One Stop Thought Shop

RNC thinks McBush too.

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:10:00 +0000

Short listed Governor Tom Ridge,
minutes after his speech at the Convention,
is with Tom Brokaw on NBC TV.

Ridge said John Bush "is pretty much his own man."

Yup, pretty much.

(YouTube 17 seconds)
(Thanks DemConWatch)

Voter's Red Blue Map

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:35:00 +0000

This is the Presidential electoral map just after the Conventions.

It IS the southern and rural states voting Republican. There may be fewer people in these states, but it seems they actually turn out to vote.

The lighter colors are inconclusive and where this election will be won or lost. Notice Alaska is not a Sarah Palin shoe-in. I don't know why there are gray states in this analysis.

Hearing the drumbeat of drilling, pipelines, mining, coal power and remote nuclear sites is not unlike urban Americans hoping for crime reduction, child and health care, food safety....

"Look', barks a Republican Congressman, "We’re gonna take advantage of our natural resources. We’re gonna take advantage of the things that we were God-given in this land. We’re gonna take advantage of our oil reserves, of our natural gas, of our abundance of coal."

Americans in cities have competing needs, but for either political party, shaping their plank is one way they hope to get you to the polls.

Bill Moyers recently broadcast perhaps the nation's top political analysts Merle and Earl Black to help us understand "the importance of demographics in predicting and understanding voting patterns in different states and regions".

“Well, you can't understand the nation just by looking at national outcomes. Because America's too diverse.'”

Pennslvania Avenue Palin

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:20:00 +0000

I knew yesterday that Palin's campaign for ethics was initiated in a hurry.

Just minutes before news broadcasts of the corruption conviction of Alaska's state representative, Palin introduced ethics reform in Alaska to help distance her administration.

I have just learned in the Kodiak Daily Mirror:

Todd Palin - oil worker, champion snowmobiler, hunter and commercial fisherman, cook, babysitter, hockey dad, abstinence educator, and special needs nurse - joined state officials on two trips with mining companies that want to dig for gold, zinc and lead in remote Alaska, as well as to extend permission to mine new deposits at existing facilities.

The First Dude's costs were disclosed by his wife as gifts.

In other local news, Abstinence in Alaska

[Sarah] Palin's oldest girl gets knocked up out of wedlock. It's all over the media all week. I go to the pharmacy for some Sudafed. The entire shelf behind the pharmacist is loaded with three or four different brands of birth control pills. I said to the dude, "That's a lot of pills." He says, "Yeah, we've been filling a lot of prescriptions for them lately."

Ms-directed RNC Convention

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:32:00 +0000

A local Alaskan is commenting on Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican Convention,

Kind of funny how all the members of the permanent political establishment at the convention are cheering as she makes a point of saying she’s NOT a member of the permanent political establishment.

White men are almost 70 percent of the delegates. A new segregation was in Minnesota. A "typical McCain event" - 67 people showed up for one of his town hall meetings, one was black.

It's clear, Obama is not their candidate. Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates are black, the lowest number in 40 years. A southern RNC Congressman sends a racial reminder by calling Obama "uppity"

White males are not known for avoiding sexism such as this button spotted on a blazer during Palin’s speech: "good ole boys just loves themselves some VPilf".

Too few women are at the Convention. McCain's RNC Campaign instructs men to give up their seats in order to move women into the cameras.

Republican women are herded up the McCain-Palin plank for television. Sex and children are now a weapon to intimidate opponents. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama endure anti-feminist hazing. Investigating women, media is stung as sexist.

Nor are white males universally praised for nurturing family and children. If the audience is Republican men, sex and children are common Republican smear. For example, about Chelsea Clinton when she was 13 years old, Rush Limbaugh's TV show, "Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat. Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is a White House dog?" And John McCain joked, "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father".

More exploitation continues. A blogger said after McCain's speech to this tilted audience,

"I challenge you to show me any American veteran, ever in history, that has so shamelessly milked and exploited his military heroism."

"The media, who once worshiped his candor and openness now condemn his evasiveness and intemperate, robotic statements. One by one, they've awakened to find a man they no longer recognize.
'He's turned over his campaign to the same unprincipled smear artists who slimed him so that they could slime his opponent. And to help in that effort, he's asking his unqualified running mate, a self-described "pit bull with lipstick" to do the dirty work.

