Stephanopoulos Makes a Fool of Himself

George Stephanopoulos is not a fool - but he can't help behaving like one sometimes. In this exchange, President Obama demonstrates that not every dog must be wagged by the tail end of our national intellect.

STEPHANOPOULOS:I want to get to some of those broader issues [of nuclear proliferation]. Because you're also facing criticism on that. Sarah Palin, taking aim at your decision to restrict the use of nuclear weapons. Your pledge not to strike nations, non-nuclear nations, who abide by the nonproliferation treaty. Here's what she said. She said, "It's unbelievable, no other administration would do it." And then she likened it to kids on the playground. She said you're like a kid who says, "Punch me in the face, and I'm not going to retaliate." Your response?

OBAMA: I really have no response. Because last I checked, Sarah Palin's not much of an expert on nuclear issues.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But the string of criticism has been out there among other Republicans as well. They think you're restricting use of nuclear weapons too much.

OBAMA: And what I would say to them is that if the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff are comfortable with it, I'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from Sarah Palin.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But not concerned about her criticisms?

OBAMA: No.

Bravo, President Obama. Bravo.

Sarah Palin - Lost Leader

Major retailers are selling Sarah Palin's book below cost, losing money on every sale, in an attempt to lure spenders, in the hopes that those buyers will make other, more profitable purchases. The retail strategy is called a "loss leader", though, in Palin's case, the term "lost leader" seems a little more appropriate. She was supposed to be Alaska's governor for a full term, but she lost her will to serve. She was supposed to be a leader of our country, but she complains in her book that she was dominated by mid-level handlers from the McCain campaign. She was supposed to be an opinion leader, but she whines that Katie Couric's questions were too tough.

In any case, it's funny to see her sustained self-pitying is being used as retail bait by Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Perhaps, as a fan of literature, I should be frustrated that the major retailers are artificially advancing the ratings of a sub-par book, but, let's face it, a larger segment of the market wants to read about a failed leader than the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

It's fine with me that those who choose to purchase Ms. Palin's book will only be paying a fraction of the true cost.

If she had been a more appealing politician, we would all be paying the cost now.

Jackson County Dems Bringing in Fake Sarah Palin - Jennifer Granholm Coming to Truman Days

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm served as a stand-in for Sarah Palin while Joe Biden was preparing for the Vice Presidential debate. Frankly, I don't see the resemblance, other than the fact that they're both women governors who happen to be relatively young. Unlike the shrill and unqualified governor of Alaska, Granholm is smart, compassionate and successful.

She will be speaking at the annual Truman Days hosted by the Jackson County Democratic Committee. She's the real deal - political insiders see her as an up-and-coming leader on the national stage. Jackson County Dems are fortunate to have brought in such a leader for their annual conference.

I've never met a president, before or after they were elected. This could be my chance. You betcha!

Stop Talking About Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal

Some of my fellow liberal bloggers have seized upon the documented fact that a huge American flag was dragged across the ground by the McCain campaign. They have even provided this video of the atrocity, which ought to make "real" Americans angry, especially here in Missouri, because Missouri is where they chose to demonstrate their disregard and disdain for America.
It bothers me to even post the video.

Despite my strong patriotism, I am calling on my fellow liberal bloggers to cease discussion of the Republican flag-desecration scandal. While it provides a vivid example of how the Republicans have a penchant for false patriotism, and how little respect they really have for patriotism after it has served their self-interest, I think that we should be better than that.

We should remember that not all Republicans are flag-tramplers. In fact, even in this case, we have no evidence that John McCain personally approved of the flag-dragging. I doubt that he personally approved or ordered the flag-desecration, because he has been terribly busy planning attacks on Obama's patriotism, and on the patriotism of those who support him. When Governor Palin claimed that "real Americans" are supporting her ticket, and "anti-Americans" are supporting Obama, I'm willing to bet that she was not even thinking about her next opportunity to drag the American flag across the ground.

Some might point out that the McCain campaign deserves to be criticized for this Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal, because they attempted to create and exploit a false flag desecration scandal earlier in the campaign in an attempt to damage Obama. To that I say, let bygones be bygones, and let's just ignore the Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal That Happened Right Here In Missouri!!

