Friday YouTube Nugget

Sorry y'all for the spare blogging...I've been traveling for work and it's screwed up my posting schedule. Normal blogging to return next week...

I will post a tribute to Rick Wright (see This Week's Rock Death to the right) over the weekend....today, however, is a good day for the Pixies.

The Bushonomics Chickens Come Home To Roost, Part IX

I'll have more to comment on this tomorrow, mostly in response to AR's last post, but Monday will herald yet another historic collapse in three parts - Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch are looking to go belly up while American International Group (AIG) is having a fire sale of its assets.

This ruinous, absentee-owner stewardship of the economy that fiddles while our market burns can be summed up as follows:

I GOT MINE, FUCK YOU

Don't forget....these are the same clowns that the GOP wanted to entrust our Social Security funds to manage. You can thank the Democrats for saving Social Security.

Friday YouTube Nugget

A very happy 56th birthday to Neil Peart from Rush:

Why Intellectual Dishonesty Is Never A Good Idea

Now that we're in the home stretch of this campaign season (56 days and counting), you are undoubtedly being inundated by e-mails, as have I, tearing down one candidate or the other. In my experience, the majority of these mass e-mails are dubiously sourced, at best, or, at worst, a compendium of outright lies designed to smear the candidate and scare voters off from supporting him. The recipients of these e-mails would do well to find out the facts on their own and debunk these false missives wherever possible. It is one thing to forward them to friends and family; it is quite another to post them to one's blog as if they were the author's work, without attribution or explanation.

Such was the case with a recent post on Automatic Rebalancing. You all will remember AR from this charming post in April of this year, which depicted a group of black people running away from Obama after he pledged "to make sure everyone who can work will have a job." How witty...if you're at the local Christian Identity meeting.

Such was the case on Monday when AR posted a lengthy comparison of the tax policies of Obama and McCain. The purpose of the exercise, given the partisan slant of the blog, was to highlight how disastrous Obama's policies would be for the average taxpayer and how beneficent McCain's policies would be. The author introduced this post by stating his bonafides as a "professional in the financial services industry" and claiming that the "following information has been researched and verified..." Seems legit, no? The post goes on to list comparisons in different tax categories (capital gains, dividends, income tax, etc) with comments by the author supporting the "facts" as presented.

Well, I smelled a rat. So, off to teh Yahoo intertubes search engine I ran and, lo and behold, found that most of the content of the post came directly from a rancid piece of anti-Obama astroturf making its way through e-mail inboxes across the land. Both of the popular online urban legend debunking sites, Snopes.com and FactCheck.org, called the information contained in this sleaze false and definitely misleading.

Knowing that AR has the cowardly policy of reviewing comments for moderation (or editing) before they're posted, I sent the following comment:

You're such an "expert" that you cut and pasted a false spam e-mail that's already been debunked by snopes.com? (http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/taxes.asp)

Just of kicks, let's take the income tax claim of this nonsense...as snopes noted, Obama does not favor extending the tax cuts for households with incomes of $250,000 or more per year. None of the brackets you listed apply to that level, so their inclusion is not only irrelevant, it's a flat out lie about Obama's tax policy. In fact, the taxpayers in the brackets you listed would see a greater reduction under Obama's plan than they would under McCain's "let's make the Bush tax cuts for the rich permanent"plan.

So much for the information having been "researched and verified". It's full of shit!

I would hope that you don't reproduce this same shoddy, lazy effort for your clients.

P.S. You can either publish this comment as is or it's going up verbatim on my blog

Well, I didn't have to worry about making good on my threat, as AR published a fierce rebuttal to my comment yesterday. Under the heading "Ah, self-righteous indignation...Wonderfully droll, isn't it?"

Well, I do tend to get self-righteous when I'm actually right.

In his defense, AR claims that he omitted the claims he thought were "absurd" and kept the ones he thought were "worthy of query". Well, thank goodness for that. Instead of cut-and-pasting all of the bullshit, AR just gave us a little taste.

The main problem with AR's original post is that it doesn't provide any links to any of Obama's actual proposals, nor does it cite any sources for the claims it makes (and AR expounds upon). AR claims he used other sources (a neo-conservative rag out of NYC and Dick Morris, for Christ's sake), but strangely does not cite them directly.

The post is predicated on a bushel of wild, exaggerated assumptions on Obama's policies...it invents whole claims out of thin air when they are not supported by the facts in evidence (i.e. Obama's own website). Any blather following cannot be taken seriously because the original assertion is either misleading or blatantly false.

