Loose Lips And Fact Free

I'm tired of looking at pictures of Sarah Palin so when I saw this I thought it made a good metaphor. Old Navy man John McCain being the ship. Hahahahaaaa.

Yep. It's all beginning to get to me. I read Bill Crystal's pander to Palin in the New York Times and thought there she goes again!

Crystal was having a little chat with Sarah discussing among other things Obama's associations with Reverend Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers. Now, we knew Wright was going to be resurrected didn't we? Specifically he wanted to know if Wright wasn't in fact the bigger issue because of Obama's closer connection with him.

She had this to say:

"To tell you the truth, Bill, I don’t know why that association isn’t discussed more, because those were appalling things that that pastor had said about our great country, and to have sat in the pews for 20 years and listened to that — with, I don’t know, a sense of condoning it, I guess, because he didn’t get up and leave — to me, that does say something about character..."

Discussed more? Where were you during the primaries, honey? It was beaten to death and then some!

First, it was explained, ad nauseam, that Reverand Wright did not spend every single sermon lambasting America. And, by checking the dates of the offensive sermons against Obama's schedule found his claims that he was not present to be true.

Oh, I'm getting so weary of Ms. Palin playing catch up and in so doing not doing her homework. Attacking Obama's character can be treading on thin ice. There is the Keating Five issue with McCain now getting some play; there is his Brazilian hottie and the treatment of his first wife that are all ripe for exploitation.

As for Palin, it's out there honey - your alleged affair with your husband's one time business partner not to mention hubby's involvement with a secessionist group. If seceding from the United States isn't anti-American I don't know what is!

Oh yeah, it's all out there. The bloggers have been having a field day with it. The main stream press is beginning to pick it up. But don't blame them for gottcha journalism.

Gottcha!

Palin And McCain May Deserve Each Other But Do We Deserve Them?

I knew when I posted last night I did so at great peril. Defending Sarah Palin in any way, shape or form gave me great pause.

Today that feeling of uneasiness proved true. The gloves are off. The dirt is flying. And Sarah, in her own folksy way, is leading the charge with reckless abandon!

According to an AP article on Brietbart she has now accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists"!

Whoa, Nellie! She is, of course, referring to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the radical Weather Underground. When the group was active and taking credit for violence during the Vietnam War era Obama was a child. In time Ayers denounced his own radical activities and is now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Obama served on a charity board with Ayers and has indeed had dealings with Ayers over time. These include serving together on the board of the Woods Fund dedicated to the development of community groups to help the poor and Obama served on the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school reform group that Ayers founded.

If this is a terrorist I'd not mind palling around with him myself!

Ms. Palin had this to say about Obama, " Our opponent is someone who sees America, it seems, as being imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country" and "This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America."

Whoa, again. Back the pony up to the cart! Your view, Ms. Palin, is not how I see America nor how I see Barack Obama.

I could suggest you didn't do your home work on this one or your handlers had so much to feed you they missed this, but I don't think that's the case.

You, Ms. Palin, and John McCain will do anything to turn the tide of this election. You both should be ashamed to have sunk to this low. I hope the American people are beginning to see you as the puppet you have become.

Yes. I'm angry now. You're team isn't resonating, your team is weak on the war, on the economy and on decency. Folksy doesn't cut it when you totally misrepresent your opponent. You degrade yourself, your ticket and your party.

I withdraw my earlier statement about you deserving anything. You owe an apology to Barack Obama and Bill Ayers.

Oh yes, when the dirt is dished about you, don't blame the media. Check under your rug. I understand the pile is getting pretty high.

Trouble In Paradise?

I don't think Sarah Palin is Vice Presidential material. That being said, I resent the fact that she is being used, as a woman, to further John McCain's ambitions. I'm beginning to think that even he doesn't think she measures up but if she can bring in the Christian conservative vote, so what?

This headline, Palin questions McCain's concession of Michigan on Yahoo news caught my eye. I was astounded.

