Enormous Searchlight Burning That Gigantic "P" Tonight

Well, it won't be lox and bagels, or a nice, leisurely brunch for the Palin Truth Squad tomorrow.

Nosireebob ... Likely, they'll be churning for days after this.

So, oil up your Lie-O-Meters, as the PT Squad will have to come out with gatling guns, just to catch up and attempt to be in the game on this one (and, of course, they'll get to claim their per diems).

The "this" we refer to is an in-depth profile of the person Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain chased to the gates of the Arctic Circle, Mommy Mayor Moose, Sarah "I'm not really a Vice-Presidential candidate, I just play one on the campaign trail" Palin by the New York Times, and it ain't pretty.

Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal.

So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency.

Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages.

When Ms. Palin had to cut her first state budget, she avoided the legion of frustrated legislators and mayors. Instead, she huddled with her budget director and her husband, Todd, an oil field worker who is not a state employee, and vetoed millions of dollars of legislative projects.

And four months ago, a Wasilla blogger, Sherry Whitstine, who chronicles the governor’s career with an astringent eye, answered her phone to hear an assistant to the governor on the line, she said.

“You should be ashamed!” Ivy Frye, the assistant, told her. “Stop blogging. Stop blogging right now!”

That's just for openers.

How's this;

In Wasilla, a builder said he complained to Mayor Palin when the city attorney put a stop-work order on his housing project. She responded, he said, by engineering the attorney’s firing.

It's as if the West Wing of the Bush Grindhouse was located up there in Alaska.

Monica Goodling wouldn't last a day in a Palin Administration, she'd be viewed as too soft.

There's more;

But an examination of her swift rise and record as mayor of Wasilla and then governor finds that her visceral style and penchant for attacking critics — she sometimes calls local opponents “haters” — contrasts with her carefully crafted public image.

Throughout her political career, she has pursued vendettas, fired officials who crossed her and sometimes blurred the line between government and personal grievance, according to a review of public records and interviews with 60 Republican and Democratic legislators and local officials.

Interviews show that Ms. Palin runs an administration that puts a premium on loyalty and secrecy. The governor and her top officials sometimes use personal e-mail accounts for state business; dozens of e-mail messages obtained by The New York Times show that her staff members studied whether that could allow them to circumvent subpoenas seeking public records.

Now, I can just imagine the reaction from the Right Wing Freak Show.

It will be along the lines of "Yeah, so ..." ... And, "What's the big deal?"

More level minds see the Second Coming of Junior.

Anonymous Liberal, in his "Bush with Lipstick;

It really is remarkable. In an attempt to distance himself from the Bush Administration, John McCain scoured the country in search of a running mate and eventually chose, from all appearances, the one politician who most closely resembles George W. Bush. God help us if this person ever becomes president.

Andrew Sullivan;

Does that not seem eerily reminiscent of George W. Bush's appointment of Michael Brown to FEMA? Cronyism, debt, lies, religious fanaticism, and utter ignorance about foreign policy. You want another four years of Bush? McCain-Palin is the ticket

Politico offers "To put it more bluntly, the piece portrays Palin as, in the words of a friend, the Rudy Giuliani of the Last Frontier."

Jesse Taylor, from Pandagon;

The entire article’s a must read, but do so replacing “Palin” with “Bush” and see if it strikes you as a redux of the past eight years. Plus, there’s something really disturbing about someone who keeps appointing their high school classmates to things - there’s a level of corruption I think we’ll all agree is indicative of a certain level of competence at the evil thing. Putting Wasilla High’s Class of ‘82 in charge of a state is something out of a shitty dark comedy.

This piece coming, after the two-week-plus "Prevaricationpalooza" from Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny, and Whiz Kid from Wasilla, makes the McCain-Palin ticket play like the last few minutes of 'The Invasion of the Body Snatchers', with Kevin McCarthy hysterically screaming, as he runs along the highway "They're here already! You're next! You're next, You're next...!"

Go out and read Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

And be afraid ... Very afraid ...

Well, I Guess It Rules Out On-Line Gambling Too ...

Oh, is the Right Wing Freak Show in a tizzy this weekend ...

Seems the new Obama Ad (Check out "Still Ad", it's a hoot!), depicting Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain as a technology idiot, not being able to use a computer, or send email, has gotten under their skins.

So much so, they're emulating their favorite son with, they're turning to in a time of crises - much like the campaign has done - to a McCain POW-POW-POW story.

See, Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny can't use a computer, or send an email, because he was tortured.

Prom Dress Boy Jonah Goldberg is leading the pack on this one, with all the Flying Monkeys jumping on board (you can go Here, Here, and Here to see the faux outrage and crocodile tears).

Prom Dress Boy;

Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by "extraordinary." The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country ...

Now, I'd hardly be surprised if McCain could type for short stretches and all that. The point is, that it's perfectly understandable why he wouldn't get in the habit of it.

Yeah, and there are plenty of other options there, Prom Dress Boy.

