Fair game for attack is the number of outright lies in her speech. M$M did a fairly reasonable job of pointing out some of them.

And, believe it or not, Fournier actually pointed out that McCain could do his “end partisan rancor” bit last night because of all the vitriol that was launched by his buddies Wednesday night.

We’re supposed to rely on the MSM to report on any Palin scandal? What a joke.

They have the audacity to tout her experience, which to me looks worse than Bush’s military jacket. I would hammer her strength: blind ambition meets corrupt incompetence.

just imagine if this was the DEM nominee…… ohhhhh the headlines and faux news would have a field day!! the hypocrisy is galling…….

Larry Flint will be on the Palin concerns. Dems need to stick to the issues and get in gear on the issues.

Roger Simon thinks the media should actually apologize. I find his column makes a lot of sense:

http://www.politico.com/news/s…..13143.html

*g*

Besides, Noonan and friends did everything needed to address the issues of Palin.

We need to stay on task like Obama and Biden have.

My rant I’m posting multiple times today:

202-225-5901

That’s the phone number for Congressman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia. Republican, of course:

According to The Hill newspaper, a Washington publication, Westmoreland 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.”

Westmoreland spokesman Brian Robinson said the congressman was using the Webster’s dictionary meaning of the word and was unaware of additional racial context.

Link for quote.

Yeah, right. A guy from Georgia isn’t going to know the racist overtones of “uppity”.

I just called and said Westmoreland should resign from Congress and apologize to the American people. Please add your voice.

Picking Palin was just Rovian slight of hand

A deliberate attempt to distract us and keep our minds off the issues

Jane, I disagree with you strongly about questions re Bristol’s and Palin’s pregnancies. Palin’s 10 plus hour delay getting to the hospital after her water broke (or she was leaking fluid, equally alarming) says a lot about her judgment.

Abstinence only education is a policy that Palin supports that doesn’t work, even in her own family. There is no earthly reason why we should not be hammering her with that.

Sarah Palin is a hypocrite. She doesn’t want her teenage daughter to have the information that could help shape responsible decisionmaking. She doesn’t protect her own baby by getting the necessary medical attention for a high risk pregnancy to make a political speech.

mcsame and mcnasty.
mcsame wants to talk about bipartisan rule and his partner trashes democrats and OB for everything from the jobhe had out of college to the large crowds he draws. they lie about his tax cut proposal, say they are for cutting our taxes and fail to tell you that the Gooper health plan actually taxes health insurance benefits for THE FIRST TIME.
yes we can attack her, but I wouldnt waste time making her a small town victim. better to remind voters that she is James Watt all over again, a fundie, flat worlder, who opposes abortion, contraception, and favors the drill-baby-drill solution to climate change.
I do think that sticking to the idea that this election is not about mcsame or mcnasty. it is not about a cult of personality. it is about the economy and about the voter.
it aint about a fulfilling the honorable story that would bookend mcsame’s career as an aviator with a seat in the oval office.

Far be it from me to agree with a concern troll, but he’s basically right.

Of course, I can’t find anyone in the actual Obama-Biden campaign who has said anything Douthat is claiming. Which is comforting, because he’s Russ Douthat; he can never just be totally right about something. But still.

bleached out white bread all white republican party

Larry Flint always promises but never delivers.

Good Morning Jane,

your post on Anita Dunn was (surprise !) spot on. Caught Amy Klobuchar yesterday am after the big Palin speech and she proceeded (when she could get a word in edgewise) in the same fashion as Dunn – moderate, deliberate, and fact based – trending quite nicely with the poor overnight “Independents” polling

Senators Obama and Biden should continue on their merry way and continue to send surrogates like these two out

And worth every penney…

Her record is certainly fair to attack, as are the lies about what she did while in government.

Obama and Biden can take the high road: assign attack to some spokesperson or group.

Hi Jane.

Did I ever thank you enough for this blog?

Quite simply the absolute cream of the crop!

THANK YOU!!!

And, believe it or not, Fournier actually pointed out that McCain could do his “end partisan rancor” bit last night because of all the vitriol that was launched by his buddies Wednesday night.

My theory of the day is that, just as Palin’s speech was written for her before they knew it was going to be Palin’s speech, so McCain’s speech was written in the belief Lieberman was going to be the VP pick.
It explains the “end partisan rancor” bit. It explains the “I don’t work for a party” bit. It even explains the creepy crypto-fascist “Country First” signs – imagine old Republican McCain and old (former)(fake) Democrat Lieberman burying the hachet in front of those signs and you have – well, you still have bullshit, but at least you see what they were going for, rather than that incoherent mess last night.

p.s.

Jane,
that pic of you in the RNC stands was priceless !

We can disagree on whether teenage sex is right or wrong. But we can agree that it’s fun.

