The draft letter below was submitted to readers of the H-NET List for Discussion of Women & the Military and Women in War on 9/9/2008. I think the process used to select Palin, as compared to the process described below, shows that McCain is either not a good “captain” or he is not really in charge of his campaign.

Either way, Senator McCain is no longer qualified to be our next Commander In Chief.

I’ve been following the Palin thread with interest. Below is an oped that will be published in my local paper within the week. The Palin selection demands very serious discussions among the electorate, given the National Security implications.

Warm regards,
Beth Coye
•••••••••••••••••••
An Unpublished Oped/DRAFT
President Sarah Palin — Commander-in-Chief
by Beth F. Coye,
Commander, U.S. Navy (ret.)

Senator McCain constantly describes himself as a military man who always places “Country First”. Unfortunately, his first
big decision as a presidential nominee puts “Risky Decision-making First” and “Country Second.”

As a woman who served my country as a naval officer for twenty-one years and taught American Government and International Relations at several universities, I am astonished by John McCain’s vice presidential choice, Governor Sarah Palin. Palin, who governs .2% of the U.S. population, has neither foreign policy experience nor knowledge of international leaders and countries.

Let’s put McCain’s decision in a military context: Captain John McCain, a retired naval officer, understands our military personnel system. Would he thrust someone who is the commanding officer of a small shore-based unit and who has no seagoing experience into the position of executive officer of a Navy carrier, or VicettChairman of the Joint Chiefs? These top military jobs directly compare with one of the two highest offices in our political system.

The military’s personnel system never allows a Navy lieutenant to fill an admiral’s billet, or an Army/Air Force/Marine captain to fill a general’s billet; our political system, however, permits presidential nominees to select anyone they want as a running mate — whether or not the person has the requisite skill sets or experience.

Let us remind ourselves that, in the tradition of U.S. civil-military relations, the Constitution names the President as Commander-in-Chief. I find it unthinkable that someone with Sarah Palin’s minimal resume might someday be president or actingtpresident and be called upon to approve or disapprove recommendations by our most senior military officers (e.g., the Unified Commanders or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs). Sarah Palin has likely rarely read an NIE (National Intelligence Estimate)!

I have worked hard since the late ’60s for the rights of women in the U.S. military and in America and I believe Sarah Palin’s nomination insults women who have fought for equality and fairness in job opportunities. This action also disrespects senior, qualified Republican women who were passed over by Senator McCain in favor of an unqualified, junior woman. The Palin choice, an act of reverse sex discrimination, patently represents exploitation of women for political purposes. In this regard, that Sarah Palin herself chooses to accept the offer mystifies me and many others. Does she not realize that she is ill-prepared for the office and is being used by the Republican Party?

Captain McCain demeans and diminishes the Offices of the Vice President and President by selecting such an unqualified person. His decision demonstrates a certain cynicism and flippancy toward the highest offices in the United States of America. At this point in American history, our nation requires a president who can reassure the people in America — and the world — that he intends to return to responsible leadership. Does any objective person feel reassured?

The personnel safety nets for precluding disasters in assignments in both the military and corporate worlds are a finely-honed personnel system and highly qualified individuals making thoughtful decisions and assignments. What are the equivalent safety nets for our elected leaders? There are four: (1) elected officials, (2) major political parties, (3) the Fourth Estate (media), and finally, (4) the electorate.

John McCain’s vice presidential selection, Sarah Palin, has slipped through the first two personnel safety nets for elected high officials. It’s now up to the media and electorate to act as powerful safety nets.

In sum, Sarah Palin’s selection literally tests the strengths and stability of our American political system.

——————————————-
Commander Coye, served in three intelligence jobs and is a former commanding officer. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, the American University School of International Service and thetSchool of Naval Warfare (Naval War College). Coye taught Political Science and International Relations at the Naval War College and several undergraduate colleges. She co-authored “My Navy Too”, 1998, and resides in Ashland, Oregon.

The following was sent to Jim Lehrer of PBS. He needs to get Senator McCain to talk about his health.

Senator McCain’s health is critical to the future foreign and domestic policy of this country.

The voters need to understand, at least those willing to listen, that McCain’s cancer history makes it probable that his politically vetted VP could become the 45th president of this country. This is not what the country needs at this time. We don’t need more deregulation of commerce during an economic crash. We don’t need more preemptive foreign policy to continue the bankruptcy of this country as bin Laden has wanted. We don’t need conservative social values forced on the majority by a minority.

Palin is being prepped by a hoard of neocons to become a true puppet president. They will make sure her social values are matched with equal parts of their neoconservatism. If McCain suffers a serious relapse of melanoma, the neocons will have more control over this country’s future than they ever did under GWB. Combine the puppet and neocon puppeteer with Palin’s social values and beliefs and what comes next will become a disaster far bigger than any we have yet seen. McCain/Palin followed by Palin/Rove(?) will result in a form of government similar to what our founding forefathers rebelled against with Great Britain. http://the-wawg-blog.org/?p=664

Please ask Senator McCain to share is medical history in an informative fashion so that voters can cast a better informed vote.

There is an extreme faction on our State Board of Education (SBOE) that has a specific agenda that is not in the best interest of our children’s education. Incumbent board member David Bradley is a member of this extreme faction. He represents the seventh district on the SBOE, which includes Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Jefferson, and portions of Harris counties. The SBOE approves all public school curriculum and selects text books for our schools.

The Problem:

David Bradley is infamous among educators for stating “This critical thinking stuff is gobbledygook” while serving on the SBOE. He thinks that critical thinking is innate and therefore does not need to be taught. Also, Bradley’s staunch opposition to including comprehension as part of the state English curriculum is mind-boggling! He discounted the testimony from expert teachers and national experts in English and reading, he discounted the College Readiness Standards, and he discounted the advice of the Texas Education Agency-appointed writing teams in English and Language Arts He believes that if you just give students needed tools, they will naturally put them into sentences and paragraphs. Directed by Bradley’s efforts, the SBOE decided that the English curriculum for the 2008-2009 school year will not include reading comprehension.

