dump his crippled wife and kids and marry a blonde bimbo with scads of beer money!


McCain's speech was one more in a long line of Republican speeches, filled with lies, branding the Democrats as the "enemy," of which the country should be very afraid. McCain's speech, like all the convention speeches, reeked of hypocrisy, but played to the partisans who are frightened to death they may lose their power to wreck the country!

You will notice that Bush was nowhere in sight, nor was Cheney, nor did their names rate more than a passing mention. With good reason. The Bush/Cheney gang have dragged our nation so far down in the muck that any president will have an extremely difficult time making things right. What upstanding Republican would want to be identified with them? Even a Republican like McCain who, after forgiving Bush for 2000, and has walked lock-step with the tryant ever since, doesn't want Bush's blessing!

Even so, McCain offered nothing new. Well, except for serving notice that he's sold his soul to the Christian right. Thus he offered vouchers whereby parents can get government money to send their kids to private (religious) school. Thus he offered up a Christian extremist named Sarah Palin to be his running mate; a woman who thinks she was prayed into the governor's office; who believes that nothing really matters in Alaska unless the people of Alaska are "right with god," and carries the same extremist Christian baggage as the Dobsons, Hagees, Robertsons, and Parsleys of the world.

McCain lied about Obama's tax plan which will reduce taxes for the middle class far more than will his own plan. He mentioned his own tax plan, but lied about it. He failed to tell us that his financial adviser and very likely the Secretary of the Treasury in a McCain administration, Phil Gramm, is the one responsible for the mortgage crisis in American and who is still (as of a few days ago) calling the people of America wrapped in the despair of a terrible economy, "whiners."


When McCain says he puts his country first, one can only stare in amazement. As Scarecrow wrote at firedoglake, "For the last year, we have watched McCain sell out his principles on issue after issue, including, of all things, his opposition to torture. He's changed positions on virtually every policy for which he once claimed to stand above others. [Eric Alterman at Media Matters says up to now McCain has flip-flopped on 74 issues!] He's pandered to and now totally caved to the religious right, extremists he once abhored as a threat to the nation.

"His campaign, now stripped of all integrity, and in complete denial about his responsibility for supporting the last eight years of failed policies, has become little more than pumped up self-praise, relentless narcissism over a sense of honor he no longer displays, while smearing Obama's character and lying about his energy and tax proposals. His strategy has been reduced to a Nixonian cultural war coupled with Rovean partisanship designed to divide the nation he claims to love, all as he cynically promises to end the 'rancor' in Washington.

"He uses his years as a POW -- 30 years ago -- as an excuse for every failing today. As bmaz noted, 'I challenge you to show me any American veteran, ever in history, that has so shamelessly milked and exploited his military heroism.'"


No, you didn't hear much about the issues from John McCain. As his campaign manager said, issues just aren't important in this election; it will be decided on personalities.

Glenn Greenwald at salon.com encapsulated the poverty of the Republican Party and the McCain strategy when he wrote:

"The Republicans are well aware that they can't possibly win the election if it is even partially decided on issues. They need and intend to win despite the fact that Americans hate their positions on the issues, and to do that, they want to ensure that a majority of Americans love and respect the strong, honorable, principled, culturally familiar all-American mavericks John McCain and Sarah Palin (even if they don't agree with them on everything) while strongly disliking that wishy-washy, snooty, foreign, exotic, self-absorbed Eastern elitist Barack Obama (even if he says the right things on issues)."

In other words, the Republican Party thinks we're stupid and won't notice their lack of substance and the vapidity of their proposals.


Perhaps nothing exhibits better what the Republicans really think of the American people than the outfits worn by Laura Bush and Cindy McCain a couple of nights ago. Vanity Fair tells the tale.

