I saw this on another site, is there a link or is it doing the rounds by email?

Edit...

Palin’s Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual

Link

Oh.....you did some search already I see....

this is what I found:

http://news.google.nl/news?client=firefox-...=4&ct=title

and:

8 More Stories About Palin the Public Needs to Know

http://www.alternet.org/election08/98228/8..._needs_to_know/

PS: I didn't read them (yet)

LaoPo

I saw this on another site, is there a link or is it doing the rounds by email?

Edit...

Palin’s Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual

Link

It was sent to me by eMail

In my post I included this link

CB

I have two questions about Palin and McCain.

1. Is the current situation going to affect re-runs of Life of Brian.

2. Are the oven fries ready.

That just about sums up my interest in American politics, I seriously doubt that I am alone in that attitude, including a fairly large section of Americans.

Just plod along guys, your vote counts for nothing, it never has done.

I didn't know Lincoln could sing?

Sing, not sure about that, but he was great and telling jokes.

I have two questions about Palin and McCain.

1. Is the current situation going to affect re-runs of Life of Brian.

2. Are the oven fries ready.

That just about sums up my interest in American politics, I seriously doubt that I am alone in that attitude, including a fairly large section of Americans.

Just plod along guys, your vote counts for nothing, it never has done.

I agree. The Great Late Geogre Carlin once compared voting to masturbating, but said that the difference between them was that after jerking off you'd have something to show for it.

^I had to check that....

I didn't realise Carlin had left us.

R.I.P.

I saw this on another site, is there a link or is it doing the rounds by email?

Edit...

Palin’s Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual

Link

It was sent to me by eMail

In my post I included this link

CB

Sorry CB, I missed it.

I saw this on another site, is there a link or is it doing the rounds by email?

Edit...

Palin’s Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual

Link

It was sent to me by eMail

In my post I included this link

CB

Sorry CB, I missed it.

I am curious as two what people think about it, concerned person or political agenda?

CB

^I had to check that....

I didn't realise Carlin had left us.

R.I.P.

That was a sad day for me, but funny as I spent it listen to all his albums.

I am curious as two what people think about it, concerned person or political agenda?

CB

Sounds as though there are a lot of small town sour grapes there. No doubt there is plenty of truth as her supporters haven't worried too much about refuting it.

People will believe what they want to regardless of the "facts" presented. She's a new face and embodies the myth that all country people are honest and hardworking.

Obama's background will hurt him as much as Palin's will her, even more so.

Many won't vote for him because he's from Chicago, black, an academic, "out of touch" with real people....

Palin husband ordered to testify

Todd Palin, husband of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, has been ordered to testify to an inquiry into her alleged abuse of power.

Continues here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7613582.stm

LaoPo

I can see Russia!

Palin and Clinton

I can see Russia!

Palin and Clinton

Now, THAT would be the ULTIMATE solution for bankrupt America....2 Ladies at the steering wheel.

The US and the world would have no more wars and the deficits would just fade away.

LIPSTICK FOR EVERYONE

Thanks for the good laugh. Brilliant performance BTW.

LaoPo

...and...OUCH a few hours later:

Why the Palin phenomenon is doomed

Commentary: Media live to build you up -- then knock you down

By Jon Friedman, MarketWatch

Last update: 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 15, 2008

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Sarah Palin Phenomenon is doomed.

But it's not because of her lack of foreign policy experience or her deer-in-the-headlights look during part of her interview last week with ABC's Charles Gibson.

The primary reason why the Palin bubble will burst is that the media will decide that they are bored with her. They'll need to move to shine a light on a fresh issue or individual.

This is how the world works in the age of 24/7 news cycles. Whether the subject is Britney Spears, Michael Jordan or Sarah Palin, we inevitably raise stars to mythic levels, out of all reasonable proportions. Then we knock them down. (Look out, Michael Phelps. Your time is coming, too.)

It isn't a case of quixotic behavior by reporters and editors. Internet sites, blogs and cable news operations all thrive on presenting fresh headlines and updated story angles as often as possible so readers think we're on top of things. The news world moves at warp speed.

