These People Are Serious. And On Their Way Out

Thank you for bringing the power of the Religious Right that much closer to its demise.

courtesy of these fine folks

Coup de Grâce

It's not because I can't let it go. It's because there has been talk of Palin in 2012. I suppose that does give her enough time to get to a fourth grade level. Yeah. That's not gonna work for me.

1st Amendment Prohibits 'BOO'?

At The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog, Dan Slater provides the following quote from Sarah Palin:

If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations then I don’t know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media.

What is the censorship by intimidation that Palin sees looming on the horizon?

The media’s suggestions that it’s going negative may threaten a candidate’s free speech rights under the Constitution, she said.

Does she really think that the First Amendment is about not being afraid? Is it freedom from fear that free speech promises? That's not how I read it. How does the Alaska Constitution see it? According the an update on Slater's post:

§5. Freedom of Speech: Every person may freely speak, write, and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that right.

These abuses might be illegal abuses like fraud. They might be legal abuses like bad jokes. You might end up in jail or you might lose an election.

Palin on 9NEWS NBC, Colorado

[Update: I removed the video because it starts automatically and that's very annoying.]

Click here to watch the full interview

Palin's last answer (about VP duties) has been picked on. And I address it below. But there's nothing too embarrassing here. So few comments:

Palin says

[Barack Obama] wants to take more of [Joe's] money and give it to other people according to his [own] priorities. And Joe the plumber said 'mmm' that sounds a little bit like socialism to him.

Sure. But it just sounds like the basic theory of taxation to me. As soon as we give any money to the government in exchange for services we're looking at something that sounds a little bit like socialism. When will the knee-jerk reaction to this word stop? It's not the same as a dictatorship. It's not the same as a fascism. It just isn't.

Asked if clean coal exists Palin responds

Yeah absolutely. We need to develop that clean coal technology. I know that Joe Biden has told the voter that 'no there is no such thing. We don't support clean coal.' No. Call him on that. Absolutely. That technology needs to be found.

Biden's comment was

We're not supporting clean coal. Guess what? China is building two every week, two dirty coal plants. And it's polluting the United States, it's causing people to die. … China's gonna burn 300 years of bad coal unless we figure out how to clean their coal up, because it's gonna ruin your lungs, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Then Biden says of building coal plants Make 'em clean. The point he makes against clean coal is that the current technology is not to be trusted. The plants are not producing clean coal even if you want to call it that. But he obviously believes that clean coal can exist. We just don't have it in hand right now.

Palin believes that it exists even tho we have no technology to get it. On this issue the candidates can't help but be in about the same place on clean coal. Both would use it if a reliable technology was developed.

Answering a question from a student, Brandon, about the Vice President's role Palin says

They're in charge of the United States senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom and it's a great job and I look forward to having that job.

She needs to look at the job description. The VP is not in charge of the Senate. Article I section 3 of the constitution explains that the VP shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be evenly divided. You can't let the title President of the Senate go to your head. It doesn't mean much.

McCain Loses Control of His Pitbulls

You thought those curs were going to protect you against all intruders but when you're an inept trainer they eventually start to attack you too. It's what happens when you don't know the difference between a protective dog and a rabid dog.

From the AP:

'If you want a fight, we will fight,' McCain said. 'But we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments.' When people booed, he cut them off.

'I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity,' he said. 'I just mean to say you have to be respectful.'

Also

He had drawn boos with his comment: 'I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States.'

The anti-Obama taunts and jeers are noticeably louder when McCain appears with Palin, a big draw for GOP social conservatives.

John McCain is now less important than his mob. And it's his own damn fault. He got caught up in the addictive murmur of determined ignorance. He's still trying to get away with the tactic of hate but he's stumbling while trying to keep them on his side by encouraging their ferocity and calling it respectful at the same time. He's a poor deluded man who is lying to someone. I'm just not sure who.

His mob's ferocity is exactly what will take him down. Because their ferocity feeds on bigotry. He created this fear by telling them not to trust Obama. He told them that their mistrust had to be based on their lack of knowledge. The spine of his message has been If you don't have proof that he's trustworthy you assume the worst because of every instinct of insularity and every tradition of exclusion that has fertilized this soil.

Now he's trying to turn their fear into judgment. It doesn't work that way. He has created the enemy. He has asked for their bloodlust and he is now dripping blood from the fingertips that fed them.

Meanwhile Palin continues to reveal the frightening tenor of her lonely ideas: it's not negative and it's not mean-spirited.

Such ideas find company in the masses. Such arid intellects must seek each other in order to survive. When examined on their own they wither and fail in the face of reason.

Dude, She Is So Into Me

You know these boys have had the exact same reaction to a stripper.








She is sooo HOT!

YES! She did the wink!

I think I'm going to break up with my cousin.

