Yeah, I know the first official game of the 2008 NFL season was played Thursday night - with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants beating the Washington Redskins 16-7, but most of us poljunkies were too keyed up about the RNC to really notice. Like many of ya’ll, this is my favorite time of the year. Fall is in the air, and the pro football season is kicking into high gear with a full round of games for it’s first Sunday of games this season.
One of the most talked about games today will be the 1 PM Jets at Dolphins game, as it represents the formerly retired, formerly with the Green Bay Packers Bret Favre’s first regular season start with the Jets. I know I’ve got some GB fans who read this blog, so I’m interested in your opinions on what happened in the off season between Favre and Green Bay, and whose side you come down on … if any. I’d offer an opinion myself, but I didn’t follow the story as closely as I’m sure GB fans did.
My ‘Cats are playing an away game today, taking on the San Diego Chargers on the west coast at 4 PM ET. I’ve heard some sportscasters predict that this could be the Chargers year to go all the way, so it sounds like the Panthers will have their hands full, even though the Chargers appear to be injury-plagued. Coach Fox’s two week suspension of WR Steve Smith, who punched out cornerback Ken Lucas’ nose (and broke it) during a practice round a few weeks ago, may have an impact on the outcome of today’s game as well. Jake Delhomme will be back in the QB spot today after spending most of last season on the sidelines with an elbow injury.
Play ball!
Update - 7:18 PM: The Cats win 26-24, after Delhomme threw a TD Dante Rosario with :02 left. Yeeehaa!
Blogger Charlie Martin has compiled a long list of rumors (which he notes have been debunked) that have been spread by the far left and some in the mainstream media about Gov. Sarah Palin. It’s a post that should be bookmarked as he plans on adding to it each time a new rumor is started and debunked.
It’s been just over a week since Gov. Palin was announced as McCain’s nominees. 60+ false stories/rumors later, I think it’s safe to say that PDS is alive and unwell.
Check out the below photo, of a McCain-Palin rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado earlier today:
Photo courtesy: Reuters/Brian Snyder
The Denver Post reported on the rally, and noted that there were over 10,000 in attendance. A campaign spokesman said it could have been as many as 13,000.
Here’s a great photo of some flag waving going on during the rally.
And as I noted in this post, Gov. Palin was no slouch either - coming in at about a million less viewers than Obama’s numbers. Quite impressive for someone new to the national political scene, especially when you consider the fact that she had six less networks broadcasting her speech than Obama did.
The AP cracks me up here in their article talking about how many watched McCain and Obama’s speeches, declaring that it was a “tie” between Obama and McCain for the number of viewers who tuned in to hear their respective speeches. Show of hands how many people believe that they’d be declaring it a “tie” if McCain had pulled in just slightly less than Obama?
For the last week, The Usual Suspects have tried to belittle every aspect of Gov. Sarah Palin’s political life and, sadly, her personal life as well. On the political front, one of the most pointed criticisms about her has been in response to the claim made by McCain campaign staffers and surrogates that she is the CIC of the Alaska National Guard. Predictable liberel blogs like the HuffPo have led the ridiculing of this claim by pointing to information that is incomplete, by referencing half truths, and in some cases just by flat out lying.
Last night on Greta Van Susteren’s show on Fox, Major General Craig Campbell, who is the head of the Alaska National Guard, deflated a lot of what the far left has said in response to the claim about Gov. Palin’s role as CIC of the AK NG (h/t: Jennifer Rubin):
Maj. Gen. Campbell’s defense of Gov. Palin won’t by any measure stop the whining and blubbering currently being engaged in by people who wouldn’t support the Governor if she’d had 30 years experience in government at a state level, but for people with an open mind who have wondered, “Just what responsibilities does being the CIC of a state’s National Guard entail?” - now you have a good idea.