Elect McCain and then look back at the good old days of the Bush Administration when the deficit was only a then-record half-trillion dollars.

Dems. need to put the spotlight on the deficit. Republicans are playing funny money to propose endless war without taxing anyone and without borrowing money. Impossible scenario and Democrats need to expose these economic frauds. You can’t have endless wars without paying taxes. Instead of focusing on Palin, Democrats need to point out how awful the Republicans treated Ron Paul and his supporters. For someone who ignited emotions and was articulate in discussing one of the critical issues of our time (reducing the deficit), he was given the finger by his own party. Democrats reconciled with the Clintons and gave them a prominent spot at the convention. Ron Paul wasn’t even invited to speak. Democrats should make a lot of noise about the unhealed rift with Paul supporters. Bob Barr should be drooling over a chance to pick up 2-3 million voters who didn’t buy the head in the sand position that the Republican Party has taken regarding the deficit.

The drill now narrative needs to be debated with a narrative of reducing demand. If you increase mileage standards you can go farther with less oil. Republicans promised energy independence without asking for changes in consumption. Another fraud that needs to be highlighted. The Republicans also didn’t say one word about protecting our land and water or dealing with the consequences of a changing climate.

There are a lot of target rich issues that Democrats can focus on instead of Palin. She is going to be kept in the bubble and trotted out to fire up the base again and again. She had her 15 minutes of fame. Let’s move on to the real issues.

If I continue to look at Palin, and believe me it’s difficult to avert my eyes for the ########### Smith tabloid quality of the stories…if I continue to regard her at all it will be to
a) continue to question MCCAIN’S judgment and
b) to wait and see when the GOP sticks her in a corner and she bites McCain in the ass.

McCain = Bush III

McCain has to lock his VP candidate away from the media for a week to get any attention on the day after his triumphant nomination as the GOP candidate for president.

How sad.

in fact, stop referring to her at all.

Ding !!

The D’s must NOT allow this to turn into an Obama vs. Palin contest. Give her the attention she deserves, which is little, if any at all.

.I think that in light of the the ‘heart beat away from a presidency in it’s dotage’ it is a good thing to vet and challenge Palen. Obama got 18.9 million votes, Clinton got 18.1 million votes, Biden got 10,000 votes, and Palen got Karl Rove’s vote. McCain didn’t vet her – so she has to take what is coming. Is she going to crumple when Putin parks his warships off Cuba to deliver ‘humanitarian aid’? If she can’t deal with her past or her present, she certainly can not deal with the country’s future. And she shouldn’t whine about it.

It looks like Palin’s new role is to raise money from the wingnuts and not appear in many traditional campaign events. Two links from found on the Huffington Post (here, and here) this morning suggest this.

Another stealth VP; accountable to the base and uninterested in the rest of us. I’m seeing a pattern.

OMG, I just had a premonition pic pop up in my pate: David Gregory standing in a snowbank in nowheresvilleAK breathless with excitement as a SUV dodges around him in his wolf’s fur-hooded snowsuit and mukluks.

It’s sunny and he’s sweating.

The drill now narrative needs to be debated with a narrative of reducing demand. If you increase mileage standards you can go farther with less oil. Republicans promised energy independence without asking for changes in consumption. Another fraud that needs to be highlighted. The Republicans also didn’t say one word about protecting our land and water or dealing with the consequences of a changing climate.

What I found compelling about the Palin Project is that even with Alaska’s need for energy to heat their homes in an Alaskan winter (brrrr) she allowed oil companies to continue to EXPORT those much needed resources.

so even if we drill drill drill, that domestic oil is going to be $old $omewhere el$e.

attractive —— in a church lady sort of way

who?

isn’t that special?

Well then time to show she’s got teeth and claws and horns worthy of Mayor Ghouliani, as she so aptly demonstrated during the Rethuglican convention.

Wait a minute did Palin really leave the mayor’s office with a deficit? I thought she’d received a bucket load of Silver/Team Abramoff money.
Did she really cut special needs funding. . . ?

OT- sorry:

Robert Gibbs, Obama’s spokesperson, answered Chuck Todd’s question this morning as to whether Obama was “writing off” Indiana (and some other states). Gibbs said – “Indiana? – We’re going to be there tomorrow!”

So – I checked the Gannet-owned fishwrap, the Indianapolis Star, for the details.

Silly me – no mention, of course.

Thank you. Perfect!

McCain picking a totally unqualified VP candidate is a legitimate campaign issue.

It is misogynist to attack Palin because she is a woman but it is also misogynist not to attack her lack of qualification because she is a woman.

precisely.

hahahaha !!