"His campaign, now stripped of all integrity, and in complete denial about his responsibility for supporting the last eight years of failed policies, has become little more than pumped up self praise, relentless narcissism over a sense of honor he no longer displays, while smearing Obama's character and lying about his energy and tax proposals.
"His strategy has been reduced to a Nixonian cultural war coupled with Rovean partisanship designed to divide the nation he claims to love, all as he cynically promises to end the "rancor" in Washington.

In the Republican manifest to take our government, these imperial words are white as Alaskan snow in the southern and rural zeal for supremacy:

"I think the people that elect us deserve to know what our plan is. The Republican side has come out with a plan. They say, “Look, we’re gonna take advantage of our natural resources. We’re gonna take advantage of the things that we were God-given in this land.

"We’re gonna take advantage of our oil reserves, of our natural gas, of our abundance of coal. We’re gonna take advantage of those things, and we’re gonna use the technology that we’ve been so good about coming up with. We’re gonna take and convert this shale to oil, [just as] Hitler did....

Pouring a Palin of Lies

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 06:40:00 +0000

Much of this material is already in related Palin posts but just now appearing in some major outlets. We'll say major news services have required a few days to carry out due diligence and confirm facts and sources.

Associated Press Writer Jim Drinkard in Washington points out false bravado and outright lies at the RNC Convention and steadies the truth:

Mitt Romney said, "throw out the big-government liberals", but for most of the last eight years Republicans controlled Congress and the White House, a very poor eight years for America too.

Silly Huckabee said, "[Palin] got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States" but Biden collected 76,165 votes in 23 states before he quit the primaries - 10 times the entire population of Wasilla.

McCain said "she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities" but the smallest state guard of 4,200 does not report to the governor.

McCain said "[she's] in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply" but the ability to tax oil is the only task granted any Alaskan governor. Supported by merely half of Alaska's Republicans, Palin brought a major tax increase on state oil production only by piggybacking on Democratic efforts underway for years.

"She has succeeded in her own limited policy agenda as a Republican governor by having the Democrat caucus in lock-step with her." [LATimes]

McCain said "She's fought oil companies and party bosses and do-nothing bureaucrats and anyone who puts their interests before the interests of the people she swore an oath to serve." but 'no one is closer to the oil industry'.

In February, she said she’d 'like to support McCain but felt she couldn’t at this particular time because of his stand on ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.' [Anchorage Daily News 2/3/08]

Oil and gas lobbyists substantially fund her primary and general campaigns. She enthusiastically promotes her ties with offshore oil development, oil drilling in Alaska's ice-filled waters and allowing oil companies into the Alaska wildlife refuge. Plus Palin is closely allied with promoters of pipelines, nuclear and coal....

To distance herself from backlash, Palin's campaign for ethics was initiated just minutes before Alaska's state representative was to be finally convicted of corruption.

Todd Palin - oil worker, champion snowmobiler, hunter and commercial fisherman, and cook, babysitter, hockey dad, abstinence educator, and special needs nurse - joined state officials on the two trips with mining companies that want to dig for gold, zinc and lead in remote Alaska, as well as seek permission to mine new deposits at existing facilities. The costs of his travel were disclosed by his wife as gifts.

Are Rove's Republicans taunting Catholics by using a fungelical smear? With desperate lies and personal attacks, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama for his works as a community organizer more than two decades ago! Obama's community organization was the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, a project of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. What does the evangelical church that Palin belongs to think of Catholics?

"The GOP wants to talk about small town issues, well being a community organizer, addresses just that."

Palin said Obama "plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars" but Obama's plan raises the income of most Americans 5 percent, $2,200 annually.

McCain's plan will add $200 billion or $300 billion per year to American debt, slightly less than George Bush but as much as $5 trillion. And McCain hopes to alter our 'voluntary tax system' but to date has hidden the announcement as flat tax, tax reform and other sly insider terms. [link]

Palin said Obama has not passed "a single major law or reform" but both during his career in Illinois and in Congress, Barrack Obama has introduced or co-sponsored laws to

cut tax breaks for oil companies,
intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction,
destroy conventional weapons stockpiles,
control racial profiling,
require recorded interrogations,
overhaul death penalty procedures,
provide income tax breaks,
reform health care,
increase aid to veterans,
strengthen public oversight of federal spending oversight,
and major ethics reform - "the most far-reaching since the Watergate-era campaign financial disclosure law". [link]

Pointing to more lies,
Sarah Palin's lies,
she said "I have protected the taxpayers..."

