DOW down...778 points

The DOW crashed nearly 778 points today - the biggest point drop in history. So let's review again, if you had had $100 in the market while Bill was prez, you would now have $328. If you had had $100 in the market while W was prez, you would now only have $97.

Over time, the market is supposed to be a good investment, to the tune of 10%. It is almost a rule that the market always rises in a given 10 year period. W is close to breaking that rule. The market has fallen over 200 points while he has been in office - that's a NEGATIVE .03% rate of return.

These are not abstract ideas! These are your parent's retirements! This is your retirement. And Bush and McCain wanted to put Social Security in the stock market too.

Heckuva job, Bushie. Heckuva job, McCain. Heckuva job, ASSHATS.

As of yesterday, fivethirtyeight has Obama winning the election 325- 212. Yay!! But it’s no time to let up, we have to keep hitting the GOP, hard. The latest total most probably results from the economic crisis and McCain’s antics and the debate, where are large percentage of Americans found out the Obama is not crazy/scary/unready. But, McCain is petulant/grumpy/old.

And on Thursday we have the VP debates. I am inordinately excited about them, especially given this quote:

The campaign has held a mock debate and a mock press conference; both are being described as "disastrous." One senior McCain aide was quoted as saying, "What are we going to do?" The McCain people want to move this first debate to some later, undetermined date, possibly never. People on the inside are saying the Alaska Governor is "clueless."

Oh that’s trouble for our dear Governor. And did we see the latest clips from the Couric interview? Let’s review:



And here’s Tina Fey reprising her role as Sarah Palin on SNL. Note that her long-winded convoluted explanation about the bailout/healthcare/job creation is practically verbatim to what Palin actually said.



(I am skeptical that the above embed will work, if it does not, the video can be viewed here.

For your viewing pleasure (god bless the internet) someone has put Tina and Sarah side-by-side to show you that the SNL writers didn’t have to do much….



Word has it that there are at least two more potentially humiliating clips from the Couric interview. Hopefully CBS will be airing those tonight.

Several readers think that the GOP will be forced to pull Palin off the ticket and replace her with someone else – I’m even told that there are wagers being made. I think this is a case where the GOP is damned if the do, and damned if they don’t.

If they were to pull her, McCain would look like a flip-flopper and would risk alienating his conservative base, who really didn’t give a shit about his campaign pre-Palin. Annoy them, and they might not bother turning out on election day.

On the other hand, leaving her on the ticket after her tragic performances in interviews and what should be a hilarious performance at the debate, makes McCain look like an idiot and a schmuck for picking her, and risks alienating boatloads of independents.

My bet is that they are stuck with her. And as she does more interviews and maybe even (god permitting) a press conference, we will laugh all the way to election day.

Meanwhile, in a new poll conducted by St. Louis Post-Dispatch/KMOV last week showed that McCain and Obama are in a dead heat. Obama CAN win Missouri, we all just have to work a little bit harder. The really good news about the above poll is that it ran last week, prior to the debate where McCain was revealed to be a, and this is a technical term, curmudgeon. (Note: how is it that word can get “curmudgeon” and “schmuck,” but wants me to change “Obama”, every time?)

Did I mention that we are nearing our 20,000th visitor? We are. Go us.

whoa – ho ho ho – ooooooooooooooo! Last time I checked the market was down 270 today, now it’s down 685. Ouch, just a reminder, John McCain wants to put your Social Security in the stock market.

T - 38 days

Do you know what the vote margin was in Florida 2000?

....wait for it....537.

537!!!! That's it!!

Are you fucking kidding me? 537 votes would have changed the course of history. Just think of every asshole thing that Bush has ever done. It didn't have to be this way.

This is why we have to GOTV in Missouri, and everywhere.

This is why we have to convince, mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and your other family members, and your coworkers and your friends and your neighbors.

537 votes. how many people do you know? how many friends to you have on facebook/myspace? how many people follow your twitter. who can you reach?

can you be responsible for making 5 votes happen, 10 votes?

I know last night I convinced seven people to canvass this weekend. I've made hundreds of calls. I'm working on election day. I'm talking o my faimily , my friends, my coworkers, iIm wearing a button, a t-shirt, I have a bumper sticker, a yard sign, I've given money and time, and words.

What can you do?

537 votes. every. little. thing. you. do. helps. EVERYTHING

38 days = 8 years

Because who doesn't love Sarah Silverman

So McCain suspended his campaign. The previous statement is only true if by “suspend”, he means carried out all campaign events yesterday and today, met with the wife of a bajillionaire british aristocrat, Bono too, oh and taped an interview with Couric. (Did we see Palin’s interview with Couric? Really, this is the woman that you want a heartbeat away from the presidency? Really?) I heard that he has stopped airing campaign ads and fundraising. An interesting statement seeing as since he is taking public financing, he’s not allowed to fundraise. Perhaps he meant that he was suspending fundraising by the RNC, somehow I doubt it. (and he's still running ads, and Palin is having an event at Ground Zero today, yes, GROUND ZERO.)

Oh, and now he wants to delay the debates so he has time to address the crisis. Because 1) he can’t do two things at once, and 2) though he had time for the wife of a british aristocrat, Bono, and Katie Couric, he does not have to have an honest debate with the other candidate in front of the American people.

The truth is, he’s not ready to debate. The truth is that he wants to delay that presidential debate until next Thursday, which is the VP debate, then reschedule the VP debate. Something tells me that the VP debate would never be rescheduled. And the truth is, she’s not ready. They may have been able to keep her from the press, but when she’s on stage with Joe Biden, there’s nowhere to hide….and he will eat. her. up.

McCain also skipped an appearance on Letterman last night saying that he had to get back to Washington immediately to address the financial CRISIS. While taping the show without McCain, Letterman was surprised to hear that McCain was not actually on a plane back to Washington, but was instead at another CBS sound stage, taping an interview with Katie Couric. He then showed the live feed of McCain with Couric, yelling at the image “Can I give you a lift to the airport?” In retribution, he had Keith Olbermann on the show. I haven’t seen it yet, because I fell asleep like a baby last night before 10:30, but I’ll review it later, and I’m sure I’ll post a clip or two.

