All McCain all the time...

So it happened just the way the McCain campaign wanted it to. They have effectively blasted Obama's historic speech of last night completely off the front pages of every major news outlet in America by announcing Palin. I know that they were hoping for this but I am so amazed that it do so soon. By no later than 8:30 am I could not see Obama's speech as a top story on any of my major-outlet news links.

Impressive.

More on Palin

CNN.com: Has this little nugget about Palin. It looks like her hands may not be as clean as one might hope in her position.

"Palin's term has not been without controversy. A legislative investigation is looking into allegations that Palin fired Alaska's public safety commissioner because he refused to fire the governor's former brother-in-law, a state trooper.

Palin acknowledged that a member of her staff made a call to a trooper in which the staffer suggested he was speaking for the governor.

Palin has admitted that the call could be interpreted as pressure to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, who was locked in a child-custody battle with Palin's sister.

'I am truly disappointed and disturbed to learn that a member of this administration contacted the Department of Public Safety regarding Trooper Wooten,' Palin said. 'At no time did I authorize any member of my staff to do so.'

Palin suspended the staffer who made the call."

We will definitely have to watch how this one plays out. It looks like her personal life gets very confused with her public life. It might be seen by some as vindictive and spiteful. It appears on first blush that she was caught doing something blatantly unethical and threw her staffer under the bus to save her political skin.

McCain Picks Palin

Over at the Washington Post The Fix have the news that everyone is going to be talking about today about a little known governor from a tiny town in Alaska who is now going to be McCains running mate. It seems like this is a very astute choice, but it certainly comes with some serious risks. She is not just an unknown but a total unknown. She has no experience at all on the national stage. Both of these issues could be either a hinderance or a massive blessing for her I am very excited to see how they choose to introduce her to the world.

I send letters...

I sent the following letter to Luke Esser of the Washington State GOP.

Washington State GOP
Luke Esser, Chairman
Via email

Dear Luke,

Well, it was certainly unfortunate that some "volunteer" found his or her way to the evergreen state fair booth with the offensive and divisive $3 bills depicting the democratic candidate as a cartoon muslim. It was truly more unfortunate that that volunteer was "selling" them on your behalf. (As reported by the Seattle Times today.) Well I now know the way you guys operate.

"Asking for forgiveness is so much easier than asking for permission..."

The only trouble is that it just doesn't jibe with all of those ethics and morals you so heavily tout in your national and local ads. You are supposed to be the party of family values, of goodness and right. Instead we all see what you are. The party of win-at-all-costs, of the dirty trick, of working the angles and of asking for forgiveness after it gets out of hand.

You have been the leaders in the morally bankrupt race-to-the-bottom that has typified the culture wars that you have so fervently tried to wage. Well I am sick of it. There was a time that I had been persuaded to see your side in these races, that I voted both for republican and democratic office holders in local politics. That time has passed. You have lost my confidence, my respect and my vote.

You, as chairman have the moral responsibility to lead and to make right what is wrong in this state and this country. I don't see that happening. It makes me sad to think that I have been, by the actions of your party, limited to a single party future, but so be it.

Sincerely,

Thor Radford

Shoreline, WA

This all comes from an incident I heard about as I drove in to work this morning. I was listening to NPR and a local story caught my attention about how the Snohomish county GOP was handing out $3 bills with Obama's face on them in arab headdress and with camels and palm trees in the background. Seems they couldn't think of anything substantive to say about the dem candidate and instead just wanted to slur him in the only way they knew how.

I send letters...

I sent the following letter to Luke Esser of the Washington State GOP.

Washington State GOP
Luke Esser, Chairman
Via email

Dear Luke,

Well, it was certainly unfortunate that some "volunteer" found his or her way to the evergreen state fair booth with the offensive and divisive $3 bills depicting the democratic candidate as a cartoon muslim. It was truly more unfortunate that that volunteer was "selling" them on your behalf. (As reported by the Seattle Times today.) Well I now know the way you guys operate.

"Asking for forgiveness is so much easier than asking for permission..."

The only trouble is that it just doesn't jibe with all of those ethics and morals you so heavily tout in your national and local ads. You are supposed to be the party of family values, of goodness and right. Instead we all see what you are. The party of win-at-all-costs, of the dirty trick, of working the angles and of asking for forgiveness after it gets out of hand.

You have been the leaders in the morally bankrupt race-to-the-bottom that has typified the culture wars that you have so fervently tried to wage. Well I am sick of it. There was a time that I had been persuaded to see your side in these races, that I voted both for republican and democratic office holders in local politics. That time has passed. You have lost my confidence, my respect and my vote.

You, as chairman have the moral responsibility to lead and to make right what is wrong in this state and this country. I don't see that happening. It makes me sad to think that I have been, by the actions of your party, limited to a single party future, but so be it.

Sincerely,

Thor Radford

Shoreline, WA

This all comes from an incident I heard about as I drove in to work this morning. I was listening to NPR and a local story caught my attention about how the Snohomish county GOP was handing out $3 bills with Obama's face on them in arab headdress and with camels and palm trees in the background. Seems they couldn't think of anything substantive to say about the dem candidate and instead just wanted to slur him in the only way they knew how.

Prepare for the GOP Onslaught!

CNN's story "Online dirty tricks may mar U.S. elections" Paints a pretty clear picture of what is coming in the final days of campaign 2008. They detail a litany of voter tampering and intimidation tactics but interestingly they don't make any judgement about where those tactics originated.

Virtually all of the issues discussed in the article were attempts by the GOP or it's operatives to disenfranchise Democratic voters in swing states. Make no mistake. The GOP doesn't want you to vote unless you are a middle class white male who is a registered Republican. They will do anything to make sure that others will not vote. Keep that in mind when you read about how your name has been purged from the voter rolls and you cannot vote in the national elections.

The GOP or it's operatives will lie and cheat in any way they can to win. The old boys network is all up to speed and in full effect; ready to drop the voter suppression on an unsuspecting public.

Holy Shit! - Bush & Co gut the Endangered Species Act

CNN.com has the mother of all environmental nightmares right here. It seems that GW Bush and his cronies in the Dept of the Interior have found a way to make every Republican's wettest dreams come true!