She doesn't protect taxpayers:
"As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist - the former Chief of Staff of indicted Senator Ted Stevens - and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million for a small town now encumbered in debt, local conflict, lost careers, and unfunded infrastructure.

Wasilla was debt free before Palin, and almost 19 million in debt when she left office! To raise revenue, she lifted Wasilla's sales tax by winning an election with only a 20 vote margin.

She doesn't protect taxpayers:
"In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita pork in the nation.

Sarah Palin had been on Senator McCain's list of irresponsible governors. Criticising Palin by name, McCain said, "Earmarking deprives federal agencies of scarce resources, at the whim of individual members of Congress." [link]

She didn't sell "the plane on eBay". She hired a broker and didn't know by what method the plane would sell.

Palin said "In these times of economic uncertainty, this is great news for the state..." while Alaska's natural gas was sold to Japan, triggering the closure of refineries in Alaska because of gas shortages!

She doesn't protect taxpayers:
"While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, her opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a bridge to nowhere." Later, she then accepted this same amount of pork funding to build other projects!

In any case, Congress had canceled Ted Steven's earmark thirteen months before she took office! She was never involved with sending the earmark back, and told Congress nothing. Earlier, the oil firm Veco, co-indicted with Stevens, had supplied 10 percent of her campaign fund.

The FBI possesses 100s of hours of wiretaps in the Veco case, there are rumors I won't link to, that as the corruption indictments draw forward mud will appear to clear the air about Palin's dealings in Alaska.

She doesn't protect families either.
Sarah Palin failed to help pass a bill to raise the benefits for children and pregnant women from 175% of the poverty level to 200%. while other states already set them at 200% to 250%. [LATimes] "Her administration had the appearance of paying absolutely no attention to any of the rest of the unglamorous side of government, whether it be dealing with human services, public services, highways, all the routine aspects."

Why don’t we insist on something much better?

You should know that since 1948, each Republican Administration has cost us more money than we would have had without them!

Oh woe, Rove and GOPAC have "got one of its own on the ticket, and you should expect her to deliver the goods every bit as much as they do." Be curious. Find out what GOPAC is and why Republicans believe the same canned plank and say the same words.

McMafia and his wife Hensley

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:18:00 +0000

Chris Locke warns us first:

Longtime readers know how hard I work to be dispassionate, fair and objective. However, I am sitting here tonight listening to the preposterous bilge coming out of the Republican National Convention and if I have to listen to one more of these self-satisfied true-believer low-down lying motherfuckers, I am going to vomit. Given that Sarah Palin is up next, I better get the bucket out.

And then Chris Locke informs us:

...how Cindy Hensley McCain's daddy got [his] start in business...
Jim Hensley and his brother Eugene went to work after World War II for Kemper Marley, a wealthy wholesale liquor distributor. Marley, in fact, had once been a bookie, getting his start working for the Transamerica Wire Service, a betting service established by mafiosi [sic] Gus Greenbaum (who was murdered with his wife when their throats were slashed in bed in 1958). Until 1947, liquor was rationed by the government. Apparently Marley did quite well in spite of the restrictions, and in 1948 the reason why became clear. Eugene and Jim Hensley were convicted of falsifying records on behalf of Marley's distributorship, United Liquor (along with fifty other Marley employees) to conceal the illegal distribution of hundreds of cases of liquor. Jim Hensley got a six month suspended sentence.
In 1953, Jim Hensley, then the General Manager for United Liquor, was once more charged for doing the same thing again. Marley paid for top notch legal representation though (future Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.) Hensley still went to prison, but took the fall when the rest of the company was cleared. According to an article in American Mafia.com, Marley rewarded Hensley for his loyalty to the organization:
When Hensley strolled out of the joint, Marley bought his silence with a lucrative Phoenix-based Budweiser beer distributorship.

Well, go read the entire sordid story.

Desperate Cruel War!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:16:00 +0000

I assure you these photos are not for the weak of heart, or anyone squeamish.

They are our good poor troops in utter pain.

They are our enemies simply stopped.

They are nearby and also dead.

Lotto Voting

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:36:00 +0000

Likely observers, er, lucky observers of the American election season have a chance to make cash by following our vote,

Here's the Labor Day Odds. (Bet wisely.)

Sarah Palin is now an 8/1 shot (from 16/1) to be dropped off the Republican ticket prior to November's election.

