Selected News For Sep 20 – Sep 26

83 Responses to “Selected News For Sep 20 – Sep 26”

1. BillK

   September 22, 2008 at 2:07 am

   An editorial from our friends at the very far left Madison, WI Capital Times:

   Women are on to Palin

   One week ago, after the Republican National Convention had nominated John McCain and Sarah Palin, the Republican ticket enjoyed a 53 percent to 34 percent lead among white women over Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden, according to polling conducted for CBS and the New York Times. The theory was that Palin, the first woman nominated for vice president by the Republicans, was winning women over to the GOP.

   What a difference a week can make.

   The new CBS/New York Times poll now has the Obama/Biden ticket leading among white women by a 47-45 margin.

   That’s a 13 point jump for the Democrats, and it has radically shifted the character of the race for the presidency.

   Where a week ago, the average of national polls had the McCain/Palin ticket leading by almost three points, the Obama/Biden ticket is now up by two points.

   And the momentum is entirely in the Democratic direction.

   Consider the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll.

   One week ago, the Gallup had the Republicans ahead 48-44.

   Now the Democrats are up 48-44.

   Translation: Obama, who has been gaining a point in the polls each day since Monday — the day when the economy became the issue — has reversed McCain’s lead.

   The Gallup Survey is not an anomaly.

   The aforementioned CBS/New York Times poll has Obama up by five points. That means that, in this survey, Obama now enjoys the same level of support he did immediately after the Democratic National Convention.

   The new Quinnipiac poll, echoing the Gallup and CBS surveys, puts Obama up by four points overall.

   In each survey, the movement to the Democrats is most dramatic among white women — the group that Sarah Palin was supposed to be drawing into the Republican camp.

   What’s up with Palin? The governor’s overall favorable rating has fallen to just 40 percent in the CBS/New York Times survey — down four points from last week. Palin’s unfavorable rating is up eight points to 30 percent. But the shift is even more dramatic among women, with whom Palin’s star has fallen 11 points in one week.

   http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/305739

   Amazing how last week the left and MSM were running around saying polls didn’t matter.

   Yet this week, polls mean everything.

   Palin is obviously failing, yet the attempts to smear her continue full-bore.

   Hmmm…

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2. BillK

   September 22, 2008 at 2:15 am

   The State of Wisconsin, despite their complaints, must have tons of extra money, judging from their actions.

   From the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal:

   State may fund teaching Indian languages

   By Jason Stein

   When teachers of the state’s native languages want a children’s book, some of them end up pasting a translation over the words of a book in English.

   Now Wisconsin’s top schools official wants to give them help developing materials and even hiring staff by reviving a long-standing but now ended state program for American Indian languages.

   The proposal by state schools Superintendent Libby Burmaster comes at a critical time. Native languages have come to the edge of extinction here but a handful of tribal pioneers are also having their first success in teaching the languages to children in more than a generation. Speaking after her annual State of Education address on Thursday, Burmaster said the initiative could also help boost the lagging academic achievement of tribal students by strengthening their connection to their schools.

   “Every child really wants to know where they came from and what’s the history of their parents and their grandparents and their community and so I think it does contribute to the growth of the child and that will foster their ability to achieve,” Burmaster said of tribal language programs. …

   http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/305864

   Children can learn “where they come from” without needing to be taught their “native” language in public school.

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3. BillK

   September 22, 2008 at 2:23 am

   Today’s anti-Palin article from the Los Agneles Times:

   Alaskans angered that Palin is off-limits

   Queries are directed through the McCain campaign machine. Her political capital at home is eroding.

   By Kim Murphy

   ANCHORAGE — Jerry McCutcheon went to Sarah Palin’s office here last week to request information about the firing of former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, the scandal that for weeks has threatened to overshadow the governor’s role as Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate.

   McCutcheon was given a phone number in Virginia to call: the national headquarters of the McCain-Palin campaign.

   Why, he wanted to know, did he have to call a campaign office 4,300 miles away to find out what was going on in Alaska government? The longtime civic activist phoned his local state representative, Les Gara, who quickly filed a protest.

   These days, many such queries about Monegan — or anything else involving Palin’s record as governor — get diverted to McCain staffers. A former Justice Department prosecutor from New York flew in recently to advise the governor’s lawyer and field reporters’ calls about Monegan. Soon after, Palin’s willingness to cooperate in the Legislature’s probe of the affair ended.

   A recent call to John Cramer, the head of the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs — who clashed with Palin during her years as mayor of Wasilla — was returned by a McCain campaign operative who had just arrived from Washington, D.C. “John who?” she asked.

   In stubbornly independent Alaska, the sudden intrusion of a political campaign into so many corners of state government — not to mention Wasilla, where a dozen or more campaign researchers and lawyers have also begun overseeing the release of any information about Palin’s years as mayor — has touched a raw nerve. McCain staffers have even been assigned to answer calls for Palin’s family members, who have been instructed not to talk.

   “Why did the McCain campaign take over the governor’s office?” the Anchorage Daily News demanded in an editorial Saturday. “Is it too much to ask that Alaska’s governor speak for herself, directly to Alaskans, about her actions as Alaska’s governor?”

   The partisan spillover of the presidential campaign into the statehouse, political analysts here say, now threatens Palin’s most powerful political capital in Alaska: her commitment to transparency, her willingness to forge bipartisan alliances with Democrats to advance her legislative agenda, and her battle to upend the good ol’ boy network.

   “Is this going to dilute her image as a maverick who will clean out the rascals from their perches of power, when she herself cannot tolerate questions into her behavior, investigations into the firing of a public safety commissioner?” said Gerald McBeath, political science professor at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

   Palin, he said, is “still popular” in Alaska, “but she is not beloved. And there’s a difference between the two. She’s getting a lot more criticism at the state level as a result of her vice presidential candidacy.” …

   http://www.latimes.com/news/pr.....8051.story

   Because questions about Bill Clinton’s governorship of Arkansas didn’t go through his campaign office when he was running.

   Because questions about McCain’s, Obama’s or Biden’s senatorial records don’t get run through their campaign offices, either.

   So a liberal activist calls to get information about a non-story the left is trying to spin up into a scandal and is told that such queries must go through the campaign, and this means Alaskans now hate their Governor.

   Yeah.

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4. BillK

   September 22, 2008 at 2:30 am

   If you hadn’t heard, Woody Allen’s rush into insignificance continues.

   From the Los Angeles Times:

   Woody Allen says an Obama loss would be ‘terrible’, a ‘disgrace’ to the US

   Adding to the increasingly heavy Hollywood pile-on, Woody Allen has come out for Barack Obama.

   And the award winning writer/director/actor of comedy classics such as “Annie Hall,” “Manhattan,” says it won’t be funny if Barack Obama fails to win the presidential seat.

   “It would be a disgrace and a humiliation if Barack Obama does not win,” Allen told journalists at the ongoing 56th San Sebastian film festival, where his latest film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” is screening.

   “It would be a very, very terrible thing for the United States in many, many ways. It would be a terrible thing if the American public was not moved to vote for him, that they actually preferred more of the same.”

   Obama, Allen said, is “so much better” than Republican rival John McCain, and “represents a huge step upward from (the) incompetence and misjudgment” of the Bush administration.

   Just so happens that Scarlett Johansson, who co-stars in Allen’s new film, is also a bigtime Obama supporter. And her brother works for his campaign.

   Also on the Obama bandwagon, Spanish-born Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas, who told festival press that he’s backing Obama for the sake of his daughter, even though he is not a US citizen and cannot vote.

   Guess that means his wife Melanie Griffith may also be for Obama.

   That’s three more stars to add to the BO list: Oprah, Matt Damon, Margaret Cho, LIndsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson, Jennifer Aniston, Robert DeNiro, Chris ‘Rock, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel Jackson, George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Cloris Leachman, Jennifer Garner, Pamela Anderson, and Pink,

   http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedishrag/

   Seriously – is there a celebrity that is stumping for Obama other than Oprah that does not live a in some way dysfunctional life?

   In this case we have Woody “hey, she’s my adopted daughter, so who cares if we’re having sex” Allen telling us what would or would not be good for the United States.

   You’ll pardon me if I don’t take your advice as gospel.

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5. BillK

   September 22, 2008 at 3:15 am

   A socialist takeover of financial institutions?

   Oh no you don’t, not without real socialist programs as well.

   From the “laying of even more staff” McClatchy News Service

   $700 billion bailout deal stalls as Paulson, Democrats argue over help for ordinary citizens

   Democrats want help for ordinary citizens, cap on execs’ pay; Paulson doesn’t

   By Kevin G. Hall

   WASHINGTON — President Bush’s $700 billion rescue plan for Wall Street ran into trouble Sunday as Democrats insisted on provisions for struggling homeowners and limits on CEO pay that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson opposes.

   With the cost of the proposed bailout effort equal to about $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States, Democrats began pushing for language in the rescue plan that would steer additional aid to homeowners struggling to stay in their homes and prevent foreclosures.

   But Paulson, making the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows, insisted that the issue has already been addressed through administration and congressional efforts already under way. Congress should pass the legislation the administration seeks, he said.

   “What I am saying is we need this to be clean, and we need to be quick” in passing it, Paulson said on ABC’s Sunday morning talk show This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

   The issue of CEO pay on Wall Street has been a controversial one, especially after the chiefs of Citigroup and Merrill Lynch both exited late last year as problems mounted in the financial sector. They left with compensation packages worth tens of millions of dollars, and several months later American taxpayers are being asked to clean up the mess.

   Recognizing the growing public anger, Paulson told ABC that it was appropriate to limit the perks and pay of the departing heads of mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Those two government-chartered private companies were seized by Treasury on Sept. 6, and since they are now in government hands it is appropriate to limit compensation, he said.

   But Paulson made it clear that under the administration’s current plan, the government would not be taking over additional firms, just assuming the risk of their bad securities.

   That, too, is being challenged by Democrats, who are seeking that the government receive stock warrants or some similar sweetener that ensures that there is windfall to the U.S. Treasury in exchange for the risk of taking on bad assets. These warrants are being sought by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

   So not only do we have to bail out banks that gave loans to people who didn’t deserve them due to liberal policies, we of course need to pay for the people whose defaults cause the banks to have issues. …

   http://www.dailycamera.com/new.....al-stalls/

   Let’s just go whole hog and have the Federal government just give people free houses.

   Of course we need to limit CEO perks now, now that Franklin Raines and his haul are out (and of course will remain unmentioned when talking about “out of control” CEO pay.)
   But then the Democrats would demand federally subsidized cable TV, painting services, lawn mowing… you get the idea.

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6. BillK

   September 22, 2008 at 5:52 am

   From LA Observed:

   Tina Fey won Emmy awards for acting, writing and being one of the executive producers on “30 Rock,” which got the trophy for outstanding comedy series. Fey then took a shot at Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who she nailed with a satirical impersonation on SNL a week ago: “I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5. So, if anyone can help me be done playing this lady, that would be good for me.

   http://www.laobserved.com/arch.....e_pack.php

   I’ll be more than happy to help, Tina.

   In fact, aside from ignoring SNL, thanks for freeing me up from having to spend time watching 30 Rock this fall as well.

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7. BillK

   September 22, 2008 at 11:46 am

   A Democratic candidate “inspires” an SNL sketch critical of the opposing party.

   No conflict of interest, right?

   From a “Oh, isn’t that funny?” AP:

   Franken advises ‘SNL’ on sketch ridiculing McCain

   MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Senate candidate Al Franken provided his old “Saturday Night Live” boss with the inspiration for a comedy sketch that lampooned Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

   Franken served as a writer and performer on the longtime NBC comedy hit from its founding in 1975 to 1980, and again from 1985 to 1995. Franken, who grew up in Minnesota, has since returned to the state and is running as the Democratic challenger to Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

   Franken had a phone conversation last week with SNL creator Lorne Michaels, his campaign spokeswoman Colleen Murray said Sunday. She described the talk as two friends of more than 30 years catching up, and she said Franken told Michaels about his experiences on the campaign trail.

   In relating a story about recording campaign commercials, Franken noted how all political candidates must say they “approve this message” in their ads – and editorialized that he thought it must be a difficult task for McCain, whom many Democrats and pundits have accused of leveling dishonest charges against Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

   In the sketch, which led Saturday night’s show, McCain is played by “SNL” veteran Darrell Hammond. While recording campaign commercials, McCain is forced to say that he “approves this message” over a series of increasingly vicious and ludicrous attacks against Obama.

   Not long after the conversation between Franken and Michaels, “SNL” head writer Seth Meyers contacted Franken and they spoke briefly about the idea, the campaign said. Franken was not involved in writing any of the specifics of the skit, Murray said.

   “Lorne Michaels decided Al’s real-life experience was funny, and it became an accidental inspiration for a comedy sketch” Murray said.

   A spokesman for NBC did not immediately return a call Sunday from The Associated Press. A spokesman at McCain’s Minnesota office said the campaign did not have any comment on the sketch or Franken’s involvement in it.

   But Coleman’s campaign jumped all over the news, citing Franken’s involvement as evidence to support Minnesota Republicans’ argument that the Democrat’s career in comedy and history of sometimes stinging satire make him a bad fit for the U.S. Senate.

   “Once again he proves he’s more interested in entertainment than service, and ridiculing those with whom he disagrees,” Coleman’s campaign manager, Cullen Sheehan, said in a statement.

   http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....NIGHT_LIVE

   Remind me again of why we supposedly need the “Fairness Doctrine?”

   Meanwhile, no discussion of how Obama apparently has no morals given the cr*p he’s “approved” including blatant lies about comments by Rush Limbaugh?

   Or that Republicans, not his financial advisor, are responsible for the mess at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

   Or how his party’s mob-like tactics (We suggest you loan to these unqualified people or there may be consequences) largely caused the current financial mess?

   No, Obama can just blame the GOP, and that isn’t “dirty campaigning.”

   Nor is not saying a single word decrying the hacking of Palin’s email account.

   Nope, that’s just “good political campaigning.”

   I can hardly wait to hear what inspired the show’s sketch implying Todd Palin is guilty of incest.

