Sarah Palin's mother-in-law

This story makes me feel less ashamed for hating my former mother-in-law.

Sarah Palin's mother-in-law uncertain about how she'll vote:

Faye Palin admitted she enjoys hearing Barack Obama speak, and still hasn't decided which way she'll vote.

"We don't agree on everything. But I respect her passion," she said. "Being pro-life is who Sarah is."

Faye Palin said the governor never considered ending her recent pregnancy when genetic testing showed her son Trig, born in April, would have Down syndrome.

"There was no question," she said. "She was going to have that baby."

[...]

Faye Palin said the entire family was shocked by the news on Friday.

"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative. Well, she's a better speaker than McCain," Faye Palin said with a laugh. "People will say she hasn't been on the national scene long enough. But I believe she's a quick study."

She said people doubted Sarah Palin when she ran for City Council, but that her daughter-in-law had a "singular focus."

"She was out there with [then-young son] Track, pulling him around from house to house in a wagon," she said.

Here's a photo of the mother-in-law. I may be wrong about her but she reminds me a bit of Cindy Sheehan - only a bit classier and more well-groomed.

The disgusting Daily Kos and Palin

It was a sort of rainy day today so I spent a lot of time on the Net and I kept seeing references to a story that Sarah Palin was not the mother of Trig but that her daughter, Bristol, was. There were allusions to damning photos and hints that Bristol had been out of school for 8 months with mononucleosis at the crucial time.

It got to the point where I thought there may be some truth to the rumors and was just about to write a blog post saying, "good for Sarah to take care of her daughter and her child" when I figured I should see if I could find the source of the story. I guess if I were a regular reader of Daily Kos, I would have immediately thought of it but I never read Kos so I clicked through all the links I could find until I found the source and, sure enough, it was Kos.

I won't link to them because I just cannot bring myself to link to commies. Sorry. Google "Daily Kos: Sarah Palin Is NOT The Mother [Photos+Video]":

Now, I've known liars in my life. Their single core problem is not with themselves, but those around them. If they're never called out on their twisting of truths and fabrications, they simply continue to make larger lies.

Well, Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better.

But, guess what? When I went back to get that quote, there was a photo of a clearly pregnant Sarah and the headline:

Sarah Palin Baby Story Ender

OK, there is a visibly-pregnant Sarah Palin talking with a CBS 11 (Dallas Juneau) reporter at the Governor's meeting in Texas end of the Alaska legislative session. She clearly appears to be pregnant.

Unless someone has counter evidence, we can drop this crap now.

How kind of Kos - after spending the whole day dishing the dirt. I suppose I should not be surprised at how low the left will stoop - especially Kos. They really are not sane and happy people. And they are terrified that Sarah will steal Oblahblah's thunder.

"But the government will pay for it"

How often have you heard idiots say that?

Tonight I was telling Chas and Andy about how our new $25 million airport terminal is already falling to pieces. The old terminal was under-utilized (2 planes a day from Portland) but, no, we had to have a new terminal. Most of the locals are not upset because, as the saying goes: "We didn't pay for it; the government paid for it."

I said to Chas and Andy: "Who the hell is the government? It's us. We paid for it."

Chas piped up with an astute obervation: "Maybe most people think like that because 40% don't pay any taxes."

It's true: the bottom 40% of Americans pays no taxes so of course they think the "government pays for everything."

I know a poll tax has been ruled unconstitutional but sometimes I think that there needs to be some form of minimum tax just to ensure that everyone realizes who's actually paying to run the government.

Palin's Down syndrome son

If you have ever known what used to be called a Mongoloid, then you will know that they are warm affectionate people. In my mind they are angels. They seldom live beyond 30. Only the good die young. They are guileless and innocent the way few adults ever are. No wonder that Sarah decided to keep her little angel, Trig.

Rich Lowry at the Corner:

I found the Palin event Friday incredibly moving. Partly because of Trig.

The sentimentalist in me would be willing to see anyone who is loving and unselfish enough to welcome a Down kid into their family elevated to high office.

When I was thinking of Trig, I was reminded of an encounter I had a couple of weeks ago on the Delta Shuttle from Washington to New York. It was a mostly empty plane, but I went all the back to the very emptiest part of the plane to spread out and enjoy he quiet. And there was a man sitting in the very back row who immediately piped up, "Hi. I'm Ian. Would you like to sit next to me?"

He was a guy with Down Syndrome, maybe in his twenties. I declined the offer, but we struck up a conversation. He was going to New York for a family celebration, including for his birthday. I told him I had a birthday coming up too and he lit up and came over to vigorously shake my hand in congratulations—more delighted by my birthday than his own.

When the plane began to fill up a woman and her daughter came all the way to the back with a huge bag. I began to wonder to myself if I should offer to help them with it, when Ian popped up, told them he'd get it, and lifted it up and shoved it in the overhead compartment. When two men came down the aisle with a box they weren't sure would fit overhead, he intervened and told them it would—"trust me"—and put it up for them.

He chatted amiably with his neighbors during the flight, and when we landed was up out of his seat first thing to help that woman get her bag down.

From this brief encounter, I dare say Ian is friendlier, better adjusted and more considerate than about half of the people on the streets of Manhattan or San Francisco on any given day. Yet most of those people are perfectly unperturbed by the elimination of babies with Down syndrome in the womb. To hell with them. God bless Sarah Palin for bringing Trig into the world, and may he shower those around him with as much sunshine as the gentleman I met on that flight.

Even Tyler Cowen understands this:

There is one biographical fact about Palin's life that the critics (Drum, DeLong, Yglesias, Klein, Sullivan and Kleiman are among the ones I read) are hardly touching upon. I mean her Beautyqueen decision to have a Downs child instead of an abortion. This is the fact about her life and it will be viewed as such from now through November and perhaps beyond.

If only for this reason, she will be seen as a candidate who stands on principle. I don't think the critics are sufficiently appreciating how tired the American people are of candidates who say one thing and do another and who abandon their principles at the first provocation. This is a deep and very strong current and it runs through virtually every group of American political voters. Because of her decision to have a Downs child, many voters will not view Sarah Palin in a cynical light, no matter what the critics say. No story about firing a state trooper will break that seal.

[...]

Go away and watch a Frank Capra movie and think about Palin again.

Should I call this blog "All Palin all the time"?

I haven't been this fired up since Fred entered the primaries.













This photo is from Sarah Palin Family Photos:

















On her tee shirt: "I may be broke but I'm not flat busted."

I love American women. If I were younger, I'd go straight. As the lesbian Gertrude Steyn said:

There are five sexes: heterosexual men; heterosexual women; homosexual men; homosexual women and American women.

If only I were younger......nothing like a woman who can shoot - and dress - venison.

McCain and Palin - post partisan mavericks

Like McCain, Palin is an American before being a Republican. She's a citizen before being a politician. And not all conservatives are going to like that.

