The kindest thing that can be said about McCain's outrageous claims is that they were made in profound ignorance.

It also has to be seen in the context of the general craziness of the choice, which had to be rationalised post-hoc for the non-rabid-christian portions of the electorate, leading to…

For example, I found McCain's repeated claims that by virtue of having a five-month old Down's baby Palin knew more about autism than "almost any American that I know," and that by the same means she was "uniquely qualified" to discover the cause of autism, offensive and opportunist.

Down syndrome…

And, I further confess my sympathy for Palin is limited by the fact that she repeatedly declares her desire to overturn Roe v Wade, a decision founded on womens' privacy.

My sympathy for Palin is very close to zilch, exept insofar as she is a woman and the Trig theory…

This point was raised by others earlier in the thread, and I really don't get it. Why respond? Why dignify?

Well, the Obama campaign did, in response to the wingnut theory that he wasn't really born in Hawaii: they released his birth certificate. It didn't convince the conspiracists (this theory…

You practice what you preach, or I'm rather short of sympathy when you're exposed as a hypocrite.

Being a hypocrite how? If somebody alleged (preferably with evidence) that she was gay, or had terminated a pregnancy, I'd say it'd be legitimate because she's anti-gay and anti-abortion, and uses both position…

You practice what you preach, or I'm rather short of sympathy when you're exposed as a hypocrite.

http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=RTrYE4a1BmE

Going after the family is just inexcusable, and there's no amount of eye for an eye that justifies it.

Holding Palin to account for her own statements — and her own use of her disabled infant as a campaign prop — is not going "after the family". Before you accuse…

If ever there was a movie that has not aged well....

Pity it wasn't Peter O'Toole, Roeg's first choice for the part of Mr. Newton. Despite its sometimes heavy-handed satire The Ruling Class still holds up.

David Bowie falling on earth

If ever there was a movie that has not aged well....

(Haven't done link as having trouble getting the URL links to work – seems can see video or have URL link but not both)

Heather: I've been getting that wrong since day one, so at least you've got to admire my consistency. But I'm sure somebody will allege a baby sex change before long.

Let's be honest here: if they ever made a film about you, they would have to entitle it "The Man Who Calls Bullshit".

Are we envisioning this film all lush black and white, Coen Brothers-style, Craig as a tormented Billy Bob Thornton, not knowing whether to call bullshit or not?…

And since the sun's up, another round of pissy name-calling from Giovanni.

Er, Craig...? Let's be honest here: if they ever made a film about you, they would have to entitle it "The Man Who Calls Bullshit". You might just get some of that verbal sparring coming your way from…

And while she's still the poster girl of the theo-con nutbars who are claiming (quite literally) that Obama isn't even an American citizen, I think it's entirely fair to keep on her.

Another day, another ludicrous moral equivalence. Claiming that somebody isn't an American citizen and claiming that somebody traded…

And while she's still the poster girl of the theo-con nutbars who are claiming (quite literally) that [[http://www.slate.com/id/2206033?wpisrc=newsletter|Obama isn't…

I was just going to link to Andrew Sullivan who is still trying to nail down the evidence that Sarah Palin did have a baby.

It's a lunatic conspiracy theory and Sullivan is a tool.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/12/a-fourth-pictur.html#more

Russel, I will second what has been said above. You are jumping the shark delving into this.

Your whole social outlook is a womans right to choose. And yet you are such taking a self-righteous attitude. Sullivan is talking crap. Palin is the new VEEP choice. If they did not…

Thanks Bob. That was completely fucking bizarre.

It makes the mayor from the Simpsons look sensible doesn't it?

If she has a media minder, they need to find another career. Or another politician if she tells them to shut up.

Palin went presidential and 'pardoned' a turkey at thanksgiving and then was interviewed with turkeys being slauhtered in the background.

Thanks Bob. That was completely fucking bizarre.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH-8

Caribou Barbie anyone

Ha! Priceless!

And she's got an Irish last name, which gives her an in with the EU.

