SARAH PALIN GETS OUT OF THE KITCHEN

Sarah Palin will be stepping down as Governor of Alaska.

Smart political move? Good for Alaska?

Couldn't handle it when things got tough? Letting down everyone who voted for her?

Let the debate begin.

BRAIN FREEZE

Sarah Palin's return to chilly Alaska has evidently caused some serious brain-freeze. At a Republican Governors Association convention in Miami, Florida (where you'd think her brain would have thawed), Palin told her fellow Republican Governors -

not to let obsessive, extreme partisanship ... get in the way of doing what's right.

Palin also -

criticized the national media for wanting to "dissect the past."

This from a woman who couldn't stop talking about William Ayers, whipped up crowds with her talk about Obama "palling around with terrorists" and one was one of the most polarizing candidates in recent history. In fact, Palin has been blamed for an increase in death threats against Obama. According to the Standard -

The Secret Service warned the Obama family last month that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Palin’s attacks.

And now she's calling for an end to partisanship and criticizing the media for wanting to dissect the past?

Really, Governor!? And you're supposedly the future leader of the GOP?

All of which begs the question: who is the real Sarah Palin?

PALIN, WRONG AGAIN

It's staggering, really, that Sarah Palin could become the next Vice-President of the United States.

In a radio interview, Palin suggested that her First Amendment rights are being violated by "mainstream media."

"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."

My god. Where to begin?

Here's the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

So are her rights being violated? Alex Koppelman, from Salon.com, sums it up very well.

To put it succinctly: the press can't violate Palin's First Amendment rights. If the government were to criminalize her speech, that would be a violation. But what the press is doing in criticizing Palin is exercising the First Amendment.

Palin has managed to get it completely backwards. She's just being criticized and she doesn't like it.

So she doesn't know what the vice-president does and now she claims that criticism of her campaign is unconstitutional.

Seriously, is she really this dumb? She is a frightening frightening woman.

SARAH'S SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS

The hits keep coming from that little Alaskan Maverick. Today Sarah Palin warned her supporters that if the Democrats get control of the White House and Congress, federal spending will spiral out of control. "

If big government spenders have control of the House and Senate and -- God forbid -- the White House, they're going to have a monopoly of power that goes unchecked in Washington."

"I'm afraid it will put America on a path that will erode the strength that makes this country great."

No Sarah, that was your party that did that. Does a Republican controlled White House and Congress ring a bell? Last 8 years? Hmm?

MAVERICK MUDSLINGER

This just in: Barack Obama once talked to a guy whose sister had a friend who knew a guy who partied with a girl who once dated a guy whose little brother said all Republicans are douchebags.

And so it goes for Barack Obama.

Sarah Palin is slinging some mighty hefty mud these days.

Gov. Sarah Palin on Wednesday said Sen. Barack Obama has ties to a Columbia University professor who she said is "a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization."

But making up ridiculous things like this is not negative campaigning. Oh no.

Palin said her assertion "is not negative campaigning to call someone out on their record."

Palin went on.

"It seems that there is yet another radical professor from the neighborhood who spent a lot of time with Barack Obama going back several years," Palin said at an event in Bowling Green, Ohio.

"This is important because his associate, Rashid Khalidi ... in addition to being a political ally of Barack Obama, he's a former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization."

So let's go to the fact check.

• In a 2004 Washington Times story, he (Khalidi) denied ever being a spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization.
• The Los Angeles Times report said, "though Khalidi has seen little of Sen. Obama in recent years, Michelle Obama attended a party several months ago celebrating the marriage of the Khalidis' daughter."
• The Verdict: Misleading. While Khalidi eight years ago hosted a political fund-raiser for Obama, the two men strongly disagree over the Israeli-Palestinian issue and there's no evidence of a continuing political relationship.

I guess Palin is just going all Maverick on us.

BITING THE HAND THAT FEEDS HER

It looks like Little Miss I Can See Russia From Here has gotten a taste of the big time and is now biting the hand that feeds her. According to some McCain advisers, the self-proclaimed maverick has

begun to 'go rogue' in some of her public pronouncements and decisions.

You know, I think a few weeks on the campaign trail has changed someone.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else."

Hmm. I think all the cramming on the issues has made someone a tad cocky.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Yipes. But I'm sure that Palin, who loves America sooooo much, will put her own ambitions aside and put America First.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

So Miss Congenial Maverick has out-Mavericked the elder Maverick. Maybe if McRage had actually vetted her before he put her on the ticket this wouldn't be happening.

But for those of you who still think McRage/Failin is the answer to 8 years of failed policies, maybe you should think again. If these two can't get along after 8 weeks, and if Failin' is out for herself, how do you think they'll run the country?

