"The action I am taking is no more than a radical measure to hasten the explosion of truth and justice. I have but one passion: to enlighten those who have been kept in the dark, in the name of humanity which has suffered so much and is entitled to happiness. My fiery protest is simply the cry of my very soul. Let them dare, then, to bring me before a court of law and let the enquiry take place in broad daylight!" - Emile Zola, J'accuse! (1898) -

Saturday, August 30, 2008

The “Maverick Reform Ticket “Ammo Dump McCain Campaign Reinvents Itself AGAIN! No One is really sure of McCain’s religious views and/or real affiliations but one thing is sure; he is attempting a miracle, resurrection and eternal political life!





Nancy Pelosi on McCain's veep selection: 'Palin is not the right ...PolitickerCA - Los Angeles,CA,USABy Jeff Mitchell House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) issued the following statement Friday on Sen. John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. ...See all stories on this topic

Analysis: McCain takes big gamble in choosing PalinMiamiHerald.com - Miami,FL,USA... reformer at arm's length from her party'' to defeat Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski in a primary and then Democrat Tony Knowles in the general election. ...See all stories on this topic

Choice of Palin Is Bold Move by McCain, With Risks (NYT)

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain spent the summer arguing that a 40-something candidate with four years in major office and no significant foreign policy experience was not ready to be president. And then on Friday he picked as his running mate a 40-something candidate with two years in major office and no significant foreign policy experience.

The selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska proved quintessentially McCain — daring, hazardous and defiantly off-message. He demonstrated that he would not get boxed in by convention as he sought to put a woman next in line to the presidency for the first time. Yet in making such an unabashed bid for supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, he risked undercutting his central case against Senator Barack Obama.

“Here’s what I’m worried about,” said Ed Rogers, a Republican lobbyist and former aide to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. “McCain had to protect his reputation as an opponent of status quo Washington. He had to pick someone with the shortest Washington résumé. He did that. He picked someone the right wing is going to be happy about. But it’s a gamble.”

“The question is,” Mr. Rogers continued, “what does it do to the argument that Obama’s not ready?”

The question is particularly acute for Mr. McCain, who turned 72 on Friday and would be the oldest person elected to a first term as president if he won in November. His campaign now needs to convince the public that it can imagine in the Oval Office a candidate who has spent just two years as governor of a state with a quarter of the population of Brooklyn.

But Ms. Palin, 44, brings clear assets to the ticket. The “gun-packing, hockey-playing woman,” as the Republican strategist Karl Rove described her, instantly bolstered Mr. McCain’s wobbly conservative base, which rejoiced over the selection of an anti-abortion evangelical Christian.

Her reputation as a reformer who took on her state party over corruption and wasteful spending could reinforce Mr. McCain’s own maverick appeal.

Her personal narrative as a working mother raising five children, including an infant with Down syndrome, with a husband who belongs to a union, might prove attractive to working-class voters in swing states who have been suspicious of Mr. Obama. And her presence on the ticket will allow Republicans to argue that Mr. Obama would not be the only one to break barriers if elected.

“He’s chosen a Washington outsider who will be an ally for him in shaking up the way things are done,” said Ron Nehring, chairman of the California Republican Party. “This is someone with solid conservative credentials but solid credentials as a reformer. And it’s clear after watching today’s event, no one is going to push Sarah Palin around — not Barack Obama and not Joe Biden,” the Democratic vice-presidential candidate.

In picking a running mate without deep experience but who would make history, Mr. McCain chose someone who in some ways resembles Mr. Obama. At the same time, by choosing Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware as his running mate, Mr. Obama tapped a longtime Washington hand with even more time in the Senate than Mr. McCain. Just as it might be harder for Mr. McCain to attack his opponent over his level of experience, it might be tougher for Mr. Obama to paint his rival as a creature of the capital.

The selection of Ms. Palin offered clues to how Mr. McCain would govern: holding deliberations to a tight circle of advisers, looking beyond the obvious options, taking risks and relishing surprise.

Yet if he disregarded more conventional prospects, like former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, it might be that Ms. Palin was still the fallback from a more audacious decision that Mr. McCain ultimately eschewed.

In the end, he passed over two of his best political friends, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, and former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, knowing their support for abortion rights would inflame conservatives at next week’s Republican convention.

