Sarah Palin's stiletto
Put away the Quayle and Eagleton comparisons. Palin's for real, and on the key issue of energy policy, she has to be reckoned with

By Andrew Leonard

A pit bull in lipstick?
A snarling Sarah Palin savages Barack Obama while her defenders deride sexism and "liberal media" bias

By Joan Walsh

Democrats behind enemy lines in Minnesota
The Obama campaign sets up shop at the Republican National Convention, but thanks to Sarah Palin the GOP is handling all the negative messaging itself

By Mike Madden

Kos on Obama, Palin and building a vast left-wing conspiracy
By Vincent Rossmeier

Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
McCain's big running-mate rollout
Romney and Giuliani helped supply Wednesday night's "paranoid" conservative politics, while Sarah Palin showed she's no Dick Cheney

By Walter Shapiro

Sen. John McCain joins his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, onstage at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 3, 2008.

September 4, 2008 Palin Attacks Obama in Convention Speech Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's choice for vice president, addressed the Republican convention Wednesday night. In the speech, Palin attacked Democratic nominee Barack Obama, arguing that he has no real legislative record and suggesting that he is more style than substance. Cato scholars look at Gov. Palin's record and the race in general below.

• Cato scholars look at Sarah Palin's record
• The Palin Record in Alaska, featuring Michael D. Tanner, 08/29/2008 (MP3 )
• "John McCain's Foreign Policy Judgment is Questionable," by Ted Galen Carpenter and Malou Innocent
• "A Fork in the Road: Obama, McCain, and Health Care," by Michael D. Tanner

American Idol
Just because we're a nation of a hundred thousand Wasillas doesn't mean all those hundred thousand mayors ought to be in the White House.
by Eve Fairbanks

• Foer: Disrespectful, Angry, And Effective
• Scheiber: Can Palin Out-Change Obama?
• Judis: Will The Scandals Still Dog Her?
• Brinkley: The GOP Is Ceding The Middle
• Gordon And Kvaal: Fact-checking Palin

How Being A Woman Makes Sarah Palin A Better Attack Dog
by Michelle Cottle
Is The GOP Wasting Their Convention? Or Successfully Smearing Obama? Our Editors Debate.
by Jonathan Chait and Noam Scheiber
Charismatic! Substanceless! A Tabloid Sensation! Who's The 'Celebrity' Candidate Now?
by Michael Crowley

The Bromantic Comedy That Is John McCain And Lindsey Graham
by Eve Fairbanks
Seven Years After 9/11, John McCain Still Doesn't Get The War On Terrorism
by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
What Kevin Phillips Misunderstands About The American Economy. (It's A Lot.)
by Robert M. Solow

Can McCain Separate Himself From Bush?
Cognitive Dissonance on Palin
TNR on Sarah Palin's Big Speech
More from The Plank

Can the Democrats get a foothold on the religious vote?Ask the AuthorPhilip Gourevitch on Sarah PalinComplete election coverage

Saint Sarah Beats Expectations in Saint Paul



Dividing a presidential convention between two cities -- Minneapolis and Saint Paul -- that are a half hour cab ride apart is a very good way to deflate enthusiasm and raw political energy, but tonight. . .finally. . .this convention woke up with a spark provided by former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani and then a powerful home run speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Expectations of Palin had been set so low by all of those who doubted her abilities and experience that perhaps any semi-competent talk would have done the trick, but clearly she was comfortable speaking powerfully to tens of millions on television and a packed stadium in St. Paul.

Substantively, I strongly disagreed with her tongue-in-cheek dismissal of Obama for wanting to stand by those who deserve to have their rights read to them in a way consistent with democracy. She portrayed herself as being a believer in liberty -- distrustful of government, and then seemed to argue that some accused (possible terrorists) didn't deserve the benefit of doubt that liberty promises and argued that an empowered government could judge who was evil and who was innocent without regard for basic human rights.

Palin talked a lot about fiscal responsibility, of sacking her chef, and selling former Senator and Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski's state-provided luxury plane on EBay and wanting to bring those practices to Washington -- but she mentioned nothing of the irresponsibility of waging the second most expensive war in American history with no regard to raising revenue to pay for it.

Like Bush and McCain and Cheney, Sarah Palin embraces war and lowering taxes. Suggesting that that is a fiscally responsible posture is neo-Orwellian.

Palin tried to build on the silly meme that Obama is somehow positioning himself as a modern Messiah:

What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger. . .

It is the government of George W. Bush that she and McCain are trying to succeed that has made the reach of government into people's private lives the most extensive and invasive in modern history -- and the size of government as measured by the gap between receipts and expenditures is also the largest in American experience.

Palin, like George W. Bush and Cheney, seems to think that by asserting falsehoods or juxtaposing contradictory goals like maintaining a large forward based troop presence in Iraq but keeping taxes from going up sells just fine to Americans.

She may be right. I think that in contrast to Obama -- whose selection of Joe Biden was smart and important in shoring up the Obama Team's gravitas -- Palin has been set up by McCain to be a new kind of 21st century "saint."

She has a large, seemingly wonderful family -- juggles her home cooking with running a large state as its chief executive. She has a snow mobile racing husband who is a North Shore oilman and she tackles corrupt "lobbying interests" and their cozy deals with politicos wherever she goes.

It's a great story on many levels. Her husband is even a member of the United Steel Workers. Faint applause on that line though.

But despite my substantive differences with Palin, this performance tonight beat expectations and moved her to a new level. Her competition at this incredibly flat, low energy confab in St. Paul is thin -- so one could easily argue that she had a lot of room to pull off a success. But that is too cynical.

She did a great job -- and stared her doubters and the challenge down.

