Tidal wave of scandals in Palin feeding frenzy

Is it just me or did anyone else get this impression? The night Sarah Palin spoke at the convention looked like it was a scene stolen from the back lot of a Disney production.

I am losing track of all the "scandals" swirling around Sarah Palin. The longer she is shielded from the press and the public the more these stories grow. The campaign's choice to only allow her to address the public through speeches written by professional writers only reinforces the public suspicions and the rumors.

In a recent article on the Right Side of the News, The Media Plan to Destroy Palin , written by Cliff Kincaid and posted on September 7, belies the confidence so publicly showered on Sarah Palin by those that support her. Kincaid states that Sarah Palin accepting televised interviews with the press would be a "trap and politically suicidal." Kincaid says about the recently announced interview with ABC's Charles Gibson that "Democrats will be counting on Gibson to to spring a trap" on Sarah Palin and "make her look like an ignorant buffoon on some issue or another." He goes on to say that Palin should not be underestimated since she has worked as a journalist and understands how the media works.

All that I could find about her journalistic career was that she worked as a sports announcer and assisted in her husband's fishing business before she began her political career as president of the Wasilla high school PTA. I suppose that gave her some understandings of the workings of a small news operation in Wasilla. But the greater message that is communicated in Kincaid's article is the fear that Sarah Palin really will fall on her face. He says, "There is no doubt there is a plan underway to get her."

All this couching in fear that there is a plan to make Palin look like a fool is merely creating an expectation that she will fail if she goes before the public media without a scripted speech. This does two things for Palin. First it makes her look inexperienced before she has a chance to prove otherwise. Secondly, it sets the stage for her to actually be weak in her public appearances but the bar is set so low that if she merely mucks through the interview she comes out a winner. Neither is a good long-term outcome for the career of Sarah Palin. The conservatives are reinforcing a growing thought that Palin is McCain's Dan Quail.

Then instead of elevating the campaign rhetoric, Kincaid dips back to the 1980's to dredge up "dirt" on Joe Biden in regards to a paper he wrote in law school in which he did not adequately cite a paragraph in a paper which resulted in Joe getting an "F" in the class. Joe Biden completely disclosed this incident and opened the records for public view. Is this the worst dirt on Joe they can find is an gaff on an a school paper that happened over 30 years ago?

If we want an honest campaign that is focused about the issues that matters to American citizens than the McCain campaign and it's adherents need to keep it clean on their side. The ads designed to do nothing but generate unfounded fear about Senator Obama but provide no content about McCain's plan for governing the country are a waste of air time and have created this backlash by the blogging world. The Obama campaign is attempting to keep the campaign on the issues. Unfortunately the American public reacts to negative campaigning and fear tactics so the McCain campaign is choosing the low road. It may result in a boost in poll numbers but is this the way to run with integrity? Is this the heroic approach to leadership?

Kincaid mentions the Daily Koz as the progenitor of the Palin scandal rumors. What he fails to mention is that the very same rumors were already being circulated around the Alaska state capital by people that know and work with Sarah Palin. The rumors were not fabricated by the Daily Kos. If the McCain campaign had done its homework and properly vetted Governor Palin, they would have discovered the rumors before reading them on the blogs with the rest of us. And as I have stated before, the story of the Palin family was owned by Sarah Palin. If she had properly handled the story (and I say this not knowing how the campaign may have forced her to handle it) then the blogging community would have never started digging through the internet to find the answers that should have been provided in her family bio.

The obvious lack of confidence given to Sarah Palin is unfair and rather sexist in my opinion. We all saw the incredible delivery of the speech she gave at the RNC. I believe that she can better handle an interview more than John McCain appears to believe in his own candidate.

This is either sexism or McCain has determined after getting to know her better that Palin is honestly not up to the challenge.

First the McCain campaign issued a statement that Sarah Palin will not be engaging in interviews with the press. Huffington Post

Now they have granted a single interview to ABC. Charles Gibson had genteelly handled a McCain interview earlier so they feel this is a safe place to start with Governor Palin. It is understandable that anyone so new to the national scene might need a softball interview to get her confidence up and some practice in. How confident is anyone that this carefully chosen interview will reveal anything? Not much. The goal is to put her before the media in a safe venue so that she can gain some confidence and prove herself to the McCain campaign as much as to anyone. I believe she has the self confidence to go before the media and hit a home run.

Remember the difference between a bulldog and a hockey mom? Sarah Palin has the lipstick and the internal fortitude to go on any talk show and hold her own. The sooner they put her out there and take the training wheels off the better it will be for Governor Palin and for the campaign.

John McCain picked the fruit off the tree before it was ripe. We have a green untested person running for Republican Vice President of the United States. And now they are shielding this candidate from the press until they feel she will be treated with "deference" and "respect."

