Well Done, Gail Collins

From her column in the Times recently:

This year, Hillary Clinton took things to a whole new level. She didn’t run for president as a symbol but as the best-prepared candidate in the Democratic pack. Whether you liked her or not, she convinced the nation that women could be qualified to both run the country and be commander in chief. That was an enormous breakthrough, and Palin’s nomination feels, in comparison, like a step back.

If she’s only on the ticket to try to get disaffected Clinton supporters to cross over, it’s a bad choice. Joe Biden may already be practicing his drop-dead line for the vice-presidential debate: “I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine, and governor, you’re no Hillary Clinton.”

Interesting Theory

…that I don’t believe yet: Sarah Palin is not the mother of her last child, she’s the grandmother. A blogger at the dailykos believes he has discovered that she pretended to “have” the child so she didn’t have to admit her 16 year old daughter had done the dirty. I am not convinced, but I think the timing is hard to ignore. Here is his theory. At some point this’ll be investigated and debunked/confirmed. I am leaning (almost hoping) towards debunked.

Who is Pregnant Here? Ha ha ha

Guy Molinari For Veep!

Same executive experience! Both oversaw ~500k district! One presided over diverse district that had to actually consider terrorism, the other, well, was a PTA mom!

Oh wait, Guy Molanari has Congressional experience. Too qualified. Nevermind. I guess we’re stuck with Palin.

I only take this much pleasure out of such criticism because the McCain campaign has made such a hullabaloo about “experience.” They opened the door, I intend on bursting through it.

Sarah Palin Pt. II

So apparently Ms. Palin was a fan of Obama’s energy plan when he released it in early August. Naturally, this portion of the Governor’s website was taken down immediately after her selection for VEEP. Thankfully, the all-knowing Google has a snapshot of the website before it was taken down, in its cache:

Governor Sarah Palin today responded to the energy plan put forward by the presumptive Democratic nominee for President, Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

“I am pleased to see Senator Obama acknowledge the huge potential Alaska’s natural gas reserves represent in terms of clean energy and sound jobs,” Governor Palin said. “The steps taken by the Alaska State Legislature this past week demonstrate that we are ready, willing and able to supply the energy our nation needs.”

In a speech given in Lansing, Michigan, Senator Obama called for the completion of the Alaska natural gas pipeline, stating, “Over the next five years, we should also lease more of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for oil and gas production. And we should also tap more of our substantial natural gas reserves and work with the Canadian government to finally build the Alaska natural gas pipeline, delivering clean natural gas and creating good jobs in the process.”

Sarah Palin

Mike Scott, one of the contributors at Volokh Conspiracy has some words about Sarah and her fitness for the VEEP slot:

Why It’s Bad. It’s a bad choice because John McCain is 71 years old, and his vice president will have a non-trivial chance of becoming president, and absolutely nothing suggests that Sarah Palin would be credible as President of the United States. I do NOT think this is just a matter of adding up the number of years spent doing this or doing that. Sarah Palin has been in public life, basically, for two years. to my knowledge, she has never articulated (because she was never called upon to articulate) any views whatsoever on:

military strategy in the Persian Gulf
the proper response to Iranian nuclear weapons
the Russian invasion of Georgia
the United Nations
US immigration policy
the Federal Reserve Bank
the effectiveness of international aid programs
Israeli-Palestinian relations
AIDS policy
federal support for basic research
European Union integration
the US Constitution
the optimal means of protecting US borders from terrorists
Guantanamo, and the proper scope of interrogation techniques
Deficit financing and Keynesian economics
the Supreme Court

McCain supporters first notified by Morse Code

Bloomington, IN-  John Daschund was sitting in his kitchen on Friday morning when he heard his telegraph start going off.

“I was like this had to be it, McCain had to be announcing his Vice Presidential choice!” the excited Daschund said.  John McCain notified loyal supporters of his choice  of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential nominee by morse code. 