Hilzoy offers;

This won't work. For one thing, a variety of press reports claim that McCain uses a Blackberry, so he can't be wholly incapable of using a keyboard. (John Cole has pictures.) For another, Jonah Goldberg might not realize this, but there are a lot of products out there that are designed to allow people with disabilities to use computers. For people with motor disabilities, or just a desire to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome, speech recognition software can be a godsend. It's not hard, it doesn't involve using your hands, and we know that McCain can speak perfectly well.

So, if Fly Boy is so crippled, that he can't use a computer, work a keyboard, send an email, how is it he can stand in a casino, at a crap table for 14-hours, rolling the dice?

Earlier this year, stories poured out on the, legendary gambling addiction of Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny.

From Time Magazine;

Over time he gave up the drinking bouts, but he never quite kicked the periodic yen for dice. In the past decade, he has played on Mississippi riverboats, on Indian land, in Caribbean craps pits and along the length of the Las Vegas Strip. Back in 2005 he joined a group of journalists at a magazine-industry conference in Puerto Rico, offering betting strategy on request. "Enjoying craps opens up a window on a central thread constant in John's life," says John Weaver, McCain's former chief strategist, who followed him to many a casino. "Taking a chance, playing against the odds." Aides say McCain tends to play for a few thousand dollars at a time and avoids taking markers, or loans, from the casinos, which he has helped regulate in Congress. "He never, ever plays on the house," says Mark Salter, a McCain adviser. The goal, say several people familiar with his habit, is never financial. He loves the thrill of winning and the camaraderie at the table.

Only recently have McCain's aides urged him to pull back from the pastime. In the heat of the G.O.P. primary fight last spring, he announced on a visit to the Vegas Strip that he was going to the casino floor. When his aides stopped him, fearing a public relations disaster, McCain suggested that they ask the casino to take a craps table to a private room, a high-roller privilege McCain had indulged in before. His aides, with alarm bells ringing, refused again, according to two accounts of the discussion.

Greg Mitchell;

You may have read the Time piece already so here is an excerpt from an earlier Connie Bruck piece in The New Yorker, May 30, 2005:

The moment the car stopped at McCain's hotel in downtown New Orleans, he set out at his usual fast clip for Harrah's, across the street. McCain is an avid gambler. Wes Gullett, a close friend who worked for McCain for years, told me that they used to play craps in Las Vegas in fourteen-hour stints, standing at the tables from 10 a.m. to midnight. "Craps is addictive," McCain remarked, and he headed for the fifteen-dollar-minimum-bet tables. At the most obvious level, the game is incredibly simple -- players rotate turns throwing the dice, and you either win or lose depending on what number comes up. But McCain's betting formula makes it much more complicated. "Uh-oh!" he cried, as a player accidentally threw the dice off the table. "This is a very, very superstitious game," he said.

I guess, sitting at a computer, to do some surfing, send some emails, just doesn't kick in the same kind of adrenaline rush, as standing in a casino, at a crap table for 14-hours.

It must the adrenaline that allows him to overcome his crippling injuries, kiss the dice and, mind you, having to extend his arm, toss the dice, perhaps excitedly shouting "C'mon seven! ... Mama needs some new drugs!"

(Ooops, we leaked another member of the McCain households that has a wee bit of a crippling problem)

Also, as we have witnessed, over the past weeks (and specifically, the past few days), the crippling injuries that prevent Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain from using a computer, absolutely do not affect his ability to tell lies.

Yes, how silly of us, of Obama ...

Naturally, any problem Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny has, any gaffe he commits, if it's a cloudy day, it's only due to McCain's POW-POW-POW status ...


Bonus Stumblin' Bumblin Riffs

Nico Pitney: Yes, McCain Can Use Electronics

Oliver Willis: Jonah Goldberg Uses The POW Card For McCain’s Tech Illiteracy

LA Times: Oops, Obama ad mocks McCain's inability to send e-mail. Trouble is, he can't due to tortured fingers

TBogg: Research and Destroy


Bonus Bonus

If the Stumblin' Bumblin' McCain Campaign gets tired of using the POW-POW-POW stuff, they can always "Put The Blame on Mame"

GILDA

Golden Boy Petraeus Giving Up His Seat On The Dead Campaign Express

This may be the biggest progress made in Iraq, to-date.

Golden Boy General David Petraeus has decided not to speak in fork tongues.

No victory in Iraq, says Petraeus ...The outgoing commander of US troops in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has said that he will never declare victory there

He said he did not know that he would ever use the word "victory": "This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade... it's not war with a simple slogan."

Boy, did he go off script.

"Not a war with a simple slogan"?

That's been, virtually, the entire program run by the Bush Grindhouse.

Just slap slogans and branding on tired, old or inane strategies and then tell everyone "We're Winning!"

Hmmm ...

Now you know, the Bush Grindhouse has to, for the Legacy, keep the volume pumped up on Iraq, the need for us to be there, the danger, et all.

But what is this going to do to Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain?

If he loses this bag of tricks, what's he got to run on?

