Mr. Silver, Nothing is wrong with Michigan, thank you very much

I wasn’t going to Blog today. But there’s just too much being said, that requires my opinion here.

Liberal Blogger and Obama-bot, Nate Silver asks, What’s the Matter with Michigan?

Democrats have grown accustomed to winning Michigan by relatively comfortable margins. Bill Clinton flipped the state in 1992, bringing home the Reagan Democrats and giving the party its first win in the state since 1968. Clinton’s margin grew to 13 points in 1996–five points better than his national popular vote margin against Bob Dole–and he successfully passed the torch to both Al Gore and John Kerry, each of whom also finished 5-6 points ahead of their national margins in the state. The Tipping-Point States But Barack Obama has had trouble getting traction in the Wolverine State. Although nearly all polling since the Democrats resolved the state’s messy delegate situation in June has had him ahead, it has often been by uncomfortably small margins–just one point, for instance, in a Public Policy Polling survey released on Monday. For most of the election cycle, Michigan has polled no more than 1-3 points ahead of Obama’s national poll standing, placing it well within the range of a potential Republican takeover. All of this comes in spite of a seemingly favorable environment for the Democrats. Michigan, its fortunes still tied to the struggling domestic auto industry, has the nation’s highest unemployment rate at 8.5 percent. Its population is 14 percent African-American, among the highest figures outside of the South. And it has two huge university towns in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, potential ground zeroes for youth voter enthusiasm. Why, then, have Obama’s numbers been sluggish in Michigan?

Well, where do I start? As a former “Left of Center”, and someone who has had contact within the African-American community, I feel I am most qualified to answer this.

Obama is not authentic. – Most African-Americans that I have spoken with, especially among the older African-Americans, they view him as an “Uncle-Tom”. Someone who has sold out to the White Community. They also feel that the only reason that the Democratic Party has chosen him, is to appeal to “White Guilt”. or another way of putting it, would be to say that, the only reason he was chosen, is because he would appeal to a segment of White America.
Obama is too controversial. – Yes, the Jeremiah Wright scandal is still lingering around here. Most African-Americans feel that Jeremiah Wright unfairly smeared the Black Community. In fact, one person told me, that “We don’t all feel that way about America or White people”. That whole “Chickens coming home to roost” thing, was a bit much for many blacks in this area.
Obama is unknown – Most African-Americans that I know, really do not know anything about him, at all. I mean, one person I know, told me, “A couple years ago, nobody knew anything about this man.” This is not to infer that black believe that he is a Muslim. None of the people that I have encountered, have ever said that he is a Muslim. In fact, some have brought up that it really infuriated them, that many within White Conservative America were repeatedly inferring that Obama was a Muslim, because of his middle name.
Obama is inexperienced – One African-American that I spoke with on this, asked me, “What has he done?” I proceeded to tell him, that he was a State Senator and then a US Senator, he asked me, “Well, what else?” I then told him, that he was a community organizer. He simply said this, “That’s not enough for me.” – So, based upon this, I am assuming that the African-America Community wants an more experienced leader.
Fear of assassination – As much as I hate to bring this topic up, It has been, I am very much ashamed to admit, brought up by those I’ve spoken to. It is pretty much an unspoken thing among the African-American Community. One African-American man I talked to simply said, “He’ll do great….if they don’t get him.” -I really did not want to press to see as to whom, “They” was even referring to. It is very hard to communicate in words the look in that mans eyes, his expression, he was an older man, in his 60’s. I know what he lived through, what he experienced — The Kennedy’s Assassinations, Martin Luther King Jr. – All of that seemed to be what he was referring to. I guess some feel that it could happen again, and that is most likely why they’re not willing to look to another leader again.

I write this, not as a Conservative Blogger, or a “Right of Center” with an axe to grind. I write this as a citizen of the State of Michigan, a resident of Detroit area. Someone who grew up here. Someone who has spoken and interacted with the people here, in my many years of being here. As someone who used to work in and around the downtown Detroit area, as a delivery man. As someone who has driven in the area, where the 1967 riots took place. As someone who has watched this area change. Some for the good, and some, quite frankly, for the bad. I spoken with and interacted with the people, you can see the scars of the past. You see it in the city. A city which elected it’s first black Mayor, who promised great changes in the city, only to find that he was just as corrupt as the white city officials who used to run the city before him.

A city that after 7 terms in office was able to get rid of that corrupt Mayor and put in a new one. Only to find that was nothing more than an “Uncle Tom”. Then, a ray of hope and promise, a young mayor, someone who could connect with the city. He started out well, but, he too, fell into that cesspool of corruption.