What surprise will the Alaskan Senator next spring on the American public?

Sarah's Next Surprise
5/4 Driving Offense
7/4 Cheated in school or college exams
10/1 Arrested for flashing
25/1 Is a member of Church of Scientology
33/1 Moose burger addiction
40/1 Donated money to the Obama campaign
50/1 Wears Bill Clinton pajamas to bed
250/1 Breaking and entering an Igloo
500/1 Abducted by aliens

Will McCain drop Sarah?
8/1 Palin is dropped as Republican VP
20/1 Sarah Palin is dropped as the Republican VP candidate by Sunday 7th September

Next US President?
4/9 Barack Obama
13/8 John McCain

Ken Robertson political betting analyst for Paddy Power said, "We've had numerous requests from punters across the globe looking for odds on different stories to emerge regarding the Sarah Palin, breaking and entering an igloo at 250/1 is my personal favorite but I would consider it extremely unlikely!"

Jane Smiley's view is there's a very selfish group in charge.

"When we look at Bush, Cheney, McCain, and Palin, what we see are different varieties of selfishness. Bush's selfishness is defensive, stubborn, and dumb. Cheney's is power-mad. Those were bad enough, and even the Republican platform agrees that they have been destructive.

"McCain's selfishness is impulsive and hotheaded, while Palin's is simply heedless (and, judging by reports from Wasilla, vengeful). So, there you have it. The Republicans think that selfishness is a winning ticket that always appeals to something in the American people--would that be selfishness?

"Obama has made his opposition to selfishness explicit. That doesn't mean he will win--unless the bookies are right.

"I hope they are.

"Because four or eight more years of lying, cheating, opportunism, war-mongering, refusal to prepare for things, and a lack of "vetting" will surely do us in. And let's be clear. There is no one in the world, not even Putin, who can do us in. It can only be suicide."

Why not, ey wot?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:44:00 +0000

If lectern barkers at the Republican Convention must wobble left and right to read canned words to us, perhaps better celebrities can be found, true citizens with a memory, then if ever we overcome 'dis belief, we can enjoy these fibs in a nickle's theater.

If liar insiders must introduce agenda such as flat-% taxes on broadcast television at a Convention, perhaps we can ask journalists to dig, dig, dig, to shed a tear for us and not merely POW McCain.

If Republican 'narrative' is a lie, and owners know so, where are our police?

Hotline: RNC officials asked all the male delegates to hand their seats to female alternates to provide the impression of vast female support for Sarah Palin during her speech.

Convention Speech Summary: "She misrepresented [Obama's] record and simply lied about her own, claiming to oppose earmarks that she supported, and dissembling on her $1.5 billion tax hike and record of raising sales taxes by 25 percent in Wasilla.

"Reviewing the McCain Campaign's bullying, "unprofessional" onslaught against anyone who notes Palin's extreme positions and dishonest claims, Time's Joe Klein urged reporters to face facts:

I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God."

"By all accounts, Palin faced a huge task in St Paul. She had to prove she was up to the job of commander in chief.

"She struck out big-time -- in a biting speech that showed the only job she was ready for is RNC Chair, another ruthless soldier in Karl Rove's army."

Open mic Betrayal

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:59:00 +0000

Listen up! Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy, two Republican insiders.

What they really think
versus what they feed us.

Noonan: It's over.

Murphy: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

Todd: Don't you think the Palin pick was insulting to to Kay Bailey Hutchison?

Noonan: I saw Kay this morning.

Murphy: She's never been comfortable about that.. I mean (something unintelligible).

Todd: Is she really the most qualified woman?

Noonan: The most qualified no. I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives.

Todd: Yeah, they went to 'narratives'.

Noonan: Everytime Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

But this is the pap they broadcast:

"Because she jumbles up so many cultural categories, because she is a feminist not in the Yale Gender Studies sense but the How Do I Reload This Thang way, because she is a woman who in style, history, moxie and femininity is exactly like a normal American feminist and not an Abstract Theory feminist; because she wears makeup and heels and eats mooseburgers and is Alaska Tough, as Time magazine put it; because she is conservative, and pro-2nd Amendment and pro-life; and because conservatives can smell this sort of thing -- who is really one of them and who is not -- and will fight to the death for one of their beleaguered own; because of all of this she is a real and present danger to the American left, and to the Obama candidacy."