Hugh are you coming up with a list for Palin? A commenter mentioned two threads down that Palin cut special needs funding (even though she wooped the crowd into a frenzy on her support of that), left the mayor’s office in a deficit, was a member of Ted Stevens PAC, and of course there is the hiring Silver Team Abramoff.

A friend of mine and I were discussing Russia/Georgia a couple weeks ago. His theory is that Georgia was just a dress rehearsal for Ukraine-that’s the real prize. Putin wants a return to the glory of the former Soviet Union. I’ll bet W didn’t see that when he looked into Putin’s soul.

I shudder to think what a President McCain or, God forbid, Palin would do should Russia start invading its former provinces.

MSM forgot to cover the paulista revolution and forgot to cover the split off at the gooper convention.
it was a total shut out on ron paul.
sad sad bias on a legit political issue.

Thanks Jane, keep up the good work we need people like you!

Yellowsnapdragon – you’ve got it right. And even if the Obama campaign wants to appear hands off on personal and family issues, they can still say slightly snarky things like “Palin advocates abstinence-only education. We all know how (in)effective that can be.” Just keep reminding people without actually mentioning the daughter

Palin’s attacks against Obama’s devotion to country must be answered. The personal family stuff should be left alone by Obama, Biden, their campaign organizations, and endorsers who appear with them on the campaign trail.

i read that the special needs funding was cut from one part of the bgt then given its own line.
but she still cut teen pregnancy programs, et al.

May I say that the image of Mrs. Greenspan being buried last night by a deluge of Republican balloons was incredibly apt, and quite entertaining, in a karmic kinda way?

I think snark should be used by “bad guy” Biden, but subtly.

i was thinking along those lines too, only not in an activist way.

to me, her corrosive personality is a HUGE turn-off.

Mean streak a mile wide quickly tarnishes the product, and she did it all herownself.

Notice all the photos of her sneering and displaying a particularly ugly brand of smugitude.

No photoshop need apply. It’s all there naturally. Ick!

Palin is simply not qualified. That must be attacked and McCain must be attacked for selecting Palin.

It should be pointed out regularly that the wingnut media would be attacking Palin vociferously for her parenting skills if she were the Democratic nominee.

I’ll bet W didn’t see that when…

I’m not taking any bet which begins with those words. *g*

misogynist not to attack her lack of qualification because she is a woman.

Yes!!

I am not so sure about that. I think it depends on how its done. If it is something that shows hypocrisy. . . But then Palin’s Rethug Convention Speech was a toilet bowl of hypocrisy.

I’m looking fwd to that. He’s a master, unlike his counterpart proactively snarling and hissing from the right.

Putin’s probably prepared to endorse McPalin.

Mayor Ghouliani in a dollydo?

For the first time in a long time, I was perusing Andrew Sullivan last night before the speeches, and I came across a few things that really shifted my world.

The first, We Are Expecting Great And Mighty Things, is a couple of YouTube videos of Palin speaking at her church, with her pastors praying over her, saying how God had opened the way for her to become Governor, how important it is, and that Alaska will become a refuge for those in the lower 48 as we move into the Last Days.

And then there was this, The Pavlov Party:

…They are a religious and cultural identity party, primed to rally to anything their leaders say and question nothing. That’s why they’re so dangerous.

They can do anything and defend it – invade a country on false pretenses, grind the military into extreme danger, trash the Geneva Conventions, expand government at a record pace, threaten war with Iran and Russia – and still say with a straight face that they are the party of national security, fiscal restraint, foreign policy wisdom and military pride. It doesn’t matter what they do; these people believe in this cause because it is about God and America and their own identity. And when you have a major political party constructed like that, they can do anything. And they have.

And finally, A Bug, Not A Feature, where he points to this observation by Megan McArdle:

Contra my Democratic friends, I’m not sure that voters will see “But McCain really might die in office!” as a bug, rather than a feature.

and it clicked. In choosing Sarah Palin, McCain will be seen by those who believe in the End of Days to be acting as God’s agent. He will have placed her in the Vice Presidency, so that when God calls McCain home, she will be ready to ascend to the Presidency and, understanding the signs of the times, will lead our nation and its faithful through the Tribulation to the Rapture.

I was raised by a mom who spoke in tongues, who was unshakably convinced that everything that happens serves the purpose of moving the world closer to the dictatorship of the Antichrist, the Tribulation and the Final War, the Rapture, and the End of Days in which Jesus would return and (regrettably but necessarily) slaughter all who do not worship him and then rule for a thousand years before the final judgement.

This stuff was so real to her that she tried (unsuccessfully) to get a clause put in her will that would have activated it in the event she vanished into thin air (”Because when the Rapture comes, there won’t be a body, you see.”).

