And the Flakes are Frosted because of all the attention Sarah Palin is getting? Heh.
ST. PAUL (Map, News) - Democrats in town to staff an aggressive "war room" operation during the GOP convention have instead laid down their arms as Hurricane Gustav bears down on the Gulf Coast.
Republicans announcing a dramatic rewrite Sunday of their convention script, dropping political speeches from Monday's program, and Democrats are responding in kind. A Sunday media tour of the party's operation in St. Paul that was to have featured Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar was abruptly canceled.
And with the cancellation of Monday's convention appearances by President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, Democrats shelved a "More of the Same" rally that was to have featured hundreds of protesters.
MODESTO, Calif. — Police say a man tried to cut off his own arm at a restaurant in Modesto, Calif., because he thought he had injected air into a vein while shooting cocaine and feared he would die unless he took drastic action.I spent many a Labor Day Weekend in Modesto where there's an annual gospel music event, and I'll bet I've eaten at that restaurant. However, it never occurred to me to try and cut off my arm while I was there.
Authorities say 33-year-old Michael Lasiter rushed into the Denny's restaurant late Friday and started stabbing himself in one arm with a butter knife he grabbed from a table.
They say that when that knife didn't work Lasiter took a butcher knife from the kitchen and dug it into his arm.
Police Sgt. Brian Findlen says Lasiter told officers he thought he needed to amputate his arm to keep himself from dying from the cocaine injection.
Lasiter was taken to a hospital for treatment of severe cuts.
The Denny's closed for the night.
One also does not expect high ranking Democrats to be so callous about their fellow citizens.ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Former DNC Chairman Don Fowler apologized on Sunday for joking in a private conversation that the timing of Hurricane Gustav demonstrates that God is on the side of the Democrats.
"If this offended anybody, I personally apologize," Fowler told ABC News. "It was a mistake, and it was a satirical statement made in jest. And one that I clearly don't believe." ..."One doesn't anticipate that one's private conversation will be surreptitiously taped by some right-wing nutcase," said Fowler. "But that's the nature of what we're dealing with."
Friday, we noted Michael Moore's comments on MSNBC describing the timing of Hurricane Gustav (during the Republican convention) as divine intervention.
Today, Moore -- who almost immediately came under fire for his remarks -- responded by releasing an "open letter to God."
In it, the filmmaker urged the Almighty: "So please God, let the storm die out at sea. It's done enough damage already. If you do this one favor for me, I promise not to invoke your name again."
ST. PAUL — The Republican National Convention has suspended all but the most necessary activities to constitute a convention Monday and then will adjourn, John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee announced Sunday.
The convention “will suspend all activities except those that are absolutely necessary,” McCain said. “We hope to resume some normal activities but frankly that is the hands of God.”
McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis said that additional activities will be determined on a day-by-day basis. He added that all activities at the convention will be procedural and not political.
Davis said the only critical activities of the convention are its establishment through the gaveling of the opening session, the certification of the Republican National Committee delegates and the nomination of both McCain for president and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as vice president. The first two can occur on the Monday afternoon session. The nominations had been scheduled for Wednesday.
In order to hold the convention, a quorum — or 50 percent plus one — of the delegates need to be present. Davis said the quorum will be called at 3 p.m. ET Monday and will last a couple hours.
Davis said he encouraged the speakers to attend and deliver their speeches, but he did not want to speculate on whether McCain would attend and called speculation he might not attend as “completely immature” and “outside the scope of specificity.”
SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- At the direction of Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican National Convention announced substantial changes to the convention's program and actions being taken to help with Hurricane Gustav relief efforts. On Monday, all program activities beyond the official business that must be conducted in accordance with party rules will be cancelled. Among the other actions announced today are the formation of the Affected States Working Group, the establishment of an Affected States Information Center, and the chartering of a DC-9 to transport affected delegates.
Rick Davis, campaign manager for McCain 2008, announced that the upcoming Republican National Nominating Convention is making serious revisions to the convention program and surrounding activities. Davis said, "We are deeply concerned about the safety and welfare of the residents of the Gulf State region. Our top priority is to assist those who will be affected by Hurricane Gustav. This is not a time for politics or celebration; it is a time for us to come together as Americans and assist the residents of the Gulf States."
Davis also discussed what the changes in the program will mean for the nomination process. "In order for the Republican Party to officially exist and for Senator McCain to qualify for the ballot, we are - by law - required to conduct specific official business. At this point, our program on Monday has been scaled back and will only include what party rules governing the nomination of our candidates for president and vice president require. We will perform the official business as required. In addition, we have set aside time to make delegates and Americans watching our proceedings at home aware of what they can do to assist in relief efforts designed to help those who will be affected by Hurricane Gustav."
Davis concluded: "At some point between Monday and Thursday evening, we will convene once again to complete the activities needed to qualify Senator McCain and Governor Palin for the ballot in all 50 states. Beyond that, all we can say is that we will monitor what is happening and make decisions about other convention business as details become available."
If you don't vote for Barack Obama, you must be a racist.
If you don't vote for John McCain, you must be an ageist.
If you don't vote for Sarah Palin, you must be a sexist.
If you don't vote for Joe Biden, you must be a buffoonist.