If she is intending to serve at the executive level of our government, she had better at least be able to handle the American press corp. Deference is granted out of respect. If the McCain campaign hopes to have any respect for McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, they better quit shielding her and let her stand on her own two feet. They cannot continue to cry "foul" and "sexism" when the press does it job asking the questions that America wants to know about this candidate. If "big daddy McCain" keeps shielding Sarah, it will continue to grow the perception that she cannot stand on her own and also that maybe there is something to hide.

I for one, think this is a grand ploy to captivate the media and the public. If you say that Sarah Palin will not address the press in an interview you peak the public's interest for the day you unveil her. The past two weeks have felt like a staged grab for higher Nielsen ratings. You know how smarmy T.V. gets from situation comedies to the reporting of the news when the media knows Nielsen is polling the public about what shows they watch. Well, right now the show is Palin, 24/7, around the clock.

This scenario is as ripe with dangers as Sarah Palin is green for national office. Dangers for McCain's campaign that the public will reject his choice. Dangers that the public will simply get bored with all this. Dangers for the Obama campaign that Palin is so hot, hot, hot, that they cannot address anything in regards to her without getting burned. Dangers for Sarah Palin that John McCain will so undermine her confidence and the confidence of the public in her that her political career will end as quickly as it started.

As defined by *Webster's unabridged dictionary:

Def"er*ence\, n. [F. d['e]f['e]rence. See 3d Defer.] A yielding of judgment or preference from respect to the wishes or opinion of another; submission in opinion; regard; respect; complaisance.

Deference to the authority of thoughtful and sagacious men. --Whewell.
Deference is the most complicate, the most indirect, and the most elegant of all compliments. --Shenstone.

Syn: Deference, Reverence, Respect.

Usage: Deference marks an inclination to yield one's opinion, and to acquiesce in the sentiments of another in preference to one's own. Respect marks the estimation that we have for another, which makes us look to him as worthy of high confidence for the qualities of his mind and heart. Reverence denotes a mingling of fear with a high degree of respect and esteem. Age, rank, dignity, and personal merit call for deference; respect should be paid to the wise and good; reverence is due to God, to the authors of our being, and to the sanctity of the laws.

*deference. (n.d.). Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. Retrieved September 07, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/deference
I confirm that I am a private citizen and in no way officially connected to the Barack Obama campaign other than personally being in support of the Obama candidacy.


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Bloggers called out the story on Sarah Palin's daughter

I must point out that what has happened in the blogging community over Labor Day weekend is a triumph, even if a sad one, for free speech on the world-wide-web. The MSM was not willing to touch the rumors which were bubbling up about the newly named VP candidate for the Republican party, but an avid brigade of bloggers brought the news into the light of day forcing the hand of the McCain campaign to bring further disclosure of the candidate he has selected for the position of Vice President on his ticket.

And before people begin hocking disdain on bloggers, we should all step back and recognize the power of blogging to keep our press free and honest. Once in our history we had a brigade of "minute men" who watched the shores for invasion from the British as our past and paternal government began wrenching freedoms away from them one by one. Now in a reminiscent way, a new group of people, whether they realize it or not, take this stead in the arena of freedom of speech.

To realize that photos and documents were being scrubbed from public domains as quickly as bloggers were uncovering them makes me take pause to wonder about how free our Internet will remain. It is not just for the fun of it that bloggers must remain vigilant to report the news and their views daily on this very public venue.

This is how the radically right will spin this situation, but as you read this statement from the dean of the Liberty University Law School founded by the late Jerry Falwell, keep in mind that anyone taking public office puts their entire family in the spotlight. Also keep in mind that such people have been egregiously intolerant of anyone with whom they disagree. It was Jerry Falwell who said the next day after 9-11 that the attack was the fault of the ACLU, the Gay community, and a laundry list of anyone with whom he disagreed and Pat Robertson sat on the interview, nodding his head in agreement.

Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, told Liz Sidoti of the AP: "We're all sinners. We all make mistakes. Certainly, the ideal is not to get pregnant out of wedlock. But she made the right decision after her mistake. It's absolutely shameful to put her child in the spotlight. She's not running for office. When someone can't face issues, they try to tear down a family."

Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family issued a beautiful statement of support and forgiveness punctuated by this statement:

"The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human. They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans."

Everything that I have seen from the media thus far has been respectful of Bristol and the Palin family. I believe the American public is very sympathetic to this young woman. It is the lack of judgment of the parents and the McCain campaign in thrusting Bristol into the public limelight without properly supporting her situation that is the tragedy. It shows shame from the family and lack of trust of the American people to have the ability to understand this very human situation.

