BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Barry Finn
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 10:57 AM

Problem is...Hillary, with her 'experience' has been wrong too many times.

When has she been wrong, she's just been stonewalled by republicans, that' all.

Her health care plan was way ahead of the repub's & they convinced & scared the nation into killing it. 15 yrs later it turns out to have been one of the top issues. She was right & they were wrong

Meanwhile, Paleface is under wraps & in hiding until she can be debriefed on the republicans/McBain's aggenda but the learning curve will be to steep & at the 1st debate she'll "flake off" (if they allow her to debate, seeing as they're rejecting already scheduled interviews), she can run but she can't hide, at least not for ever. As it stands now they're trying to remove her feet from her mouth & they're giving serious thought to capping her off at the knees so she'll have at least 2 stumps left over to stand on.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Ebbie
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 10:27 AM

"Wasn't it Adlai Stevenson who spoke of "snatching defeat from the jaws of victory"? The people are beginning to realize that the only way to get rid of a corrupt, misguided, incompetent Republican administration is to vote for another Republican." Dick Greenhaus

I agree with you, Dick, but it just occurred to me that the people snatching defeat from the jaws of victory may well be the Republicans. In other words, victory may mean defeat.

I > know that Republicans want this country to succeed- they just haven't figured out that their party will take the country to defeat.

Gads. The one political option that I really would like this country to adopt is the 'No Confidence' one. Maybe then our citizens would wake up and get involved.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 10:11 AM

Hillary is smart enough not to be side-tracked by little Sarah. She'll keep her eye and her big guns aimed at McCain. It's someone else's job to vet the Alaska gov, and while McCain's camp are not letting her talk to the press until they've taught her how to give the non-answer to hard questions, someone else is going to have to kneecap her.

Problem is...Hillary, with her 'experience' has been wrong too many times. It's all in perception, and right now she is not perceived well.

Wrong. Just plain wrong. You don't get as far as she got being "not perceived well." You just don't like her. Period.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: katlaughing
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 09:55 AM

In the end, McCain/Palin will have to talk about real issues and Obama will keep on keeping on and win:



In an interview, yesterday, on MSNBC:



I mean, this is — this should not be complicated. Here's what it comes down to. Under George Bush's stewardship, with an assist from John McCain and the rest of the Republican Party, the economy is weaker now than it has been in a very long time. Unemployment is higher. Poverty is higher. More people are uninsured. Wages and incomes have flat-lined. Middle class folks who used to feel secure now feel unstable. We've got more homes being lost to foreclosure than at any time since the Great Depression.



And John McCain does not have any discernible difference from George Bush when it comes to economic policy. He's got the same economic policy. So if you like what has happened under George Bush's presidency, you should vote for John McCain. If you think that we have to move this country in a fundamentally different direction, then you should vote for me. And that is going to be the case that we make throughout this election, and frankly, that's not the conversation that the McCain campaign wants to have.



Rick Davis was very explicit. John McCain's campaign manager said this campaign is not going to be about the issues. That was his assertion. Well, I think that the American people expect it to be about the issues. They deserve it to be about the issues. That's what we're going to keep on pressing in the weeks that will remain.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Emma B
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 08:59 AM

Urban Legends and Sarah Palin

links from The Anchorage Daily News and the Juneau Empire

The Anchorage Daily News

Nation examines Palin's beliefs
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/518514.html

Palin pressured Wasilla librarian
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html

Palin tries new tactic to unload hated jet
http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/background/story/203814.html

Palin's leadership
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/518451.html

Trooper Wooten tells CNN he made mistakes
http://www.adn.com/troopergate/story/517685.html

Troopergate
http://www.adn.com/monegan/
On this link are audio and video clips as well as text.

Juneau Empire
9/8/08

Analysis: Nation's image of Palin differs from Alaskans'
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/090808/sta_329827273.shtml


Sarah Palin's personal views on abortion issues are anathema to me but even more so is the lynch mob mentality that seems to want to jump on every viral email that purports to have discovered some new salacious 'shock' revelation.

