Hat tip to the folks over at Texans for Obama.
Monday, September 08, 2008
How long before we learn she never shot a moose?
Frank Rich's latest opinion piece.
We still don’t know a lot about Palin except that she’s better at delivering a speech than McCain and that she defends her own pregnant daughter’s right to privacy even as she would have the government intrude to police the reproductive choices of all other women. Most of the rest of the biography supplied by her and the McCain camp is fiction.
She didn’t say “no thanks” to the “Bridge to Nowhere” until after Congress had already abandoned it but given Alaska a blank check for $223 million in taxpayers’ money anyway. Far from rejecting federal pork, she hired lobbyists to secure her town a disproportionate share of earmarks ($1,000 per resident in 2002, 20 times the per capita average in other states). Though McCain claimed “she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities,” she has never issued a single command as head of the Alaska National Guard. As for her “executive experience” as mayor, she told her hometown paper in Wasilla, Alaska, in 1996, the year of her election: “It’s not rocket science. It’s $6 million and 53 employees.” Her much-advertised crusade against officials abusing their office is now compromised by a bipartisan ethics investigation into charges that she did the same.
How long before we learn she never shot a moose?
Given the actuarial odds that could make Palin our 45th president, it would be helpful to know who this mystery woman actually is. Meanwhile, two eternal axioms of our politics remain in place. Americans vote for the top of the ticket, not the bottom. And in judging the top of the ticket, voters look first at the candidates’ maiden executive decision, their selection of running mates. Whatever we do and don’t know about Palin’s character at this point, there is no ambiguity in what her ascent tells us about McCain’s character and potential presidency.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Video: AIP Vice Chair says Palin member before Mayor, all kinds of problems with ethics, infiltrate a major party
This of Dexter Clark is vice-chair of the Alaskan Independence Party at the 2nd Secessionist Convention making some very interesting comments regarding Sarah Palin and their cause. The AIP now denies the Palin membership and has issued a release. Somebody is Lying!! Rather strange.
ALASKA FIRST!
Until we as Alaskans receive our Ultimate Goal, the AIP will continue to strive to make Alaska a better place to live with less government interference in our everyday lives.
The Alaskan Independence Party's goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:
1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
McCain: Change is coming...supports Obama
There is only one campaign that has talked about change since day one. That's Obama. McCain now is the new change agent? Do they think your stupid? I love it!
Alaskans: Palin is “Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean”
“So Sambo beat the bitch!”
This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama’s win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat’s primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively. More here.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Palin: Pipeline to nowhere
Truth Serum Alert:
PALIN: "I fought to bring about the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history. And when that deal was struck, we began a nearly forty billion dollar natural gas pipeline to help lead America to energy independence. That pipeline, when the last section is laid and its valves are opened, will lead America one step farther away from dependence on dangerous foreign powers that do not have our interests at heart.What I got out her speech last night. Absolutely no substance, exaggerated story line and a string of lies. As a parent of a special needs child for over nine years now, I found her line of special needs advocacy...well offensive.
THE FACTS: Palin implies that construction has begun on a major natural gas pipeline from the top of Alaska into Canada. That is not correct.
In fact, no building has begun and actual construction is years away, if it ever happens. This summer the Alaska Legislature, at Palin's request, passed a bill under which the state will issue a "license" to a Canadian energy company, TransCanada Corp., and pay it up to $500 million as an incentive to someday build this enormous project, which Alaska politicians have long sought with little success. The license is not a construction contract, and federal energy regulators have not yet approved the project.
Why must Sarah Palin lie so much? Because they have nothing positive to run on. It really is all about the disastrous past eight years and more of same.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Bush "Same" Convention "Same"
I really love this ad. It's fits well with tonight's republican convention in many different ways. GW also gave the Democrats a free ad.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Hillary to Palin: Gloves off
Advisers to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Sunday that Senator John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate would lead to a greater role for Mrs. Clinton as she campaigned this fall on behalf of her former rival, Senator Barack Obama.
Mrs. Clinton’s friends said she was galled that Ms. Palin might try to capitalize on a movement that Mrs. Clinton, of New York, built among women in the primaries. And Democrats used strong words on Sunday to rebut the notion: Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said that women would not be “seduced” by the Republican ticket, and Guy Cecil, the former political director of Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, said it was “insulting” for Republicans to compare Ms. Palin to Mrs. Clinton.
I'll show you reform!
Monday, September 01, 2008
ABC: GOP suspends most convention activities with hookers and blow
This is just to good. Pass it on.
As residents of New Orleans were fleeing Hurricane Gustav, top Republican party officials donned pink boas and swigged vodka shots at a wild whirl of corporate and lobbyist-paid parties this weekend in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Many corporate sponsors and their lobbyists carried through with plans for lavish entertainment of GOP lawmakers and others despite calls from the campaign of Sen. John McCain that Republicans should tone down the convention festivities.
"We will be contacting corporations and others to ask them to be respectful of events in the gulf," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said Sunday afternoon.
Yet, last night lobbyists for the National Rifle Association, Lockheed Martin and the American Trucking Association put on a raucus six-hour party at a downtown bar featuring music by the band "Hookers and Blow." There was no evidence of any actual prostitutes or cocaine.
Congressman Bill Shuster (R-PA), a GOP House deputy whip, was seen meeting with a group of lobbyists who bemoaned McCain's call to tone down the parties which had already been paid for.
Shuster said he was praying for the people of the Gulf coast and said, despite Sen. McCain's call to "tone things down," there was no need to curtail corporate parties until after the Hurricane hit land.
Watch Brian Ross reporting on the Money Trail tonight from Minneapolis on World News with Charles Gibson.
Along the Mississippi last night, corporate lobbyists for the chemical industry were entertaining Ohio Republicans on two large yachts.
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), one of about 700 guests, said he "could not remember" who paid the costs of the river cruise.
Ohio Republicans later said $21,000 had been raised for relief charities during the evening.
Saturday night, 22 big corporations sponsored a pig roast and "booze cruise" for California Congressmen and delegates on Lake Minnetonka, west of Minneapolis.
There appeared to be no plans to cancel any of the lavish corporate parties planned for Republicans, although some lobbyists said they would invite Red Cross representatives and raise money for its relief efforts.
Many delegates at a party Saturday night for GOP convention CEO Maria Cino said they saw no reason to stop the good time because of events in New Orleans.
"Everyone goes through hard times," said Wisconsin delegate Jeff Larson.
More than a hundred people jammed a Minneapolis restaurant where waiters wore pink wigs and guests danced through the night as they wrapped themselves and their partners with pink boas.
Five pink spotlights were set up outside of the invitation-only party. ABC News reporters were told they could not enter.
Asked about the appropriateness of the gathering, Republican National Committeeman Tony Parker walked away from ABC News cameras, saying, "I don't want to talk with you."
Another Republican guest hid his face from cameras, wrapping a pink boa around his eyes and nose.
The executive director of the National Association of Manufacturers, Jay Timmons, a prominent Washington lobbyist, said, "I don't think it's a legitimate question," when asked if he felt funny attending the gala at a time of crisis in New Orleans.
"I think if the hurricane hits New Orleans there will definitely be a lot of change of plans," Timmons said.
At least 200 parties had been scheduled by corporate executives and lobbyists for the Republican gathering, much as they did last week at the Democratic convention in Denver.
Scarborough and Buchanan laugh at Palin pick
I found this little gem at Kos. Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan react to the Sarah Palin selection and validate Obama. It's a funny piece and a topic of conversion that most likely occurred at many kitchen tables this weekend. It did at mine.
New poll: Obama hits 50%
USAToday/Gallup: Obama 50%, McCain 43%.
OK, the folks at CNN can now dial back on the claim that the race is even.
Governor Palin took on Ted Stevens. If she can take him on, she can take on the Russians
I kid you not, this is the GOP's spin on their new candidate for VP. Lindsey Graham looks so lost and confused on how to respond to the experience issue. And what does this say about their own party. Republican = Russian.
Taking on Ted Stevens.
Despite her claims to be a reformer and “govern with integrity”, Palin has kept up her relationship with indicted Seanator Ted Stevens, the father of the bridge to nowhere. He endorsed her for Governor in 2006 and, on July 2, 2008, Stevens and Palin held a joint press conference on energy issues. As Steven’s hugged Palin she said “I have great respect for the Senator… He needs to be heard across America. His voice, his experience, his passion needs to be heard across America–so that Alaska can contribute more.”
Palin was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it.
The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere." They're still feeling pain today in Ketchikan, over Palin's subsequent decision to use the bridge funds for other projects -- and over the timing of her announcement, which they say came in a pre-dawn press release that seemed aimed at national news deadlines.Here is more to the McCain Lie/spin. Now that's a Maverick!
Update: If the above wasn't enough for you you...here's more.
Sarah Palin's record in office is facing increasing scrutiny after it emerged that she misled Republican supporters when she was presented to the nation as Senator John McCain's running mate.
The Governor of Alaska gave a misleading version of events over a controversial bridge project in her home state when she made her maiden speech as the presumptive nominee.
Mrs Palin told a cheering audience in Ohio that she had turned down an offer from the US Congress to build the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere", which would have connected Gravina Island with Ketchikan International, an airport in Alaska's southeast serving just 200,000 passengers a year. Mr McCain routinely cites the £100 million project as a symbol of wasteful central government spending.
As she introduced herself to Republicans and the American public on Friday, the virtually unknown Mrs Palin said: "I championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. In fact, I told Congress ... 'thanks, but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said we'd build it ourselves."
However it emerged that in a 2006 interview with the Anchorage Daily News during her gubernatorial campaign, Mrs Palin had a different view of the bridge.
Asked "would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?" she replied: "Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now - while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Fort Bend Democrats - Labor Day Kickoff
If your in my neck of the woods, make it point to visit the new Fort Bend Dems headquarters in Sugar Land for their campaign kickoff. This is your chance to meet old and new friends, hear some great speakers, eat some grub and pick up your yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons and tee-shirts. Lets turn Fort Bend Blue.
