"These are your cousins Freddie and Fannie. They're going to be living with us now."

Those words were common among a previous generation's children, when hard times meant that families had to double up. There are many Americans of late who have taken in a family member (or five) in light of more recent troubles. But the cousins whom we're ALL taking in very shortly are, of course, the mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the multi-billion dollar failure of which is going to dwarf the S&L crisis of the '80's:

Senior officials from the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve on Friday informed top executives of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that the government was preparing to seize the two companies and place them in a conservatorship, officials and company executives briefed on the discussions said.

The plan, effectively a government bailout, was outlined in separate meetings that the chief executives were summoned to attend on Friday at the office of the companies' new regulator. The executives were told that, under the plan, they and their boards would be replaced, shareholders would be virtually wiped out, but the companies would be able to continue functioning with the government generally standing behind their debt, people briefed on the discussions said.

It is not possible to calculate the cost of any government bailout, but the huge potential liabilities of the companies could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and make any rescue among the nation's largest ever.

It's likewise impossible to calculate what the long-term effects beyond the simple cost of the initial taxpayer bailout are going to be. With America's automakers teetering on the verge of collapse as well, the United States is entering dangerous economic territory (and it's not as if any of this this was an unexpected development). Take a look at two of the most recommended comments in that link above:

... Privatize the profits, and socialize the loss ...Welfare state for coroprations (sic) and tough love for middle class and below . This bailout is nothing but a massive transfer of wealth from the US taxpayers to astronomically rich private investors and foreign governments. The biggest foreign holders of Freddie and Fannie's debts are China, Japan, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. Do you want to bail them out with your tax dollars? Think this needs to change?

... all other news will pale in comparison in terms of something that will impact our lives. This decision, so rife with moral hazard, will shake the very foundations of our financial system and add even more debt for our children to pay off.....what a sad farce...

This, and the adverse financial developments that will ripple from it, make considerably weaker our credit markets, our currency, our economy and our national security. Do we really need to consider what John McCain and Sarah Palin and top economic adviser Phil Gramm -- who still insists some people are just whining about a recession -- might do about the crises to come?

That would be nothing, in case you were wondering. Absolutely nothing.

The Republican party is going to own this failure for generations to come.

We don't like Ike

Eric Berger:

2 p.m. UPDATE: The early afternoon model runs have come out and they're increasingly clustered around a track that could bring Ike (now back up to 115-mph) into the central Gulf of Mexico.

I sure hope the evacuations we rehearsed for Gustav don't have to be reprised. If there's one thing I have learned it's that people tend to make a decision about how they will respond to the threat of a hurricane based on whether their reaction the last time was justified. Many people who left last week -- particularly in SE Texas -- will be thus disinclined to do so again.

Palinpalooza: the gift that keeps on giving

--- "So Sambo beat the bitch!" Shocktisayshocked to discover she's Rick Santorum Dick Cheney David Duke in a skirt.

-- Do you think anyone will get to question her about this, or the now fast-tracked abuse of power investigation known as Troopergate, or her ties to the fringe Alaskan secessionist political party before the debates? Even FOX? Doesn't seem likely.

My suggestion for the first question regarding that last: "Nice flag lapel pin, Mrs. Palin, but why does it only have 49 stars on it? And which 'Country First' is it you advocate -- the United States or Alaska?"

The more information that trickles out about this woman, the more horrifying it is to consider her presence a heartbeat away. So in the absence of the McCain campaign's ability to shape her narrative beyond "Miss Mooseburger" -- this will prove to be a critical failure in the post-November 4th analysis, I believe -- the more the rest of us are forced to do so. Howard Fineman:

On the floor and in the hallways of the GOP convention, the sentiment was a combination of aggressive defensiveness about her -- from evangelicals and other cultural conservatives -- to a cautious wait-and-see hopefulness from delegates who found it hard to believe that McCain had chosen Palin with what appeared to be a hurried-up, last-minute vetting process last week.

It was as if the skeptics were saying: OK McCain, we didn't like you that much to begin with, so you had better be right about Sarah Palin. But for the time being, until we hear her speak, we will give you the benefit of the doubt.

Friends of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, speaking not for attribution, were caustic. "She is unqualified for the job and everyone knows it," said one.

Whether or not that is true, it's hard to imagine anyone who would be qualified for the raft of personal and political challenges Palin faces. Over the next months, and all at once, a list of the things she'll need to deal with:

• her continuing duties as governor of Alaska
• a legislature-funded investigation into questions of whether she has abused her office in a vendetta against her former brother-in-law, a probe that prompted her to hire a personal attorney
• the care of her fifth child, Trig, born this spring with Down syndrome -- a condition that requires close parental attention and care, especially in the first year of the child's life
• the pregnancy and pending marriage of her teenage daughter Bristol, who is planning to wed the father before Election Day
• learning the routines and rituals of the national campaign trail, which she will be required to traverse on her own plane, with her own staff
• getting a sense of the Lower 48 states, most of which she has never visited
• figuring out how to deal with McCain, whom she barely knows
• handling whatever national press interviews the McCain campaign allows her to do -- and she will have to do some to prepare herself for later events
• prep for the nationally televised vice-presidential debate with Sen. Joe Biden, a legislator with 36 years of seniority, who is personally acquainted with the rulers of nations Palin may never have even heard of

-- Then again, as long as the Corporate Media keep regurgitating the lies she tells, the better off the Republicans will be. Have to watch and see if the Gestapo tactics being used -- which they began implementing in Minnesota this past week -- bully the talking heads into cowering submission.

