Sometimes even candidate's own spouses don't know how radically they want to change the nation:

nytimes.com/2008/09/05/us/politics/05watch.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

So I guess now Cindy McCain understands that her husband's flip-flop on abortion (in order to be president, "Mr. Straightalker" now says he wants Roe v. Wade overturned) is for real. So now she, too, is for making abortions illegal again.
At least for now...
I guess.

Palin herself touted her objection to the Bridge to Nowhere in her acceptance speech, even though there have been numerous reports of how she supported it until it became a national laughingstock. She was for it before she was against it.
But she knows that millions more will hear her claim and far fewer will read the reality.

McCain lied tonight about Obama not reaching across the isle, knowing full well that Obama has done exactly that on several occassions.

But that's all the GOP has. They have almost no policy proposals other than the shopworn fix-alls they've been touting for decades: lower taxes (especially on the rich but they don't say that part), less government, and drill drill drill.

Obama was mocked for not mentioning Islamic terrorists once, but McCain never bothered to mention the environment once in his acceptance speech tonight. Not once.
More of the same. It was amazing to hear them keep talking about "taking back Washington." Well HELLO, the Republicans were in complete control for six of the last eight years, and held the White House the whole time. What would McCain do that's different?

Nothing.

So, per Ryan's initial post, Sarah Palin, in her own words, said:

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

And this about her pastor:

"He was praying over me," she said in June. "He's praying, 'Lord make a way, Lord make a way...' And I'm thinking, this guy's really bold, he doesn't even know what I'm gonna do, he doesn't know what my plans are, and he's praying not, 'Oh Lord, if it be your will may she become governor,' or whatever. No, he just prayed for it. He said, 'Lord, make a way, and let her do this next step.' And that's exactly what happened. So, again, very very powerful things coming from this church."

I think this is highly pertinent and should be discussed at every dinner table in America that has members planning to vote. I would hope that at every table, they ask some tough questions. Hmm, maybe like:

1) Is there a supernatural diety?
2) If so, does he/she/it personally intervene in human affairs?
3) If so, does he/she/it favor America over all the other nations he/she/it created?
4) If so, is letting America be attacked by terrorists, then inspiring America's leaders to respond to the attack by invading a nation that had next to nothing to do with the attack while diverting attention from the real perpetrators, the best solution he/she/it could have come up with?
5) If so, then I really wouldn't be surprised if he/she/it's supports Sarah Palin.

Here's the latest:


source: http://deepbackground.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/04/1347737.aspx

Let's see, I wonder if Palin, with her obvious contempt for legal processes and just common decency, is behind this? Gosh, do you recken?

The following is from the article I linked to above. Presumably Reaganite read it, but then he likes to ignore facts that he finds uncomfortable.

==============================================
Let's review what happened.

The Palin family had a feud with Wooten prior to her becoming governor. They put together a list of 14 accusations which they took to the state police to investigate -- a list that ranged from the quite serious to the truly absurd. The state police did an investigation, decided that 5 of the charges had some merit and suspended Wooten for ten days -- a suspension later reduced to five days. The Palin's weren't satisfied but there wasn't much they could do.

When Palin became governor they went for another bite at the apple. Palin, her husband and several members of her staff began pressuring Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan -- a respected former Chief of the Anchorage police department -- to can Wooten. Monegan resisted, arguing that the official process regarding Wooten was closed. And there was nothing more that could be done. In fact, during one of the conversations in which Palin's husband Todd was putting on the squeeze, Monegan told Todd Palin, "You can't head hunt like this. What you need to do is back off, because if the trooper does make a mistake, and it is a terminable offense, it can look like political interference."
===============================================

So Palin went on a witchhunt. Competent authority reviewed the results, and suspended the cop for five days. Among people with respect for legal processes, that should have been the end of the story. But Palin apparently doesn't have this respect for legal processes. Once she became governor she decided to screw legal processes and just have the guy terminated. Period. 'Cuz you don't mess with Sarah Barracuda. 

And this person you want in the White House? No wonder you idealize Reagan, a man with a similar contempt for legal processes. But not as much contempt as Geoge W Bush, of course. Maybe you think Palin will break even Bush's record for contempt of the rule of law? Is that what you're hoping to see? Because she sure seems to fit the bill.