Right Wing Nation has a wonderful essay about Palin:

Palin strengthens all of McCain’s strongest attributes. She’s a fearless fighter, who fought her state party’s entrenched power structure, and won. Strong and courageous — two of McCain’s greatest strenghs — are also hers. Like McCain, she hates corruption, back room deals, and government waste, and she’s been fighting it since before she was the governor. Also like McCain, she cares less for party line than what she believes is right. By putting her on the ticket instead of a Washington insider, McCain put real teeth in his campaign for change — real change, not insubstantial, undefined change. Like McCain, Palin is an unwavering, unapologetic patriot, and both believe firmly in Reagan’s view of America as a shining city on a hill.

[...]

Let’s start with her character and values. Bill Whittle comments on another blog:

I think it is a big mistake to assume that McCain picked Palin because she is a woman. No doubt that is a part of it, but it is Palin’s character that has us just smitten with her. She had a problem at school one day so she went to a PTA meeting. She didn’t like the way things were going so she ran for the PTA and won. Then she ran for mayor of her hometown — where she played basketball and met her husband — and won. Then she got disgusted by Alaska politics and GOP corruption, and as a Republican ran against the corruption in her own party — and won. And she never whined or complained. She’s happily married, she’s a tough lady married to a tougher man, and she got there through hard work and sheer determination.

She’s the conservative success story, and that is why men and women on the right just LOVE this pick. Not because she’s a woman, but because she’s Joe, uh, make that JANE Citizen, and she played by the rules and beat corruption . . . I would encourage you to look at Sarah Palin as what we all hope for: a self-made person who seems to want to do the right thing. She’s not a Woman VP — she’s an anti-corruption VP. That’s how we see her. That’s how she deserves to be seen. She has the enthusiastic — actually, incandescent support of every conservative I know — not because she is a political missile aimed at Hillary voters, but because she embodies the American dream of the citizen who decided to make a difference.

[...]

Her husband is a Democrat and a union member, and from everything we see, it works out well for them. He will be a cultural magnet. In season, he’s a commercial fisherman (he used to work in the oil fields until Palin’s fight with the oil companies, and he resigned due to conflict of interest). He’s a world champion snowmobile racer. Men all over the country are going to see him and admire him. He may not be on the ticket, but he will attract votes.

Sunday silliness - "Palindrome"

Should we call the rising "Palin Derangement Syndrome," currently being exhibited by the left, Palindrome? Yeah, I know it doesn't really make sense although I like this palindrome:

First Ladies rule the State and state the rule: ladies first.

A book about Palin

A neighbor of Palin in Wasilla has written a book, Sarah - How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down:

Sarah Palin, then 39, a hockey mom and former mayor of Wasilla, thought her dream of making a difference in the male-dominated realm of Alaska politics was over in 2004 when she clashed with the state chairman of her Republican party and fell out of favor with Gov. Frank Murkowski over issues related to ethics and openness in government. Yet, the former high school basketball star and one-time TV journalist could not shake the feeling that she was destined for something bigger. Two years later, she became a long-shot candidate for governor, promising openness and a higher ethical standard. Then, fate intervened. Her populist reform message suddenly became front-page news when a major political scandal rocked Alaska politics. Alaskans began listening to her. And they liked what they heard.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kaylene Johnson is a writer and long-time Alaskan who makes her home on a small farm outside Wasilla.

The first chapter is here.(PDF) Here's a excerpt:

Sarah had two childhood traits that her family says played trajectory roles in her life. From the time she was in elementary school, she consumed newspapers with a passion. “She read the paper from the very top left hand corner to the bottom right corner to the very last page,” said Molly. “She didn’t want to miss a word. She didn’t just read it—she knew every word she had read and analyzed it.”

Sarah preferred nonfiction to the Nancy Drew books that her classmates were reading. In junior high school, Heather— a year older in school—often enlisted Sarah’s help with book reports. “She was such a bookworm. Whenever I was assigned to read a book, she’d already read it,” Heather said.

Sarah’s thirst for knowledge was nurtured in a household that emphasized the importance of education. There was never any question that all the Heath kids would go to college. With her love for newspapers and current events, Sarah majored in journalism and minored in political science. Her brother, like their father, became a teacher. Heather works for an advertising firm. Molly is a dental hygienist.

Sarah’s other trait is what her father calls an unbending, unapologetic streak of stubbornness.

Good, I'm glad she's stubborn. Leaders have to be so that they are not affected by temporary fads and fancies. Bush and McCain are stubborn. Bill Clinton and Obama are chameleons.

The neocons on Palin

Bill Kristol surprised me by being pleased with the Palin pick. Rick Brookhiser thinks it's disastrous and Charles Krauthammer thinks it's "suicidal."

Anyone who has read my blog long enough knows that I am no fan of the neocons. Many of them were former big government socialists and the only reason that they joined the GOP was because it is more reliably pro-Israel than the Democratic Party. They are seldom true Goldwater/Reagan limited government conservatives and in fact most of them welcome European-style Big Brother government.

Hopefully McCain will not be as in thrall to the neocons as Bush has been. Their primary loyalty often seems to lie with Israel not the USA. Obviously Israel is our staunchest ally in the Near East and totally deserving of our special friendship with them but we still have to put our own interests ahead of theirs.

Palin also bi-partisan maverick

It might not please ALL conservatives but I know a lot of us ordinary run-of-the-mill moderate Republicans are fed up with hyperpartisanism and welcome a bit of bipartisan give and take which is why we supported McCain. And it seems that Mac picked Palin because she too knows how to work across the aisle.

Palin is unpopular with the GOP establishment in Alaska and Democrats helped her to get new oil "windfall" taxes and to work out the Canadian natural gas pipeline deal both of which were opposed by many of Palin's fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

From the New Yorker:

Before she was running against him, Sarah Palin—the governor of Alaska and now the Republican candidate for Vice-President of the United States—thought it was pretty neat that Barack Obama was edging ahead of John McCain in her usually solidly red state. After all, she said, Obama’s campaign was using the same sort of language that she had in her gubernatorial race. “The theme of our campaign was ‘new energy,’ ” she said recently. “It was no more status quo, no more politics as usual, it was all about change. So then to see that Obama—literally, part of his campaign uses those themes, even, new energy, change, all that, I think, O.K., well, we were a little bit ahead on that.” She also noted, “Something’s kind of changing here in Alaska, too, for being such a red state on the Presidential level. Obama’s doing just fine in polls up here, which is kind of wigging people out, because they’re saying, ‘This hasn’t happened for decades that in polls the D’ ”—the Democratic candidate—“ ‘is doing just fine.’ To me, that’s indicative, too. It’s the no-more-status-quo, it’s change.”

