Change We Can Secede With

I prefer "Sedation and Sedition '08", but most voters may not be aware that John McCain was an Ambien junkie. Likewise I'm sure very few know that Sarah Palin was recently a member of a third political party in Alaska whose purpose for being was to withdraw the state from the Union:

The campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., likes to herald the independence of its new running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States.

And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First - Alaska Always."

Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

"We are a state's rights party," says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has "a plank that challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law."

But if you're one of those 'low-information' voters that believes, for example, Barack Obama is unpatriotic for not wearing a flag lapel pin, how do you feel about someone a heartbeat away from the Oval Office who advocates sedition?

We fought a Civil War over such a thing, I believe. IIRC John McCain crashed his bi-plane and was taken POW during it (yeah, that's the ticket).

Really, maybe it's just best for everyone if this woman goes on home and focuses on taking care of her 4-month-old with Down's and her 17-year-old with child and without husband.

Update: All you could ever want to know about Palin's Secession Scandal. One tiny excerpt (emphasis mine):

• In 2007, the Vice Chairman of the AIP, Dexter Clark, not only referenced Palin's membership, but also said that since she joined the GOP, "she is pretty well sympathetic to her former membership." Clark also goes on to discuss the need to "infiltrate" the major parties.
• In 2008, Palin recorded a message for the AIP's annual convention, stating that Alaska has "a great promise to be a self-sufficient state" and encouraging them to "keep up the good work."

Half-baked Alaska (or, Cheney in a skirt)

The right-wing freaks had little to rejoice about during the past week, but the selection of one of their own by a befuddled John McLame sent them into a tizzy. Denied by the Religious Right his first choice, turncoat Joe Lieberman, Senator Maverick chose instead to pander to them. And despite their entire Monday lineup of speakers canceling on them -- the Governator has a budget battle he would rather fight, W and Dick want to appear as if they are doing something about Gustav -- the RNC delegates go right on partying with the fabulous hookers in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport stalls proceed with the solemn business of their convention today.

There's about a thousand controversies swirling around Sarah Palin, the gun-totin', beauty-queenin', rapidly-breedin', earmark-lovin', polar-bear-hatin' governor of a state with just about the same number of people as Fort Worth (and just as backward and conservative).

Personally, I do think she squeezed out that puppy herself. That's not much of a scandal anyway, in my book. But she's got so much baggage that she could probably save Alaska Airlines from bankruptcy just on the extra suitcase charges alone. And let's not even get started on that Neanderthal husband of hers, a piece of neocon work his own self.

Among the things Sarah has already learned in the past week: it's warm in Ohio this time of year.

Can't wait for the debates.

Labor Day Wrangle

Gustav comes ashore (in Texas we're seemingly spared, even SE Texas) and the RNC may resume its festivities later in the week -- if New Orleans is spared by a weakened hurricane -- and here in Houston we're going to celebrate Labor Day as always. Here's the weekly roundup of the Texas Progressive Alliance blogs from the eventful week just past.

Mike Thomas at Rhetoric and Rhythm is unhappy with some liberal bloggers who decided to label his Congressman -- Ciro Rodriguez -- as a so-called "Bush Dog Democrat".

Is John McCain's vice presidential pick some kind of joke? McBlogger's Mayor McSleaze thinks it's more like a situation comedy.

CouldBeTrue at South Texas Chisme is happy for Webb County! Finally the long sheriff's primary is over and Martin Cuellar is the official sheriff-to-be. And yeah, the AG is looking into the hinky first recount.

With Tom DeLay and the TRMPAC indictments back in the news, Off the Kuff conducts an interview with Cris Feldman, one of the attorneys who won a civil judgment against TRMPAC for its violations of campaign finance law in the 2002 elections.

Stace Medellin at DosCentavos is celebrating ten years of living in the Houston area. Read about what brought him to Houston and what has kept him in the big city.

Neil at Texas Liberal is glad to note that the Galveston County Democratic Club is, as always, working hard for all the people of Galveston County -- both on the mainland and on the island.

The Texas Cloverleaf reminds everyone that McCain is older than fiberglass. His new sidekick leads a state with a population smaller than Collin County. Sitcom indeed.

jobsanger wonders why the Democratic convention didn't show a little respect for Lyndon Johnson's 100th birthday, and prepares to enjoy the prospect of dueling Republican conventions.

What is the linkage between radioactive waste dumps, smear ad campaigns and HD-52 Republican nominee Bryan Daniel? Dembones at Eye On Williamson follows the money trail back to Swift Boat financier and Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, whose latest smear campaign tries to link Barack Obama to '60s radical William Ayers.

Doing My Part For The Left's refinish69 wonders if Texas Deferred Adjudication is helpful or shameful.

