Blue Gal in a Red State

The St Joseph News Press are Complete idiots

2009-04-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

How embarrassing is it that your hometown newspaper takes your letter to the editor and completely butchers it before printing. That is what the right wing rag in my hometown does all the time, even when I have requested if they are going to change the content not to print:

here is what they printed:

The other day I watched the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, suggest his state could secede from the union because of our new president and his policies. That was probably one of the most treasonous statements I had ever heard from an elected government official in my lifetime.

That’s when the appalling lack of outrage at statements like Gov. Perry’s and so many others since Barack Obama became president hit me. We’re talking revolution talk here, folks!

I seem to remember back in 2003 or 2004 one of the Dixie Chicks made the statement that she was embarrassed to be from the same state as George Bush. The howl from the right was so loud and so shrill it had to be muffled with ear plugs for weeks. These young women almost lost their careers over one silly sentence.

Whoopi Goldberg made an off-color joke about President Bush and I had to get out the ear plugs again, and this time Ms. Goldberg lost an advertising contract. After that I admit the silence became almost scary. Dissent had been put to bed by the right through the fear of losing one’s livelihood.

I love dissent when I see the need; I wear it on T-shirts and put it on bumper stickers and yard signs. Dissent is our First Amendment right and should be embraced as a part of the greatest country on the face of the earth. Dissent should never be squelched by fear or any other factors. But when dissent takes the form of treasonous statements or hints of revolution rather than policy differences, then that is a whole different story.

Imagine a Democratic governor talking about secession during the Bush years. Or imagine talk show hosts hoping for a Bush fa ilure. Or imagine Vice President Gore had made the statement we were less safe two months into the Bush term as president.

The noise factor from the right would have been elevated day after day, ever louder, building into crescendos until every traitor was identified and the T-word was shouted from every purple mountain’s majesty.

gingernapp, St. Joseph

and here is the original cut and pasted from my comment to the paper:

to the News Press: if you are going to take a letter and butcher it the way you did with mine please from now on don't print it! Original letter:

I have had something stuck in my craw for awhile. At first I thought maybe it was a chicken bone or maybe really fresh bread, you know the kind that used to stick to the roof of your mouth when you were a kid.

So the other day I watched the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, suggest his state could secede from the Union because of our new President and his policies. That was probably one of the most treasonous statements I had ever heard from an elected government official in my lifetime.

That’s when it hit me; the thing I had lodged in my craw wasn’t a piece of food, it was the lack of outrage at statements like Governor Perry’s and so many others since Barack Obama became President. We’re talkin’ revolution talk here folks!

I seem to remember back in 2003 or 4 one of the Dixie Chicks made the statement that she was embarrassed to be from the same state as George Bush. The howl from the right was so loud and so shrill it had to be muffled with ear plugs for weeks. These young women almost lost their careers over one silly sentence.

Whoopi Goldberg made an off-color joke about the W and I had to get out the ear plugs again and this time Miss Goldberg lost an advertising contract. After that I admit the silence became almost scary. Dissent had been put to bed by the right through the fear of losing one’s livelihood.

I love dissent when I see the need; I wear it on tee shirts and put it on bumper stickers and yard signs. Dissent is our 1st Amendment right and should be embraced as a part of the greatest country on the face of the earth. Dissent should never be squelched by fear or any other factors. But when dissent takes the form of treasonous statements or hints of revolution rather than policy differences then that is a whole different story.

Now imagine a Democratic Governor talking about succession during the Bush years. Or imagine talk show hosts hoping for a Bush failure. Or imagine if Vice President Gore had made the statement we were less safe two months into the Bush term as President. The noise factor from the right would have been elevated day after day, ever longer, ever louder, building into crescendos and billows and through amber waves of grain, from sea to shining sea until every traitor was identified and the T-word was shouted from every purple mountain’s majesty.

So I give you my little piece of outrage toward what I believe are actually treasonous and revolutionary statements by some, through this op-ed piece, and yes my craw is feeling better already.

some of the crazy wintnut comments:

Wright_Winger April 23, 2009 at 5:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Avian fact: Chickens do have craws

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JAFO April 23, 2009 at 5:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

but do crawfish?

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pops April 23, 2009 at 6:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Ms. Snapp,
Those of you who disliked President Bush seemed to turn a deaf ear to the treasonous statements about HIM from the "left", during his administration. Now, the shoe's on the other foot, and you find it offensive to hear those same statements from the "right". I'd say, personally, that you're reaping what you sow. It's not comfortable, is it, to hear the leader you admire, castigated and blamed for everything from the common cold to the extrinction of the dinosaurs. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing those of you who support President Obama decry the dissent you claim to love.
Yes, I called Mr. Obama "President". I believe it's necessary and right to give him the respect he and his office deserves. I absolutely will NOT stoop to the level to which SOME stooped, and say "he's not my President". He was elected, by our electoral system, and I have no difficulty recognizing he's the leader of our nation. I may not like that, and I may not agree with much of his policy or his opinions and beliefs, but he's STILL my President. I only wish some of you who were so disrespectful of President Bush could have that attitude.
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, feeling uncomfy, are we?

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Wright_Winger April 23, 2009 at 6:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I don't think there are "yellow-dog" crawfish and I never heard a "why does a crawfish cross the road" joke. It is possible a hungry crawdad would eat fresh bread, but I don't think a self-respecting crawdad would write a letter to the editor about the experience. Also, crawdads claw their way to the top instead of demanding handouts. All in all, I would have to say having a craw would identify with being a chicken.

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dalearch April 23, 2009 at 6:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Ginger:

I used to feel sorry for you and people like you that insist on spreading lies and misrepresentations. Now I just think of you as despicable.

As usual, you will probably slink away now that you’ve been challenged. You will probably write something as teacherlady or one of your other aliases.

You are pathetic.

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Orliandor April 23, 2009 at 6:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

You are right on, Ginger. The reason the left was so quiet during Bush's time is that the right wing folks live in fear and carry guns.

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pops April 23, 2009 at 7:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Orliandor,
Your comment was, in my opinion, the most idiotic, ignorant and hateful of any posted so far in this forum. Congratulations....you take the cake...

Ms. Snapp shouldn't be castigated for her remarks. I'm sure she feels angered and upset about the way some have vilified President Obama...someone she admires and respects. Those of us who are NOT necessarily fans of Mr. Obama should remember how we felt when President

LDM1982 April 23, 2009 at 8:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Governor Rick Perry said what he did, because he feels the federal government is meddling in the affairs of the State of Texas. If it had been the last administration meddling in state business, he would have said the same thing. That's the way it is in Texas.

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77cod April 23, 2009 at 8:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hussien the elected pied piper is a fraud and an empty suit. He has disgraced the United States in Europe and Latin America. He embraces outspoken enemies of our country, he and his Chicago gang have made a mess (intentionally) of our economy. You have the guts and gall to diss President Bush. You my friend are not an American.