Notwithstanding AR's mention of conservative nutjob media to support his case, he states the Tax Policy Center (a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute) "didn't have all the hard facts of either plan and had to make assumptions on key elements"....well, no shit, numbnuts. The difference is that the Tax Policy Center discloses this right up front and doesn't pass off wild speculation as fact, as you did.

AR is correct in one area....I am certainly no expert in economic issues. I didn't get my MBA by dazzling professors with my views on relevant economic theory or my vast knowledge of our current tax codes. I can use a fucking search engine, though, and when I spot bullshit, I call it bullshit.

FactCheck.org does a much better job than I possibly could in debunking this nonsense...here's the link again if you want to go through the gory details. I doubt one could call FactCheck.org an illegitmate source, being that it's funded by the Annenberg Foundation, which was founded by the noted leftist commie pinko Walter Annenberg.

Pay special attention to the last line of FactCheck's expose:

The short answer to our reader’s question is, no, this message isn’t real. It’s a pack of lies.

Liberalism......What A Concept!

What Bob Herbert said...

It would take volumes to adequately cover the enhancements to the quality of
American lives and the greatness of American society that have been wrought by
people whose politics were unabashedly liberal. It is a track record that
deserves to be celebrated, not ridiculed or scorned.

This is precisely the response to knuckle-dragging opportunists like Mitt Romney who said, with a straight face, at the Republican National Convention - "“We need change, all right...change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington.” Where the hell has he been for the last eight years?

In A Time Where Egregious Ignorance is a Virtue...

"It was my understanding that there would be no math in this debate..."

GOP VP hopeful Sarah Palin presented herself to the delegates at the Republican Convention (and the nation) as a tough, straight-talking gal, straight out of a saloon in the Alaskan wildnerness, ready to take down those varmint liberals in Washington with their high taxes and elitist ways....dadgumit! Nevermind that it was the conservative GOP majorities in Congress along with their president that steered this country into disaster over the better part of the last eight years - Sarah's got libruls to hunt! Yee-hah!

It's a shame, then, that tough talk can't cover for a mind-numbing display of ignorance on the most important topic of the day - the housing crisis and the impending federal bailout of the nation's two largest mortgage finance firms, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae:

McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking in Colorado Springs,
Colo., said Fannie and Freddie had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers." The companies, however, aren't taxpayer funded but operate as private companies. The takeover may result in a taxpayer bailout during
reorganization...

It is clear how atrocious McCain's pick is when one considers how likely it is that this beauty pageant also-ran will more than likely occupy the Oval Office if McCain is elected. That the 2nd spot on the national ticket doesn't even know the two biggest players in the housing crisis and institutions critical to this nation's mortgage debt is beyond laughable....it's bloody depressing.

It's no wonder that the McCain campaign is keeping Tough-Talkin Sarah in a virtual bubble for the remainder of the campaign. The "hockey mom" can't keep her yap shut about what pussies Obama and Biden are in her canned campaign speeches, but Gawd forbid she submit herself to take questions from the press. I saw today that the McCain campaign consented to release Gov. Palin into the wild for a series of multiple interviews this week with ABC's Charlie Gibson. While I hope that Gibson is not intimidated by the GOP's whining, I won't hold my breath.

I don't mean this as a criticism of the McCain campaign's strategy to keep this neophyte, fundamentalist nutjob away from the general public....it's their campaign and they can run it however they like. They are not obligated to make Gov. Palin available for press interviews and such. I'd probably do the same thing, if I were in their shoes.

That doesn't mean that the voters deserve to be insulted by a candidate of such pitful qualifications and total lack of preparation on the issues that matter.

The Magic Position

I Hate Men

All My Friends Are Dead

Joyce

Can I Borrow A Feelin?

Let Me Touch Him

left to right: Waldo, Delbert, Homer and Jack

Ken - by request only

"You Said 'Walter Reed', Right? Well I Got Your 'Walter Reed'!"

"My friends, when I'm in house #5, which you can see behind me, I often think about putting country first..."

Just a quick note before I begin because this is too funny....some idiot at the RNC was charged with the responsibility of putting a picture up of Walter Reed Army Medical Center behind McCain during his speech...because, as you know, no Republican address is complete without draping themselves in the flag, putting on 9/11 footage as background scenery and using our troops as political props. Because, we all know, the military is Republican - well, except for those soldiers on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world that are giving to Obama by a 6-1 margin over McCain.

