WWJD

From the Chicago Tribune's Voice of the People:

Let us not forget: Jesus was a community organizer, and Pontius Pilate was a governor. Tom Mitchell, Wheaton

Letter from a Wasilla Democrat

After John McCain announced that Sarah Palin would be his running mate, Wasilla resident Anne Kilkenny sent an e-mail to some friends and relatives who wanted to know her opinion of Palin. Not surprisingly, the e-mail gained much wider distribution than Kilkenny had intended and it was republished with her permission in the in the Anchorage Daily News. After reading it, I can see why the McCain campaign doesn't want Palin to face questions from reporters.

Many things in Kilkenny's letter disturbed me, but none more than this:

Sarah complained about the "old boy's club" when she first ran for Mayor, so
what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of "old boys". Palin fired most of the
experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as Governor she hired or
elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people, creating a staff totally dependent
on her for their jobs and eternally grateful and fiercely loyal--loyal to the
point of abusing their power to further her personal agenda, as she has
acknowledged happened in the case of pressuring the State's top cop.

Do the names Goodling and Brownie ring a bell?

Palin's Hockey Rink

Today's Wall Street Journal tells the story of the $14.7 million sports complex that Sarah Palin built while mayor of Wasilla, Alaska that ended up costing an extra $1.3 million due to the failure to secure a signed contract prior to building the complex. The city had won a trial against another buyer who claimed that the property had been sold to him and started to build despite the fact that the competing buyer had filed an appeal. When the trial judge reversed the decision, Wasilla was forced to obtain a smaller slice of the property by eminent domain for $710,000 more than the original price and pay the other buyer $336,000 in interest. The city's legal bill has been approximately $250,000.

Not surprisingly, Palin is not taking any questions.

The McCain-Palin campaign referred questions about the sports complex to Mr.
Leonard, the former city finance chief. He blamed the Nature Conservancy [the
seller] for dealing with two different potential buyers at one time. "That's
what caused the confusion," he said.

"At the time, with the information she had, [Ms. Palin] made the right
decision," Mr. Leonard said. "But you know what? Litigation happens."

If Palin ever does answer any questions about her record in Alaska, here are two I would like to ask about this situation:

• Have you ever heard of title insurance?
• Are you really confused by the idea of a seller dealing with more than one potential buyer?

Republican Hypocrisy Regarding Sarah Palin

Jon Stewart doing what he does so well, skewering politicians who talk out of both sides of their mouths.



Among the highlights:

Karl Rove explaining how Virginia governor Tim Kaine would be a bad VP choice for Obama because he had only been governor for three years and he had only been mayor of a city of 200,000 people.

Bill O'Reilly pontificating on how teen pregnancy was a private matter when it comes to the Palin family and blaming the parents of "pinhead" Jamie Lynn Spears for her pregnancy.

Dick Morris and McCain policy advisor Nancy Pfotenhauer slamming Hillary Clinton for playing the gender card and crying over the sexist treatment of Palin. However Stewart correctly noted, "In Dick Morris' defense, he is a lying sack of shit."

Palin herself criticizing Hillary for complaining about the way women are treated.

Tell Me Another Story Daddy

If Sarah Palin is such a fearsome fighter of corruption even in her own party, why don't any Republican bigwigs seem nervous?

Palin's Pregnant Daughter

On the one hand, I agree that candidates’ children should be off limits. On the other hand, I am a parent who supports a high school English curriculum that includes some books that deal frankly with issues of human sexuality. In my community, that has earned the ire of certain evangelical Christians who have tried to get those books removed. Local Christian talk show host Sandy Rios has stated on her radio show that parents like me must not care about the welfare of our children because we would allow our children to be exposed to works like Slaughterhouse Five, Freakanomics, Beloved, The Things They Carried, and The Laramie Project.

So while I do not wish to cause any pain to Bristol Palin, I am curious to know her mother’s thoughts about how public schools should deal with issues of sexuality because in my community, the evangelical Christians of Sarah Palin’s ilk like to blame permissive parents for inciting young peoples’ sexual desires with racy books. I am not bothered by the fact that Sarah Palin’s daughter is pregnant any more than I was bothered by the fact that Dick Cheney’s daughter was a lesbian. I am bothered by the extent to which the conservative Christian wing of the Republican party thinks that other people’s sexuality is their business.