How, exactly, does Obama face the same problem with Biden?

This was published in the National freaking Review?!?

Man, I think when you lose the crypto-fascist vote you're pretty much done.

"Do it for your country."

Yeah, right. These people think the Republican Party is America. America is finally going to prove them wrong.

There seems to be a lot of buzz about McInsane dumping Palin as his next move ... b/c his strategy is to keep the topic and conversation moving with his 'maverick' decisions .. to run out the clock.

Any other campaign year I would say that that kind of stunt may go over well with the public; seeing a leader (I use this term lightly) own up to a mistake or at least try to correct one without owning up to it, would be a refreshing change, but not this year. McInsane has proven to be mercurial at best and negligent at worst, and removing Palin form the ticket would just add more drama to the campaign.

I suppose the right thought the country wants drama or some sort of scripted reality based type campaign (I use this term loosely as we all know they are far removed from reality).

But her removal at this point would just not do anything to boost his campaign. This is the person he chose and this is the ticket the right has offered up ...

Obama...Landslide?

Kathleen Parker is only slightly to the rational side of Ann Coulter and slightly to the unhinged side of Bill Kristol. She is a racist, authoritarian, theocratic demogog. She is definitely one of the only-traitors-vote-democrat pundits.

However, she occasionally strolls off the reservation when the Republican problem is just too obvious for her to ignore, and is doing so here.

Alas, on the wingnutosphere they are already calling her a liberal for writing this column.

I'm with you, short fuse. That made me laugh. "Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden."

The problem that he can't repudiate his choice because Biden is a candidate Who Is Clearly Out Of His League.

Uh huh.

BWEEP! BWEEP! BWEEP! DOUBLEDOWN! DOUBLEDOWN! McCain should commit during the debate that if elected he'll name Todd Palin his future Secretary of State! DOUBLEDOWN!

this is really some funny shit ... sad and scary, too, that this mental non-entity who would like to have the End Times happen soon could be in charge of the nuclear codes. I am somewhat heartened that even some righties are critiquing McCain on this Palin pick now. I know democracy ain't pretty, but the ugliness this time around is quite something for the record books.

Palin is in many ways his soul mate--McCain was right about that--she is hollowed out, all show, a lot of bravado (pitbull with lipstick), lies without flinching.

Of course McCain can ask her to step down--assuming he cares about "Country First"--

Parker is a bit weird and uneven, and the "bloodlines" thing is gross. But: unlike total tools (Kristol, etc.) she has some honest bones and really cares about the national interest. Good for her for putting country above party/clique, and this will certainly take luster off Palin for many voters who only trust "conservative" type commentators.

As for Palin's interview with my bubbly former classmate Katie Couric: What did Palin mean, about Putin and our airspace? I mean, anyone flying great circle from Moscow goes over Greenland, Canada etc. to land in DC or NY, right? And just how many "trade missions" interact directly with State officials? Your impulse is just to chuckle at her, but specific corrective facts are (incredibly?) needed for many people. BTW I think Couric did a good interview job, considering the balancing act she was surely pressured into.

Oh, you liberals. Don't you realize that the GOP has already dumbed down the electorate enough that nothing Sarah Palin does will disqualify her? She's a hockey mom! She has a baby with special needs! She hunts, fishes, and probably camps, so there, she gets the Cabela and Gander Mountain votes. This election, we're studying to see just how ridiculous we can become before America goes over the edge. It hasn't happened yet. You wait, November 5 will be a new day, with a President McCain, VP Palin, and an entire world saying, "holy shit, what did they just do?"

CNN.com is reporting the John McCain will attend tonight's debate.

What a joke he has become.

I think the only guarantee at this point is that we will see some form of stunt from Johnny "Drama" McCain.

The amazing thing to me is how folks in the MSM, out of some need for "balance", counter that Obama almost seems too cool, too collected, too cautious. They might as well ask "Is Obama too Presidential to be President?"

Shit, I didn't tell John McCain to blink yet. He needs a nap!