There is much about Sarah Palin we don't know yet. Unlike Biden and Obama, we didn't get much time to have our own public vetting of her before McCain's decision -- so there will be more fits and starts and twists and turns as other parts of her life are dredged up, over-analyzed, and judged by the American public.

But this is going to be very close race, particularly if nothing new and surprising shows up on Palin.

What no one will say just yet -- but which I think the McCain folks tried to convey is that "Saint Sarah" just made her real debut in Saint Paul.

-- Steve Clemons

ENERGY
Progress, Compromise, or Conservative Obstruction
On Monday, after the national political conventions have ended, Congress will return to Washington. Topping a packed schedule is energy policy, spurred by the pain of a summer of record gas prices. Conservatives have focused on preventing an extension of the moratorium on offshore drilling, which is slated to expire on Sept. 30. By that date Congress must pass, and Bush must sign, a funding resolution for fiscal 2009 to prevent a shutdown of the federal government. Conservatives have threatened such a shutdown if the moratorium is not lifted. The campaign to lift the 26-year moratorium was spurred by former House speaker Newt Gingrich's "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" petition drive and President Bush's announcement that he would lift the presidential moratorium established by his father. More than $2 million of spending every day by the carbon industry has allowed the right-wing drilling message to dominate the debate -- despite the fact expanding offshore drilling would have no effect on gas prices. The right wing has pinned blame on "Nancy Pelosi , Harry Reid and Barack Obama" -- despite the fact conservatives held complete control of Washington until 2007. Since then, they have obstructed progressive energy legislation with a dozen Senate filibusters and Bush's threatened vetoes.

DRILL DRILL DRILL: The top priorities for petro-industry conservatives are lifting the moratoria on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and oil shale mining, and opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Despite the emphasis on oil drilling, House conservatives have branded their legislative package an "All of the Above" energy strategy. The "American Energy Act" (H.R. 6566) blasts away limits on drilling and delivers major subsidies to established, polluting industries -- oil, coal, natural gas, and nuclear -- with minimal support for renewable energy and efficiency. In the Senate, conservative Democrats and Republicans known as the "Gang of Ten" (now 16) have outlined a compromise that would allow drilling 50 miles of the coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida with state approval. It offers new support for liquid coal and nuclear power, but also pays for significant incentives for renewable energy and efficiency by removing some subsidies for the oil and gas industry. This industry-friendly compromise is anathema to right-wing ideologues: Limbaugh called the Gang of Ten proposal "stupidity" and "pandering," and the Wall Street Journal's Kimberly Strassel noted in horror, "The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on...oil companies!"

PROGRESSIVE PLAN: Recognizing that "the most important barrel of oil is the one you don't use," progressives in the House are planning to fight back. "Top House Democrats say that shortly after Congress reconvenes," reports E&E News, "they will put on the floor a piece of legislation that will include an expansion of offshore drilling but also a renewable electricity mandate, energy-efficiency standards for buildings and oil industry tax provisions." The plan, drawing from clean energy proposals introduced by Reps. Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Udall (D-CO), Ed Markey (D-MA), Todd Platts (R-PA), and others, is for "a political reverse takedown on the Republicans," according to Markey. Former Clinton administration official David Sandalow told E&E News: "We'll see whether the proponents of all of the above can take yes for an answer." The elements of the plan -- a national renewable electricity standard, building efficiency standards, and removal of oil tax subsidies -- would spur jobs, reduce energy bills, and drive innovation for the future. These provisions have repeatedly passed the House since progressives gained leadership but have died to conservative filibusters in the Senate. House conservatives will fight any proposal that places any limits on Big Oil. Scoffing at the bipartisan and progressive plans, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO) told the Politico, "So far there is no real proposal out there that has anything to do with really looking for oil and natural gas." Conservative leaders want to block any energy bill, even if it includes major concessions to Big Oil, because that would deprive them of their ability to keep making political points.

OUTSIDE ADVOCACY: As Congress has less than a month to forge compromise, progressives and polluters are pushing competing priorities. A renewable electricity standard reflects Al Gore's We Campaign's call for 100 percent renewable electricity in ten years. Drilling provisions respond to the pressure from Newt Gingrich's right-wing American Solutions For Winning the Future (ASWF). Oil and gas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has called for new grid development, permanent tax incentives for wind and solar, and incentives for natural-gas vehicles. And further coal technology subsidies have been a top goal of the coal industry's American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). The battle between polluter and clean energy interests will be fully engaged this September. In fact, Sept. 27 -- the day after the first presidential debate and near the government shutdown deadline -- will see major rallies from both sides. ASWF, fueled by right-wing billionaires and polluters, is releasing a book and a movie to promote "Solutions Day." That same day, Green For All, the We Campaign, and 1Sky -- with the proud support of the Center for American Progress Action Fund -- are organizing a national day of action for Green Jobs Now. CAP Senior Fellow Van Jones, director of Green For All, describes the choice: "[Gingrich's] answers: more pollution; our answers: more solutions."

TERRORISM -- GIULIANI: BY REFUSING TO USE THE TERM 'ISLAMIC TERRORISM,' LIBERALS ARE TRYING NOT TO INSULT TERRORISTS: Last night, in his address to the Republican National Convention, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani criticized Democrats for refusing to use the term "Islamic terrorism." "For four days in Denver, the Democrats were afraid to use the term 'Islamic terrorism.' ... I think they believe they will insult someone. Please tell me, who they are insulting if they say, 'Islamic terrorism,'" he said. He concluded, "They are insulting terrorists!" Experts, including those in the Bush administration, disagree; such religious rhetoric is actually counterproductive in combating terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security argues that U.S. officials who invoke references to Islam in describing terrorism may be "unintentionally portraying terrorists, who lack moral and religious legitimacy, as brave fighters, legitimate soldiers or spokesmen for ordinary Muslims." The National Counter Terrorism Center urges public officials to "avoid labeling everything 'Muslim'" because "it reinforces the 'U.S. vs. Islam' framework that Al-Qaeda promotes."

