Palin's Foreign Policy is confounding...

"Alaska Business Monthly: We've lost a lot of Alaska's military members to the war in Iraq. How do you feel about sending more troops into battle, as President Bush is suggesting?

Palin: I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe. Every life lost is such a tragedy. I am very, very proud of the troops we have in Alaska, those fighting overseas for our freedoms, and the families here who are making so many sacrifices."

...

Haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq?? Is she going to be baking cookies and making lemonade for the boys because it's becoming pretty clear that if you don't have any knowledge (which to her credit she readily admits) then what are you doing becoming the veep nomination for the little guys running around with little "R's" on their shirts??

Cindy McCain quotes now....

"You know, the experience that she comes from is, what she has done in government -- and remember that Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia."

That's like the old joke stand up comedian joke by Jeff Foxworthy: "I've seen it on the map ... it's purple...."

and now ... the baby

First off - I'd like to make clear that the rumor surrounding Sarah Palin and Trig are currently nothing more than rumor, but there's mounting and compelling things that can give one some doubt of the validity that her youngest son actually belongs to her. So while a substantial amount of GOP die-hards would like to bury the story as though it didn't exist ...

...think about that...

Protecting someone who may have LIED and DECEIVED the public about the birth of a child.. It says a lot coming from the party dedicated in the pursuit of "pro-life.."

The most compelling evidence thus far actually came from Palin herself:
- She did a speaking engagement 7 or 8 months into pregnancy
- Her water broke
- She consulted with her doctor in Alaska
- The same doctor that apparently said it was okay for her to make the 9-11 hour jaunt from Dallas, Texas back up to Alaska

Never mind the fact she's in a high risk pregnancy..
Never mind the fact that her amniotic fluid had been draining for hours during the speech..
Never mind the fact that the fluid draining was happening a full MONTH before the expected delivery..
Never mind the fact that NO ONE ONE BOARD the plane even noticed that she was going into labor.....

What doctor would give the consent of a woman who had been going into labor hours BEFORE she got on the plane -- to take another 9-11 hour jaunt (with a layover mind you) from Dallas to Anchorage??

Certainly Dallas has proper medical facilities that could've treated Sarah as she was on the onset that her labor was starting..

Things don't add up..

You can dismiss the photographs ... you can dismiss the observations made by her own staff, by the airlines, by film producers, by the press ... but when the rationale flies south like this ... no self-respecting doctor would ever allow a woman in the middle of delivering her baby during an already established high risk pregnancy to fly back home when prevailing medical care was readily available where she was at..

So when she got off the plane - she went immediately into the nearest hospital in Anchorage to be checked out, right??

No.... She drives 45 minutes away to another medical center located near the small village she used to govern where she used to govern..

*sighs*

Whatever comes out of this -- and I hope the rumor is merely just a rumor -- but it doesn't bode well for someone who is going to be asked to make real tough decisions when she clearly doesn't act in the best interest of her children by putting her life and the life of her unborn child at risk by clearly ignoring all of the well established risks of pregnancy -- of a NORMAL pregnancy much less a high risk one..

Let the Palin quotes begin....

"It's great to see another part of the country"

*sighs*

Yeah.... there are parts of the country beyond Alaska dear.....

The Pandering Selection...

What a whirlwind 36 hours it's been in the political arena.. After Hillary's outstanding speech, we had the Presidential moment when Barack Obama took his message to the people.. More people tuned in for his acceptance speech than watched the Olympic opening ceremonies.. He delivered on his promise of installing a message of hope and change..

Needless to say when we went to bed that night - we were feeling pumped!!

And then yesterday happened..

In what is clearly a pandering choice, McCain selected Sarah Palin as his nominee for vice president.. And the moment he did that, the tires came deflated for every argument that he attempts to cast about the "inexperience of Barack Obama.."

