A "masterstroke," Teh Fred! enthuses. Sneak peeks of the speech at the link therein.

Here's what I want Palin to talk about. First of all, I want a 40 minute speech. I realize that's a bit long, but she's introducing herself to America, and she needs to do a lot in this speech.

I want:

5 minutes bio. We know about enough this. Obligatory but can be bullet-pointed.

5 minutes corruption-fighting/reform/integrity. Another thing we know a lot about.

10 minutes energy. Her acknowledged area of expertise -- and a great area to attack the living hell out of Obama on while she's underscoring her own competency and fluency with the issue.

10 minutes foreign policy -- mostly about the surge and media-ignored triumph in Anbar. And yes, again, lots of attacks on the inexperience and bad judgment of Obama. Pot calling the kettle black? Whatever -- We want our Number Two having a public argument on "experience" with their Number One. If she can bait Obama into this...

10 minutes on McCain and everything else. Including her announcing that she'll be, effectivey, McCain's czar on spending, budgeting, corruption, integrity, and energy (as Cheney served basically as Bush's foreign policy czar).

Posted by: Ace at 01:50 PM | Comments (37)
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Sondra K exposes this obvious photoshop as the, um, obvious photoshop that it is, but if the public (and left wing smear vermin) demands Sarah Palin Bikini Pictures, why, damnit, the market is going to provide Sarah Palin XXX Rifle Bikini Pictures.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 01:41 PM | Comments (27)
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A mix of good and bad here, and maybe good and good, depending on how cynical you are, or how much a role you think faith should play in politics.

Incidentally, some good background on her step-mother-in-law, Faye Palin, who's announced she might vote against Palin and for Obama, and says she doesn't know what Palin brings to the ticket, apart from being a woman.

Let's just say they have the typical sitcom mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship:

When Palin, who went on to win re-election by a landslide, was forced out of the Mayor's office by term limits in 2002, her husband Todd's stepmother Faye Palin ran for mayor. She did not, however, get Sarah Palin's endorsement. A couple of people told me that they thought abortion was the reason for Palin not supporting her family member — Faye, they say, is pro-choice, not to mention a Democrat. A former city council member recalls that it was a heated race, mainly because of right-to-life issues: "People were writing BABYKILLER on Faye's campaign signs just a few days before the election." Faye Palin lost the race to the candidate that Sarah backed, Dianne Keller, who is still mayor of Wasilla.

It's good to know that she is not completely "nice." Principled, tough, and a balls-to-the-walls campaigner. But not nearly as treacly-sweet as she seems.

More stuff: Biden concedes that serving as a governor is "no mean feat;" and this seems to be that Newsbusters-cut clip Allah pronounced "must watch." So I'm a-gonna watch it.

Posted by: Ace at 01:27 PM | Comments (21)
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It would be disastrous if a conservative woman managed to accomplish what they could not. And so we're treated to charmingly sexist articles in the N.Y. Times:

When Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska was introduced as a vice-presidential pick, she was presented as a magnet for female voters, the epitome of everymom appeal.

But since then, as mothers across the country supervise the seasonÂ’s final water fights and pack book bags, some have voiced the kind of doubts that few male pundits have dared raise on television.

As usual when it comes to any of the -isms embraced by the Left, what would ordinarily be branded a base attack is excused so long as the right credentials are brandished. Here, the writers of this piece (both of them women) are setting up the rest of their article. What follows would be met with the fiercest opprobrium were it to be uttered by a man, but they found bona fide mothers who were willing throw womens' equality away. So it's all chill.

With five children, including an infant with Down syndrome and, as the country learned Monday, a pregnant 17-year-old, Ms. Palin has set off a fierce argument among women about whether there are enough hours in the day for her to take on the vice presidency, and whether she is right to try.

Indeed, with two pre-teen daughters, Mr. Obama has set off a fierce argument about whether there are enough hours in the day for him to take on the presidency, and whether he is even right to try. Oh, wait a minute. He didn't. Huh.