This persistence on engaging in the politics of personal character assassination may well backfire by creating feelings of revulsion in those undecided voters who are essential to both campaigns in this close run election

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 04:28 AM

Yeah. But she may decide to take care of two problems with one bullet. I buy hope.

Gotta go. See you tomorrow. (Well this IS tomorrow, but ya know what I mean.)

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 03:57 AM

Problem is...Hillary, with her 'experience' has been wrong too many times. It's all in perception, and right now she is not perceived well.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 03:54 AM

I agree with you GfS.

I have wondered where the Dems ARE. Haven't heard about them in days--well, since SHE arrived.

IMO, your analysis is smack on. I think that Hillary WILL take her on and shred her. Hillary is a sharp cookie and her depth of experience in politics is certainly better and more than Palin's. Palin is being sheltered from the press. Wise decision.She'll need a bomb shelter by the time H gets done with her.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 03:43 AM

From: Peace
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 03:19 AM

They learned from the Republicans in the last two elections. It ain't nice, but it ain't surprising. Payback is a real sonuvabitch.

It seems to me, that this year, it is a measure of how the Obama camp is shaking in their boots, though.....the more they shake, the more his numbers go down, and the Republicats momentum strengthens. Obama's 'celebrity' status, was his strength, but also his Achilles heel. Now Palin is the 'celeb'. In the final analysis, its going to be who they trust, and believe, for whatever reason. Palin's speech at the convention, all but wiped out Obama's 'super stardom' ...which shows you, that people got all fired up over just one speech...or Obama's supporters just weren't all that sold out on him, save his die hards....however, in the independant voters, and the uncommitted,
(read:unconvinced, at least at this point), he got walloped...Now the news is reporting that the Dems are hitting on Hillary, to take on Sarah....a political cat fight, I'd call it. Hillary is having to make a delicate decision....this should be very interesting to say the least. Should she take her on, and lose, she's history, and 2012,
would be absolutely gone, whereas if she wins, she's a star, vs stay put, and let the Republicats screw themselves up even more, then she'd have a shot.
Truly, its all nonsense, at such a critical time in our history, as a nation!!!

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 03:19 AM

They learned from the Republicans in the last two elections. It ain't nice, but it ain't surprising. Payback is a real sonuvabitch.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 09 Sep 08 - 02:58 AM

On the news tonight they referenced that Democrat, Obama supporter bloggers were wildly attacking Palin....an open minded bunch, they are, eh?...

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:42 PM

Wha---????

(Heh!)

Look, my dachshund is not named Bobert, okay? But you can call your dog Amos if you want to. Fine with me.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: GUEST,Sawzaw
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:28 PM

So Little Hawk has a Daschund named Bobert and I have a pit bull named Amos.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:03 PM

100

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:02 PM

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. -- Sen. Barack Obama delivered an impassioned defense of the Constitution and the rights of terrorism suspects tonight, striking back at one of the biggest applause lines in Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech to the GOP convention.

It was in St. Paul last week that Palin drew raucous cheers when she delivered this put-down of Obama: "Al-Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America and he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."

Obama had a few problems with that.

"First of all, you don't even get to read them their rights until you catch 'em," Obama said here, drawing laughs from 1,500 supporters in a high school gymnasium. "They should spend more time trying to catch Osama bin Laden and we can worry about the next steps later."

If the plotters of the Sept. 11 attacks are in the government's sights, Obama went on, they should be targeted and killed.

"My position has always been clear: If you've got a terrorist, take him out," Obama said. "Anybody who was involved in 9/11, take 'em out."

But Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago for more than a decade, said captured suspects deserve to file writs of habeus corpus.

Calling it "the foundation of Anglo-American law," he said the principle "says very simply: If the government grabs you, then you have the right to at least ask, 'Why was I grabbed?' And say, 'Maybe you've got the wrong person.'"

The safeguard is essential, Obama continued, "because we don't always have the right person."

"We don't always catch the right person," he said. "We may think it's Mohammed the terrorist, but it might be Mohammed the cab driver. You might think it's Barack the bomb-thrower, but it might be Barack the guy running for president."