I did manage to stay awake for Bush’s address to the nation, but only because he kept talking about what a dire crisis it was, and if Congress doesn’t immediately hand over a check for $700 BILLION that the economy would tank, we would be thrown into another Great Depression, unemployment would soar, small businesses and farmers would suffer and basically we would all DIE. But let’s walk through this whole bail out (which Republicans don’t believe in, bailouts, I mean – it goes against the free market that they love so much. Except when it’s in tatters, then it’s ok to give government assistance to the tune of $700 BILLION).

1. Financial institutions made a lot of bad investment decisions, specifically purchasing an exotic financial instrument called mortgage backed securities.
2. The housing market crashed and a LOT of people found that they could no longer afford the interest rates that had been reset on their mortgages. They stopped paying.
3. The securities that financial institutions had purchased were now backed by nothing but trash.
4. LOTS of financial institutions fold because they had lots of money in these trash backed securities.
5. Bush belatedly decides that we can’t have the whole of Wall Street crashing down and decides that we need to take the worthless securities off the hands of Wall Street and give them to the American people while bilking the public out of $700 BILLION. A fair trade, right? Oh and we’d be giving $700 BILLION to the people that fucked up in the first place.

(That’s like your gambler friend losing $50,000 (that his mother gave him for safe keeping), the loan sharks are after him they’re going to break his legs etc etc. So, to get him out of the mess, you give him your life savings, and your parent’s life savings, and your coworker’s life savings, and everyone you know, their life saving’s too. And to top it all off, you give him permission to spend it however he wants without your input or veto. AND he gives your name as a guarantee to the loan shark, so that if he were to go and lose all the money again, without paying off the loan shark, the loan shark would break your legs, and not his. Nice friend huh? He gets the money, and you’re the poor schmuck holding the bag of doggy doo doo, except you’re also holding if for your parents, your coworkers and everyone you know.)

Oh and LOTS of economists say that we shouldn’t rush into anything….not that anyone in the Bush Administration cares what experts say…

In the mean time, while McCain is off campaigning today (yes, campaigning) Congressional Dems and Republicans are hammering out the bailout – they should have it pretty much wrapped prior to Bush’s photo op at 4 eastern. And as Keith O pointed out last night, it’s a good thing that Bush called this “Economic summit” for today, because had he not, McCain would have arrived in Washington with nothing to do. See, the bailout is being hammered out by those congressman that are actually on the relevant committees, behind closed doors. Harry Reid even told McCain to stay away and not inject presidential politics into the process. And yet, now that campaigns will be descending on Washington today because of McCain’s bizarre hissy fit. So photo op = yes. But debate Obama in front of the American people = no.

SusanG makes an excellent point over at DailyKos –

McCain will skip the debate because of the “seriousness of the financial crisis” but he hasn’t read the 3 page proposal that is the Paulson Plan. See the video.



There is an excellent op-ed in today’s New York Times (jen e brought it to my attention) by Roger Cohen. Here are several excerpts, but I urge you to read it in full.

“...Sarah Palin loves the word “exceptional.” At a rally in Nevada the other day,the Republican vice-presidential candidate said: “We are an exceptional nation.” Then she declared: “America is an exceptional country.” In case anyone missedthat, she added: “You are all exceptional Americans...."

...But exceptionalism has taken an ugly twist of late. It’s become the angry refuge of the America that wants to deny the real state of the world...

American exceptionalism, taken to extremes, leaves you without the allies you need (Iraq), without the influence you want (Iran) and without any notion of risk (Wall Street). The only exceptionalism that resonates, as Obama put it to me last year, is one “based on our Constitution, our principles, our values and our ideals....”

I’m going to try to make this simple. On the Democratic side you have a guy whose campaign has been based on the Internet, who believes America may have something to learn from other countries (like universal health care) and who’s unafraid in 2008 to say he’s a “proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world..."

Which leads me to write, In 2004, Barack Obama giving the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, said “I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper.” In this age of global connectedness, that idea does not stop at the border. From human rights to immigration, AIDs to poverty, we must address these issues from Washington to Moscow, Beijing to Tehran; because like Senator Obama said we are “fellow citizen[s] of the world.” From London to Santiago, Tokyo to Sarajevo, we are all brothers.

Enough mushy stuff. Here's a hilarious video from Sarah Silverman as part of a project called "The Great Schlep" - it's aim is to get Jewish grandkids to visit their grandparents in Florida, and ge them to vote Obama. Watch the video, laugh out loud.

Comedy Gold

I love NPR, but....

So NPR annoyed me a little bit this morning (and by annoyed, I mean Jen had to put up with me talking back to the radio while I was in the shower.) Two things bugged me specifically:

1. The top of the hour news was on and in it they said that democrat so-and-so was accusing republican so-and-so of violating campaigning law by not having his name and party identification (or something) at the end of a campaign commercial. The announcer went on to say that the republican denied the democrats claim and asserted that the commercial in question was in full compliance with the law. end of story. Do you notice something missing here? The media is so concerned with being "balanced" that they apparently failed to see that they could just go look at the commercial for themselves and tell the listeners what was there, instead of engaging in literally he-said, she-said. I mean really. you just had to go listen to the commercial and then state the facts. Easy.

2. During at story about the election (duh), the reporter asserted that the number of battleground states had lessened. According to the NPR map, the battleground states are Nevada, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania. However, Pollster has 13 states listed as battlegrounds, adding to the list - Montana, Minnesota, Indiana, Florida, WEST VIRGINIA, and North Carolina. Given the option of listening to the Traditional Media, or going with independent and online media, I'll take my chances with the indy stuff. And yet, how can there be such a difference? I mean six states, that's a pretty big difference, and that's a pretty big story if Obama is making WEST VIRGINIA competitive, sure throws a wrench into that whole he-can't-win-rural-white-folks narrative. And there's another story here, fivethirtyeight projects him to win Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado....ie all the state within a stones throw of McCain's home state (minus Utah, and who really knows about Utah), all states that went for Bush in 2004. Can you imagine the media frenzy if McCain was expected to win Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa? I can.

Meanwhile, fivethirtyeight projects Obama to win 309-229.


Moving along, (via Americablog) CNN slams McCain over hiding Palin away for the past four weeks:

"Tonight I call on the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment," said Brown. "This woman is from Alaska for crying out loud. She is strong. She is tough. She is competent. And you claim she is ready to be one heart beat away from the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff. Allow her to face down those pesky reporters... Let her have a real news conference with real questions. By treating Sarah Palin different from the other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves. Free Sarah Palin. Free her from the chauvinistic chain you are binding her with. Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has just as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do. So let her act like one."


