Risks Of Reporting Rumor As News About Sarah Palin's Baby Trig and Daughter Bristol

[Update] News reports show that Sarah Palin's daughter is pregnant now, will be marrying the father and McCain knew about it - Debunking conclusively the lies of DailyKos in saying Bristol Palin was the mother of Sarah Palin's child, Trig. When will Kos and Democrats learn to do their homework and get the facts before going off half cocked?

Answer: NEVER.

[Update below] Kos writer debunks the original Kos liar and provides photo of Sarah Palin pregnant. See below original post.

The risk of reporting rumor as news without doing the proper research and homework for an article, is embarrassment when the facts are eventually revealed. This is evidenced by recent reports about Sarah Palin's baby, Trig and daughter, Bristol.

Rumor ran rampant about Sarah Palin, her child Trig and her daughter Bristol. The rumors started with a popular liberal website, Daily KoS, and certain media outlets touched on them.

The reports focused on pictures of Republican vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, showing that she didn't appear to be pregnant, then the story followed with their "proof" that the baby was her daughter's, Bristol Palin. They "proved" her daughter had missed time at school and then they produced pictures of her daughter which they claimed showed her to be "pregnant."

Specifically the reports focused on the 17 year olds stomach, with the rumor perpetuated by the Daily KoS website and others that reported on the rumors.

The photo that KoS used and claimed was taken on March 9, 2008, was taken in Wasilla, Alaska in 2006. The photo was taken by Lester, from the Anchorage Daily News. (URL linked above to the Anchorage Daily News photo gallery) KoS then provided photos from 2008 which showed the same type of belly fat. (Hat Tip To TownHall)

Sarah Palin at home with her family in Wasilla, Alaska in 2006. From left is Piper, 5, husband Todd, Willow, 12, and at right is Bristol, 16. Not pictured is Palin's son Track, 17. Trig Palin was born in 2008.

Baby Trig Palin, a Downs Syndrome baby, was born on April 18, 2008.

No matter how you do the math, there is no way a girl can be pregnant from 2006 to April of 2008.

Daily KoS and those that reported on the speculated rumor, without doing their homework and just repeating the rumor, all have now maligned a 17 year old girl, her mother who is the vice presidential running mate on the Republican ticket and their whole family.

I hope some sort of legal action can be taken against KoS and anyone else that perpetuated this disgusting rumor, deliberately trying to destroy a young girls life for political reasons.


[Update] Additional photos of Sarah Palin while pregnant.

ABC photo taken February 10, 2008:



March, ADN:



Oh my, someone who actually saw her pregnant as well.

Of course I had to check out the “Hottest Governor in the US” and quickly turned to see her pregnant (she has since had her baby) with bags and daughter in tote. Then it struck me as odd. Why is the Governor of Alaska in the airport and preparing to get onto my commercial flight?

I questioned PolarTRECer Craig Kasemodel an Alaskan resident. He let me know that Governor Palin sold the corporate jet after securing her official Governor position.

When are people going to learn that Kossacks enjoy lying to get attention?

UPDATE-- Looks like the lies have even weighed on other members of the Kos community, with another Kos writer provided an undoubtedly pregnant Sarah Palin picture and telling the Kos community "Unless someone has counter evidence, we can drop this crap now. Yes, there are still some interesting questions, such as why she flew to Dallas and back when she was this pregnant, and why the Alaska Airlines crewmembers insisted that she was not visibly pregnant on the flight. Nevertheless, until this photo is debunked, we look stupid pushing this rumor.

That is all."


Kudos for a member of Kos that understands what this has done and how disgusting the spread of an unfounded rumor is.

End Update

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If They Are In the Tank, Sink the Tank!

Cross-posted from

Faultline USA

It would appear that far left NBC has put the full court press on by openly embracing their leftist bias in their drive against fairness and balance in media reporting. I suspect this might be part of a larger lefty plan to force the reinstitution of the Fairness Doctrine, which most conservative talk show hosts say would be the end of conservative talk radio.

According to left-leaning Wikipedia:

“(FCC) that required the holders of broadcast licenses both to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was (in the FCC's view) honest, equitable, and balanced. The United States Supreme Court has upheld the Commission's general right to enforce such a policy where channels are limited, but the courts have generally not considered that the FCC is obliged to do so.^[1] The FCC has since withdrawn the Fairness Doctrine, prompting some to urge its reintroduction through either Commission policy or Congressional legislation.

After it was widely acknowledged that McCain won the 'Rick Warren' Saddleback Presidential Forum on Faith in mid August, the far left began suggesting that McCain may not have been in the “cone of silence” and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis asked for a meeting with Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, to protest what the campaign called signs that the network is "abandoning non-partisan coverage of the presidential race."

Case in point:

“NBC's Andrea Mitchell on "Meet the Press" questioning whether McCain might have gotten a heads-up on some of the questions that were asked of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who was the first candidate to be interviewed Saturday night by Pastor Rick Warren at a presidential forum on faith.

Leftist Bias forced Monica Crowley off MSNBC

Excerpt from Fox News Contributor Monica Crowley with Bill O’Reilly on 8/29/08

Right. Well, as you mentioned, I spent two years at MSNBC in 2005, 2006. And during that time, they made an executive decision to take that network to the left, which of course left no place for me, which is why I'm back on FOX News.

But I will say that in that time period, they decided that they were going to try to take on FOX News on an ideological — as an ideological counterpoint. And so they stocked their entire primetime lineup and during the day as well with very left-wing voices. . .

NBC to 'gay' journalists: 'Your victories are our victories' from the files of "objective media" by Brian Fitzpatrick - 8/29/2008 - OneNewsNow.com

It's spelled NLGJA, but they pronounce it "Negligee." The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA) just held its annual convention here in Washington, DC, attracting hundreds of journalists – and ringing endorsements – from virtually every major publication and broadcaster in the news media.

In a full-page ad in the convention program, NBC Universal declared it is "proud to support NLGJA," under the bold headline: "YOUR VICTORIES ARE OUR VICTORIES."

After listening to speaker after speaker express hatred and contempt for political and religious conservatives while plotting how to advance the homosexual activist agenda through journalism, I'm left wondering whether Americans know the extent of the media's bias on homosexual issues. Do they know that the news media have thrown themselves fully behind the gay rights movement? Every major news organization sponsored the convention, bought space in the program, or had recruiting booths. . .

Acknowledging and defending journalism’s overly extensive coverage of Obama, Washington Post reporter Paul Farh explains the future of journalism in a July "American Journalism Review" (AJR) article “In The Tank?”.

It's unrealistic, even undesirable, to expect the candidates to receive roughly the same number of stories or minutes of airtime. . .

Undesirable? Really? What about credibility?

We're fast approaching zero credibility. In a national survey conducted by Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, in January, only 19.6 percent of respondents said they believed "all or most" reporting.

According to Farh, the era of celebrity journalists has only just begun.

(S. Robert) Lichter, president of George Mason University's Center for Media and Public Affairs, believes that some of the public's antipathy toward the press has been fueled over the past few decades by the rise of the "celebrity journalist," the reporter who covers the story, then gets on television to tell viewers what to think about it.