His new-found battle cry of "Change and Reform" is the proverbial exploding cigar, the economy continues to tank, and all the Bridges To Nowhere, and Tossed-back Earmarks of Mommy Moose, isn't going to keep the Dead Campaign Express running much longer

They won't be able to get away with just lying and being negative for another six-weeks, they'll have to come up with something to hang their hats on.

And, as you see, the good General is, without doubt, giving up his seat on that sinking ship McCain calls a campaign.

Doubtful, though, it won't stop Stumblin' Bumblin Johnny from continuing to play that victory parade in his head.


Bonus That's-The-Sound-Of-McCain's-Campaign-Crashing Riffs

Ilan Goldenberg: What does John McCain Mean by Victory?

John Aravosis (DC) : Petraeus contradicts Palin on Iraq

Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld: Petraeus: I Don't Know That I Will Ever Use The Word "Victory" For Iraq

Think Progress: Petraeus Disagrees With McCain, Says Success In Iraq Was Possible Without The Surge

More Bad News For McCain; Death Cat Curling Up Next To His Campaign Photos; Senator and Presidential Hopeful Drops F-Bomb, As Feline Grim Reaper Maintains Streak, Giving Signal That McCain Effort Over

This Date ... On The Garlic

13 September 2007... On The Garlic

Garlictorial: Stop The Lies ... Bring The Troops Home

The PetraeusReportpalooza ... Ready For Your Close-Up, General?

Retro Garlic ... Katie, Katie, Katie ...


13 September 2005... On The Garlic

Schumer, MLB Call For New Roberts Probe; No Records Found Of His Work As Umpire; May Have To Abstain From Potential Steroid Cases

Bush Taps 'America's Fire Chief' As Temp FEMA Honcho; Paulison Takes Helm During Crises; Calls For Pronto Shipments of Duct Tape and Plastic

Top Ten Cloves: What Mike Brown Is Going To Do Now That He Resigned

McCain Admits He's "Divorced from day-to-day challenges people have"

Well, Well, Well ...

Isn't this a fine mess you've gotten yourself into Johnny?

At last evenings snoozer, The Candidates’ Forum on National Service, we had Stumblin' Bumblin John McCain concede one of the main points aimed at him by Barack Obama.

That being, he is out-of-touch.

It came late, during his segment (he lost the coin toss and had to go to bat first - at least, that eliminated any "Cone of Silence" controversies), at a point where he was trying to pump up his selection for Vice President, Sarah "I'm not really a Vice-Presidential candidate, I just play one on the campaign trail" Palin, burnishing her experience credentials, extolling on her mayorship.

WOODRUFF: Senator, at the Republican convention, a couple of speakers, most notably your running mate, vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, made somewhat derisive comments about Senator Obama's experience as a community organizer. I've heard you say you haven't taken that tone. So I guess my question is, are you saying to others in your campaign and your supporters that that's not the kind of language you want to hear?

MCCAIN: Well ...

WOODRUFF: How do you -- how are you approaching that?

MCCAIN: First of all, this is a tough business. Second of all, I think the tone of this whole campaign would have been very different if Senator Obama had accepted my request for us to appear in town hall meetings all over America, the same way Jack Kennedy and Barry Goldwater had agreed to do so. I know that, because I've been in enough campaigns.

Look, Governor Palin was responding to the criticism of her inexperience and her job as a mayor in a small town. That's what she was responding to.

Of course I respect community organizers. Of course I respect people who serve their community. And Senator Obama's record there is outstanding. And so I praise anyone who serves this nation in capacities that, frankly, we all know that could have been far more financially rewarding to individuals, rather than doing what they did.

WOODRUFF: Less significant than the work of a small-town mayor?

MCCAIN: I think a small-town mayor has very great responsibilities. They have a responsibility for the budget. They have hiring and firing of people. They have great responsibilities. They have to stand for election. I admire mayors.

I'm -- listen, mayors have the toughest job, I think, in America. It's easy for me to go to Washington and, frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.

WOW!

He admits that he's out-of-touch!

And notice, in that same exchange, how he blames Obama for his pathetic, scurrilous, gutter--based, insultingly negative campaign?

First of all, this is a tough business. Second of all, I think the tone of this whole campaign would have been very different if Senator Obama had accepted my request for us to appear in town hall meetings all over America, the same way Jack Kennedy and Barry Goldwater had agreed to do so. I know that, because I've been in enough campaigns.

So it's Obama's fault the Rove Rats, and signed off by Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny, have been outright lying about Obama in their campaign ads and charges.

Being that Obama is running for President for the first time, apparently he wasn't aware that he was supposed to allow his competitor to dictate his own campaign strategy.

Because Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny wanted to get away from his weakness - prepared speeches, using teleprompters - be blames Obama.

There's another nugget in there, that blows the Right Wing Freak Show out-of-the-water, of using the "Community Organizer"to smear Obama.

Of course I respect community organizers. Of course I respect people who serve their community. And Senator Obama's record there is outstanding. And so I praise anyone who serves this nation in capacities that, frankly, we all know that could have been far more financially rewarding to individuals, rather than doing what they did.

