RE: Troopergate 2008

Just happened upon this article in TIME magazine about Gov. Palin's renewed interest in cooperating with the investigation. It appears that her new-found desire for transparency and openness isn't quite what it seems. Here's an excerpt:

Palin won't actually cooperate with the original investigation — the one approved unanimously by a majority Republican committee in the state legislature this summer, which Palin welcomed in a spirit of transparency and accountability before she became the Republican Party's vice-presidential nominee. The Alaska Senate Judiciary Committee had started the inquiry when former public safety commissioner Walt Monegan alleged that he might have been dismissed for not firing the allegedly loutish state trooper Mike Wooten, who was in a bitter custody battle with Palin's sister Molly McCann and was accused of threatening members of the governor's family. The investigation has since been painted by John McCain and Palin backers as a purely partisan exercise, particularly because the committee chair, state senator Hollis French, is an Anchorage Democrat who made several seemingly prejudicial statements to the media early on, including that the probe could yield an "October surprise" right before the election...

Instead, Palin plans to cooperate with an investigator from the state personnel board. That investigator is a Democrat, but the board's three members are political appointees who ultimately answer to the governor herself. (One was appointed by Palin, the other two by her predecessor.) They got involved only after Palin took the unusual step of filing an ethics complaint against herself in early September to spark an investigation that her lawyers hoped would overshadow — and effectively kill — the legislature's inquiry.

The article goes on to talk about how Alaskans are a bit put off by Palin's sudden hesitance to expose the truth in this matter. It appears she, like McCain, was all straight-talk until she entered the race:

Many Alaskans have sympathy for the anxiety and frustration the Palins felt over Wooten's continued employment. In Anchorage, I've heard time and again that Palin could have avoided further scrutiny with a single convivial mea culpa at the outset, apologizing in particular for her initial inaccurate denial that anyone in her administration, including herself, had contacted Monegan about Wooten. Something that simple would have defanged any investigation, and signaled to Alaskans that even as the Vice Presidential nominee, she would still be the same supposedly straight-talking Sarah they voted for overwhelmingly.

Ha! As if the GOP apologizes for anything (like, say, a war we never should have started). Full post and comments here...

Let He Who Is Without Advertising Sin...

...win the presidency?

Well, if that's the criteria, neither candidate would get it. Both candidates long ago abandoned any attempt at not running negative ads. I think there's no question that McCain has only recently returned to airing relevant, issue-focused ads again (after all the lipstick and primary school sex ed nonsense coming out of his campaign). Furthermore, I would be relatively confident in arguing that Obama had been running ads that were topical and relevant as well.

Recently, though, the Obama campaign has been down in the mud and "flexible" with the facts against McCain on a number of different issues. To start, here's a clip the Obama campaign started to run the day after 9/11...



Now, John McCain may have said those things, but I think the tone of the ad is a little mocking and unnecessary. But don't take my word for it - here's what Joe Biden had to say:

Asked by CBS's Katie Couric about an ad Obama released earlier this month mocking John McCain for not being able to use a computer, Biden criticized the commercial and suggested it had been aired without his knowledge.

"I thought that was terrible by the way," Biden said of the computer ad in an interview broadcast tonight on the CBS Evening News

Asked why it was aired, Biden said: "I didn't know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it."

Strike one.

Obama subsequently put out a TV and radio ad in Spanish on McCain's position on immigration. Here's what the ad says (as reported by The Trail):

"They want us to forget the insults we've put up with, the intolerance," the television ad's announcer says in Spanish as a picture of Rush Limbaugh appears onscreen with quotes of him saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out."

"They made us feel marginalized in a country we love so much," the ad continues. "John McCain and his Republican friends have two faces. One that says lies just to get our vote and another, even worse, that continues the failed policies of George Bush that put special interests ahead of working families."

The companion radio ad uses the same script as above and then continues: "Don't forget that John McCain abandoned us rather than confront the leaders of the Republican Party. Many of us were born here, and others came to work and achieve a better life for their families -- not to commit crimes or drain the system like many of John McCain's friends claim. Let's not be fooled by political tricks from John McCain and the Republicans. Vote so they respect us. Vote for a change."

Now, I'm not sure if you followed the Republican primaries (they weren't nearly as interesting as the Democratic primaries), but it's pretty common knowledge that one of the major points where John McCain parted ways with general Republican thinking was in his apparent support for amnesty for illegal immigrants. Here's the breakdown from FactCheck:

Limbaugh has been no friend of McCain and has attacked him repeatedly. He hounded McCain for his stance on immigration, among other issues. In January, Limbaugh said that a McCain nomination would "destroy the Republican party," and said he would vote for a Democrat over McCain. Limbaugh has attacked McCain specifically for being too friendly to illegal immigrants from Mexico, saying McCain "supports amnesty and open borders."