NSFW Update: Seriously though, how far from reality could this be? We're living Idiocracy. (H/T to that nasty bastard McBlogger for the "Something Awful".)

"My days are numbered"

Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole said Thursday that he expects to be forced from office by an FBI investigation into corruption allegations that appears to be centering on the design of his home by a prominent retired architect.

The Precinct 4 commissioner said FBI agents have interviewed many of his friends, some as recently as this week. He said he expects to be called in for questioning soon and would not be surprised to be indicted, though he insists he is innocent.

"I guarantee they can take that information that they've got and the friends that they've talked to and they can make a case on me," said Eversole, who volunteered the update regarding the investigation when asked about recommended ethics changes at the county. "That's why I say my days are numbered. There's no doubt about it."

As the feds close in on him, let's reminisce:

The Harris County District Attorney's office is investigating Eversole's use of campaign funds to pay for collector-quality firearms and a trip to Florida. George Flynn, the office's spokesman, said he could not comment on the probe beyond confirming it was still under way.

The commissioner's $680,000 house in the Heights was designed by Leroy Hermes, whose former firm has been involved with county projects such as the Reliant Stadium complex and a new jail facility. The Republican commissioner said he had the home built in 2003 so he and his wife, who has cancer, would be closer to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Eversole also was criticized for labeling hundreds of campaign expenses with vague descriptions such as "public relations" and "misc," offering little clue as to what was purchased or who benefited from those purchases. Among his "public relations" expenses was the $6,850 trip to Florida.

After acknowledging long-running problems with his campaign finance reports, the commissioner began explaining his expenses in greater detail this year. He also asked former County Judge Robert Eckels to review his current and past filings to ensure compliance with state disclosure laws.

Eversole's money management problems began early on in his 17-year career as county commissioner. Fourteen years ago, when his questionable expense reports first earned him attention and then legal scrutiny, a Democrat named Jim Lindeman running against him tried to link Republican Eversole to ... Ted Kennedy and former House speaker Tom Foley. That gives you an idea how red Precinct 4 was gerrymandered. First, the Chronic with the executive summary, from the previous link:

Eversole was indicted in 1993 on charges of perjury and unlawful record-keeping related to nearly $90,000 in campaign expenses.

And all the way from October of '94 and the Houston Press, with the details:

(D)espite a counseling session early in his term from the district attorney's office on Election Code rules regarding contributions and gifts, Eversole spent his lavishly endowed campaign account wildly on golf clothes, gifts and even several firearms. He justified the clothing purchases as items to be auctioned off. Asked to explain why the clothes all seemed to be in his own sizes, he allowed that by wearing them he made them more valuable items at the charity events. He regularly submitted monthly credit card tabs to be paid from the campaign account, and included billings for golf greens fees that were paid by others. The spending spree and questionable documentation earned him eight indictments for perjury and false campaign reporting.

Wayne Dolcefino at KTRK deserves most of the credit for digging up the recent dirt on Eversole, and now burying him with it ...

In the last year and a half, Eversole has spent nearly $15,000 just at golf courses and golf stores using campaign funds. On his sworn campaign finance report, he usually calls it simply 'public relations.' "I don't think he bought public relations at a golf shop," said campaign finance expert Fred Lewis.

Lewis has seen lots of campaign reports.

" When you start spending it on things like clothes, books, and Internet at your house, an exercise club, and meal after meal, you're starting to get where you're either on the line or over it," he said.

Jerry Eversole had no opponent last year and isn't up for reelection until 2010. Yet he's spent a whopping $750,000 in campaign money in just 18 months.

Most of it on golf, golf-related apparel and items, and even coffee. So he skated through the thin ice once early on, has never had a respectable challenger since, and now over a decade later has been discovered doing the same thing. Makes you wonder what happened during the years between investigations, doesn't it? More on this from the Harris County Republican Rap Sheet.

So long, Jerry. You had a good run. Sorry about your wife.

Jesus of Nazareth was a community organizer

... while Pontius Pilate was a governor. Other notable community organizers would include Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Mohandas Ghandhi ...



And then there's Joe Klein with the body-slam:

Slowly, slowly, I am recovering from the extremely effective bilge festival staged by the Republicans last night. And while there is much to discuss, there was one item, in particular, that has to be considered infuriating: the attack on Barack Obama's service as a community organizer by the odious Rudy Giuliani -- he's come to look like a villain in a Frank Capra movie, hasn't he? -- and Sarah Palin.