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 8:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Pops, this is one of the only times I've ever agreed with what you've said on here, and I wanted to let you know I appreciate it. No one should be belittled for expressing their beliefs. I truly wish that people could remain civil and respectful even when discussing hot-button issues. I've always tried to, but I know I haven't been perfect either.

However, gingersnapp makes valid points. After 9/11 there was such a feeling of crazed patriotism that people who didn't like the decisions made by the Bush administration were scared to say so publicly, and for good reason. In addition to the facts she stated, there was at least one teacher who was fired for wearing a peace sign tee shirt, and there are many other examples of this sort of thing. The closest thing I've seen to that recently is the Ms. California kerfuffle, and she didn't badmouth the president or the administration.

I'd also like to say that I agree with Ms. Darrach. I think it's silly to blame an administration that hasn't even existed for one hundred days yet for problems that existed long before January. We need to encourage our Senators and Representatives to stop sniping away at each other and wasting their time and taxpayer money and work together to help pull us through these difficult times.

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 8:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Here's the thing about Governor Perry that bothers me, he's been badmouthing the federal government a lot. A lot. Including saying when asked about secession, "...it might come to that." Secession. From the union.

Meanwhile, while signing a document dealing with the soverenity of Texas and proclaiming the evils of the federal government, he's asking for and getting federal help.

Five days before the tea party protests where he made his statements (which could certainly be considered treason) he asked FEMA to come in and help with wildfires. A month before, he asked for federal troops to help out on the border. He's also asked for another year and a half worth of federal funds to help clean up after hurricanes not too long ago. So...other than all the help he's getting from our government, other than that, down with that oppressive government!

Geeze.

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 8:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Delarch:

Yes, I am ginger! I'm bookworm! I'm Orliandor! I'm every single peron who says anything good about Obama or his administration because God knows there's only one person in the entire midwest that feels that way!

Look, I know this might be hard for you, but you probably ought to accept the fact that there are a lot of people who think like we do, just as there are a lot of people who think like you do.

Just because there are a lot of more conservative people on here who are saying a lot of the same things doesn't mean I think there's one person with multiple names repeating him/herself. Get over it.

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dalearch April 23, 2009 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree that people should be free to express their opinions, but not when those opinions are based on lies and misrepresentations that they know or should know to be as such.

For brevity I’ll address one – Rush Limbaugh hoping Obama will fail. Any thinking person knows that he said this in relation to Obama taking us down the road of Socialism – not that he would fail the country entirely.

I was right that ginger would slink away and post as teacherlady or one of her other aliases.

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 8:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)

77cod, again with Hussein? It's his grandfather's name. He was given that middle name in honor of his grandfather. I'm sure he wouldn't have picked it, but hey, I wouldn't have picked mine.

I haven't heard anybody make such a big deal of someone's middle name since around second grade. Grow up.

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xanzzz April 23, 2009 at 8:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I say bravo Ms. Snapp.

I have zero issues with the dissent being spoken by everyone. I just have complete distaste for the blatant hypocrisy of the people who were full of rage for dissenters of the past who now find dissent to be cool and proper, Sean Hannity being the classic hypocrite. They are a complete joke just like many from the other side who protested bitterly and now think no one should be protesting and we should all get behind our government.

But it is the far right people who wrap all of their causes in the flag and call all not like them immoral and unpatriotic to be scum, immoral and sore losers. Democracy has spoken, you know those words that you wrap yourselves around meant to symbolize American, democracy and freedom. Apparently it is only meant to be a one way street.

Protest all you want but leave the moral superiority and faux superior patriotism out of it.

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pops April 23, 2009 at 9:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)

xanzzz,
While I agree totally with your post, I ask you to honestly respond....
Would you have posted that exact same post in 2000 or 2004?

Please, be very honest with your response....

Actually, this question would be for teacherlady, gingersnapp, orliandor, etc.

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pops April 23, 2009 at 9:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)

77cod,
While I understand your feelings, your words are disrespectful and not helpful. They're no different, at all, from the way people on the left talked about President Bush...something I know you didn't appreciate. While you may disagree with President Obama and his policies, I can assure you he has no intention of destroying this country or it's economy. His methods may not be something you agree with, but to be so disrespectful is just as wrong for you as it was for the left when President Bush was in office.

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xanzzz April 23, 2009 at 10:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Pops,

There is always going to be hypocrisy of when there are differences of opinion where when one gets their way the other complains and the other does not want to listen to it then the exact same thing happens when the other gets their way.

But what Ms. Snapp pointed out is not the hypocrisy of this specific human behavior as much as the level it goes to. The past decade in which I voted once for Bush has not had equality no matter how much a far right one wants to believe in terms of the personal attacks of calling people one disagrees with immoral and unpatriotic.

This has been a political campaign tactic by the neocons to package their beliefs by trying to tie them into God and patriotism. The Tea Party being a classic example as the protest could not just be about what one believes and thinking the other is wrong but going that extra step of acting like they are morally and more patriotic because of their opinions.

So sorry to answer your question I see no equality of the way the dissent and the attack on the dissent has been treated. Yes, there were some that went down the same morality zealot like path but that was individuals that were not align with anything. But as Ms. Snapp wrote most of the dissenters on years gone by did not come close to the garbage coming out of the many mouths of many prominent, organized and some elected officials.

Sorry, but I did not see succession talk by a Governor or people calling al the Tea Party protestors immoral American hating human beings. As Ms. Snapp example was so perfect. The Dixie Chicks practically lost their careers and had weeks of media coverage and public outrage by saying they were embarrassed by President Bush but a Governor of a State can openly talk about succession and basically nothing?

Sorry but the far right is not being met with the same immoral and delusional tactics as they have and continue to use.

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pops April 23, 2009 at 10:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Xanzzz,
I am NOT excusing the Texas governor for his remarks. They are, in fact, way out of line. Personally, I'd agree that had a Democratic official said the same things only a few years ago, he'd have been invited to leave office...forcefully. I don't agree, though, that the same level of invective demonstrated currently by some on the right is higher or more vile than what was said/done by the left during the past administration. I know my memory isn't as good as it USED to be, but it's not so bad that I can't remember the hateful, nasty, ignorant things said over the past 8 years.

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pops April 23, 2009 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Xanzzz,
I'd even go a bit further....
Ever since the DC's said and did what they did, I have refused to listen to any of their music. I won't listen to it on the radio, and I refuse to buy any of it. That's my method of reprisal for their words/actions. I'll be fair: if the Texas governor puts an album together, I'll boycott it, too!!

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Wright_Winger April 23, 2009 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)

For the edification of ginger & xanzzz:

Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. (It is not to be confused with secession, the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or political entity).

