More response to the bad speech!

Tom Ridge, honest man!

A little tongue in cheek...

From Politico's Roger Simon!

On behalf of the media, I would like to say we are sorry.

On behalf of the elite media, I would like to say we are very sorry.

We have asked questions this week that we should never have asked.

We have asked pathetic questions like: Who is Sarah Palin? What is her record? Where does she stand on the issues? And is she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

We have asked mean questions like: How well did John McCain know her before he selected her? How well did his campaign vet her? And was she his first choice?

Bad questions. Bad media. Bad.

This is what happens when all the good filmmakers are Democrats!

Wow, this sucks... that is why they did air it!

You look fabulous...

...but then again, you oughta.  That dress cost $300,000.  The neck levees were included for that price.  Cindy McCain definitely knows the woes of middle class Americans!

Let’s go through the speech, line by line, and pull out all the references to policy (using as generous a definition of policy as possible) and the Republican vision.

“To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters.

“I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.”

How so, what proof is there that John McCain supports services and assistance to the parents of special needs Children?  What does the record reflect.  Well, I went to the Senate website and did a little historical research on his voting record.  It ain’t pretty.  As with most things, McCain is a man who likes to say no.  That is fine for a legislator and it is good to vote against bills that have good intentions but fall short of being effective in implementation.  But if you truly stand for something you find your own approach.  That isn’t McCain’s style.  He is a No-man.  You can’t go to the White House and simply sit and say no.  You have to provide a vision!  What do you want to accomplish?

“A writer observed: ‘We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity.’ I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.  I grew up with those people.”

Please tell me that the Rube wasn’t comparing herself to President Truman.  Truman was Vice President for only two months before he became President, but he served as a Senator for ten years before that.  While in the Senate he served as chairman, Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense Program in the Seventy-seventh and Seventy-eighth Congresses.  Please Rube, you are not Harry Truman!

“They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America ... who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.”

…and city folks are lazy, gay, God hating, over-educated liberal scum?  Pretty sure there are a few factories in our cities too.  Most of them, in fact.

“[People in small towns] love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.”

…and city folks are all terrorist sympathizers.  In 2005, 80% of Americans lived in urban areas (According to the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision, urban area is defined as “densely settled territory that meets minimum population density requirements and encompasses a population of at least 2,500 inhabitants. As of the 2000 census, the urban definition was changed from a placebased one to one based on density. However, this change has only a small effect on the comparability of estimates before and after 2000.)  By 2050, that number is projected to increase to over 90%.  25% of Americans live in rural America (urbanized areas are defined by the Census Bureau by population density. Generally, an urbanized area consists of a central city and surrounding areas whose population is greater than 50,000. In addition, other towns outside of an urbanized area whose population exceeds 2,500 are included in the urban population, leaving all other areas rural.”  My question is this.  Do you really want to write off a majority of the population as less than your hometown crew?

“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”

This is just too good to be true.  We have spent years listening to Republicans tell us that social services should not be delivered by government, that social service nonprofits and faith based organizations can, should and will fill that role.  Obama left school and worked with churches and nonprofits as a community organizer.  Is the Rube now saying that her role in government was more important?  Isn’t there some saying about shoes on other feet?

“I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.  We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”

Perhaps the Rube should have read the whole quote instead of taking it out of context.  The actual quote was:  “You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not.

“And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

If she had bothered to get the context she would have realized that the quote, while poorly worded, wasn’t denigrating rural voters, but rather explaining where their frustration comes from.

“While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for.  That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay. I also drive myself to work.  And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef - although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.”

This is a nice story but it is ultimately irrelevant.  Gimmicks may save Alaska money.  Saving the U.S. tax payers money means making hard decisions.

“With Russia wanting to control a vital pipeline in the Caucasus, and to divide and intimidate our European allies by using energy as a weapon, we cannot leave ourselves at the mercy of foreign suppliers.”

She read this, but has no idea what it means!

“Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we're going to lay more pipelines ... build more new-clear plants ... create jobs with clean coal ... and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources.”

