Sarah Palin speaks to Nicholas Sarkozy

6 minutes

She is Sarah Palin
He is NOT Nicholas Sarkozy.

Transcript

Radio Comedy Duo called the Masked Avengers from Montreal.

MONTREAL - In an over-the-top accent, one half of a notorious Quebec comedy duo claims to be the president of France as he describes sex with his famous wife, the joy of killing animals and Hustler magazine's latest Sarah Palin porno spoof.

At the other end of the line? An oblivious Sarah Palin.

The Masked Avengers, a radio pairing notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state, notched its latest victory Saturday when it released a recording of a six-minute call with Palin, who thought she was talking with Nicolas Sarkozy.

Throughout the call, which was making the rounds in U.S. political circles by day's end Saturday, Palin and the pranksters discuss politics, pundits, and the perils of going hunting with Vice-President Dick Cheney.

"We have such great respect for you, John McCain and I, we love you," Palin gushes, evidently unaware she's speaking to an infamous Quebec comedian named Marc-Antoine Audette.

At one point, Palin even comes close to confirming her intention to one day run for president, when Audette slyly remarks he can see her taking over the big desk in the Oval office.

"Maybe in eight years," she replies with a nervous chuckle.

Over the course of the interview, Palin doesn't seem to realize she's being tricked until Audette comes clean near the end of the call.

"Ohhhh . . . have we been pranked?" she says, in her inimitable style. Seconds later, Palin's aide can be heard taking the phone before the line goes dead.

Throughout the conversation, Audette drops plenty of clues that something's amiss.

He identifies French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday as his special adviser to the U.S., singer Stef Carse as Canada's prime minister and Quebec comedian and radio host Richard Z. Sirois as the provincial premier.

"We should go hunting together," Palin offers when Audette professes a love of hunting - or, more precisely, killing animals. "We can have a lot of fun together while we're getting work done. We could kill two birds with one stone."

Audette then jokes that they shouldn't bring Cheney on the hunt, referring to the 2006 incident in which the vice-president shot and injured a friend while hunting quail.

"I'll be a careful shot," responds Palin, who praises Sarkozy throughout the call.

"I look forward to working with you and getting to meet you personally - and your beautiful wife, oh my goodness," she says.

"You've added a lot of energy to your country with that beautiful family of yours."

Audette then tells her his wife, Carla Bruni, a singer and former model, was jealous to hear Sarkozy would be speaking to Palin. "Give her a big hug for me," Palin responds.

Audette goes on to describe Bruni as "hot in bed" and claims she's written a song for Palin, the French title of which translates as "Lipstick on a Pig." In English, Audette says the song is about Joe the Plumber.

Finally, he mentions a notorious Hustler video titled "Nailin' Paylin," describing it as "the documentary they made on your life."

"Oh, good, thank you, yes," Palin replies.

"That was really edgy," Audette says.

"Well, good."

In an interview Saturday, Audette told The Canadian Press it wasn't easy setting up the interview with Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate, and described the accomplishment as the pair's biggest triumph to date.

"It really took a lot of work," he said.

"We had to go through the Secret Service, the people in her entourage. It's the biggest coup so far. We're proud to add (this prank) to our top hits."

It took the pair, known for securing surreptitious interviews with celebrities, politicians and heads of state, five days to set up the call, Audette said. The secret to getting powerful people on the line? Time and persistence.

"I wanted to see how (Palin) was on an intellectual level," Audette said, comparing the latest prank to the duo's crank call with pop idol Britney Spears.

"You can see that she's, well, not really brilliant."

In a statement Saturday, Palin's team said the vice-presidential nominee was "mildly amused" to learn she was the victim of a prank.

"Gov. Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including President Sarkozy, and other celebrities in being targeted by these pranksters," said spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

"C'est la vie."

Audette, too, was contrite afterward.

"I hope we won't have a one-way ticket to Guantanamo Bay."

The well-known radio prankster duo of Audette and Sebastien Trudel have most recently tricked Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger. Other celebrity victims include Spears and Bill Gates.

In 2007, they conned Sarkozy himself by impersonating Prime Minister Stephen Harper. And their 2006 call to former French president Jacques Chirac was rated by the BBC as one of the top 30 all-time best moments in radio history.

Known as the "Masked Avengers," they've been popular on the Quebec comedy scene for a decade.

The Avengers, who have a regular show on Montreal radio station CKOI, will air the full interview on the eve of the U.S. elections. It can also be heard in full on their website www.justiciers.tv .

Sarah Palin - Road to Victory - Erie PA

5 minutes



4 minutes

Gov Sarah Palin - Erie PA - Oct 30, 2008.
Notice the audience behind her.
All Caucasian. No African Americans. No Asians.
Notice how close the camera is.
I wonder how many EMPTY seats there were.
I wonder how SMALL the venue was?


(edited to add)
Now I know I said I dont post comments from anyone called Anonymous, but I posted the below two comments because they describe the venue, the crowd and the numbers at this rally. At least 8000 people of all ethnicities and ages were present and there were no empty seats. This anonymous person was giving useful information - for which I say thank you and Happy Halloween.

So that I am not seen as biased...
Lets just add that Obama regularly has over 100,000 people coming to his rallies.
8000 versus 100,000
I'll leave it you to decide who is the better candidate.

Sarah Palin has never seen Russia from her House

5 Minutes

CNN
Just when you thought the whole "I can see Russia from Alaska" thing couldn't get any funnier...CNN's Gary Tuchman delivers the goods: it turns out that Sarah Palin has NEVER seen Russia from Alaska.

Tuchman went up to the part of Alaska from which you can actually see Russia, a remote island called Little Diomede located just 2.4 miles from its Russian twin, Big Diomede.

It turns out Gary Tuchman's trip to Little Diomede sets him apart from Sarah Palin -- because she's never actually been there, nor has she set eyes on its neighbor in Russia.