Barack Obama has responded in this way:

"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics."

On charges that his campaign has stoked the story via liberal blogs:

"I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us," he said. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I thought there was somebody in my campaign who was involved in something like that, they would be fired."

It would not be proper for either campaign to use such a situation for profit. However it is fair ground for the blogging community to address this issue and it is the duty of the press to report on it. Yes, this is a family issue and was a private family issue before the family entered into the public arena with Sarah Palin. The fact that her daughter is pregnant is not the vital issue here. I will point out one more time, the real issue is the manner in which the Palin family and the McCain campaign chose to handle the news about Bristol's pregnancy.

If Bristol's pregnancy would have been acknowledged with loving support as part of the families introduction to the public when Sarah Palin joined the McCain campaign this would have been a strong point for the family and the campaign. It has become a disgrace because the campaign chose to shroud Bristol in a dark dress and blanket and have her hold baby Trig during Sarah first speech to the public hoping to camouflage her condition. She was treated as if her condition is shameful. This is not a loving and supportive way to treat your daughter.

To now try to turn the tables and cast shame on the blogging community and the press for reporting on this situation is shifting responsibility from those that should have been in charge of the story: the Palin family and the McCain campaign.

I confirm that I am a private citizen and in no way officially connected to the Barack Obama campaign other than personally being in support of the Obama candidacy.

Media Reports:

In Wasilla, Pregnancy was no secret - Time
Palin's Teen Daughter is Pregnant - CNN
GOP VP Candidate's Daughter is Pregnant - MSNBC
Palin Daughter, 17, is Pregnant - USA Today
McCain's Campaign Demands Respect for Palin's Pregnant Daughter - US News
Palin Pregnancy Rocks Political World - ABC News
Palin's Daughter Pregnant - CBS news
Bristol Palin's pregnancy was an open secret back home - NY Daily News
Levi Johnston: Most Famous High-School Hockey Player of All Time - Chicago Sun Times


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Is God Punishing America? Part 2

UPDATE to Part 1: In balance and in respect to my thinking Christian friends - Comments from an Ordinary Everyday Christian in response to the wave of RRU hysteria regarding God punishing America.

It is my hope that the majority of Christians have a greater sophistication than is displayed in Part 1 of this article. People who call themselves pastors and yet use not the fear, or "awe" as it may better be translated, of God, but the Fear of Punishment to keep their flocks in line and donating to the church coffers have no valid claim to the title of Reverend or Pastor. In my humble opinion, they are shameful hucksters robbing the people who follow them of the full love of God by teaching fear and hate. Jesus taught us to have the perfect love of God in our hearts. What is the greatest commandment? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments" - Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 22:34 - 40

When asked, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritans were hated and despised by the Jews. In this parable a Jew is waylaid by robbers, beaten and left for dead along side the road. A Jewish priest passed by and did not stop. A Levite also passed by looking the other way and ignoring the man's cries for help. But when the Samaritan came by the man, he stopped and dressed his wounds and took him to a inn for care and paid the innkeeper for the man's expenses.

What was the point of this story? Show mercy even to those who spitefully misuse and abuse you. The Samaritan had the least reason of all to help the Jew beside the road, but he showed the love of God to him anyway. The Samaritan understood who is a neighbor. Jesus said, "Go and do likewise."

The Radical Right wants no neighbors but has only a desire to see the world around them plunged into the burning fires of hell so that they alone may dwell in God's heaven. What would you hope Jesus would find you doing if he returned today? Hurling hatred and abuse towards people with alternate life-styles? Or would you rather be living your life dressing the wounds of those in need and living in the way of the true love of the Saviour?

In my humble opinion, Jesus did not bare the burden of our sins, endure a night of endless beating and vile abuse, hang on a cross until death and utter as his last words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" in order to raise up a church filled with people pointing angry fingers at the world around them longing for an Armageddon to destroy the world so that they would not have to live with the "sin" of their neighbors. This is just a guess, I think Jesus had in mind that we would pray for the sick that they might be healed, feed the hungry, and take care of orphans and widows in their time of need.

A modern day version of the Good Samaritan story might go like this: Pat Robertson is the man robbed and left at the side of the road...John Hagee passes by but is on the way to the airport heading out to host a conference titled: Armageddon, the impending War against the Apostate Church. He can't dare miss his flight so he gives his condolences to Pat and goes on his way.

Then Rod Parsley passes by, but looks the other way because he is on the way to a Morning Talk show on Fox News to discuss why America must revoke all clauses in equal rights laws which include allowances for sexual orientation because in reality as everyone should know, this is actually granting "special rights" not equal rights. He would miss the air time if he stopped. He is sure that help is on the way and that Pat's faith will carry him through.

