Democracy Now Interviews Max Blumenthal

Democracy Now has a wonderful interview with Max Blumenthal that is a must see. He has a new book out called "Republican Gommorah" and it sounds like a must read.

From the introduction to the show:

Fifty years ago, Republican President Dwight Eisenhower issued a warning against the rise of extremist movements within his own party. During his presidency, Eisenhower had endured attacks by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the radical right John Birch Society and others. In a 1959 letter to a World War II veteran, Eisenhower wrote, quote, “Many prominent officials, possessing no standing or expertness as they themselves claim it, attempt to further their own ideas or interests by resorting to statements more distinguished by stridency than by accuracy.”

Half a century later, in a summer of town hall disruptions and birth certificate controversies, what Eisenhower had warned against has come true: that the Republican Party has been captured by its extremist wing. At least that’s what award-winning journalist Max Blumenthal argues in his new book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party.

The book examines the transformation of the GOP from the party of Dwight Eisenhower to the party of Sarah Palin and how this sets the stage for the future of American politics. Max Blumenthal is a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute. He joins us today for his first extended interview about his book, Republican Gomorrah.

Like I said, the book sounds like a must read..and the interview is great. This is why the attacks are so strong on the President, this is why the Republicans are so deep into the religion and this is why they are so involved in "C" Street. This is another glimpse into the mind of the party that thinks Sarah Palin was Presidential Material.

This is what we are fighting.

Just a Quick Post..On My Way Out the Door

Something you may want to read....I am on my way out the door today will be back later.. but have a couple of things you might want to read today I found.

In 2003 Jeffrey Sharlet went into the house on C Street and lived among the Senators and Representatives who reside there and study the Bible and God. He wrote about it in Harper's Magazine before he wrote it up in a book and here is where you can find it. The story is chilling to say the least. The list of characters is mind boggling too.

Among those who resided there included both Democrats and Republicans....yes, so far all we have heard about were Republicans...don't be fooled..it wasn't just Repubs.. here is who he says was there when he was:

Senators Don Nickles (R., Okla.), Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), Pete Domenici (R., N.Mex.), John Ensign (R., Nev.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), and Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) are referred to as “members,” as are Representatives Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), Frank Wolf (R., Va.), Joseph Pitts (R., Pa.), Zach Wamp (R., Tenn.), and Bart Stupak (D., Mich.).

Scary thought isn't it... I am sure there were more, but that's all he mentioned in this article. I am looking for his book, but haven't been to the bookstore as of yet.

Also there is an Op-Ed in the Washington Post today...by Sarah Palin... yeah.. believe it or not. However I don't believe in anyway she wrote it.

It is well written, and contains real sentences...lol Now, I am not saying I agree with anything it says.. just that it is there... If you want to read it.. The link is here. But, it is a slam at the Cap and Trade bill that was passed by the House and is slamming Pres. Obama.. anyone who thinks this woman is not running for president in 2012 is deluded... she is so running... If she can raise enough money and get enough people behind her.

Okay, there are my suggestions for your reading pleasure for the day... Hope you enjoy them...lol

Have a great day, I will be back with you all later on.

Sarah Palin's Lies...UPDATED!!!!!!!!!

There is a recurring lie going around that Sarah Palin and the state of Alaska is paying out over $2,000,000 for the ethics investigations she was involved in. Oh, and the other lie is that there were 15 of them, actually there were 18.

Greg Sargent @ the Plum Line Blog has a great piece up about it and debunks a huge portion of it with some great reporting. This is something that has never really been done with Palin.

No one bothers to challenge anything she says. They take what she says at face value and go on, just repeating it and no one ever bothers to fact check it. Remember the "bridge to nowhere" that she kept saying she said no to...then we all discovered..well she didn't really do that. So why would anyone now be surprised that she is less than truthful about anything else?

Here is part of what Greg found out:

But David Murrow, a spokesperson for the Governor, said in an interview that much of this money was budgeted to the lawyers in advance and would have gone to them anyway, even if state lawyers hadn’t been defending against these ethics complaints.

In response to our questions, the Governor’s office provided us with a detailed breakdown of the millions Palin has claimed has gone to defending against ethics complaints. It does list roughly $1.9 million in expenditures.

But Murrow, the spokesperson, acknowledged to our reporter, Amanda Erickson, that this total was arrived at by adding up attorney hours spent on fending off complaints — based on the fixed salaries of lawyers in the governor’s office and the Department of Law. The money would have gone to the lawyers no matter what they were doing. The complaints are “just distracting them from other duties,” Murrow said.

In other words, while these lawyers might have been free to do other legal work for the state, the ethics complaints have apparently not had the real world impact Palin has claimed, and didn’t drain money away from cops, teachers, roads and other things.

Similarly, TPM reports that there are only three ethics complaints outstanding against the Palin administration in any case — which, combined with the above, casts serious doubts on one of her chief stated reasons for quitting.

Murrow has not responded to folllow-up questions asking him to explain how this squares with Palin’s claims. We’ll update you if he does.

He also adds an update that shows this has now been picked up by ADN and they then contacted the Governor's Office to question them further. Sharon Leighow, Palin's personal spokes person answered with this bizarre explanation:

Asked about that, Leighow said staffers from multiple state agencies had to set aside their normal duties. State lawyers were also pulled off cases, she said.

“Important legal issues involving the state’s interests were delayed in order to respond to these complaints. That means lost value to the state, which is measurable in dollars,” she said.

Now, I am not sure about you, but that really raises more questions than it answers, if staffers were stopped from doing their regular jobs, just to help with these ethics violations... how was anything getting done in Alaska?

But lets look further into this $2 million meme, and the best place I found for that was in Alaska. There is a lady there who broke it down, turned it inside out and studied it better than anyone else could ever do it.

She has more information than anyone could ever want, with charts, graphs and backup galore.

She starts off by saying the first thing we need to do is examine Palin's speech, and the factual errors in it:

There’s actually a number of errors of fact in this brief passage of Palin’s speech, but this post will be long enough if I focus on the one I’ve emphasized: Palin’s claim that $2,000,000 taxpayer (or rather, oil revenue dollars — this is Alaska, after all) have been spent on responding to ethical complaints against Palin.

Problem? Just two days before, on July 1, the Anchorage Daily News, the Juneau Empire, and the Associated Press all reported on figures released by the Alaska Personnel Board about the actual costs of its investigations into ethical complaints against Palin & members of her administration. The costs were considerably less than what Palin claims: $296,042.58. [Ref #4, 5, 6, 7] Big difference. Here’s what that difference looks like:

She then includes the chart diagramming what the difference between almost 300,000 and 2 million is... lol As I said she turns the entire thing inside out and backwards. This is one thorough lady.

She goes on to remind us of this:

What’s more, nearly two-thirds of that amount was attributable in no small part to an ethics case Palin filed against herself. As explained by Patrick Forey in his Juneau Empire story,

[T]he timing, scope and other factors of the single largest expense appear to fit the case Palin filed against herself that cost $187,797 to investigate. That’s almost two-thirds of the total $296,042 of all Personnel Board investigations in the last two years.

The self-reported complaint was a means to have a legislative investigator’s findings in the “Troopergate” case reexamined by a Personnel Board investigator. She said publicly that her self-reported complaint was without merit. [Ref #6]

As I said this lady is good... you just have to read her post on this to see the entire thing. She also has the spread sheet that Palin later gave to AP trying to back up the $2 Million which is falling apart all over the place and Mel takes it apart too.

The 2 Million Dollar Meme can be found here, and after you read it and discover how dishonest Palin was in her story, then you can go check out the other story about the spread sheet she gave the AP to try to back up her story about the costs incurred in the ethics investigation. However I don't know how she can claim every item and every FOIR was for the ethics complaints against her. It just doesn't always work that way.

She has another spreadsheet addendum story here.

