Electronic Writer

A little video footage of John McCain on the campaign trail.  A young kid questions Senator McCain directly about his age and the affects of age upon his ability to lead.

John McCain answers the question, then calls addresses the guy, “You Little Jerk.”

Do you remember the movie Fight Club?  Brad Pitt’s character is constantly asking the question, “How’s that working out for you?”  That is EXACTLY the sentiment I have for the John McCain/Sarah Palin team:

How is your campaign STRATEGY of lying to the public working out for you?

Last week, I wrote about the Campaign strategy of the John McCain/Sarah Palin team as outlined by John Feehery.  (Read that post here >>)  But, I was surprised to hear that some of the mainstream media has followed suit.

On Sunday, CNN had two one-hour shows: Sarah Palin Revealed and Joe Biden Revealed.  Sarah Palin’s show was the opener and quite a piece–not so favorable.  Joe Biden’s show as a bit more balanced–but, in my opinion, Joe Biden is a bit more balanced–and the show was merely reflecting it.

On Monday, however, even more news took a bite at the McCain/Palin campaign of lies:

• As Mayor of Wasilla, Palin Cut Own Duties, Left Trail of Bad Blood, was published Sunday on the front page of the Washington Post.  If you think the title is ominous for Sarah Palin, wait until you read the article >>
• Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes, was published Sunday on the front page of the New York Times.  Again, this is NOT a glowing review.  It describes Palin and her staffers efforts at censorship, nepotism, and the use of unqualified people/advice for making decisions.  The NY Times describes it as making politics “personal.”   Read the entire article here >>

Some may call it a witch-hunt, but to be honest, this is the vetting process that John McCain should have done.  In the last two weeks, the media is doing the job of the McCain campaign–determining whether or not Sarah Palin is qualified to be Vice President (and a heartbeat away from the Presidency).

Apparently, some of us are not buying the lies . . . .

There are a few problems in the John McCain/Sarah Palin campaign.  For the last 2 weeks, we have been talking about the huge problem that appointing Sarah Palin has become.  The other problem is a bit larger: John McCain’s actions.

In the Brave New Films video, we see a little double-speak going on.  Or, is it flip-flopping.  Or, perhaps John McCain just cannot make up his mind.  Regardless, it is not looking so good . . . .

Ready for a little humor?

The writers at Saturday Night Live get right to the bottom of the issue with this opening video from their weekly show.  It is exactly the question that I have been asking:

Where is Hillary Clinton now?  Why aren’t we hearing from her about Sarah Palin?

As a child, I was chastized that sometimes it takes big lies to cover up the little ones.  The point of the advice was to not tell lies.  I think Sarah Palin’s Troopergate scenario is EXACTLY what my mother was talking about.

Here are the events:

1. Mike Wooten marries Sarah Palin’s little sister.  After 3 – 4 years, they call it quits, and have a bitter child custody dispute.
2. Sarah Palin and her husband Todd hire an investigator, and contact Walt Monegan (Mike Wooten’s Boss) more than 20 times saying that he wasn’t an asset.
3. Sarah Palin fires Walt Monegan because he refuses to break the law and fire Wooten (who had already been disciplined).  This takes place in early July of 2008.
4. The Alaska State legislature begins investigating the firing of Walt Monegan.  Sarah Palin denies knowing anything about it.
5. The Audio tape of her aide making a phone call surfaces.  Sarah Palin says, I didn’t know about it.  My staffer did it without my knowledge.  I am going to put him on PAID leave until this is resolved.  The aide indicates that they got into Wooten’s personnel and workman’s compensation files while they were conducting other business at the same location.
6. Sarah Palin becomes Vice Presidential nominee with Senator John McCain.
7. Sarah Palin’s personal attorney (hired to defend her in the investigation because Alaska State Attorney General made phone calls to pressure Monegan) on behalf of the Governor filed an ethics complaint from the Governor against herself to move the case to a review by the Personnel Board and out of the hands of the investigation taking place with the Alaska State Legislature.  The judge denies this request.
8. We find out yesterday that the ethics adviser for the Governor warned her that firing Monegan raised “grave” concerns in a letter on July 24, 2008–only 9 days after Monegan was fired.

So what does all this mean?

Everyone has been saying all along that divorces are personal and emotional topics.  We can understand how they can affect someone so deeply–especially in custody cases.  But, abuses of power, are not acceptable.  When you are elected, it is your responsibility to NOT abuse your power.  And, the evidence is mounting that the claims may be credible that Sarah Palin abused her power in the firing of Walt Monegan BECAUSE he would not fire Trooper Wooten.  Ironically, she had praised him for his hard work a mere three weeks prior, saying she wanted to honor him publicly.

According to Time’s article, Palin and Troopergate: A Primer, in 2005 the judge was concerned with the fervor of the Palin family pursuing Mike Wooten:

Court records from 2005 show that the judge in the divorce case was concerned at the aggressiveness even then with which the family was trying to get Wooten fired, saying from the bench that “the bitterness of whatever who did what to whom has overridden good judgment.”

The most recent events involve 8 of her senior staffers refusing to testify, the Alaska State Legislature being forced to subpeona witnesses for their refusal to cooperate with the investigation, and attacks the this is a partisan witch-hunt: 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats are on the Investigation committee.

All in all, this is just ugly.  Lies told to cover up more lies.  And, now our potential Vice President using Bush/Cheney tactics to avoid accountability.  What makes this stink all the more is that Palin has lauded herself as the champion of reform.

From what I can see, there is not one shred of transparency left in Sarah Palin’s Office of Governor.

