I was talking yesterday after Barack H. Obama became the 44th president of the United States with an elderly friend of mine. My friend, who will turn 86 in a few months, had spent the day with his wife watching every historical moment unfold. When these two people say that they would never have believed this day would come, they say it with some authority. Both children of the depression, they made their way from farms in New Hampshire to the world of education and advertising for her and a Ph.D. in chemistry for him. They have lived all around this country from Texas to New Jersey.

And when I first met them some 24 years ago, they were dyed-in-the-wool lifelong Republicans. Yet in 1992, they voted for Bill Clinton and then again in 1996. And even after the scandals, to this day they think of Clinton as being one of our best presidents. A remarkable political transformation to say the least.

Way back in 2006, when Obama's presidential trial balloon was first floated, I told them that I thought he would not only win the Democratic nomination but also the presidency. They were a little stunned by that possibility. Not that Obama didn't have the ability and brains to be president (which they saw as blessed relief from George Bush whom they loathed) but that a "colored" man could win the presidency. That's right..."colored". That's the word they used and still use even after I have gently chided and corrected them on its non-pc status. But they do not use the word with any semblance of racial prejudice or opprobrium. It's just the only word they know to describe a person of color from their own white upbringing.

As Obama moved from maybe a candidate, to candidate, to Democratic nominee, to President-elect, their respect and admiration grew and grew. And yes they voted for him. But yesterday, as my friend watched the hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Washington to witness this defining moment, he couldn't fully grasp the reasons why so many would be willing to stand for hours in the cold to hear Obama's voice ring out as President for the very first time and even perhaps see him up close.

So I put it into an historical context that I knew he would readily comprehend. I asked him if he remembered as a child the pictures of thousands of men and women standing in endless lines waiting for a cup of soup and a piece of bread. He of course did. "Well", I said, "these people you see today are hungry and starving too. Not for physical sustenance but for spiritual nourishment. They hunger for hope."

Then he understood.

The creature that is now stalking the countryside, laying waste the political landscape and terrifying its citizens, we learn today, is the result of a horrific experiment in human cloning gone disastrously wrong. The creation of which I speak has been named Sarah Palin by her "creator", Karl Rove.

Rove has attempted to create a new and more destructive version of his original experiment that we call George W. Bush. This time around, Dr. Rove has added more diverse and demonic elements to his sulfurous admixture of disparate DNA molecules. Starting with some elements from his original creation, Bush, including its predilection for irrational thought and egomania, Rove has culled new elements from the morally, spiritually, and from one source actually, dead to achieve what he believes to be his finest and ultimate humanoid weapon of mass destruction.

He has taken Dick Cheney's psychotic obsession for secrecy and aggressive behavior, added some of Richard Nixon's paranoia and vengefulness, tossed in some of Phyllis Schlafly's pious self-righteousness, a soupcon of Pat Robertson's God mania, and, in act of personal hubris, added a dollop of his own proclivity for total and utter annihilation of his opponents. Et, voila!...Sarah Palin.

At this point I am sure you are asking yourselves, how do I know all this? Well aside from the ability to see things as they are and not as the Republicans would have me believe them to be, the newly reanimated MSM has begun to break down the various parts of Rove's creation. And today in a New York Times front page article researched and written by Jo Becker, Peter S. Goodman, and Michael Powell, we are given our most in-depth examination to date of what Rove hath wrought upon just one small part of our great nation. And it is terrifying to behold. After reading some of the following excerpts from this exceptional piece of investigative reporting, we can only conclude that we can never allow Rove's creation to spread its path of destruction across the entire country and perhaps the world itself.

"(W)hen there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency."

"When Ms. Palin had to cut her first state budget, she avoided the legion of frustrated legislators and mayors. Instead, she huddled with her budget director and her husband, Todd, an oil field worker who is not a state employee, and vetoed millions of dollars of legislative projects."

"Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials."

"In Wasilla, a builder said he complained to Mayor Palin when the city attorney put a stop-work order on his housing project. She responded, he said, by engineering the attorney’s firing."

"Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy."

"(I)nterviews make clear that the Palins draw few distinctions between the personal and the political."

"For years, social conservatives had pressed the library director to remove books they considered immoral."... “People would bring books back censored,” recalled former Mayor John Stein, Ms. Palin’s predecessor. “Pages would get marked up or torn out.”"

"As she assembled her cabinet and made other state appointments, those with insider credentials were now on the outs. But a new pattern became clear. She surrounded herself with people she has known since grade school and members of her church."

"The Wasilla High School yearbook archive now doubles as a veritable directory of state government. "

"While Ms. Palin took office promising a more open government, her administration has battled to keep information secret. "

"Many lawmakers contend that Ms. Palin is overly reliant on a small inner circle that leaves her isolated. Democrats and Republicans alike describe her as often missing in action. Since taking office in 2007, Ms. Palin has spent 312 nights at her Wasilla home, some 600 miles to the north of the governor’s mansion in Juneau, records show."

"The administration’s e-mail correspondence reveals a siege-like atmosphere. Top aides keep score, demean enemies and gloat over successes. Even some who helped engineer her rise have felt her wrath."

"At a recent lunch gathering, an official with the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce asked its members to refer all calls from reporters to the governor’s office. Dianne Woodruff, a city councilwoman, shook her head. “I was thinking, I don’t remember giving up my First Amendment rights,” Ms. Woodruff said. "

Are you scared yet?

Earlier today, Greg Sargent over at TPM Election Central put up a post about the latest of the McPalin slime machine's ads against Obama. I have no problem with anyone writing about the lies and distortions which have become the hallmark of Rovian politics and are now the sine qua non of the campaign. It's important that we keep up the counter-attack on the forces of non-change and the Republican "Country First". And being aware of their daily attacks is vital.

However, I do have a problem with linking to these pieces of crap. When we do that, we are no better than the MSM who slavishly devote free air time to the non-stop broadcasting of these scurrilous prevarications. The Rovians have spent years conditioning the MSM to give the correct response to their carefully crafted corrupt stimuli. We cannot do the same.

It is clear now with some 57 days or so remaining that playing by the "rules" guarantees failure. We cannot be guilty of aiding and abetting these most loathsome of cynical politicians in the history of our nation. And not only must we stop helping the McPalin campaign, it is time for us to exert as much force and influence on the Obama campaign to come out swinging,

It'a all well a good to have a finely tuned Rapid Response Team. What Obama needs is a Rapid Attack Team.

Earlier today, Greg Sargent over at TPM Election Central put up a post about the latest of the McPalin slime machine's ads against Obama. I have no problem with anyone writing about the lies and distortions which have become the hallmark of Rovian politics and are now the sine qua non of the campaign. It's important that we keep up the counter-attack on the forces of non-change and the Republican "Country First". And being aware of their daily attacks is vital.

However, I do have a problem with linking to these pieces of crap. When we do that, we are no better than the MSM who slavishly devote free air time to the non-stop broadcasting of these scurrilous prevarications. The Rovians have spent years conditioning the MSM to give the correct response to their carefully crafted corrupt stimuli. We cannot do the same.

It is clear now with some 57 days or so remaining that playing by the "rules" guarantees failure. We cannot be guilty of aiding and abetting these most loathsome of cynical politicians in the history of our nation. And not only must we stop helping the McPalin campaign, it is time for us to exert as much force and influence on the Obama campaign to come out swinging,

It'a all well a good to have a finely tuned Rapid Response Team. What Obama needs is a Rapid Attack Team.

If you look through my blog you'll see that I'm not a novice at doing this. But yesterday, the computer gods conspired against me. While attempting to publish my post (in the midst of an horrendous thunderstorm here in the East with some resulting power spikes) I also kept getting an Iternal Server Error message which instructed me to retry. I did and the result was the post and the apology that followed being posted four times. I may like what I write but I'm not that much of an egomaniac. So again, my heartfelt apologies for the disruption this may have caused.

---Thom Rogers

While the Republican party continues to experience the world's longest orgasm over St. John the Insane's "inspired"..."brilliant"..."game-changing"..."maverick" selection of little Sarah Palin, those of us not immediately privy to that political conjugal scene have begun to explore who this gift from the Republican God really is. And naturally the Rovian army of blond-haired, blue-eyed media muggers has been dispatched to eliminate all forms of dissent and opposition.

Following the Karl Rove Handbook of Poisoned Politics (now in its 3rd edition!), they dismiss with impunity any and all inquiries concerning her light-weight political history and instead choose to trumpet her experience as governor. They compare and contrast her 1.75 years of experience as a chief executive and a "commander-in-chief" with the political record of Senator Obama. And in their judgment, Sister Sarah wins that battle hands down. However, that line of argument may not be the best one for the Republicans to pursue. Why? Maybe because of the results of the last governor they foisted on the country eight years ago...George W. Bush.

When "W" was anointed to be the leader of the free world by the Republican party, he came to the job with 5 years of governing experience under his belt. Gee, that's almost three times as much as Sister Sarah! And just like now, the nattering nabobs of negativism (Sidebar: Why is Safire writing a column again in the NY Times?) raised the very same questions about George as they are raising with Sister Sarah...She's too young...She's too inexperienced...She has no foreign relations experience or knowledge (To be fair though, she lives next door to Russia and he lived next door to Mexico)...blahblahblah. What nit-picking! And she's even more experienced than "W" 'cause she's the governor of the largest state in the Union (only in acreage, mind) while he was governor of the second largest. So there.

Why don't we take a look at how well a president who was a governor untutored and inexperienced in the ways of the world has worked out so far?

Let's see...In August of 2001 while on his first of dozens of "working vacations" at his "ranch" in Crawford, W was given specific intelligence that Al Qaeda was planning an attack on the United States and it would probably involve the use of aircraft. Response? Zippo. Result? September 11, 2001.

Seizing upon the attacks of 9/11, W's neocon puppet masters managed to manipulate him into believing Iraq was behind it and needed to be punished. Response? He launched the first war of aggression in United States history. Result(s)? Over 4,100 dead American combat forces, over 30,000 more permanently maimed both physically and mentally, many more times that number of Iraq civilians dead; the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars in the cost of executing this catastrophe; the loss of world-wide respect and honor for the United States; the alienation of our allies; the destruction of the American economy. And at the same time, W allowed the real perpetrators of 9/11 to scurry off into the hills of our great ally Pakistan whose military dictator W deemed to be a "good man". That certainly worked out well for Governor President Bush, didn't it? Oh yeah, he also brought us to the brink of nuclear (nucular) war with North Korea. What a guy!

Moving from one disaster to another, this one not Bush-made, at least not in a causal sense, we come to Hurricane Katrina and the nearly total destruction of a major American city. Once again, Bush heaved himself up from his Lazy-Boy recliner in his den at the ranch and took some time to do a fly-over in Air Force One. There's leadership for you. And Katrina managed to show the American people that not only was he an inept bungler when it came to foreign affairs but he could just as easily fuck up things here at home. And it also high-lighted Bush's unique ability to pick the wrong man or woman for the job every time. Quite a talent. You remember "Heckuva job, Brownie" right?

But poor Brownie was just the part of the iceberg visible to the naked eye. Below him were legions of unqualified political appointees who made up the Bush administration's well-oiled machine of government. And what a stellar array of talent Bush brought with him not only from his days as governor of Texas but the nearly-dead from his father's administration. Ah yes, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Myers, Gonzalez, and so many others who have helped to make America what it is today. And let's not neglect to mention his brilliant appointees to the Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. It finally gave Scalia and Thomas a foursome for bridge.

And how has the former governor of Texas done for the American economy? Well just look around. You might even be one of those Americans who has a lot of unexpected free time having lost your job. Or maybe one of the newly homeless. Or someone so deep in credit card debt that suicide is a daily consideration. Or one of those who has to choose between filling the gas tank or filling your kids stomachs. Heckuva job, Bushie!

I guess we should be troubled by the fact that Governor Palin has had less experience than our current president before taking office. But you know, experience isn't everything.

While the Republican party continues to experience the world's longest orgasm over St. John the Insane's "inspired"..."brilliant"..."game-changing"..."maverick" selection of little Sarah Palin, those of us not immediately privy to that political conjugal scene have begun to explore who this gift from the Republican God really is. And naturally the Rovian army of blond-haired, blue-eyed media muggers has been dispatched to eliminate all forms of dissent and opposition.

Following the Karl Rove Handbook of Poisoned Politics (now in its 3rd edition!), they dismiss with impunity any and all inquiries concerning her light-weight political history and instead choose to trumpet her experience as governor. They compare and contrast her 1.75 years of experience as a chief executive and a "commander-in-chief" with the political record of Senator Obama. And in their judgment, Sister Sarah wins that battle hands down. However, that line of argument may not be the best one for the Republicans to pursue. Why? Maybe because of the results of the last governor they foisted on the country eight years ago...George W. Bush.

