Will Palin Have Daughter Wed Before Election?

It is not fun being Bristol Palin and having your Mom be Sarah Palin. First, Sarah Palin decided to announce to the whole world that her daughter was pregnant and that the father was her boyfriend Levi Johnston. This allowed the whole world to comment on Bristol and pre-marital sex. Now, according to the London Times, the Palin-McCain, opps, we meant, McCain-Palin, campaign is hoping that the young couple will wed before the November 4th election.

This is the headline of the Times article: McCain camp prays for Palin wedding. This is the sub-headline: The marriage of the vice-presidential candidate’s pregnant teenage daughter could lift a flagging campaign. Apparently, discussing her daughter's private and sexual life with the public and the media isn't enough. Now Sarah Palin wants to turn her daughter's wedding into a campaign event.

Other than to help the struggling GOP campaign, why in the world would she do that? It is hard enough getting married when you are pregnant, let alone having to do it in front of the entire world. No matter how much her mother is ticked off at her for getting pregnant out of wedlock, Bristol Palin doesn't deserve this.

Conservatives Start Calling on Palin to Get Off GOP Ticket

When McCain selected Palin as his vice-presidential nominee, my reaction was that it was a good August choice, but a bad October choice. That thought wasn't original with me. It was from a column by David Broder who wrote back in 2000 that a Democratic operative had told him that about Gore selecting Lieberman instead of Edwards. Well, Palin isn't even making it to October. Here it is September, and conservative pundits are asking her to get off the ticket.

One of the latest is Fareed Zakira of Newsweek magazine. He has an article up on the Newsweek website headlined "Palin Is Ready? Please." This is from the article:

Will someone please put Sarah Palin out of her agony? Is it too much to ask that she come to realize that she wants, in that wonderful phrase in American politics, "to spend more time with her family"? Having stayed in purdah for weeks, she finally agreed to a third interview. CBS's Katie Couric questioned her in her trademark sympathetic style. It didn't help

Another conservative, Kathleen Parker who writes for the National Review, wrote a column headlined "Palin Problem". This is from that article:

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. 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.

Now, of course, McCain can't ask Palin to get off the ticket because the wingnut base of his Party adores her. Further, not only do they adore her, but they are not too crazy about him. Their recent enthusiam for the GOP ticket is because of Sarah, not Johnny. Her leaving the ticket would really tick them off and lead to them not coming out in November. Not only would this doom McCain, it would hurt every down-ballot Republican.

So, what was being lauded as a brillant choice less than a month ago is now being seen as a diaster by McCain's allies. Meanwhile, the choice of Joe Biden looks better and better.

Boccieri Leads in SurveyUSA Poll

SurveyUSA did a automated poll on September 19 through September 21 of likely voters in the 16th Congressional District in Ohio. In that poll, State Senator John Boccieri led his Republican opponent, State Representative Kurt Schuring, by a 8 point margin. The internals of the poll showed that while the two candidates were tied among male voters, Boccieri led by 15 points among female voters. Boccieri also led among three of the four age groups broken out in the poll. The only age group that Schuring led was in the 35-49 age group. The economy was picked as the most important issue by 54% of the respondents with health care as the second most important issue by 10% of the respondents. A newspaper article about the poll can be read here.

Does Paulson Have Conflict of Interest in Bailout Bill?

The New York Times has a fascinating article up on its website, which apparently also ran in the edition for September 28, 2008. The article is headlined "Behind Insurer’s Crisis, Blind Eye to a Web of Risk" and it is about how the insurance giant AGI got itself in financial trouble.

The article points out that not only did it get itself into financial trouble, it also got those with whom it did business into financial trouble. According to the article, one company it did business with was Goldman-Sachs, the private investment bank. Treasuary Secretary Henry Paulson used to run Goldman-Sachs. The following is a quote from the article:

Although it was not widely known, Goldman, a Wall Street stalwart that had seemed immune to its rivals’ woes, was A.I.G.’s largest trading partner, according to six people close to the insurer who requested anonymity because of confidentiality agreements. A collapse of the insurer threatened to leave a hole of as much as $20 billion in Goldman’s side, several of these people said.

