BartBlog

More On Sarah Palin: Nico Pitney over to the Huff Post reports that Alaska’s Gov. Hockey Mom appeared on a shock jock’s radio show in Anchorage and laughed her head off when her opponent in the Alaska State Senate, Lyda Green, was called a “bitch” by the show’s host. The slammer was that she also cackled when the idiot-with-a-microphone referred to Green, a cancer survivor, as “a cancer” twice and joked about her weight. An op-ed in The Anchorage Daily News called Palin’s giggling, “one of the most unprofessional, childish and inexcusable performances I’ve ever seen from a politician.” Classy lady, that Sarah.

– Yet More Palin: Whatever facts shake out regarding her firing of the Alaska Public Safety Commissioner for allegedly failing to dismiss a state trooper who went through an acrimonious divorce from her sister in 2005, Palin, like most Republicans, doesn’t seem to see that there is a glacier-sized conflict of interest here: She should have encouraged an investigation into his conduct and then left it to her AG or other independent body to prosecute the case. For that matter, if the guy beat his ex-wife, was drunk on the job and abused his son, as Palin has claimed, why wasn’t he arrested? (Many of Palin’s complaints have been dismissed after further investigation.) That she didn’t recuse herself from the case entirely shows she has no respect for, or knowledge of, how the law works, and we’ve had enough of that in the Executive Branch in the past eight long years. (BTW, Palin originally recommended this guy for the trooper job when she was Mayor of Wasilla. Judgment?)

– Soon to Be Breaking News: Something nasty will rise to the top regarding Palin’s close connections to large energy corporations – she’s the only so-far unindicted major Republican in the state and, contrary to Old Man McCain’s guff, she didn’t get there by being a ‘reformer.’ (Her ‘reforms’ were mainly just dumping her political enemies.) In Alaska, if you’re a GOP politician, you make the deal with Energy Money to move into the Big Leagues. This will be enough to sink the USS Maverick once as for all, as his ‘judgment’ is revealed to stink on ice (not much of a pun intended).

– Flanders? Palin calls her good Christopublican, Iron Dog racer husband Todd the ‘First Dude.’ Isn’t that cute and endearing? Gee, at least she’ll bring dignity to the vice presidency.

– ALPO Update: The AP reports that both Bush and Cheney have now pulled out of the GOP-O-Rama in St. Paul entirely. Seems someone realized that being visually associated with the most loathed president and vice president in our history is maybe not the best thing for Republicans this year. Instead, the hapless Junior will be down in Texas ‘monitoring’ Hurricane Gustav (read ‘vacationing’); and Deadeye Dick is on a four-day jaunt to Europe, including a drop-by in Georgia (uh oh). Incidentally, McCain’s handlers have decided to curtail the Republican convention activities from four hours a day to two, purportedly due to deference for the possible victims of Gustav, but really it’s likely because they didn’t think they could dredge up much of an audience the Right’s Last Rites. This speaks volumes about what terrible shape the GOP is in; no wonder Rep. Tom Davis III (R-VA), in a rare flash of honesty, told CNN last May: “The Republican brand is in the trash can. If we were dog food, they would take us off the shelf.”

– The Shape of Things to Come? C-Span aired a Frank “Death Tax” Luntz focus group of undecided voters early Monday morning (9/1/08), with the Republican pollster and friend-of-Satan, after hours of leaning-to-the-GOP questions, finally asking, while holding a portrait of McCain no less, “Who would you vote for right now?” Out of the 25 men and women in the group, 15 said Obama-Biden, 9 said McCain-Palin and, apparently, 1 had collapsed to the floor from sheer boredom. Luntz could only shrug his shoulders and twist up his chubby ferret face in a semblance of a brave smile as the Big Media filed out of the room. Let’s see if they report on it, Joe “Primary Colors” Klein.

BTW, Luntz made much of pressing the “experience” issue between Obama and Palin. Here’s a head’s-up: In 1999, while Wasilla, AK, (pop. 6,000) Mayor Palin was campaigning for regressive ultra-right Nixon tool Pat Buchanan, Obama was in the Illinois State Senate drafting and passing sweeping ethics reform legislation. Today, as governor, Palin for 18 months has represented 670,053 Alaskans; Obama, since 2005, has represented in the US Senate 12.8 million Illinois constituents, including the third largest city in America. (Population figures from 2006 US Census.) You’re telling me there’s really some comparison here?

– If you caught NBC’s Meet the Press Gang Sunday, 8/31, you witnessed CNBC’s “Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo shamelessly auditioning for a job on VP Sarah Palin’s staff, should McCain be elected. Her drooling approbation was embarrassing; she did everything but kneel and genuflect.

– Fritz, That’s It! In all of the fevered hype about McCain’s ‘maverick’ pick of Sarah Palin to be his Veep, and comparisons to Poppy Bush picking certified national moron Dan Quayle in 1988, it’s worth remembering that the last major party presidential candidate to choose a relatively unknown woman as his VP was Walter Mondale in 1984. The result:

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush
Popular Vote: 54,455,572 or 58.77% of the vote.
Electoral Vote: Reagan/Bush won 525 electoral votes, or 97.6%, and carried every state but Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferraro
Popular Vote: 37,577,352 or 40.6% of the vote.
Electoral Vote: Mondale/Ferraro won 12 electoral votes, or 2.4%

That’s what’s known in the trade as a blowout, lads and lasses.