SUBJECT: LST office workplace dress-code

In response to ongoing inquiries, my answer is still NO.

David Benzion, Publisher

(For previous memos, see here.)

Mmmm. How about a big bite?

Angry Republicans:

If it felt familiar when Brooks & Dunn’s “Only In America” played after Barack Obama’s acceptance speech last night, there was good reason: President George W. Bush used the same song four years ago when he was rallying against Democratic candidate John Kerry. Brooks & Dunn were big supporters of Bush, even playing W’s inauguration party back in 2001. So how does Kix Brooks feel about Obama’s use of the track? He wasn’t angry at Obama for using the song, a la Jackson Browne with John McCain. Instead Brooks said, “Seems ironic that the same song Bush used at the Republican Convention last election would be used by Obama and the Democrats now. Very flattering to know our song crossed parties and potentially inspires all Americans.”

Inclusive Democrats:

Jackson Browne has filed a lawsuit against John McCain after the Republican presidential candidate used a portion of Browne’s “Running On Empty” in a campaign commercial without permission. The Republican National Party is also listed in the suit. In the commercial, McCain mocks Barack Obama for suggesting that the country conserve gas through proper tire inflation. What bothers Browne almost as much as McCain’s lack of permission, the lawsuit alleges, is that using “Running On Empty” suggests that Browne supports McCain’s presidential campaign and the Republican platform. “In light of Jackson Browne’s lifelong commitment to Democratic ideals and political candidates, the misappropriation of Jackson Browne’s endorsement is entirely reprehensible, and I have no doubt that a jury will agree,” Browne’s lawyer Lawrence Iser said. Browne is seeking to prohibit the McCain campaign from using “Running On Empty” or any other Browne compositions, as well as asking for unspecified damages.

TMZ.com is reporting that Ann and Nancy Wilson are upset that their 1977 rock hit “Barracuda” was used without their permission in the Xcel Energy Center at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

The Heart duo has “fired off a cease and desist letter” to the McCain/Palin campaign, the gossip website is reporting this morning.

Specifically, TMZ.com says, Heart is upset that the GOP is using “Barracuda” as a theme song for veep candidate Sarah Palin. Her “Sarah Barracuda” nickname dates back to her high school basketball days as praise for her intensity on the court.

TMZ.com says it obtained a statement from Heart’s rep, who says, “The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission.”

The statement goes on: “We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored.”

Somehow seems appropriate.

While born in Los Angeles (his parents were migrant farm workers), Johnny Horton grew up in Rusk, Texas. He died instantly in a head-on collision with a drunk driver in 1960 near Milano, Texas.

Perusing the Op-eds this morning I came across two pieces I found interesting. The first was from NYT columnist Paul Krugman. Mr. Krugman always has that look like he’s simultaneously suffering from PTSD as a result of regular assaults from the schoolyard bully and a severe case of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, both of which tend to make him as annoying as a cowering and barking chihuahua protecting his little corner of the couch:

But don’t be fooled either by Mr. McCain’s long-ago reputation as a maverick or by Ms. Palin’s appealing persona: the Republican Party, now more than ever, is firmly in the hands of the angry right, which has always been much bigger, much more influential and much angrier than its counterpart on the other side.

Can the Leftist press really be that blind? While conservatives do get angry it’s usually reserved for members of the Republican party that stray from our ideals. Most have given up on the Left ever developing common sense. And a quick trip to the blogosphere could settle the argument of who’s angrier. But why does Krugman think we’re angry?

What struck me as I watched the convention speeches, however, is how much of the anger on the right is based not on the claim that Democrats have done bad things, but on the perception — generally based on no evidence whatsoever — that Democrats look down their noses at regular people.
***
By selecting Barack Obama as their nominee, the Democrats may have given Republicans an opening: the very qualities that inspire many fervent Obama supporters — the candidate’s high-flown eloquence, his coolness factor — have also laid him open to a Nixonian backlash. Unlike many observers, I wasn’t surprised at the effectiveness of the McCain “celebrity” ad. It didn’t make much sense intellectually, but it skillfully exploited the resentment some voters feel toward Mr. Obama’s star quality.

