Returning Soon

OK, I just remembered where I’d heard of Sarah Palin before last Friday. It was in all the e-mails I get from Defenders of Wildlife, asking me to plead with her to put an end to the aerial gunning of wolves.

Didn’t work.

In fact, she authorized the expense of ~$400,000 in propaganda ads to help the people of Alaska understand why it was good & important to hunt and shoot 14 female wolves from the air, and then pull the wolf cubs from their dens and shoot them too.

If anyone is interested, there’s a great place in Indiana called Wolf Park> www.wolfpark.org Their “Photos of the Day” are amazing. I would also recommend DoW www.defenders.org for more info.

Nice stewardship of God’s creation, Governor Palin.
I’m going to go be sick.

Does everyone know what a honey pot is? In the network world, a system administrator sets up a false branch of the network with what appears to be faulty security attached. On that branch of the network, there are what appear to be particularly titillating or otherwise attractive files. Of course these files are virus or tracking devices or wrong information designed to destroy, identify, or mislead the hacker who gains access to them.

Now call me paranoid, but the Palin appointment seems like a honey pot to me. It could just be super bad vetting. Certainly that is possible. There is also super bad Internet security that really is just bad and not part of a trap. But the timing, and the organizational response seem oddly calculated to me. You see, I think the soap opera factor plays largely in Palin’s favor. I think it is very energizing non-issue to revive a stagnant party. To the faithful, she’s going to be seen as a victim that rises above and conquers. In the movie, she’d be played by Sally Field or Julia Roberts. My early–an very anecdotal– indicators suggest that she is being embraced with an exuberance not usual for Veep noms.

Bad vetting, but good, well-coordinated crisis management? Maybe. Though, it would be interesting to know the story of those far-flung blogs where anonymous posters first mentioned that Trig Palin was actually grandson and not son, among other postings about UFOs and Bigfoot; and then to further know the timeline that made it essential to rebut these far-flung rumors that barely anyone was hearing with “the truth” so as to put to rest the tormenting barbs of “liberal bloggers.” The truth can be stranger than fiction; I will always admit that. But I’m a veteran of numerous media campaigns, and this feels like the beginning of one to me.

I wonder who leaked to the National Enquirer. Some disgruntled staff member or class mate? Very likely. But did the GOP/McCain Campaign not take that into consideration? Could be. I don’t believe, though, that they are that incompetent. I’m not saying they chose her for her problems, but I am saying that after she was vetted, they spent much time trying to figure out how to turn her weaknesses into strengths, and came up with what may be a winner. They were sure ready to respond when everything broke, and their responses seemed to me, pre-calculated. There is so much soap opera in her life, and folks love a good story, with a strong, goodly heroine who blunders forth, hesitant into the world, but ultimately triumphs over evil.
When the tales of trooper Wooten’s murderous threats come trickling out across the summer, this lady is going to become a “spunky” folk hero to very people in the GOP that despise McCain, and a large chunk of people are going to vote for her instead of McCain.

From the Washington Post:

The trouble between Wooten and the governor’s sister broke into the open after an alleged incident in February 2005. Palin told an internal affairs investigator that she overheard on a speakerphone [trooper Michael] Wooten arguing with her sister and threatening to kill their father. Fearful for her family members’ lives, Palin said she drove to her sister’s house and watched the argument through a window.

“Wooten’s words were, ‘I will kill him. He’ll eat a [expletive] lead bullet, I’ll shoot him,’ if our father got the attorney to help Molly,” Palin said in an e-mail she wrote in August 2005 to the chief of the state police. “I heard this death threat, my 16-year-old son heard it (Track Palin), Molly heard it, as did their small children. Wooten spoke with his Trooper gun on his hip in an extremely intimidating fashion, leaving no doubt he is serious about taking someone’s life who disagrees with him.”

It ain’t a disaster. It’s the October surprise in September.

SH asks: Chris, why wouldn’t Palin play herself in the movie?