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8. clifcrds

   September 22, 2008 at 12:57 pm

   Jawa Report Investigates Obama’s Astoturfing Of Palin

   Today, the Jawa Report observes — in a lengthy, well-documented article — that at least one of the viral videos carrying a proven false rumor about Palin (that she belonged to an Alaskan separatist movement) was professionally prepared by a p.r. firm linked to the Obama campaign,

   …the ad, while professionally produced, was put on YouTube and then spread in such a way as to make it seem like amateurs had made it and spread it. We can’t help but wonder if the missing disclaimer on the video was an intentional exploitation of a loophole meant to distance the people behind the ad from its outright lies?

   We also can’t help but wonder if maybe those who produced the ad believed that the lack of disclaimer constituted an FEC violation? Which would be an alternative explanation for why they did not wish to be connected to it.

   Beyond the disclaimer, though, our reading of FEC regulations suggests that political campaign and 527 groups, such as Moveon.org, are required to report money spent on advertising opposing a candidate for public office. We can find no exception for advertising intended for web only campaigns.

   We assume that if some group paid for the production of the video, that it would be reported to the FEC. Not doing so, we believe, would constitute a breach of federal campaign law.

   http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/194057.php

   Not only does it seem that a professional P.R. firm linked to Obama prepared the ad, but the site details persuasive evidence that key members of that same firm, posing as members of the public used sock puppets (made up online personae, to spread the video far and wide (make it go “viral”).

   Rusty also has evidence, which he details, that the firm used its facilities to produce the video and that a voice over artist used before by David Axelrod, Obama’s campaign adviser and a professional specializing in astroturfing, was involved in the production of the video.

   Very Interesting

   This very exhaustive report ties Obama’s campaign manager to using YouTube to propagate lies about Sarah Palin. What was Obama’s campaign slogan . . . “Change”? Dosen’t look like any change from a typical lieing liberal socialist to me.

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9. RightWinger

   September 22, 2008 at 1:08 pm

   That Jawa Report and the others invovled did a great job of exposing that. How everybody got fingered just shows how arrogant those people are. Using “eswinner” (amongst others sued) as the name of an unbiased, non-partisan observer??? Amongt other things. They must have thought they were so clever and smart that nobody could put 2+2 together. That is arrogance.

   Of course there should be an investigation by the FEC, but since these are Demorats involved, it will not go anyplace. Of course their defense will be that this was all a very childish frame-up job orchestrated by Karl Rove, that magnificent bastard!

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10. BillK

    September 22, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    Update on the Palin hacking, from Fox News:

    Warrant Served on Residence of College Student in Palin E-Mail Hack

    The FBI has served a search warrant against a 20-year-old college student in connection with the hacking of Sarah Palin’s personal e-mail account.

    A witness told WBIR-TV that FBI agents served the warrant at the college residence of David Kernell, a student at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Kernell is the son of Mike Kernell, a Democratic state representative from Memphis.

    The FBI and Secret Service launched a formal investigation on Sept. 17 into the hacking of one of Palin’s Yahoo! e-mail accounts. Yahoo! declined to comment Sept. 18 on details of the investigation, citing Palin’s privacy and the sensitivity of such investigations.

    A Department of Justice spokesman told WBIR-TV that there has been “investigatory activity” in Knoxville regarding the investigation. A witness told the station that several agents arrived at Kernell’s apartment complex early Sunday morning.

    A witness told the station they took photos inside Kernell’s apartment and that his three roommates were subpoenaed to testify this week in Chattanooga.

    The hacker who compromised Palin’s account used Ctunnel.com, an Internet proxy site, which renders Web users anonymous, to get into Palin’s e-mail. The site is run by Gabriel Ramuglia, 25, a Web developer from Athens, Ga., who said the hacker left behind revealing clues after posting screen grabs of Palin’s inbox.

    Ramuglia said he saw the screenshots and recognized his site. He is now working with the FBI to provide agents with his business logs to help identify the criminal.

    “I should be able to find out who is involved by going through my logs,” he said. “The FBI called me last night and they wanted to know that the logs weren’t deleted — as long as they weren’t deleted — and they asked me to help, so I’m downloading them.”

    Ramuglia said the FBI told him they also reached out to Yahoo! to ask for help. The hope is that information from Yahoo! can be matched with something in the proxy site’s logs, identifying the hacker. The logs from both Ctunnel.com and Yahoo! were to be delivered to the FBI last week, Ramuglia said.

    “As long as they didn’t use a second proxy, I should be able to find them,” Ramuglia said. “I don’t think they were careful enough to do that.”

    There is widespread speculation about who was behind the attack and what the motivation was.

    Jose Nazario, a senior security engineer with Arbor Networks Inc., said he knows “through personal contacts” that members of the group Anonymous were involved in the Palin e-mail attack.

    He said Anonymous is a loose network of a few dozen people who live in the United States and abroad and range from teenagers to 30-year-olds who share what he said is a “sociopathic sense of humor.”

    “Anonymous sort of takes pride in doing this publicly and pissing people off. There are other groups that do this, but they aren’t as public about it,” Nazario said.

    The confession read: “i am the lurker who did it, and i would like to tell the story.” It continued to say that what started as a prank was cut short because of panic over the possibility the FBI might investigate, the hacker wrote. …

    http://elections.foxnews.com/2.....mail-hack/

    Unfortunately in cases like this, proof will be very, very hard to find.

    Even if all the IP addresses point to a person, you still need to prove the computer’s owner was actually responsible; all Kernell would have to say is that he let “another guy in the dorm” use his computer or that “my PC was hacked” and he’s off the hook unless say the FBI finds step by step notes in his handwriting in his apartment.

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11. BillK

    September 22, 2008 at 6:07 pm

    A brief summary of the anti-Palin and anti-GOP remarks from the Emmys, from Fox News:

    Tina Fey Wants Palin Out of Her Life After Election

    LOS ANGELES — There were plenty of digs at John McCain’s running mate Sarah Palin at Sunday’s 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

    The show immediately opened on a political note (with a great round of applause) as host Howie Mandel said that he was on Palin’s “bridge to nowhere.”

    Winner Jeremy Piven later laughed about the comments backstage, and when asked for his thoughts on the candidate, he responded that he was with Matt Damon (who recently slammed Palin) on that one.

    Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report” also opened up backstage about his desire to follow in Tina Fey’s footsteps and do an impersonation of the Alaska governor.

    “Because I too have no business in being a vice president,” Colbert explained bluntly.

    Fey herself, who has gotten so much attention for her impression of Palin on “Saturday Night Live,” said she hopes the VP hopeful will be out of her life very soon.

    “I want to be done playing this lady Nov. 5, so if anyone could help me be done playing her on Nov. 5, that would be good for me,” Fey said, adding that she was totally resistant in acknowledging her uncanny physical resemblance to Palin until her young daughter turned on the TV and teased “that’s mummy.”

    In addition, Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” took a political poke while accepting his Emmy for best Variety, Music or Comedy Series by concluding that he is “really looking forward to the next administration, whoever that is.”

    Laura Linney also used the press opportunity following her win for best lead actress in a mini-series or movie to subtly slam Palin’s remarks at the RNC regarding Sen. Barack Obama’s roots as a community organizer.

    “Our founding fathers were community organizers. I feel it’s been disparaged a bit,” Linney told us in the media tent, adding that nobody should be disrespected regardless of their party or personal upbringing. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425902,00.html

    No surprises here, but it’s nice to have them nailed down in one place.

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12. BillK

    September 22, 2008 at 6:23 pm

    Yes, it’s an incredibly far-left paper, but the fawning coverage is incredible.

    From the (Madison, WI) Capital Times:

    It’s time to get independents off the fence, says Michelle Obama

    By Steven Elbow

    Michelle Obama issued an urgent call to action to supporters today, imploring them to get friends, family and neighbors off the fence and into the camp of her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

    “With less than 50 days, every day, every minute, counts,” she told about 1,800 supporters at the park outside Camp Randall. “He’s up against a tough opponent with a lot of resources.”

    Recent polls show Obama running neck-and-neck with Republican presidential nominee John McCain and holding onto a slight lead in Wisconsin. While Democrats have won Wisconsin in recent presidential elections, they have done so with razor-thin margins.

    “It was never going to be easy,” Obama said.

    Kicking off a week-long campaign in Wisconsin aimed at women voters, Obama spoke to a crowd in which women substantially outnumbered men. Many took a partial day off work or missed classes to attend.

    “You have to have your priorities,” said Nick Keel, 28, a UW graduate student who skipped class for the event.

    As if on cue, the sun burned through a thick haze serving up a beautiful early fall day as speakers — including Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, County Executive Kathleen Falk and U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin — took the podium.

    The supportive crowd didn’t need to be convinced to vote for Obama, a freshman U.S. senator who has run a remarkably effective grassroots campaign. While she touted her husband as the only candidate who will address health care, education, renewable energy, the unfolding economic crisis and an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, she did so in the context of addressing the issues others should take to friends and family who are still sitting on the fence.

    “You have to talk to them,” she said.

    She said supporters need to go “block by block, neighbor to neighbor” to get voters focused on the issues that matter to them.

    Never mentioning McCain by name, she repeatedly told the crowd that Obama — who was raised by a single mother and worked as a community organizer in Chicago after graduating from Harvard Law School — was the only candidate that would be on the side of working Americans.

    “I know in my heart that Barack gets it,” she said. “How do I know he gets it? It’s because he’s been there.”

    She also played to the many students who attended, highlighting Obama’s plan to offer tuition breaks in exchange for community service.

    Unlike her first Wisconsin appearance in February, when she drew conservative fire for telling a crowd that “For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,” her speech today contained no such gaffes.

    She recounted her own upbringing in Chicago as well. Her father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while working as a blue-collar city worker, and her mother stayed at home to raise her and her brother. Still, she said, her parents helped put two children through college, and Michelle Obama eventually earned her law degree. She and Barack Obama have two daughters, and concern for their future is part of her husband’s passion to put the country on a different track.

    Michelle Obama, who delivered a rousing speech last month on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, has become renowned in her own right for her speaking abilities and ability to connect with a crowd.

    After the speech, as two bodyguards eyed the crowd, Obama met a throng of fans who offered handshakes and hugs. Many walked away with high emotions.

    “She certainly is a warm, gracious person,” said Deanne Armentrout, 65, who was in tears after shaking Obama’s hand.

    She said her emotion stemmed from the fact that she has children and grandchildren, and she feels their future hinges on this election.

    “We want them to grow up in a world like the one we experienced,” she said.

    Maura Tracy, a 20-year-old UW junior, said shaking Obama’s hand made her day.

    “She’s just so inspiring, just hearing her story,” she said. …

    http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/305985

    Excuse me while I vomit.

    I do have to agree with Michelle on one point, though:

    She said supporters need to go “block by block, neighbor to neighbor” to get voters focused on the issues that matter to them.

    Absolutely.

    We need to get out and make sure people know just how much destruction this woman’s husband will cause to this country should he be elected President.

    I also liked:

    She said her emotion stemmed from the fact that she has children and grandchildren, and she feels their future hinges on this election.

    “We want them to grow up in a world like the one we experienced,” she said.

    She’s more correct than she knows, but not in the way she thinks.

    An Obama Presidency would guarantee that her children and grandchildren will never know the world she grew up in and instead will grow up in a socialist United States willing to placate terrorists with whatever they ask as long as they leave us alone.

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13. dulcimergrl

    September 22, 2008 at 6:24 pm

    Thanks BillK, for emmy moonbat wrap-up. And I used to think Laura Linney was intelligent…

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14. 1sttofight

    September 22, 2008 at 6:44 pm

    “You have to have your priorities,” said Nick Keel, 28, a UW graduate student who skipped class for the event.

    Son, if you are still in school at age 28, you might want to change some of your “priorities”.

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15. JohnMG

    September 22, 2008 at 7:28 pm

    1sttofight; …..”who skipped class for the event……”

    This might explain his still being in school at age 28. He must have REAL trouble ordering his priorities. Wonder if he felt a thrill go down his leg or if he just wet himself?

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16. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 2:00 am

    Wisconsin Democrats continue to claim that Republican efforts to ensure only legal voters vote are nothing more than vote repression efforts.

    From the (Madison) Wisconsin State Journal:

    Wisconsin Republican Party chairman says he had contacts with Van Hollen’s top aide

    By Mark Pitsch

    The state Republican Party chairman said Monday he had multiple conversations with Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s top aide before Van Hollen filed a lawsuit against the state election agency to compel expanded voter registration checks.

    But Reince Priebus, the party chairman, defended his contacts with Deputy Attorney General Ray Taffora, his comments in Van Hollen’s presence this month at the Republican National Convention criticizing the election agency, and meetings between GOP lawyers and the Justice Department lawyers handling the lawsuit.

    And he said party officials didn’t collaborate with Van Hollen, a Republican, in preparing the lawsuit against the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections.

    “We have a right to talk to the attorney general’s office and we did it,” Priebus said Monday. “There’s nothing wrong with us reporting a problem that is a blatant and intentional disregard of federal law.”

    But state Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke said the contacts show Van Hollen is “misusing his role as attorney general.”

    “What he is doing is pushing the agenda of the Republican Party of Wisconsin,” Wineke said.

    Van Hollen and Taffora didn’t respond to requests for comment.

    But a Justice Department spokesman said Taffora spoke with Priebus about the voter checks at the party chairman’s request and that Taffora also spoke with accountability board officials about the matter.

    Van Hollen told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week that he was not aware of contacts between his office and state GOP officials.

    Also Monday, the state GOP filed a motion Monday seeking to intervene in the case to protect legitimate votes. …

    http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/306023

    Could this be because the Democrats don’t care about illegal voting at all?

    The Attorney General is doing his job – trying to ensure that federal law is not violated.

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17. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 2:04 am

    In other “insane news media member” news, from the Los Angeles Times:

    Dan Rather’s suit against CBS is trimmed

    The case can proceed, but a New York judge tosses out two of the former anchor’s four claims. The lawsuit stems from a story about Bush’s Air National Guard service.

    By Matea Gold

    NEW YORK — A New York state Supreme Court judge Monday limited the scope of Dan Rather’s $70-million lawsuit against CBS Corp., tossing out his claims that the network committed fraud and unlawfully interfered with his contract in his final months at the news division.