The SBOE is dominated by the far right of whom Bradley is the de-facto leader. During Bradley’s watch, a textbook publisher was forced to remove a photo of a woman carrying a briefcase and replace it with a photo of a woman baking a cake. This school year, new science textbooks will be adopted. Mr. Bradley believes “the world is 6,000 years old and dinosaurs and humans coexisted.” I wonder what he will try to delete or impose on the science curriculum? Also, he thinks there is no need for curriculum specialists in schools. Bradley has never worked as a public school educator, but instead works in insurance. And while Bradley wants to continue to control public education, he does not send his children to public schools. He home-schooled his children; however, one of his sons did graduate from a public school.

David Bradley lives in Jasper which is not in the district he is running to represent, but is in district 8. He votes in Beaumont by using his business address in Beaumont. Why is David Bradley on the ballot for district 7 if he lives in district 8? Many witnesses were called to testify before a state level grand jury in Austin concerning him living in district 8, but running for office in district 7. The grand jury has not indicted nor have they no billed him. He has been indicted for open meetings violations dealing with the Permanent School Fund. It does not appear that he is eligible to be on the ballot, yet he has run in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2008. Is this who we want to return to the SBOE?

The Solution:

In contrast to Bradley, his opponent Laura Ewing would bring balance to the SBOE. Laura has been a teacher for over 30 years. She has taught in Houston, Fort Bend, Clear Creek, Spring and Cypress-Fairbanks school districts. She also was a social studies specialist in Pearland ISD. She has been named “Teacher of the Year,” “Supervisor of the Year,” and has received the “Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Private Enterprise.” Laura also has a Masters in Educational Leadership and Cultural Studies from the University of Houston and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston at Clear Lake. In addition, she was elected to the Friendswood City Council from 2003 where she served until 2008.

Laura believes that comprehension needs to be part of the English curriculum and that critical thinking is vital for our students. Laura would like to see a greater variety of credit courses for graduation in order to meet the needs of the different learning abilities of the population. She also believes that non-English speaking students should be offered English classes as they are studying their required classes. She also believes that non-college bound students need to be able to select classes that will help them become prepared to enter the work force when they graduate.

Laura Ewing is the hope for District 7 and for the state. She will help provide a solid education and bright future for all students in Texas. She has always put education first and will continue to do that on the SBOE!

We can’t leave the education of our children up to the far-right extremists!

What can you do to help?

Spread the word about Laura Ewing.

Volunteer and make a contribution. She needs money to get the word out to all the voters in district seven.

Links:

Ewing for Texas

Tribune article by Geoff Geiger

Texas Monthly article by Katy Vine

Laura Ewing Campaign

Netroots Outreach

The Lies About the Bridge to Nowhere - A new ad from John McCain’s presidential campaign contends his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, “stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.” In fact, Palin was for the infamous bridge before she was against it.

THE SPIN: Called “Original Mavericks,” the ad asserts the Republican senator has fought pork-barrel spending, the drug industry and fellow Republicans, reforming Washington in the process, and credits Palin with similarly changing Alaska by taking on the oil industry, challenging her own party and ditching the bridge project that became a national symbol of wasteful spending.

THE FACTS: Palin did abandon plans to build the nearly $400 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport. But she made her decision after the project had become an embarrassment to the state, after federal dollars for the project were pulled back and diverted to other uses in Alaska, and after she had appeared to support the bridge during her campaign for governor.

McCain/Palin and the Ten What? – The following is from a commenter on the ABC News Blog:

For the religious people that want to vote for McCain/Palin, consider the following:
Thou shalt not lie: they have lied
Thou shalt not kill: supports an unjust war
Thou shalt not commit adultery: McCain admits to affairs while married to his first wife, his last being with his current wife
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour: Continually lying
While no one is perfect, Republicans tend to pride themselves in being the more godly citizens. how godly is it if the leader you want has broken 40% of Gods laws?
Posted by: giovanni | Sep 10, 2008 9:57:24 AM

John McCain’s Ads Are LIES (Video Proof) – You’ve been reading the stories here about McCain’s ads for some time. Here’s video of the distortions presented in the ads along with video of the truth in context.

Regards,

Jim
Will you listen to your hopes or your fears?

Palin Billed State for Spending Thanksgiving at College Basketball Game, Husband’s Sled Race, and Numerous Nights Spent at Home – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business. Among these events included a college basketball game — and a sled race in which her husband competed. The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions,” the paper added. “And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.

Palin Says the Iraq War and a Natural Gas Pipeline are Part of God’s Plan – In June, Palin addressed graduates of a youth ministry program at the Wasilla Assembly of God, saying the Iraq War and a natural gas pipeline she is trying to build as part of God’s plan.” A video produced by the church proclaims with apocalyptic imagery that “God has a destiny for the state of Alaska!” and in another clip someone from the church affirms, “I believe that Alaska’s one of the refuge states.”

Falsehoods in McCain’s Acceptance Speech – McCain’s speech accepting the Republican nomination contained the following falsehoods:

• McCain claimed that Obama’s health care plan would “force small businesses to cut jobs” and would put “a bureaucrat … between you and your doctor.” In fact, the plan exempts small businesses, and those who have insurance now could keep the coverage they have.
• McCain attacked Obama for voting for “corporate welfare” for oil companies. In fact, the bill Obama voted for raised taxes on oil companies by $300 million over 11 years while providing $5.8 billion in subsidies for renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative fuels.
• McCain said oil imports send “$700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much.” But the U.S. is on track to import a total of only $536 billion worth of oil at current prices, and close to a third of that comes from Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom (only about $178 billion compared to McCain’s claim of $700 billion).
• McCain promised to increase use of “wind, tide [and] solar” energy, though his actual energy plan contains no new money for renewable energy. He has said elsewhere that renewable sources won’t produce as much as people think.
• McCain called for “reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs,” but as in the past failed to cite a single program that he would eliminate or reduce.
• He said Obama would “close” markets to trade. In fact, Obama, though he once said he wanted to “renegotiate” the North American Free Trade Agreement, now says he simply wants to try to strengthen environmental and labor provisions in it.

