McCain has changed his mind. Or lost it. He has betrayed and jettisoned all of his principles to capture the presidency. He will do anything, say anything, truth and facts be damned.

Table. Gauntlet. Sword.

Love it. Love it. Love it.

Andrew Sullivan:

Why would a hospital exhaustively record all births on their premises and leave out easily the most famous baby ever born there? There were only 24 births at Mat-Su in April of this year: it's not like they could have mislaid one. So why is there no formal record of Trig's birth? This is not an "unspeakable" question. It's a simple factual one.

Umm Governor Palin? Three words for you: African Witch Doctor.

Three more for you: Speaking in Tongues.

you sure you want to be talking 'bout that ol' time religion??

When are St. John's hero worshippers going to catch on that their guy is letting a mere girl doing his fighting for him?

Thanks Nielt 11:25. For Sarah to bring religion into the discussion, is a display of ignorance.

Wright/Ayers/Rezko - Does the McCain camp truly believe that people simply forgot about them? Seems to me they may as well just spend the next 30 days talking about Michael Jackson holding the baby over the balconey.

Steve Benen quotes Greg Sargent: "So will McCain now disassociate himself from what Palin said?"

I would expect McCain to start saying the same things himself, while blaming Obama for McCain saying such things, and asserting that he is disassociating himself from saying such things.

It is clear that McCain still believes he can say whatever he wants, no matter how sleazy, dishonest and preposterous, and the corporate-owned media will go along with it.

It remains to be seen whether or not he is right.

What made the character assassination of Al Gore and John Kerry effective was not the Republican campaign or the openly partisan right-wing media. It was the active participation of the corporate-owned mass media.

The McCain campaign's "attack ads" and the drivel that Sarah Palin drools to Fox News and Bill Kristol is not that important -- that's all fodder for the dittohead base.

What is important is whether the corporate-owned mass media decides to join in the character assassination of Obama, to rescue Their Man McCain -- who represents their hopes for a continuation of Cheney-Bush government of, by and for the most reactionary, ruthless, rapacious and kleptocratic sectors of America's Ultra-Rich Ruling Class, Inc.

And again, it is still unclear whether the corporate media will do so -- at least whether they will do so to the extent that they did in 2000 and 2004.

It seems very naive to take the McCain campaign at face value when they say that Palin is saying these things on her own. These comments are almost certainly part of a strategy of plausible deniability in which the comments get out there but McCain can distance himself from them.

Yup. It's time to go after Palin's church. She's started it. Got to have been some crazy stuff from that pulpit over the years. Make her take her own medicine.

McCAIN '08/PALIN '09

I think the Obama campaign should send McCain a thank you email for the lovely quote. I bet it is part of an ad countering Palin's attack.

Utter and complete incoherence is McCain's message. Announcing the new hard hitting negative campaign in advance reflects a totally lack of message discipline. Complete incompetence. Complete incompetence.

Will someone in the Obama camp -- ANYONE -- please oh please oh please respond to Palin's "Obama's pastor hates America!" claim with the following:

"Why have you, Governor, not left your husband? After all, he wants Alaska to secede from America, which seems much more anti-American than 10 seconds of one sermon."

I know it won't happen, but damn ... it'd be nice.

"I guess that would be a John McCain call on whether he wants to bring that up," Palin added.

Watching these people operate is like continually reliving high school.

Not the good parts.

Make her take her own medicine.

Double doses! The worst thing a holy roller can do after claiming religion is so central to their character, is to minimize it. Jesus freaks want someone loud and proud. And if she fully *comes out*, she'll alienate the independents they so desperately need.

Open wide, bitch.

"So will McCain now disassociate himself from what Palin said? Or has McCain changed his mind and decided that the gutter attack on Wright he previously condemned in such high-minded terms is now a legit tactic for his campaign?"

Its a question that needn't be discussed. McCain had "...pledged to conduct a respectful campaign." Yet has since run one of the most disrespectful campaigns in all of history.

You can bet that at a minimum Rev. Wright will be discussed by Palin extensively in the false frame of 'why John McCain doesn't want to make this an issue is beyond me' rhetoric.

Neither McCain, Palin nor the puppet masters behind them have a soul. They are contradictions to everything they purport to represent.

Side note:

I'm officially with Andrew now on asking for answers regarding the bizarre birth of Trig.

Anybody that has been paying attention knows Palin is a serial liar. Nothing that comes out of her mouth can be taken as true. Nothing. Every statement is suspect.

The pictures of her at 7 months show no hints of a pregnancy. If you've been around a woman at 28 weeks you know this is more than odd...

Why would a pro-lifer hide a pregnancy for 7 months? Why would she not celebrate her seed? Given Palin's predilection to lie, lie, lie, would anybody put it past her to don padding and feign a pregnancy? She is a blatant opportunist. She is capable of any deception. Including a shotgun wedding of her daughter; and, feigning a pregnancy to protect the perceived purity of her family values agenda.

I have ample reasons not to trust her not.
I want her medical records released.

Andrew is spot on here:

How much longer are we supposed to put up with the far right running on different standards than everyone else? Hand over all the medical records and put Sarah Palin in front of a press conference now. We need answers to an almost dizzyingly long list of questions and accountability for an equally long list of public lies.

These comments are almost certainly part of a strategy of plausible deniability in which the comments get out there but McCain can distance himself from them.

Ya think?

Oh, how I'd love to be the fly on the gelatinous wall of John McCain's mind as he tries to reconcile this stuff with his preening self-image of a courageous and honorable man. He isn't just an asshole; he's an asshole who's hiding behind Palin's skirts while playing tough guy to himself in the mirror. "Loser" doesn't even begin to cover it.