This morning, I received a press release from a group called Catholic Democrats about the work -- the mission, the witness -- that Obama performed after he got out of college. Here's the first paragraph:

Catholic Democrats is expressing surprise and shock that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's acceptance speech tonight mocked her opponent's work in the 1980s for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. She belittled Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer in Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago, work he undertook instead of pursuing a lucrative career on Wall Street. In her acceptance speech, Ms. Palin said, "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities." Community organizing is at the heart of Catholic Social Teaching to end poverty and promote social justice.

So here is what Giuliani and Palin didn't know: Obama was working for a group of churches that were concerned about their parishioners, many of whom had been laid off when the steel mills closed on the south side of Chicago. They hired Obama to help those stunned people recover and get the services they needed -- job training, help with housing and so forth -- from the local government. It was, dare I say it, the Lord's work -- the sort of mission Jesus preached (as opposed to the war in Iraq, which Palin described as a "task from God.")

This is what Palin and Giuliani were mocking. They were making fun of a young man's decision "to serve a cause greater than himself," in the words of John McCain. They were, therefore, mocking one of their candidate's favorite messages. Obama served the poor for three years, then went to law school. To describe this service -- the first thing he did out of college, the sort of service every college-educated American should perform, in some form or other -- as anything other than noble is cheap and tawdry and cynical in the extreme.

Perhaps La Pasionaria of the Northern Slope didn't know this when she read the words they gave her. But Giuliani -- a profoundly lapsed Catholic, who must have met more than a few religious folk toiling in the inner cities -- should have known. ("I don't even know what that is," he sneered.") What a shameful performance.

Prayer will "smite" McCain and make Palin president

There simply isn't anything that bothers me more than the Radical Religious Right co-opting God for their twisted political ends:

The more theocratic elements of the Religious Right have a disturbing habit, (more like a practice) of invoking "imprecatory prayer" -- a call for God to literally pour his wrath down on those they consider to be his enemies. Last year, for example, Rev. Wiley Drake, then a Second Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention made news when he called on his followers to pray for God to smite members of the staff of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. (Drake was angry that the organization had reported Drake to the IRS for endorsing Mike Huckabee on church stationary, among other apparent abuses of his church's 501(c) tax-exemption.)

The most recent target of theoractic imprecations is none other than Republican presidential candidate John McCain. They hope that an act of God will make Sarah Palin president.

Antiabortion militant and all-round theocratic activist Jay Rogers of Florida, whose blog is called The Forerunner, writes:

Pray for John McCain's salvation and speedy death. (Google The Forerunner's articles on Imprecatory Prayer if you think this is harsh.)

And then there is this guy, a self-described Christian Reconstructionist whose blog handle is Ixion, and is apparently from Tennessee:

McCain's VP choice, Sarah Palin, suddenly made me want to vote for him, as long as the LORD smites him while he's in office. She's consistently conservative on all the issues, and if she's good enough for The Forerunner, she's good enough for me. The Forerunner agrees with me that McCain must be smitten, as well, so I'm obviously not alone in my viewpoints.

If you find this as disturbing as I do, just know that the cure is to go to work to elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And every other Democratic candidate on your ballot.

As white as rice-and-cream milquetoast

It doesn't matter how many times the teevee cameras show us "Uncle Tom" Williams, he's nothing but a fly in the oatmeal:

Organizers conceived of this convention as a means to inspire, but some African American Republicans have found the Xcel Energy Center depressing this week. Everywhere they look, they see evidence of what they consider one of their party's biggest shortcomings.

As the country rapidly diversifies, Republicans are presenting a convention that is almost entirely white.

Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor are black, the lowest number since the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies began tracking diversity at political conventions 40 years ago. Each night, the overwhelmingly white audience watches a series of white politicians step to the lectern — a visual reminder that no black Republican has served as a governor, U.S. senator or U.S. House member in the past six years.

Shocked, you say. Shocked.

The lack of diversity is out of sync with the demographic changes in the United States. The Census Bureau reported last month that racial and ethnic minorities will make up a majority of the country's population by 2042 -- almost a decade earlier than what the bureau predicted just four years ago. Two-thirds of Americans are non-Hispanic whites, 12.4 percent are black and 14.8 percent are Hispanic, according to 2006 census numbers.

What has helped Republicans is that working-class whites, a bloc they rely on, are more likely to vote than other groups. "But if there is a loss this time, and it is attributed to a smaller and smaller base of white voters, there might be a rethinking" of GOP strategy, said Robert E. Lang, co-director of Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute, which studies demographics and other development patterns.

"If we don't get better at reaching out, we're in big trouble," agreed Michael Williams, a black Republican who chairs the Texas Railroad Commission and who spoke Wednesday night. "It doesn't take much to see that this is not what America looks like. . . . We're trying, but we're not there yet."

I don't think you're ever going to get there in my lifetime or yours either, Mike.

Of Lipstick and Pigs -- err, Pit Bulls

I don't think anything I can write could be more sexist than that joke, Sarah.

And we don't want to hear any whining about how "the boys are being mean to you" since you've taken the gloves off. Community organizers have to be ready to defend themselves against hostile neighborhood bullies, after all ...

(Following is a summary of what others are saying. Essentially the divide is continental; their side is positively orgasmic, our side is repulsed. Oh, and Matt in the comments in the prior posts is looking for a quarrel. Does anyone wish to accomodate him? I won't have time for that today. Or tomorrow. Maybe on the weekend ...)

