DragonFlight

September 16, 2008: “Why do Republicans embrace lies? The McCain/Palin False-Talk Express lies, lies, lies! Palin did NOT say “thanks, but no thanks” to Congress, and asked for and received huge earmarks for Alaska! She’s NOT a fiscal reformer! While mayor of Wasilla, seven times smaller than Paradise, she created a $20 million-plus deficit, building a $13 million sport’s arena! Doh! Wall Street is in danger (as is your retirement), the dollar is dropping. We DO need REAL change! At least give the other party a “chance,” before we lose it all!”

September 2, 2008: “Apparently Maria Schulte, you don't know the difference between caring for women and using them. Sarah Palin is a very transparent attempt to pander for female and social conservative votes. When the Democrats didn’t nominate a woman, the GOP backroom boys obviously drooled over each other to nominate just ANY woman so as to appear “progressive.” Shameless pandering is clearly McCain’s strongest political trait! You trust him to be president? Which promises to which group will he honor?”

August 31, 2008: ‘”As you sow so shall you reap.” -- Sound familiar? Recently a James Dobson minion and employee of “Focus on the Family,” Stuart Shepard, asked politically conservative Christians to pray for rain at Invesco Park in time for Barack Obama’s DNC acceptance speech, calling it “boyish humor.” Apparently God didn’t appreciate the humor, as hurricane Gustav approaches Louisiana in time to threaten or alter the Republican National Convention. Prayer isn’t meant for selfish purposes, or as a political weapon!’

The Paradise Post refused to print these three 49er comments between September 2 and September 18. The comment submitted on September 2 was actually submitted twice, and refused both times. The September 16 comment, instead of being printed in the 49er section in the newspaper, was instead exiled for some strange reason to the 49er online version, a place where it was guaranteed to go unnoticed by the vast majority of Post readers. I hadn’t even known the online 49er included comments that didn’t appear in the regular paper. Did anyone?

After having the first two comments ignored, I did query the Post as to why this was so. I was informed that the paper had decided to print only one comment from regulars per week. This sounded plausible, but I have to wonder why I was unable to get any comments posted for more than two weeks, even when there appeared to be space in the paper. At the same time, I noticed some of the other “regulars” appearing in print, including consecutive “letters to the editor” by right wing extremist Brad Jenks. While I couldn’t get one 49er printed, he had back-to-back “letters" appear in the paper.

The paper seems to believe it is comparable to post a 49er on the online version instead of printing it in the 49er column in the paper. This of course makes little sense. Relatively few read the online version, either because they are not on computers, or subscribe to the paper, and read the hard copy, and obviously have no reason to go online to read it again. I sent an email to the editor stating, “... I write comments for the 49er Speakeasy because I wish the whole readership of the paper to see them, and I assume that is why others participate as well. I thought the deal has always been that one is given a limited space to comment, but in turn, one was pretty much guaranteed a space in the paper. I do not carefully craft my comments only to have them consigned to an online version that few read.”

Is it mere coincidence that my comments were either ignored or exiled to online oblivion (as of this moment, a week later, not one comment was posted on any of the 49er comments for that day), especially considering they were all strong criticisms of present day Republican thinking? It is noteworthy this transpired with the rapid approach of perhaps the most important election of our lifetimes.

To sidetrack for a moment, it’s interesting that whereas it appears I was inhibited from voicing my opinion to the press, the McCain campaign is accomplishing the reverse, successfully avoiding the press altogether. McCain has had no recent press conferences, and there is a concerted effort to disallow the press from having any real access to his running mate, Sarah Palin. There might even be a bogus attempt mounting to cancel the vice presidential debate between Palin and Biden, using the present economic crisis as a pretext.

McCain claims he has to rush to Washington DC to solve an economic crisis that he assured the nation didn’t exist just one week ago; you’ll recall his remark, “the economy is fundamentally sound.” So of course he feels the need to “maybe” delay Friday’s presidential debate, and “maybe” put it in the vice presidential debate slot instead.

