don't pretend you wouldn't be tempted to do this if you were governor, Chip.

haha is that what she talks like? I didn't realize that was a Canadian accent. I can't stand the way she talks. Whoever said she was whiny (kudzu?) was correct.


ok, i just went back and found his quote:

Yep. I finally listened to her speak and she's nasal and whiny. God I hope she never becomes our president.

To be fair, sometimes I find Obama's speaking to be very halting and dull...and Biden can ramble in an annoying fashion. McCain's voice is not bad at all, but when he starts with the "My Friends" schtick I want to get up and leave the room. It's so phony.

Go ahead. I'll call 1992 and tell them you're on your way.

It's pretty much all bull**** anyway. Except the ladies. Bill loves the ladies and they love him. Which is what really bugs his enemies.

Nobody's knocking archaic ties to criminals. It's her current pandering to conservative nutjobs by saying it's "God's Will" that we are in Iraq. Or her duplicity in dealing with just about everyone, including her own family. Or her abuse of power, which is becoming more and more apparent.

By the way, if I could be guaranteed that either presidential candidate would be even half the president Harry Truman was, they would have my vote regardless of party affiliation.

"We've" also seen him associated with honorable and decent people, considering them friends and mentors. There are far, far more of them than your implication will give. Pretty sure you've associated with a scumbag or two, as well. In the real world, especially in business and politics, there are plenty who take ethical shortcuts. They are unavoidable.

I disagree with the first part of this sentence. Her behavior has shown a disturbing willingness to abuse her authority (she has tried to push her personal moral agenda in every political endeavor she has undertaken, as well as tried to use said authority to punish and undermine those she views as seditious or just doesn't like) and her eagerness to use deception to get what she wants. At the very least, the fact McCain picked a person who was under investigation as his running mate will be used to show his remarkable disregard for reality. These allegations are not the kind of attacks used on Dan Quayle, who was considered a mere boob, or Dick Cheney, who was viewed as despotic. These are matters of record and facts, not mere opinion drenched conjecture. Yeah, they are going to "amount to much". I mean, I may think she's a vacuous, spiteful ****, but that's my opinion, and nothing more. The facts she lied, flip-flopped and abused her power are objective and provable facts.

You are absolutely correct in the second part of this sentence. Both parties have no shortage of slime in their ranks. Frankly, I think McCain, in spite of his connection to the savings and loan scandal, is one of the more honorable men in congress. I feel the same about Obama and Biden. Which is why the introduction of such a shady character into the national debate is even more regrettable.

One of the things I was excited about this campaign going in was the talent I thought both sides brought to it. Of the top three candidates on both sides, there wasn't a single one I thought incapable or untoward. Even Huckabee, who I felt was the least qualified of all the major candidates, is an honest and well-meaning individual. But McCain's embrace of someone with such naked self-serving ambition and willingness to bull**** the public on such an astoundingly bold scale shows me that at the very least, he does not have the vision and aforethought for the office he seeks.

Plus, Her flat and whiney-ass voice is just too damn annoying to put up with for four years.

One writer in a recent article (and I wish I could recall the source although I believe it was one of McCain's friends) said that everyone should watch out when McCain begins a sentence with "My friends" because it indicates he's really about to level someone.

"Drill, baby, drill!"

That pretty much sums up the GOP for me.

Also, I'm thinking "drill baby drill" is what Bristol kept saying to her boyfriend.

(zing!)

I'm not sure how firm McCain's embrace is of his VP pick. The two people he wanted most, Ridge and Lieberman, had to be disqualified because of their pro-choice stance. Also, Romney's claim to have seen the light on this issue certainly hurt his candidacy, and he would have been a liability with Republicans. If I were McCain, I would have chosen Ridge. It would have helped to solidify his "maverick" status claim, perhaps helped with siphoning off some Hillary supporters, and given him a candidate from a key state. Not picking Ridge perhaps indicates that the Republicans have already given up on PA.

(I do love, though, how various speakers can laud Palin with such enthusiasm when most of them had never heard of her a week or so ago.)

Remember I'm English


You Americans should be able to tell a Canadian accent better than me

More than two. But I don't presume to run for President.

Links to facts on lies and abuse of power, please. All I can find is conjecture.

I'll stipulate flip-flopping is a fact of life in politics.

If she's veep, her voice won't be much of an issue. Unless McCain keels over in office.

In which case we'll have a head of state far hotter than Thatcher or Golda Meir ever dreamed of being. Bhutto was hot though.

By the way, Katie, have you noticed that after holding the baby at every public appearance before her pregnancy was made public, Bristol has made several public appearances and has not held the baby once? It may not be unusual for big sisters to hold their infant siblings, but this is clear subterfuge.