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Wright_Winger April 23, 2009 at 10:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

The Dixie Chicks ruined career?

From Wikipedia:

"The Dixie Chicks are a country music group, comprising Martie Maguire, Emily Robison and lead singer Natalie Maines. Together, they have sold over 36 million albums as of March 2009, making them the highest-grossing female band in the US."

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pops April 23, 2009 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Well, you DO understand, Wright-Winger,
Since I've refused to buy their albums, it's really damaged them!!

I do think it's interesting that some in this forum are insisting we shouldn't blame the current president for the problems our country is experiencing. I would agree with that....however, I seem to remember President Bush being blamed for many, MANY things in the early stages of HIS presidency. Did he or did he not "inherit" those issues from HIS predecessor? Look, folks...you can't have it both ways.

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dalearch April 23, 2009 at 11:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

WW:

There you go throwing out facts again and ruining it for the libs.

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 11:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)

WW, Gingersnapp said that the Dixie Chicks nearly lost their carrers, not that they didn't, so saying that the backlash against the Dixie Chicks didn't happen because they overcame it and continued to be popular simply isn't true.

Here are a couple of news articles that describe the backlash. The result was immediate and long-lasting, but temporary.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/14/dixie.chicks.reut/

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,440070,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5348306.stm

I realize that what she said was unpatriotic and unwise in the pollitical atmosphere of that time and I'm not saying that the people who were upset didn't have a right to be. I'm simply pointing out a flaw in the argument.

Pops, I'm not disagreeing that Bush was blamed for things that weren't his fault and I've said so before. However, nobody can change that now. We could learn from that and drop the blame game now, though.

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 12:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

WW, I like you in spite of myself. You usually fight fair, though you've said a couple really, really mean things to me, and you're funny.

Dalearch, I would appreciate it if you'd stop saying gingersnapp and I are the same person. It's simply not true and though it may not bother her, I does bother me. I'm my own person with my own thoughts and opinions and simply because I joined recently doesn't mean that I'm an alias for someone else.

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Wright_Winger April 23, 2009 at 12:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The backlash, such as it was, against the Chickies was because Maines made the derogatory comments about President Bush while on an OVERSEAS tour, much the same as Jimmy Carter and The Obama's recent uncalled-for cheap shots against former President Bush on their out-of-the country trips.

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Wright_Winger April 23, 2009 at 12:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Glad teacherlady that you didn't get it stuck in your craw as ginger did. Got to thinking even more about ginger's original rant. She said she might have got a chicken bone stuck in her craw. That sounds somewhat Dahmeresque to me.

What did I say to you that was mean? Just because I compared you and your ilk to some characters in Macbeth?

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 12:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

You are the same wright-winger that called me wiccan and hoped I wasn't really a teacher, right? I'd say those qualify as pretty mean. I enjoy an occasional Shakespearian reference, and to be honest I was impressed with yours.

Having said that, I feel like I could have a discussion with you that dealt with facts and logic and not so much with the name calling and sarcasm, etc. And as I said before, you make comments that make me smile. You're alright...for now.

I'm warming up to pops a tad too.

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Wright_Winger April 23, 2009 at 1:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Well, I'll never live that down.

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 1:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

*grin* You asked. I'll never mention it again...unless you ask again. Or you say something else that's mean. Or I just forget. :)

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dalearch April 23, 2009 at 1:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Teacherlady:

If you indeed are not ginger, I apologize profusely.

I can’t blame you for being upset. I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to confuse me with her either.

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pops April 23, 2009 at 2 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Actually, teacherlady, one of the things I have to work on is being TOO passionate about things. What I do, all too often, is shoot from the hip, and then, later, go back and read what I just wrote. Sometimes, I am appalled and horrified at how hateful it sounds. I'm TRYING, very hard, to take just a bit more time, and measure what I write, and not be so harsh or judgemental. I find I get my point across, AND I seem to be able to stay on friendlier terms at the same time!

I agree....most of the time, I find if I stop and look at your position/opinions from a slightly different vantage point, I can see your point. I may still not agree, but I CAN sometimes at least understand your point. That said, I need to be slower, and more measured, in my responses.

I also feel that were we to meet, for real, and to have some of these discussions face to face, the misunderstandings that sometimes seem to be rampant in the written message would not occur.

As I said in my other post...with consideration of all my previous posts to you...I have offered a "buried hatchet"...

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teacherlady April 23, 2009 at 2:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Consider the hatchet buried, pops. I truly appreciate the things you said and could say many of the same things myself. There are times I see the other side of an issue in a new way or read a really well-thought argument, and that has made some of the less savory things said on here bearable.

I think we've made progress today in terms of being able to have more civil discussions on here, at least, I truly hope so. I love debating current events, especially the one's I'm passionate about and I understand that people get hot under the collar, but it would be great to really be able to have adult conversations. That's really all I wanted when I joined this thing--that and making fun of It's Your Call.

Dalearch, thanks for the apology, but did you really need to take another shot at gingersnapp in the process? Just don't bring it up any more and I'll stay off your case about it.

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pops April 23, 2009 at 3:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)

xanzzz,
I was interested in your remarks regarding Sean Hanity, and how you consider him a "hypocrite". Would you be interested in using that same label on the so-called "journalists" on MSNBC?

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dalearch April 23, 2009 at 5:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Teacherlady:

“don't bring it up any more and I'll stay off your case about it.”

Boy, I thought I was going to lose sleep over that one.

I’ve read through some of your posts & am thinking I may have apologized too quickly.

Some of the goofy things you say could be attributed to ginger. I just can’t imagine two people thinking like that.

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Orliandor April 23, 2009 at 5:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Mmmmm...cake.

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xanzzz April 23, 2009 at 9:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Pops,

Several news programs have showed many clips of footage from the past years with Hannity ripping protesters and those who spoke out strongly against the government as anit-American. Of course we all know that Hannity has not looked at those himself or anyone else who does not like that fact. You cannot be morally right and not answer for this whether you’re Hannity or his supporters. If protesting against your government is wrong then it is wrong or not.

As I wrote before there is plenty of hypocrisy on both sides. My beef and I do disagree with you is the far right wraps theirs beliefs in the flag and points at others as being evil. I do not see that on the same organized level on the other side.

There is a huge difference between ripping on a government leader then ripping on the people who support them by calling them immoral and unpatriotic. The left attacked Bush and Cheney with viciousness. The right attacks everyone.

For all the Dixie Chicks were not fried by the right in this country noting their record sales. Might be because they turned out to be right!

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gingersnapp April 24, 2009 at 12:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Good grief Charlie Brown, I don't have time to refresh the page here every five minutes like some here. I apoligize to all those here who have become me!!!! Really people get a life. Make your point and go on.

I have two gardens to take care of. I make my own bread every day. I have about a hundred tomato and pepper plants I started in January and have been babying to live until they can get into the garden. I have my early garden to keep watered and fed and my May garden to get in.

