Staying the course to the debates

Barack Obama on Countown with Keith Olbermann
September 8, 2008

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

The developments are starting to go faaaast.

Extra! Extra! Read all bout it! Daily Torygraph reports that
Palin to be energy independence chief
in McCain administration

Wait. Hold on. Stop.

We fought a war of independence from England for religious freedom and to keep our tax revenue here in the colonies so that the McCain campaign can tell their press who he's appointing to what roles in the cabinet before our press has the information and he has won the election?

Oh. Right. I forgot. The Republicans aren't interested in the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. As the French call them, the 51st state. There's precious little love lost between England and the continent.

So, anyway, the story.

I was looking for the new McCain/Palin ad someone said they saw on-line about which she said, "I'm not kidding... actually implies that clean energy solutions are 'old, outdated' ideas," and that the Democrats are "holding things back by opposing more drilling," and I came across a link to an article from the September 6 Daily Telegraph online, "Sarah Palin to be energy independence chief in McCain's government".

It was a fairly cheery, upbeat article. The Daily Telegraph is quite conservative, is it not? Let's see... Google "conservative UK newspapers"... here's a likely site, mediauk.com... "An introduction to newspapers in the UK"... here we go:

"The Times, the UK’s oldest national newspaper, is not the most popular - that accolade falls to the Daily Telegraph, known affectionately as the Daily Torygraph because of the staunch support to the Conservative Party."

That would be it.

Wait. Stop. A UK paper is telling me that before my usual papers here? How can that be? Got to go Google again, I'll be right back.

My gosh, that's the only "broadsheet" source for the information. Check for yourself: http://www.google.com/search?q=palin+mccain+energy+independence+chief&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enFR216FR216

Freerepublic.com (conservative right-wing) and democraticunerground.com (liberal) and thepalinreport.com ("The Web's Definitive Source for Sarah Palin Related News") reprints the article, but the only source is outside our own country in Great Britain, for heaven's sake.

The article informs the reader that:

"The Republican presidential candidate will make his running mate the public face of the country's drive for energy independence, according to a McCain campaign official. "

And goes on to say that:

He believes that her record of taking on oil company chiefs will help convince the public that his government would not be in the pocket of energy fat cats, a perception that has damaged George W.Bush's poll ratings.

The move would give Mr McCain political cover to resume widespread domestic drilling for oil, even in areas of environmental fragility.

Mrs Palin backs drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which Mr McCain has previously opposed. Should he decide to reverse that position he will use Mrs Palin to make the case that it is necessary.

The campaign official said: "The Democrats say that Governor Palin is inexperienced, but she has vast experience in the energy sector. She will be at the forefront of the push for energy independence. She's popular and she's very persuasive." A Republican Party official, who has discussed Mrs Palin's role with members of Mr McCain's team, added: "She can say: 'I'm from Alaska. I know all about this and I support drilling, even in ANWR."

Ah, help the poll ratings as far as his being linked with George W. Bush is concerned by being suspected of being in bed with the "energy fatcats" (I like imagining that said with a British accent).

So, let me get this straight, she has gone after oil interests in her state of Alaska, notably by constructing a natural gas pipeline that is said to cut into their profits, all while insuring that every resident of Alaska, man, woman and child receives the largest possible dividend check from The Permanent Fund. OK.

I have to go Google about how she stood up to oil interests again, but I'll do that later. I sense it could take some time.

The hand of Reagan

Equally interesting is another source of this information, Reagan speech-writer Clark Judge, now with the White House Writers Group, a private Washington firm:

Clark Judge, who wrote speeches for President Ronald Reagan and now heads the White House Writers Group, a Washington public affairs company, said such an appointment would be a logical use of Mrs Palin's expertise and record of standing up to special interests.

"No one has more experience of getting oil out of the ground and to the market than Sarah Palin," he said. "It is the issue that most distinctively divides the two parties and it is one that has proved popular for Senator McCain.

"No political figure in the US has more experience of taking on privilege and vested interests than Sarah Palin."

Way to get the Reagan tie in there!

McCain leaking his cabinet members

But that isn't all, the piece also suggests that Senator Joe Lieberman will have a role in the cabinet, too! So that's not really surprising. He didn't get offered the VP slot, but there had to be something for him:

Finding a substantial role for Mrs Palin is just one of Mr McCain's plans for government. Campaign officials say that Joe Lieberman, the independent democrat who spoke at the Republican convention on Tuesday night, has been promised a job in Mr McCain's cabinet.

Mr Lieberman is pencilled in to become Secretary of State or Defence Secretary in what insiders say will be a "government of national unity on foreign affairs".

Mr McCain has been seriously considering naming senior cabinet posts before the election, to emphasise the breadth and experience of his team and demonstrate that he plans to reach across the political aisle.

Let's think about this. Let's try the French press.... Googling "Sarah Palin chef de l'indépendance d'energie McCain"... nope, nothing for the first 10 entries. Just stuff about Palin, energy independence, the convention, her own energy.

So, the information has been offered to the conservative Tory paper in Great Britain before it is even being picked up in the major US press, like the New York Times.

Trial balloons?

See what the effect of this is on a friendly country in the European Union to distract from her missing foreign affairs and national security qualifications to be POTUS-in-waiting and dampen the issue before it takes hold in the cooler EU climate on the continent? Tell them they'll get someone who knows about defense -- far better than foreign policy -- as Defense Secretary or Secretary of State.

• Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Senator Lieberman is working closely with Senator Collins to improve the security of Americans at home. [that should make terrorists think twice]
  
• Member of the Armed Services Committee, where he is Chairman of the AirLand Subcommittee and sits on the Subcommittee on Seapower and the Subcommittee on Personnel. The Senate Armed Services Committee is responsible for all matters relating to defense policy of the United States, including oversight of the Department of Defense and the nation's armed forces. (from his official site)
  

I was just talking the other day with some people on the Obama network about whether it would good or bad for Senator Obama to start to form his cabinet and announce it during the election. McCain is beginning, albeit not at home. I am sure if it goes over well abroad, we'll hear about it here soon.

....

Palin meets the press

Yup, looks like I will soon have to take down my Palin press clock because the campaign has agreed to let Disney-owned ABC's Charles Gibson interview her.

Should be a tough one for her, but I'll bet her lipstick will stay fresh.

Nah, I'll leave it up unless it's a real interview.

....

Obama's strategy

Let's get back to Barack Obama and what he's doing in the face of this.

Keith Olbermann was asking all our questions, and Senator Obama, cool and smiling, just wasn't going to let them get to him. Unflappable. The last segment from the first of the three or four part interview is the most revealing.

Keith Olbermann: [begins by asking a question on behalf of Rachel Maddow, saying that she is beginning her own show later that evening] Given the tone that the campaign has taken, I mean, this Georgia congressman last week, *Mr. Westmoreland, that called you and your wife "uppity", in that context do you regret putting the brakes on the 527 groups that would have produced, or could have produced the hard-hitting ads that would have been sharing your sympathies?

Obama: You know, I tell you what, Keith, I am confident that the American people, once the dust is settled, are gonna' say to themselves, "Do we really wanna' do the same thing we've been doing for the last 8 years, or do we want something new?" I think there is a genuine sense of anxiety out there, not just about immediate economic prospects, but the sense that we are not living up to what's possible in America, that we are not delivering on the American promise, and I think that understandably people are saying to themselves, "Gosh, we like Obama, we like his message, but we haven't know him that long. Let's really lift the hood, kick the tires, take him out and watch him work hard, and let's take a look at these debates, and then we're going to make up our mind in mid-October." And I think that by the time this thing is all over the contrast is going to be clear and the American people are going to make the choice for a new direction in the country, and I'm looking forward to helping lead that.

Olbermann: One more campaign question, it pertains to not knowing someone or something. This is a question I have not really heard asked directly of anyone perhaps in a position to answer it, let alone answered. In your opinion, is Governor Palin experienced enough and qualified enough to become president of The United States in the relatively short-term future?

Obama: Well, I'll let you ask Governor Palin about that when I'm sure she will be appearing on your show. [laughter] But, rather than focus on her resume, I just want to focus on where she wants to take the country. As far as I can tell, there has not been any area, economic policy or foreign policy, in which she's different from John McCain or George Bush. In many ways, in fact she agrees with Bush even more than John McCain, so if John McCain agrees with Bush 90% of the time, maybe with her its 97%! [laughter]

And, so my, the thrust of our argument is that the McCain/Palin ticket is offering the same stuff that has resulted in the middle class struggling, not seeing their incomes go up, seeing their costs go up, falling deeper into debt, at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure, unable to save or retire. Yeah, those are going to be the issues that ultimately matter to the voters, and that's why I am trying to offer to them a very clear set of prescriptions, very clear ideas about what we intend to do, how we want to change the tax code, stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, give 95% [Snopes says it will work out to more like 86%, but that's pretty good] of Americans tax relief, have an energy policy that is serious about climate change, is serious about weaning ourselves off of Middle-Eastern oil, investing in solar, wind and bio-diesel so that we have energy independence here in the United States, having a health care system that makes sure that we don't have 47 million people without health insurance.

That message of possibility is I think the one that the American people are looking for.

End of interview segment.

Olbermann introduces the themes for the following two interviews --

Tonight: Why do conservatives making less than $250,000 still think he will raise their taxes and not lower them?

Thursday: How did 9/11 become a campaign issue and whether the republicans had the right to run that graphic videotape of the destruction of the World Trade Center as part of a political campaign.

...

Morsels

Andrew McCain and Silver State Bank Closing
From the Wall Street Journal on McCain's son and the closing of Silver State Bank of whose board he sat:

Wall Street Journal, Sept. 8, 2008, "Silver State Bank Is Closed; McCain's Son Had Served as Director"
By David Enrich and Damian Palettau

State and federal regulators on Friday shut down Silver State Bank, the latest in a series of bank failures.Until recently, the son of Republican nominee Sen. John McCain sat on Silver State's board and was a member of its three-person audit committee, responsible for overseeing the company's financial condition.Andrew McCain left the Henderson, Nev., bank July 26 after five months on the board, citing "personal reasons."

Palin's per diem pay
The Washington Post's report on Governnor Sarah Palin's per diem pay for time at home and travel reimbursement for her children.


Colbert makes an ass of Congressman Westmoreland



That'll do for today, pig.

....

Guilt

I have to face my guilt every time my husband walks through the door and asks how my day went (read: what did you do today?) and I face the fact that I still haven't started the drawings for the house or spent 10 minutes working in my garden or the design of our friends' garden.

Must.save.my.country.
....

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