Wow, more of the old and then those hippie solutions as an after thought.  That is definitely the Change We Need!  If you don't have a forward solution, why the heck are you running.  How do you propose providing enough supply domestically?  How much of an increase would that require?  How will you move us off fossil fuel?  What incentives will you create to foster sustainability?  No discussion of the roots of the issue, just rhetoric.

“In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers.  And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.”

Maybe it was my eight years in Communist Hollywood, but I would like to request a re-write of that line to convey more honesty.  How about this: In politics, there are some candidates who talk about change in terms of the future.  And then there are those, like John McCain, who use the past to promote change.”  Yup, that gets to it!

That was a lot shorter speech.  She could have cut it down and not wasted our time.  She totally cut into Seinfeld repeats (what us city folk, over-educated liberals cling to in this time of insanity).

Is this what passes for soaring oratory?

So, the Rube gave her speech last night.  I think that the reaction to it in the media would be so hysterical if there wasn’t so much at stake.  It seems like everyone thought she was going to trip over her inbred feet on her way to the podium and drool all over herself.  Come on people!  She is the Governor of Alaska.  Just because she is a Rube, doesn’t mean that the state is full of them.

Last night was something of a scientific analysis of the Republican Party.  First we had Mitt Romney blasting eastern elitists, even though it was eastern elitists that made him rich (not Mormons).  Then we had Rudy.  I don’t even know where to start so I will pass.  In my best New York accent I will simply say: oy vey!  Then the Rube came out.

Now, those of you who aren’t creationists or advocates of intelligent design (creationists in their Halloween costumes, dressed up like eastern elitists), know that in scientific analysis you use the scientific method.  Let’s review for the “Earth is flat” crowd:

1.  Define the question

2.  Gather information and resources (observe)

3.  Form hypothesis

4.  Perform experiment and collect data

5.  Analyze data

6.  Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis

7.  Publish results

8.  Retest (frequently done by other scientists)

That is why you never hear scientists stating that they have proven something definitively.  In climate studied scientists never say that they are absolutely 100% positively sure that global warming is caused by human activity (mostly the hot air coming from St. Paul).  They say that all available data and analyses lead them to the conclusion that climate change is at least in part caused by human activity.  It is into these gaps of light that the “Earth is flat” crowd comes running, thinking that the lack of certainty means that the opposite is still possible.  Let me just say: it is still possible that humans have no role in climate change, but it is highly unlikely.

But I digress!

Last nights experiment was in whether the GOP had anything new, positive, or forward-thinking to say; whether they would hold those in their Party to count for the past 8 years or the past 40 years for that matter; whether they could build a vision of the future and inspire confidence that they were the Party to implement that vision.

The answer is no.  What we have seen thus far was bluster, rhetoric and hurrah America!  We can’t tackle our problems if we continue to believe that we can do no wrong.  It is interesting to hear a bunch of Christians talk about American perfection in a way that, to my understanding, is only reserved for God.  

“Nothing new here!” should have been the words in the back drop on top of the giant flag (in case you forgot what country you were in).  What we got from the Rube was a glorified Tonight Show monologue.  I am sure that Jay Leno appreciates that Bush’s speechwriters wrote it for him.  It saved time.

I will go through the speech in more detail and post as I have more to say!

the grizzled vet meets the young fornicator

Caption written by the honorable Joseph!

Another impressive performance

Grasping at straws Tucker. Was Campbell Brown over the line or was her insistence that he answer the question she asked simply being a journalist (in the real sense and not the dress up "I wanna be a journalist when I grow up" sense that we have come to accept from the media)?



This isn't unusual for politicians or political staff. Most of it stems from the fact that these people are generally lawyers, are hired to pursue a "message" and not give more information than absolutely necessary and are generally not at all well versed on the issues they are being interviewed about.

Is this solely the fault of politcos? No. They realize that when the media covers issues they do so in a way that caters to the sound byte, ADHD, short attention span public that isn't really interested in the issues. These consultants know that if they talk about broad concepts those bits of the interview will end up on the cutting room floor. Therefore they rarely answer questions and repeat their sound bytes over and over again. Most journalists don't call them out on it. Kudos to Campbell Brown, who works for one of the worst of the worst networks, for holding the campaigns feet to the fire.