The YouTube video is above is just part of the story Van Sustern did on Gov. Palin. She interviewed the current mayor of Wasilla in addition to Campbell. Here’s the complete segment, via Ed Morrissey:
In an article trying to downplay Gov. Palin’s experience as CinC of Alaska’s NG, the LA Times (perhaps inadvertently) included information that helped bolster the case that it’s not just the figurehead role some have made it out to be (h/t: Memeorandum):
Commanding the Alaska National Guard is hardly an insignificant job, military officials say. Still, they acknowledge that it provides little, if any, foreign policy experience.
Overseeing a state Guard is a “chief executive role” with real management responsibilities, said Mark Allen, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau, the federal office that coordinates state National Guards.
“I don’t think people should think it is a casual relationship, or is like the king putting on the medals,” Allen said. “It is not that at all. But the role of the governor is to use the Guard to help the citizens of a state, as opposed to declaring war on a neighboring state.”
[…]
National Guard officials said visits such as Palin’s trip to Iraq may be important because state officials can lobby the federal government for better training and more equipment if they are needed. There is no indication that during her trip Palin found major problems with how the Alaska Guard was trained or equipped.
Closer to home, the bread-and-butter duties of most state National Guards are natural disasters. During Palin’s 21 months in office, there has been one declared disaster: widespread flooding in June and July this year. Palin quickly signed a disaster declaration, officials said. The Guard’s role was limited to providing two water tanks and 30,000 sandbags to local authorities.
The Alaska Air National Guard, with 1,946 service members, is involved in an exceptional number of search-and-rescue missions. Since Palin became governor in December 2006, the Air Guard has flown 521 missions, saving 200 lives and assisting with the rescue of 77 more people, said Kalei Brooks, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
To my knowledge, no one within the McCain campaign has ever said that Palin’s role as CIC of the AK NG involved commanding troops to go to war in a foreign land. Duh. Doesn’t everyone know that’s the President’s job? Apparently everyone but the mainstream media and many far left liberal critics who - surprise - don’t really “get” the military anyway, because they despise it. Gov. Palin’s role as AK CinC is just one of many important parts of her role as chief executive of the State of Alaska, and it’s one more reminder of the executive experience that Senator Inexperienced Obama can’t claim for himself … that is, unless he really does believe he’s already president, and the evidence is mounting up that he does - considering the faux presidential seal, the “diplomatic” overseas tour …
I’m going to take the evening and Saturday to decompress a bit from all the political news that has happened over the last couple of weeks. Should a hot story break, I’ll check in to blog about it.
Tropical Storm Hanna should be hitting the Carolina coast tonight or early morning, and the Charlotte area will be getting some winds and rain from it, but it doesn’t look like for us here in the Piedmont area that it will be too bad. I pray for those on the coast, tho.
Kimberley Strassel has an informative piece in the WSJ today that discusses how Governor Palin successfully beat back corruptocrat GOPers in Alaska alongside their too-chummy buds in the oil industry:
If you’ve read the press coverage of Sarah Palin, chances are you’ve heard plenty about her religious views and private family matters. If you want to know what drives Gov. Palin’s politics, and has intrigued America, read this.
Every state has its share of crony capitalism, but Big Oil and the GOP political machine have taken that term to new heights in Alaska. The oil industry, which provides 85% of state revenues, has strived to own the government. Alaska’s politicians—in particular ruling Republicans—roll in oil campaign money, lavish oil revenue on pet projects, then retire to lucrative oil jobs where they lobby for sweetheart oil deals. You can love the free market and not love this.
Alaskans have long resented this dysfunction, which has led to embarrassing corruption scandals. It has also led to a uniform belief that the political class, in hock to the oil class, fails to competently oversee Alaska’s vast oil and gas wealth, the majority of which belongs to the state—or rather, Alaskan citizens.
And so it came as no surprise in 2004 when former Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski made clear he’d be working exclusively with three North Slope producers—ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and BP—to build a $25 billion pipeline to move natural gas to the lower 48. The trio had informed their political vassals that they alone would build this project (they weren’t selling their gas to outsiders) and that they expected the state to reward them. Mr. Murkowski disappeared into smoky backrooms to work out the details. He refused to release information on the negotiations. When Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin suggested terms of the contract were illegal, he was fired.