Days later, federal officials, who had let Lehman die and initially balked at tossing a lifeline to A.I.G., ended up bailing out the insurer for $85 billion.

Their message was simple: Lehman was expendable. But if A.I.G. unspooled, so could some of the mightiest enterprises in the world.

So AIG gets access to United States taxpayer money and Paulson's old firm doesn't have to worry about possibly losing 20 billion dollars. Frankly, is the Times article is true, the bailout of AGI begins to smell like a dead fish.

Bad News for Ohio GOP & McCain

This was the headline on an article on Cleveland.com that also appeared in the print edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:



It gets worse. This guy is no longer Ohio Secretary of State:














Instead of the GOP's man Kenny, the McCain campaign will have to deal with her:









Let's see how they like them apples.

MSNBC Knuckes Under to O'Reilly Pressure and Pulls Independent Ad on McCain's Health

Here is the ad that MSNBC pulled. It is a good one and raises legitimate questions about McCain's health:

Brad Delong's Great Pic on GNP Growth & Presidents

To see more graphic representations by Delong on why Democrats are better than Republicans for the economy, click here.

Lehman Brothers New York Office to Get 2.5 Billion in Bonuses?

A British newspaper is reporting that the employees of the London office of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers are outraged that the New York office employees will share in 2.5 billion, yes, that's right, billion, in bonuses. Since there are reportedly 10,000 employees in the New York office, the 2.5 billion averages out to $250,000.00 per employee. Not bad pay for driving your company into bankruptcy.

This is from the article:

Lehman Brothers’ British staff reacted with fury when told that colleagues at Lehman’s New York office were expected to share in a $2.5 billion bonus bonanza while they would be paid just until the end of the month.

This is the kind of stuff that drives ordinary mortals crazy about the so-called "Masters of the Universe" who run Wall Street. They apparently can run their businesses, and perhaps the country, into the ground, but they walk away with millions of dollars in payouts.

As the Telegraph article notes, "It looks like those that will suffer the most from the Lehman Brothers collapse are those at the bottom of the corporate chain while many of those at the top will be looked after."

No surprise there. The pigs always make sure their pork is protected.

McCain Condemns "Golden Parachutes" Except for Carly's

Watch as John McCain condemns "golden parachutes" but won't say that one of his advisors got one when she left Hewlett-Packard. Carly Fiorina left with $45,000,000.00 in compensation even as HP was laying off 20,000 employees.

Why John McCain is Bad on Health Care

"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation."-John McCain

McCain's whole approach to health care reform is market based. He believes that opening up health insurance markets will somehow create relatively low-cost insurance policies that will allow Americans to pay less for health care. There are three components to his plan:

1. End the health insurance deduction for companies that provide health insurance for their employees;

2. Tax health insurance premiums paid by employers as income for the employees; and

3. Give employees a tax credit which they can use to purchase health insurance. Single employees would get a $2500.00 tax credit, married employees would get a $5,000.00 tax credit.

Here are the problems:

1. There is no evidence that employees could obtain the same coverage they are getting now from their employers for either $2,500.00 or $5,000.00.

2. Most of us don't have the expertise of corporate human resource personnel to know what to ask when we are purchasing health insurance on our own.

3. Federal regulation, or lack thereof, of health insurance companies could lead to the same problems in the health insurance field that we recently saw in the financial service field. Would anyone want to see the problems of AIG manifest themselves with a health insurance company?

So, if you want to pay taxes on your employer provided health insurance; give an incentive for your employer to get rid of your health insurance plan; and trust the health insurance industry not to make the same mistakes we have recently seen in the financial services sector, then by all means, vote for John McCain. High paid health insurance executives will be glad you did.

Great Ad Created by a "Concerned Citizen" on You Tube

This is a great one minute, one second ad appearing on You Tube that was apparently created by a person who calls himself or herself "A Concerned Citizen." It is very well done. Please pass it on to people you know.

