Smackdown

CNN's Campbell Brown has a few words for the folks in McCain's campaign who are now scapegoating Sarah Palin.....YOU PICKED HER.



So which is it? Was she this bad all along and they lied to us about her qualifications? or Are they trying to protect themselves by putting all the blame on her?

My guess is its a little bit of both.

What's gone wrong?

If Jesus Ran for President...McCain's attack ad

This is one of the most irreverent pieces of satire I've ever come across and fair warning it may offend some people. Personally, I love it.

For my conservative friends that need a push...a video

I know that there are some of you out there who aren't Democrats and the thought of a "liberal" president worries you. I know that you aren't all Moveon.org members like me who are excited to vote for Barack and you worry that if you do cast that vote you may be perceived to be the same type of bleeding-heart-liberal-hippie-weirdo that I am.

Rest assured - 1) your ballot is private and 2) you will not instantly become a soldier of the far left.

Here is a video of Republicans and/or conservatives that are voting their conscience this election. I would venture to say that they aren't excited about their decision, some even look a little bothered by it, but they all admit it is the right decision to make. The stakes are too high and the McCain/Palin choice is wrong.



Will you put your country first? or your party?

A note from "fake" America

If you missed the McCain campaign's "real" America BS this weekend, or even if you didn't miss it, John Stewart laid it all out for us on Monday night as only he and the Daily Show can. I thought the Rove crap that divided us so badly between 9/11 and the start of the Iraq War was finally fading away. Unfortunately the McCain/Palin campaign is seeing its revival as necessary.



In this next clip we get to see what a wonderland Wasilla is and that Gov. Palin's replacement in the mayor's office thinks that she's ready to be VP too. Words fail me....you simply must watch.

The Hate Talk Express

Another winner from Paul Hipp (www.PaulHipp.com).

The endorsements are pouring in

Here's a link to excerpts from the editorial page of papers from across the country that have endorse Obama.

A complete list of papers and who they have endorsed can be found at Editor & Publisher's website. The current tally as of 11:30 Sunday morning is -

This brings Obama's lead over McCain-Palin by this measure of daily papers to about 4-1, at 76-18, including most of the major papers that have decided so far.

In addition to newspapers Obama also picked up the long awaited Colin Powell endorsement on Meet the Press this morning.

As reported, Colin Powell just endorsed Obama, calling him a "transformational figure." He listed several reasons for his choice:

• Obama's response to the economic meltdown
• Obama's ability to reach all classes, races, and parties
• Obama's rhetorical ability and his substance
• McCain's erratic response to the economic crisis
• Palin's lack of preparedness for the Presidency
• McCain's smears
• The wingnuttia of the Republican Party
• The danger of two more conservatives on SCOTUS (he's probably thinking about all the anti-torture decisions)
• The attacks on Muslims (he mentions a Muslim woman burying her son in
  Arlington)--this was one of the most powerful parts of the endorsement

Joe "The Plumber"

Truly bizarre that this guy became the focal point of the debate last night considering that he is -

1) Not a plumber
2) A registered republican
3) Has an open tax lien against him
4) Might be related to Charles Keating
5) Might already own several businesses.

An despite his attempt to hit Obama with a "gotcha" question, Barack engaged him and discussed his policies and why they will be better for our country.

How do you think McCain would treat an Obama supporter who asked him a question about health care on the street? My guess based on last night is that he would have rolled his eyes, stuck out his tongue and twitched nervously.

Troopergate Report

So the report is finally out, but I'm sure it will be spun as not meaning much.

However when the first finding is this -

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

I don't see how that argument will hold any water.

She "abused her power," her husband was putting pressure on people within the administration for personal reasons, and she and her staff refused to cooperate in the investigation as she promised that she would back in July. There were 10 subpoenas that were ignored by her staff and her husband. She also refused to provide any of the emails that were requested.

Once again this shows that McCain and his campaign did not vet her before picking her. They helped her run interference as much as possible and tried to squash this investigation since day one of her being picked. Without McCain she may have been cooperative and who knows how much else would have come out.

However they spin this it is now on the record that she abused her power as governor.

UPDATE: Time magazine's take on this report is that it gives us some interesting insight into the competency of the Governor's administration.