The Democrats have done plenty of “bad things” to make the right angry. Virtually all of Obama’s positions on the issues are right out of the Socialist playbook. Ignoring that Krugman reveals himself as an elitist (”It didn’t make much sense intellectually”) I’m not sure how Americans could read this as anything other than condescending and elitist:

And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Then there’s Michelle Obama’s statement that she’d never been proud of America until this year, despite being given opportunities like no other country in the world. The Leftist elite have surrounded themselves with like-minded people in the media and academia, in liberal hot spots for so long they are incapable of understanding how such comments can be interpreted as offensive. Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers understood it:

It comes off very badly… They are things that I think in a liberal world sound totally normal, and outside of that world I don’t know that he appreciates how it sounds. And it just sounds very elitist, and it sounds like he’s looking down on people.

Proving the left is still clueless, Krugman ends with the false assumption that Republicans are resentful:

But the Democrats can’t afford to be complacent. Resentment, no matter how contrived, is a powerful force, and it’s one that Republicans are very, very good at exploiting.

The second article comes from The Times writer Gerard Baker. He nails the left’s condescension as it relates to the selection of Palin as vice presidential candidate, and shows how clueless the left remains, despite the lessons given over the last nine months:

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.

The treatment of Sarah Palin by the left and their media stooges proves yet again how the left underestimates their opposition. Governor Palin is more than capable of standing up to them and, once again, their strategy backfires. They lose the debate and infuriate the voters.

Baker also touches on the appeal of Governor Palin:

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.
***
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.

When this election started so long ago (too long ago!) who would have thought the person that would energize and unite the party would be a woman from Alaska who has more in common with Teddy Roosevelt than Eleanor Roosevelt?

Traveling home from a business meeting last night, I was able to hear the last twenty minutes of McCain’s speech on radio. Others have often commented on what a difference there is in only hearing the audio. It is much less distracting to the mind.

As convention speeches go, I thought it was just fine–quite moving at several points. I remember thinking, “What an enormous contrast there is between this man and the Hamas-Endorsed Candidate. This shouldn’t even be a contest.”

And I really enjoyed the closing rallying cry. But I am a sucker for such things. Heck, I cry at weddings and baptisms.

…..I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your President. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God, as I thank Him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on earth, and with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach. Fight with me. Fight with me.

Fight for what’s right for our country.

Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children’s future.

Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies.

Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here. We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Good luck, and Godspeed, Senator.

Remember the comparison of US Weekly’s treatment of The One and Sarah Palin?

Turns out that a whole lot of people got upset about it.

Us Weekly, which unlike People and OK!, chose a rather caustic cover line (“Babies, Lies and Scandal”) is said to have lost thousands of subscribers in just the first 24 hours following the printing of the issue.

“I’m hearing it’s 5,000, maybe more,” says one well-placed source in the industry. Another source claimed that as many as 10,000 readers have already cancelled their subscriptions. A spokesperson for Wenner Media, which publishes Us, says “it is completely false that we are losing 10,000 subscribers.” As for the 5,000 estimate, the spokesperson only said “that is false, too,” but wouldn’t comment further.

That is surprising to me because I didn’t think that many conservatives would subscribe to US Weekly. Perhaps they are those ‘independents’ that we hear so much about?

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann used the negative cover as a prop when talking about the Republican convention. But they failed to do something that any serious journalist would do: they failed to tell their audience that US Weekly is owned by Jann Wenner, a maxed out donor to…Barack Obama.

If you are like me and aren’t a subscriber and don’t pick the rag up at the checkout counter, what can you do? Well, how about a phone call or email to a few of their advertisers? Never know, it could impact their bottom line. Worth a shot. A group calling for a boycott has conveniently listed their advertisers, along with phone numbers and contact information. Here is a small sample:

PRODUCT(s)	PARENT COMPANY	PHONE	EMAIL
Cover Girl, Olay, Crest	Procter & Gamble	800-568-4035
Neutrogena	Johnson & Johnson	800-582-4048
Coca Cola/Powerade	Coca Cola	404-676-5009
Pepperidge Farm	Campbell’s Soup Co.	800-257-8443
Lady Foot Locker	Lady Foot Locker (Doug Smith)	212-720-3700

Why not send a couple of the advertisers a quick email telling them what you think of the hatchett job US Weekly did on Sarah and Trig Palin?

(h/t LST readers Darren10 and taxed2death)

UPDATE: Texpat has provided a link to the transcript for this video of Megan Kelly making a fool of US Weekly editor Bradley Jacobs.