Practically 'vast foreign policy' experience these days ;)

http://www.collegeotr.com/college_otr/sarah_palin_as_caribou_barbie_realized_11282

fr'real it seems

Hey, perhaps Ann Kilkenny should be running for President. She sure seems to have a firmer grip on fiscal conservatism than either McCain or Palin. :)

She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a regressive sales tax which taxed even food.

Go us!

including asking if Kilkenny is fr'real or a Democrat-plant.

fr'real it seems:

Why did she do it? Kilkenny told The Daily Journal she wanted to offer people information and her experiences. She does not flatter Palin, but she said she did vote for Palin when she ran for city council.

…

There's so much to quote, but I couldn't go past this:…

Fair points well made, but I still think it's useful to keep a very close watch on what theo-con politicians and their enablers really believe. I know it's rather abstract in a country like New Zealand where politics, faith (and the over-cosy relationship between the two) operate in a…

I think it's an entirely legitimate and news-worthy area to explore. Especially if Palin believes that the End of Days are imminent, and it's "God's will" that the United States has a role to play in the unfolding of Biblical prophecy.

The thing is: what she herself said is a…

I'm still unsure how you can equate the two things. On one hand you have a pastor who makes a pronouncement regarding the end of times, and an egalitarian one at that.

Well, giovanni, I get where you're coming from and you're right as far as you go.

But --…

when her own pastor is equally prone to over-heated apocalyptic rhetoric.

I'm still unsure how you can equate the two things. On one hand you have a pastor who makes a pronouncement regarding the end of times, and an egalitarian one at that. On the other, you have a pastor…

I followed the link and came up with this at No. 21:

Yes, it does appear that Palin’s local pastor preached about an end time when God will judge everyone, even Wasilla, Alaska, and the United States. Duh. This is called the Book of Revelations, and while I don’t…

For example No. 21:

Meanwhile (and sorry for baiting Sage, folks) but how is the Palin Squee Squad going to explain away her own l "America-hating" pastor?

Evangelicals being evangelical. Wow.

And there we go, folks — there's always an extenuation when you're white and right(-wing) isn't there?

The moral equivalence of Obama non decision vs McCain non attendance escapes me. It seems reasonably grown up and accepted now that Clark, Blair etc missed lots of votes…

It's a funny old world.

That's a sad old world....

It's a funny old world.

As you say…

Fisk was urbane, reasonably cheerful and of course gimlet-eyed and realistic about there being a solution as westerners would understand it to any particular Middle-East 'problem'.

I remember years ago reading a biography of the great Manchester Guardian foreign correspondent James Cameron who followed a similar beat for many years…

I think she will get a pass on the post cover up because she intiiated her own investigation and came clean.

Ah, Sage. You're a true believer, aren't you?

The excellent Mudflats blog had all the details long before the veep announcement.

The legislature got wind of the issue and…

Boring.

yep, sekali as we say here, but this made me smile:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ea0b05d406

there will be reasonable people with interesting and relevant questions, you are also more or less certain to get people who do not really want to ask questions at all, but to drone on about some peripheral issue.

I saw Rod Oram interview Joseph Stiglitz during readers and writers week…

Sage — seeing as both were in an election race against Obama, and thus were going to say that, no.

Karl Rove, on the other hand, is now an analyst for 'fair and balanced' Fox News, and thus should have some modicum of decency.

Candidates can say what they like…

God is angry, God gets a pass that someone invoking the all powerful to damn America does not. Is that difficult to understand? :)

The moral equivalence of Obama non decision vs McCain non attendance escapes me. It seems reasonably grown up and accepted…

Except the questions from the floor. It didn’t take long before we were listening to local burgher’s world views and wasting the precious hour with Fisk. Organisers of his other talks take note.

It's the kind of event where you have to be very careful about taking questions from the…

I agree almost entirely with the latter (except for the whole God exists business) and not at all with the former.

To which Sarah Palin would likely say (when she's out of mike range), wottha fuggid Juneau.

he’d be saying, ‘Listen, [God] is gonna deal with all the inhabitants of the earth. He is gonna strike out His hand against, yes, Wasilla; and Alaska; and the United States of America. There’s no exceptions here — there’s none. It’s all.’

