History has been made

I'm disappointed in Texas, but I'm proud of the country.

PalinAsPresident.com

newsday.com | Palin uses her elected office to promote religious causes, at times with public money

Palin uses her elected office to promote religious causes, at times with public money

By GARANCE BURKE | Associated Press Writer
12:59 PM EDT, October 11, 2008

WASILLA, Alaska (AP) _ The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God's will from the governor's office.

What she didn't tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.

An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.

. . . cont.

The New York Times | Legislative Panel: Palin Abused Authority

Legislative Panel: Palin Abused Authority

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 10, 2008

Filed at 11:47 p.m. ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled her reputation as a reformer on John McCain's Republican ticket.

Investigator Stephen Branchflower, in a report to a bipartisan panel that looked into the matter, found Palin in violation of a state ethics law that prohibits public officials from using their office for personal gain.

. . . cont.

baltimoresun.com | McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred

McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred

By Frank Schaeffer
October 10, 2008

John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.

At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.

Shame!

. . . cont.

The Associated Press | NY election mix-up: 'Osama' on the ballot

NY election mix-up: 'Osama' on the ballot

By RICHARD RICHTMYER – 22 hours ago

TROY, N.Y. (AP) — Who is running for president? In an upstate New York county, hundreds of voters have been sent absentee ballots in which they could vote for "Barack Osama."

. . . cont.

(How incredibly childish and petty and obvious.)

My Way News | AIG execs' retreat after bailout angers lawmakers

AIG execs' retreat after bailout angers lawmakers

Oct 7, 9:13 PM (ET)

By ANDREW TAYLOR

WASHINGTON (AP) - Less than a week after the federal government had to bail out American International Group Inc. (AIG), the company sent executives on a $440,000 retreat to a posh California resort, lawmakers investigating the company's meltdown said Tuesday.

. . . cont.

(And this comes as a surprise how?)

abc news | 'Tis the Season of Election Dirty Tricks: Scaring Student Voters

'Tis the Season of Election Dirty Tricks: Scaring Student Voters

Flyer Warns of Undercover Police Presence at Polls on Election Day

By AVNI PATEL

Oct. 6, 2008—

Election officials and watchdog groups are bracing for the wave of sneaky or suspicious phone calls, leaflets and emails that typically hit battleground states in the final 30 days of the presidential campaign.

Young voters at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Penn. have already been targeted, with students reporting that flyers have been posted around campus warning that undercover police will be at the polls on Election Day looking to make arrests.

The flyer reads like a friendly letter to fellow students relaying a warning from an "Obama supporter": "He informed me that on the day of the election there will be undercover officers to execute warrants on those who come to vote based on the anticipated turnout," writes the anonymous student in the letter which was later posted on the Drexel College Democrats website. "He advised me if I had any outstanding warrants or traffic offenses I should clear them up prior to voting."

. . . cont.

The Nation | Who You Callin’ a Maverick?

The Nation
Who You Callin’ a Maverick?

By JOHN SCHWARTZ
Published: October 4, 2008

“I’m just enraged that McCain calls himself a maverick,” said Terrellita Maverick, 82, a San Antonio native who proudly carries the name of a family that has been known for its progressive politics since the 1600s, when an early ancestor in Boston got into trouble with the law over his agitation for the rights of indentured servants.

. . . cont.

Rolling Stone| Make-Believe Maverick

Make-Believe Maverick
A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

By TIM DICKINSON Posted Oct 16, 2008 7:00 PM

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.

. . . cont.

Bill Maher Takes On Palin's Debate Performance

Tina Fey As Sarah Palin In VP Debate On SNL

CollegeHumor | Sarah Palin Disney Trailer

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Tina Fey As Sarah Palin: Katie Couric SNL Skit

Palin's Witch Hunting Pastor

Op-Ed Columnist - McCain’s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere

Op-Ed Columnist
McCain’s Suspension Bridge to Nowhere

By FRANK RICH
Published: September 27, 2008

WHAT we learned last week is that the man who always puts his “country first” will take the country down with him if that’s what it takes to get to the White House.

