McCain didn't choose Palin in spite of her stupidity, but because of it. It's her major credential, and it impresses the conservative Christian base that has made recession, corporate crime, massive deficits, irresponsible tax cuts for the rich, warmongering, torture, spying on citizens, environmental irresponsibility and the other policies that have landed us in the biggest mess in our history possible.

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I have felt for several years that the hardcore evangelical movement is a breeding ground for Fascism. Under the right conditions & with the correct leader, these organizations could be mobilized to chilling effect. In Palin, this nascent evangelical Fascism may have found the Aimee Semple McPherson who channels Father Coughlin. I hope this is not the case but it looks more & more as if the Republican Uber Right is headed down that path with rallies like this one in Carson.

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Just made my first phone call to msnbc. Mika and Joe admiring the crowds Palin brings.

"She draws crowds! You betcha! Fans that scream, TERRORIST at Obama, people that scream KILL HIM! Is THAT what you admire? Are those the sorts of people you want in our gov't? And btw, if you're going to talk about Rev. Wright today don't forget the witch-hunting minister that laid his hands on Sarah to help her be governor."

My voice was shaking. I phone them when they do well, and there are times they do very well. I phone them when they do poorly, there are times they do very poorly, but not on my watch. They always hear from me loud and clear. Sometimes I yell, sometimes I curse, and sometimes I weep and beg them to do their jobs and keep it real. I feel like some of these people are part of my family I spend that much time with them. I am actually very impressed with media coverage, with exceptions of course, don't scream at me. I think even the media is being vetted. Dem party, repugs, the media, the voters, our democracy, our economy, God help us, we're all being vetted at the same time. I think it is GREAT and overdue, the best possible thing for our democracy. I've often wondered if our democracy would survive another election cycle. With 51 million new voters and growing I don't worry about that anymore. This is absolutely the craziest and best election EVER and I only see it getting better!

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The only way we have a chance of shipping this witch hunting nut back to Alaska is to make sure you and everyone you know VOTE on NOV. 4th! Make it your civic duty of the day to make sure everyone you see, at home, at work, on the streets, in your neigborhood, in your school, in the restaurant, supermarket, parking lot, bus stop, train station, etc. VOTES. If they need a ride and you have a ride, please give them a ride.
If you have time before the election, please volunteer some time to the Obama campaign--you can even do that from your own home! They have a neat tool where you can do phone banking from your home-go to barackobama.com to find out how. If you don't have time, please consider donating some money to the campaign-even $5 is greatly appreciated. Remember, we are up against not only the Palin effect, but the heavily funded RNC. Nobody can afford to sit this one out! Well, unless you like Palin/McCain, then please stay home and pray instead!
VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

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What you'll hear is the high pitched voice of a teenage girl

Aren't you the person that cried "sexism" when Hillary's "fingernails on a blackboard" was discussed?

Just thought I'd mention it.

By the way, an enlightened progressive person who wants to learn something at an opponent's rally, doesn't stand up and scream "L-I-A-R" like a lunatic. She observes.

As a progressive, you embarrassed me at that rally.

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I think we need to look more deeply into Todd Palin's connection to the Alaska Independent Party, founded by Joe Vogler who was a rabid anti-government seccessionist. Back in the early 90's Volger was murdered (he was 80) in a plastic explosives deal gone bad. Google his name for some more interesting facts about a domestic terrorist.

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Women all over the country have been wondering who Sarah Palin could possibly appeal to. I'm sure a tremendous amount of strategy went into her selection. It would be just too insulting to imagine that Hilary supporters would transfer their allegiances to Palin. It would also be incongruous that women who identify themselves with the Christian Right would support the aggressive political ambitions of a woman with 5 children. They tend to believe that mothers should stay at home with their kids and put their families first. Most women, whether it's fair or not, hold other women to a higher standard when it comes to competence, honesty, sincerity and ability. Having offended the sensibilites of most women it would seem that this generic "every woman" would appeal to no woman. I must admit I hadn't thought of the true wingnuts. Thankfully they are poorly organized and easily dissappointed. If Sarah Palin excels at anything it is dissappointment.

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Not "negative campaigning". NO!

It is blatant HATE MONGERING.

Don't let them get away with it!

Make msnbc talk about it, MAKE THEM REPORT the death threats, i.e. "KILL HIM", leveled against Obama at McCain/Palin rallies.

MAKE THEM REPORT IT & TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT MATTERS & WE CAN'T LET IT GO BY!