I really fail to see how this is…

Kroon bellowed

Apparently not.

On July 20, 2008, the pastor of Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s home church, Larry Kroon, delivered a sermon called “Sin Is Personal To God.” Kroon, the…

I remember years ago reading a biography of the great Manchester Guardian foreign correspondent James Cameron who followed a similar beat for many years…

At least, said Fisk, McCain knows what war is, unlike Bush and Blair who got there impressions from 'Saving Private Ryan'.

Funny how the "chickenhawk" line comes from the most unexpected people in the strangest of places, doesn't it?

Its obviously about the career rather than doing your duty to those who elected you the last time.

That's true if the two short quotes were the beginning and end of the issue. But the article itself is two pages long and attempts to explain the various nuances to the…

Not Really. But you can get an idea of the subtle political mind behind the use of the 130 'presents' in the Illinois State Legisture in this article in The New York Times

Hum... Meanwhile, McCain's attendance record in the Senate has been worse than Obama's more recently:

Obama left…

But as to your point – it ain't a huge issue because the policies don't differ. National supported Labour deploying troops to Iraq and Afghanistan.

and so why do you as new zealanders support that?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080905/ap_on_re_as/angry_afghans;_ylt=Ah.ysc9CGrMGff7hNkBFHNIBxg8F

"Would you like me to tongue your balls while I'm down here, Mr President?"

That comment alone was worth price of admission!

Platitudes, platitudes, platitudes. 29pages of them. Can I at least have a nice side salad with just a drizzle of balsamic and a nice glass of wine with mine?

Sorry, but I just don't get an old rich white guy spouting change. Maybe…

Karl Rove, on the other hand, is now an analyst for 'fair and balanced' Fox News, and thus should have some modicum of decency. Plus, he seemed to set a…

If you are worried about your next election, the present vote gives you political cover,” said Kent D. Redfield

indeed.

Lawmakers and other Illinois officials said the present vote was devised to enable lawmakers to recuse themselves from voting on bills that present…

Phil Sage (sagenz)

Sagacity, I note, is a descriptor that is bestowed upon one by others, not oneself

What? You mean like my ancestors? We were thrown out of France hundreds of years ago for being annoying (and Protestant). I trust you will enjoy the family traits. :^)

Unlike Obama and his 130 "Present". btw does anyone want to respond to that outstanding example of decisiveness & leadership.

Not Really. But you can get an idea of the subtle political mind behind the use of the 130 'presents' in the Illinois State Legisture in this article in [[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html|The New…

Moving on, Canterbury – your next question, for 10 points is...

I've read this entire thread with interest & bemsement and am somewhat belightened (no, I dont mean enlightened...) I wont go
deliberately head to head with people I think have made poor-but-repetitive arguments but would suggest someone who entitles themself…

Does anyone want to address the likelihood of the Russian bear or Iran deciding to up the stakes and challenge Obama.

no

Irony does not really come across well on this internet thingy does it?

Ah yes, the burden of the truly gifted when preaching to the crass and unsubtle 'you lot' that haunt these threads. For us shape-shifting reptilans, though. irony can be quantified to the nearest nanoIcke.

Or it could be Tony...

Pretty good, yes. Did you know that there are subatomic particles that have to spin seven hundred and twenty degrees instead of the usual three-sixty to end up back where they began? I'm sure that there's an allegory in that.

Oh Sagenz is back. What…

those criticisms really hurt.

Irony does not really come across well on this internet thingy does it? Unless you use a smiley. But ups to you Paul.

Personally the Kos/Huffington/Sullivan/Brown frenzy over whether Palin was pretending her daughters child was her own is a wild conspiracy.

Craig – McCain has…

"Sarah Palin – Have you ever eaten a Democrat for breakfast?"

Refer to "threats" without going into any detail about them and then have an in depth interview with a Democrat.

I dont…

I'm afraid that when you say Curtis, I think of Ian. That would probably be a unit of existential melancholy?

