Daily Nonsense

CNN is reporting that the controversial Senate race between convicted Republican incumbent Ted Stevens and Democratic challenger Mark Begich is still up for grabs.  At last count, Begich was leading Stevens by a margin of 1,022 votes.

But will that be enough to ensure victory?  Apparently, in Alaska there is a 15 day grace period, the longest in the nation, for the arrival of absentee ballots mailed outside of the US.  Could there be enough votes to straggle in to let the ethically challenged Stevens gain victory over Begich?

Remember just how far reaching these results are.  If Stevens wins, Palin could demand his resignation and hold a special election on which she would figure prominently on the ballot.  the book-buring witch could end up in Washington after all, rather than in Hollywood where she belongs.

Alaska, Minnesota set for key steps in unresolved Senate races

• Story Highlights
• U.S. Senate races in Alaska, Minnesota still too close to call
• Wednesday is deadline for Alaska officials to receive absentee ballots
• Minnesota officials mull status of rejected ballots for recount
• Georgia will have runoff election on December 2

(CNN) — Officials in Alaska, one of three states yet to certify winners in the November 4 U.S. Senate races, say they hope to have nearly all ballots counted on Tuesday.

And officials in Minnesota, home of one of the other unresolved races, intend to rule Tuesday whether certain rejected absentee ballots should be considered in a recount scheduled to start Wednesday.

In the Alaska race between embattled Republican Sen. Ted Stevens and Democratic challenger Mark Begich, about 24,000 ballots remained to be counted on Tuesday, said the state’s elections director, Gail Fenumiai.

However, it’s possible a few straggling absentee votes might come in Wednesday in time to be added to the tallies.

The race drew national attention, especially after Stevens was convicted in October of filing false statements on Senate financial disclosure forms. In early returns in the days after the election, Stevens — the Senate’s longest serving Republican — held a narrow lead over Begich, who is mayor of Anchorage.

But Begich took a slim lead last week as officials sorted some 90,000 additional votes — nearly a third of all ballots cast in the state. Those votes included about 60,000 absentee ballots, 9,500 early votes and another 20,000 "questioned" or provisional ballots being checking for validity.

By Friday, when vote counting was stopped for the weekend, Begich had 47.37 percent of votes counted; Stevens had 47.02 percent. The two were separated by 1,022 votes out of more than 290,000 cast, according to the Alaska Division of Elections Web site.

Alaska allows up to 15 days, longer than any other state, after Election Day for absentee ballots to arrive and be counted if they were postmarked by Election Day and mailed from outside the United States. Absentee ballots mailed inside the United States are accepted up to 10 days after the election.

Election officials said that schedule was adopted in consideration of Alaska’s sprawling geography, sparse population and sometimes spotty mail service in remote areas.

"Wednesday is the last day we will accept absentee ballots, but we really don’t expect many to come in," Fenumiai said Monday.

In Minnesota, vote totals last week showed Republican Sen. Norm Coleman 206 votes ahead of his Democratic challenger, Al Franken.

On Tuesday, the secretary of state’s canvassing board is scheduled to hear a request by Franken’s campaign that certain already-rejected absentee ballots be counted during a statewide hand recount scheduled to start Wednesday.

Asked what the campaign plans to do if the board decides it will not count rejected ballots, Franken spokeswoman Colleen Murray said the campaign hasn’t ruled out anything, including asking for a postponement of the recount.

Georgia is the other state with a Senate race yet to be resolved. Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss will face Democrat Jim Martin in a December 2 runoff.

[Thanks, CNN]

In a startling news story, the US Secret Service has laid the blame for the spike in death threats against then presidential candidate Barack Obama right on Sarah Palin’s doorstep.

While we’re all agreed that Sarah Palin was the cause behind the spectacular fiery crash of the Republican presidential campaign this summer, it’s interesting to note how Palin’s attempt at defaming the Obama campaign essentially did just the opposite.

While I’ve already commented on Palin and the hate-mongering, I’m still wondering if there are any legal repercussions she should be watchful for.

Maybe we should just allow Sarah and her husband to realize their greatest dream.  Let’s let the socialist state of Alaska to secede from the union and forever remove Palin as a threat to our Presidency or the Republican National Committee.

Sarah Palin blamed by the US Secret Service over death threats against Barack Obama

Sarah Palin’s attacks on Barack Obama’s patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign.

By Tim Shipman in Washington
Last Updated: 8:38AM GMT 10 Nov 2008

The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists", citing his association with the sixties radical William Ayers.

The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric.

But it has now emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further.

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

Michelle Obama, the future First Lady, was so upset that she turned to her friend and campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett and said: "Why would they try to make people hate us?"

The revelations, contained in a Newsweek history of the campaign, are likely to further damage Mrs Palin’s credentials as a future presidential candidate. She is already a frontrunner, with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, to take on Mr Obama in four years time.

Details of the spike in threats to Mr Obama come as a report last week by security and intelligence analysts Stratfor, warned that he is a high risk target for racist gunmen. It concluded: "Two plots to assassinate Obama were broken up during the campaign season, and several more remain under investigation. We would expect federal authorities to uncover many more plots to attack the president that have been hatched by white supremacist ideologues."

Irate John McCain aides, who blame Mrs Palin for losing the election, claim Mrs Palin took it upon herself to question Mr Obama’s patriotism, before the line of attack had been cleared by Mr McCain.

That claim is part of a campaign of targeted leaks designed to torpedo her ambitions, with claims that she did not know that Africawas a continent rather than a country.

The advisers have branded her a "diva" and a "whack job" and claimed that she did not know which other countries are in the North American Free Trade Area, (Canada and Mexico). They say she spent more than $150,000 on designer clothes, including $40,000 on her husband Todd and that she refused to prepare for the disastrous series of interviews with CBS’s Katie Couric.

In a bid to salvage her reputation Mrs Palin came out firing in an interview with CNN, dismissing the anonymous leakers in unpresidential language as "jerks" who had taken "questions or comments I made in debate prep out of context."

She said: "I consider it cowardly. It’s not true. That’s cruel, it’s mean-spirited, it’s immature, it’s unprofessional and those guys are jerks if they came away taking things out of context and then tried to spread something on national news that’s not fair and not right."

She was not asked about her incendiary rhetoric against Mr Obama. But she did deny the spending spree claims, saying the clothes in question had been returned to the Republican National Committee. "Those are the RNC’s clothes, they’re not my clothes. I asked for anything more than maybe a diet Dr Pepper once in a while. These are false allegations."

Speaking as she returned to her native Alaska, Mrs Palin claimed to be baffled by what she claims was sexism on the national stage. "Here in Alaska that double standard isn’t applied because these guys know that Alaskan women are pretty tough, on a par with the men in terms of being outdoors, working hard," she said.

"They’re commercial fishermen, they’re pilots, they’re working up on the North slopein the oil fields. You see equality in Alaska. I think that was a bit of as surprise on the national level."

[Thanks, Telegraph UK]

You may experience some difficulties at the polls tomorrow.  And I’m not talking about the difficulties that are Republican sponsored like this one encouraging Democrats to vote on November 5th. (ed. This is NOT true.  Everyone votes November 4th).

As more and more voters are expected to report to the polls tomorrow, there are concerns that the changes in voting procedures will create delays for everyone.  So be it!

I’d rather be inconvenienced a little than lose my right to be a part of this historic event.  Wait in line for an hour or two, bring it on!  Here is my plan for tomorrow.

1. Bring a paperback to read.
2. Bring my MP3 player with built-in FM radio.
3. Some comfy shoes.
4. Some hard candies.

Simple, yet effective method to stave off boredom should it rear it’s ugly head.

Voting Experts Say High Turnout May Add to Problems at the Polls

By IAN URBINA
Published: November 2, 2008

Millions of voters will encounter an unfamiliar low-tech landscape at the polls on Tuesday. About half of all voters will vote in a way that is different from what they did in the last presidential election, and most will use paper ballots rather than the touch-screen machines that have caused concern among voting experts.

But the change does not guarantee a smooth election day, as the nation’s voting system remains untested for what is expected to be an unprecedented turnout. Six years after the largest federal overhaul in how elections are run, voting experts are still predicting machine and ballot shortages in several swing states and late tallies on election night.

Two-thirds of voters will mark their choice with a pencil on a paper ballot that is counted by an optical scanning machine, a method considered far more reliable and verifiable than touch screens. But paper ballots bring their own potential problems, voting experts say.

The scanners can break down, leading to delays and confusion for poll workers and voters. And the paper ballots of about a third of all voters will be counted not at the polling place but later at a central county location. That means that if a voter has made an error — not filling in an oval properly, for example, a mistake often made by the kind of novice voters who will be flocking to the polls — it will not be caught until it is too late. As a result, those ballots will be disqualified.

Voting rights groups have also filed lawsuits against election officials in Pennsylvania and Virginia, saying they have not stocked enough paper ballots to prepare for the expected turnout.

Most voting experts are not predicting a repeat of the Florida meltdown of 2000, but they are warning that shortages of electronic voting machines or printed ballots in swing states, along with problems verifying the identity of voters, could worsen lines and fray nerves.

[Thanks, NY Times]

The future of our country will be determined tomorrow. 

It’s really just that simple.  Will our future be as bright and shiny as it was for my parents on November 8, 1960 when John F. Kennedy defeated Richard M. Nixon?  Or will our future be a continuation of the last eight years under this Republican dictatorship?

Look at how much we have lost in these last eight years.  Our standing in the world arena, both politically and economically.  Our self respect after Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay.  Our First Amendment rights.  Our privacy, consider the domestic spying controversy for which no one will ever be held responsible.  Our moral and ethical compass after the intentional unmasking of Valerie Plame Wilson as a CIA covert agent by our own government.  Again, no one will ever be held responsible for such a treasonable act.  The sub-prime mortgage crisis in which the unchecked greed of Wall Street has led to thousands of families losing their homes.  Blackwater and their murderous rampages through Iraq in which hundreds of civilians have been left crippled or dead.  Not to mention the rapes of both Iraq citizens and American contract employees.

The damning and embarrassing list goes on and on.

But you have a chance to start the nation on the road to recovery.  You have the opportunity to become a part of real, positive change both for your fellow Americans and America.

The time has come to stop the unchecked deregulation in Washington that has led to a few corporations making epic profits from your hard work.

The time has come to stand up and be counted among the Americans who choose change.  Change over another 8 years of the Bush failed policies.  And let me tell you something, any Bush policy is a failed policy for you and me and everyone else except a very select few.  Bush, Cheney and their gang of thieves have managed to make money during all of this, while you and I dip into savings to put gas in our tanks.

The time has come to stand up and be counted among the Americans who just say NO!

Get your fat ass up off the couch and go VOTE tomorrow.  You’ll be glad you did.

I would have liked to think that McCain, an obvious supporter of Bush and all of his failed policies, could never have had a real chance at the White House.  I would have thought that almost any Democratic candidate could have run, and won.

But poll numbers in the weeks immediately after the Republican National Convention were proving me wrong.  America was being dazzled by the pretty face.  But couldn’t they see the rotten core that pretty face was hiding?

Apparently America has come to her senses.  Uncommitted voters, Hillary-centric Democrats who abandoned ship after the Democratic National Convention and many, many Republicans have started realizing just what an evil, petty and unqualified candidate Palin is.

And not a moment too soon.  As long as the Bush, Cheney, Mukasey triumvirate of evil doesn’t get its way in Ohio, we still have a chance.

Growing Doubts on Palin Take a Toll, Poll Finds

By MICHAEL COOPER and DALIA SUSSMAN
Published: October 30, 2008

A growing number of voters have concluded that Senator John McCain’s running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, is not qualified to be vice president, weighing down the Republican ticket in the last days of the campaign, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

All told, 59 percent of voters surveyed said Ms. Palin was not prepared for the job, up nine percentage points since the beginning of the month. Nearly a third of voters polled said the vice-presidential selection would be a major factor influencing their vote for president, and those voters broadly favor Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee.

And in a possible indication that the choice of Ms. Palin has hurt Mr. McCain’s image, voters said they had much more confidence in Mr. Obama to pick qualified people for his administration than they did in Mr. McCain.

After nearly two years of campaigning, a pair of hotly contested nominating battles, a series of debates and an avalanche of advertisements, the nationwide poll found the contours of the race hardening in the last days before the election on Tuesday. Twelve percent of the voters surveyed said they had already voted. These were among the findings:

• Mr. Obama is maintaining his lead, with 51 percent of likely voters supporting him and 40 percent supporting Mr. McCain in a head-to-head matchup.
• Some perceptions of race are changing, with a marked increase in the number of people who say they believe that white and black people have an equal chance of getting ahead in America today.
• Mr. McCain’s focus on taxes, including his talk about Joe the Plumber, seems to be having some effect, as a growing number of voters now say Mr. McCain would not raise their taxes.
• Eighty-nine percent of people view the economy negatively, and 85 percent think the country is on the wrong track.
• Mr. Obama continues to have a significant advantage on key issues like the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.

The survey found that opinions of Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain had hardened considerably, as 9 out of 10 voters who said they had settled on a candidate said their minds were made up, and a growing number of them called it “extremely important” that their candidate win the election. Roughly half of each candidate’s supporters said they were “scared” of what the other candidate would do if elected. Just 4 percent of voters were undecided, and when they were pressed to say whom they leaned toward, the shape of the race remained essentially the same.

Bolstered by the fiscal crisis and deep concerns about the direction of the country, Mr. Obama has seemed to solidify the support he has gained in recent months. When likely voters were asked whom they would vote for in an expanded field that included several third-party candidates, Mr. Obama got the support of 52 percent of them, Mr. McCain 39 percent, Bob Barr 1 percent, and Ralph Nader 2 percent.

The nationwide telephone poll was conducted Saturday through Wednesday with 1,439 adults nationwide, including 1,308 registered voters. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

The poll was conducted as a wide range of state polls have shown Mr. Obama, of Illinois, ahead or tied in several crucial contested states, including some traditionally Republican states that Mr. McCain, of Arizona, must carry to win the election.

The survey suggested that Mr. Obama’s candidacy — if elected, he would be the first black president — has changed some perceptions of race in America. Nearly two-thirds of those polled said whites and blacks have an equal chance of getting ahead in today’s society, up from the half who said they thought so in July. And while 14 percent still said most people they knew would not vote for a black presidential candidate, the number has dropped considerably since the campaign began.