Laura Bush wore:

Oscar de la Renta suit: $2,500
Stuart Weitzman heels: $325
Pearl stud earrings: $600-$1,500

Total: Between $3,425 and $4,325


Cindy McCain wore:

Oscar de la Renta dress: $3,000
Chanel J12 White Ceramic Watch: $4,500
Three-carat diamond earrings: $280,000
Four-strand pearl necklace: $11,000-$25,000
Shoes, designer unknown: $600

Total: Between $299,100 and $313,100


Now, these women are both multi-millionaires and have the right to wear just about anything their little hearts desire.

The point, however, is they pretend to be "normal" folks with the "normal" concerns of the "middle class." The truth is they wouldn't know the middle class if the middle class were to bite them in the ass.

And there's something "elitist" about wearing such expensive garb when millions of Americans are wondering how the hell they're gonna pay the mortgage and feed their kids!

From what John McCain said last night, it is clear: John McCain is small change!

Drill, drill, drill and the changing mind of John McCain

We written a lot recently about the cries of the oil companies and Republicans in their pockets who insist they must be given the right to drill in our coastal waters, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and anywhere else they think there might be oil.

The Republicans in convention have reiterated those cries, while at the same time chastising the Democrats for not falling in line with their mantra of "drill, drill, drill."

President Bush, ever the opportunist, spoke to reporters the other day about Hurricane Gustav. Well, that was what he was supposed to do, but he soon turned to his real agenda:

"One thing is for certain: When Congress comes back, they've got to understand that we need more domestic energy, not less; that -- and one place to find it is offshore America, lands that have been taken off the books, so to speak, by congressional law. And now they need to give us a chance to find more oil and gas here at home..."


It's all bullshit! Jim Hightower, in his The Hightower Lowdown, explains in detail why the Republican cry for more drilling is nothing more than a scam to line the pockets of the oil industry with even bigger profits. More drilling will not bring prices down in the foreseeable future, nor will it make us less dependent on foreign oil!

"We have only 2.2% of the globe's known reserves, yet we consume 25% of the world's oil, sucking up to 7.5 billion barrels a year. If we extracted all of the oil out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska, that would be 10.4 billion barrels--just a year-and-a-half supply. Likewise, place a wall of drilling platforms offshore off every beach on our seacoasts, suck up all the oil that exists there--and we'd have enough for only another two years.

"That's it. As reported this year by Bush's own Energy Information Administration (EIA), this amount of crude--even if it began flowing tomorrow--would have an 'insignificant' effect on pump prices."

But there's more. "...once the oil giants start pumping oil from America's publicly owned land and water, this liquid gold is not likely to stay in the U.S. market to help hard-hit consumers here. Exxon et al. are global behemoths that sell on the open market to the highest bidder. They are not public-spirited institutions. They are bottom-line profiteers, with no loyalty whatsoever to the good ol' US of A. ... The big new oil buyers on the world block are China and India, and the Exxons would very likely sell a good part of our oil to them."

Mr. Hightower has much more to say. Please read the entire article here.


Now, on to John McCain, this also credited to Jim Hightower. On June 13, 2008, Senator McCain said,

"I am very angry, frankly, at the oil companies, not only because of the obscene profits they've made, but at their failure to invest in alternate energy to help us eliminate our dependence on foreign oil."

Today, September 4, 2008, McCain is also chanting the "drill, drill, drill" mantra. What happened?

Three days after expressing his anger at the oil companies, on June 16, Mr. McCain "gave another talk in which he abruptly reversed his long-held opposition to offshore drilling. Then, that very same day, he boarded his 'Straight Talk Express' airplane and flew off to Texas for -- guess what? -- a series of fundraisers with oil executives. On June 17, for example, he snuggled with energy honchos at a closed-door luncheon at the San Antonio Country Club--and walked out with a love offering of $1.3 million for his presidential campaign.

"A McCain spokesman said huffily that it is 'completely absurd' for anyone to suggest that the candidate's switch in position had anything to do with oil money. 'McCain takes positions because he thinks it's the right thing to do for America,' the spokesman insisted."

Right.

Furthermore, McCain is a POW.