AP photos by Gerald Herbert

Releasing the Hounds

From Dana Milbank's column at Washingtonpost.com:

"If you turn on the news tonight when you get home, you're gonna see that, yah, this is another woeful day in the market, and the other side just doesn't understand -- no!" she said at an afternoon fundraiser at the home of mutual fund giant Jack Donahue. "Especially in a time like this, you don't propose to increase taxes. The phoniest claim in a campaign that's full of them is that Barack Obama is going to cut your taxes."

Of course, Obama never promised to cut taxes for people at $10,000-a-plate lunches in air-conditioned tents on waterfront compounds. And the crowd -- among them New York Jets owner Woody Johnson -- reacted without applause to Palin's Joe Six-Pack lines. After they didn't strike up the usual "Drill, baby, drill" or "USA" chants, Palin, rattled, read hurriedly through the rest of her speech.

The reception had been better in Clearwater, where Palin, speaking to a sea of "Palin Power" and "Sarahcuda" T-shirts, tried to link Obama to the 1960s Weather Underground. "One of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," she said. ("Boooo!" said the crowd.) "And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,' " she continued. ("Boooo!" the crowd repeated.)

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

McCain has forced his supporters to confront something about their candidate. His legislative pedigree and his choice of VP have drawn clear lines around the causes he's counting on for election:

The cause of the coddled billionaires who are praying for continued free rein and a laissez-faire government because they've been allowed to put their money where the economy can't take it from them.

That's his pedigree.

The cause of fear and bigotry that is looking for people to hate and fear in order to insulate and protect just one set of values and through intimidation and exclusion.

Milbank writes that at the Clearwater Florida rally One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy.

That's the rabid energy that his choice of VP has unleashed.

via The Greenbelt

Pinker on Palin (no, not like that)

Steven Pinker discusses Sarah Palin in a NY Times piece.

The concerns raised by the Couric interviews — that Ms. Palin memorizes talking points rather than grasping issues — should not be allayed by her performance in the forgiving format of a debate.

Mene Mene Tekel Upharsin

I have to hope that the undecided voters aren't waiting to see who's more likable or who's prettier. They're weighing issues and competence. And when PALIN/mccain are weighed and measured they lose the vote. Taking an average of each side I'd go so far as to say that the Obama/Biden ticket is prettier too. And more likable. Wait. Remind me: why is anybody supporting McPalin?

The VP debate was not the bloodbath that many were hoping it would be. Sarah Palin had all her lines memorized like a good automaton. Biden wisely softened his smile and he tempered the edge on his gaze. He focused on McCain and let Palin remain empty even while letting her seem half confident. Seem. Half. Where she fell apart was in the issues that reveal her backward views. This isn't about a stupid person serving next to the president; it's about dangerous philosophies that would poison the Potomac.

Palin believes the role of the vice president is ambiguously suspended between the legislative and executive branches. This is the philosophy that allowed Dick Cheney to deflect accountability and oversight while breaking knees and biting ears for the President.

Palin wants to deny rights to same-sex marriages if it goes closer and closer towards redefining the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman. She promised that she is and would be nothing less than tolerant. But don't believe it. It's not tolerance that fights against changing a bigoted tradition saying unfortunately, that's sometimes where those steps lead. It is only intolerance that is unwilling because of tradition to take the step of granting every couple the right to choose marriage.

Palin told Katie Couric that she would find some examples of McCain pushing for more regulation. Joe Biden gave her an opportunity to show the fruits of her research. And her response?

Palin: I'm still on the tax thing because I want to correct you on that again. And I want to let you know what I did as a mayor and as a governor. And I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also.

I'm hoping the undecided voters have been waiting for an answer. I'm hoping they're demanding one. Because she gave none. Last night was an opportunity to go beyond mere personality. But from Palin we saw no policy revelation or delineation of steps for change. And if that camp can't come up with evidence that McCain will likely push for regulation then why the hell don't they come up with an argument that he shouldn't. That's his stance. That's the pedigree of his economic philosophy. And there are many many people out there who are still on board with that philosophy. The refusal to argue the point is both stubborn and weak. And it reveals not just their lack of resolve on an issue, but also the inability to formulate any argument that effectively contradicts Barack Obama's stated goals and the history he has of pushing for them. This is evidence enough that a vote for McCain is based not on any faith in his ability to manage the economy.

Vote for McCain -- Because you don't care about the middle class either.

So it's a foreign-policy/defense thing? McCain supported the surge. But what next? What standard to leave Iraq? His plan doesn't say how; it says when. So when? According to McCain it doesn't matter. He believes in the dignity of waiting.

Biden called for some specifics of a plan for Iraq, and all McCain has put in the chamber is a call for victory. He expects the voters to trust him when he says that waiting is necessary.

Well it's not. It's not necessary because we should not stay in Iraq just to prove that we can. Palin had nothing to add to this. She had nothing because They have nothing. And the most disturbing thing is that it seems to be a bragging point for her. No wait. The most disturbing thing is that these answers worked for some viewers.