Mr. McCain’s heavy focus on taxes in the final weeks of the campaign seems to be having some effect, the poll found. Forty-seven percent of voters said Mr. McCain would not raise taxes on people like them, up from just 38 percent who said so two weeks ago. (And 50 percent said they thought Mr. Obama would raise taxes on people like them, while 44 percent said he would not; both numbers are similar to two weeks ago.)

With just days until Americans choose a new president, the survey found them deeply uneasy about the state of their country. Eight-five percent of respondents said the country was pretty seriously off on the wrong track, near the record high recorded earlier this month. A majority said the United States should have stayed out of Iraq. And President Bush’s approval rating remains at 22 percent, tied for the lowest presidential approval rating on record (which was President Harry S. Truman’s rating, recorded by the Gallup Poll in 1952).

Mr. McCain’s renewed efforts to cast himself as the candidate of change have apparently faltered. Sixty-four percent of voters polled said Mr. Obama would bring about real change if elected, while only 39 percent said Mr. McCain would. And despite Mr. McCain’s increased efforts to distance himself from President Bush, a majority still said he would generally continue Mr. Bush’s policies.

Dixie Cromwell, a 36-year-old cosmetologist from Shelby, N.C., who is a Republican, said in a follow-up interview that she had already voted for Mr. Obama.

“I generally vote Republican, but this year I voted Democrat,” she said. “I just don’t feel we can go through any more of the same old thing that we’ve been going through with the Republican Party.”

Mr. Obama’s policies were seen as much more likely to improve the economy, provide health insurance to more people, and scale back military involvement in Iraq than Mr. McCain’s were. But Mr. McCain enjoyed an advantage when it came to questions about which candidate would make a better commander in chief: 47 percent of voters said Mr. McCain was very likely to be an effective commander in chief, compared with 33 percent who said Mr. Obama would be.

While a majority viewed Ms. Palin as unqualified for the vice presidency, roughly three-quarters of voters saw Mr. Obama’s running mate, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, as qualified for the job. The increase in the number of voters who said Ms. Palin was not prepared was driven almost entirely by Republicans and independents.

Over all, views of Ms. Palin were apparently shaped more by ideology and party than by gender. Ms. Palin was viewed as unprepared for the job by about 6 in 10 men and women alike. But 8 in 10 Democrats viewed her as unprepared, as well as more than 6 in 10 independents and 3 in 10 Republicans.

Marjorie Connelly, Megan Thee and Marina Stefan contributed reporting.

[Thanks, NY Times]

Well, Alaska has certainly been in the news quite a bit recently.  First we’ve got the ethics challenged, book-burning, anti-abortion creationist clogging up the media with her stupid and inane comments as she single-handedly tanks the Republican run for the White House. 

And now we’ve got yet another Republican from Alaska in the news.  Senator Ted Stevens was just found guilty Monday on seven counts of failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and free work on his home in Alaska.  Another corrupt Republican government official.

I’ve heard that party leaders are actually relieved that Sen. Stevens ’stance’ was not an issue in this most recent Republican foible.

Top Republicans call for Sen. Stevens to resign

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has joined other top Republicans in calling for convicted Sen. Ted Stevens to resign.

Earlier on Tuesday both members of the Republican presidential ticket — Sen. John McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — as well as other Republican senators called on Stevens, R-Alaska, to step down.

While campaigning for re-election on Tuesday, McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, told reporters that Stevens should step down immediately, according to McConnell’s spokesman Dom Stewart.

McConnell is in a tight race with his Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford.

Earlier in the day, McConnell said in a statement that Stevens "will be held accountable so the public trust can be restored."

Sen. John Ensign, the Nevada Republican who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee, also issued a strongly worded statement Tuesday.

"I am disappointed to see his career end in disgrace," Ensign said. "Sen. Stevens had his day in court and the jury found he violated the public’s trust — as a result he is properly being held accountable."

[Thanks, CNN]

We all know that George W. Bush isn’t the man we elected as president.  But with the manipulation of the results from overseas voters and the residents of Ohio, Bush was determined to be the winner yet again in 2004.

One of the cornerstones of his theft of the office of the president was in Ohio.  Using voting machines which have now proven to be inaccurate, George W. and his puppet-master Dick Cheney were able to prevent more than 350,000 individuals from having their votes count.

350,000 votes was just enough to manipulate the results of the Electoral Congress and assure the continued reign of the true ‘Axis of Evil’.

Hey, guess what?  The Bush-Cheney administration has their eyes set on Ohio voters once again.  Choosing an influential battleground state and manipulating the votes might just be enough to get McCain and the warthog elected.

Bush Undermines Democracy with Attack on 200,000 New Ohio Voters

By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet. Posted October 27, 2008.

How far will an already politicized Justice Department go to assist Republicans win on November 4?

As the 2008 presidential election heads into its final week, the current president threw a political wild card on table late Friday, when he asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the status of 200,000 Ohio voters.

George W. Bush’s request, if honored, could be politically explosive. It would remind voters of the Department of Justice’s partisan abuses of power in the scandal surrounding the firing of seven U.S. attorneys in 2006 who did not deliver ‘voter fraud’ convictions.

It could be a big distraction, drawing attention away from issues that call for legitimate DOJ intervention, such as shortages of voting machines in minority precincts in Virginia and Pennsylvania, compared to nearby white precincts. That disparity would violate existing civil rights law.

Or it could interject a complicating dynamic into the already heavily litigated Ohio general election, by adding the Department’s weight to GOP legal claims that pre-emptively question the legitimacy of a close vote count in a key battleground state.

Either way, the Department must choose if it will remain silent or get involved in an action that would go well beyond its historic role of quietly monitoring elections and avoiding messages to voters.

"This is taking the politicization of this to a new level, and the last thing we need is for the elections officials and voters of Ohio to be put in a chaotic situation in the last days before the election," Jon Greenbaum of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told the Washington Post, reacting to the White House request.

The White House, according to the same Post report, described its actions as a routine referral to a federal agency as requested by a member of Congress, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH). Boehner had written to Mukasey early last week but received no response.

The Obama campaign reaction was to send the fourth letter this month to Mukasey urging he ensure the Department does not interfere "to satisfy desperate partisan political demands."

"For the Department now, in response to the intense politics of the moment, to abruptly intercede in the current work of state and local officials would inflict incalculable damage — further and irreparable damage — to your office and to the reputation of senior federal law enforcement," said Robert Bauer, Obama campaign counsel.

Bauer’s "further" damage was a reference to media leaks by FBI officials confirming it was investigating ACORN, a low-income advocacy group, for voter registration issues. That disclosure violated Department rules and Bauer asked Mukasey to instruct a special prosecutor in the U.S. attorney firing scandal to investigate the leak. Like Beohner’s request, Mukasey also did not respond to Bauer’s request.

The Real Issue

At issue in the White House pressure tactics is how the GOP may be able to contest the vote count if the results are close.

Republicans in several battleground states have sought to challenge the validity of hundreds of thousands of voter registrations using a gray area of federal election law and error-prone databases.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) instructs states to use Social Security and driver’s license databases to verify voter registrations, but leaves it up to states how to specifically do that. In Ohio, for example, the Secretary of State, Democrat Jennifer Brunner, has issued for local officials to follow.