Michelle "Stalkin' Malkin, for one, was upset McCain threw that one away.

So, for one evening, in a less then two-hours, Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain submarines his own campaign.

• He compliments and endorses Obama's Community Organizer work
• He admits that he is out-of-touch, "divorced from day-to-day challenges people have"

Go to work there, Obama Campaign, you should be able to generate a bevy of ads and talking point from this!


Bonus McCain Out-of-Touch Links

Steve Benen: MCCAIN RATIONALIZES HIS CAMPAIGN STYLE...

CBS News: McCain, Obama Sound Call To Serve; McCain Says He Would Have Pressed Americans To Serve After Sept. 11, Addresses Palin Comments On Community Organizing

We Told You He Was Just Like Bob Dole

Does The Palin Truth Squad Get Per Diems Too?

Oh Boy! ... I Can't Wait For The Debates!

Oh Boy, I don't need to write much for this one.

Once again, Fly Boy, himself, offers yet another justification for The Garlic's labeling him "Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain".

And, this was with a local market media person (Rob Caldwell, of WCSH in Portland, Maine)!

Click below and watch him flounder about (from reading other posts, I didn't embed the video, as it seems to run endlessly).

207 Talks with John McCain


Joe Sudbay, from AmericaBlog.com;

McCain is clueless. Clueless about his v.p. No wonder the McCain campaign doesn't want McCain answering questions. He can't."

Think Progress: McCain: Palin Has National Security Experience Because She Knows About ‘Energy’

Steve Benen;

Stepping back, it's striking that McCain still, even now, can't answer obvious questions about his own running mate. Caldwell's question was direct, but hardly an unexpected curveball. Indeed, the obvious answer for McCain is that Palin doesn't have a background in national security, but neither do most governors who seek national office, and he's confident in her judgment, her ability to learn quickly, etc.

But, no. Asked an obvious question, McCain offers a confused response that doesn't make any sense.

Maybe the next time the Republican handlers prep Palin on how to answer questions, McCain should sit in and take a few notes.

After watching this, think back how McCain has been whining about how Obama won't join him in Town Hall debates.

And think about the upcoming three debates ...

Holy Cow, he's toast!


Bonus Stumblin' Bumblin' Riffs

Why Do You Think We've Been Calling Him "Stumblin' and Bumblin"?

We Told You He Was Just Like Bob Dole

Mas Que Nada ... McCain Goes Pow Pow Pow - Again! Or: Donate To John McCain, and Be Included In The Telling of His Next POW-POW-POW Story

This Date ... On The Garlic

12 September 2007... On The Garlic

The PetraeusReportpalooza: "After two days, no answer to 'how this ends'"

Retro Garlic ... A Sidewalk Full of Banana Peels

Top Ten Cloves: Since Petraeus Can't Say That We Are Safe, The President Will Have To Change His Slogan To ...


12 September 2006... On The Garlic

Top Ten Cloves: Ways The Pentagon Plans On Winning Back Western Iraq


12 September 2005... On The Garlic

Patronage Group Protests Brown Demotion; Says President Knew of No Qualifications; Three Association Rules Broken

Google Fires Back At Ballmer; Microsoft Omitted From Searches; Google Maps Highlight Home

EBay Purchase of Skype Prelude To Apple Announcement; Internet Phone Company Key to iPhone Deal and Millions in Resale of Calls

Top Ten Cloves: Tough Questions The Senate Will Ask John Roberts

Peace Piece

Legend has it a DJ at KJAZ, in San Francisco, played this tune all day long, over-and-over, the day JFK was shot.

Seems like it would fit in here, on this day, as well

Peace Piece - Bill Evans

This Date ... On The Garlic

11 September 2007... On The Garlic

Good Post Alert: Author under gag order assails producer, ABC for 'Path to 9/11'


11 September 2006... On The Garlic

Minced Garlic Trois - Special September 11th Special Comment By Keith Olbermann: “This Hole In The Ground”

Breaking and Developing News! ABC Fesses Up; Plan For 'Path To 9-11' Is To Launch ‘Dancing With History’ Series; Establish “Dancing” Franchise In Same Vein As CSI, Law and Order; Disney Signs Coulter for New Death Wish Projects

Cheney Woozy After MTP, Failed To Continue Nazi Thread; Cheney Briefly Hospitalized After Television Appearance Yesterday; Vice President Complained Of Dizziness After Relentless Spin Session on ‘Meet The Press’

Does The Palin Truth Squad Get Per Diems Too?

Do they have uniforms?

Superpowers?

Does the Stumblin' Bumblin John McCain Campaign, ala Batman, have a enormous searchlight that burns a gigantic "P" in the sky, the moment they're needed?

Are they hampered (that is, if they have uniforms) by the lack of public telephone booths from getting to the scene of the needed smear or exploitation?

Will they, as the person they will be welding lies and smears for, be able to claim Per Diems during their work?

The Palin Truth Squad?