Your pic for the day:






and in case you're concerend that it's National Enquirer, just remeber that it was the Enquirer that outed John Edwards on his affair, and all the republican pundits said it was fair game. Just saying.

OMG the ANTI-CHRIST!

Ok, first things first. Adventures will be getting a facelift sometime in the near (cross your fingers) future. As of last night, I got my hands on adventuresincubeland.org and soon (cross your fingers), we’ll be moving over there. Anyway, we are here for now, so keep coming.

Here we go, so we all know about the rape kit story (Wasilla, under Palin was the only town to make rape victims pay for their own rape kits.), two new-ish things, well three.

1. Palin’s budget actually cut funding for the rape kits. As in, Wasilla use to pay for them. Then Palin came to town, and suddenly rape victims had to pay for their own rape kits.
2. There is speculation that the reason that the funding was cut for rape kits is because the kits contained emergency contraception, and Palin doesn’t believe in contraception, likening it to abortion.
3. Palin’s anti-choice nature is so strong that she protested at an abortion clinic.

We do not want this woman possibly running the country. If you believe in women’s rights, and women’s choice, then women’s freedom from the laws of old white men, and the freedom over their own bodies, you must vote Obama. There is no other option.

Speaking of crazy, have you seen these stickers floating around?

That’s right, that’s a big “O” for Obama, and evil, devil, anti-christy looking horns. There are actually people that believe that Obama is the antichrist – and all I have to say is areyoufuckingkiddingme?! Now, I’ve said a lot of things about bush and his administration, I’ve probably even called him the devil, or evil. But I’m pretty sure I’ve never said that he is LITERALLY the Anti-Christ. Who as these fucking people?

Last time I checked, Jesus Christ wanted to tax the rich, feed and educate the poor and treat everyone as you would want to be treated. Yeah, Obama sounds like he would be diametrically opposed to all of that. I’d say that you have to look no farther than the GOP to see people that are opposed to a great many of the teachings of Christ, oh and even the ten commandments. (and then they call themselves Christians.)

How about remember the Sabbath? Don’t so much do that one anymore. How about you shall not commit adultury? No? John Mccain? No? ok, how about you shall not steal? No? GOP much? You shall not covet your neighbor’s house (or oil). What? No? never. And here’s a biggie, THOU SHALL NOT KILL. Huh, that’s seems like a hard one to swallow for all those evangelical republicans, that hold in their same party, neo-conservative hawks and those that want to hurry on the End Times. How about the death penalty, doesn’t fit so well with Jesus’ peace and love teachings, does it?

So remind me again who the ANTI – Christ is?

Here’s a great image that’s circulating the internets – tell me again who the elitist is? Is it the guy with a fleet of 10 cars, 3 neighborhood electric vehicles, 1 jet and (at least) 8 houses, or the guy with one house, one spouse and one car? Painting democrats as elitist is one of the biggest hoaxes the GOP has been lucky enough to perpetuate on the American people.

Meanwhile, CNN pulled its coverage of Sarah Palin meeting world leaders today, after the McCain campaign refused to allow any reporters other than a tv crew and photographers – can’t have sarah getting caught on camera saying something stupid. This is of course the woman, who has been campaigning for 4 weeks and has yet to give a press conference. So, thanks CNN! You did good today.

Ok, so the Obama campaign has pledged to knock on 100,000 doors this coming Saturday in a truly massive canvassing push. If you, or anyone you know can help, we would really appreciate it. Like Jeff Smith said, you do not want to wake up on Nov 5th to find that Obama lost MO by 600 votes.

Now, there’s a rule in canvassing, you have to talk to 12 people to swing one vote, and you have to knock on roughly 5 doors, to even talk to 1. So that means, that a person who knocks on 50 doors, talks to 12 people and swings one vote. Go canvassing once, and you can double your voting power – in MO that could mean huge things. So, the Obama campaign is knocking on 100,000 doors this weekend, we need your help.

And, I’ll be taking off November 4th for the election, not sure what I’ll be doing yet, but I’ll be involved somewhere, and I do fully intend to have an election night party, but it’ll have to be a little later in the evening as I have a volleyball game. I’ll keep everyone posted.

A visit from Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith at the South County Campaign Office (~40 people here, 50% under 21)

(Editors note: all quotations are paraphrased)

On the Palin pick:
“You know, a couple of months ago McCain said that he didn't know much about the economy.
It's so reassuring to me that he's picked someone who does know so much.”

What can you do:
“after Florida in 2000 I don't think anyone can say, what can I do?”
“The accumulation of all individual efforts will make the difference between 49.6 and 50.4 percent here in MO”

Asked about running for Governor:
“would you be a better governor than Matt Blunt?”
“unfortunately I think I'm disqualifies from that particular position...”

"I filibustered a bill that would make English the official language of mo – I filibustered for 9 hours...and I did the first 30 minutes in French."

On Gay Marriage
"I think there's lots of threats to the institution of marriage... television, the internet – I don't think that gay marriage is one of them."

(Side note: why does open office want me to capitalize “internet?” Really? You can't see it now, but there's an angry red scribble below “internet” saying, capitalize me!)

On the surge:
“if you took all the cops in the city and put them in one neighborhood for the next two months, I bet there wouldn't be a murder in that neighborhood, I bet there wouldn't be a murder in that neighborhood. But it wouldn't cure crime in st. louis”

Advice for Canvassing

1. 1. move quickly and efficiently – plan the route. Be systematic.
2. 2. 30/70 rule - talk for 30% and listen 70% of the time. Draw people out to talk about themselves
3. 3. don't give an answer unless you know the answer. Google killed me as a professor.

On hopes and expectations:
"Barack Obama is truly a citizen of the world.. has the unique potential to restore that moral authority. "

"People want to see a government that works. It's not really about ideology, it's about confidence. Who can be a competent steward of the economy. Who can be a competent steward of our relationships with other countries."

On the younger volunteer crowd:
"It's your country, very soon."

"A lot of people believe that this generation is the first that is facing not having the same standard of living as their grandparents."

"I'm where I am because of kids like you."

Final thought:
"Don't be somebody that wakes up the day after the election and thinks man, we lost Missouri by 600 votes."

