tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64609392024-03-13T10:59:49.908-05:00The So-Called "Austin Mayor" Blog(58) Please provide the URL address of any websites that feature you in either a personal or professional capacity (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, etc.)
"An ignorant, wide-eyed, weak-kneed, ridiculous, phony" -- Tom Roeser, January 26, 2007.So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.comBlogger1963125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-53306253804957063352008-12-01T13:25:00.000-06:002008-12-01T13:27:05.420-06:00<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><a href="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/13apply_questionnaire.pdf">VII. Miscellaneous</a><blockquote>(58) Please provide the URL address of any websites that feature you in either a personal or professional capacity (e.g., Facebook, MySpace, etc.)</blockquote><br /></span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-73301467838314139712008-10-03T17:20:00.000-05:002008-10-03T17:21:09.015-05:00<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The American electorate is experiencing something the press has labeled "the Palin Effect." <br /><br />It's when, for a brief time, a thing seems like a good idea, but then is almost instantly recognized as a terrible, terrible idea. <br /><br />It used to be called "the Zubas Effect."<br /></span>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-74193363195032659082008-09-30T19:58:00.001-05:002008-09-30T19:58:51.960-05:00<span style="font-family:arial;"><h2>Cubs Fandom in a Nutshell</h2><a href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/09/downtown-rally-to-be-held-today-for-cubs.html">The event opened with emcee Jim Belushi singing "Sweet Home Chicago."</a>.</span>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-24006100485970497072008-09-29T18:36:00.001-05:002008-09-29T18:36:48.192-05:00<span style="font-family:arial;"><h2>McCain: Republican Mav-Wreck</h2>"What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all of the parties to the table, including the House Republicans, whose votes were needed to pass this."<br />-- <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26927711/">Steve Schmidt</a>, John McCain's chief strategist, yesterday.<br /><br />Today: The Dow Jones industrials plunged 777 points today -- their largest point drop ever -- after <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-ap-financial-meltdown,0,455671.story">the House rejected the financial bailout bill</a>.</span>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-54833724353973890292008-09-29T18:33:00.001-05:002008-09-30T20:53:17.437-05:00<span style="font-family:arial;"><h2>McCainomics: The Nut of the Problem</h2>From the NYT's <a href="http://www.blogger.com/url">Paul Krugman</a>:<blockquote><br />The real revelation of the last few weeks, however, has been just how erratic Mr. McCain’s views on economics are. At any given moment, he seems to have very strong opinions — but a few days later, he goes off in a completely different direction.<br /><br />Thus on Sept. 15 he declared — for at least the 18th time this year — that “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” This was the day after Lehman failed and Merrill Lynch was taken over, and the financial crisis entered a new, even more dangerous stage.<br /><br />But three days later he declared that America’s financial markets have become a “casino,” and said that he’d fire the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission — which, by the way, isn’t in the president’s power.<br /><br />And then he found a new set of villains — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored lenders. (Despite some real scandals at Fannie and Freddie, they played little role in causing the crisis: most of the really bad lending came from private<br /><br />loan originators.) And he moralistically accused other politicians, including Mr. Obama, of being under Fannie’s and Freddie’s financial influence; it turns out that a firm owned by his own campaign manager was being paid by Freddie until just last month.<br /><br />Then Mr. Paulson released his plan, and Mr. McCain weighed vehemently into the debate. But he admitted, several days after the Paulson plan was released, that he hadn’t actually read the plan, which was only three pages long. </blockquote>Just three pages.<br /><br />Can America afford <i>another</i> incurious Republican president who won't address <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/06/flashback-seven-years-ago-today-bush-receives-bin-laden-determined-to-strike-in-us-memo/">a single, short document</a> concerning a grave threat facing our nation?<p></p></span>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-52561068689517135612008-09-26T22:12:00.005-05:002008-09-29T10:44:17.177-05:00<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> <br /><embed FlashVars="videoId=186052" src='http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/video_player/view/default/swf.jhtml' quality='high' bgcolor='#cccccc' width='332' height='316' name='comedy_central_player' align='middle' allowScriptAccess='always' allownetworking='external' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer'></embed><br /></span>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-8004680913544590752008-09-25T20:04:00.007-05:002008-09-30T20:54:18.696-05:00Suspension of Disbelief<span style="font-family: arial;"><a style="" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzf9P8vx33CWXwls48hEUZ-sHFI-HMTUvD68nQIFcgLtXUuTvD2429SJYn-PZdVgYlnNt6HTYZECj-TSkm_1IDEt_039H4F0XfJeByjiypAg2ptigNyxa5oSDCL7yiXCoGJliFEA/s1600-h/SUSPENSION+OF+DISBELIEF.