Please come visit us at our new home:

http://www.realityliberationfront.com/

I will post bulletins here in MySpace daily as I post new blogs to help you keep up to date on what we've got to show you!

Thank you, as always, for your patience, and your readership...

Your friend,
Todd

WE'RE MOVING!

I had a chat with my friend Phil, a stalwart Republican, and we came to the bipartisan conclusion that I should move this blog out of MySpace and into my own domain using WordPress.  See...reasonable people can reach across the aisle and find common ground...

I really only put it here in the first place to take advantage of the built-in networking features...but it's time for this blog to go where the "big boy blogs" go...

So please bear with me...I'm hoping to have this done by the end of the day, at which point I will provide everyone with a link to the new location.  As always, when I post I will send out bulletins with links to the most recent post so it as easy as always to get to it and start reading!

My deepest thanks for your patience...and readership...

Your friend,
Todd

Well...with charges of "abuse of power,"  religious fanaticism, hate speech, and incitement to riot, being thrown around in association with Sarah Palin...it's nice to know that the list includes an old favorite:

CORRUPTION

Wow.  I would imagine that some McCain staff long for the good-old-days where Palin was just considered "completely, hopelessly unqualified."  But times were simpler back then...

Now it seems that the revelations coming to the surface about Palin aren't just matters of conservative extremism, or her misstatements in taped interviews.  No...not we're starting to find out that this person should probably never be given the power that comes with political office.

Have you heard of Ted Steven's?  He's the Alaska Senator currently on trial...he is accused of accepting $250,000 worth of free renovations to his house.  Who did the renovations? VECO, an oil pipeline company. VECO workers worked for months on Stevens' home, and at the company's expense.  It doesn't look too good for Senator Ted.

Now...when asked about the Palins' half-a-million dollar home, Todd Palin indicates that he built it with a few friends who happened to be contractors.

Who were these "contractor buddies?" 

Well, here are the suspicious circumstances according to Wayne Barrett of the Village Voice:

-The $12.5 million Wasilla Sports Complex was designed by architect Blase Burkhart, who is the son of Roy Burkhart, who is close friend and mentor of Sarah Palin and the former head of the local Republican Party.

-Roy Burkhart was also a Sarah Palin campaign contributor.

-Sarah Palin then appointed Blase Burkhart to the builder-selection committee, which awarded the construction contract to Howdie Inc., contractor owned by Howard Nugent.

-Nugent was also a Sarah Palin campaign contributor.

-A number of subcontractors were then brought on...and no surprise...some many of them ALSO had ties to Sarah Palin.

-One of these subcontractors was Spenard Builders Supply, the Alaska's leading supplier of wood, floor, roof, and other "pre-engineered components."

-Spenard Builders Supply were a sponsor of Todd Palin's snow-machine team that has earned tens of thousands for the Palin family.

-Spenard once hired Sarah Palin to do a statewide television commercial in 2004.

-Spenard supplied the materials for the Palins' home off Lake Lucille in 2002, while Sarah Palin was running for lieutenant governor.

-Spenard filed a notice "of its right to assert a lien" on the deed for the Palin property after contracting for labor and materials for the site.

-Spenard has a connection to the trial of Senator Stevens—it did work on the house that in the VECO scandal, too.

Wayne Barrett writes:

"Todd Palin told Fox News that he built the two-story, 3,450-square-foot, four-bedroom, four-bath, wood house himself, with the help of contractors he described as "buddies." As mayor, Sarah Palin blocked an effort to require the filing of building permits in the wide-open city, and there is no public record of who the "buddies" were."

-The house was built very near the sports complex.

-Dorwin and Joanne Smith, of the sports complex subcontractor DJ Excavation & Development, have donated $7,100 to Palin and her friend, Charlie Fannon.

-Sheldon Ewing, who owns Weld Air (another sports complex subcontractor),  has donated $1,300 to Sarah Palin.  When asked if he worked on the Palin house he remarked: "I doubt that it occurred, but if it did indirectly, how would I know anyhow?"

-PN&D, an engineering firm on the sports complex, has donated $699 to Srah Palin.