I say: Cuz that would be a movie, and its so much more fun to play it in real life.

What would the librul media make of this if Michelle Obama had posed for the picture?

http://www.kunstler.com/Grunt_SarahPalin.jpg

What would the librul media be making of this if it were Obama’s 17-year-old daughter who was pregnant?

Steve, I sure hope you are wrong. I’m pretty sure you’re wrong. But it is scary to imagine. If it does, remember this movie clip, via The General:

http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2008/09/strange-telecast-interrupts-gop .html

I know how Adam feels when he comes to the plate and two times in a row - on the first swing - he slams the comedic ball right out of the park.

Number one for me was sliding in the suggestion of Sarah Palin for Veep. Number two was taking the opportunity six years ago to steal some stationery from the American Enterprise Institute. I’ve had it in an undisclosed location for all this time and I finally had a good enough reason to put it to use. I sent an invitation on this stationery to Mr. Tom DeLay for a private party here in Minneapolis to be held in conjunction with the Republican Convention. He actually came to the party, arriving in a gold minivan (that had to hurt!), and proceeded to get “liberally” lubricated at the bar. I tell you he was the hit of the party and at the end of the festivities, he was carried back to his minivan, tossed into the back, and lauded as a true American Hero. No shit.

ABC:

MINNEAPOLIS — Tom DeLay, the former House GOP majority leader whose connections to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff brought scandal and disgrace to the Republican party, returned to the spotlight in Minneapolis last night, helping to host a private party that drew hundreds of delegates and Republican officials.

DeLay’s arrival was hardly welcomed by the campaign of Sen. John McCain. McCain led the Senate investigation that revealed many of the abuses connected to Abramoff, and DeLay has criticized McCain for years.

“He is no friend of ours,” said one McCain campaign official. “But you can’t really keep him out of the city.”

Ha! What a bunch of weenies! Cheney certainly could have kept him out!

Ann, you’d think that if someone went to the trouble of photoshopping Gov. Palin onto a body double, they would have at least found one that was topless and holding a bigger gun. Graphic design goobers these days have absolutely no imagination.

I can’t help but wonder if Palin will get asked a 2008 version of the Kitty Dukakis death penalty question:

Ms. Palin you oppose all abortions, even to save the life of the mother. If your daughter’s doctor had told you that her pregnancy is highly dangerous and will result in potentially fatal complications, would you still advise her to carry the baby?

Wonder what the answer would be.

Jay

Christine, pleash put down the bullwhip. Quietly. I got one fuckuva headache.

“Then it really gets ugly.”

Aw, Steve, you’re just saying that to try to cheer me up.

Ann, I thought it might be, but my question stands.

Just Jay, Brilliant! That’s a question I’m sure we’ll never hear asked, but it feels good just to imagine it.

Thanks Sharon Hussein (#22)

You know, much as I admire Obama for taking the family off the table, I came up with more questions that the pregnancy story brings to mind. Like is it fair that the black kid in the south gets 10 years of hard time for a b*** **b, and the white kid in Alaska has to get married and postpone college? (Insert sexist joke about marriage being a life sentence here) If the father’s name was Jamaal instead of Levi would he still be walking around free? Would he still be able to walk?

On a more serious note, what would it say about the Democratic Clinton supporters if Palin draws a large number of them even though she stands diametrically opposed to just about everything Clinton stood for?

Cheers,
Jay

Zeke@11: Thanks but that was totally straight and I only smoke Guadalacaca Brown, picked by froggy little native boys. . .

But, seriously, tell me it can’t happen.

This administration is capable of anything.

What a ray of sunshine you are, Clinton voter for McCain. Your particular brand of idiocy is just what this blog needed. I know becca, and she doesn’t need me to defend her, but you, sir or ma’am, offend me.