Well, after reading the details of Parker's piece, with the "same problem with Biden", I don't think she deserves as much praise. She just had to make it a "plague on both their houses" thing, not an honest take that acknowledges one side (hers) is worse. Yet how many of us envy her line: "If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself."?

Heh, re "McInsane": I coined "McBushlin" first, so here's another to incorporate the latest takes: McBushlinsane.

Mr. Schmidt,

it isn't a nice thought. But watching from Germany there's a lot of fear you'll be right!

The world will have to learn to live without the USA. And I start to think that could be a good move.

As a dedicated Obama supporter I have to admit that a McCain-XXX ticket could be more formidable than McCain-Palin, even at this late date, if XXX were at all a rational qualified candidate.

Parker's a blowhard. This is a cya piece designed to burnish her credentials as "serious" and "clear-eyed" so that in the aftermath of an Obama victory that seems more inevitable each day Sarah Palin opens her mouth, she can claim that "had John McCain taken her advice..."

McCain can't dump Palin and never will. For him, she is exhibit A in the case for his signature off-the-cuff, bold, mavericky decision making. If that can be wrong, he doesn't want to be right. McCain sensed a feeling in his gut. It may have been the slightly undercooked lasagna from the night before. But it also could have been his Mavericky-sense buzzing that Sarah Palin needed to be the next Vice President. No time to think! Make a call! Execute! Bam! That's how the McCainster decides!

Parker writes: "Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves."

Do we even know that this is the country she loves? After all, wasn't her husband, the so-called "First Dude" of Alaska, an actual member of a party which advocates secession and hates our Constitutional government? And didn't the "bulldog with lipstick" associate fairly regularly in a friendly manner with said party?

Or if BS were brains, Palin would actually be qualified.

Does anyone remember the ignominious "reign" of Dan Quayle?

"Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden."

Say whaaaaaaaaaaa?!? Wow, she just couldn't help herself, could she? In the middle of a relatively clear-eyed assessment of Sarah Palin, someone she'd clearly invested a lot of wingnut "clap if you believe in fairies" faith in, she has to go and play the false-equivalency game: that a former mayor of some shitkicker town in Alaska, who's had an brief, undistinguished and probably criminal tenure as governor of a tiny state, and whose ignorance has wildly embarrassed herself and her party every time she's opened her mouth without a script, is just like a gaffe-prone 30-plus-years Senator who's headed the Judiciary and Foreign Relations Committees and who could tell you more about world affairs in his sleep than Sarah Palin could with a teleprompter running directly in front of her designer eyeglasses.

Gee, Kathleen, you almost stayed sober until closing time, but then you had to go and grab a bottle for the road.

Anonny, as many have written: anyone who criticizes "conservatives" or Republicans gets turned into a "liberal", and hence Republicans never need to admit they have been criticized by their own. But what's really funny, and should be found and reprinted and replayed over and over, is all the dissing Rush and Coulter etc. dumped on McCain up until recently. So, what are they, liberals too? Not that making sense matters to these people and their impaired, emotionally unstable fan base anyway.

Just in from MSNBC: Pops will show up for his Ol' Miss ass-whoopin'!

This should be hilarious. The old fart has been up for days with the posturing in DC so that means he'll be even more incoherent than ever.

Landslide? I sure hope so. My 35th HS Reunion is days after the election in NC, and I can not wait to celebrate with my friends, and especially my black friends. We were a small town, not unlike the movie "Remember the Titans". One black school, one white. We merged in '71 with riots and threats and all kinds of meanness. Yet, we survived and remain friends to this very day.

--------

"Chicago/We Can Change The World"

Though your brother's bound and gagged
And they've chained him to a chair
Won't you please come to Chicago
Just to sing
In a land that's known as freedom
How can such a thing be fair
Won't you plaese come to Chicago
For the help we can bring
We can change the world -
Re-arrange the world
It's dying - to get better
Politicians sit yourself down,
There's nothing for you here
Won't you please come to Chicago
For a ride
Don't ask Jack to help you
Cause he'll turn the other ear
Won't you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side
We can change the world -
Re-arrange the world
It's dying - if you believe in justice
It's dying - and if you believe in freedom
It's dying - let a man live it's own life
It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them
Open up the door
Somehow people must be free
I hope the day comes soon
Won't you please come to Chicago
Show your face
From the bottom to the ocean
To the mountains of the moon
Won't you please come to Chicago
No one else can take your place
We can change the world -
Re-arrange the world
It's dying - if you believe in justice
It's dying - and if you believe in freedom
It's dying - let a man live it's own life
It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them
Open up the door
We can change the world

-Graham Nash

"If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself."