WTF?

For a moment, I thought this was some internal mechanism, signaling that Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny was throwing out a Mea Culpa, and promising to launch what he promised months ago, that being running an "honorable campaign".

Starting with putting a muzzle on Mommy Moose, and her fabricated, phony bold stance on saying "No" to the Bridge from Nowhere (you know, the dreck she's been repeating every day, for the past 10-days; Christ, even the Murdoch Street Journal slapped them down on this).



But, Noooooooo!

The Rove Rats are setting up a propaganda arm, a Ministry of Information, a Rapid Smear Response Team

It's all here, and it gives the list of who these people are

So, let's give'em a hand.

I will defer to someone else, with graphic art abilities, to design an appropriate uniform for the gaggle of prevaricators.

Maybe, we can officially roll them out with this;

Faster than a speeding smear,
More powerful than a pig with lipstick,
Able to heap tall lies in a single call,
Look, up in the sky!
It's a bird!
It's a plane!
It's the Palin Truth Squad!

Yes. It's the Palin Truth Squad, strange visitors from another political party, who came to the campaign with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.

The Palin Truth Squad, who can change the course of media content, bend truth with their bare hands, and who, disguised as McCain-Palin surrogates, mild mannered supporters for a great swiftboating cause, fights a never-ending battle for non-truth, injustice and the Republican Party way.

Hmmm ... That may be giving them too much respect.

Afterall, Superman is the King, and he wouldn't have put up with their nonsense for very long.

Wait a minute ...

I got it ...

And this will keep it in the species that it belongs.

Mighty Mouse!

Mr. Honesty never hangs around,
when he hears this Mighty sound,
Here we come to save the day!
That means the Palin True Squad is on the way!
Yes sir, when there is a wrong to right,
The Palin Truth Squad will join the fight!
On the sea or on the land,
They've got the lipstick well in hand!

So though she is in danger
We never despair
Cause we know that where there's danger
The Palin Truth Squad is there!
The Palin Truth Squad is there!
On the campaign!
On the stump!
In Alaska!
We're not worryin' at all
We're just listenin' for her call
"Here we come to save the day!"
That means the Palin True Squad is on the way!

(Need help with the tune - go here and sing along)

If it wasn't obvious by now, it's crystal clear that the Rove Rats are firmly in control of Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny, and what's going down this week will seem like a day-on-the-beach before we see what else they (and the Palin Truth Squad) throw in the road, right up to the minute the polls close on November 4th.


Bonus McCain-Palin Sold Souls Links

Glenn Greenwald: New heights of stupidity

Media Matters - Halperin: Media attention to "lipstick on a pig" comment "playing into the McCain campaign's crocodile tears"

Bertrand Russell: The Great Unmentionable

No More Mister Nice Blog: SCREW 'EM -- HAVE SOME FUN WITH "LIPSTICK"

Tom Tomorrow - Tonight: The latest stupid campaign season distraction that we in the media keep talking about!

Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers: Out of bounds! McCain misstates Obama sex-ed record

Hilzoy: OMG Teh Cub Scouts!

The Boston Globe: McCain launches Palin 'truth squad'

The Raw Story: Republicans launch 'Palin Truth Squad' to defend McCain VP pick's record


Bonus Bonus

1950s "Superman" TV Show - Original Kellogg's Opening!!




Andy Kaufman - Mighty Mouse

This Date ... On The Garlic

10 September 2007... On The Garlic

The PetraeusReportpalooza

Good Post Alert - Launching Brand Petraeus

Introducing Lu and Letty!


10 September 2005... On The Garlic

Weekend Special - Sautéed Cloves

Yeah... But Was She A Good Tipper?

Boy, you might except something like this from a Congressman, or even a low-life City Councilor, but the Governor of a state?

Palin Bilked Alaskan Taxpayers $16,941 ‘Per Diem’ To Stay Home At Her House

Maverick small-government conservative Sarah Palin charged Alaskan taxpayers $16,941 to spend 312 nights of her first 19 months as governor at her own house in Wasilla. Governor Palin has an official mansion in the capital, Juneau, but she’s happier making Alaska’s citizens pay her $54.33 a night to sleep in her own bed.

Christ, think of the cost, should the sky fall and and pigs fly (and yes, a pig with lipstick!), and Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain gets the secret code on how to steal votes and actually wins this thing ...

The Per Diem cost to have Mommy Moose working the VP office from her home up there in Alaska will be astronomical!

Jane Hamsher (who beat me to the punch on the title), over on Firedoglake, has more.

Nice Work If You Can Get It: Palin Paid Herself To Live At Home

In 1988, the head of the state Commerce Department was pilloried for collecting a per diem charge of $50 while staying in his Anchorage home, according to local news accounts. The commissioner, the late Tony Smith, resigned amid a series of controversies.

"It was quite the little scandal," said Tony Knowles, the Democratic governor from 1994 to 2000. "I gave a direction to all my commissioners if they were ever in their house, whether it was Juneau or elsewhere, they were not to get a per diem because, clearly, it is and it looks like a scam -- you pay yourself to live at home," he said.