Or it could be Tony....thus a unit to measure the speed one spins with a rose in ones mouth whilst attached to Marilyn Monroe

To me, Teller strikes me as one of the most obsessive and considering his long and powerful influence, the most malevolent of those old Cold Warriors.

The current VPOTUS has a bit of a jump onto the lower ends of the Teller scale,…

when he consciously and consistently tried to provoke WWIII, not just once or twice but as an ongoing policy

I'd heard that myself, but hadn't a source.

Body fluids? Le May? Really? Wow. Still, it's no weirder than Wishart and a step below Icke or any of the apocalyptic fundies.…

Scary. I get shocked looks when I explain that Dr Strangelove was originally planned as a serious drama.

There was a fascinating documentary a few years back called Taunting The Bear about Le May's obsessive behaviour in the fifties and sixties when he consciously and consistently tried to provoke WWIII,…

The bigger threat to the whole thing was Curtis LeMay who was, being generous, verging on obsessed, almost mad.

Scary. I get shocked looks when I explain that Dr Strangelove was originally planned as a serious drama. Kubrick, as ever, did meticulous research and the main characters were based on…

Yet again, The Daily Show nails it. This time, the out and out hypocrisy and doublethink of prominent Republicans on most aspects of the debate surrounding Palin's nomination.

Arrrrr Jake – ye be tryin' ta plunder me treasure buried on Page 22??

On a lighter note, The Daily Show totally nailed…

It was more complicated than that. The US started depth charging Soviet submarines and one on of those the capatin decided he was under attack and decided that he had to hit back. He made the assumption, since he'd lost communication, that war had broken out. His 2iC, Vasiliy…

They did an extra show on Friday, which might have something to do with it.

Ah, yes. They went Tue to Fri that week in the US, instead of Mon to Tue, and that threw C4 out of synch. I expect they'll catch up next time there's a hiatus.

What happened when Sarah Palin took control of the Alaska Board of Censorship?

Where on earth did you find that? Hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfout_rgPSA

...what real executive and related experience she has and what kind of appointments she'd make to the Supreme Court if she ever had the chance.

And even if she doesn't — and before we even start on SCOTUS picks — I don't think it's a whacky "conspiracy theory" that the…

ah god I have better things to do on a friday evening but those criticisms really hurt.

Sage, I have no desire to upset you and I apologise if my comments offended. There's substance to your argument and I've thought about the points you make, it's just not clear you've…

I am comfortable seeing it as a time of epiphany between being a small town mayor and moving onto a larger stage. What she said is an exageration, but not an outright lie.

That's bullshit hackery, Sage. Hell, I'm more inclined NOT to support someone who can never admit to…

So, Sage, I'm sure you've dismissed the above as a vicious smear from the liberal media. Palin's done a Winston here ("No, I've never" means "No, I've never"), and doesn't the woman who is supposedly going to shake up Washington, fight corruption etc. to walk the talk and stop…

For Don who I have ignored twice the hubby is obviously anti big govt rather than anti american. There are plenty of conservatives/rednecks who want the government out of their lives.

Oh, Christ, I'm a big fan of the minimal state — and let's put aside Palin's enthusiastic support for…

ah of course Palin has to be perfect.

No – Competent. Honest about her own record. Accountable.

It's unscientific of…

The Reagan as saviour is real but in no sense am I claiming 100% responsibility.

Afghanistan was however a huge draw on a weakened economy and played a massive part in the end…

Paul – I jumped on this thread when Russell seemed obsessed by some details of Palins pregancy and seemed to be second guessing her choices as a four…

“One is a well turned-out, good-looking, and let's be honest, pretty sexy piece of eye-candy.

“The other kills her own food.”

whats your point Paul. Prefer to attack the way I write something than answer the basic question regarding evidence of an inability to make decisions in a Presidential candidate

No, that's not it; I've reasonably closely read you comments and it's not the way you write, it's the substance and…

Oh you mean you think I should be following the lead of the owner of this blog and Andrew Sullivan and repeating irrelevant shit that has just been made up elsewhere by fanatical anti republicans.

