St. Louis, Missouri Debate: Biden vs. Palin

As the families of Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) ascended to the stage after their debate on Thursday night, the entire McCain campaign and every last one of their supporters let out a huge sigh of relief. They had sat intently watching the previous 90 minutes, holding their collective breaths in hopes that Gov. Palin didn't further screw up McCain's fading campaign to become the 44th President of the United States.

Surprisingly, even to plezWorld, Ms. Palin availed herself quite well! Even though the bar was pretty low and most of the watching public was waiting for her to fall apart under the pressure of an unblinking 90 minute debate. By that standard of very low expectations, she stood up to the challenge and delivered.

Mind you, the woman has a minimal grasp of the issues, facts are not her friends, she has no analytical skills, it is obvious that she has no familiarity with the Constitution of the United States, she presents no historical contexts, and she has an over reliance on coaching and talking points. I wouldn't count on her being to navigate her way out of a brown paper bag, much less the nuances of navigating the complex structures of Washington politics... I have no doubt that she is well suited to run the vast tundra of Alaska and its sparse population, but she would be a mere "pip squeak" on the national scene.

Gov. Palin brazenly announced that she didn't respect Sen. Biden nor PBS's Gwin Ifill (the moderator) enough to answer the questions that were posed... she would only speak to the American people (I guess those two aren't Americans). She proceeded for 90 minutes to bob and weave around pointed questions, never answering any to the satisfaction of THIS American.

Sen. Biden was in total command of the facts, figures, analysis, and historical context around every single issue that was presented. While Palin persisted in rattling off noted and memorized talking points and one-liners, Biden offered sound judgement, reason, and qualified responses. While Palin offered misquotes and mischaracterizations of Sen. Barack Obama, Biden laid into the spotty, right-leaning background of Sen. John McCain. Biden used sound judgement in responding to questions, Palin refused to answer them and went immediately to the well-worn talking points that had drummed into her dullard of a brain over the past 2 weeks (at times, she gave responses that weren't even related to the question).

The story of the debate was that Palin didn't screw up and caused no harm to McCain's flagging campaign. After her disastrous turns with reporters Gibson and Couric, it was a relief to the Republican pundits that she didn't offer up the trifecta!

Unfortunately, Biden was relegated to a side show... his total command and domination of the woman in this forum was lost because of the low expectations that were set for Palin. No gaffes from Biden. No major slip-ups by Palin.



Read the entire CNN.com wrapup of the debate here and here and here and here.

Read the debate wrapup in the New York Times here and here.


plez sez: the early line was a third round knockout of palin by biden. he won in a unanimous decision that had to go the judges' cards. even though he outperformed her by a large margin (it wasn't even close), she never laid a glove on him, but since she was so over matched, by all accounts, the debate was a draw! neither presidential candidate can expect a bump from last night's debate and lucky for mccain, he doesn't have to worry about any erosion to his support because of it, either. she undoubtedly quashed the calls for her to step down from the ticket.

see what low expectations will get you?!?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

i watched the debate twice last night. and something occurred to me during the second viewing, plezWorld figured out why palin does so poorly in face-to-face interviews with reporters. when she doesn't know what she's talking about, she has to resort to B.S. and her rudimentary knowledge of the talking points that have been given to her. it is awful hard to lie and B.S. someone to their face. so when sitting face-to-face with gibson and couric, palin literally became a blubbering idiot.

if you look at the debate, she never looked at biden nor the moderator (pbs's gwen ifill) while giving her full answers. she looked into the camera. the camera doesn't give a reaction, the camera's "eyes" aren't looking back at her saying, "b-word, you don't know what the hell you're talking about do you? as a matter of fact, you don't even understand the question i just asked you!" especially with couric (and at times with gibson while peering over the top of his glasses at her, "do you agree with the Bush Dotrine, governor?"), palin had that moment when she was in high school trying to come up with enough B.S. on an essay in hopes that the answer is written down somewhere - anywhere - on the paper!

by looking directly at the camera, palin could be herself. she wasn't held up to the scrutiny of her obvious lack of knowledge or lack of nuance or lack of analysis. she was coached for the debate to not look at the other two on stage, and she was able to perform quite admirably because of it.

because of this fact, it is pretty obvious that she won't be doing any more one-on-one conversations with any but the most faithful supporters over the next 4 weeks. more than likely, she'll be limited to large audiences and joint appearances with mccain.

A Sarah Palin Primer for the Debate

Later this evening, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) will join Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) in the only vice presidential debate for this election cycle. It has the potential for high theater.

Sarah Palin is Sen. John McCain's running mate. She is currently in the middle of her first term as governor of Alaska. She has had very limited media exposure and her few forays with journalists (Charles Gibson of ABC News and Katie Couric of NBC News) before a television camera have been providing belly laughs for the electorate for the past two weeks. Her lack of exposure, lack of domestic and foreign experience, lack of world view, and general ignorance have defied her ascension to the top of the Republican party.

Joe Biden is Sen. Barack Obama's running mate. He has been in the Senate since 1972 (when he was only 30 years old). Although, he possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience, he can be volatile and gaffe-prone... often going "off message."