Make sure to read the whole thing, and you’ll come away from it asking yourself what we’ve all been asking this week: How can anyone credibly compare Obama’s “record” on reform - not to mention battling wayward Republicans in the state GOP - with a straight face?
The Obama campaign is sending out emails to pundits which reference Republicans who are concerned with the veep nomination. Now, I know that while most of the conservative/Republican circle are thrilled with Mc’s choice, there are those who are legitimately wondering whether or not Gov. Palin will be “ready to lead on day one” in the unfortunate event that something happens to Senator McCain. However, some of the Republicans mentioned in that email that are skeptical of McCain’s choice are prominent Alaska Republicans who may resent Gov. Palin for her past actions against corrupt Republicans in Alaska, so keep that in mind whenever you see criticisms come out of that corner.
Sorry, all you folks with Obama ‘08 bumper stickers, Obama buttons, and Obama-Biden bumper stickers on your car, you aren’t “Obama/Biden Democrats” Even though you’ve contributed money to the campaign, and think Obama is the best thing since sliced bread, and your proudly think of your self as an Obama Democrat, you aren’t. Why? Because Jake Tapper and Mark Murray say so.
He wrote that in response to a bogus story being pushed by MSNBC’s Mark Murray and the normally sensible Jake Tapper from ABC News about a fundraising email sent by the McCain/Palin campaign that referenced how, “the Obama/Biden Democrats have been vicious in their attacks directed toward me [Palin], my family and John McCain.”
Murray and Tapper are suggesting that Gov. Palin’s email was saying it was either Obama, Biden, and/or their campaign staff and surrogates who have made vicious attacks on her and her family. As Owens noted in a comment on Tapper’s blog (a comment which has “mysteriously” disappeared) “Obama/Biden Democrats” means more than just the campaign and people working directly for it:
The actual candidates will of course take the high road, but it is rabid Obama/Biden supporters in the blogosphere and media–including your counterpart Brian Ross–that smear Palin and her family.
On the Blotter, Ross tried to portray a 1997 lawsuit filed against thrown out by a judge as a current scandal. The judge dismissed it for having no merit. But spin away, boys! It is what you do.
[J]ust this week Obama-supporting media have accused Obama of slashing funding for special needs programs when she actually raised them 175%, just as she was accused of slashing funding for pregnancy prevention programs when she raised those as well.
The Obama media lies about Sarah Palin, and then won’t retract.
But are you referring to lies against her family only? How about the fevered insistence of left-wing “journalists” that Trig Palin was the son of his sister? How about media claims that Levi Johnston was being forced into a “shotgun marriage” with Bristol Palin, when they were already hoping to get married before they found out she was pregnant?
Shame on him for introducing facts into the discussion! PrestoPundit is on the same page:
Notice how the lie has become obvious in the latest Murray version, “Unless we’re mistaken, neither Obama nor Biden nor the campaign has attacked Palin’s family.” Of course, the email explicitly never says Obama, Biden or the Obama campaign, it says “Obama-Biden Democrats” (the Daily Kos folks, etc.) sort of like Obama is constantly talking about the “Bush-Cheney Republicans” and the “Bush-Cheney Presidency”, etc.
Not only that, but let’s not forget one nasty, low road attack that did come from the Obama campaign, when Obama surrogate Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Obama spokesman Mark Bubriski, both reached for the gutter by insinuating that Gov. Palin was a “Nazi sympathizer” because she supposedly supported Pat Buchanan, who they both called a “Nazi sympathizer” (he’s not, and she didn’t support him). Bubriski has since retracted his claim, but as far as I know, Wexler has not.
Bottom line: In attempting to debunk an email Gov. Palin sent about vicious bogus attacks on her and her family made by “Obama/Biden Democrats,” Tapper and Murray (and others in the MSM) are issuing bogus attacks of their own by asserting that Gov. Palin said something she never did, and then to make matters worse they proceed to argue against it. That’s what’s commonly known as a “strawman.” Both Tapper and Murray should know better.