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzf9P8vx33CWXwls48hEUZ-sHFI-HMTUvD68nQIFcgLtXUuTvD2429SJYn-PZdVgYlnNt6HTYZECj-TSkm_1IDEt_039H4F0XfJeByjiypAg2ptigNyxa5oSDCL7yiXCoGJliFEA/s320/SUSPENSION+OF+DISBELIEF.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5250130922542394082" border="0" /></a></p></span><br /></span>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-42130449414602074892008-09-22T20:42:00.002-05:002008-09-26T21:18:56.253-05:00Economic Martial Law<a href="url">"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."</a>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-46821292641566489362008-09-22T20:40:00.000-05:002008-09-22T20:41:53.654-05:00<h2 style="font-family: arial;">S.L.A.M: Slave-Labor "Austin Mayor"</h2><span style="font-family:arial;">Due to growing IRL demands of employment and the grave responsiblity of saving the planet by getting Barack Obama elected president, I have slacked off on my blogging duties of late. But the time crunch of work and campaigning only increase between now and the election.<br /><br />I still think that regular updating of this blog is important, however, so I have found what I believe to be a simple and elegant solution -- I will be outsourcing my blogging to a cut-rate, subcontractor in Mysore, India.<br /><br />Slave-Labor "Austin Mayor" (SLAM) will be contractually obligated to provide the same high-level of quality content that you've come to expect from the So-Called "Austin Mayor" blog while limiting my personal responsibility and liability in these closing days of the campaign.<br /><br />It's a win-win -- SLAM: First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Prices.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span>SLAM - First-Rate Blogging at Third-World Priceshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17117578551002924418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-73057860724806942972008-09-08T10:27:00.007-05:002008-09-08T11:04:50.636-05:00Palin: Ready On Day One Nine?<iframe style="font-family: arial;" src="http://pol.moveon.org/palinclock2/" frameborder="0" height="75" width="625"></iframe><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The news that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will finally give <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h21ZbzgPbTVRftcJPT5vkHkonY5QD93256F03">her first television interview</a> since John McCain tapped her as his running mate over a week ago has prompted many to ask, "<a href="http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2008/09/media-prayers-a.html">What questions would <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span> ask Sarah Palin?</a>"<br /><br />I would ask Gov. Palin, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Exactly how will you work across party lines and with our global allies to address the growing MILF problem?</span>"<br /><br />*****<br /><br /></span><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3003809.stm"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho3pI4eZWT5M27-zRV2x14NgkCC7wW-u7Wl0rhRLGOYJ38g9n4pu95dqni3qNz-Q_kS9UFfRcHeFmvDhD9P9Ec9Onk-swbkhq-y30rkvB42nfpBnfFuoyfB8_DW3AVLt3IYznfWw/s200/Milf_Hunter.jpg" alt="" title="The MILF is armed with American-made assault rifles." id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243674593006288466" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">I would then ask her if she knows that the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3003809.stm">Moro Islamic Liberation Front [MILF]</a> is the largest Muslim rebel group in the southern Philippines and that members of the MILF help train Indonesians connected to Jema'ah Islamiah (JI), the group accused of carrying out the 2002 Bali bombing.<br /><br />And that over 1,000 US troops are currently in the southern Philippines for military exercises.<br /><br />Hey, just what did <span style="font-style: italic;">you</span> think I was asking about?<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">UPDATE</span> - I would also ask her if she knows that over </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.facebook.com/s.php?k=100000004&id=36436310820&gr=2">46,565 members</a><span style="font-family:arial;"> belong to the <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I Have More Foreign Policy Experience than Sarah Palin</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>group on Facebook.