CNN's Campbell Brown Hands the Baroness Rothschild Her Well Dressed Behind

Why Does McCain Thinks Economy is Strong?

Because he married a millionaire beer heiress. It's really as simple as that. Think about it. If you are married to a millionaire, have been employed by the taxpayers since 1982, and don't really have to worry about your family's future, heck, why wouldn't you think that the "fundamentals" of the economy are sound?

New York Times Survey Finds McCain Seen as "Typical Republican"

This is the lead paragraph of a story from the New York Times dated September 17, 2008:

Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. He is widely viewed as a “typical Republican” who would continue or expand President Bush’s policies, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

The graph above is from the Times article and you can see a bigger version of the graph by clicking on it. The whole Times article can be found here.

Pics from John Boccieri Event in Wadsworth, Ohio

Sherrod Brown Raises Keating Five Scandal

Sherrod Brown went after Senator John McCain on the economy and, in making the attack, raised the issue of the Keating Five scandal which involved John McCain and four other Senators. The scandal was wrapped up in the savings and loan meltdown of the 1980s. Here is Sherrod's quote, as reported by Sam Stein of Huffington Post:

"His main adviser is Phil Gramm -- he was his mentor in the Senate -- and you just tie it all together. Of course John McCain supported the oil industry, he has oil lobbyists working for him. Of course John McCain supported these trade agreements, he has got Wall Street people working for him... It is all wrapped up together. John McCain is a creature of these interest groups in Washington. He is no maverick and, from the Keating Five on, his ethics have been questionable. He's not a maverick and Barack has got to just keep hammering on that."

Sherrod went on to say the following:

"On every major issue John McCain supports the wealthiest groups in Washington and Barack Obama fights for the middle class. Elections are simple and it's as simple as that"

You can read more about Sherrod's comments here.

Biden Goes After McCain on Economy

Yesterday, September 15, 2008, as the New York and other stock exchanges were plummenting over the news that Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and that Merrill Lynch got bought out by Bank of America, John McCain said that "the fundamentals of our economy are sound." Joe Biden responds in this clip:

"If You Want to Keep Getting What You're Getting, Keep Doing What You're Doing"

The quote in this entry's headline is attributed to Les Brown, who at one time was married to Gladys Knight. Brown is a motivational speaker. The point in the quote is that you have to change your habits if you want to make change in your life. If you are stuck in a bad job, and you just keep doing what you are doing, you will stay in the bad job. The same thing is true for relationships. Since governing is really about relationships, it is also true in politics.

When you think about it, Brown's quote is the essence of the Democratic message on the economy. If voters are unhappy with the economy, and poll after poll shows that they are, but they still elect John McCain, then they are going to keep getting what Bush gave them. A economic plan that depends on tax cuts for the rich to generate economic growth. That, of course, won't happen.

Growth under McCain will stay anemic. The United States will continue its slow economic decline. What could happen, though, is that there will be growing economic inequality in America. There will be millions of jobs outsourced to India and China. Our children and our grandchildren will continue to have futures that are not as bright as we would like.

If you are talking to your neighbors, your friends, your relatives about this election and if they are unsure who they are voting for, lay the Les Brown quote on them and explain what it means. It will help them understand.

Pics from Medina Dem Party During Obama Acceptance Speech

Why the Ohio Poll May or May Not be Accurate

The University of Cincinnati's Institute for Policy Research released its latest poll on the presidential race in Ohio. This poll was taken of 775 "likely" voters. It has a error rate of + or - 3.5%. The Institute doesn't give the internal demographic breakdown of the poll online, but according to the Institute's Director, the breakdown was 48% Democratic respondents, 43% Republican respondents, and 9% independent respondents. He did not have other demographic information available, although the Institute will be glad to send it out by email.

