Rev. Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A., M.Div.

Saw the statement from the McCain camp threatening legal action, but the Enquirer has so many lawyers on staff now that they're pretty litigation-proof.

Besides, a couple other tabloids and gossip magazines are coming out with similar articles. I keep wondering how much longer Palin can last -- Obama's numbers seem to climb a little every time she opens her mouth. (I'm still half-convinced McCain wants to lose because he doesn't want to get stuck cleaning up Bush's mess.)
 

Re, "Saw the statement from the McCain camp threatening legal action"

That's a riot. That's the kind of thing losing candidates tell weekly county newspaper editors.

Hey, Sarah: This ain't Wasilla, Alaska, baby!
 

Sarah Palin has been tagged as the "Wal-Mart" candidate. Wasn't quite sure what that meant until I saw the Enquirer cover. I think I'll mosey on down to the Wal-Mart checkout line and buy one of those magazines.

By the way ole Obama was a Civil Rights lawyer longer than a community organizer, why don't they make fun of that?

Oh, yeah, two more things, I wonder how many blacks Sarah or Sarah's kids have ever seen in person? Do you think Miss Sarah would feel safe walking in those "communities" that Obama used to organize?
 

Guess what I'll be devouring as I sit next to the soccer field swatting at gnats and mosquitoes tonight?

And I won't even bother to disguise it between the covers of The Atlantic.

(Can we start chanting 'If you don't don't have anything to hide, you shouldn't be worried!!!!!!?"
 

1) I'm far more interested in both the David Duchovney sex rehab article and the Shannen Doherty 90210 article than the Palin article.

2) If she had an affair, which I completely don't believe, who cares? Her supporters would never believe it, and her detractors probably couldn't care less about such foibles. So she got her freak on ... it's Alaska, who could blame her? It gets cold there. :) But really ... she's got like 20 kids, and husband with a package, or a package for a husband or whatever, and there are so many books to ban and state workers to fire ... Heck, who could find the time for an affair with all that in the Blackberry?

3) Loved the Peggy Noonan bit. Also loved her uber-convoluted attempt to walk that one back.
 

Since the eskimos are traditionally known for wife swapping, maybe she's just keeping it real,yo!
Keep up with the ad hominem attacks. It plays to the favor of the Republicans.
BTW. Told ya' so: Joe Biden called the media attacks sexist. I think they need to get the message.
All the Dems should focus on is her far right policies, and keep after McCain--the guy on the top of the ticket. There's much more payoff there.
 

Doc: "Keep up with the ad hominem attacks. It plays to the favor of the Republicans."

Doc, the stuff on this blog isn't ad hominem, it is about the ad hominem, the ad hominem is coming however in the real world.
McCain, Bidin, and Obama have had a constant dose of it for 18 months or so. Palin is going to get that 18 months of attention crammed into a week or two, except now the party is not going to let her go on the talk shows and Sunday pundit shows. Nope, she is going back to Alaska to have some "family" time with her son before he goes off to Iraq next week except that the real Commander of the Alaska Guard hasn't yet received deployment orders. If they don't give the media something about her,or a chance to know her policies, the "media" will find something themselves, and it won't be to the re-Publicans advantage to let them control the story.
 

Doc, I'm surprised at you. Drlobojo is right. The stuff going on around Palin right now is positively tame compared to what Obama has received, and even the kind of trashing McCain has received from liberal bloggers. Don't even get me started with the visceral rage Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton still elicit. And Bristol Palin has been treated like a princess compared to some of the remarks made in public about her, including remarks made by the current Republican nominee.

Look, the Republicans want it both ways. They want the press to treat her nice, and they want the press to not actually do journalism. They toss out lies about vetting, lies about her record, lies about her qualifications, and they do not allow her to address either the lies or the concerns with the press, so what is an intrepid reporter supposed to do?

Is it sexist to ask a question about a person's glaring lack of qualifications for high national office if that person happens to be a woman? Is it sexist to point out that pretty much every statement on her qualifications is so full of crap a plumber could get rich cleaning it out? Is it sexist to say that many of the statements she has made about her record, whether of support for certain federal funds, or or even the controversy over the firing of the head of the Alaska Public Safety Commission, are belied by what is already known in the public record?