Tuchman says that only 150 people live on Little Diomede, and that the town of Diomede has no streets and no cars. The poverty rate is over 40%, there is no television, and the only practical way to reach it is by helicopter. Anchorage (near Palin's hometown) is 550 miles away.

No Alaskan governor has ever visited Little Diomede, though indicted U.S. Senator Ted Stevens has made the trip. The town's residents barely knew who Palin was, and one of them didn't know she was the VP nominee.

It's going to be fun watching McCain-land spin this one, and it's going to be even more fun watching Tina Fey parody it.

I'm a little confused....

3 minutes

An excellent means of seeing pictures of Barack Obama when he was at Harvard University.

Protesters trying to block Palin's car

1 minute

Protesters try to block Palin's car but get taken down by cops. Protesters in Grand Junction, Colorado, try to block Gov. Sarah Palin's motorcade. There is NO more free speech in America.

Also WHY does Sarah Palin need such a LARGE convoy??

Sarah Palin Top 10 Best Quotes

6 minutes

Top 10 Sarah Palin Quotes
1."As for that VP talk all the time, I'll tell you, I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?" --Sarah Palin, interview with CNBC's "Kudlow & Co", July 2008 (Watch video clip)
2. "As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." --Sarah Palin, explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008 (Watch video clip)
3. "Well, let's see. There's -- of course -- in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a Supreme Court decision other than Roe vs. Wade, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008 (Watch video clip)
4. "All of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years." --Sarah Palin, unable to name a single newspaper or magazine she reads, interview with Katie Couric, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2008 (Watch video clip)
5. "I told the Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' on that Bridge to Nowhere." Sarah Palin, who was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it, multiple
6. "Oil and coal? Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do, also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans that get stuck to holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first." --Sarah Palin, billed by John McCain as the nation's foremost expert on energy, clumsily answering a question while speaking off the cuff at a town hall meeting, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 17, 2008
7. "I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you." --Sarah Palin, asked by Katie Couric to cite specific examples of how John McCain has pushed for more regulation in his 26 years in the Senate, CBS interview, Sept. 24, 2008 (Watch video clip)
8. "That's exactly what we're going to do in a Palin and McCain administration." --Sarah Palin, elevating herself to the top of the ticket, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sept. 18, 2008 (Watch video clip)
9. "Perhaps so." --Sarah Palin, when asked if we may need to go to war with Russia because of the Georgia crisis, ABC News interview, Sept. 11, 2008
10. "I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't.'" --Sarah Palin, as quoted by former City Council Member Nick Carney, after he raised objections about the $50,000 she spent renovating the mayor's office without approval of the city council

Sarah says the VP is in Charge Of US Senate

50 seconds

Sarah Palin: VP Is 'In Charge Of United States Senate'

My other sources tell me that the Majority Leader is in charge of the Senate. The VP sits in the chamber only to break tie votes.

Fact checking Sarah Palin's VP debate

Keith Olbermann fact-checks Sarah Palin's responses in the VP debate held on October 3rd, 2008. The debate is posted here.


In a string of interviews and in the much-hyped vice-presidential debate, Sarah Palin has perfected the art of palinizing. The tactic is a painfully transparent political filibuster of sorts. When Palin is presented with a question she either does not understand or that she does not want to answer truthfully, she opens her mouth and out pours a waterfall of GOP buzzwords, cascading haphazardly from her lips and leaving listeners drenched in the horrific realization that this small-town mayor turned newbie governor from Alaska is, quite simply, both an idiot and a liar.

Palinizing is above all the art of distraction, with the goal of diverting attention away from a fault (in Palins case, ignorance) and towards the glittering veneer of hollow talking points which dazzle but do nothing in terms of answering the question presented. For Palins most ardent fans, the evasiveness is perceived as a much-deserved slap in the face to the "mainstream" media. For her detractors and even those who are ambivalent towards her, Palins verbal hopscotch is infuriating.

At the debate, Palin was in full form, so much so that she brazenly told moderator Gwen Ifill that no, she was not going to answer the question posed. She then proceeded to read from her notecards the attack scripted by the hands of another—that Barack Obama was a dangerous liberal, or that he would raise the "white flag of surrender." This weeks SNL parody, painfully mirroring truth, had Tina Fey telling moderator Queen Latifah that, "no thank you," she would "ignore" the questions and talk about what she wanted to talk about instead.

On the other side of the stage, Joe Biden delivered attacks of his own. But the quality of his attacks were, as so much was that night, much different in style and substance than those of his opponent. In answering the questions posed—and yes, Biden did answer them--he unleashed on McCain, methodically dissecting the "maverick" myth and thrashing McCains policy proposals. He frequently praised McCains personal character—so much so that that in itself became a subject of parody on Saturday Night Live.

Bidens attacks were advocacy-oriented, which Palins were adversary-oriented. When Biden lashed out, even when referencing McCain, he did so for or against policy proposals and political philosophies. When Palin lashed out, she lashed out at Obama or Biden, as individuals.

In other words, when Biden attacked, one felt as if he was speaking on behalf of a middle class full of indignation at the status quo. When Palin attacked, one felt as if she was speaking on behalf of herself, and John McCain, the "team of mavericks."..She meandered around a field of GOP buzzwords until she stumbled upon a clearing where she could squeeze in one of the assembled attacks on her cards. It was fierce Republican politics. It was farce.

Fast forward to the weekend after the debate. It has become clear that Palins Cliff Notes performance was neither enough to salvage her reputation among the general electorate nor enough to rescue McCains ailing presidential campaign. Just as Palin was when asked the most basic of questions what do you read, what Supreme Court case do you disagree with, what is your view on the Bush Doctrine — the McCain camp is cornered. And just as the vice-presidential nominee has done time and time again, the McCain campaign is palinizing.