Call him The Chosen One, The Enlightened One, The Messiah, whatever. Just please don’t call him Mr. President next January. Barack Obama’s policies would be disastrous for this country. In an interview with Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, this empty suit being foisted on Americans said this about the increased troop levels in Iraq that have resulted in victory and fewer deaths.

“I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated,” Obama said while refusing to retract his initial opposition to the surge. “I’ve already said it’s succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.”

Not. True.

One man had the experience and wisdom not to dream but to act. One man was willing to give up his own dream of being president so that our troops would be safe and victorious. One man had the courage to stand up and fight not only the left but his own party. That man?

John McCain.

It was shortly after the 2006 elections and Republicans were downcast and downtrodden. The voters had just kicked them out of power and the pundits were comparing Iraq to Vietnam. No Republican politician wanted anything to do with Iraq, much less show support for our efforts there. Except John McCain. Robert Novak thought Sen. McCain’s shot at the White House was over because of it.

In the latest Evans-Novak Political Report, conservative columnist Robert Novak suggests that Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) “aggressive” push for a U.S. troop expansion — or “surge” — in Iraq may be costing the top 2008 GOP contender in the polls, especially when matched against another presumed front-runner, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

But Sen. McCain didn’t back down. He didn’t cut and run. He stood in and fought. And won that battle. Now, by any and all accounts, even by the wildest dreams of an unqualified candidate for president, Iraq is a success. It would not have happened without the fierce determination of John McCain.

Rudy Giuliani has some advice for Barack Obama.

When Russia rolled over Georgia, John McCain knew exactly how to respond.

Having been to that part of the world many times and having developed a clear worldview over many years, John knew where he stood. Within hours, he established a very strong, informed position that let the world know exactly how he’ll respond as President. At exactly the right time, John McCain said, “We’re all Georgians.”

Obama’s first instinct was to create a moral equivalency - that “both sides” should “show restraint.” The same moral equivalency that he has displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel.

Later, after discussing it with his 300 foreign policy advisors, he changed his position and suggested that the “the UN Security Council,” could find a solution. Apparently, none of his 300 advisors told him that Russia has a veto on any UN action. Finally Obama put out a statement that looked …well, it looked a lot like John McCain’s.

Here’s some free advice: Sen. Obama, next time just call John McCain.

Here is some free advice for voters: vote for John McCain. He will make certain that America is secure so that you can pursue your wildest dreams.

Rain coming your way? Take a vacation on the U.S. taxpayer!

Houston has its share of late-summer traditions — high school football, steaks on the grill, and layoffs at the Chron:

The Houston Chronicle offered voluntary buyouts to its employees today, with a goal of reducing staff by roughly 80 full-time positions, Publisher and President Jack Sweeney said Thursday.

Depending on how many employees request buyouts, layoffs might be necessary. When the reductions are completed at the end of the month, the full-time staff will be cut by 5 to 6 percent, Sweeney said.

A little math reveals that the Chronicle employs about 1,450 people. Less than four years ago, more than 2,400 people worked for the Chron.

Firing a thousand people must be good for editor Jeff Cohen’s golf game. His handicap currently stands at 8.6, down from 9 during last year’s layoffs.

Nice shooting, Jeff!

Despite Decline in Actual Market Values, Austin Suburb Appraisals Increase and Eat Up Property Tax Rate Cut

In a recent post, I lauded the Austin suburb of Leander for reducing their property tax rates. Yet, we learn today from the Hill Country News that local tax bills are actually going up because the appraisals on property are increasing.

In a thriving community where homes, businesses and schools are sprouting
like Texas bluebonnets in the spring, appraisal values continue to soar.

I knew there had to be a catch. Since property taxes equal appraised valuation times tax rate (for each taxing jurisdiction to which a property owner belongs), there are two variables that can be tinkered with to get to the final tax owed. With the tax man, if the left hand doesn’t get you, then the right one will.

But what makes this increase a harder to swallow is market values for the area are actually decreasing.

(more…)

“For the record, no one ever said fire Wooten. Not the governor. Not Todd. Not any of the other staff,” Monegan said Friday from Portland. “What they said directly was more along the lines of ‘This isn’t a person that we would want to be representing our state troopers.’ “

The Monegan in that quote would be Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, whose recent firing by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and now Republican Vice-Presidential nominee has been dubbed ‘Troopergate’ by a liberally biased national media looking for anything to stop the momentum of the McCain/Palin ticket.

