Updates...

Been out on vacation for a few weeks, & now trying to catch up on all the news. Here some interesting reads:

"The Kenyan government has barred unapproved contacts between the media and President-elect Barack Obama's extended family. ...
...This is not the first attempt to block press interest in President-elect Obama's African connections. Prior to the U.S. election, WND senior staff reporter Jerome R. Corsi was detained in Kenya while investigating Obama's close ties to the nation's prime minister, Raila Odinga. The Kenyan official who reportedly orchestrated the detention was Odinga himself, according to WND sources inside Kenya." ...

rest of story here

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Sarah Palin: Conservative of the Year

"Sarah Palin wins HUMAN EVENTS’ prestigious “Conservative of the Year” Award for 2008 for her genius at annoying all the right people." ...

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The Op-Ed, the New York Times wouldn't run

"On December 5, the New York Times afforded former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers a chance to publish an op-ed, in which he defends himself from various charges made during the 2008 presidential campaign. That Ayers was given such an opportunity by the Times seems extraordinary; ...

...Perhaps even more extraordinary, however, is that the Times allowed Ayers to publish obvious lies about his terrorist past and rejected a rebuttal by the former FBI informant who lived through the history Ayers tried to rewrite. ...

...In hopes of correcting the lies that Ayers put in print, Grathwohl twice submitted an op-ed of his own to the Times to rebut Ayers. The editors rejected Grathwohl’s op-ed, stating in a curt December 12 email...

...Grathwohl’s subsequent submission to the Times was then ignored. The rejected submission is now being run below as a Pajamas Media exclusive." ...

click here to read letter

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CBS's Chen: Leave Caroline Kennedy Alone, Criticism 'Unfair'

"On Thursday's CBS Early Show, co-host Julie Chen came to the defense of would-be New York Senator Caroline Kennedy, who has faced criticism for her lack of experience: "This is so unfair. I mean, look, the system is set up the way it's set up and Governor Paterson decides and that's it. Leave her alone, everyone." That comment followed a report by correspondent Meg Oliver, in which Kennedy avoided tough questions from the press: "She quickly got a taste of the pressure that comes with seeking a high-profile political office...questions mostly went unanswered"."...

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Rezko attorney 'owns' Obama mansion

"An attorney for convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko is listed as the owner and taxpayer for Barack Obama's Chicago mansion, according to records obtained by WND.

The controversy began when a website called News and Commentary for Thinking People published a 48-page document that lists Miceli as the owner of the Obama home at 5046 S. Greenwood.

Miner, Barnhill & Galland was Obama's employer when he did extensive legal work for Rezko, who awaits sentencing after he was convicted in June of fraud, money laundering and bribery-related counts.

Miceli, as a senior attorney at the firm, supervised Obama when the future president wrote letters on behalf of Rezko urging public authorities to award him new public properties to rehabilitate, notes the "Barack Book" website maintained by GOP.com." ...

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Newsweek Uses Year-End Edition to Take Potshots at Palin

"Newsweek sprinkled throughout its year-end double issue, with Barack Obama on the cover as the #1 member of "The New Global Elite," a bunch of potshots at Sarah Palin -- and even derided teen daughter Bristol too. In a list of those who committed "low behavior" during 2008 (which did at least also highlight John Edwards), the magazine accused Sarah Palin of a "smear" against Barack Obama, on another page Newsweek described her as an "ill-informed, inarticulate shopaholic" (while on the same page hailing MSNBC's Rachel Maddow as a "brilliant" woman who "gives libs a happy new voice") and deep in the December 29/January 5 edition the magazine ridiculed Bristol Palin: "For 30 years, the Moral Majority has promoted 'abstinence only.' Jamie Lynn Spears, Bristol Palin...how's that working out?" ...

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Democrats Vow to Block Blagojevich Senate Appointment

"Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich named former state Attorney General Roland Burris to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday, stunning lawmakers both in his home state and in Washington, where Senate Democrats vowed to block the appointment.

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, who must certify the appointment, said he will not do so and Senate leaders reiterated that they would not accept anyone appointed by Blagojevich.

Blagojevich, claiming he was obligated by law to fill the vacant Senate seat, called Burris -- a lobbyist and campaign donor to the governor -- a candidate of "unquestioned integrity" and urged the public not to "allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man."

"It is truly regrettable that despite requests from all 50 Democratic Senators and public officials throughout Illinois, Gov. Blagojevich would take the imprudent step of appointing someone to the United States Senate who would serve under a shadow and be plagued by questions of impropriety," Senate Democrats said in a written statement." ...

Click to read the statement on Blagojevich from U.S. Senate Democrats

Click to read Burris' resume

Click to read more in the Wall Street Journal

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'It's over': Ann Coulter banned for life by NBC 'We are just not interested in anyone so highly critical of President-elect Obama'

"NBC reportedly has banned best-selling author Ann Coulter for life after abruptly canceling an appearance on the "Today" show to promote her new book, "Guilty: Liberal 'Victims' and Their Assault on America."

"We are just not going to have her on any more, it's over," a top network source told the Drudge Report. ...

... NBC News issued a statement denying Coulter has been banned.

"We've had Ann Coulter on 'Today' many times, but because of the news in Washington and the Middle East, we decided to cancel her appearance tomorrow," the network's statement said. "Understanding the media as well as she does, we are sure she knows this happens from time to time. We look forward to welcoming her back in the future." ...

...But Drudge reported a "Today" show insider said the book's theme prompted NBC executives to cancel Coulter, who had been invited months ago. ...

...The "Today" show source told Drudge the network is "just not interested in anyone so highly critical of President-elect Obama, right now."

"It's such a downer. It's just not the time, and it's not what our audience wants, either," the source said.

The insiders said Coulter also will be barred from NBC's cable outlet, MSNBC." ...

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Palin Snubs Oprah

Palin will NOT be appearing on Oprah. Yay!!

Many conservatives were upset with Oprah because she became so politically involved during the election and her show is typically NOT a "political" show. However it is is a free country - Oprah can run her show however she wants. If she wants to make it a political pro-Obama show - she can do that. And since she did that, I have chosen to not watch her "political" show anymore..... well, I actually haven't watched her show for years, now I just have one more reason NOT to watch it.

Here the excerpts from hollyscoop

"Despite losing the election, Palin has been doing press all over the country, and Oprah wants a piece. Unfortunately for the talk show queen, Palin won't appear on her show.

Speaking to Extra TV, Oprah said she has invited the former Vice Presidential candidate on her show but she has declined.

Winfrey declared, “I said I would be happy to talk to Sarah Palin when the election was over..."

That's the whole point Oprah - you snubbed Sarah before the elections and now that Obama's in you want to play nicey - nice.... So Sorry Oprah - Sarah doesn't want to play your games.

Give Me A Break!

Palin states in the video: "It's nice to get out and do something to promote a local business and to just participate in something that isn't so heavy-handed politics that invites criticism. Certainly we"ll probably even invite criticism for doing this too, but at least this was fun."