Cynicism should not be rewarded in this day and age. I hope this is the lesson America learns, o' I truly do.

Nicely said from an Alaskan mother's blog:

During the Democratic primary all of our nominees went through rigorous questioning regarding every aspect of their public and even private lives. They faced grilling on their family lives and their religious convictions. There was no area off limits... NONE. The commentators on both sides opened up on Democrats with both barrels.

Hillary was told that she must stand up to criticism like a man and that women who ran must act like a candidate, not a woman. Barack Obama was grilled to make sure he was white enough, black enough, American enough, and Christian enough. Not only that, the beliefs of those who were even loosely connected to Barack Obama were considered to be one and the same with his. How dare anyone stop scrutiny or the smearing of Democratic Candidates!

Into this scene John McCain stumbles and bumbles.

There is so much good work to do, so many top projects, very much grand ahead. Because of these beltway boondoggle, of little or no value, we are too easily distracted from our work. This is my motive for being involved with their replacement.

For a little relief, energy and healing, in case you missed it, here's Dennis Kucinich's rousing 6 minute Wake Up America! Now, where's the OPEC DANCERS!?

RNC Police, er, Force

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:39:00 +0000

iN tHE cASE oF pOLICE

i wish i could be that much a child,
as much a child as he,
wild,
and unjustified....

oh, what i could do for the world if i had the right of force!

imagine, says i,
we could all own a sandbox again
and strut so proud of our adventures:
all would follow in delight,
while only elders carry wisdom.

oh, what i could do for the world if i had the right of force!

imagine, say i,
we could assure justice again
and strut so proud of our lessons:
all our days would answer dignity,
and HOPE would be achieved.

Billboard at the RNC Convention

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:26:00 +0000

Back to the running-mate question.

"Say the Democratic ticket is Clinton-Obama, a woman and a black man. You can see why the party might approach you."

Sarah Palin: "That’s diversity right there, isn’t it? Wow! And who do the Republicans have? Good old rich white boys." - Politico

SWAT at Journalists

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:04:00 +0000

"The McCain camp has been unusually aggressive in pushing back against the media, and it seems to hope to persuade journalists to back off in their scrutiny of Palin."

Washington Post:

Sen. John McCain's top campaign strategist accused the news media Tuesday of being "on a mission to destroy" Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by displaying "a level of viciousness and scurrilousness" in pursuing questions about her personal life.

Steve Schmidt said his campaign feels "under siege" by wave after wave of news inquiries...

Arguing that the media queries are being fueled by "every rumor and smear" posted on left-wing Web sites, Schmidt said mainstream journalists are giving "closer scrutiny" to McCain's little-known running mate...

McCain canceled Larry King in retaliation... 'Denouncing the news media as biased'... 'the McCain campaign is fighting ... to keep the Palin allegations confined to the Internet'.

Citizen K says,

It's funny how the same gang that thought swift-boating John Kerry and drive Vince Foster to suicide was all aboveboard now cringes sanctimoniously....

Intimidating en masse:

"Delegates to the Republican National Convention whirled in their seats en masse and called out from the floor: 'Tell the truth! Tell the truth!' The chants and finger-wagging were directed toward the sky boxes. Their target: the television networks and the rest of the 'liberal mainstream media.'

The Times said "This is what they do. It's part of their operation."

Thoughts:
Of all sources, here's guidance from Roger Ailes, the boss of Fox News:

"The press is an essential pillar of that democracy. The press didn’t invent democracy. Democracy invented freedom of the press. So we will investigate anything and find the truth, and report it, but we do not get up every morning, assuming that our country is guilty. We just happen to like democracy."

In support of untiring journalists, bloggers or professionals, Sarah Palin and her associates, and similar folk with Bible-bandaged motives, stark superstition, aggression for power and social dominance, plus the bullies behind the scenes, require some effort to expose and perhaps understand. The mainstream isn't.

They say there's a price for everything and this maxim is true for thoughts and attitudes too. Palin is poison and McCain, Rove, the theocrats and bully elite, sour my mood and yes, they do convert me: I become grumpy and in search of dirt to cripple them. (And I've posted a good bunch too!)

But I must watch myself to prevent becoming "them", vindictive, unfair.

One blogger said, "Hey, what about Obama? We need to find his positives and keep him on top...."