Gov. Palin Hiding Husband’s Correspondence Related to Trooper Union – Dozens of e-mails exchanged among several government employees and Todd Palin, the husband of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin who has no formal role in her administration, are not being turned over in response to an open records request in the state. In June, Andrée McLeod, a self-described independent government watchdog in Alaska, sent an open records act request to the office of Governor Sarah Palin. She requested copies of all the emails that had been sent and received by Ivy Frye and Frank Bailey, two top aides to Palin, from February through April of this year. McLeod, a 53-year-old registered Republican who has held various jobs in state government, suspected that Frye and Bailey had engaged in political activity during official business hours in that period by participating in a Palin-backed effort to oust the state chairman of the Alaska Republican party, Randy Ruedrich.

Endangered Species Act to be Weaken to the Point of Nonexistence Unless You Act Now! – The Endangered Species Act is our primary legal tool for environmental protection. We have until September 15–about a week–to save the Endangered Species Act. Not just some species, but the Act itself! Bush administration officials are proposing redefinitions of terms that would allow conservative appointees in federal agencies to virtually the destroy the Act.

Their goal is to allow proposed projects to proceed even if such projects would kill off endangered species or place them or their habitats in jeopardy.

Causation, within an ecological system, is almost always systemic in nature. That is, there are disparate contributing causes with disparate contributed effects in various places at different times. Direct causation is rare. Direct causation occurs when there is a single act at a given time and place that results in a single effect at that time and place. For example, a species of frog limited to a local wetland could be completely wiped out by a condo development with that wetland filled in. Direct causation.
But frogs around the country are dying out due to a complex combination of factors in different places at different times. Systemic causation.

The present Endangered Species Act is realistic about systemic causation: disparate causes that contribute to disparate future effects count as “causation.” But imagine what would happen if “causation” were redefined to mean only direct causation. Development projects now forbidden because they contribute significantly to future disparate loss of species and species habitat would now be allowed. Lots and lots of disparate projects at disparate places and times would be allowed. Their collective systemic effects could wipe out a great many habitats and species.

This is exactly what is being proposed by the Departments of the Interior and Commerce, as published in the Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 159 / Friday, August 15, 2008 / Proposed Rules. They want to redefine causation so that only direct causation (they call it “an essential cause”) counts as causation that jeopardizes the existence of a species listed under the Endangered Species act, or jeopardizes that species’ critical habitat. The effect is that proposed development projects can contribute significantly to the destruction of habitat and the extinction of species, provided that they do not directly cause the elimination of a species, or directly reduce the population of a species or extent of its habitat–something that rarely happens. The result is that almost all proposed developments that were previously understood as “causes” of habitat destruction or species extinction will no longer be seen as “causes” at all and will be permitted. The reason will be that “cause” itself will have been redefined.
Act Now!

Here are some Talking Points:

• You are against the proposed rule changes because they weaken the Endangered Species Act nearly to the point of nonexistence.
• Environmental systems mostly work by systemic causation, with many indirect causes, not by “essential causation.” The change to “essential causation” opens the door to an indefinitely large number of projects that can jointly put endangered species in jeopardy.
• The change in “consultation” rules will de facto eliminate the gathering of information relevant to protecting species.

Here’s how you get your comments read: Go to www.regulations.gov and use the search terms: “50 CFR Part 402 proposed rule”.

The proposed changes are in Document # EB – 18938
To see the proposed changes, click on “View this document”
Click on “Send a comment or submission” to write your comment.

Note that plain e-mails will not be considered. This is another way public input is being limited.

Write your comments before September 15, 2008.

Sarah Palin Fired Legislative Director Just Seven Weeks After She Praised His Work – Sarah Palin and John Bitney go way back. They were in the same junior-high band class. Mr. Bitney was a key aide in Gov. Palin’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign. When she took office, she gave Mr. Bitney a job as her legislative director, and a few months later stood beside him at a news conference and praised his work.

“Whatever you did, you did it right,” she told Mr. Bitney and his team.
Seven weeks later she fired Mr. Bitney for what her spokeswoman now describes as “poor job performance.”

What happened in between? According to Mr. Bitney, Gov. Palin got a call from another old friend, Scott Richter, informing her that his wife, Debbie Richter, and Mr. Bitney were having an affair. Mr. Bitney had kept that secret from the governor, even as he told her of his divorce, he said.

When Gov. Palin was notified by Mr. Richter in July 2007, she called Mr. Bitney into her office. She already knew he was going through a divorce, and, Mr. Bitney said, he had “led her to believe there weren’t going to be any more surprises.”

Mr. Bitney said the governor “indicated to me that she was hurt, disappointed and upset, and that she didn’t know what she wanted to do.”

A few days later, Gov. Palin’s chief of staff “indicated to me that I needed to leave the governor’s office,” Mr. Bitney said.

While Palin’s office framed the departure as an “amicable” mutual decision, Bitney told Politico that Sarah and Todd Palin “were upset with me about my divorce and who I was dating, and they didn’t want that in the governor’s office.”

More details

More Misrepresentations About Palin and How Alaska Gets Your Money – Palin has continued to repeat the already exposed lie that she said, “No, thanks,” to the famous “bridge to nowhere” (McCain’s favorite example of wasteful federal spending). In fact, she said, “Yes, please,” until this project became a symbol and political albatross.

Back to reality. Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 21/2 times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska’s government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it. Although Palin, like McCain, talks about liberating ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, there is no evidence that being dependent on Alaskan oil would be any more pleasant to the pocketbook.
Alaska is, in essence, an adjunct member of OPEC. It has four different taxes on oil, which produce more than 89% of the state’s unrestricted revenue. On average, three-quarters of the value of a barrel of oil is taken by the state government before that oil is permitted to leave the state. Alaska residents each get a yearly check for about $2,000 from oil revenues, plus an additional $1,200 pushed through by Palin last year to take advantage of rising oil prices. Any sympathy the governor of Alaska expresses for folks in the lower 48 who are suffering from high gas prices or can’t afford to heat their homes is strictly crocodile tears.

As if it couldn’t support itself, Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Its ratio of federal spending received to federal taxes paid ranks third among the 50 states, and in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.

College Students in Virginia Being Discouraged From Voting – According to this press release from the extremely important battleground state of Virginia, students are being told that they risk losing their scholarship and tax dependency status if they register to vote in their college, as opposed to home, state. And it appears all these warnings are bogus and have one impact and one impact only: to suppress voter turnout among college-aged people, who are overwhelmingly supporting Obama this year.

Regards,

Jim
Will you listen to your hopes or your fears?