The article ends with Lichter’s positive assessment of the grim future of journalism. Here’s the skinny: Reporters will not leave their personal biases at home.

. . .Despite efforts to hold on to textbook notions of "objective" reporting, he says, journalistic norms have been in flux for several decades, driven by technological, economic and historic forces. The future promises only more of this. Instead of straightforward descriptive reporting, he says, the news will become more like what it has been becoming for years: More interpretive, more personal, more subjective and more opinionated. "You can't put this genie back in its bottle – there never was a bottle," he says. "There's going to be a diffusion of viewpoints. People are going to find it easier than ever to find one viewpoint they like and will stick with that.

Here’s what the FCC has to say about News distortion.

News Distortion. The Commission often receives complaints concerning broadcast journalism, such as allegations that stations have aired inaccurate or one-sided news reports or comments, covered stories inadequately, or overly dramatized the events that they cover. For the reasons noted above, the Commission generally will not intervene in such cases because it would be inconsistent with the First Amendment to replace the journalistic judgment of licensees with our own. However, as public trustees, broadcast licensees may not intentionally distort the news: the FCC has stated that “rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest.” The Commission will investigate a station for news distortion if it receives documented evidence of such rigging or slanting, such as testimony or other documentation, from individuals with direct personal knowledge that a licensee or its management engaged in the intentional falsification of the news. Of particular concern would be evidence of the direction to employees from station management to falsify the news. However, absent such a compelling showing, the Commission will not intervene. For additional information about news distortion, see http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/journalism.html.

Here’s how to file a complaint about News Distortion with the FCC

You can file your complaint using the on-line complaint Form 2000E found on the FCC Web site at www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html. You can also file your complaint with the FCC’s Consumer Center by e-mailing fccinfo@fcc.gov; calling -888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/journalism.html

PHONE: Our Consumer & Mediation Specialists are available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET to answer your questions and assist you in filing a complaint. Call toll-free at 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL- FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY.

Read the Notice regarding formal complaints

Basically be aware that the complainant's name may be made public.

For all the other methods, download/print the complaint form:
›› Form 2000E English (PDF)
›› Form 2000E Español (PDF)

Technorati Tags: NBC,FCC,News distortion,bias,media,AJR,American Journalism Review,Monica Crowley,Bill O’Reilly

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John McCain And Barack Obama Focus On Hurricane Gustav

One of the things that makes America great is the way that many Americans rally to the aide of others in trouble. When Hurricane Andrew hit so many years ago in Florida, devastating the city, I lived there at the time and I saw strangers helping each other, reaching out to each other in small and large ways.

Katrina showed some of that same basic human spirit with people in boats, going house to house to help save their neighbors and even those they had never met.

Today we see that even political opponents can put away their swords, stop fighting and rally to help Americans in trouble.

John McCain and Barack Obama take time out from political bickering to both focus on Hurricane Gustav and helping the areas most in danger of the destructive storm heading their way.

John McCain has ordered Convention changes as reported by the Associated Press, to "redirect" efforts and goals of the Republican Convention as he vows to focus on the massive Hurricane barreling towards the U.S. Gulf Coast.

McCain states, "I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary throughout our convention, we will act as Americans and not as Republicans because America needs us now." He continued on to tell reporters, "We must redirect our efforts from the really celebratory event of the nomination of the president and vice president of our party to acting as all Americans."

The McCain campaign has also chartered a DC-9 jetliner to bring any delegates from St. Paul to their home states to face the problems which lies ahead.

As reported yesterday, one of the contingency plans for the worst case scenario, made by the McCain campaign was to turn Republicans staying for the Convention into Red Cross workers and creating some type of "giant hurricane relief effort" by collecting food and goods as well as donations for the potential victims of the storm.

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour invited McCain to tour the Mississippi area to see the preparations that were being made but he will not be going to Louisiana for fear of a high profile visit disturbing the preparations that were being made in advance to the storm.

Rudy Giuliani, former Republican presidential candidate and former Mayor of New York, who is due to deliver the keynote address at the Convention says, "We have to make sure the focus is on the South, on Gustav, make sure that all of the resources are there, and that anything that is done with regard to the convention doesn't take anything away from that and is done in a serious way."

Barack Obama is also stepping up to the plate and offering to tap into his donors and volunteers to ask them to help the victims of the fast approaching storm. Those donations could include cash, goods and labor.

Obama tells reporters, "I think we can get tons of volunteers to travel down there if it becomes necessary. I think we can activate an e-mail list of a couple of million people who want to give back."

More evidence of both campaigns taking a break from their political opposition to each other and focusing on helping the portions of America in danger, on the Republican side, are the options of altering the convention to focus more on the oncoming storm, limiting events and speakers to reflect their awareness of the storm, shortening the convention, trimming back pep-rally type segments and focusing on more public service elements.

The Convention itself will not be totally canceled in order to allow the bare minimum to take the formal steps to make sure McCain is nominated and can get on the ballot legally.

On the Democratic side, they too are scaling down their planned events for the Republican Convention in St. Paul, such as canceling their "More of the Same" rally that had been scheduled for Monday night, with Democratic party spokesmen Brad Woodhouse saying "the tone of the Democratic rapid response effort would depend on the changes Republicans make in their convention program."

If you would like to know how you can help or you have a loved on in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas, go to the Red Cross page set up to tell the public what is needed and to the Louisiana's Governor's state website.

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Sarah Palin 'Electrifies' Republican Base After 'Leak Free' Deliberation Process

Reports of the reactions from people in St. Paul preparing for the convention at the time John McCain announced his VP running mate say that the base was "electrified." Reports also show Palin instantly impressed McCain in February after they met.

The Washington Post reports the instant liking that John McCain had for Sarah Palin after meeting with her privately in Washington back in February during the National Governors Association meeting.

One adviser tells the Post that McCain spoke well of her after the meeting saying she was impressive and he liked her, but that no one outside his inner circle knew how strong of an impression she made on John McCain.

The Deliberative Process and the Press.

McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis who played point with Washington lawyer A.B. Culvahouse overseeing the vetting process, says Palin went through the same vetting procedures everyone else did with a FBI background check and reviews of financial and other personal data. Then deliberations and discussions ensued with a handful of advisers, where it is said McCain asked a lot of questions but did not tip his hand even to those closest to him about which direction he was leaning.

According to the adviser that spoke to the Post, the campaign basically allowed rampant speculation by the media to go unanswered and allowed them to play themselves against each other with the adviser saying, "It's a little naive on the part of the media to assume because they weren't reporting this [Palin's consideration] for the last few months, there's something up on this. We didn't spend any time saying yes or no to any of the speculation -- just because everyone thought it was going to be Mitt Romney for a month, and then it was going to be Joe Lieberman for a month."

The media played into this by reporting that Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney were sent to the Democratic National Convention as Republican surrogates as "final auditions" for the vice presidential spot on the ticket.

McCain aides scoffed at that characterization, calling it pure coincidence. "These guys are all good surrogates. They've done a thousand hours of surrogate work," one McCain adviser said. "I don't think we needed to audition anybody at the Democratic National Convention a week before ours. It's wonderful to fill cable time with it, but it's just nonsense."