Speaking on behalf of all men, Sarah is the perfect woman.
I am VERY proud to have been on the planet to watch a new era proceed with what amounts to a female teddy roosevelt riding shotgun into a new era. The dems are confused with how to deal with her because she’s actually a person who walks her talk, and takes responsibility for her actions.
Check out this video, taken long before the election.
You’ll never see dem wonks Hillary OR Obama doing this!
The troops LOVE her!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsx0rWGVkRY&feature=related

The… perfect… woman.

Dear Palin shill (post 27), ain’t no way you’re a democrat who supported Hillary. I’m calling you a liar. Unless of course, you’re a prankish Dem having a laugh by pretending to be a blowhard shill, in which case, you’re still a liar. I can’t tell if you are just trying to tweak us, or if you really think that someone around here might actually think you actually have a point. Either way there isn’t anyone around here dumb enough to bite. Plus, leave ‘becca alone, shill boy. So there.

I watched…God help me, I watched. What I found most interesting is that a good deal of the speech was written last week, though it was revised to make it “less masculine.” I guess that means they took out the spitting and crotch adjusting.

And other than the personalized Hockey Mom schmaltz, it was a standard Republican repetition of Government = Bad, Business = Good.

Oh, and for some reason the new symbol of all that’s wrong with America is the Community Organizer. Lots of snickering by Guliani and Palin over that. I guess it’s not enough to take the jobs away and make health care inaccessible to people — you have to sneer at the folks who try to help the victims of your failed economic policies, too.

Dee, I haven’t adjusted my crotch in public for years now.

Personally, I like the theory proposed on the website I’ve linked to below, that putting Palin out there allows the Repubs to be “defensive” about questions of experience, rather than going on the attack.

http://cousinavi.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/the-palin-strategy-bait/

Oooh. Yes! Someone noticed. A LINK! I love you guys, I really do. ohmigod…there are so many people I want to thank!

It’s not just the defensive play, which is a key element for sure…it’s more about controlling the narrative, the issues, the media attention.
No one is talking about the absolutely MONSTROUS degree of criminal, treasonous, Constitution shredding fuckwittery of the Republicans. Impeachment? ?!?!?! These Fuckers should be HUNG!
Eight years of shit that makes all the tsars and Pol Pot look mild. Toss in Suharto and Papa Doc while you’re at it. OK…maybe not Pol Pot…but, come on…

What’s the topic? Pregnant teen mothers. Drilling for oil. White, christian girl versus foreign, elite, Hussein, black man. Experience. I hope it doesn’t work, but the Palin Trap is brilliantly laid.
I mean, let’s be fair: It’s either a brilliantly laid trap to raise issues they want to play, or it’s the dumbest fucking veep nom ever.
If it’s a trap, and despite that plenty of people are pointing at it and saying “LOOK! TRAP!”, we simply cannot stay the hell out of it. All Palin, all the time.

It’s a swing state play, and a goddamn clever one. And it might fuckin work.
Imagine: Obama takes CA, NY, ILL, MA by HUGE margins. All other states close, some red, some blue. Well, except for Texas and the inbred states. Onward.
Swing states, gamed by the Palin Trap - experience, gender, race, foreign, black, white, liberal, conservative…HE WANTS TO TAKE YOUR GUNS AWAY! BITTER BIBLE GUNS!
Remember when Gore supposedly won the pop. vote, but Bush got the electoral college with Florida? Imagine a MUCH wider margin, same electoral college result.
Watch for McCain to make strong ‘wants to talk to Iran’ plays - scare the Jews; ‘wants to talk to the Castros’ - scare the Cubans = Florida.
Rust belt. Guns. Hunting. Bible.
This election is NOT OVER. Wake up, sleepy Dems.
Ohio. Florida. Time to start throwing. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
They ASKED for it. Time to roll out the ads featuring Dubya saying, “I say, ‘Bring it on.’”
Ads of the stuttering McFuckwit eating cake with George as Katrina drowned New Orleans, crosscut with clips of McCain trying to appear presidential in anticipation of the storm that didn’t happen.
No quarter.
It’s time.