CIVIL LIBERTIES -- POLICE CHARGE RNC PROTESTERS WITH TERRORISM: Yesterday, county protesters charged eight Rrepublican National Convention protesters with "conspiring to cause a riot as part of a terrorist act." The County Attorney "said she could not recall no such case in her 24 years with the prosecutor's office." A lawyer representing several of the suspects "called the charges ridiculous," saying the accusations are "an effort to equate publicly stated plans to blockade traffic and disrupt the RNC as being the same as acts of terrorism." As of yesterday, nearly 300 protesters and journalists have been arrested in the Twin Cities. Salon's Glenn Greenwald called St. Paul "the most militarized I have ever seen an American city be...with troops of federal, state and local law enforcement agents marching around with riot gear, machine guns, and tear gas canisters, shouting military chants and marching in military formations." Some journalists, including Democracy Now's Amy Goodman and two producers for her show, as well as an AP photographer, have been swept up in police arrests; CNN commenter Donna Brazile "was hit by pepper spray as she walked into the Xcel Center" earlier this week. The media and the St. Paul mayor have been largely silent on the outrageous arrests, with Mayor Chris Coleman (D) defending the police's actions. Sign a letter condemning the arrests here.

HOMELAND SECURITY -- GAO REPORT: RADIATION DETECTION PLAN FALLS SHORT: According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report obtained by the Washington Post, an "ambitious Bush administration program to use new technology to stop radioactive materials from being smuggled into the country has fallen far short of its aims and will likely be sharply curtailed." The project, involving three contractors chosen by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), "has been embroiled in allegations that the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office misled Congress about the testing, cost and effectiveness of the machines" used to detect dangerous materials coming into the country. Officials will now deploy the detection machines "on a far more limited basis than originally planned" the report says, a plan "that is dramatically different in scope than the one presented to and approved by Congress." The DHS said two years ago that the $1.2 billion plan is "vital to national security, [and] would dramatically improve the detection of nuclear materials and reduce false alarms experienced by current equipment." The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has planned a hearing on the report for Sept. 25.

GEOFFREY WHEATCROFT
Neither Respected Nor Feared iht.com — The theme of these past years has been American arrogance followed by American incompetence leading to American impotence. American strictures are vaguely listened to — whether it's Bush telling Putin to leave Georgia, Rice telling Israel to desist from building more settlements in the West Bank, or any number of Americans telling the E.U. to accelerate Turkish Membership — and then ignored. After all, they come from a supposed hyperpower which in practice is neither respected not feared. That is a direct consequence of what Washington has done.

MICHAEL T. KLARE
Checkmated in Georgia tomdispatch.com — To fully grasp the recent upheavals in the Caucasus, it is necessary to view the conflict as but a minor skirmish in a far more significant geopolitical struggle between Moscow and Washington over the energy riches of the Caspian Sea basin — with former Russian President (now Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin emerging as the reigning Grand Master of geostrategic chess and the Bush team turning out to be middling amateurs, at best.

DAVID COLE
The Next Prez's Superpowers motherjones.com — Will a new president give back the authority that Bush and Cheney grabbed for the executive? Government officials do not as a rule like to give up power, and President Bush has grabbed plenty of power for the executive branch since 9/11. If the problem is to be fixed — and it is essential that we fix it — it will only be because of sustained and popular pressure for change.

REP. GEORGE MILLER
The Department of Labor: A Damage Assessment huffingtonpost.com — Nearly a century ago, Congress established the federal Department of Labor to be the advocate and champion for working Americans. Specifically, the department was created to advance three core goals: "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment." However, under the Bush Presidency, these goals — and the interests of workers — have been under direct assault.

DALTON CONELY
Rich Man's Burden iht.com — We typically think of America's increasing income inequality as a process which the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. But it turns out that the growing disparity is really between the middle and the top.

MAGGIE MAHAR
Earning Less and Dying Younger alternet.org — Last year was a weak financial time for working families, and a new report shows it reflected in our health.

JAMES RIDGEWAY
Medicare's Poison Pill motherjones.com — Remember Bush's signature health care initiative? My life depends on it — and that's not very reassuring.

South Ossetia fallout continues The implications of the conflict are still unravelling. As the rift between Russia and the West intensifies, FT.com users can visit our special in depth section, to keep up to date on the latest developments, ranging from impact on foreign investment in Russia to editorial comment from the leaders themselves.

South Ossetia in depth

Stand Up and Fight to Change America - Senator John McCain
The Party in Power, Running as if It Weren't - Peter Baker, New York Times
A New Kind of Western Conservatism - Gerard Baker, Times of London
Galvanized Parties Head to Homestretch - Dan Balz, Washington Post
The Right Theme for McCain - Rich Lowry, National Review
The Other Party's Playbook - Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
How Palin Beat Alaska's Establishment - Kimberley Strassel, WSJ
McCain Misdelivers a Mediocre Speech - Mickey Kaus, Slate
Often Pedestrian, but Ultimately Effective - Paul Mirengoff, Power Line
The Fighter Takes The Stage - Reid Wilson, Politics Nation
The GOP's Resentment Strategy - Paul Krugman, New York Times
The 'Organizer' Joke: What Obama Actually Did - Michelle Malkin, NY Post
Putin Wants a New Russian Empire - Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph
The Leadership Washington Needs - Governor Sarah Palin
Small-Town Ways Will Play Big Across U.S. - John Kass, Chicago Tribune
Wrong Woman, Wrong Message - Gloria Steinem, Los Angeles Times
A Pit Bull With Lipstick - John Dickerson, Slate