An attack on Barack and Michelle is an attack on all of us.

Ask for the comment line:

1-212-664-4444

There are some who choose to shoot down an extraordinary man like Barack Obama with small thinking and petty attacks. If they think their absurd and low slams are going to deter or distract either Obama or the supporters behind him, then they are gravely mistaken.

Yes We Can.

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Can someone confirm if this is true about Palin?

As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a city administrator, as Salon wrote:

When Palin ran for mayor, she dismissed concerns about her lack of managerial expertise by saying the job was “not rocket science.” But after a tumultuous start, marked by controversial firings and lawsuits against the city, Palin felt compelled to hire a city manager named John Cramer to steady the ship.“After all her boasting about her executive experience, what did she do?” asks a longtime borough official, who, like many in local circles, requested anonymity because of Palin’s reputation for vengeance...“The borough takes care of most of the planning, the fire, the ambulance, collecting the property taxes. And on top of that she brought in a city manager to actually run the city day to day.”

The Anchorage Daily News reported about the city administrator position:

(Palin was) reworking the city budget to find money for the $50,000-a-year position, which had been empty for several years. Critics said it showed she wasn’t up to the job, but Palin defended it as necessary for the fast-growing city.

The Washington Post reported more on Wasilla’s government:

The universe of the mayor of Wasilla is sharply circumscribed even by the standards of small towns, which limited Palin’s exposure to issues such as health care, social services, the environment and education.

http://dailysource.org/palin

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Can someone confirm if this is true about Palin?

As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a city administrator, as Salon wrote:

When Palin ran for mayor, she dismissed concerns about her lack of managerial expertise by saying the job was “not rocket science.” But after a tumultuous start, marked by controversial firings and lawsuits against the city, Palin felt compelled to hire a city manager named John Cramer to steady the ship.“After all her boasting about her executive experience, what did she do?” asks a longtime borough official, who, like many in local circles, requested anonymity because of Palin’s reputation for vengeance...“The borough takes care of most of the planning, the fire, the ambulance, collecting the property taxes. And on top of that she brought in a city manager to actually run the city day to day.”

The Anchorage Daily News reported about the city administrator position:

(Palin was) reworking the city budget to find money for the $50,000-a-year position, which had been empty for several years. Critics said it showed she wasn’t up to the job, but Palin defended it as necessary for the fast-growing city.

The Washington Post reported more on Wasilla’s government:

The universe of the mayor of Wasilla is sharply circumscribed even by the standards of small towns, which limited Palin’s exposure to issues such as health care, social services, the environment and education.

http://dailysource.org/palin

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such a person might seem 'complicated' - back-woodsy, yet capable of standing before the nation and boldly stating her ambition (already apparent) and 'readiness' to become President.

A mother and a moose hunter!

In truth, she's not 'crazy like a fox', nor 'stupid like a fox'. She is ambitious and seemingly loaded with energy, sometimes 'clever', never intelligent! Never thoughtful, never studious, capable of memorization and rote, never engaged in critical thought.

Did everyone notice her lack of a sympathetic reaction to the assumed 'demise' of McCain in Gwen Ifil's question about assuming the office of president? Or the the absence of even a trace of pretend humility? The absence of so much as a nod toward the policies of a McCain presidency up to the point of said demise?

Unfortunately - for America should she succeed - she is one of those people with high energy, unbridled ambition and somewhat contagious enthusiasm and an intellect, perfectly designed to impress! To impress people like John McWayne and the religious right! People who managed fifth from rock bottom and still managed!
Like Palin those people - the fifth-from-the-bottom-of-the-class group - have a certain advantage over the rest of us!

Their ignorance shields them from any concern over what they don't know! Blissful ignorance of all the books in all the libraries. Blissful ignorance of language, music, art, philosophy, psychology. Blissful ignorance of ethics and integrity. Blissful ignorance of sensitivity and empathy. Over simplification of diplomacy - making it so simple that such people actually believe they can manage diplomats or even select a valuable and accomplished Secretary of State.

They can live in a world of superstition unconcerned with complex reality, with nuance or complexity.

Confidence and enthusiasm enabled by total ignorance of the world!

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Just the best thing ever, that photo.

I wonder if Linda had a chance to see the airplane banner that was supposed to be flown overhead calling Palin a liar?