The absence of specific federal guidelines on using the Social Security and state motor vehicle databases to verify registrations is compounded by another factor: the fact that these records, especially Social Security data, have error rates as high as 28.5 percent when used for verifying voter registrations.

These factors are behind the GOP’s assertions that key battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania are facing major ballot security crises that threaten the legitimacy of the vote.

In various lawsuits, the GOP has argued that registrations that did not match these databases be segregated and treated as a separate class of voters. The GOP said these voters should receive provisional ballots, which would have to be verified before being counted.

But, so far, most state and federal courts have rejected the GOP’s legal arguments. Late last week, a Wisconsin court told that state’s attorney general, a McCain campaign co-chair, that he did not have the authority to sue on this issue. Moreover, in Ohio, the GOP’s lawsuit went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it sided with Brunner. The Ohio secretary of state, a former judge, said her office had met HAVA’s requirements by promulgating its own procedures to verify voter registrations.

Soon after the Supreme Court ruling, several Republican House members started lobbying the Justice Department to intervene. At the same time, Brunner issued new directives — which have the force of law — telling Ohio’s 88 county election boards they count not bar anyone from voting because of ‘no-match’ voter registration issues.

The White House then asked the Justice Department to intervene after Brunner’s latest directives.

[Thanks, AlterNet]

Someone once accused Barack Obama of being an elitist.  And I, in my heart of hearts, agreed with them.  A recap for those few people who don’t know about Barack’s educational background – A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review.

Harvard. Law. School.  as well as the president of the Harvard Law Review, Yep, he’s one of the elite I’d say.

Let’s look at Sarah Palin for a moment, her educational accomplishments include semesters at community colleges and after 5 years of college and degree hopping she finally graduated in 1987 with a degree in communications-journalism.  I don’t even know what that means!  Is she qualified to be a weather girl on a local TV station?  I do know that is a far cry from President of the Harvard Law Review.

But, Diva Sarah Palin not only thinks she’s good enough to be Vice President, but she actually believes that she can single-handedly drive the failing and flailing Republican ticket to victory while ignoring the advice from both the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee.

I guess the adage "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" holds true in this case.

Party at war as Palin ‘goes rogue’
Geoff Elliott, Washington correspondent | October 27, 2008

DAMAGING recriminations between aides to John McCain and Sarah Palin, who is being accused of "going rogue", are spilling out into public view.

Reflecting a bitterly divided campaign going into the final week of the presidential race, unnamed campaign insiders are starting to speak out in a traditional Washington game of "precriminations", where blame starts to be apportioned in the face of a likely defeat.

Ms Palin is making it obvious she is unhappy how she has been handled by her campaign staff – particularly that she has been shielded from any unscheduled interaction with journalists.

US media outlets yesterday were reporting open hostility from aides close to both candidates, some calling Ms Palin a "diva" in what will be an even more heated blame game after November 4 should Senator McCain lose.

"She’s lost confidence in most of the people on the plane," said a senior Republican quoted by the website Politico yesterday, adding that Ms Palin had already begun to "go rogue" in some of her public pronouncements on the campaign trail. CNN reported similar comments.

Politico cited four Republicans close to Ms Palin as saying she had grown frustrated by advice given to her by campaign handlers, whom supporters blame for a series of public relations gaffes.

As The Australian reported last week, Ms Palin has in the past two weeks noticeably distanced herself on several occasions from Senator McCain, a move many regard as her attempt to establish her own identity and a possible run for the White House in 2012 if Democratic contender Barack Obama wins on Tuesday week.

CNN reported a Palin associate saying the candidate was simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged rollout.

Polls continue to indicate that Senator McCain needs a stunning reversal in the last week of the campaign to win.

While one AP poll last week had him in a dead heat with Senator Obama, most polls show the 47-year-old Illinois senator with a six- to 10-point lead. And he is ahead in enough battleground states that media networks across the US are projecting a comfortable win for Senator Obama in the electoral college tally should the polling hold true.

It makes reports of the internal spats in the McCain camp all the more damaging as Senator McCain looks to ride the race home with a consistent message focusing on Senator Obama’s relative lack of experience and a left-liberal economic agenda.

But reports indicate Ms Palin may continue to make headlines in the final days of the campaign as she appears increasingly willing to disregard advisers’ orders and speak out on her own.

Politico reported the Alaska Governor’s supporters were accusing McCain campaign strategists of already attempting to pin the blame on Ms Palin for the failure of the campaign.

It later quoted advisers to Senator McCain reacting angrily to the report, branding Ms Palin a "diva". The McCain sources said Ms Palin had repeatedly gone "off-message" recently, suggesting she appeared to be looking out for herself.

Ms Palin has also been taking some heat over the $US150,000 ($220,000) spent on her wardrobe since late August, undermining her appeal as a down-to-earth working "hockey mum".

Campaigning in Iowa yesterday, noting the chill in the air, she said: "It reminded me a lot of Alaska, so I put my warm jacket on, and it is my own jacket. It doesn’t belong to anybody else."

[Thanks, The Australian News]

Wow!  150,000 dollars!

$150,000.00 of Republican donations going to clothe the pit bull.  Wow………  I’ll say it again, WOW!

Albert Einstein once said “If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies… It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.” .  And in this case I would say that the wrapper around Palin is much, much better than the ‘meat’.

Or, to put it another way, there is a proverb that says “A pretty face and fine clothes do not make character” and as we race toward the November 4 finish line we see that Sarah Palin is characterless indeed.

As to the last statement in the article below, that the clothes will go to charity after the campaign, I don’t believe that for an instant.  For someone who has lied and stolen in the past to give up all the swanky clothes would be unbearable for her.

Ethics campaigners cry foul over Palin shopping spree

17 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Political ethics campaigners lodged a formal complaint Thursday over the 150,000 dollars the Republican Party spent to dress vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin in fashionable new clothes.

In a submission to the Federal Election Commission, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington alleged that the shopping spree was a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act by Palin, the Republican National Committee and RNC "operatives".

"It is ridiculous that the RNC would spend 150,000 dollars to outfit a vice presidential nominee and her family at any time," said the group’s executive director Melanie Sloan on its website (www.citizensforethics.org).

"But it is more outrageous given the dire financial straights of so many Americans and the state of our economy."

With the November 4 election less than a fortnight away, it emerged Wednesday that the Republicans splashed out for Palin — the moose-hunting governor of Alaska and self-described "hockey mom" — after John McCain picked her as his running mate.

The Politico website said chic designer outfits from such top-end retailers as Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, plus hair care and make-up, cropped up as "campaign accessories" in a monthly RNC financial disclosure statement.

McCain’s campaign said the clothes will go to charity after the November 4 election.

[Thanks, Google News]

The shininess and newness seems to be wearing off of Sarah Palin.  As new poll numbers come in it looks like the perky little Alaskan Governor is going to be glad she’ll have a job to go back to on November 5th.

With only 15 days left before election day, the reaction to John McCain’s ill-advised VP pick is becoming evident as bi-partisan polls continue to show a widening gap between the two contenders.