I guess encouraging your kids to lie is a new family value.

And am I the only one who sees the impending shotgun marriage as ridiculous. I mean, they're seventeen. Was marriage really on the agenda before her nomination, or was it a sudden attempt to pile on the "family values" rhetoric.

Either way, it's a ****ty idea. They will get married. They will either end up divorced, or one will kill the other in a drunken, abusive relationship. Book it.

And while I'm on my pious rant...

It's almost funny watching the republican network shills accuse the democratic network shills of being "scared". I've seen it twice this morning, on two different networks. That's one of those transparent projection tactics. But it only works when there is a pre-existing truth in play. To make such a claim is a clear attempt to put your opponent on the defensive, and so far, the democrats seem unwilling to bite.

Adjusting to a shift in your opponents strategy and pointing out inconsistencies is not a sign of panic, nor is it a desperate "attack". It is business as usual. In spite of attempts by the republican noise machine (who know of no other course to tack, being pretty in desperate straits themselves) "being scared" is not becoming the self-fulfilling prophecy.

I mentioned it too. It's just a response to the rapid, furious assault on her from the word go.

Presidential politics, welcome to the big leagues, I guess.

As a 'reformer' with power, she has a helluva lot of enemies and they're not hard to find in Alaska right now to be sure.

lol. That's pretty funny, kudz. I hadn't noticed it (probably because I was avoiding the entire Palin circus last night) but I believe you. I think we can all agree that Sara Palin and her husband are clever smart. Something tells me they can charm their way out of any situation. I find it really interesting that the conservatives are making Palin and her daughter into heroes. Who would have anticipated this? Personally I think it says something ominous about our society. Think about it...if a democratic candidate had a pregnant, unwed teen and a newborn, do you think she would have been given accolades, her pregnant daughter put up on a pedestal? lol, yeah right. What this tells me is as long as you profess conservative "values" and brag about your pro-life stance, you will be celebrated.


No, you're not the only one. I think the whole marriage thing is a ridiculous phony show. This is probably not what the boyfriend had in mind for his future. No doubt he's being manipulated. I find it rather sad. They've orchestrated the whole thing to save face.

I keep hearing people on the news say that she represents "strong values". So what does that mean the rest of us have, weak values? Lol. My values are WEAK!!

American politics is so dumb. We vote for people based on how they look and whether they can charm the pants off us. The biggest bull****ter wins. Pitbull in lipstick, huh. Okey dokey.

And you think all presidential associates should be saintly pure? Let's see, that leaves...uh...nobody. Hell, even Jesus hung out with riff raff. No wonder the sanhedrin tried to strip him of his messianic status; he hung out with whores...

C'mon, Chip, she's under investigation for abuse of power, for crying out loud. And the other accusations made (as to her abuse of power) are anecdotal with circumstantial evidence, not proof, but not conjecture, either. There is a huge difference.

As for lying, she tried to cover up her daughter's pregnancy (not just dishonest and manipulative, but stupid from a tactical standpoint). She initially made statements in the affair she is being investigated for that she later "retracted." She not only lied about being against the "Bridge to Nowhere", she lied about lying about the "Bridge to Nowhere". She is both a knee-jerk ticky-tack liar, and one capable of attempting a more elaborate one. She even lied about wearing fur.

http://www.ickypeople.com/2008/08/mc...ver-model.html

http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/510219.html

http://www.washingtonindependent.com...ith-censorship

You've read this forum, and you've got google. Knock yourself out.

True, but most politicians don't make an issue they flip-flopped on so blatantly a linchpin of their campaign rhetoric. Then again, there aren't many other issues she has to choose from.

And most politicians are not stupid enough to blatantly lie about their flip-flopped positions when it is a clear matter of record. Some are. But most, when running for national office, will own up to it and try to weasel out by saying their thinking "evolved", which, to be fair, may or may not be true. But Palin keeps hammering on her point as if the screaming will somehow turn back time and make it so.

True, I don't think that, if McCain wins, she will be a partner on the level of a Gore or Cheney, and certainly not the one to run interference for a President McCain. So we'll probably hear her less than our most recents VPs.

Bhutto was hot, though. Palin is hot, too, until she opens her cake hole. Then it's nothing but grudge **** material...and that's just too karmically expensive an indulgence.

The non-choice of Ridge or Romney will probably be the one thing will McCain will look back on with regret, although I still maintain Romney would have been a stronger choice due to his economic acumen and the possibility of help in Michigan. But their chemistry was horrible, which is important. When Clinton picked Gore, there was a lot of head scratching; two southern pols from neighboring states on the same ticket? But they had synergy, to steal a tired buzzword, and they looked like a fresh and capable team. I think a Lieberman pick would have had the same effect, although it would not have been enough to counter the negative effects of bringing a pro-choice, non-republican running mate to the ticket. And picking someone for whom you have a palpable dislike, as McCain seems to with Romney, may have been a tough sell. Kennedy may have been able to pull that off with Johnson, but that was a different time and a far different political style than McCain.