The selection is riddled by the fact that Susan Palin comes out against women's rights issues.. She's pro-business, she's pro-life, and she's pro-home school -- which isn't really going to play well when she expects you to be "barefoot and pregnant" with the Democrats..

It's a pandering choice because how can you seriously know "she's the one" when you've seen her a maximum of two times??

It's a pandering choice because aside from a stint as a mayor for a hamlet .... what real governing experience does she have??

It's a pandering choice because what real experience does she have about the international playing field?? Oh, she's been to Kuwait?? And that makes her more qualified than a man who has chaired the Foreign Relations committee??

It's a pandering choice because the selection is nothing more than an errant attempt to solidify the base with a selection that will be serving in name only.. A puppet to the republican nominee.. How do we know this?? She's said as such:

"I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?"

Excuse me ... you just accepted the role of vice president, but you have no idea what the office of the VP does??

...and this is the *best* John McCain could do??

No wonder many are considering Palin to be worse than that "other vice president" Dan "Tomatoe or Tomato" Quayle..

Her issues are heavily rooted in the red column: she wants to drill, she wants to kill polar bears, she loves fur, she believes in creationism for our schools, she doesn't believe in global warming and she's heavily vested in big oil (her husband had a nice cushy job with BP) and lastly she wants to take away a woman's right to choose.. She thinks she's more qualified to tell a woman what to do with her body than you do..

But it gets even more interesting when you hear Alaskans talk about Palin.. She wasn't exactly the angel being portrayed thus far -- and she has a little problem with the law apparently as she's under investigation for her own "Trooper-gate" issue.. Alaskans are thrilled that they've been cast into the limelight, but even they are scratching their heads on this one.. They have at least two other more capable, more experienced Alaskan women McCain could've chosen for the Veep slot -- so why go with her??

Was it her looks?? Her smarts?? The fact she instills youth to an old decrepit campaign?? Probably a little bit of all of this.. But I've seen the announcement played over ten fold ... and I noticed something.. Right after McCain announces her as Veep, they exchange a couple of glances and the looks that come from that are very foreboding.. He looks like a giddy-like old fart who just scored a date with Cindy Crawford ... and her expression is that same look when a pretty girl rolls her face (not just her eyes) in condemnation of some pervert checking her out....

She might be experiencing some buyer's remorse here in a bit.. Especially since they haven't quite figured out the physical: "well do I hug you, or do we just shake hands" kind of thing.. At least when you see Obama and Biden embrace one another -- you know it's real.. They smile genuinely ... they laugh genuinely ... they are very solid in their relationship and what they are going to do together..

Now - re-watch that introduction and observe then try to tell me this isn't the "pandering selection" at all..

McLame...

It's mightily convenient for someone who touted that he was going to run an honorable campaign against the Democrats to do everything but run an honorable campaign against Obama..

Typical....

The DNC so far

I've been trying to keep up with everything that's been going on with the Democratic National Convention.. I did get a very small taste of things when I was in Denver briefly yesterday - and it's something to take in.. The protesters were near my meeting place and they were behaving.. The police were riding their SUV sleds dressed in their riot gear..

"Anarchists" as they are being called .... have confronted police a couple of times already.. As has been reported in the press already, 100 of them have been arrested already.. But it's crazy how these folks are protesting things that they would actually come in agreement with the Democratic party on.. War for instance.. Oil for instance..

Then there's the plot by the four folks being held on wanting to shoot Obama and I found this to be particularly sad and I'm outraged.. Here we're supposed to be a civilized society and yet -- we have the riff raff like these four idiots who simply don't want Obama to be President because of the color of his skin???!?!? Don't believe me?? Here's the quote:

"He don't belong in political office. Blacks don't belong in political office. He ought to be shot"

It's folks like this that really need the re-education of what America is all about.. It's folks like this that shouldn't be allowed to vote because we shouldn't reward the privilege to vote to those who are ignorant and prejudiced.. It's folks like this that don't believe in the American dream -- except those that just happen to be the same shade of skin..