I watched, and I believe she is a very formidable opponent. She’s smart and quick, but folksy, and, with glasses, she comes across as everybody’s third grade teacher, yet she’s ballsy enough that you believe she’ll have no problem sending Kim Jong-Il to the corner. She will clearly energize the fundamentalist base of the GOP, who will go door to door for her, but not McCain. She is a bold invitation to continue believing in the fairy tales that have engulfed this country for the last eight years. The soap opera aspect to her personal life will continue to reflect well on her, reminding all who want to be reminded that she is the embodiment of the heart of “true America.” That members of her family are personally engaged in the military conflicts that she and McCain support will add serious credence to that side for those who are still on the fence about how to handle Iraq.
She is going to be very difficult to discredit, unless she does it herself; her voice is a bit grating in long doses, and she has a layer of edginess or vindictiveness that might turn people off if over-exposed to it. In general, I think a lot of exposure will dull her luster, but I’m betting the powers that be have taken this into consideration and are now pulling her back a bit. Personally, I hope not. If she’s out front enough, people will get bored, and see her for what she represents.
A VP debate will be bad news for Biden, I’m guessing, because his treatment of her will become a damned if you do/don’t.

Well, seeing as how Senator Obama writes his own speeches, I think he’d be fine.

Dear SSS (Silly Sarah Shill), I can only hope she tries to drive the debate because when people really understand her I’m not sure they’ll want what she has to offer. Hope not, because I’ll bet she’ll out-Bush Bush.

On another note–or really the same note–has anyone else noticed (the real folks here, not the shills) that there are what appear to be many anonymous postings on various blogs from “Ex-dem,” and “SSS” and “Clinton voters for McCain” that have a strong faux quality about them. Many of the talking points are the same. Much of the reasoning is the same. None of them sound like people who have anguished over their votes. They basically read like they were written by a group of folks who have little or no inkling about what it means to be a Dem, or why one would want to be one in the first place, but have been paid to write faux-puma posts that make it sound like they are abandoning the party. I do know an actual puma, and believe me, his sincerity would not be in doubt, though I am constantly arguing with his judgement. I think the “liberal” Internet is experiencing a well coordinated but poorly executed shill shower. Shucks.

According to MSNBC, Sarah’s speech was written last week by the usual gang of right wing hacks. It was re-jiggered to fit Gov. Palin after she was named. She practiced the speech over and over and over again from 1:00 until 6:00 yesterday afternoon. She had minimal to zero input into the speech. Of course she did demonstrate her reading skills in a way that puts her head and shoulders above our current leader. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that “My Pet Goat” probably would not hold her attention for 20 minutes after being told that the country is under attack. I will grant her that much credit anyway.

Has anyone ever seen Sarah Palin and Sue Scott from Prairie Home Companion together?

I Love Sarah - “The troops LOVE her!!”

I’m sure that’s true. However, I wonder if you know that some of the troops that LOVE Sarah are female. I realize that probably makes your white Republican skin crawl, but you’ll have to trust me here.

I sure hope that geezer, John McCain, doesn’t fall asleep in the middle of his speech tonight. I know I would, if I had to watch it. But I don’t. So Good Night all.

I mean Fred all ready told us this story.

dee @34, … and also considering how one of the consistent Republican messages is that government is inherently evil and no one should ever depend on it, they’re also against communities taking care of their own? What do they want, a society of “every man for himself”? They put so much contempt into the expression “community organizer” that it sounds like one step above “crack dealer.” I wonder what they think of Mother Teresa?

And did you all notice just how incredibly. . .pale. . .and chiseled *harumphAryanharumph* the audience was? It had a haunting, dare I say it?, German feel.

“Oh motherland, motherland. . .”

She’s playing the underdog card, and she’s playing it well, and Americans eat that stuff up. She’s dangerous on many different levels, is dear Sarah.