Ouch!

I predict a serious medical issue for Palin's special needs child. She bows out to take care of her family and McCain regrettfully agrees that putting family first is more important than putting country first.

Anyone aside from me think the "Obama faces the same problem with Biden" line was thrown in, with little-to-no thought, at the last second so she wouldn't IMMEDIATELY be branded a liberal by whatever neocon circle jerks she attends?

Anyone aside from me think it might not be enough?

Schadenfreude: It's not just for breakfast anymore!

Well, after reading the details of Parker's piece, with the "same problem with Biden", I don't think she deserves as much praise.

Aim before you shoot, Neil. It's worth the small investment of time. Really.

McCain can't dump Palin and never will. For him, she is exhibit A in the case for his signature off-the-cuff, bold, mavericky decision making.

Right. As importantly, dumping her would lose him the entire religious right's votes. It's a delicious dilemma for him.

And yet, McCain's support in the polls hardly suffers. What is going on with the American people? I come to the conclusion that it's the race factor. And then I ask myself whether Hillary, Dodd or Biden would be doing any better, and I conclude that they wouldn't. Probably worse.

What the hell is wrong with this country? Bush has presided over two titanic catastrophes now, Iraq and the financial meltdown, and half the public is raring to go for more of the same with John McCain. It's as if this were a mere sporting event, with loyal fans on both sides, emotionally committed to their teams no matter what. That, apparently, is what we've become. Mindless, rabid fans, worshiping our teams as if they were gods and hating the opposition as if they were demons.

I can't believe some of the letters to our leading newspaper in Idaho lately - it's all Clinton's fault, even Carter's, and Bush has worked heroically to undo all the damage those liberals have done, only to fail in the 11th hour. I kid you not. These people are just plain crazy.

Parker's a right-wing-nut hacker. To see her write what she wrote surprised the bajesus out of me. The neocons have got an october surprise for us and changing-out PAlIN for say, a Giuliani or Romney at this stage would be just the surprise I could live with.

Naw. That ain't gonna happen.

The surprise will be inflicted by Biden, good ol' reliable Biden. More neocon hacks like Parker will begin to hammer away at the poor, poor Palin. Nonetheless, she and McAce will take it all in stride (just like the script written for her has dictated) and go into the VP debate, head up and proud. There Biden will say something either bazzare or totally innocuous and she'll break down in rivers of tears and that will be that.

Within seconds there will be footage of Palin crying with all the major news organizations decrying foul! Fox noise will paint the Obama team as sexist, uncaring to woman, and uncaring for the needs of females all over the universe. It'll get played like the BEATLES White Album, millions of times,with each time better than the previous.

Woman voters will flock to her side like the ones who watched Hillary's crocodile tears that won her the N.H. Primary. Every closet racist will scream bloody murder and that will be that. Game point, match. What fun...

There are great differences between Biden and Palin. Palin has had a few weeks to memorize her lines and apparently can't accomplish that. Biden doesn't follow the talking points very well either and insists on saying nice things about his opponents. But behind the blathering, Biden does know his stuff. Palin has nothing behind the blathering except more blathering.

stevio, while I wouldn't doubt that the GOP would try to play a Palin breakdown during a debate that way, it so would not work. Sexism Shmexism, our national leaders or potential national leaders are not expected to break down into tears when the going gets tough no matter what gender they are. Fox News will say what Palin did is a tragedy, but every other news service will play Fox's criticism of Clinton when she welled up during the primaries, how they demanded to know how a President Hillary would stand up to al Queda without her mascara running, and all that. No, even being a non-penis-wielding member of soceity, if Palin breaks down in public, it's over, it's proof that she can't hack it, that she's fragile, and that she can't be one feeble ol' heartbeat away from the Presidency.