I write about 6 letters to the editor a year if that and have made 168 comments in two years. I don't have time to be here like most of you and you should get lives beyond the News Press too.

This is so Cool!

2008-11-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Bush Nice Guy

2008-11-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

I have stuck it to the man the last eight years, but credit where credit is due, this is one of his finest moments:

Fox Defends Obama

2008-11-05T17:27:00.000-08:00

Finally

2008-11-05T13:51:00.000-08:00

Damn Still a Blue Gal in a Red State

2008-11-05T06:30:00.000-08:00

Obama lost MO by 6000 votes

The Eight Year Nightmare has Finally Ended

2008-11-04T20:41:00.001-08:00

I will sleep like a baby tonight for the first time in eight years:

Its Over at Last

2008-11-04T20:11:00.000-08:00

HaHaHaHa

2008-11-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Via Daily Kos

Rick takes on Joe the Dumber

2008-11-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

RIP

2008-11-04T09:02:00.000-08:00

How sad is it that his "Toot" had to die the day before the election. This is a picture of Obama tearing up as he tells the crowd what has happened.

Here at Last

2008-11-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

SO and myself have a tradition of voting together so I will have to wait until this evening to cast my vote for Barack Obama. What a long four years of waiting for this. 2004 was a devastating year for me. The loss of a future daughter-in-law to cancer at the tender age of 23 and then losing again to W in November just piled on my depression that year.

I see a whole new beginning now. Many happy things have happened in those four year, gaining two daughters-in-law and two beautiful grandchildren have brought much joy into my life. With the election of Barack Obama I will now see a brighter future for all three of my grandkids and all of my sons and daughters.

I can't wait to vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make Sure You Vote Tomorrow

2008-11-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is finally here. Everyone that hasn't already, just go out and vote tomorrow. What an historic election, I can't imagine not voting. I can't wait to have a President Obama.

Punkin' Palin

2008-11-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

McCain's Closing Argument Giant Yard Signs

2008-10-27T10:04:00.001-07:00

I noticed in our little burg the huge McCain signs in just plain 'ol yards around here and I was a little teed off that Obama choose to spend his money elsewhere besides signs. But was talked out of that one by my kids that the battle of the yard sign is a little silly when both candidates have national name recognition and really don't need that. So I guess I'm glad this is how the old fart chose to spend his money.

Closing the Deal

2008-10-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

More Hate at the Wingnut Rallies

2008-10-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sleaze mailings in Missouri

2008-10-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

If you are getting these sleaze mailers about Barack Obama I have a phone no to call and let them know what you think about it and tell them to take your name off their mailing list like I did.

I didn't get her name but she is head of communications at the Repub Headquarters in Jefferson City and this is her cell phone no:

573-301-0576

His Third Wife

2008-10-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

That was the profound insight of my oldest son on McCain Picking Sarah Palin. The more I thought about that statement the more I found myself thinking that if you had to psycho-analyse the thought behind the choice, my son was the first to pick up on the why. Wives and VP picks, all either models or former beauty queens!

This column by conservative Kathleen Parker sizes it up:

....One does not have to be a psychoanalyst to reckon that McCain was smitten. By no means am I suggesting anything untoward between McCain and his running mate. Palin is a governor, after all. She does have an executive resume, if a thin one. And she's a natural politician who connects with people.....

.....Science provides clues. A study in Canada, published in New Scientist in 2003, found that pretty women foil men's ability to assess the future. ‘Discounting the future,’ as the condition is called, means preferring immediate, lesser rewards to greater rewards in the future.....

.....That men are at a disadvantage when attractive women are present is a fact upon which women have banked for centuries. Ignoring it now profits only fools....

Sarah Palin's Medical Records

2008-10-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

She said she would release them and now it seems she won't release them. Until she does, I will always believe that Trig belongs to Bristol and that Bristol is having a pretend pregnancy. If Bristol has a miscarriage before this supposed baby she is carrying happens then it is a done deal for me.

Pat Buchanan is an Idiot --signed a former fan

2008-10-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

Pat Buchanan has always been my favorite "wingnut." SO and myself have had varying degrees of dissent on this subject. But the one thing I always liked about Pat was that he didn't spout talking points or spin. I have to now concur with my SO that he has fallen into the deepest deficits of dilusion about this race and his beloved Palin. Go Away Pat and Don't return! SO was right and has alway been right about you, and I concede to his insight many years ago.

Opie, The Fonz and Andy says "Obama"

2008-10-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Apparently Eric Rudolph Wasn't a "Terrorist"

2008-10-23T21:27:00.000-07:00

OMG

2008-10-23T18:24:00.001-07:00

Expensive Halloween

2008-10-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

An Executive Legislator

2008-10-22T16:55:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry but this person is scary:

Socialism Watch II

2008-10-22T11:14:00.001-07:00

He was for it before he was against it:

Elitism Watch III

2008-10-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

From Huffpost:

Palin's Makeup Artist Even More Expensive Than McCain's (SLIDESHOW)

.....McCain's September payments of $8,672.55 to "American Idol" make-up artist Tifanie White, who has also worked on the reality dance show "So You Think You Can Dance," are a drop in the bucket on the campaign's beautification front compared to the GOP vice presidential nominee.....

The Sleuth has learned that Palin's high-paid traveling make-up artist is Amy Strozzi, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work as head of makeup on "So You Think You Can Dance." Strozzi was paid $13,200 by the McCain-Palin campaign last month alone,

Quote for the Day

2008-10-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

"He's fighting for Joe the hedge fund manager! He likes to talk about Joe the Plumber, but he's in cahoots with Joe the CEO!"

--Barack Obama

Socialism Watch

2008-10-22T10:50:00.000-07:00

I guess if it is for yourself it is ok:

From Daily Kos

Sarah Palin, freeloader.

by Kagro X

$150,000 shopping sprees (at all the best "elitist" shops, no less), on the Republican National Committee tab.

$21,012 worth of free flights for her daughters, charged to the state.

All this, when she already makes $125,000 a year as governor and pockets an extra $22,883 in energy extraction royalties.

Sarah Palin is a chisler supreme.

All of which makes the fact that she charged $16,951 in expenses charged to the state, including 312 per diem allowances for staying in her own home just that much more amazing.

A dual income family, with Sarah earning $125K. Free travel (even for the family), and now free clothes, hair and makeup. They can actually go out in her backyard and shoot a moose, keeping her family in free mooseburger for a year. And still she feels the need to cheat. Shoot that moose for free and still charge the state $60 per burger. And she claims she deserves every bit of it.

Now that's what I call a perverse sense of entitlement.

"Sounds like socialism to me," to borrow a phrase.

Just another fake "bootstrapper" Republican. What a shocker.