This is the faucet flying by just before the whole kitchen sink lands on the media's lunch table. We ain't seen nothin' yet. The negativity is going to be a shit storm so thick and furious from the Roverians, now desperate, that we won't be able to see out our windows. Expect anything, and expect it all to be repeated ad nauseum no matter how many times the untruths are revealed

Hopefully it will backfire.

koreyel: Loo, the family's plenty Jerry Springer regardless of who birthed that littleun. Who the hell cares whose parentally neglected baby that is? Do we not have enough relevant criticism about Palin's official record as mayor and governor?

Playing the Wright card? I think Hagee and Parsley are now definitely on the table.

Er, that should have been "Look." I was not calling koreyel a loo.

I don't know why that association isn't discussed more," Palin said

Whee, this is fun. Let me try...

I don't know why Palin's ethics investigation isn't discussed more. Or her campaign's attempts to stonewall and obstruct said investigation aren't discussed more. Or why Palin's and hubby's membership in a secessionist group isn't discussed more. Or why the Keating 5 and McCain isn't discussed more. Or Palin's fundamentalist church views aren't discussed more. Or McCain's coziness with Hagee and Parsley...

I could go all day.

Palin seems to be saying it was Billy Boy Kristol who brought Wright up. As I read Kristol's column, it does seem Billy Boy wanted to turn this whole interview and op-ed into a smear Obama piece. So typical of this hack. But we know Billy Boy is nothing more than an agent for his GOP masters. And the head huncho in the GOP is now John McCain. So Billy Boy was just doing McCain's bidding at the end of the day. Why the New York Times has not pulled the plug on Billy Boy is beyond me.

Palin seems to be saying it was Billy Boy Kristol who brought Wright up. As I read Kristol's column, it does seem Billy Boy wanted to turn this whole interview and op-ed into a smear Obama piece. So typical of this hack. But we know Billy Boy is nothing more than an agent for his GOP masters. And the head huncho in the GOP is now John McCain. So Billy Boy was just doing McCain's bidding at the end of the day. Why the New York Times has not pulled the plug on Billy Boy is beyond me.

Palin seems to be saying it was Billy Boy Kristol who brought Wright up. As I read Kristol's column, it does seem Billy Boy wanted to turn this whole interview and op-ed into a smear Obama piece. So typical of this hack. But we know Billy Boy is nothing more than an agent for his GOP masters. And the head huncho in the GOP is now John McCain. So Billy Boy was just doing McCain's bidding at the end of the day. Why the New York Times has not pulled the plug on Billy Boy is beyond me.

Pastors?

Bring 'em on. I want to hear about the "great whore" and the "witches"! Just for starters.

I want to hear about the "great whore"

What? Not enough media coverage of Palin for ya?

Sounds like Sarah Bimbo is making it OK to attack her looney-tunes church and her witch-hunting pastor. This guy is so crazy he makes Rev. Wright look like the paradigm of rectitude and conservatism.

Maybe we can begin to talk about her belief that humans and dinosaurs coexisted 6,000 years ago. She's a flat-out "young earth creationist," not an "intelligent design" supporter.

It is apparent that the McCain campaign would rather talk about anything, anything, instead of the current financial crisis.

Keating Five? No problem - that is old news that had a successful bailout. No harm, no foul. Right?

If the Obama campaign wants to get into this, they must still keep the major focus on the current crisis. And judging from the current Dow Jones, that shouldn't be too hard.

*

Pit bull for sale. Not housebroken.

Does John McCain know Sarah Palin is running for President on his campaign?

McCain's is a vanity campaign. He'll be dead soon. He doesn't have to obey any fucking rules.

Shortstop:

Do we not have enough relevant criticism about Palin's official record as mayor and governor?

Perhaps.

Although, I lean towards those who argue Troopergate, her tax fraud, and the secessionist party aren't gaining traction at all. Indeed my local paper has spent more time on a story about a dog with sunburn than it has on Troopergate. It is as if McCain's obstructionism up there doesn't even exist.

The table is unfairly tilted. Barack's birth certificate is demanded. Every inch of his past is scrutinized. If Palin was a democrat, and these oddities existed, she would be FORCED to release proof of Trig's birth. There would be hurricane force winds blowing her in the full disclosure direction. It would be argued, as I am doing here, a simple measure of her candor and whether or not the public can trust in her. Why not even a whispered breath of quid pro quo in the other direction? What's good for the gander ought to be good for the snow goose too.

As a taxpayer-citizen I have a right to call for her medical records. I have a right to wonder about the integrity of her character. I have a right to know how deep her deceptions go. I have a right to know what she is truly capable of...

It is a simple thing I ask: Release the records.

Whether the BO-Joe campaign will do it or not, *we* sure can blast the internet and discussion groups etc. with video etc. of those nutty pastors in Palin's church.

For those saying we shouldn't talk about Sarah Palin:

McCain's health is a serious issue given the ridiculous restricted access to a portion of his medical records (select number of persons invited, no copies or electronic devices, 3 hours only). Sound familiar?

There is serious doubt as to the true extent of his melanoma: whether it is rated 2a (65% chance of survival) vs. 2b (35% of survival). And that's just one of many other health considerations given a man of his age.

The presidency is a meat-grinder of a job in the best of times and it's been a given for a long time that someone in that position ages 2x as fast due to the stress factors. To vote for McCain because "he'll probably be fine" is delusional and needs to be corrected ASAP.

With all those bullshit access restrictions, you KNOW they are hiding something major.

Under these circumstances, Sarah Palin's obvious lack of qualifications becomes a major issue that should be vigorously debated.

Two words:

James Hagee.

(you know, the one who said that them gay Americans brought 911 on America because they're just too gay. Same thing with Katrina, of course. And, oh, he supported McCain.)