This was two weeks ago, at the statehouse in Juneau. After persistent reports, in July, that Palin was on McCain’s short list of potential running mates, her name had faded back into obscurity. Nobody in Alaska seemed to take her seriously as a national prospect, and she had shrugged the whole thing off on television, telling CNBC’s Larry Kudlow that, before considering the job, she would want to know “what is it, exactly, that the V.P. does every day.” Now, at the statehouse, she sat, unattended by aides, curled up in a cardigan, and explained that what she had done every day since becoming governor was to stick her thumb in the eye of Alaska’s Republican Party establishment. “The G.O.P. leader of the state—we haven’t spoken since I got elected,” she said.

She went on, “I guess if you take the individual issues, two that I believe would be benchmarks showing whether you’re a hard-core Republican conservative or not, would be: I’m a lifetime member of the N.R.A.—but this is Alaska, who isn’t?—and I am pro-life, absolutely.” She continued, “I guess that puts me in a box of being hard-core Republican.” But she said she recognized that “the Democrats also preach individual freedoms and individual rights, capitalism, free market, let-it-do-its-thing-best, let people keep as much of their money that they earn as possible. And when it comes to, like, the Party machine, no one will accuse me of being partisan.”

So the possibility that Obama might win Alaska did not worry Palin: “Turning maybe purple in the state means, to me, it’s more independent, it’s not the obsessive partisanship that gets in the way of doing what’s right for this state, and I think on a national level that’s what we’re gonna see.” And she added, “That’s why McCain is the candidate for the G.O.P.—because he’s been known as the maverick, as the conduit for some change.” In the state’s Republican caucus, McCain came in fourth, trailing Ron Paul. “I always looked at Senator McCain just as a Joe Blow public member, looking from the outside in,” she said. “He’s been buttin’ heads with Republicans for years, and that’s a healthy place to be.” Then again, on McCain’s signature issue—the prosecution of the war in Iraq—she did not sound so gung-ho. Her son is a soldier, and she said, “I’m a mom, and my son is going to get deployed in September, and we better have a real clear plan for this war. And it better not have to do with oil and dependence on foreign energy.”

Spoken like a devoted mother - and it's the way most practical Americans think.

Garden report - our first naked lady of the year

The garden is at its peak right now.

A lace-cap hydrangea.


















A close-up of the lace-cap hydrangea.


















The South African crocosmia lilies in front of the house.


















Ducks dabbling under the Japanese shiro plum tree. The plums were delicious this year. The mallards have their new feathers but Dilly, the black runner duck, is still molting and almost naked.


















A fuji apple tree.


















Digby is finished inspecting the new kiwi fruit vines growing on a pergola.


















The last wildflower to bloom every summer is the California blue aster.


















The crocosmias from another angle.


















The naked lady lily (South African belladonna) which is the last lily to bloom each summer. It has a wonderful perfume faintly reminiscent of the way bubble-gum used to smell when I was a kid.


















Meeny, Miny and Mo, the last bantam chicks to hatch this year. They think Smudgie the cat is their mom and they follow her everywhere.


















Smudgie hiding behind a crocosmia so that she can lick her lips surreptitiously while looking at the delicious bantam chicks. So far she has resisted eating them.


















The crocosmias from another angle.


















Digby inspecting the croscomias.

Palin - our very own Artemis

I found this picture of Sarah Palin and her daughter, Piper, with a fresh killed caribou (via the Corner) here.

It immediately made me think of Artemis the Greek goddess of hunting:

ARTEMIS was the great Olympian goddess of hunting, wilderness and wild animals. She was also a goddess of childbirth, and the protectress of the girl child up to the age of marriage.

Thomas Fountaine's Artemis:

Gustav and the GOP Convention

Bush and Cheney will not attend and Monday night's speeches have been cancelled and instead there will only be a simple "business meeting." From Mark Halerin touring with McCain:

McCain said there would be dramatic changes to the convention turning it from celebratory event to call for action.

“We must redirect our efforts from the really celebratory event of the nomination of president and vice president of our party to acting as all Americans. We’ll change our program and I’ll be announcing details of it in the next few hours. But there’s very little doubt that we have to go from a party event to a call to the nation for action, action to help our fellow citizens in this time of tragedy and disaster, action in the form of volunteering, donations, reaching out our hands and our hearts and our wallets to the people who are under such great threat from this great natural disaster. I pledge that tomorrow night, and if necessary, throughout our convention if necessary, to act as Americans not Republicans, because America needs us now no matter whether we are Republican or Democrat.’’

The McCains and Palin walked through a large room filled with rows of long desks and computers. There were five huge screens on the wall. One showed the Weather Channel, one showed the projected path of the hurricane, one contained state information such as evacuation plans and center openings and the two on the ends were split into four screens, showing various networks. Including ESPN, Sunday worship services and, just after the group left, a CBS promo for the Obama-Biden 60 minutes interview.

What we could hear were mostly pleasantries. McCain: “Let me just say hi. How are you sir?’’

Palin asked each person she met their name: “I’m Sarah. What’s your name? Angela? Nice to meet you.’’

Paglia on Palin

Camille Paglia, the lesbian shit-stirrer says:

“We may be seeing the first woman president. As a Democrat, I am reeling,” said Camille Paglia, the cultural critic. “That was the best political speech I have ever seen delivered by an American woman politician. Palin is as tough as nails.”

Yep, we now have our very own Iron Lady. I just wish Maggie was well enough to see history being made.

McCain-Palin rally in PA

Right Wing Prof attended the McCain-Palin rally in PA yesterday. Here's his report with pictures.

"Palin is a hick" #1

I knew the "sophisticated" metrosexual commies were going to attack her for being a dumb redneck from Hicksville. It's started already. From the Demented AS:

Modo on great form:

“The P.T.A. is great preparation for dealing with the K.G.B.,” President Palin murmurs to Todd, as they kiss in the final scene while she changes Trig’s diaper. “Now that Georgia’s safe, how ’bout I cook you up some caribou hot dogs and moose stew for dinner, babe?”

The material McCain has just given to late-night comedians, satirists, ironists and parodists is going to give and give and give. Just don't ask her where Pakistan is.

Demented AS needs to FO out of America and go back to the UK where his type belongs.

Palin is a C in C already #2

An email to Jonah Goldberg:

Before you dismiss that Commander of the Alaska National Guard stuff. This came from a reader who plays the game and it jibes with my knowledge.

Alaska is the first line of defense in our missile interceptor defense system. The 49th Missile Defense Battalion of the Alaska National Guard is the unit that protects the entire nation from ballistic missile attacks. It’s on permanent active duty, unlike other Guard units.

As governor of Alaska, Palin is briefed on highly classified military issues, homeland security, and counterterrorism. Her exposure to classified material may rival even Biden's.

She's also the commander in chief of the Alaska State Defense Force (ASDF), a federally recognized militia incorporated into Homeland Security's counterterrorism plans.

Palin is privy to military and intelligence secrets that are vital to the entire country's defense. Given Alaska's proximity to Russia, she may have security clearances we don't even know about.