TOLEDO, Ohio -- At an economy town hall here Sunday afternoon, Obama said his rival's pick for vice president was against equal pay for equal work.
“We're gonna make sure that equal pay for equal work is a reality in this country,” he said. “You know, John McCain's new VP nominee seems like a very engaging person, a nice person, but I've got to say, she's opposed like John McCain is to equal pay for equal work. That doesn't make much sense to me.”
When asked what Obama was basing that line on, campaign spokesperson Jen Psaki linked Palin to McCain's agenda.
"Sen. McCain has a clear record of opposing equal pay and as his running mate Gov. Palin is tasked with promoting his agenda,” she said.
Obama is hoping to win over many of Hillary Clinton's women supporters by focusing on kitchen-table issues and on policies of importance to women. McCain's selection of Palin, a mother of five, is widely seen as part of an effort to appeal to some of these same voters as well as to women in general.
It is a saying that a man may allow the bird of sorrow to fly over his head but never to build a nest on his hair. Thus, the philosophical parlance that 'great men make things to happen while ordinary men watch things happen' cannot be refuted. Therefore, I am in the verge of creating and making things happen and I am imploring that you join this train of destiny that is on motion to the right location of our destination, if for no other reason but for the fact that our thread of fate has come together not by coincidence but by sheer dint of providence which we should not treat with levity.
(CNN) – Presumptive Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin has been compared to past VP picks Dan Quayle and Geraldine Ferraro for her relatively low profile on the national stage, but now Democrats are likening the Alaskan govYeah, I can see the resemblance.ernor to another running mate: Vice President Dick Cheney.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, Sen. John Kerry said Palin is a member of the "flat-earth caucus" and her stances on climate change are in lock-step with those of the vice president.
"With the choice of Governor Palin, it's now the third term of Dick Cheney, because what he's done is he's chosen somebody who actually doesn't believe that climate change is manmade," Kerry said.
Kerry also said Palin is "Cheney-esque" when it comes to her conservative stances on social issues.
Shortly before being named John McCain's running mate, Palin told the conservative magazine Newsmax she does not believe climate change is man-made — a statement that puts her at odds with the preumptive GOP nominee and the 2008 Republican platform.
"A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location," Palin told the magazine. "I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."
Joe Biden once got in trouble for plagiarizing a speech and inflating his academic record. So it will not surprise you to find that his famous working-class background turns out to be mythical. But it may surprise you to learn that Biden isn't the one who has trouble with the facts.
In his Wednesday night speech at the Democratic convention, Biden referred to "those of us who grew up in middle-class neighborhoods like Scranton and Wilmington [Delaware]." In the video preceding his address, he said that the people he knew as a boy didn't regard themselves as working class but as middle class.
So what did the news media report? "Sen. Joseph R. Biden accepted the vice presidential nomination of the Democratic Party with a speech that harkened back to his working-class roots in Scranton," said The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal informed readers that "Sen. Joe Biden showcased his working-class upbringing." The New York Times said he "spoke frequently, and earnestly, of his blue-collar background."
No, he didn't. In fact, he did just the opposite. Anyone paying attention would have noticed as much. But the legend of Joe Biden, born in a welding shop, dies hard with political reporters, who find it easier to romanticize a gritty, hardscrabble childhood than a conventionally comfortable one.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate has electrified conservative activists, providing a boost of energy to the GOP nominee-in-waiting from a key constituency that had been previously had been lukewarm — at best — about him.
By tapping the anti-abortion and pro-gun Alaska governor just ahead of his convention, which is set to start here Monday, McCain hasn’t just won approval from a skeptical Republican base — he’s ignited a wave of elation and emotion that has led some grass-roots activists to weep with joy.
Serious questions remain about McCain’s pick — exactly how much he knows about her and her positions, past and present, on key issues. But for the worker bee core of the party that is essential to any Republican victory, there are no doubts.
“I woke up and my e-mail was just going crazy,” said Charmaine Yoest, head of the legislative arm of Americans United for Life and a former top official in Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign. “And then when it was announced — it was like you couldn’t breathe.”
The media elite — as well as elite members of the GOP consulting community — have all but mocked Palin as a former small-town mayor with zero Washington experience. But that view of her totally misses the cultural resonance she carries to crucial Republican power centers and could not be more at odds with the jubilation felt among true believers that one of their own is on the ticket.
Palin, say conservative activists, has instantly changed how they feel about McCain’s campaign and spurred them to go to work for the Republican ticket.
First, though, they’re expressing their newfound fondness for McCain with their checkbooks. Since tapping Palin, the campaign has raised nearly $7 million online, according to McCain aides.
Most importantly for McCain, the two constituencies who are most energized by Palin just happen to be the twin grassroots pillars of the GOP: anti-abortion activists and pro-Second Amendment enthusiasts and sportsmen. Without these two camps making phone calls, stuffing envelopes and knocking on doors, Republican presidential candidates would severely lack for volunteers. They are critical to the health of the conservative coalition that has dominated Republican politics for a generation.
Republicans say the primary source for the passion can be found in Palin’s example and authenticity.
Now, I'm not saying that we should just blindly ignore flaws in Republican candidates. What I'm saying is let the Dems figure that stuff out for themselves. We don't need to provide the spotlight on our own candidates.Subject: Why Are Republicans Eating Their Own?