In preparation for the debate, plezWorld thought it would be prudent to hear some unbiased commentary on John McCain's running mate prior to the debate on Thursday evening. I have decided to include a few clips from the ever popular "Cafferty File" on CNN...

Jack Cafferty delivers a Sarah Palin commentary


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Cafferty asks, "should Sarah Palin step aside?"


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Cafferty delivers his unvarnished opinion of Sarah Palin

Read the CNN.com article about vice president debate preparation here and here.

plez sez: the popcorn will be popped and the soda poured!

i wouldn't miss this debate for a $700 billion bailout!

More on Gov. Sarah Palin's Faked Pregnancy

Sen. John McCain used poor judgement in selecting a running mate for vice president without thoroughly vetting her. Gov. Sarah Palin "appears" to fit central casting for the Republican's role of right-wing idealogue, feminist, pro-life, family values candidate, but when one scratches just beneath the surface you find evidence of corruption, deceit, arrogance, and blind ambition.

She claims to be the mother of a four month old baby boy with Down Syndrome. Unfortunately, a growing mountain of evidence that was uncovered soon after her announcement as John McCain's running mate tends to point in the direction that her 17-year old unwed daughter is the real mother of Trig Palin. To make matters even more confusing, this 17-year old unwed daughter is apparently 5 months pregnant now (and has revealed the name of the father who plans to make her an "honest woman").

In order for the story about her daughter to fly, one has to believe that Gov. Sarah Palin waited until she was 7 months pregnant before telling the world (because no one could tell from looking at her), flew from Texas to Alaska on a commercial flight of more than 8 hours with a layover in Seattle even though her water had broken more than 12 hours earlier, gave birth to a premature baby in a small regional medical center which provides no evidence of the birth, and then went back to work 3 days after giving birth to a premature special needs baby. But the ONLY proof that Sarah Palin is the mother of Trig Palin is the "press release" conveniently stating that Bristol is 5 months pregnant and plans to marry the father of the baby. So one is led to believe that Bristol is not Trig's mother because she would've had to be pregnant with her current baby when Trig was born in April.

The mainstream media (MSM) has dispatched an army of investigative reporters to Alaska to vet Sarah Palin, since it seems that the McCain campaign is reluctant to do so. Since plezWorld lacks the funds for such an expedition, I've had to rely on newpaper articles, other blogs, news reports, and good ole YouTube to conduct a thorough plezVetting. What follows is the most comprehensive compendium of "facts" surrounding Sarah Palin's faked pregnancy that was gleaned from a fellow blogger. Please note that a number of links and YouTube videos are no longer accessible or available, the McCain campaign has been working overtime over the past week scrubbing incriminating pictures, stories, and videos from the Internet.

Do not be alarmed with the links that no longer work, the McCain camp is only doing its job!

Here are as many important Sarah Palin DOCUMENTED links that I can find:

• ~LINK~ Start of the Big Lie: Sarah Palin breaks the news of her pregnancy to Alaskan television (3/6/08)
  
  
• ~LINK~ Staff didn't know she was 7 mo.'s preggie, why? 3/6/08
  
  
• ~LINK~ was planning to hike on Alaskan Glacier(about 2/20) at 6.5 mo.s' on TV Show, look how she carries herself, she forget to tell the crew she was pregnant! Click read recent blog post. Unfit to be a MOTHER, hiking a glacier 6 months pregnant, unfit to GOVERN!
  
  
• ~LINK~ photo 3/9 - 7 months pregnant
  
  
• ~LINK~ photo 3/14 - 7 months pregnant. she "forgot" to wear her corsett that day
  
  
• ~LINK~ photo 4/11 - 7 days before giving birth, look at face, in Anchorage, hundreds of miles from home.
  
  
• ~LINK~ Four days after giving birth to a child with Down Syndrome, she was giving a speech at a National Junior Honor Society induction!
  
  
• ~LINK~ She attended the governors conference on April 17th in Dallas, Texas. Her water broke that morning prior to giving a speech at the conference (she was 8 months pregnant with a baby that she knew had Down Syndrome and was flying around the country giving a speech). After the speech, she board an Alaskan Airlines flight for the 8 hour flight home, which included a layover in Seattle... this happened AFTER her water broke!
  
  
• ~LINK~ Happy Birthday Trig: 3/16 travelled to Texas, 8.5 mo.'s pregnant, flew back 10 hrs with water dripping! Gave birth 3/18
  
  
• ~LINK~ If in fact Sarah did give birth, she was back at work, holding a meeting on the proposed natural gas pipeline three days after giving birth to her fifth child - a premature special needs baby (she even brought the baby to the meeting with her)
  
  
• ~LINK~ Mat-Su Regional never recorded the birth of Trig Palin - if they did, this story would not exist!
  