Unknown to reporters that were busy following Romney and Pawlenty at the Democratic Convention and speculating on Ridge and Lieberman as well, McCain called Palin last Sunday, the day before the Democratic Convention, spoke to her at length and invited her to Arizona to meet.

Day Three of the Democratic Convention, Wednesday, while attention was focused elsewhere, Sarah Palin was flown to Flagstaff, Arizona where she met with top McCain officials, Schmidt and Salter.

The next morning she was taken to McCain's retreat in Sedona.

When they arrived, McCain offered Palin some coffee before taking her to a bend in a creek on the property where there are places to sit and a hawk's nest looming above. It is one of McCain's favorite places, and the two talked alone there until they were joined by McCain's wife, Cindy, who is described as having played a key role throughout the selection process.



After about an hour, Palin joined her aide on the deck of McCain's cabin, while the candidate and his wife went for a walk along the creek. When they returned, McCain held one last session with aides Schmidt and Salter. Then he offered Palin the job. The deal was sealed "with a handshake, a pat on the back," one adviser said.

All that was left was one more secretive trip, from Arizona to Dayton, where the announcement was going to be made at a rally at Wright State University. Salter and Schmidt accompanied Palin on that final leg, and her family in Alaska was alerted only at the last minute that a plane was being sent to bring them to Ohio.

McCain aides were forbidden to leak anything on the night of Barack Obama's acceptance speech, but by Friday morning speculation was again running rampant and it wasn't until a couple of hours before the official announcement in Dayton, Ohio, that word started filtering through that it might just be Sarah Palin that would be named as John McCain's vice presidential running mate.

Reaction To The Announcement.

The reaction from the conservative base was immediate and The Politico reports the announcement of Sarah Palin as the chosen VP, "electrified" them. After listening to her speech it is report many became emotional.

The former New Hampshire GOP chairman and top McCain backer, Steve Duprey, was in St. Paul at the time ad he describes the scene, saying, "I was in the Rules Committee with about 150 people in the room. They had TVs set up and we took a break to watch the announcement. For a second after she came out, it was silent. Then there was a gasp and everybody stood up and started cheering and clapping. We stayed standing the whole speech.” He goes on to state, "There were 10 or 12 women, party stalwarts, in tears, using napkins and handkerchiefs.”

Conservative activists, never gung-ho, for McCain and waiting to see if he would disappoint them with his VP choice before solidly uniting behind him, instantly became galvanized after learning that he chose a strict conservative as his running mate. The Politico reports that McCain hasn't just won their approval but has "ignited a wave of elation and emotion that has led some grass-roots activists to weep with joy."

Charmaine Yoest, head of the legislative arm of Americans United for Life, says when she woke up the morning of the announcement as speculation about Palin was filtering through the press, her email was "just going crazy" and that after the announcement was made "it was like you couldn’t breathe.”

Yoest also says that in St. Paul, after hearing the announcement, her and other conservative women were jumping up and down and hugging each other, continuing on to say, "She’s lived it! It’s so satisfying as a conservative woman. When she walked out on that stage there was just this moment. It was really emotional for a lot of us.”

Not only emotional reactions were kicked into high gear, but money started pouring in from online donations, with $7 million online donations within the first 24 hours.

Most importantly for McCain, the two constituencies who are most energized by Palin just happen to be the twin grassroots pillars of the GOP: anti-abortion activists and pro-Second Amendment enthusiasts and sportsmen. Without these two camps making phone calls, stuffing envelopes and knocking on doors, Republican presidential candidates would severely lack for volunteers. They are critical to the health of the conservative coalition that has dominated Republican politics for a generation.

Republicans say the primary source for the passion can be found in Palin’s example and authenticity.

Not only is the 44-year-old governor opposed to abortion rights — but she carried and gave birth to a child with Down syndrome earlier this year, a profound and powerful motivating force to both opponents of abortion rights and the parents and relatives of special needs children.

Reactions from Christian conservatives were not the only reactions that were positive.

Gun enthusiasts, such as Michael Bane, declares, "She's one of us. “FINALLY, we can get 100 percent behind the Republican ticket ... change we can believe in!”

“You know I've had my problems with McCain, but he has reached out a hand to us both at the NRA Annual Meeting [earlier this year] and with the amazing selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate."

The Politico notes many more reactions in their article from a variety of people, showing a base that is finally "electrified" and excited about this election season.

The most satisfying portion of the reactions are those from the left where they have shown they were caught as flatfooted as the media in regards to McCain's VP pick and have let their desperation shine through by attacking not only Palin, but have pathetically gone after Palin's children with nothing more than rumors without any evidence, proof, records or documents.

If they thought women were angry over perceived sexism, just wait until the negative reactions and outrage hit them from woman that find anyone that will deliberately try to destroy a child's life and reputation even more repugnant than those which show evidence of sexism.

They haven't seen women angry yet..... that type of disgusting behavior is guaranteed to rally women and mothers behind Palin at a rapid rate.

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Fmr DNC Chair Thinks Hurricane Proves God is on the Side of the Dems

Cross-posted by Maggie at Maggie's Notebook

RedState.com's absentee's Diary videos former Nat. Chair of the DNC, Don Fowler, as he chuckles about a hurricane hitting New Orleans just at the time President Bush is to speak Monday at the RNC. ..."that just demonstrates God's on our side," he says. Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina allegedly was the other side of the conversation.

There's more than just the video. Read it at RedState.





Thanks to YouTube.com

Hurricane Gustav Forces Mandatory Evacuation From New Orleans

The Mayor of New Orleans, C. Ray Nagin, has ordered a mandatory evacuation as what he calls "The Storm of the Century" bears down and threatens the U.S. Gulf States.

The mayor, C. Ray Nagin, said Hurricane Gustav was larger and more dangerous than Hurricane Katrina, and he pleaded with residents to get out or face flooding and life-threatening winds.

“This is the mother of all storms, and I’m not sure we’ve seen anything like it,” Mr. Nagin said at an evening news briefing. “This is the real deal. This is not a test. For everyone thinking they can ride this storm out, I have news for you: that will be one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your life.”

Buses were brought in to help get everyone out and brought to shelters as hundreds of thousands of people started pouring out of the city.

Forecasters said the hurricane was most likely to strike the Gulf Coast on Monday. New Orleans could get winds of up to 73 m.p.h. and possibly greater.

Forecasters said Hurricane Gustav could become a Category 5 storm, the strongest designation on the scale.

In a mandatory evacuation, residents are not physically forced to leave, but are subject to arrest outside their houses if a curfew is imposed. Mr. Nagin also warned that anyone who chose to stay would not be able to rely on public agencies for emergency assistance.

After watching what happened to their state after Hurricane Katrina blasted through three years ago, anyone staying must know they are taking their lives and that of their family into their hands because once the storm hits and water floods in, help relies on the kindness of Mather Nature and she is not kind.

John McCain, his wife Cindy and Sarah Palin are traveling through Mississippi to see how preparations are going.

Likely GOP presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, are traveling to Mississippi to check on people getting prepared for Hurricane Gustav.

McKain aides say McCain and his wife Cindy will join Palin in traveling to Jackson, Miss., Sunday at the invitation of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. They said the McCains and Palins want to check on preparations because they are concerned about the people threatened by the storm

The Republican Convention which starts tomorrow is being scaled down and contingency plans are being made to alter the event and perhaps use it to help storm victims as I reported yesterday.