How very convenient that would be; killing two birds with one stone. He can avoid having to debate Obama now, and successfully keep Palin from debating at all, and thus avoid exposing her to the press and the American people! It pretty much sounds like an attempt by the Republican Party to censor what the American public might learn about its candidates for president. Why would they want to do that? It appears that many on the right wing in general want communications stifled during this election cycle!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… Do I suspect the Paradise Post has a right wing bias, based on the incidences I’ve mentioned, and the inclusion of blatant right wing articles appearing on a fairly regular basis in the newspaper, including that nonsensical column by Floyd and Mary Beth Brown, and a strongly biased article by Michael Reagan? Hmmm! I had also emailed the editor after the Floyd and Mary Beth Brown column appeared, recommending he print a September 3 column entitled, “Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention.” by Associated Press writer Jim Kuhnhenn, which appeared to rather impartially state just a few facts voters need to know. I mentioned it would present some balance to the Post. I received no reply.

It’s one thing to have regular columnists, representing both sides of the political spectrum, appear weekly to voice their own opinions and biases, and quite another if outside articles appear, with any consistency, that are heavily weighted to one side. Do I suspect there is sometimes a tendency to ignore some articles and pieces coming from the left? I couldn't honestly say. Media bias is not unusual these days, and unfortunately has become all to acceptable. I only know that my three 49er pieces didn't make it to print.

I don't know exactly what happened because I never received an answer to my email. From my perspective, the Post seems to be becoming less balanced, while the demographics of the Ridge are steadily changing. Wouldn't it be beneficial for the local newspaper to consider this, and try to represent the views of a wider audience? Isn't that the purpose of the 49er Speakeasy?

Posted by Stephen at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (10) | TrackBacks (0)

A few facts:

The nation is in deep financial trouble, and lost in the quagmire of two seemingly endless wars. Who has been in power for the past eight years? Who has run the government of the United States? The Republicans.

The Congress has the lowest approval ratings in its history. Who is responsible? Though the Democrats have technically “controlled” Congress for less than two years, the Republicans have obstructed their almost every move.

Barack Obama, contrary to the constant lie disseminated by those same Republicans, is NOT going to raise your taxes. Who will see an increase in taxes? Those earning in excess of $250,000 per year -- that is one quarter of a million dollars annually.

Let’s correct some major misconceptions that are being held by all too many McCain/Palin/Republican supporters, and whoever else. At this time of crisis in American history, the American people need facts, NOT party talking points!

The most significant presidential election in our lifetimes is rapidly approaching. It is a time when we, the voters, have to be better informed and know more about what is, and has been occurring in our government than ever before. We need to know what the candidates are saying, and where they have stood on the real issues of the day, and what they can and will do if elected. Our nation is in the midst of two wars without end at an extraordinary cost in military personnel, resources, and dollars and cents; and the financial woes of the economy continue to grow exponentially. In just three days our nation lost nearly one Trillion dollars as Wall Street melted down.

I do my best to share my thoughts about the country and the candidates with people I meet each day, and I talk with people on both sides. I also listen to what they have to say. I’m not surprised at how many people are very upset with the direction the nation is taking, but I am dismayed at how many are less informed and more apt to use inaccurate and biased talking points when considering how to vote. Here are a couple of examples:

ASSERTION:

John McCain doesn’t really represent the Republican Party; and it is the Democratic controlled Congress that is really responsible for the problems besetting the nation.

FACT:

John McCain voted with George Bush 90% of the time, and, it is the Republican Party that has controlled the government of these United States for the past eight years, along with the Congress for six of those. It is amazing how often Republicans, when told it is their party that has created the mess of the past eight years in this nation, automatically respond with, “the Democrats control the Congress!” It’s as if they are totally unaware of the Republican Executive Branch, the “Right” leaning Supreme Court, and all the very partisan Republicans still in Congress -- to say nothing about the fact that the Democrats have only “controlled” Congress for about twenty months. What about the first six years, when the real damage to the country was set in motion?

The very small Democratic majority in Congress allows them to chair committees, initiate investigations, and gives them the power to subpoena those they want to talk to, (which the Bush Administration has consistently defied by claiming “executive privilege), but it does NOT guarantee that they can get any legislation passed!

The Democratic majority in Congress is very small, especially in the Senate, where the party split is 51-49, and only because Joseph Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, both Independents, essentially vote with the Democrats most of the time. As a result, the Democrats have not been able to pass most of the legislation they were elected to pass, oftentimes not even pushing it because it would essentially go nowhere, either because the Republicans have lined up in lockstep to obstruct these bills, or the Democrats couldn’t come up with enough votes to override the vetoes promised by the president.