Palin and her husband both make six-figure incomes. They don't need to be chiseling the state for this money to live, and she sure isn't entitled to be running on fiscal responsibility when she's pocketing cash in a way that has a history of being regarded in Alaska as a "scam."

Hmmm ...

In the "Original Mavericks Handbook for Dummies", do they have a section in there for scamming petty per diems from your office?

Oh Boy!

Yes, Cue up Que Sera Sera...


Bonus Per Diem Riffs

John Cole: Kind Of Crazy

Steve Benen: THAT'S NOT FISCAL RESTRAINT WE CAN BELIEVE IN...

TBogg: The Palin Bunch Go To Brunch

Chris in Paris: McCain vetting missed another problem: Palin billed Alaska for sleeping in her own home

The Jed Report: Palin Billed State For Nights Spent In Her Own Home


Bonus Bonus

Here's To You, Jane Hamsher!

Billie Holiday-Nice Work if You Can Get It (Live)

We Told You He Was Just Like Bob Dole

Well, it was School Daze out on the campaign trail today, with Barack Obama giving some schoolin' to Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain, including going to the Way Back Machine, to remind Fly Boy of his past position.

Here's the new Obama Ad, hitting Stumblin' Bumblin Johnny on Education;


From Sam Stein, over on The HuffPo;

Linking McCain to "ideologues," Obama declared in his speech Tuesday, "you certainly don't reform our education system by calling to close the Department of Education. That would just make it harder for us to give out financial aid, harder for us to keep track of how our schools are doing, and lead to widening inequality in who gets a college degree."

Republican officials and McCain staffers, meanwhile, are in full-out counter-attack mode, criticizing Obama for his education policies and claiming that the Senator is misrepresenting McCain's proposals on the matter.

"Senator Barack Obama's new campaign attack ad on education," wrote spokesman Tucker Bounds this morning, "claims that John McCain's economic plan will divert money from public education without any factual citation or basis." The campaign provided a list of resolutions increasing funding for federal education efforts that McCain supported.

But Bounds' statement made no mention of McCain's previous support for doing away with the Department of Education. Neither did two counter-attack emails blasted out by the Republican National Committee.

Hmmm ... "Calling to close the Department of Education"?

Holy Fingernails-scratching-down-a-blackboard Batman!

Over here teacher! ... Pick me! ... My hand is raised! ...

Ahh, the teacher chooses Greg Sargent, over on TPM;

Here's the full context of a CNN interview on December 11, 1994 (via Nexis), when Newt-mania was gripping the land:

FRANK SESNO: Senator McCain, would you favor doing away with the Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Department of Energy?

Sen. JOHN McCAIN: I would certainly favor doing away with the Department of Energy and I think that given the origins of the Department of Education, I would favor doing away with it as well. HUD had experienced many failures under both Republican and Democrat administrations and I would certainly want to revamp it from the bottom up, because, clearly, public housing in America is almost as big a disaster as the welfare program

WOW!

The Department of Energy (something tells me he's going to get a chalky eraser flung at his head on this one pretty soon) and the Department of Education!

Ready to dump'em faster then his first wife.

Now, was this in his Middle-Age Maverick period, or still part of the Early-Age Maverick time?

Certainly before he became an "Original Maverick".

And, who was the last Presidential candidate to embrace shutting down the Department of Education?

None other that that other Ball of Dynamo ...

Drumroll, please ....

Bob Dole!

From the PBS Newshour;

In 1980, Ronald Reagan ran for president with the promise that if he were elected, he would abolish the Department of Education. His opponent, President Jimmy Carter promised to protect the department, which he had created several years earlier. The department still exists, but the Republicans are gearing up to fulfill Reagan's promise.

Presidential candidate Bob Dole has said the funding for his $2.5 billion voucher program would come from ending Goals 2000 and cutting deep into the Department of Education's bureaucracy. On September 9, 1996, while campaigning in Georgia, Dole said "We're going to cut out the Department of Education." And the GOP Presidential platform reads:

"Our formula is as simple as it is sweeping: the federal government has no constitutional authority to be involved in school curricula or to control jobs in the work place. That is why we will abolish the Department of Education, end federal meddling in our schools, and promote family choice at all levels of learning. We therefore call for prompt repeal of the Goals 2000 program and the School-To-Work Act of 1994, which put new federal controls, as well as unfunded mandates, on the States. We further urge that federal attempts to impose outcome- or performance-based education on local schools be ended."

And, what did we tell you about Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain back in January?

The Bob Dole For The New Millennium

Now, maybe Mommy Moose will come up with another whopper, like, lets put the Department of Education on eBay, or she'll go back to that school and have the students pray for a better Department of Education.

Or, the Rove Rats go to the old stand-by - another POW-POW- POW story...

You know, something like "John McCain knows all about schools ... He got a great education in a special school, for five-years, where they would beat you for the correct answers ..."