I guess the best thing to say about this is, people in Detroit and yes here in the rest of Michigan are just cynical, we see this young guy out of Chicago, a Democrat, talking hope and change, and we just sit here and say ourselves. “Now, where have we heard that before?”

Others Blogging: FiveThirtyEight.com, Washington Monthly, Michigan Messenger, Matthew Yglesias

Technorati Tags: Barack Obama, Conservative, Democrat, Democrats, Detroit, Election ’08, Election 2008, Joe Biden, Kwame Kilpatrick, Liberal, Liberals, Libertarian, Michigan, Obama, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans

May we never forget…

(Photo by Chris Muir)

This is not a day for writing or Blogging or Political Discourse. It is a day of solemn remembrance.

Some Photos:

It was a day, that I personally will never forget.

It was a day that, at first, brought this Nation together as one, but in the end, divided us. Conservatives against Liberals, Liberals against Conservatives.

It was a day of courage, bravery and incredible loss.

It was the day when the war on terror, came to our shores.

It was a day, when a President rallied a Nation together and for a time it seemed, would catch those who carried out these attacks.

It has been said, that an image or a picture can capture more than any printed work could possible ever hope to convey. I give you these in that very spirit:

THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes, or in their offices; secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers; moms and dads, friends and neighbors. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.
The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness, and a quiet, unyielding anger. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong.
A great people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.
America was targeted for attack because we’re the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.
Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America — with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.
Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government’s emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington, D.C. to help with local rescue efforts.
Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured, and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.
The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in Washington which had to be evacuated today are reopening for essential personnel tonight, and will be open for business tomorrow. Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business, as well.
The search is underway for those who are behind these evil acts. I’ve directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and to bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.
I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance.
America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.”
This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.
Thank you. Good night, and God bless America.
~~~

“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.” — The White House, December 8, 1941

God Bless The United States of America and to the Republic for which our Constitution and Lady Liberty stands.

A couple songs, that I feel are pertinent to this subject:

Other Bloggers Remembering today: Michelle Malkin, Lorie Byrd, The Anchoress,

Technorati Tags: 9/11, Conservative, New York, RIP, Rest In Peace, Terrorism, War on Terrorism, Washington DC

Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment: The Republicans Hijacked 9/11

Finally, Keith Olbermann has his say on a subject that I wrote about a while back.

Transcript: (via MSNBC)

As promised, a Special Comment about our sad anniversary tomorrow.
Or, more correctly, what our sad anniversary tomorrow has been turned into by the presidential administration, and the current Republican candidates for President and Vice President.
This is supposed to be a day of remembrance. Remembrance of the attack, remembrance of the national unity which followed it.
Most important of all, remembrance of the dead.
But 9/11 has become a brand name. A Republican campaign slogan. Propaganda of the lowest form. 9/11 has become 9/11 with a trademark logo.
9/11 (TM) has sustained a president who long ago should have been dismissed, or impeached. It has kept him and his gang of financial and constitutional crooks in office without — literally — any visible means of support.
9/11 (TM) has made possible the greatest sleight-of-hand in our nation’s history.
The political party in office at the time of the attacks, at the local, state and national levels, the party which uniformly ignored the warnings and the presidential administration already through twenty percent of its first term and no longer wet behind the ears, have not only thus far escaped any blame for the malfeasance and criminal neglect that allowed the attacks to occur, but that presidency and that party, have managed to make it seem as if the other political party would be solely and irredeemably responsible for any similar catastrophe in the future.
Thus, Sen. McCain, were you able to accomplish a further inversion of reality at your party’s nominating convention last week.
There was the former Mayor of the City of New York, the one who took no counter-terrorism measure in his seven years in office between the first attack on the World Trade Center, and the second attack.
Nothing, except to insist, despite all advice and warning, that his Emergency Command Center be moved directly into the World Trade Center.
Yet there was this man, Sir, Rudolph Giuliani, quite succinctly dismissed as “A Noun, a Verb, and 9/11,” and repudiated even by Republican voters, transformed into the keynote speaker, Sen. McCain at your convention.
