Elisabeth Hasselbeck in pure panic mode

Today on The View, Elisabeth Hassselbeck displayed what doctors would call Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). She is in pure survival mode, gasping and grasping at anything she can to make sure Barack Obama does not become president.

She is exhibiting symptoms that many are feeling. They are absolutely panicked that the world as they know it (a world where George W. Bush is president) is coming to an end.

I think they should relax. Get all panicked if Obama wins. You all (McCain supporters) are worrying yourself needlessly. Get all crazy tomorrow if president-elect Obama is reality.

Today, just enjoy it.

Nancy Pfotenhauer and "real Virginia" on MSNBC

Did Nancy Pfotenhauer just say "The democrats have just come in from the District of Columbia and moved into Northern Virginia. And that's really what you see there. But the rest of the state. Real Virginia, if you will, I think will be very responsive to Senator McCain's message".

Um, is this the latest strategy from the campaign. First, Sarah Palin saying some areas of the country are "pro-America" as opposed to the non-pro-America parts of the country. And now Pfotewhoesit saying real Virginia vs. northern Va, which I guess is not real?

And did anyone think she might as well have said "The blacks have just come in from DC and moved to NOVA"?

Sounded like it to me. And I hate using the race card

Where's Tucker Bounds when you need him?

That was rehtorical. He's in the Country First closet you silly goose!

Mark Green, bin Laden and the election for the presidency of the United States

The other day Mark Green, former mayoral candidate and public advocate for New York City, wrote in the Huffington Post that an “October Surprise” might materialize in the form of Osama bin Laden injecting himself into the elections here in the United States. I have written before about an October Surprise by Bush concerning the capture of bin Laden. But the scenarios that Green lays out in his article are just as ( and maybe more) likely.

I have often thought how bin Laden and Bush needed the other (or the ideological equivalent of “the other”) in order to achieve their respective goals. Without one or the other playing the role of agitator, the other loses the warrior status among the people they lead.

A militaristic-by-default United States helps bin Laden by ensuring that whatever he does, be it video showing he is alive or a terror attack here or abroad, the United States will overreact and over extend its reach. Bin Laden’s goals are further advanced by a United States that excessively retaliates and, in pure panic, responds without regard to consequences.

If, by appearing on video tape or, God forbid, another attack here in the United States, bin Laden gets the United States to respond with “decisive action” rather than deliberative action, he knows that the decisive action will surely include collateral damage. Collateral damage, of course, is just a nice way of saying “innocent civilians killed”. Every time the United States' responds militaristically and collateral damage occurs, the terrorists are ensured new recruits to their cause.

Conversely, the Bush administration, as well as their Republican ideologues running for office, benefit when bin Laden moves from the periphery to the center of the American psyche. Though an appearance by bin Laden or an attack on US soil by the Taliban does reinforce that bin Laden has not been captured “dead or alive”, it also reinforces something far more significant. It reinforces the idea, falsely to be sure, that Republicans are best at fighting the “war on terror” and are tougher in their response. If bin Laden magically appears on our television screens just before an election, as he did in 2004, it reminds the public at large that he is still a terrorist that needs to be dealt with. And a scared public tends to believe the Republicans are the best at dealing with such a terrorist.

That is why the recent line of attack by Sarah Palin could devastate the Obama campaign. The attack, void of fact, thoroughly debunked and done in a vacuum, will not be effective. But, should bin Laden appear, Palin’s assertion that Obama “pals around with terrorist”, becomes fatal. The parasitic claim does not need to be true in order to spread and become fatal. It simply needs a secondary host from which to feed. And that secondary host is bin Laden.

So what are we to do to blunt the effectiveness should an attack or video tape materialize in the next few weeks? I echo Mark Green’s suggestion that we get ahead of the curve and make it clear, through our voices via conversations with friends as well as posts such as this, that we fully expect bin Laden to inject himself in this presidential race just as he did in 2004. And we need to make sure that people understand that bin Laden has been on the loose now for over seven years after two wars, countless lives and a trillion dollars later and he has still not been caught. And all those efforts were done under a Republican administration that took their eye off the target and made the world a far more dangerous place.