You know, I deeply resent Obama’s Fisa vote. He openly chose to give the very office he’s seeking the illusion of an authority to monitor all our electronic communications with nothing but “Trust me” in place of the Constitution’s mandate of judicial oversight based on probable cause. This is a power the Founders, could they see us now, would have no hesitation in saying was so dangerous as to be explicitly prohibited under any reasonable interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. For a while now, I’ve been essentially a single issue voter, that issue being the unrelenting subversion of the Republic by the Republicans and their enablers among the Democrats. In voting for Fisa, Obama has guaranteed that, if he becomes President, the abuses this reckless, unconstitutional law will inevitably produce will occur on his watch, and he will fully deserve the consequences.

But at this point, I can no longer afford to care too much what Obama intends with an unrestrained surveillance state at his disposal, or the glee with Bush and Cheney greeted Fisa’s passage.

What exactly does McCain think he’s doing? Does this idiot have any understanding at all of what he’s done, of the nature of the fire with which he is playing, that he’s activated a base who will vote believing that he will die in office, opening the way for the Lord’s servant, Sarah, to lead us into the Final Days?

I’m now officially scared.

Total job losses for 2008: 605,000 – Unemployment surges to 6.1%.

Stock market down more than 400 points since Palin’s speech:

Script, “More of the Same,” 30 seconds

BUSH: The fundamentals of our economy are strong.

MCCAIN: The fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.

ANNCR: Michigan is struggling, but some people don’t seem to notice…

Bush and McCain – more of the same: tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas.

Billions more in tax breaks for oil companies.

BUSH: The fundamentals of our economy are strong.

MCCAIN: The fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.

BUSH & MCCAIN (speaking in unison): The fundamentals of our/America’s economy are strong.

ANNCR: It sounds like a broken record. Because it is.

http://politicalticker.blogs.c…..-campaign/

Oh, and Jane, thank you so so much for what you’re doing!

Nine bows.

oops.

I totally agree it is hypocrisy, but the point is that a focus on Palin turns her into a martyr and presidential candidate.

Why does Petraeus hate the Republics?

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus has recommended that President Bush postpone sharp troop cuts in Iraq until next year, delaying a large-scale shift of combat forces to Afghanistan and reflecting concerns that widespread violence could return to Iraq.

Thanks very much.

I just called his office and they confirmed he said “uppity.” I told them that was a white supremacist terms and made the whole GOP look bad.

Bob Geiger says that the troops were not mentioned one time. I didn’t watch so I don’t know. Apparently he went over all the speeches and found no reference to those fighting.

Yes, I’m perfectly happy that Obama is staying away from it. But the issues are legitimate. And they are issues of education and health care which are both women’s issues and work well for Dems.

Thanks for the post Jane. You’re right, as usual. In the hyper-dysfunctional campaign family that is McCain, she’s a bright-shiny object. We’ve got stay strong on the issues and “not take the bait,” let McCain self-destruct.

The Barack TV piece makes a nice commentary on the power and import of being a community organizer…

http://www.barackobama.com/tv/

Enjoy.

Hope they all saved their generous Bush tax cuts. McCain tax cuts are on the way! Cutting taxes fixes all economic problems, right?

mcsame/mcnasty

the ticket to nowhere

pretty much.

it’s a trait most find repulsive, male or female makee no difference.

if she had the good sense to play the “sweet and sensible & articulate” role, she might get traction.

imo, she blew it in her 1st big speech, simply by showing her true self.
Someone else wrote the script, no doubt, but the bile was pure and genuine.
Truly ugly, over-the-top, extreme.

the End of Days in which Jesus would return and (regrettably but necessarily) slaughter all who do not worship him…

damn. Jesus is a serious bad-ass?

Any word as to what color bandana he might be wearing? Will there be some prison tats? Driving an Escalade with wild rims?

Just looking for some basic “how does he roll” info here – sounds like a guy I don’t want any part of.

Perhaps Obama should come forward with a “No Taxes At ALL!” pledge.

No more taxes – ever!

The IRS is an illegal, privately owned organization any way – and this would certainly trump the GOP position on taxes for all eternity.

McPain?

It would be great to see Hillary Clinton campaign for Obama on these things. I hope the Clintons are both done pouting. The Nation will be destroyed if McCain (or any Republic) becomes the next President.

Hillary Clinton is getting talking about by the Republican campaign team. They’re using statements she made about Obama during the primary season. She might be somewhat displeased. She may commence to counter Palin, if she hasn’t. Why hurry, though? Palin could be given more time to say nasty, indefensible things.

I don’t want to martyr her, but I do want to focus on issues that matter to women like health care and education. First lets get Bomb Bomb McSame, then lets get Palin. But to ignore her? No.

The GOP position is no taxes on rich people.