Oh dear you just don't get it do you..you repeating things over and over again,…

I don't apologise for being interested in this.....Under the masthead of The Atlantic , Andrew Sullivan is alleging "a serious possibility that this narrative is completely false, that, in fact, Palin's daughter became pregnant".

I think not....

Oh you mean you think I should be following the lead of the…

Her statements were actually true.

Sage you toddle out these lines as trusims, regardless, and I guess it's quite Roveian of you, of any regard to the truth, or show any inclination to back them.

You then get pretty badly shot down and then wander back 24 hours later and…

ah of course Palin has to be perfect.

Nah, self proclaimed anti corruption crusaders up for the top jobs at the land of the free always get a free pass.

Does anyone know why the Daily Show is running behind?

They did an extra show on Friday, which might have something to do with it.

McCain's speech seems to be getting a mediocre response pretty much everywhere, including the right:

Hell, I'm not sure what it says about me or my expectations but I thought it wasn't terrible and I expected terrible. He's like a nice old great uncle but I'm over the endless stories…

Despite a short time in office Palin made the right decisions.

She looks like she'd hit the button on Russia if the Todd was 10 minutes late with the moose steaks on the table. Hell, she'd sell the button on Ebay.

The reason McCain chose Palin is that he recognised someone with his own integrity. Willing to take on their own party over ethics issues. Willing to take on big oil over inadequate tax.

He has finally found someone who can carry on the fight against corruption and big government.

Riiiight...…

Am I the only who's starting to think this is one gamble McCain will come to regret, either way?

I started at the beginning of this thread. You lot still do not seem to understand despite actually getting some real exposure through Palin & McCain's speech. Its not about being a…

WARNING: Hard to watch without wanting to punch someone (guess which one?)

Why could we not see the full interview today,obviously Fox and O'Reilly need to tweak the interview.

The only thing I got out of the speech, was that McCain's mum looked pretty good for 96 years of age.…

McCain's speech seems to be getting a mediocre response pretty much everywhere, including the right

Am I the only who's starting to think this is one gamble McCain will come to regret, either way? Palin might have been intended as the latest pander to the base, but if he wins…

CNN
A compendium

I think the DS missed the Monday show the week they went to Denver.

Sorry, no, it didn't. All C4's fault.

Unfair Craig. I mean, who doesn't like ...

Bags not running the focus groups on that one!

Yeah agreed. Still, I get frustrated by the hopelessly deferential interviews too.

Well, McCain used to be the Anti-Christ on O'Reilly's Planet but I suspect the toughest question he'll get on Fox for the next two months is, "Would you like me to tongue your balls while I'm down here,…

someone at C4 stuft up and ran a filler episode thinking DS was on hiatus

I think the DS missed the Monday show the week they went to Denver.

WARNING: Hard to watch without wanting to punch someone (guess which one?)

Yeah agreed. Still, I get frustrated by the hopelessly deferential interviews too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4aK0Kdy9jw

See, you're only talking down the left-wing character assassination squad, because you haven't seen the really sexy jackets they get to wear. Way cool.

Kewl... If we're playing Kill Bill, I call dibs on being bad-ass one-eye killing machine Ellie Driver!

Here and here she indicates her support for drilling including saying:

"We have so much potential…

An introductory video tells the story of John McCain’s military service, including a disastrous fire aboard an aircraft carrier:

“Somehow, John McCain’s life was spared. Perhaps he had more to…

http://www.foxnews.com/video/index.html?playerId=videolandingpage&streamingFormat=FLASH&referralObject=3072397&referralPlaylistId=playlist

WARNING: Hard to watch without wanting to punch someone (guess which one?)

Party X keeps 4 list members until the next election.

That seems fucked up to me. If an electoral petition is to address wrong-doing in the election, and that wrong-doing carried over onto list seats, then it's caused them, so they should go too. If it's shortly after the election,…

I suspect Obama has different ideas about how to end dependency, BTW (sorry, I haven't logged into the NYt for so long I can't access…

I don't remember quite such an unabashed emphasis on this subject in any previous campaign.

