I want to draw you a picture. The President of the United States is sitting across the table from the leader of the second most powerful country in the world. An agreement of historic proportions is about to be made - or unmade. The tension in the room is palpable, billions around the world hang on every nuance. The future of the species hangs in the balance.
Then the President glances down. He frowns, trying to focus on...
...the scribbled and sweat-smeared notes scrawled on the palm of his hand.
A recent Paul Krugman column titled "Right-wing paranoia getting out of hand" has outraged wingnuts. It is doubtful this surprises anyone since wingnuttery outrage is the norm rather than the exception. The sad reality is that their outrage is usually misplaced.
A recent example of misplaced outrage was the absolutely over-the-top reaction to the announcement that President Obama planned on addressing students on the first day of school. The fact that other presidents have done the same meant nothing to the outraged Teabaggers. So what if St. Reagan did the same and made it into a political speech? That is certainly different than a black Muslim president who has an interest in education giving a speech to students.
The Church of God - Sarah Palin's church - explicitly does not.
The Church of God issued the following statement after the infamous sign outside one of their churches in Jonesville, SC this April read: "Obama Osama. Hummmm... Are they Brothers?"
Elisabeth Hasselback, 'Considered the last true "Survivor sweetheart" by many fans' according to Reality TV World, introduced Sarah Palin in Tampa today. Amidst accusations of sexism aimed at Barack Obama, the Democratic Party, and all it's supporters, she embodied sexism in every fiber of her being.
The Anchorage Daily News has endorsed Barack Obama for president. The paper acknowledges that after 50 years of statehood, Alaska for the first time has put forward a serious candidate for national office and calls Palin's nomination for vice president "a signal event" in the state's history.
The Palin Fail on abuse of power and ethics violation is a matter of record now. A non-partisan legislative council convicted her of those charges. The McCain machine response is that she wins because she does not face certain censure and impeachment due to her violations, only potential censure and impeachment. They - and most of the media - have missed the point.
The Palin administration has been convicted of rank amateurism. If this is the "executive experience" she touts, we are better off hiring an experienced executive crook like Ken Lay.
At least one person in the media didn't miss that.
Sarah Palin, the person who at the moment is both a candidate for Vice President as well as Governor of Alaska, has been asked to repeat her High School Reading Comprehension class. Apparently, she believes that the Troopergate report released on Friday vindicates her.
Mrs. Haverschatt - Palin's original Reading Comprehension teacher when she was a junior at Wasilla High - has said she would come out of retirement to tutor the Governor.
[UPDATE 4] 9:28pm The report is out, and in brief it says: [sic]"She definitely did abuse power and break trust with the people, but we don't recommend a criminal investigation."
What this means is that those of her base will continue to be excited by what a Mavericky Maverick she is, and those on the fence will have yet another reason to question every word that comes out of her mouth.
She broke the public trust and abused the power of her office.
Expect the MSM to talk about this all weekend in between discussing how much the GOP has hosed the economy.
......................
The "Troopergate" report on Governor Palin's abuse of power is in the hands of the Legislative Council right now. They got their hands on the 200+ page report and 600+ pages of backup documentation this morning at 9am local time (1pm ET).
I am going to keep tabs on this and update this diary as events unfold.
A recent Paul Krugman column titled "Right-wing paranoia getting out of hand" has outraged wingnuts. It is doubtful this surprises anyone since wingnuttery outrage is the norm rather than the exception. The sad reality is that their outrage is usually misplaced.