-The Palin's house was completed two months before she left City Hall and while she and Todd Palin were campaigning statewide.

Barrett sums it up: "Construction contracts are being awarded to campaign contributors at the same time that "buddies" who just happen to be contractors are "helping" Todd build their two-story house. At the same time Sarah ensures there will be no public record of building permits."

So...how long before we find out who built Palin's house?

While researching this, I read the first five pages of Barrett's article...there are actually many more dealings of Palin's that also raise an eyebrow.  Read up...

I have said it before, and will, no doubt, say it again:  just when I think I can't be surprised anymore, a bizarre and unfathomable new response comes out of the McCain camp.  Yesterday's response did not come from Tucker Bounds or even Sarah Palin...but from McCain himself.

When asked about his supporters shouting "terrorist," and "traitor," and "kill him" in response to any mention of Obama's name...this was McCain's response:



That's right...he says that Obama supporters have called him those very same names...and he dismisses it as just a few "fringe elements."  Well...you tell me...in this clip (if you've already seen it give it a good second watching) is it just a few "fringe" people saying terrible things?



And in that rally where he went "way out on a limb" and asserted that Obama is "not an arab"...did that seem to disappoint just a few "fringe" people in the crowd?  Here...watch it again and listen to the crowd's boos and surprised gasps:



Or here...there's nothing "fringe" about this...this is center stage:



You betcha...the pastor at this McCain rally clearly states that the "Christian God" needs to make sure that McCain wins because the people praying to "those other Gods (like Allah)" want Obama to win.

You know, I really though McCain might step up.  After that rally where he said Obama was "decent" and a "family man" and a "citizen" and "nothing to be scared of"...I really thought we might see the old John McCain.

But no...well, then he can't be surprised when at a roundtable with George Will (conservative writer) and Paul Krugman (Nobel-winning economist), the following remarks are made:



And others continue to follow George Will's lead.  Every day more conservatives and Republicans are criticizing and turning away from McCain's confused carnival of contradications.

Now...McCain says he will attack Obama with the smears at Wednesday's debate and "whip his you-know-what."  Can this do anything but further tarnish McCain's name and cost him the respect of even more conservatives who are already begging him to stop...and to focus on the issues?  Biden does not believe McCain will actually go forward with it, at least he hopes not...like the rest us who used to respect McCain...

Here's a brief, but illuminating, timeline of recent events in the economic crisis:

Friday, October 3:
-Congress passes the vague $700 billion dollar bailout package which will somehow save the economy by "injecting the money into the system."

Wednesday, October 8:

-Britain announces its plan to partially nationalize its banks, on a temporary basis, and to flood the system with billions of dollars, and guarantee inter-bank loans.

Saturday, October 11:

-Lindsey Graham, McCain's friend and advisor, tells Politico.com that McCain formulating an economic plan, and is looking into cutting taxes on investors' capitol gains and dividends : "It will be a very comprehensive approach to jump-start the economy, by allowing capital to be formed easier in America by lowering taxes."  Graham indicated that McCain would release the new economic plan on Monday.

Sunday, October 12:

-Fifteen major European leaders meet and agree to follow Britain's plan...they will immediately start investing over a trillion dollars to partially nationalize their banks, and at the same time shore up lending between banks by guaranteeing the loans.

-The McCain campaign announces they ARE NOT going to be releasing an economic plan Monday, nor do they have any plans to do so: "We do not have any immediate plans to announce any policy proposals outside of the proposals that John McCain has announced, and the certain proposals that would result as economic news continues to come our way," said Tucker Bounds, McCain spokesperson. McCain's policy adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, stated "I have no comment on anything, to anybody."

Monday, October 13:

-Obama releases his economic plan.  It includes, among other things, a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures and a two-year tax break for businesses that create new jobs.  The plan also includes allowing people to withdraw up to $10,000 from their retirement accounts without penalty for the next year, raising taxes only on the 5 percent of people who make more than $250,000 a year, and tax cuts for those making less than $200,000 a year. The plan endorses the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan and the recent, added measure of partially nationalizing the major banks.  It also calls for tax breaks for most families, cutting capital gains taxes for investment in small business and extending unemployment benefits.