According to the Washington Post, she first met with McCain in February, but nobody ever found out. This is a woman used to keeping secrets.

She can be entrusted with our national security, because she already is.

While Barackstar Obalahbalah and Joe bin Biden have spent their careers voting yes or no in legislative bodies, Palin has already been entrusted with our national defense.

Alaskan pols react to the Palin pick

From the Anchorage Daily News:

"I think it's very easy to underestimate Sarah Palin," said John Binkley, a former state legislator who lost to Palin in the 2006 Republican primary for governor.

Serving as small-town mayor of Wasilla was Palin's main experience before running for governor. Binkley said he underestimated her guts and campaign skill.

"I think there will probably a tendency for the Democrats to do the same thing," Binkley said. "They will assume that her lack of experience on the national stage will put her at a disadvantage, and I'm not certain that will matter."

The reaction wasn't so rosy elsewhere. State Senate President Lyda Green said she thought it was a joke when someone called her at 6 a.m. to give her the news.

"She's not prepared to be governor. How can she be prepared to be vice president or president?" said Green, a Republican from Palin's hometown of Wasilla. "Look at what she's done to this state. What would she do to the nation?"

Green, who has feuded with Palin repeatedly over the past two years, brought up the big oil tax increase Palin pushed through last year. She also pointed to the award of a $500 million state subsidy to a Canadian firm to pursue a natural gas pipeline that is far from guaranteed.

Democrats helped give Palin her victories on oil taxes and the natural gas pipeline deal, over the opposition of many of Palin's fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

[...]

Alaska Democratic Party chairwoman Patti Higgins, attending her party's national convention in Denver, said she was shocked to hear the news this morning.

[...]

"We need a vice president who can step in if, God forbid, something happened to John McCain," Higgins said. "I don't think she's someone who is ready for that 3 a.m. phone call."

North Pole Republican Sen. Gene Therriault, who leads the minority caucus in the state Senate, said Palin has executive experience as governor and is ready for the job.

"It's a great opportunity for the state of Alaska," Therriault said. "For us to get our message out in what the state has to offer to the nation."

Therriault said Palin has proven to be a quick study who people respect for what she's done as governor, such as helping fix the ethics problems in Alaska politics.

Andrew Halcro, perhaps Palin's biggest political rival in Alaska, had a mixed reaction.

"When I first heard it, I thought, wow, that's great for Alaska. Then I thought, wait, what just happened? Because of course the lack of experience does jump out at you," Halcro said.

Palin is a skilled campaigner able to make people believe in her, said Halcro, who spent nine months on the campaign trail in 2006 running as an independent opposite Palin and former Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, in the general election

"You really have to have a high level of respect for Gov. Palin in the sense that she has this real ability to connect with people. And suddenly people don't think about health care, they don't think about the economy, they don't think about whatever else, education," said Halcro, a self-described wonk. "It's not about the policy. It's about the person."

Palin always saw that, he said.

[...]

The Republican Party of Alaska said it's 100 percent behind Palin -- despite the high profile battles she's had with state party chairman Randy Ruedrich.

"She brings her voice of new energy and change," party spokesman McHugh Pierre said.

Ruedrich was not giving interviews Friday. Palin's complaints against Ruedrich before she became governor led to the state fining him on ethics charges.

McCain noted approvingly in introducing Palin on Friday that "she's fought oil companies and party bosses."

Palin and Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens were at odds in the recent past as well.

The governor called on Stevens last year to explain why he was being investigated in the federal probe that has since led to his indictment on failure to disclose gifts.

[...]

Former House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican political leader who has clashed with Palin in the past, was shocked when she heard the news Friday morning with her husband, Walt.

"I said to Walt, 'This can't be happening, because his advance team didn't come to Alaska to check her out," Phillips said.

Phillips has been active in the Ted Stevens re-election steering committee and remains in close touch with Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other party leaders, and she said nobody had heard anything about McCain's people doing research on his prospective running mate.

Sounds like Palin pissed off a lot of the corrupt GOP establishment in Juneau.

"Palin is the most manifestly ordinary person"

Palin is the most manifestly ordinary person ever to be nominated for a major party ticket. In this year of bittergate and Britney-gate and McCain-has-seven-houses-gate, that could conceivably be a virtue; it's certainly less tone-deaf than a selection like Mitt Romney would have been.

But Palin isn't merely playing at being ordinary, the way that Bill Clinton (Rhodes Scholar) or George W. Bush (son of a president) or Hillary Clinton (wife of a president) might. She really, really comes across that way -- like someone who had won a sweepstakes or an essay contest. Her authenticity factor is off-the-charts good; her biography sings. But do Americans really want their next-door-neighbor running for Vice President, or rather someone who seems like one?

Well, I'm one American who would really prefer my next-door-neighbor running for Vice President to some phony-baloney pol who is pretending to be my next-door-neighbor but who can't wait to steal the wallet from my pocket.

Palin like "Mr Smith Goes to Washington?"

Lisa Schiffren:

I read someone's assessment that she is very smart, but she has "no guile." Wow. Joe Biden is moderately smart and he has lots of guile. Barack Obama is very smart, and has even more guile. She'll learn how to play political hardball. They all do. But for now she seems a lot like Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. (And Joe Biden is more than a little like Claude Rains...)

We've been needing a Mr Smith in Washington for years now.

If you owned a business and were hiring a manager

An email to Jonah Goldberg:

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.

As a businessman, I agree - except Mac would never be looking for a mere management position. He's a born leader who delegates to managers. And I think he's picked Palin as his energy manager.

Palin - the energy VP

Here's a video of Palin on ANWR, oil, gas and renewables. It was recorded 2 days before she was announced as the candidate for Vice President. She already knew that she had been tagged and was already gearing up for the campaign. She politely calls Obama and Biden naive.

She is insistent that we drill in ANWR. What does this say about Mac's take on ANWR? He certainly didn't tell her not to talk about it.

She learned a lot about the topic as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Ethics Commission. Also her husband works on the North Slope.

No one in their right mind can call this woman a stupid inexperienced hick. Besides which, when compared with Oblahblah, Palin also has experience in REAL life. Obama has been mollycoddled and lived in an affirmative action cocoon all his adult life. Americans simply want someone authentic not some manufactured puppet carefully and cynically groomed by a political party.

Oblahblah is basically an ignoramus. He has spent his whole career running for office or voting yes or no as a representative. He has no executive experience at all and probably wouldn't know how to balance a budget let alone do double-entry bookkeeping.

This is a must-see video. This is only a snippet of the whole video.



The rest is here.

Palin - local girl makes good

For the first time I'm proud to be an American. Oops! That's not what I mean. I'll start again.

For the first time I feel that I have a politician who represents the America that I live in - the small-town America of ordinary folks going about their business of working hard, raising kids and cattle and chickens, hunting, fishing, shooting and simply enjoying life. For the first time there will be someone in DC who understands my concerns and is not some angst-ridden metrosexual city-slicker socialist whose ideas of what America is seem more European than American.