  
• ~LINK~ Bristol is only 17, she looks like a full blown "woman", Who is holding and being "mommy" to Trig? *** BROKEN LINK ***
  
  
• ~LINK~ More of Bristol with her baby. She will be a good mother! *** BROKEN LINK ***
  
  
• ~LINK~ Doctor Cathy Baldwin-Johnson - 2/3 of the way down. Specialist in Child abuse. Appointed by Sarah to Alaskan Health Council in May, gave Sarah medical advice about flying and was the birth doctor. *** BROKEN LINK ***
  
  
• ~LINK~ The delivery Doctor, a FP, is in Wasilla, AK, which is 810 miles away from Junuea, where Sarah lives in the Governors Mansion. Somehow, during her pregnancy from Sept to delivery in April, she has time to take a bumpy flight, make her regular doctor appointments for high-risk pregnancy, i would assume about at 200 mph in a small plane, it is 3 hrs away, most of it in winter weather. So her "plan" for a normal delivery was to somehow get from Juneau to Wasilla 810 miles away(driving) to see her Dr., a family Dr, or fly in likely bad April weather, 3 hrs, bumpy ride, 44 yr old woman carrying a Downs baby. So she didn't expect to fly from Texas to Alaska to have her baby, she did "expect" to fly from Juneau, in full pregnancy, in April skies, to deliver her baby in the trusted hands of her FP, Dr. Cathy Baldwin-Johnson. Why bother with an Obstetrician in Juneau when the trusted Dr. Johnson is ready for the catch in Wasilla, only 800 miles away!
  
  
• ~LINK~ Now McCain campaign doesn't plan on allowing Sarah Palin to give any interviews to the press. She may never give one they say! And yet the answers are so very simple, the longer it goes on, the clearer the answers become. Why not just stop this mess, have the Hospital spokesman call a newspaper and give a statement, that easy!
  

*** BROKEN LINK *** tag added by plezWorld

plez sez: for over a week, plezWorld has believed that the governor faked the pregnancy of her fifth child (Trig Palin). everytime i begin to vacillate on those thoughts, i receive more information that moves me firmly back into the conspiracy column. combined with the number of broken links in my previous blog postings (here and here), i believe it more than ever.

right now, i'm going to need to see some solid evidence that Sarah Palin gave birth on April 18, 2008. if this is allowed to stand, this will be the biggest coverup since the JFK assassination!

and if you don't feel that our government is capable of deception, cover up, and conspiracy on a grand scale, then you need to check out "Zeitgeist - The Movie."

WTF - Sarah Palin & the Alaskan Independence Party

More important than the pre-written canned speech - it was written before Sen. John McCain picked her to be his running mate - that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) delivered before the Republican National Convention earlier tonight is the welcome video she delivered to the Alaskan Independence Party in March 2008.

Who cares about the Alaskan Independence Party?

If you haven't heard, the Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) has a motto: "Alaska First - Alaska Always." In addition, they have called for - on numerous occassions - for a vote on secession from the United States of America, similar to an action taken by the confederacy during the Civil War that began in 1860.

The Introduction to the Alaskan Independence Party website begins with the following quote by Joe Volger, a guy who ran for governor of Alaska three times between 1974 and 1986: "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."

The platform of the AIP is, as one would expect, centered on Alaskan issues. Although it is widely thought to be a secessionist movement, the Party makes great effort to emphasize that its primary goal is merely a vote on secession, something that Party advocates say Alaskans were denied during the founding of the state.

A plebiscite (or referendum) was, in fact, held in Alaska at the state's inception in 1958, but AIP members argue that voting was corrupt and that residents were not given the proper choice between statehood, commonwealth status, or complete separation -- something they say has been granted to other U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico.

And there's more...

The AIP platform states that the purpose of the party is to "seek the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska in conformance with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, of the federal constitution ... To prohibit all bureaucratic regulations and judicial rulings purporting to have the effect of law, except that which shall be approved by the elected legislature ... To support the privatization of government services ...”

Before you view the following video, take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the Alaskan Independence Party here and here and here.

Gov. Palin Addressing the 2008 AIP Convention in Fairbanks, AK and undated excerpts from an AIP Meeting:

Gov. Palin to the delegates of the AIP: "...I share your party's vision to uphold the Constitution of this Great State [of Alaska]."

Here is the ABC News blog about Sarah Palin's involvement with the AIP:

September 01, 2008 6:52 PM

The campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., likes to herald the independence of its new running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she and her husband were once member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United State.

And while McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is "Country First," the AIP's motto is the exact opposite -- "Alaska First -- Alaska Always."

After refraining from commenting on the charge for a day, the McCain campaign on Tuesday asserted that Palin was never a member of the AIP, and

Lynette Clark, the chairman of the AIP, told ABC News on Monday that Palin and her husband Todd were members in 1994, even attending the 1994 statewide convention in Wasilla. Clark was AIP secretary at the time.

This, it should be noted, does not square with official records.

Gail Fenumiai, director of the Alaska Division of Elections, tells ABC News that regardless of the impression given to members of the Alaskan Independence Party, "Gov. Sarah Palin first registered to vote in the state in May 1982 as a Republican, and she has not changed her party affiliate with the Division of Elections since that time."

Clark on Tuesday night said that she had been mistaken.

But for whatever reason, Clark thought that in 1994 Palin was a kindred spirit.

"We are a state's rights party," says Clark, a self-employed goldminer. The AIP has "a plank that challenges the legality of the Alaskan statehood vote as illegal and in violation of United Nations charter and international law."

She says it's not accurate to describe the party as secessionist -- they just want a vote, she says, adding that the members of the AIP hold different opinions on what Alaska should be.