Virtually all of the conservative commentariat, and a greater-than-would-care-to-admit-it share of the liberal commentariat think that Sarah Palin hit a home run tonight. I guess I'm just going to have to stick my neck out (along with Josh Marshall) and disagree. ...

I think some of you are underestimating the percentage of voters for whom Sarah Palin lacks the standing to make this critique of Barack Obama. To many voters, she is either entirely unknown, or is known as an US Weekly caricature of a woman who eats mooseburgers and has a pregnant daughter. To change someone's opinion, you have to do one of two things. Either, you have to be a trusted voice of authority, or you have to persuade them. Palin is not a trusted voice of authority -- she's much too new. But neither was this a persuasive speech. It was staccato, insistent, a little corny. It preached to the proverbial choir. It was also, as one of my commentors astutely noted, a speech written by a man and for a man, but delivered by a woman, which produces a certain amount of cognitive dissonance.

In exceedingly plain English, I think there's a pretty big who the fuck does she think she is? factor. And not just among us Daily Kos reading, merlot-drinking liberals. I think Palin's speech will be instinctively unappealing to other whole demographics of voters, including particuarly working-class men (among whom there may be a misogyny factor) and professional post-menopausal women.

The irony here, of course, is that hers was a purely political speech. No issues were actually addressed... none. A catalog of Republican talking points was delivered, very well I must admit (to the extent that crap can be presented artfully). It was red meat for the base, but it is very difficult for me to see how it was in any way intended to address, say, independents. Nothing at all was said about Palin's social conservative views... opposition to abortion even in cases of rape or incest, her introduction of religious cant into discussions of war, her attempts to remove library books because their content did not suit her "Christian" views, etc. There is a lot more to say about Gov. Palin than was revealed in this speech... and I am depending on Obama's campaign staff to say at least some of it. (For the record, none of what I am thinking of has anything to do with her family life. However, her possible abuse of power as governor in "troopergate" does come to mind...)

And honestly... any former Hillary supporter who flipped to McCain/Palin in response to this speech must not have thought things through very thoroughly. People do not, by and large, vote their gonads, and that's about all Palin has in common with Hillary.

I am at a wonderful age. I am young enough to appreciate a woman's pleasant packaging (Stella's, for instance) when it is relevant to her relationship to me, and old enough mostly to ignore such good looks when her role in my life is that of potential commander-in-chief. In the world of government, as the old saying goes, form follows function. I am more convinced than ever that Gov. Palin could not function effectively as president any more than could the much older top of the GOP ticket. Indeed... I believe she would be a disaster as president.

Now, we know Palin to be a fringe member of the Republican right. We know her to be a petty, small-town dictator bent on settling small scores, banning books, and generally operating in a manner beneath the dignity of an already insignificant office. We know that she carried that attitude to Juneau when she became governor 18 short months ago, and that she's under investigation for abuse of that office. We know that she was either a member of, or a fellow traveler with, the secessionist Alaska Independence Party as late as the mid-Nineties. We know that she believes that God wants her to build a natural gas pipeline in Alaska.

But she won't be a fringe character tonight.

She won't admit to corruption, or champion Alaskan secession, or proclaim that God gives her personal advice on infrastructure policy. She won't list books that she wants banned, or name US Marshals that she'd want fired if elected Vice-President. Nope. She's going to come across as a mainstream American soccer hockey mom, who can't understand why people are being so mean to her. She'll speak in vague generalities about the problems that face the nation, and will wrap herself in the flag and in motherhood. She's going to read a good speech, written by professionals, off of a teleprompter, and she'll do so with a smile. She's going to appear distressingly normal. And as such, she's going to, at least in some small measure, succeed -- at least for tonight.

Thanks to the soft bigotry of really low expectations.

(T)he media coverage of the Palin story has been well within the bounds of responsibility. (McCain campaign advisor Steve) Schmidt is trying to make it seem otherwise, a desperate tactic.

There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.

American Taliban reignites culture wars

The hate rhetoric hit screechy last night:

"Democrats present a history-making nominee for president. History making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee ever to run for president," Thompson said as delegates roared their agreement.

Yes, 'liberal' is defamatory and we all know how much experience matters by now, especially to John McSame's selection of a soul running mate. But Lazy Fred glossed over the beleaguered Sarah Palin's lack thereof ...

Thompson delivered a particularly sharp defense of the Alaska governor. She is "from a small town, with small-town values, but that's not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family."

And one more from the old actor, with feeling:

He said McCain's decision to place her on the ticket "has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic."

Well played, Fred. You get the Emmy. Only one line worth noting from Holy Joe, though: "Country matters more than party," said Lieberman, oblivious to Palin's enthusiastic participation in a secessionist third party in Alaska.

I'm at a loss to understand the cognitive dissonance associated with the Republican rationale for attracting disaffected Hillary supporters, who would have to abandon their pro-choice position in order to support the "small-town" Sarah Palin -- who doesn't believe a woman deserves a choice even if her pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

Seems a bit hypocritical to me, I don't know. What is clear to me is that even Republican women who support a right to reproductive freedom for their daughters have a crystal clear choice in this election.