Ms. Palin has been a rising star on the right since she beat an incumbent governor in a Republican primary in 2006 and then a former Democratic governor in the general election. With an approval rating around 80 percent, she is among the most popular governors. But her success has come on a small stage. The 115,000 votes she received in winning the governor’s office two years ago barely eclipsed the 80,000 people who packed a football stadium in Denver on Thursday night to watch Mr. Obama’s acceptance speech.

Democratic strategists compared her selection to those of Geraldine A. Ferraro in 1984 or Dan Quayle in 1988, suggesting that the decision reflected desperation by Mr. McCain. “He feels a little like Walter Mondale,” said Jim Jordan, a Democratic political consultant. “He’s a respected Washington lifer who’s run into political forces that are bigger than himself. And he’s responded by making a decision that feels panicky.”

Some Republicans, though, distinguished her résumé from Mr. Obama’s by arguing that Ms. Palin’s executive experience as governor was more valuable than Mr. Obama’s legislative history. The “not ready” argument against Mr. Obama, they suggested, will focus more on judgment than pure experience. And they maintained that Ms. Palin would get the better of Mr. Biden, predicting that the veteran senator, who is known for his slashing attacks, would have a hard time not looking as though he was being condescending to a woman.

“In a way, McCain has set a trap on the experience argument,” said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1996, “because if they start picking on her on experience, it’s going to backfire with women.”

Analysis: McCain Had Two Messages to Send with Choice of PalinCQPolitics.com - Washington,DC,USAFrank Murkowski, a state political fixture, in the 2006 primary), McCain signaled to Republicans that he intends to clean up the image of a party brand ...See all stories on this topic

An Ex-Beauty Queen for VP: Political Risk or Political Genius?By Heather Gehlert, AlterNetSarah Palin may be more of a threat to Obama than Democrats are recognizing. Dismissing her would be just as dangerous as dismissing women voters. Read more

Sarah Palin and Feminists for LifeBy Ruth Rosen, AlterNetMcCain's veep pick is a proud member of Feminists for Life, which tries to convince young women that choice means giving up the right to 'choose.' Read more

A Couple Of Extras

Theocratic Sect Prays for Real ArmageddonBy Casey Sanchez, Southern Poverty Law CenterJoel's army fights to bring about the millennial reign of Christ. Read more

Dems' Godly God-Fest Ends with Prayer by Former Christian Coalition LeaderBy Joshua Holland, AlterNetA leader among the "New Evangelicals." Read more

Return

Analysis: McCain takes big gamble in choosing PalinMiamiHerald.com - Miami,FL,USA... reformer at arm's length from her party'' to defeat Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski in a primary and then Democrat Tony Knowles in the general election. ...See all stories on this topic

A 'Maverick' Nominee, But Still The Same GOPNational Journal - Washington,DC,USADuring the primary season, McCain tried to appeal to the base of a party that, if anything, has grown more conservative because it has bled moderates in ...See all stories on this topic

Analysis: Palin a fellow maverick, but a risky pickBoston Globe - United StatesShe is an obvious bridge to women voters, including the many Democrats who supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries, but her selection also limits ...See all stories on this topic

Published on Friday, August 29, 2008 by MSNBC and NBC News
Sarah Palin Is John McCain's Pick For Vice President

Who is Sarah Palin? Here's some basic background:

She was elected Alaska's governor a little over a year and a half ago. Her previous office was mayor of Wasilla, a small town outside Anchorage.1

Palin is strongly anti-choice, opposing abortion even in the case of rape or incest.2

She supported right-wing extremist Pat Buchanan for president in 2000. 3

Palin thinks creationism should be taught in public schools.4

She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change.5

She's solidly in line with John McCain's "Big Oil first" energy policy. She's pushed hard for more oil drilling and says renewables won't be ready for years. She also sued the Bush administration for listing polar bears as an endangered species—she was worried it would interfere with more oil drilling in Alaska.6

She is really just a mayor from a small town outside Anchorage who has been a governor for only 1.5 years, and has ZERO national and international experience. I shudder to think that she could be the person taking that 3AM call on the White House hotline, and the one who could potentially be charged with leading the US in the volatile international scene that exists today. —Rose M., Fairbanks, AK