Here is probably the money quote from her post and from the article in ADN by Sean Cockerham who is a pretty good writer and has been doing a good job of holding Palin's feet to the fire lately.

Now, finally, we come to my very most favoritest of all the claims made by Palin’s staff in Cockerham’s article:

Another significant chunk of the $1.9 million that Palin talks about is what her administration says is over $415,000 worth of staff time in the governor’s office.

Perez said that represents an estimated 5,773 hours of staff time doing tasks related to public records requests and ethics complaints, whether it be Palin’s spokeswoman answering questions about complaints, staffers making copies, or time the head of the governor’s Anchorage office, Kris Perry, spends reviewing documents.

“Kris Perry, at least half of her time is spent dealing with ethics complaints and public records requests,” said the governor’s spokeswoman, Leighow. [Ref #3]

Let’s do a little math:

5,773 hours of staff time divided by 40 hours per typical work week = 144.325 weeks
144.325 weeks divided by 52 weeks in a year = 2.775 years of staff time

2.775 years of staff time — without even any holiday or annual leave! — to address these public records requests?

Do you believe that? I sure don’t.

Did you see that... 2.775 years of staff time... That's almost more time than she has been in office...lol and all of this took place since Aug. 29th she says. Not possible.

As I said this is a great break down of the entire Palin story, Mel is good, very good. She has picked it apart, put it back together and really told the story of exactly where it is.

Check it out and see the truth.

UPDATED**************************************************************************

After Countdown tonight when Keith had Margaret Carlson on and she debunked the rest of Palin's story about the legal fund I have to add this video which tells about John Coale who started the SarahPAC said all the legal fees had been paid from there. So she has no outstanding bills, and the $500,000 she keeps throwing around is just bogus.

Watch this and see.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Where is the Outrage Now? Is this Disrespecting Our Flag?

You have to see this from ShowMeProgress, They have decided to take on the Governor from the north, no I mean way north.

It seems she is using the flag as a prop in a photo shoot she did. And it is not very respectful. According to a blurb on MSNBC, and I didn't catch exactly what was said, this is illegal, but it is questionable as to whether it is the photographer or Palin who would be in trouble. Looks like both to me, she should know better, as a government official, but I am not sure. I will update if I hear more later.

The picture in question is one of a series used in the feature article in Runner's World and can be found here.

As you can see from the picture, she is standing next to a bar stool and leaning on a flag. The flag is draped over the stool and not hung like it should be.

Remember during the campaign, all the flack over the flag pin or lack thereof..or the hand over the heart during the playing of the National Anthem, and how that was being less than patriotic..

Now, we have Palin trying to show off her runners physique, all the while demanding everyone take her serious draped over the top of the flag, disrespecting it. Then trying to challenge the President to a race..

Then, after we see this picture of her on the flag, comes this video released by someone in Sarah PAC, then later denied by them.



You tell me.. what are they up to here.. of course this version isn't quite as bad as the first one they came out with. The first version of this video was even more disgusting and demeaning to the President.

This woman who seems to think she is already in a run for higher office, when she can't even take care of the people in her state is failing big time.

She is now potentially facing charges for violating the flag and if she keeps up, she is going to have more than the 18 ethics charges in Alaska against her.

Stay classy Sarah.

h/t Bob Cesca & Andrew Sullivan

Support David Letterman

Support David Letterman against the lies of Sarah Palin.

Here is a link to the David Letterman support group on FaceBook against the lies of Sarah Palin.

This all started last week when Dave made some questionable jokes about Palin and her daughter. Yes, the jokes were of questionable taste, and yes they were out of line. But the response of Palin was also out of line and in questionable taste.

Dave has walked it back, said he was talking about the 18 year old daughter, who gave birth to a child, and has been in the public eye recently talking about of all things abstinence.

This makes a lot of sense when you have just given birth to a child, out of wedlock, and have no plans at this time to marry the father of your child. Yet, Palin didn't let it drop there, she had to take it one step farther and say that Letterman was talking about her 14 year old daughter.

Then she makes an innuendo of pedophilia toward Letterman, saying she couldn't trust her daughter with him so she wouldn't be able to accept his invitation to appear on his show to accept the apology he was giving.

Then, one of the groups that seem to rabidly follow her attacked Dave and called for his firing and formed a group on Facebook. Already it seems one advertiser has withdrawn.

We have to make sure Dave is supported and can't let Palin win in her vile attempt to bash Dave. He has issued another full apology which will air tonight on his show. It is a gracious and kindly worded apology and should end it all here, if she will let it. Time will tell.

America, Christian Nation? Yes or No?

We have been told for years that America is a Christian Nation, that we were established as such and will always be one. This last week, the wing nuts went crazy because they twisted the words of President Obama and said he called us a Muslim Country.

That's not what he said. He actually said we were a nation of many different religions, including Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and many others including no religion.

We have always been based and were founded due to the Freedom of Religion, not because of Religion. The so called Founding Fathers, and Mothers, came here trying to get away from oppressive religious restrictions and settled here with the freedom to seek the way to the God of their choice, not the God of the King of England.

Here is a blog posting I found this morning that shows the history of this far better than I could ever say it. It is by Eric Grant and he does an excellent job laying it out.

Eric Grant
JUN 06
America Has Never Been a Christian Nation
Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh and Randall Terry would all like you to believe the United States was founded as, and continues to be, a Christian nation. They would like you to believe the rights we enjoy as Americans were granted by their god and only their god. These radical neoconservatives forget that freedom from religious oppression is one of the founding principles which led to the formation of the United States of America. And there are a few key moments in history they would rather you forget:

In 1657 a group of early Americans signed a petition requesting the lifting of a ban on Quaker worship. The Flushing Remonstrance, as it is known, was the basis for the Constitution’s provision on freedom from religion in the Bill of Rights.

In 1788, James Madison writes in Federalist No. 51: “In a free government, the security for civil rights must be the same as for religious rights.”

Article Six of the Constitution states that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

The First Amenedment to the Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”

The Treaty of Tripoli, ratified by the Senate and signed by President John Adams in 1797, states in Article 11: “…the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion;”

The doctrine of separation of church state, which can be attributed to Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptists in 1802, has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court numerous times in favor of this principle.
Those radical conservatives who follow a “you’re with us or against us” mentality are no different than those radical Islamists who flew jets into buildings and murdered 2,974 people on September 11, 2001. Those same so-called patriots who claim to cherish the Constitution and our founding principles are the same ones who want to destroy everything America stands for: freedom, diversity and equality under the law. If the folks who worship Fox News had their way, we’d be living in the dark ages and reduced to nothing more than mindless subjects of a Christian theocracy. Thankfully a renewed sense of real patriotism in America will prevent that nightmare from becoming reality.

As you see, he has a great post about it. Again, America was founded on the principle of Freedom FROM Religion, not on the Christianity of Newt, Sarah, Huckabee, Reagan or anyone else who tries to tell us how to believe or what to believe.

The Religious Right would like to make people think they have the privilege to run the country as they see fit. I beg to differ, and History, when you know it, backs me up, not them.

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal to give Response to Pres. Obama, Will that be the end of his career?

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of the GOP's so called rising stars, is supposed to give the Republican response to Obama's address to Congress on Feb. 24. According to MSNBC's First Read, here is a list of what has happened to others who have given the response to the President.

With a massive audience after the president’s delivery, this response might seem like an ideal perch to move on to bigger and better things.That, however, has not always been the case. See these past responders.