But only one believes in science.
Only one didn't fire a librarian for not banning books.
Only one isn't under investigation for possibly illegally firing someone for not carrying out her illegal order, and then lying about it.
Only one wants to change the direction this country has been on for the last eight years.

Let me give an example of what Ryan is referring to. Last night, Palin went into a little detail about energy independence. One problem:

"Nothing she said made any sense at all. The amount of new oil we can drill in the United States is tiny, not large. Nothing we do on that front will have the slightest impact on either foreign producers or the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Iran doesn't control a fifth of the world's energy supply. And clean coal doesn't exist. It was just a farrago of nonsense from beginning to end."
--Kevin Drum

See what I mean? When it comes to mocking sarcasm, the GOP is top-notch. First-rate. But actual policy discussions? Gibberish.

Yes indeed, let's get this straight. Palin ordered a public official, Monegan, to fire someone not for job-performace reasons, but in order to pursue a personal vendetta. Monegan, to his credit, refused. She fired him. What she did is probably illegal, and that's why an official investigation is being conducted.

Oh, she also originally lied about it. The state police had a recording of one of her deputies pushing Monegan to fire Wooten. That evidence forced Palin to change her story.

Get it now?

No, didn't think so.

--source: talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/211769.php

The Globe and Mail [Sept 3, A12] also reports that she prohibited anyone working for her to talk to the media without her permission--and extremely unusual policy for a small town.

She's Bush with an up-do.

As far as her warm and fuzzy family values go, does anyone believe that her daughter and the 18 year-old who got her pregnant decided to marry of their own free will?

Levi, the 18 year-old, is a hocky player whose MySpace page (since removed) called himself a "fucking redneck" who likes to "hang out with the boys." It also lists him as "in a relationship" but adds, "I don't want kids." [source: Globe and Mail, Sept 3, page A13]

It's pretty obviously a shotgun wedding. So much for the sanctity of marriage.

After Palin was elected mayor of a tiny town, she went to the library and demanded that certain books be banned. The librarian refused.
Palin fired the librarian.
After an uproar from the town, she reinstated the librarian. [source: Globe and Mail, Sept 3, page A12]

Great, a book banner.

If there's one thing this country needs, it's more ignorance.

Reaganite seems to think that it's very significant that Palin has a son being deployed to Iraq.

Joe Biden's son is being deployed too. [http://]voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/20/bidens_son_off_to_iraq.html

So what?

Since this is a story with lots of legs, that will be around for the entire election, I thought it deserves it's own thread. Of all the criticisms of McCain's bizarre choice for VP, the one that I find most damning is this. Of course I oppose every one of her stands on social policies, but hey, she's a Republican. This, however, appears to be exactly like the kind of sleezy, incompetent, dishonest, and arrogant maneuvering that we've come to expect from the Bush Administration.
We hardly want another four years of this slime.

Here's the latest:
source: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/palin_wants_independent_troope.php

This is too precious to not post. Here are three pundits, including the far-right Republican operatives Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy, when they thought their microphones were not on (I added the emphases). And if you can't believe what you're reading, you can go to the link at the bottom and listen for yourselves:

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

Peggy Noonan: Yeah.

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

PN: It's over.

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

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

PN: Saw Kay this morning.

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

MM: They're all bummed out.

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

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

CT: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MM: I totally agree.

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

MM: You know what' sreally the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

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

MM: Yeah.

Cynical and gimmicky. I said that all along, but hey, don't ask me. Ask Peggy Noonan. Ask Mike Murphy. Two top GOP insiders and advisors.

My favorite? Noonan: "It's over."

Source: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/212920.php

Please go to this youtube and watch Obama himself discuss his attempt to stop smoking. Want the real deal? Vote Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzGU4hpONJw

And when asked if he had ever used drugs he said that he had. And that he had inhaled. "That was the point," he said. Ya gotta love the guy.

Unless, of course, you are slavering for more tax cuts for the rich and don't care that our health care system is bankrupting businesses and leaving 47 million Americans without health insurance.



Where's McCain? Didn't anyone invite him to the game? Oh, that's right. He was too busy vetting his VP nominee.