http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080829/ids_photos_ts/r3106976065.jpg/

A delegate listens to DNC Chairman Howard Dean speak at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado August 28, 2008. REUTERS/Eric Thayer

...

http://www.alternet.org/election08/97529/palin_fails_by_her_own_standards/

After several days of silence, Palin introduced herself to America as the newest GOP attack dog. She alternately wrapped herself in what she described as all-American small-town values and engaged in nasty smear tactics -- belittling Democrats, mischaracterizing Obama and insulting Americans, who she and her campaign speechwriters must think will not have enough sense to see past such a thin veil.

http://72.32.50.200/constitution/

and BTW HAPPY 44th BIRTHDAY RENE PAPE "A CENTURY VOICE" AND HANDSOME TOO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSuuUdajoDw

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/mccain-camp-battles-natio_n_123696.html

John McCain's presidential campaign is threatening a lawsuit against the National Enquirer over a print edition story the tabloid ran today alleging that Gov. Sarah Palin has had an extramarital affair with her husband's business partner.

The allegation would normally be dismissed by political observers as the random musings of a supermarket tabloid -- indeed, the McCain campaign said as much in its statements on Wednesday -- except that the paper has built up a reservoir of legitimacy following its earlier reporting on the John Edwards affair.

In a statement to the Huffington Post, a spokesman for the paper, who promised a larger report next week, tapped into that pool of quasi-respect.

Just one month ago, conservatives were bemoaning the fact that no major media outlets had the temerity to follow the politically and personally sensitive rumors about  Edwards' infidelities

I feel really dumb asking this question.  Some sites are talking about what we are going to do now that the conventions are over.  When did McCain speak?

I'm so outraged that the R's decided to denigrate community organizing.  Those are the people who are pulling communities together.  My son's wrestling coach does that in our community.  He works full time and organizes nearly full time.  He ensures the elderly are cared for, the sick are helped and pulls together scholarships for the needier children, raises funds for the hospital, etc.  He is selfless but he also involves the entire community in his organizing.  Bottom line - we are all part of this community because of Coach Jim (who is also an Obama supporter btw).  That's the route that Barack Obama chose.  I feel just sick about what the Republicans espoused last night.

Will the American people buy this poison again?  I pray not.

GOP 2008 Platform: Most Extreme in Party History

Right-Wing Family Rights Council Calls Platform the Most Conservative in Party History: According to the Wall Street Journal, “the legislative advocacy arm of the Family Rights Council, a political advocacy group for social conservatives, hailed the document as the most "conservative, pro-life and pro-family platform in Republican party history.” [WSJ, 8/30/08]

Conservative Activist Says the Document is a “Vast Improvement” from 2004 Platform – an Even More Radical Document than President Bush’s Platform: According to Bloomberg News, “Members of the party's conservative wing have been wary of McCain, in part because of his stances on immigration and global warming. Donald Devine of the American Conservative Union said he was satisfied with the draft. ‘It's certainly a vast improvement over the 2004 document,'’ Devine, vice chairman of the advocacy group based in Alexandria, Virginia, said.” [Bloomberg News, 8/26/08]

The Platform Opposes Embryonic Stem Cell Research even though a Majority of Republicans and Majority of Americans Support It: According to the Wall Street Journal, “The platform calls for a ‘major expansion’ of research involving adult stem cells but opposes embryonic stem-cell research, which Sen. McCain supports.” [WSJ, 8/30/08; Center for American Progress, 3/30/07, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/03/opinion_stem_cells.html]

The 2008 Platform Calls for a Constitutional Amendment to Ban All Abortions, Even Though Only 10 Percent of Americans Support Banning Abortion in All Cases: “We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.” [GOP Platform, http://www.gop.com/pdf/PlatformFINAL_WithCover.pdf; Time Magazine August 4 Poll, http://www.srbi.com/ObamaMaintainsSlimLead.pdf]