And of course, the libs were happy to accept her invitation and criticize her. What else is interesting is this story makes national news - but most of the libs still don't even know which party runs congress, or how Obama won his first election by getting his opponents kicked off the ballot, or that Obama's economic policy will bankrupt the coal industries, or that Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground, etc. It's nice to know that the media is doing such a good job of reporting stories that contain such substantial and critical issues like the one here. I guess they are still afraid of Palin running in 2012. (see: http://howobamagotelected.com/)

Here some of the libs comments below: (from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/20/sarah-palin-holds-news-co_n_145375.html)


"That is just horrible to watch. Just horrible. The combination of her voice with that poor turkey being bled to death and struggling was more than I could take. I felt like I was in 'A Clockwork Orange' or something..."

"I would laugh if this wasn't so disturbing! Provoked me to reaffirm my commitment to not eating turkey on turkey day"

"How interesting...Note the action in the background as a metaphor for what Palin is saying? -I think we should call this clip, "The Sarah Palin Dark Side of the Rainbow"

"She has no reverence for animal life, which she demonstrates here. -"Fun" doesn't come to my mind when an animal is being sacrificed for consumption."

"Palin latest interview in front of the turkey slaughter simply reinforces the idea she is indeed a political dinosaur. You know, like the ones she believes were tromping around with humans 10,000 years ago with Fred Flintstone. If she is truly the best that Republicans have to offer, then the party, too, is indeed destined for extinction."

"Sarah Palin provided millions upon millions of people with one example of that brutality. The images of those two turkeys mercilessly slaughtered, struggling for their lives as she blathered on and on..."

and there are tons more comments like these....

I have to agree with this commenter: "It seems that everyone out there is reacting as though something was wrong with Sarah for not having eyes in the back of her head. In fact, there was something wrong with the producer and the camera operator. I am an amateur photographer, and I know that your picture is only as good as your background. It's like hunting... you always need to be aware of what's behind your target. This is Photography 101, and even I could have made Sarah look better than this. But the producer is even more culpable. At least the camera operator managed to get the picture. ... This is clearly a case of media incompetence, or worse, yet another instance where the media has maliciously tried to make Sarah look incompetent. It did not work on me. I know Sarah, and I also know how it works on the "safe" side of the camera. The videographer and the producer should not be so safe. KTUU should fire someone, or apologize, or both."

My comments: Give me a break!! Where do you think the turkeys on Thanksgiving come from?

ALSO, Remember most of these comments from people that are so "outraged" are from the very same people who think it is OK for a woman to "choose" to slaughter her baby and they support a president who thinks it's a perfectly acceptable "choice" and who wouldn't want to "create one more burden on women," or do anything that would "raise new hurdles to women seeking reproductive services like abortion."

A few months ago the libs were saying: "Shame on Palin for birthing a down syndrome boy when she should have slaughter him. What a burden to society" (see article below)
and now the libs are saying: "Shame on Palin for standing in front of those turkeys being slaughter - how utterly repulsive and disturbing to kill a poor defenseless creature."

Article below from Rule of Reason by Provenzo - he wasn't the first or the last to suggest Trig should have been aborted - just one of the many who said it: Palin's Down syndrome child and the right to abortion
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"Like many, I am troubled by the implications of Alaska governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's decision to knowingly give birth to a child disabled with Down syndrome. Given that Palin's decision is being celebrated in some quarters, it is crucial to reaffirm the morality of aborting a fetus diagnosed with Down syndrome (or by extension, any unborn fetus)--a freedom that anti-abortion advocates seek to deny.

A parent has a moral obligation to provide for his or her children until these children are equipped to provide for themselves. Because a person afflicted with Down syndrome is only capable of being marginally productive (if at all) and requires constant care and supervision, unless a parent enjoys the wealth to provide for the lifetime of assistance that their child will require, they are essentially stranding the cost of their child's life upon others.

So while anti-abortion commentators such as Michael Franc of the National Review sees Down syndrome's victims as "ambassadors of God" who "offer us the opportunity to rise to that greatest of all challenges," for many, that opportunity for challenge is little more than a lifetime of endless burden. In this light, it is completely legitimate for a woman to look at the circumstances of her life and decide that having a child with Down syndrome (or any child for that matter) is not an obligation that she can accept. After all, the choice to have a child is a profoundly selfish choice; that is, a choice that is an expression of the parent's personal desire to create new life.

And most parents seek to create healthy life; in the case of the unborn fetuses shown to have severe developmental disabilities, one study reports that over 90% of these fetuses are aborted prior to birth. But if you notice, the anti-abortion zealots try to attach a dirty little slur to these abortions, labeling them a form of eugenics.

...

[W]e need the mentally retarded to teach us how to better sacrifice our lives and divest ourselves of our self-interested ways more than they need us to care for them. At Noodlefood, Diana Hsieh condemns such a stand as "the worship of retardation." Given that Palin had complete foreknowledge of her child's severe disability yet nevertheless chose to have it, it is hard not to see her choice as anything less."

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tip from Wiz Bang

Wiz Bang also states:

"So, I guess in this guy's mind... That unless you're 100% "healthy" -- and by whose standards is "healthy" defined anyway? -- you don't have a right to live? And what gives this guy the right to decide?

And just so you know, this guy is no small potatoes columnist either. He's written for the Washington Times and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He's been on Bill Maher's show. He isn't some minor-league columnist who no one knows and has never heard of.

Views such as his are despicable and indefensible. I can only imagine how families with disabled children must feel upon reading this. Not only does this man think that it's wrong to proceed with a pregnancy that will bear a child with a disability, but he thinks you are selfish and irresponsible. That child's life is not a blessing to him, but a burden. And not only is his position the correct position, but it's the moral one!"

Apparently, libs are outraged about poor, stupid, little turkeys that are being slaughtered; but it is "completely legitimate" for a woman to slaughter a child who is less than "perfect" or "any child for that matter."

So basically they are saying that a turkey's life is more valuable than a human life. How crazy and disgusting is that?

More on Sarah...

"John McCain said Tuesday that Sarah Palin did not damage his presidential bid, and he dismissed as typical campaign sniping anonymous criticism aimed at her following their crushing defeat.

“I’m so proud of her and I’m very grateful she agreed to run with me. She inspired people, she still does,” McCain told Jay Leno during an “Tonight Show” interview taped for broadcast Tuesday night. “I couldn’t be happier with Sarah Palin.”

At campaign rallies, “The people were very excited and inspired by her. That’s what really mattered, I think,” McCain said. “She’s a great reformer".”
from: http://gretawire.foxnews.com/2008/11/11/just-in-senator-mccain-talks-to-jay-leno-about-governor-palin/

The shameful, false and ugly attacks against the great Gov. Sarah Palin continues - Our Country Deserves Better Committee will be producing a pro-Palin TV ad that featured Americans thanking Sarah Palin for her efforts as a public servant, her enthusiastic promotion of conservative principles, and the grace and dignity with which she conducted herself during the campaign -- even as she faced daily attacks from the media, Barack Obama's campaign, and many in the Washington political establishment.






find out more information about if Sarah Palin Was Disliked or Popular Among Conservatives - read this post, it's very insightful: http://scottthong.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/is-palin-disliked-or-popular-among-conservatives/

Palin Strikes Back at Critics

excerpts from One News Now by: Dan Joling to read entire article click here: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=315136

"Sarah Palin denounced anonymous criticisms leveled at her by former John McCain aides as lies, including allegations that Republican lawyers were traveling to Alaska to reclaim her high-priced wardrobe and that she didn't know Africa was a continent.