    But Justice Ira Gammerman allowed Rather to proceed with his claims that CBS broke the terms of his contract and breached its fiduciary duty by sidelining him in the wake of a controversial story about President Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard.

    The ruling “allows us to prove everything we need to prove to a jury,” said Martin Gold, Rather’s lead attorney. “I think the breach-of-contract claim is essentially a slam-dunk.”

    That point was vigorously disputed by lawyers for CBS, who cast the judge’s decision as a victory for the network, which had asked the court to dismiss three of Rather’s four remaining claims. The judge threw out two of them and also dismissed the complaint against Viacom, saying the corporation could not be held liable for the actions of CBS, from which it split in 2006.

    James Quinn, CBS’ attorney, said the former anchor would not be able to prove that the network breached the terms of his contract.

    Monday’s ruling capped the second attempt by the network to get Rather’s suit dismissed and came almost exactly a year after he startled the television industry by suing his former employer of 44 years.

    t the heart of the case is a story that Rather reported on the now-defunct weeknight edition of “60 Minutes” in September 2004 that said political allies helped Bush avoid deployment to Vietnam and skirt the requirements of his service in the Texas Air National Guard.

    Conservative bloggers and other critics immediately challenged the veracity of the story. In the end, a panel appointed by CBS concluded that the report was based in part on documents that could not be authenticated.

    The newsman said that after he stepped down from “CBS Evening News” in March 2005, he was denied the support staff and airtime that his contract guaranteed.

    http://www.latimes.com/enterta.....4582.story

    Basically it’s now a contract dispute between CBS News and Rather, nothing more, and certainly no referendum on the veracity of the National Guard memos.

    He could have retained some dignity, but this is how the world will remember Dan.

    Aside from as a newscaster that would walk off the set if he was upset.

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18. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 2:21 am

    Ahmadinejad joins Obama in calling for Change:

    Iran president blames Wall Street turmoil on U.S. ‘military engagement’

    Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in New York for U.N.’s fall opening, also says Israel is doomed.

    By Richard Boudreaux

    NEW YORK — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Monday that the turmoil on Wall Street was rooted in part in U.S. military intervention abroad and voiced hope that the next American administration would retreat from what he called President Bush’s “logic of force.”

    He also asserted, in an interview with The Times, that Israel was doomed like “an airplane that has lost its engine” and that Western intelligence documents questioning the peaceful purpose of Iran’s nuclear program were crude forgeries.

    The United Nations General Assembly opened its annual session Monday in a state of alarm over a global financial crisis. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he feared for his effort to secure increased pledges from rich nations to aid the poorest, which are already reeling from higher food and energy prices.

    Before joining the annual fall debate, Ahmadinejad sounded a provocative note on the topic during a 40-minute interview with Times editors and a reporter in a Midtown Manhattan hotel suite heavily guarded by agents of the Department of Homeland Security.

    “Problems do not arise suddenly,” he said. “The U.S. government has made a series of mistakes in the past few decades. First, the imposition on the U.S. economy of heavy military engagement and involvement around the world . . . the war in Iraq, for example. . . . These are heavy costs.

    “The world economy can no longer tolerate the budgetary deficit and the financial pressures occurring from markets here in the United States, and by the U.S. government,” he added.

    Several blocks away, across from the U.N. headquarters, 3,000 people mobilized by a coalition of mostly Jewish groups protested against Ahmadinejad’s threats toward Israel and Iran’s human rights record.

    And in Vienna, the chief of the U.N.’s atomic watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, accused Iran of blocking his efforts to clarify its involvement in experiments and studies consistent with the development of a clandestine nuclear weapons program.

    Suspicion that Iran is pursuing such weapons took center stage at last fall’s General Assembly debate and put Ahmadinejad on the spot. This year, with a divided Security Council reluctant to tighten sanctions against Iran, he appeared relaxed and confident.

    “We do not believe that the U.S. policy perspective, looking at the rest of the world as a field of confrontation, will give good results,” he said.

    http://www.latimes.com/news/na.....3574.story

    It’s unknown whether he took his Obama pin off before the interview or not…

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19. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 5:09 am

    From the Times of London:

    Russia engages in ‘gangland’ diplomacy as it sends warship to the Caribbean

    By Tony Halpin in Moscow

    Russia flexed its muscles in America’s backyard yesterday as it sent one of its largest warships to join military exercises in the Caribbean. The nuclear-powered flagship Peter the Great set off for Venezuela with the submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support vessels in the first Russian naval mission in Latin America since the end of the Cold War.

    “The St Andrew flag, the flag of the Russian Navy, is confidently returning to the world oceans,” Igor Dygalo, a spokesman for the Russian Navy, said. He declined to comment on Russian newspaper reports that nuclear submarines were also part of the expedition.

    The voyage to join the Venezuelan Navy for manoeuvres came only days after Russian strategic nuclear bombers made their first visit to the country. Hugo Chávez, the President, said then that the arrival of the strike force was a warning to the US. The vehemently antiAmerican Venezuelan leader is due to visit Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian President, in Moscow this week as part of a tour that includes visits to Cuba and China.

    Peter the Great is armed with 20 nuclear cruise missiles and up to 500 surface-to-air missiles, making it one of the most formidable warships in the world. The Kremlin has courted Venezuela and Cuba as tensions with the West soared over the proposed US missile shield in Eastern Europe and the Russian invasion of Georgia last month. Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, said recently that Russia should “restore its position in Cuba” – the nation where deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in 1962 brought Russia and the United States to the brink of nuclear war.

    Igor Sechin, the Deputy Prime Minister, made clear that Russia would challenge the US for influence in Latin America after visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba last week. He said: “It would be wrong to talk about one nation having exclusive rights to this zone.”

    Moscow was infuriated when Washington sent US warships into the Black Sea to deliver aid to Georgia after the war. Analysts said that the Kremlin was engaging in gunboat diplomacy over the encroachment of Nato into the former Soviet satellites of Georgia and Ukraine.

    Pavel Felgengauer, a leading Russian defence expert, told The Times: “It’s to show the flag and the finger to the United States. They are offering a sort of gangland deal – if you get into our territory, then we will get into yours. You leave Georgia and Ukraine to us and we won’t go into the Caribbean, OK?” He described the visit as “first and foremost a propaganda deployment”, pointing out that one of the support vessels was a tug in case either of the warships broke down. …

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t.....804157.ece

    That’s OK; should anything happen I’m sure we can sit down and have a talk.

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20. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 5:12 am

    The latest anti-US court decision from US courts, from Fox News:

    Court Rules U.S. Can’t Block Release of Detainee Photos

    NEW YORK — A federal appeals court says the U.S. government must release 20 pictures of U.S. soldiers and detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan demanded by a civil rights group seeking to expose abuse.

    The Manhattan court on Monday rejected the government’s claim that the release of the pictures would endanger the life or physical safety of U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    A federal judge had earlier ordered that identifying facial features be removed from the pictures before they are released to the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU had asked for the pictures to be released.

    The color photographs were taken by people serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,425963,00.html

    After all, those war-mongering soldiers deserve whatever they get for daring to take up arms against these innocents…

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21. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 5:17 am

    Everyone’s favorite ex-President makes a comment that would get a Republican nailed to a wall.

    Needless to say, the Press doesn’t even blink.

    From the AP:

    Bill Clinton Says He Understands Palin’s Appeal

    NEW YORK — Former President Bill Clinton said Monday he understands why Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is popular in the American heartland: because people relate to her.

    “I come from Arkansas, I get why she’s hot out there, why she’s doing well,” said Clinton, who supports the Democratic ticket headed by Barack Obama.

    Speaking to reporters before his Clinton Global Initiative meeting, the former president described Palin’s appeal by adding, “People look at her, and they say, ‘All those kids. Something that happens in everybody’s family. I’m glad she loves her daughter and she’s not ashamed of her. Glad that girl’s going around with her boyfriend. Glad they’re going to get married.”‘

    Clinton said voters would think, “I like that little Down syndrome kid. One of them lives down the street. They’re wonderful children. They’re wonderful people. And I like the idea that this guy does those long-distance races. Stayed in the race for 500 miles with a broken arm. My kind of guy.” …

    http://elections.foxnews.com/2.....in-appeal/

    What if that had read “I like that little Black kid. One of them lives down the street. They’re wonderful children.”?

    Will we hear from activists for the disabled?

    Nah, Bill’s a good ol’ boy, no big deal.

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22. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:02 pm

    Screw the economy, it’s politics, stupid.

    From Fox News:

    Senators Express Reservations on Bailout, Despite Pleas for Swift Passage

    WASHINGTON — Leading senators of both parties are expressing strong reservations about the administration’s financial bailout plan despite pleas from the treasury secretary and Federal Reserve chairman for quick passage.

    Sen. Chris Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said on Tuesday, “What they have sent us is not acceptable.”

    Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, said, “We have got to look at some alternatives.”

    But congressional leaders and aides are still predicting passage, only with significant changes, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly warned reluctant lawmakers they risk a recession with higher unemployment and increased home foreclosures if they fail to approve the Bush administration’s $700 billion plan to bail out the financial industry.

    “This will pass. No question,” a senior aide to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell told FOX News, predicting the stand-off would draw to a close by the end of the weekend.

    Bernanke sketched a scenario in which neither businesses nor consumers could borrow money as President Bush and top lawmakers leaders in both parties voiced hope for agreement within days on a plan to ease the crisis.

    “Nobody is happy” about the bailout request, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., although he too spoke of possible passage of legislation by the weekend.

    “Nobody wants to have to do this,” agreed Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader. He said he was hopeful of a quick agreement, despite withering criticism from conservative GOP lawmakers, some of whom likened the plan to socialism.

    With the Dow Jones industrials sinking 161 points after initially surging on the bailout announcements last week, the stakes were unmistakable. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Congress must pass the legislation this week. He later met with House GOP leaders Tuesday evening.

    “I understand speed is important, but I’m far more interested in whether or not we get this right,” said Dodd, D-Conn., presiding over a a hearing by the Senate Banking Committee banking panel where Bernanke joined Paulson in appealing for quick legislation.

    “There is no second act to this. There is no alternative idea out there with resources available if this does not work,” he added.

    Bernanke’s remarks about the risk of recession came in response to a question from Dodd, who seemed eager to hear a strong rationale for lawmakers to act swiftly on the administration’s unprecedented request.

    “The financial markets are in quite fragile condition and I think absent a plan they will get worse,” Bernanke said.

    Ominously, he added, “I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, that our credit rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed upon, GDP will contract, that the economy will just not be able to recover in a normal, healthy way.” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426505,00.html

    Hey, the Democrats didn’t get their recession, so what’s wrong with forcing one?

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23. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:04 pm

    From the AP:

    FBI Investigating Potential Fraud by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman, AIG

    WASHINGTON — The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned.

    Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group Inc. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. also is under investigation.

    The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said.

    The law enforcement officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigations are ongoing and are in the very early stages.

    Officials said the new inquiries bring to 26 the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the past year.

    Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.

    Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.

    Over the past year as the housing market cratered, the FBI has opened a wide-ranging probe of companies across the financial services industry, from mortgage lenders to investment banks that bundle home loans into securities sold to investors. Mueller has previously said the FBI’s hunt for culprits in the nation’s subprime mortgage crisis focused on accounting fraud, insider trading, and failure to disclose the value of mortgage-related securities and other investments.

    The investigations revealed Tuesday come as lawmakers began considering whether to approve emergency legislation that would give the government broad power to buy up devalued assets from troubled financial firms.

    The bailout proposed by the Bush administration is aimed at helping unlock credit and stabilize badly shaken markets in the United States and around the globe.

    In the past two weeks, the government has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the country’s two biggest mortgage companies, with a bailout plan that could require the Treasury Department to put up as much as $100 billion for each of them over time if needed to keep them afloat as mortgage losses mount.

    Last week, the Federal Reserve provided an emergency $85 billion loan to AIG, which teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. Lehman Brothers was forced to file for bankruptcy after attempts to engineer a private rescue fell apart. All the companies were laid low from bad bets on complex mortgage-related securities. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426783,00.html

    One wonders how quickly this will be swept under the rug should Frankie Raines in any way be implicated…

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24. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:11 pm

    From the AP:

    Democrats to Let Offshore Drilling Ban Expire, Conceding Defeat in Battle With GOP

    WASHINGTON — Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

    House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.

    Republicans have made lifting the ban a key campaign issue after gasoline prices spiked this summer and public opinion turned in favor of more drilling. President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling in July.

    “If true, this capitulation by Democrats following months of Republican pressure is a big victory for Americans struggling with record gasoline prices,” said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio.

    Democrats had clung to the hope of only a partial repeal of the drilling moratorium, but the White House had promised a veto, Obey said.

    The House is expected to act on the spending bill Wednesday. The Senate is likely to go along with the House.

    “The White House has made it clear they will not accept anything with a drilling moratorium, and Democrats know we cannot afford to shut down the government over this,” said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “We look forward to working with the next president to hammer out a final resolution of this issue.”

    While the House would lift the long-standing drilling moratoriums for both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, a drilling ban in waters within 125 miles of Florida’s western coast would remain in force under a law passed by Congress in 2006 that opened some new areas of the east-central Gulf to drilling.

    Just last week, the House passed legislation to open waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to oil and gas drilling but only 50 or more miles out to sea and only if a state agrees to energy development off its shore. It quickly became clear that measure would not get the 60 votes needed in the Senate.

    Republicans called that effort a sham that would have left almost 90 percent of offshore reserves effectively off-limits.

    The Interior Department estimates there are 18 billion barrels of recoverable oil beneath the Outer Continental Shelf, about half of it off California.

    While the ban on energy development will be lifted if the Senate goes along with the House action, it doesn’t mean any federal sale of oil and gas leases in the offshore waters — much less actual drilling — would be imminent.

    The Interior Department’s current five-year leasing plan includes potential leases off the Virginia coast but probably would not be pursued unless the state agrees to energy development. And the state is unlikely to do so without Congress agreeing to share federal royalties with the state.