-Following the announcement of Obama's plan, the McCain campaign announced that it has a new economic plan...which will be released Tuesday, October 14th.

Tuesday, October 14th:

-Secretary of the Treasury Paulson announces the administration's plan...which now essentially mirrors Britain's plan.  The government will buy "preferred shares in qualifying financial institutions, with stakes in each institution limited to $25 billion or 3 percent of risk-weighted assets. It set a Nov. 14 deadline for banks to apply for government purchases."  The nine banks that have been selected would have to accept part-ownership by the government to qualify.  The Federal Reserve announced that it will begin buying massive amounts of short-term debt starting on October 27.

As of this writing, the McCain plan has not been announced...but we should, if memory serves, know exactly what to expect:
-It will contain everything in the British plan.
-It will contain everything in the Administration's plan.
-It will contain everything in Obama's plan.
-It will claim that all the ideas from the aforementioned plans...are McCain's ideas.
-It will attempt ruin the ideas from the aforementioned plans by subtle twists of language, guaranteeing that the banks profit off the bailout.

McCain was often criticized this past week for his announcement that in HIS plan to buy up the high-risk mortgages (you know...the plan that was initially Obama's...already included in the bailout provisions) the Treasury would buy them at FACE VALUE from the lenders and in return, give the homeowners low-interest mortgages based on their homes' REDUCED VALUE.   In short:  the lenders lose NOTHING (even profit by it) and you get a lot less for your house.

Even House Republican leader, Representative Roy Blunt (R-MO), said that the McCain mortgage proposal was unnecessary, in part because Obama already made sure it was included:  "essentially in several pieces of law already,"  and also because it doesn't make sense the way McCain has twisted it: "Somebody needs to take the loss here, and it needs to be the person that had the bad judgment of making that loan, of buying those poorly put-together mortgage-backed securities. It shouldn't be loss borne by the taxpayer."

Bruce Bartlett (former economic advisor for Bush, Sr. and Reagan) had this to say:  "At this point I don't think McCain can say anything on the economy that will sound credible."

But you don't have to take it from Bartlett...take it from McCain:



UPDATE 12:01 PM - The McCain camp has delivered their economic plan.  According to the Associated Press:

"The Arizona senator called for trimming taxes on older Americans dipping into their retirement accounts, and for suspending tax rules he said "force seniors to sell their stocks in the midst of this financial crisis."  He said he would accelerate a tax write-off for those forced to sell at a loss in the current market conditions, and reduce capital gains taxes for 2009 and 2010 "to raise the incentive to save and invest," according to a statement outlining the proposals.  Older Americans "have seen the financial markets undertake a daily assault on their life savings in recent weeks," the statement said. "Families are being forced to sell at a loss to meet their bills."  McCain said withdrawals from retirement accounts -- IRAs and 401(k)s -- should be taxed at the lowest rate, ten percent, this year and next, for the first 50,000 dollars withdrawn from such accounts each year.  The Republican further proposed reducing the maximum tax rate on long term capital gains to 7.5 percent in 2009 and 2010, so as not to penalize Americans forced to sell stocks in current conditions."

And the Obama campaign's response:

"John McCain's latest gambit is a day late and 101 million middle-class families short. McCain's plan would spend $300 billion to bailout the same irresponsible Wall Street banks that got us into this mess without doing anything to help jumpstart job growth for America's middle class. His plan continues to provide no tax relief at all to 101 million hardworking families, including 97 percent of senior citizens, and it does nothing to cut taxes for small businesses or give them access to credit. Senator McCain also shows how little he understands the economy by offering lower capital gains rates in a year in which people don't have an awful lot of capital gains. His trickle-down, ideological recipes won't strengthen our economy and grow our middle-class, but Barack Obama's pro-jobs, pro-family economic policies will."