A Republican controlled Congress enabled the Bush Administration for its first six years in office. For all that time the President only vetoed one bill, H.R.810, aimed at the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005, basically an attempt to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research. The Democrats could not override it.

After the Democrats took over control of Congress in 2006, Bush suddenly rediscovered his veto power and vetoed another eleven bills. Guess which party was backing those bills? Only four were overridden, basically because not doing so would have made both parties look bad in the eyes of the American people.

If the rating of Congress is the lowest in history, don’t look to blame the Democrats; blame those who have allowed almost no essential legislation (the changes the American people mandated in 2006) from passing.

ASSERTION:

Barack Obama will raise everyone’s taxes, worse case scenario, or best case scenario, those making over $45,000.

FACT:
These are out and out lies! His policy, and the political promises as stated by Barack Obama are, and have been, basically this. If you make less than $250,000 (quarter of a million dollars), you will be getting a tax decrease. Those making more will lose the tax cut given to them by George Bush, and their tax rate will revert back to what they were paying during the Clinton Administration. Most people were quite satisfied with their economic status, and the promise for the future during those years. How many can still say that, and how many people on the Ridge, or in Butte County, or the nation even, are making more than $250,000 per year?

This upcoming election is not a game to be won. It is a very serious matter. Four more years of the same kind of government we have experienced for the past eight just might irrevocably destroy the America we have always loved. This is NOT a time to be diverted by false rhetoric and the usual snake oil salesmen. It is NOT a time for anyone to only listen to their party’s talking points.

It IS time to listen to both sides, and often. It IS time to know what ALL news services (rather than a select few) are saying, here and around the world. It IS time to stop automatically buying into the falsehoods and information that only agree with the facts as we WANT them to be, and blindly believe that everything that doesn’t agree with what we want to be true, is false!

Posted by Stephen at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

The slogans and focal point of the 2008 election in both campaigns will revolve around the “need for change” in one way or another. Why? The nation desperately and surely needs change, and quickly! From what exactly? The same thing the Republican Party is desperately running away from -- the 800-pound gorilla sitting in the room, namely, the ghost of the last eight years of Republican dominated government that hangs around its collective neck like an albatross.

There is presently a very obvious and blatant disconnect in the Republican Party between actions and message. They are admittedly (according to Fox “News”) and desperately doing whatever possible to disassociate themselves from that same government, represented primarily by George Bush and Dick Cheney. Paradoxically, and at the same time, they are all the while clinging to the idea that the Republican Party, and John McCain specifically, are the entities that can and will institute the change everyone is clamoring for.

This is not rational, even for them. They can’t simultaneously distance themselves from the results of eight years of Republican leadership, and also offer up more of the same. The only other possibility is a blatant admission that they do indeed put party before nation, and they aren’t about to admit that. Instead, they are slyly agreeing with those first using change as an issue, the Democrats, all the while claiming it as their own idea.

Sure, the GOP will talk about how “politics as usual” needs to be revamped. They’ll go on about how certain elements of the Clinton years were unacceptable (to them), and they’ll attempt to level the playing field by admitting both parties in some ways have faults necessitating reformation. Yet the major, and quite obvious fly in the Republican ointment remains, the past eight years.

Of course no one is denying the presence of the gorilla in the room; it would be impossible. The national debt and deficit are higher than ever. Americans are losing their homes, jobs and pensions while more jobs are being lost and outsourced than created, and unemployment is topping 6%. Millions are still without health care and countless others are losing it, yet we are still spending $9-12 billion dollars per month in Iraq, not to mention the increased loss of both lives and resources in Afghanistan; and there is no real end in sight in either conflict.

The absence of both Cheney and Bush at the RNC speaks volumes. The excuse? Hurricane Gustav. That excuse morphed from somewhat possibly plausible to absolutely lame, as Gustav fizzled out at the last, and the RNC was business as usual for most of the week. And considering how very important both party conventions were at this particular time and in this particular election, there is no way the inability of the leaders of the party to hand over the torch at the convention would normally have been justified. The truth is, no one in the GOP wanted to remind those at the convention, and more succinctly, those millions watching on TV, why change has become the mantra of both parties -- the past eight years.