On my block you can see McCain-Palin signs in front of all but two white-occupied homes (mine and my neighbor's). Not one POC has a McCain-Palin sign. Everyone is on edge, scared, angry and ready to explode. There was a bus going down to Carson to the event... a local reporter for one of the weeklies (the only "commercial" media with actual coverage on local affairs) wanted to write the story of the rocks the bus took as it pulled out of the parking lot. But her editor said he wouldn't print it. They ran a giant gush-piece about Sarah and her family instead.

War is coming.

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is an interesting place to have a rally for someone like Palin. It's an ethnically diverse community with beautiful homes maintained by working and upper-class black, latino and asian families (and some whites) just a short hop from Compton. Between the 110 and 405 freeways, it's about as suburban as one can possibly get without having to delve too far into "the ghetto". Cal State Dominguez Hills is right next door to the Home Depot Center and gradutes a lot of young professionals of color.

Of course, Carson is also next to Torrance, which is still home to few intransigent whites who are finding themselves lost amongst all the people of color around them, so it's not too surprising that they made the rally.

McCain and Palin's America doesn't look like Carson in the least, and I'm surprised the media hasn't quite picked up on that fact. It's like watching a Klan rally rather than the melting pot that is our country. One of these days--if we're not lucky and they simply don't die off--they'll finally make peace with the 21st century and live in it like rational human beings.

I'm not going to hold my breath though.

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"terrorists who would target their own country"..... Eh! Isn't that Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, et al ?? ...911 was the biggest self inflicted terrorist attack in history !

Don't know what this lady means in the last part of her article when she refres to "the whole world being at war" ..... this is nonsense. Yes....America is at war with the whole world wherever it can bully and harry it's way in to steal and plunder other nations resources .... but the whole world certainly is not at war. Where is the evidence of that ??

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If God is really on Palin's side, then He needs to get on the ball and give her some smarts right quick. (And for a funny song about Palin's deficiencies, go to youtube.com and search for "palin music video eskit".

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Great article and so right on.

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The Democratic Party is a lot like a box of chocolates; you’re never sure where the nuts are - whereas the Republican Party is a lot like a chocolate fudge sundae, they tend to put the biggest nuts on top.

John McCain and Sarah “my god can beat up your god” Palin represent more of the same mindless Bush bullshit, light on brains, heavy on bombs.

http://blogoffanddie.wordpress.com
http://theimpolitecanadian.wordpress.com/

the mark of 'the beast' is just a bad haircut

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I don't know aboput you, but it's time to go after Sarah Palin with the same ferocity that Palin is going after Obama.

And who better to launch a full-scale counterattack on Palin than Hillary Clinton?

If the former first lady is really serious about helping to elect Obama, then she should go after Palin tooth and nail.

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The morning after her name was put in for nomination, I said right here on merrie ol' AlterNet that she reminded me of Sally Field as Gidget. A week later, Matt Taibbi described her address to the convention as "Gidget Addresses the Reichstag" Is Taibbi ripping off Degan? Hell no! The analogy is absolutely impossible not to make!

This article hit the nail right smack on the head.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
Chracter and Distrations

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...too damn many rednecks!

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I would have thought much more of your article if you had quietly sat through the event without having to scream "liar".

Very childish behavior.

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That's why I prefer "The Palindrones." They're identically wrong backward or forward.

As to screaming "L-I-A-R" at her, I understand why some folks would be put off. They don't fully comprehend that these thugs mean us real harm, or that the abject worship of Mooselini by the Palindrones is a disgusting, terrifying manifestation of fascism.

The trick to making the "L-I-A-R" thing work is to do it in serie, with a group of people standing up and screaming it one at a time so that the event never establishes any rhythm or momentum. To paraphrase Arlo Guthrie, one is crazy, two's a conspiracy, but three are a MOVEMENT.

Maybe our intrepid author has lighted the way toward making Mooselini show her true nature.

America's Liberal Voice

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This ridiculous attack shows just one out of MANY reasons why she (PALIN)is super wrong. MCCAIN IS WRONG! I have often said this as well, Palin is DUBUA in a dress. I have said that for months.

