Charlie Martin at the Explorations blog has put together an (ever-growing) list of 60+ rumors about Sarah Palin. Most have links to their debunking, and a few are actually…er…"bunked". Bookmark it. I have a feeling we’ll all need to refer to this often in the next 2 months (and with any luck, the next 4 years).
An estimated 123 people were shot and killed over the summer. That’s nearly double the number of soldiers killed in Iraq over the same time period.
Waiting for Obama to call for the troops police to pull out. It’s lost, right?
Shire Network News #144 has been released. For the second week, we are talking to David Horowitz of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He talks to Tom about the direction the Democratic party is taking and how this is rooted in the politics of the 1960’s. They discuss the take over of the College Campuses and the importance (or not) of Europe. Click here for the show notes, links, and ways to listen to the show; directly from the web site, by downloading the mp3 file, or by subscribing with your podcatcher of choice.
Below is the text of my commentary.
Hi, this is Doug Payton for Shire Network News asking you to "Consider This!" Last week, Democrats in the United States held their convention to officially nominate Barack Obama and Joe Biden as their candidates for President and Vice President of these United States. Party conventions, for the past 40 or 50 years, have pretty much been political theater, both for the Democrats and the Republicans. The conclusion is foregone, no more deals struck in smoke-filled backrooms, as my dad laments. It’s just not surprising anymore.
At least, that’s the facade. But here at Shire Network News, we managed to infiltrate the rooms full of decision-makers and discovered some surprises that would not otherwise have seen the light of day.
So, from the home office in Camillus, NY, via our satellite cubicle in Denver, CO, here are the Top 9 Things You Didn’t Know About The Democratic National Convention.
9. Rejected the campaign slogan idea, "See, we have old, rich, white guys, too!"
8. Barack called Hillary at 3am to tell her when she was going to speak. Just like her ad said, she was ready for the call. (Though she was hoping it was the call to be VP.)
7. Jimmy Carter’s request that the thermostat be turned up to 80 to conserve energy was rejected, for fear that Ted Kennedy’s sweating would clear the convention hall.
6. Renting huge stadium for speech: $500,000. Getting various rock legends to play there: $275,000. Taking credit for drawing an audience that’s really there to hear a concert: priceless.
5. Filed a formal protest with RTD, the Denver Regional Transportation District, about their new signs, "Hope you have exact Change."
4. Rejected the campaign slogan idea, "Joe’s just Biden’ his time."
3. Organizers were unable to have Obama descend out of the heavens into his Greek temple because Zhang Yimou [chang ee-mow] was just too tired after directing the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies.
2. Hillary Clinton suggested that, instead of confetti, those 18 million pieces of the "glass ceiling" should shower down on Obama supporters.
And the number 1 thing you didn’t know about the Democratic National Convention…
1. It was all really just the warm-up act for this week’s Republic National Convention.
That’s right, the kids have had their fun, with all their bickering, some feel-good talk to smooth it over, and promises of utopia. It’s time for the adults to get serious. Consider that.
I read this post on the TalkLeft blog by “Big Tent Democrat” last Sunday. It’s regarding the issues surrounding Sarah Palin’s reassigning of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, allegedly because he wouldn’t fire Palen’s sister’s estranged husband. BTD takes fellow liberal blogger Josh Marshall to task for his coverage of the issue, specifically over the fact that Marshall seems to take all the accusations against Palin at face value (guilty until proven innocent) and Marshall’s contention that this kerfuffle may hurt Palin politically.
For starters, the Left seems to see this entirely in a political lens. BTD notes:
Let’s face it, Marshall’s interest, and everybody’s for that matter, is almost entirely based on the political implications of this story. And here is what Marshall is missing – the story is likely to have little political implications for Sarah Palin. And if there are any, they are likely to be positive.
Quite an honest admission from BTD, who reiterates this point at the end of the post. Not mentioned in this post or Marshall’s is that, while there has been an investigation opened into this, Palin hasn’t been subpoenaed — because she’s been so forthcoming! This is another example of what I’ve noted before; Palin seems to be the kind of politician everybody says they’d like and wish there were more of. And indeed this corruption-fighting, cooperative governor enjoys 80%+ approval from her constituents.
But Big Tent Democrat goes over the accusations and the facts of the case and find no “there” there, which to me is the larger point. So many on the left smell blood in the water, because it’s all political. In the meantime, there’s no credit given for the unusual openness shown by Palin simply because she’s of the wrong party.
Hey liberals. You’re watching the movie “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and booing Jimmy Stewart (in a brilliant disguise).