John McCain has also been scrambling away from government policies of the past eight years, all the while sticking to them like mud. It’s one thing to repudiate your association with a particular mindset, and another to actually demonstrate it.

The fact is, this once touted “maverick” is no longer a maverick. There is a cost for voting with a failed president 90 % of the time, and there is a price to pay for pandering for votes with groups that align him with the Administration instead of distancing him from it. All the issues McCain has changed his mind about have been thoroughly vetted here and elsewhere, and there is no need to repeat them ad nauseam. I’ll mention only one because I deem it to be the most reprehensible (for him).

In February of this year, an article in the New York Times revealed that, “Senator John McCain’s vote last week against a bill to curtail the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of harsh interrogation tactics disappointed human rights advocates who consider him an ally and led Democrats to charge that he was trying to please Republicans as he seeks to rally them around his presidential bid."

We have heard and viewed countless reports and documentaries enumerating the trials and tribulations of Lieutenant Commander John McCain while he was a POW for five and one half years during the Vietnam War. We have applauded his courage and service, all the while commiserating with him over the years of torture and inhumane treatment he was forced to endure. Most automatically assume that such an individual, by default, would object to torture in any way, shape or form. And at first, John McCain did, before he didn’t.

In an article entitled, “McCain Rebukes Giuliani on Waterboarding Remark,” by Michael Cooper and Marc Santora, published in the New York Times on October, 26, 2007, it is stated that Rudolph Giuliani’s uncertainty whether waterboarding was torture, “drew a sharp rebuke yesterday from Senator John McCain, who said that his failure to call it torture reflected his inexperience.” He continued, “All I can say is that it was used in the Spanish Inquisition, it was used in Pol Pot’s genocide in Cambodia, and there are reports that it is being used against Buddhist monks today,” Mr. McCain, who spent more than five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, said in a telephone interview.”

McCain also stated, as reported in the Des Moines Register on October 25, 2007, “Waterboarding is a form of torture no matter how it is done and should be a prohibited among U.S. military interrogation practices, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said today, taking issue with GOP rival Rudy Giuliani’s recent remarks.”

John McCain has also stated, “People who have worn the uniform and had the experience know that this is a terrible and odious practice and should never be condoned in the U.S. We are a better nation than that.”

If McCain, a person continually and cruelly tortured while in captivity is himself capable of such an extreme turn about on the subject of torture, and can suddenly condone it at election time, I’m not sure there is anything the man might say on the campaign trail that I can accept without serious questions and doubts automatically arising in my mind. Perhaps McCain has misconstrued change to mean a constant and consistent changing of one’s mind in order to garner votes? Enough said!

What a major conundrum for the GOP and the Republican right! Forced to adopt a platform of change because even they have no choice but to admit the nation is in dire need of it, and, because the Democrats, especially the Obama and Clinton campaigns, were quick to make change a slogan; they are confronted with a major oxymoron. On the one hand, the Republicans finally admit what almost everyone in the nation already realizes, namely there IS that 800-pound gorilla in the room, and as it turns out, it is THEM!

Footnote: There may indeed be another gorilla in the mix. As the media slowly and meticulously begins to uncover all the recent lies, distortions and distractions surrounding John McCain’s choice for vice president, a new gorilla, perhaps only a 500-pounder, is becoming apparent, namely Sarah Palin.

Posted by Stephen at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

You have to raise an eyebrow when the GOP continually claims they don’t put party before country. That aptly describes what they have been doing for the last two decades, and most especially during the failed presidency of George Bush. As a matter of fact that is exactly why the Bush Presidency has failed. Time and time again the Republican led Congress between 2000 and 2006 supported one failed or corrupt policy of George Bush after another. And when the Democrats took over a majority in Congress in 2006 they discovered that majority was not large enough, especially in the Senate, where time and time again the Democrats could not get the sixty votes required to override all of the Bush vetoes, even as Republicans pretty much lined up in lock step to resist almost everything the Democrats tried to do in order to beat the Democrats, not serve the nation.

