Ooh, the fun never stops with Sarah Palin!

Wow, if every day from now on includes at least two or three more embarassing revelations from McCain/Palin, I'll be a very happy camper indeed.

Today's big one was that Todd Palin (the "first dude") was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party until 2002. Why is this significant? Well, they're a secessionist party. And a whacky one at that (of course, you'd have to be pretty whacky to advocate Alaskan independence). This is a little summary of their founder's political views:

"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for
the American government," [Joe] Vogler said in the interview, in which
he talked extensively about his desire for Alaskan secession, the key goal of
the AIP.

"And I won't be buried under their damn flag," Vogler
continued in the interview, which also touched on his disappointment with the
American judicial system. "I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is
an independent nation they can bring my bones home."

Unfortunately, Vogler was not black. Nor is he affiliated with any Democratic candidate, so this might not get the media attention it deserves. Still, the potential "first dude" being a member of an openly anti-American political party isn't something that can be swept under the rug so easily.

I mean, did anyone even vet her? I guess not.

And all that claptrap about "fighting corruption" in Alaska? John Cole takes a closer look:

I know that all I do is snark here, so work with me, as I am serious. I
keep hearing she is some crazy reformer, when so far, the facts look pretty
clear to me.

1.) She lied about canning the bridge to nowhere, and instead of canning it, used the
money on other projects (but still built the road to the bridge). It saved the
American taxpayers not one penny.
2.) She hired a lobbying firm to funnel earmarks to Alaska, sending millions to her
former constituents at Wasilla.
3.) She ran a PAC for the indicted Ted Stevens.
4.) She is embroiled in an abuse of power scandal, in which it is alleged that she fired someone
for not firing a trooper who used to be an inlaw, and then replaced that person
with a high school buddy. She has recently lawyered up when it became clear she was lying.

Yeah, she's a real crusader.

So, despite all the premature ejaculations on the Religious Right, it seems that any "bounce" McCain may have received from choosing Palin has quickly dissipated, as Obama has climbed in the polls over the past couple days, and has now broken 50% in both the Rasmussen and Gallup daily trackers, and is holding considerable leads in a couple other polls as well. To make clear, these are better numbers than immediately after the convention. Palin's selection did indeed lead to a bounce, but it was for Obama. Not too surprising, since female voters are none too impressed with this transparent and cynical pander. The poll results show that women in general, and Clinton supporters in particular, are among those least likely to support Palin as VP.

Finally, McCain, showing the maturity level of someone one-twentieth his age, has cancelled his scheduled appearance on CNN's Larry King Live. The reason? Well, Campbell Brown was just too damn mean to poor Tucker Bounds yesterday.

Heh. Not used to that level of skepticism, are ya John?

What am I missing......oh, right, isn't there a convention going on or something?

UPDATE: Okay, here's another awesome clip, courtesy of CNN and James Carville.



I think this is what the Democrats need to do. Just be merciless. Treat this with complete and utter ridicule, because that's all it deserves. Never mind the concern trolls. And good point about Alaska being easy to govern. The Anonymous Liberal has more:

To the extent anyone finds the "executive experience" canard convincing, it's probably worth pointing out that being the Governor of Alaska is really not at all like being the Governor of any other state. Alaska is unique in that its primary source of revenue is oil profits, not taxes. Alaskans pay neither a sales tax nor an income tax. And if you've been a resident of Alaska for at least 11 months, the government actually pays you a cut of its oil profits, which can be as much as several thousand dollars a year.

In fact, Alaska is so flush with money at the moment that the biggest decision Palin had to make as Governor was what to do with the massive budget surplus. She ultimately decided to write a check to every Alaskan for $1200. No wonder she's popular.

Well yeah. It's a petro-state. The idea that less than 2 years in the easiest governorship in the entire country qualifies her to be President is absurd.