Why do I think we should ignore the Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal That Happened Right Here In Missouri? Because this campaign ought to be about the issues, not about the Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal That Happened Right Here In Missouri. Personally, I would rather talk about Health Care Policy and Foreign Policy and the Economy than the Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal That Happened Right Here In Missouri.

We also must remember that after November 4, we will need to work with the Republicans across the aisle, whether they were part of the Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal That Happened Right Here In Missouri, or not. So, please, fellow liberal bloggers, let's stop talking about the Republican Flag-Desecration Scandal That Happened Right Here In Missouri.

Okay? I don't want to see this video ever again.

Sebelius Dances Those Non-Veep Blues Away

As I wrote yesterday, this year's debates are becoming something of a hot social event, with parties and gatherings taking place all over. Of these, though, the biggest one was the sole vice-presidential debate, where we were treated to a blustery senator versus a talented Tina Fey impersonator. Who could miss that? Every politico I know was glued to the screen. Or so I thought.

It turns out that none other than veep shortlister Kathleen Sebelius avoided the debate. Instead, she went to Knuckleheads to catch some musical blues, where my favorite librarian blogger noticed her and even got her to pose for a picture. Sounds like it was a good show and it's probably wiser for her to get out and listen to Tab Benoit than to sit at home in the Governor's Mansion watching the debate and thinking about how it "woulda, coulda, shoulda" been her in Biden's place.

Spain? Is that where the Spics come from?

John McCain is acting like a very old, befuddled man.

Very old.

Very befuddled.

And he "never felt the particular need to e-mail", even though he invented the Blackberry.

Folks, we can't afford 4 more years of Bush's befuddlement or policies, and that's what McCain offers. Or maybe fewer, which is even more frightening.

Do Republicans Get This Kind of Email?

Campaign rumors run rampant on the internet, and one of the recent ones circulated about McCain's undervetted, inexperienced Veep nominee was that she fired her librarian in a spat over Palin's desire to ban a long list of books. One email purported to list all the books that Palin sought to ban - a lengthy list, including many classics.

It wasn't true. Someone somewhere took a list of frequently targeted books and claimed that Palin went after all of them. She didn't.

What happened next, though, illustrates the difference between the right and the left in American politics. Literally within hours of receiving the list of banned books, I received an email from a leftwing source highlighting this article, disavowing the list of banned books, telling us not to forward it, and effectively shutting down this falsehood. The subject line of the email was direct - "Don't Forward that List of Palin Banned Books."

The reason that you haven't been treated to a press cycle questioning why Palin banned "My Friend Flicka" is because the left did an effective job of self-policing.

Republicans have no such self-discipline. When a lie springs into the conversation, the Republicans have learned to encourage it and make certain that it becomes part of the accepted truthiness of the world. Gore never claimed to invent the internet, but it is probably his best-known alleged claim.

It's so bad that the Democratic Party has found it necessary to create a "Count the Lies" website, listing 52 lies from the McCain campaign itself. These are all documented falsehoods, and you don't see anyone on the right circulating any emails telling people not to forward them.

It's discouraging sometimes to see how broadly and brazenly the right wing spreads malicious falsehoods, and it's even tempting to play a tit for tat game. But, in the long run, I'm proud that the left wing bloggers have a firmer grip on reality and a higher ethical standard than those who would have us believe that Palin rejected the Bridge to Nowhere.

(Note: We don't know which books Palin sought to ban, though it's true she inquired about how to go about banning books. She claims to have fired the Wasilla Librarian because she "didn't fully support her". Personally, I think it's creepy enough that Palin thought she was entitled to full support from a librarian.)

Shamelessly Stolen from BlogCCP

BlogCCP has really come into its own lately, and I anticipate it being the top source of local progressive perspectives on the coming campaign season. During the convention, it had two writers providing content fresh from Denver - great stuff!

Yesterday, it provided the following gem:

Quote of the Day
Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama for leaving the comforts of a big firm and becoming a community organizer. "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities."

Quote of the Day - "Or, you know, maybe someone needs to remind Sarah Palin that Jesus Christ was a community organizer and Pontius Pilate was a governor."

McCain Checks Out His Veep

Nearly 6 months after he became the presumptive nominee, McCain announced the results of almost half a year of vetting and analysis and careful interviews and hard work. It was Sarah Palin, an untested, unknown, unvetted who will probably be announcing her refusal of the Veep seat within a few hours.

What could have been on his mind?

Maybe we can figure that out . . .