The one thing the Democrats could have done, should have done, and didn’t, was to start impeachment proceedings against George Bush. The laundry list of crimes and misdemeanors perpetrated by Bush and Cheney make the actual impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton pale by comparison. I blame Nancy Pelosi, and some obvious hanky panky (whatever it was) behind closed doors for this. The idea that this would have distracted Congress is specious, and as far as angering the Republicans, so what!?!

The idea that the Democrats haven’t tried to do anything in Congress is spin, just as the Republicans spin everything. Look what the Republican Congress did between 2000 and 2006; they enabled the worst presidency in American history! Most of us wish they had done far less than they did!

Let’s be clear about one thing – the present Congress has garnered a reputation as a do nothing Congress, with a low public rating only because of the constant obstruction by the Republicans in that once august body! The Republican party of course, while claiming to put country before party, won’t admit that, and most of their constituents are either too partisan, too heavily in denial, or too dumb not to accept that obviously false claim. And by the way, one spins everything or consistently attacks their opponent when they really have nothing of value to offer. If most Americans don’t understand that by now, after the unquestionably worse Administration and government in American history, they probably aren’t capable of learning much of anything.

And now we are in the midst of a rather lame Republican National Convention, something even the Republicans would admit, if they were honest, but of course they have spin for that as well. Gustav threatening New Orleans, and the President having to attend to business (mainly because he screwed the pooch so badly during Katrina), for some reason meant that the entire RNC had to be put on semi-hold for a day or two. I’m not quite sure I understand why one man needing to do his job, sidetracked the whole convention. And where is Dick Cheney; what hole has he climbed into? Certainly John McCain, while claiming his campaign was pretty much on hold during this crisis, never really justified that connection. And of course, the RNC is now back on track after Gustav thankfully turned out to be less harmful than feared.

Yet the GOP was able to dodge a serious bullet, namely George Bush and Dick Cheney actually attending the Convention. That is obviously something the Republicans dreaded. It’s bad enough that John McCain does represent a third Bush term, but spin dictates that that fact be played down as much as possible. Having those two very unpopular souls show up at the RNC might have reminded all too many people of the reality of the linkage to McCain. So, all was well in Oz!

Getting back to my principle point, the claim that Republicans put nation before politics, is it just a coincidence that once again all the Republicans are in agreement about the excitation over McCain’s pick for VP, Sarah Palin? As I watched the media walking through the convention and interviewing various attendees I was amazed that they all seemed to have the same talking points about how enthusiastic they all were over her nomination. The thought ran through my mind that a switch was thrown at Republican National Headquarters and everyone was once again programmed with the same talking points. How often have we seen this?

Is it also just coincidence that Republicans en masse are outraged over the fact that the announcement that Sarah Palin’s 17 year old unwed daughter is pregnant has made such a stir on the news front? First of all, the Republicans themselves believed it was important enough to make an announcement. Why was that? Secondly, it happens to be very pertinent to the present campaign.

Governor Palin is the ultimate extremist social conservative, something the party unbelievably thinks will appeal to all those women disenchanted by Hillary not being the Democratic presidential nominee -- talk about a major disconnect! Do they honestly believe liberal minded women and former Clinton supporters will support a candidate that is absolutely against abortion for any reason, including incest and rape? It also amazes me that they believe a nation which is predominately pro-choice would support a candidate that vows to abolish Roe v Wade.

No one likes abortion, but, when the choice sometimes comes down to -- “Do I bring a pregnancy to full term when it is the result of a rapist or my own father, or one that I cannot possibly afford, emotionally or financially, and do I drop out of high school or become a pariah in my small judgmental town,” there just might need to be another choice. Many believe things happen for a reason and according to God’s will, and that just might include the decision not to continue a pregnancy. Certainly if God can ordain wars in which hundreds of thousands or even millions are killed, He just might believe a pregnancy should be discontinued because of the very negative effects it will have on many lives. But that is a question for those able to decipher the “mysterious ways of God.”

The relevant point is that Sarah Palin very strongly believes in “abstinence only” sex education, which of course is her prerogative. However, what does it say about the validity of that policy when her own unwed teenage daughter ends up being pregnant? That is something I would really like all social conservative Republicans to at least think about! It would appear that an awfully lot of people don’t get that quite a few teenagers, driven by raging hormones and explosive egos, aren’t going to listen to anyone for any reason, religion or otherwise, telling them not to have sex. Providing alternatives for preventing pregnancy in the first place could eliminate situations arising that even make abortion an issue. Sorry folks, but no matter how morally “right” you are as parents, lots of teenagers don’t care! Maybe you should consider that sex is a lot less catastrophic than unwanted pregnancies.