Her debate with Bidden was performed as if she was in a pageant. Obama was eight years old when Ayers was doing his anti war slogans. And she was in kindergarten. So she reads newspapers now? The New York Times, really, couldn't remember any newspapers she read when asked by Katie Couric, but she reads now? Amazing! This is the most stark-raving mad, racist, dirt level slimy lynch mob mentality that we don't ever need anywhere near the white house EVER! It shows her mentality. She didn't even try to dispel that lynch mob rhetoric., or tell some of the crowd that was yelling "kill him" to stop. THAT IS CRIMINAL!!!! She said nothing. She condoned it. That is more than wrong, its unacceptable, it shows how Extremist she really is... and McCain is as well. This does not help the thousands of us that are suffering, who have lost their 401 K retirement funds, not to mention the $700BILL. This type of thing does not help the huge economic pitfalls our nation is now facing. Folks are mad, angry, apprehensive, stressed out and to USE this crowd like this and try to deliver lies about OBAMA by attempting to tie this flimsy thread thin connection about OBAMA and serve this garbage to this crowd turning them into a mob-minded group makes me ask, who is really spreading terrorism? Sarah is Sickening! Send her back to Alaska, quickly!

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This ridiculous attack shows just one out of MANY reasons why she (PALIN)is super wrong. MCCAIN IS WRONG! I have often said this as well, Palin is DUBUA in a dress. I have said that for months. BUT THIS IS A NEW LOW ROAD ONE BUSH WOULD BE SMART ENOUGH NOT TO VENTURE ON.

Her debate with Bidden was performed as if she was in a pageant. Obama was eight years old when Ayers was doing his anti war slogans. And she was in kindergarten. So she reads newspapers now? The New York Times, really, couldn't remember any newspapers she read when asked by Katie Couric, but she reads now? Amazing! This is the most stark-raving mad, racist, dirt level slimy lynch mob mentality that we don't ever need anywhere near the white house EVER! It shows her mentality. She didn't even try to dispel that lynch mob rhetoric., or tell some of the crowd that was yelling "kill him" to stop. THAT IS CRIMINAL!!!! She said nothing. She condoned it. That is more than wrong, its unacceptable, it shows how Extremist she really is... and McCain is as well. This does not help the thousands of us that are suffering, who have lost their 401 K retirement funds, not to mention the $700BILL. This type of thing does not help the huge economic pitfalls our nation is now facing. Folks are mad, angry, apprehensive, stressed out and to USE this crowd like this and try to deliver lies about OBAMA by attempting to tie this flimsy thread thin connection about OBAMA and serve this garbage to this crowd turning them into a mob-minded group makes me ask, who is really spreading terrorism? Sarah is Sickening! Send her back to Alaska, quickly!

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This is purely disgusting, sickening, hate propaganda, spewed out of the mouth of the most ridiculous candidate I have ever witnessed. Hell, give me Dan Quayle again. Compared to her, mispelling potato is child's play.

I am really glad all the disgusting demonic Repugs are getting to participate in one huge circle jerk over this middle-aged cheerleader. Most of these people probably were the quarterbacks and cheerleaders at their highschools, never wanting to forget the "glory days."

How pathetic, that these people can not move on and evolve into more mature and whole individuals. Pick up a book, read something, educate yourself. McCain and Palin's campaign, from day one, has appealed to nothing but the lowest and unintelligent of life forms, and it continues to do so, by spewing lie after lie, racist remark after racist remark. McCain and Palin sit back silently, with smiles on their faces, no less, while racist idiot hate mongers yell atrocities such as "he's a terrorist" and "kill him" in reference to Barack Obama. These are the people that these inbred idiots want in command! Of course, hate breeds hate! I literally am sick at this point.

We can not let these evil, idiotic, hate-filled people steal our country away AGAIN!

VOTE Obama/Biden!! VOTE!! VOTE!!!

Even if you live in a "red" state like I do. It doesn't have to stay red forever!

Bring integrity to our country again!

PLEASE VOTE AGAINST THIS INSANITY!!!

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For 26 years John McCain did NOTHING to stop the worst Human Rights violations in America because all 10,000 victims and their abusers vote Republican.

This video will BLOW YOUR MIND.

http://www.bankingonheaven.com/

BANKING ON HEAVEN . COM

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For 26 years John McCain did NOTHING to stop the worst Human Rights violations in America because all 10,000 victims and their abusers vote Republican.