Meanwhile, we all have to endure the indignity of Palin turning the campaign for the Vice Presidency into some kind of FOX reality TV makeover show, where they take some ridiculously not-ready-for-prime-time pol and dress her up, push her out on the stage, and see if they can turn her into a VP in 10 weeks.

What the hell, right? It's just being second in line to the nuclear launch codes. No big thing. We could even do a whole copromotional deal with moose sandwiches at Subway.

Thanks, Republicans. You sure do love our country n' stuff.

Elitism Watch II

2008-10-22T09:45:00.001-07:00

And to think we spent how many weeks hearing about John Edwards $400 haircut?

RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion

.....According to financial disclosure records, the accessorizing began in early September and included bills from Saks Fifth Avenue in St. Louis and New York for a combined $49,425.74.

The records also document a couple of big-time shopping trips to Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, including one $75,062.63 spree in early September.

The RNC also spent $4,716.49 on hair and makeup through September after reporting no such costs in August....

Well He'll Surely Win Now

2008-10-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Game Changer:

Eminem Endorses Obama

Racist Redneck Quote of the Day

2008-10-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

Then, one of them asked us if we knew what Change stood for? He proceeded to tell us that it meant, "Come Help A N***er Get Elected." He still said he was planning on voting for him though.
......unknown Florida voter talking to an Obama Canvesser

Obama's Grandparents

2008-10-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture on another blog that was talking about Obama's Grandmother being ill and was struck by the amazing likeness he has to his Grandfather:

How Low will They Go in this Election?

2008-10-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

From Political Animal:

....The Washington Times, a self-described conservative paper, reported today on a polling site in North Carolina where "a group of loud and angry protesters who shouted and mocked the voters as they walked in." The voters were mostly black, and the "angry protesters" were "nearly all were white." Stop and think about that for a second. In the United States, in the 21st century, we have Republican activists protesting a presidential election. McCain/Palin supporters have taken to heckling, mocking, and shouting at people who want to participate in the democratic process....

He Read My Letter

2008-10-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

and endorses HaHa:

The Spawn of Hannity, O'Reilly, Rush and Others

2008-10-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

This is the kind of thing that these Wingnut talkers have spawned on our society. I really fear violence is going to happen when Obama gets elected. Just listen to this nutjob who is a Congresswoman and then watch some of the youtube videos of those people who attend the McCain Palin rallies. It is just getting scary out there:

Quote of the Day

2008-10-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

"Gov. Palin turned around and said, 'Nice to meet you, can I call you Joe?' I was thinking, Joe, what you really outta do is say, 'Yeah, you can call me whatever you want. In two months, you're gonna be calling me Mr. Vice President.'"
. ...Jim Webb

They Published My Letter

2008-10-17T07:11:00.000-07:00

With of course the usual Redneck St. Joe Commenters

Quote of the Day

2008-10-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

Ronald Reagan used to say that the most frightening nine words in the English language were "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." That is no longer true. This year, the most frightening eight words are "I'm John McCain and I approved this message."
....Joe Klein Time.com

Oh My Gosh

2008-10-16T07:06:00.000-07:00

Yahoo News:

US Republican presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ) reacts to almost heading the wrong way off the stage after shaking hands with Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) at the conclusion of the final presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, October 15, 2008. REUTERS/Jim Bourg (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008

(USA)

New Letter to the Editor

2008-10-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have been watching some of the recent rallies of McCain and Palin in the last week or two. The hate and vitriolic discourse that comes spewing forth from these get-togethers have left me with my mouth open with disbelief at such mindless hostility that just drips from the “base” of the Republican Party.

When one or the other candidate mention Barack Obama, “Kill him” shouts at least two wingnuts, “Off with his head,” from another, “terrorist” is shouted by many. Who are these people? Are they the “Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph” part of the conservative movement? Many may be coming to this conclusion, by the anger that is just oozing out from the mouths of those that sit at these rallies. Fred Phelps must be just reveling in joy at the sight of what is happening with wingnuts right now.

All the hate by the fringe of the “far right” is being consummated by Palin and McCain and when rolled into one ball of thought shows Middle America at long last what the “real” conservative movement stands for. “Hate” is the only conclusion one can come to when observing what is happening at these Republican rallies. When one sees a man bringing a monkey doll with an Obama bumper sticker around its head and insists that this is “Little Hussein,” most of us think ‘how scary is that?”

When Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City federal building I thought of him at the time as the fringe element of the far far right. Now it seems he is their base. If I were a Republican at this time in history, I think I would be evaluating what my party stands for and where it seems to be going. It is an embarrassment to the diversity of America and is seriously in a very troubled state.

Gingersnapp

Spiders for Obama

2008-10-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

Do Something

2008-10-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Cute Move On Ad

2008-10-14T13:27:00.000-07:00

Obama Is Campaigning on Xbox 360!

2008-10-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

From Gigaom:

Obama Is Campaigning on Xbox 360!

Last week we noted unconfirmed sightings of an “Obama for President” billboard in the Xbox 360 racing game Burnout Paradise. Today we’re able to report that it is, in fact, an official advertisement placed by the senator’s campaign team.

"I Can See Russia from My Front Porch"

2008-10-12T19:09:00.001-07:00

More Monkey Man

2008-10-12T18:13:00.001-07:00

Even Uglier

2008-10-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

A prayer from a Palin Campaign stop:

Rev. Arnold Conrad, past pastor of the Grace Evangelical Free Church

“I would also pray, Lord, that your reputation is involved in all that happens between now and November, because there are millions of people around this world praying to their god - whether it’s Hindu, Buddha, Allah - that his opponent wins, for a variety of reasons,” Conrad said.

“And Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their god is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and Election Day.”

It's Getting Ugly Out There

2008-10-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Watch CBS Videos Online

From The Swamp:

A man holding what looks to be a Curious George monkey doll bearing an Obama bumper sticker around its head was caught on camera at a Gov. Sarah Palin rally today.

The CBS News "From the Road" blog was kind enough to share the video with the world.

In his posting, Scott Conroy wrote:

(PHILADELPHIA) As the crowd cheered at a Sarah Palin rally this morning in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a man in the audience grinned as he held up a stuffed monkey doll with a Barack Obama bumper sticker wrapped across its forehead...

After Palin finished her remarks this morning, the man holding the stuffed monkey seemed to notice that a video camera was pointed at him, at which point he removed the Obama sticker from the doll's head and crumpling it up in his hand. He then handed the doll to a young boy who was watching the rally from his father's shoulders. The boy's parents later told CBS News that they weren't acquainted with the man who gave their son the stuffed monkey.

Wonder what our fellow citizen would have done if the little innocent hadn't been there to transform the doll from a racist symbol back into a doll?