One unnamed McCain official said “We tried to convince the Senator to do a mass text message or email, but he just wasn’t having it.  He just kept saying, morse code reaches more people than any other form of communication.”  After trying to plead with the Senator about uses of the internet the officials finally said he was the boss and let him have his way.

In a related story, McCain’s message reached a record number of ships on the Eastern seaboard with his use of morse code.  The unnamed official said, “The outreach received by McCain is still yet to be known, but we are cautiously optimistic that it reached a couple of hundred people, which the Senator felt was incredible.”

Dems say Palin is ‘risky’

Dems say Palin is ‘risky,’ could be a disaster

Posted: 12:15 PM ET

From CNN Ticker Producer Alexander Mooney

Clyburn said the choice of Palin is risky.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

(CNN) – A leading House Democrat said Thursday John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is a “risky” move that could ultimately prove disastrous to the Republican prospects in November.

Meanwhile, a top Senate Democrat said the pick is a “Hail Mary pass” and a “roll of the dice,” in what is the initial reactions from McCain’s rival party.

Speaking on a South Carolina radio station, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn likened the choice of Palin to Walter Mondale’s choice of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and George H.W. Bush’s pick of Dan Quayle in 1988. Both picks — relatively unknown political figures at the time — generated initial excitement but were ultimately deemed poor choices by many political observers.

“I think (her selection) would be something similar to Dan Quayle — Dan Quayle proved to be sort of an embarrassment as a campaigner, being thrust on a national stage like that could be very tough,” Clyburn said. “Now Mondale tried to shake things up by going with Geraldine Ferraro, she proved to be a disaster as a running mate. And as a campaigner, she was absolutely awful.”

Two Things:

1 ) McCain’s veep choice “doesn’t know if people choose to be gay.”

2) McCain turned 72 today (something the campaign has probably downplayed)- what happens if the septuagenarian President falls ill and we are forced to give the office of the Presidency to Palin. Palin, who was Governor of Alaska for two years after being a small-town mayor, would be taking the helm of the largest and most powerful government on earth. Now, I don’t really buy into the whole experience argument, but since McCain has been so keen on bringing it up, I guess it’s fair game. Obama has at least, well, worked for the National Government.

Summarizing: Palin is an idiot; If McCain is elected we have to hope he stays healthy.

McCain throws a curveball with choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as VP.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

McCain names Sarah Palin as surprise VP choice

Posted: 10:40 AM ET

From CNN’s Dana Bash and John King 

(CNN) – Sen. John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice-presidential candidate on the Republican ticket for the White House in November, a senior McCain campaign official has told CNN.

Palin, 44, is a first-term governor who unseated incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary in 2006 and went on to defeat former Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, in the general election.

An advocate of drilling for oil in her state’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, she is little known outside of Alaska.

———————–

 

This is a radical move, and it takes away the experience argument from McCain against Obama.

CNN Says Palin

CNN is “confirming” it, but I am still waiting on other networks to back them up to believe it. So, a woman!…. I’ve never heard of! I think I’ll have to do a rewrite/revisiting of the McCain/Hillary supporters. Debra, this changes nothing.

My Bet is Pawlenty

Trying to go two for two on veep bets placed on the eve of the announcement:

Tim Pawlenty has cancelled his media appearances for the weekend, suggesting that he may be McCain’s VP pick, to be announced either tonight or tomorrow. It’s possible that McCain has asked this of all his potential vice presidential candidates and that we’ve only heard about Pawlenty at this point.

Well, That Was Nice

I am not going to comment on it because you all watched it. Just bask.

Watch Obama’s Speech

I have nothing else to say. Peel your eyes away from this captivating website (235 unique views today, site record), turn off your computer and watch the speech. Please.

Obama Tax Plan

For those of you with careers (ahem) or people who plan on having them sometime during the Obama presidency, I offer you this: your expected tax cut under his proposed plan. The data is care of the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Enjoy. Of course this is of very little interest to me unless he is reelected.