But most clearly, everyone gets that John McCain's a war hero. Hooray for him. John McCain also got the shit kicked out of him by the Vietnamese. Sorry for him.

Those simply aren't qualifications for the highest office in the land.

Update: The bookmaker's odds on Sarah Palin being dropped from the ticket have plummeted, just as Barack Obama's lead in the polls over McSame has soared. Though let's not disturb the GOP as they rejoice in the "land of make-believe", as Jack Cafferty noted. It's really all they have left.

Bell still the only D in SD-17

A few days ago the lineup for the special election was finalized:

Four Republicans and two Democrats got places on the Nov. 4 ballot for the vacancy created by the resignation of District 17 state Sen. Kyle Janek. ...

Republican candidates are Houston businessman Austen Furse, Houston lawyer Grant Harpold, former Harris County felony court Judge Joan Huffman and Lake Jackson engineer Ken Sherman.

The Democrats are former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell of Houston and Stephanie E. Simmons, who could not be reached for information about her candidacy.

As Kuffner suggests, Ms. Simmons appears to be a stooge for the Republicans. She is mentioned here as an attorney in Missouri City but save for the those two articles, has no Google hit even for her professional listing. Occasional Republican blogger Chris Elam (in Kuffner's comments) says he doesn't know her either, however.

So I suppose she could be a ghost, but most likely she's a tool. She's actually on the ballot in any event to draw one or two percent off Bell's tally to force a runoff -- where the GOP thinks they can prevail.

There's only one Democrat running for SD-17, and he's still the best and most qualified of the six candidates.

Of Palin and hurricanes

The tropical disturbances swirling in the Atlantic -- not just those around Sarah Palin -- may still upset the GOP's applecart in Minnesota this week. Thursday evening, the night that John McCain is to give his acceptance speech to the assembled delegates, is also about the same time that Hannah may be hitting the southeastern US coastline:

The computer models have come into strikingly good accord for the 75-mph Hurricane Hanna today, and it's now with some confidence that we can predict a moderate hurricane will strike the southeastern U.S. late this week, probably along the Georgia or South Carolina coasts or possibly Florida.

So Bush is set to address the convention by satellite tonight -- along with Turncoat Joe Lieberman and, in a surprise, Lazy Fred Thompson -- bumping Rudy 9u11iani out of his keynote slot:

The revamped schedule suggested that convention planners were easing back into partisan politics with an appeal to independent-minded voters. Thompson is known by most voters for his portrayal of a gruff district attorney on NBC's Law & Order.

It was unclear whether Thompson had replaced former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the convention keynoter and, if so, why. Convention planners said Giuliani would address the gathering in prime-time Wednesday or Thursday, though they did not know whether he would remain the keynote speaker as planned.

The real Mystery, however, is where the Alaska governor is ...

So far, Palin has not conducted a formal news conference or taken questions from reporters, and no such sessions were scheduled today. Her only statement Monday disclosed that her daughter Bristol was pregnant and planned to marry the baby's father.

That news was followed by the announcement that a private lawyer had been hired to represent Palin in a state investigation into the dismissal of the state's public safety commissioner.

We can be thankful, while Pastor Dobson's prayers for rains of biblical proportion were answered a week late, that the trouble was limited mostly to the 2 million Louisiana and Southeast Texas evacuees from Gustav, and not to their homes or property left behind. New Orleans lives to party again.

The GOP? Not so much.

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.

EV 8/31: some movement for Obama

The polling that moved NV and CO back to blue and OH into the tossup column this week occurred during the DNC convention, so it can't really reflect a convention bounce but rather a Biden one. The effect of Obama's soaring speech to 40 million Americans last Thursday night -- that was more than saw the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing -- as well as the pick by McCain of Elaine Benes from Seinfeld Sarah Palin of Alaska is yet to be reflected in the polls.

<p><strong>><a href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/electoral-college/'>Electoral College Prediction Map</a></strong> - Predict the winner of the general election. Use the map to experiment with winning combinations of states. Save your prediction and send it to friends.</p>

Sunday Funnies (Pre-Gustav edition)

It's hard work finding something to laugh about on this last day before New Orleans is destroyed for the second time in three years. At least John McCain isn't going to spend another birthday eating cake while an American city drowns; he's taking Sarah Palin to Jackson, MS so she can see some black people for the first time.

Gidget Goes to Washington

Admit it; that was your first thought too. Well perhaps the second one, after "Who?"



The humor was flowing early and rapidly this morning:

McCain-Phailin' '08
Tina Fey's SNL skits guaranteed to be classics
McOld-Barely Legal (to be president) '08
McCain-Milf '08
McCain-Pale-in-Comparison

And then there's this:



Who is this poor little girl McCain plucked out of Alaskan obscurity to demolish his only rationale for not electing Obama? Someone quite clueless about the role of the vice-presidency, for openers. Just last month, Palin said:

“As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question.”