Debates and Polls

In the great tradition of watching the State of the Union and throwing marshmallows at the shrub on TV, I'll be holding debate watching parties at my place. I can't guarantee that we will get to throw marshmallows at the expensive tv, but I'm sure that we can setup some sort of surrogate, that can be the object of our sticky puffed sugar derision.

Naturally, I'll also be holding an election party (assuming that I do not work the polls or be working on GOTV efforts - I do intend to take the day off and help out somehow. I encourage all to do the same. Help out I mean, it can be as little as talking to your coworkers/neighbors/family, helping them make that last minute decision – you know how I just love undecideds. Or maybe you sway them the right way at the last minute, we'll take that too, especially in MO.) So yeah assuming I'm not doing something with the campaign, we'll do an election party. We'll do a big map like we did last time, and maybe yaya (via phone of internet) will be able to locate Alabama on the map this time. :P

But really, giant election map, your cable news source of choice on the big screen, beer, pizza (?), and good people with which to celebrate our blue stated victory.

That's jumping the gun though – debate schedule below. VP included.

Friday, September 26 - First Presidential Debate
Location: University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi
Topics: Domestic Policy
Moderator: Jim Lehrer from PBS

Thursday, October 2 - Vice Presidential Debate
Location: Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Topics: All Topics, including Domestic and Foreign Policy
Moderator: Gwen Ifill from PBS

Tuesday, October 7 - Second Presidential Debate
Location: Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee
Topics: (Town Meeting Format) All Topics
Moderator: Tom Brokaw from NBC News

Wednesday, October 15 - Third Presidential Debate
Location: Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York
Topics: Foreign Policy
Moderator: Bob Schieffer from CBS News

Hey maybe in the third presidential debate on foreign policy, McCain will forget where Spain is located again. Oh? I forgot to mention that, here's Americablog's damning post on the matter.

And here, via Americablog again, the UK's Guardian takes McCain to task:

"So, to clarify matters for McCain: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is the lefty prime minister of Spain. The Zapatistas are armed revolutionaries who have declared war on the government of Mexico. Zippy is an irascible non-human character in the children's TV series Rainbow, and Captain Zep was the star of an awesome 1980s British children's sci-fi drama. Franco Zeffirelli is a celebrated Italian film director who I once pretended to know the first thing about in order not to look stupid in a conversation in a restaurant.

By the way, this must be a truly depressing day for our friends at Spain For McCain. We can assume they're not Zapatero fans, but still: their hero isn't even sure where their country is located? How dispiriting."

And lest you think it's just the dirty bloggers that are hitting this, here's CNN's coverage too (also via Americablog, god bless John).

So please bring on the Presidential Debates on Foreign Policy, with the guy that would rather snub a NATO ally, than admit he was confused/lost/senile on a question.

Off topic, crazy wing nutty talking point that I heard out of Jen's grandmother's mouth, in addition to Obama being a muslim/the antichrist, and michelle hating this country, the clintons killed vince foster (in primary colors, vince foster was portrayed as the character, Libby) and made it look like a suicide. WOW. These people really do exist.

In other completely unrelated news, if you have HBO, check out their new vampire show True Blood. Me likey. It's been a long long time since there has been a show about vampires from a generally vampire point of view (not like Buffy, who was always busting vamp ass), but like Kindred: The Embraced – remember that one? Yeah, in a time long ago and faraway – 1996, I was but a wee one of 13, and the show only lasted eight episodes. True Blood has already fared better, having been picked up for a second season only two episodes in. So, check it out, Sunday's at 8 (?).

Hmmm – we'll have to figure out the debates because it looks like I have sporting events on 2/3 presidential ones, and on election day. More to come on that later.

Oh and earlier when I said that Obama was back up in the national polls. I meant that he had ROARED back. Fivethirtyeight now has him winning 303-234 in the electoral college, and winning the election 75% of the time. SUCK ON THAT. And they don't factor in MO, but I do. And if MO doesn't go for Obama, then it would be only the second time that MO has gone with the loser in a presidential contest in the last 100 years. So I think he's bringing home MO. That would push his lead in the electoral college to 314-223.

Not to mention FL with it's 27 electoral votes, where the Palin pick is scaring the bejesus out of lots of undecided voters. They don't seem to like her social views, or her ethics. And they seem disinclined to vote for the Palin/McCain- er. Whoops! Looks like I pulled a Palin – I mean the McCain/Palin ticket.

So in my wildly optimistic world, there's 27 more votes, bringing Mr. Obama's total to 341-196. Toss in other states that Pollster still has too close to call – Indiana, West Virginia, and Montana – that's 19 more votes on the table. We could see 360-177. and then I go laughing all the way home. :D Dream BIG.

And to make your Friday even happier, not this Saturday, but next Saturday, Tina Fey is expected to reprise her role as Sarah Palin on SNL.

A veritable smorgasbord

Remember this one from mad tv during the primary season? (NSFW) (also, not safe if songs easily get stuck in your head, after this one, you’ll be singing “under barak obama –bama –bama”)



And then there’s this project that created a bumper sticker for every state in the nation. I think my favorite is the one for florida.

here’s a cute video of a deer and a rabbit



Also, I have notes from last nights campaign office night – MO Congressman Jeff Smith was there to rally the troops. I’ll be posting excerpts from his talk later, when I get organized.

A quote from Gawker about the current economic meltdown:

"Where is the definitive guide to how the Chinese Communist Party made all this happen when it decided the best way to make everyone forget about democracy was to keep the lives of its citizens improving at a dramatic but steadily controlled rate by getting them all jobs manufacturing stuff Americans could not really afford because they work retail but would buy anyway because of the cheap credit that got us into this mess and anyway, the US Treasury will bail everyone out, because no matter how much they overpay the mercenaries keeping the peace in The Iraq China will always have excess wads cash under the mattress to lend them?Glad you asked! It's in the Atlantic Monthly of about nine months back."

How is it that the government can get $85 billion to bailout AIG, but can’t get ice to Ike victims in Texas? Oh right, this must be the whole Human Dignity vs. Corporate Greed thing that we talked about the other day. Oh, and when do I get my bailout? you know, as opposed to being put on the hook for all the bad decisions that companies that have been robbing us blind for the past decade have made?