You know...John McCain is one of those guys you just REALLY WANT to like.  And at his core...I think he's a good man...a decent man...a man of character.   And because I think this, I am willing to accept that to a large degree, decisions are being made on his behalf that he would not necessarily agree with.  This campaign has certainly painted a picture of him that does not reconcile well with the John McCain we have known for decades...

...and now the campaign doesn't seem to know what picture to paint at all.

As mentioned in previous posts, even stalwart conservatives like George Will and Frank Schaeffer have been forced to criticize the confusion coming out of the McCain camp...and the dark path of fear they have taken us all down, when there are obviously much more important issues. 

FOX commentator William Kristol (an almost rabidly conservative pundit) joins the rising tide of criticism...calling the campaign "stupid," "pathetic," and "flailing" in addition to other things:



Here is a slew of conservative columnists, Republican legislators, and other GOP advisors weighing in:



They're right:  McCain's people are consistently spewing mixed messages in all directions:

1)  It's the economy, stupid...oh, no wait it's not:  Some GOP'ers are screaming at McCain to steer back to the economy because it is dominating the headlines, and all polls show it is what people want to hear about...therefore, the McCain camp leaked on Sunday that he will be putting forward a bold new plan today.  At the same time, many GOP advisors are saying "Jesus, stay off the economy...it's not our strong suit"...and later on Sunday the McCain camp announced there would be NO NEW economic plan announced today.

2)  The current crisis is the Dem's fault...oh crap, stop looking at OUR record.  The McCain camp seems to desperately want to tie Obama and the Democrats to the current crisis...without realizing that the conversation will INVARIABLY roll around to McCain's deregulation, and advisors like Rick Davis who received money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac AS RECENTLY AS A MONTH AGO.

3)  Obama is a scary non-white, potentially muslim, person with terrorist friends...but we will no way tolerate "racist talk" or "terrorist accusations" about this decent family man.  McCain last week told a few of his many supporters who drank the "fear Obama" kool-aid, that they didn't need to fear Obama and that he is not an "arab."  Meanwhile...Palin continued to stump making the very same accusations and insinuations.

When the press started to claim that the campaign had gone too far, and Representative John Lewis (D-GA) accused the McCain camp of stoking the fires of racial division...The McCain camp called for Obama's apology:



Yes...that's right...according to McCain's people it is Obama's fault that Lewis and the media are criticizing them.  And really, according to McCain on CNN, Palin in St. Clairsville, and their surrogates...when they are accused of turning the campaign racial and negative...it's really just another negative attack from Obama on the hardworking, blue-collar folks who are angry and for good reason.  At least, that is what Palin said in St. Clairsville, yesterday.   Their supporters are shouting "terrorist," "kill him," and racial epithets at their rallies...calling Obama supporters "faggots" and "commies" at their speeches and in other public forums...and they are responding that these are just good, hard-working Americans expressing "justifiable anger." 

Also yesterday, the Republican Party Chair of Virginia made a comparison between Barack Obama and Osama Bin Laden...and when asked about it, McCain said he really couldn't judge whether the statement was appropriate.

It's sad:  I think that McCain is a man who I may not have always agreed with, but generally I felt that he made decisions based on what he thought was right.

Now:  I think he is old (yes, I said it), I think he is tired, and I think that his party and the gaggle of ridiculous advisors, flacks, and hacks running his campaign have railroaded him into a doomed course of action.  I don't think he knows what he is supposed to say...I think the advisors are all running around sending THEIR OWN messages in different directions without bothering to coordinate strategies...and I think Palin is just reading the speeches she has been handed (over, and over, and over)...

...and I don't think this good man has the strength anymore to stand up and say, "enough."  It will cost him this race...and it will cost him our respect...

NOTE: Please read this.  It's a wonderful article by Glenn Greenwald about how the media has compounded the sins of the McCain campaign.  In attempting to seem balanced, they have failed to live up to their responsibility in light of the obvious:
-these GOP attacks are not factually incorrect, they are racially charged, and dangerous.  In endless media discussions they do everything they can to dance around these obvious conclusions.
-these GOP attacks bear no comparison to the attacks coming from the Obama campaign.  It is certainly different to insinuate "my opponent is too old, too erratic, and wrong," than it is to insinuate "my opponent is a black, potentially muslim, white-hating terrorist who despises America and wants to turn us all into communists."  Every time the media refers using generics (ie: "the increasingly negative campaign" as if it applies to both sides) or implies balance where there is none (ie. "hostility from both campaigns") they do us all a disservice.

