Conspiracies

Posted on by

Maybe you can help me with this. Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs (to which I do not link) believes he has discovered a plot by the Obama campaign to smear Sarah Palin with this web site.

You can read about why LGF suspected the Obama campaign was behind the site at Gateway Pundit. As I understand it, the Sarah Palin smear site is traced to the IP address 74.208.74.232. This same IP address also hosts other anti-McCain sites, plus a site that redirects to Obama’s “Fight the Smears” site. “Fight the Smears” itself has a different IP address.

If you do a Whois for the IP address, it takes you to a company called 1&1 Internet Inc., of Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania. It’s a web hosting service. A cheap one, with disgruntled former customers who have set up complaint sites, presumably with another web host. This doesn’t tell us who actually created the sites.

The only connection to the Obama campaign is the site Obamadefense.com, hosted at 1&1 Internet, that redirects to the “Fight the Smears” site. I did a Whois for Obamadefense.com and didn’t find anything that told me anything more.

Is there a there, there? I don’t understand how any of this proves a connection to the Obama campaign.

No Way to Treat a Lady

Posted on by

Update: The Big Tent in more-liberal-than-thou mode:

I would add that Obama does not need to be arguing how important experience is. Let me also add that when Tim Kaine, who has exactly the same experience as Palin, was treated by the Media and the Dems as a serious and acceptable potential pick, it opens up charges of a double standard.

Let’s walk through this.

As Mayors

  • Kaine: Two terms as mayor of Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, population 197,790 per the 2000 census.
  • Palin: Two terms as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 5,469 per the 2000 census.

Other:

  • Kaine: Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, 2001-2004
  • Palin: Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (while still mayor of Wasilla), 2004-2005

As Governor

  • Kaine: 2007, sworn in as governor of Virginia, population 7,642,884 per 2006 estimate
  • Palin: 2007, sworn in as governor of Alaska, population 670,053 per 2006 estimate

On most planets, this is not “exactly the same experience.”

As documented in the Karl Rove quote in the last post, Kaine wasn’t always treated as a “serious and acceptable potential pick.” I googled “tim kaine vice president experience” and came up with a number of pages with comments that questioned Kaine’s experience. And if he had been the veep pick, there would have been more such comments.

There’s a double standard, all right, and it says that women must be treated more softly and gently than men. We can’t point out her lack of experience, even though she lacks experience, because she’s a girl.

Back in my day, feminists campaigned to be treated equally. I guess I’m getting old.

The Next Few Days

Posted on by

Beautiful Downtown Wasilla, Alaska!

Kinda reminds me of back home, except the Ozarks has hills and more foliage.

I picked up the photograph of beautiful downtown Wasilla from this site, which has a must-read background article on the new nominee for VPOTUS, Sarah Palin. Read it, and then ask yourself: Is Palin another Dan Quayle? Or another Katherine Harris, albeit with less money? See also “Chief Fired by Palin Speaks Out.”

Wasilla, Alaska, is where Palin gained nearly all of her executive experience. She was on the Wasilla city council from 1992 to 1996 — I envision a meeting room graced by cheap imitation wood wall paneling and a soft drink machine — and mayor from 1996 to I think 2006. I haven’t found a precise end date for the mayor job. Then she was sworn in as governor of Alaska in January 2007. That was, like, last year.

Steve Benen reminds us of something Karl Rove said earlier this month on Face the Nation.

“I think he’s [Obama] going to make an intensely political choice, not a governing choice,” Rove said. “He’s going to view this through the prism of a candidate, not through the prism of president; that is to say, he’s going to pick somebody that he thinks will on the margin help him in a state like Indiana or Missouri or Virginia. He’s not going to be thinking big and broad about the responsibilities of president.”

Rove singled out Virginia governor Tim Kaine, also a Face The Nation guest, as an example of such a pick.

“With all due respect again to Governor Kaine, he’s been a governor for three years, he’s been able but undistinguished,” Rove said. “I don’t think people could really name a big, important thing that he’s done. He was mayor of the 105th largest city in America.”

Rove continued: “So if he were to pick Governor Kaine, it would be an intensely political choice where he said, `You know what? I’m really not, first and foremost, concerned with, is this person capable of being president of the United States.”

See above, photograph of beautiful downtown Wasilla, Alaska.

It’s possible Palin could help the McCain ticket a lot. She is already firing up the “movement conservative,” anti-government Republicans. Her inexperience will not be an issue for them, since they don’t give a bleep about anyone actually governing. She also will help McCain with social conservatives and cement support with white, conservative evangelicals. I expect McCain to get a significant bounce with these groups.

What about women? I predict a short-term bounce that will wither away once most women catch on how far Right and how inexperienced Palin is. And if anyone thinks McCain’s choice was not a bare-assed attempt to lure Hillary Clinton supporters, Gail Collins notes,

… the only nonfamily members other than McCain that Palin really mentioned in her introductory speech were Democrats Geraldine Ferraro and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Whatever happened to Ronald Reagan? Isn’t there a rule that you have to mention Ronald Reagan?