The American people are asking of the candidates a serious question: how will you put our country back on track? Rather than provide a direct answer, the McCain campaign has exhibited a wholesale embrace of the tactic that Palin has made legend: it is attempting the change the subject to distract from the fact that it has no acceptable answer to the question posed. And like Palin, who so flippantly boasted that no, she would not answer the question posed, the McCain campaign has made no effort to hide the fact that it is going negative precisely to avoid a debate on the issues, a debate which it has until now decidedly lost.

And so, we welcome again the William Ayers attacks into the campaign. Surely, the resurrection of the Ayers issue will be accompanied by the second coming of the Wright issue and the Rezko issue as Republicans attempt to shed a negative light on Obamas character.

Obama and Bill Ayers Associations Part 2

I realise there is no video, but in the interests of FAIR PLAY, I need to add this article to point out that Obama is NOT the ONLY person associating with the "domestic terrorist".

So we wondered, under the same parameters, who else is palling around with this terrorist?

Here's a short list of prominent people at least as connected to Ayers as Barack Obama. Many of them served on various boards with Ayers, while others consider him a friend and associate.

Susan Crown: Vice president of Henry Crown & Co., the largest single investor in Virginia defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. The bulk of the family's holdings are in manufacturing and real estate. Other nuggets include Aspen Skiing Co. resort in Colorado and stakes in the Chicago Bulls, the New York Yankees and New York's Rockefeller Center.

Patricia Graham: Former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and board member for Houston-based Apache Corp., an independent energy company. She served as president of the Spencer Foundation, which supports research into educational improvement.

Arnold Weber: Past president of Northwestern University and of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a leading business and civic organization, and director of Chicago-based Diamond Management and Technology Consultants. He has been on faculty at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a trustee of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

Diana Nelson: Former Republican Illinois state representative and executive director of Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform.

Adele Simmons: Vice chair of Chicago Metropolis 2020 and president of the Global Philanthropy Partnership. From 1989 to 1999, she was president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Also a director of the Shorebank Corp. and member of the boards of the Field Museum of Chicago, the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Richard Daley: Mayor of Chicago, named one of Time magazine's five best big-city mayors in 2005.

Stanley Fish: Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor of Humanities and a professor of law at Florida International University, as well as dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the author of 10 books.

Ted Sizer: "One of American education's most influential thinkers for over four decades," according to Education Sector, a nonpartisan independent think tank. Author of the Horace trilogy, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education and headmaster of Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass., where presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush schooled.

Deborah Meier: Author of five books on education, MacArthur Foundation "Genius" grantee, and currently on the faculty of New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

Alex Polikoff: Lead counsel in the Gautreaux public housing litigation for more than 40 years. Former executive director of Chicago's Business and Professional People for the Public Interest. Was a member of Chicago law firm Schiff Hardin & Waite. Author of Housing the Poor: The Case for Heroism and Waiting for Gautreaux.

Warren Chapman: Vice chancellor for external affairs at University of Illinois at Chicago. Former president of the Bank One Foundation and vice president and national philanthropic adviser for JPMorganChase. Former lead program officer for the Joyce Foundation and member of the boards of directors of the Chicago Historical Society, the Metropolitan Planning Council and Columbia College Chicago.

R. Eden Martin: Executive director of Chicago's Civic Committee of the Commercial Club, and partner in the law firm of Sidley & Austin.

Vartan Gregorian: Former president of the New York Public Library and Brown University. Current president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and member of the editorial board of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Recipient of the National Humanities Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom and honorary degrees from 56 institutions.

Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf: Rabbi emeritus at KAM Isaiah Israel, located across the street from the Obamas' Kenwood home. Taught at Yale, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the University of Chicago and Loyola Marymount University, and author of Unfinished Rabbi.

Sources: major newspapers, business journals and national magazines.

So following the Republicans logic, if Obama is a terrorist for associating with a terrorist, then the Mayor of Chicago and a Jewish rabbi are ALSO TERRORISTS!!!!!

When I was posting the Bill Ayers video yesterday, I was thinking that there were other people on those boards as well. So WHY are McCain and Palin not calling them Terrorists?

Transcripts of the VP Debate

This is the video of the ENTIRE debate - 1 hour and 32 minutes.



YOUTUBE SOURCE

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IFILL: Everybody gets extra credit tonight. We're going to move on to the next question. Governor, you said in July that someone would have to explain to you exactly what it is the vice president does every day. You, senator, said you would not be vice president under any circumstances. Now maybe this was just what was going on at the time. But tell us now, looking forward, what it is you think the vice presidency is worth now.

PALIN: In my comment there, it was a lame attempt at a joke and yours was a lame attempt at a joke, too, I guess, because nobody got it. Of course we know what a vice president does.

BIDEN: They didn't get yours or mine? Which one didn't they get?

PALIN: No, no. Of course, we know what a vice president does. And that's not only to preside over the Senate and will take that position very seriously also. I'm thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are. John McCain and I have had good conversations about where I would lead with his agenda. That is energy independence in America and reform of government over all, and then working with families of children with special needs. That's near and dear to my heart also. In those arenas, John McCain has already tapped me and said, that's where I want you, I want you to lead. I said, I can't wait to get and there go to work with you.

IFILL: Senator?

BIDEN: Gwen, I hope we'll get back to education because I don't know any government program that John is supporting, not early education, more money for it. The reason No Child Left Behind was left behind, the money was left behind, we didn't fund it. We can get back to that I assume.

With regard to the role of vice president, I had a long talk, as I'm sure the governor did with her principal, in my case with Barack. Let me tell you what Barack asked me to do. I have a history of getting things done in the United States Senate. John McCain would acknowledge that. My record shows that on controversial issues.