This video will BLOW YOUR MIND.

http://www.bankingonheaven.com/

BANKING ON HEAVEN . COM

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But Mac's recklessly dangerous appointment of this tube of lipstick as VP is the least of his Treasonous Acts!
I Feel rather Sorry for Sarah, she is not only clueless about the World Outside Wassila, she has No idea who she is 'Dancing with'
John McCain...
Questions about his Academic 'achievemnts'
Questions about His part in a Fire/Bombing of a Aircraft carrier he was on
Questions about his 'confession'..Which NFL team (lies are so hard to keep straight)
His membership to a anti communist party which gave aid & Comfort to Bin laden and Assured his future as the leader of AQ, By Building his 'Freedom Fighter' Resume
Questions about his real part in Keating 5, which was a foreshadowing of the current Banking Heist.
Real Concerns about his affilation with a man who can be tied to both the economic meltdown and Big Oil..Phil Gramm
Concerns about when his Campaign top dog stopped milking Fannie mae- either provided Serivces or was defrauding the company which went belly Up...which is it Rick Davis?
And If We are Building Bridges.. Let's Build one for Sarah too...
Sarah
Charlie Manson was an avid 'End of Dayer' Too, and claimed Death Valley would be the Refuge after THEY STARTED Armedgeddon. Theres plenty of Books to help you catch Up..Start with 'The Family' and work you way into 'Helter Skelter'.
Timothy McVey and his band of haters of the US gov't also took their Ideology to the it's Illogical conclusion..they blew up a Federal building with Workers and CHILDREN inside
And Let US Not forget those sociopathic Anti Abortionists who blew up Planned Parenthood Clinics , assasinated Repro Docs and Pipe bombed the Atlanta Olympics!
Oh We can Build these Bridges, You have supplied all the materials we Need!Far better than Mac's Popicle Stick attempt to gap the immense span between an 8 yr old Obama and a '60's Radical....That is not only a bridge too Far but to Nowhere!

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I have read that the McCain campaign got a huge jolt of new funding immediately after Palin's selection and convention "speech" (which may be too good a word for what bubbles out of her mouth). James Dobson and some other religious autocrats opened their coffers and turned loose their followers and piles of money poured into the newly minted "McCain/Palin" (or is it "Palin/McCain") campaign. Nobody else brought that kind of potential money with them, so McCain or some operative in his campaign picked Palin. This helped prevent the campaign from going broke for the second time in about 12 months.

What else Palin's candidacy may mean isn't easy to figure. She's kind of a shapely hood ornament on a totalitarian squad car. My son brilliantly called her a "ringtone", neatly encapsulating her annoying, repetitive, insistent mindlessness, her unearned and dishonest familiarity and at the same time her utility as a branding icon.

Palin is shrewdness teetering on the brink of suicidal stupidity.

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I write this from the perspective of an ardent Obama supporter who has participated in elections since Nixon. Every four years the rhetoric gets more divisive, the accusations more crude and pointed and the issues more lost in trivia.

Something happens around election time. There’s an element in our exceptional country that sort of infects the process and defeats debate. Intelligent discussion and reasonable differences of opinion are replaced with ignorant ranting and polarizing commentary.

Civil debate abates every four years. This is less a criticism of “the right” than it is a criticism of the extremes on either side throughout the United States. I tend to look at the republicans as they seem to have mostly lost the capacity to do what is right for the country and instead focus on electing their candidate, and I look at their embrace of the extreme right and Rovarian-brand politics and the current fear and smear campaign of “the maverick” and “the mayor” as the primary culprits, but I think this is probably due to my paradigm and not necessarily the result of some unique vantage point where only I can see the truth.

Our experiment in democracy demands we have the ability to air our differences of opinion and then to come together in the end and do what is right for our country. My sense is always that if my candidate loses I will need to work even harder in the coming years and not divorce myself from the process and from my country because if my candidate loses and I quit, my country loses and my country is “We the people,” me and you.

In a few generations, we'll look back on this election of 2008 and realize the destruction wrought by Bush and his Administration pales by comparison to the destruction brought to this process by "the maverick" and his choice of this ridiculous vice presidential candidate.

But if this campaign continues in "the mayor's" context and this unremitting battle is the backdrop for Obama to attempt to lead us into our challenging, tumultuous and indefinite future, then the words Abraham Lincoln paraphrased from a statement attributed in the New Testament from Jesus will come to pass: "A house divided against itself cannot stand.” There is no measure of leader who will be able to overcome this monumental ignorance and zealotry and we should not pretend, even a person as gifted as Obama, possesses such a miracle even with his stunning rhetoric and magnificent intellect.

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I would like to thank you for being so brave, for fighting this ignorance and for knowing so completely that you are right.

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Palin is nothing more then a right-wing sex doll.