The problem for the Institute is that no one really knows who will be a "likely" voter in this election. Traditionally young voters, IE, those under 30, and minority voters, IE, African-American, Hispanic, Arabic, and Asian, don't always vote at the same rate as non-Hispanic white voters. Further, single non-Hispanic white women vote at a different rate than married white non-Hispanic women.

Given that this is the first time in American history that a African-American candidate has been nominated by a major political party, and given the fact that this candidate polls significantly higher than his opponent among voters under 30, it is hard to predict the outcome. Throw in the fact that there is a woman on the GOP ticket and that she has apparently has great emotional appeal to evangelical, Christian voters, and prediction of turn-out becomes even more difficult.

What Democrats can't do, though, is lose sight of the fact that the election is still approximately eight weeks away. Eight weeks is an eternity in a political campaign.

In 2000, in early October, there was a poll in Ohio showing Bush 10% ahead of Gore. Gore pulled his resources out of Ohio, and moved them to Florida. On election day, however, Gore lost Ohio by around 3-4%. Imagine what might have happened if he had stayed in Ohio, running ads, and campaigning here personally. The whole past eight years might not have been the nightmare they have been under Bush.

Gallup Tracking Poll Analysis: White Woman Aren't Flocking to McCain

The Gallup polling organization released an analysis of their daily tracking poll which shows that, contrary to what the media is reporting, white women aren't flocking to the McCain-Palin ticket, at least not in the numbers the media is reporting.

What is interesting is that while Obama's support among white voters is close to what it was before he picked Biden, McCain's support has gone up. This apparently means that McCain is picking up support from white voters who were previously undecided, or at least that's what I think it means. You can draw your own conclusions from the table below:

Great Clip on Alaska Pork from Talking Points Memo

This is a very good video clip from Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo about the bs that Sarah Palin is putting out about earmarks. The Obama Campaign should make this into a thirty second ad.

Secretary of State Brunner has Voters' Backs

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner issued a directive to all 88 county boards of elections in Ohio regarding diaqualification of voters. Over the last week there has been a lot of worry among Democrats that up hundreds of thousands of voters could find their eligibility to vote challenged under a section of Ohio law.

In 2006, the Ohio General Assembly passed a law that requires all local board of elections to send out a notice to all registered voters 60 days prior to the November election. The notice cannot be forwarded. The fear was that if the notices came back, then GOP operatives could challenge these voters when they showed up to vote and require them to vote a provisional ballot. Many Democrats and others saw this as a potential GOP "vote caging" operation.

This is how Brunner's office described the potential effect of the notice in its media release on her directive:

Facts about the 60-day notice of election:

Under Ohio law, county boards of elections must mail a nonforwardable “notice of election” 60 days before November 4, 2008, that is, on September 5, 2008. This mailing is required to be sent today, the day Brunner has released her directive to boards of elections. If the notice is returned for any reason, boards must note this fact in the poll book or on poll lists and require a voter to prove with ID or other information that he or she is qualified to vote a regular ballot. Otherwise, such a voter must vote provisionally placing the right to have that ballot counted in jeopardy.

Since the 60-day notice is not forwardable, the notice may be returned for simple and irrelevant reasons like a hold on a voter’s mail during a vacation; a data entry error at the board of elections; or a mail delivery error.

Brunner's directive to the local BOEs spells out that such challenges are not to be honored. Her directive is based both on the Federal National Voter Registration Act, (NVRA), and the Due Process Clause of the United States and Ohio Constitutions.

This is just another example of the big difference in having Jennifer Brunner as Secretary of State compared to some hack Republican or conservative ideologue like Kenneth Blackwell. Indeed, a fact that few in the media have bothered to comment on is that this is the first presidential election since 1988 in which the Secretary of State for Ohio is a Democrat. In a very close election, as this one is shaping up to be, that is a very big deal.