Results 1 – 10 of about 43,200 for mccain + “economy are strong”

Glad to see the blogosphere are starting to re-group:

Ariana Huffington–

And this is clearly McCain’s campaign strategy: inducing amnesia about the past and confusion about the future, attempting to hoodwink the American people about what he has become. Which is where Sarah Palin comes in. As a major distraction. In the effort to divert attention from the matter at hand — McCain’s embrace of all things Bush — Palin is the perfect storm.

Americans love the outsider plucked from obscurity. And Palin provides bucketfuls of the new and exciting. As long as voters and the media are caught up in the latest installment of As Sarah Turns or the Alaska version of All My Children, they aren’t paying attention to the lack of solutions McCain is offering to the serious crises that face us.

Perhaps you’d be good enough to come over and fix the pothole in our road. We’re getting too old and feeble, and I’d hate to have u twist yer ankle or break an axle. Thanks so much.

Jane Hamsher:

It’s been disheartening to see everyone sucked in by the questions about whether Palin’s daughter was the mother of the baby, or the pregnancy or the affair or any of the other Springer action. I realize we live in a People Magazine culture (or, as Digby notes, an American Idol culture) but turn this woman into a martyr and the Republicans own the news cycle.

Who, exactly, is “everyone”? This is like something Schmidt would say.

Uhhh…are you implying that teenage sex is fun while NON-teenage sex is not?

I understand. I guess it is a hard balance. Obviously Palin is not irrelevant. I suppose, right now, the question is putting the focus back on a McCain presidency.

Go after her on that fucking bridge, about which she’s lied about in both of her national appearances. Have an ad with that picture of her with the “Nowhere” shirt intoning “Don’t vote for a bridge to nowhere.”

IRS privately owned? It now uses private companies to help track tax cheats but the office itself is not private. Perhaps you were thinking of the Fed? Abolish THAT, not the IRS (just bar the use of private companies for muscle).

The Dems have Hillary and Michelle and PTB.

The GOPs have Sarah and Cindy and G&G.

And the winner is, tra la la … God & Guns.

Jane. I trust you don’t suggest that Obama ignore Palin’s lying about his record. Wimpiness of that sort was a big reason why Kerry “lost”. No?

I can definitely agree with that.

Traitor Joe

No taxes for anyone under $200K a year. 201-500 Ten percent tax, 501k to $1 million 20 percent. 1 million a year to 3 million – 40 percent. 3.1 and up 50 percent. Tax the corporations. Tariffs on imports.

Pit bulls, lipstick or not, make poor martyrs.

Sure, the bridge thing is fair game for showing hypocrisy (which should also include her enthusiastic use and seeking of earmarks) but I want her hit on seeking Fed dollars when her state actually has a big enough surplus from oil revenues to give every state citizen a fat check every year. Why is HER Alaska handing out fat checks while also sucking (more than any other state on a per capita basis) at the federal teat? Why has she been so keen to spend MY tax dollars in her state when it was flush with cash? Why didn’t she spend Alaska oil revenue bucks on all her projects rather than sucking up federal welfare?

No. No free passes to lie, no free passes to conceal a 17-century worldview behind a 21-century candidacy, no free passes to hide an appalling ignorance of the real world outside Alaska*, no free passes at all.

John McCain thinks this brainless bimbo is ready for the Presidency. Talking about Sarah Palin *is* relevant to talking about John McCain.

(* Sarah Palin got her first US Passport just last year. GWB is a globe-trotting man of the world by comparison.)

At least someone is asking the tough questions…just sayin’

CBC raises questions about Trig Palin’s birth.

who said she’s brainless?

suggest u not make that mistake.

never step directly on a rattlesnake when you can just as easily go around.

The point is that nobody votes for Vice President. Yes, she’s a terrible choice, clearly chosen for purely electoral purposes with no consideration of the good of the country, but the effective argument is what that tells us about John McCain’s judgment and character.

The negative side of “maverick” is “reckless,” which is what he was here. When the chips were down on the only important decision about his presidency that he will make during the campaign, he waited until the last minute and decided to wing it, choosing what he thought was best for him without finding out enough about her to know if she’d be good for the country.

Catching a neophyte politician in a blatant lie seems a little less weedy to me. The lie also personally made me angry. Brokaw signed off quickly Wednesday but he did slip in, over the din, “In fact, Palin was before that bridge until she found out there wouldn’t be federal money for it.”

and mui,

You both might enjoy a dinner conversation we had with our ten year old daughter last night.

She shared that she was thinking of running for Student Council. We said, “Great! What has motivated you?”

“You know I care about doing the ‘right thing’ when it comes to my friends and family,” she said.

“So, how does that aspect of your character make you want to consider running?” We asked.