But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so.
The 263 pages of the report show a co-ordinated application of pressure on Monegan so transparent and ham-handed that it was almost certain to end in public embarrassment for the governor. The only surprise is that Troopergate is national news, not just a sorry piece of political gristle to be chewed on by Alaska politicos over steaks at Anchorage's Club Paris.
A harsh verdict?
Consider the report's findings. Not only did people at almost every level of the Palin administration engage in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, but Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful. Still, the emails and calls continued — in at least one instance on recorded state trooper phone lines. (emphasis in bold is mine)

An Honorable Campaign

Obama clearly won the debate again last night and I found it interesting that John McCain didn't have the guts to bring any of the slimy campaign trail attacks that he and his running mate have been slinging into that format. He clearly doesn't like Obama, but apparently he knows that the crap he's been saying only works in front of a partisan crowd of followers. The lynch mobs that they've been attracting lately have been shouting things like "terrorist", "kill him" and telling a black media sound man to "sit down boy." He and Gov. Palin are certainly bringing out the worst in people. Not the kind of leadership I want and I'm counting on the majority of America to feel the same on November 4th.

Talking Points Memo put together this video that illustrates just how slimy the attacks have become and how many times he vowed to run an honorable campaign. McCain has no honor and is clearly desperate.

A Must Read Article

The new Rolling Stone has an article entitled Make-Believe Maverick
A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

This is the story of the real John McCain, the one who has been hiding in plain sight. It is the story of a man who has consistently put his own advancement above all else, a man willing to say and do anything to achieve his ultimate ambition: to become commander in chief, ascending to the one position that would finally enable him to outrank his four-star father and grandfather.
In its broad strokes, McCain's life story is oddly similar to that of the current occupant of the White House. John Sidney McCain III and George Walker Bush both represent the third generation of American dynasties. Both were born into positions of privilege against which they rebelled into mediocrity. Both developed an uncanny social intelligence that allowed them to skate by with a minimum of mental exertion. Both struggled with booze and loutish behavior. At each step, with the aid of their fathers' powerful friends, both failed upward. And both shed their skins as Episcopalian members of the Washington elite to build political careers as self-styled, ranch-inhabiting Westerners who pray to Jesus in their wives' evangelical churches.
In one vital respect, however, the comparison is deeply unfair to the current president: George W. Bush was a much better pilot.

Palin the "Post Turtle"

Apparently the following has been circulating via email and I found it to be a very profound commentary on the republican ticket. -

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year old Texas rancher whose hand was caught in a gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Sarah Palin and her bid to be a heartbeat away from being President.

The old rancher said, ‘Well, ya know, Palin is a post turtle.’

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a post turtle was.

The old rancher said, ‘When you’re driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that’s a post turtle.’

The old rancher saw a puzzled look on the doctor’s face, so he continued to explain. ‘You know she didn’t get up there by herself, she doesn’t belong up there, she doesn’t know what to do while she is up there, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put her up there to begin with.

I know that there are still those out there who admire Senator McCain and will consider voting for him regardless of the fact that he promises more of what Bush gave us. In 2000 I actually would have considered voting republican had he won the nomination, but it is not 2000 anymore, he does not have the principles that he had back then and he is the dumb ass that picked someone completely unqualified for national office to be his running mate. Please do not reward this behavior with your vote!!

Bushonomics

The key economic factors on day one of Bush's first term compared to today.

January 19, 2001: 10,587.59
September 29, 2008: 10,365.45

NASDAQ Jan 19, 2001 = 2770.38
NASDAQ September 29, 2008 = 1983.73

CPI, January 19, 2001: 175
CPI, September 29, 2008: 219

Dollar exchange with Euro, January 19, 2001: 1.068
Dollar exchange with Euro, September 29, 2008: .695 (from Emptywheel)

How are you feeling eight years later?? McCain promises more of the same.

Biden comments on the debate

Well, as they say there were no "game changing" moments in last night's debate, but I think for the undecided voters the outcome was quite decisive. Obama is capable and ready to be president. McCain is grumpy, smug, and condescending. All of the "snap" polls seem to point to an Obama victory last night (CBS, CNN, Fox's focus group)

And the above video also highlights the fact that McCain couldn't trust his running mate to be on TV spinning for him after the debate. That is extremely telling. How can America trust that she's ready to take his place as president when he doesn't even trust her to talk to the press?

Her interview with Katie Couric was just plain sad. Jack Cafferty on CNN nails it -

New Obama attack ad....

Lipstick on a pig

They can call themselves reformers as much as they want. That doesn't make it so. Especially when all the evidence out there proves the opposite. She obviously wasn't against earmarks enough to send any of the money back that came directly from earmarks. She sang the praises of Alaska's Congressional delegation and their abililty to direct money to her city and state. She supported Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens vigorously until it became a problem to do so.

“John McCain says he’s about change, too — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics. That’s just calling the same thing something different.”
With a laugh, he added: “You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it’s still going to stink after eight years.”