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As long as Obama sticks to keeping it populist on his part, the evangelies won't be going anywhere. Heck, like Peak Oil, the now morally bankrupt "conservative" ideology peaked in March 2005 during the Terri Schiavo tragedy and started its long term decline since the Hurricane Katrina tragedy.

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MSNBC showed scenes from this woman's rally in Clearwater, FL recently. Featured was this huge cop on the stage dressed in his black Reichsfurer outfit calling out "down with Heussin Obama." Feintly in the background one could hear a voice calling out "kill him." This is what this very dangerous woman is about. There are vicious elements like her audience in EVERY society, not just Germzny 1930. These people are dangerous.

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It's the Taliban Wing of the republican party that we need to fear:

The hate groups, skinheads, nazis, facists such as Bush and Cheney, and all the intolerant and ignorant ideologues who claim to be Christians, and call themselves " values " voters, who follow the hate groups' rhetoric, like James Dobson's "Focus on the Family."

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Many die-hard Palin supporters are eager for the end of the world, so her calls for war with Iran are great fun! Who needs to fix the economy if the end of time is nigh?

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When did we start exalting the class dunces to leadership roles while the best and brightest are consigned to the trash heap?

When Bush got elected the 1st time, he had no track record of success upon which to base that vote and we let the Supreme Court steal that one for him.

When he got elected the 2nd time, I couldn't believe we would throw out a 5-time decorated Veteran over a guy who blew off even his National Guard weekends during the Vietnam War on the basis of "Better at National Security"... WTF is up with that?

Sarah Palin comes next in the line of idiot level politicians wanting to be President. The Republicans did us a disservice by trying to pick up those disaffected Hillary voters with her choice as VP and blowing off the needs of the country for someone with ANY form of leadership qualities needed potentially as President of the most powerful nation on earth.

I may never vote for a Republican for ANY OFFICE ever again given what they've done this year. The GOP has abandoned the needs of the country when we are at a very, very low point in our history. If we can't rely on them now, we should not rely on them anytime soon.

I say, throw the bums out... every one of 'em.

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Apparently all these persons cheering on Palin don't have to worry about the prospect of unemployment in a downer economy. Apparently they all have trust funds so they don't have to worry about losing their jobs or their 401k's tanking. Carson must be a real island of economic prosperity!

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I am roughly a year older than Sarah Palin. Every time I read/see something about the behavior patterns of people of our generation (which is the end of the baby boom/beginning of Gen X), I grow more and more ashamed being a member of it. We came of age in the 1970s, where the coolest things my peers did were drink, smoke pot, do other drugs, play their Lynyrd Skynyrd records over and over, go see Lynyrd Skynyrd as many times as they could, spend Saturday afternoons at Burt Reynolds movie matinees, and spend Saturday nights having sex orgies with birth control in check after watching "Saturday Night Live" or attending "Rocky Horror Picture Show" midnight screenings (Note: There were teen pregnancies back in the 1970s, but they were not broadcasted on the nightly news as they are on FOX News every day today). These same peers are now "Born-Again Pentecostals" who have deeply regretted being drunk and drug addicts during their formative years. To them, their idea of "repentance" is churning out as many children as possible to become exactly like "themselves as they are presently" At the same time, these "Born Again Pentecostals" live for the almighty shopping mall (Which was a cool place to hang out at - in the 1970s!) and will only listen to country (as in Toby Keith, Brooks and Dunn, and Garth Brooks) and classic rock music - Lynyrd Skynyrd lives on forever with them.

I used to shun all that stuff during my "formative" years. I lived what is considered to be a conservative, uncool kind of life back in the 1970s. I was an "outcast," to those peers back then. They wondered why.

Today ... the tables have turned around. I have become "born again" as a progressive, anti-war, pro-choice, anti-conglomerate consumerist (Meaning when I shop it's as LOCAL as possible, and when I feel the urge to spend any spare change, I give it to independent media), intersectional (meaning all-inclusive) feminist who doesn't believe in sexuality labels and finds being a "committed" single a good way to live (I am responsible, not lonely). My peers? They have, sadly, become the eternal teenagers that Sarah Palin is. They pre-judge and spit at (while praying for in-secret) outcasts like me in the same lights they pre-judged outcasts like me when they were drunk, drug addicted, Lynyrd Skynyrd-listening, Burt Reynolds movie-going enthusiasts, that now act like bullies at their kids' hockey and soccer games. No wonder things are f*cked up with our economy, politics, and society as a whole. It's war or no "freedom," watch reality TV and FOX News every day, shop 'til you drop, your daughter is only worthwhile if she is a size "0", has t*ts like Jessica Simpson's and gets pregnant as early in life as possible (Because it seems becoming a GRANDPARENT is MORE IMPORTANT THAN becoming a PARENT). It is this eternal teenage mindset and socially "acceptable" more that is ultimately destroying our potential as a nation of achieving sustainable greatness, and destroying the self-worthiness of a populace that is supposed to be psychologically accepted as "grown ups." Why is it just me, and a few others like Naomi Wolf and Michelle Obama, who are actually "grown up??"