I would be the point person for the legislative initiatives in the United States Congress for our administration. I would also, when asked if I wanted a portfolio, my response was, no. But Barack Obama indicated to me he wanted me with him to help him govern. So every major decision he'll be making, I'll be sitting in the room to give my best advice. He's president, not me, I'll give my best advice.

And one of the things he said early on when he was choosing, he said he picked someone who had an independent judgment and wouldn't be afraid to tell him if he disagreed. That is sort of my reputation, as you know. I look forward to working with Barack and playing a very constructive role in his presidency, bringing about the kind of change this country needs.

IFILL: Governor, you mentioned a moment ago the constitution might give the vice president more power than it has in the past. Do you believe as Vice President Cheney does, that the Executive Branch does not hold complete sway over the office of the vice presidency, that it it is also a member of the Legislative Branch?

PALIN: Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation. And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as V.P. with McCain, not only as a governor, but earlier on as a mayor, as an oil and gas regulator, as a business owner. It is those years of experience on an executive level that will be put to good use in the White House also.

IFILL: Vice President Cheney's interpretation of the vice presidency?

BIDEN: Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we've had probably in American history. The idea he doesn't realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.

And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit.

The only authority the vice president has from the legislative standpoint is the vote, only when there is a tie vote. He has no authority relative to the Congress. The idea he's part of the Legislative Branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandize the power of a unitary executive and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous.

---

There's also the bit on "American Exceptionalism" which she doesn't seem to understand is a dirty word in international circles, because it means not what SHE thinks it means that we're "exceptional" as in "better than everybody else" but rather that exceptions must be made to international law for us because we are (were) so powerful and could basically bully all other nations of the world.

IFILL: Let's talk conventional wisdom for a moment. The conventional wisdom, Gov. Palin with you, is that your Achilles heel is that you lack experience. Your conventional wisdom against you is that your Achilles heel is that you lack discipline, Sen. Biden. What id it really for you, Gov. Palin? What is it really for you, Sen. Biden? Start with you, governor.

PALIN: My experience as an executive will be put to good use as a mayor and business owner and oil and gas regulator and then as governor of a huge state, a huge energy producing state that is accounting for much progress towards getting our nation energy independence and that's extremely important.

But it wasn't just that experience tapped into, it was my connection to the heartland of America. Being a mom, one very concerned about a son in the war, about a special needs child, about kids heading off to college, how are we going to pay those tuition bills? About times and Todd and our marriage in our past where we didn't have health insurance and we know what other Americans are going through as they sit around the kitchen table and try to figure out how are they going to pay out-of-pocket for health care? We've been there also so that connection was important.

But even more important is that world view that I share with John McCain. That world view that says that America is a nation of exceptionalism. And we are to be that shining city on a hill, as President Reagan so beautifully said, that we are a beacon of hope and that we are unapologetic here. We are not perfect as a nation. But together, we represent a perfect ideal. And that is democracy and tolerance and freedom and equal rights. Those things that we stand for that can be put to good use as a force for good in this world.

John McCain and I share that. You combine all that with being a team with the only track record of making a really, a difference in where we've been and reforming, that's a good team, it's a good ticket.

---

Palin: In my administration, we're going to hold the people of Wall Street responsible, and we're going to enact and enforce reforms to make sure that these outrages never happen in the first place.

"In MY administration" -- Ms. Palin, you are not running for president.

---

Record Refutes Palin's Sudan Claim

Palin showed NO class during the VP debate

2 minutes

SOURCE

This is how robotic and inhumane she really is.

> Last night, when Joe Biden was having his emotional moment in answering a question from Gwen Ifill about managing their families in difficult situations, talking about how he had to raise a family after his first wife died in that tragic car accident, Palin didn't even bother to acknowledge that tender moment. Instead, she went on and spewed another senseless, anti-poignant talking point of aspersion.

> But her response - well, her response was to not even acknowledge that this very authentic, very real man - a candidate with no veneer - had suffered through this and that it still hurt. No, "I'm so sorry for your loss" or any compassion of any kind. Rather, she talked about how she and McCain were mavericks.

It was so blatant and stupid. And I wouldn't have blamed Joe Biden if he had walked across the stage and slapped her. And she surely deserved it.

More importantly, it was at that moment - the very moment when it was time to be a "compassionate conservative," she acted just like the valley girl teenager she speaks like. And it is that immature stupidity is how she lost the debate.

Bankruptcy - Lose your primary home, keep your other homes

3 minutes


As anyone who has followed the foreclosure crisis closely knows, there is currently a loophole in federal bankruptcy law that allows John McCain to protect his second through seventh homes and yachts and planes if he were to declare bankruptcy, but doesn't allow you and me to save our primary residence that we live in. Barack Obama has called for closing this loophole, Joe Biden has called for closing this loophole, and John McCain has defended it to benefit his banker buddies.

So, of course, I was thrilled last night (VP DEBATE) to see Joe Biden press the McPalin ticket on this really important policy distinction, when he suggested that the GOP ticket opposed this important protection for homeowners. When Gwen Ifill pressed Palin on this point of whether she was opposed, she denied it, saying, "No, that is not so."

ABC News has this story this bombshell story up on their Political Radar blog, and the McCain campaign is already backtracking and trying to spin away Palin's answer, but it's revealing a deeper truth.


In reality, Palin didn't know what she was talking about and immediately pivoted to energy, even though she was asked about bankruptcy, just like she did all night. I am glad to see that progressive organizations are in rapid response mode and not going to let them get away with it. ACORN, one of the leading organizations fighting against foreclosure, put out this statement last night, perhaps tongue-in-cheek welcoming her endorsement of their prize bill:

"About 20 minutes into tonight's debate, Governor Sarah Palin demonstrated bipartisan appeal in endorsing Senator Biden's call for bankruptcy protections for primary residences. When Senator Biden called for bankruptcy shelter and suggested that Governor Palin likely opposed those protections, Gwen Ifill asked, "Governor Palin, is that so?" The Governor responded, "That is not so."