Just as we need to keep telling people that the Republicans failed us economically, we need, also, to tell people that their ideas have failed us militaristically. And that if McCain were to win, his flair for drama and his tendency to overreact would be devastating to this country. We also need to highlight that if something were to happen to McCain, the control of our military would be in Sarah Palin’s hands. And Sarah Palin, no doubt, would be more than willing to hasten her vision of eschatology.

Start talking about these scenarios people. Otherwise if or when they happen, we as progressives will be left flat footed and the result will ensure a McCain / Palin victory.

Sans-a-Blink Sarah blinked

She sucked eggs. Big ‘ole moose eggs (Do moose have eggs?).

What?

You want me to give her credit for what? For not melting on stage? For not being able to answer a question? For thinking the sub-prime mess has something to do with energy? For wanting to expand the powers of the vice-presidency even though she has, by her own admission, no idea what the vice-president does?

I said before her convention speech that if she got her name right it would be considered a success. That’s how low the bar was then.

And she managed to lower it even more in the month since that time. Hell, the bar was so low that even Bristol’s supposed unborn child could have crawled over it. It was so low even a drunk George Bush could have bellied up to it.

So by those standards she did what she needed to do. But I would like anyone who thought it was a success to consider one thing.

Sarah Palin has said that she admires both Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro. Imagine if either of those women were on stage last night and turned in the performance that Sarah Palin did. They would have been laughed off the stage before it was even over.

Just because she made it through means nothing. She had a stack of three-by-fives she was reading from. And she could barely read those.

She’s a failure. Get over it. And Republicans need to get in the business of finding a woman with brains to represent their brand. Sarah Palin proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that simply having breasts and a vagina is not enough. She is an insult to women everywhere and it was the most blatantly sexist pick John McCain could have made.

Palin Paranoia

Last night I had trouble falling asleep. This is not unusual as I probably have undiagnosed insomnia. What is unusual is that I was up thinking about how the incompetence of Sarah Palin is just a ruse. Granted it is far fetched but Joanna McKane has been all about drama and Palin could be following the narrative in order to spring a big gotcha on the public. What if on Thursday she not only makes a little bit of sense but she floors everyone with her quick wit and grasp of the issues?

The recent news that Palin may be planning a public wedding for her daughter, Bristol, just a few days before the election in order to whip some extra votes is pretty far out there as well but it’s apparently true. Though I am not exactly sure how that is going to work since, in my mind, all it does is amplify that abstinence education (if in fact Bristol is pregnant. That's a big if!) doesn’t work and getting married at a young age is a recipe for disaster.

So her idiocy might be part of a bigger plan. And if it is, could it work? A couple of years ago there was this guy who worked for me who just didn’t seem to get it. He was always struggling, always unable to understand just the basic fundamentals of the job. But just about a month before he was up for a review he miraculously turned everything around. He not only got what his job was, he excelled and put even the best employees to shame. I did not buy his little stunt of stupidity and made sure his review reflected his poor behavior for eleven months.

But the American people have short memories. Really, really short memories. And all it would take is one stellar jaw dropping performance from Palin to negate everything up to that point.

Of course this entire election season I have sold the American people short. It seems this cycle they are paying attention like never before. And perhaps they wouldn’t be fooled by an all-of-a-sudden coherent, intelligent Palin.

I know, I know. I am probably paranoid. But I really don’t think she could possibly be as stupid as she seems (could she?). In some sort of way I feel like we might be getting punked.

The Statesman or the Drama Queen

A man running for president decides to suspend his campaign in order to return to Washington to work on a crisis. This is how that candidate would behave if:

a) He was a statesman: Cease all campaign ads like he promised to do, eschew the limelight (and klieg lights) and work tirelessly through the wee hours of the night in order to get a resolution passed.

b) He was a drama queen: Claim that he was suspending his campaign, including campaign ads, but never really do it. Also he would send out each and every of his surrogates to attack his opponent. Then he would go on every news show he can possibly manipulate to tell the American people that he is apolitical and tell them that he is willing to pay the price if he slips in the polls. In fact, the drama queen will do very little negotiating on the deal for which he claims to have suspended his campaign and instead he will stand in the public arena pontificating about the virtues of that very suspension.

