Palin's Pipeline of Cronyism

Despite Palin's lofty claims of "due diligence" and an "open and transparent" bidding process for who is to eventually (possibly) build the pipeline for supplying natural gas to the lower 48, it turns out that there was really only one viable bidder--TransCanada. Now, this alone isn't too concerning--maybe TransCanada was the only company who could satisfied the requirements. But that's probably my mid-western naivete giving the benefit of doubt.

Well, the lead person in Palin's Pipeline team is a woman named Marty Rutherford, who, as it turns out, worked previously for a lobbying firm--and now, you probably guessed it, here comes the rub: good ol' Marty lobbied for a subsidiary of, yep, TransCanada.

And, last but not least, a cool $500 million "incentive" was given to TransCanada, despite TransCanada's history of agreeing to do the job in 2004 without that sweetener. Now for my east-cost cynicism--so how much of that $500 million gets kicked back to Palin cronies like Marty?

Woman admits making up McCain sticker attack

Typical crazy republican:

(CNN) -- A Republican campaign worker who told police she was assaulted by a man angered by a John McCain sticker on her car admitted she made up the report, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, assistant police chief said Friday.
Police say Ashley Todd, 20, admitted making up the report she was attacked because of a McCain sticker.

Ashley Todd, 20, of College Station, Texas, has been charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor, and may face more charges, said Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Diane Richard at a news conference.

Todd is incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail but had not been arraigned Friday night.

Todd was a volunteer for a John McCain phone bank in Pittsburgh, the campaign said.

Moreover, Sarah Palin spoke with Ashley Todd following the alleged attack. Man, I'd like to have heard that conversation between two crazy people--one fake & crazy politician trying to be sympathetic to a crazy supporter.

Fun with the Electoral Map - Landslide!

This is about the best case scenario that I see as possible; some would include North Carolina, but I think that's a bit out of reach. Either way, it's a landslide victory! And even with a 'worst case scenerio' Obama wins.

Fun with the Electoral Map - Worst Case

A Sign of the Times

Getting fired up to fire local Bush-mate politician!

Jim Flintlach & George W. Rubble

Congressman Jim Gerlach & President Bush - They'll go down in history.

Joe the Plumber - Give him a Plunger

About the only truthful thing that "Joe the plumber" has in common with plumbing is that he is full of shit. He may not be a licensed plumber, but he's a certified lunatic-fringe, right-wing neocon, card-carrying, registered republican. Joe--not even his real first name (it's Sam!)--believes the Iraq war has made us safer, that social security is a joke; he considers government to be akin to over-bearing parents, and that it would be an "honor" to meet McInsane. Wow!

So, let's see, he's not a plumber, but works for a plumber (but he's not even a journeyman or apprentice). He's not buying his boss's business (talked about it--but, like 'Joe' says, you have to "really watch actions"--not just words!), and his boss's business had less than $100, 000 in taxable earnings--not the $250 - $280k that he claimed he would be making when (if) he bought the business. As for Joe himself, he makes about $40k--and he's worried about making a quarter of a million in taxable income! Give me a break! It's bullshitters like Sam, or Joe, or whatever the hell you want to call him, who fit perfectly in the repugnacan party.

Fighting the Last War

Lieutenant Lunatic

The analogies of McCain fighting the last war are spot on. Not only in terms of his stance on Iraq, but also in his use of grand "old" party tactics to anger the electorate and spread fear through half-truths (at best), and--more commonly--wanton exaggerations and outright lies. It doesn't look like that's going to work this time around.

Abuse of Power: Palin is a Patriot Act

Sarah Palin, the Republican U.S. vice-presidential candidate, abused her powers as governor of Alaska by pressuring subordinates to try to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, according to an investigation by the Alaska Legislature released Friday.

Sound familiar? Unfortunately, yes, it sounds all too familiar--in the same neocon vein of those who have been stripping our citizens of their rights and whose leader has been reigning like some perverted, capitalistic monarch.