It turns out Captain Video went a'Googling and came up with.....a picture of Walter Reed Middle School. In North Hollywood, CA. Not even remotely related to an Army Medical Center or a place of convalescence for wounded troops.

This is incomptence we can believe in, my friends.

More to come on McCain's speech and the campaign ahead.

Friday YouTube Nugget

This week's installment is dedicated to country music legend and comic actor who passed away this week. Jerry Reed was a Grammy-winning country music star who dabbled in movies and had memorable performances in Smokey and the Bandit and The Waterboy. Here's my favorite Jerry Reed tune, "Amos Moses":

The right campaign image

Let's see....is it this one:

or maybe this blast from the past:

here's a recent one.....and classy, too!

hmmm.....

naw....I'll go with this:

"BLUE"/CALAMITY JANE '08

Qualified

You know what’s laughable? When I hear someone say that Gov. Palin is more qualified than Obama.

Did I miss the part where Palin won 18 million votes in 57 state and territory primaries and caucuses in one of the biggest upsets in U.S. political history? Was I sleeping when Palin participated in 25 debates in which she was queried intensely on the issues of the day?

I think Gov. Palin is more than qualified to run Alaska...I'd simply like to know what experience she has on the national (or international, for that matter) stage that makes her the best choice for the Vice-President (and a 72-year old cancer-stricken, Ambien-gulping heartbeat away from being Leader of the Free World).

V-B Day (Victory in Blog War III)

(we interrupt our GOP bashing to bring you this important news bulletin)

IT'S OVER

Where do I sign up for the Blog GI Bill?

Let history record that on Wednesday, September 3rd in the Year of our Lawd Two-Thousand And Eight at approximately 10:36 am EST, Gabs O'Steel formally surrendered in the Great Blog War III, thus ending...well, it ended. Let the free people of the Blogosphere celebrate this triumph in the Last Great Blog War and let us commit ourselves to preserving the peace for generations of bloggers to come. As the conquering blog, let me state that I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for the blog I defeated and pledge that, as an occupying power, I will neither disrupt nor inhibit the great and noble task of rebuilding your vanquished nation, this time as a strong beacon of democracy, truth and the American Way. (H/T to the Wannabe Outdoorsman for the statesmanship)

Just wait until she sees my version of the Marshall Plan. Imagine a steady influx of YouTube videos and in-depth discussions on neutral zone traps.

Meet the Focker

(St. Paul) - Senator John McCain greets the kid who knocked up his running mate's daughter. No, not awkward in the slightest.

The video of "When John Met Levi" is here.

A few nice words on behalf of Senator Biden

My friend Ken in California is complaining that my posts as of late are disturbingly negative against the GOP ticket and that I should say some nice things in defense of the Democratic ticket.

Ken is an ex-Republican who finally saw the light after voting for Bush in 2000 (I know that you did Ken...just admit it). He wants to be convinced to vote Obama-Biden in November. Apparently, four more years of the previous eight isn't enough to send him screaming towards that voting booth.

That said, Ken is right....I should offer at least one post to promote the positive in this campaign....specifically, why I believe Joe Biden was the best choice for the 2nd slot on the Democratic ticket and why it affirms my trust that Obama is ready for the Presidency.

Here's a list of reasons why Biden is an excellent 2nd in command for Obama:

• 35 years continuous service in the U.S. Senate - arguably, the candidate on either ticket with the most experience in public service on the federal level since Bob Dole in 1996
• Has chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Foreign Relations Committee
• Was elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 30 due to an odd election in Delaware....the popular GOP incumbent was considering retirement but was convinced by Richard Nixon to run to avoid a messy primary fight. The incumbent did win the primary but was upset by the young Biden.
• Almost single-handedly kept Robert Bork off the Supreme Court. And very nearly did the same with Clarence Thomas. He did bring in Anita Hill and other victims of now-Justice Thomas to testify to the vile and crude advances this predator subjected them to.
• Authored many landmark pieces of legislation, including the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994), Violence Against Women Act (1994), Kids 2000 (provides computer resources and technical training to low-income and at-risk youths),
• Has made diplomatic trips around the globe. In his service on the Foreign Relations Committee in the 90's, brought the world's attention to the genocide in the Balkans. In fact, during one meeting with Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic, Biden called him a war criminal to his face
• Voted for the AUMF that gave President Bush the authority to invade Iraq only after tirelessly working with Senator Lugar on a resolution that authorized military action only after the exhaustion of diplomatic efforts. The Biden-Lugar resolution was torpedoed by the Bush administration in concert with Congressional Republicans. Biden subsequently expressed regret over his AUMF vote and has been one of the Bush Administration's strongest critic in their prosecution of the war. Unlike a certain junior Senator from New York who never thought it important to issue a mea culpa for her AUMF vote.
• When the craven asshole Bush got up in front of the Israeli Knesset and compared contemporary Democrats who opposed his Iraq policy to appeasers of Adolf Hitler prior to World War II, Biden replied "This is bullshit"
• Is one of the least-wealthy Senators in office - his current net worth is between $60,000 and $360,000
• Humble roots - Biden was born into a working poor family in Scranton PA and and earned his way to the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law.
• He is a politician that is unafraid to speak his mind (sometimes to his detriment - see below) and, most importantly, he is not shy about disagreeing with Obama. I thought they both defused the potential tension of former competitors, now running mates pretty well when they introduced themselves in Springfield a few weeks ago
• He will reach out to the working-class white voters that Obama has not yet gotten traction with
• He was going to dominate the VP debate in any case....against Sarah Palin, it will be a mismatch of historic proportions
• If needed, he is more than capable to step into the top slot
  