K-Lo - I'm trying to figure out why so many members of the Republican pundit class are so pessimistic about Sarah Palin, to the point of writing the Democrat talking points for them? David Frum is writing their ad copy, and any number of others are doing all the Dems oppo research work for them.
Doesn't anybody on our side want to win? Palin's our VP nominee for better or worse (I personally think the choice was brilliant), but we're cutting our own throats if we can't just shut up about any negatives. Some of the pundits are so busy trying to show the world how politically astute they are they're ignoring the damage they're doing in the process.
As I said on my blog, this was a Reaganesque move on the part of McCain. Reagan knew how to bypass the media and the chattering class and speak straight to the voters. McCain just did the same thing with the Palin choice. My readers are ecstatic about the choice and they're just average run-of-the-mill Republicans. Some of our pundits need to put a cork in it and leave the opposition to the Dems.
Rick Moore
HolyCoast.com
Now look at Katrina's track as forecast a day before the storm hit:
Katrina actually moved a little further east at landfall which initially was a blessing for New Orleans since it spared them the worst of the winds. However, hurricanes rotate counter-clockwise, and the winds whipping around the north and west sides of the storm piled up the water from Lake Pontchartrain and caused the levy failures which flooded much of the city. As bad as Katrina was, based on the tracks shown above, Gustav has the potential to be a much more serious storm.
One model has the storm edging a little further east which could put New Orleans within the area where the worst of the winds and storm surge will be. Once again it's likely that the bowl that makes up New Orleans and surrounding areas will be filled with water, and this time the wind damage is likely to be much worse. I'm afraid Katrina is going to look like a Sunday School picnic compared to Gustav when all is said and done. As I write this it's a strong Cat 4 storm with the potential to hit Cat 5. I've seen a strong Cat 3 storm up close and personal. I can't imagine what a Cat 4 or 5 would look like.
In 2005 House Speaker Denny Hastert was thoroughly chastised when he questioned whether New Orleans should even be rebuilt, given the geography that's so prone to flooding. This storm may prove the former Speaker quite correct.
SACRAMENTO — Colusa County officials are defending their display at the California State Fair after a black couple complained that a caricature of a smiling watermelon seed was racist.
The "Waldo Watermelon Seed" drawing was removed this week after the couple said the image evoked negative stereotypes about blacks.
The exhibit was intended to celebrate Colusa County's seed-producing crops, which generate $30 million a year.
Margaret Kemp-Williams, deputy counsel for Colusa County, says it was drawn by wards at a county juvenile hall where the population is roughly 40 percent black and 40 percent Hispanic.
The wards created a display honoring watermelon, cucumber, pumpkin and tomato seeds. Kemp-Williams says each seed was depicted true to its real color.
Veronica Hannon Thrasher and her husband objected to the "Waldo Watermelon" caricature, which they said looked like "a happy black slave eating watermelon."
The county attorney said the wards had wrongly been cast "under a cloud of unintended racism."
Colusa is a rural county northwest of the state capital.
John McCain and the GOP are considering scrapping political speeches and turning their Minnesota convention into a "service program" to help victims of Hurricane Gustav, The Post has learned.
Sources told The Post that McCain himself might visit the Gulf Coast during the week of the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday. McCain is not scheduled to speak until Thursday.
The contingency plan - a worst-case scenario if the storm devastates Gulf Coast areas - would turn Republicans into Red Cross-type volunteers who would help collect donations, food and goods for storm victims.
McCain's campaign motto is "Country First," and he said helping people during an emergency will take precedence over accepting the nomination.
On a plane from Denver to Charlotte following the Democrats' convention, I found myself seated behind former National Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Don Fowler and Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina. Their conversation was interesting to say the least.
For example, they made fun of Sarah Palin for several minutes, Fowler calling her "Dan Quayle" on steroids and Spratt creatively describing her as "just terrible." They both agreed that, "Other than the simple fact that she's a female," she has nothing to offer.
Then there was this gem of a moment from Fowler:
So you see, it's funny. That New Orleans will get a hurricane. That's funny because it is due to hit when President Bush is scheduled to speak. Isn't that cool? Fowler isn't the only one who thinks so, just ask Michael Moore.
We all know Democrats used and use Katrina as a political football as callously as possible. Here's a candid moment showing some can hardly wait for another one.
All Class.
I'm pretty sure we'll see security in Minneapolis that rivals or exceeds Denver so nuts like this won't be able to get close.Ramsey County sheriff's deputies found weapons and devices to disable buses - among other items - in searches in the Twin Cities last night and today.
Authorities said the items came from "key members of the RNC Welcoming Committee," a self-described anarchist group.
Five people have been arrested and four properties have been searched, according to the sheriff's office.
At 8 a.m. today, the sheriff's office executed search warrants at three Minneapolis homes - 2301 23rd Ave. S., 3500 Harriet Ave. and 3240 17th Ave. S. The FBI, Minneapolis police and the Hennepin County sheriff's office assisted them.