The drama queen is much like the hypocrite in Matthew, chapter 6 verses 5 and 6:

When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

The drama queen’s reward is the knowledge that everyone else knows how great the drama queen is.

John McCain, er, Joanna McKane is a drama queen. He puts Erica Kane to shame.

OK, take her back to her igloo

Watch CBS Videos Online

Ok, we get it. We really get it! She is not ready for prime-time. Take her back to her igloo now! We will no longer request her presence.

It's also apparent why John McCain suspended his campaign. He did not want this train-wreck dominating the news.

This is so unbelievable that I often think I am dreaming. Seriously, I have to call people to ask them if it is all true.

Well, at least this Katie Couric interview proves one thing. No matter how bad the brand, and no matter how mindless the candidates, there are just people that will vote Republican because they are stubborn. I never thought there would be a national candidate more inept than Bush, but it appears I was wrong.

At least if McCain / Palin do somehow win we will have four years of non-stop comedy because they have proven that they are nothing more than a joke.

John McCain and All My Children

Gay men the world over are known for their drama, among other things. We coined the term “drama queen” and most of us can, without much effort, fill those stilettos. However, having watched John McCain over the past few weeks, I’m afraid the gays may be losing the “drama queen” turf war.

Who knew that a crusty, old gigolo could claim the DQ mantle almost seamlessly? In fact he puts most of the gays I know to shame. With his VP pick, his hissy-fit over “unfair press” and, now, with his suspension of his campaign, he is taking unnecessary drama to new heights. The only thing that would make all this drama complete is if McCain were caught spiking the drinks of his press pool with GHB.

It has become sort of cliché for a gay man to say of another gay man “So and so is so gay, when he opens his mouth a purse falls out”

I’d like to amend that and say that when John McCain opens his mouth an episode of All My Children falls out.

John McCain is now the Susan Lucci of politics...all drama with very few wins to show for it. In fact, from here on out I will refer to him as Joanna McKane, Erica Kane's alter ego.

Let there be no doubt...

Sarah, repeat after me "In. Over. My. Head"

Watch it to the end. If elected this person will be? Everyone repeat after me...

One. Heartbeat. Away.

Be. Very. Afraid.

Back in 2004, right around election time, terror alerts across the country were raised. The government told us that we were in imminent danger.

Now, in 2008, they are telling us the same thing about the economy.

I assure you the president’s address tonight will be nothing but an attempt to scare the living daylights out of us over the economy.

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Aren’t you sick and tired of them telling you to be afraid all the time? Aren’t you sick and tired of being afraid?

John McCain gets all transparent

Just after I finished posting about John McCain’s lack of transparency he does something completely transparent. He said he is suspending his campaign until congress come's up with some sort of solution for the impending economic crisis on Wall Street. Oh, and he wants to postpone the debates as well.

Wow! This man doesn’t even want to be seen within 48 hours of President Bush on TV. The president will address the nation tonight.

And it immediately ends the bad press McCain has been receiving and allows him a breather. Whew!

That’s pretty darn transparent!

I was Mark Buse

Here are my thoughts on the news that Mark Buse, John McCain’s chief of staff, is gay.

I lived in Washington DC from 1997-1999 with a four month hiatus managing a congressional campaign in 1998. DC was a magical place and allowed me the space I needed to come out, baby step by baby step, of the closet. It was also a place that allowed me to foolishly jump back in the closet.

It was in DC that I went on my first date with a male, had my first boyfriend and experienced things I never thought possible. From a private tour of the White House by National Security Advisor-cum-docent Sandy Berger to watching the impeachment proceedings of Bill Clinton in the gallery of the Senate, I was a kid in the proverbial candy store.

The hiatus I mentioned above was to work for a congressional candidate in east Texas. The candidate, Brian Babin, was a republican seeking to unseat incumbent Jim Turner in the 2nd District of Texas. The 2nd District is known for its most famous representative, Turner’s predecessor Charlie Wilson. I went to work on the campaign more for vanity reasons than anything else. At the age of 21, I was the youngest campaign manager working on a federal level campaign and though I knew where my candidate stood on, among other things, homosexuality (virulently anti-gay) I decided to briefly return to the closet in exchange for the superficial satisfaction of doing something that no one else my age was doing.