That outrages me..

That upsets me to the point where I want to send their pathetic collective asses out of the country because they represent the antithesis of progress.. Anyone who can't look beyond the shade of someone's skin or ethnicity to see what they can bring to the table -- are inherently UN-American.. So I'm not sure where these idiots get off thinking that "blacks don't belong in political office" when clearly they think we're living back in history when it was considered acceptable to enslave an entire race..

If we're widely considered to be a civilized country -- then maybe it's time to ship these folks off our island so that they can take their petulant approach to civilization and create another race of individuals like the Nazis tried to do last century.. How these folks can live with their intolerant attitudes while holding a Bible in their hand seems incredibly convenient and self-serving..

It's going to be Biden....

I love Joe...

I think he's going to make a great vice president..

I've said this before, Hillary was not the right choice.. That's not saying that this country isn't ready for a female president -- this nation IS ready for a female president .... not this woman, however.. I would love to see her in the cabinet - but I think her ego is too big to be a cabinet secretary.. I would've loved to see Kathleen Sebelius as his vice president.. She has the "can-do" attitude down pat..

There's been a lot of fervor with this announcement ... and it's going to get a lot of airplay in the next few days.. And this is going to make it harder for McCain to catch up..

The Disaster called McCain....

I've been amazed by McCain thus far..

In 2000 he stood out as the Maverick of the Republican party.. Of course that didn't play well in the neo-con world and he subsequently lost to the ol' Shrub.. But he's been an advocate throughout his political career of elevating the political discussions when he's run campaigns .... taking the high road as it were..

So then imagine everyone's shock when he took his proverbial gloves off and started sparring with Obama -- who -- has repeatedly encouraged McCain to stop with the personal attacks and debate the core issues.. But it seems that John has no desire to or ... simply can't..

Most recently - he called out Obama as being an elitist who can't possibly understand the plight of American families and what they have to go through -- yet when he's called upon to answer a very simple question: how many homes do you have, McCain freaks out and quickly dodges the question so that a staffer can look it up for him because HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW MANY HOMES HE OWNS!!!

....and Obama is an elitist....

For the record -- he owns 10 homes.. A far cry from what most Americans get by with (one at most, sometimes two if you're lucky enough to have a summer home..) Oh, and Obama even has one home -- granted, a nice million dollar mansion -- but McCain's home values total over $13 million...... *laughs*

And this is but one small sliver of the pie that has been re-directed back at the Republican hopeful.. Because it seems like the moment he tries to do something that would score points against Obama ... it inevitably smears him ten-fold.. He's doing more damage to himself than he's afflicting on his competitor..

...while forgetting that pledge of running a clean campaign...

Lastly -- there's been several off-mainstream comments about the rage and anger McCain has.. Clearly someone who can fly off the handle when even the most simple buttons are pushed ... and this is someone who sings "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" and it's not cause for worry..

We've already had a president who clearly lacks the fortitude to understanding sacrifice ... we clearly don't need another to follow suit..

And while that sounds like I'm disrespecting McCain's service to our country -- it is not.. Because the character of a man is measured in yardsticks and miles which says nothing of the fact that you do not need to have had military experience in order to be considered the President of the United States.. A lot of fine men and women have served a lot more distinctively than McCain who is running a flawed campaign that not only lost their focus, but it's not John's style..

He's had to flee back to the right -- stepping on toes and tripping in the process while completely running in every direction by the one that touches his soul the most.. That's because if the "real McCain" would be running this show -- there wouldn't be very many differences between he and Obama.. But John has committed his ship down this path and it's apparent no one is at the controls..

McCain is a bad choice for Americans, but from a Democratic point of view -- this self-sabotage is paying off with big dividends for the Democrats .... until they go and do something stupid that ends up shooting themselves in the foot as well....

At least we're getting closer..

Gee ... imagine that....