UPDATE 7:39 PM - Just when I think McCain cannot be any more confusing AND confused...in the following clip, when asked about people calling Obama a "terrorist" and a "traitor" at McCain's rallies...he says Obama's supporters call him the same things:



Really, senator?  I don't know what to say...

If people in America actually watched the news and read the occasional newspaper...well, let's just say a lot of people would be really embarrassed right now.  Who am I talking about?  Oh, you know...the die-hard "America Alone" crowd...the one's who believe:

-America is the best...at everything!
-Our policies are automatically "right."
-Who cares what the other countries or the United Nations thinks?
-Who needs allies...our military can handle it alone!
-These countries, like France, are losers and cowards and owe us their freedom, so they should always back whatever we do!

Well...

...let's look at our handling of the current economic crisis:

1)  We created it.  Ooops...our bad.

2)  The entire world...all markets...are paying the price...

3)  The problem has been building for years...there have been warnings...our leaders did nothing until it reached crisis proportions.

4)  It took WEEKS and tons of political wrangling for our leaders to generate a response to the problem.  A problem that they have had YEARS to study.

5)  The best plan we had is a three-page plan cranked out by the Secretary of the Treasury.  A plan where one person (him) had total control, no accountability, and billions of tax dollars to do SOMETHING with...no specifics, just "whatever needed to be done."

6)  That $700 billion dollar, three-page plan?  Would only pass the Congress once we'd tacked on about $100 billion dollars in pork.

7)  The plan is only now being implemented.

8)  The stock market has continued to plunge despite the announcement, passage, and start of the plan.

Now...let's look at the European measures:

1)  Britain immediately (way before us) announced a "sort of temporary part-nationalization" of banking that OUR Secretary of the Treasury at first rejected...but has just now agreed is necessary.  According to Paul Krugman, who just won the Nobel prize for economics: "[Britain] went straight to the heart of the problem ... with stunning speed."  Krugman went on to say "Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, saved the world financial system."

2)  Britain has resolved to invest $255 billion dollars in government funds and other measures to bolster banks, and guarantee inter-bank loans, and they have already made their first contributions into the system.

3)  FIFTEEN world leaders of FIFTEEN different nations got together over one single weekend, and committed to plans based on the British model (not ours) and to invest $2.3 trillion dollars into the banking and lending industry.  The countries include Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and Austria.

4)  Immediately following the announcement of the United European plan and financial contribution...world markets, including the United States stock market, rose sharply.

So in short:  the European leaders saw what needed to be done to help fix OUR CATASTROPHIC MISTAKE, announced they were going to do it, and market confidence soared. 

Meanwhile: The United States leaders argued about what should be done, wouldn't immediately pursue the correct course of action because they were afraid of "socialism," couldn't get support for it unless $100 billion dollars' worth of pet projects were added, argued for a bit more over who caused this whole mess, blamed it on McCain, blamed it on Obama, blamed it on Jimmie Carter (huh?), and then announced what they were going to do...but it had no effect on the market because investors had no confidence that they were actually going to pull it off...

Krugman (again...just won the Nobel prize) had been attempting to warn us of the looming crisis all along...and he was very critical of Bush, Cheney, Greenspan, Bernanke, and Paulson...who Krugman credited with ENABLING Wall Street in producing the crisis.  A Free Trade advocate, Krugman doesn't think "free trade" means "anarchy."  He writes often that the proper incentives and penalties have to be put in place to ensure that businesses "do the right thing" because it is simultaneously in businesses' "best interests."

And just in case you're curious how the current world expert on economics weighs in on the current candidates for president, Krugman writes:

"[It is] wrong to suggest that a McCain-Palin administration would just be a continuation of Bush-Cheney. If the way John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning is any indication, it would be much, much worse."