John McCain just passed up free exposure on CNN. That shows a level of infantile immaturity that is really unimpressive coming from an AARP member! It isn't just Republican that do it, but they are far more brazen in how they do it. They know that their policy positions are not built on fact or supported by data so they overcompensate with rhetoric and bluster. But it should be clear that Dems do it to. A possible solution would be giving them time to defend their positions and then cover it in full. Ratings be damned!

A little gem lifted verbatim from Salon.com’s War Room blog… (The only changes were to remove the name of the Alaska Governor and replace it with her Freak Politics name (i.e. The Rube)

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Before even starting this post, can we just pause for a moment and consider what would have happened to that unpatriotic, American-hating Muslim the Democrats nominated for president if he had been part of a secessionist group led by a man who once said he was “an Illinoisan, not an American”? To borrow Clarence Thomas’ famous phrase, it would been a high-tech lynching.

But here comes the Rube, former member of the Alaskan Independence Party and current Republican nominee for vice president of the United States. ABC's Jake Tapper reports:

Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that the Rube was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States.

And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always."

Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that the Rube and her husband, Mr. Rube, were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

Oops. The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder clarifies that the Rube’s association with the AIP is not ancient history, either, for she addressed the organization earlier this year:

Basically, the AIP wants a vote on secession. According to the organizations' website. "[T]hough it is widely thought to be a secessionist movement, the Party makes great effort to emphasize that its primary goal is merely a vote on secession, something that Party advocates say Alaskans were denied during the founding of the state."

The AIP says that the Rube used to be a member of the party. Earlier this year, the Rube recorded a welcoming address to the AIP's convention.

This is a party whose founding member, Joe Vogler, said: "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

Lee Atwater must be wincing in his grave right now. If he were alive -- in his pre-conversion/apology incarnation, that is -- and he found this on the résumé of a Democratic vice-presidential candidate, he would have attacked with relish. Unfortunately for the GOP, the candidate associated with people who want to bail on the other 49 states of the United States of America is the Rube.

― Thomas Schaller

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Thank you, Thomas, for that little bit of entertainment in my day. We definitely need a Vice President who was a member of a secessionist movement!

The Rap Sheet!

The Rube is racking up quite a laundry list…

'Fringe' Alaskan Secessionist Party: Palin Was A Member...

Almost Recalled As Mayor...

Directed Fundraising For Indicted Senator's 527...

Troopergate Scandal...

Calls Iraq A War For Oil...

Admits She Hasn't 'Really Focused On Iraq'...

Alaska National Guard General: Palin Plays No Role In National Defense...

Husband Arrested For DUI...

Nice vetting Senator McCain!

It's just too good to be true...

...can't take my eyes off of you!

The nomination of Governor Sarah Palin of the State of Rube to be John McCain's running mate is the gift that just keeps on giving. It was one big old nail in the coffin of the McCain campaign. They should start a John McCain campaign death watch calculator. I have to figure his chance is around 20% and slipping with each new scandal that gets surfaced on Sarah Palin (hence forth referred to on this blog only as "the Rube"). Other blogs are covering that, so I will refrain.

Maureen Dowd was right in asking why every time a woman is nominated to run nationally it is always part of a gimmicky Hail Mary throw? It is an insult to feminism and to the many women who are qualified, Democrat (Hillary Clinton) and Republican (Linda Lingle, Kay Bailey Hutchison, etc.) alike.

This is where the Rube got the lion's share of her "executive experience"! Nice strip mall city hall Rube!!!



Well, if she can take down a caribou, she could probably take Putin...



...in a game of one-on-one...



...but then again...



Pretty tough! Let's compare...



and



naw, Putin is hard as nails! He'd take her down and then drink a bottle of vodka chased with her blood!

Nomination of the Rube is an insult! She is as clear evidence as anyone needs of the Republican Party's disdain for our government and the things our government does. I am sure that the Rube is a capable woman, but just appallingly unqualified for the job. The argument that she can identify with average Americans doesn't eliminate the fact that she doesn't have the intellectual curiousity to solve our challenges. The Republicans argue that the Rube has equal (more even) experience than Barack Obama. My reply to that is BULLSHIT (and you know I never swear on here)!

Here are more humorous pictures of the Rube for you to enjoy:







And of course, Papa Rube, the World Champion Snow Machine Racer: