Palin & McCain Blocking 'Troopergate' Investigation

So this is how the 'reform-minded' Palin operates? Palin who initially welcomed the investigation, saying "hold me accountable," is now trying to delay the investigation until after the election is over. The McCain campaign said on Monday that Palin, who was not subpoenaed, was unlikely to cooperate.

For someone who proclaims she has nothing to hide, she's acting as if there's an awful lot to hide. Yeah, she's just the person to clean up Washington.

The best line on the whole situation was from Democratic state Sen. Kim Elton who is chairperson of the Legislative Council that is overseeing the investigation. Contending the deal had been broken, Elton said, "Bluntly, I feel like Charlie Brown after Lucie moved the football."

Perhaps the McCain campaign should change their slogan "Election first, truth second".

Read more on Yahoo News

A few more fibs from Palin Convention Speech

OK, I'm sure many of you have seen these, but just in case you didn't:

• "I sold it [private jet] on eBay". Well not exactly. Give her credit, she had it listed on eBay for $2.7M. But when the Alaskan government didn't get a bid that met the minimum they were looking for, they went to a private broker who sold the plane for $2.1M. Now forgetting about how whether or not she lost money on the transaction, does she not know the difference between listing an item for sale and actually selling it? It made a great sound bite and made her look hip to technology, but it just flat isn't true.
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• Fiscal Disciplinarian. She wants you to think that she hews to fiscally conservative Republican principles, but she doesn't really score that well there either. As Governor she was able to deliver a surplus due to higher oil revenues resulting from record oil prices and levying her own version of 'windfall profits' taxes on the oil companies operating in Alaska. This is the same kind of 'windfall taxes' that she and the other Republicans consider anathema when proposed by Obama.

There's a good article on Palin's performance as Governor in the Boston Globe called "A forceful, but narrow agenda". Take a read.

Politicians Never Learn: The Truth is Out There

No, this has nothing to do with aliens (why in God's name are they making an X-Files movie now anyway?).

I'm continuously amazed that politicians say things publically that aren't true. It's as if they think that nothing they ever say or do has been recorded or documented in someway. And have they not heard of Google? That's how reporters do their research today.

Anyway, one of Sarah Palin's best lines Wednesday night had to do with the boondoggle called the Gravina Island Bridge -- more famously is known as the "Bridge to Nowhere", reviled as the worst example of pork-barrel politics. Let's not forget that this was pushed through Congress by Alaska's Republican delegation, led by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) who threatened to quit if the funding was pulled.

In her speech Palin boasted that one of her great achievements as a reformer and fiscal leader was to kill of the ill-conceived project, proclaiming that she "...championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress...I told Congress, 'thanks, but no thanks,' on that bridge-to-nowhere." Oh really.

First of all, when running for Governor she was an advocate for the Bridge. And only when the funding was cut off by Congress did she abandon the project. According to a press release from her own office she stated:

“Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer,” said Governor Palin. “Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,” Governor Palin added.
-- State of Alaska, Governor's Office, Press Archive
September 21, 2007

And what's worse, according to CBS News, Palin kept all $233M in federal funds that had already been appropriated for the project and had it allocated to other transportation projects in the state.

So is this really the kind of change she's going to bring to Washington? For all those that think her to be naive, she seems to know all the ropes already.

GOP Wants it Both Ways on Preggo Palin Teen

Hands off Bristol Palin. Too bad that no one told that to Levi Johnston 5 months ago.

Well that's at least what the GOP wants from the media, unless it suits their purposes.

While Republicans continue to show outrage at teen pregnancies in the inner cities or in Hollywood, somehow little Bristol Palin gets a pass. Is it because he family is rich (or at least now famous) enough for her to not have to worry about ruining her life? Or is it just that it's a better story to talk about the courageous choice she is making in keeping the baby and getting married before her 18th birthday. Any other 17 year old girl, in almost any other family and she's trailer-trash and the poster child for irresponsibility. Now she's the poster child for the "Right-to-lifer's" and the un(sex)-educated. How's that position on teaching abstinence working for you now?

Here's a link to a great article about the GOP's double-standard regarding the Palin familty situation by the Associated Press (that despicable tool of the liberal elite media) as it appeared in the NY Daily News.

Was that Sarah Palin or Rob Schneider?

Just catching up on a few thoughts.

I love how even when trying to show how inclusive and progressive the GOP is by making the bold move of putting a woman on the ticket, they still can't shake their misogynistic roots. There were a number of signs saying "Coldest State, Hottest Governor" and a great shot caught by CNN showing an old guy wearing a button that read "Hoosiers for the Hot Chick".

I mean I've heard of pandering to the base, but perhaps it was Palin's good looks, not her ultra-conservative values that were the biggest present to the GOP base.

But I can envision a great SNL skit featuring Rob Schneider, reprising his role as "The Hot Chick", impersonating Palin.

Sarah Palin: A Bridge to Nowhere

John McCain has really lost the right to proclaim himself a "maverick". I know he's saying that he didn't choose the safe pick when he announced Sarah Palin as his VP on the ticket ahead of Romney, Pawlenty and Ridge. He even went as far to say that this pick was made on his gut, not on the polls. But I've got to call "Bullshit" on this one. The political calculus here is so obvious.

I'm sure that there are many good attributes in Mrs. Palin's favor, but this is the most obvious case of pandering to a number of constituencies, not least of all the disaffected Hillary voters who feel that the Hill-dog got mis-treated in the Democratic primaries. Palin is supposed to be the:

Bridge to Women Voters: The ultimate pander. In the wake of Obama's victory over Hillary, McCain did everything he could to court the 18 million people who voted for Hillary. Now he took the 'daring' step to bring a woman onto his ticket as VP. But once these female democratic voters start to see some of Palin's positions -- e.g. hard-core Pro-Life and lifetime NRA member -- I don't think the average 'soccer mom' will connect with this particular 'average hockey mom'.

Bridge to the Future: Yeah, McCain is the old guy. He doesn't come across as hip or knowledgeable about any technology invented after 1982. So while people like Bobby Jindal (R-GOV LA) and Tim Pawlenty (R-GOV MN) were in the mix, they had that extra Y chromasome that knocked them out of the running. But Palin's youth and inexperience (2 years as governor of the least populated state and 2 terms of Mayor of a town of 9,000 people; I realize I'm glossing over her run as sports reporter) will blunt McCain's position that Obama is too inexperienced to be President -- especially since at 72, being "one heartbeat away from the presidency" never felt so close

Bridge to Conservative Voters: This one he got right. I do not doubt that in the coming weeks you will hear a lot about the truly heart-wrenching story (no sarcasm intended) of her choice to continue with the pregnancy of her son Trig even though she knew he would be born with Down's Syndrome. It was no shocker that Dr. James Dobson was one of the first to praise her selection. And her other positions on gun control (or lack thereof) and offshore drilling will certainly thrill the conservative base.

But in the end, she will be a Bridge to Nowhere, much like Senator Ted Stevens' (R-AK) misguided project to build a $350M bridge to connect 4 seals to 3 polar bears.

Now the upside from the selection for me is that I think the late night talk show hosts should have a lot of good material to work with. There is no doubt that Jon Stewart will comment on Palin's relative hot-ness in the political world. I mean this is the guy that made a joke about spying a Merkel camel toe in a picture at a G-8 meeting. A few other potential jokes I expect to hear (all of which are terrible. read at your own risk. please play mental rim shot in your head at the end):

Yes, Sarah Palin is immensely popular in Alaska. She has the caribou vote all wrapped up

Sarah Palin will be very comfortable in the White House. After all she grew up in one herself...but it was called an igloo.