The article reports that Palin only learned of it Friday morning when she read it in the papers! Talk about not being kept in the loop! What an unconscionable slap in the face!

Being the feisty go getter that she is, she had this to say, "Todd and I, we'd be happy to get to Michigan and walk through those plants of the car manufacturers. We'd be so happy to get to speak to the people of Michigan who are hurting because the economy is hurting" and "I want to get back to Michigan and I want to try".

I applaud Sarah Palin for that attitude. Walking away, pulling your ads and reassigning staff because the polls are against you is no way to convince the American public you are concerned about their needs. Only your own.

Governor Palin has been kept on a short leash for good reason. We've seen glimpses of why in her interviews and in the debate. The campaign is doing everything it can to minimize the exposure that showcases her weaknesses and in turn blame what does come through on the evil media.

That may work some of the time but when the Vice Presidential candidate is not informed of a major strategy decision until after the fact, it tells this voter a lot about the character of John McCain and just how Ms. Palin would be used if the team is elected.

I mentioned in my earlier post today how I'm hearing women voicing the feeling of insult and betrayal because this woman was chosen over many more qualified. Well, here's a new reason to feel both emotions. Whether you like Sarah Palin or not, whether you feel she's qualified or not, she deserves better from the man who put her in this position.

Small Town Politicians And Wannabes With Ambition - Beware!

I have often wondered if corruption in government trickles down from the top or begins at the local level and creeps upward. I believe an AP investigation has answered my question.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, we have a very fractured community with a very active watchdog group. While I think their obsession with finding all things wrong is unhealthy for the community, it is also true that they are not always wrong. My major complaint with them is that they never seem to applaud what is right.

That being said, if there are any local politicians with ambitions for higher office, beware. What you do today, how you vote, what the perception is, be it correct or not, in this age of You Tube and blogging it is quite likely to come back to haunt you at the least opportune moment!

Just look at Sarah Palin. Regardless of what the McCain campaign would like us to believe, they did not properly vet her. Had they done so I doubt she would have been chosen regardless of her youth and gender. Ah, yes, her history of small town politics.

Asking for a zoning exception to sell a house, accepting an "awesome" facial, asking for the loosening of rules for a snow machine race at the time she was a co-owner of a store that sold snow machines. These may appear innocuous enough but they lead to a pattern.

Our town is not unlike many others. The movers and shakers public lives intertwine with their private ones. Sometimes it's difficult to separate the political from the personal and this is where the difficulties begin. As our watch dog group points out day in and day out.

There is a lesson to be learned for both sides from what Sarah Palin is now having to endure. If you hold public office and want to climb the ladder you will be under the most invasive of scrutinies. Like going through airport security every moment of you life with your neighbors wielding the wands.

On the other hand, those doing the watching aren't above risking their own perils. Inaccurate accusations, character assassination, grudge bearing and self righteousness can also come back to haunt. Especially if the intent isn't so much for the good of the community as is preached, but an ambition to take the places of those you disparage as you move them out - or they move on up the ladder.

McCain - Savvy Or Scared?

Some of us are old enough to remember back in 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot and Al Haig, his chief of staff, was running around in little tight circles exclaiming, "As of now, I am in control here in the White House."

That's what I'm reminded of as I watch John McCain's posturing. Stop the campaign! Cancel the debate! I'm going to Washington to make sure the bailout is done right! Pretty good for someone who admits he doesn't understand much about economics. When did he take his crash course?

Between Sarah Palin and her quivering non answers to Katy Couric's questions and McCain's "taking charge" antics, this December/May team is really beginning to frighten me. I can't help wondering if cancelling the debate is anything more than a ploy because McCain knows, even though it's to be on foreign policy, Obama will turn every answer into one with an economic edge.

Then what will McCain do when the economic debate comes around? It's another thing to turn each question on this subject into one on foreign policy.