"My own separate opinion as an individual is that we should be an independent nation," Clark says. Others in the AIP "believe that being a commonwealth would be a good avenue to follow." Some advocate statehood -- but a fuller statehood than exists now.

She doesn't know what Palin's position was.

"It never came up in conversation," Clark recalls. "But ...our platform was right under her nose."

Earlier this year, Palin sent a video message to the AIP for its annual convention, where AIP vice chair George Clark told the small crowd that Palin "was an AIP member before she got the job as a mayor of a small town –- that was a non-partisan job. But you get along to go along -– she eventually joined the Republican Party, where she had all kinds of problems with their ethics, and well, I won’t go into that. She also had about an 80 percent approval rating, and is pretty well sympathetic to her former membership."

A day after ABC News requested a response from Palin as to whether she was ever a member of the AIP, McCain campain spox Brian Rogers told ABC News that Clark's "allegations are false."

"Governor Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982," Rogers says, providing voter registration documentation showing her to be a Republican. "As you know, if she changed her registration, there would have been some record of it. There isn’t."

Rogers says that Palin didn’t attend the AIP convention in 1994, "but she visited them when they had their convention in Wasilla in 2000 as a courtesy since she was mayor."

When asked if Palin ever identified herself as a member of the AIP, Rogers said, "No, she's a lifelong Republican."

The AIP platform states that the purpose of the party is to "seek the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska in conformance with Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, of the federal constitution ... To prohibit all bureaucratic regulations and judicial rulings purporting to have the effect of law, except that which shall be approved by the elected legislature ... To support the privatization of government services ...”

Walter Hickel, a former Republican governor, was elected to the governorship in 1990 as an AIP member -- the third-largest party in Alaska -- with a plurality vote of 38.8%. A Seattle Post-Intelligencer story that year said that "Hickel is running with the Alaskan Independence Party, a fringe group advocating that the 49th state declare itself a sovereign nation. But he's not a separatist; he's an opportunist: the Independence Party was the only 11th-hour ticket to the general election."

Hickel returned to the Republican Party in 1994; he endorsed Palin in her gubernatorial run in 2006. Subsequent AIP gubernatorial candidates did not fare as well as did Hickel, garnering less than 2 percent of the vote.

Lynette Clark says that Palin is "a fine individual. She's forthright and she puts Alaska first."

She is not a fan of McCain.

"I can't understand why in God's name she has aligned herself with a candidate who opposes the development of our republic and Alaska's resource wealth," Clark says.

Read the ABC News article about Sarah Palin & AIP here and here.

Read the LA Times article about Sarah Palin's involvement with separatist Alaskan Independence Party here.

plez sez: WTF?!?

some have said that she was a member of AIP until she ran for mayor of wasilla, ak, while others contend that she has been a lifelong republican. some say that she attended the convention in 1994, others contend she attended in 2000 when she was mayor of wasilla. no one disputes the fact that her husband, todd, was a member for 7 years (now he is undeclared). as has been the case, since her unvetted behind was dragged out of the backwoods of the alaska high country into the presidential campaign of america, we get more "he said-she said" stories about gov. sarah palin.

another round of rumors. more unsavory innuendo. more backpedalling and side stepping by the mccain campaign than a high school football team's two-a-days! more clarification of palin's muddled past. and more people scratching their heads saying, "WTF?"

how much will be enough?

take off your rose colored glasses for a moment here and let's peep into my plezWorld crystal ball:

• let's imagine the outrage and utter condemnation that would've rained down on Barack Obama if it had even been hinted that he'd attended a National Communist Party meeting.
  
  
• Michelle Obama was pillaried for the mere suggestion that she had only just begun to be proud of america, what if she had actually been a member of the National Socialist Party or the Black Panther Party? Would Barack Obama be the Democratic presidential nominee today?

the reason for this LONG "A" election cycle was to get to know the candidates. to kick the tires. to run 'em around the track a few times. john mccain has had since april 2008 to vet every single republican on his long list for vice president, yet he waits until the eleventh hour to pick an unvetted unknown who hails from the remotest region of the country... the most INDEPENDENT region of the country. the only state in the country with an Independence Party that advocates secession from the United States. the last time there was even a serious discussion about secession was during the period leading up to the civil war in the late 1850's! The last time there was a serious discussion about state's rights was in the era of desegregation and integration during the 1950's and 1960's!

And whether she was an active participant or just a casual observer... Gov. Sarah Palin has given "aid and comfort" to the Alaskan Independence Party as recently as March of this year!

Is this the person we want "one heartbeat away from the presidency"?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

oh yeah, about the speech... she got a chuckle out of me a few times. she reads damn good off that tele-prompter thing! it was obvious that the speech was written for her with SHORT GEORGE W. BUSH-LIKE sentences, with plenty of pauses for roars of applause from the audience.

basic republican fare: the democratics want to raise your taxes (even though, Barack Obama spoke of tax breaks for the middle class), we're thisclose to winning the war in iraq (huh? who are we fighting in iraq), a call for more drilling for domestic oil (off shore and in alaska - drill baby drill!), light on specific policy items and heavy on partisan rhetoric (like her running a town of 6,000 people and a state of only 670,000 has been this big test), and the obligatory family values introduction of her brood (the 4-month old baby is officially a campaign prop, they passed him around mid-photo op to make sure he got in each picture - yes, i know that there is a crude joke in there somewhere, but plezWorld ain't going there! and they even dressed up and presented the f...in' redneck who knocked up her daughter).

if you had a checklist of basic republican talking points, you know the contents of the speech (sprinkled with an occasional rye joke at the expense of their competitors).

once again, no introspection, no deep thought, no real concern for folk other than the republicans sitting in the arena - what we call in the "business" boilerplate. she gives good tele-prompter!