</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-36671780847080583962008-09-08T09:30:00.006-05:002008-09-08T10:46:43.834-05:00A Math Question<a style="" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=821aea41-0bfe-4a4e-bb96-ca2b4735a48d"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WREDvflqhvqqDD6dTMuZPb7wWEVftizmgLG0JcMAlax-0ISwgqHSKTvvL-ZAJI89Q5SOf0wnXp6bfSJKNiW6H-rAR3sdxGEYJFmXSH87An2i_y_I8NHquf1Sh7I_rJ9byplKGQ/s200/TSA+CUBS.jpg" alt="" title="A bad trend." id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243664422107285634" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">When <a href="http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=821aea41-0bfe-4a4e-bb96-ca2b4735a48d">a Cubs fan becomes a TSA employee</a>, do you calculate his <span style="font-style: italic;">jerk-ass factor </span>by averaging the Cubs fan base score (8/10) and the TSA base score (9/10) for an 85% jerk-ass cumulative, do you use the highest score for 90% jerk-ass.<br /><br />Or, as I suspect, does jerk-ass actually increase </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">exponentially</span>?<br /><br />All I know is that if this Rafael Rosario was also a blogger, he'd be off the charts.</span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-68037531402460304522008-09-07T22:27:00.001-05:002008-09-07T22:42:10.323-05:00"You were lucky. We lived for three months in a brown paper bag in a septic tank."<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jf1y9s73Nos&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jf1y9s73Nos&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.michaelpalinforpresident.com/index.html">Palin for President</a></span><br /></div>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-47291899854712002652008-09-07T13:25:00.005-05:002008-09-07T13:30:57.148-05:00Life Imitates... Life?<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a style="font-family: arial;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=13577"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGxYZz7NewpPmQN58L_pXV0pOwYeDpPrEiwlVT9nOIxJJwwGBauUY9VyXcfl6fEDov2qn6xWL3OTLRhI_RE-sNjNp2148aBqO-EIE2nkGM8i4xaZhYpKTKQ9NjSNmIQPFCrBe8Q/s400/Life+Imitates+Life.jpg" alt="" title="John McCain and Tina Fey, September 2004" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243347445560553650" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">I wonder -- Does John McCain think he first met his veep pick at this <span style="font-style: italic;">Life </span>magazine cover shoot?</span><br /></div><br /><br /></div>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-2912671632016382482008-09-06T18:39:00.002-05:002008-09-06T18:44:50.105-05:00Sarah Palin: Not Ready for Prime Time Sunday Morning<span style="font-family:arial;">From your Chicago Tribune's <a href="http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/09/printer-sarah_palin_awol_from_sunday_c.html">Mark Silva</a>:<blockquote>So, maybe putting Sarah Palin out there in public where she has to answer questions from a reporter, as opposed to running circles around a fast-reeling TelePrompTer, isn't in McCain's "best interests?''<br /><br />Palin, conspicuous by her mere absence: <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/09/sarah-palin-w-1.html">This booking strategy</a> may speak volumes about the McCain campaign's confidence in the governor from Alaska.</blockquote> If Sarah Palin can't face George Stephanopoulos, how will she face down Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?</span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-2987865300752140902008-09-06T18:05:00.003-05:002008-09-06T18:25:26.970-05:00Four More Years Would Be a Drag<span style="font-family:arial;">From Chris Matthews:<blockquote>Did you ever see the movie <em>Mrs. Doubtfire</em>? Where the guy, Robin Williams, fails as a husband, and he comes back dressed as a housekeeper, and he gets a job so he can have responsibility for the kids again, having failed them as a dad and a father and as husband.<br /><br />Is this what John McCain’s doing, and what the Republican’s party doing out there in St. Paul—coming back as Mrs. Doubtfire? ‘We’ve failed in our role for eight years We’ve got a new costume on, accept us and give us custody of the country again, ’cause we look a little different.’<br /><br />It’s a <span style="font-style: italic;">Mrs. Doubtfire </span>strategy!</blockquote>Now that our American family is eight years older, let's <a href="http://store.barackobama.com/product_p/bs29534.htm">Hope</a> they will see through this clownish facade.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">h/t to </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.hitsville.org/2008/09/05/the-best-cultural-reference-of-the-conventions/">Hitsville</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> for the </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26565535#26565535">video link</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> and Mr. Wymann's transcription</span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-63293955094441835062008-09-06T15:38:00.002-05:002008-09-06T15:53:30.968-05:00"The Peasants Are Revolting"<p style="font-family: arial;">Your Chicago Sun-Times asks the musical question, "<a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1148608,CST-EDT-edit07a.article">Why is GOP sneering at Obama's work as community organizer?