“It was rightly noted in Denver that Hillary made 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America,” Palin said. “It turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.”

Not that anyone pays much attention to them any more, but feminist organizations like NOW and NARAL are already slamming Palin.

However, this is a moment that calls for quiet reflection on how far women have come since second-wave feminism burst forth in the 1960s. Forty years ago, slaves to the Patriarchy like Palin simply denounced feminism and women’s equality, saying they were happy being second-class citizens. Now, they pay lip service to feminism and take the reins of power to help the Patriarchy keep women subservient. Unfortunately, I fear there are many women — too young? too stupid? — who are selling out women by supporting an unqualified, anti-reproductive rights whackjob, who if she actually became President would set back women’s rights at least 50 years.

Yes, I’m a bit irritated.

On the other hand, long-term I think the Palin choice could backfire among “swing” voters, especially when they learn about her extremist right-wing views on most issues and understand how utterly inexperienced she really is. McCain’s one advantage with the swing voters was his alleged superior experience and judgment regarding national security. I think the Palin choice broadcasts that his judgment is erratic and that he is more interested in winning elections than protecting America.

In other words, it’s a frivolous choice that makes the Obama-Biden ticket look all the more serious in contrast.

A lot depends on how much of a clown show the GOP convention turns out to be. Eight years ago, a complacent electorate enabled a frivolous presidential candidate to get into the White House. Four years ago, a frightened and emotionally manipulated electorate repeated the mistake. But now, if the GOP convention is the convergence of social pathologies it usually is, I think this time the electorate will not be amused. Now, people are damn pissed off and want the government to be run by people who are serious about running government.

And the conventions do matter. The Dem convention of 1972 hurt McGovern. The GOP convention of 1992 hurt Bush I. Let’s see what they do this time.

I think the biggest reason the polls have been so close is that people who are not paying close attention see the silvery-haired white guy who’s been in Washington forever, and the young skinny not-white guy who’s brand new, and they figure the older guy will be the serious one, the one with gravitas.

Yet it’s McCain who has been running a silly, frivolous campaign — the only time he gets serious is when he is reminding us he was a POW 40 years ago, which is every ten minutes. Otherwise, he runs silly advertisements and has a nearly content-free campaign that consists of telling lies about what Obama might do while fudging the details (if there are any) of what McCain might do.

And a lot depends on Palin herself, and whether she can stand up to national scrutiny, with which she has had no experience, without imploding.

Heh.

Update: Andrew Sullivan —

Here’s the real slogan the McCain campaign should now adopt:

Putting. Country. Last.

Update: Get this —

Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.

Post-Rational

Posted on by

One thing’s for sure; McCain’s going to get the idiot vote. What will the PUMAs do when Senator Clinton campaigns against the McCain-Palin ticket? And do they know that Palin wants to criminalize abortion even in cases of rape and incest?

Rachel Maddow keeps calling former Hillary Clinton supporters who now support McCain “post-rational.” Maddow is being kind.

Let’s Get Serious

Posted on by

I began this post before the Sarah Palin veep pick became news, but it fits in, nicely. This is about what we can expect to see at the GOP convention next week.

What we can expect to see are cartoons.

Today’s Republicans are not serious about governing, as John McCain broadcast loudly with his Sarah Palin choice. The GOP convention will be intensely negative, and also intensely juvenile. I don’t know what this year’s version of the purple band aid will be (are the righties over the tire gauge thing yet?). But most of the energy of the convention will be poured into ridicule of the Dem ticket. At the same time, the convention will be vague if not dishonest about the extremely right-wing GOP platform.

The GOP wins presidential elections by turning the Dem into a cartoon (and suppressing votes). They did it to Al Gore; they did it to John Kerry. They tried to do it to Bill Clinton — well, in a sense, they succeeded, but unfortunately for them they turned him into Bugs Bunny and themselves into Elmer Fudd.

So far, John McCain has been running a Karl Rove-style campaign, meaning one that’s not serious about governing. Rove himself never got the governing thing. The fact that your candidate, once in office, at some point has to actually govern is a point that still eludes him.

As Kevin Drum said of Obama’s acceptance speech,

This is an iron fist in a velvet glove. Or is it a velvet fist in an iron glove? Whichever it is, he’s calling out McCain in plain language not just for running a nasty, Rovian campaign, but for running a fundamentally unserious campaign. By tackling this head on, Obama has put a serious dent in McCain’s ability to continue campaigning with dumb soundbites and too-cute-by-half innuendo. This isn’t a teenager’s campaign for junior high school student council, he was saying, it’s a campaign for president of the United States and you’re old enough to know that you should damn well treat it that way.

They won’t, though. Just watch.

There is a comment at The Fix by Lawrence Hawkins that I can’t link to directly, so I’m going to paste it all here. I hope Mr. Hawkins doesn’t mind.