There are a couple more aspects to the Joe Biden story that lead me not just to admire him, but respect him:

• Biden married his first wife, Neilia, in law school in 1966. Six years later, he was elected as the fifth-youngest Senator in U.S. history. Six weeks after the election, Neilia and their infant daughter were killed in a car crash; his two young sons were badly injured. Biden took the Senate oath of office by their bedside.
• In the aftermath of the accident, Biden took his seat in the Senate, but never moved to D.C. He made the long commute from D.C. to his home in Delaware to be with his boys every night. He continued this commute even after he remarried and had more children. Now that his children are grown (with his eldest son, Beau, due to be deployed to Iraq in a few months), he still rides the Amtrak to be home with his aged mother.
• Biden was out of the Senate for seven months in the late 1980's after suffering two brain aneurysms. The only lasting affect on Biden has been a noticeable loss of hair, thus resulting in his unique coiff.
• Biden is well familiar with the rigors of the campaign trail, having mounted Presidential bids in 1988 and 2008.

Now, I'm not all flowery and gushy about Biden....I worry about his penchant to issue bold statements that sometimes come off as awkward and offensive. I am slightly worried that the plagarism issue that sunk his '88 campaign will be revived. I'm not enamored of his fealty to the credit card industry and his vote for the bankruptcy bill in 2005 that led progressives to dub him "Senator MBNA".

That said, I'm very happy with the choice, as it was the best option Obama had. I would have preferred Wesley Clark, but I understand why Clark wasn't in the final pool. I'm relived that Obama did not give into pressure to put Hillary Clinton on the ticket, which would have been a disaster. Biden brings to the ticket experience, passion and a record of public service that is unmatched. Obama-Biden is a formidable ticket and I cannot wait for the debates.

Your 30 pieces of silver can be picked up backstage, Sen. Lieberman

Judas Iscariot calls you a piece of shit, Joe

Well, the circle is complete and ex-Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is addressing the Republican Convention. I don't know which is the more craven and disappointing act....a lifelong liberal pandering to a staunch conservative audience or said audience applauding a man who espouses ideals they have rejected for four decades. It's the former for me, because Joe Lieberman was a champion for liberal values for much of his adult life. The Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate eight years ago has been reduced to groveling for attention to people who would otherwise throw him in the street. To wit:

• 
  
  Joe Lieberman supported reproductive rights for women


• 
  
  Joe Lieberman supported LGBT rights


• 
  
  Joe Lieberman supported civil rights for blacks - going so far as being a Freedom Rider in the mid-60's and being beaten by Southern racists with baseball bats for his beliefs


• 
  
  Joe Lieberman supported strong environmental protections


• 
  
  Joe Lieberman supported strong gun control


• 
  
  Joe Lieberman supported strengthening and defending Social Security from Congressional Republicans' attempts to privatize the program


• 
  
  Joe Lierberman voted against amending the Constitution to criminalize flag desecration

All of this....all these years of serving his constituents and the American people honorably disappears tonight. Tonight, Joe Lieberman casts his lot with a candidate and a party that would roll back each and every advancement he has worked his life to achieve. It's a sad and pathetic spectacle.

If you need futher evidence of what a craven asshole Joe Lieberman is, witness his "stirring" endorsement of Democratic values 4 years ago when this traitor asshole was running for president:

Motherfucker, Say What?