"Those accounts are not true," the former Republican vice presidential candidate said...

Palin denounced criticism from unidentified McCain campaign aides as "cowardly." She said she found it frustrating trying to respond to false allegations when she didn't know who was making them.

"It's ridiculous," she told reporters. "You guys report based on anonymous sources, so it's hard to have a defense."

One report said she and her family went on a shopping spree, spending more than the $150,000 in clothing that the Republican National Committee had earlier reported.

"The RNC purchased clothes," Palin said.

"Those are the RNC's clothes. They're not my clothes. I never forced anybody to buy anything. I never asked for anything more than maybe a Diet Dr Pepper once in a while."

The RNC will inventory clothing it purchased for her to account for dollars spent, she said. She scoffed at reports that the RNC was sending lawyers to take back clothes from her home.

"It's not happening. Nobody's told me that they're coming to my house to look through closets, to look through anything. The belly of the plane that had clothes in it, and those clothes being packed up and sent back by staffers, perhaps that's what they're talking about, but these aren't attorneys."


To see video of Palin click here: http://www.onenewsnow.com/vidPlayer.aspx?videoId=8597

You Can Keep "The Change"

Cool Bumber Sticker from: Patriot Depot

Attacks on Sarah Palin

Michelle Malkin's syndicated column today takes on the cowardly character assassins in the McCain campaign who are trying to kneecap Sarah Palin. I also would like to express my thanks to Sarah Palin for stepping up to the plate and standing up for what she believes in.

Michelle states:

"Sarah Palin worked her heart out. She energized tens of thousands to come out who would have otherwise stayed home. She touched countless families.... But she vigorously defended the Second Amendment and the sanctity of life more eloquently in practice than any of the educated conservative aristocracy. And she did it all with a tirelessness and infectious optimism that defied the shameless, bottomless attempts by elites in both parties to bring her and her family down."

Read the rest of column here: http://michellemalkin.com/2008/11/07/memo-to-mccain-blabbermouths-character-is-destiny/

Palin cleared in Troopergate investigation

"A new report just released — hours before the polls open on Election Day — exonerates Gov. Sarah Palin in the Troopergate controversy.

The state Personnel Board-sanctioned investigation is the second into whether Palin violated state ethics law in firing her public safety commissioner, and it contradicts the earlier findings by a special counsel hired by the state Legislature.

Both investigations found that Palin was within her rights to fire Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

But the new report says the Legislature’s investigator was wrong to conclude that Palin abused her power by allowing aides and her husband, Todd, to pressure Monegan and others to dismiss her ex-brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten. Palin was accused of firing Monegan after Wooten stayed on the job.

The Palins have argued that Wooten was a loose cannon who had tasered his stepson, drank beer in his patrol car, and threatened Palin’s father, and that their complaints that he shouldn’t be on the force were justified.

The Troopergate matter became sharply politicized after Palin was announced as Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s running mate in Tuesday’s election.

The report, released at a Monday afternoon press conference at the Hotel Captain Cook, presents the findings and recommendations of Anchorage lawyer Timothy Petumenos, hired as independent counsel for the Personnel Board to examine several complaints against Palin.

Petumenos wrote the Legislature’s special counsel, former state prosecutor Steve Branchflower, used the wrong state law as the basis for his conclusions and also misconstrued the evidence."

from: http://scottthong.wordpress.com/

by Rachel D'Oro - Associated Press Writer - 11/4/2008 7:30:00 AM
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=309780

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin violated no ethics laws when she fired her public safety commissioner, the state personnel board concluded in a report released Monday. "There is no probable cause to believe that the governor, or any other state official, violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in connection with these matters," the report says.

"Gov. Palin is pleased that the independent investigator for the Personnel Board has concluded that she acted properly in the reassignment of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan," her attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said in a statement. (View video report)

An earlier, separate investigation by the Legislature found that Palin had abused her office.

Monegan said he felt pressure from Palin, her husband and her staff to fire a state trooper who had gone through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister. Palin denied the claim, and said Monegan was fired last July because she wanted the department to head in a new direction.

Monegan told The Associated Press on Monday that he was "perplexed and disappointed" by the report. It was prepared by Timothy Petumenos, an independent investigator for the Alaska Personnel Board.

A separate legislative investigation recently concluded that Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, abused her office by allowing her husband and staffers to pressure Monegan to fire the trooper. However, it upheld the firing because Monegan was an at-will employee.

Alaska Personnel Board investigations are normally secret, but the three-member board decided to release this report, citing public interest in the matter given Palin's status as a candidate for national office. Election Day is Tuesday.

Palin had earlier waived her privacy rights, but others in her administration did not and Petumenos sought to keep the matter from playing out in the media.

Documents released Monday did not include transcripts of separate depositions given by Palin and her husband, Todd.

That deposition was the only one given by Sarah Palin. She was not subpoenaed to answer questions in the Legislature's investigation, though her husband, Todd, gave an affidavit in that probe.

Petumenos said that during her deposition given under oath, Sarah Palin denied Monegan's claim -- also given under oath -- that she had two conversations with him about the trooper.

"Both of those conversations were denied in their entirety by the governor," Petumenos said."

How the TV Networks Have Portrayed Sarah Palin as Dunce or Demon

By Colleen Raezler and Brian Fitzpatrick, Culture and Media Institute

from: http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/specialreports/2008/SarahPalinChar/SaraPalinExec_Sum.htm

"ABC, NBC and CBS news shows are covering Palin intensively, and they are running 18 negative stories for every positive one.

Network coverage of Palin has moved beyond criticism to outright ridicule. Strikingly, all three networks have repeatedly aired clips of Palin being parodied by a comedy show, NBC’s Saturday Night Live, leading to concerns that many Americans are confusing the real Palin with SNL’s figure of fun. When have comic impressions of a political figure ever qualified as hard news?

We found that ABC, NBC and CBS have been stridently critical of Palin. Before the debate, the networks characterized her as a dunce whose shortcomings were dividing the GOP. After Palin laid to rest concerns about her competence by performing well in the debate, the network narrative changed: Palin became a demon, victimizing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with unfair criticism.

Major findings:

* Major network news shows ran 69 stories about Sarah Palin between September 29 and October 12. 37 stories were negative, just 2 were positive, and 30 were neutral. Not a single evening news show ran a positive story about Palin.
* Overall, 21 network stories portrayed Palin as unintelligent and unqualified. 8 of these stories played a total of 11 clips of Saturday Night Live ridiculing Palin. 14 segments featured the most embarrassing clips from Palin’s interview with Katie Couric.
* 9 stories emphasized attacks on Palin by conservative columnists.
* 14 stories demonized Palin as little more than John McCain’s attack dog.
* ABC was hardest on Palin, with 9 negative stories (60%), 6 neutral (40%) and no positive stories. NBC ran 15 negative stories (54%), 13 neutral (46%) and no positive stories. CBS ran 14 negative stories (54%), 10 neutral (38%) and 2 positive (8%).