Giuliani and Romney - the twilight zone

[Photo of Rudy Guiliani, eastern elitist and family values poster boy]

Steven Benen, writing for the Washington Monthly, says "The GOP Loathes Itself."

By George, I think he's right.

Benen notes how the Republicans at convention keep crying about how "Washington is not working." That's fascinating as Republicans have been in charge of just about every nook and cranny in Washington for almost eight years!

But it was the speeches by Giuliani and Romney that made Mr. Benen wonder if he was "stuck in a "Twilight Zone" episode."

For example, Giuliani, "The multi-millionaire former mayor of New York railed against 'cosmopolitans." Giuliani wanted us to believe that being mayor of Wasilla, Alaska is equivalent to being mayor of New York! Giuliani thinks that two terms as mayor of a two-horse town in the middle of nowhere qualifies someone to become president of the United States.

And then Mitt Romney, "The multi-millionaire, Harvard-trained, former governor of Massachusetts railed against 'eastern elites.'" Romney further denigrated his own background by stressing that it was time for the sun to rise in the west -- a metaphorical gibe -- rather than in the east where those elitists have been busy ruining our country!

Benen notes that "Just 48 hours after the party's nominee insisted the convention would be less partisan, we're bombarded with the most ugly and nasty partisanship of any party gathering in years. ...

"Seriously, what's the message of the week in St. Paul? That Republican governing works? No. That Republicans have a legitimate policy agenda? No. That the next four years should be different from the last eight? No. It's simple: 'Your house may be on fire, but don't trust that man standing outside with a hose, because he doesn't share your values.'"

Benen then compares this convention with the one in 1992 which had the "Republicans pretending that they haven't been in charge, and blaming Democrats for the Republican failures in the most divisive, pathological way possible."

That's about right!

Teenage mothers feel Palin's pain - Update

Here's a copy of the 2008 spending bill in which Palin allegedly "slashed" funds for Covenant House.

My article below is evidently in error. It appears that last year Covenant House requested funding for a new facility. I'm now informed that the Alaska Legislature approved $5 million for this building, but Palin cut it to $3.9 million.

There's more here.



Paul Kane, at The Trail, washingtonpost.com, writes that "earlier this year [Palin] used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live."

"After the legislature passed a spending bill in April, Palin went through the measure reducing and eliminating funds for programs she opposed. Inking her initials on the legislation -- 'SP' -- Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.5 million. Covenant House is a mix of programs and shelters for troubled youths, including Passage House, which is a transitional home for teenage mothers."

Passage House provides "'young mothers a place to live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives ... [it tries to help these young women] become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families.'"

If you've ever been involved in a charitable organization that depends on outside funding, you know how devastating a 20% cut can be!

But, evidently, in Palin's view, unmarried pregnant teenagers should find mothers who are governors.

Palin's foreign policy experience

BuzzFlash has some information about Sarah Palin's vast foreign policy experience.

Steve Doocy on "Fox and Friends" said this: "But the other thing about her, she does know about international relations because she is right up there in Alaska right next door to Russia."

Cindy McCain echoed that refrain: "...the experience that she comes from is what she's done in government, and remember, Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia."


If you follow that logic, I'm an expert heart surgeon because I once lived in the same city as Michael DeBakey.


But it's not just logic that is missing. Sarah Palin received her first passport in 2007. She said she has been to Germany, Kuwait and Ireland.

Ho, ho. Nothing like bending the truth a bit. Ireland was a refueling stop. I suppose she could have gotten off the plane and wandered around the gift shop looking at Irish coffee mugs. Lots of foreign policy experience there!

It's also interesting that she didn't mention she'd been to Canada. She works in Juneau which is almost on the Canadian border. And she has been to Canada. Maybe she couldn't find any foreign policy experience in that country. Looking in the wrong gift shop?


Remember now, prior to 2007, this person who claims to be ready on Day 1 to step into the vice presidential shoes and if necessary, the Oval Office, had been to one "foreign" country -- Canada.

No wonder she thought Pittsburgh was so exotic!