If your question is directed at me, you are missing the heavy sarcasm in my article.

Surely you (or maybe some other of the score of bloggers out there) picked up on it???

If not, then it must not have been so easy.

If EVER right wing blog missed it, how can you insult the McCain camp for missing it. Besides Hillary missed it too………

McCain’s decision to play nice so the MSM would like him was imbecilic, in addition to being 100% wrong.

The Democrats leap-frogged the Republicans in campaign capabilities this time. And unfortunately, it could be a long long time before it matters, and we might be huddled around campfires the next time we rationality gets a chance.

Ohio Coal Association Says Obama Remarks Make It Clear: Obama Ticket Not Supportive of Coal

Last update: 10:42 a.m. EST Nov. 3, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov 03, 2008 /PRNewswire–USNewswire via COMTEX/ — Mike Carey, president of the Ohio Coal Association (OCA), today issued the following statement in response to just-released remarks from Senator Barack Obama about the nation’s coal industry.

“Regardless of the timing or method of the release of these remarks, the message from the Democratic candidate for President could not be clearer: the Obama-Biden ticket spells disaster for America’s coal industry and the tens of thousands of Americans who work in it.

“These undisputed, audio-taped remarks, which include comments from Senator Obama like ‘I haven’t been some coal booster’ and ‘if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them’ are extraordinarily misguided.

“It’s evident that this campaign has been pandering in states like Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania to attempt to generate votes from coal supporters, while keeping his true agenda hidden from the state’s voters.

“Senator Obama has revealed himself to be nothing more than a short- sighted, inexperienced politician willing to say anything to get a vote. But today, the nation’s coal industry and those who support it have a better understanding of his true mission, to ‘bankrupt’ our industry, put tens of thousands out of work and cause unprecedented increases in electricity prices.

“In addition to providing an affordable, reliable source of low-cost electricity, domestic coal holds the key to our nation’s long-term energy security – a goal that cannot be overlooked during this time of international instability and economic uncertainty.

“Few policy areas are more important to our economic future than energy issues. As voters head to the polls tomorrow, it is essential they remember that access to reliable, affordable, domestic energy supplies is essential to economic growth and stability.”

The Ohio Coal Association (OCA) is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Ohio’s underground and surface coal mining producers. The OCA represents nearly 40 coal producing companies and more than 50 Associate Members, which include suppliers and consultants to the mining industry, coal sales agents and brokers and allied industries. The Ohio Coal Association is committed to advancing the development and utilization of Ohio coal as an abundant, economic and environmentally sound energy source.

SOURCE Ohio Coal Association
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

http://www.marketwatch.com/new.....BD7D93D%7D

Palin suggests Chronicle withheld Obama remarks

By Carla Marinucci

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in a campaign appearance Sunday, criticized comments about coal technology that Sen. Barack Obama made to The Chronicle editorial board in January, and suggested that the newspaper withheld the information from the public – even though the interview has been posted on the newspaper’s Web site since it was given.

At a rally in Ohio, Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, used the taped remarks to attack Obama’s energy policy.

“Barack Obama explained his plan to The San Francisco Chronicle this year,” she said. “And he said that, sure, if the industry wants to build coal-fired power plants, then they can go ahead and try, he says. But they can do it only in a way that will bankrupt the coal industry.

“You gotta listen to the tape,” she continued. “Why is this audio tape just now surfacing?”

Voices in the crowd could be heard shouting, “Liberal media!”

“This interview was given many months ago,” Palin told the audience. “You should have known about this.”

The Republican National Committee also sent out blog reports pushing the notion of a “hidden” Obama videotape withheld by The Chronicle.

Obama sat with The Chronicle editorial board Jan. 17 for the interview, and it has been available in its entirety on the newspaper’s Web site since it took place in San Francisco during the Democratic primary season. In his wide-ranging session with the paper, the Democratic senator from Illinois spoke about his energy plan and an “aggressive” cap-and-trade policy, and spoke about coal technology.

“So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted,” he said. In the same interview, the senator said that “if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.”

On Sunday, Obama’s campaign said his comments were taken out of context by Palin, and that Obama called the notion of eliminating coal plants entirely “an illusion.”

John Diaz, editor of The Chronicle’s editorial pages, said the paper not only posted the entire audio and video of the Obama interview, but promoted it to readers.

“How can anyone suggest that we hid an interview that we did, immediately put up on the Web – and advertised to our readers?” said Diaz. “We promoted it like hell … and I’m sure the Clinton campaign and the McCain campaign scrubbed it. You can still find the whole 48 minutes and 33 seconds online.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/.....13SU6S.DTL

Of course you have to listen to the full 48:33 interview to hear the comments in question; no effort is made by the Chronicle to note Obama is suggesting he wants to drive an entire industry out of business.

The interview can be heard at http://sfgate.com/ZCDP

More than anything else, I think this reflects just how poor a campaign the McCain camp has been running; a check of the Internet’s “Wayback Machine” archive shows the Chronicle did indeed post the full audio of the interview back in January.

The comments are only “coming to light” now because the left agreed with them and the right apparently was too busy with other things to bother vetting Obama’s interviews.

Moreover a twenty second Internet search was all it took to show how embarassingly wrong Palin was on the “hidden by the MSM” comment.

Surely she too can use Google; here’s the Chron page, showing the audio was posted at least as of March 8:

http://web.archive.org/web/200.....y_id=23562