It looks like America doesn’t have to be straddled with another 4 years of the failed policies and decisions that have gotten us to the abysmally low place that Bush and Cheney have driven us.

15 days out, Obama reverses slide; Palin a drag on McCain

By Jay Bookman | Monday, October 20, 2008, 07:54 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

As expected, Barack Obama has halted and even reversed John McCain’s rise in the wake of their performances in the third and final debate, according to at least two tracking polls.

In the latest Gallup three-day tracking numbers released Sunday, Obama’s lead is back up to 10 points. It had fallen to six points before the poll began to reflect reaction to the debate.

Obama has also doubled his lead in the latest Zogby tracking poll released this morning, with the Illinois senator reaching 49.8 percent. That’s Obama’s highest support level in the poll’s 14 days of surveying.

“This three-day rolling average of telephone polling now includes a sample taken entirely after the final presidential debate last Wednesday,” Zogby notes.

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll suggests that the McCain campaign may be preaching to its own choir, pleasing the already converted but not the independents they need to win Nov. 4.

“Overall, 52 percent of likely voters said they are less confident in McCain’s judgment because of his surprise selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin; 38 percent are more confident because of it. That is a stark reversal from the initial, positive public reaction to the pick,” the Post reports.

“Just after the GOP convention, 52 percent of independents, and 64 percent of independent women said the Palin pick made them more confident in how McCain would make presidential decisions – those numbers have now dipped to 39 and 37 percent, respectively.”

Voters who say they may still be persuadable are “among the least apt to see the new GOP focus on 1960s radical William Ayers and the community group ACORN as legitimate campaign issues.”

“Nearly seven in 10 movable voters said Obama’s past relationship with Ayers is not a legitimate issue; likewise, a narrow majority see the Obama campaign’s association with ACORN as not germane,” the poll found.

The party base will no doubt complain that Palin’s numbers have been driven down by a hostile media. On the other hand, the rest of America thinks the party base should open their damn eyes and ears and listen to what that woman actually says.

[Thanks, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

The RIAA has been targeting a vast assortment of individuals for copyright infringement.  From handicapped single Moms to 15 year-old girls through what seems like half the college students in the U.S. the RIAA has tried to leave no stone unturned in its pitiful attempts to extort money from those least able to defend themselves.

Apparently John McCain and the McCain campaign are guilty of breaking some of the same laws as those people as well as breaking the laws that got Muxtape shut down!  Playing songs at their hate-fests rallies which they have no legal right or license to play.

There is a growing list of artists who have stood up and complained about McCain’s copyright infringement that include Heart, Van Halen, John Cougar Mellencamp, and Jackson Browne.  Jackson Browne has gone so far as to file suit against both John McCain himself and his campaign organization.

I’ve been scanning the headlines and listening to the news radio, but I haven’t heard anything about the RIAA filing suit against McCain & company, but it’s only a matter of time, right?  Right??

McCain’s Musical Copyright Infringement Continues

Posted on October 10th, 2008 by ZP Heller

It’s getting to the point where the only songs the McCain campaign will be able to use at rallies are the ones written specifically for them, like John Rich’s pseudo-country trifle “Raisin’ McCain.”  A couple of days ago, the Foo Fighters issued a statement telling McCain to stop using their song, “My Hero.”

The band said in a statement:

“The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential.  To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song.”

The Foo Fighters join a slew of artists who have complained of McCain’s copyright infringement.  Others who have told McCain to quit usurping their music for political gains include Van Halen, John Mellencamp, Heart (sorry Sarah “Barracuda”), Frankie Valli, the owners of the theme song from “Rocky,” and Jackson Browne, who even filed a suit against the campaign.

Clearly, fewer and fewer artists want to be associated in any way with McCain.  But what’s particularly ironic in the case of the Foo Fighters is that McCain couldn’t be further from the ordinary hero mentioned in the song.  He continues to put himself before the country, which we saw most recently with his closing remarks at the second debate (as compared to Barack Obama’s) and his theatrics with the economic crisis.  He’s desperate to prove himself as the common man who rises to the occasion, but the reality is that he has NEVER been the common man and he has RARELY IF EVER risen to the occasion.

If you want to know what I mean, read Tim Dickinson’s scathing Rolling Stone piece on McCain, “Make-Believe Maverick.” Use that evidence, race it around.  There goes my hero, he’s ordinary.

[Thanks, The REAL McCain]

In these brief days following the last presidential debate, two more stalwart institutions have come out in support of Barack Obama.  Both the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle have wholeheartedly endorsed Barack as their pick for 2008.

It is interesting to note that both media outlets cited Barack’s calm demeanor and deliberate nature in the face of McCain’s ‘The Sky is Falling’ return to Washington after suspending his campaign during the bailout deliberations.

A calm and cool president on today’s international stage would be an asset that couldn’t be bought at any price.

‘Wash Post’ and ‘SF Chronicle’ Endorse Obama
By E&P Staff
Published: October 16, 2008 8:40 PM ET

NEW YORK In an editorial posted online tonight, The Washington Post, a day after the final presidential debate, endorsed Barack Obama for president.
The Post editorial page has been more aligned with the Democrats’ domestic agenda but closer to McCain on the Iraq war and some other international issues.

Indeed, it opens its editorial with, "The nominating process this year produced two unusually talented and qualified presidential candidates. There are few public figures we have respected more over the years than Sen. John McCain. Yet it is without ambivalence that we endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president."

Earlier today, the San Francisco Chronicle endorsed Obama. In E&P’s exclusive count of all editorial endorsements Obama has taken an early lead by a 3-1 margin (another update tomorrow).

Here are excerpts from the Post and Chronicle editorials. For continual updates on endorsements and links, go to

The E&P Pub
*
THE WASHINGTON POST

"The choice is made easy in part by Mr. McCain’s disappointing campaign, above all his irresponsible selection of a running mate who is not ready to be president. It is made easy in larger part, though, because of our admiration for Mr. Obama and the impressive qualities he has shown during this long race. Yes, we have reservations and concerns, almost inevitably, given Mr. Obama’s relatively brief experience in national politics. But we also have enormous hopes.

"Mr. Obama is a man of supple intelligence, with a nuanced grasp of complex issues and evident skill at conciliation and consensus-building. At home, we believe, he would respond to the economic crisis with a healthy respect for markets tempered by justified dismay over rising inequality and an understanding of the need for focused regulation. Abroad, the best evidence suggests that he would seek to maintain U.S. leadership and engagement, continue the fight against terrorists, and wage vigorous diplomacy on behalf of U.S. values and interests. Mr. Obama has the potential to become a great president. Given the enormous problems he would confront from his first day in office, and the damage wrought over the past eight years, we would settle for very good. "

It closes:"Any presidential vote is a gamble, and Mr. Obama’s résumé is undoubtedly thin. We had hoped, throughout this long campaign, to see more evidence that Mr. Obama might stand up to Democratic orthodoxy and end, as he said in his announcement speech, ‘our chronic avoidance of tough decisions."’

"But Mr. Obama’s temperament is unlike anything we’ve seen on the national stage in many years. He is deliberate but not indecisive; eloquent but a master of substance and detail; preternaturally confident but eager to hear opposing points of view. He has inspired millions of voters of diverse ages and races, no small thing in our often divided and cynical country. We think he is the right man for a perilous moment."