"The 'Welcoming Committee' is a criminal enterprise made up of 35 anarchists who are intent on committing criminal acts before and during the Republican National Convention," said Sheriff Bob Fletcher in a statement. "These acts include tactics to blockade and disable delegate buses, breaching venue security and injuring police officers. They have recruited assistance in their criminal conspiracy from other anarchists groups throughout the country. Through their plans and actions they have exhibited a blatant disregard for the law and the safety of others."
The statement said the items found in the searches included:
Materials to create "sleeping dragons" (PVC pipe, chicken wire, duct tape), which is when protesters lock themselves together
Large amounts of urine, including three to five gallon buckets of urine
Wrist rockets (high-powered
slingshots)
A machete, hatchet and several throwing knives
a gas mask and filter
Empty glass bottles
Rags
Flammable liquids
Homemade caltrops (devises used to disable buses in roads)
Metal pipes
Axes
Bolt cutters
Sledge hammers
Repelling equipment
Kryptonite locks
Empty plastic buckets cut and made into shields
Material for protective padding
An Army helmet.The five people being held at the Hennepin County jail are under arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to riot, conspiracy to commit civil disorder and conspiracy to damage property.
Hillary Booed at McCain-Palin EventAnd now, from CNN Political Ticker:
Palin booed for mentioning Hillary ClintonWhich one do you think understood what was actually going on with the crowd? I'm guessing CNN chose to get it wrong because it made for a better story.
Palin booed at mention of Hillary Clinton
To borrow from Ross Perot (not always a good idea), would you hire any of these people as a manager at your company?
Palin you'd offer the job to right away, and then you'd sweat until she accepted it.
McCain would seem like a decent choice, but wouldn't make or break you either way.
You'd wonder how Obama possibly thought he was qualified, and you'd leave him to be hired by some other company where they fall for people who say all the right things.
And you'd be telling stories about Biden's interview, and making jokes about it, for years.
John McCain said the Republican National Convention may be postponed as federal officials said Hurricane Gustav was gathering to a devastating Category 5 as it headed toward star-crossed New Orleans.I think there's a way to handle this without postponing the convention (as I outlined here), but politics being what it is, Gustav may force the GOP's hand - especially if it comes ashore as a Cat 4 or 5 in a heavily populated area. However, each towering thunderhead comes with a silver lining, and here's the silver lining in this situation. Until McCain formerly accepts his parties nomination he's free to spend as much money as he wants on the campaign, and with the Palin announcement, the funds have been pouring in. Because he chose to take public campaign funding, once he accepts the nomination he's limited to the $84 million or so the government will give him while Obama can spend whatever he can raise.
“It just wouldn't be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near-tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster,” McCain told Chris Wallace of “Fox News Sunday,” in an interview taped for tomorrow. “So we're monitoring it from day to day and I'm saying a few prayers, too.”
McCain also said: “I'm afraid, Chris, that we may have to look at that situation and we'll try to monitor it. I've been talking to Govs. Jindal, Barbour, Riley. Chris, I've been talking to all of them.”
Officials at the convention, which is to open Monday in St. Paul, Minn., tell Politico they are figuring out how to handle the formal business of nominating McCain even if some delegations are not able to attend.
The officials also are preparing program contingencies in case such speakers as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal have to cancel.
Maria Cino, the convention’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement to Politico: "Like all Americans, our prayers are with those who will be affected by Hurricane Gustav. We continue to closely monitor the movement of the storm and are considering necessary contingencies.
“We are in communication with the Gulf state governors to make sure the convention is taking all the appropriate steps as the hurricane progresses. The safety of our affected delegations is our first priority and preparing for Gustav comes before anything else."
I hope he gets traded and the new team won't let him wear #85.CINCINNATI (Aug. 28) - Maybe receiver Chad Johnson can go by the name that his head coach hates.
The Cincinnati Bengals receiver has legally changed his name to Chad Javon Ocho Cinco in Broward County, Fla., a switch that became official this week. Johnson, who lives in Miami, didn't return a message left on his cell phone Friday night.
Sarah Palin has made a good first impression. Before being named as John McCain’s running mate, 67% of voters didn’t know enough about the Alaska governor to have an opinion. After her debut in Dayton and a rush of media coverage, a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 53% now have a favorable opinion of Palin while just 26% offer a less flattering assessment… By way of comparison, on the day he was selected as Barack Obama’s running mate, Delaware Senator Joseph Biden was viewed favorably by 43% of voters.She didn't hurt McCain's fundraising yesterday, either. The campaign took in $4.49 million, and I'll be a surprising amount of it came from people who hadn't previously contributed.
The last performance of Golden Dreams for the public, an American dream film performance in Disney’s California Adventure, is Sept. 7. Disney announced back in fall that as part of sprucing up California Adventure, Golden Dreams will be replaced by a dark ride based on “The Little Mermaid.” So, if you want to see the show — show up by Sept. 7. Still, the theater will be open through the spring, but only to school kids as part of the Disney youth education program.Golden Dreams is a movie shown at Disney's California Adventure that purports to tell the history of California. I saw it the second night the park was open and immediately nicknamed it "The We Hate White People Movie". To watch that film you'd think that persons of pallor had absolutely nothing to do with the settlement and growth of California. It was one immigrant group victim story after another. A complete waste of 20 minutes, and being narrated by Whoopi Goldberg didn't help. It's too bad that kids will continue to see this propaganda through the Spring
The movie on California’s history at California Adventure is undiluted leftist agit-prop — with Whoopi Goldberg as the host, no less.Good riddance to Whoopi and to Golden Dreams.