Walter Reed Middle School backdrop to McCain's speech

In light of this strange photo confusion with the Walter Reed Middle School a thought occurred to me – perhaps they actually did vet Gov. Palin, but because their attention to detail is so poor they didn’t find out any of the things that the rest of the blogosphere and media was quickly able to come up with.

A little misspelling here or there….perhaps they interviewed people who know a different Sarah Palin.

Perhaps they got confused and vetted Gov. of Arizona Janet Napolitano instead. Honest mistake – she’s a woman, its McCain’s home state. She’s right below Palin in the alphabetical list of Governors (by state).

It would certainly explain no one showing up in Alaska until the last minute. He had a deadline. He wanted to announce Friday morning to step on Obama’s headlines and wasn’t going to change that.

I can see the staff now when she showed up for the final face to face with McCain and the top aides – “That’s her? Oh, crap! That’s not who we’ve been looking into.”

They’ve been scrambling ever since.

Two great quotes

I know I just posted an item saying we should focus on McCain and the big differences between the tickets. But I was just reading some items about Mrs. Palin's screecher of a speech last night and I just had to share these two quotes and links to great commentary -

My high school had pep rallies, too. We still sucked. (by occams hatchet @ Daily Kos)

and

"Jesus was a Community Organizer, and Pontius Pilate was a Governor."

(From the post Palin-polooza Wrap Up @ Mudflats).



Makes me want to give more money to the Obama Campaign. How about you?

No Change

Despite the fervor over Gov. Palin in the media and here in the blogosphere (I admit it was pretty hard for me not to get swept up in it) we need to remember that in addition to the poor decision making skills this shows for Sen. McCain that the issues and the contrast between Obama and McCain are the same as they were before Friday --

Two great advertisements from the Obama camp -




Its time to step back and refocus efforts on the larger issues that this has always been about. John McCain is promising more of what George Bush has given us for eight years.

Barack Obama is promising real change.

I've been thinking about a comment that my brother-in-law made the other day a lot. He was hoping for more specifics from Obama on Thursday night about policy issues and what the "Change" will look like. I'll concede that we might not have gotten nitty gritty details, but I think the change that he is offering is crystal clear -

• He will not do foreign policy like Bush.
• He will not give tax breaks to the wealthiest 5% of our citizens.
• He will not allow the middle class to suffer disproportionately
• He will not allow the torture that is being done in our name.
• He will not continue the war in Iraq.
• He will not be beholden to special interest groups or religious extremists.
• He will not appoint people to the Supreme Court (or other key positions like VP) just to satisfy his base.
• He will not allow us to continue to be beholden to foreign oil or to pretend that we can come up with enough of our own oil to solve the problem.
• He will not plan to dismantle Social Security and attempt to hand it over to the "private sector"
• He will not leave 47 million Americans without health care.
• He will not work to overturn Roe v. Wade.

John McCain WILL. He will offer you what Bush has given us for the last eight years. What kind of "reform" is that?

Will she last the week?

The Palin story just keeps getting better (or worse) depending on your perspective.

Honestly, I think it'll be amazing if the RNC Convention actually nominates her and officially puts her on the ticket this week. It looked like a hasty pick on Friday, but now it looks like they didn't do any vetting of her at all. Greg Sargent has a complete breakdown over at TPM -

• Trooper/Wooten-gate (abuse of power scandal)
• Was big supporter of the "Bridge to Nowhere" and congressional pork for Alaska in general, despite claims made in her speech. i.e. She lied in her introductory speech to the nation.
• Helped fund raise for 527 for Ted "Under Indictment" Stevens
• Was almost recalled as mayor for firing people who didn't politically support her
• Was a member of Alaska Independence Group that wants to secede from USA and/or doesn't think vote to make Alaska a state was legit.

The picture on the front page of Talking Points Memo next to the headline "Off The Rails: Sarah Palin's Very Bad Day" is priceless

And although I find it all quite fascinating, in a Jerry Springer/Maury Povich kind of way, I'm not even going to touch either baby controversy (the one she had in April or the one her pregnant teenage daughter is carrying now). Other than to say --I thought the McCain camp had some young whipper snappers pulling up THE GOOGLE for him.

Never mind, I can't help myself. It was pretty easy for folks to find some pretty bizarre questions that surrounded the Governors surprise pregnancy and really strange choices regarding her and baby Trig's safety the day he was born.

UPDATE: What did I tell you the other day? I am ready to contact Rachel Maddow and ask for a spot on her new MSNBC show. We think alike.