Much like what I've been saying for a long time now: Iraq doesn't want us there any longer than humanly possible..

Fortunately the administration finally realizes this as well..

But there's a line from that story that is very telling -- and very much a stepping stone in the direction I thought this was heading:

"This decision (agreement) is a sovereign one and Iran and other neighboring countries have the right to ask for clarifications. ... There are clear articles (that) say that Iraq will not be used as a launching pad for any aggressive acts against neighboring countries and we already did clarify this."

Why is this relevant?? Because the whole principle behind the "100-year base agreement" issue was to be exactly this: a launch vehicle for the United States against neighboring countries.. Foreign Minister Zebari singled out Iran which is very telling -- there's no shrouded words there -- he's saying: don't worry..

Which is important because?? Iraq and Iran will eventually become close allies..

The country we liberated will side with the axis of evil.....

How's that for a legacy??

Wrong country, wrong war, wrong enemy -- remove enemy -- watch country join larger enemy....

Chess

I realize it's waaay too much to even ask this President anything about chess.. But this is where our commander in chief doesn't have a clue that when you do something - there are repercussions for what you've just done.. Cause and effect... Causality..

And that's something Bush hasn't had to account for too much.. Because anytime he's made a decision about Iraq -- there's been no one to really tell him what the repercussions are.. He has been incredibly spoiled in that regard, but it's apparent that luck is going to give way to his legacy..

IRAQ: The Shia problem.. Yep - he got his boy Saddam out of power - but not one conservative out there has the foresight to understand the Shia problem or have any idea or concept how to resolve it.. Iran is predominantly Shia.. Iraq has a very healthy Shia population.. As things continue to develop between Iran and the rest of the world (who, by the way has a major backer in Russia on their side whom we'll talk about here in just a few) who does Bush think Iraq is going to support when the Iran issue explodes??

And therein lies Bush's first cause and effect problem: the moment he took Saddam out, he immediately destabilized an incredibly complicated and fragile balance of power in the region.. Saddam -- as big as his bark has been -- had nothing.. Why?? Because Saddam had to do what he could to keep Iran at bay.. That's why he fought with the weapons inspectors, that's why he made it seem like he was really a bad dude because otherwise - he had no protection if Iran started pouring their shared border..

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria -- all have interests not to see an expanding Iran.. So - once again: what does Bush think Iraq is going to do when Iran becomes center stage?? We're going to see a true "test" of our alliance with the newly established Iraqi government.. We don't have to look very far - because Iraqi people don't want to see Americans there anymore than they have to.. The whole "hundred year lease" debacle is evidence of that.. It's not unrealistic to expect that at *best* our Iraqi "allies" are going to forbid us access within the borders of their country.. At *worst* they'll take up sides with the Iranians and thumb their collective noses at us..

You don't think that's realistic?? It very much is and that's why Bush and McCain have such a failed view of how the rest of the world operates.. This is why they're playing checkers when they should be playing chess..

RUSSIA

The latest Russian incursion into Georgia is another failed Bush agenda.. Putin made it clear that under no uncertain terms was he happy with the agreement the United States made for the missile defense shield that is right in their backyard.. There was no negotiation, no discussion, we just did it because this administration has a habit of doing things and fail to see the causality of their actions..

Am I suggesting a correlation between the two?? Yes I am.. Because if you remember the justification for the missile shield in the first place -- it wasn't directed at Russia -- oh no -- it was meant for "the other guys.." Never mind the fact that if Russia had done the same thing in Cuba -- you'd expect the same knee jerk reaction by this administration if it was somehow going to affect our sovereignty..

Again - Bush is playing foreign policy using checkers when there's a very clear cause and effect going on as one would expect if they were playing chess..

OTHER ISSUES:

North Korea -- threatened them and eventually relented the moment we discovered that the North Koreans were more interested in maintaining the agreement they had under Clinton -- which brought food into their country -- than being completely disrespected by this administration .... only to arrive back at the place where they wanted to be in the first place..

