Thank God it’s Friday!
- Sen. McCain gave his acceptance speech last night at the snore-a-palooza. I couldn’t watch it as I was still recovering from watching the Sarah
QuaylePalin speech… but Scott did. His words; “he sounds like a cross between Mr. Rogers and Stalin.” When I did check C-Span to see what he was saying, all I heard was this slight droning sound in my ears; that’s normal, right? As is the blood? - Sen. Joe Lieberman will brief Gov.
QuaylePalin on foreign policy before the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 2… talk about the blind leading the blind… or in this case the politically irrelevant leading the political suicidal… - The economy continues to go into the crapper despite McCain’s assurances that it’s basically sound. Want proof? How about the fact the U.S. unemployment rate rose to a staggering 5-year high in August of 6.1% with payrolls falling by 84,000 with the amount of U.S. workers first time unemployment claims jumped by 15,000 last week.
- Not only did Gov.
QuaylePalin support the Bridge to Nowhere (despite her lying about it every chance she gets), she also supported the little-known Road to Nowhere. - And have we mentioned? That in four nights of the convention, the name of “President” Bush was mentioned a total of one time? That’s right, the leader of their party, who is now the Commander in Chief, was mentioned a mere one time… explain to me again which party has the unity problem? Cuz the republicans seem pretty damn fractured right now… and I’m enjoying every minute of it…
Posts
13 comments:
I could not have spoken it better myself. Truth hurts Republicans. Oh, one thing you forgot to mention: what was the deal with the sea of white people? Another point, why haven't John and the good ole boys laid out their plan to fix this country; they dont have one and never did. My fear is that people will be so stupid and take Mr. "I'm a POW" only at face value and then will have another eight years of war, international digrace, and economic down turns. I still cant believe this country has turned from sugar to s**t, but the best thing that the Republicans can do at this point is own up to that.
I'm reading information on Republican VP Palin from the media and newspapers. It is very revealing that the media bias on a Gov. Palin selection is not taking the same road in the national media for a female that could be President of the United States as a vice president.
Gov. Palin was selected to be on the 2008 Republican Presidential Party Ticket. The female Democratic Presidential contender Hillary Clinton was challenged by Barrack Obama. Eventually Obama was elected to be the nominee for the 2008 Democratic Presidential ticket.
Palin could become a greater celebrity than even Obama. Palin is even shadowing McCain in the media. Yes McCain is the actual Presidential candidate for the Republicans. My wife a so called independent was insulted that someone like Senator Elizabeth Dole who has more experience to defend this country should have been the better choice. A white male VP candidate would receive greater scrutiny with the same background as Governor Palin for a 2008 VP selection.
I don't care about how Sarah Palin or John McCain takes care of their families. I care about how their policy choices affect my family and millions of other Americans.
I like how the whiners (i.e democrats) always complain about how bad the economy is. Have any of you made any real sacrifices because of this so-called bad economy? Have you turned off your cable or sat. tv, have you cancelled your cell phones, have you stopped going out to eat, have you stopped buying coffee at Starbucks, have you stopped going on vacation? You obviously have not cancelled your internet access. If you think its that bad here you should get the f*** out and move to a country that has real problems. 6 something % unemployment out of how many, who cares?
Who cares? Wow, you're full of compassion aren't you...
How do you know people haven't made sacrifices? Because they're online? Here's a concept for you to grasp; free WiFi... libraries with internet... work... should I go on?
Of course I shouldn't... you don't care about facts, just whatever some other republican told you as fact... heavens you do something on your own and use your own brain. You might hurt yourself...
I believe only what I see and what I see is that things aren't that bad. Yeah gas is high, it sucks. The housing market slowed down, these things come and go in phases. What a president does in his/her term cannot be seen in that term, only in the years to follow. Look back some years you should see what I mean. The 6.1 % unemployment is not ideal, I must admit, but with a country so large and diverse and full of illegal aliens I really don't consider that to bad. I think when more of our young ones go back to labor intensive jobs this number will drop considerably.
Oh and by the way.... If you have time to sit around in a library and foll around on the internet you have time to get a better job or at least take the proper steps to set yourself up for a better job.