Don, it appears that oil's big in both campaigns, Obama said:

In 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.

From the transcript at the NY Times.

God got name-checked (and it was that glib) so many times, I was waiting for Best Hip-Hop Album of the year to be called.

Craig, you and I may disagree somewhat from time to time but that had me rolling if only for a brief moment.

The real message is "oil anywhere, oil anyhow,…

Asked to clarify that he used the word “uppity,” Westmoreland said,
“Uppity, yeah.”

Tony Blair, circa 1995. Same air of slightly bogus sanctity.

Well, Rob, when it comes to bogus sanctity I'd have to say the Republicans still win. God got name-checked (and it was that glib) so many times, I was waiting for Best Hip-Hop Album of the year to be called.…

Insofar as I got the date wrong. But they sure did explain it.

"And kill us they did, this time on US soil. It was on September the eleventh... 9/11".

Then they showed Giuliani at Ground Zero but not Bush, which is extraordinary.

That's surreal.

Palin couldn't lose. The build…

10:50 PM ... TPM Reader PT: "What are the odds Governor Palin drops McCain from the ticket? After a performance like this, it's a serious question."

Palin couldn't lose. The build up of negative coverage was such she would have met expectations if she'd come out to the podium, got McCain's name wrong, dismembered a blow-up Hilary Clinton doll with her teeth, urged the bombing of Afsponistan and then announced the Day of…

The Ninth of September!

No, you're kidding right?

Insofar as I got the date wrong. But they sure did explain it.

"And kill us they did, this time on US soil. It was on September the eleventh... 9/11".

Then they showed Giuliani at Ground Zero but not Bush, which is…

The Ninth of September!

No, you're kidding right?

if the NSW Liberals didn't have such problems reaching the Olympian heights of mere incompetence.

That's a very fair and accurate assessment Craig... pity this scandal overshadowed the appointment of the 25th Govenor General and the first woman to hold the office. I hope she's the last (not woman in…

Just wants to give son the chance to shoot something smaller and more Muslim than the usual moose around their property.

Watching the horrific promo for terrorism at the…

If you thought US politics was in turmoil; news just in that the Premier of NSW, Iemma, has resigned...

Well, he should have been out of office at the last election, and would have been if the NSW Liberals didn't have such problems reaching the Olympian heights of mere incompetence.

I'm still saying that this election is McCain's.

This could get interesting. I wonder if we could come up with a suitable wager (nothing as vulgar as a sum of money, I mean).

the treat them dumb and dumber approach still has the most resonance.

Annnd further to that:

It started like a harmless joke, didn't it? Sarah Palin is from Alaska, Alaska is near Russia, and since Republican rhetoric has become breathtakingly ridiculous lately, some of us joked that Republicans might think…

then gave birth after driving 45 miles to a hospital in Palmer, Alaska.

She didn't travel the last leg by dog sled team? I'm unimpressed.

Gallup and Rasmussen still at +7 and +5.

I'm still saying that this election is McCain's. If anything Sarah Palin showed us the that the treat them dumb and dumber approach still has the most resonance.

Big lies delivered as gospel without a blink, a big slab of kentucky fried…

Latest CBS polling shows McCain and Obama tied

Gallup and Rasmussen still at +7 and +5.

Must be one of those days that end in Y.

And do you think thought was given to Truman's historic use of atomic weaponry? Perhaps they did and it was intended; that scares me most.

Well, you might be right — Truman was a 'war President' however reluctant and unexpected that status was. But he also volunteered to serve in…

'Uppity' and 'boy'.

Whew.

And one might have thought Westmoreland would have taken the opportunity to walk that one back. OK, it's not the biggest scandal of all time but it really says a lot about how tin-eared the Republicans are.

And I was going to say, hands off Molly! Just because she played the rich princess that one time in the Breakfast Club? But her latest project turns out to be spookily relevant.

