"I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."
-John McCain, October 21, 2007 (thanks RL)
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Reformer, reform thyself
Palin billed Alaskans for travel allowance while she was at home.
It turns out Sarah Palin has charged her taxpayers a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at her home, The Washington Post reported this week.(AP)
An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain's Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children.
That's not change we can believe in.
It turns out Sarah Palin has charged her taxpayers a daily allowance, normally used for official travel, for more than 300 nights spent at her home, The Washington Post reported this week.(AP)
An analysis of travel statements filed by the governor, now John McCain's Republican running mate, shows she claimed the per diem allowance on 312 occasions when she was home in Wasilla and that she billed taxpayers $43,490 for travel by her husband and children.
That's not change we can believe in.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sexist outrage
In screaming their outrage and trying to spin Obama's recent comments as sexist, it seems the McCain camp is treading some dangerous ground. After all...
Isn't it McCain who once joked that Chelsea Clinton was "so ugly" because "her father is Janet Reno?"
..who called his second wife the "C-word?"
..who dumped his first wife because she was disfigured in a car crash, and was no longer pretty enough for him?
..and then remarried before his divorce was even final?
Just checking. Because any of those things could be construed as sexist. And if Obama baited them into turning the conversation to sexism, it was another smart move.
Isn't it McCain who once joked that Chelsea Clinton was "so ugly" because "her father is Janet Reno?"
..who called his second wife the "C-word?"
..who dumped his first wife because she was disfigured in a car crash, and was no longer pretty enough for him?
..and then remarried before his divorce was even final?
Just checking. Because any of those things could be construed as sexist. And if Obama baited them into turning the conversation to sexism, it was another smart move.
A new low for McCain
The Republican party knows a thing or two about sex and children (Mark Foley, we're looking in your direction), but their latest attack ad is beyond the pale. The spot suggests that Senator Obama supported legislation requiring comprehensive sex ed for kindergartners(!). This is a huge, malicious whopper.
The Facts: The bill, introduced in the Illinois legislature, called for non-mandatory sex education for grades K-12 that was "age and developmentally appropriate." For kindergartners, that included, among other things, "how to say no to unwanted sexual advances." In other words, empowering little Timmy or Susie to avoid a pervert.
Yes, only the right-wing smear machine could take a measure designed to help parents protect their kids from sexual predators and twist it around to sound dirty and wrong. If you happen to see the spot, be sure to call, fax or email the station to voice your disgust that they would even run it.
The Facts: The bill, introduced in the Illinois legislature, called for non-mandatory sex education for grades K-12 that was "age and developmentally appropriate." For kindergartners, that included, among other things, "how to say no to unwanted sexual advances." In other words, empowering little Timmy or Susie to avoid a pervert.
Yes, only the right-wing smear machine could take a measure designed to help parents protect their kids from sexual predators and twist it around to sound dirty and wrong. If you happen to see the spot, be sure to call, fax or email the station to voice your disgust that they would even run it.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Palinheit 451
Shakespeare and Whitman and Twain, oh my!
Here are just a few of the books Mayor Sarah Palin tried to get town librarian Mary Ellen Baker to ban in the lovely, all-American town of Wasilla, Alaska (Stephen King and Harry Potter, your days are numbered).
When Baker refused to remove the books from the shelves, Palin threatened to fire her. The story was reported in TIME Magazine and the list is from librarian.net. You may find a few personal favorites among the classics from which Palin wanted to protect the good people of Wasilla. Our favorites were Little Red Riding Hood and James and the Giant Peach. Enjoy:
Sarah Palin's Book Club
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Cujo by Stephen King
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
...and of course, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (??!!)
Here are just a few of the books Mayor Sarah Palin tried to get town librarian Mary Ellen Baker to ban in the lovely, all-American town of Wasilla, Alaska (Stephen King and Harry Potter, your days are numbered).
When Baker refused to remove the books from the shelves, Palin threatened to fire her. The story was reported in TIME Magazine and the list is from librarian.net. You may find a few personal favorites among the classics from which Palin wanted to protect the good people of Wasilla. Our favorites were Little Red Riding Hood and James and the Giant Peach. Enjoy:
Sarah Palin's Book Club
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Carrie by Stephen King
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Christine by Stephen King
Cujo by Stephen King
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
The Shining by Stephen King
The Witches by Roald Dahl
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
...and of course, Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (??!!)
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Maverick or Mav-reckless?
According to a fellow Navy pilot and acquaintance, McCain "was the kind of guy you wanted to room with -- not fly with. He was reckless, and that's critical when you start thinking about who's going to be the president." The old pilot laughs, and then continues: "But the Navy accident rate was cut in half the day John McCain was shot down." - Timberg biography
Monday, September 8, 2008
McCain - the most dangerous choice.
"They broke me."
John McCain just told us in his own words why he would be a dangerous choice for President.
"They broke me." In describing his terrible experience in Vietnam (for which he deserves our respect but not our vote), McCain admitted that his captors tortured him to the point of breaking his will. This comes with a mental price.
Here is a man who is well known to lose his temper. His outbreaks are documented in the public record. He used the word "fight" over 40 times in his acceptance speech. And while he may have glued himself back together nicely over the years, at one time he was beaten and tortured - by the communists - to the point that he completely lost control of his being.
Never mind his last-minute, irrational decision to put a frighteningly inexperienced, power-abusing, lobbyist-loving, science-hating junior governor and former beauty queen just a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world. Never mind that he has flip-flopped on so many of his positions in recent years in running the conservative gauntlet to his candidacy. Or his 90% agreement rate with George Bush.
"They broke me." This is not the kind of leader we want negotiating with Russia and China. Unless you like your food (and your children) seriously irradiated, this man should be nowhere near the nuclear football.
John McCain just told us in his own words why he would be a dangerous choice for President.
"They broke me." In describing his terrible experience in Vietnam (for which he deserves our respect but not our vote), McCain admitted that his captors tortured him to the point of breaking his will. This comes with a mental price.
Here is a man who is well known to lose his temper. His outbreaks are documented in the public record. He used the word "fight" over 40 times in his acceptance speech. And while he may have glued himself back together nicely over the years, at one time he was beaten and tortured - by the communists - to the point that he completely lost control of his being.
Never mind his last-minute, irrational decision to put a frighteningly inexperienced, power-abusing, lobbyist-loving, science-hating junior governor and former beauty queen just a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world. Never mind that he has flip-flopped on so many of his positions in recent years in running the conservative gauntlet to his candidacy. Or his 90% agreement rate with George Bush.
"They broke me." This is not the kind of leader we want negotiating with Russia and China. Unless you like your food (and your children) seriously irradiated, this man should be nowhere near the nuclear football.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)