You 63% can go fuck yo'selves

I just heard the President of the United States compare the "angry left" to the Viet Cong. Yes...our Commander-In-Chief just equated American citizens to Communists we went to war with 40+ years ago:

"Fellow citizens: If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry left never will.

I said it before and I'll say it again:

Will someone please give this asshole a blowjob so we can impeach him already?

Tell me again how much Michelle Obama hates America...

The very definition of IOKIYAR (It's OK If You're A Republican), Presidential Candidate Spouse Patriotism Edition:

Michelle Obama:

Bio - Harvard Law graduate, associate at Sidney Austin (world's 9th largest law firm), VP at University of Chicago Hospital Systems

Offense - In a campaign appearance in Milwaukee on 2/18/08, was quoted as saying "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback"

Consequences - excoriated for weeks in the mainstream press, tagged as an "angry black woman" and unpatriotic by right wing pundits, forced to soften her tone for the remainder of the campaign, actually had to say she was proud of her country during her address at the 2008 Democratic Convention.

Todd Palin -

Bio - Never finished college, DWI arrest at the age of 20, 18 years as a production supervisor at BP Oil and is also a commercial salmon fisherman

Offense - Alaska's Division of Elections confirms that Todd Palin, husband of the presumptive Republican nominee for Vice-President, was a registered member (1995-2002) of the Alaska Independence Party, a radical group who actively advocates for Alaska's secession from the United States.

Again.....a registered member of a party whose sole purpose of being is to secede from the United States. Kinda like the Confederate States of America. Funnily enough, 2002 was the first year Sarah Palin ran for statewide office in Alaska.

Consequences - None, so far. In fact, the McCain campaign issued a statement calling questions on the Palins' past party affiliations "smears"

....but at least Todd Palin never said he wasn't proud of his country as an adult until his wife ran for Vice-President.

and boom goes the dynamite

Here's a short clip of the woman John McCain thinks is ready to become the Leader of the Free World:




This was from Gov. Sarah Palin's (then Sara Heath) career as a local sports anchor for KTUU-TV in Anchorage in the late 80's.

The title of the post references a viral favorite - Brian Collins was a student at Ball State University who had the great misfortune to sub for a friend during the campus newscast on a day when the teleprompter failed and the printed copies he was given were not in order...what ensues is 3:54 of cringe-inducing goodness

"This is one doodle that can't be undid, homeskillet..."

I, for one, am thankful that the same crackerjack personnel McCain put on VP vetting duty may one day be in control of our domestic emergency response...or our homeland security defense against terrorism....or my Social Security.

Greetings and salutations! Hope your Labor Day weekend was as restful and enjoyable as mine! Now that Gabs O'Steel has so daintily let the frickin cat out of the bag, I might as well proclaim it for realz on my own square of greater Blogistan - I got a girlfriend! And her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, if you get my drift. If you do, please let me know because I never knew what the fuck that song was about anyway...what is the "milkshake" double entendre referring to? These kids and their dirty songs nowadays....

Anyway, me and my gal had a wonderful holiday weekend filled with cookouts, hanging with friends, waiting an hour and a half at the Peace Bridge on Saturday to return to my beloved homeland, inviting my brother to hang with us at Tabu on Main St. for "Madonna Impersonator" night and watching him act non-plussed while being hit on by a 330-lb drag queen, drinking, fighting and more drinking. Oh, not to worry...we're were just quibbling over minor things, like how often I should clean my bathroom (you can guess what my answer is) and is it polite to point at psychopathic ex-convicts in Jim's Steak-Out at 12:30 am.

All kidding aside, the gf is wonderful, the Humanist is very happy and all is well in the world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, we're back to the grind on the campaign trail and....lookee here! The VP pick on the Republican side is turning out to be a train wreck to rival the Ufa rail disaster:

First, there was the revelation over the weekend that Palin's 17-year old daughter is preggers:

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, according to aides of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, the aides said.

The Palins, in a statement released by the McCain campaign, said Bristol "came to us with news that we as parents knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned" and that their daughter "has our unconditional love and support."

Personally, I agree with Obama that Bristol's pregnancy is a private matter for the Palin family and is no one else's business. It was true when Obama's mother had him at 18 and it's defintely applicable for young Bristol, who isn't running for anything.

What is our business, however, is Bristol's mother and the flaming spires of hypocrisy jetting from her yap. Most prominent is that Sarah Palin is building a bridge to the 19th century when it comes to reproductive rights and access to education for teenagers like her own:

Democrats noted, before and after today's announcement, that Palin took a hard line on a question in 2006 from the conservative Eagle Forum Alaska:

Q: Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?