What the hell is wrong with this country? -hark

The media created and trademarked John McCain: The Maverick™. That brand is hard to overcome. We've got the truth on our side and the Enough Club, but it's still been an uphill battle.

I'm not sure who the Democrat is matters as much as who the Republican is. If it were any one other than McCain, the election would be a foregone conclusion.

EDIT: I meant to write "Fox News will say that BIDEN DID TO PALIN is a tragedy..." and now the rest makes sense.

I just heard that Sarah "The Tiara" Palin is now actually eager to debate Joe Biden on the economy. She visited Ground Zero yesterday and when her car passed near Wall Street she became an economist by osmosis.

Shhhhh!

Anyone they put on the ticket would be better than Palin, so don't give them any ideas!

I've been convinced for awhile Sarah would bow out or McCain would ditch her only to have Romney swoop in. Their base is too whiplashed to care one way or the other this close to the election, they're sold on anyone but Obama/Biden. The Press would love it because it would be exciting and it would fall into the easy narrative of maverick. The downside? There is none, it's John McCain and this would reset his campaign to zero and zero is a good thing for him.

If Republicans had a BS detector when it came to their own politicians, they'd be asking *McCain* to step down. Seriously. These last few weeks, he's committed political hari-kiri.

Parker is also the clown who argued that Ahmadinejad was right when he mocked the British for allowing women in the military after Iran captured that small boat in the Gulf.

The amazing thing to me is how folks in the MSM, out of some need for "balance", counter that Obama almost seems too cool, too collected, too cautious. They might as well ask "Is Obama too Presidential to be President?" Posted by: Jake

You must have been listening to NPR as well. I had to clean off the windshield before I could continue driving I was spitting so much invective.

Mittens has already been lined up.

"There are great differences between Biden and Palin."

For one thing, Biden's not protected from witchcraft.

Adding:

Question - what happens if Palin goes home and McCain goes officially incommunicado. The man is not making much sense, and his health is visibly fading.

Walkover. The GOP fields another candidate?

Considering what she said during the Gibson interview this isn't likely to happen.

GIBSON: And you didn't say to yourself, "Am I experienced enough? Am I ready? Do I know enough about international affairs? Do I -- will I feel comfortable enough on the national stage to do this?"

PALIN: I didn't hesitate, no.

GIBSON: Didn't that take some hubris?

PALIN: I -- I answered him yes because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink.

So I didn't blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

Their base is too whiplashed to care one way or the other this close to the election, they're sold on anyone but Obama/Biden.

I really don't think so. The religious right didn't jump on board until Palin showed up, and they've now made a fetish of her. McCain's dumping her would inspire a vicious, totally public backlash and he risks losing all those votes. No, I think he's stuck with her. Pass the popcorn.

Palin is toast. Probably sometime next week she will announce that she's leaving the campaign for "personal reasons." The McCain campaign is a campaign of stunts and this is the only stunt they have left.

They can't replace her with Romney, though, tom.a. It is not too late for the religious conservatives to simply not show up at the polls. They love Palin and will be pissed off if she's ditched for Romney. It'll probably be some other unknown politician for the hinterlands.

The only question is, will America fall in love again?

By November, "The Maverick" will have to come up with a new publicity stunt roughly three times per week. So look for maybe two VP changaroos and more postponed events, after he saves the world, the Maverick needs his naps.

He [McCain] not only risks the wrath of the GOP's unforgiving base...

But the next thread shows that McCain leads in polls in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas - all base states, and the latter two rather Palinesque-fundie as well. Doesn't sound like McCain has risked much by adding Palin, and maybe his strategy of attracting the fundie vote is actually working.

By the way, when Couric was asking Palin about her foreign policy and experience bona fides, why didn't she ask Palin about that first-ever passport last year? Not that a passport guarantees FP expertise, but foreign travel helps a little.