So I’m reading all the headlines this morning and many lead with “McCain vows to end partisan rancor” or “McCain runs on bipartisanship pledge.” Can you really write/say that with a straight face after 4 days of some of the nastiest sniping and most divisive partisanshipness?

I mean…”pay no attention to what we’ve been saying/doing the past 4 days/4 months/4 years. Really, we can work across the aisle with these unpatriotic, cowardly scumbag ‘community organizers’ better than they can.” Sheesh.

Face it, guys. McCain’s won. It’s all over but the balloting.

I say that with great disappointment, since I’ve favored Obama since the early days of his candidacy but the bloom is off the media rose. There’s a new media star, Governor Palin, and she’s about to suck all of the oxygen out of the room, leaving Senator Obama gasping for breath.

American elections are all about media supremacy and have been for a number of years. As I pointed out in an earlier posting in this blog, in general, the “coolest” of the candidates wins and in this election, it’s now Sarah Palin, not Barack Obama who holds that title.

Unless someone finds some photos, or better yet, a video of Ms Palin doing something unspeakable with a moose, she’s the new media darling. I mean, who even remembers who Obama’s running mate is? Oh, yeah, right, that old plagiarist guy (it doesn’t matter whether the charge is true or over blown [just ask Al Gore about “inventing the Internet” — I think even “Wait Wait” has made jokes about it] the media meme is in place and it’s not going to go away).

Are you 100% sure Steve? Because I have a great new job and new apartment and I’d sure hate to shoot myself now if it’s not absolutely necessary.

Steve, I hope you and Sarah-cubed are getting paid for wasting your time shilling for McSame and McCandy.

Did you write the dirty stuff too? I forgot what a (hilarious) potty mouth Maher is. You don’t hear the word MILF on “wait wait!”

Sorry to interrupt the political discussion. I’m just a fan.

That last comment was directed toward Adam. Is that allowed?

Nothing I can say will convince anyone that I’m not a shill for Sarah Palin (I’d rather see a different Palin, if I had the choice).

I’m just facing facts.

I’m going to vote for Obama/Whatshisname and go to bed on November 4, fully expecting to wake up to a McSame/Palin victory. If not, then all that much the better, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

And Bush/Cheney can still declare martial law, right up to and including the morning of January 20, 2009. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if they do, especially if Obama wins.

Getting paid? Hardly. I’d pay good money to make things come out differently but it ain’t gonna happen.

As the great and insightful Tony Hendra put it in The Deteriorata

Therefore, make peace with your god, whatever you perceive him to be: hairy thunderer or cosmic muffin. With all its hopes, dreams, promises, and urban renewal, the world continues to deteriorate. GIVE UP!

(You are a fluke of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
Whether you can hear it or not,
The universe is laughing behind your back.)

Steve, seriously, believe me, I know about depression - boy, do I! Maybe you should schedule a check-up, buddy. Really.

Steve, seriously, believe me, I know about depression - boy, do I! Maybe you should schedule a check-up, buddy. Really.

All the chemicals are in more or less the proper order, last time I had them checked. Any more in order and I’d be checking into a Sane Asylum.

I’m not depressed. I get out of bed every morning, catch the train into work and carry on as if it all made a difference, which, of course, in the cosmic sense, it doesn’t. We’re just part of a long chain of chemical reactions and quantum fluctuations about the eternal zero that started at the Big Bang and will end up in the Big Entropy Sink.

It’s all just physics. Don’t kid yourself.

Riff on that for a while.

Life. Don’t talk to me about life.

I’m just realistic. I know enough about the workings of the world to realize that things are badly broken and history tells me that once broken, things don’t unbreak.

Maybe in a thousand years, if we manage to avoid a serious runaway albedo feedback cycle or a worldwide nuclear catastrophe or fatally glitch the ozone layer, our descendants (well, yours, since I don’t and won’t have any) will have picked up enough of the pieces to make another go of it. Or maybe they’ll like barbarism. It’s fun and fun’s where the fair’s at.