'The Nation is at stake', I say to myself, 'so be willing to fight', I say to myself. But this is only partially true. The Nation will endure this. A better reality is made not by battle but by moving ahead and encouraging a new and better path. I hope the election will end in Obama's favor, if only to end these 30-ish years of rude and arrogant manipulators.

I hope one day America will no longer argue merely to lift tiny or obscure issues, be civil together and around the world, enjoy challenges as if we will master them, and no longer be in a mood for war.

Taliban Palin

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:22:00 +0000

"When I got to meet the mayor of Wasilla... I said this person loves Jesus... And then when she became our governor, I said, I know her. She came to this church."

Sarah Palin at church in the Wasilla Assembly of God:

What you see in a terrorist — that’s called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what’s going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. … We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. - Pastor Ed Kalnins

"We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. …

"Jesus called us to die. You’re worried about getting hurt? He’s called us to die.

"Listen, you know we can’t even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. …

"I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode.

"Everyone say War Mode!!”

Palin told the congregation in June, "What comes from this church I think has great destiny."

Sarah Palin prays "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that."

"See? She's not so bad! She didn't mention anything about her separatist or militia friends even once!"

First Campaign Stop After Convention.

Many fear the Republican Rovers want a theocracy where only a believer is an American. John McCain, in his first television interview since his vice presidential pick, said that he saw in Sarah Palin “a soul mate.”

“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side.” - Abraham Lincoln

Party Takeover

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:59:00 +0000

A scholar will tell you more.
Media will never notice.

Republicans can be dominated.

This is their error.

Not what Thomas Jefferson intended.

Whether 19th, 20th Century or today, the Republican Party has often been the target of takeover.

Industrial oligarchs, 'roving' sociopaths or, as now, paranoid Pentecostals, the 'Resolute Desk' of the Republican Party is vulnerable, has hurt us time and time again.

The Democratic Party has failed. Yes, ordinary personal ambition or simple cowardice and weak knees prevent us from thwarting Republican weakness, and we must ask more of our people until lies quit and honor returns.

The 2008 election reveals a vulnerable Republican Party as all before, as a tiny and angry gang shapes the platform and pirates the plank.

This Party has a small organization, easy, central, and too foolish; easy to manage and control.

Republicans have about half as many delegates, the obvious target for influence peddlers. Delegates are elected. They represent their states and territories. They play a critical role in our nation. They make political history. - RNC - and a few 'leaders' can take control and damage our nation.

The Republican Party convenes its 39th nominating convention in Minneapolis-Saint Paul with 2,380 delegates. They dress the same, vote together, and bully, clinging to dominance, never to us.

Palin's Rouge Cou Record

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:22:00 +0000

Sarah Palin's vigor and affability has its charm.

A reporter has said,
"I remember Palin as being kind and friendly, in a genuine way. This was not the case for every politician I met or interviewed. Her personality and her charisma are a huge part of her record popularity in Alaska, I think, as much as her policies. ... One thing I remember about her was how she uses “progress” as a verb and not a noun, as in “we want to progress these issues for Alaska” instead of “we want to make progress.” It drove me nuts then and still does..."

An Alaska blogger says, "I actually believed that she had our states best interest in heart when I voted for her. I understood she was ambitious and could be a tough as nails when needed, thats what I liked...."

But, Sarah Palin's record of activity in Alaska, including a charge of gill-netting without a license of all things, is very different than her speeches and very different than the media spin of the Republican campaign.

And information will continue to be uncovered, with many public records becoming available after the Labor Day weekend - such as arranging $600,000 and more to buttress her Bible Belt friends in the takeover of a Wasilla dairy milk operation.

Pentecostal Palin, for example:

She exhorted the congregants:
"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right.

"Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," .

"That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Details from earlier reports are appearing, such as this 2006 Democratic Party research document published at Politico.

* Palin Is Too Conservative for Alaska.
She is not only pro-life but is involved with — steered tax money toward — organizations that give misleading information on abortion. Palin also supported a flat tax, an idea even Bob Dole thought was absurd.

* Palin’s Style is to Bully and Demand Political Loyalty.
Palin’s tenure as mayor of Wasilla was marred by tremendous staff turnover, first when she fired most of the top staff — including the city’s librarian — because she questioned their loyalty, and then later when staff quit because of her micromanaging style. Wasilla even lost the opportunity to hire a police chief because he said the job seemed too political.