    The congressional battle over offshore drilling is far from over. Democrats are expected to press for broader energy legislation, probably next year, that would put limits on any drilling off most of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Republicans, meanwhile, are likely to fight any resumption of the drilling bans that have been in place since 1981. …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426764,00.html

    So in fact this changes nothing; no new leases will be offered and of course no company is going to even explore with the possibility that they will be prevented from drilling next year.

    It also remains to be seen if this will do anything to calm the jittery oil market.

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25. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:13 pm

    From a disappointed AP:

    Obama campaign quiet since Palin announcement

    By Steve Quinn

    JUNEAU, Alaska — The Palin punch has delivered a blow to Barack Obama’s slim hopes of capturing Alaska’s three electoral votes on Nov. 4.

    Obama’s high profile in the state has taken a precipitous slide since Aug. 29, when popular Gov. Sarah Palin joined Sen. John McCain on the Republican presidential ticket.

    Two of Obama’s Alaska campaign offices have consolidated into one and another didn’t open as advertised. One of two press secretaries assigned to Alaska has left.

    Alaskans last chose a Democrat for the presidency in 1964, when they backed Lyndon B. Johnson by a 2-1 margin over Barry Goldwater. Since 1980, the state has sent an all-Republican congressional delegation to Washington.

    Of the state’s 482,045 registered voters, 121,338 are Republican, 73,876 are Democrat and 256,516 haven’t chosen a party _ a bloc the Obama campaign had hoped to win over.

    Obama spokeswoman Nayyera Haq said the campaign still planned several rallies and parties tied to the upcoming debates.

    With the presidential race very tight, Alaska Democrats aren’t expecting Obama to visit Alaska _ a prospect raised in July. Julie Hasquet, a spokeswoman for Democratic Senate candidate Mark Begich, said it wasn’t realistic to expect a visit.

    “Initially yeah, we thought we might see him,” Hasquet said. “But when your governor is running for vice president, it makes it more difficult for the opposing candidate to do well in that state.”

    http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2.....ka,00.html

    But I thought animosity towards Palin was ever-increasing in Alaska?

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26. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:17 pm

    Can anyone spot the laugh-out-loud line in this story?

    From Fox News:

    Report: Jenna Jameson Having Twins

    Former adult film star Jenna Jameson and mixed martial arts fighter Tito Ortiz are having twins, gossip blogger Perez Hilton reports.

    “They’re having twins,” a friend of the superstar told Hilton. “Jenna and Tito just found out. They are beyond thrilled!”

    Jameson recently confirmed that she’s pregnant following months of buzz.

    “Yes, I can confirm I’m pregnant. It’s still early, so I’m being cautious. I’m resting as much as possible,” she told Usmagazine.com, adding that she and Ortiz “are still in a state of shock.”

    “I’m so happy!” she said.

    Jameson, 34, previously told Us she discovered she was two months pregnant in November 2004 after being diagnosed with malignant melanoma. A day later, she miscarried due to the stress of cancer.

    But the devout Catholic — who has tried in vitro — told Us, “It was all in God’s plan.”

    Jameson — who split from adult film studio owner Jay Grdina in 2006 and from porn star Brad Armstrong in 2001— said she and Ortiz have no plans to wed.

    “I think I’m gonna stay unmarried and just go for the babies!” she told Us. “I’m following in Angelina’s footsteps!” …

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426268,00.html

    Hmmm, former adult film star decides to have twins while unmarried.

    Devout Catholic?!?!?

    I’ll let englishqueen01 or some of our other actual practicing Catholic readers dissect that one…

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27. Exeter

    September 23, 2008 at 11:18 pm

    Just found this little tidbit on Michelle Malkin’s site. NOW I’m pissed!

    http://michellemalkin.com/

    Kill the bailout: Phones ringing off the hook; student loans, car debt added to proposal
    By Michelle Malkin • September 23, 2008 10:27 PM

    We don’t have to have this trillion-dollar bailout shoved down our throats.

    You can make a difference.

    Phones are ringing off the hook. Peter Viles at L.A.Land:

    A key quote in this morning’s Senate hearing about the Paulson bailout is worth repeating. This comes from Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat:

    “Like my colleagues, my phones have been ringing off the hook. The sentiment from Ohioans about this proposal is universally negative.”

    Not “overwhelmingly negative.” Not “deeply suspicious.” Not “extremely upset.” Universally negative.

    I’ll state the obvious: Members of Congress aren’t generally in the habit of passing historic and spectacularly unpopular legislation five weeks before election day.
    Make your voice heard now. Every second counts: 202-224-3121.

    ***

    Quotable: “‘Just because God created the world in seven days doesn’t mean we have to pass this bill in seven days,’ said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas.”

    Or at all.

    You might want to make a special effort to phone John McCain’s office. He’s waffling and wavering and straddling. Mr. Maverick needs a clue.

    Ready for this?!

    Update: Student loans, car loans, and credit card debt have been snuck into the bailout proposal No. No No. Hellllllll, no.

    In the dark of night over the weekend when most people were snoozing, the Treasury dramatically expanded its bailout plan to include buying student loans, car loans, credit card debt and any other “troubled” assets held by banks.

    The changes, which were included in draft language that also opened the bailout program to foreign banks with extensive loan operations in the United States, potentially added tens of billions of dollars to the cost of the program.

    Although it was a major addition to what was already the nation’s largest-ever bailout, it did not become part of the debate between Democrats and the Treasury over details of the program. A Monday counterproposal by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd included such consumer loans as well as mortgages, just as the Treasury’s draft did Saturday night.

    “The costs of the bailout will be significantly higher than originally considered or acknowledged,” said Joshua Rosner, managing director of Graham Fisher & Co., who charged that the Treasury and Federal Reserve have not been “forthright” about the ultimate cost to the public. The plan gives Treasury the discretion to buy the non-mortgage loans and securities in consultation with the Fed.

    Conservatives cited the move as a sign that the massive plan to take over bad mortgage debt already is opening the door to further government bailouts.
    ***

    Get your GOP senator off the fence:

    Many members of the U.S. Senate blasted the Bush administration’s Wall Street bailout plan Tuesday, but no senator has come forward so far with an explicit pledge to kill the $700 billion proposal.

    The rules of the Senate, unlike the House , give individual lawmakers substantial power to delay or halt legislation, but three Senate aides said there were no clear signs yet of that power being exercised.

    As the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on the plan put forward by the Treasury Department, aides said much would depend on Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, the committee’s top Republican, who was sharply critical at the hearing.

    The outlook for Treasury’s plan would dim greatly if Shelby were to move to block the bill that is expected to emerge soon from congressional debate over the plan, the aides said.

    The Democrat-controlled Congress and the Republican Bush administration are in negotiations over specifics of the bailout bill, with the House aiming to get legislation to a floor vote possibly Friday…

    …Other senators, including Republicans Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, have expressed strong concerns.

    But the aides said these lawmakers also have stopped short of warning they would work to block the bill.

    Senator Coleman will be hearing from me tonight.

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28. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:20 pm

    Steven Spielberg joins the cause, from a delighted AP:

    Steven Spielberg Donates Money to Support Gay Marriage

    LOS ANGELES — Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw, are the latest celebrity donors to the fight against California’s November ballot initiative that would overturn the state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.

    Spielberg and Capshaw have donated $100,000 to fight Proposition 8, they announced in a statement Monday.

    “By writing discrimination into our state constitution, Proposition 8 seeks to eliminate the right of each and every citizen in our state to marry regardless of sexual orientation,” the statement said. “Such discrimination has NO place in California’s constitution, or any other.”

    Also known as the Marriage Protection Act, Proposition 8 would amend the state constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman. If passed, it would overturn the court decision that made the state only the second in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage.

    Brad Pitt gave the same amount to the cause last week.

    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426381,00.html

    Of course it’s not discrimination, but no one will ever be able to convince the left of that.

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29. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:23 pm

    Exeter, I hear you, but this is of course Congress’ fault for padding the bailout so badly.

    Alas, I suspect if the bill is defeated we may well see the DJIA’s first four digit drop in history. :(

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30. Exeter

    September 23, 2008 at 11:23 pm

    BillK:

    How do you put that cool grey border next to your citation?

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31. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    Exeter – read SG’s original article posting instructions here.

    (It’s also linked at the very top of this page.)

    In particular, it’s via use of the “blockquote” HTML tag.

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32. Exeter

    September 23, 2008 at 11:32 pm

    Wow – that’s cool! Thanks, BillK

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33. BillK

    September 23, 2008 at 11:43 pm

    News story or Obama campaign press release?

    You be the judge.

    From a snarky AP:

    Palin meets her first world leaders in New York

    By Sara Kugler

    NEW YORK (AP) — Sarah Palin met her first world leaders Tuesday. It was a tightly controlled crash course on foreign policy for the Republican vice presidential candidate, the mayor-turned-governor who has been outside North America just once.

    Palin sat down with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. The conversations were private, the pictures public, meant to build her resume for voters concerned about her lack of experience in world affairs.

    “I found her quite a capable woman,” Karzai said later. “She asked the right questions on Afghanistan.”

    The self-described “hockey mom” also asked former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for insights on Georgia, Russia, China and Iran, and she’ll see more leaders Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings.

    It was shuttle diplomacy, New York-style. At several points, Palin’s motorcade got stuck in traffic and New Yorkers, unimpressed with the flashing lights, sirens and police officers in her group, simply walked between the vehicles to get across the street. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, three hours behind Palin in seeing Karzai, found herself overshadowed for a day as she made her own rounds.

    John McCain’s presidential campaign has shielded the first-term Alaska governor for weeks from spontaneous questions from voters and reporters, and went to striking lengths Tuesday to maintain that distance as Palin made her diplomatic debut.

    The GOP campaign, applying more restrictive rules on access than even President Bush uses in the White House, banned reporters from the start of the meetings, so as not to risk a question being asked of Palin.

    McCain aides relented after news organizations objected and CNN, which was supplying TV footage to a variety of networks, decided to pull its TV crew from Palin’s meeting with Karzai.

    Overheard: small talk.

    Palin is studying foreign policy ahead of her one debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, a senator with deep credentials on that front. More broadly, the Republican ticket is trying to counter questions exploited by Democrats about her qualifications to serve as vice president and step into the presidency at a moment’s notice if necessary.

    There was no chance of putting such questions to rest with photo opportunities Tuesday.

    But Palin, who got a passport only last year, no longer has to own up to a blank slate when asked about heads of state she has met.

    She also got her first intelligence briefing Tuesday, over two hours.

    Karzai generated light laughter when he told an audience at the Asia Society that, in addition to Rice and Norway’s prime minister, he had seen Palin on Tuesday. Thomas Freston, a member of the society’s board, drew loud applause and laughter when he responded: “You’re probably the only person in the room who’s met Gov. Palin.” …

    http://customwire.ap.org/dynam.....IN_LEADERS

    Let’s see, did we get all the talking points?

    No experience. No passport until last year. “Hockey mom.” Tight control of press because “she might be asked a question.”

    Am I missing any here?

    I’m surprised the reporters didn’t ask Karzai whether he thought Trig was really Sarah’s or not.

    Isn’t it amazing how suddenly the election is seemingly hinging on the GOP’s candidate for Vice-President?

    Of course the most important point is not qualification or ability to do the job, it’s availability to the Press, naturally.

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34. JohnMG

    September 23, 2008 at 11:58 pm

    Let the “gotcha” games begin! From what I have observed, Palin is a quick study. Moreover, she evidently is quite self-informed already and displays an ability to think quickly on her feet. These attributes will serve her well in the debate in October.

    Just as significant is Joe Biden’s propensity to make outrageous, contradictory, even stupid statements of the “ready, fire, aim” variety. I predict it is only a matter of time before his size 11 is firmly wedged in his mouth, allowing the governor to hand Biden’s ass to him.

    Maybe this is the “October surprise”.

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35. Nimblicity

    September 24, 2008 at 12:52 am

    From the Dallas Morning News:

    Mexicans feeling pinch as income stream from U.S. slows
    12:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, September 23, 2008
    By LAURENCE ILIFF / The Dallas Morning News
    liliff@dallasnews.com / The Dallas Morning News
    Dianne Solis in Dallas contributed to this report

    DEMACÚ, Mexico – Luis Martínez went from being a successful Dallas businessman to a struggling alfalfa farmer in rural central Mexico because of a North Texas crackdown on illegal immigrants.

    Now, that crackdown is squeezing towns across Mexico as immigrant unemployment grows in the U.S. and money sent home declines at a record rate.

    The Oak Cliff resident of 20 years was deported…. Immigration officials said he had violated his residency by leaving the country without permission – to attend a funeral in Mexico – during the lengthy wait for his green card.

    http://www.dallasnews.com/shar.....06f83.html

    I do feel sorry for this particular guy in the lede, because he is/was a contributor and a wealth creator. But (besides the stubborn truth that the rule of law is not a respecter of persons) he’s not really typical of what the story purports to be about. See also further down it mentions some relatives who stopped getting cash from their US-side moneymakers, but then admits they don’t know if the crackdown had anything to do with it.

    It goes on to make a bunch of good news sound like bad news. But then enforcing the law usually turns out to be troubling for the ones breaking it (I’m sure we all clipped the sympathetic, maudlin news story about our respective last speeding tickets, right…)

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36. Exeter

    September 24, 2008 at 12:54 am

    BillK and JohnMG – I am SO looking forward to that debate! I have this cartoon image in my head: an Arctic Fox tearing the stuffing out of a balding rag-doll. The Dems and the MSM have consistently underestimated Sarah’s connection to the people; they’re not going to stop now.

    October Surprise? Only to them.

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37. BillK

    September 24, 2008 at 2:16 am

    Exeter – while we know Palin can do well, we also know how this will go:

    “Senator Biden, what do you think the Bush administration has done wrong?”

    “Governor Palin, can you describe Senate parliamentary procedure in case of a filibuster, and the last time it was invoked?”

    “Senator Biden, what’s your favorite color?”

    “Governor Palin, as you would be first in the line of succession in case of the death of the President, could you please name, in order, the current people occupying positions eight through fourteen?”