Update: I see that the Associated Press is insinuating something about Gov. Palin that isn’t true regarding Alaska’s Personnel Board in a piece on the “Troopergate” controversy:
[Palin’s attorney] Van Flein wants the state personnel board to conduct the probe, not the legislature. The board members are gubernatorial appointees.
That implies that Van Flein wants the personnel board to conduct the “Troopergate” probe because they are appointees of Governor Palin. As I pointed out a couple of days ago (scroll), all three members of the board are Murkowski appointees, with one (Debra English) being reappointed by Gov. Palin earlier this year.
For once, just once, I wish the mainstream media could write a story about Gov. Palin that didn’t include information in it that either insinuates things that are not true or outright lies about her record. I guess that’s just asking too much, as Michael Graham points out here.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Three celebrity weeklies — OK!, People and Us Weekly — featured Sarah Palin on their cover, but one of those magazines is reportedly losing subscribers because of it.
Us Weekly, which unlike People and OK!, chose a rather caustic cover line (“Babies, Lies and Scandal”) is said to have lost thousands of subscribers in just the first 24 hours following the printing of the issue.
“I’m hearing it’s 5,000, maybe more,” says one well-placed source in the industry. Another source claimed that as many as 10,000 readers have already cancelled their subscriptions. A spokesperson for Wenner Media, which publishes Us, says “it is completely false that we are losing 10,000 subscribers.” As for the 5,000 estimate, the spokesperson only said “that is false, too,” but wouldn’t comment further.
Five thousand might not seem like a large number at first glance, but it’s significant in the context of Us’ printing schedule. The magazine goes to press Monday night, which means subscribers don’t receive their issues until Friday or Saturday. In other words, the cancellations are coming from subscribers who, in many cases, haven’t even gotten their hands on the actual issue.
“When Us went to print Monday night, it looked like the ticket was falling apart,” says one magazine editor. “They went to print thinking Palin was dead in the water, and their mistake was thinking everyone who reads Us is a Democrat, when they’re not. Readers are loyal, but the base of a political party is more loyal. They don’t need to read the magazine when there’s so much press around it to know to be upset.”
Upset might be an understatement: One Us advertiser has admitted that they’ve received calls from angry former subscribers threatening to boycott their products. “(Us publisher) Jann Wenner supports Obama, Wenner media decided to follow the buzz around Palin before her speech, and now subscribers feel like a vote has been cast on their behalf,” says another magazine editor. “It’s going to be tough to bounce back from this one. Especially if the advertisers get involved. If they get nervous, that can hurt all of us.”
This speaks to the arrogance of the left leaning media establishment. They were so darn sure that they could successfully destroy Sarah Palin that they counted their chickens before they were hatched. They assumed that by the time they printed and shipped their magazine, they would have succeeded in forcing McCain to boot her from the ticket.
They didn’t know how tough Sarah Palin really was, nor how outraged their readership would be.
To appropriate a saying, arrogance goeth before the fall. And “Us Weekly” just took a tumble.
In related news - via QandO - TMZ reports that the rock band Heart has filed a “ceast and desist” letter against the McCain campaign for their use of Heart’s “Barracuda” song as a theme song for Gov. Sarah “Barracuda” Palin. What a couple of bratty, spoilsports.
Update 3 - 10:04 PM: They’re showing Mc’s video bio now. I’m actually looking fwd to this speech. For all the differences conservatives have had with him, he’s come a long way and he deserves props for that. Long career in the military, 30 years in Congress. And now, presidential nominee. Congrats, Senator.
— Good grief! What’s with the friggin’ spotlight stuff? Overdone …
- Thanks/praises Pres. Bush - good for him. Now he’ll highlight how he’s a maverick …
- Looks like they caught an anti-war protester.
- Cindy is more my inspiration than I am hers. Praises his mother.