As a side note, it’s interesting that a party that would have crucified the Clintons if Chelsea had gotten herself pregnant, is now so deleriously proud that the daughter of their VP candidate is pregnant, using it as an example that they are just like everyone else. This is exactly the reason there need to be other options besides abstinence only.

Yet in spite of reality, the Republicans simply line up to support a cause, in this case a candidate in favor of a very questionable policy, because that is what they do. This is harder for a Democrat like myself to comprehend because I belong to a party that often seems fractious because of disagreement on various issues. I’ve always attributed this to the fact that Democrats do put country before politics and are more interested in stating what they really feel about something, rather than just all following the party line.

Sometimes this gets extremely annoying, especially when an election approaches and the party is divided, resulting in squandered votes or loss of an election. But you know, at least it is honest, and leads to a democratic discussion and consensus on ideas. When a nation elects a president who is a member of a party within which all act and think the same in order to gain more power and wealth, we end up with an Administration that figures it their right to dictate whatever they desire. And, they don’t have to worry about being challenged by a Congress made up largely of their own party. Sound familiar? And how did that work out? Hmmmm!

There is one more thing Republicans seem to love and have as an addiction, being lied to. Among the many, many, many lies being foisted on the American public by Republican leaders, pundits and the right wing media is that Barack Obama plans to raise taxes on those making $45,000. I’ve listened to Obama quite a bit in the past 20 months and haven’t heard him mention that once, but I have heard him say he would be raising taxes on those making over $200,000, and taking away the gratuitous tax cut for those in the top 1% of money makers.

And speaking of another lie, the one that claims Sarah Palin has more executive experience than “all the other candidates -- I would suggest that the brilliant presidential campaign Senator Obama has run for 20 long months (longer than Palin has been governor of a state smaller than most mid size cities, not to mention her time as mayor of a city five times smaller than Paradise, CA), at least equals any executive experience of consequence that she has obtained. This idea that real executive ability pertains only to having run a government of some sort is bogus. Character and ability related to the experiences that a person does have can often trump that, and in this instance just might.

Of course, I heard Orin Hatch (R-UT), tell Andrea Mitchell at the RNC that, “it’s rougher running a small town than running a large town.” Cough! Another lie? He also said that Palin has more energy experience than all the other candidates, and that, “she knows more than all the other candidates put together.” I’d sure love to know what he was smoking!

And (the lies continue), what is with this myth that all Democrats do is raise taxes, implying that Republicans never do? Both Reagan and Bush Sr. (remember the “read my lips” speech?) raised taxes, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is raising the California sales tax. By the way, I thought taxes needed to be raised in all those instances. When the economy is threatened, sometimes the money needed to revive it needs to come from us!

And lest we forget, look how wonderful that Bush/Cheney tax cut for the top 1%, the conspicuous super wealthy, and during a time of war, is working out for the nation. The national debt and deficit are higher than ever in history, people are losing their homes, jobs have been lost, not gained, millions are still without healthcare and countless others are losing it, and we are still spending $9-10 billion dollars per month in Iraq. Geeeez!

I would rather be in a party that puts honesty before faux agreement and lies, simply to win an election, and retain power and wealth. That is how I define putting country before party!

If the continual predilection for the Republican Party to walk in lockstep fashion on most all issues isn’t a demonstration of how they do put party before country, than I don’t know what is. And considering how consistently they have backed the failed policies of the Bush Administration in order to empower the party, it stretches the imagination to believe they were putting the nation first.

As I listen to Mitt Romney in the background as he speaks at the RNC, I’m forced to suppress the gag reflex, and I’m hearing so many lies, coming so rapidly, that the room is spinning (pardon the pun). I do love hearing the Republicans talk about the need for change. Have they already forgotten that in the past eight years they are the ones that created that which so desperately needs to be changed?

As a footnote: Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin spoke very powerfully, though not kindly, at the RNC. They lied a lot, and were extremely condescending, but they delivered the strong speeches that were required by a party that puts country last.

Posted by Stephen at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBacks (0)