Open Letter to Colin Powell

2008-10-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

Dear General Powell,

You are a really smart guy and I know you realize in your heart of hearts what a McCain/Palin Presidency would do to this country. You know what a Palin Presidency (in the event of something happening to McCain) would be a truly scary event. I know you know, I can see it in your eyes and hear it in the words you aren't saying right now.

You are the game changer. How many times have I heard someone say or write that that they will not vote for Obama but not because he is black, because they would have voted for you. So I ask you to just come out of the closet and tell us what is in your heart. You believe that Obama would be the best best to run this country. I know you believe that. You just need to say it sooner rather than later.

And lastly I know you have to see the hate being whipped up by this campaign. I know you can imagine in the event something happens to Obama what will occur. I fear another civil war. Not blacks against whites, but liberals against conservatives.

Respectfully yours,
Gingersnapp

Hate Rallies in America

2008-10-10T08:10:00.000-07:00

It is really getting scary out there. Have you been watching these hate rallies that McCain and Palin have been participating in? I actually fear for Obama's life. Why does McCain let his rallies get out of hand like that? Why would you let supporters shout "Kill him" or "Terrorist" without saying he won't be a part of that kind of rhetoric?

From Joe Klein:

....I'm beginning to worry about the level of craziness on the Republican side, the over-the-top, stampede-the-crowd statements by everyone from McCain on down, the vehemence of the crowds that McCain and Palin are drawing with people shouting "Kill him" and "He's a terrorist" and "Off with his head." Watch the tape of the guy screaming, "He's a terrorist!" McCain seems to shudder at that, he rolls his eyes... and I thought for a moment he'd admonish the man. But he didn't....

Andrew Sullivan:

To some, a president Obama is simply unimaginable. From a McCain supporter in Wisconsin yesterday:

"We're all wondering why Obama is where he's at. How he got here. Everybody in this room is stunned we're in this position."

There was always going to be a point of revolt and panic for a core group of Americans who believe that Obama simply cannot be president - because he's black or liberal or young or relatively new. This is that point. As the polls suggest a strong victory, the Hannity-Limbaugh-Steyn-O'Reilly base are going into shock and extreme rage. McCain and Palin have decided to stoke this rage, to foment it, to encourage paranoid notions that somehow Obama is a "secret" terrorist or Islamist or foreigner. These are base emotions in both sense of the word.

But they are also very very dangerous. This is a moment of maximal physical danger for the young Democratic nominee. And McCain is playing with fire. If he really wants to put country first, he will attack Obama on his policies - not on these inflammatory, personal, creepy grounds. This is getting close to the atmosphere stoked by the Israeli far right before the assassination of Rabin.

For God's sake, McCain, stop it. For once in this campaign, put your country first.

From : Washington Monthly:

On CNN last night, David Gergen, a Republican advisor to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton, commented on the "anger" evident at McCain/Palin rallies of late. "There is this free floating sort of whipping around anger that could really lead to some violence," Gergen said. "I think we're not far from that."

When Anderson Cooper expressed skepticism about whether violence was likely, Gergen said he "really worries" given "the kind of rhetoric" coming from the Republican ticket.

When a mainstream, Republican presidential advisor goes on national television and expresses concern that Republican voters might literally become violent in response to the Republican presidential ticket's rhetoric, it's safe to say we've reached a rather dramatic point.

Palin's Base

2008-10-09T20:44:00.001-07:00

WTF

2008-10-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Funny Picture of the Day

2008-10-06T16:24:00.001-07:00

McShithead

2008-10-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

When you watch John McCain talk about Barack Obama you can see the contempt just oozing and dripping off his face. You could tell this at the debate. You knew he was standing there wondering why he should have to share the stage with this guy who had no business being there.

This from CQ about the vote tonight:

Let the record reflect that Barack Obama made the approach to John McCain tonight.

As the two shared the Senate floor tonight for the first time since they won their party nominations, Obama stood chatting with Democrats on his side of the aisle, and McCain stood on the Republican side of the aisle.

So Obama crossed over into enemy territory.

He walked over to where McCain was chatting with Republican Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida and Independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut. And he stretched out his arm and offered his hand to McCain.

McCain shook it, but with a “go away” look that no one could miss. He tried his best not to even look at Obama.

Finally, with a tight smile, McCain managed a greeting: “Good to see you.”

Obama got the message. He shook hands with Martinez and Lieberman — both of whom greeted him more warmly — and quickly beat a retreat back to the Democratic side.

Well I Got Mine

2008-10-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hopefully they get more in then they say:

One Heartbeat Away

2008-10-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

Brought to you by largest union of Registered Nurses with 85,000 members:

Fair and Balanced

2008-10-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

Obama Yard Signs

2008-10-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

I just called our local Democratic Office and found out they only have 20 Obama yard signs and probably won't get anymore. They said the money was being spent in more important areas than yard signs. Knowing that the Obama campaign and Obama himself is a whole heck of a lot smarter than me I'm sure he knows what he is doing. But I will say this, that there are many low information voters out there that will vote only to vote with the winner. The more Obama signs the better for those voters.

They Write Themselves

2008-10-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

I watched this on Jon Stewart last night and SO and myself decided the way things are going Jon doesn't even have to write this stuff anymore it just evolves. Everything happening right now is just a SNL skit in itself:

VP Debate ~~ Who Thinks they will be cancelled

2008-09-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

I can't imagine these debates going on after the disaster of the Katie Couric interview. What excuse do you think they could use to cancel? I thought about maybe a sick kid, but, if you are a melanoma cell away from your hand on the button, your family would be second priority to your country. What excuse could they use to cancel?

I Almost Feel Sorry for Her

2008-09-28T20:56:00.001-07:00

NOT:

2008-09-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

This is actually pretty scary since some of the lines used are verbatim from the real interview:

Palin Is Ready? Please.

2008-09-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well I don't mess with Fareed Zakaria:

Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony? Is it too much to ask that she come to realize that she wants, in that wonderful phrase in American politics, "to spend more time with her family"? Having stayed in purdah for weeks, she finally agreed to a third interview. CBS's Katie Couric questioned her in her trademark sympathetic style. It didn't help. When asked how living in the state closest to Russia gave her foreign-policy experience, Palin responded thus:

"It's very important when you consider even national-security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America. Where—where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to—to our state."

There is, of course, the sheer absurdity of the premise. Two weeks ago I flew to Tokyo, crossing over the North Pole. Does that make me an expert on Santa Claus? (Thanks, Jon Stewart.)
The rest is here

Obama Tries to SCARE You!!

2008-09-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

ALERT ~~ Missing Old Man

2008-09-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

23/6:

Makes Me Feel Real Safe

2008-09-26T11:12:00.000-07:00

From The Page:

McCain now boarding plane at DCA with Cindy, Salter, Rudy Giuliani, wife Judith, and other aides plus pool.

Heading to Memphis, 1:50 minute flight, then motorcade to site

General atmosphere is utter confusion.