</a>":</p><blockquote style="font-family: arial;">Republicans insist that people should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Communities should take care of their own and not depend on big government to do the job. And the folks who do make it should give back.<p></p> <p>We agree wholeheartedly.</p> <p>But on what is the job of community organizer premised, if not those very principles?</p> <p>Community organizers come into poor neighborhoods and try to get people knocked down by life back up on their feet.</p> <p>They tell them where to find jobs, where to send their kids for day care, where to get drug counseling.</p> <p>They show residents how they can organize to protest poor housing conditions, low pay and other inner-city woes.</p> <p>When the job is done right, <span style="font-weight: bold;">a community organizer helps the most powerless among us gain some small sense of power over their lives</span>.</p></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">And that, gentle reader, is why the GOP fears and loathes community organizing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: arial;">They see power as a zero sum game and know that when common folks gain power over themselves, their communities and their lives, a dangerous little crack forms in the ruling class's power monopoly.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />That is what this election is all about.</span><br /><p style="font-family: arial;"></p>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-23022384817807356842008-09-02T15:07:00.003-05:002008-09-02T15:15:14.837-05:00Family Values<span style="font-family:arial;">"Let me be as clear as possible. I think people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics." -- Barack Obama reacting to news that GOP running mate <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/obama.palin/?iref=mpstoryview">Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant</a>.<br /><br />"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." -- <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/1998/06/25newsb.html">John McCain</a>, <span style="font-family:arial;">at a 1998 Republican Senate fund-raiser<span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span></span></span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-38609021671752066742008-09-02T09:35:00.002-05:002008-09-02T09:41:10.450-05:00Sarah Palin: Video Blogger<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qEW12XLUM7A&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qEW12XLUM7A&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://mediumlarge.wordpress.com/sarah-palin-vlogs-new/">Sarah Palin Vlogs!</a> at Medium Large</span><br /><br /></div>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-28452755669287670222008-09-02T08:37:00.003-05:002008-09-02T09:30:21.882-05:00"One Nation... Indivisible"<span style="font-family:arial;">"If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me"<br />-- Sarah Palin on the use of "Under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance<br /><br />As your Sun-Times' <a href="http://www.suntimes.com/news/quicktakes/1139480,CST-NWS-qt02.article">Zay Smith</a> reminds us, the Pledge was not written until 1892 and the words "under God" were only added in the 1950s.<br /><br />But Palin's apparent gaff may not have been a mistake.<br /><br />Consider the following:<br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Alaska became the 49th state of the U.S. on <a href="http://www.ers.usda.gov/statefacts/ak.htm">January 3, 1959</a>, and</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">In addition to being a former beauty queen, Sarah Palin was also a member of the secessionist <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/02/politics/animal/main4405774.shtml">Alaska Independence Party</a>, and</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Sarah Palin <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvPNXYrIyI&eurl=http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/the_alaska_independence_party.php">recorded a message</a> welcoming the secessionists to their 2008 party convention, and</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">Joe Vogler, founder of the secessionist Alaska Independence Party, stated in the "Introduction" section of <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080116105845/http://www.akip.org/introduction.html">the party's official website</a>, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions," and</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">If we apply Occam's Razor and assume that Sarah Palin understood the words leaving her own mouth, then </span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;">The "Founding Fathers" of the 1950's to which Sarah Palin was referring were the founders of sovereign and independent nation of Alaska.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;">Either that or she's some kind of nit-wit.</span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-71697934038076211472008-09-01T21:23:00.006-05:002008-09-01T22:13:24.109-05:00Palin: America can't pull out of Iraq, but Alaska can pull out of America?