Network coverage of Sarah Palin has been so distorted and out of balance that the public cannot trust what they’re hearing from ABC, NBC and CBS about the GOP vice-presidential nominee. The networks have been so intent on assassinating Palin’s character that they have turned for added ammunition to sources they normally ignore – conservative columnists and comedians.

Sarah Palin’s nomination changed the presidential race, creating a real threat to the media’s preferred candidate, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. ABC, NBC and CBS have rallied to Obama’s defense by working hard to bring Palin down. "

click here for full report: http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/specialreports/2008/SarahPalinChar/SaraPalinFull_Report.htm

Palin's Faith Authentic and Sincere

"In a recently released interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin stated that her Christian beliefs remain unshaken even though faith in God has been mocked during the current campaign. 'Nobody is going to convince me that my foundation of faith is not good for me and my family, no matter the mocking,' she said. 'I'm going to keep seeking God's guidance and his wisdom and his favor and his grace for me, for my family, for this campaign, for our nation'."
from: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=293738

How the Left Twists the Truth:

an example from: lifenews.com

Newspaper: Planned Parenthood Ad on McCain, Palin "Distorts Record" on Women

"Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new television commercial from Planned Parenthood blasting John McCain and Sarah Palin is already coming under criticism from the mainstream media. The St. Petersburg Times, a Florida newspaper, says the ad distorts the record on the two candidates and their record on women.

The ad features a woman named Gretchen who appears to be a rape victim and she tells the audience "I just didn't think it would happen to me."

"Under Mayor Sarah Palin, women like Gretchen were forced to pay up to $1,200 for the emergency exams used to prosecute their attackers," the Planned Parenthood ad claims.

It goes further to attack Senator McCain, claiming he "voted to let governments charge rape victims."

LifeNews.com exposed the misleading nature of the ad on Wednesday and focused on Planned Parenthood's shoddy treatment of Palin.

The Times takes on the phony charges against McCain.

The Planned Parenthood ad attributes the McCain allegation to a vote on August 25, 1994 on a crime bill that included the Violence Against Women Act. The measure included a provision that required states to provide free forensic exams for rape victims.

Planned Parenthood's logic is that because McCain opposed that bill, he voted to let governments charge victims for their rape kits.

"That's quite a stretch," the Times responds.

"Indeed, McCain voted that day against a conference report on the crime bill, but he opposed it not because of the Violence Against Women provisions, but because it included extra spending that McCain considered unrelated to crime," the newspaper explains.

The paper explains that McCain supported the original bill including the Violence Against Women Act -- "So that alone is a significant contradiction of Planned Parenthood's claim."

McCain has also supported the VAWA on reauthorization votes and even introduced his own measure in 2005 to provide protections for Indian women.

At that time, McCain praised the legislation, saying, "The 1994 Violence Against Women Act has had a tremendous impact on raising the national awareness of domestic violence and providing communities, including Indian tribes, the resources to respond to the devastating impact of domestic violence."

The paper asked Planned Parenthood spokesman Tait Sye if he had any other evidence to bolster its claim.

"Sye scrounged up a few more: a vote against a 2008 justice spending bill that included all justice programs (McCain opposed it because it had too many earmarks), and a couple of other votes that are not directly related to the rape provision of the Violence Against Women Act," the paper said.

"That's the best they got?" the Times' editorial complained.

"That's the classic kind of cherry-picking we've seen in campaign ads and it is flimsy evidence for the serious charge that McCain opposed the program, especially in light of his clear support at other times," the Times said.

"Planned Parenthood has virtually nothing to back up its charge that McCain voted to let states charge for rape exams. Sure, McCain voted against a larger crime bill in 1994, but that vote was about assault weapons and spending, not the Violence Against Women Act. And McCain has supported the law before then — and twice since," the paper says.

"Planned Parenthood's claim isn't just False, it's ridiculously so," it concludes."

The Real Question, "Is Obama Qualified??"

What I don't understand is Sarah has more experience the Obama (yes, it is true - if you count the actual days of on the job work) & I think being a governor and running a state is a little more complex than being a community organizer and voting present...& but yet the media continues to say that she is not qualified to be VP, but Obama is qualified to be president - I just don't understand the logic there...


Poll question: Is Obama qualified?
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 10/17/2008 6:00:00 AM
from: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Election2008/Default.aspx?id=288052

"A pro-family organization says it's had an overwhelming negative response to a poll that asks the question: "Do you think Barack Obama is qualified to serve as president of the United States?"

The American Family Association (AFA) created the online poll in response to PBS, which is running a taxpayer-funded poll that asks a similar question regarding the Republican vice-presidential nominee: "Do you think Sarah Palin is qualified to serve as vice-president of the United States?" Dr. Donald E. Wildmon, founder and chairman of AFA, further explains the situation.

"I mean, if they're going to run a poll one way, we run a poll the other way. Well over 300,000 people have voted in our poll that [Obama] is not qualified [to be president]. I think [several thousand have] voted that he is qualified," he says. "The poll was a comeback [to the] PBS [poll]."

Wildmon adds while AFA has published how many respondents they have had to their poll, PBS has not. He says it is interesting that the PBS survey has been stuck on 49 percent for and 49 percent against Palin being qualified for vice president.

"Some people [responding to the PBS poll] are saying now that they're getting the message that computers are down, and it's not working," he contends. "It could be that they're afraid to put it up, because she might, you know, be winning the thing."

As of press time, more than 400,000 people had voted in AFA's poll, with statistics showing roughly five percent believe Obama is qualified to be America's president, 95 percent do not believe he is qualified, and less than one percent are unsure."

Palin promises tax-cut

Palin promises tax-cut during Scranton visit

By Borys Krawczeniuk, Scranton Times-Tribune
October 15, 2008



Article from: www.scrantontimes.com

"Visiting Northeast Pennsylvania for the first time, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin touted the new economic plan running mate John McCain unveiled Tuesday while invoking the name of the late Gov. Robert P. Casey as a champion of children with mental disabilities.

Mrs. Palin also called up the region’s coal-producing past by jabbing at another Scranton native, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, for once being critical of clean-coal technology as an alternative energy source.

Mrs. Palin told a raucous crowd at Riverfront Sports that Mr. McCain would turn American anger and frustration over the current economic crisis into reform.

The new economic plan would get the nation “through a time of testing” and put “the economy back on track,” she said.

“Under this plan, we’ll help American families keep their homes and save family neighborhoods and bring stability to our housing market,” Mrs. Palin said.

The plan seeks to reduce to 10 percent the tax on senior-citizen withdrawals from retirement accounts in 2008 and 2009, reduce to 7.5 percent the capital gains tax in 2009 and 2010 and quintuple deductions of capital losses. It is meant to supplement Mr. McCain’s call last week for a $300 billion government purchase of troubled mortgages.

Mrs. Palin’s 29-minute speech was frequently interrupted with applause or chants of “Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!” She was accompanied by her husband, Todd, whom she called Alaska’s “first dude,” and Martin Buser, the four-time champion of the Iditarod, the famed dog sled race.

Singer Lee Greenwood opened the program by singing the national anthem and his well-known “God Bless the U.S.A.”