Green Speak
The Democratic Party said it was making a massive push to make its convention the most environmentally-friendly ever. But CNet News reports the reality was quite different. It says party VIPs and many celebrities who attended told the drivers of their non-green towncars and super-sized SUVs to idle in the Pepsi Center's pickup area with engines running and the air-conditioning on.
The plan to offer a "lean n' green" menu was undercut by the fried mini-donuts that were prominently on sale inside the Pepsi Center. And, green-friendly bicycles were not permitted inside the convention's security area, leading to the use of gasoline-powered vehicles.
Valued Voice?
Apparently admitting to adultery has not hurt John Edwards' market value. Edwards is scheduled to emerge from seclusion soon and return to the public speaking circuit. And, he is now charging a larger fee than ever before.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports the former vice presidential candidate will speak to a student organization at the University of Illinois October 14. His price — $65,000. That's $10,000 more than his pre-adultery rate.
A university spokeswoman says the student group did give the former North Carolina senator the opportunity to back out of the engagement in light of his extramarital embarassments. But the speech is still scheduled to be delivered, focusing on "the American dream."
Over in the Frumistan province of the NR caliphate, our pal David is not happy about the Palin pick. I am - for several reasons.
First, Governor Palin is not merely, as Jay describes her, "all-American", but hyper-American. What other country in the developed world produces beauty queens who hunt caribou and serve up a terrific moose stew? As an immigrant, I'm not saying I came to the United States purely to meet chicks like that, but it was certainly high on my list of priorities. And for the gun-totin' Miss Wasilla then to go on to become Governor while having five kids makes it an even more uniquely American story. Next to her resume, a guy who's done nothing but serve in the phony-baloney job of "community organizer" and write multiple autobiographies looks like just another creepily self-absorbed lifelong member of the full-time political class that infests every advanced democracy.
Second, it can't be in Senator Obama's interest for the punditocracy to spends its time arguing about whether the Republicans' vice-presidential pick is "even more" inexperienced than the Democrats' presidential one.
Third, real people don't define "experience" as appearing on unwatched Sunday-morning talk shows every week for 35 years and having been around long enough to have got both the War on Terror and the Cold War wrong. (On the first point, at the Gun Owners of New Hampshire dinner in the 2000 campaign, I remember Orrin Hatch telling me sadly that he was stunned to discover how few Granite State voters knew who he was.) Sarah Palin and Barack Obama are more or less the same age, but Governor Palin has run a state and a town and a commercial fishing operation, whereas (to reprise a famous line on the Rev Jackson) Senator Obama ain't run nothin' but his mouth. She's done the stuff he's merely a poseur about. Post-partisan? She took on her own party's corrupt political culture directly while Obama was sucking up to Wright and Ayers and being just another get-along Chicago machine pol (see his campaign's thuggish attempt to throttle Stanley Kurtz and Milt Rosenberg on WGN the other night).
Fourth, Governor Palin has what the British Labour Party politician Denis Healy likes to call a "hinterland" - a life beyond politics. Whenever Senator Obama attempts anything non-political (such as bowling), he comes over like a visiting dignitary to a foreign country getting shanghaied into some impenetrable local folk ritual. Sarah Palin isn't just on the right side of the issues intellectually. She won't need the usual stage-managed "hunting" trip to reassure gun owners: she's lived the Second Amendment all her life. Likewise, on abortion, we're often told it's easy to be against it in principle but what if you were a woman facing a difficult birth or a handicapped child? Been there, done that.
Fifth, she complicates all the laziest Democrat pieties. Energy? Unlike Biden and Obama, she's been to ANWR and, like most Alaskans, supports drilling there.
Sixth (see Kathleen's link to Craig Ferguson below), I kinda like the whole naughty librarian vibe.
NEW ORLEANS — Police with bullhorns plan to go street to street this weekend with a tough message about getting out ahead of Hurricane Gustav: This time there will be no shelter of last resort. The doors to the Superdome will be locked. Those who stay will be on their own.During Katrina the city had lots of buses too. Unfortunately, they were all under water.
New forecasts Friday made it increasingly clear that New Orleans will get some kind of hit — direct or indirect — by early next week. That raised the likelihood people would have to flee, and the city suggested a full-scale evacuation call could come as soon as Sunday.
Those among New Orleans’ estimated 310,000 to 340,000 residents who ignore orders to leave accept “all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones,” the city’s emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed, has warned.
As Katrina approached in 2005, as many as 30,000 people who either could not or would not evacuate jammed the Louisiana Superdome and the riverfront convention center. They spent days waiting for rescue in squalid conditions. Some died.
Stung by the images that flashed across the world, including the photo of an elderly woman dead in her wheelchair, her bodied covered with a blanket, officials promised to find a better way.
This time, the city has taken steps to ensure no one has an excuse not to leave. The state has a $7 million contract to provide 700 buses to evacuate the elderly, the sick and anyone around the region without transportation.