It Must be Bad When......

2008-09-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Someone at the NRO's Corner writes this:

Kathleen Parker

“It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted. Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there.”

He "Blinked"

2008-09-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

Ex-Adviser: McCain "Blinked," Campaign "Governed By Tactics, Not Ideology"

"It just proves his campaign is governed by tactics and not ideology," said Republican consultant Craig Shirley, who advised McCain earlier in this cycle. "In the end, he blinked and Obama did not. The 'steady hand in a storm' argument looks now to more favor Obama, not McCain."

Shirley added, "My guess is that plasma units are rushing to the McCain campaign as we speak to replace the blood flowing there from the fights among the staff."

Good God!

2008-09-26T09:29:00.001-07:00

From the Fix:

McCain Wins Debate

Although the fate of tonight's presidential debate in Mississippi remains very much up in the air, John McCain has apparently already won it -- if you believe an Internet ad an astute reader spotted next to this piece in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal this morning.

"McCain Wins Debate!" declares the ad which features a headshot of a smiling McCain with an American flag background. Another ad spotted by our eagle-eyed observer featured a quote from McCain campaign manager Rick Davis declaring: "McCain won the debate-- hands down."

Judgment

2008-09-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Day

2008-09-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

"So McCain blinked. He said he would suspend his campaign until there was a deal. He did not suspend his campaign. He asked for the debate to be postponed till after the deal. There has been no deal and he has caved on the debate.

This is an unstable, vicious, partisan man unfit to be a senator at this point, let alone a president."

----Andrew Sullivan

The Great Schlep part Deaux

2008-09-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

Sarah Silverman helps out

Witchcraft in the 21st Century

2008-09-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

This is pretty disturbing to think Sarah Palin believes in the power of this guy who believes that witches still exist. Think of all the women who were killed or mutilated in former centuries after being branded a witch:

Time Out

2008-09-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

Make That Two of Us

2008-09-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman:

The two striking things about the Paulson push since last Friday have been (1) demands for complete discretion, with zero accountability and (2) a complete refusal to explain the theory of the case — to explain why this thing is supposed to work, so that we can have an open discussion of whether he’s right.

Really think about it, we are a breath away from having a Democratic President with a Democratic Congress, all those things we have been wanting all those years for, like universal health care, more money for education, and everything else we dems stand for. There will be no money for all of that. I look at this like a Republican plan to stymie all of that. Call me a conspiracy theorist but there is something fishy about this.

Gettin' her Forin Pawlcy

2008-09-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

Elitism Watch

2008-09-24T10:13:00.000-07:00

From US Magazine:

John McCain, whose ads skewer Barack Obama for his "celebrity" status, has his own close ties to show business, the new issue of Us Weekly reports exclusively.

The 72-year-old was recently made TV-ready by makeup artist Tifanie White who's worked on So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.

McCain paid the 2002 beauty-school grad $5,583.43 for her services, according to the Federal Election Commission.

New Letter redone and Sourced

2008-09-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month I sent a letter to the editor written in satirical form in which I had reversed some facts in the life of Cindy and John McCain, replacing them with Michelle and Barack Obama. I was told the letter was to be printed and then a few days later The News Press called and reversed themselves on the printing of it. I was told that News Press readers didn’t understand satire, The News Press would be criticized and that my facts had to be sourced.

So here is what I wrote about along with sourcing and facts behind the original satirical piece:

1. John McCain is an adulterer who had left his former model first wife after returning home from Viet Nam and finding her crippled and disfigured from a car accident. Cindy McCain stole another woman's husband.

From News Leader.com Springfield, MO:

…..A romantic beginning to John McCain's relationship with Cindy Hensley, a 24-year-old former cheerleader and multimillionaire beer heiress. Only problem, John McCain was married to Carol, mother of his children. A beautiful tall, slender blonde model when he married her, Carol was severely injured in a car accident while he was in the war, which left her four inches shorter, gaining some weight, and needing crutches to walk. Cindy was not the first acknowledged extramarital affair of the conservative presidential candidate who admits to years of multiple sexual affairs, but she was the one he abandoned his wife of 14 years for.

John McCain lied when he wrote that he had separated from Carol before he began his sexual affair with Henley in the spring of 1979; court documents verify that he did not sue his wife for divorce until February 1980 and cohabited with her until January 7, 1980, during the first nine months of his adultery with Cindy…..

2. Cindy McCain became addicted to prescriptions drugs and stole drugs from a charity she had started for poor children:

From Salon.com News by Amy Sullivan:

How Cindy McCain was outed for drug addiction

….McCain admitted, she had stolen the drugs from the American Voluntary Medical Team, her own charity, and had been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration….

3. Cindy McCain lied about Mother Theresa asking her to take two orphans from Bangladesh:

From Seattlepi.com by Frank Rich

…Nothing is too small or sacred for the McCain campaign to lie about. It was even caught (by The Christian Science Monitor) peddling an imaginary encounter between Cindy McCain and Mother Teresa when Cindy McCain was adopting her daughter in Bangladesh….

So the point of my original letter was that if any of this had been about Michelle and Barack Obama there would not be this silence from the press or cable. It would have been put on a video loop and run constantly from now until Election Day. But it seems that because John McCain is a former POW any other aspects of his life cannot be written or talked about.

And so News Press there are your facts, sourced like you asked. Now do you have the guts to print it?

gingersnapp

Silence

2008-09-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

From Jake Tapper at ABC:

The woman seeking to be to a heartbeat away from the presidency without ever holding a press conference remains on the same relatively unaccountable path.

McCain-Palin campaign officials apparently feel the American people should trust her with the button and the world's financial markets without ever taking questions from reporters.

Elitism Comparison

2008-09-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge:

24 Days

2008-09-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

But whose counting?

Washington Post:

JOHN McCAIN selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate 23 days ago......

Mr. McCain's selection of an inexperienced and relatively unknown figure was unsettling, and the campaign's decision to keep her sequestered from serious interchanges with reporters and voters serves only to deepen the unease. Mr. McCain is entitled to choose the person he thinks would be best for the job. He is not entitled to keep the public from being able to make an informed assessment of that judgment. Ms. Palin's speech-making skills are impressive, but the more she repeats the same stump speech lines, the queasier we get. Nor have her answers to the gentle questioning she has encountered provided any confidence that Ms. Palin has a grasp of the issues.

How Embarrassing is This?

2008-09-22T09:51:00.001-07:00

Bush approval rating:

19%

Pants on Fire

2008-09-22T09:40:00.001-07:00

Andy asks a Question

2008-09-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

From the NYT:

At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.
and Andrew Sullivan asks:

Are you fucking kidding me? We are now rigging the debate formats to compensate for a know-nothing, mendacious Manchurian candidate drilled in meaningless talking points? And the Obama team agreed to this? And so did the press?