1994 – Sen. Robert Dole (R-KS) LOST '96 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, OUT OF POLITICS
1995 – Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R-NJ) BECAME EPA ADMINISTRATOR, NOW OUT OF POLITICS
1996 – Sen. Robert Dole (R-KS)
1997 – Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) OUT OF POLITICS
1998 – Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) OUT OF POLITICS
1999 – Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) and Rep. Steven Largent (R-OK DUNN IS DECEASED; LARGENT OUT OF POLITICS
2000 – Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. William Frist (R-TN) FRIST DECIDED NOT TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT, OUT OF POLITICS
2001 – No response
2002 – Rep. Richard Gehphardt (D-MO) LOST BID FOR DEM NOMINATION IN '04, OUT OF POLITICS
2003 – Gov. Gary Locke (D-WA) OUT OF POLITICS
2004 – Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) DASCHLE WAS DEFEATED IN '04, OUT OF POLITICS; PELOSI NOW HOUSE SPEAKER
2005 – Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) REID NOW SENATE MAJORITY LEADER
2006 – Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA) STILL GOVERNOR, BUT ALSO DNC CHAIR
2007 – Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) Still in Senate
2008 – Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) Governor of Kansas

So, it makes you wonder, does he know the history of this?? What does he have in mind? He stated he wasn't planning on running in 2012, but what about 2016?? Was he going to let Palin take her shot this time, then come back in 8 years and try his? That would make him 45 years old then. Or maybe he is planning on a few years in the Senate first, then making a run for the White House.

If that's the case, this may not be the way to do it.

Gov. Palin talks while Alaskans Freeze and Starve

Here is a prime example of the type of Governance of Sarah Palin. Remind you of anyone??? These people are starving and freezing to death. Yet she is nowhere to be found except on the pages of magazines and on the airwaves.

Here is the link to the Bristol Bay Times which has the story and the original letter.

This is from a post at Immoral Minority:

Here is a portion of a letter sent out by Nicholas C. Tucker, Sr., a resident of Emmonak a village of 800 mostly native people in Alaska's southwest.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

From several years ago, our heating fuel and gasoline costs have doubled in Emmonak. Current retail prices are $7.83 per gallon for heating fuel and $7.25 per gallon for gasoline, including the city sales tax. Our village has run out of heating fuel and the first airlift shipment has arrived at the airport. As early as today, the retail for our winter shipments is expected to be anywhere from $9 - $11 per gallon or higher.

Last summer, we experienced a king salmon fisheries disaster. We did not have any king salmon commercial openings. We had a chum salmon commercial harvest which is nothing compared to the king fishery. Chum harvest traditionally covered our king salmon fishing start-up costs, most of the purchase of new equipment, repair and maintenance, supplies, and operating expenses. Our commercial fishermen did not make any money. Our income from this meager, small-scale commercial harvest is basic to and vital to our seasonal subsistence fishing and hunting, berry picking, plant gathering, motor oil and gas, supplies, equipment, and cash for repairs of our outboard motors and our snowmachines used for winter wood gathering. This income pays for our many household bills.

Last fall, we weren’t delivered our usual fall fuel orders due to early freeze up. Following this, we got hit by a rare weather anomaly: It has been very, very cold since last part of September. This cold snap still persists as of this day. Households have tell me that there is more snow covering the driftwood out in the tundra and the coastlines, making it difficult finding the logs for firewood. A lot more gasoline and motor oil is being used in search of the driftwood. This winter-long, extreme cold snap is causing the furnaces and boilers to run constantly and to their maximum.

My family of ten, with a household of six adults and four minors, is one of the causalities of our current high costs of heating fuel and gasoline that are devastating families and households here in Emmonak of 847 residents. I am 63 and my wife is 54. For the first time, beginning December 2008, I am forced to decide buying between heating fuel or groceries. I had been forced to dig into our January income to stay warm during December. Again, for this month, same thing happens. I am taking away my February income this month to survive. Couple of weeks ago, our 8-year old son had to go to bed hungry. My wife and I provide for our family with disability, Veterans’ benefits, social security, and unemployment incomes. We are several months behind on our city water and sewer bills. We had originally used up all our $1,200 energy subsidy to prepay electricity for the winter and other bills in hope of surviving for this winter due to these high fuel costs. We didn’t anticipate the early freeze-up that prevented our native corporation getting its winter supplies of fuel. We didn’t anticipate an unexpected winter-long bitter cold. I don’t recall anything having occurred as cold as it has been and its length that we have to endure. The following are the costs of heating fuel and a 100-lb bottle of propane between December 12, 2008 and yesterday, a period of 29 days:

December 12, 2008, Stove oil, 55 gals: $ 440.54
December 14, 2008, 100# propane: $ 173.04
December 31, 2008, Stove oil, 55 gals: $ 440.54
January 9, 2009, Stove oil, 59 gallons: $ 471.85
Total: $1,525.97

Nicholas used a VHF radio announcement to reach out to other villages to find out how bad their situation was as well. Here is just a portion of what he heard back:

P. & K. A.: Middle aged couple, family of five. They are forced to buy heating fuel over food.

M. & M. G.: Middle aged, family of six: No wood at all; hard time buying stove oil.

L. M.: Young single parent, mother of one. On her last energy assistance, 10.2 gallons left, Dad in Anchorage for medical check up; his snowmachine and a 4-wheeler are frozen.

E. & A. U.: Elders, ages 68 and 65, family of eight and helping daughter in another house with food; gets no food stamps and both have no work. They have to buy heating fuel and gasoline for snowmachine over food.

T. & J. L.: Young couple, family of four. Hard time getting heating fuel; have no gasoline for their snowmachine to get wood and credit line at the local fuel tank farm is over limit. Family gets some food stamps but goes fast due to high cost of groceries in the village. Sometimes, having just little bit of food in the house because whatever money they have is used primarily for buying hearting fuel.

R. & T. A.: Young couple, family of seven. Family is having difficult time getting heating fuel. They are having hard time getting any jobs in the village. They are forced to get heating fuel and have little bit of food. Wife has to get heating fuel from her father to keep their house warm and keep the hot water heater turned. Both are having very hard time keeping up with electricity and water/sewer bills.

G. & K. F.: Young couple with family of five. Wife is unable to sleep and stressed out not knowing when they will be able get their next heating fuel. A 100-lb. bottle of propane gas that usually lasts four months is now lasting only two months because they use it to heat water. This costs them $200 every two weeks. They do not have hot water heater. Wife has very little income and uses $375, the one-half of her gross income every two weeks, to get heating fuel. She has no food for her family sometimes, because, she has to split the rest of what little is left for water/sewer and electricity. Gasoline for her 4-wheeler is very expensive. Her parents help her with food and firewood. They cannot afford a snowmachine or a boat to get logs. Heating fuel and propane is taking her food money away. Her added worry is that the village native corporation is running out of heating fuel and is being airlifted in. New cost is expected to be near $9 - $11 per gallon or higher.

And where is our Governor during this time of crisis? She is whining to anybody who will listen about unfair media coverage and those "anonymous bloggers"!

But here are citizens of her state who are literally freezing and starving to death and she does nothing! Nothing!

This poor man has to beg for handouts to save himself and his neighbors because of the cost in Alaska of heating oil and gasoline. And where is his government? Where are his legislators? Where are his Senators? Where is his Congressman? And where in the hell is his Governor?

Sarah Palin is the one who is supposed to declare a state of emergency and get help to these people. Does she not have enough time between interviews with People magazine, Esquire magazine, and John Ziegler to do her goddamn job? Do the needs of our citizens interrupt her social calendar?

Well if our Governor will not help our people I guess it is up to us. Listed below is the contact information that you need if you want to help save the lives of these people before it is too late.

I have already written my check and I am asking for your donations as well. I do not usually use this blog to request money, but these are special circumstances and I cannot just sit idly by and let this horrible situation continue. Thank you for any help you can give.

To help, please call:
City of Emmonak, (907) 949-1227/1249
Emmonak Tribal Council, (907) 949-1720
Emmonak Corporation, (907) 949-1129/1315/1411
Emmonak Sacred Heart Catholic Church Pastoral Parish Council Chairman, (907) 949-1011.