Sarah Palin could learn something from Paris Hilton. After seeing Hilton on Letterman I give her some credit -- at least she knows what she is, a celebrity.

Palin doesn't know she's not a world leader.

Woman voters will flock to her side like the ones who watched Hillary's crocodile tears that won her the N.H. Primary. Every closet racist will scream bloody murder and that will be that. Game point, match. What fun... Posted by: stevio

No. In fact, nothing could be better if she cracked during a debate. Most woman are in no way like Sarah Palin. Palin is mostly popular with "the base." She otherwise is an insult to most of the women who supported Clinton in the primaries.

I don't like Clinton because of the kind of politician she is and what the two-fer of her and Bill Clinton would mean. But she is smart, well-educated and otherwise has the skills to be president. Palin has none of these things and never will.

I think the only guarantee at this point is that we will see some form of stunt from Johnny "Drama" McCain.

During the flight to Mississippi, it will be discovered that his flight crew has been taken over by Islamic terrorists intent on flying the plane into the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. McCain will single-handedly arm wrestle the terrorists into submission and land the jet on an aircraft carrier somewhere in the Pacific.

Am I the only one who saw Romney seated next to McCain when he announced he had to go save America?

May I suggest for Obama's (head)line tonight:

"That's not a suspension we can believe in. And Republicans don't have a candidate any American can believe in anymore."

Zing!

(Psst, Plouffie...no remarks tonight from your guy about St. McJohn's unbelievably gallant service to America, please. That time is over.)

When Parker wrote that did she realise she was lyang?

ie that Barak Obama's *maternal* side includes farmers, soldiers-- the usual gamut of the American midwest?

Since when do we only trace our heroic ancestry through our fathers?

Of course Kenya is full of warriors; the whole Massai tribe, for example. The Kikyu who fought the British occupation. Note sure from which tribe the Obamas hale from?

So she was telling out and out lies.

Maybe she would exclude John Kerry because he was a decorated war veteran, but his father's family were Austrian Jews? Or maybe his mother's family were cowards because they were related via the Puritans to the Bushes?

There's a leetle bit of a technical problem with this, besides the obvious political one: filing deadlines for candidates are coming up pretty quickly and may have passed in some states (Texas?), and absentee voting isn't that far away. Of course, Republican governors will figure out a way around that, but may not be able to execute in time. This would cause all sorts of chaos, which sounds about par for the course with McCain.

MissMudd you are wonderful with a beautiful story of hope....thank you.

sjw wrote, this is really some funny shit ... sad and scary, too, that this mental non-entity who would like to have the End Times happen soon could be in charge of the nuclear codes.

Shades of the book/movie "The Dead Zone."

There's a leetle bit of a technical problem with this, besides the obvious political one: filing deadlines for candidates are coming up pretty quickly and may have passed in some states (Texas?), and absentee voting isn't that far away. Of course, Republican governors will figure out a way around that, but may not be able to execute in time. Posted by: ericblair

This is one of the features, like the Electoral College, of our pseudo-democracy that I find maddening. This is a national election. Therefore, all standards (deadlines, primaries, how people vote, spending limits, debates, etc.) should be uniform.

hark wrote, What the hell is wrong with this country? Bush has presided over two titanic catastrophes now...

There's nothing wrong with the country. There's something wrong with white voters, who haven't given the Democratic candidate for president a plurality since 1964.

The real proof that Palin is in deep trouble is that the McCain campaign has assigned Tucker Askew as her chief media guard dog. Doesn't matter how high the ple is, Tucker can clean it up. Just saw him on CNN. I noticed it four years ago when he was part of the Bush team. Askew is completely amoral. He's the smoothist snake Republicans have. Even better than Ralph Reed, and that's saying a lot. Can argue the sun revolves around the earth and black is white without blinking once. And in that slow southern hypnotic drawl of his he can slip in his lies while your asleep. Shown a clip of his candidate making a complete idiot of herself, Tucker just invites listeners to forget what their own eyes and ears tell them. Yes, Palin must be in real trouble if she has Tucker Askew on her team.