Editorials
A Maverick's Appeal: McCain Recasts Pitch to Voters - Washington Post
Sarah Palin's Surge - Wall Street Journal
Sarah Palin's Perfect Premiere - New York Daily News
Speech Doesn't Answer Questions About Readiness - Washington Post

Political News & Analysis
McCain Vows to End Partisan Rancor - Washington Post
McCain Campaign Leaves Convention with $200m - Bloomberg
McCain's Bipartisan Hope - Wall Street Journal
Obama Says Surge Succeeded - Fox News

McCain Uses His Big Speech to Give Us a Tour of His Vietnamese Prison Cell

David Corn, MotherJones.com

Election 2008: Number of sentences in John McCain's RNC speech about being a POW in Vietnam: 43. Number about his 25 years in the House and Senate: 8.


GOP's Plan for Palin: Reignite the Culture Wars

Jay Rosen, Huffington Post

Republicans will try to spin Palin's shortcoming into strengths, by revving up the culture wars.


How My 7-Year-Old Learned About Pre-Marital Sex from John McCain

Karen Dolan, AlterNet

Sex and Relationships: I wholly believe in educating my child about contraception. But given that he is 7, I could have waited a few years for that particular talk.

Boatloads of Trouble: How We Are Importing Our Way to Destruction

By Stan Cox, AlterNet

Environment: As our consumer goods travel thousands of miles by boat, train and truck, they're leaving a trail of soot and cancer in their wake.

Amy Goodman: Why We Were Falsely Arrested

Amy Goodman, Truthdig

Rights and Liberties: Government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat to democracy.


Palin Pick Is GOP Hypocrisy at its Best

Laura Flanders, AlterNet

Election 2008: Will the media test her on substance or let her play "Ms. Congeniality?" It is up to the public to see through the fact-free diet we're being fed.


Palin's Speech Tactic: Substitute Cultural Symbols for Actual Policies

Robert Kuttner, AlterNet

Election 2008: In this strategy, every Democratic misstep is inflated into a cultural parable, while gaping holes in the Republican story are neatly sidestepped.

Palin Fails by Her Own Standards

Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet

Election 2008: Palin went on attack Wednesday night, deriding Democrats, mischaracterizing Obama and insulting Americans, who she must think won't know any better.


A Swarm of Lobbyists Would Run McCain's White House

Jim Hightower, Hightower Lowdown

Election 2008: McCain has already assembled his clique of advisors, and they don't have our best interests in mind.


Readers Write: What the Palin Pick Means for America

Tana Ganeva, Isaac Fitzgerald, AlterNet

AlterNet readers weigh in on McCain's pick of Gov. Sarah Palin, the many skeletons in her closet, and what it all means for the country.


Palin's Speech Tactic: Substitute Cultural Symbols for Actual Policies

Robert Kuttner, AlterNet

Election 2008: In this strategy, every Democratic misstep is inflated into a cultural parable, while gaping holes in the Republican story are neatly sidestepped.


The Bush Administration Checkmated in Georgia

Michael T. Klare, Tomdispatch.com

ForeignPolicy: The recent fighting in the Caucasus is part of a bigger struggle between Moscow and Washington over the energy riches of the Caspian Sea basin.


Palin: The Latest GOP Distraction the Dems Shouldn't Buy

Bob Herbert, The New York Times

Election 2008: Sarah Palin may look like an easy target, but the Democrats should be cautious of how far they push.

Earning Less and Dying Younger: How the Growing Strain on America's Middle Class Is Pummeling Our Health

Maggie Mahar, Health Beat

Health and Wellness: Last year was a weak financial time for working families, and a new report shows it reflected in our health.


The VA Continues to Abandon Returning Vets

Joshua Kors, The Nation

War on Iraq: "Supporting the troops" only applies until they actually come home from war.

arah Palin May Be a Pit Bull in Lipstick, but She's No Populist

by Jim Hightower, JimHightower.com - 6:06 PM

Republican National Convention: Whitest in Forty Years

by Blue Texan, Firedoglake - 5:01 PM

Jack Abramoff is Going to Jail

by Amanda, Think Progress - 3:59 PM

Unbelievable: How Much Do You Think Cindy McCain's RNC Outfit Cost?

by Liza Sabater, Culture Kitchen - 3:02 PM

Talk About Bad Planning: McCain to Speak Tonight, the Start of Football Season

by Steven Reynolds, The All Spin Zone - 1:51 PM

Giuliani and Palin Use Racist Dog Whistle in Speeches

by Melissa McEwan, Shakesville - 12:41

Hurricane Sarah Shakes Up the Race
Richard Baehr
Hurricane Gustav wiped out day one of the Republican convention on Monday. But Hurricane Sarah more than made up for it. More

McCain Haters For McCain
Randall Hoven
I think I'm fairly representative of those conservatives who just could not stand to vote for John McCain. But I now plan to vote for him this November. Let me tell you why. More

Obama's Tattletale Campaign Is Pitiful
Kyle-Anne Shiver
It is time for Barack Obama to grow up and demonstrate to this Country that he is not missing a vital piece of male equipment -- his fortitude. More

Straight from the Pravda Playbook
September 04, 2008
Okay, now I must admit that I've seen it all. Today, I received this from those folks at Media Matters, who now have the task of protecting the back of one Barack Obama More

Hi Mom! I'm on Al Jazeera
September 04, 2008
Thomas Lifson, publisher and editor of American Thinker, emailed me Wednesday morning and asked me if I wanted to appear on Al Jazeera TV. More