Obama turned back to Palin's comment, although he said he was not sure whether Palin or Rudy Giuliani said it.

"The reason that you have this principle is not to be soft on terrorism. It's because that's who we are. That's what we're protecting," Obama said, his voice growing louder and the crowd rising to its feet to cheer. "Don't mock the Constitution. Don't make fun of it. Don't suggest that it's not American to abide by what the founding fathers set up. It's worked pretty well for over 200 years."

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:02 PM

"Did Palin call Barack a Sambo and Hillary a Bitch?"

Who knows? It's the sort of thing that a great many people will say off the record when they think that only their friends are listening. I've heard quite a few people say stuff like that over the years, but they sure wouldn't say it on the record if they were running for office, would they? Not unless they were complete idiots...

It seems entirely possible that Palin may have said something like that when she was in a restaurant with a few friends. Really, why would it be that astounding if she did? Why would it even be slightly surprising if she did? Hundreds of thousands of well-dressed and superficially respectable people say stuff like that every day in America. They do. If you don't think so, then you're just living in denial.

But did she say it? Well...that's just more speculation is what it is...mainly driven by the intense desire of people who hate her guts to find something they can pin on her.

I gather from some of the stories coming out of Alaska that there are more than a few people who hate her guts around there. She's the aggressively ambitious type, a real go-getter, and aggressively ambitious types always make plenty of enemies while they're clawing their way to the top.

You'll never know if she said it or not. You'll just wish and hope that she did if you want to see her campaign crash and burn, that's all. That's how people's minds work when they're in a partisan frame of mind.

You see, it's equally petty and nasty on either side of the political divide.

Expect more such stuff before the circus is over.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:00 PM

Try following the links I put in to the original author of the article, Emma. The L.A. Progressive had a link to his website, too. That's the "Progressive Curmudgeon" link I included in my post. If you read what he has to say about being a journalist and using anonymous sources and about the people who did talk with him, including some who gave their names, you might get a different take on it.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Emma B
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 11:00 PM

Palin Rumors

'Updated as of 2008-09-07 0845: This list has grown quite long and I'm finding people referring to the rumors more and more often by number, so I'm going to add all new rumors at the end, so the numbering won't change any more'

Charles Martin
who has established a clearinghouse for all the existing rumors about Sarah Palin, and any new ones you want to make up

see numbers 1-71 here

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Emma B
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:45 PM

The LA Progressive reports that Sarah Palin referred to Barack Obama as Sambo, saying "Sambo beat the bitch", in regards to Obama winning the primaries against Hillary Clinton.

The article uses a woman with no last name, an unknown restaurant and no supporting witnesses.
the Daily Kos picked it up and ran with it.

LGF reports that the Kos piece, titled "So Sambo Beat The Bitch' - Sarah Palin...", is now gone, erased, doesn't exist

UPDATE at 9/6/08 11:47:08 am:

And another Daily Kos hate diary vanishes down the memory hole: Daily Kos: 'So Sambo Beat The Bitch' - Sarah Palin...

'Sorry. I can't seem to find that story'

UPDATE at 9/6/08 3:19:53 pm:

The Daily Kos administrators better get cracking, because here's another one: Daily Kos: Did Palin call Barack a Sambo and Hillary a Bitch?

'Sorry. I can't seem to find that story'

UPDATE at 9/6/08 7:42:36 pm:

Another one down the memory hole! Daily Kos: Did Palin call Barack a Sambo and Hillary a Bitch?

'Sorry. I can't seem to find that story'

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:42 PM

Boy...you stay away for a few hours and you gotta spend quite a bit of time catching up on all the fun. People can't seem to agree on whether or not "hockey mom" is a pejorative. Some people think it's a badge of pride. Others think it's an insult. Clearly, it all depends on who you been hangin' around with. ;-)

But what about these people who insist that you've gotta be offended too if they are offended by something! Sheesh. Talk about mind control. Look...if someone does not feel offended by a word that you feel offended by, you can blather at them all day about how it offends you, but you ain't gonna change them (unless they are the type who are vulnerable to guilt trips).