The 2008 Platform Decries the Education Policies of George W. Bush that Were Praised in the 2004 Platform: The 2008 platform states, “Although the Constitution assigns the federal government no role in local education, Washington’s authority over the nation’s schools has increased dramatically. In less than a decade, annual federal funding has shot up 41 percent to almost $25 billion, while the regulatory burden on state and local governments has risen by about 6.7 million hours — and added $141 million in costs — during that time…To get our schools back to the basics of learning…”

In stark contrast, the 2004 platform praised President Bush’s efforts to increase federal education spending, “President Bush and Congressional Republicans have provided the largest increase in federal education funding in history and the highest percentage gain since the 1960s. Support for elementary and secondary education has had the largest increase in any single Presidential term since the 1960s – an increase of nearly 50 percent since 2001… With this increased funding comes a new focus on achievement and results.” [2004 GOP Platform, http://www.gop.com/images/2004platform.pdf; 2008 GOP Platform]

GOP 2008 Platform: Ignoring the Needs of Working Families

2008 Platform and McCain Tax Plan Reject the Fundamental Premise of 2004 Platform on Tax Relief: The McCain tax plan rejects a central tenant of the 2004 GOP Platform that defined tax relief as, “The fundamental premise of tax relief is that everyone who pays income taxes should see their income taxes reduced.” [2004 GOP Platform]. Instead, McCain’s proposals – which are also included in the 2008 GOP platform draft – would leave out 101 million households. [2008 GOP Platform; Obama for America memo, The McCain Economic Plan: Four More Years?, 7/7/08].

2008 Platform Fails to Mention the Critical Importance of America’s Manufacturing Sector Despite Inclusion in the 2004 Platform: The 2004 GOP Platform included a section on manufacturing that recognized “the critical role of manufacturing to job creation, national security, and the economy.” The 2008 GOP Platform only mentions the word manufacturing twice – once in the context of McCain’s flawed nuclear power initiative and the other related to GOP efforts to prevent victims of gun violence from suing gun manufacturers for producing faulty weapons. [2004 GOP Platform, 2008 GOP Platform]. In contrast, the 2008 Democratic Platform includes a robust section on how to strengthen America’s manufacturing sector, which boasts the most impressive workers in the world. [Insert cite to final 2008 Dem platform; draft: http://www.demconvention.com/assets/downloads/2008-Democratic-Platform-by-Cmte-08-13-08.pdf]

Despite Calling for a Generous Tax Cut for Corporations, the 2008 Platform Ignores Corporate Accountability – A Robust Section in the 2004 GOP Platform: The 2004 GOP Platform included a “Corporate Accountability” section that praised Bush’s efforts to crack down on corporate executives. The 2008 GOP Platform does not include a similar section, nor any mention of cracking down on reckless speculation in the energy markets or reigning in excessive corporate pay. [2004 GOP Platform; 2008 GOP Platform]

Despite the 2008 Platform’s Health Care Statement that “The First Rule of Public Policy is the Same as with Medicine: Do No Harm”, the McCain Health Care Plan Will Do Precisely that By Leading to Millions of Americans Losing their Existing Health Insurance [Tax Policy Center, 7/23/08]

Like Senator McCain’s Flawed Agenda that Benefits Corporations More than American Families, the 2008 GOP Platform Has No Mention of Equal Pay for Equal Work, Offshoring or Outsourcing of American Jobs, and Cutting Down on Rampant Corporate Tax Evasion or Loopholes.