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Some clever observations, but you didn't follow up on the most interesting line in your story: "Thankfully my escorts showed me the utmost respect for they privately shared my feelings. They're working folk. They see through Mrs. Palin." What evidence do you have to support this? Did they tell you they secretly agreed with you? If so, that's pretty amazing -- and almost gives me hope for this country.

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believe me. I am sure most of them didn't graduate from high school. Nice ladies, but not the brightest crayons in the box. And they were all Republicans or independents. I ended up out reasoning them and out shouting them, and I soon found myself alone in the room. They had no answers for their ignorance. There is no underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

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Any half conscious Republican (assuming they exist) should be outraged by the utter contempt their party has shown them by throwing Palin into the race with the full expectation that not only is their vote secured but strengthened. She is one bizzare character, like something from a past that never was, a creature that could only exist in post-bush 21st century USA.

Someone should ask Dick Cheney how he feels about the possibility of being replaced by someone of her stature. Does he feel she is of the same calibre as himself in terms of ability to handle the vp role? How does he compare himself to her?

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Obama does, too. 95% of Americans will get a tax cut? How is this possible when over 30% of the lowest wage earners don't pay taxes. And this is just one of his, oh excuse me, "misleadings", since he wouldn't ever lie to us. He knows the numbers and he knows you're under his sway as much as these Palin supporters are under hers. You just don't realize you are.

Nothing will change in this country until enough people get the courage to start voting 3rd Party and actually hold politicians accountable.

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She is like a loaded gun, just needs a target. I do not trust her and [in my opinion ]she has something inherently wrong, something essential is, eroded, missing from her overall feline character. McCain was on TV, with more attacks on Barrack saying, "What do we know about his character?" Hell, HE should have asked that question about SIX PACK PALIN, BEFORE his REPUB BASE put HER in as his running mate. That is the question and the only type of character question he should be asking???
This woman is wrong on so many, many, many, many, many, many, LEVELS, it makes my head swim!

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Unfortunately this is a very good examole of why progressives have little or no power in US politics. because they still think emotional venting has an effect,and they don;trealize how often this sort of acting out actually has the opposit ofthe intended effect. Look at how many people attacked the writer who suggested that yelling liar wasn't an effective tactic. I'm amazed at how often I can get folks who identify as progressives to treat me like I'm the enemy just by talking about tactics that don;t work,and why they don;t work. I screaming one's passiionate opposition is so effective,why haven't things changed yet?
Look we have to live with these people,hating rednecks,palindrones christan zealots just plays into the strategy .These folks have been fooled by the propaganda of the oiligarchy plutocrats the way to countract the propaganda is to build community with those we don't agree with. I expect that's what Obama's presidency will be about. The real community is all living things,this of course includes those we disagree with.THe fate of the planet ,and the life on it depends on us learning to cooperate

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Excellent article Linda! I can only take solace in the fact that when things get really bad in this country, these people won't have the time to attend rallies and such. They will be too busy trying feed their families and attending to basic survival needs. Sorry to be so dismal, but it is coming.. and these ignorant-single issue people make me very ill.

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Your observation that the Republican convention-goers seemed to be reliving high school reminded me of some of my own recent thoughts about Republicans.

In the Texas high school I went to, and I assume in many other US secondary schools, there was a so-called “popular” clique consisting mostly of jocks and the girls they preferred, plus the cheerleaders and a few others. They tended to fill the student government positions, be elected Homecoming King and Queen and the like, and were shown favoritism by teachers and deference by fellow students.

Though they were called “popular,” they weren’t widely liked. They tended to be bullying, cruel, and snobby, and classmates resented the favoritism shown them by teachers and administrators. Still, even students who didn’t like them absorbed the idea that these people were worth emulating, maybe even superior, and so would vote them into positions of influence.