There are some people who are proud of being hockey moms, it seems. There are others who despise hockey moms. And then there are those who just find the whole thing mildly amusing.

Put me in group # 3, I guess.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: pdq
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:23 PM

Well a 1967 Barracuda ain't ugly! Especially with the HiPo 340 engine, convertable, 4-speed trans and 4V carb! My dream car, ya Commie!

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:20 PM

Beat me to it, KL!! :D

Thanks to Wyo for the article.


A

Subject: Palin is a racist bitch
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:18 PM

This first appeared on The Progressive Curmudgeon (sounds like a lot of Mudcatters!) where you may read more about his sources for the following. (WyoWoman sent the link to me. She, and I, ask that you send it out to any others who may be interested.)

Alaskans Speak (In A Frightened Whisper): Palin Is "Racist, Sexist, Vindictive, And Mean"

September 5, 2008

"So Sambo beat the bitch!"

This is how Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin described Barack Obama's win over Hillary Clinton to political colleagues in a restaurant a few days after Obama locked up the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

According to Lucille, the waitress serving her table at the time and who asked that her last name not be used, Gov. Palin was eating lunch with five or six people when the subject of the Democrat's primary battle came up. The governor, seemingly not caring that people at nearby tables would likely hear her, uttered the slur and then laughed loudly as her meal mates joined in appreciatively.

"It was kind of disgusting," Lucille, who is part Aboriginal, said in a phone interview after admitting that she is frightened of being discovered telling folks in the "lower 48" about life near the North Pole.

Then, almost with a sigh, she added, "But that's just Alaska."

Racial and ethnic slurs may be "just Alaska" and, clearly, they are common, everyday chatter for Palin.

Besides insulting Obama with a Step-N'-Fetch-It, "darkie musical" swipe, people who know her say she refers regularly to Alaska's Aboriginal people as "Arctic Arabs" – how efficient, lumping two apparently undesirable groups into one ugly description – as well as the more colourful "mukluks" along with the totally unimaginative "f**king Eskimo's," according to a number of Alaskans and Wasillians interviewed for this article.

But being openly racist is only the tip of the Palin iceberg. According to Alaskans interviewed for this article, she is also vindictive and mean. We're talking Rove mean and Nixon vindictive.

No wonder the vast sea of white, cheering faces at the Republican Convention went wild for Sarah: They adore the type, it's in their genetic code. So much for McCain's pledge of a "high road" campaign; Palin is incapable of being part of one.

Tough Getting People Who Know Her to Talk
It's not easy getting people in the 49th state to speak critically about Palin – especially people in Wasilla, where she was mayor. For one thing, with every journalist in the world calling, phone lines into Alaska have been mostly jammed since Friday; as often as not, a recording told me that "all circuits are busy" or numbers just wouldn't ring. I should think a state that's been made richer than God by oil could afford telephone lines and cell towers for everyone.

On a more practical level, many people in Alaska, and particularly Wasilla, are reluctant to speak or be quoted by name because they're afraid of her as well as the state Republican Party machine. Apparently, the power elite are as mean as the winters.

"The GOP is kind of like organized crime up here," an insurance agent in Anchorage who knows the Palin family, explained. "It's corrupt and arrogant. They're all rich because they do private sweetheart deals with the oil companies, and they can destroy anyone. And they will, if they have to."

"Once Palin became mayor," he continued, "She became part of that inner circle."

Like most other people interviewed, he didn't want his name used out of fear of retribution. Maybe it's the long winter nights where you don't see the sun for months that makes people feel as if they're under constant danger from "the authorities." As I interviewed residents it began sounding as if living in Alaska controlled by the state Republican Party is like living in the old Soviet Union: See nothing that's happening, say nothing offensive, and the political commissars leave you alone. But speak out and you get disappeared into a gulag north of the Arctic Circle for who-knows-how-long.