The Pathetic Attempt to Wrongly Wright Sarah Palin
September 04, 2008
Having failed in their attempts to label Sarah Palin a Nazi sympathizer, lefties are now working to safeguard their crucial Jewish voting block by fabricating a Jeremiah Wrightish problem for the Republican VP candidate. More

The media sulking ugly
September 04, 2008
Some in the media are sulking over the public backlash to their outrageous treatment of Sarah Palin her in the first few days of her national role. More

The Next Palin Non-Scandal
September 04, 2008
Throwing everything at Palin hoping something sticks More

Obama's vanishing money advantage
September 04, 2008
We have heard quite a lot over the past year about Barack Obama's fundraising prowess. But the good times may be over. More

Changing the Meaning of 'Change'
September 04, 2008
Do you remember when "change" meant "get out of Iraq"? More

Obama bundler stormed stage last night as Palin spoke
September 04, 2008
Who was that protester who stormed the stage last night? A mega-bundler for Barack Obama from the group Code Pink. More

Obama-style program pays failing students to get free tutoring
September 04, 2008
In ultra-liberal Austin, Texas, an Obama-style high school program has been unveiled: It pays poorly performing students $6-a-hour to get free after-school tutoring! More

New York Sun in peril
September 04, 2008
The New York Sun advises readers it may have to cease publication by the end of September unless it secures additional financing. More

Swiftboating McCain? Go ahead, make my day
September 04, 2008
A new television ad attacking John McCain as unfit for the presidency because of his POW experience once again demonstrates the thick-headedness of the left. More

Hyde Park, we have a problem...
September 04, 2008
The smug laughter among liberal elites at Sarah Palin is quieting down, replaced by low moaning. More

• How the Republicans Win
  
  by: Robert Parry, Consortium News
• The Hollow Man
  
  by: William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Columnist
  
  TRUTHOUT ORIGINAL
• Risky Palin Pick Raises Questions About McCain
  
  by: Peter Wallsten, The Los Angeles Times
• Obama Outwits the Bloviators
  
  by: Frank Rich, The New York Times
• Palin's Speech to Nowhere
  
  by: Will Bunch, The Philadelphia Daily News

The Anti-Republican Republican Who Is Really a Republican

by: John Nichols, The Nation

OPINION




The Anti-Obama Hate-Fest

by: Robert Parry, Consortium News

OPINION




Beyond the Conventions

by: Norman Solomon, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

OPINION




Angry Amateurs

by: Joe Klein, TIME Magazine

OPINION




Blue-Collar Republicans

by: Christopher Hayes, The Nation

OPINION

The "Right War" Escalates, Huge Risks for Obama
Bob Ostertag, 09.04.2008


Sarah Palin: The Face of Ugly Americanism
John Seery, 09.04.2008


Who is the Handler?
Nina Burleigh, 09.04.2008


Is Sarah Palin "Mainstream" on Guns?
Josh Horwitz, 09.04.2008


Different Than My Small-Town Values
Mike Lux, 09.04.2008


George W. Palin
Bob Cesca, 09.04.2008


This Election Is Tearing My Family Apart
Matt Budd, 09.04.2008


Palin Steals Hockey Mom Joke from John Hagee?
Chris Rodda, 09.04.2008


Sarah Palin: Not My Role Model
Marcia G. Yerman, 09.04.2008


Is Barack Obama's Candidacy About Race?
Bill Blanning, 09.04.2008


RNC Speech Proves Sarah Palin is Not "Every Woman"
Kim Mance, 09.04.2008


Palin's Pit Bull Problem
AKMuckraker, 09.04.2008


Beyond Palin's Personality
Jim Wallis, 09.04.2008


Defending Community Organizing
Sally Kohn, 09.04.2008

Preview of This Sunday's 'NYT' Interview with Huff Post's Harry Shearer
Greg Mitchell, 09.05.2008

Arianna with Larry King on the McCain Speech and the Sarah Palin Soap Opera
Huff TV, 09.05.2008

Cynical and Divisive Chutzpah
Lincoln Mitchell, 09.05.2008

McCain's Claims of "Change" in His Acceptance Speech Are New Standard for Chutzpah
Mitchell Bard, 09.05.2008

GOP Talked of Terrorists and Iraq, But Not Veterans, Dead Troops
Bob Geiger, 09.05.2008

ELECTION '08
What Conservatives Ignored
With Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) pick of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as his vice presidential running mate, excitement and anticipation were running high for the Republican National Convention, which wrapped up yesterday. Hurricane Gustav stormed into the Gulf Coast, however, disrupting the GOP's plans. The McCain campaign tried to act aggressively and decisively, sending McCain and Palin to Missisippi for a hurricane briefing. All of this action was supposed to show that the policies in a McCain administration would be different than those of the Bush administration. But what was most evident during the convention was how similar the two men's policies were. Superficially, convention organizers tried to put distance between the two men. According to an analysis by The Progress Report, Bush's name was mentioned just once during the entire convention; Cheney was never mentioned. But substantively, no new ideas or solutions for the country's current problems were put forth. Even on national security, which was a prominent topic, conservatives refused to engage in any introspection. They referenced Guantanamo Bay once, Osama bin Laden once, and never uttered Afghanistan or the name of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

THE ECONOMY: The American public views the struggling economy as the most important issue facing the country. But as AFP observed, "The economy may be the number one issue in the White House race, but the Republican National Convention has yet to dwell on the troubles of Americans trying to make ends meet." On Wednesday, CNBC said its reporters were "darned to find much at all" about the economy in the convention speeches. In fact, housing was mentioned just once and the term "middle-class" was used only twice. Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL) claimed that Palin explained McCain's "economic message" in her address, but when CNBC asked him "in your words, what is that economic message," Putnam couldn't put forward any specifics. McCain did mention the economy several times in his acceptance speech last night, declaring, "I know some of you have been left behind in the changing economy and it often seems your government hasn't even noticed. ... That's going to change on my watch." However, his prescriptions would continue Bushonomics. McCain has repeatedly expressed pride in Bush's failed economic policies. In April, he told Bloomberg TV, "You could make an argument that there's been great progress economically" during the Bush administration. During a January primary debate, McCain claimed that Americans "overall are better off" than they were eight years ago.