I cancelled cable, did not go on vacatin this year, stopped eating out, stopped driving several days a week, planted a fruit orchard, provide fresh veggies to my family and neighbors, started composting and full recycling, reduced where possible buying anything with plastic, and I could go on, switching to a tankless hot water heater, reinsulating attic, planted more trees and shrubs for bee and butterflies, and I could go on... but really, who cares, I am a republican who supported Ron Paul and have switched to Obama...I could go on... inflated my tires, bought a bike, started a plant and tree rescue, built a fish pond, started a gutter runoff wetland... blah blah blah
Kemp,
I see you are a contributer to this blog so I guess you have the power to block my comments. I would consider it a travesty of modern democracy if you don't allow our fellow Americans to view them. You may be busy, in which case I respect that, however, I am out, going to whack the bushes in the real world and try to enlighten some left-wing minds to my way of thinking.
Anon... I would take much more stock in your comments (for your information I AM busy) if you actually left a name. Afterall, anyone can talk big when they're hiding behind an 'anonymous' sign-on.
I am busy too, my friend of different views, I won't be able to check back till after midnight.
Justin from VA
There is an interesting perspective from Anne Kilkenny who allegedly lives in Wasilla, AK and knows Sarah Palin well. It is a bit long-winded but very interesting. Apparently this has been vetted by several newspapers:
A note to all by Anne Kilkenny
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
[ Note by web_admin: This was already posted on Washington Independent
comments area and was meant by the author to be read by many, but
readers need sourcing. The NY Times has talked with Anne since. ]
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
August 31, 2008
=======
UPDATES (relevant articles):
Troopergate: Palin's letter re Wooten, 8/10/05 - Alaskan Daily News,
pointed to on a forum 9/5/08. It's to Colonel Grimes at Alaska Dept of Public Safety.
A conversation with Anne Kilkenny - The Daily Journal - 9/4/08
Palin's long-time supporters - NY Times, 9/4/08 (Kilkenny quoted)
Palin's Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual - NY Times, 9/3/08.
Documents detail Palin's political life - Politico, 9/2/08.
The Unusual Challenges Palin Faced in Alaska - NY Times, 9/4/08
Original info on Wasilla librarian situation - - Anchorage Daily News - 9/4/08
(No evidence of actual banning of books during her tenure.)
Foes back off on recall - Anchorage Daily News, 2/11/97 (and 9/2/08)
Librarian retains job upon agreement to merge library and museum operations
- Anchorage Daily News - 2/1/97 (and 8/29/08)
REFERENCE:
On the Issues - with quotes
Books and videos
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE:
Palin's Hometown Friends Enjoy the Show - NY Times 9/4/08 - a fun read.
A funny send-up of convention speeches - NY Times 9/4/08, Gail Collins
If anyone has rebuttals or corrections with cites, on any of this, let me know.
Hitobito, Providence RI
I find it amusing that democrats have the reputation of being whiners. Irony is one of the best components of comedy. I wanted to see Obama on the O'Reilly Factor yesterday and had to sit through about 45 minutes of "news" and "unbiased" commentary in which one of the very pretty, blond, female commentators used the phrase "It's not fair!" (and I counted) 8 times. And it's not just her making that claim. An online video from Fox that I saw today (and I assume we're all intelligent and well informed enough to know that Fox is owned by ultra conservative Rupert Murdoch) had the headline, "Media Bias...Is the Liberal Media Being Fair in Reporting the Facts?" As an unaffiliated independent (who would have voted McCain in 2000), I have been watching this election season unfold and can't help but notice that when asked about an important issue, the Democrats answer with a well thought out (whether scripted or not) response, while the Republicans stamp their feet, beat their fists, blame the media, and cry, "Unfair!" or "Sexism!" It would be sexism if we didn't hold Sarah Palin to the same standards we hold Obama to, but that hasn't happened yet. And McCain pulled out of an interview on Larry King Live because Campbell Brown pressed one of his senior aides on a legitimate issue regarding Sarah Palin.
And the democrats are the whiners? I find that funny. Thanks for the comedy Republicans.
For more comedy check out:
www.hundredwattfilms.com/ElectME/Watch
The Republicans always leave the country in a mess when their at the end of a term. This time we had the most corrupt administration in our history under the management of an Evangelical President and a former Exxon Mobile Executive who is rarely ever seen. How nice. It's unbelievable that the Pres and the VP were missing from the RNC convention but that shows just how bad things are when your own party doesn't want you to be seen with you after you've held the highest office in the land. Look, even if you hate Democrats and Obama, how can you vote for more of the same? The same people who ran the Bush Administration WILL be running the McCain/Palin show. Actually they are running their campaign right now. Wake up America and END THE CORRUPTION NOW, before its too late.
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