I think McCain seems uncomfortable and forced with Palin, but he seems uncomfortable and forced with a lot of people. I don't think he dislikes her, quite the opposite, but their dynamic seems wary.

Sort of the political version of "diplomatic immunity"?

"We effed this up, but we know we effed it up, so ignore the fact that we effed up and focus on the stuff you agree with"

That poor boy definitely had that "How the hell did I end up here?" look on his face, didn't he?

Easy to be tough in an arena full of people who share your political stink. She can keep playing "tough gal" all she wants, she is out of her league in almost every respect.

Good article in today's news. Helps put some of the praises being heaped upon Palin into some perspective:

Do Republicans Stretch the Truth Maybe?


What does it mean that Palin is commander in chief? McCain's camp likes to boast that Sara Palin is far more experienced than Obama because she holds executive office and is "commander in chief."


This is exactly what Campbell Brown was trying to tell McCain's spokesman when he became terribly insulted. She was saying that the Pentagon makes the decision about when to deploy and what sort of armor the guard will have. McCain's camp is making it sound like Palin makes these decisions regarding going to war.


And what's up with this quote by Huckabee? I don't get it. If Biden got 76,165 votes in the primaries how can Huckabee say that she got more votes? What am I missing here? Is this just an outright lie?

She had her aide put on the pressure, but she's the one who did the firing when the pressure didn't work.

LOL, it is so interesting to me, the subtext being hammered home almost every time a republican opens his or her mouth.

Small town equals good, big city equals bad.
Small town equals god-fearing Christians and soccer moms, big city equals godless liberals and homosexuals.
Small town equals hard, honest work. Big city equals elitists and hedge fund crooks.
Small town equals strong values, big city equals hedonism and left-wing media.

The entire election, boiled down to "you can't trust those city folk!"

A quote from her speech:

Anyone else get a Blazing Saddles flashback during that last part? All it needed at the end was Gene Wilder telling Cleavon Little "you know.... morons."

Every dig at Obama, right down to his "styrofoam marble columns", was ingeniously scripted to paint him as a big-city elitist. Sarah Palin, by contrast, is a god-fearing soccer mom (so what if she likes to ban books occasionally?).

Could you paint with any broader and sloppier of a brush? So now Obama is not only tainted by working with someone, but everyone else he works with is tainted too? Is this like that six degrees of Kevin Bacon game?

The only bill Obama has sponsored that became law was "Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2005. Yes. He's only one member of Congress. But, Congress has been controlled by the Democrats since 2004 when he arrived. If he's the great leader with great ideas where the hell are the results in his record?

Of course he'll never be "vetted by the press" as they're demanding of Palin because of the media love fest.


I'll give you Volokh. I generally consider them libertarian, but they were linking to NRO. The second source though, was Anchorage Daily News.

Have you noticed the drop in gas prices since congress and the public has started to shout drill, baby, drill? Can you really think it's better to let other countries drill our coastline?


This is completely over the top and Dems will regret it. Yes. A 17 year of kid made a mistake. Did you expect her to hold a press conference when her Mom was nominated? For Pete's sake. Lay off the pregnant daughter already.

I'll take her voice over a monotone like Gore's every day of the week. Last night was the first time I've heard her speak and I didn't find it whiny in the least.

Lols, rural bootlegging. It's like firing without firing.

An urgent matter indeed. One I'm sure the governor was very worried about and knew demanded immediate banishment! ... er, action!

Honestly? Are you really arguing cause and effect here? If we all yell it more, will gas get even cheaper? I don't mind chanting it if I can save a few bucks.

Couldn't we just run the campaign like Fear Factor or something? Get hot looking people and have them compete in ring tossing, raw testicle chewing, and three-legged race?

I just want to address this one point you raised - you really think people shouting "drill, baby, drill" has had ANY effect on gas prices? You don't think that perhaps Republican politicos - with known, strong ties to large, multinational oil companies - are manipulating the prices for their own political gains? I predict gas prices will keep dropping by small degrees...until after the elections, of course. And then there'll be some mysterious refinery disaster or some other rebellion in Nigeria and the prices will shoot up higher than they were before.

Did you read the discussion about off-shore drilling where they explicitly say that it won't have any effect on gas prices for at least a couple of years, even if they started drilling tomorrow?

Actually the effect we're seeing right now in futures markets is probably due to decreased demand. But yes, decrease demand and increase supply and gas prices will be lower.