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

From the start of the campaign, Americans were confronted with profound policy choices about how and when to extricate this nation from a war it initiated, how to temper a looming recession, and whether to continue Bush administration policies that had widened the gap between rich and poor, eroded individual liberties, strengthened presidential power, shifted the Supreme Court to the right, weakened relations with our allies, and delayed action necessary to slow the warming of the planet.

Then, suddenly, the emergence of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression gave Americans an opportunity to see the two major-party candidates under heightened stress. It was a rare chance to see the two senators encounter the type of pressure that comes with the job description of president of the United States.

Even though each ultimately voted for the same solution – the $700 billion bailout – their demeanors could not have been more different. Sen. John McCain magnified the aura of crisis, "suspending" his campaign to return to Washington, where his role in negotiations was at best tangential. Sen. Barack Obama was a portrait of calmness and deliberation, reminding Americans that it is possible for a leader to juggle more than one task at a time.

Obama showed steadiness in a moment of anxiety, with Americans’ portfolios withering and policymakers scrambling to do something – anything – to staunch the panic. The Illinois senator was similarly deliberative – in contrast with McCain’s quick-draw provocation – when Russia invaded Georgia in August.

In those crises, and in the hot lights of three debates, Obama demonstrated a presidential depth and temperament. His performance under the unrelenting scrutiny of the past 20 months has helped quell the "experience issue" for a 47-year-old senator who was elected in 2004.

We either have a faux Fox News story that it trying to diminish the impact of any "Incite to Riot" litigation against Palin or we have a cover-up.  What’s your guess??

Report: Secret Service Says ‘Kill Him’ Allegations at Palin Rally Unfounded

A Secret Service agent called charges that a man yelled "kill him" in reference to Barack Obama during a Sarah Palin rally "unfounded," .  

FOXNews.com

A senior Secret Service agent said allegations that a man yelled ‘kill him" when Barack Obama’s name was referenced Tuesday during a Sarah Palin rally are "unfounded," reports the Timesleader.com, a Northeastern Pennsylvania news agency.

Agent Bill Slavoski — who was standing in the audience along with other Secret Service agents during the rally in Scranton, Pa. — said neither he nor the other officers heard the comment, according to the report published Thursday.

The charges — first reported Tuesday on the Scranton Times-Tribune’s Web site — claimed that a male audience member shouted "kill him" after congressional candidate Chris Hackett mentioned Barack Obama’s name at the rally. 

Slavoski reportedly said he was "baffled" after first reading the report on Wednesday. 

Slavoski — who is charge of the Secret Service’s field office in Scranton — launched an official investigation into the charge and said he could not find anyone other than the Scranton Times-Tribune’s reporter to corroborate the story.

A Secret Service spokesman told FOXNews.com that the investigation is not closed and asks for anyone with information on the allegations to contact the agency.

[Thanks, FauxFoxNews]

A poll of undecided voters has given the win in last nights debate to Barack Obama.  With a 56 to 44 percent score, the young Obama is maintaining a double-digit lead over the aged John McCain.

Reports say that McCain did better in the verbal sparring portion of the debate than he had in his past performances, but it really wasn’t enough to swing the tide in his favor.  From the looks of all of the poll numbers, the only way the Republicans can win this election is to steal it again.

McCain improved but Obama won debate, survey finds

By STEVEN THOMMA
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — John McCain did better in his final debate with Barack Obama than he had in the two previous ones, but Obama still won it, according to an online Ipsos-McClatchy survey of undecided voters.

Obama won by 56-44 percent, and the undecided voters said that if they were forced to choose after watching the debate, they tilted to Obama by 53-47 percent.

The online survey of 366 undecided voters isn’t a scientific random sample, doesn’t statistically mirror the population and thus has no margin of error. The sample instead resembles a giant focus group and is reflective of many undecided voters’ opinions.

The survey found that 53 percent of the respondents said that McCain did better Wednesday night than he had in the first two debates, and nearly half said he did much better. Just 29 percent said that Obama performed better in the 90-minute debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., than he had in the first two face-offs with McCain.

On balance, though, the poll’s findings suggest that McCain fell well short of the kind of breakthrough he needs to overtake Obama’s lead in broader polls, both nationally and in key battleground states.

The online undecided voters gave Obama higher marks than McCain for expressing his opinions more clearly, for his understanding of the issues, for agreeing with the voters on issues they care about and for his ability to think on his feet.

They also thought that Obama would do a better job getting the country on the right track, helping the middle class, creating more jobs and dealing with health care. In a blow to McCain and his effort to convince voters that Obama would raise their taxes broadly, these undecided voters narrowly trusted the Illinois senator on taxes more than they did McCain.

They gave the Arizona senator higher grades than they gave Obama for being tough enough for the job and for being able to defend the country and combat terrorism. They also trusted him more as a potential commander in chief.

Perhaps McCain’s biggest obstacle to winning the debate was the way voters reacted to his attacks on Obama. By a 2-to-1 margin, the voters said McCain was more disrespectful and more mean-spirited than Obama was, and by a similar ratio they said Obama was more likable.

METHODOLOGY

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos online poll conducted Wednesday and Thursday. For this survey, a national sample of 366 undecided voters from Ipsos’ U.S. online panel was interviewed online. Weighting then was employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the U.S. adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. Statistical margins of error aren’t applicable to online polls because they’re based on samples drawn from opt-in online panels, not on random samples that mirror the population within a statistical probability ratio. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error.

It’s just weeks away and the gap between the Democrats and the Republicans is widening to double digit results in the polls.  A new CBS News/NY Times poll puts Senator Barack Obama 14 points ahead of erstwhile rival, John McCain.

The gains that the Obama-Biden ticket have taken appear to be pretty much across the board.  We have to assume that there are a certain number of Republicans in that group as well as a significant number of otherwise unaligned voters.

Apparently, the bilious and hateful attacks by McCain and his ethically challenged pit bull have done little other than swing the tide to the Obama side.

This has really turned out to be a fun election.

Poll: Obama Opens 14-Point Lead On McCain

CBS News/New York Times Survey Shows Major Swing Among Independents, Suggests McCain’s Strategy May Be Hurting Him

Oct. 14, 2008

(CBS) Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is entering the third and final presidential debate Wednesday with a wide lead over Republican rival John McCain nationally, a new CBS News/New York Times poll shows.

The Obama-Biden ticket now leads the McCain-Palin ticket 53 percent to 39 percent among likely voters, a 14-point margin. One week ago, prior to the Town Hall debate that uncommitted voters saw as a win for Obama, that margin was just three points.

Among independents who are likely voters – a group that has swung back and forth between McCain and Obama over the course of the campaign – the Democratic ticket now leads by 18 points. McCain led among independents last week.

McCain’s campaign strategy may be hurting hurt him: Twenty-one percent of voters say their opinion of the Republican has changed for the worse in the last few weeks. The top two reasons cited for the change of heart are McCain’s attacks on Obama and his choice of Sarah Palin as running mate.

[Thanks, CBS News]

While Todd Palin was otherwise unemployed and hanging around in the Governors Office, the deputy commissioner of public safety in Alaska told Todd that their pushing to get their ex brother-in-law fired could create "some extreme amount of discomfort and embarrassment for the governor".  Thankfully for us, their arrogance wouldn’t allow them to listen.