When "W" was anointed to be the leader of the free world by the Republican party, he came to the job with 5 years of governing experience under his belt. Gee, that's almost three times as much as Sister Sarah! And just like now, the nattering nabobs of negativism (Sidebar: Why is Safire writing a column again in the NY Times?) raised the very same questions about George as they are raising with Sister Sarah...She's too young...She's too inexperienced...She has no foreign relations experience or knowledge (To be fair though, she lives next door to Russia and he lived next door to Mexico)...blahblahblah. What nit-picking! And she's even more experienced than "W" 'cause she's the governor of the largest state in the Union (only in acreage, mind) while he was governor of the second largest. So there.

Why don't we take a look at how well a president who was a governor untutored and inexperienced in the ways of the world has worked out so far?

Let's see...In August of 2001 while on his first of dozens of "working vacations" at his "ranch" in Crawford, W was given specific intelligence that Al Qaeda was planning an attack on the United States and it would probably involve the use of aircraft. Response? Zippo. Result? September 11, 2001.

Seizing upon the attacks of 9/11, W's neocon puppet masters managed to manipulate him into believing Iraq was behind it and needed to be punished. Response? He launched the first war of aggression in United States history. Result(s)? Over 4,100 dead American combat forces, over 30,000 more permanently maimed both physically and mentally, many more times that number of Iraq civilians dead; the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars in the cost of executing this catastrophe; the loss of world-wide respect and honor for the United States; the alienation of our allies; the destruction of the American economy. And at the same time, W allowed the real perpetrators of 9/11 to scurry off into the hills of our great ally Pakistan whose military dictator W deemed to be a "good man". That certainly worked out well for Governor President Bush, didn't it? Oh yeah, he also brought us to the brink of nuclear (nucular) war with North Korea. What a guy!

Moving from one disaster to another, this one not Bush-made, at least not in a causal sense, we come to Hurricane Katrina and the nearly total destruction of a major American city. Once again, Bush heaved himself up from his Lazy-Boy recliner in his den at the ranch and took some time to do a fly-over in Air Force One. There's leadership for you. And Katrina managed to show the American people that not only was he an inept bungler when it came to foreign affairs but he could just as easily fuck up things here at home. And it also high-lighted Bush's unique ability to pick the wrong man or woman for the job every time. Quite a talent. You remember "Heckuva job, Brownie" right?

But poor Brownie was just the part of the iceberg visible to the naked eye. Below him were legions of unqualified political appointees who made up the Bush administration's well-oiled machine of government. And what a stellar array of talent Bush brought with him not only from his days as governor of Texas but the nearly-dead from his father's administration. Ah yes, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Myers, Gonzalez, and so many others who have helped to make America what it is today. And let's not neglect to mention his brilliant appointees to the Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. It finally gave Scalia and Thomas a foursome for bridge.

And how has the former governor of Texas done for the American economy? Well just look around. You might even be one of those Americans who has a lot of unexpected free time having lost your job. Or maybe one of the newly homeless. Or someone so deep in credit card debt that suicide is a daily consideration. Or one of those who has to choose between filling the gas tank or filling your kids stomachs. Heckuva job, Bushie!

I guess we should be troubled by the fact that Governor Palin has had less experience than our current president before taking office. But you know, experience isn't everything.

While the Republican party continues to experience the world's longest orgasm over St. John the Insane's "inspired"..."brilliant"..."game-changing"..."maverick" selection of little Sarah Palin, those of us not immediately privy to that political conjugal scene have begun to explore who this gift from the Republican God really is. And naturally the Rovian army of blond-haired, blue-eyed media muggers has been dispatched to eliminate all forms of dissent and opposition.

Following the Karl Rove Handbook of Poisoned Politics (now in its 3rd edition!), they dismiss with impunity any and all inquiries concerning her light-weight political history and instead choose to trumpet her experience as governor. They compare and contrast her 1.75 years of experience as a chief executive and a "commander-in-chief" with the political record of Senator Obama. And in their judgment, Sister Sarah wins that battle hands down. However, that line of argument may not be the best one for the Republicans to pursue. Why? Maybe because of the results of the last governor they foisted on the country eight years ago...George W. Bush.