Palin's story is especially captivating because she emerged as an overnight sensation. The governor of Alaska was virtually unknown on the national scene before Sen. John McCain tapped her to be his running mate. Amid the media crush accompanying her rise, it now seems as if Palin has been around forever.

For as long as she has been in the public eye, people have been skeptical about her qualifications, but the allure of her beginner's pluck catapulted Palin to the covers of magazines ranging from Time to People.

The interview with Gibson may be remembered as the first brick being pulled out of the wall. The reviews weren't favorable from the media in the segments when Gibson asked Palin questions about foreign policy.

For instance, the New York Times called the exchange "strained." The Washington Post-owned Slate went so far as to say that "The ABC News anchor flummoxes the GOP amateur."

I'll be interested to see how Palin -- not to mention McCain and the Republican campaign machine -- reacts when the media's disillusionment sets in for real. Their actions may determine the course of the 2008 race.

If they handle the media's about-face with aplomb, her chances of looking, well, vice-presidential will be enhanced. But if Palin's handlers blow it out of proportion and show a strain, their behavior will reflect negatively on her.

Gibson, as dignified a newsperson as America has now, treated Palin fairly and didn't resort to hectoring her with "gotcha" questions, either.

Palin's supporters may be chagrined that their candidate didn't sound more self-assured or expert when she discussed Alaska's relationship to Russia. But Gibson didn't try to trip her up. He pretty much asked the kinds of questions I would have put to Palin as well.

Gibson treated her with the respect befitting a vice presidential candidate. ABC, while discussing the interview Friday on "Good Morning America" unleashed political correspondent Jake Tapper to assess the "truthiness" of Palin's remarks on the ABC show.

The television networks appear to be treating Palin carefully, trying hard not to seem sexist or liberal or come across as intellectual, big-city bullies.

When ABC noted that Tapper had found a few holes in Palin's comments (though nothing earth shattering), the network took pains to add that it, too, would be dissecting the statements of Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential nominee.

Specifically, Palin seemed to have little idea about the Bush Doctrine, in which the U.S must spread democracy around the world to halt terrorist acts. When Gibson put it to her and asked if she agreed with the doctrine, she answered, "In what respect, Charlie?"

Some analysts have suggested that Gibson knew more about the Bush Doctrine than the vice-presidential candidate.

"She sidestepped questions on whether she had the national security credentials needed to be commander-in-chief," the Associated Press noted.

Since we're all clear on the nuances of the Bush Doctrine, we can move on to the Fickle Media Doctrine.

Now that we've built you up, it's about time for us to knock you down.

MEDIA WEB QUESTION OF THE DAY: Can Sarah Palin withstand the body blows that are being inflicted by the national media?

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/sara...printMidSection

LaoPo

I can hear the Republicans screaming leftist, liberal media bias now.

With good reason.

Oh man! Just caught The sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson over at the other forum. She is frightening! If Americans vote that pair in, well as they say in Thailand, "som nam naa".

There is nothing wrong with McCain, other than he desperately wants to win the Presidency and got beat by being too soft with Bush. He is not going to make that mistake again.

He was the love of the liberal media until Obama came along and still would be if he was black or a woman.

Oliphant says.

Oh man! Just caught The sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson over at the other forum. She is frightening! If Americans vote that pair in, well as they say in Thailand, "som nam naa".

Yes, she is.

She was a good Mayor of a 6,200 (2002) people in Wasilla village and a good Governor in a rather remote state with LESS than 700,000 people ! There are quite a few cities in the US with more people....

In 2006 she had her first passport and traveled outside the USA for the first time in 2007 on a trip to Kuwait.

And that Lady is supposed to co-rule the most powerful nation on earth, the USA ? If something happens to McCain, and that's not unthinkable at his age of 72, SHE becomes The President of the United States ?

Scary.

LaoPo

Top Republican says Palin unready

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7623771.stm

LaoPo

Palin's husband refuses to testify in Alaska probe

Fri Sep 19, 2008 8:58am EDT

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - The husband of Gov. Sarah Palin will ignore a subpoena from Alaska lawmakers investigating whether the Republican vice presidential nominee's firing of a state commissioner constituted an abuse of power, officials from her campaign said on Thursday.