The real central theme here is how the profound failings of Alaska’s First Family keep piling up.  Separationists, book burners, anti-abortionists at any cost, ethically challenged, and outright liars.  Are these people we want one heartbeat away from the presidency of this once great nation?  Is this really someone we want to follow in the Bush/Cheney footsteps.

I think not…..

Sarah Palin’s husband was warned about Troopergate

Sarah Palin’s husband was warned by a top police official to stop trying to have her ex-brother-in-law fired, it has emerged.

By Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 11:53AM BST 15 Oct 2008

John Glass, Alaska’s deputy commissioner of public safety, told him the move could result in "an extreme amount of discomfort and embarrassment," a state inquiry into the so-called "Troopergate" incident found.

Mrs Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, was found by the inquiry to have abused her power in personally pushing for the dismissal of Mike Wooten, a state trooper and her sister’s ex-husband.

The report discloses a warning given to Todd Palin by Mr Glass in the spring that disciplinary action had already been taken against Mr Wooten and that "we could not fire him".

"I also warned him that it was going to cause some extreme amount of discomfort and embarrassment for the governor if they pursued this and it should never have become public," Mr Glass told the inquiry. "That it would just be not good for the governor if it continued, and that they needed to cease and desist."

The inquiry was sparked by Mrs Palin’s dismissal of Walt Monegan, Alaska’s Public Safety Commissioner, which he claimed was due to his refusal to sack Mr Wooten.

While he admits he never received a direct order to fire the trooper, Mr Monegan claimed his refusal to do so was the "central theme" of his 17-month spell as Commisioner.

The inquiry’s report found that Mr Monegan’s refusal to sack Mr Wooten was "likely a contributing factor" to his own dismissal.

The report found that Mr Palin used her wife’s office and its resources to push Mr Monegan to fire Mr Wooten, which Mrs Palin did nothing to prevent.

Mr Palin told the inquiry that Mr Glass said to him: "I’m telling you as a friend, I love the Governor, but I am telling you, stay away from this Wooten situation."

Mrs Palin described Mr Wooten as a "rogue trooper" and claimed he made threats against her family amid his 2005 divorce from her sister.

[Thanks, The Telegraph UK]

Yikes, I seem have been a little quick off the mark yesterday when I mentioned that the only real critical reports on the Republican VP candidate were from outside of our borders.  I’ll assume that Alaska is still part of the US for the purposes of this discussion, much to the chagrin of Todd, Alaska’s otherwise unemployed First Dude, member in good standing of the separationist movement in Alaska.

Here are a flurry of stories responding to the official reaction by Sarah to the Alaska Legislature’s Troopergate report.  They range from editorials in her local daily paper, which since she can’t name as a news source I can only guess she has never read, and include a scathing analysis on MSNBCs ‘First Read’ site.

But let us start with an article from Editor & Publisher:

Anchorage Paper Calls Palin Response to Troopergate ‘An Embarrassment’
By E&P Staff
Published: October 14, 2008 10:10 AM ET

NEW YORK Since its release late last Friday, the Alaska legislatures "Troopergate" has drawn much attention, and Gov. Sarah Palin has claimed numerous times that it actually found no ethical misdeeds on her part — even as it charged her with a serious "abuse of power." The main paper in her home state is not buying it.

The Anchorage Daily News’ angry editorial today was topped with the headline: "Palin vindicated? Governor offers Orwellian spin." It opens: "Sarah Palin’s reaction to the Legislature’s Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.

"She claims the report ‘vindicates’ her. She said that the investigation found ‘no unlawful or unethical activity on my part.’

"Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian."

An excerpt follows.
*
In plain English, she did something "unlawful." She broke the state ethics law.

Perhaps Gov. Palin has been too busy to actually read the Troopergate report. Perhaps she is relying on briefings from McCain campaign spinmeisters.

That’s the charitable interpretation.

Because if she had actually read it, she couldn’t claim "vindication" with a straight face.

Palin asserted that the report found "there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired."

In fact, the report concluded that "impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired."

Palin’s response is the kind of political "big lie" that George Orwell warned against. War is peace. Black is white. Up is down.

Gov. Palin and her camp trumpeted the report’s second finding: that she was within her legal authority to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. But the report also said it’s likely one of the reasons she fired him was his failure to get rid of her ex-brother-in-law trooper.

That’s not "vindication," and surely Gov. Palin knows it.

[Thanks, Editor & Publisher]

And let’s quickly segue into that original article from the Anchorage Daily News:

Palin vindicated?

Governor offers Orwellian spin

Published: October 13th, 2008 10:02 PM
Last Modified: October 13th, 2008 10:17 PM

Sarah Palin’s reaction to the Legislature’s Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.

She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part."

Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.

Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act."

In plain English, she did something "unlawful." She broke the state ethics law.

Perhaps Gov. Palin has been too busy to actually read the Troopergate report. Perhaps she is relying on briefings from McCain campaign spinmeisters.

That’s the charitable interpretation.

Because if she had actually read it, she couldn’t claim "vindication" with a straight face.

Palin asserted that the report found "there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired."

In fact, the report concluded that "impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired."

Palin’s response is the kind of political "big lie" that George Orwell warned against. War is peace. Black is white. Up is down.

Gov. Palin and her camp trumpeted the report’s second finding: that she was within her legal authority to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan. But the report also said it’s likely one of the reasons she fired him was his failure to get rid of her ex-brother-in-law trooper.

That’s not "vindication," and surely Gov. Palin knows it.

Gov. Palin does have a defense. She could have said:

"I’m gratified that the report confirmed what I said all along, that I had the authority to terminate Walt Monegan as public safety commissioner.

"I absolutely disagree that I violated state ethics law. In repeatedly complaining about trooper Mike Wooten, Todd and I were not pursuing a personal vendetta. We were trying to protect the integrity of the Alaska State Troopers from having an arrogant, almost-out-of-control law-breaker in their ranks. Because the action we were seeking was in the public interest, not purely our personal interest, there is no ethics law violation."

Gov. Palin and her husband felt so passionately about Wooten because the case was so personal to them. Their passion blinded them to any other considerations.

They had no sense that the power of the governor’s office carries a special responsibility not to use it to settle family scores. They had no sense that legal restrictions might prevent the troopers from firing Wooten. They had no sense that persistent queries from the governor’s office might be perceived as pressure to bend state personnel laws.

Gov. Palin and her husband were obsessed with Wooten the way Capt. Ahab was obsessed with the Great White Whale. No Wooten, no peace.

Has Gov. Palin committed an impeachable offense? Hardly.

Is what she did indictable? No.

But it wasn’t appropriate, especially for someone elected as an ethical reformer. And her Orwellian claims of "vindication" make this blemish on her record look even worse.

You asked us to hold you accountable, Gov. Palin. Did you mean it?

Bottom line: Gov. Palin, read the report. It says you violated the ethics law.