HEALTH CARE: At a town hall event last month, McCain declared, "There is a health care crisis in America. We would be, if it were not for the energy crisis, we'd be talking a lot more about health care issues." But despite skyrocketing health care costs and millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans, nearly every prominent speaker at the Republican National Convention ignored this crisis. Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY), and Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) never addressed health care. Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) only discussed "health insurance" in passing. On Tuesday, Huckabee, a long-time advocate of wellness and fitness, "said his health care remarks were cut for time restrictions." McCain devoted just one sentence to the topic, giving no specifics: "My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance." But McCain believes that Americans would be better off finding health care on their own, in the private market. As Center for American Progress Action Fund Senior Fellow Elizabeth Edwards has noted, this system would bar more Americans from receiving coverage. "A recent study showed that nearly nine out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private insurance market never got it," wrote Edwards. "People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found."

GLOBAL WARMING: Hurricane Gustav threatened to overtake coverage of the GOP convention. Recognizing the potential destruction and severity of the crisis, the McCain campaign made sure to address the crisis by changing the theme of the first day to "service." However, after that first day, the hurricane was rarely mentioned again. Republicans never said "Katrina" and the word "hurricane" was actually used only seven times in convention speeches. Republicans also ignored the obvious link between global warming and the increasing intensity of storms: the terms "global warming" and "climate change" were each mentioned just once. A new study published in the journal Nature this week found that "the strongest of hurricanes and typhoons have become even stronger over the past two and a half decades." James Elsner, a professor of geography at Florida State University and lead author of the paper, said that the findings indicated "a climate signal." Despite McCain's claims that he believes global warming is real, the GOP platform -- which McCain has promised to run on -- is loaded with caveats about the uncertainty of science and the need to 'resist no-growth radicalism' in taking on climate change." Palin has said she doesn't believe that global warming is man-made, a position with which the majority of the American public disagrees.

ADMINISTRATION -- WOODWARD BOOK SAYS BUSH SPIED ON IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: According to a new book by investigative journalist Bob Woodward, "The Bush administration has conducted an extensive spying operation on [Iraqi] Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his staff and others in the Iraqi government." "We know everything he says," explained one of the sources in "The War Within: A Secret White House History, 2006-2008," which is scheduled to be released on Monday. In the book, Woodward also "portrays an administration riven by dissension, either unwilling or slow to confront the deterioration of its strategy in Iraq during the summer and early fall of 2006." He reports on the "discord" between Bush and Gen. George Casey, then-commander of forces in Iraq, and says that in October 2006, "Bush asked his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, to carry out a review of the Iraq war," which "was kept secret for fear of jeopardising the Republican party's popularity in the mid-term congressional elections." Woodward also claims that "groundbreaking surveillance techniques -- and not the much-trumpeted surge by 30,000 additional troops -- were the main reason for the reduction in violence in Iraq during the past 16 months."

MILITARY -- SOLDIER SUICIDE RATE MAY SET RECORD AGAIN: Yesterday, Army officials said that soldiers suicides this year "could surpass the record rate of last year." There were 62 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers and Guard and Reserve troops as of the end of last month, with another 31 suspected to be suicides but still under investigation. If those 31 are confirmed, "the number for 2008 could eclipse the 115 last year -- and the rate per 100,000 could surpass that of the civilian population." In April, CBS News reported that the Department of Veterans Affairs deliberately withheld information about the suicide risk among veterans. One internal department e-mail about the subject began with, "Shh!" and wondered how to control the alarming statistics "before someone stumbles on it." Days after attacking CBS for supposedly inflating the numbers of veteran suicides, the VA's head of Mental Health sent an internal e-mail admitting the rate of suicides "is supported by CBS numbers." A recent survey found that "about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope."

RADICAL RIGHT -- GINGRICH CLAIMS U.S. HAS MORE OIL AND GAS SUPPLIES THAN VENEZUELA OR SAUDI ARABIA: During an appearance on the Tavis Smiley show earlier this week, former House speaker Newt Gingrich -- stumping for his "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" campaign funded by right-wing billionaires to sell the Big Oil agenda -- claimed that "if you used America's energy resources and you didn't have to buy oil from Venezuela or Saudi Arabia it'd be a lot less expensive." Yet what Gingrich didn't mention is that the United States has only 2 percent of the world's oil and gas reserves but uses 24 percent of production. This isn't the first time Gingrich has showed his ignorance on energy issues. He has previously said that inflating car tires properly in order to save energy is "loony tunes" even though both the Department of Energy and the auto industry advocate such practices. A few days later he made the astonishing claim that inflating your tires somehow enriches Big Oil's profits.

BERNIE HORN
From the People Who Brought You Misery... Misery in America has risen to record levels — according to the Bush administration! This morning, the Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate rose to 6.1 percent for August 2008, a substantial increase from July's rate of 5.7 percent. This is the highest unemployment America has seen in five years.

NORMAN SOLOMON
Beyond the Conventions The Bush-Cheney regime may be on its last legs, but a new incarnation of right-wing populism is shadowing the near horizon.

ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
Running on the Amnesia Platform huffingtonpost.com — Listening to McCain, you'd think it was the Democrats who occupied the White House the last seven-plus years and it was time to throw the bastards out.