And his childish, squealing, braying, Tourette’s-like repetition of 9/11 (TM), was greeted not as conclusive evidence that he is consumed by massive guilt – hard-earned guilt, in fact but rather as some kind of political tour-de-force, an endorsement of your Vice Presidential nominee, a rookie governor , a facile and slick con artist.
The blind endorsing the bland, to a chorus of 9/11 (TM), 9/11 (TM), 9/11 (TM.)
Your ringing mindless cheer of “We’ve Kept You Safe Since Then.”While nobody asks “doesn’t then count?”
All of this, sadistically disrespecting the dead of New York, and Washington, and Shanksville. Endorsed, Sen. McCain. Exploited, Sen. McCain. Trademarked, Sen. McCain by you.
And yet of course the exact moment in which Sen. McCain’s Republicans showed the nation exactly how far they have fallen from the Better Angels of Mr. Lincoln’s Nature, came the next night.
The television networks were told that the Convention would pause, early in the evening, when children could still be watching, for a 9/11 Tribute, and they were encouraged to broadcast it.
What we got was not a tribute to the dead of 9/11, nor even a tribute to the responders, or the singularity of purpose we all felt. The Republicans gave us sociological pornography, a virtual snuff film.
Years ago, responsible television networks, to the applause of the nation, and the relief of its mental health authorities, voluntarily stopped showing the most graphic of the images of the World Trade Center, except with the strongest of warnings.
And yet, the Republicans, at their convention, having virtually seized control of the cable news operations, showed the worst of it.
This is all anyone with a conscience can show you of what the Republicans showed you. The actual collapse of the smoking towers.
A fleeting image of what might have been a victim leaping to his death from a thousand feet up. And something new. From this angle, ground-level, perfectly framed, images, of the fireball created when the second plane hit the second tower.
It was terrifying. After all its object was to terrify. Not to commemorate, not to call for unity, not to remember the dead. But to terrify.
To open again the horrible wounds, to brand the skin of this nation with the message — as hateful as the terrorists’ own, that you must vote Republican or this will happen again and you will die.
And just in case that was not enough, to also dishonestly and profanely conflate 9/11 with the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, to stoke the flames of paranoia about another Middle Eastern Nation.
This was a 9/11 Tribute. Not to the dead, nor to the unity. But a tribute to how valuable 9/11 has been as a political tool for the Republican Party. 9/11… (TM.)
Sen. McCain, you had promised us a clean campaign. You could be Snow-White the rest of the way, Sir, yet that manipulative videotape from your convention should tar you always in the minds of decent Americans.
And still, as this seventh 9/11 (TM) approaches that, Sir, is not the worst of your contributions to the utter politicizing of a day that should be sacrosanct to all of us.
Hard to believe, but the Senator has done worse with 9/11 and the evil behind it.
We heard it last week in Minnesota, we’ve heard it off and on since January but Senator McCain said it most concisely in June.
“Look,” he said. “I know the area, I’ve been there, I know wars, I know how to win wars, and I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden — or put it this way, bring him to justice. We will do it. I know how to do it.”
Sen. McCain seems to be quite serious, that he and he alone, not the CIA, nor the U.S. Military, nor the current President can capture bin Laden.
Thus we must take him at his word, that this is no mere ludicrous campaign boast.
We must assume Sen. McCain truly believes he is capable of doing this, and has been capable of doing this, since last January. “We will capture Osama bin Laden… we will do it. I know how to do it.”
Well then, Senator, you’d better go and do it hadn’t you?
Because, Sir, if a man or woman in this nation, Democrat or Republican, had a clear and effective means o
f capturing or killing Osama bin Laden…
If that person had been advertising his claim, Senator for eight months.
But if that person not only refused to go to responsible authorities in government and advise them of this plan to catch bin Laden, but further announced he would not even begin to enact this secret plan to corral the world’s most hated man until the end of next January.
What would be your description of such an individual, Senator? Charlatan? Do-nothing? Opportunist? Sen. McCain, if you have, if you have had a means of capturing Osama bin Laden, and you do not immediately inform some responsible authority of the full scope of that plan, you are to some degree great or small aiding and abetting Osama bin Laden.
If you could assist in capturing him now, Sen. McCain, but you have chosen not to you, Sir, have helped Osama bin Laden stay free.
Free to inspire and supervise the terrorists. Free to plan or execute attacks here.
You, Sir, are blackmailing some portion of the American electorate into voting for your party, by promising to help in the capture of bin Laden only if you are made president!
I’d rather win an election than catch bin Laden! No more cynical calculation has ever been made in this nation’s history, Sir. If you lose the election, Senator, are you not going to tell the President-Elect?