- Praises Obama, says we’re Americans first more than party members. But says we’re going to win the election.
- Another anti-war protester caught.
- And again. Idiots.
- Talks about Gov. Palin’s record.
- Mc’s pumped up. “Change is coming.”
- I will veto pork projects, and you will know the names of the pork barrel spenders.
- Supported surge when it wasn’t popular.
- I’d rather lose an election than see my country lose a war. Praises military, General Petraeus.
- What you fight for is more important than the fact that you can fight.
- Says gov’t’s gotten too big thanks to Rs and Ds, and we lost the trust of the American people thanks to a few corruptocrats.
- Education is the civil right of this era. Promotes school vouchers.
- Getting ready to talk energy policy.
- Foreign policy next.
- Shows support for Georgia. Talks about Russia’s aggression.
- He’s showcasing his foreign policy creds now. Really distinguishing himself from Barry O.
- I’ll appoint Dems, Independents in my admin. We need to get things done in Washington - we can share the credit.
- The seriousness of this speech versus Obama’s is very obvious, IMO. Obama’s was almost child-like and petulant at times. McCain’s is adult. I’ve found Mc to be a little negative at times, tho.
- Talks about POW experience. Says it taught him to grow up.
- I’m not president because I think I’ve been anointed to be president.
- There’s the optimism! Excellent.
- My quick review: It certainly wasn’t Palin-esque, but it wasn’t supposed to. His speech was meant to draw contrasts between him and Senator Obama in terms of experience, policy, and how he’ll reach out to both parties to get things done. His most powerful points in the speech were the ones he made about his POW experience, and how it made him a man, and how he segued it into how this country is worth fighting for. The contrasts between McCain and Obama are stark, and I think he made an effective case tonight.
- Now the families are on stage, and they’re playing Heart’s “Barracuda” - nice
- Mc’s gone into the crowd to shake hands. Can’t find where Gov. Palin is.
—
Found another person who thinks the big screen is too much.
Update 2 - 9:27 PM: Ok - Graham and Ridge have spoken. Mrs. McCain is up next.
Is it just me or does anyone thing that big jumbo screen is annoying?
- Wow - great bio video on Cindy McCain. I didn’t know the level of her humanitarian work.
- Good speech. If you didn’t know a lot about her, you definitely do now.
Update 1 - 8:57 PM: Sen. Lindsey Graham will be speaking next. I think I’ll have something else to do until the next speaker, Cindy McCain, takes the stage at around 9:30.
——-
Well, tonight’s the final night of the GOP convention in St. Paul, and the stage is being set (literally) for Senator McCain to officially accept his party’s nomination of him for POTUS (speech excerpts here). No way he wows the crowd in the way Gov. Palin did last night, but I’m sure it will be moving enough. I’m hearing from multiple sources that Mc is going to take some pretty sharp digs in at Barry Oh! By the way, he’ll be competing with the NFL season-opener, so his ratings probably won’t be as strong as Gov. Palin’s and Obama’s were (of course, they may not have been even without the NFL game). Don Surber, meanwhile, has some advice for Senator McCain.
While the mediots and other liberal critics of Gov. Palin are still picking their jaws up off the floor, here’s the latest political news:
—– Hearts were aflutter last week after it was reported that 38 million people watched Barackus descend from above and speak from his Greek temple. Guess how many watched Gov. Palin last night? 37.2 million - and it wasn’t even covered on as many networks as Obama’s:
The Sarah Palin speech generated 37.2 million viewers, just 1.1 million viewers short of Barack Obama’s record-breaking speech on Day 4 of the Democratic Convention. The Palin speech was carried on only six networks while the Obama speech was carried on ten (including BET, TV One, Univision and Telemundo).
Palin attracted a large female audience (19.5 million women, or 4.9 million more than Day 3 of the Democratic Convention).