Behind Mrs. Palin, supporters, many wearing red, held signs stating, “Hunters Cling to Sarah,” “Real People Vote Palin” and “Pro-Life Pro-Family Pro-Palin.”

The visit was the third by the Republican ticket to the region since July and highlighted the campaign’s focus on attracting disenchanted Democrats who had supported New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Signs announcing the presence of a Scranton-based group calling itself “Democrats for McCain” dotted the crowd.

For more than a week, statewide polls have showed Mr. McCain trailing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama by double-digit margins in Pennsylvania. The daily five-day tracking poll by Muhlenberg College had Mr. Obama up 51 percent to 38 percent through Monday, the 12th consecutive day with a double-digit margin.

With slumping poll numbers, Mr. McCain has made a more concerted effort to recapture his footing in the state the past week.

He and Mrs. Palin campaigned together Wednesday in Bethlehem. She hit a Pittsburgh fundraiser Friday and then a Johnstown rally and a Philadelphia Flyers hockey game Saturday. Mr. McCain arrived in Philadelphia on Monday and unveiled his new economic plan Tuesday in Blue Bell, a Philadelphia suburb.

The Scranton crowd Tuesday was larger than the one that greeted Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Biden in the same venue Sunday.

The McCain-Palin campaign estimated Tuesday’s crowd at 5,800 and said it was based on a Secret Service door count, but the crowd appeared to be closer to 4,500 people. The smaller estimate, by The Times-Tribune, was based on the number of rows of risers, a typical row’s occupancy, and a per-person count of the depth and width of the standing audience.

Mrs. Palin never mentioned Mrs. Clinton. But she brought up Gov. Casey while talking about her son, Trig, who has Down syndrome, and promising to bring attention to “children with special needs” as vice president.

“It was the great Pennsylvania governor, Robert Casey, a son of Scranton, who said ...,” Mrs. Palin said, pausing as the mention drew a mix of applause and boos. “He was asked once how society should treat the most vulnerable among us, such as children with special needs. And he said, ‘It’s simple, you put them first in line.’

“See, Gov. Casey understood that these children can inspire a special love and that’s a love that this world needs more of. Our children are not a problem, they’re a priority.”

Mrs. Palin did not specifically mention abortion or Mr. Casey’s crusade against it, but said, “I do believe that the truest measure of any society is how we treat those who are least able to defend and speak for themselves. Who is more vulnerable, who is more innocent than a child?”

Trig taught her “that everyone belongs in the circle of protection,” she said. “And that every child has something to contribute to the world if we give them that chance.”

As she pushed Mr. McCain’s plan to expand all forms of energy, including alternative ones, Mrs. Palin mocked Mr. Biden for trashing clean-coal technology.

“He said, as a matter of fact, that even if there were clean coal, that in an Obama administration, it would be fine if say China used it, but it wouldn’t be used here at home,” she said.

The crowd booed.

“Biden also has called environmentally friendly offshore drilling, he’s called it raping the outer continental shelf,” she said.

The crowd booed again.

Clean-coal technology would produce jobs in Ohio, West Virginia and “right here in Pennsylvania” and a McCain administration would allow for more drilling for oil, she said.

“We will drill here and we’ll drill now,” Mrs. Palin said.

“Drill, baby, drill,” the crowd chanted.

“Drill, baby, drill, and mine, baby, mine, yes,” Mrs. Palin replied.

An Obama campaign spokesman said the Democratic nominee is a long-time proponent of clean-coal technology.

Mrs. Palin also ripped the Democratic ticket for never using the word “victory” in talking about the war in Iraq and noted that her son, Track, is deployed to Iraq.

“Just once, it would be nice to hear Obama say he wants America to win,” Mrs. Palin said. She did not explain what she would consider a “win” in Iraq.

In a telephone conference call before Mrs. Palin’s visit, Gov. Casey’s son, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, called Mr. McCain’s economic proposal “an ideological approach” that continues to ignore the plight of 101 million Americans. He called Mr. McCain’s approach to Americans’ economic struggles “erratic” and predicted they won’t be fooled, he said.

“If you thought of this as a dish being offered to Americans, what John McCain is offering is the same warmed-over dish that George Bush has been serving up for eight years now,” he said."

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

The McCain -Palin Ticket

Why John McCain?

all info from: http://www.johnmccain.com

"Early on in his life as a midshipman at the Naval Academy, the most important lesson John McCain learned was that to sustain his self-respect for a lifetime it would be necessary for him to have the honor of serving something greater than his self-interest -- service to his country. John McCain has always put his country's interests before any party, special interest and even his own self-interest. He has always and will always do what is right for our country.

John McCain has a strong record of working across the aisle to reform how business is done in Washington. Throughout his career of public service, John McCain has worked across party aisles with Republicans and Democrats alike to reform our campaign finance system, confirm qualified judges like Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito, and enhance our homeland security. He spoke out against his own party's out-of-control spending, against the Administration to change a failing strategy in Iraq, and against an energy bill that was full of giveaways to Big Oil companies.

To keep our nation prosperous, strong and growing we have to rethink, reform and reinvent: the way we educate our children; train our workers; deliver health care services; support retirees; fuel our transportation network; stimulate research and development; and harness new technologies.

John McCainUnder a McCain presidency the United States will experience robust economic growth, and Americans will again have confidence in their economic future. A reduction in the corporate tax rate from the second highest in the world to one on par with our trading partners; the low rate on capital gains; allowing business to deduct in a single year investments in equipment and technology, while eliminating tax loopholes and ending corporate welfare, will spur innovation and productivity, and encourage companies to keep their operations and jobs in the United States. Doubling the size of the child exemption will put more disposable income in the hands of taxpayers, further stimulating growth.

Under a McCain presidency the United States will be well on the way to independence from foreign sources of oil; progress that will not only begin to alleviate the environmental threat posed from climate change, but will greatly improve our security as well. John McCain has proposed a comprehensive energy plan - the Lexington Project - that will lower the price of gas while utilizing every energy source to move us toward energy independence. He believes we need to develop advanced alternative energy sources while developing existing energy sources by drilling offshore, expanding nuclear power and encouraging clean coal technologies.

John McCainUnder a McCain presidency health care will become more accessible to more Americans than at any other time in history. Reforms of the insurance market; putting the choice of health care into the hands of American families rather than exclusively with the government or employers; walk in clinics as alternatives to emergency room care; paying for outcome in the treatment of disease rather than individual procedures; and competition in the prescription drug market will wring out the runaway inflation once endemic in our health care system.

Finally to secure the peace for future generations, John McCain will end the war in Iraq with victory and bring our troops home with honor. John McCain hates war. And he knows very personally how terrible its costs are. But he knows, too, that the course of immediate withdrawal in Iraq could draw us into a wider war with even greater sacrifices; put peace further out of reach, and Americans back in harm's way. John McCain will also win the war in Afghanistan by increasing the size of forces there and adopting a true counterinsurgency strategy, much like the one that has been successful in Iraq that John McCain advocated. He will continue to hunt down al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

John McCain has the strength to keep America safe and the courage to secure the peace.