I think a lot of Republicans never got over the “popular clique” idea, and that's why they support people like Bush and Palin.

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...you see from time to time. Everything is the same, only the names have changed.

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dishonest polticians. I can only paraphrase. In his lifetime he had seen more honest politicians than he had seen honest businessmen and bankers. The republican years seem to have born that out. Harry had been seeing the New Deal. The republican businessmen, the republican bankers, and the republican politicians have defined new levels in corruption.

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in the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone (which also pulls back the shades on McCain's "maverick" BS).
This is one of the best, no-holds-barred pieces I've read in a long time. Indeed, author Matt Taibbi looks poised to claim Hunter S. Thompson's legacy rather well. For those of us outside the USA peeking in, it's a hell of an insight into the so-called "Republican base." It's also scathingly funny.
linked text

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in favour of ReichWing Republicans

perhaps the light-hearted approach isn't nearly enough?

If you want a global legacy that extends beyond sheer disgust with the USA, perhaps now might be the time to get serious

its not a game, you've been killing & oppressing peoples for decades
this isn't a joke: you've ruined the global economy

Billions are watching: clean up your act, folks.

nobody is making excuses for you anymore & we're tired of taking the crap & being told to be grateful for it.

" ...Those who build walls are pretending
That forever they can defend them
Those who dam streams can build fountains (yes they can)
But those of us who just let them run free...we can move mountains
But I know they never gonna tell you Why, no
They only wanna tell you Lies, no
...
Its time...it's time to go Home
...
How many people were they runnin from and
How many people never saw it comin?
How many people never heard the warning?
How many people never stayed at home?
How many people never heard the call?
How many people never saw it all?
How many people did they spend it on?
How many people got to sing this song?
How many people never heard the cry?
How many people gotten pushed aside?
How many people never saw the doves fly?
How many people never said goodbye?
How many people never saw the fall?
How many people til we end it all?
How many people never saw the wrong?
How many peoples did we drop a bomb on?... " - M.Franti & Spearhead, Time To Go Home


Bush, in visit to Holocaust memorial, says U.S. should have bombed Auschwitz - The Associated Press, Jan.11.08, International Herald Tribune, UK.

the US hired HOW MANY SS officers to the CIA, FBI & ReichWing ThinkTanks?

yeah, that many
HITLER'S SEARCH FOR THE HOLY GRAIL includes interviews with a former member of Himmler's personal staff & the wife of a top SS commander, who give unique and unrepentant insight into the mentality of the Nazi inner circle." A well-regarded & researched documentary by acclaimed British documentarian Michael Wood which aired on PBS in 2000. Its an odd & misleading title for a FREE documentary that actually identifies how integrated the search for Nazi spies & intellectual became US domestic & foreign policies...

no, this isn't paranoid: its actually how the rest of the World views the USA.



Spread Love, not corporate dependence

BlueBerry Pick'n
can be found @
ThisCanadian
~~~
"... tolerance of intolerance is cowardice..." ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.
"Violence can only be concealed by a Lie, & the Lie can only be maintained by Violence." ... "Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle" – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn "
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
~~~
"Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"

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folks who go to a rally are the most committed folks so they act fanatic; if you go to an Obama event they are all true beleivers too. One of the revealing things about Palin is how she thinks her high school cronies are the best people for state jobs. her popularity and looks have gotten her this far but even elite Republicans realize she is not qualified to be our 45th President even if she popular with a large segment of the populace. I am a straight male but dont find her particularly attractive-- she reminds me of the Church Lady with her dress and her attitudes. Calling her Mooseolini is better than drawing analogies to Hitler since the right has heard the left trot out comparisons to Hitler all the time (almost as much as the State Department likes to compare whomever we are about to invade to Hitler). I also think pointing out that she spent most of her church life attending an heretical offshoot congregation of Assembly of God may be more effective than speaking of Hitler-- we should talk about Branch Davidians and Jim Jones. many Christians are as weirded about by Pentecostal cults as secularists are. As a lukewarm McCain supporter if h/she really wants an End Times Christian who was thoroughly indoctrinated by a false prophet and who cannot answer a question without teleprompters or note cards to be the 45th president with access to The Button? does he/she they really think Palin he can handle the two Bush wars and Bush Recession the next President will inherit.

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You naive Obama supporters are so scared of Sarah Palin it's hilarious! I can't wait until she's YOUR Vice President! Five more days!! Yippee!!

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