Not bad at all for a gal who had to wing her way through some of her speech due to teleprompter issues (. Gosh only knows how Senator Obama would have reacted …
—– And even more great news: Mc was behind Obama by 8 points over the weekend, and has made it up to where they are now tied, as per the latest CBS poll numbers. Keep in mind that these numbers do not include Gov. Palin’s speech. Looking fwd to seeing post-convention poll numbers to see what kind of bounce McPalin will get. On the other hand, Gallup is showing no dent in Obama’s 8 point lead in the daily Obama/McCain tracking polls.
—– Here we go again: Gov. Palin has been accused of “slashing” funds again, this time for special needs children. Like the previous “slashing funds” story, this one, too, has been debunked.
—– Wow … Obama’s now admitting that the surge was a success beyond our “wildest dreams.” He did so in a sit down interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, which is scheduled to air tonight. Read more and watch a sneak preview vid here. Does this mean he’s going to admit now that he would have voted for the surge had he known then what he knows now? He said back in July he still would have voted against the surge, even knowing then what he knows now.
—– And speaking of Obama, some of his staunch supporters are upset at the cracks Gov. Palin and Rudy took last night at community organizers. Tom Maguire has humorous commentary on the “outrage,” as always. I wonder if those same folks will express outrage, too, over Obama’s dismissal of “small town mayors” as though it’s not a real job? Not holding my breath.
—– Community organizers and their supporters might not have appreciated Sen. Palin’s speech last night, but hockey moms sure did.
—– Even better than a dis from Senator Harry Reid: Radical feminista Gloria Steinem wrote a critical piece on Gov. Palin today, exclaiming, “Sarah Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Hillary Clinton.” Thank God. (h/t: Carol Platt Liebau)
—– Here’s the Gov. Palin bio video that the RNC didn’t air last night (they will tonight):
Cool.
—– And speaking of videos, the video of Gov. Palin’s youngest daughter Piper giving baby brother Trig a “spit comb” has gone viral. Too cute!
—– The woman who wrote the Us magazine cover story on Gov. Palin that has generated a lot of controversy this week claims she is voting for McCain-Palin. Hmm.
—– Anti-GOP protesters are out in full force today in advance of Mc’s speech. Terrorism-related charges have been filed against some of the ringleaders of the phoney “RNC Welcoming Committee” in St. Paul for the anarchy and chaos they have both promoted and engaged in. Prepare for the howls of “free speech suppression” to commence shortly.
Yeah, I know the first official game of the 2008 NFL season was played Thursday night - with the Super Bowl champion New York Giants beating the Washington Redskins 16-7, but most of us poljunkies were too keyed up about the RNC to really notice. Like many of ya’ll, this is my favorite time of the year. Fall is in the air, and the pro football season is kicking into high gear with a full round of games for it’s first Sunday of games this season.
One of the most talked about games today will be the 1 PM Jets at Dolphins game, as it represents the formerly retired, formerly with the Green Bay Packers Bret Favre’s first regular season start with the Jets. I know I’ve got some GB fans who read this blog, so I’m interested in your opinions on what happened in the off season between Favre and Green Bay, and whose side you come down on … if any. I’d offer an opinion myself, but I didn’t follow the story as closely as I’m sure GB fans did.
My ‘Cats are playing an away game today, taking on the San Diego Chargers on the west coast at 4 PM ET. I’ve heard some sportscasters predict that this could be the Chargers year to go all the way, so it sounds like the Panthers will have their hands full, even though the Chargers appear to be injury-plagued. Coach Fox’s two week suspension of WR Steve Smith, who punched out cornerback Ken Lucas’ nose (and broke it) during a practice round a few weeks ago, may have an impact on the outcome of today’s game as well. Jake Delhomme will be back in the QB spot today after spending most of last season on the sidelines with an elbow injury.
Update 3 - 10:04 PM: They’re showing Mc’s video bio now. I’m actually looking fwd to this speech. For all the differences conservatives have had with him, he’s come a long way and he deserves props for that. Long career in the military, 30 years in Congress. And now, presidential nominee. Congrats, Senator.