John McCainThere are many public causes where service can make our country a stronger, better one than we inherited. Wherever there is a hungry child, a great cause exists to serve. Where there is an illiterate adult, a great cause exists to serve. Wherever there are people who are denied the basic rights of Man, a great cause exists to serve. Wherever there is suffering, a great cause exists to serve. John McCain has spent his life serving our country and will continue to work with anyone who sincerely wants to get this country moving again. He will listen to any idea that is offered in good faith and intended to help solve our problems, not make them worse. He will seek the counsel of members of Congress from both parties in forming government policy before asking them to support it.

From the day he is sworn into office until the last hour of his presidency, John McCain will work with anyone, of either party, to make this country safe, prosperous and proud."

More about John McCain

"John McCain has a remarkable record of leadership and experience that embodies his unwavering lifetime commitment to service. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in 1982, John has led the fight for reforming Washington, eliminating wasteful government spending, and strengthening our nation's armed forces.

John McCain's reform agenda to reduce federal spending and lower taxes quickly elevated him to statewide office and he was elected to the United States Senate in 1986, after serving two terms in the U.S. House.

In the Senate, John continued to demand that Congress put an end to loopholes for special interests and fix the broken system in Washington that too often allows lobbyists to write legislation and members of Congress to waste taxpayer money. In November 2004, Senator McCain was overwhelmingly reelected with nearly 77 percent of the vote.

As the son and grandson of distinguished Navy admirals, John McCain deeply values duty, honor and service of country. John attended college at the United States Naval Academy, and launched a 22-year career as a naval aviator upon his graduation. He continued the McCain tradition of service to country passed down to him from his father and grandfather when he asked to serve in the Vietnam War.

On July 29 1967, John narrowly survived the first of many near-death experiences during his lifetime while preparing to take off on a bombing mission over North Vietnam from his ship, the USS Forrestal. A missile accidentally fired from a nearby plane struck the fuel tanks on John's plane and created a deadly inferno aboard the ship. John barely escaped the fiery disaster that killed 134 men, injured hundreds more and destroyed 20 planes.

Instead of taking the option to return home after the Forrestal disaster, Senator McCain volunteered for more combat duty - a fateful decision that stopped the clock on his life and separated him from his family, and country, for five and a half years.

During his 23rd bombing mission on October 26, 1967, a missile struck John's plane and forced him to eject, knocking him unconscious and breaking both his arms and his leg. John was then taken as a prisoner of war into the now infamous "Hanoi Hilton," where he was denied necessary medical treatment and often beaten by the North Vietnamese. John spent much of his time as a prisoner of war in solitary confinement, aided by his faith and the friendships of his fellow POWs. When he was finally released and able to return home years later, John continued his service by regaining his naval flight status.

Senator McCain's last Navy duty assignment was to serve as the naval liaison to the United States Senate. John retired from the Navy in 1981. His naval honors include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Senator McCain has seven children and four grandchildren, and currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Cindy."


More about Sarah Palin

"On December 4, 2006, Governor Sarah Palin made history as the first woman to become her state's chief executive. As the 11th governor of Alaska, she has successfully fought the special interests, the lobbyists, the Big Oil companies and the good ol' boys network to reform a system that had bred corruption in her state.

Since taking office, her top priorities have been energy development, ethics reform, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development. She has brought Republicans, Democrats and Independents together to work to change the status quo in Alaska.

Under her leadership, the state invested $5 billion in savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program to provide support for low-income older Alaskans. She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to oversee and maintain oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.

During her first legislative session, Governor Palin’s administration passed major pieces of legislation. She came to office promising landmark ethics reform to end the culture of self-dealing, and today, that ethics reform is the law.

Governor Palin took on the oil companies and began a competitive process to construct a gas pipeline. Because of her leadership, work has begun on a $40 billion natural gas pipeline – the largest private-sector infrastructure project in North American history – to help lead our country to energy independence.

When oil and gas prices went up dramatically and the state revenues rose, Governor Palin sent a large share of that revenue directly back to the people of Alaska. She also suspended the state's fuel tax.

In office, Governor Palin championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending. She has used her veto pen to eliminate nearly a half a billion dollars in wasteful spending. She told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for the "Bridge to Nowhere." Upon taking office, Governor Palin took common-sense steps to trim the size and cost of her office. She sold the state's luxury jet, eliminated the personal chef and got rid of the personal driver.

As Governor, Palin is chair of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, a multi-state government agency that promotes the conservation and efficient recovery of domestic oil and natural gas resources while protecting health, safety and the environment. She also serves as chair of the National Governors Association (NGA) Natural Resources Committee, which is charged with pursuing legislation to ensure state needs are considered as federal policy is formulated in the areas of agriculture, energy, environmental protection and natural resource management.

Prior to her election as governor, Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and two terms as the Mayor of Wasilla. During her tenure, she reduced property tax levels while increasing services and made Wasilla a business friendly environment, drawing in new industry. She stopped wasteful spending and put the people first.

She also served as chair and ethics commissioner of the Alaska Conservation Commission, which regulates Alaska's most valuable non-renewable resources: oil and gas. When she found corruption there, she fought it and brought the offenders to account, even though they may have been members of her own party.

Sarah Heath Palin arrived in Alaska with her family in 1964, when her parents came to teach school. She received a bachelor of science degree in communications-journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987. Palin, who graduated from Wasilla High School in 1982, has lived in Skagway, Eagle River and Wasilla.

She is married to Todd Palin who she met in high school. Todd is a lifelong Alaskan, a commercial fisherman, a production operator on Alaska's North Slope, a proud member of the United Steelworkers Union and a world champion snow machine racer. Together, they recently celebrated their 20th anniversary. Through Todd’s Yup'ik grandmother, Alaska’s Native heritage plays an important role in their family.

Todd and Sarah have five children – Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. Track enlisted in the U.S. Army on Sept. 11, 2007 and is set to deploy to Iraq in the service of his country. This year, Trig joined the Palin family. As the mother of a special-needs child, Governor Palin has pledged to all those families with special-needs children to be their advocate in the White House.

Prior to taking office, Governor Palin served on numerous boards and commissions throughout the state. In many ways, she was just your average 'hockey mom.' She was active in her family’s pursuits – including serving as a sports team mom, coaching basketball and volunteering on the PTA to help make her kids' public education better. She also runs marathons.

Palin is a lifetime member of the NRA and enjoys hunting, fishing, Alaska history, and all that Alaska's great outdoors has to offer."

A Touching Story - Bet ya didn't hear this on NBC

Family with Down Syndrome Child Meets John McCain and Sarah Palin
September 9, 2008

from: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_090908/content/01125113.guest.html

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT

"RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh, hello, sir. Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense?

CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh?

RUSH: How about that?

CALLER: Hey, listen, Rush, longtime listener, first-time caller, one of those Bible, family, gun clingers from western Pennsylvania.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: And I wanted to share a story with you. A week ago last Saturday we went to the Palin-McCain rally in Washington, Pennsylvania, was the day after he announced her, and we have a five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, and we made a sign that said: 'We Love Kids with Down Syndrome.' So when they pulled in in their bus the sign did catch their, McCain and Palin and the rest of their family, it caught their eye, we could tell, they gave us a thumbs-up from the bus, so we were all excited just by that --

RUSH: Wait, wait, wait. Who gave you the thumbs up, McCain and Palin?