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38. Exeter

    September 24, 2008 at 9:49 am

    BillK – I found this on the Wash.U St Louis website:

    The debate will be moderated by Gwen Ifill, a longtime correspondent and moderator for nationally televised public broadcasting news programs. Ifill, who serves as moderator and managing editor of PBS’ “Washington Week” and senior correspondent for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” also moderated the CPD’s 2004 vice presidential debate between Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John Edwards, held Oct. 5 at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

    http://news-info.wustl.edu/new.....12445.html

    Wikipedia has this to say about Ifill:

    Ifill worked for the Boston Herald(1977-1980), Baltimore Evening Sun (1981-1984), The Washington Post (1984-1991), The New York Times (1991-1994), and NBC. In October 1999, she became moderator of the PBS program Washington Week in Review. She is also senior correspondent for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Ifill has appeared on various news shows, including Meet the Press.

    On October 5, 2004, she moderated the vice presidential debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. She also co-hosted with Kaitlyn Adkins Jamestown LIVE!, a History Channel special commemorating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown in 2007. On August 5, 2008, it was announced that she would moderate the Vice-Presidential Debate on October 2.

    She serves on the board of the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Museum of Television and Radio and the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism.

    I don’t know anything about Ifill. Of course, I assume from her resume that she’s on the Left, but that’s to be expected. Is there anybody out there who can attest to her journalistic integrity? (now THAT’S an oxymoron!)

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39. BillK

    September 24, 2008 at 10:53 am

    From the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News:

    Planned Parenthood gains from Palin e-mail campaign

    By Ed Sealover

    Planned Parenthood is suddenly a lot richer because of Sarah Palin.

    And the Republican vice presidential nominee will soon be receiving tens of thousands of thank-you notes.

    A three-week-old Internet campaign is asking abortion-rights activists to send donations to Planned Parenthood in honor of the Alaska governor.

    The origin of the campaign is unknown and Planned Parenthood officials insist it is not their doing.

    Palin is a staunch abortion- rights opponent. The campaign is meant to translate anger at her position into money for an agency that provides sex education, women’s health care and abortion services.

    One e-mail making the rounds on the Internet says: “Instead of (actually, in addition to) all of us all sending more e-mails about how absolutely horrible she is, let’s all make a donation to Planned Parenthood in Sarah Palin’s name.”

    Katie Groke Ellis, field manager for the Planned Parenthood of the Rockies Action Fund, predicts that the five-state chapter of the group alone could draw $100,000 in donations.

    “We are so excited to see that people are writing checks to us instead of just complaining about it,” Ellis said Tuesday.

    Palin is not only anti-abortion but opposes abortion even in the case of rape or incest, a point she hammered home in the 2006 Alaska governor’s race by saying she would oppose her daughter getting an abortion if she were raped. She said this month that she wants to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, but will work with abortion-rights activists to find common ground on reducing the number of abortions.

    Planned Parenthood sends a handwritten thank-you card to the donor. If a donation is made in someone’s name, he or she gets one, too.

    In this case, the Palin cards will go to Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s national headquarters.

    Jeff Sadosky, director of regional communications for the McCain campaign, said: “This crass political stunt is yet another reminder that the Barack Obama campaign and its surrogates has given up on the ‘new politics of hope’ that they were so proud of a few short months ago.”

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....parenthoo/

    If you get the chance, please click on the link to see the laughing, grinning face of the leader of the “Action Fund” who is laughing and grinning just thinking about all the extra abortions they’ll be able to perform with the donations…

    Her Photo

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40. BillK

    September 24, 2008 at 11:03 am

    From a clearly peeved (Denver) Rocky Mountain News:

    Cop who shoved DNC protester to the ground cleared by Denver DA

    Decision cites that CodePink activist failed to comply with order

    By Tillie Fong

    The district attorney’s office will not file charges against a Denver police officer who was videotaped shoving an activist to the ground at a protest during the Democratic National Convention last month.

    On Aug. 26, CodePink activist Alicia Forrest, 24, and several others were asking police officers why they were arresting another protester outside Civic Center.

    Forrest said at the time that a police officer poked her twice with his riot baton.

    He then pushed her with the long side of the stick once before yelling “back up, b—-” and shoving her hard to the ground, where she lands with a scream and a loud smack.

    The final blow was captured by a Rocky videographer.

    “A thorough review of all the evidence compels the conclusion that a woman failed to comply with repeated lawful police orders to move back,” said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver DA’s office.

    “She then grabbed an officer’s baton, pushing it away. The officer pushed back, using the baton, and the woman fell to the ground. She was not injured. It was these facts that were considered in the decision.”

    Forrest referred questions to her attorney, Dan Recht, when contacted Tuesday for comment on the DA’s decision.

    “It’s outrageous that the Denver DA would choose not to file assault charges against the officer who struck Alicia Forrest,” Recht said.

    “The incident was caught on video by a Rocky Mountain News cameraman and clearly shows the officer bashing Alicia with his baton in what can only be described as an excessive use of force.”

    But Kimbrough said that the video clip wasn’t the only evidence in the case.

    “The completed investigation included information was provided from witnesses at the scene, the officer and the woman who was involved,” she said.

    The video, which cuts out for a few minutes before showing Forrest being dragged away and arrested while talking to reporters, stirred controversy when it was posted on the Internet.

    Since the officer, who is a member of the Denver police force, was not charged, his name was not released Tuesday.

    However, “there will be an internal investigation into the incident,” said John White, spokesman for Denver police. …

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....ved-codep/

    Nutjob protester gets in the way of Police.

    Nutjob protester grabs Police officer’s baton.

    Nutjob protester is pushed back by officer.

    Press photographers managed to videotape just the final push.

    Where have we seen this tactic used innumerable times before?

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41. BillK

    September 24, 2008 at 11:12 am

    See, that McCain lead was just a temporary “glitch.”

    From the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News:

    Obama regains lead in Colorado

    By Bill Scanlon

    Barack Obama has regained the lead over John McCain in Colorado and has maintained his lead in the three other battleground states being followed by the Quinnipiac University poll.

    Obama is favored by 49 percent of likely voters in Colorado vs. 45 percent for McCain.

    McCain had held a one- point lead in Colorado in late August.

    The poll of 1,418 likely Colorado voters, taken Sept. 14 to Sept. 21, has a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.

    Obama leads by 4 points in Michigan, 2 points in Minnesota and 7 points in Wisconsin.

    The poll, conducted in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, found that those polled chose Obama as the “candidate of change” by wide margins.

    Despite Sarah Palin’s explosion onto the scene, more voters in each state said they would rather see Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden become president than Palin.

    They did say McCain’s selection of the Alaska governor was a good choice. …

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....-colorado/

    More than just a little dichotomy there, don’t you think?

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42. dulcimergrl

    September 24, 2008 at 11:13 am

    Gee why don’t we just call off the election, now that the polls show Obambi is winning! /sarc

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43. BillK

    September 24, 2008 at 11:20 am

    If you were unaware of the mob-style tactics being used by Organized Labor in Colorado, here’s a summary from the (Denver) Rocky Mountain News:

    Labor, executives hunt deal to stop ‘right-to-work’

    By Joanne Kelley

    While business and labor leaders continue talks on how they could work together to defeat a “right-to-work” initiative, the group pushing the measure has been touting it to voters all over the Western Slope.

    The campaign spokesman for Amendment 47, which would ban agreements requiring workers to pay for union representation, is spending the week visiting roughly a dozen towns and cities – from Rifle to Grand Junction and Durango.

    “A big part of the campaign, of course, is reaching out to voters across the state,” said Kelley Harp, spokesman for A Better Colorado, a pro-Amendment 47 group backed by executives such as Jonathan Coors of CoorsTek and Jake Jabs of American Furniture Warehouse.

    With little chance that right- to-work proponents will withdraw their measure before an Oct. 2 deadline, a group of Denver-based executives continues to discuss the terms under which they could combine forces with organized labor to fight Amendment 47 at the ballot box.

    In return, labor groups would agree to pull four ballot measures they hoped to use as leverage to persuade the right-to- work campaign to back down.

    Businesses have characterized all four of the labor proposals as potentially devastating, but some local leaders have acknowledged that unions need an incentive to withdraw them after spending millions to get them on the ballot.

    The talks between business, labor and elected officials have come down to how much money executives would contribute to a “no” campaign on Amendment 47 and two other amendments viewed as anti-union.

    The amount businesses would spend – as much as $5 million – has been a sticking point mostly because such an alliance has little precedent.

    “If you can get past the part that it is so unusual for business to raise money for that issue, there’s a greater good in it,” said Barry Hirschfeld, a longtime Denver businessman who sits on the board of Colorado Concern with some of the business executives trying to craft a deal to work with labor on a “no” campaign.

    Hirschfeld stressed that he has not had direct involvement in the discussions with labor groups. But he said he remains hopeful that the members of Colorado Concern talking with union representatives can cement a deal.

    Walt Imhoff, whose term on the same board expired last month, expressed frustration that Coors and other “right-to- work” backers have declined to pull their ballot measure despite the “very serious business interests” that have tried to head off the confrontation at the polls.

    “The consequences of not trying to work with the unions in this case – because we’ve already got some pretty good labor laws on the books – is detrimental to future business,” said the retired investment banker. “I’m surprised they don’t understand that. I’m disappointed in the Coors operation,” Imhoff said.

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....t-to-work/

    Essentially big labor put four very anti-business measures on the ballot – including ones that would require full documentations for cause for any business to let any worker go, a law that would allow workers to sue for injuries occurring on-the-job – including “loss of happiness due to conditions at work”, a law that would create mandatory cost of living wage increases for all employees working in the State of Colorado, and a law that would remove private ballots in Union elections – so your co-workers and Union officials would all know whether you voted for the Union or not.

    The Unions have said they would pull their measures off the ballot if business pays them five million dollars to finance ads to defeat the right-to-work measure and other measures the Unions feel are anti-labor on the ballot.

    Protection money? Blackmail?

    Nah, simply a preview of life in Obama’s America.

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44. BillK

    September 24, 2008 at 11:23 am

    From an “inclusive” AP:

    2012 Olympics rule: Toilets that don’t face Mecca

    Olympic organizers issued detailed design rules for the 2012 London games today, including a mandate that at least some toilets in the Olympic park do not face the holy Islamic city of Mecca.

    Members of the Olympic Delivery Authority said they wanted the Olympic and Paralympic games to be inclusive of people with different faiths and individuals with disabilities. Other design requirements include wide paths with smooth surfaces and seats at regular intervals.

    “The Olympic Park will be at the heart of the celebrations and people of all cultures, faiths and ages and disabled people will find London 2012’s Olympic Park welcoming and easy to use,” authority chairman John Armitt said.

    The organizers sought input from a range of communities before coming up with the design requirements.

    Muslims face Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, when they pray and generally do not believe they should do the same when using the toilet.

    http://www.rockymountainnews.c.....ace-mecca/

    One wonders how Muslim athletes have managed to compete in every Olympics to date.

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45. BillK

    September 24, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Who better to address the economy than the man who really did create the worst economy since the Great Depression?

    From a fawning AP:

    Jimmy Carter says bailout plan is faulty

    By Johnny Clark

    ATLANTA (AP) — The Bush administration’s $700 billion plan to bail out the financial industry is “extremely faulty,” Former President Jimmy Carter said at a Tuesday night town hall-style meeting.

    Carter said he believes action is necessary but is skeptical of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s current plan.

    “It’s only three pages of outline. It gives him dictatorial power with no supervision,” Carter said.

    Carter told the audience the $700 billion bailout figure amounts to “$10,000 for every family in America.”

    “I believe that the proposal put forth by Mr. Paulson is extremely faulty,” Carter said.

    Before a sold-out crowd of enthusiastic supporters and guests, Carter and wife Rosalynn Carter outlined Carter Center initiatives and answered questions at their annual town hall meeting.

    Kicking off their “Conversations at The Carter Center” program series, the Carters also talked about the presidential campaign and problems associated with emerging democracies. …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....ER_BAILOUT

    Well if Carter thinks the plan is faulty… I guess that means we should by all means go full speed ahead with it.

    The thing is – it must be that “an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters could write the works of Shakespeare” random chance thing – he’s right in at least one way:

    “It’s only three pages of outline. It gives him dictatorial power with no supervision,” Carter said.

    I still don’t understand how that made it into the final proposal.

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46. dulcimergrl

    September 24, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    BillK, I just saw your posting re. Jenna Jameson’s pregnancy. It says she’s a “devout Catholic”. All I can do is to quote Inigo Montoya in “The Princess Bride”:

    -You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.

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47. Rmy-mac-was-here

    September 24, 2008 at 5:36 pm

    Somebody please tell me WHY did a former President of the United States go on “The Daily Show with John Stewart”? This is a historic occaission! Not only has former Pres Carter appeared (I thought it was because of senility) but now Pres Clinton has appeared. I didn’t think that a former President had EVER appeared in person for interview on a comedy show, but I guess that should actually read Former Republican President. Does anyone else recall it ever occurring? Did Pres Ford ever go on SNL? Things that make you go Hmmmmm.

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48. Exeter

    September 24, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    Rmy – Bush 41 made an appearance on SNL once, but that was partially a prank on Dana Carvey.

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49. Exeter

    September 24, 2008 at 7:27 pm

    A silly (yet telling) item from the Fox webpage:

    Palin Syrah: Wine Drinkers Balk at a Chilean Wine With Hints of Alaska
    By Jennifer Lawinski

    An organic wine from Chile has oenophiles in San Francisco turning up their noses. But there’s nothing wrong with the wine. It’s the name that bothers them:

    Palin Syrah.

    The wine from a boutique vineyard in Chile was once a strong seller, but now it’s an outcast in the City by the Bay because its name comes way too close to a certain governor from the state of Alaska, says Celine Guillou, co-owner of the Yield Wine Bar.

    Palin Syrah — pronounced Pay-LEEN — takes its name from a ball used in a Chilean-style hockey game, and it has been on the bar’s wine list for a while. But sales have plummeted ever since John McCain named Sarah Palin to be his running mate.

    “Before McCain made his announcement it was selling very well, because it’s an affordable wine and it’s from South America,” Guillou said. “Then he made his announcement and we hear people making comments constantly about the wine.”