Amazing. As I scan through the comments above I see the the same sad insults. “Socialism” cries one. “Jerimiah Wright” cries another. “He can’t/won’t change a thing.” And let’s not forget the the eloquent, “I HATE HIM.”

This all goes past the point of being sad. This is psychologically unhealthy for those that feel this way. Be honest with yourselves. You are afraid.

Honestly you need to confront your fears. Barack Obama is a guy with a rocky upbringing. Thank God he had people like his mom, and his grandparents in his life to set him straight. He worked hard in school, got a law degree, passed the bar, which in itself is an accomplishment, and went on to get married, to a woman, and started raising a family. No absentee dad, he. You want a man who shows the system works? Here he is. You want someone who was given lemons and made lemonade? Here he is. Do you want an example to show the world that America works? You’ve got him!

Jerimiah Wright is a jerk. But he’s not running for president.

Face your fear. Grow past it. Barack Obama, despite Rush et al, is not the Bogeyman. He is an American that wants the best for America.

If you’ve got a problem with his tax policy, let’s discuss it like adults. If you have a concerns about abortion and a women’s right to make choices, let’s talk. But this type of reasoned debate can only happen once you get past the fear that cripples your thought process. I guarantee you that once you’ve thought it all through, you’ll vote for Obama/Biden, because at the end of the day, it’s a vote for yourself.

If you’ve got a problem with his tax policy, let’s discuss it like adults. If you have a concerns about abortion and a women’s right to make choices, let’s talk. But this type of reasoned debate can only happen once you get past the fear that cripples your thought process. Spot on.

Sometimes people criticize me for not debating righties. They don’t see the several years I spent wasted attempting to debate righties. I had facts and logic; they had puerile taunting. I gave up; I have more entertaining ways to kill time.

It’s rare to find someone on the Right with whom one can have a serious conversation about a serious subject. The Left has its share of clowns, too, but IMO there is a bigger percentage of us who are not clowns and who are willing to listen to serious, fact-based argument when it is presented to us. Today’s “conservatives” seem congenitally unable to present serious, fact-based arguments, however.

So next week the GOP will get together, and they will put on a great show of hate and ridicule and derision, with occasional breaks for displays of the jingoistic nationalism they confuse for patriotism. What you won’t see them do is get serious.

Miss Congeniality

Posted on by

So the GOP vice-presidential candidate once won second place in the Miss Alaksa beauty contest, and was awarded the Miss Congeniality prize. Her husband works for British Petroleum. She was elected governor of Alaska in 2006. From 2004 to 2005 she was Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Before that, she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, for a time.

Are they serious?

So the aged and infirm McCain, who has been razzing Barack Obama for being “inexperienced,” chooses someone with even less experience to be his running mate. Obviously, Sarah Palin was chosen because of her gender, and for no other reason. The McCain campaign must figure their only hope is to pick up disgruntled Clinton supporters.

Update: My devoted fan the Confederate Yankee smugly links to Palin’s Wikepedia biography and says, “It has to terrify Obama’s camp.” The Wikipedia biography was my source for the details above. Yes, I’m sure we’re all terrified of the former Miss Congeniality who was mayor of Wasilla.

Update: It appears that John McCain has achieved something remarkable — he has pleased everyone across the political spectrum. Righties are happy because they think they’ve pulled a fast one on the left — See? We can play identity politics, too! Lefties are happy because Palin is a joke.

See Josh Marshall.

Update: It gets better. In 2000, Wasilla, Alaska had all of 5,469 residents.

Update: Chris Kelly — “Governor Palin Has What It Takes to Be the Next Dick Cheney.”

The Speech

Posted on by

Here are excerpts of the speech, titled “The American Promise,” just released by Obama’s campaign.

Here’s the full text.

“You don’t defeat a terrorist network that operates in eighty countries by occupying Iraq.”

“We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don’t tell me that Democrats won’t defend this country. Don’t tell me that Democrats won’t keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans — Democrats and Republicans – have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.”

“America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise – that American promise – and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.’

Update: I was just thinking, no balloons. But they managed a few streamers.

This was a powerful convention.

The visuals are great. Flags and fireworks.

Lordy, Chris Matthews is going on about Henry V at Agincourt.

Update: Prediction —

Generals and Admirals

Posted on by

Nice — a stage full of retired generals and admirals endorsing Barack Obama. And rightie bloggers and operatives are preparing character assassinations of the retired generals and admirals even as they speak.

Random Thoughts Continued

Posted on by

I have been participating in the National Journal‘s blogger poll. Tonight’s question is “What would you most like to see Obama accomplish in his acceptance speech?” A majority of left-of-center bloggers said “Show he grasps Americans’ economic problems.” Only two said “Establish that he’s ready to be commander in chief.” The results among right-of-center bloggers is opposite. The majority said “Establish that he’s ready to be commander in chief.” Only two said “Show he grasps Americans’ economic problems.”

Tells you something.

I’ve switched to CSPAN so I can listen to Sheryl Crow instead of whoever Tom Brokaw is interviewing.