CALLER: McCain, Palin, Cindy McCain, we could see them from the bus. We were in a position where we had eye contact with them --

RUSH: Oh, cool!

CALLER: My wife was holding our daughter.

RUSH: Very, very, very cool.

CALLER: It was really cool, Rush. I was like, 'Wow, that's awesome,' because I love Governor Palin and so I thought that's really neat. So then we moved around as the bus was getting ready to pull out, we kind of positioned ourselves so we could just wave them on and a Secret Service agent came up to us and said, 'Hey, can you come with us?' I was like, 'Do we have a choice?'

RUSH: (laughing) You shouldn't have worried. It's not the Clinton administration.

CALLER: Right. So we accompanied them up the hill, we went right to the bus, where it was, and Governor Palin, Senator McCain, Cindy, Todd Palin, they're all standing there. We're in this inner circle with just us and them, and the Secret Service agent, and they came right up to us and thanked us for coming out, said they loved our sign, and Governor Palin immediately said, 'May I hold your daughter?' and our daughter Chloe, who's five, went right to her, and I have some pictures I'd love to send you maybe when I'm done here, but Governor Palin was hugging Chloe, and then her little daughter brought their baby Trig who has Down syndrome from the bus, he was napping, and Chloe went right over and kissed him on the cheek, and my son Nolan who's nine, he thanked her.

RUSH: This is amazing.

CALLER: I will send you all the stuff, Senator McCain was talking to my son, and we thanked him for his service, and he asked my son if he wanted to see the bus, and we were hanging out and it was very surreal. I felt like we could have had a pizza and a beer with them, they were so warm.

RUSH: You know what? I want to put you on hold. I want Snerdley to give you our super-secret, known-only-to-three-people here, e-mail address.

CALLER: I will send you everything, Rush.

RUSH: And then could you send us these pictures? Would you mind if we put them on the website?

CALLER: I would be honored, and my main thing is they are warm, kind, genuine people, and they represent the best of this country.

RUSH: That's right. And when you send these pictures, make sure you identify them. I mean, we'll know Palin and McCain, of course. Identify yourselves.

CALLER: I will, I will identify everybody in the picture, Rush, and God bless you for being a beacon of hope and truth in this country.

RUSH: Oh, no, no. It's nothing, it's nothing. You're doing the Lord's work.

CALLER: Well, we're very blessed and I want people to know what a blessing it is to have a child with Down syndrome. These kids, they're angels.

RUSH: That's the thing. There's always good to be found in everything that happens. It may be a while before it reveals itself.

CALLER: Absolutely.

RUSH: Right, and when she hugged my daughter I said, here's the difference, this candidate embraces life and all its limitless possibilities.

RUSH: All right.

CALLER: That's what she is.

RUSH: Terrific, okay, I gotta run here, but I'm going to put you on hold.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush.

RUSH: Thank you, Kurt. I really appreciate it."

END TRANSCRIPT

A True Conservative - Sarah Palin

(a really good article from: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/article4677799.ece)

Sarah Palin: it's go west, towards the future of conservatism
Her thrilling convention speech showed that the Governor of Alaska is a force to reckoned with. But she might be more than that
by Gerard Baker

"The best line I heard about Sarah Palin during the frenzied orgy of chauvinist condescension and gutter-crawling journalistic intrusion that greeted her nomination for vice-president a week ago came from a correspondent who knows a thing or two about Alaska.

“What's the difference between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama?”

“One is a well turned-out, good-looking, and let's be honest, pretty sexy piece of eye-candy.

“The other kills her own food.”
Background

* Outsider Palin electrifies Republicans

* 'She's like a moose going after a cabbage'

* Comment: Sarah Palin passed this test but there will be more

* This is Alaska's Margaret Thatcher

Now we know, thanks to her triumphant debut at the Republican convention on Wednesday, that Mrs Palin not only slaughters her prey. She impales its head on a stick and parades it around for her followers to jeer at. For half an hour she eviscerated Mr Obama in that hall and did it all without dropping her sweet schoolmarm smile, as if she were handing out chocolates at the end of a history lesson.

There's a powerful danger in the sheer thrill that has followed her astonishing performance that we could get carried away with John McCain's running-mate. Some of the coverage has a hyperbolic tone to it. Not since Paris handed that apple to Aphrodite has a man's selection of a woman had such implications for the future of our civilisation.

So let's stipulate one obvious and important piece of wisdom about US elections. The choice of a vice-presidential candidate rarely makes much of a difference. The pundit class waxes historical in the excitement of the moment but usually the vice-presidential choices go back to playing second banana. However mawkishly we dwell on the mortality of the presidential contenders, it is they who determine the voters' decision.

This one, to be fair, could be different. For at least the next few weeks the press will follow Mrs Palin's present and dig deeper into her past, still hoping for some morsel of stupidity or evidence of cupidity to doom her. But in the end, barring such a discovery, this is still an Obama-McCain contest.

But let me try to explain why Mrs Palin, whatever impact she might have in November, may be a figure of real consequence in our lives.

It's partly about what she represents and partly about what she has already done, but mostly about where she and her ilk might take the Republicans - and possibly America.

It never ceases to amaze me how the Left falls again and again into the old trap of underestimating politicians whom they don't understand. From Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher to George Bush and Mrs Palin, they do it every time. Because these characters talk a bit funny and have ridiculously antiquated views about faith, family and nation, because they haven't spent time bending the knee to the intellectual metropolitan elites, they can't be taken seriously.

So the general expectation was that Mrs Palin would stumble on to the stage in high heels, clutching her sprawling, slightly odd family (five children! how weird), mispronounce the name of the Russian Prime Minister, mutter a few platitudes about God, and disappear for ever to a deafening chorus of sniggers.

No one paid much attention to the fact that she had been elected governor of a state. Or that she got to that office not because, unlike some politicians I could mention, her husband had been there before her, or because she bleated continuously about glass ceilings, but by challenging the entrenched interests in her own party and beating them. In almost two years as Governor she has cleaned out the Augean stables of Alaskan Government. You don't win a statewide election and enjoy approval ratings of more than 80 per cent without real political talent.

Never mind all that. She didn't have a passport! She was a former beauty queen! It was so axiomatic that she was a disaster that I was told by lots of savvy men - with deliciously unconscious sexism - that the real problem was what the choice said about Mr McCain and his judgment: cynical, irresponsible, clueless. It was as if Mrs Palin wasn't really a human being at all, but an article of Mr McCain's clothing that showed his poor taste, like wearing brown shoes with a charcoal suit.

So here's why she matters.

First of all she offers an opportunity for an ailing Republican party to reconnect with ordinary Americans. She's conservative, but her conservatism is not that of the intolerant, uncomprehending white male sort that has so hurt the party in recent years. She is much closer to a model of the lives of ordinary Americans - working mother, plainspoken everywoman juggling home and office - than any Republican leader in memory.

The contrast with Mr Obama is especially powerful. The very fact that Mrs Palin didn't go to elite schools but succeeded nonetheless - the very ordinariness with which she so piquantly jabbed Mr Obama on Wednesday - is what will make her so appealing to Americans. And as a pro-life conservative she debunks in one swoop the enduring myth that all women subscribe to the obligatory nostrums of radical feminism.

