Troopergate Begins...

Several of Sarah Palin's top aides defied subpoeanas to testify today at a legislative hearing into her firing of a state Public Safety Commissioner who refused to fire Palin's former brother-in-law:

Palin fired Walt Monegan, the public safety commissioner, in July. He claims he was fired for refusing to fire a state trooper who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister.

He claims he was pressured by Palin, her husband and members of her staff to fire the trooper.

Ah, but this is the excuse-heavy God-Obsessed-Party we're dealing with, so they have a ready-made answer:

Palin denies the charge, and says he was dismissed over budget disagreements.

Palin claims that the Commissioner travelled to Washington DC without authorization. Just one problem with that, Sarah...it's a lie.

When will people stop believing these prevaricators?

I'm John McCain and I Approve This Message...

The girlfriend had the local evening news on tonight, and John McCain's idiotic (and arguably racist, as it was obviously photoshopped to make Obama look blacker than he is) ad came on. Perhaps it was a quirk of national ad buys, but this one appeared in the bluest of blue states, during a San Francisco-based newscast. Talk about a waste of dollars...

From Matt T today:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/23/17555/0985/283/607893

A portion of the 2008 Republican Platform:

We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself."

So as Republicans in the Administration and Republicans in Congress want to hand $700 billion of taxpayer money over to Wall Street executives, without limits on executive pay and without any oversight or relief for homeowners, we'd do well to remember their party's own words.

McCain's Own Idiotic Reality

John McCain is a fucking idiot. I'll repeat that: John McCain is a fucking idiot. In yet another example of Republicans trying to create their own reality, McCain attacked Barack Obama for taking campaign contributions from employees of Fanne Mae and Freddie Mac. McCain must not even know who he's getting his money from...because he's taken more than twice as much from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac employees as Obama. He's also taking money from many of the failing Wall Street firms that helped caused our current financial panic. Obama holds the overall advantage in raising money from individuals in the financial industries, but McCain's bundlers clearly show who pulls his strings.

Kettle, pot, black. Maverick? My ass...

You Just Can't Make This Shit Up

Joe P and Traci have been visiting for a few days, and we've had time to digest and discuss the news that Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter, is 5 months pregnant...as in, pregnant out of wedlock. And for the curious, she's having the child and getting married. You know...she had to.

One consistent observation this weekend is that life is far more hillarious than fiction. We get an inexperienced, political lightweight, fundamentalist scandal-ridden MILF nominated for VP by a man who's a heartbeat away from dying. A consistent proponent of abstinence-only "education" whose teenage daughter is pregnant. I can't wait to hear Jon Stewart's take on this...

UPDATE: 2 Sep 2008
Palin was apparently also a member of the Alaskan Independence Party for two years before joining the Repugnicans. That means she was a secessionist. Absolutely amazing...

POW, POW, POW...

John McCain likes to remind us all that he was a POW. He does it early, he does it often, and he thinks it excuses all manner of sins. Last night, he even used it to respond to Jay Leno's query on how many homes he owned:

“You know, could I just mention to you, Jay, and a moment of seriousness. I spent five and a half years in a prison cell, without-I didn’t have a house, I didn’t have a kitchen table, I didn’t have a table, I didn’t have a chair. And I spent those five and a half years, because-not because I wanted to get a house when I got out. And you know, I’m very proud of Cindy’s father, he was a guy that barely got out of high school, fought in World War II in the Army Air Corps, came home and made a business and made the American dream.”

Here's a guy who was raised by admirals (read: connected military men in the highest of patrician traditions), married into money, votes for tax cuts for the rich, and can't tell you how any homes he owns....(in fact, he still owes property taxes on one of them). But he's going to tell us about the value of hard work and how anyone can achieve the American dream? And now he's bringing up his POW years in response to potentially embarrassing questions? This guy isn't ready to be commander-in-chief.

Many thanks to Matt T for reminding me of how McCain always seems like Colonel Koontz from Pulp Fiction:


Listen, I respect the fact that McCain spent 5 years being mistreated and tortured during Vietnam. That's probably the only reason he's consistently opposed torture while in the Senate while his troglodyte Republican colleagues scoff at any notion of human rights.
But let's get real here: not knowing how many houses you own is, well, elitist and proves that you're out of touch with the challenges faced by working people. And owing back property taxes on one of them is irresponsible...and it's reprehensible, given that the property is in California, a state that's been hit hard by a budget crisis.

Not that any of this matters. The electoral math of 2008 heavily favors Obama, and even Karl Rove's own polls are predicting an Obama electoral landslide.
Disregard the national polls showing a dead heat...unless something catastrophic happens (and I don't put that past the inept and corrupt Democratic party machinery) this one's going into the blue column. I'm not ecstatic about that (I'm a Green and am generally skeptical about the ability of electoral politics to change things), but the Dems have put forth their best presidential candidate in many years, and I'll gladly cast my vote or him.