Update: I just got off of the phone with Nick Tucker, the author of this letter, in Emmanok.

He told me that the best way to get them help fast is to send a check to this address:

Emmanok Tribal Council
P.O. Box 126
Emmanok, AK 99581

I asked Mr. Tucker if he had contacted the Governor yet and he said that the Tribal Council had just agreed to make a formal request based on the king salmon fisheries disaster. According to Mr. Tucker the lack of heating oil and food resulting in residents barely clinging to life DID NOT COUNT AS AN EMERGENCY TO THE STATE OF ALASKA! Can you believe that shit?

So maybe you would like to ask the Governor's office how this situation is NOT considered an emergency yourself by calling (907) 269-7450. Let me know what their explanation was to you.

Still think she is a great person?? Still think she would be a good VP or President?? Better think again. This isn't the first time and I am sure it won't be the last.

Saradise Lost by Phil Munger...My hat is off to him

My friend, Phil Munger has an interesting post over at Progressive Alaska. Talking about the failed VP candidate, Governor of Alaska, Conservative Republican Sarah Palin and her recent attack on anonymous bloggers and the media.

UPDATE Phil has a new post up about Saradise...you need to get over there and check it out!!

She has also garnered the attention of Immoral Minority and Celtic Diva regarding the same thing. You will have to take a look at them and see what they have to say.

But Phil's is quite the story. He has written a "book" about Sarah. He calls it “Saradise Lost” and there are several chapters and “books” to be read if you check the list.

He titles the latest one “The Ineptness of the Alaska and National Press in Dealing With Palin's False "Anonymous Blogger" Meme - Part One". Here is an excerpt:

I've been talking to some of Alaska's anonymous, pseudonymous and non-anonymous bloggers over the weekend about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's charmless offensive against an opponent that pretty much is either a figment of her imagination, or well, or, she has just plain intentionally "made up." - the "anonymous bloggers."

Palin has occasionally described them as pajama-clad basement denizens, who feed information to the media, who then treat phony information in such a way that it is raised somehow to the level of authenticity, and then becomes something treated as a fully vetted story. I only know of one main national figure who built a career out of doing just what Palin describes - Matt Drudge, of the Drudge Report.

….snip.....

To me, from the beginning of her "elevation," the story has always been that Sarah Palin is one of the most unqualified people in recent U.S. history to be a vice president or president. One didn't have to delve into family gossip and so on to help prove the case. It was all out there in her record as politician, administrator and "community organizer." From the beginning, most of us in our small online community realized that Alaska bloggers could help clarify Sarah Palin to the large bloc of uncommitted voters best, by assisting the large number of Outside reporters who would descend on our state.

From there you can see, someone who knows Gov. Palin very well and can tell you exactly how she is. Phil has written about her a number of times as have the others I mentioned. When you check Phil's site be sure to check the other chapters of Sarah's book. You won't be disappointed.

I see so much parallel between her and George Bush, from their time in office, to their intellectual level. However, I think maybe George may be a little smarter than she is, she has more of a stage presence than George ever had. Therefore her commanding presence at the Republican Convention and her drawing of record crowds during the campaign cycle.

Take some time and visit these blogs and check out the Books of Sarah...you will be glad you did.

Saradise Lost Chapter 16

Saradise Lost...missing information

Saradise Lost Chapter 20

Another great site to check out if you have never been is Andrew Halcro's site. He is a great read.

We need to be afraid of her. She has a large number of supporters. They have started campaigning for her already. They have managed to make CNN remove her name from their list of unethical politicians. Now Team Sarah has complained to the FCC about David Letterman because they feel like he insulted her. Because he and Paul made a joke about her. It was ok for Rich Lowry to say she turned him on when she winked at him and only him in the debates, and he was all over his sofa...but Dave can't make a joke about her being attractive. What happened to the "Coldest state with the hottest Governor" slogan that used to be around?? Thanks to Team Sarah those words may get you in trouble.

I hope you don't mind these, and take the time to check it out. This will be something to watch for in a couple of years. I think she is getting ready to run in 2012 for president. She got a taste of National attention and she will be back for more...well she has never left really...but if we thought George was bad...look out world..Here comes Sarah!!!!

THE BEAST 50 MOST LOATHSOME PEOPLE IN AMERICA, 2008

THE BEAST 50 MOST LOATHSOME PEOPLE IN AMERICA, 2008 is in and it is some of the funniest I have seen... For example here is number 47...I am not sure I wouldn't have rated her higher but I haven't read all of them yet...but here it is...47:

47. Michelle Bachmann

Charges: Exemplifies the simmering, all-American fascism lurking behind the forced smiles of uptight church ladies throughout “real America.” Echoing Sarah Palin’s alarming hints about “helping” the media do its job, Bachmann’s casual call for a “penetrating” press investigation into “anti-Americanism” in congress was so fucking dumb it made Chris Matthews seem smart. Once it occurred to the Oral Roberts University graduate that calling for witchhunts against Democrats might be a tad extreme for election season, she decided to just pretend she didn’t say it, and then she blamed Chris Matthews. Then she just blamed words. Then she denied it again. Then she won. Way to go, Minnesota’s 6th.

Exhibit A: BACHMANN: Actually, that's not what I said at all. COLMES: Well, I'm just — I'm reading your exact quote. BACHMANN: Actually that's not I said. It's an urban legend that was created. That isn't what I said at all. COLMES: We have — it's on tape.

Sentence: Assigned to conduct her own “expose” on anti-American views, in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan

Then we have one of my favorites so far...Morning Joke...you remember him I am sure. He is rated as 34. WAY TO GO SCARBOROUGH!!!! WOO HOOO!!! PROUD OF YA BOY!!!!!

34. Joe Scarborough

Charges: An incredulous, squinting brat, who's turned "Morning Joe" into the "My Super Sweet Sixteen" of cable news, Scarborough has a decent shot at being named the world's largest toddler by Guinness. He treats his MSNBC coworkers with less professional courtesy than the dead intern found in his congressional office ("Mika, don't make me backhand you").Between tantrums, Scarborough provided a litany of partisan misinformation and deliberate misquotations this year, claiming that Obama was the most liberal member of the Senate and would raise taxes on everyone, that McCain called for Rumsfeld's resignation, never changed his immigration policies and had no association with hatemongers on the religious right. Joe's immaturity is also apparent in his cartoonishly simplistic take on the American electorate, whom he purports to know intimately, ostensibly by way of his own bigotry.

Exhibit A: “I remember during the Valerie Plame episode. Remember, Bob Novak told us from the beginning, "This wasn't an ideologue that gave me the name. This wasn't Karl – this wasn't a Bush operation." And liberals, ‘Oh, he's lying, da da da da da.’ And then remember earlier this year, Bob Novak -- and, of course, Novak was right.”

Sentence: Mandatory stint in Rageaholics Anonymous, nuts shaved live on "Morning Joe" by Pat Buchanan, pubes glued to face with a mixture of pulverized Cheetos and Jamie Foster's stool.

I love it... of course the emphasis is mine... I just wanted to make sure everyone remembered who Morning Joke is...I try to watch him most mornings...just so I can say I get my dose of republican every day...lol

This is another good one... 22.. PUMA's... remember these... I thought this was one of the silliest things anyone could try to say.

22. PUMAs

Charges: Redefining feminism as “supporting Hillary Clinton, whether she wants you to or not,” and “defending” that feminism by embodying negative stereotypes of women as irrational and scornful, there was no demographic more painfully dumb than aggrieved Hillary backers plotting to defeat Obama. Drunk on a dream of vengeance for their queen, this strange minority picked up every despicable, paranoid, racist talking point they could from the worst of the right wing, even complimenting Sean Hannity on his “fair and balanced” coverage of Obama. Desperately twisting words in a sad attempt to tar Obama as a sexist and willing to subject themselves and their country to a probable assault on reproductive rights in the name of spite, the PUMAs comported themselves with all the dignity and sense of a false rape accusation.