But there's more to it than that.

The Republicans have decided that they are not going to make the mistake Hillary Clinton made and run against the effervescent Mr Obama on the premise of experience.

Experience hasn't got Americans into a very comfortable place. They want change. Before he signed up to some of the less attractive Republican attitudes this year, Mr McCain's career had embodied that change - the anti-establishment candidate running against his own party. Now he is joined by a woman who, in her short career, has done the same thing.

Democrats think that Mr McCain, with the social conservative Mrs Palin, will launch an old-fashioned culture war at them, using her appealing manner to drive a populist assault on the familiar Republican issues of God, guns and gays.

Perhaps this Manichean interpretation will prove true. But I suspect that it misses the real appeal of the Republican team. The opportunity for McCain-Palin is not reaction, but reform - a reform rooted in a distant conservatism that could be due for a comeback

Hailing from Arizona and Alaska, the Republican ticket has a chance to rekindle a western conservatism different from the old Yankee paternalist sort or the Bible Belt version. They like their guns out there (some still kill their own food) and they are pro-life and deeply pro-America, of course. But at a time of grave challenges, the themes of economic freedom and opportunity, the resistance to the idea that government holds all the answers, could resonate with voters.

This is an election, as the Democrats have realised all along, about an America on the cusp of change. With the moose-hunting, establishment-taunting Mrs Palin at his side, Mr McCain might represent a bigger change than the one that his opponents are offering."

Sarah Palin

Some interesting facts about a true conservative (from http://www.biography.com/featured-biography/sarah-palin/bio2.jsp)

"Sarah Palin is the Governor of Alaska and the vice presidential running mate of Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

She was born Sarah Louise Heath on February 11, 1964, in Sandpoint, Idaho. At the age of three months, she moved to Alaska when her parents came to teach school in Skagway in southeast Alaska. Sarah Palin's father, Charles, was a science teacher and track coach. Her mother, Sally, was a school secretary.

Sarah Palin grew up in the small town of Wasilla, about 40 miles north of Anchorage. In 1982, she played on Wasilla High School's state champion girls' basketball team, picking up the nickname "Sarah Barracuda" for her intense playing style.

After graduating from Wasilla High in 1982, Sarah Palin wore the crown of Miss Wasilla in 1984 and was the runner-up in the Miss Alaska contest. She went on to earn a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Idaho in 1987. She also became a television sports reporter in Anchorage.

An outdoors enthusiast, Palin is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. She is an avid hunter, eats moose hamburger and rides snowmobiles.

Palin eloped with her high school sweetheart, Todd Palin, on August 29, 1988, and helped run his family's commercial fishing business. Todd, who is part Yu'pik Eskimo, also worked for BP at a Prudhoe Bay processing facility. He took leave from the company when his wife became governor to avoid a potential conflict of interest.

Affectionately referred to as Alaska's "First Dude," Todd is also a four-time champion of the Iron Dog, the world's longest snow machine race. From 1995 to 2002, he was a member of Alaska's Independence Party, a fierce states' rights group that wants to turn all federal lands in Alaska back to the state. Some party leaders have advocated Alaskan secession from the United States.

Palin and her husband have five children: Bristol (who is 17-years-old and expecting a baby with boyfriend Levi Johnston, a hockey player at Bristol's high school), Willow, Piper, Track (who is in the U.S. Army and was deployed to Iraq on September 11, 2008) and Trig (who was born in April 2008 with Down syndrome).

Palin entered politics in 1992, winning a seat on the Wasilla City Council by opposing tax hikes. Four years later, she was elected mayor of Wasilla by knocking off a three-term incumbent.

As mayor, Palin cut property taxes and reduced spending. She also raised the city sales tax by a half a percent to build a popular sports complex and put more money into public safety.

Mayor Palin also effectively used the system of congressional earmarks. She collected $26.9 million in such funding, according the independent watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, including $15 million for a commuter rail project.

Palin ran her first statewide campaign in 2002 in a bid for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. She lost by fewer than 2,000 votes.

Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski appointed Sarah Palin to chair the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003. She resigned a year later in protest over what she perceived to be the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, including Republican Party Chair Randy Ruedrich.

In 2006, Palin won the Republican primary for Governor, defeating Murkowski. She went on to win the general election in November 2006 by defeating former Democratic Governor Tony Knowles in the general election, 49 percent to 41 percent.

While running for governor, Palin supported the so-called "bridge to nowhere," which later was criticized (by John McCain and others) as too expensive ($400 million) to build a bridge to a remote Alaskan community. Palin said the bridge was essential for local prosperity. But once she became governor, she turned against it, citing rising costs and other priorities.

"I told Congress thanks but no thanks for that bridge to nowhere up in Alaska," Palin said. "If we wanted a bridge we'll build it ourselves."

Palin made history on December 4, 2006, when she was sworn-in as the first woman and youngest governor of Alaska. She was also the state's first governor who was born after Alaska achieved statehood in 1959.

With an emphasis on ethics and openness in government, Palin's administration focused on education, public safety and transportation.

As a conservative Protestant, she is unabashedly pro-life. She opposes all abortions, unless the mother's life is in danger, said Curtis Smith, spokesman for the 2006 Palin campaign. Palin also said she opposes embryonic stem cell research.

She has supported the teaching of creationism, the belief that life was created by a deity, in public schools, alongside evolution, as reported by the Anchorage Daily News. She also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."

The Anchorage Daily News also said Palin supported Alaska's decision to amend its constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

On the energy front, Palin has intensely pursued a pipeline to deliver natural gas from the North Slope of Alaska to market. In summer 2008, the state legislature approved her plan to give a $500 million subsidy to TransCanada, a Canadian company, to help build the project.

She also passed a major tax increase on state oil production, promising to give some of that money back to Alaskans in the form of a $1,200 check.


John McCain picked Sarah Palin as his running mate on August 29, 2008, formally introducing her during a campaign rally in Dayton, Ohio. Formally nominated on September 4 at the Republican National Convention, Palin is the second woman to run for vice president on a U.S. major party's ticket and the first Republican female to do so.

Addressing the party's convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 3, Palin depicted herself as "just your average hockey mom," joking that the only difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull is lipstick.

In her first nationally televised interview since being named Republican John McCain's vice presidential running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said she didn't hesitate when asked to join the ticket and believes she is prepared to run the country if necessary.

"I'm ready," Palin told ABC's Charles Gibson on Sept. 11, 2008. "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."

On the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Palin hesitated when Gibson asked her whether she supported the Bush doctrine and asked "In what respect, Charlie?" Gibson defined the doctrine as a post-9/11 policy supportive of pre-emptive strikes against threats to the U.S. as articulated in advance of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country. In fact, the president has the obligation, the duty to defend," Palin said. She also favored including Ukraine and Georgia in NATO, even the U.S. might have to go war if Russia were to invade Georgia again.

On the issue of energy, Palin renewed her support for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, despite McCain's opposition. But she appeared to do a sharp turn towards McCain's view on the role humans play in climate change.

In an August 2008 interview with the conservative Web site Newsmax.com, Palin said, "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. ... I'm not one, though, who would attribute it to being man-made"."