Network Stooge: "Mr. HolyCoast, given the beating the president and the GOP took in 2005 because of their slow response to Hurricane Katrina, leaving an entire city of black people to drown, are you afraid that continuing with the convention will look bad in the eyes of the voters?"
GOP Spokesman Mr. HolyCoast: "Well, Stooge, as you know despite Barack Obama's promise to reduce sea levels should he be elected, he's still only a candidate so he hasn't had a chance to get that done yet and there's not much any of us mere mortals can do to control a monster storm like Gustav. The timing of any hurricane is unfortunate, but since conventions are held in August, a conflict like this is always a possibility. Thank goodness we didn't book the Superdome this year.
First of all, all GOP elected officials in areas likely to be affected by the storm will be at their posts doing what they were elected to do...serving the people. Governors Perry of Texas, Jindal of Louisiana, Barbour of Mississippi and Riley of Alabama will all be in their home states overseeing any rescue and recovery efforts. Other GOP officials at the federal and state levels will be doing their jobs to serve the people who elected them.
Senator McCain and Gov. Palin will be watching the situation closely and will do whatever they can do to assist. A visit to the affected area is not out of the question.
As far as the convention itself goes, as both you and the Democrats know, this is a huge undertaking, some 18 months in the planning process. Hundreds of contracts have been issued required specific performance at a specific time, and you can't quickly undo or change those arrangements. The convention center, hotels, flights, and other arrangements cannot be moved on short notice. Consequently, those GOP officials who are from areas that aren't likely to be affected by Gustav will be in Minneapolis and will conduct the convention's business as planned.
Although the Democrats and your fellow Network Stooges will try and make us look bad for continuing with our business, there's no doubt that the Democrats would do the same thing if they were in our place (except, of course, they don't have any Gulf state governors).
Next question.
Reporters covering Barack Obama heard the news aboard Obama 1 (the campaign for the first time chartered a second plane for the swelling press corps), just before takeoff. We were briefly assured by senior Obamas traveling staff that neither Obama nor running mate Joe Biden would have any on-camera comment about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s historic elevation as John McCain’s running mate.
So we dialed up the Obama press shop and found ourselves in the middle of a ripe field of dismissive comments about Palin’s lack of experience, her tenure as mayor of a small town, a row that’s now the subject of state investigation into pressure to fire an ex-brother-in-law, and other choice morsels that sought to portray Palin as something of a political midget.
These various split-second digs took full form in an official campaign statement moments later from spokesman Bill Burton:
“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin share’s John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same.”
That statement arrived just before takeoff (about 9:30 a.m. MDT). Not 30 minutes later, senior adviser Linda Douglass, reading from her Blackberry, gave the traveling press a very different statement, this one from Sens. Obama and Biden:
“We send our congratulations to Governor Palin and her family on her designation as the Republican nominee for vice president. Her selection is yet another encouraging sign that all barriers are falling in our politics and while we obviously have differences over how to best lead this country forward Governor Palin is an admirable person and will add a compelling new voice to this campaign.”
What happened?
Did the campaign suddenly regret failing to take note of Palin’s unique place in American history as the first woman tabbed by the Republican Party as a vice presidential nominee? Did it regret missing an opportunity to tell women (especially Hillary Clinton loyalists) across the country that Palin deserved at least a cursory compliment before being subjected to the natural rough-and-tumble or presidential politics? Did it regret a swift descent into the negative, back-and-forth politics that Obama has so earnestly railed against?
It would appear so.
Upon arriving in Pennsylvania, Obama went out of his way –in word and deed — to praise Palin as the GOP vice presidential nominee and welcome her to the political big leagues.
“You know, I haven’t met her before. She seems like a compelling person, obviously a terrific story, personal story,” Obama said to the TV pool while touring a bio-diesel plant outside of Pittsburgh. “And you know, I’m sure that she will help make the case for the Republicans. Unfortunately, the case is more of the same. And so, ultimately, John McCain is at the top of the ticket.
As I indicated in my speech last night, I think that he wants to take the country in the wrong direction. I’m assuming Governor Palin agrees with him in his policies. But the fact that she’s been nominated I think, or soon will be nominated, I think is one more indicator of this country moving forward. The fact that you’ve got a woman as the nominee of one of the — (as) the vice presidential nominee of one of the major parties — I think is one more hit against the glass ceiling and I congratulate her and look forward to a vigorous debate. I’m pleased with my choice for vice president, Joe Biden. I think he’s the man who can help me guide this country in a better direction and help working families.”
Asked about the stark difference in tone and substance from his campaign’s statement and his, Obama said the following:
“You know, I think that, you know, campaigns start getting these hair triggers and that statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments.”
At 4:50 p.m. EDT Obama called to congratulate Palin from his campaign bus. According to senior adviser Robert Gibbs, Obama told Palin she would be “a terrific candidate and that he looked forward to seeing her on the campaign trail.” Gibbs also said Obama wished Palin “good luck, but not too much luck.”
The facts speak for themselves.
I will leave to others the judgment as to whether the first day of the Obama-Biden messaging on Palin could not A) Get off the ground properly or B) Found the need to reverse itself before stepping aboard the first day of a three-day bus tour.
It's time to leave New OrleansThe people of New Orleans can thank their lucky stars that both the state and federal government is much more prepared to deal with this storm than they were for Katrina. With Gov. Bobby Jindal leading the state, at least this time they won't get a governor who's overwhelmed by the whole thing.
Today is the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic hit on the Louisiana/Mississippi/Alabama coast. Unfortunately, I think that people living in New Orleans should mark the anniversary of Katrina by getting the heck out of the city. You live at the bottom of a bowl, ten or so feet below sea level. This is not natural. Nature wants to fill up this bowl with huge quantities of Gulf of Mexico sea water. There is a storm capable of doing that bearing down on you. If you live in New Orleans, I suggest you take a little Labor Day holiday--sooner, rather than later, to beat the rush--and get out of town. Gustav is going to come close to you, and there's no sense messing with a major hurricane capable of pushing a Category 3 storm surge to your doorstep. Don't test those Category 3 rated--but untested--levees. Conventional pre-Katrina wisdom suggested that the city needed 72 hours to evacuate. With the population about half of the pre-Katrina population, that lead time is about 60 hours. With Gustav likely to bring tropical storm force winds to the city by Monday afternoon, that means that tonight is a good time to start evacuating--Saturday morning at the latest. Voluntary evacuations have already begun, which is a good idea.
It was mid-February and Todd Palin, Alaska's newest first gentleman, was speeding across 2,000 miles of ice and snowy tundra en route to victory in the world's most grueling snowmobile race.I have to believe that the Palin family story is going to play well with the blue collar working class in flyover country.
That same week, his wife, Gov. Sarah Palin, was in Juneau requesting more money for the state budget and assuring legislators they'd soon see her plan for a natural gas pipeline that could one day be the most expensive construction project in North America. Then she flew to Fairbanks to wave her exhausted husband across the finish line.
It's not just his title as the state's reigning snowmobile co-champion that sets 42-year-old Todd Palin apart from the nation's other first spouses. And it's not that he's one of just five who are men.
White-collar jobs in law, education or health care are typical among the current crop of first spouses, but Palin spent nearly 20 years as a blue-collar employee in the oil fields of the North Slope. And every summer he heads west to his birthplace in Dillingham to work the Bristol Bay commercial salmon fishery from his property on the Nushagak River.
A lifetime of manual labor in the state's two largest and most physically demanding industries is helping Palin carve out his role as Alaska's first spouse, or "first dude," a nickname he has in common with the Kansas governor's husband, Gary Sebelius.
Like other first spouses around the country, Palin has been asked to champion an array of causes or institutions since his wife took office in December.
I may add to this list as more silly inquiries come in.palin put son in an institution
No. There may have been some confusion because only four of five kids were at the announcement, but that's because the oldest is in the Army. The youngest son who has Down's Syndrome was in the arms of his big sister.
Sarah Palin beauty hair blog
Can't help you there, but Ann Althouse might be able to help.
sarah palin daughter pregnant
There's apparently a rumor that the youngest Palin is actually the child of the 17-year old daughter. No, this isn't Desperate Housewives.
UPDATE 9/1: The child rumor mentioned above is definately false, but it is now reported that Bristol Palin, the 17-year old, is pregnant now.
sarah palin in fur coat in Dayton
No, it's summer in Dayton. You wouldn't want to wear fur there. However, she does wear fur when appropriate. After all, she's from Alaska and they grow it up there. I'm getting a lot of inquiries about Palin and fur.
Sarah Palin in bikini
If you find that one let me know. However, there are some great photos here.
Holy Palin
I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.
palin moose burger
Yes, she eats moose burger. Doesn't taste like chicken.
Palin is a NASCAR fan
Yes she is. All the more reason to support her. I wonder if Joe Biden has ever attended a NASCAR race in Dover or anywhere else?
Todd Palin adultery
Haven't you people got anything better to do?
Analysis: Palin's age, inexperience rival Obama's
Analysis: Obama spares details, keeps up attacksThe writer of that last article was excoriated by the pro-Obama "journalists" on MSNBC last night because he didn't follow the party line and declare the speech an unqualified success.
Are you really a Republican? It's okay if you are.Well, that's good to know. I was afraid the Obama cult was going to outlaw Republicans.
How hard do you think the Obama people are kicking themselves right now for passing over Hillary Clinton? Do you think Joe Biden might suddenly come up with a health issue that takes him off the ticket?
One month from now, the Palin pick has proven a bonanza for the McCain campaign. A large chunk of Hillary's 18 million voters have been won over. Conservatives are unified and energized, and the previously-undiscovered "Maxim magazine vote" is suddenly giving McCain large margins among young males.What if this happens? What if the Dems realize that Biden is a hair-plugged boat anchor on the ticket and decide they need to exchange him for Hillary? What does Hillary say when they ask her to join the ticket?
Joe Biden will disappear from the campaign trail, and we will later learn it was to see a doctor. A previously-undiscovered, vaguely ominous health issue will be discovered, and Biden will sadly announce that he cannot continue as Obama's running mate. With a sudden need for a new one, Obama will turn... to Hillary Clinton.
Call it the Torricelli gambit.