Cop of the Day

Make sure you watch the end so you get a great view of the choke hold briefly placed upon the small, non-threatening member of the press corps. This stuff still surprises me- not because I am shocked by the cops’ behavior (I’m not), but because these geniuses continue to behave they way they do when cameras are rolling.

Letterman Top 10 8/27/08

Last night’s “Top Ten” list was “Top Ten Democratic National Convention Pickup Lines” (“The Late Show,” CBS, 8/27).

10) “Wanna form a more perfect union?”

9) “Something’s rising and it’s not the national debt.”

8 ) “I’m stiffer than John Kerry.”

7) “Let’s go someplace and release our delegates.”

6) “Care to join the wife and me for a little ‘bipartisanship’?”

5) “I’ll make you scream like Howard Dean.”

4) “Now that’s what I call a stimulus package.”

3) “I’m gonna Barack your world.”

2) “Wanna pretend we’re Republicans and have gay bathroom sex?”

1) “Hi, I’m John Edwards.”

Straight Talk Express….

…has died. Far from the “independent thinker” described in one of the comments on the site, we are now faced with the muzzled, party-line McCain that has emerged during this campaign. He is so on message and tight-lipped that the tag “straight talk” should never again be affixed to his candidacy. Such transparency:

[Your] campaign today is more disciplined, more traditional, more aggressive. From your point of view, why the change?
I will do as much as we possibly can do to provide as much access to the press as possible.

But beyond the press, sir, just in terms of …
I think we’re running a fine campaign, and this is where we are.

Do you miss the old way of doing it?
I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Really? Come on, Senator.
I’ll provide as much access as possible …

Morning News; August 28th, 2008

1) Mets split the two game set against on the back of another two-HR game by Carlos Delgado. Yanks lose to Boston again, further convincing me that their season is over.

2) Barack Obama was officially nominated yesterday at the DNC, making him the first African American to be nominated by a major party.

3) While it seems like a reflexive response among all American to criticize the quality of their municipal water, we New Yorkers can be confident that such criticisms cannot be leveled against our own, which is the best in the state. It is the first time we’ve been rated number one. I eagerly anticipate my first swig of Chicago water- where I will undoubtedly spit it out and remind everyone how much better things are in New York (bagels, water, pizza..etc)

4) Our lowly Dollar is gaining some ground on the Euro and the Pound, but not enough to make vacations to Europe or England even a possibility for this loan-burdened law student (it doesn’t help that fuel prices have driven airfare through the roof as well).

LPGA TOUR brings in a language barrier

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/columns/story?columnist=sirak_ron&id=3555947

Nearly two years ago, Seon Hwa Lee, who was a shy 20-year-old at the time, picked her way to the front of a packed ballroom in Donald Trump’s opulent Mar-a-Lago mansion and, with trembling hands and a voice that cracked with emotion, accepted the LPGA Rookie of the Year Award with a speech that pulled all in the room to their feet in appreciation. Touched by the response and drained by the effort, Lee tried unsuccessfully to hide her tears. The nerve she touched that night was laid bare, not so much by the words she spoke as by the fact they were uttered in English.

Random DNC thoughts

Joe Biden is yet to speak tonight, but here are some thoughts I had while watching Bill Clinton and John Kerry:

1)  I would totally do Chelsea Clinton…

2)  If he was able to, I am pretty sure Bill Clinton could run for and win the Presidency again.  The man is just so popular its scary.  Also, when he speaks, its like liquid goodness pours from his vocal cords.  I loved his line about “The world looks to the power of our example, not the example of our power.”  Thats my contribution to line of the night.

3)  Lastly, if John Kerry was as compelling and enthusiastic in his speeches four years ago as he was tonight, we might not be in this mess right now.

I know its the Democratic Convention and everyone speaking is a Democrat, but the place is absolutely jumping.  I really can’t wait to see Barack’s speech tomorrow night.