Is Zapatero Part of McCain’s Axis of Evil?

A McCain advisor stated that the McCain snub to Spain’s Zapatero was because he wouldn’t commit to meeting with the NATO ally. If this is truly the case, then this demonstrates the complete ass that McCain is, and why he’s dangerous to our national security. He’s basically saying if you’re not with us, then you’re the equivalent of Iran’s leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, another leader McCain’s unwilling to meet with.

Lipstick on a Pig, Old Fish New Wrapper,

Ok this is probably going to play badly for Obama, mainly because many people are stupid. However, when you watch the entire clip, and hear the comment in context you realize he wasn’t talking about Sarah Palin, and he wasn’t talking about John McCain. He was talking specifically about the policies of George W Bush, that John McCain touts as change, but are really an attempt at bad policies repackaged.

Now this normally wouldn’t be a big deal to use a common phrase “Put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig”, except for the McCain campaign immediately decided to claim that Obama was speaking specifically of Sarah Palin. (You know how she wears lipstick and all.)

Wow, on one hand you’ve got the Obama campaign not willing to call out any of McCain’s verbal slips, such as his confusion of the Czech Republic, the border of Pakistan, the insurgents in Iraq trained by Iranians, $50 hour lettuce, Buffalo Chip pageant wife…oh the list could go on, and the other candidate’s campaign that’s crying foul over their own misinterpretation of the statement.

Do you really think the crowd would have cheered for Obama had he made such an obviously rude statement about Palin, considering how popular she is?

So who’s really to blame for this gross exaggeration? Well, it happens to be none other than the Amy Chozick, writer of the Is Obama too Skinny to be President?, who used sources from a Yahoo message board. Way to go there Amy!

Watch the video for yourself and decide:

First and Last Thoughts on the Palin’s Speech from a Wasilla Redneck

Wow, Sarah Palin delivered a rousing speech.

My redneck Wasilla pride blushed from my neck to my…ah, anyway. It made me wanna grab for my shot gun and shoots some fridges behind my house.

Boy the way she lit into Obama - how could it not make an Alaskan proud. And she didn’t hesitate cause he was African American or nothing historic like that. No, she calls ‘em as she sees ‘em.

You see, in Wasilla, we didn’t need diversity. In schools, on the job. Why, I attended all of the schools of the valley. I went to Butte Elementary, then Swanson Elementary, then Iditarod right after the fire.

Then I remember our school being so crowded, that they put us on split shifts until they finally got Tanina built. Then I went there. Moved onto Wasilla Middle School before I was home schooled. After the seventh grade, I went up to Houston High, then was transfered to Palmer High. Even attended a few semesters at the Mat-Su Community College. And in all that time, maybe two black students. No natives.

Yes, this is one hella a diverse community. Wow, anyway what can I say, I’m floored.

So you liberal elitists, and “angry” lefties, and anti-conceivers can take your smear rumors about Palin banning books, or drilling in ANWR, or not having ’nuff experience. Who the hell wants to read witchcraft shit like Harry Potter anyway.

NOTE: First, the commentary above is totally satire based on my real-world experience of living out 17 years of my most “can I forget those years” life. With that said, there is credibility to the story that Sarah Palin wanted to pursue book bans at the local public library (TIME Magazine, Sept 2, 2008). While the books cannot be confirmed, they probably include some of the books on the ALA 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books.

Obama’s Palin Bounce

Obama hits 50% for the first time since the general election race started. This is his highest mark so far and defies past election cycles where the opposing candidate usually receives a bounce after announcing their pick. With a 2 point bounce, this signals a shift in the electorate away from a candidate, some feel lacks the judgment to pick someone qualified to step into the job of President from day one. Some have even suggested that the Palin pick runs counter to McCain’s argument for experience.

McCain justified Palin’s executive experience today, citing the town of Wasilla (population 6400) she led to pass a 2% sales tax and cut property taxes. She also pursued an agenda of banning books from the library, however that faild to pass. As for the argument of Palin being a very popular Mayor, by checking election records, it has been confirmed that Sarah Palin won reelection to Mayor of Wasilla by a landslide 73% of the vote (there were a total of 1200 votes).

Rumors, Smears and a Question of Judgement

UPDATE: MSNBC, and Reuters are now both reporting that Bristol Palin is in fact 5 months pregnant. At 17, she intends to marry the father (not sure who this is yet or his age) and have the child. Thank goodness, we can now lay the rumors of “preggergate” to rest, and focus on the real issues…like why do we really want the right-wing nuts running our sex education system. The abstinence only sex-program doesn’t seem to work all that well in Wasilla…

As a blogger, it’s easy to get swept up in stories as they swirl around. Some of these stories turn out to be of the lowest order - like the Larry Sinclair-Obama story. Others, like the John Edwards “Love Child” story, find themselves followed by a public confession and embarrassment.