As I said above, Hendra nailed it. The world continues to deteriorate.

Ite missae est.

Deo gratias.

“Love the notion of the Dukakis moment for Women Aglow Palin. Wonder if Sarah is also an end-timer? ”

David, we don’t know about her, but we know her preacher is:

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB122048406528596987-lMyQjAxMDI4Mj AwNDQwODQ0Wj.html

“At the Pentecostal church where Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin worshipped for more than two decades, congregants speak in tongues and are part of a faith that believes humanity is in its “end times” — the days preceding a world-ending cataclysm bringing Christian redemption and the second coming of Jesus.

The Rev. Ed Kalnins, pastor of the Pentecostal church, Wasilla Assembly of God, says he has told church members that God put President George W. Bush in office and that America is locked in a “holy war” with terrorists.”

Why, Sally, I’m blushing. Could I also be like Columbia urging people to plant victory gardens?

Seriously, thank you for the compliment. I don’t like it when people defend their brand of patriotism as the only kind that matters.

I put my Obama magnet on my car a few days ago, but yesterday was the first time I felt like folks were really reacting to it. An older couple in a Buick glared at me while I was getting gas, but there was another blue minivan almost identical to mine with an Obama sticker on it, so I parked next to them. Then, as I was coming out of the store, a young family with an African-American dad, Asian mom & beautiful little boy were just getting out of their car. The dad couldn’t stop grinning at me and waving.

I decided I would take the happy family over the grumpy couple any day.

This would be a copy of that email floating about:
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

Chris, or Anne Kilkenny, or whoever: I read the “letter from Wasilla” on another forum I frequent, but not with your added comments, of course. Thanks for those; it’s always better to get information as close to the source as possible.

Make no mistake - I don’t underestimate Sarah Barracuda. She scares the liver out of me. The idea of an end-timer that close to the Big Red Button is terrifying; she could start WWIII just because she thinks God wants it.

I devoutly trust you are right that if they let her (how could they stop her?), she’ll talk herself out of a job.

Steve, the “Big Red Button” remark was intended as a satiric metaphor. I realize no single person without cooperation can start a war.

On the other hand, I ask you: if George W. Bush’s vice president had been anyone other than Dick Cheney, would we really have invaded Iraq?? From everything I’ve read, taking down Saddam Hussein was Cheney’s personal project and he pushed it beyond reason and evidence. If McCain is elected, Sarah Palin will be in Cheney’s seat.

On all your other points I agree entirely.

gillian didn’t tell me they had Nor’easters down here. Fortunately Hurricane Hanna turned out to be a bust. A little wind, but tons of rain! Twelve hours later, the sun’s out, the tourists are back out on the beach and life goes on.

I never did run down gillian’s father on Parris Island - a career jarhead - now retired with no forwarding address. I did have a some beers with a few of his old buddies (I had to buy all around. and let me tell you, those Marines can fuggin’ put away the beer!) and they thought the ex-wife might have some relatives in a trailer park just outside of Yemassee. That sounds right - especially the trailer park part of it - so I’ll head that way tomorrow. At least the gas is cheaper down here.

After I recovered from the komikaze mosquito attack, I found a new BFF - DEET! It clashes with my after shave, but that’s the only way I can survive in this hostile environment. I wonder what percentage of South Carolina citizens are walking around with malaria. Maybe that’s their problem. That and pork BBQ with a disgusting mustard based sauce that’s consumed here like mother’s milk. gillian served it to me once in VT and I should have gotten a Tony for feigning delight with that delicacy.

Maybe, I’ll see her tomorrow. Better get some shut-eye.

David @71, I think it would be as much a mistake to try to disregard Palin as a lightweight distraction of no importance as it was for Kerry to disregard the ironically-named “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” back in 2004 until the damage had already been done.