In August of ’98, after a series of events, I resigned from the campaign, citing irreconcilable differences with my candidate over the issue of homosexuality. It was briefly a story (see here) and when I made it back to DC I was a changed man.

I understand Mark Buse working for someone who believes in inequality for, and votes consistently against, the LGBT community. I understand because I was just like Buse but also because I knew hundreds of people just like Buse. I do not condone, but I do understand.

And let me be perfectly clear. When the truth comes out about the sexuality of many in DC, the Buse story will seem silly. Hell, the Larry Craig and Mark Foley stories will seem silly. Buse, Craig, Foley et al are D-List in comparison. Currently there are men and women hiding in the closet that are in the highest positions (household names type of “highest positions”) of government and when – not if but when – they are outed the stories we have heard so far will seem like child’s play.

So what do I think? I think the hiding in the closet is cowardly and if, while hiding in the closet, you are working for someone who works against those that live their lives honestly you should be fully prepared for someone to call you on your BS. If you can’t tell the truth, someone else will tell it for you.

But Buse? Please! He’s nothing compared to the outings yet to come.

Hypocrite of the far right (for today): Mark Buse

Posted without comment (until later, of course):

John McCain's Chief of Staff, Mark Buse, is Gay

UPDATE: My thoughts here

Bush's October Surprise: Surprise!

If it is true that the Bush administration is deliberately agitating the hornet’s nest that is Pakistan by escalating US military operations in the northwest area of that country, the question is, why now?

It has long been assumed that Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al-Zawahiri are in the northwest area of Pakistan or even in adjacent Afghanistan. And while what seems to be a renewed interest in the area is a welcome development, one must cautiously look at the motivating factors behind the administration’s actions as well as the possibly destabilizing consequences such actions might produce.

Bush has had seven years to catch bin Laden, “dead or alive”. After saying bin Laden was the most important person in the war on terror, the administration did an apparent about-face and said that he didn’t matter all that much. The shifts (reversals, really) of the administration are troubling but, as anyone who has followed Bush closely through the years can tell you, they are not surprising.

What is surprising is how Bush -- as well as his hopeful successor McCain -- has moved closer to Obama’s positions with everything from Iran to Iraq to Afghanistan to, most recently Pakistan. Those “shifts” in policy are not meant to be noticed. In fact, as McCain proved with the “Change” slogan, they are meant to be owned without acknowledging that the mantra was stolen from the opponent in the first place.

But the focus on Pakistan while ignoring its democratically elected government in Islamabad is even more cynical than slogan stealing and even more dangerous than saber rattling. It is Bush’s last stand and the intent could not be any clearer. Bush is prepared to use the full force of the United States military in an extraordinary display of theatre to tilt the November elections.

This is his “October Surprise”. Bush thinks that in the last hour of his presidency he can run out and become a hero by catching bin Laden, a man Bush has been uninterested in catching for seven years. And he thinks that the big catch will ensure his party’s victory in November.

Is he that cynical? Does he think Americans are that stupid?

The better question, will it work?

Memo to Steve Schmidt: Accusations must be backed up with evidence

Steve Schmidt, a top McCain strategist, accused The New York Times of being "totally, 150 percent, in the tank for the Democratic candidate" Barack Obama.

I know this kind of media bashing works. I come from a family that believes this crap. But, my God, is this the best the McCain camp has? I know it has been a bad week for the senator but please try a little harder.

Tucker Bounds needs to be let go before he has an aneurysm, Steve Schmidt needs to start providing some evidence for his claims and Palin needs to hold a press conference. Is that too much to ask?

Republicans are really bad at losing. They cannot accept that their ideas are stale and their concepts flawed. So what do they do? They blame the media. They always have and they always will. It's in their blood. And it would be really funny in a sad sort of way if it were not for the fact that it works.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Schmidt is also trying to blunt something potentially devastating that has yet to be revealed. Call it a hunch, an Alaskan size hunch. Only time will tell.

Rachael Ray and John McCain talk girls...I mean grills

Today on the hour long John McCain infomercial via Rachael Ray, Cindy McCain said that she reserved judgment of Sarah Palin until she watched the Palins interact with their kids. And she said that she was extremely impressed. I would just like Cindy to remember what she said in the next couple weeks. Just sayin'!

Also, am I the only one who thought the whole "how many grills" discussion, if you were not paying close attention, sounded like this:

McCain: "We will have a girl, and at Camp David we will have a girl"

Rachael Ray: "I've heard that you can handle as many as five girls at one time"

McCain: "Actually, I think I've had four at one time"

RR: "Oh that's so humble"

McCain: "I can certainly handle more than one girl"

Cindy certainly knows that's true.

Oh, and did anyone else know Sarah Palin had a special needs child? Yeah, McCain just went on and on about special needs on the show. That guy, he's so compassionate. Like Bush, except older.
Oh, and the McCains go to Costco! I mean they're just like you and me. Gosh. I mean except they have seven homes and 13 cars, but other than that, they are just like us!
Thanks Rachael for showing us how real and compassionate John McCain is!

Bill Clinton endorses McCain on The View

Bill Clinton just practically endorsed John McCain and Sarah Palin on The View.

I know this is not popular among my Democratic brothers and sisters but I really can't stand Bill Clinton.

My dislike of him is what we call being consistent in one's own values.

I have said for some time I am no fan of Bill Clinton and I have been consistent. That is why I can't stand phony Christianists that pledge allegiance to anyone in the Republican party as long as they are x (insert any single hot-button issue). It allows, as we have seen with Bush, the candidates or elected officials get away with anything as long as they maintain they are x.
And the candidates know they can get away with anything with certain groups as long as they they toe the line on that single issue. It is dangerous and it is wrong. Single issue voting is wrong and a case can be made that it is immoral.

But anyway, why didn't Bill just wear a McCain / Palin t-shirt on The View? I have never heard such a clear, yet indirect, endorsement of a ticket in all my life. Clinton makes my skin crawl.

When I lived in DC I used to go to the same church as the Clintons. I remember a particular Sunday which happened to be the day after the Paula Jones' deposition and the day before the Monica Lewinsky story broke. Clinton, who was always composed, was squirming in the pew the entire hour. I went home that afternoon and said to my roommate "The president was acting totally weird today at church. Something big is about to happen. I don't know what, but it's something."

It turned out he was squirming for a reason and I was right. No, I don't believe the witch hunt against Clinton was justified. But he did lie to me and to every other American. He lost my trust. I felt a lot like Nora Ephron did in this essay.

The headlines tomorrow should all read "Bill Clinton endorses McCain / Palin". I assure you the New York Post already has something in mind. In fact, the endorsement wil probably be a new McCain ad.

If McCain wins Bill can solidify his legacy of blowing it, pun intended, for the Democrats.

McCain campaign national spokesperson, Tucker Bounds is getting married. MSBC's David Shuster is best man

OH MY GOD! How do I keep coming up with these crazy funny titles for my posts? I even amaze myself. No, Tucker Bounds is not getting married. Quit laughing! You never know! He could be married already but moving on...

I don't mean to constantly pick on the John McCain campaign but...actually that's totally not true! I mean to pick on them every chance I get! I love picking on the campaign because it's just so freakin' easy to do. Especially this past week as the wheels have come off the Straight Talk Express.

But honestly, this guy Tucker Bounds? Really? Is that the best McCain can do. I have a feeling that as "McCain's national spokesperson" , Tucker's days may be numbered. He just had his more-than-likely-taut ass handed to him again, this time by MSNBC's David Shuster. It seems Tucker has a huge problem with the straight-talking part of the straight talk express. The whole Tuck meltdown today showed that the Campbell Brown episode was not an isolated incident.

Basically Bounds was unable to answer yes or no as to whether Phil Gramm would be part of a McCain administration, specifically McCain's Treasury Secretary. It seems like it would be a simple answer but in the McCain-paign nothing is as it seems. Tucker began hyperventilating, getting angrier and angrier and finally, when all seemed lost, he put his best butch face on and said something along the lines of "Obama is lying and he is not going to get away with it 'cause reporters are going to call him on it and I don't have to answer this question because my daddy can kick your daddy's ass, so nanny-nanny-boo-boo. And jinks!"