* Palin Increased Taxes.
In 2001, Palin authorized park and recreation capital improvements, signed an ordinance putting the higher sales tax into effect. Lowered tax rate for big box chains and business. 'I am so sorry I’m such a weasel," she said.” [Anchorage Daily News, 10/8/00]

* Palin Used Town Funds.
Palin arranged campaign travel from the mayor’s office. Administrative assistant, Mary Bixby, said in brief interview with the Daily News in late July that she was directed to perform campaign tasks while on the clock for the city.”

* Palin Censoring Books.
Wasilla’s library director Mary Ellen Emmons said Palin asked her outright if she could live with censorship of library books. Palin fired her, but Wasilla voters revolted to restore librarian's job. Former Wasilla mayor John Stein] says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because 'some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them'. The librarian was aghast."

* Wasilla’s Pension Underfunded
Funded at 73 Percent When Palin Left, as Opposed to Almost Completely When She Became Mayor. Small Wasilla was debt free but more than $20 million in debt when Palin left office.

* Palin Penalizes Play.
After opening her Wasilla Skate Park, she forced attendance to raise revenue with a new law forcing skateboards, in-line skates, bicycles, scooters from both public or private property.

* Palin Went to See Ivana Trump at Costco
She said, "We want to see Ivana, who admittedly smells like salmon for a large part of the summer, because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture."

* Palin Made a Campaign Bet With Her Husband where Palin has to get the Big Dipper tattooed on her ankle or Todd gets a wedding ring inked on his finger.” [Anchorage Daily News, 5/26/06]

* Palin Obtained a Business License.
“Asked about the business registered under her name, Palin said, ‘Rouge Cou, it’s a classy way of saying redneck. It’s a French word, rouge is red, cou is neck. It’s for marketing and consulting, in case I wanted to go that route, I’d have my ducks all lined up and have a business license. [Anchorage Daily News, 6/8/05]

I think he’s going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice. He’s going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he’s going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He’s not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president. - Karl Rove

Yes, we have changed

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:39:00 +0000

GOD BLESS THE USA

a brilliant rearrangement of

WE THE PEOPLE.

Folks Feeling Forlorn

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:39:00 +0000

question of the day

how much truth can we handle?

i used to rail against people who were happily in denial. you know the folks who are still rah, rah for america and who believe that we are a democracy spreading democracy around the world.

i am beginning to think i should let them be.

the truth seekers have lost.

McClaim Palin Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:44:00 +0000

Laura McGann, Wasilla, AK:

"Walmart employs 4 times as many people here as the city of Wasilla."

and

"Palin beat her opponent in the 1996 mayor’s race 616-413."

Quickly after becoming Mayor of Wasilla, "According to Senate lobbying disclosure reports examined by TPMmuckraker, from 2002 to 2004" she hired Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig."

The Washington Post finds that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin was perfectly willing to play ball, even going so far as to hire well-connected lobbyists to ensure her town got a disproportionately large piece of the federal spending pie.

Juicy Letter from Wasilla
The letter below is quite long for a typical blog post, but I assure you it will not appear in mainstream media. I do not know the writer Anne. This letter is posted in the comments at the Washington Independent. Unsteadily, I am ignoring her request not to post it because the letter is already circulating.

Dear friends,

So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .

Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in common: their gender and their good looks. :)

You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .

Thanks,
Anne

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992. Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her father was my child's favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and won't vote for her can't quit smiling when talking about her because she is a "babe".

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents for seven months.

She is "pro-life". She recently gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby. There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn't take positions; she just "puts things out there" and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She's smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000 (at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about 670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6 years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over 33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation (1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was still in litigation 7 yrs later--to the delight of the lawyers involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today's surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin's attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated” her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska's top cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure and she had every legal right to fire him, but it's pretty clear that an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn't fire her sister's ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party) engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit, exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects--which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance--but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah's mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships (said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska. No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny + Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I've always operated in the belief that "Bad things happen when good people stay silent". Few people know as much as I do because few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don't have a job she can bump me out of. I don't belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor) from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of Wasilla, and I can't recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible for a private person to get any info out of City Hall--they are swamped. So I can't verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the population of Wasilla, ranging from my "about 5,000", up to 9,000. The day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was 5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to 2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.

Anne Kilkenny
annekilkenny@xxxxxxxxx.com
August 31, 2008

Submachine Guns Suppress Speech

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:40:00 +0000

At Political Voices of Women:

Protesters Being Arrested Before They Even Protest???