MSNBC's Chuck Todd reported that Kay Bailey was "furious" about the choice. Two senior advisers to Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney felt "rudely strung along and manipulated".

What is known about Palin is that she a creationist, a gun nut, she's virulently anti-choice for women -- no abortion even in cases of rape or incest -- and she thinks polar bears should not be on the endangered species list.

That's not funny. But this is:

HE is an ex-POW turned multimillionaire. He has power, wealth, and more houses than most people have ties. But can anything -- or anyone -- calm his savage temper, and teach him to love again?

SHE's a young creationist who knows little about politics and is in trouble with the law. He'll take her in -- but can he teach her the ways of Washington before she embarrasses him at the big Telecom Ball?

Find out this fall on Dharma and Methuselah ...

Eight has been more than enough

"Barney Smith, and not Smith Barney" nearly stole the show in the run-up to the headliner. There was also "McCain can afford those $400.00 shoes, but America can't afford McCain's Flip-Flops".

I think my personal favorite however was:

It's time for them to own their failure.

Yeah. Way past time.

So there's no need to post another pretty picture or excerpts. If you saw it or heard it you get it; if you didn't you don't. Like most everything else about the campaign, it was an historical event. Here's a take from David Sirota on the populist message Obama communicated:

If his convention speech tonight is any indication, Barack Obama has (finally) signaled that progressive economic populism is going to be the central thrust of Democrats campaign in the stretch run of the 2008 election.

The speech is probably the most populist national speech Obama has given....

(H)e knows that Democrats have won red-states like Ohio not by pretending to be Royalist Republicans, but by being economic populists and tapping into the uprising (in fact, Obama himself invoked uprising language explicitly tonight, saying, "Change happens because the American people demand it - because they rise up.")

That his newfound courage is partially rooted in election opportunism doesn't negate its value. If he continues with this kind of posture, he not only will win the election, but will create a mandate that helps force an Obama administration to fulfill the economic promises it is making. And that more than anything would, indeed, mean real change.

In GOP news, wait for the announcement today of McSame's running mate and whether or not the Republicans will postpone their convention because of Hurricane Gustav.

The Republicks don't like you either, Lieberman

Mark me down here as falling-on-the-floor-laughing:

Republican strategist Karl Rove called Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) late last week and urged him to contact John McCain to withdraw his name from vice presidential consideration, according to three sources familiar with the conversation.

Of course Mighty Joe stood up to the Rove-Beast:

Lieberman dismissed the request, these sources agreed.

Lieberman “laughed at the suggestion and certainly did not call [McCain] on it,” said one source familiar with the details.

“Rove called Lieberman,” recounted a second source. “Lieberman told him he would not make that call.”

Rove did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rove, President Bush’s former top campaign adviser and arguably the most prominent political operative of the past generation, has no formal role in McCain’s campaign. But he knows much of the Arizona senator’s high command and has been offering informal advice, both over the phone and in his position as a Fox News analyst, since McCain wrapped up the GOP nomination.

The Rover has been trumpeting $200 Million Dollar Man (and owner of three houses his own self) Mittens Romney for the pick, to be announced at any moment in order to blunt the Obamamentum of tonight's acceptance speech ...

“Rove is pushing Romney so aggressively some folks are beginning to wonder what's going on,” grumbled one veteran Republican strategist.

From his perch on Fox, Rove has touted McCain’s fierce primary rival as strong vice presidential material.

“Romney is already vetted by the media, has strong executive experience both in business and in government, has an interesting story to tell with saving the U.S. Olympics, and also helps McCain deal with the economy, because he can speak to the economy with a fluency that McCain doesn’t have,” Rove said on “Fox News Sunday” in June.

The sources spoke about Rove’s involvement after Robert Novak, writing his first column since being diagnosed with brain cancer, reported Wednesday that McCain and some of his close associates would like to tap Lieberman for the number two slot but that putting an abortion-rights-supporting former Democrat on the Republican ticket was likely to be unrealistic.

Gasp. Novak's not dead yet? Can you just see that ghastly countenance propped up in a cancer ward, phone in one ear, banging out a column not on a laptop but a 1940's typewriter?

This development is too bad/so sad for Kay Bailey's hopes, I suppose.

Blue Dogs cuddle up with AT&T in Denver

This is the kind of bullshit that just deflates all the good things I have watched and read about this week:

(Last Monday) night in Denver, at the Mile High Station -- next to Invesco Stadium, where Barack Obama will address a crowd of 30,000 people on Thursday night -- AT&T threw a lavish, private party for Blue Dog House Democrats, virtually all of whom blindly support whatever legislation the telecom industry demands and who also, specifically, led the way this July in immunizing AT&T and other telecoms from the consequences for their illegal participation in the Bush administration's warrantless spying program. Matt Stoller has one of the listings for the party here.

Glenn Greenwald tried to get in but no media was allowed. He spoke to people entering the event who refused to identify themselves (except for one Republican). One of the party's feted was not anonymous: Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader. Let's go to Think Progress ...

Hoyer was “the point man” in negotiations over the new FISA law that Congress passed and Bush signed last month. He helped secure retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies (including AT&T), thereby condoning their participation in Bush’s illegal spying program.