    Each wine on the Yield Wine Bar’s list has a description, and Palin Syrah is described as: tastes of “white pepper” and “madrone” – an evergreen found in the Pacific Northwest.

    Guillou said customers have now made a sport of ad-libbing their own descriptions. “People started making suggestions like gunpowder, moose meat, hockey mom – the list goes on and on. It’s funny, but it’s all we’ve heard for the last couple weeks.”

    Now that the wine has been unofficially blacklisted by San Franciscans, its place on Yield Wine Bar’s list is threatened. “I think people try to see the humor in it, but we’re in San Francisco, so most of the people we have in I’m going to suspect are fairly liberal. People like to joke about it, but for some people it evokes quite a visceral reaction,” Guillou said.

    David Hinkle, a wine buyer with North Berkeley Wine in Berkeley, Calif., which is the West Coast importer for Palin Syrah, said the wine’s Chilean producer called him to ask if he thought McCain’s pick would have any effect on sales. So far, he said, they have remained stable. In addition to the Palin Syrah, the Palin vineyard also produces Palin Carménère and Palin Cabernet Sauvignon.

    But it appears that not everyone in the U.S. wants to put a cork in Palin Syrah.

    In Houston, Palin Syrah has been flying off the shelves at Cepage Noir Wine Company. The store, in the Republican stronghold of Texas, once had cases stacked 20 high, but now only 74 bottles remain.

    And sales have been strong even in solidly Democratic New York City. Appellation Wine and Spirits has carried Palin Syrah for about six months, and sales have spiked since Sarah Palin hit the national political scene.

    “I think is that some of the reason is that some people are going to buy it and cross out her name and maybe write Obama or Biden’s name,” shop owner Scott Pactor said.

    Another reason could be Palin Syrah’s appealing $12.99 price, which is suddenly very attractive down on Wall Street. “As the economy has more challenges, people are looking for less expensive wine,” Pactor said.

    Since McCain picked Sarah Palin, Palin Syrah has caused as many heated debates among wine shoppers as the candidate has among voters.

    “We’ve had couples come in and one in the couple will say, ‘We’re definitely not buying this,’ and the other half of the couple is curious and they want to try the wine, so it becomes a bit of a debate,” Pactor said. “It’s been very funny. Its funny to see how much conversation can be generated over a single name.”

    To be fair and balanced, Pactor said, he’s looking to give Democrat supporters an option, too.

    “We’re also in the process of looking for an Obama wine or a Biden wine, just to be balanced, obviously, just to be balanced. We want to make sure customers have options, but so far we haven’t been successful,” he said.

    Back in California, Guillou said that although San Franciscans aren’t shy about expressing their liberal leanings, it’s too early to sound the death knell for Palin Syrah.

    “We might have a group of Republicans who come in to try and bring the sales up,” she said.

    “Who knows? Eventually the sales could be tied to how she does in the polls. You have to appreciate San Francisco for what it is, I guess.”

    http://elections.foxnews.com/2.....of-alaska/

    I guess I can’t criticize the flamers in SF for being petty – I still don’t buy french dressing or french-roast coffee!

    But I’m definitely going to order a case of Palin Syrah from my liquor-store guy.

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50. DW

    September 24, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    Meanwhile, the Brits continue their spiral into madness…
    From the AP:

    Man avoids British jail for child cruelty in Muslim rite

    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

    LONDON – A man convicted of encouraging two children to whip themselves with a blade-tipped flail as part of a Muslim religious ritual avoided jail in northern England on Wednesday.

    Syed Mustafa Zaidi, 44, pushed the teens to take part in the self-flagellation which some Shiite Muslims use to mark Ashoura – a holiday commemorating the 7th-century death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussein. The flail they used carried five 20-centimetre-long blades attached by chains to a wooden handle. It left multiple lacerations on their backs – most of which were superficial, although they did suffer some deeper cuts.

    The boys were 13 and 15 at the time. British law bars publication of any further identifying details about them.

    A court in Manchester gave Zaidi a 26-week suspended sentence and instructed him not to allow or encourage anyone under the age of 16 to beat themselves during the next 12 months.

    Full article:
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Wo.....06-ap.html

    A suspended sentence and he’s not instruct anyone to beat themselves for the next 12 months (evidently it will be OK for him to do so 13 months from now). Oh the draconian courts!

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51. DW

    September 24, 2008 at 10:28 pm

    More silliness from the left… from the the AP:

    Palin look-alike gets hate mail

    By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

    BANGOR, Maine – A Maine TV news anchor who bears a resemblance to the Republican vice-presidential nominee says she’s been getting “hate mail and nasty phone calls” from viewers who think she’s trying to copy Sarah Palin’s signature style.

    Cindy Michaels from WVII-TV has long brown hair that she sometimes wears up in a style similar to Palin’s, and she also wears glasses on occasion.

    Michaels says viewers recently began accusing her of trying to copy Palin’s style or, worse, somehow trying to subliminally sway votes.

    While smarting over accusations of bias, Michaels says she’s generally flattered by the comparisons to Palin. Michaels describes her as a “beautiful woman.”

    Article:
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/We.....21-ap.html

    …sigh

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52. JohnMG

    September 24, 2008 at 11:10 pm

    DW; …..”More silliness from the left… from the the AP…..”

    I dare say the above quote would constitute a redundancy.

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53. Steve

    September 25, 2008 at 12:49 am

    ““It’s only three pages of outline. It gives him dictatorial power with no supervision,” Carter said.”

    Has Mr. Carter finally met a dictator he doesn’t like?

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54. BillK

    September 25, 2008 at 1:19 am

    From a depressed AP:

    Connecticut Democrats delay decision on censuring Sen. Lieberman for his support of GOP

    By Susan Haigh

    HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut Democrats, angry that Sen. Joe Lieberman is campaigning for the Republican presidential candidate and criticizing his own party’s nominee, agreed Wednesday to circulate a resolution to censure the veteran politician but won’t consider acting on it until after Election Day.

    The state party’s central committee Wednesday agreed to send copies of the resolution to every Democratic town committee in the state. The resolution condemns Lieberman for speaking at the Republicans’ convention and backing John McCain.

    Party officials said the group plans to get input from the town officials and revisit the issue in December.

    “When we have someone who is our elected senator, as a Democrat, standing in front of not only a national, but an international audience, speaking in support of Sen. McCain, it was the final straw for me personally,” said Audrey Blondin, a 30-year party veteran who helped to put together the resolution.

    Lieberman was re-elected to the Senate as an independent after losing the Democratic primary in 2006 to businessman Ned Lamont. While he calls himself an “independent Democrat” in the Senate, he remains a registered Democrat and has said he has no plans to change his party affiliation.

    Lieberman was the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000 and ran for the party’s presidential nomination in 2004.

    Lieberman and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have been caucusing with Democrats in Washington, giving the party control of the Senate with what is effectively a 51-49 majority – even though each party has 49 members. Democrats, in turn, have made Lieberman chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

    The resolution says Lieberman’s actions are “extraordinary disloyalty to countless Connecticut Democrats without whom his career as an elected official would never have been possible” and calls on state Democrats to ask him to resign from the party.

    Blondin said Lieberman’s speech at the Republican National Convention, in which he praised McCain and criticized Democrat Barack Obama, convinced her that state Democrats needed to take a stand.

    “Our point is not that Joe should in some way be prohibited from supporting McCain or speaking at the National Republican Convention. That’s not the issue,” Blondin said. “The issue is, he’s a Democrat. And Joe, in our opinion, needs to reconsider membership in our party.” …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s....._DEMOCRATS

    I don’t know whether to chastise the Democrats or be depressed as to why Republicans haven’t yet done this to Chafee or Snowe.

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55. BillK

    September 25, 2008 at 1:28 am

    From the AP’s Sara Kugler, their go-to Palin-basher:

    Palin says US could face another Great Depression if Congress doesn’t act on financial crisis

    By Sara Kugler

    NEW YORK (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said Wednesday that the United States could be headed for another Great Depression if Congress doesn’t act on the financial crisis.

    Palin made the comment in an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric while visiting New York to meet foreign leaders for the first time in her political career. As Palin sought to establish her credentials in world affairs, first lady Laura Bush said Palin lacked sufficient foreign policy experience but was “a quick study.”

    Recent surveys have shown that Palin’s popularity, while still strong, has begun to fade.

    Earlier this month, an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll showed more people viewing Palin favorably than unfavorably, 47 percent to 28 percent. But an ABC News-Washington Post poll released Wednesday showed that in a two-week period, the number seeing Palin positively dropped 6 percentage points while 10 points more see her unfavorably. On Monday, a CNN-Opinion Research Corp. poll said her favorable rating dropped 4 points and her unfavorable rating rose 8 points over two weeks.

    Palin has been in New York this week for a series of meetings with foreign leaders, part of an effort by Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign to counter criticism that the former small-town mayor lacks the experience to be vice president, let alone president in an emergency.

    The CBS interview was just her third major interview in nearly four weeks on the GOP presidential ticket. Asked whether there’s a risk of another Great Depression if Congress doesn’t approve a $700 billion bailout package, Palin said, “Unfortunately, that is the road that America may find itself on.”

    Palin said the answer to the financial crisis doesn’t necessarily have to be the bailout plan the Bush administration has proposed, but that it should be some form of bipartisan action to reform Wall Street.

    “I’m ill about the position that America is in and that we have to look at a $700 billion bailout. At the same time we know that inaction is not an option and as Sen. McCain has said unless this nearly trillion-dollar bailout is what it may end up to be, unless there are amendments in Paulson’s proposal, really I don’t believe that Americans are going to support this and we will not support this,” Palin said in the interview.

    Couric pressed Palin on examples of how McCain, a 26-year congressional veteran, had led the charge for more oversight.

    The Alaska governor cited McCain’s warnings about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two years ago as well as his image as a maverick. Questioned again for examples, and reminded that McCain had been chairman of the Commerce Committee, Palin said, “I’ll try to find you some and I’ll bring them to you.”

    McCain has insisted Palin is ready to take over as president, but he made no mention of including her in the meetings he wants in Washington to deal with the financial crisis.

    Laura Bush told CNN that she thought Palin had “a lot of really good common sense” and commended her executive experience. Asked if she thought Palin had sufficient foreign policy experience, the first lady said: “Of course she doesn’t have that. You know, that’s not been her role, but I think she is a very quick study, and fortunately John McCain does have that sort of experience.” …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PALIN

    Et tu, Laura?

    I wonder how many “discussions” Biden has been in?

    Meanwhile, they just can’t resist casting Palin as the rube hitting the “big city”:

    Meanwhile, Palin’s infant son and two youngest daughters headed home to Alaska after a day of quintessential New York sightseeing with their father, Todd Palin. He took them to the tip of Manhattan to see the Statue of Liberty. The family also visited ground zero, and ate hot dogs and soft pretzels in Central Park.

    They stopped at the FAO Schwarz toy store, where daughter Piper tried on princess dresses, the campaign said.

    At the start of her meeting with Talabani, the governor was overheard saying: “There’s plenty to do here, isn’t there? Plenty to see.”

    The NYT will be using that one for years…

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56. BillK

    September 25, 2008 at 1:34 am

    From the AP:

    Obama effigy found hanging from tree on Ore. Christian campus; faculty, students outraged

    By Mary Hudetz

    NEWBERG, Ore. (AP) — Officials of a small Christian university say a life-size cardboard reproduction of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was hung from a tree on the campus, an act with racial undertones that outraged students and school leaders alike.

    George Fox University President Robin Baker said a custodian discovered the effigy early Tuesday and removed it. University spokesman Rob Felton said Wednesday that the commercially produced reproduction had been suspended from the branch of a tree with fishing line around the neck.

    Taped to the cardboard cutout of the black senator from Illinois was a message targeting participants in Act Six, a scholarship program geared toward increasing the number of minority and low-income students at several Christian colleges, mostly in the Northwest.

    The message read, “Act Six reject.”

    The disturbing image found near the heart of the campus recalled the days of lynchings of blacks and was all the more incongruous at a university founded by Quaker pioneers in 1891. Felton said he had been at the school since he enrolled two decades ago, and “I’ve never experienced or heard of any type of overt racial act.”

    At the end of the college’s regular chapel service Wednesday, Baker told students he was “disheartened and outraged.”

    “It has been my dream to establish a university that more adequately represents the kingdom of God,” he said. “This act causes some to question our commitment.”

    Baker added, “What I’ve learned is we still have work to do.”

    Administrators at the university said Wednesday they do not know who hung the effigy, which Felton said few people saw before it was taken down. …

    http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s.....AMA_EFFIGY

    Poor taste? Yes.

    But of course to bring it up as a racist action?

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57. BillK

    September 25, 2008 at 2:18 am

    From the Boulder Daily Camera, pine beetles have been killing trees in Colorado, which is resulting in (ta da!) weather changes!

    Beetle-killed forests change the weather

    Scientists study how decimated trees may affect rain, temperatures and smog

    By Laura Snider

    The red-tipped stands of dead pines now crowding the Colorado slopes in the wake of a devastating pine-beetle epidemic may actually be changing the local weather, according to scientists in Boulder.

    The National Center for Atmospheric Research has recently launched a four-year project to study how a landscape of dead lodgepole pines could be changing patterns of rainfall, warming surface temperatures and altering the severity of Front Range smog.

    “Forests help control the atmosphere, and there’s a big difference between a living forest and a dead forest,” said Alex Guenther, who is heading the project for NCAR.

    Living trees cool the air, both by reflecting the sun’s light and with evaporative cooling. And as they transpire water, pulling it through their roots and losing the moisture to the atmosphere, trees humidify the air. Trees are also at the center of complex gas exchanges, absorbing carbon dioxide and letting off oxygen and a host of other volatile organic compounds and particulates into the air.

    The organic compounds can react to form smog, and the particulates can provide a nucleus for raindrops and clouds to condense around. When the bulk of a forest dies, as is the case with lodgepoles in the Rockies, these complex interactions shift — and with them, the weather.

    “From preliminary modeling and from work in other areas like in the Amazon, for example, where large-scale deforestation has gone on, we know the forest will influence the weather and air quality,” Guenther said.