How, exactly, does Obama face the same problem with Biden?

He doesn't, but Parker needs to maintain her cred with the ignoramuses at The Corner.

MissMudd,

I love that song, too, though in light of the current credit crisis, this line isn't so apropos: It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them

ericblair - that's a feature. Makes it easier to punt the election back to the supreme court again.

But the next thread shows that McCain leads in polls in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Arkansas - all base states, and the latter two rather Palinesque-fundie as well. Doesn't sound like McCain has risked much by adding Palin, and maybe his strategy of attracting the fundie vote is actually working.

I'll go farther than that -- Palin's stimulation of the movement conservatives is all that's keeping McCain in the race at all. Florida and Ohio are very close, so McCain can ill afford to lose even one or two percentage points. Whereas Obama's hold on Kerry's state is all but a lock, he's almost certain to flip Iowa and Colorado, and so just needs one more state to take it, and several for a 300+ EV landslide.

McCain's stuck with her. If Palin pulls an Eagleton, McCain is history. Where Parker is particularly stupid here is that, like Eagleton, no one will buy the "withdraw to spend time with my family" line.

Man, when you've lost 'America's Mother (tm)' Kathleen Parker, that doesn't bode well for your campaign, buwahahahahhahaha!!

the problem with palin isn't palin. it's that mccain picked her in the first place. what's it say about his judgment, or lack there of? the more the campaign goes on, the more i get the impression that mccain might be the most inept presidential candidate in modern times.

As I said elsewhere, if I were Palin, I'd be ticked off at the McCain campaign for pushing my political career toward ruin.

Bowing out of the campaign would actually preserve her political future. She's young. She could come back in a few cycles better prepared.

After reading Palin's answers to Couric, I've decided she speaks in palindromes. It means the same thing if you read it backward or forward.

With all the breathtaking and scary events the past ten days, nothing would surprise me anymore. I would not be surprised at all if there is an out of the blue press conference late this weekend or by midweek next week of Gov. Palin announcing she is removing herself from the Republican ticket. I also would not be surprised if there is a follow up Press Conference with Biden removing himself from the Democratic ticket. There were rumors over the internet yesterday that Biden might step down.
I believe there is still some surprises/shocks to come out of the MCain campaign before all this mess of an election is through.
Sadly, the next President is alreadly crippled by events.

The ostensible reason Parker provides for a Palin withdrawal--spend more time with the family--really doesn't make a lot of sense. The election is only 5 1/2 weeks away, and it's hard to see how the veep position is inherently that much more demanding than the Alaska governorship.

More importantly, the bell is already rung; Palin quitting wouldn't change the fact that McCain was cynical and irresponsible enough to select her in the first place.

Ya know, I kinda thought the gal had a head on her shoulders, that she cood string to gether a coherent sentance.

I'm not sure what you mean by coherent, but I'll get back to you when I do.

Huh?

Of course Kenya is full of warriors; the whole Massai tribe, for example. The Kikyu who fought the British occupation. Note sure from which tribe the Obamas hale from?

Not Kikuyu, not Masai. Luo, I think.

There's a leetle bit of a technical problem with this, besides the obvious political one: filing deadlines for candidates are coming up pretty quickly and may have passed in some states (Texas?), and absentee voting isn't that far away.

Early voting has already started in some places.

Not sure changing the players would make much of a difference, as a state's electors can vote for whomever they want, and presumably they'd (mostly) agree to vote for the Republican candidate if McCain/Palin won a state. However, this would surely invite lawsuits galore, and while I don't think they'd prevail, they'd get mighty messy. Would love to hear from someone with more knowledge of this.

I don't know who would be dumb enough to take the gig as Palin's replacement. Romney knows a sinking ship when he sees one, and Fred Thompson wouldn't help the ticket much. The guy I would worry about is Mike Huckabee. He would keep the southern fundie snakehandlers loyal to McCain, and his folksy charm would resonate with a lot of people. McCain should have picked him in the first place.

The ostensible reason Parker provides for a Palin withdrawal--spend more time with the family--really doesn't make a lot of sense.