The Dems and the media will all attack Palin mercilessly for being a hick from Mayberry - precisely the thing that I am so happy about.

Okay, that's enough blogging for today. It's too perfect of a day to sit in front of a computer. I'm off to enjoy life in the slow-lane in small-town America.

I wish I'd said this #294

Mark Steyn:

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.

Palin, Obama and the "lack of experience" meme

Obama says that Biden is ready to take over immediately if he has to whereas Palin is not. Fair enough. But is Obama ready to be President immediately?

With Palin on the ticket, we may have to stop focussing on the "lack of experience" meme and concentrate on lack of judgement instead. Executives can always draw on the experience and knowledge of their trusted advisors. So all we can do is compare Obama's and Palin's closest associates and so far it seems that Palin does not have friends like Ayers, Wright and Rezko.

Palin controversies: creationism and gays

I read quite a few bloggers (conservatives not leftists - who of course are frothing at the mouth about this) yesterday bemoaning Palin's supposed support for teaching creationism in school and the fact that she vetoed an anti-gay bill. Here are the facts.

Little Green Footballs on the creationism rumor:

LGF readers are probably aware that I am no creationist; in fact, I am strongly opposed to the teaching of “intelligent design” or “creation science,” or any other name the advocates for creationism concoct in their relentless quest to promote pseudo-science.

So I was disturbed to learn of Sarah Palin’s apparent support for creationism. However, as I posted in a comment earlier, she does not appear to be the fanatical type who wants to force or sneak the teaching of creationism into public school science classrooms.

But this is going to be a point of attack for the left, as Wired Magazine’s Brandon Keim demonstrates in this article: McCain’s VP Wants Creationism Taught in School.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin wants creationism taught in science classes.

In a 2006 gubernatorial debate, the soon-to-be governor of Alaska trotted out the usual creationist education canard: “Teach both. You know, don’t be afraid of education. Healthy debate is so important, and it’s so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both.”

Teaching evolution and creationism in a scientifically balanced way is simply impossible. Evolution is accepted by scientists as driving the development of life on Earth. Creationism, which puts a (Christian) God in the engine room of life, is unsupported by science. Its arguments have been roundly dismissed by scientists — many of whom, it should be noted, believe in God. They’re just sensible enough to understand where science ends and religion begins.

This is all true as far as it goes, but it’s a bit dishonest of Keim not to quote the rest of Palin’s statements in the article he linked: ‘Creation science’ enters the race.

In an interview Thursday, Palin said she meant only to say that discussion of alternative views should be allowed to arise in Alaska classrooms:

“I don’t think there should be a prohibition against debate if it comes up in class. It doesn’t have to be part of the curriculum.”

She added that, if elected, she would not push the state Board of Education to add such creation-based alternatives to the state’s required curriculum.

Members of the state school board, which sets minimum requirements, are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature.

“I won’t have religion as a litmus test, or anybody’s personal opinion on evolution or creationism,” Palin said.

Looks like Palin made an off-the-cuff statement during a debate on a hot topic, didn’t really expect the criticism she’d get, and then softened her position considerably in a follow-up interview. But to quote just the first part of her statements on creationism and ignore the second is misleading; because in the clarification she’s describing a position that doesn’t cause me (a staunch anti-creationist) any discomfort.

As for the gay stuff:

Same-sex benefits ban gets Palin veto

In the first veto of an administration that isn't yet a month old, Palin said she rejected the bill despite her disagreement with a state Supreme Court order earlier this month that directed the state to offer benefits to same-sex partners of state employees.

Advice from her new attorney general said the bill passed by the Legislature was unconstitutional, she said.

"Signing this bill would be in direct violation of my oath of office," Palin said in a prepared statement released by her administration.

The very gay and increasingly demented Andrew Sullivan (to whom I do not link) opines:

[T]he details are here. Bottom line:

Palin's first veto was used to block legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to the partners of gay state employees. In effect, her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples.

Yes, she opposes equality in marriage. So does Obama. And, yes, she's much worse than Obama on civil unions:

Palin said she's not out to judge anyone and has good friends who are gay, but that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment [banning gay marriage.] Elected officials can't defy the court when it comes to how rights are applied, she said, but she would support a ballot question that would deny benefits to homosexual couples.

More detail that takes the shine off her apparent embrace of gay friends:

Some press reports following the McCain campaign announcement have repeated that right-wing rhetorical flourish that has Palin declaring that she has gay friends. That softer image is not what some Alaskans saw.

"That's just completely wrong," said Allison E. Mendel, the attorney who brought the 1999 case. "She spoke on radio programs all throughout the campaign saying, 'I want a constitutional amendment, I think these things are only for a man and a woman.' ... I don't think she's ever said a friendly word about gay people, that they ought to have health benefits like other people do or anything along those lines."

In other words, Palin is religious but she is neither a "religious rightwing extremist" nor someone who believes that "gays need special rights." She obeys the rule of law and does not like to discriminate against people but, like most Americans, she believes that marriage is between one man and one woman. There's nothing controversial about that at all.

I noticed this about Palin too

An email to Jay Nordlinger:

You were talking about Palin’s brand of American speech. I noticed during her performance today — and in an interview posted online — that she doesn’t change “-man” words to “-woman” or “-person.” She refers to herself as a former “chairman” of something or other, and as a former “commercial fisherman.” What a refreshing contrast to the PC trend that gives us ear-cringing neologisms like “fisherpersons” and “snowpersons,” and phrases like “to a person” rather than “to a man.” Obama recently said he wasn’t looking for a VP who would be a “yes person."

Palin - gun-toting mama

Palin firing an M16



Sarah kept Mac's interest in her secret even from her parents. They only found out today while while they were out hunting some of those pesky caribou that poop all over our pristine oil pipe-lines :

The father of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says he's been left "speechless" by the announcement that his daughter is John McCain's running mate.

Chuck and Sally Heath got a call from Palin's husband, Todd, yesterday as they were driving to a remote camp in Alaska to hunt caribou. Todd Palin told them to make sure they listen to the radio news because the camp is out of cell phone range.

When they couldn't reach the hunting camp because of a flooded creek, they headed home.

Early this morning a friend called to tell them the buzz was that Palin was McCain's likely pick.

Heath says he tried various phone numbers, but couldn't reach his daughter.

The announcement has proven amusing to Heath. After dealing with constant phone calls, he says he'd "rather go moose hunting than be involved with politics."

Celebrating Palin by doing what I do best - eating

Yesterday, before we even knew that Palin would be Mac's pick, we bought some Alaska king crab and smoked Alaskan sockeye salmon. This morning we had bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon for breakfast while waiting for Mac to introduce Palin. We ate most of the king crab with oysters for dinner last night but saved some claws to go with our bone-in steak dinner tonight (all washed down with velvety Eola Hills Oregon pinot noir.)