Both Senators Biden and Obama have supported the "Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act", which would close the loophole in current federal bankruptcy law that prevents primary residences from have their mortgages restructured by federal bankruptcy judges. Currently, second homes, seventh homes, and yachts are eligible for such restructuring, but not primary residences that are being lost at a record pace in the current foreclosure crisis.

ACORN welcomes Governor Palin's endorsement of this important provision, and hopes that this high-profile endorsement will encourage Senator McCain to change his mind and support this necessary change to assist America's struggling homeowners.

Delicious. The ABC story includes the always-enjoyable line, "The McCain campaign confirms to ABC News that Palin misstated McCain's position."

This set up the real punchline in this story, which perfectly encapsulates not only how ignorant, but how tightly controlled by McCain operatives Palin is and will be as Vice President:

"Sarah was just being Sarah," ACORN's Charles Jackson told ABC News. "It's clear from the transcript that she supported the provision that Senator Biden brought up. We'll see if McCain's handlers will allow her to continue to hold that position tomorrow."

ZING! We have a winner. I hope Obama surrogates will push this message and further drive this wedge between Palin and McCain, as it represents so well the reality of her middling performance last night and her middling intellect.

UPDATE: Happily, more media are picking up on parts of this story.

From the Kansas City Star:

Palin, given a chance to respond to Biden's comments, again skirted the question. She came back to talking about America becoming "energy independent," which had absolutely nothing to do with the original question on bankruptcy laws.

From the Detroit Free Press:

And at another point when the discussion turned to bankruptcy rules and how they might change to help keep homeowners from losing their homes, Palin started discussing her record on energy as Alaska’s governor.

And a new update from ABC News, in which they "fact-check" Palin:

FACT: The Senate has voted only once this year on legislation that would change bankruptcy laws to help distressed homeowners. John McCain was absent for that vote. Contrary to what Palin says, the McCain campaign acknowledges that he does not support those changes to bankruptcy laws.

This story can have legs because it hits on so many levels - John McCain is out of touch with struggling homeowners, Sarah Palin doesn't understand bankruptcy laws, and it reinforces her debating "style" of electing not to answer the questions!

DAILY KOS

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She didn't explain how she did all this magical tax cutting, either. And that would have been fun, because I'm sure the answer is that Alaska's oil revenues are what keep the state from needing a state income tax, or a sales tax, or a gas tax, etc. etc. I'd have loved to hear her step into that territory.

Because, if this had been an interview, the interviewer could then pivot into how the oil industry in Alaska is basically socialized (but not of her doing) -- each resident is given a check from oil revenues, for no reason whatsoever other than being a resident. (Can you say "entitlement?") Now, what if the state (had taken) that money and improved roads, schools, health care, etc.? Investing back into the state. Instead, they give everyone a free check and wonder why the schools decline, the infrastructure and health care decline, etc. Coulda been fun.

"All across America there are quiet storms taking place." -- Barack Obama

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VP DEBATE Last Night

She had a chance to talk about the specific hardships of those impacted by bankruptcy laws and the sub-prime crisis. Instead, she talked about energy independence. She reiterated the same points on the following question about climate change. The sequence was so shockingly vapid, I just had to transcribe it.

IFILL: Next question, Governor Palin, still on the economy. Last year, Congress passed a bill that would make it more difficult for debt-strapped mortgage holders to declare bankruptcy, to get out from under that debt. This is something that John McCain supported. Would you have?

PALIN: Yes I would've, but here again, there have, there have been so many changes in the conditions of our economy in just even these past weeks as there has been more and more revelation made aware now to Americans about the corruption and the greed on Wall St.. We need to look back, even two years ago, and we need to be appreciative of John McCain's call for reform with Fannie Mae, with Freddie Mac, with the mortgage lenders too, who were starting to really kinda rear that head of abuse and the colleagues in the Senate weren't going to go there with him, so we have John McCain to thank for at least warning people and we also have John McCain to thank for bringing, in a bipartisan effort, people to the table, so that we can start putting politics aside, even putting the campaign aside, and just to do what's right to fix this economic problem that we're in. It is a crisis. It's a toxic mess, really, on Main St. that's effecting Wall St., and now we have to be ever vigilant also, that credit markets don't seize up. That's where the Main Streeters like me, that's where we would really feel the effects.

IFILL: Senator Biden, you voted for this bankruptcy bill, Senator Obama voted against it. Some people have said that mortgage holders really paid the price.

BIDEN: Well, mortgage holders didn't pay the price. Only 10% of the people who are, have been effected by this whole switch from Chapter 7 to Chapter 13 - It gets complicated - but the point of this, Barack Obama saw the glass as half empty, I saw it as half full. We disagreed on that and 85 Senators voted one way and 15 voted the other way. But here's the deal. Barack Obama pointed out, two years ago, that there is a sub-prime mortgage crisis and wrote to the Secretary Treasury and he said you better get on the stick here. You better look at it. John McCain said as early as last December, quote, I'm paraphrasing, 'I'm surprised about this sub-prime mortgage crisis,' number one. Number two, with regard to bankruptcy now, Gwen, What we should be doing now, Biden: and Barack and I support it, we should be allowing bankruptcy courts to be able to readjust not just the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage to be able to stay in your home, but to be able to adjust the principal that you owe. The principal that you owe. That would keep people in their homes, and actually help banks by keeping them from going under, but I - John McCain, as I understand it, I'm not sure of this, but I believe John McCain and the Governor don't support that. There are ways to help people now, and the ways that we're offering are not being supported by, uh, by the Bush administration, nor, do I believe, by John McCain or Governor Palin.