If you want a good introduction to Paul Krugman, here is his article on Greenspan and the Housing Bubble.  It's good reading...

...and then we can all take some time to absorb the fact that we have just been BAILED OUT by England, France, Germany, et al...and they have shown more leadership and intelligence in this crisis than we have...

I'm not one for political speeches...no really.  I would usually rather speed-read a transcript for the "substance parts" than sit and listen to a bunch of grand (and often repetitious) rhetoric.

Having said that: yesterday, while channel surfing, I stumbled across the Biden rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  I couldn't stop watching.  I also couldn't help thinking:

1)  It's about time the Clintons REALLY came forward and raised the call to arms with genuine zeal...and in these speeches, they REALLY do.
2)  These speeches are really hitting ALL of the issues, and with some SPECIFIC action items.
3)  Republicans should watch these, and compare them to Sunday's Palin rally.  Maybe they'll finally see that THIS is what a speech about hope, about issues, and about ALL Americans looks like.

Without further introduction here are the three speeches.  Bill Clinton started things:



Hillary Clinton followed:



And then Joe Biden brought it home:

Governor Sarah Palin is back in headlines, and just when McCain needs it the least. 

As I wrote yesterday, the "paint Obama as a radical, black, terrorist" campaign is having increasingly negative repercussions for McCain.  Reasonable Republicans are finding it harder and harder to defend their loyalties as the ranks of the McCain campaign supporters swell with bigots shouting "he's a terrorist" or "he's an arab" or "kill him!" 

I imagine more than a few of my conservative friends would like to turn to these people and say, "um...stay off our side...at least keep your mouth shut until it's over."  I won't go on at length...but that the problem, isn't it?  Republicans have benefitted from the "scared, ignorant, racist vote" for a long time...but you don't want those people out in front and speaking into microphones, do you?

And now...she's back:

PALIN'S PROBLEMS 1:  The special investigator working for Alaska's bipartisan Legislative Council has released his report on "Troopergate."

For those not watching the news...there were accusations that Palin and her staff and family tried to pressure Chief of State Police Monegan into firing a state trooper...a state trooper who was Palin's ex-brother in law.  And when Monegan wouldn't fire the trooper, Palin fired him.

Palin claimed that nobody had EVER contacted Monegan, and that he was fired over a simple budet dispute.  Then she was forced to admit...ok, her husband had met with Monegan about the whole thing.  Then she had to admit to DOZENS of phone calls from her family and staff to Monegan's office.  Ok...and then there were the emails she and others sent.  But that's it...and never did she say "fire that trooper"...ok, well maybe she said "why is that guy still a trooper...why aren't you doing something about that"...but that's all she said.

A slight pause:  I said this early on...why...I mean really, why would you choose as your Vice Presidential candidate someone in the MIDDLE OF AN ETHICS INVESTIGATION?  I mean...this wasn't even the FIRST complaint...she'd used her power in the past to go after enemies.  And then, having chosen this person...you go around and market her as AN ETHICS REFORMER?

Anyway, on the eve of the report, Palin and friends conveniently "preempted" the findings and declared that the report completely vindicated her and accused her of no wrongdoing.

Except it REALLY did no such thing.  Knowing that the report was coming out the NEXT DAY...why would you go around saying that the report cleared you when it didn't???

Well...what the report said, in short, was that the firing of Monegan was motivated by his failure to submit to Palin's pressuring, Palin did abuse the power of her office, and she broke the law.  Palin's lawyers have been on the attack ever since:

-they declared the attack "partisan"...despite the fact that the Council is a bipartisan committee with more Republicans on it than Democrats.  And it was largely Republican legislators that called for an immediate investigation.

-they declared that since the abuse of power was only "personal" and not financial...it doesn't violate the law.  Too bad the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act states: "The Legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust." 

Ooops...it'll certainly be interested to see where this goes...

PALIN'S PROBLEMS 2:  The Associated Press released TODAY a report that Sarah Palin has a small problem separating church and state...especially fincancially.

The article begins: "The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God's will from the governor's office."