When "W" was anointed to be the leader of the free world by the Republican party, he came to the job with 5 years of governing experience under his belt. Gee, that's almost three times as much as Sister Sarah! And just like now, the nattering nabobs of negativism (Sidebar: Why is Safire writing a column again in the NY Times?) raised the very same questions about George as they are raising with Sister Sarah...She's too young...She's too inexperienced...She has no foreign relations experience or knowledge (To be fair though, she lives next door to Russia and he lived next door to Mexico)...blahblahblah. What nit-picking! And she's even more experienced than "W" 'cause she's the governor of the largest state in the Union (only in acreage, mind) while he was governor of the second largest. So there.

Why don't we take a look at how well a president who was a governor untutored and inexperienced in the ways of the world has worked out so far?

Let's see...In August of 2001 while on his first of dozens of "working vacations" at his "ranch" in Crawford, W was given specific intelligence that Al Qaeda was planning an attack on the United States and it would probably involve the use of aircraft. Response? Zippo. Result? September 11, 2001.

Seizing upon the attacks of 9/11, W's neocon puppet masters managed to manipulate him into believing Iraq was behind it and needed to be punished. Response? He launched the first war of aggression in United States history. Result(s)? Over 4,100 dead American combat forces, over 30,000 more permanently maimed both physically and mentally, many more times that number of Iraq civilians dead; the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars in the cost of executing this catastrophe; the loss of world-wide respect and honor for the United States; the alienation of our allies; the destruction of the American economy. And at the same time, W allowed the real perpetrators of 9/11 to scurry off into the hills of our great ally Pakistan whose military dictator W deemed to be a "good man". That certainly worked out well for Governor President Bush, didn't it? Oh yeah, he also brought us to the brink of nuclear (nucular) war with North Korea. What a guy!

Moving from one disaster to another, this one not Bush-made, at least not in a causal sense, we come to Hurricane Katrina and the nearly total destruction of a major American city. Once again, Bush heaved himself up from his Lazy-Boy recliner in his den at the ranch and took some time to do a fly-over in Air Force One. There's leadership for you. And Katrina managed to show the American people that not only was he an inept bungler when it came to foreign affairs but he could just as easily fuck up things here at home. And it also high-lighted Bush's unique ability to pick the wrong man or woman for the job every time. Quite a talent. You remember "Heckuva job, Brownie" right?

But poor Brownie was just the part of the iceberg visible to the naked eye. Below him were legions of unqualified political appointees who made up the Bush administration's well-oiled machine of government. And what a stellar array of talent Bush brought with him not only from his days as governor of Texas but the nearly-dead from his father's administration. Ah yes, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Myers, Gonzalez, and so many others who have helped to make America what it is today. And let's not neglect to mention his brilliant appointees to the Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. It finally gave Scalia and Thomas a foursome for bridge.

And how has the former governor of Texas done for the American economy? Well just look around. You might even be one of those Americans who has a lot of unexpected free time having lost your job. Or maybe one of the newly homeless. Or someone so deep in credit card debt that suicide is a daily consideration. Or one of those who has to choose between filling the gas tank or filling your kids stomachs. Heckuva job, Bushie!

I guess we should be troubled by the fact that Governor Palin has had less experience than our current president before taking office. But you know, experience isn't everything.

While the Republican party continues to experience the world's longest orgasm over St. John the Insane's "inspired"..."brilliant"..."game-changing"..."maverick" selection of little Sarah Palin, those of us not immediately privy to that political conjugal scene have begun to explore who this gift from the Republican God really is. And naturally the Rovian army of blond-haired, blue-eyed media muggers has been dispatched to eliminate all forms of dissent and opposition.

Following the Karl Rove Handbook of Poisoned Politics (now in its 3rd edition!), they dismiss with impunity any and all inquiries concerning her light-weight political history and instead choose to trumpet her experience as governor. They compare and contrast her 1.75 years of experience as a chief executive and a "commander-in-chief" with the political record of Senator Obama. And in their judgment, Sister Sarah wins that battle hands down. However, that line of argument may not be the best one for the Republicans to pursue. Why? Maybe because of the results of the last governor they foisted on the country eight years ago...George W. Bush.