This latest attack on her involves her former brother-in-law, Alaska State Trooper Mike Wooten. In 2005, long before she even ran for governor, she, along with other members of her family and community, tried to get the Alaska State Troopers to investigate the thuggish behavior of Trooper Wooten, who was married to her sister Molly McCann.. In the end, he was investigated and had 11 charges against him sustained by Colonel Julia Grimes, Director, Alaska State Troopers.

Included in the charges that were sustained are:

• Wooten used a Taser on his stepson.
• He illegally shot a moose.
• He drank beer in his patrol car on one occasion.
• He told others his father-in-law would “eat a f’ing lead bullet” if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.

These findings are in addition to many other incidents, from drunken brawls to having another trooper drive him home after pulling him over after a night of drinking. To calling Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, a f’ing ***hole and losing his football coaching position at the local high school. Here is a portion of his official reprimand letter:

“The record clearly indicates a serious and concentrated pattern of unacceptable and at times, illegal activity occurring over a lengthy period, which establishes a course of conduct totally at odds with the ethics of our profession,” Col. Julia Grimes, then head of Alaska State Troopers, wrote in March 1, 2006, letter suspending Wooten for 10 days. After the union protested it, the suspension was reduced to five days.

Wow. A 10 day suspension, reduced to 5 after union thugs got involved. For tasing his 10 year old stepson. Illegally hunting. Drinking while on duty and while driving a state patrol car. Threatening to kill his father-in-law. A 5 day suspension.

And you will note that this occurred prior to Sarah Palin being elected governor – Frank Murkowski had yet to be defeated by her. Is it any wonder that, after the election and she was in office, Gov. Palin would say this:

“It was a joke, the whole year long ‘investigation’ of him,” the e-mail said. “This is the same trooper who’s out there today telling people the new administration is going to destroy the trooper organization, and that he’d ‘never work for that b****’, Palin’.)”

Or, when she was trying to clean up the corruption in the state, this:

In that first e-mail, sent a few weeks after the meeting, Palin encouraged Monegan to testify for a bill that would require 99-year sentences for police officers found guilty of murder. “For police officers to violate the public trust is a grave, grave violation — in my opinion. We have too many examples lately of cops and troopers who violate the public trust. DPS has come across as merely turning a blind eye or protecting that officer, seemingly ‘for the good of the brotherhood’.”

It is no wonder to me at all. But the liberal press expects politicians to be politicians, keeping the status quo in order to get along.

Sarah Palin is about anything but status quo.

Do you really want change in America? Neither Barack Obama nor Joe Biden have the intestinal fortitude to take on the establishment. Can you imagine either of those guys taking on the entire State Trooper department? Laughable.

But Sarah did. Call it Troopergate if you want. I call it courage. Courage to take on the good old boys and accept nothing less than honesty and demanding that police officers be held accountable for breaking the law. I hope she takes that same attitude into the Vice-Presidency.

Background:

Statement by Charles Heath, Sarah Palin’s father (pdf)

Initial Investigation of Trooper Mike Wooten (pdf)

Second Investigation of Trooper Mike Wooten overturning parts of the first (pdf)

Suspension Letter of Trooper Mike Wooten (pdf)

InDepth Investigation by Anchorage Daily News

Washington Post Hit Piece Outlining Several Emails

Sarah Palin’s Ethics Disclosure Form (pdf)

(h/t LST reader Phil_M)

This morning I caught a rare interview of all three network news anchors together by an ABC reporter. The topic was whether the charges of sexism and the criticism of the media on their handling of Sarah Palin were fair.

Charles Gibson completely ducks the issue saying the questions on her experience are fair game and asked of all candidates, never mentioning the questions that have nothing to do with experience which have been asked. I haven’t heard one single reporter ask Obama how he balances his political career with raising a family.

Perky Katie Couric rationalizes the media coverage by saying she is “on guard” and is “sensitized” to sexism but sees nothing wrong with their coverage. She then proceeds to rationalize how their intense coverage of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy is legitimate because it has to do with Sarah Palin’s vetting process. What???

Finally, Brian Williams comes up with the lame rationalization that Americans are smart enough to overlook all this so they should be excused from practicing responsible journalism. Then, probably half-jokingly, he remarks how perhaps the three of them should circle the wagons on a regular basis to confront the criticisms being heaped upon them for their shameful “reporting”.