That may not give some of you the creeps, the way it does for me...but this probably will:  she billed the Alaska taxpayers for that visit to her church...for the airplane tickets and a per diem fee.  Nice.

The AP decided to look over her record as Mayor and Governor...and it turns out she OFTEN used her office and the taxpayers' money to promote religious causes.  And not just any religious causes...HER religious causes.

Now...even those of you who are not bothered by the evangelism, the "pro-life even in circustances of rape and incest" program, the "let's teach creationism is schools" program, the "abstinence-only" program, and even the "let's ban some ungodly books" program....

...well, you should be bothered that she is attending religious events (events that appeal to her and her particular beliefs) and using taxpayer dollars to pay for her and her families' travel, dining, and other expenses.  While not ILLEGAL it is certainly UNETHICAL...and to me personally, very disturbing.

Palin would even mix these events in with her other duties...submitting bills to the taxpayers that included religious events and services, along with meetings, parties, and other celebrations.

Oh yeah...my favorite part:  every one of these trips except one...to a Christian-based event.  And the exception was a visit to a synogogue.  So, Palin can't even claim to be "fairly distributing" the time and expenses across all the religions and beliefs of her constituents.

In 2006, Palin was accused of accepting "tainted donations" so you know what she did?  She gave the money to three charities...one of them an "Anchorage nonprofit aimed at 'sharing God's love' to dissuade young women from having abortions."

And it appears Palin has never felt the need to separate church and state.  As Mayor:

-"Palin worked arduously to organize a day of prayer at city hall."

-"[Palin] joined a grass-roots, faith-based movement to stop the local hospital from performing abortions, a fight that ultimately lost before the Alaska Supreme Court...Palin's former church and other evangelical denominations were instrumental in ousting members of Valley Hospital's board who supported abortion rights — including the governor's mother-in-law, Faye Palin...[Sarah] Palin joined a hospital board to make sure the abortion ban held while the courts considered whether the ban was legal."

-"'What a blessing that the Lord has already put into place the Christian leaders, even though I know it's all through the grace of God,' she wrote in March 2000 to her former pastor. She thanked him for the loan of a video featuring a Kenyan preacher who later would pray for her protection from witchcraft as she sought higher office."

-"Palin was a keynote speaker at [the] 'Proudly Pro-Life Dinner' in Anchorage, and the governor billed taxpayers a $60 per diem fee for her work that day."

-"Palin also is one of just two governors who channeled federal money [hundreds of thousands of federal taxdollars] to support religious groups through a state agency, Alaska's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives...Several Catholic and Christian charities received funding, including $20,000 for a Fairbanks homeless shelter that views itself as a 'stable door of evangelism and Christian service' and $36,000 for a drop-in center at an Anchorage mall that seeks to demonstrate 'the unconditional love of Jesus to teenagers.'"

OK...for those of you who are sensitive...it's times to cover your ears...

PALIN IS A RELIGIOUS EXTREMIST.  That's right...she is the same kind of extremist that we villify in other religions.  And in this country, that is her right.  And I would fight for her right to have and practice her beliefs...but SHE IS NOT TO USE HER PUBLIC OFFICE NOR PUBLIC DOLLARS TO DO SO.  As a strong proponent of the separation of church and state, I cannot oppose her actions strongly enough...and I do not think we can risk giving her the White House to use as a pulpit.

That's the latest in Palin-related news...but stay tuned:  I fear these will not be the last revelations (apologies for the pun).

UPDATE 1:29 PM:  In TIME magazine's summary of the Troopergate Report they say that the following findings are not a surprise to many:

1) Did Palin abuse the power of her office?...yes
2) Did Palin fire Monegan ONLY over the issue of him not firing the trooper, Mike Wooten?...no

But...here is what they did find surprising:

"The 263 pages of the report show a coordinated application of pressure on Monegan so transparent and ham-handed that it was almost certain to end in public embarrassment for the governor..."

"Not only did people at almost every level of the Palin administration engage in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, but Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful.  Still, the emails and calls continued — in at least one instance on recorded state trooper phone lines..."