And, after Chas has washed the dishes, we'll have some (fresh-picked local) blueberries (which Andy is just baking into a cake now) with ice-cream for dessert.

Cheers, Sarah! Here's to your health.

Palin: just a small town girl

Top two pics: Sarah and the "First Dude" of Alaska.

Below: pics of Wasilla, Sarah's hometown (of which she was mayor) of 9,000 souls (the same size as the town nearest me.)

There are more pics of Wasilla at the city's website.

Palin a tyical libertarian-leaning Alaskan

From a lefty blog (sorry no link):

The state tends to look very Republican, but in many ways it's more centrist--albeit a sort of bizzaro centrist--than people realize. You see this in our governors more than the congressional delegation (which embodies the desire to hold firmly onto whatever little power the state can get). Alaskans like people who support gun rights but smoke pot, are anti-abortion but gay-friendly, are pro-drilling and pro-environment. So Palin strikes me as a good fit for Alaska, but I'm not sure she's a good fit for the national Republican party.

The West is mavericky just like Mac. Oregon, which is mostly Democratic, voted to ban gay marriage and nearly everyone I know owns guns and hunts and hates Salem and taxes. Also there is very little overt partisanism here. We tend to all get along fine.

Okay maybe not in the big cities like Portand and Seattle but the Northwest is still mostly small towns spread over vast distances.

Lady Veep Makes Clinton Weep!

The Top Eleven Things Hillary Clinton Did Upon Hearing Sarah Palin Got the Veep Nod:

11) Initially, too busy braving sniper fire to notice.

10) Ordered fur-lined pantsuit for on-site opposition research.

9) Traded in Michelle Obama voodoo doll.

8) Shorted Lieberman on InTrade.

7) Canceled "Hillary '12" signs, ordered "Hillary '16" signs.

6) Started clinging to guns, religion.

5) Took solace in the fact that she still owns www.firstwomanpresident.net.

4) Called Oprah.

3) Told Bill that watching old Miss Alaska footage did so violate their agreement.

2) Went hunting with a bottle of whiskey, as she always does when needing to unwind.

1) "Found her voice."

Two portraits of Palin

The Rosie the Riveter pic is huge. Click it if you want it as wallpaper.

The left criticizes Palin

She pronounces Iraq and Iran as “Eye-rack” and “Eye-ran” and nuclear as “nuke-u-lar” - just like Bushitler.

Susan B. Anthony List happy with Palin

K-Lo:

"Sarah Palin is the whole package. There couldn’t be a better vice presidential pick," said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. "Women voters are electrified, and Sarah is someone who is truly in sync with the way real American women think. She is a reform-minded woman who will give all Americans, born and unborn, the authentic leadership they deserve."

"The majority of American women support commonsense restrictions on abortion. Adding Palin to the GOP ticket will resonate with independent women voters nationwide. By choosing the boldly pro-life Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has taken his stand as the one true, authentic pro-life ticket."

Palin is a C in C already

Andy McCarthy at the Corner:

I'm not worried about her inexperience because she impresses me as a quick study who will surround herself with knowledgeable people of a conservative foreign policy bent. She does not come to us out of the Council on Foreign Relations; she comes as the conservative governor of the state next door to an aggressive Russia which is flying regular missions along Alaska's coastline — as Jay noted, she took pains to mention she is commander-in-chief of the Alaska National Guard. She's the patriotic mother of a son who voluntarily enlisted and is soon to deploy to Iraq (you think there's anything she's not gonna know about Iraq under those circumstances?).

This is the best day we've had in a long time.

Precisely. A good executive does not know or do everything. She uses good judgement in surrounding herself with able advisors.

Unlike Obama who has surrounded himself with domestic terrorists and angry demented preachers.

Palin fires up the base

Emails to the Corner.

Emails like this coming at the rate of roughly one a minute:

Toss me in as another Republican who's ecstatic about this pick and who's writing a check. I teared up as I watched the speech given by Gov. Palin. I haven't been this proud to be a Republican in far too long a time. I am proud we have a bona fide American hero running for president who has the political chops to miraculously energize his base and sucker punch the opposition at the same time.

[...]

Sarah is real!!! What a fabulous contrast with Obama, who is not real. Sarah is from America. Obama is not.

Sarah gives me hope for America, because of who she is, not because of any group she "represents."

More valuable than pearls is a woman who likes to fish and hunt.

[...]

Awesomely Awesome!!!
I just gave McCain some money for the first time.

[...]

Add me to the list of people who just went from “Will vote for McCain as lesser of two evils” to “Will donate and volunteer for his campaign”.

[...]

I just sent a personal check payable to “Palin for Vice President” to the McCain campaign headquarters. Until the selection of Governor Palin, I was prepared to sit out the presidential election – and I am lifelong Republican who cast his first presidential vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964. I hope others do likewise to underscore the importance and value of a ticket that represents traditional Republican views and values.

[...]

Conservative Evangelical here. Long time NR subscriber and on line viewer. Reagan alt. delegate in 1976 and simply thrilled with the pick. Huckabee first choice. Palin a close second. Brilliant move on McCain's part. Kathryn J. Lopez said this may be the day the conservatives reclaimed our party. Cudos to Big Mac, the next President. Best wishes to NR.

The dirt on Palin

That investigation:

Palin’s seemingly bright future was clouded in late July when the state Legislature voted to hire an independent investigator to find out whether she tried to have a state official fire her ex-brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.

The allegation was made by former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, whom Palin fired in mid-July.

“It is a governor’s prerogative, a right, to fill that Cabinet with members whom she or he believes will do best for the people whom we are serving,” Palin told CNBC’s Larry Kudlow in an interview on Aug. 1. “So I look forward to any kind of investigation or questions being asked because I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Some little known facts about Sarah Palin:

Global Warming doesn’t kill polar bears. Sarah Palin does - usually with her bare hands.

Sarah Palin’s hotness is the largest single contributor to melting polar ice caps.

Chuck Norris wishes he was Sarah Palin trapped in a man’s body.

Sarah Palin paid her way through school by hunting for yeti pelts with a slingshot.

Sarah Palin knows the location of DB Cooper’s body because she threw him from the plane.

Sarah Palin used to wrestle kodiak bears in Alaskan bare knuckles fight clubs.

Sarah Palin once bagged a caribou by staring it down until it died.

Sarah Palin turned down a job as skipper of a Deadliest Catch boat because it wasn’t challenging enough

Sarah Palin fishes salmon by convincing them it’s in their interest to jump into the boat.

Sarah Palin’s brain is three times the size of Joe Biden’s. It’s science.

There's more of those here.

Phalaenopsis - Butterfly orchid

My sister emailed me:

I was given a Phalaenopsis - Butterfly orchid. Please ask Andy how I should look after it as I would hate it to lose it.