SP: Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.

Palin also opposes abortion in cases like her daughter's, and in harder cases.

Palin would prefer that her own daughter, as well as thousands of teenagers in the same position, not have a choice or means to deal with their pregnancy at all. And Gawd help you if you're a teen girl who happens to become pregnant due to rape or incest:

"I am pro-life. With the exception of a doctor’s determination that the mother’s life would end if the pregnancy continued. I believe that no matter what mistakes we make as a society, we cannot condone ending an innocent’s life," (emphasis mine)

Hear that, gals? You feelin that, parents of at-risk teens? Daddy's little angel got date-raped or Uncle Ernie got a little too affectionate during his last visit? Mama Palin says tough shit, missy....that's the Lord's little miracle in your belly and your uterus is now the property of Jeebus. I'm glad that Bristol has the means to support a newborn, being the daughter of the state governor and all, and that she's doesn't have to face the spectre of dropping out of school to become a single mother and all the happy, fun joy-joy that ensues. Cheers to her. Yay, responsibility!

Next, Gov. Palin lawyered up as Troopergate starts heating up:

Some allege the governor's staff pushed to get the governor's former brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, fired, and that Palin fired Commissioner Monegan because he wouldn't terminate Wooten.

Those allegations led to an investigation by the Legislature.

And, most recently, the governor hired a private attorney to represent her.

So the GOP ticket will be campaigning the next two months with the cloud of this state investigation hanging over their heads, with the findings scheduled to come out just before November 4th. No doubt, a brilliant piece of electoral strategy that will clearly work out very well for McCain. (/snark)

Then, late yesterday, word came out that Gov. Palin, a heartbeat away (potentially) from the presidency, belonged to a fringe Alaskan party that advocates secession from the United States:

After refraining from commenting on the charge for a day, the McCain campaign on Tuesday asserted that Palin was never a member of the AIP.

But Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

"We are a state's rights party," says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has "a plank that challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law."

It's worth noting that the official slogan of the McCain-Palin ticket is "America First"....while the AIP's official slogan is "Alaska First". Well, who's on first, Sarah?

And, finally, we learned this morning that Gov. Radioactive likes herself some good ol' fashioned book-burning:

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." The librarian, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

Ah, this must be the "executive experience" the Republicans are crowing about with regard to the Palin selection. A demand for blind loyalty to the executive office-holder, firing those who are perceived as non-supporters or politically independent and blatant abuse of power. Doesn't sound like anything we've encountered in the last 8 years, nope....Change we can believe in!

And, oh yeah....the running mate of the so-called "maverick" (who detests earmarks) loves her some of that filthy earmark lucre. And was director of a 527 group supporting now-disgraced-and-indicted Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.

As is quite apparent to anyone who isn't a Republican lemming or is above the age of 10, the choice of Palin as VP was among the most appalling, ill-considered political decisions of any presidential campaign. Palin, herself, is a political disaster area, on par with Harriet Miers as the worst selections for federal office in recent memory. But the real story is John McCain's utter disdain for his supporters and female voters in general and his continuing pattern of recklessness in his decision-making. Does anyone still believe that McCain gave any serious thought to Palin in terms of her capabilities in taking office, let alone her qualifications for the ticket? He himself admitted he'd only met her twice before naming her as a running mate and calling her his "soulmate".

This was McCain's first real test of decision-making under pressure as President and it is a total and resounding failure. The corner he's painted himself into now is threatening to submarine his campaign before we even get to the first debate. Keep this radioactive person on the ticket and continue the slow drip, drip, drip of embarrassing revelations that are coming out daily? Or, dump her from the ticket and reveal your campaign operation to be the Keystone Kops Komedy it is and piss off all the fundamentalists who so loved having an anti-choice, pro-rape & incest, pro-Creationism, anti-science & logic nutjob on the national ticket? I don't envy his choice but I'm not exactly broken up about it, either.

UPDATE: Oops, forgot a knee-slapper from the 2006 candidate questionnaire that Palin completed:

11. Are you offended by the phrase “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance? Why or why not?

SP: Not on your life. If it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.

As we all know, the phrase "under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance by an act of Congress in 1954. Not to mention the Pledge itself wasn't written until 1892 and wasn't officially recognized as the official national pledge until 1942.

FURTHER UPDATE: Lest we think John McMansions was going to stay out of the fray:

Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits.

SON OF FURTHER UPDATE: drip, drip, drip


oh my