As for Ms. Palin, I keep waiting for her say something other than rehearsed talking points. She is not as articulate nor as quick on her feet as I had expected and I often find myself wondering if in fact she understands the questions. As for her foreign policy experience, I'm not convinced meeting with two world leaders and exchanging chit chat gives her the bona fides the Republicans would have us believe.

I do know posturing doesn't get it done. I waiting to see if either of this team can do more. I'm also not holding my breath.

When Stereotypes Reign We've Got Worries

Truth will out. First Obama wasn't black enough for the black community and now, as I've long suspected, he isn't white enough for the white community. In other words racism still has a stranglehold on the American public.

An AP poll bears this out. In search of why the Presidential race is closer than it should be and if there is indeed latent racism among the voters, these words were tested regarding blacks. Boastful - 22% agreed, violent - 20%, lazy -13 %, irresponsible -11%. Those percentages may not seem high but lumped together with the one quarter of white Democrats who stated, "if only blacks would try harder, they could be just as well off as whites," it does not bode well.

I find a couple of things of interest here. The fact that the thousands of Black Americans who have achieved great success remain under the radar. And the fact that none of the above test words in any way begin to describe Obama, the individual. Until we as a people can get beyond this, all people of color, any color, will continue to wage an uphill battle. The squeaky wheels like Josh Howard of the Mavericks will continue to get the spot light while the exceptionally able like Barack Obama will continue to struggle. It is not an indication that we as a people are making much progress in over coming our prejudices.

The second point that interests me is how this applies to gender. Hillary Clinton broke through so many of those stereotypical barriers in her quest for the nomination, the pendulum named gender has swung the opposite direction. Her success opened the door for a woman who is minimally qualified for the office she has been offered the opportunity to attain.

I conclude from this that had Hillary been the Black, she'd have not even been in the race and had Obama been white it would be all over but the shouting.

What a sorry state of affairs this is!

The Media And Messianic Politics

I browse a lot of the international press websites. There is often information there we do not get in the U.S. as well as a perspective on us that we usually don't have of ourselves. Such is the reason for this post.

I'm hoping this will be one of, if not the, last post I do on Sarah Palin. However, with all the hyperbole regarding Obama's former pastor, Reverend Wright, I find it interesting to learn Ms. Palin also has a rather controversial minister behind her.

First I would like to lay out some speculation. The obvious is, the sooner we quit obsessing over Ms. Palin, the sooner she will go away. John McCain is the Presidential candidate.

Considering how little regard McCain has for the office of Vice President, I do not see Ms. Palin being given much to do after the election. McCain wants it too much to "share" it with his V.P. I would guess he harbors some chauvinistic tendencies that also contribute to this assumption. Therefore, I assume, he is "using" her strictly for political expedience rather than for what she brings to the ticket. He needs the Christian Conservatives and the women who will fall for this ploy.


That being said, the following headline caught my attention on the London Times online site: Palin linked electoral success to prayer of Kenyan witchhunter . The first paragraph reads : "The pastor whose prayer Sarah Palin says helped her to become governor of Alaska founded his ministry with a witchhunt against a Kenyan woman who he accused of causing car accidents through demonic spells."

That should be enough to give you the gist of the story. One can never be sure how much is true but it is worthy of a read and especially a look at the video that is referred to.

I admit I do not relate to the thigh slapping, rapture inspiring rhetoric of a lot of religions. I am more the type who appreciates a greater power by watching the squadrons of geese looking for wintering grounds this time of year. Or my fence line of awesome sunflowers, as big as dinner plates, in full bloom. I left behind the idea, long ago, that faith and doom and gloom are compatible.

Neither is "faith" and political expediency. McCain left behind his Episcopalian faith to become a Baptist. There is nothing wrong with this but I do look at the timing and question why.

Ms. Palin is very open about her faith, but it is important to know what it is that faith espouses. Watch and listen to the video clip. Form your own opinion.

I'm personally very uncomfortable with what I saw and heard. I'm also very uncomfortable with the fact I had to visit a London paper's link to learn of it.