GOP 2008 Platform: At Odds with John McCain

The 2000, 2004 and 2008 GOP Platforms Advocate Tax Credits for Renewable Energy Production – A Commonsense Effort that John McCain Has Long Blocked: From the 2000 GOP Platform, “…Expand the tax credit for renewable energy sources to include wind and open-loop biomass facilities, and electricity produced from steel cogeneration.” From the 2004 GOP

Platform, “Republicans will continue to support renewable energy, through extension of the production tax credit for wind and solar…”. From the 2008 GOP Platform, “We therefore advocate a long-term energy tax credit equally applicable to all renewable power sources.” [2000 GOP Platform, 2004 GOP Platform, 2008 GOP Platform]

The 2008 Platform Reflects the Right-Wing of the Party on Immigration Reform, and Rejects the Approaches of President Bush and Senator McCain: In 2004, the GOP Platform stated, “The Republican Party supports reforming the immigration system to ensure that it is legal, safe, orderly and humane… President Bush has proposed a new temporary worker program that applies when no Americans can be found to fill the jobs. This new program would allow workers who currently hold jobs to come out of the shadows and to participate legally in America’s economy.” In contrast, the 2008 Platform rejects such a measure and instead states, “The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity. The American people’s rejection of en masse legalizations is especially appropriate given the federal government’s past failures to enforce the law.” [2004 GOP Platform, 2008 GOP Platform]

The 2008 Platform Calls for a Constitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage – An Effort McCain Voted Against as a Senator: The 2008 GOP Platform draft states, “we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it.” As a U.S. Senator, John McCain voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment which would have amended the Constitution to ban gay marriage. [2008 GOP Platform; U.S. Senate Vote 163, 06/07/06]

GOP 2008 Platform: Additional Items of Note

The 2008 Platform Neglects Mention of the Great Lakes and Everglades, Despite Previous Platforms Recognizing their Importance: The Everglades was mentioned in both the 2000 and 2004 platforms. In 2000, the platform stated, “We are committed to preserving high priority wilderness and wetlands. The Everglades are a crucial example of a special federal responsibility…” and in 2004, the platform stated, “We also endorse the President’s efforts to work with the state of Florida to implement the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.” And in 2004, the platform stated, “We steadfastly oppose diverting water away from the Great Lakes region.” [2000 GOP Platform, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showplatforms.php?platindex=R2000; 2004 GOP Platform; 2008 GOP Platform]

SARAH PALIN: THE WRONG CHOICE FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES

When it comes to a woman’s right to choose, providing affordable quality health care, improving education for our children and giving middle class families a break, Sarah Palin is too extreme for American women and families. And on the one essential qualification for any vice president – whether that person is ready to step into the Oval Office and serve as Commander in Chief – her experience falls far short.

Palin Opposed Abortion Even In Cases of Rape or Incest, Said She Was as “Pro-Life as Any Candidate Can Be.” In a 2006 debate, the candidates were pressed on their stances on abortion, and were asked what they would do if their own daughters were raped and became pregnant. Palin said she would support abortion only if the mother's life was in danger. She said that even if her daughter were raped, "I would choose life." In 2002, Palin wrote to Alaska Right to Life that she was as “pro-life as any candidate can be.” [Anchorage Daily News, 11/3/06; Anchorage Daily News, 8/6/06]

Palin’s Answer to Rising Health Care Costs: Competition. “High costs are hurting Alaskans.
Nationwide we see soaring costs adversely affecting our families and businesses. In Alaska, our Medicaid budget has quadrupled in the past 10 years. It’s a vicious cycle caused by fewer people being able to pay for services, which forces more government subsidies, resulting in even higher costs. Too often the driver of rising costs is a lack of competition. Sarah supports consideration of legislative and regulatory changes allowing competition that’s good for the consumer. She also supports the right of patients to have access
to their medical billing information.” [http://www.palinforgovernor.com/issues.html]

•Anchorage Daily News: Palin Delivered “Non-Answers” On Expanding Health Care Coverage and Walmart. “Asked about expanding health care coverage and about Wal-Mart’s corporate conduct, she delivered non-answers with a disarming smile.” [Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), 1/30/06]