When "W" was anointed to be the leader of the free world by the Republican party, he came to the job with 5 years of governing experience under his belt. Gee, that's almost three times as much as Sister Sarah! And just like now, the nattering nabobs of negativism (Sidebar: Why is Safire writing a column again in the NY Times?) raised the very same questions about George as they are raising with Sister Sarah...She's too young...She's too inexperienced...She has no foreign relations experience or knowledge (To be fair though, she lives next door to Russia and he lived next door to Mexico)...blahblahblah. What nit-picking! And she's even more experienced than "W" 'cause she's the governor of the largest state in the Union (only in acreage, mind) while he was governor of the second largest. So there.

Why don't we take a look at how well a president who was a governor untutored and inexperienced in the ways of the world has worked out so far?

Let's see...In August of 2001 while on his first of dozens of "working vacations" at his "ranch" in Crawford, W was given specific intelligence that Al Qaeda was planning an attack on the United States and it would probably involve the use of aircraft. Response? Zippo. Result? September 11, 2001.

Seizing upon the attacks of 9/11, W's neocon puppet masters managed to manipulate him into believing Iraq was behind it and needed to be punished. Response? He launched the first war of aggression in United States history. Result(s)? Over 4,100 dead American combat forces, over 30,000 more permanently maimed both physically and mentally, many more times that number of Iraq civilians dead; the expenditure of hundreds of billions of dollars in the cost of executing this catastrophe; the loss of world-wide respect and honor for the United States; the alienation of our allies; the destruction of the American economy. And at the same time, W allowed the real perpetrators of 9/11 to scurry off into the hills of our great ally Pakistan whose military dictator W deemed to be a "good man". That certainly worked out well for Governor President Bush, didn't it? Oh yeah, he also brought us to the brink of nuclear (nucular) war with North Korea. What a guy!

Moving from one disaster to another, this one not Bush-made, at least not in a causal sense, we come to Hurricane Katrina and the nearly total destruction of a major American city. Once again, Bush heaved himself up from his Lazy-Boy recliner in his den at the ranch and took some time to do a fly-over in Air Force One. There's leadership for you. And Katrina managed to show the American people that not only was he an inept bungler when it came to foreign affairs but he could just as easily fuck up things here at home. And it also high-lighted Bush's unique ability to pick the wrong man or woman for the job every time. Quite a talent. You remember "Heckuva job, Brownie" right?

But poor Brownie was just the part of the iceberg visible to the naked eye. Below him were legions of unqualified political appointees who made up the Bush administration's well-oiled machine of government. And what a stellar array of talent Bush brought with him not only from his days as governor of Texas but the nearly-dead from his father's administration. Ah yes, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Myers, Gonzalez, and so many others who have helped to make America what it is today. And let's not neglect to mention his brilliant appointees to the Supreme Court, John Roberts and Samuel Alito. It finally gave Scalia and Thomas a foursome for bridge.

And how has the former governor of Texas done for the American economy? Well just look around. You might even be one of those Americans who has a lot of unexpected free time having lost your job. Or maybe one of the newly homeless. Or someone so deep in credit card debt that suicide is a daily consideration. Or one of those who has to choose between filling the gas tank or filling your kids stomachs. Heckuva job, Bushie!

I guess we should be troubled by the fact that Governor Palin has had less experience than our current president before taking office. But you know, experience isn't everything.

How can we in the Netroots/Blogosphere ever begin to thank you for giving us this wonderful present on your 72nd birthday. And your choice of Sarah Palin is a gift that gives on giving.

One example so far today, courtesy of the Tweety Bird Show on NBC, had his panel of "reporters"/"pundits" revealing three fun facts.

Fun Fact #1: The possible next Vice-President (just one more melanoma away from the presidency) got her first passport ever in 2007 so as Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard she could visit them in Iraq.

Fun Fact #2: The reason they and their fellow poobahs of punditry and noisemen and women are offering positive comments on her selection only because they have to go to the Republican convention and don't want to be shunned.

Fun Fact #3: They are thrilled to death with the choice because after Obama's triumph in Denver they felt doomed to having nothing to hype for the next two months. But luckily they have a brand new fake story to push...unless of course they find Jon Benet Ramsey's killer. That's a game changer for sure.

URGENT UPDATE: Do not watch any of the Sunday morning noisefests unless you have taken your blood pressure meds and have the local Rescue Sqaud on speed dial.

An example; Cookie Roberts on ABC just said that John McCain always knew he'd never be voted Miss Congeniality in the Senate but Sarah Palin in fact was voted Miss Congeniality!...Jesus wept.