Michelle Malkin receives word from a reader who is a member of the Louisiana Army National Guard and her words are comforting.

I’m a new member to the site and a big fan, and right now I’m experiencing a brief (and rare) moment of downtime. I am a member of the Louisiana Army National Guard, and we are up to our nostrils in preparations for Hurricane Gustav. There is a lot going on right now in south Louisiana, but mostly we are watching this monster bear down on us and hoping for the best. I wanted you to know, as a soldier who also had to suffer through the cluster that was Katrina, that we are 1000% better prepared (God Bless Bobby Jindal!!), and that while hoping for the best, we are completely prepared for the worst and ready to do what needs to be done to ensure the safety of the people of this state.

See what you can do to help and keep track of the preparation measures at the state's website.

Keep these people in your thoughts as they once again prepare to suffer an incredible loss as this monster of a storm bears down on them.

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Republican Convention Might Turn Into 'Giant Hurricane Relief Telethon'

In an interview with Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace, John McCain said Hurricane Gustav may alter the plans for the Republican Convention due to start on Monday.

Hurricane Gustav was Category 4 hurricane as it passed through Cuba and is expected to be a strong Category 5 hurricane as it prepares to hit the United states, much like Katrina, which devastated portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast.

According to Washington Wire, Wallace asked John McCain whether there were circumstances in which he would consider suspending the Republican Convention and McCain's reply was, "The reality is we’re likely going to have a national disaster going on. We don’t know exactly what this thing is going to do or when."

McCain said he had been in touch with the Governors from Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Florida and continued on to say, "I’ve been talking to all of them, but you know it just wouldn’t be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster, so we’re monitoring it from day to day and I’m saying a few prayers too.”

The Republican Convention planners are preparing to alter the scheduled events and may simply stick to the minimal ceremony required by law to officially nominate John McCain as the Republican's Presidential candidate and Sarah Palin as the vice presidential candidate for the GOP.

One contingency plan in the event of a worse case scenario where Gustav reaps massive destruction along the U.S. Gulf Coast is to turn a portion of the convention into a "giant hurricane relief telethon", where attending Republicans would be transformed into "Red Cross-type volunteers" as the New York Post phrases it in their report.

Those Republicans would help collect donations, not for the Republican Party or John McCain but instead for storm victims as well as collecting food and goods to help them as well.

McCain - whose campaign motto is "Country First" – said helping people during an emergency will take precedence over accepting his GOP nomination for president.

They are preparing for any possibility and as the McCain campaign notes, in 2000 John McCain postponed the announcement of his presidential campaign because of genocide in the Balkans, so he is expected to continue monitoring the situation and suspend and alter activities at the Convention as he sees fit in order to do whatever can be done to help the victims.

The Republican National Convention President & CEO Maria Cinoissued a statement today which said, "We continue to closely monitor the movement of the storm and are considering necessary contingencies.The safety of our affected delegations is our first priority and preparing for Gustav comes before anything else."

The Post reports that McCain is not due to make his speech until Thursday of next week and that sources have told them he may visit the Gulf Coast earlier in the week.

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Palin Liked More Than Biden, Donations Rising and Grassroots On Fire

No wonder the left is going into desperate panic attack mode!!

Since John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his VP choice, there has been $7 million in contributions to the campaign, Rasmussen shows that Palin holds a higher favorability rating than Joe Biden does for Barack Obama, and Jonathan Martin from The Politico says the GOP grassroots are "on fire."

Politico:

And outside the arena, far from Dayton, the response I've gotten from Republican activists coast-to-coast has been one of almost joy. My e-mail in-box is bursting with enthusiasm from loyal GOPers who've been either glum, cynical or downright unhappy for the past two years.

The Trail: (linked above)

Sen. John McCain has taken in $7 million in contributions since announcing Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, a top campaign aide said today.

The money bounce may owe to Palin's appeal with conservative donors, many of whom said privately they had planned on sitting out the campaign this year. The money comes in just under the wire -- after McCain accepts the GOP nomination Thursday, he will accept public funds and no longer be permitted to raise private money for the campaign.

Rasmussen:

After her debut in Dayton and a rush of media coverage, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 53% now have a favorable opinion of Palin while just 26% offer a less flattering assessment.

Palin earns positive reviews from 78% of Republicans, 26% of Democrats and 63% of unaffiliated voters. Obviously, these numbers will be subject to change as voters learn more about her in the coming weeks. Among all voters, 29% have a Very Favorable opinion of Palin while 9% hold a Very Unfavorable view.

By way of comparison, on the day he was selected as Barack Obama’s running mate, Delaware Senator Joseph Biden was viewed favorably by 43% of voters.

Palin has generated some good energy, has revved up the GOP base like I haven't seen in a while and it she appears likable, all-American, troop-loving and smart.

Hey Obama!!!! Starting to regret snubbing Hillary Clinton now and not choosing her as your VP pick?

If not, you are stupider than we thought.

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Clinton Supporters, Sarah Palin, Shaking Things Up, Abortion And Sexism

Deciding on Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate, was done with goals in mind. Making history, shaking up the ticket, appealing to conservatives, choosing a maverick, and appealing to females. Clinton supporters now discuss abortion and sexism.

According to ABC's Political Radar, John McCain had specific aims in making his choice for who he wished as his running mate to be his vice presidential choice.

Making History.

Official history will not be made until the Republican Convention next week when the vote comes down and makes John McCain the official Republican candidate for President of the United States of America and Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska the official Vice Presidential candidate to join McCain on the ticket.

History will be made the day of the vote and was made yesterday when McCain announced the first female vice presidential running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.

Shaking up the Ticket.

Until the Democratic Convention started, the polling from multiple organizations showed a neck and neck race between John McCain and Barack Obama, with neither of the candidates able to take a significant lead on the other.

The convention "bounce", which is an uptick in polling due to a significant campaign event, as the convention was, gave Barack Obama an eight point lead after the three day rolling figures came in.

It is expected as is traditional, that next week by the last day of the Republican Convention, the same "bounce" will be seen, which would then again put the race back to the neck and neck status.

This is where shaking up a ticket becomes necessary as part of a bigger plan to take a lead in the polls.

No candidate for any election wants to go into an election neck and neck. The whole goal during the campaigning season is to take a significant lead in the polls and in public perception so that a candidate has relative confidence they will win the election when the day comes.

With that goal in mind, a presidential candidate chooses his running mate with the thought in mind of shoring up support in demographical areas where the support lags or is not what that candidate believes it should be.

For Barack Obama the choice was Joe Biden who has much more foreign policy experience than the presidential candidate himself has which has been a criticism from conservative Democrats, some Independents and what is called swing voters, which are voters that can swing from one side of the political spectrum to the other, depending on their preference in any given campaign season.

For John McCain, that choice was Sarah Palin, the only person to be a Governor on either ticket now, which is a person elected by the people of a state to be the top leader in that state. They have many of the same powers that a president have, but only on a state level. They can pardon criminals prosecuted by the state, they can sign and veto bills passed by the congress of the state. They can appoint people to certain positions, and they speak for the state on matters regarding the state.