Todd Palin was among 13 people, including several Palin administration staffers, subpoenaed by a legislative committee to testify in private or at a hearing scheduled for Friday.

The governor's husband, however, refuses to answer questions to a panel that he believes is politically motivated, according to campaign officials for Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Palin.

"The objections boil down to the fact that the legislative council investigation is no longer a legitimate investigation because it has been subjected to complete partisanship," campaign spokesman Ed O'Callaghan said.

Todd Palin could be found in contempt of the legislature for failing to comply, but the whole body would have to be in session to do so, and it is not scheduled to reconvene until January.

O'Callaghan, a former federal prosecutor who has traveled to Alaska to advise the Palins and others implicated in the probe, argue that supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are controlling the investigation.

The abuse-of-power investigation is seeking to determine whether Gov. Palin dismissed former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan because he declined to fire a state trooper involved in a contentious divorce from the governor's sister.

"Nobody is above the law," said State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, an Anchorage Democrat. "Just because you're the husband of someone who is running for vice president doesn't mean you can flout the law."

The inquiry was authorized by a unanimous vote of Alaska's bipartisan Legislative Council. At the time, the governor pledged full cooperation with the probe.

Some Republicans in the legislature have called for a delay of the investigation until after the November 4 presidential election. Five Republican lawmakers this week filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to stop the probe.

---Reuters

LaoPo

Palin's troubles mount for McCain in White House

Mon Sep 29, 2008 6:21pm EDT

By Jason Szep - Analysis

BOSTON (Reuters) - Mocked by comedians, derided by prominent conservatives and reeling from flustered interviews with national media, Sarah Palin is proving a risky gamble in Republican John McCain's quest for the White House.

"Palin is Ready? Please" a headline in Newsweek said this week of the moose-hunting Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate, capping a turbulent week in which Palin's fitness for the job came under growing scrutiny.

"Sarah Palin is utterly unqualified to be vice president," Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria wrote.

"She is a feisty, charismatic politician who has done some good things in Alaska. But she has never spent a day thinking about any important national or international issue, and this is a hel_l of a time to start," he said.

The column could be dismissed as one of hundreds of biting news stories in the hard-fought race between McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, with less than six weeks before the November 4 presidential election.

But it follows a whirlwind of criticism and ridicule from Republicans and Democrats alike since interviews with CBS news anchor Katie Couric, Fox News' Sean Hannity and ABC News' Charles Gibson that raise question over her nomination and dealings with the media.

History shows most Americans vote for presidents, not vice presidents and Palin's folksy appeal energizes far larger crowds than those drawn to gaffe-prone Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, whom she debates on Thursday.

But the governor's troubles are piling up -- from a stubborn investigation into charges that as governor she abused her power by firing a public safety commissioner to her latest stumbles with the media.

Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, an early Palin supporter, on Friday bluntly called on Palin to step down to "save McCain, her party, and the country she loves".

"Quick study or not, she doesn't know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin, should conditions warrant her promotion," Parker wrote in the conservative National Review.

Palin could withdraw from the race for personal reasons such as wanting to spend more time with her newborn, added Parker, who in September rallied behind Palin for showing "strength, conviction, determination" and confidence.

'EMBARRASSING'

The 44-year-old self-described hockey mom's image of homespun authenticity, which boosted McCain last month with a leap in support among white women, has been replaced by a less flattering image as a political neophyte and butt of jokes.

The popular TV sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live mocked Palin's assertion that governing Alaska gives her foreign policy experience because of its geographic proximity to Russia. Late-night television host David Letterman said Palin's meetings with world leaders at the United Nations looked like "take your daughter to work day."

Until last Tuesday, Palin, who would be a heartbeat away from the presidency if 72-year-old McCain were to win the election, had never met a foreign leader.

Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks called her candidacy "embarrassing."

But political analysts say Palin remains a powerful force in McCain's campaign despite her bad reviews. They cite her proven ability to rally evangelical Christians and connect with other socially conservative Republicans, whose grass-roots muscle could propel McCain in crucial states.

