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.