Next along comes Congressman Barney Frank. Congressman Frank has many important committee meetings today and a planning meeting with his staff. However, seeing Pat Robertson laying hurt and in need beside the road, Mr. Frank pulls out his cell phone, calls his secretary and has his meetings rescheduled and offers his regrets to the committee chairs. He pulls over, calls 911, and takes care of Pat Robertson waiting with him, offering him water, until the ambulance arrives. Pat Robertson has been robbed of his wallet, so Barney goes with Pat to the hospital to insure that the finances are in proper order and that Pat is given the care he needs.

Days later, Barney calls Pat to inquire about his recovery. (Hagee and Parsley have been swamped with conferences and talk show appearances and haven't had time to call. But each did instruct their secretaries to send a "get well" card.) Pat is so thankful for Barney's concern. Pat now recognizes that he can show God's love toward Barney and it is up to Barney to talk to God about his personal life. Pat has also been starting to consider whether the erratic weather patterns we have been experiencing may actually be caused by an overload of CO2 as a result of pollution and not really God's judgment. Now this is fiction right? But how do you explain this:



Good Samaritan image along with other beautiful religious art images can be found at Breadsite.org


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Is God Punishing America? Part 1

UPDATE 12/12/2010: Review of this article revealed that three videos originally attached had either been removed from the internet, You Tube had censored the posters account, or the owners had added security so that only members of their website or organization could view them. The videos supported the fact that extreme right-wing people believe God does today destroy cities because of sinners and that they view God as the source behind terrorism toward the United States. I don't know if my humble blog had anything to do with the videos being banned, removed or hidden, but it shows that this topic is almost too controverisal to remain public. That only supports my point that extremist views of the religious right are dangerous and we cannot simply ignore them.

Comments two days after September 11, 2001 while America is in shock and mourning:


God is America's Terrorist

The 9-11 attacks and Katrina disaster were both attributed to God's judgment on the US. John Hagee, Ron Parsley, and the late Jerry Falwell have taught this way of thinking to hundreds of thousands from their pulpits...and Hagee and Parsley recently endorsed John McCain's 2008 presidential bid. (UPDATE: McCain has since rejected the endorsements of Hagee and Parsley amidst an uproar from the main stream media, the Obama campaign and the Catholic Church. McCain had called for Obama to reject the views of his pastor of 20 years, so it was an obvious open door to question McCain's endorsement from Hagee and Parsley. In another commendable action, Hagee sent a letter of apology to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for the statements he has made in regards to the Church.)



The "religious" right has successfully used marriage equality which they put in terms of "traditional family values" as an issue to energize their voter base in past elections - the 2004 election being a prime example. Just a few months before the 2004 election, marriage licenses were being issued to hundreds in San Francisco and gay marriage was made legal in Massachusetts. However, while the gay & lesbian community was celebrating, the "religious" right successfully used this issue to scare their voter base to come out and vote. Why does this work?
I attribute this to evangelical churches preaching fear and hatred of liberalism and homosexuality from the pulpit. Adherents to right-wing Christian churches believe that liberalism and homosexuality are on the move to destroy America and that God will punish America if homosexuality becomes accepted in the United States. (http://www.christiancoalition.com/ and http://www.renewamerica.us/ will affirm this statement.)
This is extreme, but it is in our America and there are many more groups like this in varying degrees of extremity.



The radical right expects something similar to the Biblical Soddom and Gomorah to happen because of legal gay marriage. I expect the Faux News Network to play heavily on this fear with their usual hobgoblin fashion. As scary as it may be, they have millions of minions watching every day.
Hagee endorsed John McCain...did he also ADVISE George Bush?

Is this why we diverted our troupes to Iraq rather than completing the mission in Afghanistan?
Listen to the end of the clip to hear John Hagee talk about a little revelation of his own in which God is the one who mysteriously created the voting anomalies in the 2000 election to Bush's favor. Good to know our God would tinker with the vote of the people, according to Hagee.



John McCain:"I am honored and proud to have the endorsement of Pastor Hagee..."



My point is that if we don't want McCain as our president, we need to be mindful of what we do between now and the election. Don't give any ground to those that would diminish our freedoms. We have to understand how the political system works and how the games are played. We need to be strategic and we need to focus on getting a Democrat in the oval office so that we can rebuild the freedoms we have lost or have never had because of discrimination.

We need a better America than we have had for the eight  W years . The world is watching and waiting and also hoping for a better America. We can do it. We can change America. You know what they say about freedom...just because a battle has been won you can never let down your guard. The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. A battle has been won, but the war is still being waged.

Whatever you do, do not be apathetic, do not sit by silent. Be brave, be bold, get active.

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