Alright, that's an exaggeration brought on by my getting too little sleep and building too much anger as I worked this article. But there's ample evidence of Palin's vindictive willingness to destroy people she sees as opponents. Just ask the Wasilla town administrator she hired before firing him because he rebelled against the way Palin demanded he do his job, or the town librarian who refused to hold the book burning Walpurgisnach Mayor Palin demanded.

Ironically, Palin was pushed into hiring the administrator by the party poobahs who helped get her elected after she got herself into trouble over a number of precipitous firings which gave rise to a recall campaign.

"People who fought her attempt to oust the librarian are on her enemies list to this day," states Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla resident and one of the few Alaskans willing to speak on-the-record, for attribution, about Palin. In fact, Kilkenny actually circulated an e-mail letter about Palin that was verified and printed by The Nation.

For good measure, Palin booted the Wasilla police chief from office because, she told a local newspaper, he "intimidated" her.

Running on Extreme Fringe Evangelical Views
Sarah Palin drew early attention from state GOP apparatchiks when, during her first mayoral campaign, she ran on an anti-abortion platform. Normally, political parties do not get involved in Alaskan municipal elections because they are nonpartisan. But once word of her extreme fringe evangelical views made its way to Juneau, the state capitol, state Republicans tossed some money behind her campaign.

Once in office, Palin set out to build a machine that chewed up anyone who got in her way. The good, Godly Christian turns out to be anything but.

"She's doesn't like different opinions and she refuses to compromise," Kilkenny notes. "When she was mayor, she fought ideas that weren't hers. Worse, ideas weren't evaluated on their merits but on the basis of who proposed them."

Sound familiar? Palin may well be Dick Cheney's reincarnate.

Something else has a familiar Republican ring to it: Her tax policies, and a "refund surpluses but borrow for the future" attitude.

According to Kilkenny and others in Wasilla as well as Juneau, Palin reduced progressive property taxes for businesses while mayor and increased a regressive sales tax which even hits necessities such as food. The tax cuts she promoted in her St. Paul speech actually benefited large corporate property owners far more than they benefited residents. Indeed, Kilkenny insists that many Wasilla home owners actually saw their tax bill skyrocket to make up for the shortfall. Two other Wasillian's with whom I spoke said property taxes on their modest, three bedroom homes rose during the Palin regime.

To an outsider, it would seem hard to do, but an oil-rich town with zero debt on the day she was inaugurated mayor was left saddled with $22 million of debt by the time she moved away to become governor – especially since nothing was spent on things such as improving the city's infrastructure or building a much-needed sewage treatment plant. So what did Mayor Palin spend the taxpayer's money on, if not fixing streets and scrubbing sewage?

For starters, she remodelled her office. Several times over, as a matter of fact.

Then Palin spent $1 million on an unnecessary, new park that no one other than the contractors and Palin seemed to want. Next, Sarah doled out more than $15 million of taxpayer money for a sports complex that she shoved through even though the city did not own clear title to the land; now, seven years later, the matter is still in litigation and lawyer fees are said to be close to at least half of the original estimated price of the facility.

She also worked hard to get voters approval of a $5.5 million bond proposal for roads that could have been built without borrowing. Anchorage may not be the center of the financial universe but, like good Republicans everywhere, Sarah Palin knows how to please Alaskan bankers and bond dealers.

For good measure, she turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores and disconnected parking lots.

Sarah Barracuda
En route to the governor's igloo, Palin managed to land what Anne Kilkenny says is the plumb political appointment in the state: Chair of Alaska's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (OGCC), a $122,400 per year patronage slot with no real authority to do anything other than hold meetings. She took the job despite having no background in energy issues and, as it turned out, not liking the work.

"She hated the job," an OGCC staff member who is not authorized to speak with the news media told me. "She hated the hours and she hated what little work there was to do. But she couldn't figure out a way to get out of the thing without offending Gov. Murkowski" and the state Republican Party regulars, some of whom were pissed off they didn't get appointed.

But ever the opportunist, Palin quickly concocted a way. First, she waged a campaign with the local news media claiming that the position was overpaid and should be abolished – despite the fact that she lobbied Murkowski hard to get it. Then, mounting what she saw as a white horse, Palin raised a cloud of dust by resigning from the OGCC and riding away with an undeserved reputation as a "reformer."