Maybe she'll withdraw due to her being needed to direct the Alaskan National Guard, investigating reports of Russians with guns being spotted just across the Bering Sea.

What the heck is the "problem" with Biden? Biden is smarter and vastly more experienced than Obama. A good leader surrounds him/herself with people who are smarter and more experienced. That's one of the most universal characteristics of a good leader. And a poor leader?

Not only Parker, but now also Kathryn Jean Lopez—yes, Kathryn Jean Lopez!—is having second thoughts about Palin.

First off, I didn't and don't like Palin's personal political style or her positions on most issues, but I really pity her at this point. McCain and his campaign cynically and ruthlessly used her for political points. She should have had sense enough to decline, but having been touted by all and sundry as a rising star, she probably had little notion of her inadequacies. The McCain campaign's strategy of hiding her and coddling her was bound to be humiliating and her confidence has taken a major hit. I do not mean to say that I believe she was a good choice or that she was ever qualified for the VP spot. I do think it was ruthless and disgusting for them to use her to prop up a failing campaign and then put her in this humiliating position.

She doesn't love her country. She loves Alaska.
Understand that, and you understand her lack of knowledge about foreign affairs or even domestic affairs outside her state's boundaries.

I'm with you, Klare. Palin looked like a trembling deer in the cross hairs on the Couric interview. It's like she was scared to death she'd find a horse head in her bed if she didn't do well. Not near as confident as with "Charlie". I do feel a smidge sorry for her. She has no idea that she jumped in with the sharks.

As for McCain and Obama being still so close in the polls, I'll share something personal with you. I live in TX and my best friend is a native Texan. She told me that she HAS to vote Republican because she is a conservative. She actually said, "It's WHO I AM". Gotta hand it to the Repigs. They are masters at identity politics.

Parker is quite a phenomenon. She manages to come to the right conclusion -- Palin is utterly unprepared for high office, (I'd suggest being governor is also above her competence level -- well above it -- filling a position or even surviving in it is not the same as being competent to do the job -- see George W. Bush), while still demonstrating that she is a complete right wing hack. She was excited about Palin early on because she thought Palin was going to help McCain. If Palin were successfully faking it now, Parker would still be on board. However, listening to Palin is roughly equivalent to what one would hear interviewing random shoppers in the local supermarket parking lot.

Sympathy for Palin is misplaced. She may be the vice president next January. Sometime after that she may become president. Her potential for disaster is nearly unlimited and the fact that she lacked the ability to judge her own inadequacies for vice president is hardly a reason to feel sorry for her.

John McCain and Sarah Palin have taken the Peter Principle and beaten it to death with a club.

MissMudd.
I love the song as well, but 1968-Chicago was a disaster for the Democratic party. Just curious as to why you referenced it ?

Friends in St. Louis say you can't get a hotel room for miles because of the VP debate next week. But I have a feeling by next Wed. there will be plenty of rooms available, after the McCain campaign announces Palin will not debate due to (pick one) illness, family issues, broken leg (yeah they'd do it to her), hurricane (storm off Carolinas), fill in the frickin blank. Under no circumstances will they let her debate. NONE.

I dunno Scott. Maybe I wasn't awake yet?

She should have had sense enough to decline, but having been touted by all and sundry as a rising star, she probably had little notion of her inadequacies.

Come on, now. She had plenty of opposition as mayor of Wasilla and governor of Alaska, more than enough for a remotely self-reflective person to get a hint that she might not be all that. Instead, she chose to bulldoze over all criticism and anyone who dared get in her way at any moment. She accepted McCain's offer not because she was pressured but because she's an overconfident bully who refuses to admit to her own weaknesses.

Yes, now she's finding out that she's out of her depth, but nothing but her own selfishness and ego put her in this position. A rational person with some self-knowledge and a modicum of humility would have considered whether she was qualified for this huge office before accepting the nomination, not brazenly gone for it hoping she could fake her way through.

Did anyone see the video of the preacher exorcising the witch spirit(s) out of Palin?