Appeal to Conservatives.

The core base for Republicans are conservatives and conservative leaning voters and it was made clear to John McCain, being known as a moderate conservative himself, to strengthen his ticket and unite the conservative base, he needed a traditionally conservative vice presidential running mate.

Did the choice of Palin fire up the conservative base?

Early indications show that the choice of Palin did fire up certain members of the conservative base, as evidenced by Dr. James Dobson, who is an evangelical leader and the head of Focus On The Family.

Dobson once stated, as reported by TIME, that he would never vote for John McCain because of McCain's moderate stances in areas that concerned Dobson, yet within hours of the announcement of Palin as the VP choice, Dobson walked into a conservative outreach meeting in Minneapolis thrown by the McCain campaign and announced he would be voting for John McCain.

Other evidence showing that McCain did shake up his ticket effectively and to his benefit is brought to us via a report from The Politico saying that online alone, John McCain received $4.9 million dollars immediately after he introduce Palin as his VP.

Palin's appeal to the conservative base is echoed by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, who had not yet united behind McCain and is now "raving" over the choice of Palin as well as David Keene of the American Conservative Union stating, via The Spec.com, "I predict any conservatives who have been lukewarm thus far in their support of the McCain candidacy will work their hearts out between now and November for the McCain-Palin ticket."

The examples go on and on in the media of the conservative base hailing McCain's decision and becoming more enthused about McCain's candidacy.

That is shaking things up.

Vote it up! 2 votes Republican Presidential candidate John McCain with his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin. Courtesy of John McCain campaign (Public Domain)

Choosing a Maverick.

John McCain has long held the nickname and reputation of being a maverick, of working in a bipartisan manner when necessary, reaching across the political aisle to get things accomplished. Many times he has done so even with the risk of angering his conservative base.

He has openly criticized Republicans when he has disagreed with as well as publicly criticizing President Bush when he took a stance different from his own.

His goal with choosing Palin is that she too has a reputation of being a maverick. Fighting against Republicans when she disagreed with them, placing Independents and Democrats in her administration and working towards accomplishing what she sets out to do, giving her the highest popularity rating of a Governor in her own state of Alaska, which is over 80 percent as reported by Daily Dayton News.

Palin is fairly new to the gubernatorial job — she took office Dec. 4, 2006 — but has already seen political success, pushing and getting momentum on the creation of a natural gas pipeline that Alaskans have sought for three decades.

She's also knocked heads with energy companies, threatening to strip some of their leases if she felt they were "warehousing" their land and not drilling, according to Drue Pearce, a former Alaska Senate president now serving as the federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation Project.

Vote it up! Sarah Palin In Kuwait "SIR: Poseyal Desposyni squire poet (Creative Commons - Attribution)

Appealing to Females.

Polling shows McCain has done better shoring up the male vote than he has with the female vote within his own party, with Independents and with swing voters.

Having Palin on the ticket, a woman who already made her own history as being the youngest and first female to be elected as Governor of Alaska, now making history again as being the first female on a Republican ticket, has energized many conservative woman as is seen on multiple blogs, forums and comment sections across the web.

Clinton supporters, abortion and sexism.

A large majority of female Democrats are 100 percent pro-choice and Palin is 100 percent pro-life and against abortions.

One would assume that if the abortion issue was a deal breaker for female Clinton supporters, they would never in a million years vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.

Some Clinton supporters hold abortion rights high in their list of priorities but they do not see it as a deal breaker if they agree with other aspects of a candidates policy issues.

That is a personal choice that only they can make because their vote is theirs....period.

No one can tell them they are making choices for the right or wrong reasons, because how a person votes and for what reason they make their choice is no ones business but the person who owns their vote.

With that said, I am seeing an anger on Clinton supporting sites, which first stemmed from their perception that the media as well as the DNC and Obama campaign, were overly sexist in their reports and statements about Hillary Clinton during the primaries and now is being pointed out within a day of Palin's being announced as McCain's running mate with Clinton supporting sites showing their perception of the media doing the same thing to Palin already.

Using one of the more popular Clinton supporting sites as an example of what is seen on many of them, Tennessee Guerilla Women, shows the theme of what I am seeing.

Yesterday, they were quoting Palin's tribute to Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Clinton, where Palin stated, "I can't begin this great effort without honoring the achievement of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and of course, Hillary Clinton, who showed determination in her presidential campaign," Palin said. "It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."

The writer of that piece, Egalia writes:

Wow. Just wow. You should have picked Hillary, Barack! Here's to breaking this country's shameful male monopoly on power. It's just too effing bad that the job has fallen to the Republicans because the Democratic Party threw women under the bus!

The comment section of that posts shows incredible tension still felt by female voters over Hillary's loss and what they perceived as unfairness shown to her during the primaries, with some commentators arguing having a woman on the ticket isn't enough of a reason to vote for a McCain/Palin ticket, others arguing about Obama's inexperience and pointing out Palin's executive experience and still others asking about how a Democratic woman can vote for a pro-life ticket.

373 comments on that piece.

Tennessee Guerilla Women is not the only site with this mindset, as pointed out by Washington Post's The Trail.

The common refrain: "Obama will regret not choosing Hillary now!"

No Quarter USA, an online hub for anti-Obama Hillary supporters, had this comment from Danny in Alaska, a disaffected Hillary Democrat who had pledged not to vote for Obama, on a news post. He called Palin an independent and said a "vote for MCCAIN IS NO LONGER A PROTEST VOTE! I want bumper stickers."

Contrary to critics assertions, it is not only John McCain's choice of Palin that is drawing some diehard Clinton supporters that have refused to get behind Barack Obama, but for many of them it is their choice of priorities as arguments ensue in comment sections about how the media is already being perceived as showing sexism against Palin.

Vote it up! Sarah Palin at school Sarah Palin visiting a school and painting with two children by triciaward (Creative Commons - Attribution)

Today, the same "I am woman hear me roar" attitude is being seen, but thanks to some media outlets, those same Clinton supporting sites are giving more reasons to why they may just want to stand up and support the McCain/Palin ticket because to them there is an issue that is as much if not more of a priority to them than abortion is.

Sexism.

Media Matters announces in their headline "With morning announcement of Palin pick comes morning sexism on cable news."

Summary: With reports that Sen. John McCain had picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate, sexist commentary on cable news followed. On CNN, John Roberts raised the question of whether as vice president, Palin would be able to devote the time necessary to care for her baby with Down syndrome, and on MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd suggested that Sen. Joe Biden bears the burden of having to adjust his behavior in a vice-presidential debate because of Palin's sex.

The reaction to the Media Matters piece as well as other examples that are being cited, is once again shown by Tennessee Guerilla Women, which is representative of what is seen on quite a few diehard Clinton supporting sites.

Egalia against writes, "Bonus MSNBC Sexism: Also in the video clip, Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd argue that Joe Biden will have to be gentle when he debates Sarah Palin because she's a girl!!! The MSNBC pundits do not explain why the men were so free to gang up on Hillary Rodham Clinton on the primary debate stage."

Not to focus on one specific blogger and comment section of one place, a search on Google shows sexism trumping other issues, in a variety of places.