IFILL: Governor Palin, is that so?

PALIN: Uh, that is not so, but because that's just a quick answer, I want to talk about, again, my record on energy versus your ticket's energy, uh, ticket also. I think that this is important to come back to, with that energy policy plan that was voted for in '05. When we talk about energy, we have to consider the need to do all that we can to allow this nation to become energy independent. It's a nonsensical position that we are in when we have domestic supplies of energy all over this great land and East Coast politicians that don't allow energy poducing states like Alaska to produce these, to tap into em, and instead we're relying on foreign countries to produce for us. We're circulating about 700 billion dollars a year into foreign countries, some who do not like America - They certainly don't have are best interest at heart - instead of those dollars circulating here, creating tens of thousands of jobs, and allowing domestic supplies of energy to be tapped into, and so start flowing into these very hungry markets. Energy Independence is the key to this nation's future, to our economic future and to our national security. So when we talk about energy plans, it's not just about who got a tax break and who didn't and we're not giving oil companies tax breaks. But it's about a heckuva lot more than that. Energy independence is the key to America's future.

---

I'm still steaming about Palin using the debate to "speak to the American people." She refuses to come out of hiding for over a month except for a few instances, and then turns the debate into a campaign event.

No, Sarah, if you want to give interviews and campaign, then do it. A debate is the time to answer the same questions and speak to the same issues as your opponent. What a weasel.

---

Palin: Oil drilling is related to everything. Nothing is more important than pumping up Alaskan oil profits. It's about the healthcare that we, we do desperately need to...and it's got to be all about job creation. We can't raise the white flag of surrender to alternative energy proponents. We're a breath of fresh oil.

---

I'm really not convinced that Palin knows what she really thinks. She proved to the public during her bid for Governor that she could memorize a script and stick to talking points. Now, as she is forced to participate in deeper discussion she can't keep ANYTHING straight. She can't remember what McCain's stance might be, how he has voted, or how she is "supposed" to support the ticket. Then, she repeatedly conflicts in interviews (and now the debate) and has to back-peddle or let the McCain campaign explain it away. She has no moral compass--no views of her own (as her views don't resonate with the general public OR overall GOP platform), and it is clear that she is nothing but a pretty puppet with a really bad memory. I really hope America sees her for what she and her running mate are

---

VP Nominees On Church And State

Watch CBS Videos Online
2 minutes

from www.Americablog.com

Katie Couric: Thomas Jefferson wrote about the First Amendment, building a wall of separation between church and state. Why do you think that's so important?

Sarah Palin: His intention in expressing that was so that government did not mandate a religion on people. And Thomas Jefferson also said never underestimate the wisdom of the people. And the wisdom of the people, I think in this issue is that people have the right and the ability and the desire to express their own religious views, be it a very personal level, which is why I choose to express my faith, or in a more public forum.

And the wisdom of the people, thankfully, engrained in the foundation of our country, is so extremely important. And Thomas Jefferson wanted to protect that.

Not only does Palin get so twisted up in herself that it's tough to remember what the question was in the first place, but I went hunting for the Jefferson quote she references and couldn't find it. I did dig up this:

"It is not wisdom alone but public confidence in that wisdom which can support an administration." --Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1824.

If this is what Palin was going for, she not only took it out of context, but she wasn't even close.

Palin, Biden Trade Views On Abortion

4 minutes


CBS's Katie Coric asked both Biden and Palin about their views on Roe Vs Wade (the abortion law.

Here is a transcript.

Katie Couric: Why do you think Roe v. Wade was a good decision?

Joe Biden: Because it's as close to a consensus that can exist in a society as heterogeneous as ours. What does it say? It says in the first three months that decision should be left to the woman. And the second three months, where Roe v. Wade says, well then the state, the government has a role, along with the women's health, they have a right to have some impact on that. And the third three months they say the weight of the government's input is on the fetus being carried.

And so that's sort of reflected as close as anybody is ever going to get in this heterogeneous, this multicultural society of religious people as to some sort of, not consensus, but as close it gets.

I think the liberty clause of the 14th Amendment … offers a right to privacy. Now that's one of the big debates that I have with my conservative scholar friends, that they say, you know, unless a right is enumerated - unless it's actually, unless [it] uses the word "privacy" in the Constitution - then no such "constitutional right" exists. Well, I think people have an inherent right.

Couric: Are there Supreme Court decisions you disagree with?

Biden: You know, I'm the guy who wrote the Violence Against Women Act. And I said that every woman in America, if they are beaten and abused by a man, should be able to take that person to court - meaning you should be able to go to federal court and sue in federal court the man who abused you if you can prove that abuse. But they said, "No, that a woman, there's no federal jurisdiction." And I held, they acknowledged, I held about 1,000 hours of hearings proving that there's an effect in interstate commerce.
Women who are abused and beaten are women who are not able to be in the work force. And the Supreme Court said, "Well, there is an impact on commerce, but this is federalizing a private crime and we're not going to allow it." I think the Supreme Court was wrong about that decision.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Couric Why, in your view, is Roe v. Wade a bad decision?

Sarah Palin: I think it should be a states' issue not a federal government-mandated, mandating yes or no on such an important issue. I'm, in that sense, a federalist, where I believe that states should have more say in the laws of their lands and individual areas. Now, foundationally, also, though, it's no secret that I'm pro-life that I believe in a culture of life is very important for this country. Personally that's what I would like to see, um, further embraced by America.

Couric: Do you think there's an inherent right to privacy in the Constitution?

Palin: I do. Yeah, I do.

Couric: The cornerstone of Roe v. Wade.

Palin: I do. And I believe that individual states can best handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in an issue like that.

Couric: What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?

Palin: Well, let's see. There's, of course in the great history of America there have been rulings, that's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you know, going through the history of America, there would be others but …

Couric: Can you think of any?