Jon Stewart Goes After Republican Hypocrisy on Palin

Democratic Presidents Outperform Republicans on Job Growth

David Fiderer, a former banker who now works as a journalist, wrote an article for Huffington Post that points out that job creation under Democratic Presidents far exceeds job creation under Republicans. Here is a quote from his article:

No Republican President -- not Eisenhower, not Nixon, not Reagan, not Bush -- has ever created more jobs, or created jobs at a faster rate, than his Democratic predecessor. It's not even close. The contrast has been especially stark over the past 16 years, when 23.1 million jobs were created under Clinton and less than 5 million were created under Bush. On average, job growth under Democrats is more than twice that under Republicans.

What makes this statistic even more impressive is that since 1948, Democratic presidents have been in office 24 years compared to 36 years for Republicans. Here is a graphic example of the difference in total job creation:



Parents all over America are worried about their kids getting jobs when they get out of school. Democrats need to spread this simple message: "Our policies create more jobs than Republican policies."

Reader Submission Comparing McCain and Obama Tax Plans

Here is an article that a reader sent us. Check out the cool graphic in the article that illustrates the difference between the tax plans of Obama and McCain.

So Who's Middle Class?
by Hall Cary

If enacted, Obama and McCain tax plans will have radically different effects on the distribution of tax burdens in the United States. The Obama tax plan is progressive giving large tax breaks to those at the bottom of the income scale and raising taxes significantly on upper-income earners.

While McCain claims that his tax plan benefits middle-class families, his plan remains regressive. It’s regressive even when compared to a plan where 2001–06 Bush tax cuts are made permanent. It gives little tax relief to those at the bottom of the income scale but provides huge tax cuts to the wealthiest households. To see how the two plans will effect your income, check out the following chart.



Of interest also, according to the Tax Policy Center, the Obama Plan contributes $1 trillion more to the revenue stream than the McCain Plan. This revenue stream is of major concern what with the swelling of the National Debt under the Bush regime.

If you want to join McCain’s “middle-class”, I suggest that you follow his example and marry a millionaire.

Mrs. Maverick Billed Taxpayers for Staying at Home

What do you think your boss would say if you asked him or her to reimburse you for staying at home? Do you think that you would get away with that? Well, according to an article in the Washington Post, that's exactly what Governor Sarah Palin did to the taxpayers of Alaska. This is a quote from the article:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The amount of the reimbursment was $16,951. This was in addition to her annual salary of $125,000.00. She also charged Alaska taxpayers $43,490.00 for trips her family took and many of those trips were between her home in Wasilla and Juneau, a trip of some 600 miles.

Among the trips that her daughter Bristol took and that the state's taxpayers paid for was a trip with her Mom to New York City to attend Newsweek magazine's Women and Leadership Conference. All in all, Bristol's trips have cost the taxpayers $3400.00. The other daughters, Piper, age 7, and Willow, age 14, have cost Alaska $11,000.00 and $6,000.00 respectively.

Ted Palin, aka "First Dude", has also been reimbursed for trips that he took, including $1371.00 for a flight for attending the National Governors Conference with his wife.

Alaska taxpayers can be relieved about one thing, though, she rarely sought reimbursement for meals she ate at home.

Obama Campaign Keeps Its Eye on the Ball

One of the hardest things for a lawyer to do in a jury trial is to keep his or her eye on the ball. To keep in mind that their purpose is not to score points off the opposing lawyer, or impress the judge with their legal abilities, or even to impress their clients. The purpose is to get the jury to agree that doing justice means returning a verdict in favor of their client.

It is amazing how many trial attorneys lose sight of that goal. They get distracted by what their opponents are doing, or by what the judge is doing, or by what their clients think of the trial. When that happens, their ability to get the jury to give their client a verdict is compromised.

The same thing is true of political campaigns. The ultimate goal of a political campaign is not to impress the media, or to win public opinion polls while the campaign is in progress. The ulitmate goal is win the election when the votes are cast.

What this means is that they can't get distracted by all the things that are occuring during the campaign. They can't get distracted by the media, or by what their supporters think is important, or even by what their opponents are doing.