I can understand that some voters have made up their minds and they're not listening for arguments. We're all guilty of that at times. And some voters argue on a platform of values that I don't share. If you believe homosexuality is a sin and you believe the constitution should define it as an aberration because of your reading of the bible, then I'll assume that you don't care much for distestablishmentarianism. You might take issue with my conjecture but at that point the argument changes and it's no longer about the candidates.

So getting back to them--

We don't know what the undecided voters are waiting to hear. It might be that they're not sure what the economy needs. They might be unclear on Iraq. Perhaps they have not yet resolved the competing stories. If they haven't seen the numbers they don't know how to judge the tax plans. If they haven't read the bill they don't know what to think of Obama's support of kindergarten sex-education. They might not know if the arguments are misleading or incomplete.

Ignorance is accepted. And it's easy to remedy. In the debate Palin showed some rhetorical dexterity. But she did so by encouraging ignorance by flaunting her necessary incuriosity. I hope that undecided voters are still monitoring the balance because of their refusal to settle on that same ignorance.

Blitzer: "It Was Not Her Best Answer"

I love the eye roll Jack Cafferty gives upon hearing of McCain's agreement to the debate.

There's something very disturbing about a segment that discusses and rolls tape of a segment that discusses and rolls tape of a segment. Why do we have to go through a video of Katie Couric presenting her own segment?

Because this is a frightening story. And sometimes the best way to convince someone that they should be scared is to show them that everyone else is scared.

"It was like watching Gidget address the Reichstag."

Stop by Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone article: Mad Dog Palin. It's a fine rant.

He expresses his disgust with the current administrative ploy:

After eight years of unprecedented corruption, incompetence, waste and greed, the party of Karl Rove understood that 50 million Americans would not demand solutions to any of these problems so long as they were given a new, new thing to beat their meat over.

Then he laments the idiocy of American voters as illuminated by Palin:

The truly disgusting thing about Sarah Palin isn't that she's totally unqualified, or a religious zealot, or married to a secessionist, or unable to educate her own daughter about sex, or a fake conservative who raised taxes and horked up earmark millions every chance she got. No, the most disgusting thing about her is what she says about us: that you can ram us in the ass for eight solid years, and we'll not only thank you for your trouble, we'll sign you up for eight more years, if only you promise to stroke us in the right spot for a few hours around election time.

He gets sloppy, at times losing control of his tone and the facts; choosing vitriol over substance, and occasionally quoting Palin inaccurately. But I share his dismay.

What happens in a pizza place...

Forget about the opposed stances on a single ticket. Forget about the reason for McCain's surprising policy of tactful and delicate diplomacy. Those aren't new issues.

But this is a whole new scary:

Couric: Are you sorry you said it governor?

McCain: Wait a minute. Before you say is she sorry she said it: This was a gotcha soundbite that well >>she was in a conversation … no she was in-

Couric: >>It wasn't a gotcha. She was talking to a voter.<<

McCain: -a conversation with a group of people and talking back and forth and I … I … I'll let governor >>Palin speak for herself.<<

Palin: >>Well and in fact<< you're absolutely right on in the context. This was a … a voter … constituents hollering out a question from across an area asking 'What are you gonna do about Pakistan? You better have an answer to Pakistan' I said 'We're gonna do what we have to do to protect the United States of America.'

So it was a gotcha soundbite because it was at a pizza place? Because she was in a conversation? Because a voter dared to ask her a question when she didn't have a teleprompter? Because we can't expect a vice presidential candidate to be able to effectively deal with the horrors of being pressed for an answer? So we shouldn't pay any attention to anything she says when she's asked a question?

In this interview they go through three defenses that cancel each other out:
1) We don't believe in saying these things out loud.
2) She said it because she was tricked by being asked a question.
3) All she said was the truth -- that we'll do what's necessary.

Palin adds:

Never would our administration get out there and show our cards to terrorists in this case to enemy and let them know what the game plan was.

Well of course you don't. Not with such a weak pair.

I Agree with the Dollar Value Meal Policy

Tina Fey is the adorable one.

Miss Alaska Stumbles in the Interview Round

She read her speech well. And she had the hand-wave down pat. But her recent and recurring gaps and disfluencies are starting to make people cringe. And if she makes sense it's only long enough to show that she's got nothing to say.

Sarah Palin's tarnish is turning to rust. Her campaign has holed her up in the garage hoping to paint over the oxidation before the big show. But rust will out. And I hope Thursday's debate format gives Joe Biden the chance to rattle her frame and point out the red flakes sloughing off. Palin can't hope to hold up when Biden runs at her.

I wonder:

Will she have those examples of McCain's leadership on regulation ready for Katie Couric?

Will she be able to answer just exactly how her proximity to Russia has done anything for her insight?

Is she going to stick with her argument that drastic earmark reform simply means transparency? (Something that every candidate supports, by the way.)

Will she argue that waving the cost of a rape examination kit would be Communist?

Does she oppose equal rights and benefits for same-sex marriage because gays are witches? Or is it because they're devil-possessed?