We catch the drift of the article already: perhaps only childless men and women should run for office? Or those whose children are grown? Or given the free pass Mr. Obama got, (and I assure you I'm whispering very softly now) only men?

ItÂ’s the Mommy Wars: Special Campaign Edition. But this time the battle lines are drawn inside out, with social conservatives, usually staunch advocates for stay-at-home motherhood, mostly defending her, while some others, including plenty of working mothers, worry that she is taking on too much.

No, it's the War of the Clamoring Fools: Legacy Media Edition. Notice the casual juxtaposition of social conservatives with working mothers. As if the two are mutually exclusive. And as usual, liberals mistake the strawconservative they titter about at parties for the real thing. Social conservatives are staunch protectors of stay-at-home mothers and their prerogatives, but only the most fringe groups advocate forcing mothers to stay home.

In interviews, many women, citing their own difficulties with less demanding jobs, said it would be impossible for Ms. Palin to succeed both at motherhood and in the nationÂ’s second-highest elected position at once.

“You can juggle a BlackBerry and a breast pump in a lot of jobs, but not in the vice presidency,” said Christina Henry de Tessan, a mother of two in Portland, Ore., who supports Mr. Obama.

Many women, including Ms. de Tessan, should thank their lucky stars that better women (and men) stood up for the rights and dreams of mothers. Suddenly, we're hearing a lot of so-called feminists deciding that some things are just too hard for mothers. Can you imagine the exclamation should a man or (worse) a Republican man announce that mothers are simply not up to the job of holding high office? That they should perhaps confine their aspirations to more homey pursuits?

These "many women" interviewed for the story should be slapped with a little 21st Century wisdom. It's like they've never heard of such radical timesavers as disposable diapers, washing machines, and formula. And these things aren't even new! Hell, let's call it 20th Century wisdom. Not to mention, well, the husband. This will shock their dresses off, but mothers can be primary breadwinners now and it really is okay!

Many women expressed incredulity — some of it polite, some angry — that Ms. Palin would pursue the vice presidency given her younger son’s age and condition. Infants with Down syndrome often need special care in the first years of life: extra tests, physical therapy, even surgery.

Hey, another category of people who should be barred from high federal (but not state) office: the parents of special needs children. As if no vice president has ever had family who had medical tests, physical therapy, and (gulp) even. surgery. Hell, it's sounding more and more like we should just keep anyone with any family at all out of high office.

One of the most shameful things about this article is that these anti-motherhood writers claim to be worrying on behalf of Palin and her children. It's not that they're concerned with Palin's performance on the job (what the hell does a VP do, anyway, except break ties and go hunting?). Rather, little Trig might have a rough time of it. How noble they are to be looking out for the interests of the Palins.

I mean this now with all sincerity: these reporters and the women they quoted for the idea that mothers are not suitable for high office should hang their heads in shame. They should hide their faces and pray that their throwback words are soon forgotten. They should beg forgiveness from their sisters and daughters for trying to shackle mothers to their children's cribs. They make me sick.

Posted by: Gabriel Malor at 12:33 PM | Comments (83)
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A silly story that I have to main-post because in the sidebar I guessed he was having an affair. That's not the case (or at least it's claimed not to be the case), so I have to at least try to correct that missed guess.

Guy's married to Tea Leoni, who is, by all accounts, hotter than John Madden's balls in a sauna and and in polyvinyl bike shorts, and yet he's wackin' it online so much he's seeking sex-addiction therapy.

Thus Howard Stern's observation is proved correct: No matter how hot a woman might be, there is a guy out there who got bored of her.

I've been "inspired" by Ms. Leoni's black lingerie get-up in Flirting with Disaster several times. This guy has the real thing in bed with him, and yet both he and I are winding up at the same place. Hunched over the computer abusing ourselves with the piston-pumping fury of a misfiring industrial robot.

So, in a way... we're kinda equals. I'm just as cool and just as much a "player" as David Duchovny.

And so are most of you.

That feels right to me. Life is good.