“If you cannot focus on doing right by people first, then why consider doing anything that can create greater good for people? There are some things students at my school need. Some kids do not have access to computers at home. Some kids need tutoring after school but their families do not have the money. All students need fair access to resources, not just those who can afford it, ” she answered.

She continued with, “You can bet I will not say, ‘I’m a Pit Bull with lipstick.”

“What?” We asked.

“You know, Mrs. Palin said she was a Pit Bull with lipstick. What woman would refer to herself as a dog, a mean dog, with lip stick? I looked up Pit Bulls and did you know there are a number of countries that have banned them and countries and even states in the US with leashed, muzzled and neutered laws? Come on, what female refers to herself as a dog? Does she not know that even ten year olds know what a female dog is? And with lipstick? Not to mention she calls herself a barracuda? I looked up barracuda too. What’s with being a smelly fish that is a voracious predator and hunts using an ambush?”

“Do you know what would happen if I said in my speech to my class that I am a Pit Bull and barracuda? The kids would be in fits of laughter thinking I just called myself a stinky mean attacking fish or a mean female dog, you know the word — I’ll get in trouble if I say it— with lip stick?”

“I think sticking to what students need and how we can help our school community is the better way to go,” she said.

“Go for it sweetheart, it sounds like you have a great platform to campaign on,” we said.

“Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere” chanted about Palin might be more effective than “zero, zero, zero” chanted about Obama was.

Well, it really isn’t Jesus’ fault. He was just saying here we are, presumably powerless and treated as worthless scum by the evil empire we’re living in, but we’re not actually powerless. We can do a complete end-run around what the Romans consider to be their great power, and recreate a just society from the bottom up, by treating each other justly and fairly, helping each other, sharing what we have, as God wants us to do. Notwithstanding I’m now a Buddhist, I really love John Dominic Crossan’s take on what Jesus was about.

But you know how it is when myths get going. Folks can get carried away what with all the projecting of their own fears and hopes onto things. A good source for where the whole Rapture/End Times mythology comes from, the psychology that drives it, and how it connects to (in particular) Republican politics, is Gershom Gorenberg’s The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount.

She (and all like her) are objectively idiots. They believe the earth is 10,000 years old and was created in a big POOF! via magic fingers from an old man in the sky. She believes that the Iraq war is a crusade in which the soldiers are “doing god’s work there”. She doesn’t accept objective science from actual scientists when they produce data that is against her religio-political preconceptions (climate change, endangered species).

She is an idiot. A dangerous idiot. Just like Bush.

This was a great post Jane and I have been hoping someone would say something about this issue. I’m NO FAN whatsoever of Palin, but the attacks re her kids and baby were just sad. I was watching as MY PEOPLE mirrored rethug values and ugliness with all the “Springer stuff” and I just don’t happen to believe that’s necessary. She’s bad enough on her own without the trip into “what if” land.
Obi’s got it right. Stay away from her and hit McKept. There’s just a plethora of material there, we don’t need to go after the moose hunter here.
Thank you again for making this very valid and important point!

still, … nice research. bravo! heh.

link please on the final(*)? not that i’d mistrust. it’s just the times, dontchaknow.
we can’t be too careful.

i knew you’d understand. ;->

Wow. That from CBC. Need to shower after watching.

OT, but I was amused at this new WaPo article about the McCain campaign in Virginia:

McCain’s push in Virginia started well before he won the state GOP primary but, unlike Obama’s campaign, his staff said it has purposely kept most details secret to avoid revealing strategy.

Just like his strategy for catching bin Laden, apparently. “Really, we’re putting just as much effort into the state as Obama; ignore the fact that you don’t see anything happening!”

Someone needs to use this stuff against McCain. He is simply too dangerous to become President.

This is different in this case. McCain is statistically unlikely to survive a single term, certainly not two. He is ancient, riddled with cancer (combined with a totally degraded, ancient immune system), and very likely has major hypertension issues (RELEASE YOUR HEALTH RECORDS MCCAIN!), exacerbated by his explosive temper. His VP choice IS the next President should he actually be elected…and sooner than anyone realizes.

Hell, he could drop from a stroke on inauguration day and there the world would be, stuck with an End Timer/Rapture Seeker at the button.

TO HELL WITH THAT.

After that little speech she made, and the apparent reluctance to let Palin answer questions from the “liberal media”, I say we let Biden (and HRC, if she’s up to it) destroy her. I’m tired of being expected to play nice when the other side has absolutely no intention of doing so.

Republics have a long history of secret strategies. In 1968, it was Nixon’s secret strategy to win the Vietnam war.

Adie, anybody who believes that the Earth is about 6,000 years old is a brainless idiot who should be kept as far as possible from weapons, children, and the levers of power.

Actually, I think it is primarily up to Hillary – she could nail two birds with one stone by attacking Palin’s outright lies AND McCain’s misuse of her own words (she really needs to squelch that crap post haste).

