Electronic Writer

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 >>

There is this game going on right now in this presidential campaign, and it could particularly cost the Democrats this Presidential election–especially because this is our election to lose.  The entire UNIVERSE is fed up with the Bush Administration and the Republican party letting corporations, big-oil, and big-government run amuck.

Now is clearly the time to restore some sanity to our country, and now is CLEARLY the time to restore the United States to pre-bush levels on just about everything: privacy, economy, world standing, military levels, etc.

Instead, we are playing this game since the VERY moment that Sarah Palin was announced as Vice President.

• Karl Rove and Steve Schmidt have held up a blank canvas.
• John McCain and Sarah Palin are painting their WILDEST fantasies upon that canvas.
• The MEDIA are ooohhing and ahhhhhing over the contents of the canvas.
• No one is addressing the facts versus the fiction that is emerging on that canvas.

The problem is that Barack Obama is waiting for the media (or someone else) to correct those falsehoods.  The media is eating up the website traffic, tv traffic and newspaper sales.  And the liars are patting themselves on the back in disbelief that this scheme is working.

Steve Almond, a writer at the Huffington Post, has done a little fictionalizing.  His fiction is what would happen if Barack Obama actually called the Republican liars what they are–liars.  Almond posits that if Barack Obama was strong about it (the same truth and strength we would want from him as President of the United States), that it would force the media to deal with it.  And, us outsiders could watch us win the election . . . as opposed to the liars stealing another one . . . .

Read Steve Almond’s entire article >>

She talks a mean speech, but Sarah Palin’s actions tell a different story.  As a self-proclaimed “fiscal reformer,” Palin’s actions do not seem to agree.  According to the Washington Post article,

ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.

Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official “duty station” is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.

The governor’s daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.

This may seem like business as usual to some, but not me.  I see no Fiscal Reform in any of this.

Read the article at The Washington Post >>

This is almost getting a little redundant: there is more in the news today about the investigation of Sarah Palin’s power abuse in the Anchorage Daily News.

Republican Rep. John Coghill last week asked the Alaska Legislature’s Legislative Council, the body that appointed French to oversee the investigation, to discuss replacing French.

Coghill said he believed the investigation was lacking in fairness, neutrality and due process after French was quoted in media reports that the probe’s results were going to be an “October surprise” that is “likely to be damaging to the administration.”

On Monday, Democratic Sen. Kim Elton, the head of the Legislative Council, turned down his request. French’s decisions to date have been appropriate, bipartisan and unchallenged, Elton wrote to Coghill. And the comments French made were “corrected in a very public way in the media,” Elton wrote.

Seems there are a bunch of “mavericks” up in Alaska . . . .

Read the entire article at Anchorage Daily News >>

This is an impressive example of courage, bravery and patriotism on the part of a 21-year old protester at the Republican National Convetion.

Fox news provides the video, the story, and the commentary.  In true sincerity, it is good reporting–even when the reporters were ordered to leave.

Watch the Video HERE >>

This is a quote from an article published at OhMyNews:

The Twin Cities’ North Star Health Collective (NSHC), a local group that coordinated media response during the protests, began training sessions for street medics weeks before the convention. On Sept. 5, NSHC representatives held a press conference denouncing the “police detention and abuse of medical volunteers.” They also shared examples of the types of weapons used on protesters.

“My medic partner and I were treating a handicapped male in a wheelchair for pepper spray to the face at the parking lot of Jackson Street,” recounted Sean McCoy, an EMT and a Navy veteran. “In the process of treating the patient, we were surrounded by several police officers in riot gear and forcibly thrown to the ground and told we were under arrest. We were then forcibly removed from our patient, handcuffed, and forced to lay face down on the ground while the officers proceeded to cut our bags off of us and remove all of our medical gear by dumping it on the ground.”

Read the entire article, “‘Street Medics’ Describe RNC Protests“

This clip was sent to me by a friend . . . and, it was so good I had to watch it twice.

This clip is CLASSIC GOP!  There is double-speak from Karl Rove, Bill “Pappa Bear” O’Reilly, and Dick Morris from the McCain Campaign.

Watch Karl Rove praise Sarah Palin for being the Mayor of the 2nd largest city in Alaska (population 9000) and then let’s go back a few weeks.  On Video footage from only ONE MONTH PRIOR, Rove belittles potential Obama VP pick, Tim Kaine for being the Mayor of Richmond, VA, Lt. Governor of Virginia, and ultimately the Governor of Virginia–and states how the Mayor of a town of +$200,000 people is CLEARLY not fit to be a heartbeat away from the President.

Pappa Bear O’Reily tells us how teen pregnancy is problem faced by many Americans, and we should not be passing judgement.  But, in a prior clip, that same benevolent and repectful pundit calls the parents of the youngest Spears “Pinheads” (even displaying their picture) because they obviously do not have any control over their children and Jamie Lynn Spears was pregnant at 16 years old.

Dick Morris‘ words may be the most blatant of the double-speak.  After abhorring the “sexism” in the media, we flash backward to December of 2007 where he says that Hillary cannot simply pack up her toys and go home when the “Big Boys” are picking on her.  “What happens with the “Big Boys” who run the Middle East, and the “Big Boys” who run Russia start picking on her.  She won’t be able to simply hide behind her apron strings.”  APRON STRINGS!?!?!?

McCain’s Senior Policy Analyst, Nancy Pfotenhaur, says roughly the same things as Morris: We are not being sensitive to Palin, and yet she was cautioned Hillary Clinton–“it would be a terrible mistake for Hillary to play this “victim card.”

Lastly, the 6-minute clip finishes with some nice words from Sarah Palin herself.  She is lecturing a female politician and saying simply this: your “whining” isn’t helping us women.  If you are complaining that you are in politics and people are not treating you fairly, DO MORE.  Work Harder.

Sounds great . . . on paper.

If you have been holding your reservation or been unwilling to do the research, this may be the only proof you need.  Here is a clip of Sarah Palin talking to her church–before she was asked to be Vice President.

There are a few points of interest:  Iraq War is God’s Bidding, and Jesus Give us a Pipeline.