I hope you can forgive me, despite my undeserving nature, for some unspecific and overly personal posting of late. I’m going to try to correct that, and here I’ll start.

Resolved: Palin was a hit out of the park sort of choice for McCain and his team.

Why do I say this? I have many reasons, and I’m perversely glad and disturbed by his choice. Lemme share some reasons and links which may help you understand.

Palin in the eyes of one gardeners’ community. You’ll laugh, cry and hurl as you read it, but hopefully, also learn something of why I was nonspecifically asking recently for less groupthink in PB2.0. Sometimes, I fear we all forget that there are many people in America who think about politics, but so very few who think as we do. This is not the only thread I’ve read about Palin that is very different from the ones I’ve read in my usual daily travels.

Stepping back a bit and being imaginative: is Palin a good choice? Here’s why I think the answer is “yes.”  Read more 

No Associated Press content was harmed in the writing of this post  Read more 

Of course this was plastered to a gargantuan, gas-guzzling SUV. I couldn’t help but laugh and take a shot. Feel free to leave similar ones here if you come across them.

If I hadn’t had to run home, I think I would’ve stayed to ask the driver if he (I just assume it was a man) had noticed the defacing. It’s probably for the best; I don’t really have time to get into random fights just now.

According to the Volokh Conspiracy, Sarah Palin is “a huge hit at the Hillary Clinton Forum.”

If you’re like me, you’re wondering “what the fuck is the Hillary Clinton Forum?”

If I’m like me, I’m also asking “why the fuck am I reading the Volokh Conspiracy?”

Now, regardless of my disgust for McCain and for the many hard-right views of Palin, this is simply true….

With this pick, the GOP showed it was listening to disgruntled Democrats, whereas the Democrats have been quite resolute about not doing that, sometimes audaciously so.

Putting a little anti-Republican content in Obama’s convention speech is the only thing vaguely like a bone that’s been thrown to us this entire campaign.  Read more 

Both the Obama and McCain campaigns are acutely aware of where this election will be decided, and it is not amongst Liberal voters.  Read more 

Candidates’ Web Sites Get to Know the Voters

Any two people interested in whether Amanda Beard is dating fellow Olympian Michael Phelps, and who clicked on the Boston Herald tidbit that raced around the Web last week, got the same piece of gossip.

Rumored galpal Amanda Beard on Phelps: No Thanks!

What was different was the political ads that appeared — or didn’t — beside the story.

Readers who had visited Barack Obama’s Web site received as many as three Obama ads alongside the gossip. “Help Elect Barack Obama President of the United States” and “Visit the Barack Obama Website,” the ads said.  Read more 

Everybody’s in despair, every girl and boy
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here, everybody’s gonna jump for joy !

John Geyman has an excellent post examining all the front groups opposing Medicare for All. Highly recommended.

There are now only two choices.

Only one of them can win.

One outcome is completely unacceptable, and especially dangerous, for America.

I still have problems with Obama, but from here on I will work and write to illuminate issues that I want President Obama to address— and call him out when he fails to deliver.

As long as the criticisms— and praise— remain issue-oriented, Corrente can serve as a successful antidote to the now discredited, formerly progressive sites (you know who you are) that will no doubt continue to disappoint us in their analysis and commentary.  Read more 

Who knew (I certainly didn’t) that there was a reception at the convention on Tuesday for co-sponsors of HR676, the House bill for single payer health care?

Dr. Claudia Fegan spoke at the reception. It is a very eloquent piece of advocacy and well worth reading. Here is the last bit:

It is time to demand what we deserve. It is time to demand universal health care. We won’t get there by urging the insurance industry to play nice with others. We will get there by demanding a singlepayer national health insurance; Medicare for all.  Read more 

D’où Venons Nous / Qui Sommes Nous / Où Allons Nous…

Yeah, I know the circus tent folded last night, but I want to give people a chance to share their new, original, considered thoughts and impressions of Denver, for the party and themselves. Who are we? Where did we come from? Where are we going?

And need I say why the ital words are there?  Read more 

So far, the sourcing for a Palin scandal is a local news clip from YouTube and WKJM himself, er, “reporting.”  Read more 

I’m going to paste the whole thing and not editorialize:

August 29, 2008
TO: Puma PAC Members
FROM: Murphy
Subject: Announcement

Hello Puma PAC,
Goodbye Howard Dean. Goodbye Barack Obama. Goodbye Nancy Pelosi. Goodbye Donna Brazile. You have not only lost the White House for the Democratic Party. Today you have brought the Democratic Party to the brink of irrelevancy altogether. John McCain has played you all like a piano.