Bonus Schoolhouse Links

AP - Obama: "John McCain Doesn't Understand" Education

Steve Benen: OBAMA EYES DEBATE OVER EDUCATION....

Bob Cesca: Prepare To Yack Up Your Dinner

(H/T Bob - Here's The McCain-Rove Rats Response)

Top Ten Cloves: Ways Charlie Gibson Can Screw Up Interview With Sarah Palin

News Item: What To Expect From The Palin Interview

10. Badgers her about film, 'Mystery, Alaska', and if she got to meet Russell Crowe

9. Does the interview wearing a Moose Suit

8. Demands to know where the hell she came up with the names of her children - Trig? Trak?

7. With expected high viewership, spends the entire interview pitching her on ABC's Fall Line-up

6. Producers confused, bring in actress Sarah Polley, and Gibson never notices

5. Taunts her "Bridge To Nowhere" stand by singing "Alaska's bridge has fallen down, fallen down, fallen down ..."

4. On the "Hockey Mom" thing, asks her if she is still involved in Field Hockey

3. Thinking they're off-camera, and into an open mic, Gibson offers Palin, and her husband, help for AIP in Alaska's secession

2. Asks Palin if she can get her church to pray for the new addition he's thinking of adding to his house

1. Suggests, if she can get an Earmark to build set, he will pitch network brass on new 'Sarah in Trees' show


Bonus Palinpalooza Links

Josh Marshall: Slow Slide Into Oblivion

Attaturk: Predicted Charley Gibson Questions for Palin

The Jed Report: Not Really An Interview

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons McCain Campaign Is Keeping Sarah Palin Away From The Media

Top Ten Cloves: Things About Vetting Sarah Palin In One Day

Charlie and George Go To A Debate ...

Boy, And We Thought Russert and Williams Sucked

This Date ... On The Garlic

9 September 2005... On The Garlic

New iPod Phone Requires Downloading Calls; Discount Offered On Call/Song Combo; Plans Coming To Allow Selling Of Calls

Top Ten Cloves: Things Overheard On Vice President Cheney's Tour of Hurricane Region

The Lies To Nowhere Report

In case you need help sorting through the lies and fabrications coming from Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain, and his Vice Presidential running mate, that he chased "to the gates of the Arctic Circle", Mommy Moose, aka Sarah Palin, the good folks over on Think Progress have been diligently busy.

Lies To Nowhere: The McCain Campaign’s Inaccuracies On Palin’s Bridge To Nowhere Support

From the day he nominated Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AZ) to be his vice presidential running mate, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his campaign advisers have been repeating the lie that Palin opposed the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. (In fact, Palin repeatedly expressed strong support for the project.) ThinkProgress has been keeping track of these lies and compiled them here. Please let us know if we’ve missed any, and you can comment on this document here.

The McCain campaign, however, continues to repeat the lie. ThinkProgress has put together a Lies To Nowhere report, documenting every time the McCain campaign repeats the myth that Palin opposed the Bridge to Nowhere. So far, we have counted the lie being repeated at least 18 times:

Here's a nugget;

Campaign Manager Rick Davis: “Congress didn’t beat back the ‘bridge to nowhere.’ … That funding was in the grant, and she said, ‘I’m not spending that money.’ And what they did — they took a $500 million bridge and she turned it into a $2 million ferry. And that’s what she did on her own without any help from anybody else.” [Fox News Sunday, 9/7/08]

Check it out, and, remain vigilant - If the Dead Campaign Express comes rolling through your area, keep track of the lies and fire them off to Think Progress's "Lies To Nowhere Report".


Bonus Riffs To Nowhere

Ari Melber: Palin’s Lie Caught on Camera, Says Obama Campaign

McCain VP Confusion; Staff Had Canadian Actress Sarah Polley In Dayton Hotel For Three Days

Legally Alaskan Or: Base Hit

Top Ten Cloves: Things About Vetting Sarah Palin In One Day

Top Ten Cloves: Reasons McCain Campaign Is Keeping Sarah Palin Away From The Media

MSNBC Waves The Right Flag

MSNBC Removes Olbermann & Matthews From Election Anchor Duties

Well, what can you expect?

This is from the same nitwits, the stuffed shirts and suits in the upper echelons of NBC, MSNBC, General Electric (or some combination of, maybe all), that fired Phil Donohue and hired Rita Cosby.

Rita Cosby, for heavens sake!

The public (very public) dumping, demotion, spanking, and/or otherwise, stiff slap-to-the-face of Keith Olbermann and Chris "Tweety" Matthews by Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC was/is meant to embarrass them.

(And dig how the NYT helped with the slapping - MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat)

Whatever it was about their chores as anchors of political events (debates, primaries, conventions), could have been handled internally, without public fanfare, a subtle shift that may, or may not, have gone unnoticed.

Ratings, maybe, likely were the biggest reason, however, with the various outcries from the Right Wing, most recently by Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain's camp, it certainly gives the appearance the Griffin is caving in to the Freak Show crowd.

And, perhaps, the three-martini-voiced Tom Brokaw.