After Ellen has a quote via GQ from Transformers leading lady Megan Fox, that I’m sure we can all like:

"Look, I’m not a lesbian — I just think that all humans are born with the ability to be attracted to both sexes. I mean, I could see myself in a relationship with a girl — Olivia Wilde is so sexy she makes me want to strangle a mountain ox with my bare hands. She’s mesmerizing."

Strangle a mountain ox with my bare hands. I love it. You strangle that mountain ox, Megan, you just go ahead and do that.

And now a quote via a reader, via gawker via CNBC Sucks:

“Let me break it down for you. Obama is 47, McCain is 72. If you are 47 or younger, you can expect to live another 30 years. ALL of McCain's policies are based on him being safely dead by the time we starve and kill each other on the streets as a consequence of his policies.”

So true! McCain can fuck up whatever he wants because he’s not going to be around to reap the horrible horrible price - ! I mean, the great and glorious rewards, of course.

Incidentally, I bought a bunch of Obama stickers today. They should arrive in a couple days, so if you want one, or ten, let me know.

And to round it all out, Obama is back up in national tracking polls. Thank God. That’s all I got.

The crash of Palin and the stock market.

Go here and look at a graph of the stock market.

John McCain wants to privatize Social Security, which means putting it in the stock market. The same stock market that has dropped 800 points in the last six days.

At her first town hall, Palin took a question from the crowd:

Asked for "specific skills" she could cite to rebut critics who question her grasp of international affairs, she replied, "I am prepared."

"I have that confidence. I have that readiness," Palin said. "And if you want specifics with specific policies or countries, you can go ahead and ask me. You can play 'stump the candidate' if you want to. But we are ready to serve."

GOP presidential nominee John McCain stepped in, pointing out that as governor of a state that is oil and gas plentiful, Palin was familiar with energy. She knows it to be "one of our great national security challenges," he said.

He also cited her nearly two years as commander of Alaska's National Guard. "I believe she is absolutely, totally qualified to address every challenge as the next vice president of the United States," McCain said.

Because asking a candidate for anything about their specific skill set is off limits and uncouth.

perhaps due to all of the vetting that has been going on in the media and on the blogs, Sarah Palin’s favorability ratings have CRASHED harder than the stock market in the past week.

On 9/11, she was polled at 52% approve and 35% disapprove. One week later, 9/18 she was polled at 42% approval and 46% disapproval. That’s a net drop of 21%. So if I could stop hearing in the media how she is such a great pick and she’s so popular and she’s a “celebrity,” that would be great.

Oh and that question that she took at a that town hall? They aren’t going to go away. Shockingly, people are going to continue to ask her questions and if the best she can come up with is “I have that confidence. I have that readiness” and “in what respect, Charlie,” then I will have been proved right, Sarah Palin is like Christmas for Democrats.

Meanwhile if I could stop hearing things that are Democratic, such as policy or administration, as “Democrat policy” and “Democrat administration,” that would be great. Because I know that you think that you are clever and that by leaving of the “ic” you get to emphasize “rat” in Democrat. But you just sound stupid, it would be like saying “republic policy.” You sound like an idiot.

I can’t stand undecided voters. How are you still undecided? This election is about nothing less than the fate of the Supreme Court. How can you be undecided. The two candidates are very different. They have different views on almost every issue. How can you not know? Where have you been? Here’s all you need to know, Democrats will always err on the side of Human Rights and Human Dignity. Republicans will always err on the side of Corporations and Greed. It’s just that easy.

And for all you evangelical voters, Jesus Christ would have been a Democrat. Suck on that one for awhile.

And for all you women’s rights voters, all you so-called Hillary supporters that are thinking of voting for McCain or not voting at all, the SUPREME court hangs in the balance. This is not a time to sit it out. It’s all hands on deck, or we may lose the progress that has been made on women’s issues over the years. You cannot be a feminist and vote for McCain, it’s an absolute. You cannot have been a supporter of Hilary and vote for McCain. You just can’t.

Here’s a simple way to trip up someone who is arguing that they have never heard of Obama while he was a state senator. Have them name theirs. IF they can, have them name something that they have done. They’ll have nothing. Meanwhile, Obama sponsored 823 bills while in the IL Senate – covering everything from a constitutional amendment for universal healthcare in IL to a bill that would ban nearly all gifts by lobbyists.

Meanwhile, in the sunny state of California, the haters are trying to get gay marriage banned after it became legal only a few short months ago. Brad Pitt did his part recently to make sure that wouldn’t happen – donating $100,000 to gay marriage advocates. I loves me some Brad.

i just had the most interesting conversation with Jen's grandma

Did you see the stock market again today? Down 450 points...again. So for the last 6 days, it's down ~800 points. Here's a simple talking point for everyone to take to their right-wing coworkers – first the point, then a concrete example.

When Bill Clinton was in office, the DOW rose, upwards of 7400 points over the course of eight years. While Bush has been in office, the DOW has dropped 50 points over the course of seven years.

Democrat = up 7400.

Republican = down 50

Now for the example. Imagine that you had $100 to put in the stock market and you had the option of putting it in during either of the aforementioned presidencies, would you pick the Democrat or the Republican?

If you picked Bill, you would have earned 227% on your investment, giving you a total of $327.

If you picked W, you would have lost .48% on your investment, giving you a total of $99.51.

$327 or $99?

And with W, you paid more for food, gas, and health care... and you might have lost your house too, and your job, and oh, I don't know, your pride in this nation.

But the point you should hammer home, is that with Clinton, the evil liberal Democrat, you made $227. and with W, the Republican who would be both the everyman and CEO President, you lost a buck, and gained nothing at all.

Here's another point to hammer home. McCain wants to tax your employer paid health benefits. I'll say that again because it bears repeating. John McCain wants to tax the money that your employer pays for your health insurance. To make it super simple for all our knucklehead right-wingers:

Obama wants to give the Middle Class a $1,000 tax break, and McCain wants to tax your health insurance.

Democrats, HAMMER. THIS. HOME.

On to other things, J9 Brizzle has alerted me to the fact that Michelle Obama is going to be on Paula Dean. We here at Adventures are big fans of Paula Dean, with her gregarious self, and her fried butter balls. So, you can be sure that when the video hits youtube, you'll see it here. I heart Michelle Obama.