PALIN AND RUSSIA

I was over at the Appletree today, buying some Myrr, and we got talking about Sarah Palin and Russia. I said that Palin claimed she could see Russia from Alaska. The good people at the Appletree said that comment was from a Saturday Night Live skit.

Welcome to your new reality.

Vote wisely.

THE CORRUPT FIGHTING THE CORRUPTION

Seems the idea of the 3rd graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School helping out Sarah Palin isn't so far off the mark.

Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

Her children, Bristol, Willow, and Piper are 17, 14, and 7.

It's good to know that Alaska is being run by a woman who defines foreign policy experience as merely being able to see the foreign country, a high school graduate, and three under-aged children.

All in all, Palin charged the state of Alaska

$21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. She also has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

Governor Sarah Palin: a fiscal conservative, fighting government corruption and representing true reform, maverick style.

MONIKER MADNESS

Two days after Palin said she was tired of "Joe the Plumber" references

Alaska governor conceded she was getting a little tired of talking about Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbach. “And I, I begged our speech writers, ‘Don’t make me say Joe the Plumber, please, in any speeches.'

Palin flip-flopped and dove headfirst back into the moniker melee.

Tito the builder, Phil the bricklayer and Rose the teacher.

These are simple Americans with simple names. None more than 4-letters.

But what about Pam the whore, John the douchebag, Sue the junky? Bob the deadbeat, Fred the gassy, Fran the carpet cleaner?

But then Palin unleashed her coup de grace

Barack the Wealth Spender.

That's right. Oh snap! Barak the Wealth Spender. Take that Obama!

Who the hell is writing these for her? Those third graders at Gladys Wood Elementary School?

So my question is: what should Palin's moniker be?

6 DEGREES OF BILL AYERS

Why aren't we hearing any "could be a terrorist" news linking Bill Ayers with everyone else who has ever worked with him? Granted Obama is the only one who's running for President, but if McCain/Palin and the RNC are claiming Obama is consorting with a domestic terrorist, doesn't it follow that everyone else who has worked with him is also on the "palling around with a terrorist" list?

Maybe Michelle Bachmann could get on that asap.

SARAH PALIN CONDOMS

Drill, Baby, Drill with assurance with Sarah Palin condoms.

PALIN TO BE ON SNL

Sarah Pathetic may not have time to go on Meet The Press but she sure as heck has time to whore herself out to Saturday Night Live.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin plans to appear on Saturday Night Live this weekend, multiple sources told CNN Thursday.

At least writers will get some time off. I mean, who can write that stuff? They'll just let her talk.

PALIN AS PRESIDENT

Afraid of what Sarah "Pathetic" Palin would be like as President? Go here to discover your fears.

WHO IS THE REAL JOHN MCCAIN

According to the Huffington Post, John McCain has named Washington lobbyist, William Timmons, to head his presidential transition team.

But here's the rub:

The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein's government.

So by the McCain and Pathetic logic, they're palling around with a pal of a terrorist.


Photo courtesy: Huffington Post

TRASH TALKIN' HOCKEY MOM

Here's a link to a great piece by CNN contributer Roland Martin:

Do you know what was so great about Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan? They were three of the biggest trash talkers in the history of the NBA, but they had the game to back it up.

Somebody should tell that to Gov. Sarah Palin.

It's clear that Palin really isn't a true frontier woman. See, when you tote a gun, carry a big stick and spit fire, you aren't afraid to take on all comers.

So, Sarah, if you want to talk big on the campaign trail to those audiences that don't talk back, go right ahead. But if you truly are the maverick politician you say you are, come on and talk to us soft, coddled, elitist journalists.

You can read the entire piece here.

BASELESS!?

Baseless!?

John McCain called a statement by a Georgia congressman Saturday, which compared the feeling at recent Republican rallies to those of segregationist George Wallace, "a brazen and baseless attack."

Congressman John Lewis said:

"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history. Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse."

George Wallace never threw a bomb. He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights."

John McCain's response was:

"Congressman John Lewis' comments represent a character attack against Gov. Sarah Palin and me that is shocking and beyond the pale...I am saddened that John Lewis, a man I've always admired, would make such a brazen and baseless attack on my character."

Perhaps John McCain's memory isn't firing on all cylinders. Or maybe he missed his running mate's rallies. Or maybe he's forgotten his own strategy of late.

CNN contributor David Gergen, who has advised Democratic and Republican presidential administrations, said Thursday that the negative tone of these rallies is "incendiary" and could lead to violence.

"There is this free floating sort of whipping around anger that could really lead to some violence. I think we're not far from that."