The list is endless. I don't deal with the crap about her family; I just deal with the fact that she is another Mafia-style politician, Don Corleone in drag. Like most Republican officials, she does not seem at all interested in the boring work of actual governance and policy. Rather, all the evidence thus far indicates she, like so many modern Republicans before her, simply enjoy using power. Period. If there is a scrap of evidence to show that either Barack Obama or Joe Biden were even close to the same in their approach to power; if the Republicans actually presented policy positions in their convention rather than a combination of attacking Barack Obama and whining about how mean the press is; if it wasn't revealed that many Republican operatives think McCain is toast; I might consider this an interesting pick. Instead, I have failed, over the past six days, to figure out what, exactly, McCain was thinking.
 

You seem to be reading something into my post that just isn't there.
First, the ad hominem is mostly to the media, and it's my opinion that it helps the Reps. I made no claim as to fairness and am merely making a political observation. You can argue whether the media's line of questioning is sexist--it doesn't matter to me. I have only opined as to the perception in the public. That perception appears somewhat seconded by none other than Biden. He called the tact of the media sexist. How much clearer can the opinion be?
I am all in favor of keeping all private and family matters generally out of the political discussion. I personally feel that they are irrelevant, exept when the family member is brought into the foray. e.g. stumping.
 

Geoffrey, the questions you ask are all fair and relevant, if somewhat biased :). I have only been referring to the portrayal of Palin as being a bad mother or that she should not work due to having recently had a special needs child.
 

Maybe 'cause I are one, Doc, I got the sense in which you meant the "keep up" remark -- to the media.

It does, in general, play right into the hands of the Repubs. Bit at some point on a big story, the story gets bigger than the media -- and I think, or hope, that this is fixin' to do that. :-)
 

"...plays into the hands of the republicans..." I'm not so sure about that. Only the "base" really hates the media, and the Republicans have already cried wolf about this too much already. ER is right, their reaction to the attacks invites skepticism.

Speaking of crying wolf, take a look at what sweet Governor Sarah thinks about shooting wolves from a helicopter or planes for sport (which is a Federal crime by the way( is she above the law already and we haven't even elected her yet)).
http://www.uswolfrefuge.org/AlaskaWolf/AlaskaWolf-Main.htm
 

Thank God for the National Enquirer?

You idiots are going to get your asses handed to you in November.

Bet the farm on it.
 

Informed, I will take that bet. Seriously. Not only will I take that bet, when I win, I will sell your farm back to you at the going rate, wherever you may live, and invest the money in pork futures.

Part of the irony of the whole issue of "bad parenting" - it was pointed out by some liberal bloggers that Bill O'Reilly trashed Jaimie Lynne Spears' parents because she was pregnant at sixteen. Indeed, the producers of his show put a picture up on the screen of the Spears, with the caption, "Pinhead". Now, he is telling everyone that Bristol Palin's pregnancy is no one's damn business. The issue isn't whether or not Sarah Palin is a bad parent; that's impossible to judge, and irrelevant anyway. The issue is that so many on the right point the finger of blame at the parents when a child goes wrong (or perceived wrong), especially the working mother who isn't doing her Divinely ordained task of raising her children properly. Unless said working mother is a Republican politician, then it's OK, just one of those things, nobody's business, etc., etc. Ironically, I happen to agree, but I am fair-enough to insist it goes both ways. I do not fault Ronald Reagan for being such a horrid father he didn't recognize his son when he gave a speech at the private school he attended. I do not criticize Richard Nixon for being such a lousy parent that his daughters have not spoken to each other for over two decades, except through lawyers. Heck, I don't criticize George W. Bush for being a bad parent because his daughters were busted drinking underage when they were in college, and had a couple panty-flash, Paris Hilton style photos taken of them. I criticize all these men because of the policies they supported and the effect their governance had on the country.

They can screw up their kids all they want, that's their business. They screw up America, though, and there will be, or at least should be, hell to pay.
 

That's a lot of criticism you're not leveling there Geoffrey! :-)
 

LOL. Hey, I'm with Geoffrey. It ain't 'cause she's a dang redneck and she's got a redneck family that I'm agin' Palin. In fact, politics aside, she is my kind of gal. But I'm a true yellow-dog Dem.

If Jesus ran as a Repub, I'd stay home on election day.
 

"You idiots are going to get your asses handed to you in November."

See that is a true Republican response these days. Passionate, Partisan, Juvenile and completely uncaring. When I see or hear that kind of thing, I begin to think that the Tree of Liberty is in the need of nourishment, but this time with the blood of hypocrites. We may need to coldly and coolly clean the streets and feed the tree, metaphorically speaking of course.
 