Indeed. I didn't mean to slight Ringwall; just the she seemed to regularly portray the kind of…

Whew.

Georgia Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland used the racially-tinged term "uppity" to describe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama Thursday.

Westmoreland was discussing vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's speech with reporters outside the House chamber and was asked to compare…

I do think it's important though to not too quickly go down the road of observations that get accepted as facts when they can be rebutted easily enough by a bit of Googling

Guilty as charged here – I trusted Soledad O'Brien to have fact checked the claim. Very unwise,…

If you want a comparison between the respective styles of the two sides, I think this is quite a good one. Mawkish symbolism versus actual policy.

Absolutely agree. I do think it's important though to not too quickly go down the road of observations that get accepted as facts when…

I'm pretty sure McCain would cause the biggest sir even if he did a Jim Morrison

I'd have liked to see some rope tricks & fancy shootin' from the Governor though. That would have been cool.

Palin's speech was good. What's the point of a convention speech without some good red meat in it?

Absolutely nothing, James. But much as I love rare steak, it's much more nourishing with some boring old vegetables on the plate. As I've said up thread, Biden's speech was less partisan…

This doesn't appear to be correct. All that happened was a budget line for the Alaska Challenge Youth Academy Program was taken from one accounting column and put in another.

True — although the budget did still fall a little. But as someone pointed out further down that thread Giovanni…

I thought the current iteration of the Republican Party was more Arthur Hugh Clough than the Bard, myself:

The Latest Decalogue

Thou shalt have one God only; who
Would be at the expense of two?
No graven images may be
Worshipped, except the currency:
Swear not at all; for,…

Alexander the Great, who himself was once a hockey mum

In that he kept mum about hockey?

For myself, I can see a bit of the "George Washington" spirit in her.

Although, on further reflection, that might be understating things a little. A case could be made for comparing her to Alexander the Great, who himself was once a hockey mum.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
No.

Wha?? Obviously, he's pusing a party line. Either that or we didn't watch the same speech.

Oh, to be fair I think Frum is right — she went out there and threw red meat to the party faithful (who else is going to be on the floor of a political…

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot…

So: a great success. Palin revealed one of the sharpest political talents the Republican party has seen in a generation. She electrified the hall and added a powerful asset to a troubled ticket.

Wha?? Obviously, he's pusing a party line. Either that or we didn't watch the same…

Book banning, book banning, book banning. Extreme views on abortion. Creationism in schools. She's not a politician, she's a pinhata.

Woah... Sexist – Hillary will be disappointed! :) And to be coldly cynical about it, that's all stuff that upsets the "liberal media" and "cosmopolitan elitists". Trooper-gate? Well, she stood…

If there's anything the Democrats can hammer her on, it has to be this.

Book banning, book banning, book banning. Extreme views on abortion. Creationism in schools. She's not a politician, she's a pinhata.

The Harry Truman comparison they cooked up for Palin was duff too.

And the comparison to Reagan.
And the comparison to Teddy Roosevelt.
My God, why doesn't someone just say she has the wit of William F. Buckley, the holiness of Billy Graham, and the economic acumen of Milton Friedman…

If there's anything the Democrats can hammer her on, it has to be this.

Meanwhile, here's one for Sage. A correspndent for that well-known lefty organ The Evening Standard takes a look at the "Sarah Palin = Margaret Thatcher" line, and 's he's not impressed:

The Harry Truman comparison they cooked up for Palin was duff too. Truman might have come from a small…

For a start, (and many forget this) Thatcher had been an MP for a full 20 years before she…

On a lighter note, The Daily Show totally nailed the hypocrisy of the Republican spinmachine

Brilliant, John. "In Dick Morris' defence, he's a lying sack of shit."

Character. Leadership. Integrity. My mulatto faggot arse.

Beautiful.

Indeed.

She wasn't terrible, she was quite good for her target audience but that's a preppy-wannabee mob; the kind who want to hang in the rougher parts of town but only with a relocated Molly Ringwald-type

Yeah, their squareness and whiteness never more evident than in the final boogie-down after the…