Are you intending to keep this a secret until the next election and your party’s next nominee? Senator, as you and your Republicans shed your phony, crocodile, opportunistic tears tomorrow on 9/11 TM, in front of the utterly disingenuous banner “Country First,” the fact is, you have shown that it is John McCain first, and the country last.
The fact is, Sir, by holding out on your secret plan to catch bin Laden by searing those images into our collective wounded American psyche at your nomination last week, terrorists are not what you, John McCain, fight. Terrorists are what you, John McCain, use.

Amen and Amen. This is why I will not be voting Republican, ever.

Technorati Tags: 9/11, Conservative, Consitution, Election ’08, Election 2008, John McCain, Keith Olbermann, Liberal, Liberals, Libertarian, Libertarian Party, MSNBC, Media, NBC, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Sarah Palin

Frustration

I am writing you all, because I am frustrated. Frustrated because there is a situation that there is nothing that I can do about.

Today, at 5:00 A.M. this morning, my Dad’s oldest sister died of an apparent Heart Attack. Her name was Margaret Mahan. (Her Maiden Name is Margaret Adkins). She had a rough life. Honestly, outside of my Dad, her family quite honestly did not give two flips about her. She married, to a scum of a man, his name was Tom, who beat her and mistreated her only son, to the point of trying to drown the boy, when he was five years old. Finally, after a couple years of marriage, Tom left one day supposedly to go to the store. Tom never returned. The family found out much later in life that Tom had been in and out of several psycho wards. Tom showed up, in a wheelchair. He did not stick around long, after his wheelchair fraud was foiled by a family member who caught him walking.

Therefore, now, Margaret is now dead, a pauper. Oh, she will get a 15-minute memorial service, with no casket, and just a simple picture on a stand. There will be no formal funeral, and she will be buried in a pauper’s tomb, with five other people.

Where do I fit into all this? It is my family; I am the son of my Father. I was the kid, who was supposed to be the person who was supposed to go to college, really make it big in life and get rich and help my family. That never happened. Because of this, she will die, treated like anyone else in her position.

I did not write this to hit you all up for money. Even I am not that much of a shameless fool. I wrote this to vent, vent because my desire to help my family and my utter inability to do so.

Do with it, what thou wilt.

-Charles Adkins

Owner

http://www.politicalbyline.com

P.S. Yes, Donations are always accepted, via PayPal or Revolution Money Exchange

Technorati Tags: Family ,In Memory ,Rest In Peace ,RIP ,Announcements

Possible limited posting today.

Click Here to read more.

It’s a sad day around here. 🙁 😥

Pray for us.

Technorati Tags: Announcements, Family, RIP, Rest In Peace

Libertarian Blogger attempts to make case for Obama….

Sorry, I’m not buying this one.

Marginal Revolution:

First, war. War is the antithesis of the libertarian philosophy of consent, voluntarism and trade. With every war in American history Leviathan has grown larger and our liberties have withered. War is the health of the state. And now, fulfilling the dreams of Big Brother, we are in a perpetual war.
A country cannot long combine unlimited government abroad and limited government at home. The Republican party has become the party of war and thus the party of unlimited government.
With war has come FEAR, magnified many times over by the governing party. Fear is pulling Americans into the arms of the state. If only we were better at resisting. Alas, we Americans say that we love liberty but we are fair-weather lovers. Liberty will flourish only with peace.
Have libertarians gained on other margins in the past eight years? Not at all. Under the Republicans we have been sailing due South-West on the Nolan Chart – fewer civil liberties and more government, including the largest new government program in a generation, the Medicare prescription drug plan, and the biggest nationalization since the Great Depression. Tax cuts, the summum bonum of Republican economic policy, are a sham. The only way to cut taxes is to cut spending and that has not happened.
The libertarian voice has not been listened to in Republican politics for a long time. The Republicans take the libertarian wing of the party for granted and with phony rhetoric and empty phrases have bought our support on the cheap. Thus – since voice has failed – it is time for exit. Remember that if a political party can count on you then you cannot count on it.
Exit is the right strategy because if there is any hope for reform it is by casting the Republicans out of power and into the wilderness where they may relearn virtue. Libertarians understand better than anyone that power corrupts. The Republican party illustrates. Lack of power is no guarantee of virtue but Republicans are a far better – more libertarian – party out-of-power than they are in power. When in the wilderness, Republicans turn naturally to a critique of power and they ratchet up libertarian rhetoric about free trade, free enterprise, abuse of government power and even the defense of civil liberties. We can hope that new leaders will arise in this libertarian milieu.

Nope, not buying this one at all. Why? I’ll tell you why, Because Barack Obama is the MOST liberal senator, and that’s left of Ted Kennedy and Nancy Pelosi according to the National Journal. I am sorry, I am not, I repeat, I am NOT voting for an outright socialist. This man, wants to punish the rich for the failures of the current administration, that’s the whole tax the rich, and give to the poor, that is the whole entire new Democrat platform. Well, really, it is not new, Ronald Reagan noted it in 1964:

“……Last February 19 at the University of Minnesota, Norman Thomas, six-time candidate for President on the Socialist Party ticket, said, "If Barry Goldwater became President, he would stop the advance of socialism in the United States." I think that’s exactly what he will do.
As a former Democrat, I can tell you Norman Thomas isn’t the only man who has drawn this parallel to socialism with the present administration. Back in 1936, Mr. Democrat himself, Al Smith, the great American, came before the American people and charged that the leadership of his party was taking the party of Jefferson, Jackson, and Cleveland down the road under the banners of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. And he walked away from his party, and he never returned to the day he died, because to this day, the leadership of that party has been taking that party, that honorable party, down the road in the image of the labor socialist party of England. Now it doesn’t require expropriation or confiscation of private property or business to impose socialism on a people. What does it mean whether you hold the deed or the title to your business or property if the government holds the power of life and death over that business or property? Such machinery already exists. The government can find some charge to bring against any concern it chooses to prosecute. Every businessman has his own tale of harassment. Somewhere a perversion has taken place. Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation of government, and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment. Our Democratic opponents seem unwilling to debate these issues. They want to make you and I believe that this is a contest between two men…that we are to choose just between two personalities.” — Address on behalf of Senator Barry Goldwater – Rendezvous with Destiny – October 27, 1964

I cannot, as a Christian, As a Libertarian, As a Independent Conservative, in good conscience, vote for a man who holds to that sort political philosophy. Some may disagree, but this Blogger an voter, is not swayed, and I will voting for what I believe in, come November 4, 2008.

Killer Klansman’s conviction overturned

This is a sad day….

This in via CNN.com:

A federal appeals court overturned the kidnapping conviction of a reputed Klansman in connection with the 1964 deaths of two black teenagers in Mississippi. James Ford Seale, a former sheriff’s deputy, was convicted in June 2007 of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in the disappearances of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee, both 19. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel from the Fifth Circuit Court Appeals sided with Seale’s claim that he should have never been tried in connection with the teens’ deaths because a five-year statute of limitations on kidnapping-related offenses had expired. “The more than 40-year delay clearly exceeded the limitations period,” Judge Harold DeVoss wrote in the panel’s ruling. “While we are mindful of the seriousness of the crimes at issue, we cannot abdicate our duty to faithfully apply a valid limitations period.”

I just wonder, if those judges were Democrats or Republicans? That man belongs in jail for his crimes. In this case, I think Al Sharpton should be called in.

I know, that there are times on this blog, when I bitch to high heaven about race baiting, but this is not going to be one of them times. What this guy and his cohorts did back in 1964, was truly racism, to the point of committing a crime.

I can only imagine what Eddie Moore’s brother is going through, he is the one that did the leg work to get his Brother’s killer charged, it was filled in a documentary, that was filmed by the CBC, it was rebroadcast on MSNBC. I watched that, and I can honestly tell you all, I had a different understanding of what the African-American community went through in the south.

Let me just say this too, any damned Republican or Conservative, that scoffs at this and says this man did not deserve to go to jail, Well, I doubt whether you have a damn soul or not. That is, this man was a cold blooded killer and belonged in jail. I will also tell you to watch that documentary and look at the pain in the man’s eyes, as he tries to get justice for his Brother…..and then tell me, that this pitiful excuse for human being, does not belong in jail. 😡

My prayers go out to the Moore and Dee Families. May God’s justice prevail. I hope the justice Dept appeals this ruling.

Technorati Tags: Corruption, Law, News, Opinion, Politics, Whites, blacks, crime, justice, racism

There's a fine line between reporting the facts and desperation

….and wise is the man, that knows the difference between the two.

Someone needs to tell that to the Washington Post.

The Washington Post reports:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office,
charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd,
has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.
Asked Monday about the official policy on charging for children’s travel expenses, Garnero said: “We cover the expenses of anyone who’s
conducting state business. I can’t imagine kids could be doing that.”

The problem with that, in the same article it says:

Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her
official “duty station” is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.
Gubernatorial spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Monday that Palin’s expenses are not unusual and that, under state policy, the first family
could have claimed per diem expenses for each child taken on official business but has not done so.