Exhibit A: It’s hard to choose, but nothing was more ridiculous this year than hearing an obscenely rich Hillary fundraiser named “Lady de Rothschild” describe Obama as “an elitist.”

Sentence: President Palin appoints Mullah Omar to Supreme Court.

Just a couple more...then I will let you read the rest for yourself...lol

Number 20..this one defies description... how someone totally made up goes from being no one to a hero of the right is beyond me. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you:

20. Joe the Plumber

Charges: The Che Guevara of bald, pissed off white men. In a lot of ways, Samuel Wurzelbacher really does represent the average American—basing economic opinions on unrealistic expectations of personal future success, blaming his failure to meet those expectations on minorities and old people, complaining about deadbeats getting his taxes when he isn’t actually paying his taxes, and advertising his own rudimentary historical and mathematical ignorance by warning of creeping socialism in a country whose highest income tax rate has dropped by half in thirty years. “Joe” indeed symbolizes the true American dream—to become undeservedly rich and famous through a dizzyingly improbable stroke of luck. As American folk heroes go, Wurzelbacher ranks somewhere between Hulk Hogan and Bernie Goetz.

Exhibit A: "Social Security is a joke...social security I've never believed in, don't like it. I hate that it's forced on me."

Sentence: After blowing his fifteen minutes and all his money on coke and Thai hookers, an infirm, elderly Joe finds that social security actually is a joke, and is finally forced to snake toilets for a living.

And number 1 on the Beast list for 2008 is.............drum roll please...


1. Sarah Palin

Charges: If you want to know why the rest of the world is scared of Americans, consider the fact that after two terms of disastrous rule by a small-minded ignoramus, 46% of us apparently thought the problem was that he wasn’t quite stupid enough. Palin’s unending emissions of baffling, evasive incoherence should have disqualified her for any position that involved a desk, let alone placing her one erratic heartbeat from the presidency. The press strained mightily to feign respect for her, praising a debate performance that involved no debate, calling her a “great speaker” when her only speech was primarily a litany of insults to city-dwellers, echoing bogus sexism charges when a male Palin would have been boiled alive for the Couric interview alone, and lionizing her as she used her baby as a Pro-life stage prop before crowds who cooed when they should have been hurling polonium-tipped javelins. In the end, Palin had the beneficial effect of splitting her party between her admirers and people who can read.

Exhibit A: Waving her embryo-loving credentials, in the form of her Down syndrome baby, at "But ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy."

Sentence: Hand-to-hand combat with Vladimir Putin and a pack of wolves.

There you have it...a few of the picks on the list. There are others too...From Alan Greenspan, Hank Paulson, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Bernard Madoff, John Edwards, Joe Lieberman and Jeremiah Wright, Eliot Spitzer, Ron Fournier and Keith Olbermann. So as you see there is a wide range of individuals who were named. Even PE Obama didn't escape. He is number 50 on the list. But you will have to check it out to find out what they say about him, because I refuse to trash him yet. Even in jest. And I am not sure they are all in jest on this site.

To me this is funny, yet it is also serious. Some of this stuff could have changed the election if more people had taken it serious. The PUMA's, Sarah Palin, even the Joke of the Morning...could have made the difference in the election and we would have President McCain instead of President Obama... and that is ONE VERY SCARY THOUGHT!!!!!!!!

I don't care what anyone says...the thought of McCain handling what PE Obama has on his plate right now...scares the hell out of me. And if it doesn't scare you...go read some of the Alaska blogs and newspapers. That will help you. Sarah Palin is a joke. She hasn't a clue what she is doing. Look at my blog list and go to Andrew Halcro's site or Celtic Diva's or Immoral Minority. See what they have to say. Gryphen at the Immoral Minority has a list of sites you can check out...from his site...that will give you a good idea..both progressive and conservative that don't agree with much of what Palin is doing or stands for.

Look at this list again...She is # 1 ...that tells you something...we have to stay involved. We have to stay aware. We have to keep talking as my friend at Watergate Summer says...so keep talking people...keep talking.

Bloggers under attack, and fighting back

There are some funny things going on today... Stories popping up and emails going around. For the funny story, you have to check out this blog called The Political Carnival. They have a story on John Ziegler that will just make you laugh. After his little song and dance about Sarah Palin this week... it is worth the read. He is such a goof ball.

Then another blog I read a lot Celtic Diva got a strange email. Now you have to understand first of all. Linda, the Diva herself, lives in Alaska and has for several years. That's how I started reading her blog, was when Sarah Palin was introduced to us and I went to "the Google" to check her out and I found some wonderful places, to get good information about her. Linda was also the DNCC blogger for the State of Alaska. Which is quite the honor. So you need to go to check out the answer to the email. I took out the name and address..

The email goes like this:

Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2009 6:50:54 AM
Subject: Blog
You are one nasty and mean spirited person for continuing to perpetuate outright lies regarding the integrity of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Do yourself a favor (as well as your readers) and do your own research on Gov Palin and report the fact to us. If it is so important for you to blaspheme her, spend the money and fly to Alaska and obtain the facts. Best wishes for 2009. Rick

Now as you can see, he tells her to go to Alaska and check out the facts and then report back to her. So, he didn't read her site, just found it and realized she had posted something on Palin and attacked her by email.

And to say she is "blaspheming" Palin. By telling the truth. Besides, how do you do that. The definition of blaspheme is "to speak irreverently or profanely of or to (God or sacred things)." UM, Sarah Palin is not God...and she is NOT sacred. Geeze people get a life...will you.

Like I said, strange. Then, after the Palin interview with Ziegler I decided I would check out his site. So I went to John Ziegler's site which doesn't say anything about Sarah Palin... the name is How Obama got elected... (see my post from yesterday)...lol Because that's what he is claiming. That was the biggest part of the portion of the tape he released, the media is terrible, they were mean to Palin, they treated her terrible and everyone nicely and that's why Obama got elected.

Ziegler also has another video out. It's called Blocking The Path To 9/11 and it's about how the Clinton's were the cause of 9/11. Well, them and Kieth Olbermann. It is about how it was all a plot so Hillary could get elected president. Well, since that didn't happen, he had to figure out something else. So, the media who covered up everything in 9/11 for the Clinton's, especially ABC, elected Barack Obama president.

John Ziegler, is quite something, he also got into quite a shouting match with Nate Silver of 538.com about his poll from around election day. Nate called it a push poll
and I tend to agree with Nate. It was very biased. But of course John doesn't see it that way. I tried to answer the questions but the way it was worded was almost impossible to even answer. You couldn't answer some of the questions because the right answer was not there. So, how were you supposed to take his poll fairly?

Someone commented on my post from yesterday, what happened in 2000 and in 2004 that George W. Bush got elected, since the liberal elite media is so evil, but no one has ever been able to answer that for me either. I did ask about the figures that were quoted in my last post, the 97% of teachers and such. He admitted he made those up. I had figured as much, but I wanted him to admit it. That's mostly what I find. When you push some of these people who like to quote these so called facts, they can't give you a source, it is all made up.

We need to be vigilent, for people like these, wing nuts or whatever you want to call them. Sarah Palin is a force to be reckoned with. I firmly believe she is planning a run in 2012. I think her plans right now are to finish out her term in 2010 and then start her campaign for president. John Ziegler is signed on. He has already started with this interview/movie her did of her.

Rick, the author of the email to Celtic Diva has signed on, and all the members of Team Sarah have signed on. They number in the thousands and are growing every day. As we have seen, she is not afraid to lie to get what she wants, and she doesn't care who she hurts along the way.

The Media Got Barack Obama Elected

We didn't need to vote. We didn't need to make phone calls, knock on doors. Donate money. Volunteer our time, post signs, drive others to the polls, none of that stuff. It wasn't our hard work that helped elect our president. It was the media.