JOHN NICHOLS
The Anti-Republican Republican Who Is Really a Republican thenation.com — Never in recent American history has the candidate of a party seeking to maintain its hold on the presidency seen its candidate so aggressively dismiss the legacy of the incumbent commander-in-chief and his allies, while simultaneously committing himself to more of the same.

JIM SLEEPER
What They Offer -- And What It Would Cost tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com — Trapped into making war for laissez faire, conservatives can't reconcile their yearning for a sacred, ordered liberty with their obeisance to every whim of global capital, which is abandoning small-town America and urban America, a capital whose injustices and consumer palliatives are subverting our republican institutions and character.

ZURAYA TAPIA-ALFARO
What World Do They Live In? ndnblog.org — I have two main observations from the Republican convention: 1) they have not presented a single proposal, just snide remarks (clever, but merely snide) and 2) the crowd is older and all white. Such a homogeneous crowd is simply not reflective of the reality of the United States of America — watching and listening to the Convention makes one thing abundantly clear: the Republican Party is so very, very out of touch with the country they claim to put first.

STEVEN PERLSTEIN
A Con Game In Pinstripes washingtonpost.com — Wall Street has become a fundamentally corrupt enterprise in which the motto is: "We'll do anything for a fee." It is the kind of corruption grounded in the attitude that it's all just a game in which the only rules are "buyer beware" and "heads I win, tails you lose." In a corrupt business culture like that of modern-day Wall Street, cynicism is rampant, candor and accountability are first casualties, and a man is measured by the size of his bonus rather than the depth of his integrity. It's not so much immoral as amoral. The tell-tale signs of this endemic corruption now litter the financial landscape.

MAGGIE MAHAR
Americans Who Have Insurance -- But Still No Access To Care healthbeatblog.org — Some 56 million Americans do not have a regular source of care according to the National Association of Community Health Centers — even though many of them do have insurance.

A Convention That Sparked the GOP - David Von Drehle, Time
A Glimpse of the New Republican Party - David Brooks, New York Times
Why Obama Has the Edge - Bill Schneider, CNN
Obama Left an Opening for McCain - John Podhoretz, Commentary
John McCain: G.O.P. Hostage - George Packer, The New Yorker
The Media's Palin-Obama Double Standard - Linda Chavez, Townhall
Picking Palin Raises Questions About McCain's Judgment - The Economist
Democrats in Trouble - Dick Morris, New York Post
Ignore Palin, Attack McCain - Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post
McCain's Jacksonian Speech - Jay Cost, RealClearPolitics
RCP Nat'l Average: Obama +2.6% / RCP Electoral Count: Obama +64

Capturing History at the Conventions
The Times’s Todd Heisler, Damon Winter and David Scull on photographing the parties’ political conventions.


In Palin’s Life and Politics, Goal to Follow God’s Will
By KIRK JOHNSON and KIM SEVERSON Interviews with pastors point to a firm conclusion: Sarah Palin’s foundation and source of guidance is the Bible.

More Politics

• With Themes Set, Starting a Dash to Election Day
• Lawmakers to Seek Subpoenas in Palin Inquiry

The End of Boomer Weirdness?
James Lewis
Believe it or not, this used to be a normal country. Maybe John McCain and Sarah Palin are a sign of a return to normal More

Cold Warriors and the Georgian Crisis
Tony George
Russia's invasion of Georgia was a masterful operation using all of the tools in the combined arms and services toolbox. More

Georgia's Human Chain Stronger than Russian Tanks
David J. Smith
On Monday, Georgia came to a halt or, rather, it came to life. A massive human chain gripped the avenues of Tbilisi, the streets of Russian-besieged Poti, the squares of every city, the lanes of every village and the country roads that connect them. More

Iowahawk on Community Organizers
September 05, 2008
Iowahawk has the definitive defense of community organizers which includes useful information like this: More

Democrats and Community Disorganizing
September 05, 2008
In response to Rudy Giuliani's and Sarah Palin's convention jibes at The O's experiences as a community organizer, the Obama campaign is issuing statements of outrage More

Breaking News: New Intelligence Discovered
September 05, 2008
Last night, September 4, on CNN's Larry King Live Show, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo announced a startling scientific discovery More

The Oprah brand in jeopardy
September 05, 2008
Oprah Winfrey and her TV staff are reportedly in turmoil over whether or not to invite Sarah Palin. The wrong decision would change the nature of her brand, transforming her into a perceived partisan and an implicit antagonist of a large segment of her female audience. More

Barack Obama's Chicago and George Bush's Iraq
September 05, 2008
The numbers tell the story: "An estimated 123 people were shot and killed over the summer. That's nearly double the number of soldiers killed in Iraq over the same time period." More

The Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee 'flubbed' his taxes
September 05, 2008
Failure to report an income stream from luxury vacation rental property overeseas for 20 years? Hey, it could happen to anyone. Middle America is sure to understand. More

What do you mean 'us' Kimosabe?
September 05, 2008
How badly did Jann Wenner's Us Weekly misjudge his readers? Badly enough that the magazine may be on the rocks for its unfair treatment of Sarah Palin More

Ground Noise and Static
September 05, 2008
The three adult children who took turns disrupting John McCain's acceptance speech last night are now being heralded as heroes by some left wing blogs. More

The 'conciliatory' Barack Obama?
September 05, 2008
The agenda journalism of the New York Times spins Barack Obama's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor More

Who went negative at the national conventions?
September 05, 2008
The media would have you believe that Sarah Palin went negative, unlike the sunny unifier Barack OBama. It just ain't so. More

Taking a Cold Shower
September 05, 2008
The party's over. The balloons have fallen. I spoke on Al Jazeera. And the anarchists are all safely home in bed (after a good week of mayhem) More