Strike two.

It's pretty clear that Obama and his campaign decided to take a few creative liberties with the facts on McCain and his support for immigration. Just as McCain went too far in trying to change the conversation from things that matter to voters to nonsense meant to get a rise out of Obama, Democrats, or the "elite, leftist media", Obama has gone too far in trying to tie McCain to Bush and the rest of the conservative establishment. And as recent poll numbers for McCain show, doing that too much can certainly cost you. Full post and comments here...

The Hypocritic Oath

So I was tooling around on the National Review website (that's right - I try to see what's happening on both sides) and found a link to an email from a Fox producer concerning some recent event turnout numbers.

From: Oinounou, Mosheh
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 3:04 PM
To:
Editorial
Subject: Re: Obama @ Green Bay speech

This may be the first time during this campaign that McCain beat Obama at attendance since it is one of those rare occasions where they used the same facility in a matter of days.

McCain and Palin easily pulled between 10,500 and 11K at the Resch Center at their joint rally last Thursday night. Per Bonney’s reporting–it appears Obama pulled in 6K–a little more than half of the GOP rally.
——————-
Mosheh Oinounou
Producer, Fox News Channel

I read somewhere else that Palin spoke in front of a crowd of 60,000 people in Florida today.

Mmk...let's make sure we've got all of our ducks in a row on this one.

Obama: Young + Soaring Rhetoric + Moderate Experience + Huge Crowds = Rock star, out-of-touch, celebrity phony

Palin: Young + Sassy Style + Moderate Experience + Huge Crowds = The best hope for America

Well there's the problem: Obama needs to up his sass. Give me a break! I guess it was inevitable given how much press she's been getting and how excited the reds are about their ticket, but c'mon. At least make some half-respectable attempt to be kind of consistent. You can't mock Obama for his crowds yesterday and then tout the size of your crowds today.

What am I saying? It certainly appears you can.

Full post and comments here...

How Was Your Week?

I don't know about you, but my week last week wasn't great. Work is a drag, the commute's really starting to get to me, and I didn't get to spend much time with my wife and her sisters while they were visiting (although we did have a fun weekend in New Jersey/New York). But, I can say this: my week wasn't half as bad as McCain's was.

Here's a video from Rachel Maddow of MSNBC. Now, allow me to preface this by saying that she (as well as the rest of the folks on MSNBC) is clearly VERY left-leaning, so independents and Repubs should take this with a grain of salt. However, McCain's message on the economy was so scattered that it's a wonder he's even risking to keep talking about it. I guess he returned to the topics that matter to people too soon (see my previous post RE: Speechless).




NOTE: Ana Marie Cox writes for Swampland, a TIME blog. If you don't feel like reading every blog and article concerning politics yourself, they tend to cover the major stuff pretty well (although, I can't say they're all unbiased). Full post and comments here...

Take That, Mac!

Since the advent of the Mac vs. PC ads that have turned Macs into the hottest thing since sliced, digital bread (oh, you don't know about it?), Microsoft has been working hard to regain their status as top dawg of the tech world. Their solution: Jerry Seinfeld.





Contrary to popular belief, the ads are mildly amusing. Also, any HBO's The Wire fans recognize the dad in the first video? I'll give you a hint - think Season 5... Full post and comments here...

I Oughta "Organize" You Right In Your "Community"

OK, here's a little refresher video...



And here we have Obama and McCain responding...



And finally a clip from Gov. Palin's recent interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News (thanks to Ben for helping me get the embed code)...



Let me be clear. For all of the wonderful things about them, McCain and Palin are convinced that they exist on an intellectual plane somewhere north of logic. I've discussed the unnecessary shots below the belt the McCain camp has made regarding the "Lipstick" and "Sex Ed for Kindergartners" fake controversies in previous posts. And for those I can understand why there is room for argument, did he or didn't he, back and forth political maneuvering to sway public opinion instead of present actual fact.

But these digs on helping communities as an organizer is frankly beyond the pale. Where in the world do McCain and Palin get the cojones to boldly ignore the gross inconsistencies in their statements? From whence comes the abounding gumption and wherewithal that lead McCain to justify the denigrations made Palin and Guiliani and, in the same sitting, actually claim that "he thinks it's very honorable" that Obama was a communitiy organizer? Give me a break! I think they may have lost some votes.