For example, CBS News has an opinion piece written by a man named Joseph Bui for Youth Vote '08, who explains why women that perceived sexism and those that supported Hillary for more reasons that just her policy stances, but instead because of the chance to move women forward and rewriting the history books, he reminds people that "constituents don't always vote just on the issues."

Unfortunately for the Obama camp and his adoring fans: they aren't the only ones that can define change. The legions of female Hillary Clinton supporters that identified with her candidacy are now given another shot at shattering the glass ceiling. And as a Democrat who does plan on supporting Obama this November, I'm worried they'll take it.

If you honestly believe that your candidate was ran into the ground due to pervasive sexism in the media and among the voters, the very natural answer? Vote for the female alternative.

Other examples include MyDD writer, Nikkid, who says "Now - the Republicans will have the opportunity to be the party to make history with the FIRST WOMAN VICE PRESIDENT in history." She then goes on to ask, "The Democrats will ask themselves WHY did we select the unqualified, inexperienced male candidate.

I mean really - WHICH PARTY IS SEXIST?"

Even more amazing are the forums, websites and blogs from women that will not vote for McCain/palin, but are still getting angry of the sexism issue already being shown against Palin.

Examples there include Shakesville, (language alert if you click and replace letters with ** in her quotes), where writer Melissa McEwan points out that she has already heard that Palin was called a "bimbo" and McEwan asserts she will not vote for McCain/Palin, but, "And I'll go ahead and put it right in the f**king inaugural post in this series: I will defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears not because I like or support her, but because that's how feminism works."

Reclusive Leftist points out that even those right-center Hillary supporters that won't vote for McCain/Palin will become alienated from the Obama camp and she blames "Obamabots" preemptively for that.

The Palin pick is fricking genius, and since I’m a blogger and this is my blog I should probably take a minute here to blog about it.

Why is it a genius move? Because of two things:

1. It will make it easier for center-right Hillary supporters to vote Republican in the fall, and
2. (this is the genius part) It will complete the alienation of the rest of the Hillary supporters from the Obama camp. How? That’s easy — the Obamabots will do it themselves. Go read the Washington Post blog or anywhere online where the Palin pick is being discussed, and you’ll see the trademark Obama misogyny already out in full force. She’s been on the ticket for two seconds and already the Obamabots are saying she “looks like a porn star,” they’re making rude remarks about her childbearing, they’re ridiculing her intelligence.

The examples do not end there, but since this article is too long as it is, that is enough to see what is representative of what is being seen on Clinton supporting sites as well as just woman bloggers, one day after Palin was announced as McCain's VP choice.

For many women, the issues of sexism, women moving forward, misogynist attitudes and making history are more of a priority than abortion.

It wasn't John McCain's choice of Palin that are driving online donations and woman voters towards him, it is the reaction from the media and Obama supporting sites that is doing it for McCain.

As someone who writes about politics, day in and day out, seven days a week, I can say with full assuredness, this campaign season needed some "shaking up" and it has gotten it, in spades.

GOOD NEWS: Rasmussen shows Palin viewed more favorably than Biden.

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Mother Convicted Of Microwaving Month-Old Daughter To Death

Dayton, Ohio took the spotlight yesterday, with the announcement from John McCain about his choice of a running mate. Something else happened in Dayton that received far less attention. China Arnold, 28, was convicted of microwaving her one-month-old baby

This was Arnold's second trial with the first having been declared a mistrial and after closing arguments on Thursday, the jury deliberated and came back Friday with a guilty verdict for aggravated murder, which potentially holds a punishment of the death sentence.

According to prosecutors, the 28 year-old mother, China Arnold, put her one-month-old baby, Paris Talley, in a microwave, turned it on and burned her baby to death, after having a fight with her boyfriend.

The baby's DNA was found inside the microwave, according to CNN.

The defense had claimed there was someone else there and responsible for murdering the baby. Defense attorney Jon Paul Rion cited testimony from a 8 year-old boy who they allege saw another boy take the baby into the kitchen, claims the child heard the microwave go on, then later saw the baby burned in the microwave.

The 8 year-old boys mother testified on Wednesday that they lived a distance away and that her child was not at Arnold's apartment complex when the baby was murdered.

The original trial was declared a mistrial on February 11, 2008, after Judge John Kessler heard private testimony from the 8 year-old boy.

Other testimony came from Arnold's cell mate who testified that Arnold admitted to putting the baby inside the microwave, saying she was worried her boyfriend would leave her if he found out the infant wasn't his.

Arnold showed no reaction when the jury announced the guilty verdict, reports say she just lowered her head and looked at the table before her while relatives observing in the courtroom cried and covered their faces with their hands.

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Apocalypse Now: The River of Lies

Thoughts on seeing Apocalypse Now again:

Cross posted from Radarsite

It's 1979 and a young Martin Sheen is taking us up that fateful river again. He is our wise and somber Virgil, our guide, our narrator, the ORM (the Only Rational Man) leading us up that labyrinthine river of death and insanity which is our national crucible, our Vietnam War. That great river of no return, that winding thread of dark infuriating lies that will take us further and further into the Heart of Darkness, into the Heart of Darkness of our great national shame and guilt and self-loathing. This was the real secret mission of that clandestine journey. And they almost succeeded.

It's the summer of 2008 and I'm taking that trip with him once again and I am breathless and speechless in shock and wonder at the enormity my previous innocence and gullibility. I am overcome by the tragedy of it all. Not just by the horrors of that bloody and inconclusive war, but overcome by what they, the narrators have done to us all. Our trusted and revered guides have all but ruined us with the binding threads of their dark unscrupulous lies. Up the river we follow them into that great cynical myth, slaughtering myriad innocent women and little children, laying waste to the fertile land, sacrificing a small courageous people in the fiery embrace of Napalm, swooping in on the little schoolchildren playing in their schoolyard, like great birds of prey, accompanied by those brutal and bombastic sounds of the furies of hell, those Hitlerian Wagnerian orgasms of supremacist passion, the demonic sounds of that self-righteous, contemptuous warrior's passion. We are all too young, much to young to know what the hell we're doing, we're all dopeheads and surfers, sadistic, drunken sex-starved smiling adolescent American monsters, smiling the awful smiles of insanity as we slaughter our helpless prey. Meaningless slaughter. Pointless death. Ghastly unnecessary erroneous war. Monumental moral blunder.

And what finally do we find at the end of that gruesome river, at the end of our perilous journey? We find ourselves. And the discovery is alarming. Madness, arrogant, ruthless, contempt of all that is fine and good in human nature, thoughtlessly obliterating a fine nation for inscrutable and indefensible motives. A big stupid illiterate giant stumbling around the world in our drunken orgy of self-gratification. We have become the monsters we once abhorred, too young and naive to even begin to appreciate the enormity of our loss, that loss of all that which we once held dear. This is the grave and ominous lesson of that journey into the Heart of Darkness, into the Heart of our National Moral Darkness. This is the lesson of that ominous voyage, the message of our profound and wise Virgil, our trusted guide, our ORM. This, then, shall be our new national narrative: The epic downward spiral of a once great nation into that great hopeless moral miasma.