PS: Flirting with Disaster is a must-see, and not just for Tea Leoni's lingerie scene. There's also Tea Leoni's brittle-as-flash-frozen-glass neurotic act, which is really funny. And... um, everything else, which is also really funny, but I have to deduct points from everyone else for not being Tea Leoni.

It's been on my list of Most Underrated Comedies of All-Time for a year. I just can't seem to ever write that post. Furthest I've gotten is to list about 20 of them.

Posted by: Ace at 12:28 PM | Comments (53)
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Without leaners, it's 48 to 43.

And Gallup has it at 50-42, in favor of the bad guys.

There's Obama's bounce -- and a good one. And despite Palinmania on the right, she doesn't seem to be swinging the election in McCain's favor (though it is possible she reduced Obama's bounce, of course).

Posted by: Ace at 12:00 PM | Comments (73)
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Sarah Palin, member of the Alaskan Independence Party?

How about a lifelong registered Republican?

Kos, defensive about his own involvement in pushing Trig Trutherism, claimed that his Krazy Koz Kidz were investigating lots of angles here, and pointed specifically to the AIP claim as one that had been a confirmed hit.

Um, no. Still wrong, Koz.

Assuming she courted the AIP for votes: And? Rudy Giuliani, if memory serves, secured both the endorsement of the "fringe" Conservative Party and the "fringe" Liberal Party in his re-election bid. He was on three lines on the ballot: Republican, Liberal, Conservative.

The AIP was something of a force in Alaska politics, at least in the nineties, according to the Hot Air link. It's a bit amazing to me that the lefties think nothing of Obama courting terrorists, and yet Palin is somehow unfit because she sought (maybe) support from a minor conservative party in Alaska.

Not Even That Fringe-y: So says the Politico.

The party's mostly about reducing federal control over Alaska (a serious annoyance to residents) and putting Alaskan lands back under Alaskan state control.

There are also secessionists in the party. And?

The Democratic Party has secessionists too-- and we get to hear from them every time they lose an election. There were a welter of "Let's secede from Bush's Amerikkka" opinion pieces after the 2004 election, for example. All written by lifelong liberals and card-carrying liberals.

Coalition politics involves, get this, coalitions. A lot of different people can march under one banner.

And Hey, What About Obama's Hawaiian Secessionist Pandering? Or whatever.

Posted by: Ace at 11:48 AM | Comments (40)
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Courage.

"Can you have too much intensity?"

JOHN THUNE:....And the one thing that we need going into the fall campaign, which have had a little bit of a deficit on, is enthusiasm and intensity. And there's tremendous intensity behind this pick. And for that reason I think it was the right pick. If you want to get Republican voters to turn out in the fall you got to have that intensity, and Governor Palin certainly has created that among Republicans not only here but I think across the country.

MITCHELL: Can you have too much intensity? Is there the possibility that there's just too much stuff out there, too much talk, that it's too complicated for people to think of her as a potential Commander-in-Chief?

What can I say, she inspires me. I get a little thrill up my leg.

Media worries for poor John McCain that his Veep pick is taking too much of the spotlight off him.

Media also continues in its poignant concern for the Palin kids, praying that the American electorate won't take Trig's mommy from him.

Allah says this is must-see, but I don't see which link he means. Let me know if you figure it out.

DKos, as you probably know, has deleted all it's Trig Trutherism posts. (Vid in the above link; post about it at LGF; looks like he didn't yet delete one of the diaries, but I imagine he'll get around to it now that Charles has apprised him of his oversight.)

According to a commenter (and why should I check?), Kos is claiming the smear didn't originate with him, but with "Alaska Republicans on the radio."

Ah. Yes, that's why we spent the weekend talking about it. Because we were all glued to our radios listening to Alaskan talk radio. We all got this from Rush's cousin, Slush Limbaugh, and his radio show, Slush Limbaugh's Right-Wing Agent Provocateur Gothic Fake Pregnancy Krazy Konspiracy Kavalcade & Professional Toboggan Fantasy League Report.

I just drafted Swedish tobaggon prodigy and alopecia sufferer Igmar Johanssen. Kid's got amazing rocket-powered leg-strength to launch the toboggan, and almost no wind resistance whatsoever.

