Rex Kickass

Given that this thread has been reduced to sniping by and large, I'm closing it. Move your sniping to your respective camp's threads. Thanks.

I think there's a lot of manufactured outrage over this interview already. I've seen bits and pieces. What I've seen, she doesn't look particularly good. I don't think she looked egregiously bad either. She didn't threaten war against Russia. She didn't rule it out, either... but it was kind of a wikipedia answer to the situation.

QUOTE (knightni @ Sep 11, 2008 -> 06:04 PM) I think that they've built a few buildings there. They've rebuilt one building. And they are working on the new PATH station, and the Freedom Tower steelwork is finally starting to be visible at street level. There's been a lot of fighting over the development of that property. Living in NYC, there's definitely a bit of a reminder everywhere today. But here it's something people live with and move on. In the end, having the whole city take the day to grieve every year is a bit much. Most of the tabloid papers devoted their cover to 9/11 here. Except for the Post. Which had a little "We'll Never Forget" logo above a picture of a pig wearing lipstick.

Speaking of the Wall Street Journal. They put an article on their website September 9 about Palin's earmark claims. It currently ends this way: http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print...1901411709.html However, two days ago, this is how the same story with the same dateline ended: Here's the cached article. http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=in+co...9f9a36,e82145fc

I would have preferred the Oklahoma "City".

QUOTE (Cknolls @ Sep 11, 2008 -> 02:02 PM) Did Palin ever say she never supported the bridge? or Did Palin say she put a stop to the bridge? I believe the quote is "I told Congress, Thanks, but no thanks for the bridge to nowhere." In reality she really said, "Oh pretty please! Thanks! Oh wait, no? But can we keep that money anyway? Great, thanks! Let's build a bridge in Wasilla!" So I guess, if the text of the script reads, "Thanks..., [but] no... thanks!" it might be accurate. Here's a link to the video of her making the claim on September 9.

I think Lance uses. I think that most of the tour uses. I don't think it's cheating.

Cracked Pepper Turkey, Cabot Cheddar, Garlic Pickle Slices, Hellmans Mayo, Guldens Brown Mustard on Trader Joe's Foccacini.

I may have played in day care with Kanye West.

Happy Birthday!

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 9, 2008 -> 10:55 PM) Just a couple of thought about this per diem stuff, now that the foaming at the mouth stuff has calmed down. First, why is every thing an all or nothing here? Libs here b****ing because she dared take a per diem, etc. No mention of the fact that she spend WAY less than her predecessor? Just in travel alone, according to the story linked here, she spent $93,000 compared to $463,000 (!) by the old guy. That right there cut out alot. She was also entitled to take a per diem for her kids. I understand taking a per diem for actual travel. Makes absolute sense. I don't understand taking a per diem for staying at home. For meals or for lodging. It might be legal, but its still a legal scam. She's not walking her talk. Not even a little bit there. She got rid of the Governor's Chef. But its not like that person's job was actually eliminated, so just reassigned. So I guess she just repurposed, not cut back. Mileage gets paid back as mileage, not a per-diem I would imagine, so your defense of her seems a bit of a stretch. Especially since the state of Alaska Finance Director says the per diem is for lodging. If it was for mileage, when she amended her expense reports to remove the "home" part from lodging, wouldn't you think she would change it to actual mileage? I don't have a problem with these Senators collecting a paycheck while campaigning, because they still do work that they are elected by their constituents are supposed to do. Their offices don't close, they still work with other Senators and actually show up for votes on issues when necessary. Just like Palin will still do the work of being a Governor while she runs for Vice President and should be paid for that as well. However, I would most definitely have a problem with any of these candidates claiming staying at home as a reimbursable expense from the government. It's legal. But it's sleazy. If you talk about being frugal with the taxpayer's money because it's the right thing to do, and do exactly the opposite when it specifically benefits you, that's sleazy and hypocritical. Yes, she reduced the state's travel expenses by 75% by selling the state jet. But she ended up selling it at a $600,000 loss. So I guess maybe she didn't really save that much for the government after all. If this was all there was, this wouldn't really be worth talking much about. But it's indicative of the fact that Palin says one thing, but actually does another. She's against earmarks, but she hired a lobbyist to get her town earmarks when she was mayor. She's against the Bridge to Nowhere, but she only stopped the project after Congress killed it. And she still kept that money. To build a road to where that bridge isn't being built. She stood up against unethical politicians, except she ran a PAC for Ted Stevens, who is under indictment. She's against raising corporate taxes, but created a windfall tax on oil corporations in the state of Alaska. It seems like everything that she supports, she actually did the opposite of when she had the chance to put that in practice. Everyone loves Palin right now because she is fresh and new. But the brighter you shine when first lit, the sooner your flame starts to flicker and dim.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 9, 2008 -> 08:55 PM) I can agree it's a fair point that the expression can be judged as sexist. Perhaps it's one of those that should be retired. But I wonder...if the Obama campaign flipped out at a remark like that...wouldn't they be accused already of having played the race card? Depends on if its revealed Obama billed the government to sleep at home that day.