But when a local reporter dared to suggest that the reformer Empress has no clothes, Palin tried to get her fired.

"She came at me like I was trying to steal her kids," said the targeted reporter, who now works for an oil company in Anchorage. "I heard she had a wild temper and vicious mean streak but it's nothing like you can imagine until she turns it on you."

Not surprising since some of her high school classmates still openly call her "Sarah Barracuda," Kilkenny insists.

Still, as a Republican Party hack Palin managed to get herself elected running under the false flag of a "reformer."

And what did she bring to the job? No legislative experience other than a city council of a village of 5,000 people, which is smaller than some high schools in Chicago. Little hands-on supervisory or managerial experience; after all, she needed to hire a city administrator to run Wasilla. No executive experience, except for almost being recalled as mayor. A philosophy of setting public policy based on one word: No.

And what has she done since winning the job?

According to Kilkenny, nothing. Well, nothing other than suggesting the state's multi-multi-million dollar, oil-generated surplus be distributed to residents and finance future state needs by borrowing money. Gee, doesn't that sound precisely what George Bush did with the surplus he inherited from Bill Clinton in 2001 and we all know in what great shape Bush's economic policies left the nation.

It may explain why, when asked by reporters, including me, what she thought about Palin being picked to be McCain's running mate, her mother-in-law replied with a sardonic, "What has Sarah done to qualify her to be vice president?" Of course, when the woman – said by many I spoke with to be well-respected in Wasilla – was running to succeed Palin as mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her, so that may explain the family tension.

As Governor, Palin gave the legislature no direction and budget guidelines, according to the chair of a legislative committee. But then she staged a huge grandstand play of line-item vetoing countless projects, calling them pork. "They were restored because of public outcry and legislative action," the aide said. "She vetoed them mostly because she had no idea what they were or why they were important."

But it was enough to get the McCain, who is mostly unobservant of the world around him anyway, to think Palin has a reputation as being "anti-pork".

In fact, Juneau observers note that Palin kept her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork ladled out by indicted Sen. Ted Stevens. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be politically unwise to keep supporting it, these same insiders assert. Then, Palin fell back on her old habits and publicly humiliated him for pork-barrel politics.

As for being "ready on day one" to be commander in chief, despite the repeated public claims she's made, the Alaska National Guard commander said that, "she has made no command decisions, other than sending some troops to help fight a few brush fires and march in parades at county fairs."

"Sambo Beat the Bitch"
"Palin is a conniving, manipulative, a**hole," someone who thinks these are positive traits in a governor told me, summing up Palin's tenure in Alaska state and local politics.

"She's a bigot, a racist, and a liar," is the more blunt assessment of Arnold Gerstheimer who lived in Alaska until two years ago and is now a businessman in Idaho.

charley-james.jpg"Juneau is a small town; everybody knows everyone else," he adds. "These stories about what she calls blacks and Eskimos, well, anyone not white and good looking actually, were around long before she became a glint in John McCain's rheumy eyes. Why do I know they're true? Because everyone who isn't aboriginal or Indian in Alaska talks that way."

"Sambo beat the bitch" may be everyday language up in the bush. Whether it – and the outlook, politics and worldview Palin reflects when she says such things in public – should be part of a presidential campaign is another thing altogether. The comment says as much about McCain as it does about Palin, and it says a lot of things about Americans who overlook such statements (as well as her record) and vote anyway for McCain.

by Charley James

Friends: This article has been inundated with comments. We are no longer accepting comments. Please see the followup article by reporter Charley James, "Me and Sarah Palin." –Eds.

Charley James is an American journalist, author and essayist who lives in Toronto.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 10:11 PM

..."By the time Palin became governor, cost estimates for the bridge soared to nearly $400 million. She had three options: pay for the bridge project with state funds, get more federal funding or kill the project. In her statement nixing the project, Palin cited the cost overruns.

"She was never really behind this," Stevens said today, reminding reporters of his impassioned defense of the project in 2005: "I defended it in the Senate. She did not support that. She did not support that." ..."