[Thanks, Anchorage Daily News]

And let’s flesh out this round of condemnation with MSNBC’s First Read:

Palin: Anchorage paper not happy

Posted: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 9:16 AM by Mark Murray

It’s not good when your home-state paper’s editorial page puts your name and "embarrassment" to the state in the same sentence. "Sarah Palin’s reaction to the Legislature’s Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation. She claims the report ‘vindicates’ her. She said that the investigation found ‘no unlawful or unethical activity on my part.’ Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian." 

But wait, there’s more. Another independent investigator is looking into more ethics complaints against the guv.

The New York Times writes, “Here is the thing about Gov. Sarah Palin: She loves America. Really loves it. She loves the smell of cut grass and hay, as she told Ohio voters Sunday. She loves Navy bases, she said in Virginia Beach on Monday morning. She loves America’s ‘most beautiful national anthem,’ she told a crowd here a few hours later.”

“Apparently there are people who do not feel the same way about America as Ms. Palin does, she said at campaign rallies over the last two days. Those people just do not get it.”

The AP: “Gov. Sarah Palin’s rural adviser resigned Monday amid criticism of the governor’s record on hiring Alaska Natives.” 

"Palin mistook some of her own fans for hecklers Monday at a rally that drew thousands" in Virginia, the AP writes. " ‘Louder! Louder!’ they began chanting, and the cry spread across the crowd to Palin’s left. Some pointed skyward, urging that the volume be increased. Palin stopped her remarks briefly and looked toward the commotion. ‘I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest,’ she said. Some in the crowd tried to shout toward her what was really being said, but she couldn’t hear them."

[Thanks, MSNBC]

Staunch Republicans waited hours in the sun for the opportunity to glimpse their Vice Presidential Pit Bull at the Richmond International Raceway yesterday.  Once Palin did show up, she mistook groups of chanting supporters for hecklers and stopped her prepared speech to try and humiliate them with some of her ’scathing’ remarks.

To be fair, the supporters who caught the lashing from Palin were more than 100 yards away and we can only assume that Sarah has eyestrain from staring towards Russia watching for the invading Red Menace.

The AP reports:

Palin mistakes fans for protesters at Va. rally
By BOB LEWIS – 12 hours ago

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin mistook some of her own fans for hecklers Monday at a rally that drew thousands.

A massive crowd of at least 20,000 spread across the parking lot of Richmond International Raceway, and scores of people on the outer periphery more than 100 yards from the stage could not hear.

"Louder! Louder!" they began chanting, and the cry spread across the crowd to Palin’s left. Some pointed skyward, urging that the volume be increased.

Palin stopped her remarks briefly and looked toward the commotion.

"I hope those protesters have the courage and honor to give veterans thanks for their right to protest," she said.

Some in the crowd tried to shout toward her what was really being said, but she couldn’t hear them.

[Thanks, Google & AP]

Here are two articles which describe the fear that I have regarding an Alaskan family that has a rather lengthy history of excessive abuse of power and ethics violations (hey, Todd’s in on this too!).  They both illustrate how Palin could very well be an un-worthy but capable successor to the evil that is Cheney.

These kinds of commentary should bring pause to any rational American.  Obviously McCain and the majority of the Republican election/political machine could care less.

But I care – We must resist, not as a last act of defiant desperation, but as the first act of change and creation.  Incite Hope!

Editorial: Palin’s Troopergate actions disturbing

04:12 PM CDT on Monday, October 13, 2008

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin claims the Troopergate investigation clears her of wrongdoing in the firing of her public safety commissioner, which it does not.

The state ethics panel investigation – a bipartisan effort started by a Legislature controlled by her own Republican party – found that though she was technically within her rights to fire the man, she violated state ethics law and abused her power in doing so.

Specifically, the report found, the governor allowed her husband, Todd, to strong-arm government employees in an effort to get someone to fire a state trooper, Michael Wooten, who was going through an ugly divorce with the governor’s sister. The state investigator rejected the Palin family’s claims that Trooper Wooten was a personal threat, concluding that the governor misused her authority "to advance a personal agenda."

Ms. Palin would be wise to quit trying to spin her way out of this mess. It would be far more plausible if she admitted error but said she and her husband acted out of fear – perhaps misplaced – for the family’s safety. But to claim vindication when the report is actually fairly damning should give even McCain-Palin supporters pause.

The temptation to use public power to settle private accounts bedevils all politicians. This Troopergate imbroglio is eerily reminiscent of the 1993 Travelgate scandal involving first lady Hillary Clinton. Her behind-the-scenes machinations against the White House Travel Office – engineering the dismissal of career employees, apparently for the benefit of the Clintons’ Arkansas cronies – were legal but unethical.

Just because something is legal on paper, of course, doesn’t make it right.

This story would be confined to local newspapers in the moose belt if the Alaska governor weren’t running to become vice president. Since she is, Americans have a right to expect that politicians asking for their votes will be good stewards of their trust.

Ms. Palin’s best move would be to assure voters that she and her husband take to heart a line from the Alaska report: "Compliance with the code of ethics is not optional."

[Thanks, Dallas Morning News]

And:

Palin Too Close for Comfort

It’s time to start taking Sarah Palin seriously.

Though the latest polls show the Obama-Biden ticket ahead, the Alaska governor is still uncomfortably close to becoming vice president of the United States. The thought should concentrate the mind of every American who remembers the abuse of executive power by the administration of Richard Nixon. Just look at what Palin has done, in a short time, with the authority delegated to her by Alaskans.

The "Troopergate" report, conducted by an independent investigator and released Friday by a bipartisan legislative committee, tells the tale. It documents the campaign that Palin and her husband Todd waged to get her former brother-in-law fired from the Alaska state troopers.

Palin did, indeed, have the authority to dismiss the state’s public safety commissioner, the report says. But she violated a state law, the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, which prohibits state officials from taking actions that benefit personal interest. According to the report: Palin abused her power as governor when she "knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired."

I shudder to think of the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon at her beck and call.

The role played by Todd in carrying out his wife’s vendetta was highly unusual. He had no official duties in government. He acknowledged, however, that he made numerous calls to state officials to press his case against the governor’s ex-brother-in-law.

It’s been well reported that Todd Palin’s involvement in his wife’s official business unsettled some Alaskans. He has been known to sit in on the governor’s meetings, use her office for his own meetings and intervene in state business using his status as "First Gentleman." Clearly, he’s a man with a lot of time on his hands.

What if he assumed the same role in Washington? Imagine Todd in a town that has no use for snow machines (which he loves to ride) or work for commercial fishermen (of which he is one, during the summer months). What would he do? Would he follow the vice president to her White House office? Join her meetings in the Situation Room? Sit in on her daily national security briefings?

Where does Todd Palin stand on America anyway? Neither he nor Sarah Palin ever explained his seven-year membership in the Alaska Independence Party, a group that seeks a vote on secession from America. "I’m an Alaskan, not an American" was the slogan of the party’s founder, Joe Vogler, who also said "I’ve got no use for America or her damned institutions" and "I won’t be buried under their damned flag." What made Todd Palin hitch his wagon to that anti-American train when Alaska offered the Democratic and Republican parties?

Troopergate shows the Palins to be small-bore people unable to distinguish selfish personal interests from official responsibilities. Imagine the power of the U.S. government at their disposal.

The prospect of Vice President Sarah Palin is no laughing matter.

By Colbert King |  October 13, 2008; 12:58 PM ET

[Thanks, Washington Post]