Palin: Well, I could think of … any again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level. Maybe I would take issue with. But, you know, as mayor, and then as governor and even as a vice president, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today.

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Who's that girl? Who's Sarah Palin?

5 minutes

Who's Sarah Palin? THIS is the REAL Sarah "Political Stunt" Palin. Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin told a passel of lies during her national convention speech. Within moments of the finish of the acceptance speech, the Associated Press published a point-by-point refutation of claims made by Palin and others at the GOP convention. Additionally, the Republicans stretched the truth by overstating Palins experience, misrepresenting her attitude toward earmarks and mischaracterizing Barack Obamas tax proposals. ome of the untruths Palin told:

She falsely claimed (again) to have opposed the Bridge To Nowhere.

As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. .

Obama appeared on Bill O'Reilly's "The O'Reilly Factor" where he refuted Palin's claims. Obama found himself under Republican fire this week after his comment "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig" was made. Conservatives have criticized Obama, calling his comments sexist and in reference to Palin's quip "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick". The Obama campaign insists that the Illinois senator was using a common colloquialism. On Thursday, September 11th, Palin sat down with Charlie Gibson of ABC News for her first major interview. During the interview Palin raised eyebrows with her comment that Barack Hussein Obama will regret not having chosen senator Hilary Clinton as his running mate.

Palin served two terms as mayor of her home town of Wasilla, then in 2006 became Alaskas youngest and first female governor. Now, at 44, the former beauty queen aims to become the USAs first female Vice-President.

The scandal known as "Troopergate" gained national attention after Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose Palin as his running mate.

Sarah Palin says God's will HAS to be done. With regards to sending troops to Afghanistan and Iraq.

WHO'S THAT GIRL: Madonna's "Who's That Girl" was a huge success all around the world and effortlessly made it to the number one spot in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Canada, South Africa and many others. The song was nominated for "Best Song From A Motion Picture" at the 1988 Grammy Awards and "Best Original Song" at the 1988 Golden Globe Awards.

Sarah Palin on Foreign policy

8 minutes

SOUND not very good
Katie Couric Interviews The Candidate About Watching Russia, Her New Passport, And Her Opinion Of Obama, (This is the same interview as below).

Katie Couric: As we stand before this august building and institution, what do you see as the role of the United States in the world?

Sarah Palin: I see the United States as being a force for good in the world. And as Ronald Reagan used to talk about, America being the beacon of light and hope for those who are seeking democratic values and tolerance and freedom. I see our country being able to represent those things that can be looked to as that leadership, that light needed across the world.

Couric: In preparing for this conversation, a lot of our viewers and Internet users wanted to know why you did not get a passport until last year. And they wondered if that indicated a lack of interest and curiosity in the world.

Palin: I'm not one of those who maybe came from a background of, you know, kids who perhaps graduate college and their parents give them a passport and give them a backpack and say go off and travel the world.

No, I've worked all my life. In fact, I usually had two jobs all my life until I had kids. I was not a part of, I guess, that culture. The way that I have understood the world is through education, through books, through mediums that have provided me a lot of perspective on the world.

Couric: Gov. Palin, you've had a very busy week. And you're meeting with many world leaders. You met with President Karzai of Afghanistan. I know the McCain campaign has called for a surge in Afghanistan. But that country is, as you know, dramatically different than Iraq. Why do you believe additional troops, U.S. troops, will solve the problem there?

Palin: Because we can't afford to lose in Afghanistan, as we cannot afford to lose in Iraq, either, these central fronts on the war on terror. And I asked President Karzai, "Is that what you are seeking, also? That strategy that has worked in Iraq that John McCain had pushed for, more troops? A counterinsurgency strategy?" And he said, "yes." And he also showed great appreciation for what America and American troops are providing in his country.

Couric: The United States is deeply unpopular in Pakistan. Do you think the Pakistani government is protecting al Qaeda within its borders?

Palin: I don't believe that new President Zardari has that mission at all. But no, the Pakistani people also, they want freedom. They want democratic values to be allowed in their country, also. They understand the dangers of terrorists having a stronghold in regions of their country, also. And I believe that they, too, want to rid not only their country, but the world, of violent Islamic terrorists.

NOTE President Zardari of Pakistan is the WIDOWER of Benazir Bhutto who was assassinated in late December 2007.

Palin interview number 2 with Katie Couric

Interview Number 2

This is another CBS interview of Governor Palin by Katie Couric done yesterday Sept 30. I beleive. Sorry, its not embedded.

The Vice President debate is on tomorow night.

This time Palin waffles on about issues such as Abortion, Homosexuality, Evolution, What media she reads, energy.

She was also dragging her 14 year old daughter Willow along as well. Shouldn't Willow be in school? The good thing is that I had read a rumour that Willow was pregnant. Well, she doesn't look preggers.

I did find one small clip from this interview.

4 minutes


Katie Couric spent two days traveling on the campaign trail with Governor Sarah Palin on Sunday, September 28 and Monday, September 29, conducting an exclusive interview that was broadcast on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric beginning Monday the 29th (Part 1). Coverage continued on Tuesday, September 30th (Part 2) on the Early Show. The interview took place just days before the Vice Presidential debate between Palin and Senator Joe Biden in St. Louis on Thursday, October 2.

Humour - Tina Fey's version of Sarah Palin

7 minutes


Here is Tina Fey's version of Sarah Palins interview with Katie Couric last week. The one where Sarah said - I'll try to find ya some and I'll bring 'em to ya

A bit of humour after the stresses of today. The $700 billion bailout was defeated in Congress today - 205 to 228 votes. 193 Republicans voted no and 140 Democrats voted yes. BUT you must NOT stop. The rumour is swirling that they will try again to pass this bill.