Let’s go back in time a few weeks, return to the present and then look to a probably future if McCain and Palin win in 2008.

Shortly before the recently-closed party conventions, there was some discussion and speculation of a “one and done” McCain presidency. This discussion was fed by statements by McCain’s campaign chief Rick Davis who refused to rule out the possibility on Fox News when he said, “you’re going to have to come to the convention,” implying something would be said there. However — nothing was said and won’t be either.

However, is a “One and Done” or even shorter McCain presidency still possible?

According to Rick Moran’s American Thinkers article and “many pros,” a one-term McCain is a “horrible idea.” Moran expanded on this:

… First of all, it tends to highlight rather than obscure the age issue – something the Obama camp will seize on immediately and hammer McCain on daily. Secondly, it really would mean that McCain would be a lame duck the moment he took the oath. Presidents get as much done by being feared as they do being loved. Take away the fear factor and getting politicians to go along with you becomes an exercise in herding cats. McCain could fight for his issues all he wants but it would do him little good if the Congress knew he would be gone in 2012.

Also, it would put an enormous burden on his Vice Presidential nominee. He will be vetted by both the Obama campaign and the press as a potential president, not Vice President. For four years, the White House beat will have two subjects; the president and the probable GOP nominee in 2012. That can only detract from McCain’s presidency.

This is all fine and makes sense assuming one thing — that McCain wants to stay in office, when and if he is sworn in. What if he doesn’t?

What if he never really expected to get nominated? What if he never really wanted to be nominated? What if the pressure of the campaign is wearing him out and he sees four years as president just too much? What if the reality of the job finally sets in? What if he shared these inner concerns and feelings with only the closest of his lobbyist/neocon supporters? What if these close ‘friends’ saw an opportunity and suggested a plan to ‘help him out’ and ‘bring in someone’ more acceptable to the Republican base? His friends are ready. They tell him they have someone who would help bring back the base whom they need to win. John McCain agrees. A short time passes, the Democrat convention is about to end and Republicans need to roadblock any possible enemy gains from that convention. They tell McCain who they found for his VP and we have all now been introduced to Sarah Palin.

Now off to a future possible McCain/Palin administration.

John McCain has to keep a promise to his friends, becomes seriously ill or just tires of the pressure of the toughest job in the country? Palin has gained some additional ‘executive’ experience and has paid close attention to her Chief of Staff, Karl Rove. John McCain announces he is stepping down within 90 days and Palin will take over at that time.

The talk before the conventions was about John McCain possibly promising to be a one-term president. Now the talk should be about a shortened McCain presidency with Palin becoming our first national leader whose allegiance to the citizens is limited to the social conservative minority. Imagine the executive orders on separation of church and state, abortion, homosexuality, and marriage.

We DO NOT NEED a right-wing authoritarian, who believes that church and state should work as one, leading this country. This is not what our forefathers fought for in the 1700′s.

Sarah Palin Supports Brutal Aerial Hunting – Aerial hunting is a brutal practice where wolves are shot from low-flying aircraft or chased to exhaustion, then killed at point-blank range.

Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for Vice President, promotes this barbaric practice, exploiting a loophole in the Federal Airborne Hunting Act to allow private wolf killers to shoot down wolves using aircraft.

Please watch this powerful video by Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, and then share it with every wildlife lover you know:

McCain’s Temper - One more example of McCain’s temper. In Washington, families of POW_MIAs said they have seen McCain’s wrath repeatedly. Some families charged that McCain hadn’t been aggressive enough about pursuing their lost relatives and has been reluctant to release relevant documents. McCain himself was a prisoner of war for five-and-a-half years during the Vietnam War.

In 1992, McCain sparred with Dolores Alfond, the chairwoman of the National Alliance of Families for the Return of America’s Missing Servicemen and Women, at a Senate hearing. McCain’s prosecutor-like questioning of Alfond left her in tears.

Four years later, at her group’s Washington conference, about 25 members went to a Senate office building, hoping to meet with McCain. As they stood in the hall, McCain and an aide walked by.

Six people present have written statements describing what they saw. According to the accounts, McCain waved his hand to shoo away Jeannette Jenkins, whose cousin was last seen in South Vietnam in 1970, causing her to hit a wall.

As McCain continued walking, Jane Duke Gaylor, the mother of another missing serviceman, approached the senator. Gaylor, in a wheelchair equipped with portable oxygen, stretched her arms toward McCain.

“McCain stopped, glared at her, raised his left arm ready to strike her, composed himself and pushed the wheelchair away from him,” according to Eleanor Apodaca, the sister of an Air Force captain missing since 1967.

And as Mitt Romney’s campaign revealed in January, those McCain tirades are directed at friend and foe alike.

Independent experts have some concerns about McCain’s irascibility.

“Diplomacy is not often dealing with reasonable people,” said Steve Clemons, an analyst at the New America Foundation, a centrist public policy group.

“In the nuclear age, you don’t want someone flying off the handle, so it’s a critical question: Can McCain control his temper?” asked Thomas De Luca, professor of political science at Fordham University in New York.

More examples :

Regards,

Jim

Lieberman and Thompson Make Misleading Claims About Obama on Day Two of the Republican Convention – Joe Lieberman and his former Senate colleague Fred Thompson both made misleading claims about Obama in their prime time GOP convention speeches on Tuesday. We’ve heard two of them before – many times.

• Lieberman said Obama hadn’t “reached across party lines” to accomplish “anything significant,” though Obama has teamed with Republican Senators. Tom Coburn and Richard Lugar to pass laws enhancing government transparency and curtailing the proliferation of nuclear and conventional weapons.
• Thompson repeated misleading claims about Obama’s tax program, saying it would bring “one of the largest tax increases in American history.” But as increases go, Obama’s package is hardly a history-maker. It would raise taxes for families with incomes above $250,000. Most people would see a cut.
• Lieberman also accused Obama of “voting to cut off funding for our American troops on the battlefield.” But Obama’s only vote against a war-funding bill came after Bush vetoed a version of the bill Obama had supported – and McCain urged the veto.
• Lieberman stated several times that he is a Democrat, however, he is an Independent.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Her Republican Supporters Dish Out More Falsehoods on Day Three of the Republican Convention – Some examples:

PALIN: “I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending … and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress ‘thanks but no thanks’ for that Bridge to Nowhere.”