Doc, I realize you were trying to be funny and attempting to point out an itty bitty, tad, perhaps even a smidgeon of hypocrisy on my part. On the contrary. I recited facts - Ronald Reagan, when he was on the rubber chicken circuit, gave a speech at his older son, Michael's, private school. During a meet and greet, Reagan shook the young man's hand and asked him his name. The younger future first son, "Michael. Your son."

The feud between the Nixon girls (who were props for Nixon when he was Ike's running mate in 1952) is such a hoot, it could be mined for a good farce.

The Bush twins were doing what college girls do. I see no reason to criticize them, or their parents, for that.

These are facts. I refuse to judge the parenting skills of any of these folks. I'm not even sure how what I wrote could be read any other way.

With all due respect, ER, Sarah Palin is no more a redneck than I am. This is a pose, a caricature, the creation of PR folks so they could sell her better. When I see her, I don't hear Gretchen Wilson; I do not hear Heart (who have placed an immediate cease-and-desist order on the McCain/Palin campaign for using their song). I hear Ennio Morricone who wrote the music from The Godfather, and see the end of the first film, as Michael settles in to his father's office. I remember the closing sentence of Mario Puzo's powerful novel, "And Mrs. Corleone prayed for the soul of her husband, Michale Corleone."
 

Naaah. Yer more redneck than you suppose. Sarah P. may, I admit, be a little less than assumed.
 

'Sides, I see some posin' when I see Gretchen Wilson. She's always left a bad taste in my mouth, so to speak.
 

LOL.

Geoffrey, thanks for acknowledging that I was "trying" to be funny. I was, damn it!

Citing fact does not make you immune from hypocrisy; in your case it reinforced it-- :-) --However, I accept the facts you give as reported.

May I add that Tricky Dick probably also got Pat drinking, Ron, Jr. was less than flattering at times in his description of dad, and George Sr. gave us George W. and Jeb.

The craziest of the first kid stories (sort-of) were the right-wingnut's rumors that Chelsea was not Bill's child, because he had told Juanita Broddrick that he was sterile, while he was raping her.

I do find the first kids' lives interesting. What a strange and unique experience it must be. Overall, I'd put the Dem. kids ahead of the Republican first kids in stability. (Except the Kennedy family, which is just, at times, a mess.) Lynda Byrd married ol' Chuck Robb here in Virginia, and the only knock on her is that she looks like her old man. Amy and Jack Carter (of the four Carter kids, is it?), I think, have been pretty positive individuals; I have had the pleasure of meeting Amy long ago in Tidewater she's very shy, and very sweet. Jack is in politics and is reportedly a good egg. Although Chelsea had a public drunken nightclub episode, a la the Bush girls, she's been a positive citizen, and good supporter for mom.

I'm glad you hear Morricone rather than Gretchen Wilson when you see Palin. But, given the movie theme wouldn't the theme from "Deliverance" have been a better comparator?

I usually hear "L'Internationale" when I see Obama, although perhaps music from "The Hunt for Red October" might be a better fit.
 

"Sarah P. may, I admit, be a little less than assumed."

ER, you still got the hots for the gun totin', moose skinnin', Arctic Fox?
I'll try to make it worse:
Although many were comparing her to Tina Fey, I thought she looked a good bit like Linda Carter. And I'll bet you, being a red-blooded American male.....
 

No that you mention it, they do kinda favor, don't they?

But I perferred the "Oh, Mighty Isis!" chick, myself. :-)
 

She described herself very well, "...a pitbull with lipstick..." Ever kiss a pitbull?
 

Wow. Wow. Wow.
National Enquirer.
Really? Really? Really?
Come on Redneck, you're smarter than this.
TDG
 

So, how is Obama's marriage these days?

http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=544758&articleId=449433&func=6&channel=Rants+%26+Raves&filterRead=false&filterHidden=true&filterUnhidden=false
 

Wow! That's great! I've got to get a direct subscription to The National Enquire. That way I can compare the stories with those in Newsweek, to check them for the "truth". Reckon McCain has kept his zipper zipped? Oh, yes, I remember now, he hasn't has he. But that's all in the past. It is history as they say. Our choices have always been which is the lessor hypocrite. It is never about the best person winning it is always about who can do what you wnat them to do winning.