KEEP FAXING PHONING AND MAILING your congress people. Tell then that you will NOT vote for them in the next election (or the next time they are up for re-election).

Body language says NO while McCain says YES

3.5 minutes

John McCain went on 60 minutes. Right at the very beginning we get this exchange.

McCain - I looked at her record, I looked at her,
Interviewer - In your judgement, can you see her as President of the United States?
McCain - Absolutely, Absolutely.

BUT he is SHAKING his head while he says this.
It is well known that Body Language speaks louder than Words.

Biden Has Done More Than Look At Russia Across The Horizon

Senator Joe Biden Has Done More Than Look At Russia Across The Horizon

Apologies for no video in this post, but I wanted to show you just much experience (NOT) that Sarah Palin truely has in foreign policy.

SARAH PALIN
Actually the only country I can say she did visit was Kuwait.
Sarah Palin purchased her FIRST passport ever just last year - 2007.
Which means that in 43 years she has never been outside of the USA.
I went on my first international trip when I was 12!!!!

Sarah says she visited Ireland. Actually her plane stopped for refueling and she NEVER got off the plane.
She says she knows Russia very well. She's never been there. She's never been to Moscow and you can only see the Great Diomede Island (Russian) from the Little Diomede Island (USA), both out in the Barents Sea.
She says she visited Iraq. Well actually she only went to the Kuwaiti border with Iraq and SAW Iraq from across a border line.

Sarah Palin met her first WORLD leader yesterday in Washington DC. She met the Israeli president Shimon Peres. Sarah gushed all over Peres saying that the Israeli flag is the ONLY flag she has in her office. (see below post)


Now what about Joe Biden.

Senator Biden has met and discussed policies with 3 UN Secretaries General, one queen (Her Majesty Elizabeth II), several kings, plus a few tough guys like Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Serbian president Sloban Milosevic. He has, after all, been in the Senate for 36 years. These are just some of the people Biden has met and talked with during his 36 years as Senator.


Iraq: Allawi, al-Jaafari, al-Maliki, Talabani, Massoud Barzani, Nechirvan Barzani;
Israel: Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Shamir, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni;
Palestinian Territories: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, Salam Fayyad, Ahmed Qurei;
Jordan: King Hussein, King Abdullah;
Egypt: Hosni Mubarak, Anwar Sadat;
Libya: Muammar Qaddafi;
Lebanon: Prime Minister Rafiq Haririm, Najib Mikati;
Bahrain: Crown Prince Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa;
Syria: President Bashar al-Assad;
Turkey: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ahmet Sezer, Abdullah Gul, Bulent Ecevit, Demirel;
Greece: Kostis Stephanopoulos, Kostas Karamanlis, Kostantinos Mitsotakis, Andreas Papandreou;
Cyprus: George Vassiliou, Glafcos Clerides;
Afghanistan: Hamid Karzai;
Pakistan: Asaf Ali Zardari, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Pervez Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif;
India: Manmohan Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee;
Sri Lanka: Ranil Wickremasinghe;
Russia: Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin, Mikhail Gorbachev, Andrei Gromyko, Alexey Kosygin, Leonid Brezhnev;
France: Jacques Chirac, Dominique de Villepin, Fracois Mitterrand;
U.K.: Queen Elizabeth II, Tony Blair, John Major, Margaret Thatcher;
Ireland: Bertie Ahern, John Bruton, Albert Reynolds, Charles Haughey;
Germany: Angela Merkel, Gerhard Schroeder, Helmut Kohl, Helmut Schmidt;
Italy: Silvio Berlusconi, Romani Prodi, Cossiga Serbia Boris Tadic, Vojislav Kostunica, Zoran Djindjic, Slobodan Milosevic;
Yugoslavia: Josip Broz Tito;
Croatia: Franjo Tudjman Slovenia Janez Drnovsek, Ibrahim Rugova, Milan Kucan;
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Haris Silajdzic, Sulejman Tihiae, Alija Izetbegovic;
Kosovo (as an independent nation): Fatmir Sejdiu, Hashim Thaci;
Poland: Lech Walesa, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz;
Czech Republic: Vaclav Havel;
Hungary: Gyula Horn, Arpad Goncz, Viktor Orban;
Finland: Paavo Lipponen;
Romania: Ion Iliescu;
Georgia: Mikheil Saakashvili, Eduard Shevardnadze;
Kazakhstan: Nursultan Nazarbayev;
Ukraine: Viktor Yushchenko;
Canada: Paul Martin, Brian Mulroney;
NATO: George Robertson, Javier Solana, Manfred Woerner, Peter Carrington;
China: Jiang Zemin, Zhu Rongji;
Hong Kong: Tung Chee Hwa;
Taiwan: Chen Shui-Bian;
Korea: Kim Dae Jung;
Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Chok Tong, Lee Hsien Loong;
Indonesia: Megawati Sukarnoputri, Bambang Yudhoyono;
Australia: John Howard, Paul Keating;
Philippines: Gloria Arroyo, Fidel Ramos;
Vietnam: Phan Van Kai;
East Timor: Ramos Horta;
Tibet: The Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso;
Colombia: Alvaro Uribe, Andres Pastrana, Cesar Gaviria;
Mexico: Vincente Fox, Ernesto Zedillo;
Bolivia: Jaime Paz Zamora;
South Africa: Thabo Mbeki, Nelson Mandela;
Liberia: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf;
Lesotho: Leabua Jonathan;
United Nations: Ban Ki-moon, Kofi Annan, Boutros Boutros Ghali;
Vatican City: Pope John Paul II;
Slovakia: Rudolf Schuster;
Turkmenistan: Saparmurat Niyazov.

Now, be honest with yourself. In all honesty, do you really want an unknown woman with a big mouth who can't even answer a question properly (see two videos below) to be involved in foreign policy for the USA?

NO I didn't think so.