No way, Hussein! You had your chance at the convention and you blew it. You didn't even give me a serious look and now you're gonna pay. You're gonna lose this election because your ego superceded your political intelligence and I'm gonna sit back, watch and laugh, and in 2012 I'll not only win the nomination but I'll do something you couldn't do - win the election! [begin evil laugh]Hopefully the last part of that prediction by Hillary won't come true. If McCain isn't up to it in 2012, a Palin vs. Clinton contest would be pretty fascinating.
ma's bluster and meandering non-answers.Man, the leftist whackos and nutroots are going to come out of the woodwork like cockroaches. Pallin wears fur, she hunts and eats moose burgers, she is a life long member of the NRA, and the worst, the absolute worst crime -- her husband is a fisherman who works in the oil fields in the off-season. Yep, a regular working stiff. The kind of guy they hate and are jealous of. Not a lawyer or a fuzzy headed policy wonk; not a professor of basket weaving or Mayan Mysticism, not someone who lives off the teat of government grants; but a real, solid, hard core, working man. A guy who gets his hands dirty every day. The average Joe American.
What makes her even more odious is she actually worked with her husband on the fishing boats. She really, actually worked for a living. The Gospel chorus is lining up to rage and rant; “my God, how can he pick someone like that? Working people, why, they, they, they, know too much about real life!”
PETA, the anti-gun nuts, ELF, KOS, MYDD, Huffingglue and probably a host of others will be gnashing their teeth, pounding their drums, shaking their chubby little fists and green tamborines, and going into full, foaming at the mouth, rabid attack mode. They are going to have heartastrokes over this.
1. As mentioned below, Palin killed the Bridge to Nowhere. This is a reform ticket, and the "more of the same" charge looks even less plausible now.UPDATE: Statement from Fred Thompson:
2. She doesn’t just talk the pro-life line; she lives it by choosing to carry to term her child with Downs' Syndrome. Consider the social conservative base consolidated.
3. The Democrats want to question her experience? She’s spent more time running and managing a bigger institution than anybody on their ticket has. No party ticket offered an all-experience ticket. The question is, if you think experience is important, would you rather have it as at the top of the ticket or at the bottom?
4. In the debate, guns will come up. Biden thought the guy who called his gun “his baby” has problems. She’s an NRA favorite.
5. Do I have to be the first to say it? She’s gorgeous. Stunning. A jaw-dropping knockout. This will inevitably cause some Democrat to call her a bimbo (remember how Jeri Thompson was treated by those jerks at MSNBC). That will backfire enormously. In some places in this world, women still encounter sexism and condescension. ("Hold on a second, sweetie.") Attractive women encounter it and sometimes get it even worse, the idea that if you look good, you can't have a brain in your head. The Democrats will be playing with fire every time one of their surrogates or friendly commentators go on the cable news shows...
"I am absolutely delighted by this selection. Once again, John McCain has shown that he is an independent thinker who paints in bold strokes. Sarah Palin is a conservative reformer with executive experience who will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington. She will be an ideal running mate for John McCain, and will make a major contribution to our country's future."UPDATE: The official talking points on Sarah Palin from the McCain Campaign:
TALKING POINTS: GOVERNOR SARAH PALINUPDATE - a fun fact for the VP debate. You can fit Delaware into the state of Alaska 291 times and still have land left over.
Governor Sarah Palin is a tough executive who has demonstrated during her time in office that she is ready to be president. She has brought Republicans and Democrats together within her Administration and has seen approval ratings of over 80 percent.
· She has challenged the influence of the big oil companies while fighting for the development of new energy resources.
· She leads a state that matters to every one of us -- Alaska has significant energy resources and she has been a leader in the fight to make America energy independent.
· She has actually used her veto and cut budgetary spending. And she put a stop to the bridge to nowhere that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.
· In Alaska, she challenged a corrupt system and passed a landmark ethics reform bill.
· As the head of Alaska's National Guard and as the mother of a soldier herself, Governor Palin understands what it takes to lead our nation and she understands the importance of supporting our troops.
Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington.
In choosing Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain put Washington on notice that he is serious about shaking up the status quo.
What we're seeing is a maverick who has shaken up Washington picking as his teammate a maverick governor who has shaken up her own state.
What it's going to take to change Washington is a team of Mavericks who have a record of accomplishment in shaking up the status quo.
Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same.They're going to regret dissing small town America, and they definitely don't want to play the "experience" game. That's sort of like saying that the Democrats nominated a former state senator with no foreign policy experience, or a peanut farmer from Georgia.
this morning? For one thing, both Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty have said that they're out, and then there's the issue of a Gulfstream V bizjet belonging to a McCain supporter that flew from Anchorage to and airport near Dayton, Ohio early this morning. Something similar happened when Joe Biden got the pick.On September 11, 2007, the Palins' son Track joined the Army. Eighteen years old at the time, he is the eldest of Palin's five children.[10] Track now serves in an infantry brigade and will be deployed to Iraq in September. She also has three daughters: Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, and Piper, 7.[11] On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome.[12] She returned to the office three days after giving birth.[13] Palin refused to let the results of prenatal genetic testing change her decision to have the baby. "I'm looking at him right now, and I see perfection," Palin said. "Yeah, he has an extra chromosome. I keep thinking, in our world, what is normal and what is perfect?"[13]We'll all know for sure at 9am PDT when McCain appears in Dayton to make his announcement. Stay tuned.
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