    The NCAR project will use airplanes and instruments on the ground to piece together forest-atmosphere interactions from southern Wyoming to northern New Mexico. Though scientists are not exactly sure what they’ll find, they expect to see increased surface temperatures and, possibly, increased smog.

    “We expect a forest impacted by pine beetles to have even higher volatile organic compounds, including hydrocarbons, which can play a role in regional air pollution,” Guenther said.

    Volatile organic compounds are one of the necessary ingredients needed to form ground-level ozone pollution during hot, summer days. Though the forest’s contribution to ozone is likely small, it could still be a player in places on the Front Range that are out of compliance with air pollution regulations.

    Foresters predict that all the large-diameter lodgepole pine forests in the Rocky Mountains will be dead in the next three to five years. Earlier this week, officials reported that pine beetles were moving into urban centers along the Front Range, particularly in Fort Collins. …

    http://www.dailycamera.com/new.....e-weather/

    Why the pine beetle infestation?

    Global Warming, of course!

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58. Diane

    September 25, 2008 at 2:21 am

    Just out of curiosity, have there been any effigy hangings or nooses hung in the past, say, five years that didn’t turn out to have been done by blacks or liberals “trying to create a dialog”? Why would anyone conclude that the Obama effigy isn’t just more of the same?

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59. BillK

    September 25, 2008 at 10:37 am

    Hmmm, did he really learn a lesson or did he just get caught?

    From the AP:

    NBC’s Russert says he made `dumb’ statement

    NEW YORK – NBC News reporter Luke Russert said he made a “dumb” misstatement on the “Today” show Wednesday when he suggested that smart people supported Barack Obama for president.

    Almost immediately, Russert took a hazing in the Web world. Wrote Tim Graham of the conservative Media Research Center on the NewsBusters blog: “Out of the mouths of young, untrained reporters come the unspoken beliefs of the liberal media.”

    Russert, son of the late “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert, is covering youth issues for NBC News. He filed a report for “Today” about campaign activity at the University of Virginia, and talked about it live afterward with Matt Lauer.

    Russert, 23, said about the university: “The smartest kids in the state go there so it is leaning a little bit toward Obama.”

    Oops. Now he’s either implied that students at other colleges in Virginia aren’t as smart as those at the University of Virginia or that you have to be dumb not to support Obama. Or both.

    He said in a blog later Wednesday that he misspoke and “made what is without a doubt, quite simply a dumb comment.”

    “I meant to say that many of the kids who go to UVA are from affluent, highly educated households who are leaning (toward) Obama and hence their kids lean Obama,” he said. “Plenty of smart college kids will vote for John McCain from UVA and plenty of smart kids go to Virginia Tech or George Mason and they, too, could end up being big Obama voters.

    “Today was one of my first lessons in the perils of live television,” he said. “Lesson learned.”

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....O9y.quGL8C

    Sounds just like one who spent too much time around other liberals, general New York and Washington elites, and various news industry vets.

    Note that his apology also implies that affluent, highly educated households will lean toward Obama.

    Though it doesn’t matter; his original statement goes out on Today, the correction appears on some little-read blog.

    On the contrary, he already knows precisely how to think and act like a MSM reporter; nice job.

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60. Exeter

    September 25, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    Good news from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

    Exonerated Marine to sue Rep. Murtha
    Thursday, September 25, 2008
    By Dennis B. Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

    One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad.

    Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.

    Charges were later dropped against all but one of the Marines, with a military prosecutor calling allegations against Mr. Sharratt “incredible.”

    Noah Geary, a Washington County lawyer representing Mr. Sharratt, said his client will file suit today in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh accusing Mr. Murtha of violating his constitutional rights as well as slander for statements about the Haditha incident. A 1:30 p.m. news conference has been planned to announce the suit.

    “He just held innumerable press conferences, just repeatedly kept saying this was cold-blooded murder,” Mr. Geary said of the congressman.

    While Mr. Sharratt killed three insurgents, Mr. Geary said, he followed the rules of engagement for combat.

    The Haditha incident remains a political flash point in the Iraq War, with critics saying Mr. Murtha, a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, defamed American troops.

    Mr. Murtha could not be reached last night and a spokesman did not respond to a message requesting comment.

    One of the Marines at Haditha, squad leader Frank Wuterich, sued Mr. Murtha shortly after the congressman’s first public remarks at the beginning of 2006. That lawsuit has been in abeyance as Mr. Wuterich remains the only member of the eight-man squad still facing charges in connection with the deaths.

    Prosecutors accused Mr. Wuterich, the staff sergeant, of leading some members of his squad to attack Iraqi civilians as revenge for a roadside bomb that killed one Marine and wounded two others. The defendants said any civilians who died were killed unintentionally, caught in the crossfire of a battle that broke out with insurgents after the blast.

    Mr. Geary said Mr. Sharratt shot three individuals later identified as insurgents.

    In the year after he was cleared, Mr. Sharratt left the Marine Corps. His father, Darryl, said he telephoned Mr. Murtha’s office more than 40 times seeking an apology.

    Sometime last year, Darryl Sharratt said, he reached the congressman personally.

    “He kept skirting the issue,” Darryl Sharratt said. “This was right after Justin was exonerated and at no time did he acknowledge the fact that Justin was exonerated. He played the role of politician.”

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08269/914907-85.stm

    God, let justice be served.

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61. JohnMG

    September 25, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    Semper Fi Justin Sharratt.

    Let me know if you need some money to prosecute that fat pig-bastard who soiled the uniform I wore!

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62. Gila Monster

    September 25, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    Agreed JohnMG, I plan on sending him a contribution. It couldn’t go towards a better cause.
    Donations for the legal fund of LCpl. Sharratt can be sent here;

    http://tinyurl.com/45tdqs

    One thing that troubles me is whether or not that fat pig-b*stard Murtha is using taxpayer money to pay for his legal defense?
    Come to think of it, oinker-boy has been feeding off the public trough for what now, the last 30 plus years or so, so any money he has stashed away came from us anyway.
    Damn! Now I’m really frikkin’ p*ssed off..!!!

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63. gipper

    September 25, 2008 at 10:17 pm

    ******

    From Forbes magazine:

    Seven Better Uses For $700 Billion

    Wall Street’s crisis is about to become Main Street’s crisis, as bank credit freezes and loans dry up. The government’s fix: $700 billion to buy up the bad loans choking the system.

    It’s a monster plan, but there’s little choice , according White House and Federal Reserve officials. Though much of the money may return to the nation’s coffers over time as the treasury sells off the mortgage-backed assets it will purchase, the bailout will severely limit what the government can afford to spend on health care, energy, infrastructure and education in the years ahead.

    In Depth: Seven Better Uses For $700 Billion
    Let’s start with the nation’s infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates our nation’s bridges need $180 billion in repairs, with our rail infrastructure in need of $185 billion in maintenance. California wants to spend $40 billion for the nation’s first high-speed rail network to connect southern and northern California.

    Saskia Sassen, a professor at Columbia University’s Committee on Global Thought points out that infrastructure investments would feed directly into GDP based on job and enterprise growth. And we certainly have the builders to do it. Unemployment in construction is 40% higher than in manufacturing.

    Arizona Public Service, the state’s public power utility, is currently building the nation’s largest solar power array in the desert near Gila Bend, Ariz. It will be able to power 70,000 homes using only the sun’s rays–and create thousands of high-tech green energy jobs to boot. Construction costs will be about $1 billion, but the utility says it will pay for itself in about seven years. The project covers just three square miles. With the $699 billion left over, you could put even more southwestern desert to work in creating clean energy.

    Health care and climate change are other major concerns. Kenneth Thorpe, a professor of health policy at Emory University points out that for $150 billion you could provide every American with private health insurance and create a universal automated health-information system. When you consider that the National Cancer Institute receives $5 billion a year in funding, you could multiply its budget by 10 and provide private health care to every American.

    McKinsey & Co., a consulting firm, estimates it will cost the U.S. economy $150 billion per year to stabilize greenhouse gases by 2030. For three years, $700 billion could pay for the cost of both health care plans (in case one doesn’t work) and cover the cost to reduce carbon emissions.

    Since global trade isn’t going away any time soon and America’s ports are getting increasingly crowded, using the money for port expansion might be a smart idea. According to the American Association of Port Authorities, container volumes at American ports have increased by 7% per year over the last 20 years, far outpacing capacity growth.

    National security is also a concern. After five years in Iraq, most estimates for the war’s cost tally into the $500 billion range. Unlike investments in distressed assets, paying for the Iraq War won’t produce a return , but $700 billion would stem the government’s future debt obligations to its creditors.

    Then there’s education. The U.S. currently spends some $500 billion annually on public education, yet still finds itself slipping behind many other industrialized nations when it comes to giving the next generation the skills it needs to compete globally.

    The difference, of course, is that government spending for any of this would require a massive tax increase, with no chance of getting any of the money back. The upside: At least it would be a sure bet.

    http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/.....3uses.html

    I cannot believe the idiocy of this article. As if throwing money at a cause will correct it. Oh, yeah, let’s fund national healthcare, “green” jobs, and pour yet more money into education. Does. Not. Work. Sheesh!

    ******

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64. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 2:13 am

    From the AP – it’s all conservatives’ fault:

    Amid GOP revolt, bailout deal breaks down

    By Jennifer Loven and Julie Hirschfeld Davis

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican rebellion stalled government efforts Thursday to avoid economic meltdown, a chaotic turnaround that disrupted the choreography of an extraordinary White House meeting meant to show joint resolve from the president, the political parties and the presidential candidates. Instead, the summit broke up so bitterly that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got on one knee before Democratic leaders in a theatrical attempt to salvage talks.

    After six days of bare-knuckled negotiations on the $700 billion financial industry bailout proposed by the Bush administration, with Wall Street tottering and presidential politics intruding six weeks before the election, there was far more confusion than clarity.

    An apparent breakthrough was announced with fanfare at midday by key members of Congress from both parties – but not top leaders. Wall Street cautiously showed its pleasure, with the Dow Jones industrials closing 196 points higher.

    But the good news and the market close were followed by a rash of less-positive developments.

    Washington Mutual Inc. was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the largest failure ever of a U.S. bank, after which JPMorgan Chase & Co. Inc. came to its rescue by buying the thrift’s banking assets.

    And the late-afternoon White House gathering of President Bush, presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama, and top congressional leaders turned into what one person in the room described as “a full-throated discussion” and McCain’s campaign called “a contentious shouting match.”

    Conservatives were in revolt over the astonishing price tag of the proposal and the hand of government that it would place on private markets.

    Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, emerged from the White House meeting to say the announced agreement “is, obviously, no agreement.” McCain’s campaign issued a statement saying, “the plan that has been put forth by the administration does not enjoy the confidence of the American people as it will not protect the taxpayers and will sacrifice Main Street in favor of Wall Street.” The White House, too, acknowledged there was no deal, only progress.

    Meanwhile a group of House GOP lawmakers circulated an alternative that would put much less focus on a government takeover of failing institutions’ sour assets. This proposal would have the government provide insurance to companies that agree to hold frozen assets, rather than have the U.S. purchase the assets.

    Inside the White House session, House Republican leader John Boehner announced his concerns about the emerging plan and asked that the conservatives’ alternative be considered, said people from both parties who were briefed on the exchange.

    Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, the feisty Democrat who has been leading negotiations with Paulson, reacted angrily, saying Republicans had waited until the last moment to present their proposal.

    McCain, who dramatically announced Wednesday that he was suspending his campaign to deal with the economic crisis, stayed silent for most of the session and spoke only briefly to voice general principles for a rescue plan.

    After the session, Paulson, hoping to prevent any chance for agreement from being torpedoed, pleaded with Democratic leaders not to publicly disclose how poorly the session had gone, said three people familiar with the episode. Frank and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded angrily, and Paulson, in an attempt to lighten the mood, got down on one knee, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, like the others, because the conversations were private. …

    http://customwire.ap.org/dynam.....L_MELTDOWN

    Hmmm, the Republicans “spring” plans “at the last minute” while Democrats try to attach riders like a ban on coal shale development or a requirement that new construction backed by government loans be LEED-compliant.

    Yeah.

    But at least if the Dow crashes tomorrow morning, they can blame the GOP.

    Not like they wouldn’t anyway.

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65. 1sttofight

    September 26, 2008 at 2:29 am

    I am fully stocked on weapons and ammo.

    Bring it on.

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66. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 9:53 am

    Today’s daily Palin hit piece, from the Treason Times:

    A Question Reprised, but the Words Come None Too Easily for Palin

    By Alessandra Stanley

    Her first interview, with the ABC News anchor Charles Gibson, was too hard. The second, with Sean Hannity on the Fox News Channel, was too soft. The third, however, did not turn out to be just right for Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

    On the “CBS Evening News” on Thursday, Katie Couric asked Ms. Palin, Senator John McCain’s running mate, what she meant when she cited Alaska’s proximity to Russia as foreign affairs experience. Ms. Palin could have anticipated the question — the topic of their interview, pegged to her visit to the United Nations, was foreign affairs. Yet Ms. Palin’s answer was surprisingly wobbly: her words tumbled out fast and choppily, like an outboard motor loosened from the stern.

    “That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land — boundary that we have with — Canada,” she replied. She mentioned the jokes made at her expense and seemed for a moment at a loss for the word “caricature.” “It — it’s funny that a comment like that was — kind of made to — cari — I don’t know, you know? Reporters —”

    Ms. Couric stepped in. “Mocked?” Ms. Palin looked relieved and even grateful for the help. “Yeah, mocked, I guess that’s the word, yeah.”

    Ms. Couric pressed her again to explain the geographic point. “Well, it certainly does,” Ms. Palin said, “because our, our next-door neighbors are foreign countries, there in the state that I am the executive of.”

    Ms. Couric asked the governor if she had ever been involved in negotiations, for example, with her Russian neighbors.

    “We have trade missions back and forth,” Ms. Palin said. “We — we do — it’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where — where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border.”

    Ms. Palin, looking at Ms. Couric intently, kept on going. “It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to — to our state.”

    That exchange was so startling it ricocheted across the Internet several hours before it appeared on CBS and was picked up by rival networks.