Hrm... polls are great when they show your candidate ahead. However, it doesn't mean anything this far ahead. It never does. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...754C0A96E948260

A Timeline: August 31 September 3 September 5 September 8 Hmmm... August 31, Campbell says Palin has little control. September 3, Campbell says Palin has little control. September 5, Campbell says Palin has lots of control. September 8, Campbell gets promoted. I guess Palin does have control, after all.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Sep 9, 2008 -> 11:46 AM) There is no question about this. They don't call Miami "the 6th borough" for nothing. During the many times I've visited down there and seen friends and such, it seems like there are as many native New Yorkers in Miami as there are natives of Miami in Miami. This is ESPECIALLY clear if you go to a sporting event down there with a New York team as the visitor, but is also clear in other ways. The one counter point to this though is there are a lot of Giuliani supporters in Florida too, and Rudy loves McCain as we all know. Try the 7th borough, the 6th borough is Westchester County, NY.

Kim Jong Il probably never had a super big role to begin with, I'd wager.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 9, 2008 -> 01:46 PM) Its not something I like for those reasons, but it makes it legal. That's great. It's legal. It's still everything she claims to be against. And not a decision she made years or decades ago. It was a decision she made consistently for her entire tenure as Governor. What upsets me as an interested observer to politics is when people talk the talk and don't walk the walk.... and it doesn't matter to people who like the talk. Every politician talks a talk, and every politician has their stumbles on walking that walk. You kind of have to when it comes time to making things work with our current system. The question is: does that person generally walk the walk on balance? I see that in Obama. I see that in McCain, although to a lesser degree - the longer this campaign, the more he seems to pander in my eyes. With the VP candidates, that judgment is decidedly more mixed. I feel that Biden is a better supporter of the issues that I care about, but he'd probably sell my interests out in a minute. He's always seemed more concerned with protecting money than working for his citizens. I'd support him (he's pretty solid on foreign affairs) but with some reservations. With Palin, she claims she's against the very thing she really supported. Earmarks seem to be a prime example.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 9, 2008 -> 12:50 PM) Good point. Odds are she is enacting government business, even when she is at home. If your whole raison d'etre is ending government waste, billing the state a per-diem to sleep in your own bed is pretty ridiculous - legal or not.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 9, 2008 -> 08:25 AM) Her appointee isn't her. Unless she was part of the decision. And while I certainly think that the kits SHOULD be free, this was an unfunded state mandate. $12,000 a year is not a small number for the Wasilla Police Department. Not saying that the chief's refusal was good - it wasn't - but I hope people realize that the money isn't insignificant for a department like that. I don't like Palin, and I think in the long run, she will end up making a lousy VP pick. But unless she herself participated in the decision to charge for the kits, then I think this is a stretch. And before someone says it, a mayor does NOT necessarily have the power to tell the police chief how to do their job. It depends on the way the city/locality's charter is set up. Her appointee opposed the decision. She sure supported the appointee, managed his run for mayor of Mat-Su borough after that decision was made.

Oooo... this is a puzzler. When Sarah Palin was mayor, the Alaska state government passed a law requiring law enforcement to provide rape kits, free of charge. Wasilla was billing alleged rape victims for their rape kit. Who opposed this? Wasilla's Police Chief, the guy that Sarah Palin appointed because he didn't want to shut the bars down before 5AM. http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2000/05/23/news.txt

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 8, 2008 -> 09:46 PM) Complain all you want, nobody is stopping you. Every time Rush opens his yap a liberal dies a lttle inside. How long did his MNF gig last? And FYI, compared to Olberman, Hume is as middle of the road as possible. Do any of his actions even compare to Olbermann on a good day? No. Rush lost his ESPN gig because he decided to get into Jimmy The Greek territory when talking about Donovan McNabb. Using that as an example of liberal media bias is exceptionally poor. The only difference between Brit Hume and Keith Olbermann is that K.O. doesn't hide behind a veil of objectivity when he does reporting. Or maybe its because Democrats don't whine at every little jab from the fourth estate, so Hume gets away with saying a lot more.

Hey, this is cute. Turns out that Palin was a member of an Assembly of God church in Wasilla that preaches that Alaska will be one of the "refuge" states during the End Times. She visited and spoke there in June of this year where she talked about a proposed pipeline being part of God's plan for Alaska. She went to a more traditional church starting in 2002. The same year she ran for Lieutenant Governor. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/...palin.faith.cnn

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Sep 8, 2008 -> 08:32 PM) they need to incorporate the video of her saying it. Your own words are the most damning. If you include words, it needs to be McCain's. Attack the candidate, not the assistant.

New Obama ad calls out McCain and Palin. Kind of effective I think...

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 8, 2008 -> 12:33 PM) http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/20...n-pulls-ah.html It was a picture of Friday through Sunday. It's a really nice indication of a big McCain bounce. As to how long that lasts, its tough to say. This year, in a lot of ways, kind of makes historical context difficult to measure.