Palin Objected to Proposal to Create Statewide Pre-Kindergarten, Expand Head Start and Cover More Kids Under Denali KidCare – Accused Her Opponent of Trying to Grow the Size of Government. “Knowles’ plan calls for a statewide pre-kindergarten education system for children ages 3 and 4 and expansions of the Denali KidCare and Head Start programs. The voluntary pre-kindergarten programs would focus on reading and ‘a learning environment’ and would be funded to cover about 5,000 children at a cost of $10 million. The Denali KidCare program, which provides insurance to children of working families who can’t afford it, would be expanded to cover an additional 12,500 children at an estimated cost of $6.7 million. And an expansion of the Head Start program would double program enrollment at a cost of about $6 million. ‘They’re programs that we know are successful,’ Knowles said. Republican candidate Sarah Palin challenged Knowles’ proposal for additional programming while the state struggles to meet existing needs. ‘Tony Knowles continues to look for ways to grow the size of government,’ she said.” [Fairbanks Daily-Miner, 9/19/06]

Palin Opposed a Statewide Pre-Kindergarten Program, Doubling Enrollment in Head Start and Expanding Denali KidCare – Cut Funding for Dropout Prevention Program. In 2006, Palin objected to a proposal from her opponent to establish a statewide pre-kindergarten education system for children ages 3 and 4, expand Denali KidCare, Alaska’s SCHIP program, to cover another 12,500 children and to double enrollement in Head Start. She accused her opponent of trying to expand government. As Governor, she cut $479,000 from a proven dropout prevention program.

Palin Said She Opposed Sex Education in Schools, Would Fund “Abstinence Until Marriage” Education and Not Comprehensive Sex Education. "Sarah Palin says she is against sex education in schools and supports a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy only if the woman's life is in danger." "Palin said she would fund 'abstinence-until-marriage' education and not comprehensive sex education programs."[Juneau Empire, 9/20/2006]

Palin Does Not Believe Global Warming Was Man-Made. In an interview, Palin was asked her take on global warming. She responded, “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.” [Newsmax, 8/29/08]

Palin Raised Wasilla's Sales Tax to Build $14.7 Million Sports Center. “Wasilla residents have given the go ahead to building a new multiuse sports center in town and to raising the city sales tax to pay for it. With the final votes counted Friday, residents voted 306 to 286 in favor of a measure to raise the city sales tax from 2 percent to 2.5 percent to pay the estimated $14.7 million cost of building the center…Mayor Sarah Palin, who supported the measure, said the tight vote will motivate city officials to keep a close eye on the budget for the center.” [Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), 3/9/02]

http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/sarah_palin.php

In other words - Palin is no Obama. 

I just don't see this flying with the indies AT ALL.  It was mocking and insulting.  Isn't the country fed up with this stuff?

MEMORANDUM
8/11/2008

TO: Whom it May Concern

FROM:Karen Kornbluh, Principal Platform Author

RE: Mentions of women in the 2008 Democratic Platform

The 2008 Democratic Platform is a progressive document, committed to opportunity for all people, including women. The following is a listing of many of the places that women’s rights and opportunity are in the platform:

We support civil rights for all people, including women.

We support the Equal Rights Amendment. This was not in the 2004 platform.
We support signing the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This was not in the 2004 platform.
We pledge to continue our support of Title IX.

We commit to working to end violence against women.

We will create a special advisor to the president on violence against women a
We support funding for prevention programs
We support job security for victims
We focus on women’s economic opportunity and security.

A new section on Opportunity for Women. This has never been in a previous platform.
We include: the Lilly Ledbetter Act, the Fair Pay Act, updating and enforcing the Equal Pay Act
Women are specifically mentioned in poverty and seniors sections.

We support promoting women in math and science.
We have a new section on Work and Family. This has never been in a previous platform.
We commit to expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act and working to make it paid
We commit to ensuring the every worker can earn 7 paid sick days
We support flexible work schedules

We have a section on Children and Families.

We support universal access to early childhood education and childcare
We support increased funding for afterschool and summer opportunities for students
We recognize that work such as managing a household and raising children is real and valuable work.