UPDATE: John Hinderaker at PowerLine notes that the NY Times called itself “squeamish” about covering the John Edwards “love child” story, and had to (in their words) devote more time to the “big issues facing the country”. But today, they had 3(!) front page stories on Bristol Palin.
Times’ Public Editor Clark Hoyt said of the Edwards coverage, “I do not think liberal bias had anything to do with it.” I’m sure he said it with a straight face, too.
Yesterday, before McCain’s VP announcement, the Democracy Project blog put put their top 10 reasons why she should be VP. Definitely worth a look. My favorites ones are 9, 7, 5 and 2, but read the whole list.
Not Romney, Pawlenty, and not Lieberman. John McCain has made either party choice in November a historic one by choosing Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate. This is so big, the Drudge Report website is overwhelmed with readers (I can’t get a link in edgewise).
Aside from the obvious appeal to history, and the disenchanted Clinton voters, Palin brings experience. "Experience?", you may say, "She’s not even been governor a full 2 years." Indeed, but that’s 2 years more executive branch experience that the other 3 candidates — Obama, Biden and McCain — combined. Prior to that (via Wikipedia):
The Wikipedia article has much more about her that I find absolutely excellent. Great job, Senator McCain.
The Catholic church has had to correct the thinking of some Democrats in the past in reference to the church’s position on abortion. (Well, they’ve spoken out in the past; there’s no evidence yet that the actual thinking was corrected.) Most recently, the Speaker of the House herself has come under fire for misrepresenting Church teaching in order to buttress her own views.
Politics can be treacherous. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walked on even riskier ground in a recent TV interview when she attempted a theological defense of her support for abortion rights.
Roman Catholic bishops consider her arguments on St. Augustine and free will so far out of line with church teaching that they have issued a steady stream of statements to correct her.
The latest came Wednesday from Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik, who said Pelosi, D-Calif., “stepped out of her political role and completely misrepresented the teaching of the Catholic Church in regard to abortion.”
It has been a harsh week of rebuke for the Democratic congresswoman, a Catholic school graduate who repeatedly has expressed pride in and love for her religious heritage.
Enough “pride” and “love” for her to, y’know, accept her Church’s teaching? Apparently not. The “steady stream” of corrections don’t seem to do much. More below the fold…
In pictures taken or made by both adoring fans and by the press, Barack Obama keeps getting the heavenly, messianic treatment. Check out this blog that highlights all sorts of examples. And see here for a few others. Covering enthusiasm is one thing; framing the shot it another.
But it looks like the guy’s starting to cater to this feeling by giving his acceptance speech in a mock-up of a Greek temple.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama‘s big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple.
The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos’ National Football League team plays.
Some 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington’s Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party’s nomination for president.
He will stride out to a raised platform to a podium that can be raised from beneath the floor.
The show should provide a striking image for the millions of Americans watching on television as Obama delivers a speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.
(Click here for a picture.)
The keyword here is "image". Granted, both parties manage the image of their candidates; perception is too often reality for many folks and the parties play to this. But this is simply way over the top, and McCain’s ad about Obama’s celebrity starts to ring truer and truer. The whole Adonis imagery he’s playing to is indicative of a guy who is drunk on his own Kool-Aid.
After this, you can’t say that messianic imagery is simply foist upon Mr. Obama by his fans. He’s participating in it and encouraging it. And now we know why he chose Invesco Field; the convention center was too small for his head.
Shire Network News #143 has been released. The feature interview is with one time Marxist, David Horowitz from the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He talks to Tom Paine about the direction the Democratic party is taking and how this is rooted in the politics of the 1960’s. Click here for the show notes, links, and ways to listen to the show; directly from the web site, by downloading the mp3 file, or by subscribing with your podcatcher of choice.
I did not have a commentary this week.
Poverty, as Glenn Beck notes, is an issue that unites us all, at least on the surface. It’s not a political condition, he says; it’s a human condition.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly a third of the residents in those cities [Detroit, Michigan and Buffalo, New York] are living beneath the poverty line, the highest rates among large cities in the entire country.
No matter what side of the political aisle you’re on, that is nothing short of appalling. Yet if you ask people what we should do about it, you’ll probably hear answers that inexplicably break down right along party lines.
Indeed. Instead, we should see what works and do it. Additionally, we should see what doesn’t work and stop doing it. I mean, if providing the same solution for decades hasn’t helped, it’s time for a radically different answer.
But as Glenn observes, there are some places that will stick with their solution through thick and thin (and failure).