In the last couple of days the rumor (or smear), that suggests Sarah Palin is covering-up her daughter’s baby, by claiming it as her own, has swept the blogosphere. This story is complicated for several reasons, not only because it involves a minor, a new baby, and a newly selected Vice Presidential candidate, but there’s also the question of judgement that seems laced throughout the story. I want to focus on what is verifiable and how that relates to judgement.

I’ve looked into the story quite thoroughly, and I cannot find any real justification for this story being true. There’s ample evidence that women, at 6 months pregnant, can still look completely normal. This appears to be the case with Sarah Palin, who surprised even her staff when she made the announcement that she was seven months along.

The rumors that her daughter, Bristol, was not in school for several months, having contracted mono, cannot be confirmed. Nor do I think they need to be. It’s one thing to take on an adult political figure, it quite another to go after their children.

My questions about Palin’s judgement assume that baby is quite definitely hers.

Here are the facts.

Sarah Palin spoke on April 17, 2008 at the Republican Governors Conference in Dallas, Texas. The morning she was to deliver her speech, she noticed her water broke. She delivered her luncheon speech. Then, having conferred with her doctor, determined that the she was comfortable enough taking a flight back to Alaska so that she could have the baby in Wasilla, Alaska.

Palin took an Alaska Air flight from Dallas, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska while knowing that at any moment she could deliver the baby. She chose not to inform the flight crew. Looking at Alaska Air schedules, in best case scenario, and without flight delays, this was a 9 and half hour flight with a change over in Seattle.

She made this flight, feeling that it was safe, based on past pregnancies. However, this was not any ordinary pregnancy. She was an entire month early. She was 44 years old. And she knew her child had Down Syndrome, which can lead to birth defects and complications that require a doctor’s exam.

Once in Anchorage, Palin then made the 40 mile trip to Wasilla. She checked into the Mat-su Medical Regional Clinic. The baby, Trig Van Palin, was born on April 18, 2008.

Sarah Palin was able to return to work within a few days. On August 29th she accepted the invitation to join John McCain on the Republican presidential ticket.

You be the judge. Is this an example of sound judgement, or does it frighten you as much as it does me?

McCain Picks Palin???

Ok, I’m truly surprised….well no I’m not. By choosing Alaska Governor Palin, McCain confirmed how he made his choice for running mate.

Female 20 years younger than me. Check.

Former cheerleader, beauty pageant winner and still attractive. Check.

Lover of oil from an oil state. Check.

In all honesty, it’s pretty obvious why McCain chose Palin - he still believes Obama has a weakness with Hillary supporters. That’s it…and it’s a pretty sad reason to choose a running mate.

First, McCain is asking Americans to believe that he has a better mortality rate than most 72 year former POWs, that in the next 4 years he’ll still be going strong. Well, he’s wrong. At 72 he’s pushing genetics and he’s expecting us to believe that a Governor from a state with the population of a small city is ready to lead.

WTF.

Kathleen Parker, Smearest of Them All

A Soft Focused Smear Tactician from the Right

Kathleen Parker has an opinion piece over at the Washington Post that hits Obama hard on his abortion stance. As normally is the case, I have to do a Google search to find out that Kathleen Parker is a right-wing smear tactician disguised beneath the title “Syndicated Columnist”. Take the google search farther, and you get yourself a nice, soft-focused head-shot of the Rove diva herself. (I’ve reprinted it with a bit more soft focus since I didn’t have permission from the Washington Post.)

My contention with Kathleen Parker and the Washington Post is how she’s presented. The Washington Post has typically been a paper that is balanced, if not a bit more liberal. Why is this slime’s words being reprinted as a “balanced” opinion? I have no idea.

Fair and Balanced Assessment?

Of her supposed fair assessment of Barack’s abortion stance:

It is probably fair to say that Obama does not favor infanticide, though his position on the Illinois bill was extreme even by pro-choice standards. But Obama’s current problem isn’t really about his position on abortion. It is about his central weakness as a presidential candidate: He over thinks and ends up seeming not to know what he thinks.

She takes a nuanced stance on abortion, a difficult issue to reconcile by anyone except by the far-right, and applies it to Obama’s candidacy as a whole. She confuses “over thinking” with balance, “not-knowing” with empathy and listening, as if a President has to be rigid and settle on their own rightness, without considering other perspectives.

George W Bush Fascination Explained

This explains why Republicans elected George W Bush twice despite a failed war. It also explains why a candidate such as John McCain has remade himself into a persona he doesn’t even recognize. No wonder he’s acting like he’s lost.

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 25 2008: I feel like I should correct my statement a little bit against Kathleen Parker. I’m a fair person, and I normally don’t agree with Conservative commentators very often, but Kathleen wrote today, suggestion Palin should resign. I agree with this. Mark one up for Kathleen Parker.

UPDATE OCTOBER 14 2008: So now I feel like this entire post has been repudiated and I have a new respect for Kathleen Parker. So this post has been struck.

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