McCain 13 --- Obama 1

2008-09-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Cars that is:

When you have seven homes, that's a lot of garages to fill. After the fuss over the number of residences owned by the two presidential nominees, NEWSWEEK looked into the candidates' cars. And based on public vehicle-registration records, here's the score. John and : 13. Barack and : one.

Questions for Palin

2008-09-20T02:00:00.000-07:00

These are from Matt Damon:

1. Do you believe dinosaurs walked the earth 4,000 years ago?

2. Did you try to ban books from your local library as mayor?

Mine:

3. What books did you want banned?

4. Would you want my daughter prosecuted for an abortion if she had been raped?

5. Do you believe that money that is used by countries to help stop global warming is being
wasted?

6. Do you believe in separation of church and state?

7. Would you like to see Griswold overturned?

8. What is your opinion of Blue Laws?

9. Do you believe embryonic stem-cell research should be federally funded?

10. Do you believe embryonic stem-cell research should be privately funded?

11. Do you think homosexuality is a choice?

How Cool is This?

2008-09-19T06:37:00.009-07:00

From Tapped:

SCHLEPPERS FOR OBAMA.

In one of the most far-reaching events in Jewish history since the Destruction of the Second Temple, an organization called the Jewish Council for Education and Research which is a pro-Obama PAC, has announced that on Columbus Day weekend it will encourage young Jews to visit their grandparents in Florida and urge them to vote for Obama -- an activity that the organization has named, “The Great Schlep.” Participants, the organizers say, will “sign pledges to call their grandparents frequently during an Obama Administration.”

Is this Mishpoche Values, or what?

2008-09-19T06:37:00.008-07:00

From Daily Kos:

$5,000 a Second

2008-09-19T06:37:00.007-07:00

that is how much the War in Iraq is costing us.

I just heard Harry Reid on Ed Shultz's radio show say this. He said it was hard for the average American to fathom the cost when saying 10 billion a month, but in terms of $5,000 a second, every hour of every day of every year we are there. That is easy to understand.

That you George Bush!

Even More Embarrassing

2008-09-19T06:37:00.006-07:00

From the Washington Monthly:

The Hill asked both Biden and Palin aides this fairly straightforward question. The Democrat didn't hesitate to offer a direct response. The Republican? Not so much.

"Unlike Dick Cheney, Joe Biden won't have to create a full employment plan for lawyers and scholars to clear up something that was unquestioned for about 200 years. The vice president is part of the executive branch, period. End of story," said Biden spokesman David Wade.
In turn, a spokesman for the Republican presidential campaign did not answer the question. Instead, he e-mailed remarks Palin gave at a campaign rally in Golden, Colo., on Monday.

Palin did not say what branch of government she believes the vice president's office is part of in those remarks.

This is Embarrassing

2008-09-19T06:37:00.005-07:00

From Think Progress

CNN: Palin’s suggested oil export ban ‘not exactly easy to understand.’»

This afternoon on CNN, host Wolf Blitzer showed video from last night’s townhall with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), in which Palin — whom McCain said “knows more about energy than…anyone else in the United States” — was asked how she would keep oil from new domestic drilling in the U.S. market. In a serious understatement, Blitzer called her answer “not exactly easy to understand.” Watch it:

As the law stands now, expanded domestic drilling would have no impact on U.S. gas prices precisely because “oil is a global commodity whose price is set by global supply and demand.” Is Palin calling for a total export ban?

Transcript:

“Oil and coal? Of course, it’s a fungible commodity and they don’t flag, you know, the molecules, where it’s going and where it’s not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first,” Palin said. “So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it’s Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It’s got to flow into our domestic markets first.”

McCain, Keating and Greed

2008-09-19T06:37:00.003-07:00

From Firedoglake:

Remember this great post bmaz did last week? Remember this really damning picture of McCain celebrating his birthday with Charles Keating, the villain of the last big taxpayer bailout of unrestrained Republican greed? Here's the article where bmaz got that photo (download the whole pdf from The Phoenix Sun Gazette, September 12, 1993).

Apparently, that's a picture and an article that have been all-but buried, until bmaz got a hold of it.

I guess McCain didn't want any proof out that there he's been helping big money rip off taxpayers for his entire career.

And that he looks like an idiot doing it.

Tell us again, Senator McCain, about your integrity and independence from the fat cats and lobbyists who cooked the laws that created this financial fiasco, or about your fitness to lead us out of it. I'm all ears.

Archie Bunker's Guy

2008-09-19T06:37:00.002-07:00

Really, watching McCain try to talk about the economy made me think of this:

"And you knew who you were then,
Girls were girls and men were men,
Mister we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again."

He Invented the Blackberry

2008-09-19T06:37:00.001-07:00

Welfare

2008-09-19T06:37:00.000-07:00

Corporate that is. The way I see this thing is that it looks to me like no Republican can ever look a Democrat in the eye again and say they are against Socialism.

More of This Please

2008-09-17T13:21:00.001-07:00

I heard this speech today and this part was GREAT:

"Yesterday, John McCain actually said that if he's president that he'll take on, and I quote, 'the old boys network in Washington.' Now I'm not making this up. This is somebody who's been in Congress for twenty-six years, who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign. And now he tells us that he's the one who's gonna' to take on the old boys network. The old boys network? In the McCain campaign that's called a staff meeting. Come, on!"
- Barack Obama

Not the Foggiest Idea

2008-09-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

You really have to wonder if this woman has the foggiest idea about anything:

"Fascist writer Westbrook Pegler, an avowed racist who Sarah Palin approvingly quoted in her acceptance speech for the moral superiority of small town values, expressed his fervent hope about my father, Robert F. Kennedy, as he contemplated his own run for the presidency in 1965, that "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his spoonful of brains in pubic premises before the snow flies." It might be worth asking Governor Palin for a tally of the other favorites from her reading list," - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

I Have One Question for Sarah Palin

2008-09-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

I am bringing this back to the top because one other thought occurred to me today. I had forgotten this point about an Amniocentesis, there is a risk of actually hurting or even killing your baby during this procedure. Now I'm sure It is a lot more safe now than 20 years ago, but there is still a risk. Why would a pro life advocate choose this?

Being an older Mom when I had my last child and having partaken of an Amniocentesis and being of the liberal persuasion, I did have the procedure done during my last pregnancy at almost 40 years old. I really didn't think I would ever have had an abortion no matter what the results that came back. But since I was told I was having a perfectly healthy baby boy I will never know the choice I would have taken otherwise.

If Ms. Palin really believes that she would not choose abortion in any case scenario that the doctors doing the Ambio would present to her, my question is this:

Why did Sarah Palin have an Amniocentesis in the first place? Please someone in the news media ask her this question!

(note, you are not required to take the test, only suggested to you and you can make the decision)