Gov. Sarah Palin - Grandmother at 44!

BLOG UPDATE (12/30/2008): Bristol Palin gives birth to son. Read more...

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There is never a good time to drag the family members (especially the children) of a candidate through the mud, except when said candidate makes it a point to make their children part of the equation. Such is the case with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. By aspiring for the second highest position in the land - a heartbeat from the presidency - this woman has dragged her politics and family out of the backwoods of the Alaskan high country into the living room of every American.

As plezWorld mentioned in a previous post, the question of the maternity of the Palin baby is not the issue, the issue is the public trust and judgement of Sarah Palin to be the Vice President of the United States.

*** THE BOMBSHELL ***

Almost as if the McCain/Palin campaign has been perusing the blogosphere over the last 2 days, they have come up with a plausible reason WHY the 17-year old daughter is not the mother of the 4-month old Palin baby... because she is currently 5 months pregnant!

plezWorld has to admit, I never saw this coming... but it also raises more than a few eyebrows about the Palins and their extremely fertile womenfolk!

By extension, she has begged the following questions:

• Who is the mother of the 4-month old Palin boy? Sarah Palin? Or 17-year old Bristol Palin?
  
  
• Is it true that Sarah Palin went into labor a month early in Texas while carrying a special needs baby and still decided to take an 8 hour commercial flght all the back to Alaska to give birth in a small regional medical facility that doesn't have a neo-natal ICU? Or did the Palins fly back from Texas to meet their pregnant daughter who had gone into labor at a small regional medical facility?
  
  
• Take a look at these pictures of the newborn Palin baby on the day he was born (here), does this look like a preemie? Would you have a premature baby out and about in the hospital on the day he was born?
  
  
• Based on news that broke on Monday afternoon (read articles here and here and here and here), is 17-year old Bristol Palin really 5 months pregnant? Or is this a ruse to "throw us off the scent" of the true maternity of the 4-month old baby?
  
  
• And if young Bristol is pregnant, did she get pregnant while layed up with mononucleosis? Or was the bout with mono a ruse to "throw us off the scent" of something more salacious and newsworthy?!?
  
  
• If the McCain campaign was so comfortable with the knowledge that Palin's 17-year old pregnant unwed daughter (who missed a significant portion of the last school year with a mysterious disease), why did they wait until the Internet blew up with the story about Sarah Palin being a grandmother to release that information? Or was that story made up over the weekend as the grandmother story started bubbling up?
  
  
• How willing is this young man (Levi Johnston) to get married and become a father? (Read these stories about Bristol's young beau who claims that he doesn't want kids here and here to gain some insight - notice how she mysteriously left school mid-year to attend another school in Anchorage)
  
  
• Will the fact that her 17-year old daughter got knocked up make Sarah Palin re-think her stance on abstinence-only sex education in public schools?
  
  
  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
  
  
• What was the extent of the McCain vetting process for Palin? Why weren't key legislators, business leaders, and community leaders consulted in the vetting process for Palin? Has the family of Bristol's boyfriend been vetted?
  
  
• John McCain wrapped up his nomination a whole 2 months before Barack Obama, why was he so lax and cursory in his vetting of possible running mates? Why was Gov. Palin picked at "the last minute"? (Read about McCain's vetting of Palin here)
  
  
• Lastly, does this whole mess with Gov. Palin sound like a person who is serious candidate to be the Vice President of the United States? Does this whole mess sound like John McCain is a serious candidate to be President of the United States?
  

Full statement from Sarah and Todd Palin:
"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We’re proud of Bristol’s decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates."

plez sez: ain't this some *ish*!!! instead of clearing up the mystery surrounding the 4-month old palin baby, the palin family and the mccain campaign have ratcheted up the scrutiny around this whole sordid affair. to plezWorld it seems that the palins have come up with one lie to coverup another lie. i have no idea where this will lead, but i do know that this was a BAD IDEA to subject the citizens of the united states to the possibility of having someone with such poor judgement to the presidency. george w. bush may be an idiot, but sarah palin is even worse!

this is a sad state of us politics... we can only hope that gov. palin will drop out of the race to attend to the needs of her growing family.

Gov. Sarah Palin Get's McCain Veep Nod

The McCain campaign calls her a "tough executive who has demonstrated" readiness to be president.

The Republican National Committee calls her a "conservative star with the talent, energy and family support necessary to carry out common sense policies."

But the Obama campaign calls her a candidate with "the thinnest foreign policy experience in history" who is "currently under investigation in her own state."