I’m concerned about your candidate, too, but not for the reasons you mention. If you want to make yourself feel better about his flying, go to factcheck.org. As to his class standing: at least he graduated, and then went on to prove himself
with a distinguished military career. Here’s a link to the flying article:

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/did_mccain_crash_five_planes.htm l

Now, if you want a list of reasons to really not vote for him, I suggest you consider his economic positions, International positions, quality of life positions, and pretty much everything else he stands for.
If you are just looking for a airplane pilot, despite what you’ve heard, I think you’d be in pretty good hands.

But I’ve heard, Chris Harlan, that this election is not about issues, but about personality and perkiness. At least that’s what Rick Davis has said. And I’ve always suspected that since his granddaddy and daddy had both been Admirals, that the Navy probably burnished his career a bit and really played it up when he was released by the North Vietnamese. After all, they had a hero on their hands. A poster boy for honor and duty. It wouldn’t do for him to actually be a womanizer, a party-hardy heavy drinker and a fuck-up to boot. So they took off the rough edges, as it were.

Rumors around the department for years have warned about McCain’s temper. Now you at home can learn about it, too.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/09/07/mcclatchy-wapo-and-romney-war n-about-mccains-out-of-control-temper/#more-32602

Zee Man, rumors around washington for months have warned about Obama’s secret Muslim faith. Now you at home can learn about it, too.

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-hi s-critics/

Gee! Obama is now 10 POINTS behind McCain in a recent poll. You can learn about it, too.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-07-poll_N.h tm

Can you say “freudian slip?”

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/obama-verbal-slip-fuels-hi s-critics/

We told you maniacs to go with Hillary. Now we have at least another 4 years of the republicans. Good job putting the party before yourselves, everyone!
I still can’t believe for the first time in my life, I’m voting republican–to support the democratic party!

True words, Chris. I won’t even drive by the Washington Times building anymore. I’m afraid I might be abducted by Moonies and forced into one of Rev. Moon’s mass marriages. I know that sounds ridiculous but, really, why take the chance?

Hey JP Hussein-

“Cushy for a war zone”. I love it. Thanks for the update. Stay safe and know that we’re thinking about you and all your fellow troops over there.

All-

Since when did we become such a destination for trolls and other troublemakers?? To paraphrase Aunt Sam, does that mean we’ve become one of the cool web sites now? Sheesh.

Aunt Sam: Fanny apparently ate yours when she ate mine.

Chomp!

Palin is a perfect candidate, they can say she is for anything that generates contributions and then do nothing on those issues, i.e. Bush II. Almost all of the comments on this thread are void of any true election issues. (a few snuck in here and there)

Let’s review the recent past and what it has meant for our conservative friends. Conservative congress for 12 years, check, conservative President 20 of 28 years, check, 7 of 9 Supreme Court justices appointed by Republicans, check. Total items of the conservative agenda completed, ZERO. Only more government intervention in heath care, education and social programs that were meant to be run by the states. So much for states rights.

The liberal press, Demos, the war, there is always a reason why the “Party” can’t deliver the goods. Conservative liberals (government intervention but for conservative topics) keep blind faith that the Republicans will actually do something for them. This generates money for Republican candidates. If they actually do anything then the money stops so it isn’t going to happen.

Let’s stick to the big issues that we want to talk about and run these clowns out of the building. It’s the economy, health care, war and the deficit that are important the rest will take care of itself if we make people talk about those things.

P.S. if Democrats are Tax and Spend, can we always refer to Republicans as Borrow and Spend More? Palin looks like she has that part down.

President Bush called the Alaska governor “an inspired pick” by McCain.
“She’s had executive experience, and that’s what it takes to be a capable person in here in Washington, D.C., in the executive branch,” he said in a Fox News interview to be shown Tuesday.

Harold, I might have to defer to you on this one. I do hereby resign as a political prognosticator. I fear I fell into the trap of thinking the majority of voters had come to their senses. That S. Palin could prove a winning pick says things about Americans as voters that aren’t good.