Knowing the history of how Tucker got to his position might help. I will explain:

Tucker, 29, was actually let go from the McCain campaign earlier this year when it appeared the campaign was dying a slow death. But when the campaign made a Lazarus-like comeback, they brought Tuck back.

Apparently Jill Hazelbaker, a former beard...er, I mean girlfriend of Tucker's, who also works on the McCain-paign convinced the Tucks to climb back on the big, hard long campaign. And he wouldn't even have to do it through the back-door either, like when he worked on the Bush campaign in 2004. In those days everything Tucker did was off the record. Everything.

Nope, the McCain-paign put Tuckle's pretty, choirboy face front and center. All neat and primped, like every college republican I have ever known.

Tucker's a man's man and probably God's man too. When I was in college and a member of the College Republicans the amount of Tuckers in that organization was astonishing. They were the kind that loved to "hang out" with their "bros" and really enjoyed spending time "in fellowship with the Lord surrounded by men of God" by going on FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) retreats. They honored their commitment to their faith by taking a vow of abstinence until marriage and got super-duper excited when people like former RNC chair, Ken Mehlman, would speak. Kenny-types were sort of super-heroes to the Tucker types.

And little Tucks, God bless his heart, he probably has his fair share of Ronald Reagan t-shirts. The ones where there is a caricature of the Gip with huge muscles protruding through a tight shirt standing in front of a big flag. You know, just as you would think of Reagan, right? Tucker probably has a ton of 'em. Reagan makes Tuck's pure heart race and blood rush to his nether regions.

But, anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Mark my words. Tucker is about to be let go, quietly, through the back door.




And before I get nasty email, look to the right! See it? It says I am married to a guy. I just have a huge problem with people who live in lavender scented closets working for equality-squashing candidates. I just wish they would grow some stones and get a grip on reality.

700 billion bailout to rescue Wall Street: Bush cements his legacy of failure

First off I should repeat my joke from yesterday, since I am determined that it make it on Letterman by the end of this week.
Q:How many zeros are in 700 billion?
A: 12, if you count Bush!
(David Letterman et al. can use the joke as long as they say attribute it to Jon-Marc McDonald. I'm a riot!)

Now I know that a 700 billion dollar bailout is the kind of story that causes a great many Americans to shrug their shoulders. Though the number is staggering, the story does not have real world application that they can relate to like, oh I don't know, selling a plane on eBay or telling the big boys in Washington thanks but no thanks.

But unlike the eBay and "bridge to nowhere" stories, the proposed 700 billion dollar bailout of Wall Street is actually true. And its consequences will be felt from Washington to Wasilla. Though the bailout might not warm the cockles of ones heart the way a former POW and a hockey mom do, people better start paying attention to what the bailout means not only to them, but future generations as well.

Let's get down to brass tacks for a moment. The bailout that the president has proposed is at a cost of $2,333.00 for each and every man, woman and child in this country. That's the price tag for which even babies born yesterday will be responsible! And, to make matters worse, it's nothing more than a glorified version of rearranging the deck chairs while the Titanic that is Wall Street sinks.

That's right. Two thousand three hundred and thirty three dollars. 2333 . That is how much this bailout will cost each American alive today. Let that sink in!

Got that? A man who cut taxes during wartime, wanted to privatize social-security (by turning it over to Wall Street, I might add), and spent more time on the Terri Shiavo dramedy than he has speaking to the American people about this impending crisis now wants everyone of us to pony up 2,333 dollars to clean up his deregulated mess.

Let lesser individuals fiddle with the Neverland fantasy that is Sarah Palin. Let them hitch their wagon to the falling star of space debris that is the McCain/Palin ticket. It is time for those of us who love this country to take a stand, fight like hell and make sure that Barack Obama is the next president of the United States.

What can we all do? A lot! And we all better start doing so quickly!

First, make sure you are registered to vote. Then, make sure all your like-minded friends are registered. Then go quickly (today kind of quickly) to the Obama website and find the campaign office nearest you and pick up a sign and bumper stickers. If there is not one near you, make your own signs. Plant them in your yard, slap them on your cars (I don't care if you think bumper stickers are tacky), put them everywhere.