And Palin....ooooh, she is getting on my last nerve. With the smug, pretentious air of "sass" that we've come to know and expect from her, she confesses to Hannity

Oh, I certainly didn't mean to hurt his feeling. Didn't mean to offend any community organizers either - I have respect for those who have chosen public service...

I'm sorry, what was the line again?

A small town mayor is...sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities. [emphasis added]

I see her point. Obviously the new, hip way to compliment someone is to insult them. Why, just the other day I expressed my respect and admiration for my coworker by calling him a "fat-cat yes-man who has never had an original thought." Funny, he didn't seem to get my meaning either... Full post and comments here...

Troopergate 2008

And yeah, I like to rhyme. I do it all the time.

So I just happened to stumble on an interesting opinion article in the Anchorage Daily News written by a "conservative" radio host in Alaska. The commentary obviously concerns the recent subpoenas in the investigation of whether Sarah Palin, in her position as governor, wrongly fired former commissioner of public safety Walter Monegan. I haven't been following this particular issue very closely because all politicians lie, why would she be any different. I mean, if she was really confident everything she did was on the up-and-up, she would have welcomed the investigation. Imagine how popular she would be (and that guy she's running with, the older one...I can't think of his name just now) if it turned out she had done nothing wrong. The whole thing would be played up as egregious and underhanded attacks by "the left and its elite media cohorts" to besmirge her sterling reputation.

Anyway, for those who aren't going to take the two minutes to click the link and read the article (tsk, tsk...), here's a nice quote to give you a taste of the flavor that is the savory blend of rebuke stew this guy is serving up:

If anyone should be on the hot seat, it's not Monegan, but Palin for her inconsistencies.

The governor has given so many different reasons for firing Monegan I've lost count. From the "we need new direction" and "new energy" to "he wasn't hiring enough cops," to "he wasn't doing enough about alcohol in the bush" to "he lobbied for budget increases" to the latest version, which is a doozy; Monegan displayed "egregious rogue behavior."

The governor also originally said that neither she, Todd nor anyone from her administration pressured Monegan regarding Trooper Wooten. Palin then was forced to admit there was serial contact once the Frank Bailey tape surfaced. But she insisted she was just learning of it. But e-mails have surfaced detailing Palin complaining to Monegan about Wooten.

...

Clearly most Alaskans choose to ignore the facts of the Troopergate scandal. They want Palin to make it to the national stage.

Republicans scold me all the time, "You don't want Obama to win do you? Stop criticizing Palin!"

My question to my conservative friends is simple. Does the truth still matter?

Truth is at the very heart of the conservative movement. Isn't it true that smaller government, self empowerment, and personal responsibility are worth fighting for? Isn't it true that promoting a culture of life and defending marriage will keep us strong as a nation?

But some Republican leaders are abandoning truth and closing ranks to help Palin cover up her scandal by attacking the investigation.

Right from the elephant's mouth. Wow, that was partisan. Full post and comments here...

RE: Dan Craig on One Tree Hill

Thanks to Dan's sister, Ali, for finding this clip on YouTube. Here it is, people! The grand debut ('cause it's new to you) of Dan Craig's hit single "Further to Fall" on One Tree Hill (a kinda weird show).


UPDATE: You can view the scene in its entirety here (starts around 3:40). Thanks again to Ali. Full post and comments here...

Waverly Book Fest

This Saturday was Waverly Library's annual Book Fest - thousands of books and hundreds of videos on sale, balloon artists, storytelling, etc. It's both to raise money for the library's programming and to encourage the community to take another look at their local library.





We had the books sorted into fiction and non-fiction, and then the various non-fiction categories so someone who was looking for history books, for example, would have them all together. It wasn't unusual to have someone ask us for a category or even a particular book. Towards the end, this one guy was browsing the table outside and asked if we had Shawshank Redemption.



"The book or the movie?"

"There was a book?"

I just left that. He kept looking, wandering up and down, and then I heard him say to his friend, "You know, it would be really helpful if they'd have a catalog or something so you could know what was here."

I wonder where one can find a place that has thousands of books, yet offers a listing that shows the exact location of the one you're looking for. You got me, sir, that is indeed a tricky one.

Full post and comments here...

Scarborough Fair

Typically a capella sucks (sorry to all my FM folks, but you know it's true). However, one-man a capella is kind of impressive. Never mind the 8-part harmonies.

The only drawback - his name is Sunshine. Wow.



I am a YouTube fiend on this blog. I think in the future what I'll do is compile them all into a weekly post. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

Thank you for participating in this thought process. Full post and comments here...