North Texas Liberal has video of Sen. Hillary Clinton condemning John McCain's use of her picture and quotes in his ads.

PDiddie assembled some of the satirical ridicule of John McCain's selection of Elaine Benes from Seinfeld Sarah Palin of Alaska at Brains and Eggs.

BossKitty at Truthhugger observes "FEMA Gets A Second Chance - NOLA Redux for “Mother Of All Storms”and what our fearless leaders plan to do about it THIS TIME.

Vince at Capitol Annex offers his opinion on Michael L. Williams' manipulation of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. concerning Barack Obama's experience. For added value, one of Williams' campaign staffers decided to comment on the post and attempt to defend his boss.

nytexan at BlueBloggin wonders why PUMAs are exhibiting a high level of disrespect to Hillary and her request for full support and asks PUMA, Was It Ever About Hillary Clinton.

The political implications of Gustav

The human implications of this monster hurricane are immense -- 80 people have already died in the Carribean -- but we will stick to the political implications here. First, most people living far from the Gulf Coast have already forgotten Katrina and Rita; this will remind them. The media will no doubt trot out all the photos of a happy President Bush in sunny Arizona ignoring the drowning city because he was too busy celebrating John McCain's 69th birthday. In case they forget, here is the photo from the official White House website.

Second, if the storm hits Tuesday, it will be smack in the middle of the Republican National Convention. Normally, that would be the only news story of the week, but it will have to compete with news of drowning people on the Gulf Coast. This diverts attention from the Republican's message of national security and focuses everyone on domestic affairs, such as the government's role in helping people. The Republicans core message of low taxes and less government may not go over so well juxtaposed with photos of old people on their roofs pleading for help from the government while the Republicans are busy saying that free markets solve problems far better than government bureaucrats. Heck-of-a-Job Brownie may get another 15 minutes of fame.

Third, depending on the actual path the storm takes, it could hit oil rigs and refineries. Heaven forbid there is an accident that causes an oil spill. That would remind people of why the Democrats oppose off-shore drilling. On the other hand, if there are no accidents, the Republicans will say: "If off-shore oil rigs can withstand this, they can withstand anything." In any event, rigs and refineries are likely to shut down, reducing the supply and driving up gas prices in the next few months, something that will remind the voters of the economy, in case they had forgotten.

Fourth, under federal law, the person in charge of handling natural disasters in a state is the governor. He can call up the National Guard, ask for federal help, or whatever he wants, but he's the boss. The governor of Louisiana is now a Republican, Piyush "Bobby" Jindal. Last time around, the botched response was coordinated by a Democrat, Kathleen Blanco. If Jindal does a great job and the evacuation goes smoothly, help arrives on time, and nobody dies, the Republicans will be crowing about their management skills and that the real problem last time was that a Democrat was running the show. However, Jindal is only 37 and has been governor for scarcely 8 months, even less time than the Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. If Jindal messes up, the Democrats will be saying: "It's more of the same." To say that McCain's political fortunes rest on Jindal's ability to cope with disasters is not entirely true, but it will be a big factor. Unlike Blanco last time, Jindal is surely fully aware of what is about to happen and the potential consequences of failing to handle it.

John McCain's been saying his prayers, but if I were a Christian I would be tempted to say -- especially after we witness the damage of an 18-25 storm surge where the levees are 9-13 feet -- that God doesn't care what John McCain wants.

And if Gustav had hit a week earlier, we would no doubt have heard a few Republican pastors proclaiming that God was delivering His Retribution to the Democrats, indeed the United States, for supporting the evils of abortion, homosexuality, etc.

I doubt we will hear any of that "God is punishing us because of the GOP" from any pastors on either side this week. More, with my bold emphasis:

For better or worse, all five potentially affected states have Republican governors: Rick Perry in Texas, Bobby Jindal in Louisiana, Haley Barbour in Mississippi, Bob Riley in Alabama, and Charlie Crist in Florida. If they do a good job getting help where it is needed, they will get the credit; if they don't they will get the blame. It is likely that all of them will skip the convention and stay home. In an odd way, the hurricane might actually have a silver lining for the Republicans. The Democrats spent all of last week yelling: "McCain is Bush III." Having Bush speak at the convention, as scheduled reinforces their point. However McCain could hardly have told Bush to stay home since that would infuriate the 30% of the country that still supports him. Enter St. Gustav stage left. McCain could now announce that much as he wants Bush to speak at his convention, for the good of the country, Bush should go tour the Gulf Coast to help the poor people there. This solves two problems: keeping Bush away from Minnesota without McCain getting blamed for it and having Bush appear to be on top of the situation at the hurricane site in an attempt to wipe out the bad memories of his doing nothing when Katrina struck.

So when Karl Rove says that the Republicans can't catch a break with the weather in August, he's just being a stupid asshole again.