John Roberts on CNN just asked whether Joe Biden would have to treat Palin with kid gloves "because she's a woman". Give me a break! The Repugnicans were fully prepared to rip Hillary a new asshole every day of the campaign if she had gotten the nomination. This ain't bean bag kiddos.

The best part though is now we can have "Vote for me because I was a POW and I deserve it and how can you not like a woman with a Downs Syndrome baby?". I tell you these guys are the lowest of the low when it comes to using anything and everything in their desperation to win. I think the voters are going to see right through this one.

Talk about your "inexperienced" and "unprepared to be commander-in-chief". If all he thought he needed was a woman on the ticket he could have chosen Cindy. She's just as qualified. Wait a sec. She's more qualified. At least she's run a major business.

Even Pat Buchanan, the old Nixonian scumbag, said he thought that this was the riskiest VP pick he's ever seen. Well, you know what they say: "These are desperate times, etc, etc".

clipped from www.salon.com

Quarter of Clinton supporters would vote McCain over Obama

Interesting result from a recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: If their favored candidate is not the Democratic nominee, a quarter of Hillary Clinton's primary supporters would defect and vote for John McCain in November, while only 10 percent of Barack Obama's supporters would do the same.

Here's another interesting thing -- the Clinton campaign is promoting this stat, both in an e-mail from spokesman Phil Singer and in an item on its "Delegate Hub" Web site.

Think this the latest poll number? You're wrong. This is from a poll published on March 3, 2008. Surprised? Don't be. The rage in some of Hillary's supporters has been building for quite some time. And it might just sink the Democrats' chances of retaking the White House this year.

And even now with all the troubles facing our country and the world, there are still those who would rather see the policies of George Bush and the Republicans continue for another four years. Astonishing. The level of outrage that some of her supporters have seems to be unassuageable no matter what Obama and the Democratic leaders try to do to mollify them. And to make matters worse, they receive aid and comfort from Bill Clinton himself.

I don't deny their right to be angry or to exercise their constitutional right to vote for whomever they please. But one's outrage at a perceived injustice must be tempered by what's best for our country. To help elect John McCain out of spite is irrational and seemingly unmindful of the dire consequences that would befall not only our country but directly impact their own lives.

Four more years of Bush/McCain rule would mean four more years of endless war and conflict.

Four more years of Bush/McCain would mean more dead soldiers.

Four more years of Bush/McCain would mean more of our young men and women returning home with their minds and bodies permanently shattered.

Four more years of Bush/McCain would mean more of the trigger-happy approach to foreign policy and world conflicts.

Four more years of Bush/McCain would mean America sinking deeper and deeper into debt with our national IOU being held by China.

Four more years of Bush/McCain would mean four more years wasted in the search for solutions to our energy crisis.

Four more years of Bush/McCain would mean more Supreme Court appointments like Roberts and Alito.

Four more years of Bush/McCain would mean the possible end of a woman's right to chose.

We don't have the luxury of waiting four more years. The time is now. Our country is in peril. And only we Democrats, united, can stop the four more years.

By now most Americans have heard about John McCain's inability to answer a question about how many homes he and his wife own. (Obamans say eight, McCainiacs say four). The overall response especially by Obama's campaign is to take that as just another sign of how out of touch McCain is with the average American. They couple that with McCain's response to Pastor Rick Warren's asking him to define rich and he flippantly said "5 Million?". Some find McCain's "gaffes" humorous. Some find them sad. I find them deeply troubling.

I've written about this before and will keep writing about it until I finally see some major media type or blogger confront the issue head on. I am referring to McCain's current mental state. The major media wait with breathless anticipation for the candidates' health reports. And then they will pore over them in minute detail for the slightest hint of a looming medical issue. But none, none of them ever addresses the mental health of the candidate. And if there even are some sort of mental ability and psychological tests run on them those tests are never discussed and their results never revealed.

Let's face facts here. McCain has at the moment a 50/50 chance of being elected the next president. His recent spate of "gaffes", "mis-statements", and general overall public performances seem to indicate a decreasing level of mental dexterity and acuity.