This is what roasts me about those Democrats who vote like, act like, party with, and generally speaking aren't much different from Republicans. They have sold themselves out to the corporations.

That's fascism, people.

Once we get unobstructible majorities in the House and Senate next year -- and with a Democratic president -- can we expect them to act any differently? As in governing for the people and not the powerful?

Why do I get the impression it will be even more difficult to hold their feet to the fire on, say ... offshore drilling?

Joe Biden, George McCain, and Sigmund Freud

Let me make this pledge to you right here and now. For every American who is trying to do the right thing, for all those people in government who are honoring their pledge to uphold the law and honor the Constitution, no longer will you hear the eight most dreaded words in the English language: "The Vice President's office is on the phone."

Nice left jab, Joe. Nice shout-out to your mother, too:

Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable. As a child I stuttered, and she lovingly would look at me and told me, "Joey, it's because you're so bright you can't get the thoughts out quickly enough." When I was not as well dressed as the other kids, she told me, "Joey, you're so handsome honey, you're so handsome." And when I got knocked down by guys bigger than me, and this is the God's truth, she sent me back out the street and told me, "Bloody their nose so you can walk down the street the next day." And that's what I did.

After the accident, she told me, "Joey, God sends no cross that you cannot bear." And when I triumphed, my mother was quick to remind me it was because of others.

My mother's creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. Everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you.

Selfishness and greed and the conservative mantra of "I-got-mine-and-fuck-all-y'all" is going back into the minority, where it belongs. His Freudian slip was showing here:

I can almost hear the conversation they're having at their kitchen table after they put their kids to bed. Like millions of Americans, they're asking questions as ordinary as they are profound. Questions they never ever thought they'd have to ask themselves:

—Should mom move in with us now that dad is gone?

—Fifty, sixty, seventy dollars just to fill up the gas tank?

—How in God's name, with winter coming, how are we gonna heat the home?

—Another year, no raise?

—Did you hear? Did you hear they may be cutting our health care at the company?

—Now, now we owe more on the house than it's worth. How in God's name are we going to send the kids to college?

—How are we gonna retire?

You know folks, that's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the America we'll continue to get if George — excuse me, if John McCain is elected president of the United States of America. Freudian slip! Freudian slip!

Change, or more of the same? Pretty easy choice to make in November, I think.

Big Dog in da howse

He drives some of us wild and most of them nuts -- like they aren't already -- and last night he threw his support to Obama while at the same time throwing McLame under the bus:

The delegates stood on their feet and roared for nearly 3 1/2 minutes when Clinton walked on stage. The former president basked in their affection, but after several false starts at his speech, commanded: "Sit down!"

Actually it was more request than command: "Y'all sit down! We gotta get this show on the road!"

“The campaign generated so much heat, it increased global warming,” he said of the primaries. “In the end, my candidate didn’t win. But I’m very proud of the campaign she ran: She never quit on the people she stood up for, on the changes she pushed for, on the future she wants for all our children.”

And a few more excerpts, courtesy Ted:

In this decade, American workers have consistently given us rising productivity. That means, year after year, they work harder and produce more. Now, what did they get in return? Declining wages, less than one-fourth as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty, and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage.

----------

They took us from record surpluses to an exploding debt; from over 22 million new jobs to just 5 million; from increasing working families' incomes to nearly $7,500 a year to a decline of more than $2,000 a year; from almost 8 million Americans lifted out of poverty to more than 5.5 million driven into poverty; and millions more losing their health insurance. Now in spite of all this evidence, their candidate is actually promising more of the same.

----------

Think about it: more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy; more Band-Aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families, and increase the number of uninsured; more going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence. They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more.

Then Clinton turned his focus on the only argument Republicans seem capable of making -- that Obama isn't "ready to lead":

Everything I learned in my eight years as president, and in the work I have done since in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job. He has a remarkable ability to inspire people, to raise our hopes and rally us to high purpose. He has the intelligence and curiosity every successful president needs. His policies on the economy, on taxes, on health care, on energy are far superior to the Republican alternatives. He has shown a clear grasp of foreign policy and national security challenges and a firm commitment to rebuild our badly strained military. His family heritage and his life experiences have given him a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation in an ever more interdependent world.

----------

Barack Obama is ready to lead America and to restore American leadership in the world. Barack Obama is ready to honor the oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be president of the United States.

He is certainly a lot more ready than George Bush ever was, and the past eight years of demonstrated incompetence, failure, and outright deception are proof enough of that.

Really, it is to laugh: if somehow the GOP's warped definition of "leadership" was a decent argument then we would be wrapping up eight years of an Al Gore administration (or even four years of a John Kerry one).

George Bush had never traveled outside the United States prior to being elected president (sic). And not because he couldn't afford to.

Poor John McSame is -- besides being wrong about most everything else -- on the wrong side of history: the US hasn't elected the guy with the most Washington experience since Truman (that is, if you don't count The Wimp).

I sent him an e-mail pointing this out, but I'm pretty sure his staff did not print it out and read it to him.