Responses from the field:




...

Wow. Ted Stevens is not the man Palin wants defending her. He's under indictment for corruption charges and is a political pariah with no credibility. He's also Palin's political benefactor, who brought her into state politics, hooked her up with his lobbyists, and put her in charge of his 527.

If the McCain campaign has any sense at all they'll run from this as fast as they can--before the press starts to connect the numerous dots between Palin and Stevens.

P...
That's what was, in effect, telling Congress: "Thanks, but no thanks" (she was giving them the BIRD, figuratively -- just so no one accuses me of LYING about no fowl was ever sent to Washington D.C. ;)
-------------

Great! So she's willing to spend OUR money, but not willing to spend HER money.

Yeah, that will really show congress! Keeping the money and spending it so that she could give away all of Alaska's money in the Alaska Permanent Fund (which gave out $1,654 last year under Palin, and had one of its largest one-year increases as well)!

Keeping and spending the money anyhow is a REALLY strong statement against wasteful spending, huh? When she uses our tax money to bribe her way to high approval ratings, the public will really take notice!

...
Ok. Now McCain-Palin have indicted criminals defending them. That's what they need.

...Smith:

You do realize that all TRUE Christians believe in "end times are coming" and the Rapture, right?

Joe:

Maybe.

...
""We ought to do away with $24 billion worth, not just one bridge," said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/politics/17spend.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

A little out of sync with his now running mate, but at least McCain was consistent.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 09:14 PM

Plymouth... 318V8...Unlike Ms. Sarah, butt ugly...

Awww, come on, ya'll... Have some fun here...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: GUEST,Peace
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:43 PM

Check barracuda in yer dictionaty.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:32 PM

I heard that McCain and Soccer Mom were up by 60 points!!! Or was it 70 points??? 80??? 82 points???

But listen, folks... I am very disappointed that this thread has wandered... This was 'sposed to be all about good stuff for Ms. Sarah and some folks is sayin' bad things... Sniff... She ain't that bad, is she???

Hey, books ain't all they are cracked up to be... An' if her daughter wants to have a baby that's fine... And if she fought the "Bridge to Nowhere" from the beginning than that is couageous, ain't it??? And I don't care if Jesus was a community organizer as long as I know that very soon God is coming to kill off all us Beleivers and leave the Earth to the heathens...

I mean, give the girl a break, will ya'??? You want me to quit startin' these threads, 'er what??? I can... Then ya'll be sorry... Now say somethin' nice about Sarah... Never know when she might stop in to say "Hey"...

Okay, I'll start... She mighty purdy!!! There, ya'll see how'd it's done???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:22 PM

lol

Serious: who do you think WILL win?

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Susu's Hubby
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:20 PM

Well they have to make the polls look good somehow!

Hubby

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:14 PM

Hubby, you sly old dog. The likely voters were all Republican.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:13 PM

Welcome home, honey.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Susu's Hubby
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:12 PM

I'm on board.

Let's do this thing!

McCain/Palin up by 10 according to likely voters.


Hubby

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: CarolC
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:11 PM

I guess I've been listening to my sister who calls herself a soccer mom with pride.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:10 PM

She was using it as a brand of pride, even though it was inaccurate to describe herself that way. She was using it to push a "Gee, I'm American" button, Sorch.

And to answer your question, yes, just because she used it to flaunt herself, we can too.


A

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:10 PM

Carol...NOBODY uses 'soccer mom' as a perjorative? Where HAVE you been? IT IS a 'slur'.....

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:10 PM

But I refused to have the corrective surgery to go along with the name.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: CarolC
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 08:02 PM

Oh, for pete's sake. Using the N word comparison is just wrong. For one thing, because he has never used that term to describe himself, and for another, because nobody regards the term "hockey mom" or soccer mom, for that matter, as a pejorative.

Some people are really grasping at straws to try to shut people up. Well, too bad.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 07:49 PM

There is a good pic of a bulldog wearing lipstick here

Click to see.

As I said, just because SHE said it, is that OK for US to say it?