Check out the whole silly interview here.

I’ll admit to being a bit hesitant when first hearing that John McCain had picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. Shades of Mondale/Ferraro I thought. Gimmick. Desperation.

Boy, was I wrong!

The more you learn about this lady, the more you realize that, win or lose, she is exactly the right choice at this time. There is more to ‘experience’ than sitting in a committee chair in the Senate. The question is, how is your experience, be it great or small, going to affect your decisions?

And it is clear that Sarah Palin’s experience will lead her to make solid, fact based decisions, not knee jerk reactions such as Joe Biden had to the events of 9/11, when his ‘experience’ led him to propose sending $200 million to Iran. Sarah might send a gunship but she sure as heck wouldn’t send money.

All around the country, people are talking the speech. And what a speech it was! If you sit back and think about the bar that was set, a bar set so high that Ronald Reagan would have had a tough time reaching it, and the way she not only reached it but hurdled it, you’ll begin to understand why the country is abuzz.

Even Slow Joe Biden had to admit it was very, very good.

Biden repeated praised her speech, noting she made “good, funny lines, . .. I’m glad they weren’t about me, I was sitting there thinking whoa, zinger.”

And he even embraced the GOP charge that Palin has suffered from sexism since she was chosen last week by Republican presidential nominee John McCain to be his running mate.

“The truth is some of the stuff the press and the others have said about the governor are outrageous,” he said. “This stuff about how can she be a governor and a vice-president and raise three kids, come on. Whoever those folks are don’t know any strong women. .. . Some of the stuff said has been over the top, totally unfair, and I think it has been sexist.”

And to reiterate that point, the Boston Hearld runs a column on her hair.

But must her hair suffer? With her long, straight, often pinned-up locks, Palin looks one humid day away from fronting a Kiss cover band.

“It’s about 20 years out of date,” said Boston stylist Mario Russo of the Alaska governor’s ’do. “Which goes to show how off she might be on current events.”

The LA Times goes deep into the feminist well and runs a column by Gloria Steinem, who runs off the cliff trying to explain why women won’t vote for McCain/Palin.

Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton’s candidacy stood for — and that Barack Obama’s still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, “Somebody stole my shoes, so I’ll amputate my legs.”

Hey, it could be worse! She could have said something about amputating Sarah’s legs! But Barbara Kay of the National Post debunks the old school feminist.

Palin is a real problem for the feminists, who are tearing their hair out trying to find a *** in her armour. Her life narrative reads like a 1950s woman of the patriarchy, but her accomplishments are those of a totally emancipated woman who broke through the glass ceiling on her own merits, hard work and determination. You can’t say the same for Hillary, a playbook feminist in theory who rose to eminence on a man’s coattails.

Heh. Couldn’t have said it better myself. Chicago Sun Times columnist Mary Mitchell gets to the heart of the matter.

Palin’s on the ticket because she’s a woman and she isn’t afraid to engage in the Republicans’ mean-spirited personal attacks.

No, she isn’t on the ticket because she isn’t afraid to engage in ‘mean-spirited personal attacks’. These aren’t personal attacks, Ms. Mitchell.

On Wednesday night, Palin showed the nation how a female fighter throws a punch:

“They loved their country in good times and bad, and they are always proud of America,” Palin said an obvious dig at Michelle Obama, during her remarks about her small-town roots.

“I love those hockey moms. You know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a pit bull — lipstick,” Palin said.

And then she showed us what she means:

“In small towns, we don’t heap praise on working people when they are listening and talk about how bitter they are and they cling to their religions and guns when those people aren’t listening,” she said.

“We prefer candidates who don’t talk to us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”

That is called telling the truth and not being afraid to tell it publicly. Unlike your Messiah, who leaks back channel stories such as the one that claimed Trig Palin was not Sarah’s son. Sick little wimp your Messiah is.

As for me, I’ll take the lipstick wearing hockey mom with the heart of a pit bull for my candidate.

Wow. Just wow.

Contribute: JohnMcCain.com

Whoa. Check this out. The Associated Press is reporting on Republican VP Nominee in waiting Sarah Palin’s speech. Problem is, she hasn’t spoken just yet.