Expectations for Thursday's debate are also now so low that Palin's chances of looking good have improved, they add.

"The more interviews she does, the more nervous not just moderates get, but some conservative Republicans get. But thus far they still generally see her as a benefit," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of politics at Princeton University.

"They didn't pick her to please David Brooks. They picked her to please conservative activists. If anything, the attacks on her from Saturday Night Live or from New York Times columnists will only fuel some of the resentment and excitement

about her. In that respect she is still a plus for McCain."

McCain stuck by Palin on Monday, telling a crowd in Ohio that "she will be my partner in reforming everything that's broken in Washington." On Sunday, he defended her after she contradicted his policy against talking publicly about attacking terrorist targets in Pakistan.

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, once touted as a possible McCain running-mate, questioned the campaign's strategy of restricting Palin's media exposure.

"Holding Sarah Palin to just three interviews and microscopically focusing on each interview I think has been a mistake," Romney said on MSNBC television. "I think they'd be a lot wiser to let Sarah Palin be Sarah Palin. Let her talk to the media, let her talk to people."

--Reuters

LaoPo

He can't drop her as it will reflect too much on his judgement, but I wish that he would anyway!

He can't drop her as it will reflect too much on his judgement, but I wish that he would anyway!

I don't think it matters at this stage General. It would take a miracle... or some extremely adept election fixing, for McCain to win the presidency now.

When Obama won the nomination I said that all he had to do take the presidency was nothing wrong.

He's followed this path fairly well and no Republican of any talent and ambition would want his name associated with the coming Democratic landslide.

The debate may be ending as I write this, so we will soon find out how Sarah did. She sounds so small town, from the descriptions of her. It is a small town straight out of the Alaskan TV series Northern Exposure - snowmobiles, eccentric types, dogsleds... My old atlas shows Wasilla being outside Anchorage - not the kind of metro area that Wasilla will be a suburb within the next 50 years. Never been to Alaska, but I am from metropolitan areas. The demographics of the USA are metropolitan, big cities with big suburbs. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, proud that we were in the next county, and Republicans, with honest small city politicians. But when I left to join the USAF, population was almost 30,000, and we were just one of the bigger suburbs. When I was in high school, my father was chairman of the local opposition party, and they got their candidate elected as mayor. But we had three times the size of Wasilla, with a professional city manager doing the real work.

My observations of Republican politics is that they enjoy nominating the least experienced person for the job. Nowhere better shown than George W. Bush and Sarah Palin. She is not half as qualified as Jimmy Carter was in 1976. And unlike the nice Thai teachers here, she only looks good, but has a mean streak.

Found this interesting Presidential Polls Over Time with the results of many different POLLS, including various Universities:

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/presiden...index.html#US_6

Also interesting to see that most Polls are varying in their results but most Polls are showing Obama in the lead.

LaoPo

September 28, 2008

For McCain and Team, a Host of Ties to Gambling

By JO BECKER and DON VAN NATTA Jr.

Senator John McCain was on a roll. In a room reserved for high-stakes gamblers at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut, he tossed $100 chips around a hot craps table. When the marathon session ended around 2:30 a.m., the Arizona senator and his entourage emerged with thousands of dollars in winnings.

A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.

Long article continues here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/us/polit...amp;oref=slogin

and: related:

John McCain’s Gambling Problem: Team May Have Ties to Gambling Industry

http://www.gambling911.com/politics/john-m...try-092808.html

LaoPo

She did fine during the debate. Will it turn the tide?

She did fine during the debate. Will it turn the tide?

Yes, she did reasonably fine; not shocking but just fine. But it was the same with Sen. Joe Biden, just fine.

But to think it will turn the tide...I don't know, but doubt it.

I have however a problem with her voice.....boy what a voice... Maybe it's me but if you don't look at the screen and just listen to her monotone voice, it drives me nuts...Apart from that she looks a bit 'plastic', like a new kind of Alaskan Barbie doll.

Is it just me ?

Ulysses G.

..Congratulations with your 10,000th post..unbelievable. Not so many have reached that goal, yet.

LaoPo