India -- giving them the nuclear bomb -- then a good deal of our tech jobs by encouraging our companies to relocate their businesses over there ... yeah ... that worked out really well for us.. Pakistan didn't like us that much when we marched into Afghanistan to find Bin Laden ... but they were REALLY unhappy with us when we gave India the bomb.. But once again, this administration doesn't have any foresight muscle in their brains to figure out that they've contributed so much to the decay and destabilization of the region..

So -- let's pull this together.. Instead of planning your strategy 10 moves ahead like chess players do ... we have a foreign policy that is predominantly guided by the checkers mentality of "action, reaction.." That's deeply troubling in a world where we're not going to be the powerhouse we have been.. In fact, many suggest that with the Olympics going on right now, this is China's way of saying: "we're right behind you..."

And the scary thing is: they are..

So instead of leading the league of nations that look to us as a major superpower, we floundered and squandered incredible opportunities that would've kept us ahead for years to come.. In the whole host of issues we face as a nation -- our handling of our world relations is even more important now that we have to correct the wrong doings of this administration..

Exactly how many free passes does this man get??

The REAL price for oil...

We keep hearing over and over how much we have to drill drill drill so that we can get the price of oil under control.. I've long since been of the belief that the supply and the price has been relatively unchanged during the last 7 years ... but before you think I need to be bopped over the head with a 2 x 4 or something -- let's postulate that the value of the dollar has been the leading cause for the high cost of energy..

So this afternoon when I came across this article that actually talks about the reality that a sinking dollar is largely to blame for our current energy prices..

To put it even more succinctly: no matter how much we drill and find tomorrow -- the cost for oil is going to be the same because the market decides how much oil is going to sell for.. Until the value of the dollar improves -- we can drill in every nook-and-cranny and squeeze every droplet of oil from the ground -- it's not going to make one iota's bit of difference if our dollar value continues to tank..

The "drill drill drill" mindset is nothing more than one giant red herring set out by those who have a concealed interested in the profitability of drilling in ANWR or on the outer continental shelf.. At its absolutely optimistic *PEAK* we may get as much as one fifth of our daily consumption.. With little or no change in the value of the dollar -- the only ones that clearly benefit from this are the ones setting record breaking profits at the moment..

We need to make a considerable investment in the exploration of hydrogen energy, we need to build more nuclear energy plants and take control of the sun, the wind and the water as much as we can.. We can't base our "energy strategy" to be loosely conceived by a couple of guys running to Vegas and hope they break the bank..

It has to be more solid and realistic..

It needs to happen soon..

Diving in the Vitriol

I've had it with the political forum I'm on..

There was an exchange on a list I'm on where some idiot actually stated that he SUPPORTED the notion of "blood for oil.." Then, in his act of inhumane cowardice he had the gall to call me the hypocrite for wanting despots like Saddam Hussein to be in power so that I could enjoy cheap gas..

I was livid..

I was beyond livid..

I went straight to enraged..

I was angry not because of his incredibly off-base comment about me -- as much as he's supporting the belief that it was okay to send our troops into harms way .... for oil.. He reiterated his stance which made me even more angry.. Why??

He has a daughter that's getting into the military and could end up in Iraq..

So I went into a full-blown global thermonuclear explosion how he could be in support of the concept of "blood for oil" while his daughter will be in harm's way.. I can't see how a sane person can blindly support the incredibly stupid concept of "blood for oil" when their loved one is overseas risking their lives just so that HE can enjoy a couple pennies less in his fuel tank..

It's people like this that really make me wonder how much of the kool-aid has been consumed by the other side.. It's people like this that really make me wonder how is it that we got this far with this President under this incredibly greedy endeavor when the basic tenets and preservation of our existence rests on idiots who believe that protecting our corporate profits supersedes the sanctity of one American life..

Expect many more posts on here -- as I've had it with the incredibly stupid..