In a jury trial, as in a campaign, the winning side will have a plan, a theme, that they follow, no matter what happens during the process. This is not to say that they shouldn't watch what is happening around them, and when appropriate, react to it, but it is to say that they have to make sure that they follow their plan.

The Obama campaign has exhibited an ability to do just that during the last several months. They had a plan to win the nomination which they followed. They weren't distracted from that plan by the media, or by Senator Clinton's campaign, or by even what their supporters wanted. They focused on winning the nomination like a laser and always keep that goal in sight.

The same will be true of the general election. National polls don't really mean a thing since a presidential election isn't one big national elections, but 50 state elections. The issue isn't whether the selection of Sarah Palin is getting McCain support in September, but whether it will get him support in November.

Those voters who want Obama to win should do what he is doing. Keep your eye on the ball, remember the ultimate prize is won nine weeks from now. Keep working. Talk to your family and friends about the importance of this election. Don't get distracted by the media or even by the Republicans.

"George W. Bush in Lipstick"

This is a great line: "Sarah Palin is George W. Bush in lipstick". The line appears in this article on Huffington Post. Here is a quote from the article:

A core Democratic talking point against Sarah Palin is beginning to take shape: she is, critics say, the female counterpart of the current President of the United States, not only in terms of policy and social conservatism, but even personality.

"She's not a pitbull in lipstick," said one female Democratic operative, referencing a line from Palin's convention speech. "She's George Bush in lipstick."

From her hard-right stances on abortion and contraception and the deep affection she engenders from conservative evangelical leaders, to her involvement in a possible "abuse of power" scandal in Alaska and even her charming demeanor, some see in Palin the second coming of the 43rd president.

This line is one that all Democrats should be pushing.

Columbus Dispatch Documents Dem Surge in Ohio

This graphic from the Columbus Dispatch shows the increase in Democratic voter registration as compared to the Republicans since 2004. In 2004 Democrats outnumbered Republicans in Ohio by less than 300,000. In 2008 Democrats outnumbered Republicans by over 900,000.

GOP Policies Suck at Creating Jobs

There are over 500,000 American jobs that existed at the beginning of 2008 that don't exist now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that over 80,000 jobs were lost in August. In 2008 there has not been a month that has not seen a loss of jobs.

According to the BLS, the unemployment rate hit 6.1% in August, the highest unemployment rate in five years. According to the BLS report, dated September 5, 2008, all sectors of the economy showed a loss of jobs. This means that the unemployment is spreading out from the sectors that started reporting job losses earlier this year such as construction and financial services.

The Republicans have controlled the White House for the last 92 months. During that time, 34 months have seen job losses. During the first 92 months of the Clinton Administration, there were only five months that saw job losses.

The graph below shows the number of jobs created or lost in one month increments from January 1, 1993 until August 31, 2008. The numbers on the left hand side represent jobs in units of 1000, so at the top of the graph where you see the number "500", that represents a gain of 500,000 jobs. The number at the bottom of the left hand side, "250", represents a loss of 250,000 jobs.



During the best Bush month, July of 2005, 368,000 jobs were created. During the best Clinton month, September of 1997, 508,000 jobs were created. During the worse Clinton month, March of 1993, 51,000 jobs were lost. During the worse Bush month so far, October of 2001, 325,000 jobs were lost.

The historical record seems pretty clear: GOP policies suck at creating jobs.

Reader Submission on Sarah Palin

I can’t possibly take John McCain seriously and no one else should. Does he really think that Sarah Palin can run a country? If anything just by accepting the nomination she is making a joke of it. At least Obama has the guts to surround himself with a running mate who has experience where he may be lacking. McCain surrounded himself with a hockey mom. Give me a break. I really don’t want a hockey mom leading my nation. This isn’t the Wild West any more. We don’t need an Annie Oakley riding shot gun over a nation that is at this moment the laughing stock of the world. I would have a problem with Palin going into negotiations with another country when she doesn’t know what her own kids are doing. Don’t call her super mom. I’m sure someone else is taking care of the kids. If she is, how can she devote herself to running a state full-time? The super mom is the single parent living below the poverty level working two jobs to make ends meet AND taking care of her kids. I doubt that parent has time to run a country. Please don’t call her courageous for having a Down Syndrome child either. Risks of parents over forty having a Down Syndrome child goes up dramatically. I call it irresponsible.