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a “bridge to nowhere.”

PALIN: “There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate.”

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

PALIN: “The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, raise payroll taxes, raise investment income taxes, raise the death tax, raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.”

THE FACTS: The Tax Policy Center, a think tank run jointly by the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, concluded that Obama’s plan would increase after-tax income for middle-income taxpayers by about 5 percent by 2012, or nearly $2,200 annually. McCain’s plan, which cuts taxes across all income levels, would raise after tax-income for middle-income taxpayers by 3 percent, the center concluded. Obama would provide $80 billion in tax breaks, mainly for poor workers and the elderly, including tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for minimum-wage workers and higher credits for larger families. He also would raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes on the wealthiest. He would raise payroll taxes on taxpayers with incomes above $250,000, and he would raise corporate taxes. Small businesses that make more than $250,000 a year would see taxes rise.

MCCAIN: “She’s been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America’s energy supply … She’s responsible for 20 percent of the nation’s energy supply. I’m entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America,” he said in an interview with ABC News’ Charles Gibson.

THE FACTS: McCain’s phrasing exaggerates both claims. Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she’s no more “responsible” for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state — by population.

MCCAIN: “She’s the commander of the Alaska National Guard. … She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities,” he said on ABC.

THE FACTS: While governors are in charge of their state guard units, that authority ends whenever those units are called to actual military service. When guard units are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, they assume those duties under “federal status,” which means they report to the Defense Department, not their governors. Alaska’s national guard units have a total of about 4,200 personnel, among the smallest of state guard organizations.

MIKE HUCKABEE: Palin “got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States.”

THE FACTS: A whopper. Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor’s election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.

MITT ROMNEY: “We need change, all right — change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington — throw out the big-government liberals, and elect John McCain and Sarah Palin.”

THE FACTS: A Back-to-the-Future moment. George W. Bush, a conservative Republican, has been president for nearly eight years. And until last year, Republicans controlled Congress. And while Democrats have a majority in the Senate, they don’t control it, since they don’t have the 60 votes needed to override the Republican stall tactics.

Fact Check the GOP.

McCain Had Criticized Earmarks From Palin – Three times in recent years, McCain’s catalogs of “objectionable” spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time — Sarah Palin. records show that Palin — first as mayor of Wasilla and recently as governor of Alaska — was far from shy about pursuing tens of millions in earmarks for her town, her region and her state. This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. “The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship,” she wrote in a newspaper column.

Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin Belittle and Sneer at Community Organizers – The mockery began when Giuliani said of Obama, “He’s never had to lead people in crisis. … Barack Obama has never led anything. Nothing. Nada. … He worked as a community organizer. … What?” The he laughed openly. Palin then continued the theme by saying, “I guess a small town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.” One blogger commented, “I’m not sure which was more frightening: Rudy Giuliani deriding Obama’s years as a community organizer on Chicago’s South Side, or the audience exploding with glee when he said it. The truly awful thing was, it took people a half second to believe what he had said, as though they knew it was over decency’s line. It was, and they loved it anyway.

The Republicans do not give a flip about community organizers. And that means they don’t care about you. Want to talk about small-town values? Then don’t criticize the people who fight for people who have community issues.

Here’s Stephen Colbert’s take on this:

Contrary to Republican Inferences, Palin Has Never Issued an Order to the Alaska National Guard – When presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain introduced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate last Friday, the Arizona senator emphasized her role as the commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard.

Later, when questions were raised about Palin’s lack of experience in national and international affairs, the McCain campaign pointed again to her military command experience as governor. Some reporters have tried to follow up.

“Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?” CNN journalist Campbell Brown asked Monday while interviewing McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. “Just one?”

Bounds couldn’t, because Palin has never personally ordered the state guard to do anything.

Sean Hannity’s Memory Lapse: “I don’t remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked” – On Hannity & Colmes, Hannity said, in reference to Internet rumors about Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter, “[T]hey tried to make the attack that she has a young daughter, pregnant and engaged. Is that fair that they would attack that? I mean, I don’t remember Chelsea Clinton being attacked. I don’t remember Al Gore’s children being attacked. I thought there was a general rule that children of candidates ought to be left alone.” In fact, Chelsea Clinton was not “left alone” — not by Sen. John McCain, and not by Rush Limbaugh.

McCain reportedly told a “joke” about Chelsea Clinton in 1998, saying: “Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”

On his TV show, early in the Clinton administration, Limbaugh put up a picture of Socks, the White House cat, and asked, ‘Did you know there’s a White House dog?’ Then he put up a picture of Chelsea Clinton, who was 13 years old at the time.

Palin Accuses ‘Obama/Biden Democrats’ of Attacking Her Family, But Her Campaign Can’t Name One – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin sent out a fundraising solicitation today that charged that “the Obama/Biden Democrats have been vicious in their attacks directed toward me, my family and John McCain.” ABC News’ Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper asked spokespeople of the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee just which “Obama/Biden Democrats” they’re referring to.

The response he got was that Obama spokesman Mark Bubriski erroneously attacked Palin as a supporter of Pat Buchanan. That’s it. That’s the evidence. An attack on Palin herself.

In other words, they can’t name one person affiliated with the Obama-Biden campaign who attacked the Palin family. But she made the charge anyway, to help raise money.

Regards,

Jim
Will you listen to your hopes or your fears?

I’ve written about the teamwork of the neocons and social conservatives (also known as values voters) throughout this blog. I’ve attempted to explain what they want for this nation. This includes a single-party Republican state, violating human rights at every level necessary, forcing Christianity as the national religion, putting the life of a fetus above all other life including the mother’s, widening the income gap further, corporate lobbyists with unlimited access to the president, corporate socialism, the end of labor unions, putting women back in their place, redefining science based on religious beliefs that cannot be empirically proven, remaking the rest of us in their own image and plenty of Nobel lies to get there. In other words, they want to replace “liberty and justice for all” with “liberty and justice for just us.”

What matters most to them is the “country” – not it’s citizens. Just listen to all the talking heads. How many times did you hear “country”, “USA USA USA USA …” or “American first” mentioned during or since the 2008 Republican convention? How many “Country First” placards did you see?