We have a reproductive health section as part of our plan for access to Affordable, Quality Health Care Coverage for All Americans

This includes supporting access to birth control
Ending health insurance discrimination
Providing compassionate care to rape victims
A commitment to never put ideology above women’s health
We pledge to eliminate health care disparities among all groups, including women

We affirm a women’s reproductive rights

We strongly and unequivocally support Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right
We support access to comprehensive family planning and age-appropriate sex education.
We support help for pregnant women

We support a unified foreign and domestic policy that promotes civil rights and human rights, for women and minorities, at home and abroad

We support education for women and girls in Afghanistan
We recognize that women’s rights are human rights.
We support improving maternal health and nutrition.
We support improving women’s economic opportunity around the world, including expanding microcredit
We commit to repealing the Global Gag Rule and reinstating funding for UNFPA
We oppose human trafficking.

We take pride that our party has had the most elected woman leaders, including Governors, Senators and Members of Congress. As a party, we are committed to the advancement of women in leadership.

We have a paragraph denouncing sexism. This has never been in a previous platform

click for recap.  Palin was against special needs before she was for special needs?  Oh jeez.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2008/9/4/9482/23321

were not happy with the Palin speech.  Jeez - it wasn't even *her* speech. 

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/  (You'll have to scroll down a tad for this)

Let's hope the rest of the Indies in this country feel this way.

about the Obama campaign.  Biden said some of her treatment by the media has been sexist.  The campaign isn't really swinging.  I wonder if some of the dirt (vetting) to coming is pretty bad.  Just my hunch but there probably is some *stuff* about to hit the fan with the Palin clan. 

argh.

Off to exercise.  Have a great morning all.  Susan - I hope you're able to post - you're leaving some blank posts.  I had that issue before as well.

to the non-elitest Cindy McCain's $300K - yes, as in $300,000 outfit the other night.  I love fashion immensely but $280K for a pair of earrings when there is so much suffering going on in this country is tone-deaf. 

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/09/cindy-mccains-300000-outfit.html

and about his travels to Australia...forward by Howard Dean.   The lady who wrote it did so from letters kept by her hubby who traveled with him.   Moving.

The woman who wrote it is a Vermonter.   There is a link to her blog and a sweet story of getting the picture of Howard and her together for the media.   Howard wrote the intro.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080904/ts_alt_afp/usvotebiden_080904144854

Biden says Palin failed to focus on economy

... according to Emily's List:

http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS/809040430

Sen. John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his Republican running mate will not result in a major defection of female Hillary Clinton supporters to the McCain presidential ticket, according to a recent survey.

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts09042008.html

I don't have Susan's long post exemption, so this will have to do:

What is wrecking America is not conservatives, but a neoconservative ideology of US hegemony.

What is wrecking America is the “impeachment-is-off-the-table” twins, Nancy Pelosi and John Conyers.

What is wrecking America is the Democratic Party, which was put in control of the House and Senate in the 2006 congressional elections to stop the gratuitous wars and gestapo police, but, instead, has continued to cooperate with the Cheney/Bush regime in behalf of war and police repression, such as we witnessed at the Republican National Convention.

Republicans have spawned a new generation of brownshirts that lust to imprison, torture, and kill people. These ignorant bloodthirsty thugs see enemies everywhere and fervently desire to nuke them all. The Republican brownshirts are equally willing to kill American critics of the Bush regime as to kill Taliban and al Qaeda.

... and remember (in memory of a Helena, MT intern) we are ALL in this relay together -- thank you Angela ! :

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/mollyclaflinblog/gG5FPT/commentary

...

Roger Simon plays along in his biting column in today's Politico, excerpted below:

[W]here did we go wrong with Sarah Palin? Let me count the ways:

. . . .

[W]e should stop making with all the questions already. She gave a really good speech. And why go beyond that? As we all know, speeches cannot be written by others and rehearsed for days. They are true windows to the soul.

Unless they are delivered by Barack Obama, that is. In which case, as Palin said Wednesday, speeches are just a “cloud of rhetoric.”

. . . .