After that, begin the hard work. Talk to everyone you know and explain to them why Obama is the right choice. Study where he stands on the issues, what his plans are and how he intends to fix our broken country.

Also explain to them why McCain is the wrong choice. Explain to them why the reckless pick of Sans-a-Blink Sarah automatically disqualifies McCain for the office he seeks. Study where he stands on the issues (which you might have to do on a daily basis as he tends to change his mind...or forgets where he stands...on the issues as frequently as he soaks his dentures).

And finally, above all else, don't lose hope. We all have witnessed the smears McCain has thrown at Obama and we have seen those smears tilt the polls. But we have also witnessed Obama weather each and every temporary drop with nerves of steel. Borrow a lesson from his playbook. Keep your eyes on the prize and don't give up. Stay focused.

We're almost there. This "long, national nightmare" is almost over. Fight for this harder than you have fought for anything in your entire life. The stakes are too high to be a passive observer!

The odd circumstances of Trig Palin's birth. Just because the story has gone away does not mean there is not a story

As many have said before, the reason Sarah Palin is so important, and the reason that there is such a focus on her, is because she shows how reckless John McCain’s judgment is and her lies, as we are discovering each day, prove that she was not vetted AT ALL.

Andrew Sullivan has done a wonderful job at disseminating all the facts on Sarah Palin.

But there are more questions that need to be answered. Let’s start with these:

** Bristol Palin, the 17 year old unmarried pregnant daughter of Sarah and Todd, was out of school for a significant amount of time last year (anywhere from 5-8 months) with “mono”. The maximum a child is normally out of school for such a thing as mono is less than three months. Did she have a rare strain? Was she, as one would assume, quarantined so as to not infect others? If so, could someone find out the dates she was out of school? Surely, with such an infectious disease, she would not be having sex while infected? She has been pregnant for, what, five months according to Sarah Palin?

** When Sarah Palin realized she was going into labor, why did she go ahead and make a speech at a governors’ conference in Texas? She says she was leaking amniotic fluid? Who is her doctor and why did they tell her it was ok to make an eight hour trip back to Alaska, on a PLANE? Did Sarah tell any of the flight attendants she was in labor? Did the pilot know? The governor of Alaska was five weeks premature with a special needs child and yet all the powers that be told her it was A-OK for her to travel? On a plane? Leaking amniotic fluid? Why wouldn’t they, for the sake of the baby, do what is in the best interest of the child and deliver in Texas so as not to risk more harm to little Trig? Todd Palin said they wanted the baby to be born in Alaska because “You can’t have a fish picker in Texas?” First of all, what does that even mean? And secondly, they were willing to risk further harm to the baby just so he could have Alaska as his place of birth?

** When she arrived back in Alaska, why weren’t there medical personnel waiting there to whisk away the governor? Why did she drive an additional 45 minutes to get to the hospital when there were others closer?

** Where are Trig Palin’s birth records? This is a legitimate question. After all, Trig had his own webpage on the governor’s state-run website. Where are Sarah Palin’s medical records? Mat-Su, the hospital where Palin gave birth, does not even list the birth of Trig the day the Palins claim. They don’t list the birth at all. Why is this?

** Sarah Palin returned back to work just three days after giving birth to her 5th child. Did her doctor, the one that is apparently MIA, allow this too? Or did Sarah go against her doctor’s wishes? I admit, I am no Sarah Palin. I’m a sissy-boy faggot that can barely move after a week with a slight cold. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, can shoot 437,000 caribou before dusk. But it seems to me that just 72 hours after giving birth to a child with special needs and she returned to work? Am I the only one that finds this not only remarkable, but also hard to believe?

I am sure there are very obvious answers to all these easy questions. Could people just give them to me? In the comments please list the answers if you have them. List the source as well.
Psst. Snopes does not count as a “source”

Also, if there are more questions that I have not listed, list them in the comments.

Oh, and I am fully prepared for the comments calling me crazy, unhinged, reckless. Say what you will. I don’t give a shit. I just want the answers. We deserve the answers. And one way or another, the answers will come out.