But let’s try and understand Sarah Palin by reviewing what her social conservatism means.

What follows are four perspectives on social conservatives: Their own view of what they call “America’s Largest Voting Block; Quotes from John Dean’s Conservatives Without Conscience; A Pew Research demographics survey; and the 2008 Republican Platform.

America’s Largest Voting Block:
Let’s start with the questions to which social conservatives, like Sarah, want an answer. Listed below are the questions presented to 11 Republican presidential candidates last September (2007) at the Values Voter Presidential Debate. A yes answer, for all but four of these questions, is what the social issues/values voters want. I’ve rearranged their original list and grouped them by general topic.

On Religion (as a national policy):

• Religious Freedom: Would you remove the gag rule from pastors like me and support a repeal of the portion of IRS Code Section 501(c)(3) that restricts churches and ministries from expressing our biblical convictions for or against a candidate?
• Military Chaplains: If you are elected president, will you protect your military chaplains’ right to pray according to their faith?
• Christian Symbols: Will you take steps to preserve our national war memorials and landmarks which contain Christian symbols from organizations like the ACLU who seek to purge all [Christian] religious symbols from the public square?
• Radical Islam: As president, would you support continued issuing of student visas to nationals of countries that are state sponsors of terrorist groups? [Preferred answer is NO]
• Persecution [of Christians]: Christians are being beaten, jailed, and expelled throughout the Muslim World. Will you take action to protest this gross injustice and persecution by denying visas or by imposing trade sanctions?
• Christians in Iraq: Would you support them by endorsing the creation of an autonomous administrative area in their ancestral homeland of the Nineveh Plains, as permitted under Article 125 of the Iraqi constitution?
• First Amendment: Would you support legislation that prevents federal courts from hearing lawsuits brought to stop state and federal officials from acknowledging the sovereignty of God in such ways as public prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and the public display of the Ten Commandments
• Judicial Activism: A federal judge has ordered the Indiana legislature to never allow prayer in Jesus’ name. Will you, as President, consider impeachment a possible remedy for judicial activism?

On Health Care:

• Health Care: Will you protect the availability of needed medical care by opposing current efforts to subject Americans to government-mandated health insurance and universal coverage?
• Health Care: Would you support a health care plan that rewards behavior that promotes moral lifestyles, i.e. avoiding alcohol and tobacco consumption as well as obesity reduction, exercise and nutrition that promotes health?
• United Nations/CEDAW: Will you promise to oppose all U.N. treaties, (including CEDAW) that could be used to promote abortion as a “human right?”
• Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Can you look at them now (“snowflake babies”) and tell me that it would have been OK if someone would have used them in medical experiments and snuffed out their lives? [Preferred answer is NO]
• Abstinence: In the interest of fairness and effectiveness, would you bring abstinence education funding onto equal ground with contraceptive based education?
• Disabled Patients: Would you pursue or support legislation that would protect the cognitively disabled and vulnerable people from being dehydrated to death by having their food and water taken away?

On Abortion:

• Mexico City Abortion Policy: Would you require that federal funding recipients “will neither actively provide or promote abortion” within the United States as well as abroad or overseas?
• Judges: Will you nominate only judges and justices that are demonstrably faithful to the judicial role of following the text of the Constitution and who not only refuse to legislate from the bench, but are committed to reversing prior court decisions?

On Education:

• Evolution: Will your office support and encourage a more open approach to education in the presentation of scientific facts that contradict the theory of evolution?
• School Choice: Will you support school choice for other students like me with similar tax-credit programs?
• Homosexual Education: Would you support legislation ensuring that schools forfeit federal funding if they expose our children to homosexual propaganda that puts them at risk?

On Race:

• Multiculturalism: Do you agree that the excessive and overbearing use by liberals of “multiculturalism” weakens American culture and creates unnecessary divisions among the citizenry?
• Amnesty: Will you oppose all plans for amnesty, path to citizenship, guest workers, and seasonal passes until the high unemployment for minority youth and students has dropped to 5 percent?

On Information Control:

• Fairness Doctrine: If elected, would you veto any legislation that contains language of the so called “Fairness Doctrine”?
• Pornography: Will you agree to prosecute the broad range of illegal adult pornography, rather than just the most extreme material, and prosecute all violators of federal obscenity law?
• Cable Decency: Do you support and believe that broadcast indecency rules should be expanded to cable networks as well?

On Foreign Policy:

• Support for Israel: If elected president, will you solidly stand behind Israel not to give up land for unfulfilled promises of peace, even in the face of opposition of Allied, European and Arab nations?
• Trade with China: Would you make future trade with China contingent on them measurably improving their record on religious freedom and human rights, eliminating their unfair trade practices, slave labor and sub-standard policies that poison our food, toothpaste, and toys?
• NAFTA Superhighway: Do you support the NAFTA Superhighway presently under construction from Mexico to Canada, portions of which shall be under foreign control? [Preferred answer is NO]
• United Nations / LOST: The Law of the Sea Treaty was recently resurrected and will probably come to a vote in the Senate. Will you urge the Senate NOT to ratify this treaty?
• Jobs and Highway Safety: Will you rescind President Bush’s order that allows hundreds of Mexican trucks to be driven on U.S. highways and roads?
• Persecution/Slavery: Would you endorse the creation of a commission to monitor the eradication of slavery in Sudan, the last legal bastion of slavery in the world?
• Border Enforcement: Is this the kind of border enforcement policy we could expect in your administration? [Preferred answer is NO]

Other:

• Hate Crimes: If elected, could we count on you to veto any so-called “hate crimes” legislation? [As it relates to religious expression]
• Social Security: Would you revive President Bush’s attempt to introduce personal retirement accounts as a way to reform Social Security, thus allowing all Americans, particularly low wage workers and the self-employed, an investment in their future…?
• Homosexual Agenda / ENDA: Would you protect business owners from being forced to violate our moral conscience by vetoing the so-called “Employment Non–Discrimination Act” (or similar legislation)?

Conservatives Without Conscience:
In 1994, the same year Gingrich started remaking Congress in the single-party Republican image, Barry Goldwater said this to John Dean who used it in the preface to his book Conservatives Without Conscience.

Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.

In 2006, John Dean made the following statements about social conservatives in Conservatives Without Conscience:

Social conservatives, whose core members are Christian conservatives, comprise the largest and most cohesive faction of conservatism. They are, by and large, typical right-wing authoritarian followers. Both neoconservatives [social dominator authoritarians] and social conservatives include countless conservatives without conscience within their ranks.

Social conservatives are especially susceptible to irrational beliefs ….

… Social conservatives are deeply offended by atheists who want the words “under God” removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, yet … they recite … that pledge and its words: “liberty and justice for all.” For all but atheists [and moderates, liberals, peace mongers, scientists, climatologists, artists, gays, actors, except Fred Thompson, non-Republicans, non-whites, non-Christians, non-conformers, non-feelers or thinkers, hybrid owners, agnostics, union members, dissenters, suspected terrorists and anyone not like them] ….

Also in John Dean’s book, social conservatives respond ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ to the following statements:

Our country desperately needs a mighty leader who will do what has to be done to destroy the radical new ways and sinfulness that are ruining us.

The only way our country can get through the crisis ahead is to get back to our traditional values, put some tough leaders in power, and silence the troublemakers who are spreading bad ideas.

“Old-fashioned ways” and “old-fashioned values” are the best guide for the way to live.

God’s laws about abortion, pornography, and marriage must be strictly followed before it is too late, and those who break them must be strongly punished.

Once our government leaders give us the “go-ahead,” it will be the duty of every patriotic citizen to help stomp out the rot that is poisoning our country from within.

Dean also stated that social conservatives very strongly disagree with these statements:

Gays and lesbians are just as unhealthy and moral as anybody else.

Atheists and others who have rebelled against the established religions are no doubt every bit as good and virtuous as those who attend church regularly.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with nudist camps.

There is nothing wrong with premarital sexual intercourse.

Pew Research Survey:
Now let’s look at the demographics of the social issue voters.

According to the October 15, 2007, survey by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, , “many 2008 Republican presidential candidates are vying for the support of an influential segment of the primary electorate – social-issue voters. These voters are Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters, many of whom are conservative Christians, who say social issues such as abortion and gay marriage will be very important in their presidential voting decisions.”

The survey goes on to report that 43 percent of the Republican voters say they will decide how to vote based on social issues.

The survey also shows that these social-issue voters differ in many ways from the rest of the Republican coalition. If you think about it and were paying attention to the Republican convention, how would you classify their delegates?

• More religious
• More conservative
• Less educated
• Mostly from the ‘working class’ and don’t benefit from Republican tax law changes – more irrationality
• Attend religious services at least once a week
• Consider themselves to be white evangelical protestants
• More are women
• More consider themselves “strong Republicans”

These social-issues voters also differ significantly from other Republicans on their issues and candidates:

• Stridently antiabortion
• A plurality oppose stem cell research
• Almost unanimously against gay marriage
• Most blindly obedient to GWB
• Favor Giuliani over Romney and McCain

2008 Republican Platform:
In case you are in doubt over who was in control of the Republican convention, here are some quotes from their platform.

At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. Women deserve better than abortion.

Because our children’s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, 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.

The public display of the Ten Commandments does not violate the U.S. Constitution and accurately reflects the Judeo-Christian heritage of our country. We support the right of students to engage in student-initiated, student-led prayer in public schools, athletic events, and graduation ceremonies, when done in conformity with constitutional standards.

Republicans support tax credits for health care and medical expenses.

Empower Individuals to Make the Best Health Care Choices. ["You're on your own."]

No health care professional — doctor, nurse, or pharmacist — or organization should ever be required to perform, provide for, or refer for a healthcare service against their conscience for any reason.

It is through education that we ensure the transmission of a culture, a set of values we hold in common.

The innocent have far fewer rights than the accused. We call on Congress to correct this imbalance by sending to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment to protect the rights of crime victims.

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.

Republican leadership has made religious liberty a central element of U.S. foreign policy. Asserting religious freedom should be a priority in all America’s international dealings.

We call for a constitutionally sound presidential line-item veto.

We object to the [Supreme] Court’s unwarranted interference in the administration of the death penalty ….

We support the right of states to require an official government-issued photo identification for voting and call upon the Department of Justice to deploy its resources to prevent ballot tampering in the November elections.

We believe government should tax only to raise money for its essential functions. [Who decides what "essential" means - an imperial president?]

We support freedom of speech and freedom of the press and oppose attempts to violate or weaken those rights, such as reinstatement of the so-called Fairness Doctrine.

The “America’s largest voting block,” the social conservatives, is still in charge of the Republican Party machine, the neocons social dominators are running their campaign and Sarah Palin will only help accelerate what Bush and Cheney have started.

This is worse than ‘more of the same’ or ‘four more years.’ If Sarah and John were elected, we will not only have neocons in The White House, we will also have the godhead of right-wing authoritarian followers taking over Cheney’s man-sized safe.

Sarah Palin Confuses Our Troops With the Blues Brothers: ” Our national leaders are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God” - Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord. “Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God,” she exhorted the congregants. “That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.”

The pastor of Palin’s church has preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq were part of a “world war” over the Christian faith, one in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice their lives; and said that Jesus “operated from that position of war mode.”

Sarah Palin Tried to Ban Books From the Library When She Was Mayor; Threatened Librarian – [Former mayor] John Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. “She asked the library how she could go about banning books,” he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. “The librarian was aghast.” That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn’t be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving “full support” to the mayor.

Palin injected big-time politics into a small-town local race. “It was always a nonpartisan job,” Stein says. “But with her, the state GOP came in and started affecting the race.” While Palin often describes that race as having been a fight against the old boys’ club, Stein says she made sure the campaign hinged on issues like gun owners’ rights and her opposition to abortion (Stein is pro-choice). “It got to the extent that — I don’t remember who it was now — but some national antiabortion outfit sent little pink cards to voters in Wasilla endorsing her,” he says.

Vicki Naegele was the managing editor of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman at the time. “[Stein] figured he was just going to run your average, friendly small-town race,” she recalls, “but it turned into something much different than that.” Naegele held the same conservative Christian beliefs as Palin but didn’t think they had any place in local politics.

“I just thought, That’s ridiculous, she should concentrate on roads, not abortion,” says Naegele.