"Monegan consistently emerges as the adult in these conversations, while the Palin camp displays a childish impetuousness and sense of entitlement..."

"In the report, the head of Gov. Palin's security detail says that Todd [Palin] spent about half of his time in the governor's office — not at a desk (he didn't have one), but at a long conference table on one side of the office, with his own phone to make and receive calls. It became a shadow office, the informal Department of Getting Mike Wooten Fired..."

"The report also raises the suggestion that the final incident that led to Monegan's firing was perhaps the most (unintentionally) hilarious part of the whole saga. In the run-up to Alaska's 2008 Police Memorial Day event, Monegan visited Palin in Anchorage and brought along an official portrait of a state trooper in uniform, saluting in front of the police memorial in Anchorage, for Palin to sign and present at the event. The trooper? Mike Wooten."

Here's the whole article...it reads like a true comedy of errors...

A recent clip of McCain at a rally on October 10th shows what happens when you move your campaign away from the issues...and into plain and simple fearmongering: 

 

 

McCain says:
"We will be respectful.  I admire Senator Obama."
"I want everyone to be respectful...that's the way politics should be conducted in America."
"[Obama] is a decent person and a person you don't have to be scared [of] as President of the United States"
"[Obama's] a decent, family man, citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with."

I'm sure there are some who would respond by saying "See...John McCain is a man of character...he's stopping the lies."

There's just one problem:  he started them.  Did you hear the crowd?  Their disbelief?  They thought they were doing just what they were told to do...they can't understand how the man who gave this information and told them that he would protect them from the "threat" that is "Obama - the mystery man"...is now saying there is nothing to fear? 

Obama predicted it LONG ago:

 

 

Anyone COULD HAVE and SHOULD HAVE seen it coming...heck, the McCain campaign TOLD America that it was going to go fully negative: McCain...Sarah Palin...their campaign...their 527's...their hired guns...they are all out there spreading the groundless, incendiary, and irresponsible suggestions that:

-"Obama might be a muslim"
-"Obama might be friends with terrorists"
-"Obama might be trying to lead an uprising of militant blacks"

Now...McCain and Palin know that Obama is a Christian...they know that he isn't close friends with Bill Ayers...and they know that he is strongly opposed to terrorism...and they know that he cares about white people and black people equally...

...and knowing all that, they still threw these sparks out there into the tinder that is the radicalized, bigoted, impressionable, and ignorant masses...

...and now they're screaming "FIRE" and trying to put it out, without admitting that they're the ones who started the fire.

Shame on them...for not realizing that lies designed to scare people, would do EXACTLY THAT.

I've said it before:  were McCain and Obama just private citizens and not public figures...McCain would be facing a multimillion dollar defamation/libel/slander suit from Obama and his family right now...and those are exactly the inexcusable wrongs that McCain and his friends have committed, by spreading lies and innuendo designed specifically to harm.

UPDATE 10.12 12:10 PM - Reasonable Republicans are starting to break ranks in response to the campaign tactics of hate.

Representative Ray Lahood (R-IL) said in regard to Palin's recent stumping: "Look it.  This doesn't befit the office that she's running for.  And frankly, people don't like it."

Republican columnist Frank Schaeffer (who worked to get McCain elected instead of George Bush) had this to say in the Baltimore Sun:

"John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as 'not one of us,' I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence.  At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman.  Shame! In 2000, as a lifelong Republican, I worked to get you elected instead of George W. Bush.  In return, you wrote an endorsement of one of my books about military service. You seemed to be a man who put principle ahead of mere political gain. You have changed. You have a choice: Go down in history as a decent senator and an honorable military man with many successes, or go down in history as the latest abettor of right-wing extremist hate."

The entire column is here...and is well worth reading.

Not surprisingly, McCain campaign senior advisor Nicolle Wallace decided to blame Obama...saying that "Barack Obama's assault on our supporters is insulting and unsurprising...these are the same people Obama called 'bitter' and attacked for 'clinging to guns' and faith.  Attacking our supporters is a new low for the campaign..."

Really...?  Obama is the one whose attacks have hit a new low...?