Sarah Palin wanted the media to report on her teenage son, Track, who enlisted in the Army on Sept. 11, 2007, and soon will deploy to Iraq.

Sarah Palin did not want the media to report on her teenage daughter, Bristol, who is pregnant and unmarried.

Sarah Palin thinks that one is good for her campaign and one is not, and that the media should report only on what is good for her campaign.

Since Palin thought that Sen. Reid's McCain disdain paid McCain the highest form of compliment, she must recognize David Axlerod's faint praise for her speechmaking ability, found in Ben Smith's blog in the Politico today:

“She is deft at going on the attack. For someone who makes the point that she is not from Washington, she looks like she would fit in very well there,” [Obama chief strategist David] Axelrod told reporters on the campaign plane in Pittsburgh, Pa. “These attacks all felt very familiar to Americans who are used to this kind of thing from Washington.”

. . . .

“Sen. Obama has taken the whole thing in stride,” Axelrod said when asked about the dig on Obama’s stint as a community organizer. “I don’t think he expected gingerly treatment for the reasons that I said. He understands they don’t’ really have a record to run on and this is what politicians do when they don’t have a record to run on.”

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/09/03/local/top/50lo_090308_fatal.txt

...

“She saw the up side of everything and in her short time had such an impact on students about how to life a full life,” Smith said.

...

Don't think Palin is really all that qualified to be vice president?  Don't worry.  She's already the 2012 Republican Party presidential front runner.  That will give her four more years of executive experience that could rival Ronald Reagan.  This according to Jerome Armstrong's breathless myDD post today:

Seriously. I've never seen a woman, or a man for that matter, speak that way, prime time, national, convention, live, ever. She blows away Hillary Clinton. Sorry, but that's what it is. . . .

OK, so my guess. Come November, and Obama's glorious victory, Palin is who they pronounce as the '12 nominee against Obama. Either that, or Palin is Prez after McCain croaks on a pretzel from 2 years of the WH.

. . . .

Romney? Huckabee? Giuliani? Amateurs all. Nada comparison (I can't believe I even put Whitman in Palin's league). Anyone that thinks McCain could have chosen better than Palin, among the GOP ranks, is on drugs.

Why McCain Palin could win( Taylor Marsh).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taylor-marsh/top-ten-reasons-mccain-pa_b_123806.html

Much more at link, but in a nutshell:

Republicans are disciplined, fall in line and fight like hell to win no matter what's required, including play dirty. Democrats are not, do not and will not.

... what an angry loser ole Marty is now and will be on 11/04/08 when Obama becomes our next President and Biden our next VP.

Maybe Marty can stand with McCain and Palin at the McCain headquarters that November Tuesday evening and stare up at the ballons still suspended from the ceiling by a net and wonder ....

... what the hell went wrong ?

(the Marty S comment is on the current open thread http://democracyforamerica.com/blog_posts/26588-sara-palin-and-the-same-failed-conservative-values#comments )

Cindy McSame!

Why? What has she done for anyone other than Mr. McSame and her beer distributorship? What's to praise her for?

... and they are hungry.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14939179@N00/1252331756/

I'm gladly feeding them the truth.

If you want to help us Obama '08 bloggers push back against PUMAs, feel free to take the Nestea plunge:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/mollyclaflinblog/gG5t7s/commentary#comment-gGQlKh

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2008/sep/04/sarahpalin.uselections2008

SCROLL DOWN A LITTLE FOR  A HILARIOUS YOUTUBE SPOOF OF PALIN

also

http://sarahpalin.typepad.com/

and more at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2008/sep/04/sarahpalin.uselections2008

:~)

This diary is an absolute grand slam.  It should go viral.  Please take a moment to read.

http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/9/4/151637/2072/158/586669

The ultra-conservative governor’s announcement about her daughter’s pregnancy came hours after The ENQUIRER informed her representatives and family members of Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol’s child, that we were aware of the pregnancy and were going to break the news. 

In a preemptive strike Palin released the news, creating political