For all the focus on Friday night’s deadlocked debate, it still can’t obscure what preceded it: When John McCain gratuitously parachuted into Washington on Thursday, he didn’t care if his grandstanding might precipitate an even deeper economic collapse. All he cared about was whether he might save his campaign. George Bush put more deliberation into invading Iraq than McCain did into his own reckless invasion of the delicate Congressional negotiations on the bailout plan.

. . . cont.

(Note: This editorial is at The New York Times which may require a login to read. Lots of people don't like creating accounts like this because they require you to give a valid email address. I have only one word to say about that . . . gmail . . . or maybe hotmail . . . or maybe even yahoo!mail. I have a junk account with gmail I use for these kinds of registrations. I recommend getting a junk account to everyone.)

Oh, please let this be true (say I with evil grin)

"Those who do not study the past get an exciting opportunity to repeat it."

Palin Problem

September 26, 2008, 0:00 a.m.

Palin Problem
She’s out of her league.

By Kathleen Parker

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.

. . . cont.

Palin should step down, conservative commentator says

September 26, 2008

Palin should step down, conservative commentator says

Posted: 06:20 PM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

(CNN) – Prominent conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, an early supporter of Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin, said Friday recent interviews have shown the Alaska governor is "out of her league" and should leave the GOP presidential ticket for the good of the party.

. . . cont.

She talks, we cringe

One-On-One With Sarah Palin
CBS Evening News Anchor Katie Couric Interviews Alaska's Governor On The Ailing Economy


Watch CBS Videos Online

McCain criticized Wasilla earmarks in 2001

From Randi Kaye
CNN Correspondent

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized two of his future running mate's hometown projects in broadsides in 2001 against congressional "pork-barrel" spending, records from the Arizona senator's office show.

. . . cont.

Obama accuses McCain camp of lies, phony outrage

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 11, 1:25 AM ET

NORFOLK, Va. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday accused Republican John McCain's campaign of using "lies and phony outrage and Swift-boat politics" in claiming he used a sexist comment against vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Calling it "the latest made-up controversy by the John McCain campaign," Obama responded to the Republicans' charge that he was referring to Palin when he used the phrase "lipstick on a pig" at a campaign stop Tuesday.

"I don't care what they say about me. But I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and Swift-boat politics. Enough is enough," he said.

. . . cont.

Olbermann: Republicans have hijacked 9/11

An American tragedy made into a political commodity

SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'
MSNBC
updated 8:20 p.m. CT, Wed., Sept. 10, 2008


As promised, a Special Comment about our sad anniversary tomorrow.

Or, more correctly, what our sad anniversary tomorrow has been turned into by the presidential administration, and the current Republican candidates for President and Vice President.

. . . continue reading or listen to it instead . . .

Women Against Sarah Palin

This is a text of an email I sent to womensaynopalin@gmail.com:

Sarah Palin opposes the issues I support. She does not speak for me nor does she represent who I am, what I think, or how I feel. I honestly believe she was chosen by the Republicans as a token to assuage the Clinton supporters and to attract more of the kind of voters who have helped the Republicans run this country into the ground. The Democrats showed how far this country has come by having both a black man and a woman vying for the highest elected office of the land. The Republicans had nothing to counter that except another tired old white man who is all for more of the same so they attempted to baffle us with bullsh*t by dangling a fresh young white woman, who is also all for more of the same, in front of us. In my case, it didn't work. Being a Texan, I know bullsh*t when I step in it.

Which Palin would you rather have?

Politics again (but laced with humor)

Land of the free, part three

Salon.com | Federal government involved in raids on protesters

As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice, seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

ScienceDebate2008.com

The Story



In November, 2007, a small group of six citizens - two screenwriters, a physicist, a marine biologist, a philosopher and a science journalist - began working to restore science and innovation to America’s political dialogue. They called themselves Science Debate 2008, and they called for a presidential debate on science. The call tapped a wellspring of concern over the state of American science.



Within weeks, more than 38,000 scientists, engineers, and other concerned Americans signed on, including nearly every major American science organization, dozens of Nobel laureates, elected officials and business leaders, and the presidents of over 100 major American universities. See who here. Among other things, these signers submitted over 3,400 questions they want the candidates for President to answer about science and the future of America.





The Process



Beginning with these 3,400 questions, Science Debate 2008 worked with the leading organizations listed to craft the top 14 questions the candidates should answer. These questions are broad enough to allow for wide variations in response, but they are specific enough to help guide the discussion toward many of the largest and most important unresolved challenges currently facing the United States.



The Questions and Answers



Barack Obama's answers appear below. John McCain has said he will also answer the questions.

Read the questions and Obama's answers . . .

And a little closer to home

The Spy Who Billed Me | Blackwater Gearing Up for Hurricane Gustav

Blackwater Worldwide is currently seeking qualified law enforcement officers and security personnel to potentially deploy to provide security in the possible aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. This is the first time Blackwater has mobilized under its controversial Homeland Security contracts. Blackwater did deploy security personnel to assist New Orleans in wake of Hurricane Katrina and this resulted in great controversy since it was the first time a private military corporation had deployed on US soil.

Land of the free, part two

Majikthise | Inside an RNC raid

Thanks to the miracle of cellular technology, I was able to talk to a homeowner while his home was surrounded by police conducting an RNC-related raid.

I reached Mike Whelan, a waiter and army veteran, by phone at his duplex at 951 Iglehart Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Whelan invited independent observers from the group LegalWatch stay in one half of his side-by-side duplex while they monitor RNC protests.

Whelan describes himself as a supporter of the RNC demonstrations, but says he is not affiliated with any particular group. "I want to build a country that's based on good social values," he said.

The land of the free

Not.

Salon.com | Massive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis

Protesters here in Minneapolis have been targeted by a series of highly intimidating, sweeping police raids across the city, involving teams of 25-30 officers in riot gear, with semi-automatic weapons drawn, entering homes of those suspected of planning protests, handcuffing and forcing them to lay on the floor, while law enforcement officers searched the homes, seizing computers, journals, and political pamphlets.

The New York Times | Dozens Detained Ahead of Convention

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On the weekend before the Republican National Convention, law enforcement agencies detained dozens of people and issued a series of search warrants aimed at groups believed to be organizing demonstrations while delegates and Republican officials are in town.

How stupid do you think I am?

When I heard Obama had picked Biden to be his running mate, the first thought that flashed into my mind was that McCain had to pick a woman to be his so he could be part of the history being made with this election. Let's face it folks . . . The only way the Republicans could stay in step with the Democrats was to actually pick a woman as the VP candidate since the Dem's had a woman AND an African-American vying for the top position and the African-American got the spot.

When McCain's running mate was announced, my first reaction was, "Who?" My second was, "How stupid do you think I am? Am I really supposed to think you're not jumping on the bandwagon?"

The answer to my first question - "Who?" - was fairly simple. A friend sent me this link - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080829/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_veepstakes_palin and the answer was made abundantly clear. Palin is all for raping the land as long as no one profits illegally from it.

And the second and third questions . . . Well . . . I don't do bandwagons.

What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan’s Perspective.

Quoted from the blog post What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan’s Perspective.

So, if McCain had made his selection six months ago, the squeaky-clean governor meme would have made a little more sense. But, Sarah Palin is currently under an ethics investigation by the Alaska state legislature. The details of this investigation read like a trashy novel, and I suspect that the players will soon have newfound celebrity on the national stage. I’ll try to explain for all you non-Alaskans who suddenly have good reason to want to know more about Sarah Palin. For those of you not interested in trashy novels, feel free to skip ahead. Here it is…what we in Alaska call “TrooperGate”.

Sarah Palin’s sister Molly married a guy named Mike Wooten who is an Alaska State Trooper. Mike and Molly had a rocky marriage. When the marriage broke up, there was a bitter custody fight that is still ongoing. During the custody investigation, all sorts of things were brought up about Wooten including the fact that he had illegally shot a moose (yes folks this is Alaska), driven drunk, and used a taser (on the test setting, he reminds us) on his 11-year old stepson, who supposedly had asked to see what it felt like. While Wooten has turned out to be a less than stellar figure, the fact that Palin’s father accompanied him on the infamous moose hunt, and that many of the dozens of charges brought up by the Palin family happened long before they were ever reported smacked of desperate custody fight. Wooten’s story is that he was basically stalked by the family.

After all this, Wooten was investigated and disciplined on two counts and allowed to kept his position with the troopers. Enter Walt Monegan, Palin’s appointed new chief of the Department of Public Safety and head of the troopers. Monegan was beloved by the troopers, did a bang-up job with minimal funding and suddenly got axed. Palin was out of town and Monegan got “offered another job” (aka fired) with no explanation to Alaskans. Pressure was put on the governor to give details, because rumors started to swirl around the fact that the highly respected Monegan was fired because he refused to fire the aforementioned Mike Wooten. Palin vehemently denied ever talking to Monegan or pressuring Monegan in any way to fire Wooten, or that anyone on her staff did. Over the weeks it has come out that not only was pressure applied, there were literally dozens of conversations in which pressure was applied to fire him. Monegan has testified to this fact, spurring an ongoing investigation by the Alaska state legislature. But, before this investigation got underway, Palin sent the Alaska State Attorney General out to do some investigative work of his own so she could find out in advance what the real investigation was going to find. (No, I’m not making this up). The AG interviewed several people, unbeknownst to the actual appointed investigator or the Legislature! Palin’s investigation of herself uncovered a recorded phone call retained by the Alaska State Troopers from Frank Bailey, a Palin underling, putting pressure on a trooper about the Wooten non-firing. Todd Palin (governor’s husband) even talked to Monegan himself in Palin’s office while she was away. Bailey is now on paid administrative leave.

As if this weren’t enough, Monegan’s appointed replacement Chuck Kopp, turns out to have been the center of his own little scandal. He received a letter of reprimand and was reassigned after sexual harrassment allegations by a former coworker who didn’t like all the unwanted kissing and hugging in the office. Was he vetted? Obviously not. When he was questioned about all this, his comment was that no one had asked him and he thought they all knew. Kopp, defiant, still claimed to have done nothing wrong and said to the press that there was no way he was stepping down from his new position. Twenty four hours later, he stepped down. Later it was uncovered that he received a $10,000 severance package for his two weeks on the job from Palin. Monegan got nothing.

Joe Biden

I really had to laugh at this

see more crazy cat pics

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WashingtonPost.com | Predatory Lenders' Partner in Crime

How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers

By Eliot Spitzer
Thursday, February 14, 2008; Page A25

Several years ago, state attorneys general and others involved in consumer protection began to notice a marked increase in a range of predatory lending practices by mortgage lenders. Some were misrepresenting the terms of loans, making loans without regard to consumers' ability to repay, making loans with deceptive "teaser" rates that later ballooned astronomically, packing loans with undisclosed charges and fees, or even paying illegal kickbacks. These and other practices, we noticed, were having a devastating effect on home buyers. In addition, the widespread nature of these practices, if left unchecked, threatened our financial markets.

Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.

... continue . . .

WashingtonPost.com | A Soldier's Officer

baltimore.sun | Here come the thought police

By Ralph E. Shaffer and R. William Robinson
November 19, 2007

With overwhelming bipartisan support, Rep. Jane Harman's "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act" passed the House 404-6 late last month and now rests in Sen. Joe Lieberman's Homeland Security Committee. Swift Senate passage appears certain.

Not since the "Patriot Act" of 2001 has any bill so threatened our constitutionally guaranteed rights.

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Wounded soldiers asked to return signing bonuses

The U.S. Military is demanding that thousands of wounded service personnel give back signing bonuses because they are unable to serve out their commitments.

To get people to sign up, the military gives enlistment bonuses up to $30,000 in some cases.

Now men and women who have lost arms, legs, eyesight, hearing and can no longer serve are being ordered to pay some of that money back.

I don't need to comment about this, do I? It's way too early in the morning and I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet so I don't think I can work up enough appropriate vitriol to express what I truly feel about this.

What is the cost of an unfulfillable dream? What is the worth of an appendage or of sight or of a brain damaged?

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