On Friday morning, in an attempt to trump the momentum of the very successful Democratic National Convention week, John McCain unveiled his choice to join his ticket. Not the former governor of a large state with a solid economic background, like Mitt Romney. Not the governor of a swing state that is hosting the Republican National Convention next week, like Tim Pawlenty. Not the governor of a large swing state and cabinet-level secretary, like Tom Ridge. Not the independent senator from a northeastern state, like John Lieberman. Not the woman senator from a large southwestern state, like Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Not the woman who was a CEO of a large multi-national corporation, like Carly Fiorina. Not the woman who was a former cabinet-level secretary for George H. W. Bush and current senator from a southern state, like Elizabeth Dole.

John McCain went with a little known woman who is a staunch conservative and a first term governor of the largest state in geography (larger than Texas, California, and Montana combined) and the smallest state in population (only 670,000 people - there are more people in the county where I reside in Georgia than in the entire state): Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Ms. Palin is a staunch conservative, she is a self-described Pat Buchanan Republican: she supports gun rights (she is an avid hunter and lifelong member of the NRA), she is in support of the right to life (opposes abortion in all cases, even incest and rape), and she's been the governor of Alaska for about 20 months (less than 2 years). Prior to her stint in running the state government in Juneau, she was the mayor of a small town with a population of less than 6,000 people.

John McCain (who met her on only one occasion prior to naming her) brought Palin on to shore up his support among social conservatives and to woe those woman who were disaffected by the Democratic Party when Hillary Clinton did not win the nomination.

NOTE: Gov. Palin is under a legislative investigation which is looking into allegations that she fired Alaska's public safety commissioner because he refused to fire the governor's former brother-in-law, a state trooper.

Read the CNN.com articles about John McCain's choice for vice president here and here and here.

Read the New York Times articles about McCain's veep choice here and here.

Read Sojourner's Place's very interesting article about Gov. Palin having been considered a VP choice of conservative Republicans as much as a year ago (August 2007!)... but then she's introduced by McCain as a fresh-faced person that "no one" knows about... "something ain't right!"


plez sez: there was no way i could see this coming, since i'd never heard of gov. palin before. hailing from the least populous state (less than one person for every two miles) in the 50 state union, with less than two years of executive experience, and zero national presence... john mccain (the former POW who is 72 years old and has had four bouts of cancer in the last 20 years) has picked an unknown to be one heartbeat away from the presidency. this is a supreme failure in judgement!

lack of experience aside, this woman has not been vetted, she has not been tested (the county commission where i live governs more people than she does for an entire state), and the american people are given 8 weeks to get to know her! mccain has been the presumptive republican nominee for almost 6 months now, did he really have to wait until after Barack Obama selected Joe Biden as his running mate to pick someone we've never heard of, a person with little in the way of a public record, and only a pissy investigation into her firing someone for not firing her sister's ex-husband? john mccain's selection is a response to the Obama campaign with little or no analysis as to what his campaign really needed... like a message!

not only does America not know palin, john mccain barely knows her... the first time he met her for a substantial conversation was LAST WEEK! he selected her after their second meeting on thursday of last week! he knows her about as well as i do.

palin has only been out of the united states once, in july 2007, she had to get a passport before she visited members of the Alaska National Guard stationed in Kuwait. so much for foreign experience. so much for, as john mccain said, someone who will be ready to be commander-in-chief on day one day two.

and if she is supposed to be the answer for hillary clinton's pissed off pumas, try again! this must come off as a slap in the face, wanting to substitute an unknown woman from a backwater hick town for the likes of hillary! it would be like mccain picking ward connerly as his running mate for disaffected Blacks had Obama lost the nomination!

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and what of mitt romney? tim pawlenty? they must feel used and abused by john mccain! he has paraded them around like an organ grinder monkey for the past five months, taunting and tantalizing them with thoughts that they would be his running mate. they smiled when the camera lights came on, said all the right things, and wagged their tails for him on cue... wassup with that?!?

now my decision to vote for someone will not hinge on their choice for vice president: george bush (the first) waltzed into the white house with dan quayle puppy doggin' behind him and richard nixon pulled first term governor spiro agnew out of maryland to win the presidency in 1968. experience is not a defining measure of ones ability to fill the lukewarm seat of the vice presidency, but once again, i have to go back to my mantra that john mccain does not have the judgement and temperament to lead this country.

ms. palin may be a very nice lady, but i don't agree with her politics (right wing wackos who continually spout off about gun rights and the right to life, while condemning folk to the electric chair scare me) ... and i'm sure a majority of the "disaffected" hillary clinton supporters don't agree with her politics either.

this choice doesn't hurt mccain with republicans... but in all honesty, it probably doesn't help much with independents! his pick is a knee jerk reaction to what the democrats have done, which only reinforces the assertion that plezWorld is REALLY SCARED of what a john mccain presidency will do to america... frightening! his lack of judgement will not only doom this nation, but portends horror for the entire world!

Deconstructing Obama's VP Decision

plez sez: To my way of thinking, the process of making decisions is as important as the decision itself. This has always been an endearing fact about Sen. Barack Obama, he is a thoughtful and deliberate and intelligent man. His openess to learning and curiosity belies that rampant ignorance that has characterized George W. Bush over the past 8 years... you get the feeling that Bush doesn't give a damn about facts.