The AP report is dated today, Sept. 3, 2008 at 7:33 pm ET. As I type this it is 7:49 pm CT. Governor Palin is not scheduled to speak until 9:30 pm CT.

Link: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080903/D92VHVGO0.html

Excerpts:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin cast herself as an outsider and took a swipe at Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday in what was the most anticipated speech of the Republican National Convention

Note the past tense. More.

“Since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves,” Palin said in excerpts of her remarks, released in advance of her appearance. “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities.”

Palin didn’t mention Obama by name but her target was obvious: Obama began his political life as a community organizer..

Obviously she would be correct if she says that. Except that she hasn’t, yet.

In what was clearly the most important speech in her life, Palin went over her experience as a public servant. “I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education better,” she said.

More past tense.

It sounds like it was a great speech.

Except that it hasn’t happened yet.

Screenshot:

The new McCain/Palin ad striking back at the behind the scenes smears coming from the Messiah’s campaign.

 

UPDATE: The vast majority of Lone Star Times readers do not take the time to read the comments. You risk missing gems like this from LST’s resident poet, Tedtam, who came up with her own script for a commercial:

“Sarah Palin’s investigation for having a trooper fired in her state has been widely and wildly reported.

The trooper tried to taser his own 11 year old son and made death threats.

Sarah Palin’s daughter is pregnant, and that has been widely and wildly reported.

Sarah’s family is dealing with this event together, as a family. As do many families in our world today.

Sarah Palin has been accused of faking a pregnancy to somehow cover for her daughter, and that has been widely and wildly reported.

That has been disproved with the revelation of her daughter’s pregnancy, which was forced into the limelight by these same accusations.

Barack Obama’s campaign has referred to her as a “former mayor,” and the media has reported that widely and wildly as well.

Sarah Palin has not only been the executive in charge of her town, but she has been governor of a state, in charge of billions of budget dollars, and managed thousands of employees. All of this is overlooked.

The media is running wild.

They should be careful.

Governor Palin shoots wild things.

I will vote for Sarah Palin because I don’t need the Democratic platform’s belated affirmation of motherhood. Thanks, but I already know that motherhood is good, several times over. Moreover, the party’s rediscovery of motherhood seems rather cynical in the current news cycle, while Democratic-friendly bloggers and media types bash Palin about her daughter’s pregnancy and her own busy schedule while bringing up children.

I will vote for Sarah Palin because she has guts. We’ve never met, but I suspect I know something about her life, and so do a great many other women. I know what it means to have a son with Down syndrome. I know what it means to talk a good line about religious faith and then be asked to prove it. I know what it means to have a daughter pregnant and unmarried.

In fact, while we’re on the subject, I also know what it means to have two grandchildren born out of wedlock, a son struggling with alcohol, two grandchildren with serious disabilities, putting myself through graduate school while simultaneously caring for a husband and children and teaching full time—and a whole lot more. This is the stuff of real human love; this is the raw material of family life. And those who think that Palin’s beliefs and family struggles are funny or worth jeering at, simply reveal the venality of their own hearts.I will vote for Sarah Palin because she has guts. We’ve never met, but I suspect I know something about her life, and so do a great many other women.

Your money is no good on The Company Plane:

Put away those dollar bills if you’re flying on Southwest Airlines Co. _ beginning Sept. 9, the airline won’t take cash for in-flight items such as beer and wine.

Southwest says on its Web site that it will accept credit and debit cards and Rapid Rewards drink coupons for items that carry a fee, which also includes cocktails and energy drinks.

The only reason I can think of is that unscrupulous flight attendants may have been pocketing some cash. But still, you’d think the cost of installing credit-card systems on thousands of planes would be more than the cost of theft. I guess not.

Give him credit, Newt Gingrich is taking it straight to the media - getting right in their two faces, if you will - over the already tired criticisms of Palin’s lack of experience.  And he is using the best example to date - the woefully inexperienced Barack Obama.  After Gingrich patiently answered a number of questions, the smackdown began at about 2:29 of this video.  And note the reporter’s response when Gingrich challenged him to name one thing Obama has done.

Meanwhile, the straight talking Michelle Malkin outlines “The Four Stages of Conservative Female Abuse,” and how the left has already hit all four while in the throes of Palin Derangement Syndrome.

Let’s hope that tonight Governor Palin justifies the confidence of such strong supporters - MSNBC is never going to get it anyway.