Sunday Afternoon, August 31 - 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. Countywide Kickoff for Labor Day Campaigning Weekend, Sugar Land Community Center, 226 Matlage Way, Sugar Land [MAP]. Statewide and local candidates will be there to help us kickoff the major campaign season. Keynote speaker will be Congressman Al Green of Texas CD 9. Al is the silver-tongued devil who always delivers a stemwinder of a speech. Now with a party united and with excellent candidates up and down the ballot, come and listen to a speech to kick off the campaign season.
Palin booed when mentions Hillary
Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton.
Perhaps mentioning a liberal Democrat at a Republican rally isn't such a good idea.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was booed tonight when she said Sen. Hillary Clinton's name.
At the Consol Energy ballfield in Washington, Pennsylvania, Palin delivered essentially the same biographical stump speech as she did in Dayton, Ohio on Friday, pointing out that it is almost 80 years to the day since women in the United States got the right to vote..
But this time, when she mentioned the women who came before her citing the history-making nomination of Geraldine Ferraro, as well as Clinton's "determination and grace" in the 2008 Democratic primary, boos greeted Palin. They were long and loud near the press section.
Palin plowed on, noting that Clinton got 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest ceiling and "it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet."
Friday, August 29, 2008
It's Sarah who?
Kos could not of said it best.
Let's be honest: John McCain clearly wanted Tom Ridge or Joe Lieberman, but he was afraid to buck his party's choice ideologues. So then they looked at Mittens, but having a baker's dozen homes wasn't looking so hot. So he figured that with Pawlenty, he might make a play for Minnesota, but that got shot down over the last week as it become increasingly obvious that Biden would wipe the floor with him in their debate.
Throw in Obama's ground-shifting speech last night, and it was clear that McCain had to throw a hail mary to just remain in the game, much less be competitive.
So we get Sarah Palin, who has a fairly compelling personal story and is an attractive woman, but has scant political experience, zero name recognition outside of political junky circles, faces an ethical investigation by her own legislature, and will now be forced to run a grueling national campaign despite having an infant child at home.
Those are the marks of desperation, and really, given his precarious electoral position, John McCain had no choice.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
How many houses do you own?
John McCain said in an interview with Politico on Wednesday "that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own."
"I think -- I'll have my staff get to you," McCain said. "It's condominiums where -- I'll have them get to you."
The answer, according to the group Progressive Accountability, is an even 10 combined homes, ranches, condos, and lofts, together worth an estimated $13,823,269.
Not remembering how many shoes have is understandable...but houses!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Dems, Can we please fight back??
This is what happens when the dems don't fight back.
John is hits a a point of concern for those of us just a little tired of the same old, same old.
AP has a huge new story out about the Democrats' "patriotism problem." And AP is correct. Our party lets the Republicans impugn our patriotism with, well, impunity, and then we wonder why every election, and on practically every issue, we have to deal with attacks on our patriotism. Why? Because they work. (The public is already seeing McCain as more patriotic than Obama.) Why do they work? Because we don't fight back. The appropriate response to someone questioning your patriotism isn't to say "you're wrong" or "I object!" The appropriate response is to punch the guy in the face, rhetorically or otherwise. Wesley Clark didn't even question John McCain's patriotism - he simply questioned McCain's qualifications for the presidency. McCain responded by punching Wesley Clark in the face, then dragged him around tied to the back of a truck for a week for good measure (and no one in the party came to Clark's defense, big surprise there). McCain didn't just say "stop it," McCain made sure that neither Clark nor anyone else would dare question his commander in chief credentials ever again.Update: Perry seems to agree.
What has our side done to bloody McCain for questioning our patriotism? What have we ever done to fight back when the Republicans question our patriotism, be it in the Congress or at the ballot box? How many times do we have to write about this Achilles Heel before Dems realize it ain't going away? We deal with this issue every election, and on every issue, because Democrats either don't have the balls to fight back, or they don't have the brains. Either way, it's pathetic, and make us looks weak (and unpatriotic). And it's happening again. And again. And again.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.
Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60's and 70's. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John's age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.
I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.
It is also disappointing to see him take on and support Bush's war in Iraq, even stating we might be there for another 100 years. For me John represents the entrenched and bankrupt policies of Washington-as-usual. The past 7 years have proven to be disastrous for our country. And I believe John's views on war, foreign policy, economics, environment, health care, education, national infrastructure and other important areas are much the same as those of the Bush administration.
I'm disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican. On some issues he is a maverick. But his voting record is far to the right. I fear for his nominations to our Supreme Court, and the consequent continuing loss of individual freedoms, especially regarding moral and religious issues. John is not a religious person, but he has taken every opportunity to ally himself with some really obnoxious and crazy fundamentalist ministers lately. I was also disappointed to see him cozy up to Bush because I know he hates that man. He disingenuously and famously put his arm around the guy, even after Bush had intensely disrespected him with lies and slander. So on these and many other instances, I don't see that John is the "straight talk express"