Read the entire article at CNN here >>

This was added last November, in which an elderly woman asked Senator John McCain a question about beating Senator Hillary Clinton.  Her phrasing was:

How do we beat the BITCH?

I certainly hope that this Republican cheerleader is not part of the faction calling Barack Obama a sexist.

Unfortunately, there are no responses from John McCain in the video clip that say anything like, “Senator Clinton is my long-time friend.”  Or, “she is a skillful politician” to reuse the words that the Obama campaign used to describe Sarah Palin.

There is no response–other than laughter.

Part of my reaction has to do with the direct misquotation that is happening.  The lies on the part of John McCain, Sara Palin and company have gotten out of control–especially when they alleged that Obama’s remarks about putting “lipstick on a pig” were about Sarah Palin–when in fact, they referenced McCain’s plan for the economy.

The smear campaign from the McCain/Palin camp certainly grabbed headlines as well as occupying valuable discussion time that the candidates could be talking about issues like: economy, energy independence, health car, war in Iraq, war in Iran, veterans’ benefits . . . .

Here’s the clip:

There has been a recurring theme, of late:

“I don’t care what they say about me, but I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and swift boat politics. Enough is enough.”

The New York Times has an interesting article about Barack Obama defending himself over the lipstick on a pig garbage.

The Republicans published an advertisement that asserted that Barack Obama made sexist remarks.

Read the article and watch the video of Barack Obama’s response >>

My friend sent me a link to this video of Joe Biden, Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate speaking in Langhorne, PA immediately following the Republican National Convention.

To quote my friend, Give em Hell, Joe!

I talk politics a lot–even with people who do not like politics.  I have found, in all my talking about politics, that people who do not like politics ESPECIALLY think that politicians are liars.  There is usually some quip like, they are all a bunch of lying, thieving . . . .  It clearly is an overgeneralization, redactive thinking, and for many hard-working legislators, it is simply not fair.

But, I can see why someone would think that.  The media is on the witch-hunt.  Gossip and dirt sells stories in the form of online viewers, television viewers, and it newspapers.  The public hears every story about every bad thing that every politician has ever done.

Never before have I seen a politician ADMIT that lying was indeed part of their campaign STRATEGY until this quote from John Feehery–a Republican strategist (BIO here >>).

John Feehery, a Republican strategist, said the campaign is entering a stage in which skirmishes over the facts are less important than the dominant themes that are forming voters’ opinions of the candidates.

“The more the New York Times and The Washington Post go after Sarah Palin, the better off she is, because there’s a bigger truth out there and the bigger truths are she’s new, she’s popular in Alaska and she is an insurgent,” Feehery said. “As long as those are out there, these little facts don’t really matter.”

Let me see if got this correct: “the facts are less important than the dominant themes”– you can add whatever you want after this point because you have lost me.

I disagree.  The facts ARE important.  The ends DO NOT justify the means.

John Feehery’s admission, however, articulates something larger.  With the pending Republican loss of 20+ seats in the House of Representatives and perhaps losing 8 or more Republican seats in the Senate, and conservative lamenting that “the Republican brand is tarnished” (see HERE, HERE, HERE — heck, Google “republican brand is tarnished” and see what happens), the Republican Party is acting out of sheer desperation.

Like the falling Roman Empire, the Republican Party is clearly willing to do whatever that takes to keep control of their power: including but not limited to lying, manipulating the facts, manipulating the media, and agitating (or energizing–depends upon your perspective) your base voters with an unqualified candidate for Vice President, Sarah Palin.

There is a simple truth: John Feehery and other strategists are really out of touch with the American people.  This is not some game.  We tell our children that lying is not acceptable, and that facts are important.

Perhaps I missed the memo saying that all that had changed . . . .

(Quote from Washington Post)

This has become a skipping record for the McCain/Palin team.

A reporter starts digging around, and talks with someone who worked fro Sarah Palin.  At some point in their working relationship, she stopped liking them.  So, she tries or succeeds at firing them.  I suppose, we haven’t seen this kind of open brazenness since LBJ . . . .

The details THIS TIME are:

• The person fired is John Bitney, a long-time friend of 30 years and a key aide in her 2006 gubernatorial campaign
• John gets a divorce
• Sarah Palin gets a call from another friend, Scott Richter, that his wife and John Bitney are having an affair
• Sarah Palin fires John Bitney for “poor job performance” a few days later

So they say that history repeats itself.  I guess in the case of Alaska Governor and now Vice Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin, those historical circles are repeating quickly.  So far, the firing because I don’t like you list consists of:

1. Wasilia Town Librarian , Mary Ellen Baker’s, job was threatened by Sarah Palin because she would NOT remove books from the library shelved because Sarah Palin found them objectionable.  (NOTE: This was a botched attempt because 2% of Wasilia’s population rallied behind the Librarian.)
2. Mike Wooten married Sarah Palin’s little sister.  During their divorce and custody dispute, Sarah Palin and her Husband, Todd, contacted Mike Wooten’s boss more than 20 times to get him fired–and, even broke into confidential records and hired a personal investigator.  (NOTE: This was also an unsuccessful attempt.  Fortunately for Wooten, the Alaska State Troopers and their union have a very impartial way of dealing with disciplinary actions, and Mike Wooten had a great boss who respected those processes.)
3. Sarah Palin fired Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan–Mike Wooten’s boss.  Palin refused initially to articulate why Monegan was fired, but her office recently stated, “Palin said he wasn’t doing enough to fill state trooper vacancies and battle alcohol abuse issues. She said he “did not turn out to be a team player on budgeting issues.””
4. And now, John Bitney (see above).
5. [ This space is currently available. ]

Who is next?

Read the entire Huffington Post article >>

Read the entire Wall Street Journal article >>