Those mavericky maverikkkers 'll be right back! Ka-pow pow!

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If not for that liberal media, you'd believe that John McCain lost ...why? It's too bad GDP is already in widespread use as an acronym because The Grand Delusion Party seems just about right.

The Palin Wardrobe

Okay, it's been discussed to death. But have you considered that $150,000 worth of clothes is $2000 every day for the two months that Governor Palin will have been on the campaign trail?

And they are going to solve our fiscal problems? Lady, here's a suggestion: Wear something twice.

When She Wallows in the Mud with Her Lipstick On, What Shall We Call Her?

The McCain Campaign, dewy with anxious flop sweat, has determined that the road to the Whitehouse is not paved with anything, but that it is indeed just a muddy rutted back-country road.

Today, free from fear that someone will call her on her bullshit, Sarah Palin called Obama a terrorist for palling around with William Ayers, a 60's radical member of the Weather Underground who is now a professor of English at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Every leading mainstream newsource has discredited any association between Obama and Ayers as a passing acquaintance.

Righties have been trying to push this meme for longer than the Jeremiah Wright canard. One would almost think that Obama hates his country so much he would sleep with a secessionist, and that secessionists business partner to boot. (I mean of course, Todd Palin and his ex-business partner, in case you hadn't heard).

Inside that glass house of Ms. Palin's from whence she is tossing these stones are the other glaring inadequacies of her own:

• Drug-addicted son with anger management difficulties swept off to Iraq.
• Pregnant teen daughter set to wed high school drop-out boyfriend.
• Illegal tax evasion for not paying taxes on unethical per diem charges against the State of Alaska, taken for the days she stayed home and worked out of her house in Wasilla
• The bending of zoning rules for her own profit while mayor of Wasilla
• The failure of the new Alaska pipeline, thanks to a plan to build it straight through Native American property in Canada (that would require diplomacy with a hostile foreign nation, I guess). Even though Palin asked constituents to pray that God's will be done in building the pipeline.
• The continued lie about a "Bridge to Nowhere" and reformer fight to take on her own party. As yet she has not distanced herself from indicted Senator Ted Stevens
• The witch hunting pastor.
• The troopergate coverup
• The tens of thousands of dollars in gifts she received illegally while in office.
• The number of people she had fired for disloyalty
• Defying open records laws by conducting government business on an easily hackable yahoo mail account.
• Todd Palin's inclusion in government business.
• All the hypocrisy.

Add yer own.

Sarah Palin is Dumber Than.....

A few days ago I mentioned that I hope I don't get called an anti-woman woman for calling Sarah Palin dumber than a box of rocks. Since then I've come across several uses of this same colloquialism for Sarah's endumberment. So I thought, as a public service to both of you reading this that I would google up a list of instances where other bloggers call Sarah dumber than something. And the results are:

Sarah Palin is dumber than Bush
Sarah Palin is dumber than a box of rocks (also plain rocks, a bunch of rocks, a bag of rocks)
Sarah Palin is dumber than a sack of doorknobs
Sarah Palin is dumber than me
Sarah Palin is dumber than a sack of hammers
Sarah Palin is dumber than we thought
Sarah Palin is dumber than John McCain's daughter
Sarah Palin is dumber than a stick
Sarah Palin is dumber than a moose
Sarah Palin is dumber than a snail
Sarah Palin is dumber than a seventh grader
Sarah Palin is dumber than a doornail (yikes!)
Sarah Palin is dumber than a dumb thing from dumbsville
Sarah Palin is dumber than a fence post
Sarah Palin is dumber than a tub of Elmers Paste
Sarah Palin is dumber than a box of Sarah Palins
Sarah Palin is dumber than a bag of cat shit
Sarah Palin is dumber than a pile of bricks

My two faves? Sarah Palin is dumber than a dumb thing from dumbsville and Sarah Palin is dumber than a box of Sarah Palins.

We Watch as Sarah Palin Endumbens Herself Before Our Eyes

"It's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where — where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is — from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to ... to our state," -Sarah Palin to Katie Couric

Um, why is Putin flying around in Alaska? Does Sarah know that Russia is actually quite large and that if he's going to Washington he's got no reason to go thousands of miles out of his way to fly around above Alaska? Will someone call her on it? Is pointing out that she's stupider than a box of rocks sexist?

I am just wondering.

The Unreported Side of the Trooper Scandal

I'm fairly certain that the Trooper scandal as it's reported doesn't really have legs. Because the story now centers around the fact that ex-bro-in-law Wooten is an idiot of the first degree, Palin comes off as sympathetic. Fer criminy sakes, tha guy thret'nd tha daaaaad. What is a poor girl to do?

Aside from the claim that all complaints against Wooten seem to have originated in the Heath and Palin families and haven't been proven (we've been admonished to stick to the facts, folks. Let's do!) most of us would probably love to punish a pesky ex-relative if we had access to some channel of power.

One unassailable fact is often missing from this story. Monegan was fired, and the reasons given were that Palin wanted to take the department in a new direction. Palin appointed his replacement. His replacement lasted 10 whole days.

Chuck Kopp, the successor, had been accused of sexual harrassment in his previous job as police chief of Kenai, where he had been responsible for a staff of about eight troopers. After the scandal broke, Kopp resigned.

If you think that this story is about Palin's bad judgement in not properly vetting an appointment (a theme?) it is but there's more.

For ten days' work on the taxpayers' dime, Kopp was given a $10,000 severance check. A thousand dollars a day. Monegan, who worked in his capacity since the start of Palin's administration was given nothing. (All things being equal, Monegan could make a claim for $590,000 dollars, given that he worked for Palin for 590 days.)

That's real fiscal responsibility.

Wikipedia

Four More Years!!! (for Jack Abramoff)

Jack Abramoff was sentenced today to an additional (sort of) 4 year sentence for corruption charges. You know I bet those Maverick reformers working hard to convince us to vote for them up in St. Paul have no links to Abramoff.

I shall now consult my magic Google ball:

Oh, um oops. It looks like John McCain tried awfully darn hard to keep Abramoff isolated as a rogue player in the whole lobbying scandal. And he suppressed 750,000 documents. Way to go Mr. Clean!!!

Yah but Shotgun Granny Palin der hey, she's a real reformer who takes on her own party ta fight tha c'ruption, yah?

Oh notso fast der youse. It seems Shotgun Granny hired a lobbyist to secure federal funds for her 2nd biggest town in the country's largest state*. That lobbyist was Steven Silver. Steven Silver listed Abramoff's lobbying firm as his client. Together they worked on "issues relating to Indian/Native American policy," "exploration for oil and gas" and "legislation relating to gaming issues"

Additionally, for those of you who enjoy a little extra icing on your cupcakes, Silver yoostabee Senator Ted Stevens chief of staff.

*I'm using the republicans own geographical facts. Palin was, you know, governor of the country's largest state. According to John McCain.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Sarah Palin's first photo-op at the convention. Anybody notice anything kinda...weird? If this is a politician's spousal confab, um, shouldn't Todd Palin be the one tossing back watercress sandwiches and iced tea? (okay, that' entire hypothetical. Between Laura and Cindy a luncheon is xanax and Jack Daniels)

To republicans this is perfectly natural. The girls chit chat in the parlor, the boys stand out in the garage drinking beer. Or something like that.

They do not take her seriously. Tell me, why should we?

Sarah Palin's Future Son-In-Law to be Indicted?

Alaska Statutory Rape Laws

Statutory rape is defined as sexual activity – without the use of force or violence – with anyone defined as a minor. The thought behind these laws is that a minor is unable to legally consent to sexual activity. Statutory rape is so common in the United States that the federal government’s Department of Health and Human Services commissioned a report on this type of crime in 2004.

State laws vary slightly in terms of defining the term “minor” and in the criminal and financial penalties that can be applied to statutory rape cases. At this time I’d like to discuss Alaska statutory rape laws with you for a few minutes.

The age of consent is defined as 16 years old, according to Alaska statutory rape laws. If a person who is at least 18 years old engages in sexual activity with a person who is 16 years old or younger, he or she will be charged with sexual abuse of a minor in the first degree. This charge is a felony in Alaska. And remember, it does not matter if you did not force or threaten the other person into performing this sexual act with you. It is still a crime under Alaska statutory rape laws.

Any person who is 16 years old or older who has sexual intercourse with a minor who is 13-, 14-, or 15-years-old will be charged with sexual abuse of a minor in the second degree. Again, this charge is also a felony.

You can also be charged with a felony – sexual abuse in the third degree – if you are at least 16 years old and you have sex with anyone who is age 13-15, or if the person is a minor at least three years younger than you. In addition, Alaska statutory rape laws declare that anyone who is 18 years old or older who has sex with a person who is 16 or 17, or who is at least three years younger than the offender, can be charged with sexual abuse in the third degree. This is also a felony.

Alaska statutory rape laws carry punishments that include imprisonment and fines.

McCain says he knew. Really?

Just Wondering.

From 'Maverick' to 'Sidekick' to Just 'Kicked Around'How Palin Proves McCain is Wrong.

John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin has been described in every possible manner. Sweaty, desperate and increasingly shrill right wing partisans are trying to convince us that she's the greatest thing since sliced baby seal.

I heard some buffoon at the convention say that 4 years ago [constitutional law professor, Harvard graduate] Obama was merely a state senator [representing a district in a city that is 4 times larger than Palin's state, in a state that is the 5th largest compared to the 48th], though he failed to mention that 4 years ago Palin was mayor of a town of 6000. [In towns that size, don't they just take turns being mayor?]

On the left some of us [including me] find her family hypocrisy to be relevant to the race. In short, she is at best a hypocrite and a crappy mother and at worse a cover-up artist. Others are more interested in Troopergate. [BTW - when Hillary fired people in the Travel Office at the White House, that was a scandal. When Sarah fires enemies in Alaska government, that's reform?]

Here's one thing we ought to discuss:

She wasn't McCain's pick.

The "Maverick" wanted Lieberman or Tom Ridge. Well, since he stands up to his party so often and so well, what happened here?

Take it away, New York Times:

"Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could choose a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.

But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates."

If elected, "Maverick" McSame needs to hire [nominate, pickypants] as many as 3 Supreme Court justices, and an entire administration, dozens of federal judges as well as name ambassadors, and probably CIA, FBI and Homeland Security personnel.

His own party finds him incapable of picking his running mate all by himself. We should believe he'll stand up to them on anything else...why?