Obama’s organization has one and only one job that matters, and that is bringing home the electoral college. Hard for me to see why that should suddenly escape us, but then I really couldn’t imagine Bush getting enough votes to steal ‘00 and finegle Ohio in ‘04.

As for the bungholery being offered by some brown collar trolls…

I have no idea why it posted twice. Fanny either eats ‘em or spits ‘em out twice, it seems.

Harold, I should add that I do consider Palin an airhead, but not because she is either lacking in intelligence or cunning, but because once you get inside her head, you will play hell finding substantive insights or knowledge beyond her extremist religious beliefs or anything that has helped her climb her own personal ladder. George Bush apparently at some point recorded an iq of 125, which I have never thought was not a possibility. He is an anti-intellectual, incurious and ignorant by choice. But he is clever and he is cunning. He also fits my definition of an airhead.

By the way, David, Bush drank and snorted his way to buffoonery.

I think a lot of the people voting for McCain are closet racists. They just cannot bring themselves to vote for a black man.

dead in the water,
Your comment doesn’t really fit Obama, who is intellectually curious, articulate, a superb academician, and clearly a solid thinker. Any mistake he might make would be a result of the new world of presidential campaigns in an age in which the media delight in turning it into a freak show.

Jake,
There is likely too much truth in what you say. My sister has a close friend, a Hillary supporter who to everyone including her husband’s consternation is insisting she will vote for McCain because Hillary got a raw deal. My sister has heard a couple of racist-tinged remarks slip out. It looks like the real problem is her old-school southern objection to blacks as full-fledged equals. This problem is actually more intractable among old-school northern racists. Labor unions at one time were capable of some pretty intense racism. And Birmingham, Michigan was much more segregated (and I suspect racist, if closet so) than Birmingham, Alabama, which is now not particularly racist at all, at least likely no more so than the national norm.

We will see whether or not the Obama organization, which is pretty robust, can bring home 270+ electoral votes or not. That is all that matters at this point. What state Kerry carried is going to go for McCain? On the other hand, which states Bush carried are going to go for Obama? There is no other metric that matters.

From The Washington Note (Steve Clemons website):

“FiveThirtyEight.com notes that there is new polling in five key swing states and after sorting it out, the analyst notes that McCain has made some modest inroads but that Obama still wins if the election was held tomorrow. 298 to 240 electoral votes.”

Dead in what water?

I love it when Adam post two short paragraphs, apologizing for being late, and we come up with 120+ comments. Albeit with some lame troll comments. My advice people, is to ignore them. They are meant to incite and make us feel little and dispirited.

To those jerk trolls, I say, $$$$ &&&!

Do I have this right? Sarah Palin’s first born son is being deployed to the war zone in 2 days and she is still out on the road w/ McCain parroting the same lame jokes she mouthed at the convention? Maybe she just needs a lot of attention from throngs of swooning sheep to make her day.

This is really getting depressing.

Even on NPR, they’ve got Palinmania, or whatever you want to call it. This morning on Morning Edition they ran a story

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94407512

on McPalin and their exciting “change” agenda, justaposed with another story on Obama’s economic policy

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94407515

which made Obama sound like a dull, boring, somewhat depressing policy wonk. (Note I’m not linking these <a href…> because the comments software does something strange with multiple links).

Listen to those items and tell me which campaign sounds like the agent of change.

Somebody please tell Obama’s handlers he’s got to stop sounding like Al Gore and more like Barack Obama or he’s going to lose. Big time.

It’s all about perception.

As much as I loathe Senator Clinton for her triangulating and conniving duplicity, she probably would have actually been a better choice for Veep and would have made McSame look like a “me too” candidate if/when he picked Palin.

I sincerely hope the Wait Wait! rumor is false. If it goes to TV they’ll quit broadcasting the radio show (no matter what they say in the memo) and I’ll lose it. I. Do. Not. Watch. TV. Ever. Not even for Wait Wait!

DvE–

We’ve missed you! I check over at the Plague Year for regular doses of insight, but it’s not quite the same w/out your comments here