His misstatement of facts such as Iran training al Qaida forces, not knowing the difference between Sunni and Sh'ia, referring to the shared border between Iraq and Pakistan are certainly troubling in someone who claims have foreign policy expertise. The problems become even more amplified when he is not in a totally scripted and controlled environment. In the news conference format or the town hall setting his inability for rapid coherent responses are greatly diminished. Most of the time, he will respond to an un-anticipated question by offering an aphorism or anecdote in response. Yet even with the aid of a teleprompter McCain stumbles and lurches. And his little facial tics, inappropriate smiles, and grimaces certainly don't help.

The problem has become so great that his campaign has ruled out any news conferences for the foreseeable future and have limited the press's access to the candidate. Moreover, they have found themselves to be issuing corrections and amendations to his various statements on almost a daily basis. If we give him the benefit of the doubt and attribute all of these things to the stress of the campaign then what does that imply for the how he will function in the most stressful job in the world?

Maybe someday soon, someone in the "mainstream media" will have the balls to raise this issue but I won't hold my breath. He's not just kindly old gramps just have one of his funny turns. He is the man who wants to be our next president and leader of the free world. Scares me. Does it scare you?

One of the favorite rhetorical devices that candidates running for the presidency like to use is to compare themselves to some former president, usually of the same party, in hopes that whatever favorable image Americans have of that past president will rub off on them. For the Democrats it's normally FDR and JFK. For the Republicans it's Lincoln and Reagan. It dawned on me that there is a former Republican president who almost no candidate uses as an exemplar of how he would be as president and that is Dwight David Eisenhower.

One would think that any Republican candidate worthy of the name would rush to embrace Eisenhower's biography and accomplishments. Here we have a General of the Army (the rank of 5 stars awarded only in war time) who coordinated the combined efforts of the U.S. and her allies in defeating the Germans in WWII. He then went on to become the thirty-fourth president of the United States. During his two terms in office, he brought America back to a peace time status and oversaw one of the largest economic booms in U.S. history while at the same time maintaining a fragile peace in the world in spite of the constant threat of Soviet expansion.

In addition, he managed to help enact the federal bill which brought about the creation of the interstate highway system in America. He vigorously supported and executed the decision of the Supreme Court in 1954 in Brown v Board of Education of Topeka which effectively began the dismantling of the policy of segregation in education. And he established the eponymous Eisenhower Doctrine which defined the role of the U.S in protecting its interests in the Middle East. The consequences of which we see writ large in today's world.

With all that under his belt, why isn't he lionized by Republican presidential candidates? To use a sports analogy, Eisenhower dropped the ball at the one yard line. In the last speech of his presidency on January 17, 1961, he took the opportunity to worn the country of a threat from within to its economic and national security. He saw this threat the result of what he termed the "military-industrial complex" His exact words were: "We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." And with those words, Eisenhower committed the unpardonable sin. He told the truth.

Unfortunately, Eisenhower's words were too little and too late. That "complex" by 1961 was firmly established and embedded in America. The huge machine of war time production of materiel and services which was created during World War II not only established America's preeminence in the field but also made many men very very rich. And these men were determined not to let the end of the war and the hopes for peace stand in their way. Think of it as the world's largest corporation something like War, Inc. And the Republican party quickly became its wholly-owned subsidiary. Which is why Eisenhower is shunned.

Which brings us now to Senator John McCain, the very embodiment of the modern "military-industrial complex". Bolstered and underwritten by a highly efficient and well-organized political machine which draws most of its financial support from that complex, McCain has made war and the threats of war the centerpiece of his campaign. Why when all the polls say that Americans are sick of the war in Iraq and want us out? How can that plan possibly succeed?

Because the use of fear still works along with the terrorism card. If you doubt it, just look at the polls. Ever since the little set-to between Russia and Georgia, McCain has seen his numbers rise while Obama's have dropped. It's a rather brilliant strategy actually. The complex has made all that it can out of Iraq so they need to find a new market for their goods and services. And the Russians handed it to them on a silver platter. And just to make sure that the heightened level of tension between the U.S. and Russia doesn't diminish, we have Condi Rice arming Poland with our missiles.

It's tailor-made for the old war hero, John McCain, to come charging in on his white horse to save the day. After all, we can't rely upon someone so untested and inexperienced as Barack Obama to protect us. The Democrats have become the modern embodiment of the "myth of Sisyphus". Every four years, we push that same boulder up the mountain only to have it roll back down just before we reach the top. And if, as I fear, that when I turn on the TV on Wednesday morning, November 5 only to see John McCain's face grinning back at me, I will be out of the boulder pushing biz for good.