I have heard this from Morning Joke Scarborough, (as one blogger I read puts it, he who has never explained the dead woman found in his office) and I even heard it from my daughter the other day. Her statement was, “All the media wanted him elected.” This was because someone, I don't remember who was criticizing him for not speaking out about the Israeli/Gaza conflict.

Yesterday, on another blog I read, there was a post by a contributor who stated and I quote”
I know you all want to turn a blind eye to these things...but Hollywood has a liberal bias in everything it puts out there. I can name maybe a handful of pro-Republican, pro-Military, pro-conservative movies/TV shows out there...95% of the rest of them have a liberal bias. And don't get me started on what kids are "learning" in classrooms around the country with 97% of Teachers being registered as Democrats and college professors in a liberal world all their own.”
Now, I am not sure where he got his figures. I have never seen anything like the 97% of teachers being registered as Democrats...or that 95% of movies and TV shows are liberal biased. But that was his story. Of course he is a conservative. So, from his viewpoint maybe it is.

And now, another viewpoint...the north country heard from. Sarah Palin is talking again. The big bad media, the irresponsible bloggers, everyone but Sarah. So, again it is the media. If she thinks the media was so bad during the campaign in 2008, what will she do during her run in 2012? Because folks, get ready, she is gearing up for her run.

Now, polls are showing that she won't make it if she tries to pick off the senator in 2010, and there is some speculation that she might NOT get re-elected for governor. So, maybe she is practicing now, then in 2010 just starting her campaign for president. Because this interview is obviously a gear up for her run.

But, did the media elect Barack Obama?? I sure thought it was my vote and yours and the other 69,456,895 people who voted for him. And the 365 electoral votes he got. That's who I thought elected him. But maybe we were wrong.

TPM Golden Dukes for 2008

I saw this on another site I go to so I decided I had to post it here too... Thanks Phil..@ Progressive Alaska for bringing it to my attention. I hadn't been to TPM for a few days. But since there are a few mentions of Kansas City in here, along with other areas of the country, it is interesting for the area.

Scary when you think about it that we have once again become infamous for corrupt or even just laughable politics. But, when I see and read some of the articles in the Kansas City paper and on the TeeVee machine about our own Funk in KC, I can't help but be reminded of another Politician and the "Shadow" she has in her office.

Yet, I don't think any of the members of the council or the population in KC who are complaining see any comparison. Maybe because they don't want to. Maybe because they have never bothered to look beyond the surface of the Governor of Alaska and her Shadow.

But, enough of that. Here are the TPM Golden Duke Awards for 2008. I hope you enjoy them. I did. We earned our time in the spotlight.

2008's Most Laughable Political Antics

In a year when everyone was looking for a bailout, politicians did more for political comedy than any other industry. We had governors gone rogue, reverends gone wild, shoe-throwers, imaginary snipers and, of course, everyone's favorite mavericky, Prada-wearing hockey mom. As a salute to those who made this the funniest year since, well, last year, here's a look back at 2008's most memorable feats and foibles.

Worst photo op: Sarah Palin's turkey pardoning fiasco -- a.k.a. "wattlegate" -- in which she pardoned a turkey at a farm in Wasilla, and then gave an interview while other turkeys were shoved into a cone of death and slaughtered in the background. As David Letterman joked, she can see Russia, but she can't see what's going on five feet behind her.

Least likely to be invited for a sleepover in the Obama White House: Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was caught on an open mic talking about pitching Obama's voice an octave higher, in a manner of speaking. Jackson was taking offense at Obama's suggestion that African-Americans needed to take more responsibility for things like fatherhood and being responsible husbands. To which Jay Leno quipped, "Jesse thought it was insulting, not only to him, but to his former mistress and their love child."

Best typo: In a story about potential vice presidential picks, the AP referred to Joe Lieberman as "the Democratic vice presidential prick in 2000."

Shortest fuse: John's McCain's brother, Joe McCain, who called 911 to complain about being stuck in traffic. When the dispatcher asked if that was seriously why he was calling an emergency hotline, Joe the Hothead cursed him out and hung up. We might have never known about the incident, except when the dispatcher called the cell phone back, he got this message: "Hi, this is Joe McCain. I can't take this message now because I am involved in a very important family political project." And to think, he came within 8.5 million votes of becoming the next Roger Clinton.

Worst exit strategy: John Edwards, who, upon being confronted by a National Enquirer reporter at the Beverly Hills Hilton after paying a late-night visit to his former mistress and her child, did what any self-respecting ex-Senator and presidential aspirant with nothing to hide would do. He fled into a bathroom and tried to hold the door shut. Edwards later admitted to the affair, but denied fathering her child. Or, as the humor site Fark reported it: "John Edwards: Billie Jean IS my lover, but the kid is not my son."

Best moment of Palinfreude: The prank call Palin received from a Canadian comedy duo, who convinced her she was talking to President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Palin didn't pick up on any of the hints that the conversation was a joke, even when the faux Frenchman said, "From my 'ouse, I can see Belgium," or when he complimented her on the documentary about her life, Hustler's "Nailin' Palin." "Ohh, good, thank you, yes," she replied.

Worst attempt to woo the Fox News demographic: Barack Obama, who was heard at a San Francisco fund-raiser saying that small-town voters are "bitter" and "cling to guns or religion." The remark was so offensive to armed churchgoers, they didn't know whether to turn the other cheek or lock and load.

Most notorious member of the Hypocrites' V.I.P. Club: Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York, who rose to power as a sanctimonious crusader against ethics violations and corruption, but didn't let that get in the way of his taste for high-priced hookers. As Attorney General, Spitzer had famously busted prostitution rings, apparently so he could keep them all for himself. Spitzer was forced to resign after being outed as Client No. 9 at the Emperor's V.I.P. Club. Jay Leno was confused: "He's the governor -- who were the eight guys in front of him? You'd think as governor, you'd at least get to go first."

Worst con artist: Joe the Plumber, who John McCain called his "role model," even though it turned out he didn't have a plumber's license, was unemployed, had cheated on his taxes, and his name wasn't even Joe. As Jimmy Kimmel put it, "He's the Sarah Palin of plumbing."

Best reflexes: President Bush, who dodged two shoes hurled at him by an Iraqi journalist with a dexterity that conjured comparisons to Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. Although, as David Letterman noted, "Too bad he didn't react that way with bin Laden or Katrina, bin Laden or the mortgage crisis, bin Laden or Afghanistan, bin Laden or the Lehman Brothers".

Most courageous under imaginary fire: Hillary Clinton, whose account of dodging sniper fire after landing in Bosnia was debunked when video footage showed her being greeted on the tarmac not by gun shots, but by a young girl's poetry reading. "If only she had channeled that active fantasy world into her marriage," quipped Bill Maher.

Biggest wardrobe malfunction: Palin's $150,000 shopping spree, for which she was reimbursed with an endless barrage of jokes, like this one from Letterman: "The difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull: lipstick, Prada shoes, a Gucci handbag, and a few $3,000 suits."

Biggest talking-point malfunction: Obama's run-in with Joe the Plumber, in which he gave a shout-out to Karl Marx by saying, "I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody." Off in the distance, his Teleprompter wept.

Best use of expletives: Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, who, while allegedly trying to sell Obama's Senate seat, was recorded saying, "I've got this thing and it's [bleeping] golden," "I'm just not giving it up for [bleeping] nothing," and "Give this [bleep] Obama his senator? [Bleep] him. For nothing. [Bleep] him.'" Better still, a day before his arrest, the Governor invited authorities to tape his phone calls, huffing, "I can tell you that whatever I say is always lawful." Not to mention bleeping insane.