Are we still living in The United States of America? Is it still the land of the free? I’m a bit confused. Since when do we raid homes of possible protesters, before they even have a chance to protest? Is it just me…Or is there something seriously wrong with this?

From Salon.com - Massive Police Raids on Suspected Protesters In Minneapolis

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

Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff’s department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than “fire code violations,” and early this morning, the Sheriff’s department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying.

McCain's Conflicts and Wars

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:40:00 +0000

"We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us." -Winston Churchill

John McCain has a knack for exaggerating. If President, these flippant remarks will increase volatility around the world.

In December 1990, two months after Germany reunified and four months after Saddam Hussein did unto Kuwait far worse than what Vladimir Putin has so far done unto Georgia, the Arizona senator asserted that "the peace and security of the world for future generations [demand] that the world community act decisively to end the Gulf Crisis now." Pretty serious stuff.

In January 1994, he described North Korea's nuclear weapons program as "the most dangerous and immediate expression" of "the greatest challenge to U.S. security and world stability today," and warned that "there can be no serious doubt that our vital national interests are imperiled." Serious!

In an April 1999 speech that everyone considering voting for McCain should go read now, the rogue-state rollbacker said that "America's most important values—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—are under vicious assault by the Milosevic regime," requiring "an immediate and manifold increase in the violence against Serbia proper and Serbian forces in Kosovo," including mobilization of "infantry and armored divisions for a possible ground war."

He's running for president to confront "the transcendent issue of our time: the battle and struggle against radical Islamic extremism." Which, he argued at a Republican debate in June 2007, "is a force of evil that is within our shores...."
My friends, this is a transcendent struggle between good and evil. Everything we stand for and believe in is at stake here.

Très sérieux!

Republicans cost us money

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 03:26:00 +0000

Which party, Democrat or Republican, puts more money in our pockets? [NYTimes]

Simply put, the United States economy has grown faster, on average, under Democratic presidents than under Republicans.

The stark contrast between the whiz-bang Clinton years and the dreary Bush years is familiar...

Such a large historical gap in economic performance between the two parties is rather surprising, because presidents have limited leverage over the nation’s economy. Most economists will tell you that Federal Reserve policy and oil prices, to name just two influences, are far more powerful than fiscal policy.

Again, which Party makes us money? The Tax & Spend liberals or the No Tax right wing?

Virtual VP

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:59:00 +0000

"Why is the American election such compelling viewing?" My answer was that it is structured like a soap-opera and - "the script-writers know how to keep you watching with some new twist to the plot." - Gideon Rachman

"Sarah Palin comes out of the media.
She fits the picture."

Sarah Palin tries to explain, "A reporter once asked me about it during the campaign, and I assured him I was trying to be as frumpy as I could by wearing my hair on top of my head and these schoolmarm glasses."

Busted Flat

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Hayes) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:59:00 +0000

"I may be broke but I'm not flat busted." - Sarah Palin

A Blogger's Comment:
"I'm telling you this for your own good, whether you believe it or not: you are high on the kool-aid. You need to take a look at reality and not immediately re-form the facts to try to justify every mistake that rolls down the pike at you.

"This is a big mistake by a guy who is demonstrating remarkably bad judgment as he tries to claim the top executive job in US politics. He clearly cannot handle that job.

"No amount of talking around it can hide the fact that this woman he has selected is incredibly unqualified for the VP job.

"We are coming off 8 years of the absolute looting of our country by people who got into office claiming to hold particular religious and moral standards and who were, in fact, old time crony politicians who took what they wanted and gave the rest to their pals.

"Out with them. Out with anybody in their same party. Out with anybody who espouses those same lying claims."

One Stop Thought Shop

RNC thinks McBush too.

Voter's Red Blue Map

Pennslvania Avenue Palin

Ms-directed RNC Convention

More Palin Posts

Pouring a Palin of Lies

McMafia and his wife Hensley

Desperate Cruel War!

Lotto Voting

Why not, ey wot?

Open mic Betrayal

RNC Police, er, Force

Billboard at the RNC Convention

SWAT at Journalists

Taliban Palin

Party Takeover

Palin's Rouge Cou Record

Yes, we have changed

Folks Feeling Forlorn

McClaim Palin Facts

Submachine Guns Suppress Speech

McCain's Conflicts and Wars

Republicans cost us money

Virtual VP

Busted Flat