The best Obama button I've seen yet has a black and white picture of his two kids, and in a handwritten scrawl, it says “Vote for our Daddy.” :D

Here's a question, if Republicans believe that their ideas are better, that their policies are better, and that when they run the country, people are better, why do they always cheat in elections? Between voter suppression and intimidation, gerrymandering and unlawfully hiding races on ballots, what gives? If you really believe that you are better, why not play fair and give the people a choice. And here's the answer, if they ran on their record, and the issues, they would lose, every. Single. Time. And that's why they support Rovian tactics, because if they didn't, they wouldn't even stand a chance.

Someone hacked Sarah Palin's yahoo account. HAHAHAHAHA. And as previously though, she had been conducting state business through her personal email account. A method that has been used in the Bush Administration to avoid subpoenas under the Freedom of Information Act.

I loves me some Margaret Cho:

I'm a Christian, you Fuckers

First of all – you fucking fake Christians - don’t fucking question my Christianity. I grew up in the church. My grandfather was a minister, who is with God now and talks to me in my dreams from God’s corner office. I am a former Sunday school teacher. I taught the Bible to children and showed them how to love God and invite him into their hearts. I believe in God – but I don’t fear him. God is my best friend. God is my ally. God is my boyfriend. God is my best fag. I am God’s fag hag cuz didn’t you know, God is a big fag. Serious bottom too. Butch in the streets, femme in the sheets. That is my God. God is my biggest fan. God gets me, dude.

God wants us all to just get along. He doesn’t give a shit about the profanity. The bitch fucking invented profanity. He thinks it is hilarious. He just wants you to talk to him, and he doesn’t care what you have to say. He just wants to keep the conversation going. Like Jay-Z, he just wants to love you. He just wants you to be able to make your own decisions. God is all about you and what you need. God is happy that you are gay. God made you fucking gay cuz he thinks it is awesome. God understands if you need to have an abortion. That is why he created abortion, on the 8th day. God accepts. God forgives. God loves all of us, even though some of us might have a problem with each other.

Don’t fucking question my Christianity you fucking idiot assholes. If you continue to have a problem, then talk to God about it, not me, you fucking racist homophobic misogynist fake Christian shitheads. God thinks it is funny that I swear so much. He said I could use his name in vain or whatever. He just wants me to use it. He loves me. So fuck you. And I guess he loves you too. Even though you are fake Christian assholes. If you were truly Christians, you would let gays get married, and send them fucking presents from Bed Bath and Beyond!

If you truly believed in Jesus, you would try to be like him and love us, fags and dykes and feminists all. God bless you, even you. You fucking fuckers.

(http://www.margaretcho.com/blog/2008/09/17/im-a-christian-you-fuckers.html

God bless Margaret Cho.

Economic Meltdown

Today, after news broke that Lehman is going under, and Merrill Lynch has accepted a buyout offer from Bank of America - that's two GIANTS in the financial world that have been toppled.

McCain: You know, that there’s been tremendous turmoil in our financial markets and Wall Street and it is — people are frightened by these events. Our economy, I think, still the fundamentals of our economy are strong. But these are very, very difficult times."
Shorter McCain: Don't worry, be happy...

Obama's campaign: Today of all days, John McCain’s stubborn insistence that the ‘fundamentals of the economy are strong’ shows that he is disturbingly out of touch with what’s going in the lives of ordinary Americans. Even as his own ads try to convince him that the economy is in crisis, apparently his 26 years in Washington have left him incapable of understanding that the policies he supports have created an historic economic crisis,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.
Shorter Obama: Shut the fuck up.

Obama needs to KEEP. HITTING. THIS. HARD. Everday people are swayed by the crap that the cable news networks throws around, all the little things that don't matter. Things like lipstick and $400 haircuts - they create a seemingly immpermeable cloud of innaness around the election. BUT, the economy, that, can cut through it all. You just have to tell them. You tell them that the Republicans have had control for eight years, and what do they have to show for it? Skyrocketing, health, food, and gas prices. Layoffs. Financial giants dying right and left, savings lost, investments in tatters.

Here's a litte easy to understand cartoon I found precisely illustrating what happens under so-called fiscal conservatives and what happens under so-called tax and spend liberals:

Ohhhh, wait. It looks like the Democratic President Clinton resulted in a .... SURPLUS. And and, all the Republican's drove this country straight into the ground. Huh.

The Sage once said...

Our dear friend, the wise Neoteric Sage has agreed to allow me to excerpt from her Chronical when it pertains to politics. Please enjoy.

Haa, I find it funny how all the Republicans are suddenly like, "CHANGE is coming!" and now McCain AND Palin are running about the country on the Straight Talk Express spouting change as two self-styled mavericks. It is beyond bizarre to see Republicans running around pretending to be mavericks and change-mongerers and revolutionaries. It is as if the world has been tost asunder.

If people fall for this and elect those fuckers into office for another term, I will be so pissed. Sorry, but I really cannot abide Republicans (as politicians, since who knows what they are like as people, but I have my doubts, although I should not judge.

And I WOULD like to go out and split a bottle of wine with Condoleezza, and have a sister-to-sister black woman outing, because I think she would be an okay lady in that context, not that that excuses her loyalty to and dealings with That Fucker, but we won't go there.). I cannot think of a single Republican politician right now who I do not have a problem with, although there may well be one or two in the world, but I kind of doubt it.
--Sage

More Straight Talk

Let’s tie the whole Palin/rape kit/per diem expense thing together, shall we?

The town of Wasilla billed rape victims for their own rape kits in order to keep taxes low. The money saved was between $5k-$14k. Sarah Palin charged the state of Alaska $16k using a per diem allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business when she was really staying (and cooking) in her own home.

So to sum it up, Palin doesn’t think she should have to pay for food, but rape victims should have to pay for their rape kits. Those are some family values right there. What a reformer, what a Maverick. On one hand, shrinking government aid for those in need, on the other exploiting government aid for one’s own gain … sounds downright Republican to me.

Straight Talk

Here’s a little Straight Talk for you since the media seems reluctant to go here. John McCain is a liar. Sarah Palin is a liar. There, I said it.

LIAR LIAR
Palin did NOT oppose the Bridge to Nowhere – she supported it, then opposed it when it became politically untenable.

Palin did NOT come up with the idea to put the jet on EBay – Alaska already had a policy of doing that with big ticket items.