This really worries me. I think we can all agree, on a bipartisan basis, that having an actual witch with her finger on the button is entirely unacceptable.

And where is the MSM? I want to see some questions like these:

1) How do we know that her preacher got the witch out? Granted, he may have some powerful mojo, but can we really afford to take any risk on something as serious as this?

2) How do we know that he got the witch spirit completely out?

3) Even if her preacher had strong enough mojo to get the witch completely out, how can we be sure that another witch -- or even the same witch -- won't repossess Sarah Palin the same way it did the first time?

Until we see uncontrovertible evidence that the preacher got the witch completely out and that the witch has no way back in, Palin is just too risky as VP.

Along as it remains unproven, Palin is simply unacceptable.

Which brings us to the most important question of all: Does Palin float? I think we have a right to know.

Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

The wingnuts aren't even trying any more, are they? You're right, Katie--other than the minor detail that Biden is a longtime Washington veteran with extensive foreign policy experience and a distinguished record of legislative achievements, whereas Palin is a clueless, vindictive Jesus Camper whose claim to fame is having once shot a moose.

McCain can't dump Palin. Not only would the Christians go nuts, but his campaign has already distinguished itself for its erratic nature. McCain is one stunt away from the scrap heap. From here on out, he either stays on the straight and narrow or he's done for, and in a major way.

Holy Cow! If Kathleen "I Think With My Butt" Parker says Palin's not worthy, it can only mean one ofr two things:
1. Palin's so unworthy even Parker can see it, or
2. In some unimaginable way, Palin's the Bee's Knees, because Parker thinks she's unworthy.

She turned me into a newt!

I got better...

Here's Paul Krugman's response after Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, played McBarbie's response to Couric's question about spending the $700B on the people instead of Wall St:
You know, I’m sorry, but, you know, I am a college teacher, and that sounds like nothing so much as a freshman who hasn’t actually done any of the—read any of the readings and is confronted with an essay question on the exam, and so he throws in sort of random paragraphs of stuff that he thinks kind of sounds like economics. That was incredible. That was totally incoherent.

....If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself

Ahhh... music to my ears. Let's repeat that phrase, and make sure to attribute it to a conservative republican.

For her hatchet job on the Republican vice presidential nominee, Kathleen Parker, age 58, will be stripped of her conservative credentials and be given a new title that more properly aligns with her talents and demeanor: The Aging Shrew.

The Aging Shrew has reached her peak and is now on the decline. She feels that she is not being given the proper deference by her chosen social/political circle. She takes out her frustration on the nearest woman who is younger, prettier, smarter, and far more successful than she can ever hope to be.

This particular Aging Shrew found that Sarah Palin was the perfect candidate. Palin had all the qualifications -younger, prettier, smarter, and more successful- plus she was a nationally known conservative figure. The Aging Shrew held Palin to a higher standard than has ever been expected of any potential VP in United States history, then crabbed about it.

As a somewhat well known conservative, this was sure to be shouted from the rooftops by every moonbat in the country. Perfect! The target of jealousy was brought low, to some, and revenge was wreaked upon conservatives for imagined slights.

Kathleen Parker, will hereafter be known as The Aging Shrew when she comes up in conversation or print, which will not be much as we will not read or refer to any of her writings in future.

Signed: The League of Conservative Readers.

Mc\Palin'08

The elitist wing of the conservative movement have always been wary of us libertarians coming into the GOP. Sarah Palin is one of the top elected libertarian Republicans in the country, (along with Idaho's Gov. Butch Otter, and Cong. Jeff Flake of AZ).

Of course, she's going to make some conservatives nervous.

They are wary of her libertarian cultural views. This is the woman who famously fought back against social conservatives in Wasilla who wanted to run all of the bars and taverns out of town.

But what she loses from the social conservatives, she gains 10 times over in libertarian votes.

Figure, Libertarian Bob Barr was polling 6% nationwide in mid-summer, and post-Palin he's now down to 1%.

With Sarah Palin, the libertarian wing of the GOP has finally arrived. Of course, that's going to make some other Republicans nervous.