Best use of a Viking Grill, a vibrating Shiatsu massage lounger, and $250,000 in other gifts: Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who became the nation's highest-ranking convicted felon after lying on Senate financial disclosure forms. Naturally, Stevens received a 56-second-long standing ovation after delivering his farewell speech to the Senate, which, as Rachel Maddow of MSNBC noted, worked out to "eight seconds of heartfelt standing applause for each of his felony convictions."

Most brutal Palin insult: It was humiliating enough when McCain aides called Palin a "diva" and a "whack job," while accusing her of "going rogue," throwing temper tantrums, and not knowing that Africa was a continent. But the most devastating sound bite came from a McCain aide who described her shopping spree as "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast."

Best attempt to win imaginary delegates: Barack Obama, who said at an Oregon campaign stop, "I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go."

Best train wreck: The Sarah Palin-Katie Couric interview, which featured one laughable gaffe after the next, including Palin's failure to think of any Supreme Court decisions other than Roe v. Wade ...

... her failure to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads other than "all of 'em, any of 'em" ...

... and her claim to foreign policy expertise because Vladimir Putin likes to rear his head and fly over Alaskan airspace. It teetered on such self-parody that all Tina Fey had to do on Saturday Night Live was repeat parts of Palin's answers verbatim, gosh darnit, and also there too, you betcha!

Worst campaign surrogate: Bill Clinton, who had to be muzzled during the Democratic primaries after playing the race card and the patriot card against Obama, growling and snapping at reporters, and saying unfortunate things like, "The country is groaning and moaning and screaming for change." As Jay Leno joked, like a lot of women in Washington, Hillary soon realized she had slept with Bill Clinton for nothing.

Cheapest campaign stunt: John McCain, who "suspended" his campaign to go save the economy, said the presidential debate had to be canceled, flew to Washington, screwed up the bailout deal, then un-suspended his campaign and flew to the debate, even though there was no deal. "Usually when a 72-year-old man acts this way, this is when the kids start calling nursing homes," quipped Bill Maher.

Best smackdown following a cheap campaign stunt: When McCain told Letterman he was canceling his appearance on the show because he had to fly to Washington, and then showed up instead for an interview with Katie Couric, Letterman mocked him mercilessly. "Hey John!" Letterman shouted as he aired the live CBS feed of the interview for his audience. "I've got a question: You need a lift to the airport?" It got even uglier for McCain, with Letterman saying: "This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil"

Least likely to prevail at a sanity hearing: Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who burned up YouTube with his fiery rants imploring God to damn America for perpetrating genocide against chickens that came home to roost on 9/11 (or something like that). Despite being widely disparaged as a crackpot, Wright said he received over a million emails and phone calls telling him to keep on speaking out -- "all of them from Hillary Clinton," joked Jay Leno.

Creepiest Palin crush: Rich Lowry, National Review editor, who reacted to Palin's performance in the vice presidential debate thusly: "I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, 'Hey, I think she just winked at me.' And her smile. By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing. It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America." Which left everyone wondering the same thing: When did National Review turn into Penthouse Forum?

Creepiest Obama crush: Chris Matthews of MSNBC, who said that while listening to Obama speak, "I felt this thrill going up my leg".

Best evidence that the next four years may not be a total disaster for political comedy: While on the campaign trail, Joe Biden referred to his running mate as "Barack America"; implored a wheelchair-bound politician to "stand up"; recalled how Franklin Roosevelt addressed the nation on TV when the stock market crashed in 1929 (even though F.D.R. wasn't president and few had even heard of TV at the time); and said Hillary Clinton would have made a better V.P. pick because she was more qualified than him. Thanks to Biden, comedians appear to be getting a stimulus package, too.

Best epitaph on the Bush years: In his parting words at his final G-8 Summit, President Bush ended a private meeting with world leaders by saying, "Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter." According to press reports, he then punched the air and grinned widely as the rest of those present looked on in shock. Who said he never had an exit strategy?

This piece originally appeared in the New York Times' Laugh Lines blog.

Daniel Kurtzman edits the Political Humor page of About.com, which is part of The New York Times Company. He is author of the books "How to Win a Fight With a Conservative" and "How to Win a Fight With a Liberal."

Some of the offbeat stories of the year

These are some of the strange and offbeat stories of the year. They range from the really bizarre to weird to just dumb. Some are funny, worth a chuckle anyway, some are just enough to make you look with a cocked eyebrow. See what you think, enjoy!!


- A British woman is to divorce her husband after discovering he was having a virtual affair within the online game "Second Life".

- A passionate kiss ruptured a young woman's eardrum in southern China in what has been dubbed the "kiss of deaf".

- Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin was the victim of a prank phone call by a French-Canadian comedian impersonating French President Nicolas Sarkozy days before the presidential election. After Palin realized the call was a hoax, her campaign staff admitted she was "mildly amused".

- Twin girls who were separated at birth due to a medical error met by chance 28 years later, and one of them is now suing the Spanish hospital involved.

- Russians have long used drink to take the edge off workplace stress: one man's senses were so dulled he failed to notice a knife stuck in his back by a colleague.

- An 81-year old man in the small Chilean village of Angol shocked his grieving relatives by waking up in his coffin at his own wake.

- New Zealand's oldest immigrant, 102-year-old Briton Eric King-Turner, sailed into Wellington amid a media frenzy sparked by his decision to retire to the other side of the world.

- Officials in part of the Chinese city of Shanghai launched a campaign to dissuade residents from walking around outside in their pyjamas. The habit emerged when China's economy began to take off, and people were keen to show that they were rich enough to own such luxuries as sleeping attire.

- A US funeral business that specialises in launching cremated human remains into Earth's orbit said it had begun taking reservations for also depositing them on the Moon.

- An idealistic young British man with good media skills informed the world that he intended to walk all the way to India without once using money in any shape or form. He gave up at the first hurdle, complaining that officials in the French Channel port of Calais didn't understand English.

- Welsh-speakers in the town of Swansea were bemused by a road sign which read "I am not in the office at the moment." The text, which should have read "No entry to heavy goods vehicles", had been e-mailed to a translator who was... not in the office at the moment.

- A British woman who celebrated her 105th birthday said the secret to long life was celibacy. Sex was a "lot of hassle," she opined.

- A Cambodian couple seeking a divorce were stumped by their country's convoluted legal processes. They sawed their house in half.

- "Cooking with Balls" was the subtitle of what a Serbian chef promoted as the world's first book on testicle recipes. "All testicles can be eaten -- except human, of course," said the (male) author.

- A Swiss adventurer lived out the fantasies of many a young boy, and probably quite a few girls, by soaring into the sky on a jet-powered wing. "I felt like a bird," he said, after zooming from Britain to France.

- Bulgaria's campaign against cannabis went literally to the doorstep of power, after marijuana plants were found growing amongst the flowers outside government headquarters in Sofia.

- An 78-year-old woman who misread instructions at Sweden's main airport was whisked down a baggage chute when she placed herself, rather than her luggage, on the conveyor belt.

- Emergency surgery saved an Australian python that had swallowed four golf balls, after mistaking them for eggs.

Update to yesterday from Washington Post..RNC candidate's Gift

As I stated in my earlier post, they wonder why they are losing members of thier party!!! They are divisive, racist, and they think this is funny?? Some of the comments that were made during the presidential campaign by the chair people of the RNC were terrible. This is why they are losing members and they are still wondering why. Until they figure that out, they will continue to lose members. This entire CD is filled with garbage, it isn't just one track, it is all of it. But, then after finding racist emails on the state's computers in Alaska and nothing yet from the Governor about disavowing them, nor even that she didn't know about them, the area's she thought were the best parts of the USA were the area's that have the most problems with this kind of stuff. Her "Team Sarah" web site is full of this kind of trash and she does nothing to stop it. What else do you expect from the group that claims she is their choice for 2012. It may be very interesting in 2012, with a racist group backing Sarah Palin and the Mormans backing Mitt Romney. Quite a primary for the Republican's don't you think??