She is VERY, VERY conservative, and far from perfect. She's a hunter and fisherwoman, but votes against the environment again and again. She ran on ethics reform, but is currently under investigation for several charges involving hiring and firing of state officials. She has NO experience beyond Alaska. —Christine B., Denali Park, AK

As an Alaskan and a feminist, I am beyond words at this announcement. Palin is not a feminist, and she is not the reformer she claims to be. —Karen L., Anchorage, AK

Alaskans, collectively, are just as stunned as the rest of the nation. She is doing well running our State, but is totally inexperienced on the national level, and very much unequipped to run the nation, if it came to that. She is as far right as one can get, which has already been communicated on the news. In our office of thirty employees (dems, republicans, and nonpartisans), not one person feels she is ready for the V.P. position.—Sherry C., Anchorage, AK

She's vehemently anti-choice and doesn't care about protecting our natural resources, even though she has worked as a fisherman. McCain chose her to pick up the Hillary voters, but Palin is no Hillary. —Marina L., Juneau, AK

I think she's far too inexperienced to be in this position. I'm all for a woman in the White House, but not one who hasn't done anything to deserve it. There are far many other women who have worked their way up and have much more experience that would have been better choices. This is a patronizing decision on John McCain's part- and insulting to females everywhere that he would assume he'll get our vote by putting "A Woman" in that position.—Jennifer M., Anchorage, AK

So Governor Palin is a staunch anti-choice religious conservative. She's a global warming denier who shares John McCain's commitment to Big Oil. And she's dramatically inexperienced.

In picking Sarah Palin, John McCain has made the religious right very happy. And he's made a very dangerous decision for our country.

In the next few days, many Americans will be wondering what McCain's vice-presidential choice means. Please pass this information along to your friends and family.

Sources:

1. "Sarah Palin," Wikipedia, Accessed August 29, 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin

2. "McCain Selects Anti-Choice Sarah Palin as Running Mate," NARAL Pro-Choice America, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17515&id=13647-1346069-o1mol6x&t=1

3. "Sarah Palin, Buchananite," The Nation, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17736&id=13647-1346069-o1mol6x&t=2

4. "'Creation science' enters the race," Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2006 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17737&id=13647-1346069-o1mol6x&t=3

5. "Palin buys climate denial PR spin—ignores science," Huffington Post, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17517&id=13647-1346069-o1mol6x&t=4

6. "McCain VP Pick Completes Shift to Bush Energy Policy," Sierra Club, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17518&id=13647-1346069-o1mol6x&t=5

"Choice of Palin Promises Failed Energy Policies of the Past," League of Conservation Voters, August 29, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17519&id=13647-1346069-o1mol6x&t=6

"Protecting polar bears gets in way of drilling for oil, says governor," The Times of London, May 23, 2008 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=17520&id=13647-1346069-o1mol6x&t=7

DNC/RNC 2008 Breaking News
Infoshop News will be providing comprehensive news coverage of events happening around the 2008 RNC and DNC political conventions. You can get involved by writing and submitting stories and first-hand accounts. You can call us with breaking news information. Call us with breaking news information at 913-940-7426

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Friday night
Breaking News from Twin Cities Indymedia

St. Paul: 10:30 pm CDT: Convergence center on Smith Ave. has been raided by the cops. They have a warrant. The cops have handcuffed everybody at the center and are processing people to get their names and identification. No arrests at this time. Twin Cities Indymedia reports: The convergence space is currently being raided. Police burst in and are using force against people. Everyone inside has been handcuffed. Estimates of people inside currently vary between 20-70. One block radius around the convergence space has been blocked off. Lawyers, legal observers and media are on the way. More updates as they come.

St. Paul: 10:30 pm CDT: No arrests during Critical Mass ride, though there were several crashs.

Les Enragés.orgBy ed.dickau AN UNRULY MOB, Infuriated by the misdeeds and arrogance of their oppressors, clamoring as one, "Off with their trousers!" "There is no doubt as to whether the current administration committed war crimes." ...

The “Maverick Reform Ticket “Ammo Dump McCain Campaign Reinvents Itself AGAIN! No One is really sure of McCain’s religious views and/or real affiliations but one thing is sure; he is attempting a miracle, resurrection and eternal political life!



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