    While it is quite likely, and perhaps understandable, that Ms. Palin felt nervous and spooked by all the media attention, it wasn’t a reassuring performance. Ms. Palin looked more steady and confident when she took a few questions from reporters after a visit to ground zero in Lower Manhattan, her first, gingerly encounter with campaign reporters since her nomination.

    The CBS interview, shown partly on Wednesday and partly on Thursday, was only a first taste — Ms. Couric is scheduled to go out on the campaign trail with the Palin team early next week. But it may be hard for Mr. McCain’s running mate to recoup. It wasn’t her first interview on national television, but in some ways it was the worst.

    Ms. Palin was criticized — and mocked — for appearing to be stumped when Mr. Gibson, on ABC, asked her on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks to define the Bush doctrine. The McCain campaign, however, cast the scorn as sexism and media snobbery.

    Ms. Palin’s interview with Mr. Hannity the following week went more smoothly, but perhaps too smoothly. Mr. Hannity mostly seemed intent on giving Ms. Palin a chance to correct any confusion left by her ABC interview. “What do you view as the Bush doctrine?” he asked. Ms. Palin replied, “That’s a great question, and being an optimist, I see our role in the world as one of — being a force for good and one of being the leader of the world.”

    Ms. Couric asked her questions firmly but gently, careful not to seem flippant or condescending. But she ended on a “gotcha” moment. After Ms. Palin attacked Senator Barack Obama for saying he would meet with leaders of Syria and Iran without preconditions, Ms. Couric reminded the governor that she recently met with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who supports direct diplomacy with both countries. “Are you saying Henry Kissinger is naïve?” Ms. Couric asked. Ms. Palin replied, “I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say, ‘Yeah, I’ll meet with these leaders without preconditions being met.’ ”

    After the interview, Ms. Couric faced the camera and added a postscript. “Incidentally, we confirmed Henry Kissinger’s position following our interview,” she said, explaining that Mr. Kissinger supports talks “without preconditions.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09.....watch.html

    My problem with all this is Palin knows what she’s walking into in these interviews and just doesn’t seem prepared for the level of vitriol leveled at her and/or just isn’t prepared period.

    Who needs Tina Fey to make Palin look like a babbling fool when she’s doing it herself in major national interviews?

    You’d think she’d be more prepared after Gibson, and I don’t think any of us for a minute didn’t think Couric wouldn’t be, to use the left’s own term, shrill about it and show her no mercy whatsoever. Especially when she’s still trying to prove that she can keep her job at CBS.

    If Palin is going to continue to walk head-on into enemy fire like this without being adequately prepared to fire back, perhaps she isn’t ready for the second most powerful position in the land.

    For example, a quick Google search easily finds an ABC News piece dated September 15, 2008:

    Kissinger Backs Direct Talks ‘Without Conditions’ with Iran

    By Rachel Martin

    Former U.S.Secretary of State Henry Kissinger today told an audience in Washington, DC that the U.S. should negotiate with Iran “without conditions” and that the next President should begin such negotiations at a high level.

    The former Nixon and Ford U.S. Secretary of State early in the year indicated his belief that the U.S. should hold direct talks with Iran when speaking to Bloomberg Television.

    Kissinger spoke at a CNN sponsored forum at George Washington University along with other former Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker III, Warren Christopher and Colin Powell. …

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/polit.....backs.html

    Whomever has the responsibility of prepping Palin needs to be replaced. Now. Before more damage is done. Biden’s going to decimate her on Oct. 2 if she walks in like this.

    Still, you can hear the cheering at the Times and MSM outlets now – “Poor, stupid trailer trash thinks she can walk into this election without letting us, the Press, the gatekeepers of modern American thought, telling Americans what to think of her first. Maybe we can even make her cry.”

    Spending time talking about Palin’s delivery without mentioning Obama’s inability to put multiple coherent sentences together without his teleprompter?

    To be expected from the NYT, but still…

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67. Kilmeny

    September 26, 2008 at 10:12 am

    This is why I think its kind of a mistake on the McCain campaign’s part to be so protective of her. I know they mean well, but they should be letting her natural toughness be her shield, with, as BillK said, a whole lot better preparation. She can do the job, if they’d just have confidence in her and let her loose.

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68. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 10:13 am

    From an ever-more-gleeful AP:

    Letterman keeps up verbal assault on John McCain

    By David Bauder

    NEW YORK – David Letterman kept up his verbal assault on John McCain, commiserating with Paris Hilton and saying he felt like an “ugly date” because the GOP presidential candidate backed out of an appearance on the “Late Show.”

    The late-night CBS comedian was upset Wednesday when McCain canceled an appearance to deal with the economic crisis. After backing out of the Letterman show, McCain sat for an interview with Katie Couric, then didn’t leave New York until Thursday, further angering Letterman.

    At first, Letterman said, he felt like a “patriot” to let McCain off.

    “Now I’m feeling like an ugly date,” Letterman said. “I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied.”

    McCain spokeswoman Nicolle Wallace said the campaign “felt this wasn’t a night for comedy.”

    “We deeply regret offending Mr. Letterman, but our candidate’s priority at this moment is to focus on this crisis,” Wallace said Thursday on NBC’s “Today.”

    Later Thursday, Letterman banged away at McCain in his opening monologue.

    “You’re here on a good night,” he told the audience. “So far none of our guests have canceled.”

    He talked about daredevil David Blaine’s feat of hanging upside-down in New York’s Central Park for 60 hours.

    “They just left the guy hanging there,” he said. “It’s the same thing McCain did to me last night.”

    He described Hilton — Thursday’s guest whose celebrity was once used in a McCain campaign ad to mock Democrat Barack Obama — as McCain’s first choice for a running mate.

    “Here’s how it works: You don’t come to see me? You don’t come to see me? Well, we might not see you on Inauguration Day,” Letterman said.

    Noting that McCain wanted to postpone Friday’s first debate with Obama, Letterman said running mate Sarah Palin wanted to put off her debate with Democrat Joe Biden until after Election Day. Letterman said Palin’s meeting with world leaders at the United Nations was like “take-your-daughter-to-work day.”

    Letterman’s Top 10 list was “surprising facts about Sarah Palin,” read by citizens of Wasilla, Alaska, where she was once mayor.

    No. 10: Palin “sometimes calls John McCain grandpa.”

    Later in the show, Letterman couldn’t resist another mention of “that John McCain” while chatting with Hilton, who replied, “I heard he dissed you. He dissed me.”

    Milking the moment, Letterman consoled her: “You had a little run-in with him, too, didn’t you?”

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200....._letterman

    The pure arrogance:

    “Here’s how it works: You don’t come to see me? You don’t come to see me? Well, we might not see you on Inauguration Day,” Letterman said.

    Yet, Obama feels he can’t do a 30 second guest shot on SNL as he “felt it was inappropriate in the face of the suffering caused by Hurricane Ike” and he gets a complete pass from the media?

    Why, of course.

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69. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 10:18 am

    Kilmeny, I’d agree with you but the interviews to date are showing none of the “natural toughness” that we saw at the RNC.

    We’re seeing exactly what the MSM told us we’d see from a small-town mayor suddenly targeted for destruction by the networks.

    If she and we are stupid enough to let that happen, we deserve to go down in flames, pure and simple.

    My support isn’t wavering, but at this point she’s definitely not who I thought she was, something that infuriates me as that’s exactly how the MSM wants me to feel.

    Yet logically, I’ve not seen a reason since the RNC why I shouldn’t and it’s likely a major reason for her (and the GOP’s) plummeting poll numbers.

    I still think she’s wonderful and capable, but I’m not feeling unlike the way I did when Fred Thompson prematurely quit the race; a bit disillusioned and while I still support her I’m not sure I’d still have a “Sarah!” McCain/Palin sign sitting in my front yard right now. :(

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70. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 10:31 am

    From the Columbia Journalism Review:

    The Elephant in the Control Room

    Should Andrea Mitchell be reporting on the economic meltdown?

    By Megan Garbe

    When Andrea Mitchell reports on the current financial crisis—or on anything that relates to the crisis, which is, these days, a lot—there is an excessively large elephant in the control room. Its name is Alan Greenspan.

    That Greenspan is Mitchell’s husband doesn’t, under normal circumstances, warrant disclosure or special treatment. Mitchell is a career journalist who knows what conflict of interest is—and how to avoid not only its appearance, but also, one hopes, its effects. Under normal circumstances, it would be unfair to hold her husband against her.

    Under normal circumstances. But the credit crisis—and the current meltdown we’re facing, whose effects, assuming we can find a way to stanch them in the short term, will likely be with us for generations to come—is not normal circumstances. Greenspan, by virtue of his nearly-nineteen-year chairmanship of the Federal Reserve Board, is, to some extent, culpable in the crisis we’re facing. Critics have accused the Greenspan-led Fed of inflating the housing bubble by keeping loan rates too low for too long, encouraging reckless lending and borrowing. Greenspan himself has admitted as much, telling CBS last year, “While I was aware a lot of these practices were going on, I had no notion of how significant they had become until very late. I really didn’t get it until very late in 2005 and 2006.” And as The New York Times put it in a December 2007 article headlined “Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread” (emphasis mine),

    Until the boom in subprime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves.

    Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford.

    But when Mr. Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman. …

    http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_.....p?page=all

    I think the CJR is being kind; Mitchell should never be allowed to report on issues in which Greenspan is involved at all.

    Could you imagine the flack a Fox News reporter would take if their spouse were in a similar position? There would be no disclaimer about their being a “professional journalist” and knowing where “the line” lies…

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71. Kilmeny

    September 26, 2008 at 10:34 am

    Well, now’s the time to see what she can really be made of, now that the initial infatuation for Sarah seems to be wearing off a bit. The MSM has a curious habit of creating just the very scenarios they’re always telling us will occur, through whatever means necessary, so the fact that she’s stumbling through these interviews doesn’t really rattle me just yet. But you’re right Bill, in the sense that she shouldn’t be letting them rattle her. Its time for her to step up her game.

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72. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 10:44 am

    Not to use a Fred Thompson reference a second time in less than 30 minutes here, but in many ways it is similar.

    Fred Thompson’s public speaking engagements in the campaign often went much more poorly than they should have, given how well he wrote for his radio program and his performance in his YouTube videos.

    The central point, to me, was that he just didn’t seem like he prepared. He should have rehearsed them as if he was rehearsing for a part, going over them, polishing them (but not too much), giving us what we heard on his ABC radio editorials.

    Instead we got seemingly cold reads of the material, no laughs where he expected them, and so on.

    Palin can do better – we saw how she handled the loss of her prompter during the RNC.

    But the campaign should be hammering her day in and day out with every attack question they can think of, acting like MSM reporters and quite frankly raising even things like the “incest” question before someone in the Press does. Beating her senseless so that any major missteps like her error with the Kissinger statement happen with them, not with the working press.

    But as with Thompson, they’re not, and in the process, she’s not prepared.

    Don’t think Obama and Biden don’t have triple digits of staff members poring over the net for even the smallest issue to make sure their candidate is “prepared.”

    Does the McCain/Palin campaign simply not know how to run a modern campaign where MSM hit pieces are the name of the game and gaffes like hers with Courics will be viewed in six digit figures on YouTube before the campaign even realizes there’s an issue? (The embarrassing bits of the interview being “unofficially leaked” to the net before they’re even broadcast.)

    A campaign in which the MSM regularly acts in the way towards the GOP the way the MSM has always accused Rove of acting on Bush’s behalf?

    Those running the campaign and Palin herself are either being severely naïve or completely incompetent.

    I’m hoping for the former at this point, but one more interview like Couric’s and it’s clear the second will be the case, and quite frankly there isn’t time to recover if she turns in a similar performance against Biden next week. :(

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73. Kilmeny

    September 26, 2008 at 11:13 am

    To me it always seemed like Fred Thompson wasn’t even certain he wanted to be running. He said the right things, but as though he really didn’t care whether anyone bought it or not. Sarah Palin certainly seems as though she wants the job. I’m just not ready to be disappointed in Palin until I’ve seen her debate. I’m hoping she isn’t just a one-lipstick pony.

    What can I say? I’m impossibly optimistic.

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74. Exeter

    September 26, 2008 at 11:26 am

    I agree with you, Kilmeny. I’m prepared to be disappointed in Palin if she screws up of her own accord – but right now, all she’s proved is that she can’t do the dance for the MSM. That’s all right – neither could Goldwater; neither could Reagan; neither could Gingrich; neither could the Bushes. What Gibson and Couric tried to do is show us, her base, that she’s not who we think she is. But I refuse to see her through their lens.

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75. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 12:03 pm

    Exeter – I think it’s valid to expect that Palin should have known that Kissinger threw his hat in with “no preconditions” Obama on Iran just last Monday.

    It’s not like Kissinger’s statement was either reported on “page A23″ or was a throwaway line reported six months ago; it was reasonably well reported at the time.

    At the very least I would hope Palin ripped her staff a new one over this as there’s no excuse for not having been briefed even if she herself doesn’t have the time to read even USA Today while on the campaign trail.

    It’s like not knowing that at the same meeting Colin Powell (and the liberals present) all stated that “to restore America’s reputation” it was “vital” that we close Gitmo; she’ll need to know that too as well as why (hopefully at least) she believes that would be a bad move.

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76. Exeter

    September 26, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    BillK – you’re right about the Kissenger thing. Her mistake was when she said, “I’ve never heard Henry Kissinger say…”, revealing that she wasn’t up on current news. (To be fair, I didn’t know it either, but I can afford the ignorance). What she should have said is, “The former Secretary of State is entitled to his opinion; I don’t agree with him.” The fact is, there was no easy way out of the question; unfortunately, she didn’t give the least damaging answer. I’ll write it off as a gaffe, and hope that she’ll be more wary in the future.

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77. BillK

    September 26, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    Though I suppose she could get technical in a “I didn’t have sexual relations with that woman” way and say she had never heard Kissinger say that – “I read it, but I’ve never heard it.”

    And then throw in “It all depends on what your definition of “is” is.” ;-)

    But your answer is correct; she’s actually answering questions flat out, which IMHO once again proves she’s either horribly naïve or her campaign staff and advisers are inexcusably incompetent.

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