Gustav by Labor Day

Have a happy Labor Day weekend but pay attention to the weather reports:

If the storm continues to stall it could favor a Texas landfall as the time may allow a ridge of high pressure over Florida and the Bahamas to strengthen and possibly expand. Alternatively a weakness could open in the ridge and allow Gustav to move northward -- hence the uncertainty in the forecast.

It is around this ridge that Gustav will eventually trace its way into the Gulf of Mexico, so the further west the ridge moves, the further west Gustav will move.

"She needs to gut McCain"

The words of Pat Buchanan, a few minutes before Hillary spoke last night.

And sure enough, she left the bloody entrails of the former POW and now half-owner of between seven and ten houses all over the dais of the Pepsi Center last night.

(One thing you can count on when you take on the Clintons: they won't be bringing a knife to a gunfight. Tuesday night, however, was all right for a gut hook.)

The vainglorious and mostly unintelligible James Carville on CNN was perturbed -- Pumas adorning his feet while on camera -- carping aloud about "the message" the convention was sending. Apparently it wasn't tough enough to suit his taste. This coming from a guy who no doubt regularly eats nutria.

I hope he was grinning like a shit-eating ape after Hillary lit it up last night. For my part I certainly was.

Hillary was both staunch advocate throughout for Obama as well as grateful recipient of her supporter's efforts, and even once a gentle scold:

Those are the reasons I ran for President. Those are the reasons I support Barack Obama. And those are the reasons you should too.

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

Anyone who is unpersuaded -- and I'm sure there are still some -- isn't worth trying to reach out to any more. A few minutes later Mrs. Clinton took out the blade:

John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think that 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s okay when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work.

With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

Pssst: McCain has a giant "W" tattooed on his lower back.

But the best line of the evening was when she invoked Harriet Tubman, the real emancipator of slaves (all respect to Abraham Lincoln). The lead-in was the acknowledgement of the anniversary of the suffrage movement ...

I’m a United States Senator because in 1848 a group of courageous women and a few brave men gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, many traveling for days and nights, to participate in the first convention on women’s rights in our history.

And so dawned a struggle for the right to vote that would last 72 years, handed down by mother to daughter to granddaughter -- and a few sons and grandsons along the way.

These women and men looked into their daughters’ eyes, imagined a fairer and freer world, and found the strength to fight. To rally and picket. To endure ridicule and harassment. To brave violence and jail.

And after so many decades -- 88 years ago on this very day -- the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote would be forever enshrined in our Constitution.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad. And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they’re shouting after you, keep going.

Don’t ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going. I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military - you always keep going.

We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come election day. And think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your life and on the life of our nation.

We’ve got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us, and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

Thank you, Mrs. Clinton, for all that you do. Have done, and will do. Thanks for coming to Texas next month to campaign for Obama and Rick Noriega and our other Democratic candidates. And thanks for your unyielding service to our country.

You make me -- indeed, you make all Americans, even the Republicans -- proud.

"Trying" to "redefine" is simply false

A bad headline by an otherwise capable reporter (and here's hoping it's just a bad editor who wrote it, and not Rick Dunham):

"Democrats try to redefine Michelle Obama".

Here the readers are forced to accept the premise that the GOP has "defined" Michelle Obama to a degree that she needs the Democratic Party to "try" to "redefine" herself. That's a frame worthy of Fox News, not the Chronicle.

Spectacularly poor job of utilizing the Republicans' talking points. Grade: F.

Another one scores a 'D':

"Kennedy outshines Obama's wife at Democratic convention" (that's how it reads at the top of the Chron.com home page), but "Democrats connect past to future to start convention" when you click in.

I don't believe it was a competition between the two, for openers.

This reveals part of the problem with the traditional, corporate media and their efforts to "show both sides" of every issue: sometimes there's only the truth, and the conservative spin. See Warming, Global or Science, Creationist for more examples.

Once upon a time a journalist's primary task was to dig for and present the facts, letting the chips fall where they may. These days it presents the point and the GOP's counterpoint.

Update (10:20 a.m.): It's now been changed to "Kennedy the highlight of Democratic convention opener".

The electorate needs better effort from the media than this.

In more entertaining developments, Keith Olbermann told Joe Scarborough to "get a shovel":



Now that's how you're supposed to hit back.

Keep an eye on Gustav

His winds are already up to 90 mph, and while he's a week or so away, he will be a big one ...

People are buzzing about Gustav because it seems to have the best chance of any tropical system since the record 2005 Atlantic hurricane season's Katrina, Rita and Wilma to traverse the central Gulf of Mexico, where the loop current stands ready to aid in the rapid intensification of a hurricane.

It's also the time of year, from now until the end of September, when the Gulf waters are at their warmest. So if we're to have a major hurricane strike the Gulf coast this year, now's the time.

"Isn’t She Lovely?"

9:45 p.m. : Michelle Obama talks about standing at the crosscurrents of history, with the anniversaries this week of women winning the right to vote and of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

She lauds people who work hard every day, and among them: “People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling” — here she steps back from the podium and applauds Mrs. Clinton along with the crowd in the hall — “so that our daughters and sons can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.”