Republican's Gift Held Racial Parody of Obama

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 27, 2008; A05



Chip Saltsman, a candidate for chairman of the Republican National Committee, sent committee members this month a holiday music CD that included "Barack the Magic Negro," a parody song first aired in 2007 by talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Created by conservative satirist Paul Shanklin, the song puts new lyrics to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon," and it is performed as if black activist Al Sharpton were singing it. Limbaugh played it after the Los Angeles Times ran an opinion piece with the same title.

"A guy from the LA paper said it made guilty whites feel good, they'll vote for him and not for me cuz he's not from the hood," the song goes. "Oh, Barack the magic negro lives in DC, the LA Times they called him that because he's black but not authentically."

The CD accompanied holiday greetings from Saltsman, a Tennessee resident who managed former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee's campaign for president. Saltsman announced his bid to lead the Republican Party this month.

He did not return a call seeking comment last night. Saltsman had earlier told the Hill newspaper, which first reported the incident, that the song is meant as a joke. "Paul Shanklin is a longtime friend, and I think that RNC members have the good humor and good sense to recognize that his songs for 'The Rush Limbaugh Show' are light-hearted political parodies," he told the newspaper.

Another candidate to lead the GOP, South Carolina party chair Katon Dawson, drew headlines this fall by resigning his membership of 12 years in a whites-only country club, weeks before launching his run for the national job.

The incidents for both men come as Republicans are reeling from losing the presidency and dozens of House and Senate seats, and as many in the party are trying to improve relations with African Americans, who voted in record numbers for Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates last month.

Among the candidates for RNC chairman are two African Americans: Michael Steele, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland; and Ken Blackwell, a former secretary of state in Ohio. Neither could be reached last night for comment.

A spokesman for President-elect Obama also declined to comment.

The RNC is scheduled to vote for chairman at the end of January.

My Thoughts about Right Wing Nuts and the Losers of the GOP

The GOP is wondering why they are losing member's, they are wondering why they are losing election's, they are trying to figure out what to do in order to change direction of their party.

During the campaign this year there were several instances of this we saw. High ups in the GOP saying something totally off the wall about Barack Obama being African American. Did they think no one knew that? Was that the problem? Then there was the scare tactics. He is going to do something awful, he is a Muslim, he isn't like the rest of us, he isn't a citizen, he wasn't born in the USA, oh the list could go on and on. It is still happening.

There are still lawsuits trying to prove he isn't a citizen, that he wasn't born in the USA, that he doesn't have a birth certificate. I even had someone in my family tell me that on Christmas Day. I couldn't believe it. Not sure why, but it just blew my mind. I told him what I could, and he said oh ok but I am sure I didn't convince him of anything. I also told him I was going to call him a right wing nut job...lol and he didn't like that.

Even now, they are still working to try to do something, I am not real sure what they hope to accomplish, stop him from taking office or something, do the election over. What, put in Sarah Palin? God forbid. We would really be in trouble then. Even if somehow they could do something unprecedented, like getting him disqualified, Joe Biden would take over, for the short amount of time it would take to get this stopped and then it would just continue with PE Obama's policies going forward, so what did they really accomplish??

Furthermore, WHY?? Why are they doing this? What benefit are they getting from trying to prove something that they can't prove? Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Dick Morris, Philip J. Berg, Leo Donofrio, and Andy Martin have all tried in differing ways to denounce, deny and basically destroy PE Obama. From lies in the media to filing lawsuits saying he is not a natural born citizen, to even trying to get his birth certificate in Hawaii, they have been almost relentless.

As, I asked, why?? Because he is different, because he is a Democrat. Because he is not one of them. Because as he said he doesn't look like all the other presidents we have had. He doesn't fit the stereotype. Because they are afraid, because he might succeed, because he might turn our country in a different direction. Because we are sure not headed in the right direction now.

So, we are just a few days away now from the election being certified. The electoral college will go in front of the senate, the votes will be cast, the inauguration will be held on the 20th of January and that will be the beginning of a new presidency. So, then what next for all the right wing nuts. Will they stop??

No, I don't think so. From what I have been seeing and hearing, they are just shifting focus. Some of them still have lawsuits pending. The ones who don't are now just moving their focus to the stimulus package PE Obama and VPE Biden are trying to put together. They are trying to re-write history again. Saying that FDR was a failure, he didn't bring us out of the Depression. So, therefore nothing that PEBO would do along those same lines will help now. It is too big, we can't spend that much money, the deficit is already too big.

But you know, I have to wonder where all these budget watchers were the last 8 years. No one seemed to mind when Bush and the Republicans were running up the deficit. They spent like drunken sailors and it sure didn't seem like Hannity and Limbaugh minded then.

Of course, that was when Bush was cutting their taxes at the same time, to help them out and make sure they could afford to put more money in the bank. Now, it's time to help us little people out, the middle class, the lower class, so the outrage is there.

Well, guess what guys. Go back to your corners. We will let you know when we want to hear from you again. Because right now, we don't. So, sit down, shut up and let the smart people talk a while.

You Just Can't Make This Up, Part II

You Just Can't Make This Up, Part II

Remember when the campaign was going on and the rallys were so heated and Palin was stumping and the crowds were getting loud and yelling things and people were whispering that there were racist undertones there?? At the time people even said it was possible Gov. Palin was possibly a tad racist herself. That she didn't support the natives in Alaska, she had no record of supporting the African Americans in Alaska and there were none on her staff. This was later disputed when it was pointed out by Bill McAllister, her spokesperson that he was actually African American.

Well, from the You can't make this up file we find this today....reported by the AP:


Alaska Checking E-Mailed Slurs About Obama

By WILLIAM YARDLEY

Alaska officials are investigating e-mail messages that included racist jokes about President-elect Barack Obama and were circulated on state government accounts by state employees.

Officials say that the messages apparently originated in a private account but that about 10 state employees appear to have “taken action” on them, like forwarding them to others.

Bill McAllister, a spokesman for Gov. Sarah Palin, said Thursday that none of the 10 employees worked in the governor’s office and that to his knowledge no one in the office had received any of the messages, which, he said, Ms. Palin condemns.

“They violate state policy — at least that’s the prima facie view of things,” Mr. McAllister said in a telephone interview. “They’re not state business, and obviously they are offensive, and clearly she doesn’t support that. And she does not support racism, and she does not support attacks on the president-elect.”

The messages were first reported by The Associated Press, which did not say how it had learned of them. The news agency said it had obtained five messages with racist comments, including one that summarized the significance of Mr. Obama’s election victory as “another black family living in government housing.”

Annette Kreitzer, the state commissioner of administration, told The A.P. that the employees who forwarded the messages could be reprimanded but that it was unlikely they would be dismissed. Ms. Kreitzer did not immediately respond Thursday to requests for an interview.

You Just Can't Make This Up

From the You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up File:

Levi Johnston who is the boyfriend of Bristol Palin, the daughter of Gov. Sarah Palin, is now going to have to defend his mother.


The mother of Levi Johnston, the 18-year-old boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's teenage daughter, has been arrested on drug charges, the Anchorage Daily News reported Friday.

Sherry L. Johnston, 42, has been charged with six felony counts of misconduct, the newspaper reported.

Levi Johnston entered the national spotlight this autumn when it was revealed that 18-year-old Bristol Palin — the eldest daughter of Sarah Palin, who had just been tapped as then-Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate — was pregnant with his child.

The baby is due Saturday, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The paper said that Alaska State Troopers charged Sherry Johnston with second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and fourth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, or possession.

Sherry Johnston has been released on a $5,000 bond, the newspaper reported.

Contacted by the Anchorage Daily News, Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, issued this statement: "This is not a state government matter. Therefore the governor's communications staff will not be providing comment or scheduling interview opportunities."