In reading the New York Times, I ran across an interesting article about the thought process that went into Obama's decision to pick Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. Although, it was a deeply personal decision, the decision came at the end of a carefully deliberate process.

One thing to note while reading the article, there is not one mention of Sen. Hillary Clinton. I read in another article that she asked Obama not to vet her if she was not going to be his selection for vice president. Now, we know why she wasn't vetted!

In Obama's Choice, A 'Very Personal Decision'
By Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenburg for NYTimes.com

WASHINGTON — In the beginning, Senator Barack Obama was not entirely sold on Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. And Mr. Biden told friends that he was pessimistic of his chances of becoming Mr. Obama’s Democratic running mate.

Over the course of two months, as the dynamics of the presidential campaign and world events shifted quickly, Mr. Biden’s stock rose through one of the most rigorous vice-presidential vetting processes that Democrats could recall. It was a process in which Mr. Obama applied intense secrecy, careful pragmatism and political input from a team of internal and external advisers that have guided his campaign from the start. And it ended Thursday with a phone call from Mr. Obama, who reached Mr. Biden as he was at a dentist’s office where he had taken his wife to have a root canal.

On Saturday, as the two men embraced before a crowd in Illinois, the new Democratic partnership made its debut. Yet in a moment that could have showcased Mr. Obama’s decision-making, his top advisers made a concerted effort not to disclose how he made his choice, instead choosing to showcase the life stories of the two men on the ticket and to present Mr. Biden as a forceful new critic of Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.

“It’s a very personal decision,” said David Axelrod, the campaign’s chief strategist, in a brief interview Saturday. “He approached it in a very serious, sober and reasoned way.”

Mr. Obama reached the decision about 10 days ago while on a weeklong vacation to Hawaii. That week, Mr. Biden’s strengths in foreign policy were highlighted by the conflict between Russia and Georgia, giving his prospects a further boost. Associates of the other main possibility on Mr. Obama’s list, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, said Mr. Obama cited the situation in Georgia in breaking the news to Mr. Bayh late last week that he had chosen Mr. Biden.

But people involved in the process said it was not just foreign policy that tilted the balance. They said Mr. Obama’s decision had as much to do with Mr. Biden’s appeal among white working-class voters and compelling personal story, and his conclusion that the Delaware senator was “a worker.”

The plans for the announcement began to take shape in early July. Until the end, aides said, a small team inside the Chicago headquarters planned for four possibilities: Mr. Biden, Mr. Bayh, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas. Speeches were written, media plans were made and private planes were at the ready to take any of the four to Springfield, Ill.

Mr. Biden was hardly considered a likely pick at the start of the process. His reputation for verbosity was Washington legend. While he impressed at the debates by defying expectations with his brevity, his presidential campaign foundered and ended quickly.

“I think in his heart of hearts he thought in the end he wouldn’t get it,” said Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania, a friend. “During the vetting process you mostly hear why you wouldn’t be a good candidate,” he added, naming “the change issue” and “some of the things he said during the campaign.”

But Mr. Biden had some powerful patrons in his corner whose opinions Mr. Obama respected, like Mr. Rendell; Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, the chairman of the House Democratic caucus; and Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts — not only a respected Senate lion but also uncle to a senior member of Mr. Obama’s vetting team, Caroline Kennedy.

As the vetting team sorted through Mr. Biden’s financial statements, political statements and medical records, Mr. Obama’s top political aides — Mr. Axelrod chief among them — reached out to friends in Mr. Obama’s orbit to get a sense of what sort of politician Mr. Biden was. The results belied Mr. Biden’s reputation. Reports came back that he was not only potentially more energetic and disciplined than widely known, but also that he had a distinct appeal suited to the areas throughout the industrial Midwest where Mr. Obama had struggled in the primaries.

But Mr. Obama was seeking a running mate with whom he would be comfortable governing for four or eight years, a bit of advice Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts had given him.

“I get the sense that he was quite serious about thinking through about the nature of who his partner will be there and, I think, the role of the vice president as a future partner in government,” said David Wilhelm, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who worked on Mr. Biden’s 1988 presidential campaign and is close to Mr. Obama.

“I think it’s easy to give that sort of thing short shrift,” he added, “so ‘what kind of partner I’m getting’ mattered quite a bit.”

Much of the process unfolded in silence as dozens of lawyers completed their tedious assignments for the vice-presidential vetting team. They conducted lengthy sit-down interviews with at least six Democratic prospects, and they demanded thousands of pages of documents, including copies of speeches delivered more than two decades ago.

In addition to the four ultimate finalists, Democratic officials said, Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut were also among those who received extensive consideration. Teams of lawyers, at least 10 for some candidates, were assembled to inspect finances, medical histories and political backgrounds of the prospective candidates and their families.

In an interview Saturday, Mr. Richardson said that Mr. Obama called him soon after he claimed the nomination on June 3 to tell him that he wanted to put him on his list of prospects. But, Mr. Richardson said, Mr. Obama warned him that it would be an intensive process, and asked him to consider whether he was up for it. (After checking with his wife, Mr. Richardson said, he called back to say he was.)