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08…..0veep.html

“Ms. Palin appears to have traveled very little outside the United States. In July 2007, she had to get a passport before she visited members of the Alaska National Guard stationed in Kuwait, according to her deputy communications director, Sharon Leighow.”

And this is where HRC has to step up to the plate. The whole “unity” thing was nice, but let’s see her put her money where her mouth is.

I wish she would. It would also stop the belief that she wants McCain to win so that she can run again in 2012.

If they stick to issues, she will self destruct. imo.

Notice, McCain almost always has someone nearby to whisper to him if he blanks out on a reporter’s question.

(Lieberman, Graham, Cindy, or a high level campaign aide are most always attached to McCain during reporter interviews.)

McCain does ONE campaign event a day.

Is he a “Maverick”, or does he simply forget what his position was yesterday?

I think that is a fair question. Remember a few months ago when McCain wandered so far off his campaign’s talking points reservation, that his campaign that evening basically explained that John McCain was NOT speaking for the McCain campaign with the answer he gave earlier that day.

Remember, the press screened out George Bush’s malapropos and verbal blunders from public awareness during the 2000 campaign.

Remember recently the Katie Couric’ CBS Evening News re-arranged an interview with McCain by splicing answers from one question to a different question in the same interview. CBS later apologized for the “mistake”. The splicing resulted in McCain appearing more consistent with his campaign’s previous statements. The question is if that was the only time that “mistake” was EVER made by CBS News, darn the luck that it happened to be the same time the “mistake” was noticed by a sharp-witted witness to the original interview.

Here is what a fellow POW has to say about McCain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KjsEs46C70

Picking Palin was just Rovian slight of hand

A deliberate attempt to distract us and keep our minds off the issues

IMO, it also smacks of media manipulation. Palin was, for all intents and purposes, an unknown so the MSM has been doing a mad scramble to dig up everything on her–better that than “boring” stuff like, you know, discussing actual policy positions.

The cynic in me causes me to suspect that Rove and Co. knew about Bristol’s “bun in the oven” and counted on the story being over-sensationalized so the wingnuts could demonize the “liberal” media.

Will McCain be wired for any debates? If so, can it be exposed?

I would like to see a LOT more about her (and her hubby’s) ties to the Alaska Independence Party. I would like to see excerpts of her speech enthusiastically given before that party. I would like to hear how her beliefs/policies differ from the AIP’s (and the Constitution Party, the closely associated outright theocratic party that seeks to install a “Biblical law” over the Constitution).

It should be said that Biden needs to vet Palin since McCain would not.

Rove is not omnipotent. Many times stupid is just stupid. Seven years of W is proof, IMO.

Unlike the Chimp (who required the hardwire and the noticeable receiver between his shoulder blades) McCain has the same advantage of early onset Alzheimer’s suffers that Ronald Reagan did. The incredible scientific advancements in that arena since Reagan’s time have enabled the secret labs at Disney to take advantage of those muddled cerebral networks and create what is, in effect, a “StepfordTalk Express”

When reading blog discussions, I sometimes find myself feeling that I should point out that Christian evangelicals aren’t all the same politically, doctrinally, or philosophically. Jim Wallis and Jimmy Carter, for instance, shouldn’t be lumped with Richard Land and James Dobson.

True. Also, there’s no room for Holy Joe to stand beside McCain on the debate stages.

thanks for the link.

i realize what you’re saying at 109.

I also know fairly well a highly educated PhD in biosciences who heads a student group at a large university that is totally into that wingnut nonsense about biblical earth & non-evolution. It is absolute mind-boggling to me, but such people DO exist and exert considerable influence on some around them. This guy is smart, in some ways, published much solid science in his health medicine-related field, etc. etc., yet he has this humungous blind spot.

Further: in this day and age, a LOT of otherwise smart kids are being home-schooled by people using only nonsensical, canned, faux-truth materials.

Listen to the tv preachers. You can’t say EVERYONE in their enthusiastic congregations are stupid idiots, and yet there they are, swaying and waving and believing incredibly wrong-headed junk, lining up to be “cured” and “saved”.

Misinformed does not equate totally with stupid idiot.

Some of these people, I might be more apt to refer to as brain-washed by an especially powerful source, especially when it’s all wrapped up in religion and neatly-bound books.

Those sorts of people often vote in a block, blindly, or at least they have in the past. You KNOW they do.

I realize I’m painting with too broad a brush here, so don’t smack me for being anti-religion, please. I am referring to what I regard as a MIS-use of religion, proffered in a manner designed to stifle dissent and marginalize or shun “non-believers” among the congregations, if they dare stray at all from the official version of “truth”.