Peggy Noonan
September 05, 2008
There are substantial elements of conservatism who have lost the thread. This is no longer simply another campaign, to be parsed and analyzed like any other campaign. The assault on the Palin family has transformed it into a moral confrontation. More

• Hurricane Sarah Shakes Up the Race - Richard Baehr

• McCain Haters For McCain - Randall Hoven

• Obama's Tattletale Campaign Is Pitiful - Kyle-Anne Shiver

• Sarah's Surly 'Sisters' - Jan LaRue

• A Week Since Invesco: Was It A Symphony or Playing Scales? - Lee Cary

Giving Credit Where It's Due for Palin - William Kristol, Weekly Standard
McCain's Choice Won't Fool Women - Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune
What's Fair Game? Ask Hillary - Anne Kornblut, Washington Post
Palin's Story is Our Story - Jim Wooten, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Greetings From the Energized GOP Base - Meghan Daum, Los Angeles Times
GOP Gives In to Anti-Abortion Absolutism - Jacob Weisberg, Slate
The Referendum on Sarah Palin - George Jonas, National Post
Tips for Obama: Ignore Palin, Dis McCain - Matt Cooper, Portfolio

The Battle of Party Themes - Michael Barone, RealClearPolitics
Republicans Running From Reality - Bob Herbert, New York Times
McCain Offers Reality vs. Obama's Empty Promises - Simon Heffer, DT
Obama: The Disillusioned Activist - John Judis, The New Republic
The Year of Speaking Conventionally - Michael Gerson, Washington Post
Shunned by Democrats, Lieberman at Ease - Bill Andresen, Miami Herald
Ahmadinejad's New Enemy: Women - Amir Taheri, New York Post
Russia's Role in the Iran Crisis - Takeyh & Gvosdev, Boston Globe
How a Tumor is Changing My Life - Robert Novak, Chicago Sun-Times

• More '08 Analysis
  • Disregard Current Polls - Rather
  • 6 Steps for McCain - Barone
  • Crusade To Nowhere - Plumer
  • How Palin Hurts McCain - Harrop
  • Welcome Back, Dad - M. Reagan

Palin and McCain's Shotgun Marriage - Frank Rich, New York Times
Rallying The Right, Confounding The Left - Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant
Palin Could Be an Elusive Target for Dems - Howard Fineman, Newsweek
McCain Finds the Right Wingman - Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard
McCain Adviser Who Turned it Around - Rutenberg & Nagourney, NYTimes
Obama's Race May Be the Decider - Dick Polman, Philadelphia Inquirer
Palin Rises Above "Shrill" Media - Ruben Navarrette, San Diego UT
McCain's Failure at the Convention - Debra Saunders, San Fran Chronicle
Are You Better Off? That Depends - George Will, Washington Post
When the Berserk Media Helped Palin - Nick Cohen, The Guardian
Palin, Playing Politics with Family Values - Barney Frank, Boston Globe
Palin & the Quiet Success of Pro-Lifers - David Frum, National Post
The Maverick Ticket - William Safire, New York Times
Finally, A Senator to President - Ezra Klein, Los Angeles Times
Missing Barry Goldwater - Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
Bush's Team with Iraq: Doubt, Distrust, Delay - Bob Woodward, Wash Post
Talibanistan, Right at the Edge - Dexter Filkins, New York Times Ma

Editorials
The Final Sprint - Washington Post
The Zigzag Economy - Chicago Tribune
McCain's Energy Follies - New York Times
GOP Convention Sets the Stage - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Political News & Analysis
Campaigns Voice Support for Fannie, Freddie Takeover - New York Times
Obama Appeals to Voters' Economic Distress - Indianapolis Star
Springs Crowd Cheers McCain, Palin - Denver Post
McCain, Obama Plan Joint Ground Zero Visit - Associated Press

Transcripts & Speeches


Obama's Speech to the AARP Convention - Barack Obama
Roundtable Reviews McCain's Speech - Special Report w/Brit Hume
Shields & Brooks Preview the Race Ahead - The NewsHour
Huckabee & Ferraro on "Hannity & Colmes" - Hannity & Colmes
John McCain's Acceptance Speech - John McCain

Best of the Blogs
Oprah & The Governor - Jonah Goldberg, The Corner
Palin Inexperienced? Not Really - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Palin's Support of Aerial Hunting - Alan Colmes, Liberaland
Biden Can Throw a Punch - Steve Benen, Political Animal
Palin: A Base Pick - Oliver Willis, Kryptonite To Stupid

McCain's Failure at the Convention - Debra Saunders, San Fran Chronicle14

Don't 'Misunderestimate' Palin's Power - Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune10

Beware the Barracuda - Howard Fineman, Newsweekhttp://comments.realclearpolitics.com/read/42323/177637.html

The Maverick Ticket - William Safire, New York Timeshttp://comments.realclearpolitics.com/read/42323/177613.html

Obama's Race May Be the Decider - Dick Polman, Philadelphia Inquirer1

Palin Rises Above "Shrill" Media - Ruben Navarrette, San Diego UT9

Palin and McCain's Shotgun Marriage - Frank Rich, New York Times1

Missing Barry Goldwater - Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune1

When the Berserk Media Helped Palin - Nick Cohen, The Guardianhttp://comments.realclearpolitics.com/read/42323/177616.html

Palin & the Quiet Success of Pro-Lifers - David Frum, National Posthttp://comments.realclearpolitics.com/read/42323/177617.html

Palin, Playing Politics with Family Values - Barney Frank, Boston Globehttp://comments.realclearpolitics.com/read/42323/177618.html

Rallying The Right, Confounding The Left - Kevin Rennie, Hartford Couranthttp:/