I emailed her what Andy (our resident orchid specialist) told me. After I'd typed it up, I thought maybe others who've been given orchids but don't know much about them could use Andy's tips too. So here they are:

Soak the whole plant in its pot in a basin of water once a week. Use rain water or distilled water or boil the water to get rid of the chlorine. Every two weeks add fertilizer to the water that you soak it in. Use orchid fertilizer but only use one quarter of the recommended dose. Use the remaining fertilizer water on your other flowering plants. Never get any water in the crown (where the leaves meet the stem.) It will kill it. Place in an east-facing window. They prefer morning sunlight and do not like afternoon sun.

The New America finally comes of age

Mac's State, Arizona, was the 48th to be admitted to the Union. Palin's State, Alaska, was the 49th.

Oh and Obama's former State, Hawaii, was the 50th - or was it the 57th? At least according to him.

Palin - soccer moms, NASCAR dads, blue-collar independents and Reagan Democrats

The Dems were hoping to dilute Obama's elitism and arugula airs and appeal to blue-collar workers by putting Joe (supposedly the man with the common touch) Biden on the ticket. Trouble is Biden hasn't been a "common man" for the past 36 years since he became a Senator. And he's just as inauthentic and phony as Obama.

Palin is the genuine article - and genuine she is. Genuine, authentic, down-to-earth and with more brains than Obama and Biden put together. Palin will definitely reel in the Reagan Dems. And needless to say she will get lots of votes up here in the Northwest - maybe even Oregon and (BIG maybe) Washington and definitely Idaho where she was born.

Udated:

She calls her husband (who's a unionist) the "First Dude" of Alaska. I guess that's what she'll call him when she becomes President in 2014 after Mac retires halfway through his second term. She then will finish his second term and run for two more terms. Ten years of our very own Iron Lady.

Life is good and America is the most wonderful nation ever.

Palin's speech

I am not ashamed to admit that I wept tears of joy from the moment she appeared till she ended with "God bless America!"

Straight from the horse's mouth

McCain-Palin 2008.

Palin: "Slayer of the bridge to nowhere"

K-Lo:

This had to attract McCain to her.

Yes. Palin took on the corrupt GOP establishment in Alaska. She got rid of the State limo and got a Jetta instead. The other thing that she has in common with Mac is that, like most of us Westerners, she is a nature-lover and conservationist.

Western women are wonderful. I know women who drive trucks, pour concrete, work on road crews and do commercial fishing as their jobs. And they hunt elk for fun.

The Maverick does it again!

I've always known that Mac is the smartest politician in America. Picking Palin has just confirmed that for me.

Fred Thompson on Palin

From the Weekly Standard:

"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."

Now let's hope Mac puts Fred on SCOTUS.

McCain/Palin 2008

Sarah "Barracuda" Palin

That old fool, Pat Buchanan, said on MSNBC about Palin: "She just is not ready to be Commander-in-Chief."

But of course he thought he was.

And Oblahblah is?

After four years training under Mac, she'll be ready to be leader of the free world.

From Wikipedia:

Palin was the point guard and captain for the Wasilla High School Warriors, in Wasilla, Alaska, when they won the Alaska small-school basketball championship in 1982; she earned the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" because of her intense play.

[...]

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. 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. On April 18, 2008, Palin gave birth to her second son, Trig Paxson Van Palin, who has Down syndrome. She returned to the office three days after giving birth. 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?"

BTW She also worked as a commercial fisherman with her husband.

Yes, it's obvious that I am excited but I think I'll chill till we know for sure.

Oblahblah's tax idiocy

Also from Boortz:

Then there's Obama's line about the Republicans and McCain not proposing one penny of tax relief for over 100 million Americans. Sounds good. But if you're educated; if you know the statistics; if you pay attention you will know that the bottom 50% of income earners in this country pay only about 3% of all individual income taxes collected by the federal government. When you get to the bottom 40% that percentage figures drops to zero. Now just what is our current population figure? Around 300 million or so? That would mean that about 120 million Americans have no federal income tax liability at all. Yet there's Obama saying that McCain is offering no tax relief to these people. Relief from what?

I didn't listen to Oblahblah's speech because I knew that it would be full of crap like that. I had better things to do with my time.

The Democratic mantra: "Mac is third term of Bush"

Obama: "McCain voting with Bush 90% of the time." Nope. As Dick Morris wrote: "The fact that McCain backs commending a basketball team on its victory doesn't mean that he is in lockstep ideologically with the president."From Boortz:

Morris also points out a series of important issues on which Bush and McCain did not agree:

• McCain fought for campaign finance reform — McCain-Feingold — that Bush resisted and ultimately signed because he had no choice.
• McCain led the battle to restrict interrogation techniques of terror suspects and to ban torture.
• McCain went with Joe Lieberman on a tough measure to curb climate change, something Bush denies is going on.
• McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts when they passed.
• McCain urged the Iraq surge, a posture Bush rejected for years before conceding its wisdom.
• McCain favors FDA regulation of tobacco and sponsored legislation to that effect, a position all but a handful of Republican senators oppose.
• McCain's energy bill, also with Lieberman, is a virtual blueprint for energy independence and development of alternate sources.
• After the Enron scandal, McCain introduced sweeping reforms in corporate governance and legislation to guarantee pensions and prohibit golden parachutes for executives. Bush opposed McCain's changes and the watered-down Sarbanes-Oxley bill eventuated.
• McCain has been harshly critical of congressional overspending, particularly of budgetary earmarks, a position Bush only lately adopted (after the Democrats took over Congress).

Using the same methodology you would probably find that most Democrat senators also voted with Bush 90% of the time.

I don't agree with Mac 100% but there is no doubt that, like Bush, he is his own man and does whatever he believes is the right thing to do.

PS I don't agree with Bush 100% either.

Palin?

From Ace of Spades HQ:

So... Is this something? It's going around the blog rumor mills.

Consider this your moment of hope before Maverick crushes it by picking Lincoln Chafee or something.

"This" is a link to a a flight-plan filed yesterday for a Gulfstream leaving Anchorage at noon yesterday and arriving at Hook Field at 10:14 last night. Hook Field is an airport in Middletown, Ohio.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe

When I first heard that name, Plouffe, I immediately thought of Crêpes Suzette (thin crispy pancakes served with fruit) or, even worse, escargots which is simply a fancy name for snails who've eaten enough cornmeal to crap out their innards.

No wonder Obama is worried about the price of arugula (which is a fancy name for weeds.) I bet he eats anurine appendages (aka frogs' legs) for breakfast with his decaf soy-milk latte.

If only Obama....

.....was real, I would vote for him in a heart-beat.

By that mean that I see the need for a real Negro leader. Maybe it's because I was born and raised in Africa and want to see Negroes lifted up and inspired to become happy, fulfilled and successful. Until then, they are a dead-weight on society.

But I know that they have has much to offer as anyone else. I know that because I've seen with my own two eyes how many Africans succeeded even during (and in spite of) apartheid. While most were whining about being oppressed, certain enterprising Africans said "to heck with it" and simply got on with their lives and became doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers and businessmen - to the point where South Africa has the largest Negro middle-class in the world.