The attacks on Obama have been disgusting. The rallies, especially Palin's, have been appalling. And Palin hasn't done a thing to stop the calls for "kill him." But what do you expect from a woman who purportedly said -

“So Sambo beat the bitch!”

So no, John, the remarks today by Congressman Lewis were not baseless. Just look at the news.


Pic: Five months after vowing "segregation forever" at his 1963 inaugural, Gov. George C. Wallace tried to block the admission of two black students to the all-white University of Alabama.

NOT THE BEST WEEK FOR MCCAIN

Things aren't looking so good for Senator John McCain. A state investigation found his interview-challenged choice of a running mate, Sarah Palin, abused her power as Alaska's governor and violated state ethics law.

Oops.

As we all know, the McCain strategy as of late has been to attack attack attack Obama. McCain and Palin have tried to put extreme doubt into voter's minds by saying Obama and Ayers are BFFs and asking "Who is the real Barack Obama?" They've even called him "too risky for America."

And it has gotten ugly.

At recent Republican rallies, people have yelled "terrorist," "treason," and "kill him."

Some audience members are openly hostile to members of the traveling press covering Palin; one crowd member hurled a racial epithet at an African-American member of the press in Clearwater, Florida, on Monday.

And at a McCain rally in New Mexico on Monday, one supporter yelled out "terrorist" when McCain asked, "Who is the real Barack Obama?" McCain didn't respond.

So now, the Republican anger is boiling over onto McCain.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain was booed at his own rally on Friday as he tried to rein in increasingly raw anger among supporters stunned by Democrat Barack Obama's lead in the polls.

That's right. McCain was booed at his own rally when he said

"I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments."

The attacks haven't help McCain in the polls. In fact, they've hurt him so far. But he and Palin (who seems to revel in the attacks) now have to back-peddle because too many people, Democrats and Republicans, say it's getting out of hand.

Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken, a Republican, told the Grand Rapids Press he was "disappointed in the tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the McCain campaign."

"He is not the McCain I endorsed."

McCain's big ground-breaking bailout plan seems to be a bust.

Jared Bernstein, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said he finds the proposal "quite unsettling."
"Under this plan, there's no quid pro quo between lender and taxpayer," Bernstein said. "When I first heard it, I was underwhelmed. Now I'm actively nervous."

And there was a time when McCain refused to talk about his son.

“It goes to the character of McCain that he typically does not exploit his familial connections,” said Jim Pitts, co-founder of Navigators, a Washington lobby shop. Pitts is a McCain supporter and fundraiser.

McCain’s spokeswoman, Brooke Buchanan, said that his sons’ military experience will be off-limits.

But I guess when you're behind in the polls nothing is off-limits.


So let's recap:

• Choice of running mate? Bad choice.
• Choosing to go negative in the campaign? Bad choice.
• Bailout plan? Bad choice. Economists think it's scary.
• Talking about son of-limits? Strike that. Reverse it.
  

Not the best week for McCain.

LET THE SMEARING BEGIN

With a month left until election day the McCain campaign announced that it's going to step up its attacks on Barack Obama.

From Straight Talk to Smear Talk. Let the smearing begin!

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Saturday slammed Sen. Barack Obama's political relationship with a former anti-war radical, accusing him of associating "with terrorists who targeted their own country."

"Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country."

Palin was referring to an article in the NY Times about Obama's relationship with Ayers.

Palin failed to mention the article

concluded that "the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.' "

Several other publications, including the Washington Post, Time magazine, the Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The National Review, have debunked the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship.

This is an extremely important election and we can't let people get away with out and out lies.

If you know anyone who's on the fence about who to vote for or is considering voting McCain/Palin, pass this post (and more to come) along to them.

KOOKIE COKIE

Oh that kookie Cokie Roberts. Yes, Cokie, if Sarah had said 'Bosniak' everybody would be making a big deal of it.

The only trouble is, Bosniak is a real word.

PALIN MISQUOTES A CIVIL WAR GENERAL

Okay, so Sarah got Gen. David McKiernan confused with Gen. George McClellan . It could happen to anyone. Gen. David McKiernan is the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Gen. George McClellan was general-in-chief of the Union Army during the Civil War. Common mistake, especially for someone running for Vice-President of the United States.

This is Gen. McClellan


Sarah adamantly states that McClellan (she meant McKiernan) said the surge would work in Afghanistan. What she meant to say was that

he stated emphatically that no Iraq-style “surge” of forces will end the conflict there.

“The word I don't use for Afghanistan is 'surge,' ” McKiernan emphasized.

Again, another common mistake for a regular six-pack drinking soccer mom to make while running for the office of Vice-President.

And boy, does she talk fast! She talks so she must know what she's talking about.

She's a regular foreign affairs expert. I suppose she can see Afghanistan from Alaska as well.