This is what they have done to us, this is what they have wrought. Our honored Virgils, our trusted guides, our respected ORM. This, what we have become, is their doing, this is the product of their genuis and ideology and their talent. With the power of their heavy-handed symbols and crude metaphors they have almost succeeded in redefining our national narrative. We have almost become lost in that impenetrable jungle of lies and propaganda. We have almost lost our way and have almost lost our humanity. We have, they have convinced us, sinned greatly, monumentally, against all mankind, and all that saves us from oblivion is heeding their grave warnings, the warnings of our false Virgils, the concerned admonishments of our counterfeit ORM. Oh, and they have worked their magic well. They have taught us how to hate ourselves with great sincerity and how to love our enemies, and , finally, how to find hope and solace in our boundless self-contempt. There is, they tell us, still that one possible chance for salvation -- our willingness to face up to our past mistakes and to try to make amends. To give up all of our old selfish and contemptible imperialistic warrior dreams and join the humble brotherhood of man. It's not too late yet, they tell us. There is still time. If we just follow their lead.

So I have taken that old trip up that long loathsome river once again and I am all but speechless in shock and wonder at my previous ignorance and gullibility. But no longer. Now my eyes have been opened, now I can see the corrupt degenerate treachery of our false guides, our false Virgils. Their lessons are lies and their messages are empty. They have almost ruined us with their deceptions and their purposeful distortions of the truth. They had almost succeeded, they had almost robbed us of our self-respect, our hard-won and well-earned self-respect. But ultimately they have failed to destroy us. Because we can still remember, we can still remember the truth of who we are, despite their most talented and ambitious efforts to obliterate it.

We are a great fine people. We are a great fine nation. We owe no apologies to anyone -- least of all to ourselves. In the end the false storytellers with their secret agendas have failed. It is the beginning of a new season now, we are beginning to create a new narrative. A narrative founded on truth and hope and promise. We are looking for new guides now, for new Virgils. Not to lead us down into the depths of self-immolation and despair, but to lift us up to the heights of promise and fulfilment. We are looking for guides now who will teach us how to love ourselves once again and regain the strength of the righteous warriors that we are. We are free and we are kind and decent. And the old men's tales, the False Virgil's lies just won't do anymore.

"Who is Sarah Palin"?

abc news and other msm may be headlining their stories on Sarah Palin with the title "Who is Sarah Palin?", but I'm thinking that by now, not many people are cluelss as to who she is, and what she represents for America.

Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, is a self-described hockey mum, who was busy raising her kids. Married for 20 years to her high school sweetheart Todd; today is their anniversary. As she says, some of life's blessings come unexpectedly:

"Some of life's greatest opportunities come unexpectedly, and this is certainly the case today. I never really set out to be involved in public affairs, much less to run for this office. My mom and dad both worked at the local elementary school. And my husband and I, we both grew up working with our hands....

Read the rest at NewsBlaze here.

*And yes, it is also up in all the usual places...lol*

McCain/Palin: The Shortest Critique on the Web

Let me see if I've got this right -- the glamorous young candidate for change has picked for his running mate an old insider politco rerun, and the old geezer has picked a fresh young vibrant newcomer. Wow. Now who's the candidate for change here?

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Obama Retreats From Campaign's 'Hair Trigger' Response To McCain's VP pick of Palin

John McCain chooses Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his VP running mate, announces it, and the Obama campaign issues a statement that Obama refers to as a "hair trigger" reaction, right before he backs away from that initial reaction.

Beautiful optics.

Many said when they first saw Bill Burton's quick response from the Barack Obama's campaign which questioned Sarah Palin's experience credentials, that they should be very careful about "going there", and it seems that Obama himself is backing slowing away from the cookie jar.

The campaign's initial response:

John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same.

Right there they managed to insult small towns again, remember the "bitter" middle Americans that "cling to their guns and religion" remarks that Obama once made.

Also, Palin has been a mayor and was elected as a Governor, both of which are executive electoral positions, to which Senators are not.

For the record for those that do not understand the difference:

A governor is a person elected by the people of a state to be the top leader in that state. They have many of the same powers that a president have, but only on a state level. They can pardon criminals prosecuted by the state, they can sign and veto bills passed by the congress of the state. They can appoint people to certain positions, and they speak for the state on matters regarding the state.

A Senator, is one of two elected by every state. A Senator represents their states constituency by making and voting on laws that are created by congress. Some Senators also serve on various committees.

So, looks like Palin, who is on the number two position of the Republican ticket has more executive experience than Obama does on the number one spot of the Democratic ticket.

Hence the idiocy of the Obama campaign's original response.

Which brings us to see Bill Burton tossed right under the bus for his "hair trigger" response issued by the Obama campaign.

Once Obama realized exactly how that would be used against him, he backed away very very carefully.

At a stop in Monaca, Pa., Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from his campaign's first, harshly critical response to the Palin pick.

"I think that, uh, you know, campaigns start getting these, uh, hair triggers and, uh, the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments," he said, according to the pool report, apparently criticizing his staff for going overboard, as he did occasionally in the primary.

HEH

Here is the "official" statement that reflects their real feelings, which aren't the feelings expressed in the first statement shown above, according to Obama:

We send our congratulations to Governor Sarah Palin and her family on her designation as the republican nominee for Vice President. It is yet another encouraging sign that old barriers are falling in our politics. While we obviously have differences over how best to lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign,” said Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden.

Hoisted by your own petard!

Talk Left encourages the Obama campaign to tread carefully regarding Palin....too late, that original statement is out there and is not going away.

No Quarters speaks about "Barack’s Chutzpah Moment".. amusing.

I never realized how shrewd and smart John McCain could be. (Check Memeorandum.com to see all the stories that now dominate the news coverage.) In selecting Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, as his running mate he dared the Democrats to make the case, as they have, that she’s not qualified because she “lacks foreign policy experience.” He understands that when the media decides to investigate Governor Palin they will be forced to conclude that she actually has more foreign policy experience than Obama. As Susan pointed out below, she was in Germany visiting wounded troops long before Barack sought to speak at the Brandenburg Gate. She is a Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard and those troops have been in combat.

So, if you are running Barack’s campaign, you don’t want to renew the focus on your own candidate’s zero experience as an elected executive do you? Oh hell yes. Clueless to the concept of irony the Barack team is trying to attack Palin’s “paltry” experience. They did this with a straight face. Did anyone think to check Barack Obama’s resume?

Read the rest...

Since McCain's VP announcement we also see that Dr. James Dobson,head of Focus On The Family, an influential Colorado-based ministry, who once declared he would never vote for John McCain has just announced he is voting for Mccain/Palin in 2008.

Lets see, what else are we seeing by way of reactions......well, the Volokh Conspiracy brings news of some wonderful reactions over at a Clinton forum.....they are loving Palin as McCain's choice.

Evidently the Obama campaign was completely unprepared for Mccain's choice as shown by a dispatch over at The Caucus.

11:40 a.m. | Obama Reaction: The Times’s Jeff Zeleny has the following dispatch:

The Obama campaign had no immediate response to reports that Senator John McCain has selected the little-known Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, as his running-mate. Neither Mr. Obama nor Mr. Biden talked to reporters, but Mr. Biden could be seen wearing a wide smile in the front cabin of the plane.