<span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">I do solemnly swear that I will </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, foreign </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">and domestic</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same: that I take this obligation freely, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">without any mental reservation </span><span style="font-style: italic;">or </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">purpose of evasion</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God. </span>-- <a href="http://inaugural.senate.gov/history/daysevents/vpswearingin.cfm">Vice Presidential Oath of Office</a><br /><br />"The Constitution, in all its provisions, looks to <span style="font-weight: bold;">an indestructible Union</span>, co</span><span style="font-family:arial;">mposed of indestructible States. *** <span style="font-weight: bold;">There was no place for reconsideration</span>, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the States." -- </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >State of Texas v. Wh</span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">ite, et al.</span>, </span><span style="font-family:arial;">74 U.S. 700 (1869).</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />From Jack Tapper of <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/members-of-frin.html">ABC News</a>:<blockquote>Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that [John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah] Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can <span style="font-weight: bold;">secede from the United States</span>.<br /><br />And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Alaska First -- Alaska Always</span>."<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/09/members-of-frin.html"><span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></span></span></a><span><span style="font-family:arial;"><span><span style="font-family:arial;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiduApFvZmZgBaZjq1iovjjn5iHtGcf1t-kGry4_ZOMu_R2loUM3z7-omnoqMTgyhlmZ-mTPuk3_QMPE2qx2VY4WCL7SwXzpXKKn1Va7ga5gghhn7JTD1my22oLiOHcVJUD_Vd6Aw/s200/rebel+girl.jpg" alt="" title="Alaska can pull out of America, but America can't pull out of Iraq?" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241255609390272754" border="0" /></a></span></span></span></span>Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, tells ABC News that <span style="font-weight: bold;">Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla</span>. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.<br /><br />"We are a state's rights party," says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has "a plank that <span style="font-weight: bold;">challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood </span>vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law." ***<br /><p>Clark says that Palin left the party and became a Republican in 1996, when she first ran for mayor of Wasilla. ***<br /></p><p style="font-family:arial;">Earlier <span style="font-weight: bold;">this year</span>, Palin sent a video message to the AIP for its annual convention, where AIP vice chair George Clark told the small crowd that Palin "was an AIP member before she got the job as a mayor of a small town –- that was a non-partisan job. But you get along to go along -– she eventually joined the Republican Party, where she had all kinds of problems with their ethics, and well, I won’t go into that."</p></blockquote>Remember when we took for granted the GOP vice presidential candidates' unconditional support of our Union of the States.<br /></span><p style="font-family: arial;"></p>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-100940741995960802008-09-01T21:05:00.004-05:002008-09-01T21:20:24.836-05:00Sarah Palin's "commitment" to Ted Stevens's Bridge to Nowhere<span style="font-family:arial;">From the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083102017_pf.html">Washington Post</a>:</span><blockquote><span style="font-family:arial;">Democrats accused Gov. Sarah Palin (R) on Sunday of misrepresenting her role in scuttling a controversial bridge project to a remote island in southeast Alaska.<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083102017_pf.html"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FlP94H-vTWEhG97ojv_kGk7Dt3Qi5XW9xDrTMX5ksgNJQQvdbO5qcQV2CgvOQWOPsUOwNMRrUd7-Noc_u9mEUDgIFFQERj3RegqELXXPEw6aJ4S5tD9SqqDaX6UlkfIGmX-aJA/s200/bridge+to+nowhere.jpg" alt="" title="Palin: 'We're going to build that bridge." id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241242086557851922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;">On Friday, the day she was introduced as Sen. John McCain's running mate, Palin touted her opposition to a bridge originally championed by Alaska's most prominent officials as an example of her fiscal conservatism and reformist credentials.<br /><br />"I told Congress, 'Thanks but no thanks on that Bridge to Nowhere,' " Palin told a crowd in Dayton, Ohio.<br /><br />But prominent Alaska Democrats said Palin supported the bridge while campaigning for governor ***<br /><br />"She was the only candidate who was saying, 'We're going to build that bridge,' " said former governor Tony Knowles (D), who lost to Palin in the 2006 general election. "She's taking a position now which certainly wasn't what it was when she was campaigning."