Palin does NOT have national security cred just because Alaska is close to Russia

Palin’s son is NOT shipping out today, 9/11.

LIAR LIAR
Obama did NOT request $1 billion in earmarks last year

Obama does NOT support sex ed for 6-year olds. He supports sexual predator prevention for
young children.

Obama did NOT call Palin a “pig”.

STRAIGHT TALK
Palin DID charge rape victims for their own rape kits.

Palin DID request $750 million in ear marks while governor.

Palin DID fire Wasilla’s librarian.

Palin DID try to ban books in the public library and local stores.

Palin DID fire the man who would not fire her sister’s ex-husband.

Palin WAS cautioned by a friend (a former US Attorney) – that she should apologize for “overreaching or perceived overreaching” in trying to get the ex-husband fired.

Palin WAS cautioned by a judge to stop disparaging the ex-husband, and that encouraging her daughter to disparage the ex-husband could constitute “emotional child abuse.”

Palin DID cut funding for a teen mothers shelter.

Palin DID charge Alaska a per diem lodging expense while staying in her own home.

Palin DID promote the commander of the Alaska National Guard after he made damaging comments about her to the press. He’s got nothing but glowing praise for her now.

Palin DID say “I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments,” when asked about sending more troops to Iraq.

Palin DID leave Wasilla with $22 million in debt, after inheriting ZERO

Palin DOES believe in abstinence-only education.

Palin DID say about being mayor of Wasilla “It's not rocket science. It's $6 million and 53 employees." So much for exec experience there.

Palin DID say about the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance “If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance” The pledge was written in 1892 (over 100 years AFTER the Founding Fathers), and amended with “under God” in 1951 (nearly 200 years after the Founding Fathers.)

Palin DID call Hillary Clinton a "whiner"

Resist the Urge to Panic

Did you catch Michelle Obama on Ellen yesterday? She was great. Don’t you just want this woman as our First Lady?

You may have seen recent polling and been panicked by what appears to be a tie. Three things that you must keep in mind.

1. National polling means virtually nothing
2. McCain is seeing his post-convention bounce, it’s a bounce. It goes away.
3. it is in the national media’s best interest to perpetuate the narrative that it is a close race, even if it is not. They must do this for the sake of their ratings. What will their blowhards talk about if it’s a landslide?

Remember “Strip him and turn him OUT”? Harry Reid kicked Joe Lieberman out of the Dem’s weekly caucus lunches and the biweekly chairmen’s lunches. It’s not quite enough, but it’s a start.

Remember when Palin made that big deal about firing the governor’s personal chef when she was elected? According to Kos, she saved Alaska $45,000 – HOWEVER, she still charged Alaska almost $17k to eat at her own place:

"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."

And there’s this, also from Kos, where she charged Alaska for travel expenses while staying in her own home.

"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.

And when she did travel, she stayed three nights at a hotel for $707 PER NIGHT.

Democrats, JUMP ALL OVER THIS.

Another Palin Lie –
That whole bridge to nowhere thing that she continues to say that she opposed, yeah, she supported it. Then, when it became a national scandal, she opposed it. What a maverick!

Here’s another thing, drilling won’t lower gasoline prices for years and years and years. And years. And years. You know how Americans can see an immediate change in the amount they pay for gas? Check the air pressure in their tires. No really. You will see an immediate improvement in gas mileage, and you don’t have to wait for years, and destroy the environment to do it. Common sense people, common sense.

Also, a reader points out that though Palin is proud of her daughter's decision to complete her pregnancy, while Governor, she used her line-item veto power to slash funding for an Alaska shelter that serves teen mothers.

So she used a line-item veto to slash funding for teen mothers? A shelter? So, she's against abortion - a kid gets knocked up and "does the right thing". Then, when their mom's kick them out of the house because they're preggers, they now have nowhere to go.

Amen. Way to personify those GOP family values... like hypocrisy.

Also, you may not have heard this story, but while Palin was Mayor of Wasilla, rape victims were required to pay for their own rape kits. That's right, Palin didn't think it was worth the small cost to the city to pay for the rape kits, and left it to the victims. Nice.

Meanwhile, I phone banked for Obama again last night. I encourage everyone to give it a shot, it's easy and they can use every bit of our help. especially in Missouri. And if you can't volunteer, give money, wear a button, put a sticker somewhere or talk up the issues with your friends/family/coworkers. It's not just that i want Barack Obama in the White House, it's that I want Barack and Michelle in the White House.

(Hey! Remember when the senate sergeant at arms looked at our little blog here? yeah, that was fun.)

I heart Michelle Obama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngqUSlVQfbY

something to think about.

from Dkos -

Jesus Christ was a community organizer, Pontius Pilate was a Governor.

Just got back from phone banking

Apparently I broke the record for most attempts made. Must have been all that Phonathon experience flowing through my dialing fingers. :)

anyway, here i am listening to McCain speak, he looks terrible.

So did you hear the one about Cindy McCain's outfit was worth $300,000 the other night. That's right, thousands of Americans can't keep their homes out of foreclosure, they can't drive their cars, and seniors are choosing between medication and food, and Cindy McCain is wearing $300,000. Now just imagine if Michelle Obama had done that, just imagine. Then have a good laugh.

Back to Palin - the WSJ is reporting that in the 24 hours after Palin's speech, the RNC raised $1 million....Obama is on track to raise $10 million.

Meanwhile, in how much more detail is he going to tell us about when he was a POW? A POW does not a president make.

The crowd looks real excited doesn't it?

hypocrites part 3

So, remember how all we heard about at the DNC was how there were deep divisions in the Democratic Party. Oh the Clinton voters and the Obama voters could never get along. We heard about it every bleeping night, and they trotted out the same four people that actually espoused that view. every night.

so, now the RNC is in full swing and yet, we don't hear anything about GOP disunity. Despite the fact that Ron Paul - who won sizeable numbers during the primary season - is holding a counter convention in Minneapolis that drew 15,000 people. why that's twice as many people as live in Wasilla, AK. hummmmmmmmmmmmmmm. by Huckabee's logic, that means he should be the VP nominee.

(Note: when looking of this story on Google News, the number one news outlet was Aljazeera.net. Thanks American Media.)

Some RNC thoughts

Ok, above is, no joke, the logo for the RNC. That's right, a drunk, wide stance, jail stripe elephant, f*cking 2008. You can't make this up.