A Negro president would inspire not only Africans but all Coloreds all over the world including the Arabs- and, let's face it, Muslims really need to be inspired to join the human race. Look how Mandela inspired Coloreds. Fortunately, even though Mandela's a commie, he put his politics aside to help heal a wounded nation. He's a big man. He's authentic, sincere, serious and true to himself.

Sadly Obama is not. He's a brown-nosing suck-up. He has become what he is by sucking up to white commies and black shit-stirrers. He is not his own man. He's a big fat phony.

If Obama, for one minute displayed any sort of genuineness and heartfelt passion (not the fake platitudes) I would be his biggest supporter. If he could only kick his addiction to "affirmative action" (by which I mean his addiction to being molly-coddled and patronized by white socialists) and start telling his fellow Coloreds to shape up, get educated, go to work and stop sucking on the Democratic Party nanny state tit.....

If only.......

Veeps - we'll know tomorrow

Earlier today I heard Hutchinson deny that she's Mac's VP pick. Fox just reported that Romney has been "vetted by the Secret Service." Pawlenty has cancelled all his appointments for the next few days and Huckabee is headed to Ohio. I'll be quite happy with either Romney or Pawlenty but will have to hold my nose to vote for Huckabee.

But I will vote for the GOP ticket regardless of who's the VP. Just in case it's the Huckster, I have deleted all the nasty things I wrote about him during the primaries. And, boy! Were they nasty. (BIG GRIN.) I can't help it but I just can't stand the man.

Where are the moderate Muslims?

I leave the book review section of our Sunday paper in my throne-room and read it during the week, so I didn't see this till today.

A British-born, U.S.-educated Muslim writes about the two years she spent practicing medicine in Saudi Arabia:

Dr. Qanta Ahmed’s journey into the heart of Islam began as a spur-of-the-moment decision to practice medicine in Saudi Arabia.

Despite misgivings about going to a nation where women — even women doctors — can be treated as if they are invisible, the now 40-year-old assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina says she took a chance and ended up staying there for two years.

Reflecting on her experiences several years later, she sees her memoir, “In the Land of Invisible Women,” as part of a needed “jihad of the pen” by articulate, moderate Muslims.

[...]

Ahmed, who is of Pakistani descent, was born in Britain and had advanced medical training in the United States.

A decade ago, after establishing herself as a pulmonologist and sleep specialist, she had to decide about her future when her visa to practice medicine in the United States expired. She wanted to practice in the Middle East, but she told a recruiter she would go anywhere but Saudi Arabia.

But then came an offer to practice medicine in a modern hospital drawing patients from all of Saudi Arabia. She took it, despite worries about living in a land of strict religious rules.

“ ‘What’s a year?’ I remembered thinking to myself, as I had signed the contract recklessly, flicking through pages ignoring bold capitals announcing the death penalty,” she writes. “In a thoughtless flourish I found myself now subject to the laws of Saudi Arabia, decapitation included.”

In Saudi Arabia, she found a land with tremendous wealth, but one where women remain largely invisible. Women must, in public, be shrouded in an abbayah, a flowing robe. Women are not allowed to drive and must have a male relative or guardian’s permission to travel.

Ahmed stayed in Saudi Arabia from 1999 through 2001, leaving in the months after the 2001 terrorist attacks. She writes of her anger in seeing trained physicians laughing and others buying cakes to celebrate the news of the Sept. 11 attacks.

In Islam now, she says, “you see so very few articulate, moderate voices coming out. Where are the movies? Where is the music? Where is the poetry? Where are the books to counteract some of this (violent) ideology?”

Perhaps they're too busy baking cakes to celebrate the next terrorist attack.

PS Ahmed doesn't say why she decided to practice medicine in Saudi Arabia rather than return to the UK. Maybe that's because she considered practicing medicine in Britain's National Health System even worse than being decapitated for not wearing an abbayah.

Barack "Suspend the Rules" Obama

Yes, it is an historic moment that we now have the first Colored man as a presidential nominee and I would like to feel excited and enthusiastic but....

What a pity that he got there not on his own steam but through affirmative action, political shenanigans in Illinois, calculated and cynical grooming and promotion by shadowy "handlers," behind-the-scenes manipulations during the Democratic primaries, and now finally today, by a carefully choreographed "suspension of procedural rules."

It's twice a pity because a sincere, serious and sensible Negro could easily become president in America which is a lot less color-conscious or prejudiced than Europe where they have yet to elect a Colored person to any high office.

The problem with feeling entitled (which I think Obama definitely feels) is that it robs one of a sense of real achievement. Mind you, people who feel entitled do not have consciences or any scruples and have no sense of shame - or its opposite: righteous pride.

Obama's victory is hollow and meaningless.

Madame Veep?

Larry Kudlow:

Sources tell me that the two finalists for Mac’s veep are Tim Pawlenty and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Quote for the day

Andrew Klavan:

[T]his is America, remember: we’re a country of the imagination, a living state of mind. We’re not connected to one another by bloodlines or any depth of native memory. We’re the descendants of an idea that every generation has to learn to hold in its collective consciousness. More than in any other country, it matters in American who we think we are and what we believe we’re doing.

Ain't that the truth?

Hillary Clinton is no "Iron Lady"

Unless you mean that she doesn't do ironing.

Jay Nordlinger at the Corner on Hillary's speech tonight:

I never thought Hillary was much for self-deprecating humor (or semi-self-deprecating humor, which is probably the best kind of self-deprecating humor) — but that line about the "sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits" was very effective.

[About which K-Lo said: "Okay, the 19th amendment, on its anniversary, should be appealed."]

Jay continued:

Did Margaret Thatcher ever go on and on about how she was a woman? Or kvetch about glass ceilings? Did Indira Gandhi? Did Golda Meir? Didn't they all just get on with it? I thought that Mrs. Clinton's stress on her sex was unseemly — made her seem kind of affirmative-actiony, rather than a person who stands on her own two feet.

By the way, do you know the story about Tito and Mrs. Thatcher? He said, in her presence — referring to the wife he had just fired — "Women shouldn't meddle in politics." Thatcher said, "As for me, I don't meddle in politics — I am politics."

BTW Did you read this?

Margaret Thatcher's daughter reveals mother battle with senile dementia.

I adore this woman - the first British pol since Churchill who ever inspired me. Hillary is no Margaret! The Iron Lady is in my prayers.

Nordlinger also says about Hillary's speech:

This insistence on the centrality of politics is distressing — and not very democratic. You know, everything hinges on this election, everything hinges on politics: our future, our children, our destiny, our health, our every breath. Nonsense. It’s not supposed to be like that in a liberal democracy. We are governed by a constitution — by laws, not men. And mature people know that most of the important things in life are private, not public.

Amen to that!