That is how non-stupid people can be found to do stupid things. Eh?

AMEN! ;->

That is how non-stupid people can be found to do stupid things. Eh?

And, conversely, there are times when stupid people do incredibly astute things. Like John McCain picking Sarah Palin AFTER MEETING HER ONE TIME!

But, the MSM is more than happy to spend oodles of airtime on the Obama vs. Palin question…as if it is a foregone conclusion that their should be one.

That’s Jane’s point: pure and simple, don’t let that be a question. It isn’t just non sequitur, it is stupid!

oh, and not just that.

greed and runamok ego drives some others.

agreed, for the most part.

whether choice of palin was astute? pending…

I’ve been typeing “their” when I mean “there” a lot lately. I miss the edit option! But, the way the poor servers have been sloggin’ lately, that concept must drift into the stuff of FDL legend.

oh i hate that. spelling concern trolls, that is. *g*

P. E. A. C. E.

Palin’s behavior of flying after the onset of labor should be addressed. Trouble is, it would take considerable will power and adroitness for Obama, Biden, or a campaign representative to discuss that behavior while successfully avoiding speaking about Palin family matters that the Republican team would love to see Obama and Biden go after.

I called Westmoreland’s office. spoke with an agitated young man who said the congressman didn’t know it was a racially loaded word. I asked if there was/will be an apology/public statement. He said, “Yes, it’s in the press.” “Where?” I ask. “I don’t know” he replies. “Press release?” “Is it on your website?” “No.” “So to sum up, you have a statement, but you don’t know where it is, or what it says and it’s not on your website.” “Correct.”

Westmoreland is beyond shameful. I’m relying on the belief his constituents can’t read. I posted on it. Nice pic of Westmorelads family.

Morning, Hope.
At this point, Westmoreland’s flunkies would tell you that their critter knew what ‘grits’ meant.

Thank you! Yes, I know, and it’s important to appreciate this. A tradition as old as Christianity is complex with a lot of depth and richness to it. But sadly, for those of us who don’t have much connection in our daily lives to a kind of progressive Christianity, other varieties of the tradition are more much visible in our culture.

It’s not alone in this. I have some understanding of Christianity from having been raised Lutheran, but to the extent that I know anything about Islam, much of it comes from conversations on the excellent public radio program Speaking of Faith. There’s a lot of good there, and a lot of beauty, too, despite the truly horrific things some do ostensibly in its name. But the heart of Islam is not as visible in the media as it would need to be for people who aren’t actively looking for the information to get a balanced understanding.

Beautifully said.
From a fallen Lutheran.

Bahahahaha Newtoner…them Westmoreland’s boys is dumber than a rooster in socks.

Westmoreland is obviously one of Newt’s Republicans in a can.

McCain was what was what turned up at the bottom of the barrel after it was completely drained. There’s no way his candidacy is a threat to the Obama-Biden ticket. Nor is his candidacy going to have any coat-tail effects. The only effect it will have will be to drive people further and further away from him.

jane, normally i’d agree, but one of maggie o’connell’s main political platforms is abstinence education.

her daughter is proof positive that it obviously doesn’t work. i think that’s fair game.

and as to the rumor that the downs baby wasn’t hers but her daughter’s, well, that rumor started and has been running around in alaska. blogtopia and yes, i coined that phrase, only amplified it. and again, if it turned out to be true, it would have spoken to the “abstinence only” platform of her agenda.

and to be fair, there is an incredible amount of circumstantial evidence, albeit no smoking gun, about the downs baby being the daughter’s and not the mother’s (palin’s long flight and drive home between water breaking and delivery, the daughter’s long absence from school right before the baby was born). so, while the story has the patina of smarminess, it’s not made up out of whole cloth a la drudge just to denigrate an opponent.

that being said, there’s plenty of real, political problems maggie o’connell has that we can hammer on (trooper gate, no foreign policy experience, attempted book banning, etc).

60 days to go

McCain/Palin Questions from Media–Zip/Zero

McCain/Palin Questions from unwashed public at campaign stops –Zip/Zero

Obama–takes questions form both at nearly every stop several times a week.

Total job losses for 2008: 605,000 – Unemployment surges to 6.1%.

And McCain was talking about eliminating Unemployment insurance last night…and replacing it with some untested and unspecific plan to pay workers “part of the difference” between a mandatory low paying job and their old job…WHILE they also are compelled to go to a JC to get “reskilled” for a “decent paying job”.

And we all know that the Republicans consider “decent pay” somewhere below the minimum wage that most of them voted against last year!

Just how is imitating Kerry’s shiftboat silence going to win this campaign?

Attack her in the air, on the beaches, in the streets, at every opportunity- and use the attacks to show McCain’s failed judgment, pandering, and reckless impulsiveness, etc.