***<br /><br />While campaigning in Ketchikan in September 2006, Palin indicated support for the bridge project, assuming there was no better alternative. "This link is a commitment to help Ketchikan expand its access, to help this community prosper," she told the local chamber of commerce, according to an account in the Ketchikan Daily News. ***<br /></span><p style="font-family: arial;">Palin's [ultimate] decision resulted in no savings for the federal government. The bridge money is being spent on other highway projects in Alaska.</p></blockquote><br /><p></p><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-113455900629996302008-09-01T20:38:00.006-05:002008-09-01T20:59:38.689-05:00Sarah Palin Was Original Director of Mentor Ted Stevens's 527 Group<span style="font-family:arial;">From <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/palin_was_a_director_of_embatt.html#more">the Washington Post</a>:<blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/01/palin_was_a_director_of_embatt.html#more"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaRq-31jlrPWOOGVS2JneGg5qOkxfKzPIxlTbN5tPeX_MFTTKOyCVt3SWjqZ3UQ7v65McPcAcaQsbT9pdtgIxhqexOWU_BzUlPoJxjzx7CUl2Rd_ord5nB7MXLpE7gbl_V3w50pA/s200/Palin+and+Stevens.JPG" alt="" title="Oviducts are not a truck..." id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241237045806297586" border="0" /></a>Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens.<br /><br />Palin's name is listed on 2003 incorporation papers of the "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.," a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors. *** She served as one of three directors until June 2005, when her name was replaced on state filings. ***<br /><br />A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., has accused Stevens of concealing on financial disclosure statements lucrative gifts from the now-defunct oil company Veco and its top executives. At one point, Veco employees and contractors jacked up the senator's mountainside house on stilts and added a new first floor, with two bedrooms and a bathroom, the indictment says.<br /><br />Stevens became the first sitting U.S. senator to face criminal charges in 15 years. </blockquote>Stevens and Palin also filmed a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nTX-oJUCaU">campaign commercial together</a> to highlight Stevens's endorsement of Palin during the 2006 race.<br /><br />No word whether Palin thinks the internet is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f99PcP0aFNE">a truck or a series of tubes</a>.</span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-40028097516890107342008-09-01T12:30:00.001-05:002008-09-01T12:30:33.840-05:00Juno, Alaska?<span style="font-family: arial;"><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/01/palin.daughter/index.html">CNN: Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant</a><span style="font-family:arial;">:</span><blockquote style="font-family: arial;">Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the father, a senior aide to Sen. John McCain confirmed to CNN Tuesday. ***<br /><br />The 17-year-old, a senior in high school, is about five months along, in her second trimester, according to the aide.</blockquote><span style="font-family:arial;">And now is a fine time to review a few highlights of John McCain's family planning voting record:</span><br /><ul style="font-family: arial;"><li>He voted against requiring health care plans to cover birth control (3/22/03).</li><li>He voted against comprehensive, medically accurate education (7/25/06).</li><li>He voted against international family planning funding (3/14/96).</li><li>He voted against funding to prevent teen and unintended pregnancies (3/17/05).</li><li>He voted against public education for emergency contraception (3/17/05).</li><li>And he voted against restoring Medicaid funding that could be used for family planning for low-income women (3/17/05). </li></ul><span style="font-family:arial;">We no longer have to wonder about the possible social outcomes of a McCain/Palin administration -- we can now see solid results of that unfortunate experiment.<br /></span><br /><br /></span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-86956502850234042702008-08-31T14:42:00.004-05:002008-08-31T14:51:43.885-05:00This Election Will Be About Judgment<a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/4628/sarahpalinla4.png"><span style="font-family:arial;">Sarah Palin's Pregnancy Decision Map</span></a>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6460939.post-74933642702580162562008-08-31T14:17:00.003-05:002008-08-31T14:39:11.191-05:00Empty Skirt<span style="font-family:arial;">An e-mail from The Alias Kid delivers my favorite analogy so far:<blockquote>Sarah Palin is Harriet Miers -- A conservative dame who's hollow resume would have been tossed in the trash if it had been submitted by a fella.</blockquote> True. But say what you will about Harriet Miers -- she wasn't just another pretty face.</span>So-Called Austin Mayorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10352094428842715059noreply@blogger.com0