Palin's selection as McCain's VP candidate raises questions - lots of questions.

According to Paul Kane, writing at WashintonPost.com, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group. McCain is proud of his recent opposition to earmarks, though. Is that not what he wants from his Vice President, too?

Well, you could point out that Palin has also decried earmarks, citing her opposition to a $223 million bridge in Alaska. "As governor, I've stood up to the old politics-as-usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies, and the good-ol'-boy network," she said on Friday, yet she favors fostering those same big oil companies desires to drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. Is that really standing up to big oil and politics as usual?

Wasilla, a town of under 7,000 people, did not receive any federal earmarks in the first few years of Palin's term as mayor, but after she checked off on the retention of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm that lobbies in D.C., the earmarks started rolling in. The account was handled by partner Steven W. Silver, the former chief of staff to Senator Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican Senator, coincidentally indicted in July on charges of accepting illegal gifts. Is that McCain's idea of standing up to special interests and the good old boy network in D.C., or Palin's?

In FY 2002, Wasilla took in $6.1 million in earmarks, on the heels of the $15 million rail project, in 2001 intended to connect Wasilla with the town of Girdwood, where Senator Stevens has a house. Is Sarah Palin really all that worried about change, or is she a savvy Republican working the system for all it's worth?

Sarah Palin, who would possibly be in line to become President, was once been a member of a group that advocates secession from the United States. Is that who we want as our potential Commander in Chief?

How much do you know about Sarah Palin, and what motivated McCain to pick her? Do you think there's likely more to it than pandering for women's votes? Naturally - there must be, right? I think we'd all like to learn more about this first-term Governor. So follow the money.

Meanwhile, in the interest of fairness, I'd like you to meet Joe Biden, too.

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RNC - Senator Joe Lieberman and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson Speak

The Hurricane Gustav crisis seems past, so the Republican National Convention is going to reboot its program starting today with this schedule posted on the RNC website:

The 2008 Republican National Convention today announced the program of events for Tuesday, Sept. 2. The program will feature speeches by U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson. Their remarks will reflect the convention's overall theme, "Country First," and the theme for Tuesday's events, which is "service." 

"We are excited to announce Tuesday's featured speakers, who will share John McCain's remarkable record of leadership and service with millions of Americans tonight. We are looking forward to showcasing John McCain's life-long record of putting his country first," said Republican National Committee Chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan.

"From his days as a POW who refused early release to his 20-year career in the U.S. Senate, John McCain has always put country first. Tonight's program will reflect his unmatched commitment to service and his vision for increasing Americans' participation in service and volunteer activities," said Rick Davis, McCain 2008 campaign manager.

Among the other speakers announced today are President George W. Bush (via satellite), First Lady Laura Bush, U.S. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio), U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.), and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.).

Sarah Palin's Daughter Should Not Be Blogger's Focus Or Perez Hilton

In an earlier post, I wrote that the family of Alaska Governor and Presumptive Republican VP Nominee Sarah Palin should not be the focus of bloggers.  Then someone associated with Palin's 17-year-old daughter Bristol put photos of her -- or someone who looks like her -- up showing the young lady holding bottles of alcohol.

And PerezHilton picked it up. 

That's news.

It's news because Palin has preached "family values" and abstenance of sex before marriage, yet her own girl is the living example of how both ideals are violated on a daily basis.

The question is what will Governor Palin do about this?  There will be questions from the press; she can't hope to escape them.

This whole episode has served to throw the GOP message off it's foundations.  Instead of the party platform, we get a steady diet of the past alledged activities of "The Palin Bunch."

I write that because it's fair to ask of the photo is authentic.  Stay tuned.

Sarah Palin's Church Video Webpage

I was reading this Huff Post article on the way Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Church impacted her life when I saw a link to a page with other videos from the Church.

This is the link:  http://www.wasillaag.net/all.html

Check it out.  Let me know what you find. 

Barack Obama Tops 50 Percent In Today's Gallup Poll

After a historic Democratic National Convention and the subsequent major misteps of the John McCain annoucement of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, today, Gallup's Daily Tracking Poll finds Senator Barack Obama at 50 points for the first time, with Senator McCain at 42 points. 

If one looks at the Gallup Graph, it shows that Senator Obama picked up a point over 24 hours, and Senator McCain lost a point over the same time period, and as more negative information comes out about Governor Palin. 

Gov. Sarah Palin Will Resign Or The GOP Is Toast

On Friday, Governor Sarah Palin was the selection of Senator John McCain to be his running mate as the presumptive Republican Vice Presidential Nominee.  Already we have problems.

1) TrooperGate, where Gov Palin is accused of using her position to fire a state trouper, who's still on the job as of this writing.

2) The news that Palin was part of a group that wanted Alaska to leave the Union.

3) Palin was fundraising director for Senator Ted Stevens' 527 committee.

4) Palin was almost recalled as Mayor of Wasalia, Alaska.

5) She says the Iraq War, costing over 80,000 iraqi lives and several thousand American lives is a war for oil -- she's right, but Republican, so she should not say that.

6) She took earmarks totalling over $197 million, while saying she did not.

Why Palin? Senator McCain could have picked from five Republican female senators, but failed to do so. Why?

More questions than answers. It's my prediction that Palin will be forced to resign as this steady stream of negative information continues to come in.

Hurricane Gustav and Twitter - Updates Reveal Folks Still In New Orleans

After checking out Twitter "tweets" from New Orleans a day ago, I decided to go back and see what New Orleans' Twitter users were writing after Hurricane Gustav hit land in Louisiana. 

Here's what I found...

dubtea
Name Will
Location New Orleans
Recently At molly's on decatur. Quarter has no power, mollys has partial due to generator. 21 minutes ago

Molly's is a bar in the French Quarter. That means he was at least able to make it down there for a cocktail.  It also means that conditions aren't as bad as feared as of this writing. 

tracam
Name tracam
Location New Orleans
Recently We made it to Vero Beach. Got groceries, internet and CNN. Oh, and a few bottles of wine, chips and salsa. Let the future unfold. about 16 hours ago

Vero Beach is Florida.  About a five hour drive from New Orleans. 

wavyhairgirl
Name wavyhairgirl
Location New Orleans, LA
Recently Tornado threat over apparently 19 minutes ago

aliciammyers
Name aliciammyers
Location New Orleans
Recently So the worst is over? When can we come back? when will power be on? about 1 hour ago

eswanny
Name eswanny
Location New Orleans
Recently And rather than provide information, the weather channel would prefer to show pictures of flying debris. Fail, weather channel... about 4 hours ago

amberdodd
Name amberdodd
Location New Orleans, LA
Recently Just walked around. Windy! Lots of trees/branches down. Ready for electricity now, thx. 6 minutes ago

Wow.  Amderdodd walked around.  So that confirms it's not as bad as three years ago. 

GraceWilson
Name GraceWilson
Location New Orleans    Web http://www.NewOrleansOnline.com
Recently The worst of the wind is over... the rain is light and misty.... I see where they say the levees are overtopping in the Upper 9... VIVA NOLA about 3 hours ago

LaJuneBaby
Name LaJuneBaby
Location New Orleans, LA
Bio Sleepless in New Orleans
Recently Cooking out with friends....and playing the music LOUD!! No neighbors around so LET'S ROCK!!!! about 20 hours ago

There's more at Twitter.