I'll update this more.

BTW, some have expressed reservations about my posting Levi Johnston's pic in a below post. I get the concern, but let's be realistic here: The article is from an MSM source, and the picture is contained therein. Anyone clicking on the article will see it anyway. It's been published all over the place. The kid's about to marry the daughter of the Governor of Alaska and quite possibly the next Vice President of the United States. The left and the MSM (but I repeat myself) is determined to make teen pregnancy the central front on the war on Bush's terror.

Let's say I delete the pic. Honestly -- who am I hiding it from?

More Crisis: NYT says pregnancy "fair game;" worries terribly that Sarah Palin has chosen to expose her daughter to the vicious media scrutiny the NYT is promising; also frets, again, how Sarah "Negligent Mother" Palin can possibly juggle the responsibilities of motherhood and high office.

Honestly, the level of concern shown here for Sarah Palin, Brisol Palin, and even John McCain losing his share of national attention is quite amazing.

Kudos to the national media for finally getting it, and worrying so very, very much about the emotional well-being of Sarah Palin and John McCain.

I could almost cry.

Posted by: Ace at 11:12 AM | Comments (77)
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I ran across this while searching for something else. ItÂ’s a short video from NFL films concerning the logistics of pre-game military stadium flyovers. Warning: This video contains disturbingly awesome footage of many flyovers, logistical planning of same and most horrifying of all, footage from the cockpit as they strafe the defenseless stadiums and cities with awesomeness. ItÂ’s a little old (July 28th) but new to me and I hadnÂ’t seen it posted here or anywhere else.

IÂ’m not gonnaÂ’ post the actual video since the NFL seems a little protective of their films, but you can go watch it at their website.

True semi-amusing anecdote: A few years back I was watching a game on teevee and the color commentator was John Madden, who’s notoriously afraid of all things airplane-ish. He and the others on the broadcast were doing the pregame warm-up show and apparently he didn’t get the memo that there was to be a group of fighters overflying the stadium. When they did, he nearly shit his pants on-air and was about to dive under the desk. Then he spent the next 10 minutes whining about the overflight while his colleagues kept trying to steer him back to the topic at hand – football. He was actually visibly shaking.

I ran across this via i am mike d. Now go say thank-you to him you ungrateful bastards.

Posted by: Open Blog at 10:58 AM | Comments (21)
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I'm not a professional scientist blowhard like Al Gore but I always found it interesting that people were so willing to ignore that big glowing thing in the sky as a factor in the Earth's climate. The narrative is indeed all powerful.

Now it turns out some heretics scientists are actually considering the possibility that the Sun has an impact on temperatures here. And what they are seeing isn't what the Global Warming cultists want to here.

The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.

The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity – which determines the number of sunspots -- is an influencing factor for climate on earth.

According to data from Mount Wilson Observatory, UCLA, more than an entire month has passed without a spot. The last time such an event occurred was June of 1913. Sunspot data has been collected since 1749.

...In the past 1000 years, three previous such events -- the Dalton, Maunder, and Spörer Minimums, have all led to rapid cooling. One was large enough to be called a "mini ice age". For a society dependent on agriculture, cold is more damaging than heat. The growing season shortens, yields drop, and the occurrence of crop-destroying frosts increases.

As the article explains this activity, or lack thereof, was predicted in a paper 3 years ago but the paper was rejected by the journal Science as being too controversial. As you know, the science is settled. Except when it isn't.

Now do I think this finding and this phenomena settles anything? No. But it does seem that before we go off and destroy our economy in the name of stopping Global Warming, we should be pretty damn sure we know what we are talking about. I don't think anybody but a true believer would think otherwise.

In keeping with Palinmania...remember she isn't a cultist.

UPDATE: Whoops. Ace already posted it so it's old. But content has been moving pretty fast and furious around here so I'll leave it up because it might be new to some. Check out Ace's post as well if you missed it the first time since his has teh funny in it.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:24 AM | Comments (31)
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