Mr. Obama called to check in with him midway through the process, Mr. Richardson said, before his vacation to Hawaii. As always, Mr. Obama dialed Mr. Richardson himself from his cellphone. Mr. Richardson said he told Mr. Obama that he had not seen his name on lists in the news media, and Mr. Obama responded by saying, “No, you’re in this thing.”

Mr. Richardson was alerted weeks later that his vetting process had gone well, he said, but late last week — he would not say exactly when — Mr. Obama called to thank him and tell him, “I’ve made up my mind, and we’re going in another direction.”

In the waning days, several people close to Mr. Bayh said he remained upbeat over the possibility that he would be Mr. Obama’s choice. He had met with Mr. Obama several times, and the amount of information Mr. Obama’s staff had asked for was beyond anything Mr. Bayh — who has been in contention for the vice-presidential position at least twice before — had experienced.

Mr. Biden, meanwhile, was viewed as undercutting himself with his own behavior as reporters staked out his Delaware residence. When Mr. Biden returned home in his white pickup truck from a garbage dump and made an off-color joke to camera crews last week, an e-mail message circulated among Mr. Bayh’s closest associates that read, “Keep talking Joe, please keep talking.”

He did not.

Read the New York Times article the deconstructs Obama's selection of Joe Biden here.

Read the CNN.com article Obama's selection of Joe Biden here.

Text Message from Obama Campaign

Photo courtesy of my Palm Treo 680

BarackObama.com (8/23 3:12 am): Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on http://www.barackobama.com/. Spread the word!

(actual text message received by plezWorld)

Joe Biden Gets Veep Nod

A few minutes ago, CNN reported a scoop that Sen. JOSEPH R. BIDEN, Jr. (D-DE) was selected by Barack Obama to be his running mate in November against John McCain.

Democratic sources leaked the information to CNN reporters. So much for the MOBILE BLOG from my Palm Treo... well, maybe I'll do it anyway when I get the text message in the morning!

plezWorld is mildly surprised: no more than a few hours ago, I was seriously thinking that Hillary Clinton would get the position, in light of her tenacity and good showing during the primaries.

Obama Veep Watch

All of plezWorld is tingling with anticipation. My cell phone is charged up and ready to receive my text message from the Obama Campaign informing me of his vice presidential nominee.

I will MOBILE BLOG that message from my Palm Treo to plezWorld as soon as I receive the text message.

Who will it be?

Gov. Tim Kaine (of Virginia)

Sen. Evan Bayh (of Indiana)

Sen. Joe Biden (of Delaware)

Sen. Hillary Clinton (of New York)

Rep. Chet Edwards (of Texas)

Someone Else (of someplace else)?

All of the talking heads are opining, saying it's going to be Biden.

The only certainty is that the VP nominee will join Sen. Barack Obama in Springfield, IL tomorrow for a big speech at 1 PM EST.

Read the CNN.com article about Obama's short list here.

More Obama vice presidential speculation here and here and here.

plez sez: my crystal ball is looking kind of cloudy this evening and i'm not getting a strong signal (only two bars).

they say that kaine and bayh have already been told it's not them. they say that clinton hasn't even been vetted. and surprise! surprise! chet edwards (who represents the district where george w. bush's ranch is located) claims to have been vetted, but hasn't spoken with Obama!

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Obama has to pick a strong, vocal candidate. he has to pick someone with name recognition and experience. by his own admission, he has to pick someone who can step in as president.

you read it on plezWorld first: it's going to be HILLARY CLINTON.

that's right, he's going to hold his nose... and call in Billary to help defeat mccain in november.

none of the other candidates comes with a built-in nation-wide base. none of the other candidates has received as many votes as clinton. none of the other candidates have a constituency that may feel "dissed" if they ARE NOT picked. and none of the other candidates is married to the last democratic president to be re-elected since FDR!

the only other candidate who comes close to clinton is joe biden, and to my way of thinking, he's a distant second. he has the experience, he has the ability to debate the issues, BUT... didn't he drop out of the presidential race within the first 2 or 3 weeks? clinton ended up with over 18 million votes this year... if Obama and clinton's voters return to the polls in november, there is NO WAY THAT OBAMA CAN LOSE!


i know. i know... what the hell are you gonna do with Bill Clinton? i look at it this way: it's better to win the election, rather than risk losing it because of opposition to the VP candidate's spouse!

Dick Cheney Pulls an OG Move

Vice President Dick Cheney has asserted his office is not a part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, and therefore not bound by a presidential order governing the protection of classified information by government agencies, according to a new letter from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to Cheney.

ABC News reports that Bill Leonard, head of the government's Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), told Waxman's staff that Cheney's office has refused to provide his staff with details regarding classified documents or submit to a routine inspection as required by presidential order, according to Waxman.

plez sez: dick cheney never ceases to amaze me, but this latest move shows a set of cajones that i would never believe! this is an OG~pimp move that most mere mortals would not even dare to attempt! he is the sitting vice president of the united states and he has the audacity to say (i'm sure with a straight face) that his office is not bound by the rules that pertain to the executive branch.

now, i'm just wondering, what branch is he a part of?!? a special dick cheney branch that answers to neither the executive nor the legislative branch? a special dick cheney branch that answers to NO ONE?

i've said it before and i'll say it again... Dick Cheney should be impeached!