Ms. Palin came as a surprise not only to many Republicans and journalists, but also to the Obama team. The campaign has been busily preparing TV commercials to run against Mitt Romney — with aides gleefully watching hours of footage of Romney-McCain exchanges from the primary — but far little opposition research had been prepared about the Alaska governor. And aides said no commercials were ready to be immediately released, which the McCain campaign did when Mr. Biden was chosen.

The takeoff of the Democratic campaign plane was delayed for about 30 minutes, so aides were busily trying to learn all they could about the Palin pick.

With the Democratic ticket in the air for the next four hours, the new Republican team will own the television coverage for nearly half the day.

Should Democrats have anticipated this and left Denver sooner, so the Obama-Biden duo could be seen campaigning on a split TV screen with the McCain-Palin pair? Or was it wise to simply let Republicans spend the day airing out their views of this very unexpected choice?

Ouch!

Here is another little tidbit from LA Times Top of the Ticket:

At organizational convention meetings in St. Paul this afternoon word was passed that some $2 million in new donations had poured into the campaign and Republican National Committee within three hours of Palin's announcement.

Reactions have been coming out all day, I went over a few earlier and you can see all the buzz over at memeorandum.

If I see any more must read reactions, I will update.


Previously:

VIDEO of McCain-Palin Rally in Dayton, Ohio

Video Clip of Portion of Palin's Speech

It Is Official, Sarah Palin Is John McCain's Vice Presidential Running Mate

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VIDEO of McCain-Palin Rally in Dayton, Ohio

Those looking for Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican Convention from Sept. 3, 2008, Full text and video of that speech can be found here.


Full video of the Dayton Ohio Rally below with John McCain announcing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his VP pick, and her full speech accepting.




First and Second piece on Palin as the Veep pick can be found here and here.

New York Times provides the transcript from the Ohio rally.

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Video Clip of Portion of Palin's Speech

Those looking for Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican Convention from Sept. 3, 2008, Full text and video of that speech can be found here.


[UPDATE] Full 26 plus minutes of the Ohio rally with McCain announcing his VP pick of Sarah Palin and Palin's full speech, found here.


By now everyone knows McCain chose Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, as his VP running mate pick, below is a video clip of a portion of her speech.



More on Palin from ABC:

The 44-year-old Palin brings working class roots and appeal to female voters, becoming only the second female vice presidential candidate on a major party ticket and a first for the GOP.

She also brings a reputation as a reformer, beauty pageant good looks, a crack shot with a rifle and a eagerness for political combat that earned her the nickname of "Sarah Barracuda."

Being first is nothing to new to Palin (pronounced PALE-IN). She is the first female governor as well as the youngest governor ever of the Last Frontier, the 49th state to join the Union in 1959 and one of the country's least populous states.

Palin became governor just two years ago after defeating Republican incumbent Frank Murkowski in a GOP primary.

"Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president," the McCain campaign asserted in a statement. "Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today."

More at Top of the Ticket.

[Update] Sonny from America's Future is begging the Obama campaign to focus on the experience factor.

The McCain campaign is hoping and praying that someone will say that Palin is unready for the job. “Please,” John McCain is praying right now AS I TYPE, “Let a Democrat say that an executive with 2 years of experience and no foreign policy expertise isn’t ready for the presidency. Oh pretty please. Because you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to take that soundbite, put it in an ad, slap Obama’s mug up there, and run it over and over and over again.”

Because Palin has exactly as much experience as Obama–arguably more, since she’s an executive. The only difference is that she isn’t running for president.

This is an interesting pick. It’s a play for white, female Democrats–and you’re always better off aiming at a constituency than “trying to win a state,” something that never happens.

Massive blog and media buzz over this VP pick over at memeorandum.

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It Is Official, Sarah Palin Is John McCain's Vice Presidential Running Mate

Part #2 of the Palin pick, with full video her speech in Ohio, found here.

After weeks of speculation about who John McCain would choose to be his vice presidential running mate, the "John McCain Veep Watch" is over and it is official that Sarah Palin has been chosen by McCain.

Official word has just been reported by AFP, and other news sources. regarding John McCain and his vice presidential pick and it has been confirmed to be Sarah Palin.

Republican White House hopeful John McCain on Friday named Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, US media reported.

Fox and CNN said that campaign sources confirmed the surprise choice of Palin, 44, just minutes away from the start of a rally here where the Republican will make the official announcement.

After early word from Chicago Tribune which stated a Republican source had confirmed Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was John McCain's vice presidential running mate pick as well as early speculation that Palin had arrived in Dayton Ohio, the news has been confirmed that Sarah Palin is, indeed, McCain's choice.

Governor Palin's official website is down for the moment, it is assumed there are changes being made.

Palin was the first and youngest female Governor elected in Alaska in 2006 after she defeated the incumbent governor in the Republican primary, then a former Democratic Alaskan governor in the general election.

According to Associated Press reports Palin likens herself to a maverick as McCain has often been likened to and she is credited with being a candidate of reform.

On the issues, her votes shows her to be pro-life, believes that the definition of marriage only be between and man and a woman, says she would sign a death penalty law if legislators passed it, she believes in fully funding K-12 and support early funding of education, believes ANWR should be open to drilling, she supports the Constitutional right to bear arms and she believes "nuisance taxes" including the tire tax should be repealed.

Definitely not a choice many would call "safe" for John McCain, but definitely a choice that shows a willingness to think out of the box, so to speak.

This will definitely energize the Republican Convention this year, she is a mother of 5 and if the Mccain/Palin team is elected in November, she will be the first Women Vice President of the United states of America.

KUDOS JOHN MCCAIN.

More from Wapo.

[Update] If the McCain/Palin ticket is elected in the November presidential election, this would make Sarah Palin the first woman Vice President of the United states of America.

[Update] Palin will be the first woman ever to serve on a Republican ticket and the first Alaskan ever to appear on a national ticket.

[Update] The official press release from the John McCain campaign announcing the choice of Sarah Palin as his VP pick:

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain today announced that he has selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate and to serve as his vice president.

Governor Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has a record of delivering on the change and reform that we need in Washington.

Governor Palin has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources. She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.

In Alaska, Governor Palin challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill. She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. She put a stop to the "bridge to nowhere" that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.

As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.

Governor Palin has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of. Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today.

This will be up within minutes at the John McCain website.

[Update] Obama campaigns expected response:

John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same

A commenter on another forum, answers that beautifully, so I will quote her here:

McCain elder Washington statesman/insider running for Pres, grooming ambitious like-minded Female for the next go round; Biden elder Washington stateman/insider running for V-P guiding younger Black Man who is President. Which one makes more sense to you?

Nicely said GHL and thanks.

Statement from the Illinois GOP just hot my email box:

"Once again John McCain has proven that he is the leader who will move this country forward.

"This historic decision is a reminder that John McCain is serious about bringing real change to Washington D.C.

"Governor Palin is a proven leader who has taken on members of her own party, led on ethics reform, and has fought wasteful spending and higher taxes.

"This bold pick confirms our doubts about Barack Obama's abilities to change the country when he has done nothing to change Illinois."

More to come......Part #2 here.

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