“As a matter of protocol, the governor and the first family are expected to attend community events across the state,” she said. “It’s
absolutely reasonable that the first family participates in community events.”
The state finance director, Kim Garnero, said Alaska law exempts the governor’s office from elaborate travel regulations. Said Leighow: “The
governor is entitled to a per diem, and she claims it.”

and about her kids:

Leighow noted that under state policy, all of the governor’s children are entitled to per diem expenses, even her infant son. “The first
family declined the per diem [for] the children,” Leighow said. “The amount that they had declined was $4,461, as of August 5.”

and the money quote:

Gov. Palin has spent far less on her personal travel than her predecessor: $93,000 on airfare in 2007, compared with $463,000 spent
the year before by her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. He traveled often in an executive jet that Palin called an extravagance during her
campaign. She sold it after she was sworn into office.

Now, she didn’t sell it on E-Bay, she sold it through a broker, at a loss no less, but this idiotic stuff, is just that, idiotic. There’s no scandal here. She took the money, because she was entitled to it.

Looks like the MSM is really desperate for a story and they went with this. They’re channeling the New York Times here, and it could come back to haunt them.

Technorati Tags: Conservative ,Election ’08 ,Election 2008 ,John McCain ,Media ,Opinion ,Politics ,Republican ,Republicans ,Sarah Palin ,Stupidity ,Washington Post

I concur fully….

This via Instapundit

NICE V.P. CHOICE, KID. DON’T GET COCKY. Lots of Republicans are excited about the Palin pick. My email is full of stuff (if I missed your email, sorry — I’ve been flooded even by my usual drinking-from-a-firehose standards), Memeorandum is overrun with items, and the enthusiasm of the G.O.P. grassroots is at levels that would have seemed impossible just a couple of weeks ago. But I think that Republicans should be careful about launching a cult of Sarah Palin. She’s the V.P. pick, not the head of the ticket. She’s still a relative newcomer to national politics. She’s virtually sure to commit at least one major mistake between now and November. And — yes, I know I said this before — she’s the V.P. pick, not the head of the ticket. The Dems built a cult around Barack Obama. It energized some folks, but it ultimately backfired. Republicans might want to restrain themselves just a bit, here.

I could not have put it better myself. The worst thing that the Republican Party could do right now, is the same thing that the Democrats are doing with Obama. Especially when stuff like this comes out, in the Wall Street Journal:

The Bridge to Nowhere argument isn’t going much of anywhere.
Despite significant evidence to the contrary, the McCain campaign continues to assert that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the federal government “thanks but no thanks” to the now-famous bridge to an island in her home state.
The McCain campaign released a television advertisement Monday morning titled “Original Mavericks.” The narrator of the 30-second spot boasts about the pair: “He fights pork-barrel spending. She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.”
Gov. Palin, who John McCain named as his running mate less than two weeks ago, quickly adopted a stump line bragging about her opposition to the pork-barrel project Sen. McCain routinely decries.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain (right) and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, at a campaign rally in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
But Gov. Palin’s claim comes with a serious caveat. She endorsed the multimillion dollar project during her gubernatorial race in 2006. And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere.
“We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge,” Gov. Palin said in August 2006, according to the local newspaper, “and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that’s so negative.” The bridge would have linked Ketchikan to the airport on Gravina Island. Travelers from Ketchikan (pop. 7,500) now rely on ferries.
A year ago, the governor issued a press release that the money for the project was being “redirected.”
“Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer,” she said. “Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Much of the public’s attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened.”
On Monday in Missouri, Gov. Palin put it this way: “I told Congress thanks but no thanks for that bridge to nowhere. If the state wanted to build a bridge we would built it ourselves.”

Something tells me, this whole narrative, as Peggy Noonan put it, could blow up in the Republicans faces. I’d be very careful, if I were them.

Technorati Tags: Conservative, Consitution, Election ’08, Election 2008, John McCain, Neo-Conservatives, Opinion, Politics, Republican, Republicans, Sarah Palin

Blogs for Borders for September 8, 2008

I missed this earlier today….:

Our weekly vlog — podcast on illegal immigration and border security. in this weeks edition…

Election 2008: What is SarahPalin’s position on illegal immigration, amnesty and border security and does it matter?

Thank you! We take a moment to thnk you who are working so hard for this nation.

100% Preventable! Americans continue to pay the bloody price for open borders, when will the madness end?

Video:

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This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, open borders, deportation, amnesty, vlog, podcast, invasion, insanity, mexico, rape, murders