As for her pregnant daughter; if the shoe was on the other foot I’m sure the self-righteous conservatives would have a field day with it. All is game when you are in the public eye. Ask any movie star or Bill Clinton, for that matter. How do you think the seventeen year old, unwed, woman living in poverty reacts to an unexpected pregnancy? She may not have such an “understanding” or well off family to support her. I thought Palin was in favor of abstinence for teens. What is that old saying; do as I say, not as I do? So sorry Sarah, I would rather my daughter have a better role model.

Wake up America ! We need to get back on track. We need a leader, not a cowboy, a maverick or a hockey mom. Let’s put the United States back on the world map as a world class leader of nations again.

Vicki Luschek

Can You See Sarah Palin Doing This?

Vice-President Lyndon Baines Johnson being sworn in as President on Air Force One following the asassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.

Why Fellow POW with McCain Believes He Shouldn't Be President

This is a very interesting video clip by a John Butler, who was a fellow prisoner of war with McCain. He tells us why he believes that McCain shouldn't be President.

Political Irony Watch: McCain & Palin Oppose Government Programs to Fight Teen Pregnancy

We have stayed away from talking about the pregnancy of Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter because it didn't seem particularly relevant to her mother running for Vice-President. That was before we read an article by Associated Press writer, Sharon Theimer. Her article is titled "McCain Fought Money on Teen Sex Programs" and was put out by the AP on Tuesday, September 2, 2008.

In the article, Theimer wrote the following:

Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits.

The article goes on to explain that not only does McCain oppose such programs, but so does Sarah Palin. This is from Theimer's article:

McCain's record on issues surrounding teen pregnancy and contraceptives during his more than two decades in the Senate indicates that he and Palin have similar views. Until Monday, when the subject surfaced in a deeply personal manner, teen pregnancy and sex education were not issues in the national political campaign.

Palin herself said she opposes funding sexual-education programs in Alaska.

"The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support," she wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates.

Conservatives often say that parents, not the government, should be the ones to educate their children about the consequences of having sex before marriage. They are absolutely right. In an ideal world, every parent would sit down and rationally discuss sex with their children, and parents would give their children comprehensive sex education. Here's the problem: A lot of parents don't do it. A lot of parents are embarassed to have such discussions with their children. The result is too many teen pregnancies, and too many children raising children.

Allowing schools and other governmental agencies to educate teens about contraception is not condoning teen-age sexuality, it is realizing that someone has to provide such information. So, the question is, was such information provided in the Palin household, or did the parents just pray that their daughter knew not to engage in premaritial sex and hope for the best?

For Dems is Sarah Palin the Gift that Keeps on Giving?

Okay, so here's what we know so far about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin:

She was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it; she has had to hire a lawyer to represent her in what the media is now referring to as the Troopergate incident, (that's where she allegedly tried to get her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper by pressuring his boss); she was involved in a similar situation when she was Mayor of Wasilla, (that time citizens were organizing a recall drive); and now ABC tells us that in the nineties she was a member of a group called the Alaska Independence Party, whose slogan is "Alaska First, Alaska Always."

Apparently some members of this group want Alaska to become an independent nation; others want it to give up its statehood and become a commonwealth, and apparently all of them want Alaska to grab every bit of Federally owned land up there.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is in the process of becoming a late night comedy routine all by herself. Just what the Republicans need. It will be interesting to see if she survives this coming week.

Conservatives Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan Dis Sarah Palin As VP

This is what conservatives Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan thought of McCain selecting Sarah Palin as VP before the pick:

McCain on MTP: "I Agree Far More with the President than I Disagree With Him"

Watch this clip from an interview with John McCain in which he tells the late Tim Russert how much he agrees with President Bush: