“Ronald Reagan? The actor?! …of coarse…”

I’m often reminded of this line from ‘Back to the Future’. Politics should be about people, but ‘we the people’ not ‘Access Hollywood’ for Washington. Sure the diiferent characters make for interesting gossip, but what does their character matter when they are owned by the factions that own their party.

Low approval ratings for Bush and Congress match a poll conducted last month by Minnesota Public Radio that found that 77 percent of the state’s likely voters say they would consider voting for an independent or third-party candidate.

The real story is the Open The Debates rally, as it was in Denver, and not the POW maverick, the pregnant teenager, or the inspiring orator.

Yay, it will be another hour of Republican Talking Points ™. Someone will claim that democrats get abortions as casually as they get lattes (I had three yesterday–abortions that is - I’m a Democrat after all) and of course Tom will let it go unchallenged.

Its time for Tom to get a backbone or turn the show over to Jack Beady.

For pre-show briefings I’d like to recommend pretty interesting bio pieces on John McCain by Michael Tomasky and Greg Waldmann (in the New York Review of Books and Open Letters Monthly, respectively) about John McCain’s on again, off again relationship with the press and how the narrative of his life as reflected by the media has designed and re-designed our ideas about him. Pretty penetrating stuff:

http://openlettersmonthly.com/issue/july08-mccain-image/

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21470

The new, authorized version of “maverick” is someone who is forced to yield to political insiders and select a running mate on the sole issue of abortion, while overriding the maverick’s own position on stem cell cell research. It also entitles the “maverick” to redefine “vetting” as a short interview you do before you give someone a big promotion.

Palin may have said “Thanks, but no thanks” on the Bridge to Nowhere, but she kept the $238 million! Why is no one calling fraud on that??

For a state that has so much money that they are giving $1200 back to each and every citizen, why not give the $238 million to cities and towns that have Head Start programs to fund, or elderly to feed?

Alaska can take care of itself. Get them off the dole.

Palin: I have executive experience as mayor and governor. Obama and Biden combined have less.

Uh, where is McCain’s executive experience? Has he been a mayor or governor or CEO of anything? What has he led?

Palin’s speech was the of the typical destructive nature of Karl Rove’s GOP. For someone who claims an ability to be a reformer and to “shake up Washington” this speech was in direct opposition to those claims. I watched a couple of disturbing YouTube videos of Palin at her church in Wasilla. She actually asks the congregation to “pray for the pipeline.” Check them out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG1vPYbRB7k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k84m2orSOaM&feature=related

Two things struck me -

1. I don’t remember any booing happening during the Democratic convention, but I could have missed it. The tone was completely oriented toward ridicule and personal attack.

2. It completely flummoxes me that the Republicans are willing to say that Obama has no experience and that her 20 months of governership and mayorship of a tiny Alaskan town.

I was also amazed that Fred Thompson said Obama was the least experienced presidential candidate in history. I guess he counts his own TV president experience…

Bob Merrill
South Pomfret, VT

This is just a scam, having ‘executive experience’ does not mean your going be able to run the country.

Palin showed us her true colors, she was nasty, vindictive, and she went after the press.
All she did was attack Obama with false statements and mean spirited digs from the Carl Rove play book.

The Republican party is an empty shell.

One of your commentators said that the “Republican Party has perfected the art of ridicule and mockery.” Wonderful, just what America and the world needs at this time when we all face serious economic, climate, and other issues. I cannot even express how this depresses and saddens me. I profoundly hope that American voters will have enough common sense to reject this kind of campaigning. But I am not sure they will.

It seems to me that many Dems are angry about her because she is a capable, strong, feminist who happens to be Conservative. No doubt this is causing some cognitive dissonance.

And, she has a record of actually bringing about change and standing up to party bosses; Obama has a record of merely talking a lot about change, yet sucking up to party bosses.

I agree with Senator Obama that the Governor’s family should be off limits in the political debate. Still, I must ask Governor Palin whether her family experience reinforces her belief that “abstinence only” education is the solution to the AIDS crisis and unwanted teen pregnancy.

It’s sad that the “religious right” has reduced John McCain to a company man who has caved under the pressure from values voters and has abandoned the positions that made him an appealing candidate in the first place.

I think the conventions have become a joke. Instead of getting up in front of your constituents and cracking jokes about your opponents (which both sides have done) and pandering to your base, why don’t the parties take their conventions as an opportunity to set their platforms. I don’t want to hear any more ribbing from either side. I don’t want to hear eloquent fluff speeches from Obama and I don’t want to hear about McCain’s military history. Give me details on your economic plan, your foreign policy, your plan to deal with terrorism, your ideas to get rid of the deficit.

Sarah Palin seemed to be Dick Cheney with lipstick.
She is the more articulate member of the team. She is a gun toting, oil industry connected, pit bull, who talks about family values that are in direct contrast to her personal family life. Sound familiar??

I’m PRO-LIFE…. unless you are a moose

I’m from the UK (I think, according to the Reps, we are OK and not as evil,snobby,elitist and communist as our fellow europeans.)So I thought Id give you a brits perspective of the nights speeches.

Firstly I was a fan of McCain.

When watching last night I got to the point that if I heard the POW story once more I was going to put my foot through the TV. Mike Huckabee’s “Martha opened the door of her classroom.” bit, just made him sound like a nutter.
If a British politician kept pitching their war record it would be seen as sign of disrespect to serving and ex military. It trivializes it for political gain. And need I say it is militarist.

Witnessing a major political party of the most powerful country in the world adopting such a shallow, trivial, nasty and adolescent tone made me really disappointed.

The world is probably going through one of the most troublesome and dangerous times since the 40’s. The republicans need focus on that, and cleaning up the mess the last Rep administration and your current business leaders have created.

Andy,

I agree wholeheartedly about the POW references - with each speaker telling almost the exact same story. It was very lame - especially since it’s not exactly news, however important to his biography. Oddly enough, however, I ran into someone this morning (who is an otherwise well-informed person) who claimed she had never heard his POW story before.

This new site is right on time. If I get frustrated listening to republican-christain ugliness, I can bitch to Tom directly and he has to just sit there and groove on it. Thanks On Point!

Tom. Tag the hate speech.

For decades conservatives argued that civil society, not government, is the answer to poverty and other community problems. Communities have been doing just that, thanks to the help of community organizers. So it comes as a bit of a surprise that the GOP VP nominee (as well as Giuliani) would mock them.

Organizers pick up where government leaves off. They exemplify communities trying to fix their own issues. So when Sarah Palin compares her taxpayer-funded job as mayor favorably to community organizers with no “actual responsibilities,” we can only conclude that today’s Republican Party isn’t so keen on self-help after all.

Seems today’s GOP doesn’t just hate government solutions to our communities’ problems. They hate ANY solutions.

Since Obama and Biden have both ridiculed Ms. Palin’s alleged lack of his experience, his own (and truly shallow) track record as a “reformer” is fair game in my opinion.

I found it very amusing how all the speakers last night from Mitt Romney denouncing “liberal Washington” and statements such as “It’s time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother!” on to Palin saying Washington was broke failed to mention that for most of the last 8 years their party has been in control.

It’s the height of hypocrisy and with all due respect to McCain’s war record, this does not have anything to do with being fit to run the country.

We don’t need 4 more years of a president who will shot first and ask questions latter. We can’t afford this.

Everything is fair game in politics until it doesn’t work.

I cannot believe a loving mother and father would exploit their daughter for their political gain. When and if Sarah Palin told McCain that she had a pregnant, unmarried, teen-age daughter he should have warned her that her daughter would be subject to extreme scrutiny, negative comments and would at least, be in the news for days. Obviously, Sarah’s ambition overrode her maternal instincts. Then the media was warned that children were off-limits. Then the child and her siblings were paraded in front of the nation. Not only that but the teen-age father was also included. Tell me that the family wanted us to honor their privacy! What a hypocrite. Sarah should have graciously declined the offer and said her family was more important than her ambitions. Obviously, they were not. In my experience, most people are charitable about unwed mothers and wish them the best. No one exalts in their pregnancy and the questionable future that the mother and child both face.

Kathy, well said. But I have to ask whether you would say the same if Ms. Palin were a male candidate?

Kathy she’s a politician and they all make this discussion. Most of her children are grown anyway.

The question is will she cut aid, as she did in her home state for families with disabled children.

I don’t buy anything she says myself, that line that she will be an advocate for families with disabled children is something I think she will regret saying.

Q. What’s the difference between Cheney and Palen?

A. Lipstick

David Essing:

“But I have to ask whether you would say the same if Ms. Palin were a male candidate?”

Yes. If he exploited his family situation for political gain in the same manner as this. Yes, I think the same could be said.

Maybe David, YOU are playing the gender card?

Judy, you give her too much credit when there is little due. She’s not the Dick Cheney of the ticket, she is the Pamela Smart wannabe of the ticket. (minus the murder)

Way too much credit.

Hello, Palin is a professional NEWS READER. Of course she was able to read a good speech written by, help me out here, written by,__________. Come on, you know it. It wasn’t Sarah Palin you can bet your bottom dollar.

Lux, it’s the media who have shamefully exploited Ms. Palin’s children. If merely putting them up onstage is “exploiting them,” then all politicians are guilty of this. I think there’s a marked double standard here.

Got it:

Matthew Scully’s the name.

Sophist for hire’s my game.

One of your commentators said that the “Republican Party has perfected the art of ridicule and mockery.” Wonderful, just what America and the world needs at this time when we all face serious economic, climate, and other issues. I cannot even express how this depresses and saddens me.

Oh, c’mon! Please get some perspective! Today’s political campaigns are mild and polite compared to campaigns of the past. In the campaign of 1828 Jackson’s wife was referred to as an “adulteress” and his mother was accused of being a prostitute.

In the campaign of 1800 Adams was attacked as a “hideous hermaphrodite”. Jefferson, in turn was accused of sleeping with his slaves (which as we know today, was true!).

In the campaign of 1876 Hayes accused Samuel Tilden of suffering from venereal disease.

In the 1884 campaign Blaine accused Cleveland of fathering an illegitimate child, and Cleveland accused Blaine of being “The Constitutional Liar from the state of Maine”

One could easily go on and on. The Republicans are complete amateurs at mockery and ridicule. In other postings I’ve criticized Americans on not knowing their own history, but this is acase where we should be thankful they don’t know history because it might give them ideas!

it’s the media who have shamefully exploited Ms. Palin’s children.

The media are the media - we all know what they do. And Palin is a politician with a journalism degree, so she knows exactly what she’s exposing her children to by taking on this role. If she doesn’t she’s too stupid or naive to hold office.

Here’s an issue our government just promised Georgia 1 billion dollars in aid. I have to wonder how this is justified for a small country that has no effect on our safety. Europe on the other hand has a lot more at stake and should be doing this.

With all the economic problems we have here and the cost of a two front war how on earth can this much money be justified.

Jeff,

It’s called containment.

Jeff,

I apologize for being snarky, r.e.: containment.

REWARD

LOST

REPUBLICAN VALUES

LAST SEEN WITH DWIGHT EISENHOWER

IF YOU HAVE SEEN THEM PLEASE KEEP THEM CALM BY READING THE FEDERALIST PAPERS.

RESPONDS TO THE WORD, “BULLY,” JUST CLEAR YOUR THROAT AND SAY, “BULLY GOOD!”

CALL JOHN MCCAIN DAY OR NIGHT

REWARD THANK YOU

Jeff/Frederic - but it is called containment. I agree that Europe should do more. It’s their backyard for heaven’s sake. But they won’t because they know we will.

Jeff/Frederic - but it is called containment. I agree that Europe should do more. It’s their backyard for heaven’s sake. But they won’t because they know we will.

But why should we?

A billion dollars is a lot of money even in this day and age. I’m an active member of several organizations trying to get increased funding for breast cancer, prostate cancer, and other serious diseases. Even a small fraction of a billion dollars could make a big difference in those diseases. On one rare form of cancer I’m involved with we recently managed to get a $40,000 grant for one research project and we were thrilled!

Georgia is a country with a poor human rights and corruption record (sources: HRW and Transparency Int’l), and they have been trying to prevent the secession of two regions that simply don’t want to be ruled by them. So they’re not exactly wearing the whitest of hats in this conflict.

US foreign policy (really ALL countries’ foreign policy) should be based on advancing the interests of their citizens. Period. We should not be firing one shot, risking one soldier or sailor, or spending one penny of our Treasury unless we can explain exactly how that advances our security, liberty, or prosperity. And for a BILLION dollars we need to do a LOT of ’splainin’.

But why should we?

Exactly, why, I’m not saying we should not do something, after all our government encouraged them.

However 1 billion is way to much, I hope this has to go through Congress and that they have the spine to whittle it down to a say 100 million or less even.

Containment is a valid point, then we should be putting a HUGE amount of pressure on the European governments to get more involved.

I am so tired of Republicans pandering to the conservative right – particularly the religious right. I understand the political expediency of energizing the hardcore right but the reality is that the majority of Americans, including Republicans, are closer to the middle and do not necessarily espouse these social/cultural views. It is divisive and off-putting in a way that makes it more difficult to move forward on the many impressing issues of the day. Further, it utterly undercuts our standing on the world stage by making us seem more reactionary and closed minded. For example, if it is true that Sarah Palin does not believe that global warming has been caused by human activity or that it is a crisis issue makes us loose all credibility if we as a nation put her forward as our leader. We have squandered the good will of the world that was given to the US in post 2011 and the election of an extreme right wing, jingoistic VP, who is just a heartbeat away from the presidency will simply further undercut our standing in the world. To quote the “American President,” these are serious times and we need serious people. Pandering to right-wing social conservative biases is short-sighted.

Hello…..Hello!….HELLO!!! No I guess there are no conservatives here.

Traditional conservative here. How can I help thee?

Highly enthusiastic Obama supporter here!

Feeling down? Blue? Rather ruffled by mean-spirited, angry Republicans?

There’s a cure: get out and volunteer for the Obama campaign!

It works! (I’ve tried it.)

I would just like to refute something Howard Fineman (who I generally like very much) said, that the surge, even among Democrats, has been seen to have worked.

If you talk to the MILITARY folks, it’s a very different story. They will point out that the Sunni Awakening, or the Sons of Iraq, by the Sunnis, started before the surge, and allowed at least Anbar and probably parts of Diyala and Baghdad to be pacified. This is because these Sunnis were no longer in the insurgency, they were patrolling the streets in return for pay from our military.

The other thing that occurred coincident with the surge was the stand-down of the Mehdi Army. With the most powerful Shiite force no longer causing mayhem, that was also a huge win.

But neither of those things were caused by the surge, they were totally orthogonal to it. And those were the things that caused the vast majority of the improvement that we’ve seen.

Another factor in the improvement has to be the ethnic cleansing that took place. Now that Sunnis and Shiites come into contact less, there’s less chance of violence. That comes at a terrible cost though.

Of course our military does a great job, I’m not saying anything against them. But if the civil war were still going on, does anyone believe that even 160,000 troops would be enough to tamp it down in a country the size of Iraq? I sure don’t. Look to General Shinseki who at the start said we’d need at LEAST 250,000, and that was just for the invasion. To tamp down the civil war you’d probably need at least 500,000.

So Barack Obama was right on the surge, and John McCain was wrong. We spent a lot of extra money on those extra troops, and mainly we policed Baghdad better. The Iraqis could have, and should have done that themselves, which is what Obama has been saying.

Sadly, now the Shiites in the government are targeting the Sons of Iraq by putting them in jail. They don’t want any Sunnis to be armed to challenge their authority. This thing isn’t over and can still blow up in our faces, people.

I have a question about Gov. Palin’s judgement that no one seems to be talking about.

She says she’s pro-life and there’s no reason to doubt this.

Thus she would’ve carried her fifth child to term no matter what.

Then why’d she take a prenatal test? While the risks are small, they’re not zero, so why would you take ANY risk when you know it’s not going to affect your decision?

“Lux, it’s the media who have shamefully exploited Ms. Palin’s children. If merely putting them up onstage is “exploiting them,” then all politicians are guilty of this. I think there’s a marked double standard here.”

David your wrong again, the McCain machine sent out press notices about the Palin family and her daughter’s pregnancy.

McCain’s people did this to Palin’s family the press just did the job they are hired to do. Some do it with grace and others do it in the gutter, but hey that’s how the press works.

The NY Times had it right on Palin’s record, and the McCain/Palin team now have egg on their faces.