Today we say GOODBYE to the OLD Democratic Party. The OLD Democratic Party has led us to DISASTER. John McCain and Sarah Palin will win in November by a landslide.

TODAY, August 29th 2008, Puma PAC has started a new political party:

THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY
We have a website launching tonight. at www.thenewdemocraticparty.org
and www.ndp.org
We will be modeled on Alice Paul’s National Woman’s Party. We will NOT be running candidates. We WILL be endorsing candidates.
We will be the Party for All Disaffected Democrats who are FINISHED WITH THE OLD DEMOCRATIC PARTY. We are NOT Republicans, though millions of us will vote McCain/Palin in November.  Read more 

We’re at an impasse here, maybe we should compromise.

[Welcome, Power of Narrative readers!]

Here’s the very first comment from The Obama 527 Formerly Known As Daily Kos on McCain picking Sarah Palin for VP:

It’s a two-fer! Sexist and ageist! Well done. Here’s the sixth comment:  Read more 

[Thursday night’s] Message? (by Big Tent Democrat at TalkLeft)
Um, so the message [Thursday night] is that Democrats like to go to concerts? And the “Yes, We Can” song? With Obama speaking cuts in the middle and big pictures of Obama? Not a good idea. In my opinion of course. I’m not following what this is supposed to be achieving tonight.

Good News and Bad News (by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla)
Pat Buchanan calls Obama’s speech the finest he’s ever heard. The bad news is, he liked it because “it isn’t a liberal speech.  Read more 

The AT&T party where the attendees didn’t want to give their names?

Any bets on whether the words “net neutrality” were mentioned?  Read more 

Nice gesture, but…

John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, according to the McCain campaign, a surprise pick sure to shake up the race and reinforce the idea of the Arizona senator as a reformer.

The news that Palin, the mayor of a small town in Alaska just two years ago, was the pick came after CNN reported that a private plane had traveled from the Last Frontier to Dayton, Ohio where McCain is set to unveil his vice presidential pick later today. The Palin news came after the two supposed frontrunners — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — each confirmed he would not be traveling to Dayton today.

In picking Palin, McCain is taking a calculated risk. She is totally unknown and untested on the national stage but also has impressive credentials in her short time in public life.

And hey! What’s wrong with a weak resume?

Still, it’s nice to see that one major party can “man up” and deal with a woman on the ticket.  Read more 

Whaddaya know:

Personal incomes plunged in July while consumer spending slowed significantly as the impact of billions of dollars in government rebate checks began to wane.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that personal incomes fell by 0.7 percent in July, the biggest drop in nearly three years and a far larger decline than the 0.1 percent decrease analysts expected.

That “impact” was a dead cat bounce.  Read more 

Moon over Alabama:

More seriously, the Russian Federation Army today launched an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

The Topol RS-12M ballistic missile, designed to defeat anti-ballistic missile systems, has hit a designated target at a testing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula, said Alexander Vovk, head of the Russian Strategic Missile Troops press service.

This is the really, really serious signal. The Russian Federation can go nuclear if needed. They do not threaten this because they feel strong. They do threaten this because they feel weak.

Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.  Read more 

AHIP Launches New Long-Term Care Education Campaign

The centerpiece of this campaign is a new consumer-friendly website, http://www.MyLifeMyFamily.com, to provide consumers with basic information about long-term care insurance. The website provides videos that feature real-life stories from current policyholders, an interactive online quiz, and additional resources on long-term care insurance.  Read more 

[update: fixed the link, sorry about that] Fear and Loathing (or not) in Denver:

Another pause. Then: “If Obama wins, I just hope that black people don’t start thinking they’re superior.”

You all can hate on me for this, but I really wish we could discuss this more here. If this doesn’t hook you, try this, from the same post:

overcome all the fuzzy directions and vague instructions and claw our way past the security staff, shove our way past the Google lounge and up the diggit staircase and down the YouTube corridor…into a hectic room full of rude people with laptops. As a software guy, it occurs to me that I’ve never seen a room with so many computers and so few Asians. In fact, it seems to me that the blogger pool is considerably less racially diverse than the mainstream media. The overwhelming whiteness of this crowd really can’t be exaggerated.  Read more 

Is The Honeymoon (Finally) Over?

New Orleans health neglect system post-Katrina.

The [cough] Progressive. They can’t help themselves, can they?

I admit it! Please stop! I’m a racist! I’ll leave the party like you want me to, I swear!  Read more