Huckabee - Sarah Palin got more votes in Wasilla than Joe Biden got in this election.
Point of order: Joe Biden won nealy 80,000 votes in his bid for the nomination. That's over ten times the number of people in Wasilla, AK. Ten times.

Giuliani - hope is not a strategy.
Point of order: you mean like abstinence-only sex ed. We'll just hope that the kids don't have sex. and we'll just hope that they know to use a condom, so as to prevent pregnancy and STDs.

Palin - my son is deploying on September 11th.
Point of order: votevets.org has found that no he's not, and it's a violation of operational security to talk about the specifics of deployment.

who are these republican delegates? let's not forget that these people at the RNC were the same people that wore band-aids with purple hearts at the last convention, mocking the service and sacrifice of John Kerry. Let's not forget either, that the democrats have had nothing but high praise for the service of John McCain, even when arguing as Wes Clark did (wes clark for Defense Sec!), that his years as a POW do not necessarily make him fit for the presidency.

From Americablog a reader writes:

Only at the RNC can people who one night before asked the country to do service for their country then now boo when Giuliani mentions community organizing.

Hypocrites redux

Why is it that the media can't talk about Palin's daughter's pregnancy, but the McCain campaign can drag the girl's boyfriend to the Republican Convention? I thought they needed their privacy?

And what about not involving the children of politicians? Have we forgotten the lovely remarks of Rush Limbaugh:

Here is a Limbaugh joke: Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat. Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is a White House dog?" And he puts up a picture of Chelsea Clinton. Chelsea Clinton [was] 13 years old.

(courtesy Molly Ivins)

and of course the Republican nominee himself:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father." John McCain 1998

That's classy, with a "k".

For Carisssssssss

After three days of storms and rain we found these three floating in a pool filter, clinging to each other to survive. All of them were exhausted from the effort and were reluctant to part ways after being rescued.

(courtesy flicker)

It's Over

Thousands and thousands and thousands of women grocery goers will see this at the check out aisle.

Meanwhile, two top GOP pundits were caught with an open mic after a segment on MSNBC. Here's the transcript of their extremely damaging remarks:

CHUCK TODD: Mike Murphy, lots of free advice, we'll see if Steve Schmidt and the boys were watching. We'll find out on your blackberry. Tonight voters will get their chance to hear from Sarah Palin and she will get the chance to show voters she's the right woman for the job Up next, one man who's already convinced and he'll us why Gov. Jon Huntsman.
(cut away)

PEGGY NOONAN: Yeah.

MIKE MURPHY: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor world: Engler, Whitman, Tommy Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. I mean, these guys -- this is how you win a Texas race, just run it up. And it's not gonna work. And --

PEGGY NOONAN: It's over.

MIKE MURPHY: Still McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

CHUCK TODD: I also think the Palin pick is insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too.

PEGGY NOONAN: Saw Kay this morning.

CHUCK TODD: Yeah, she's never looked comfortable about this --

MIKE MURPHY: They're all bummed out.

CHUCK TODD: Yeah, I mean is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

PEGGY NOONAN: The most qualified? No! I think they went for this -- excuse me-- political bullshit about narratives --

CHUCK TODD: Yeah they went to a narrative.

MIKE MURPHY: I totally agree.

PEGGY NOONAN: Every time the Republicans do that, because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at, they blow it.

MIKE MURPHY: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism, and this is cynical.

CHUCK TODD: This is cynical, and as you called it, gimmicky.

MIKE MURPHY: Yeah.

Like I said, every day is Christmas for us Democrats.

3 thoughts

1. Joe Lieberman - Strip him of his chairmanship and TURN HIM OUT.

2. I took the plunge and volunteered for the Obama campaign. I'll be working in the phone bank tomorrow night with my grandma and canvassing on Saturday morning with a friend. I will single-handedly deliver Missouri for Barack Obama.

3. Play this game. So I'm watching the RNC tonight, and everytime CNN pulls back to show the crowd, I try and find a black person as quickly as possible. Try it. It's entertaining. I've never seen such a sea of white faces.

Hypocrites

On the face of it, I couldn't care less if Sarah Palin married her husband eight months before her first child was born. I couldn't care less that she had pre-marital sex. BUT, combine that with telling me that I can't marry the person I love, because the bible says so, you better believe that I'm going to hold you to a higher standard. On that note, Sarah Palin married her husband eight months before her first child was born. Like mother, like daughter.

And as we know, if you attend a sermon, and do not leave the church after questionable remarks, you automatically espouse those views. So, since Sarah Palin attended a meeting at her church led by the executive director of Jews for Jesus, David Brickner, she automatically believes everything that he said and implied. He suggested that the attacks in Israel where the judgments of God, and if we carry the thought to it's logical conclusion given his organization affiliations, God is judging Israel because they have failed to accept Jesus as their savior. Well done Sarah Palin. Now, where's the outcry? Where's the 24 hour news coverage? Where are these remarks played over and over again? Where is her denunciation of Mr. Brickner? Where?

In the same vein, you may have heard that Sarah Palin has extensive ties to the Alaskan Independence Party. It's founder, Joe Vogler, once expressed his "hatred for the American government and cursed the American flag as a "damn flag". Where's the outrage? Hey, GOP, how's that for country first? What do you think about the motto of the AIP, "Alaska first, Alaska always?"

Finally, fivethirtyeight.com is currently projecting that Obama will win the election 304-234. These projections do not include MO, FL, MT, or NE. Nebraska you ask, Nebraska? That's right, yesterday Obama was leading in Nebraska.

Vetting Palin

Vetting your VP is like buying a house, you do it slowly and go over everything, twice.

Things that should have come up in the vetting process:

• Federal Earmarks for Wasilla
• Only been to two other countries (no, a stopover in Ireland does not count.)
• pregnant, unwed daughter (I'm not dragging the kid into things, but TELL ME that this wouldn't be all over if it was Obama with the unwed, pregnant daughter)
• "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby" - oh, you're saying she had a CHOICE?
• Troopergate
• Bridge to Nowhere
• Alaska Independence Party

And now, only now does McCain have operatives in Alaska vetting his VP. There's chatter of pulling her as the vp nominee....unfortuntaly for them, the Religious Right LOVES her. I'm thinking they're stuck with her. Stay tuned.