From Atrios;

I'll just add, for the hundredth time, that Keith Olbermann's expressed "liberalism" is almost entirely limited to a dislike and distrust of the Bush administration, a view shared by 70% of the public, and a concern for civil liberties and executive power abuse. On top of that he has a somewhat liberal "sensibility," but his show covers little of the broader "liberal agenda." But he makes Tom Brokaw uncomfortable so, you know.

And guess what ...

They're plugging in Karl Rove's dancing partner, the dreadful David Gregory to man the Captain's chair for future political events.

Yeah, that oughta send the ratings skyrocketing ...

With Tweety, it could be nothing more that him being Tweety that pushes him off the main stage.

But Olbermann, this is what is going to give this story legs.

To get the full scope of this, Glenn Greenwald has a excellent breakdown of it, with his "The right dictates MSNBC's programming decisions", and he says this;

The irrefutable fact is that nothing attracts ratings for MSNBC -- and nothing has attracted ratings in the entire history of that channel -- the way that Olbermann does. Yet here is MSNBC removing him from the anchor position, reducing his role in its political coverage, and clearly diminishing his stature (and implicitly criticizing his coverage). That is extraordinary for a media company to publicly embarrass, diminish and tarnish its own principal asset. It is plainly doing so for ideological, not ratings-based, reasons: namely, it fears doing anything to anger the White House, the McCain campaign and the Right in this country.

The most recent item that, likely, drew ire, was Olbermann pissing in the tea of the Republican's cup, rightly calling them out on the propaganda 9-11 Tribute video they ran at the convention last week.

Check it out.

The 9-11 Tribute at the RNC - And Olbermann's Reaction

"This "tribute" which served to only throw fear into the political discourse and frighten voters was shown at the 2008 Republican National Convention. Keith Olbermann spoke for many of us at the sickening images used for political gain"



A classic, if anything, to show who's pulling Stumblin' Bumblin' Johnny's strings, with his Rovian campaign.

Leni Riefenstahl would have been most proud of them.

Because the video narrator assured us, this won't happen again, as in "This is a war American will win, because we'll have a President that knows how".

Knows "how to" what - make propaganda films?

Start wars on lies and false information?

Torture people, obstruct justice and stomp on the Constitution?

Inferring McCain will be the "President that knows how"?

Please ....

(We should note, as, no doubt, you heard, how the GOP, in their video shows, used stock images of African Americans, and, more hideously, of a soldiers' funeral, and the infamous McCain Green Screen, in which they screwed up showing Walter Reed Hospital, instead, displaying a school in Southern California has been much-discussed.

The only thing missing from this video was, at the end of it, a 'Sponsored by Walmart' and voiceover from Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain, telling the RNC crowd that he wants to thank them for going shopping after September 11th).

Olbermann wasn't the only one to notice.

The Jed Report asked "Did they just cross the line on 9/11?", Creature, on State of Day, simply labeld it Exploiting the dead, while Hilzoy, over on Obsidian Wings, was "Angry";

I didn't want to write about that. It's still pretty close to the bone. But I have never thought that I had a monopoly on honor and decency and love for my country. I wish more prominent Republicans would stop assuming that they do.

Sasha Issenberg, in The Boston Globe, penned an obit, "The death of a taboo";

ST. PAUL -- One of the most enduring taboos in American politics, the airing of graphic images from the September 11 attacks in a partisan context, died today. It was nearly seven years old.

The informal prohibition, which had been occasionally threatened by political ads in recent years, was pronounced dead at approximately 7:40 CST, when a video aired before delegates at the Republican National Convention included slow-motion footage of a plane striking the World Trade Center, the towers' subsequent collapse, and smoke emerging from the Pentagon.

The September 11 precedent was one of the few surviving campaign-season taboos. It is survived by direct comparisons of one's opponents to Hitler.

It was intimated that Olbermann may do a "Special Comment" on this 9-11 Tribute Video, and with this naked, public rebuke, by his own bosses, it should, possibly, make for some good fireworks.

Then again, Olbermann, if he really wants to push the envelope, rock the boat, and risk being fired, he can always have Phil Griffin be the "Worst Person in the World" tonight (though, he may want to do a Special Edition of it, and label Griffin the "Biggest Asshole in the World!").

Also worth watching, aside from it being the debut, is to see if Golden Girl Rachel Maddow weighs into it at all.

Holy Neilsen Ratings Batman!

Stay tuned ...


Bonus MSNBC Cave-in Riffs

MahaBlog: So Much for Freedom of the Press

Steve Benen: MSNBC FEELS THE HEAT...

Joe Gandelman: Quote of the Day: On NBC Axing NBC Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews As MSNBC Anchors

Bob Cesca: Keith And Chris

Oliver Willis: MSNBC Caves In To Right Wing Bellyaching Again

Brilliant at Breakfast: MSNBC capitulates to Karl Rove and the Republican Party

John Aravosis : You can turn off NBC and MSNBC during the debates and elections

Digby: The Refs Begin To Tremble