John McCain’s Campaign Manager Says, “This election is not about issues.” – Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain’s presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Washington Post editors this morning. “This election is not about issues,” said Davis. In reaction to Rick Davis’ comments about the election not being about issues, Barack Obama campaign manager David Plouffe released the following statement: “We appreciate Senator McCain’s campaign manager finally admitting that his campaign is not in fact about the issues the American people care about, which is exactly the kind of cynical old politics people are ready to change.”

Sarah Palin Cut $1.1 Million From Funding for Teen Moms in Need – Alaska Governor and McCain vice presidential pick Sarah Palin, whose 17-year-old daughter Bristol is pregnant outside wedlock, earlier this year used a line-item veto to cut $1.1 million (more than 20 percent) for Covenant House Alaska.

Covenant House Alaska, the affected organization which serves to assist homeless and runaway youth, runs Passage House, a transitional living program with 24-hour support staff that provides housing, along with up to eighteen months of assistance in building parenting, money management and job skills, with aims to help teen parents prepare for the “real world.”

“We work with parenting teens to help them become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families,” reads the Passage House webpage. “Our goal is to assist young mothers in developing skills such as healthy parenting, money management, priority setting, housing acquisition and social skills development.”

“The explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support,” Gov. Palin told Eagle Forum Alaska in a 2006 questionnaire in an expression of support for “abstinence-only” sex education.

Alberto Gonzales Mishandled Classified Data on Terrorists – Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales mishandled highly classified notes about a secret counterterror program, but not on purpose, according to a memo by his legal team. The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, acknowledges that Gonzales improperly stored notes about the program and might have taken them home at one point. Removing secret documents from specially secured rooms violates government policy.

Peaceful Protesters Arrested at Republican National Convention; Some Arrested at Their Homes Before the Convention Began – Pre-convention home raids conducted in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area over the weekend included the headquarters of anarchist organization RNC Welcoming Committee and a “hippie house” inhabited by members of Food Not Bombs. Dozens were detained and six arrested.

Reports of mass arrests continue. On Tuesday, at least three people were arrested during a march of nearly a thousand organized by the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. This follows numerous Monday occurrences, which include the arrest of an Associated Press photographer and Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman , along with 139 felony charges issued among nearly 300 demonstrators, whose arrests were made with such chemical aids as pepper spray and tear gas.

McCain Put Off Big Decision, Rushed to Judgment – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.

In the first and most telling executive decision of his potential presidency, John McCain makes a rash, reckless decision that, God forbid he falls ill while in office, will be disastrous for this country. Is that the kind of judgment we need in the White House for another four years?

McCain had three months free to do whatever- to fund raise, to campaign, to make the case for himself, to shore up the base, to work on the platform, and, presumably, to begin vetting his running partner.

What, then, did the McCain team do with the extra three months they had to choose their candidate? Beats me, but it sure as hell was not a careful examination of Sarah Palin. What’s even worse is that despite all the evidence proving the McCain did a [very]-poor job of vetting Palin, McCain still insists that the background check was thorough and he’s pleased with the results.

McCain’s Mother Laments at Republican Convention: ‘They won’t let me talk’ – The Republican message-men have forced their candidate to stick to the script, so are they keeping his mother away from any open microphones, according to Sirius Radio’s Michelangelo Signorile.

“They won’t let me be interviewed,” McCain lamented to the radio host who approached her Tuesday during the Republican convention in St. Paul. “They won’t let me talk.”

RAW STORY obtained audio of Signorile’s aborted interview attempt, which demonstrated the extent to which message control is the name of the game at the GOP’s gathering in Minnesota.

The host wasn’t even inquiring about anything controversial: “What is it like for you this week?” he asked as McCain’s handlers shuffled her away. In a blog post about the incident, Signorile described McCain’s facial expression as “pained” and said she looked at him “helplessly, pleadingly,” as she was led away for a photo-op alongside would-be First Lady Cindy McCain.

Earlier this year, she let slip her true feelings about the Republican party base her son is now reaching out to in his quest for the White House.

“Holding their nose, they’re going to have to take him,” McCain said in January before the son she still refers to as “Johnny” emerged as the GOP nominee.

“I’m really popping off,” the elder McCain continued, “but he worked like a dog to get Bush reelected. He’s backed Bush in everything except Rumsfeld. … And I’ve never seen any public recognition of the work that he’s done for the Republican Party.”

McCain Campaign Using Stall Tactics to Delay Release of Palin Investigation Report – The Alaska state senator running an investigation of Gov. Palin says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31, four days before the November election. “It’s likely to be damaging to the Governor’s administration,” said Senator Hollis French, the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation of claims that Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired.

Joe Liberman Says We Should Just Assume the Best and Nothing Bad Will Happen – When asked by Andrea Mitchell whether or not Sarah Palin is qualified to be President should something happen to John McCain, Lieberman offers perhaps the least convincing “endorsement” imaginable.

Mitchell: “Do you feel Sarah Palin is qualified to be commander-in-chief if, God forbid, something should happen to John McCain?”

Lieberman: “Well, you know….let’s assume the best. John’s in great shape, he’s gonna be the president and let’s assume that nothing bad will happen. Why should we? But if it does…yes, she’ll be ready.”

Sarah Palin Says She Hasn’t Focused Much on the War in Iraq – The following is from an interview in Alaska Business Monthly published March 1, 2008:

Alaska Business Monthly: We’ve lost a lot of Alaska’s military members to the war in Iraq. How do you feel about sending more troops into battle, as President Bush is suggesting?

Palin: I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe.

Giant Canadian Ice Shelf Breaks Away – A massive 19-square-mile (55-square-km) ice shelf in Canada’s northern Arctic has broken away and is floating in the Arctic Ocean, the latest sign of rapid climate change in the remote region, a team of scientists said on Tuesday. They said the Markham Ice Shelf — one of just five remaining ice shelves in the Arctic — split away from Ellesmere Island in early August. They also said two large chunks totaling 47 square miles had broken off the nearby Serson Ice Shelf, reducing it in size by 60 percent. “These substantial calving events underscore the rapidity of changes taking place in the Arctic,” said Derek Mueller, an Arctic ice shelf specialist at Trent University in Ontario.

Regards,

Jim
Will you listen to your hopes or your fears?