Obama can say 'nigger'. Can I? NO

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 07:32 PM

She chose it, Sorcha:

Palin – mother of five and U.S. vice-president hopeful, has taken "hockey mom" as her brand.

"What's the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom?" Palin, Alaska's governor, asked in her speech to the Republican convention.

"Lipstick."

To read what other hockey moms feel click here.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Peace
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 07:27 PM

I was aoccer mom, a martial arts mom, a deliver the morning paper mom. Some of the most rewarding times the kids and I ever spent together.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 07:22 PM

Except that Palin used it proudly to describe herself--part of her "I Am AMerica and So Can You" strategy. Except that she had not been a "hockey mom" for years.

A

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 07:13 PM

SO what Carole? If Obmama refers to HIMSELF as a 'nigger' does that make it OK for ME to do it? No. It does not.

It seems the entire campaign, at least on Mudcat, is now reduced to snide playground insults.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 07:03 PM

And as for Governor Palin's "populist appeal", I always get suspicious when someone running for office seems to be saying, "Look at me! I'm just like you!" Well hell, why would I wanna vote for someone just like me? I'm a fuckin' idiot!

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: CarolC
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 06:57 PM

I believe "hockey mom" is a label that Palin applied to herself.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 06:52 PM

Can ANY of you IMAGINE just what would happen if 'baby daddy' or anything similar to 'soccer mom' were applied to Obama?

The Heavens might fall....and it WOULD be called 'racisim'.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Sorcha
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 06:50 PM

Mad, yer all mad.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 06:46 PM

There will be no replacement for the current US two-party system unless minor parties adopt a willingness to work together in the form of coalitions as they do in other countries. Three or four of the current crop of minor parties working together could exert some real power. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening are damned near nil since the positions of most of those minor parties on most issues are entrenched and uncompromising. They'd rather remain pure, unsullied, and widely ignored than compromise.

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: katlaughing
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 05:45 PM

VoteVets has sent out this plea (the links won't work, but one can easily go to their website to sign the letter):



Dear VoteVets.org Supporter,

One the most disturbing developments we at VoteVets.org have seen this week are media outlets reporting details regarding the deployment of Track Palin to Iraq, Governor Sarah Palin's son. In a number of outlets, the details of when and where Track will be in Iraq have been reported. This isn't just a violation of Operational Security (OPSEC), it puts the lives of every troop around him in danger.

It's time for the Department of Defense to investigate who is leaking these details to the media. And, we need you to co-sign our letter to the Pentagon to get an investigation underway.

CO-SIGN OUR LETTER DEMANDING AN INVESTIGATION HERE

We're all proud of every child of a politician who is serving in uniform – Democrat and Republican. And, their parents deserve to be proud. That's not the point.

When someone chooses to bolster that story by leaking classified details to the media, it allows the enemy to gain valuable information that allows them to strike at a symbolic target of importance – and all the troops around that target. It's dangerous, it's illegal, and it needs to be investigated.

SIGN OUR LETTER HERE, TO STOP LEAKS OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

Whoever is divulging this information to the media should be prosecuted and punished, if found guilty. Whether you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or of another party, we should all agree that we cannot accept anyone feeding classified details to the press. Join us in demanding the Pentagon investigate.

Sincerely,
Jon Soltz
Iraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org

And Brandon, Peter, Brian, and the rest of the VoteVets.org team

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 04:56 PM

Why would anybody want a replacement period?

Subject: RE: BS: President Soccer Mom Surges in Polls....
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 08 Sep 08 - 04:53 PM

"I'm simply saying that you are taking a certain status quo for granted. It has never been replaced in your lifetime and you've become used to it, but it could be replaced by something considerably better. It's foolish to say that it can't be improved upon or replaced"

I never said it could not be replaced, but I have yet to hear ANYONE come up with a logical idea that makes sense.

Your monkey in a cage scenario does not work. Take the cage away and the monkey still has boundaries. A monkey does not live alone. The system we have needs improvements, but it is more than a form of government that needs to be worked on. People need to change and evolve. That requires more than just complaining.