Is there anything that Sarah Palin won't lie about? It looks like we'll have to fact check everything she says. If someone finds something truthful, please let me know. At this point, I'm beginning to doubt her name is Sarah Palin.
During the Charlie Gibson interview Palin said (and I think I heard this claim before from Palin as well as McCain) that Alaska "produces nearly 20 percent of the US domestic supply of energy." I thought this to be a strange statistic. And the operative word is "energy." Was she talking about all energy? Or did she mean to say oil? Surely she couldn't have meant all energy because that would include coal, "nookular," hydro, etc., so I thought it was odd, but I didn't think to check it out because everyone was still groggy from the Bush Doctrine slap to the back of the head.
Well, thank Jebus for FactCheck.org. Sarah Palin, if that is your real name, we surveyed 100 people and asked them what percentage of US energy does Alaska produce yearly, and you said "nearly 20 percent." Survey says? BZZZZZT!!! It's simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. "energy supply," a term that is generally defined as energy consumed...
Palin would have been correct to say that Alaska produces just over 14 percent of all the oil produced in the U.S., leaving out imports and leaving out other forms of power...
...But Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007, counting both domestic production and imports from other nations...
Furthermore, Palin said "energy," not "oil," so she was actually much further off the mark. According to EIA, Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production. And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only "2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes." Palin didn't make clear whether she was talking about Alaska's share of all the energy produced in the U.S. or all the energy consumed here. Either way, she was wrong.
So what do you think? I'm going to assume that her supposed children are just paid actors posing as her family to promote the "hockey mom" meme. Go ahead, prove me wrong.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Many Lies Of Sarah Palin
Must Reads
Digby: The Lists You Have
John Cole: Doughy Pantload's Awesome Spin ("Is there anyone dumber than right wing bloggers?")
Supporting The War On Terror
I love Sarah Silverman. I remember getting a postcard for one of her upcoming shows years ago before she was Sarah Silverman. I mean, she's always been Sarah Silverman but before she became the famous Sarah Silverman, and I thought (when I had that postcard in my hand), "Gee, she's pretty hot. Did I ever meet her? How the fuck did I get on her mailing list? Why are people randomly putting my address on someone's mailing list?! Now I'm getting these stupid ass postcards peddling some person I don't even know and she'll probably sell her list to someone else, and before you know it, I'll have assholes knocking on my door trying to sell me on fucking Amway!" ...But I digress.
I never did go to that show, but if I had, I would have witnessed one helluva comedic genius before the rest of the world knew her. Anyway, here she is with an important public service announcement on how we can help with the war on terror.
(H/T The Rude Pundit)
Friday, September 12, 2008
Double-Talk Express
John McCain, debating with Former New York City Rudy Mayor Giulani and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, October 2007:
"I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism," the Senator declared. "I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."
John McCain on Sarah Palin's "executive experience":
"I'm so proud that she has displayed the kind of judgment and she has the experience and judgment as an executive... She's been commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard ... she's had judgment on these issues. She's had 12 years of elected office experience, including traveling to Kuwait, including being involved in these issues. I'm so proud she has the experience and judgment as an executive."
And that's what we call the GOP flim-flam.
(H/T Sam Stein)
The Sarah Palin Action Figure™!
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you too can have your very own Sarah Palin Action Figure. For only $29.95 you can have this highly desirable collectible of the Republican Vice Presidential Nominee. But order soon, because supplies will be burned in effigy by angry religious right conservatives after November 4th.
You can choose between Statesman Sarah ($27.95 because it's not as hot as)...
...and Catholic Schoolgirl Sexy Slut Sarah (piercings sold separately).
"Small town mayors have actual responsibilities."
"I'm an E-bay Power Seller."
"Bush Doctrine?"
And speaking of moose rifles, if you order within the next 30 minutes, we'll ship you the Sarah Palin Moose Hunting Outfit™, complete with orange vest and the stupid looking hat with the flappy ear cover thingies. (Sarah Palin Moose Hunting Rifle™ and Sarah Palin Gubernatorial Helicopter™ sold separately.)
So don't hesitate! These likenesses are going fast... almost as fast as the Sarah Palin phenomenon itself. ACT NOW!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
The Obama - O'Reilly Factor Interview Part Four
Thankfully, the final part. Submitted without comment, because you know, when it comes to O'Reilly, you can put lipstick on a pig...
Now, if you dare, take a look at O'Reilly's interview with John McCain back in May, 2008 and notice the difference in interview style. Also take a peek at "fair and balanced" BillO interviewing Hillary Clinton. You'll only need to watch the first 30 seconds to see where this is going. For your safety and well being, please take your blood pressure medication before watching. Broadway Carl's Blog-O-Mania!™ is not responsible for adverse health effects.
9/11™
This was brewing inside Keith Olbermann since the final day of Republican Convention. I had commented on the politicization and fear mongering of 9/11 at the RNC the next day, but as usual KO does it so much better.
Meanwhile, it seems that White House aides today have been repeating the fact that the US has not been attacked since 9/11, a total of 2,557 days. But as Keith so aptly put it, "Does 'then' not count?" I'd also like to add that I'm guessing they aren't counting the anthrax attacks - but maybe that's because it wasn't done by an Islamic extremist Middle Easterner.
Time For Offense...
... dear Obama campaign, you have to use the word "lie." You wanna make an ad about the Bridge to Nowhere? Call McCain and Palin's assertions "lies." People don't give a fuck about "exaggerations" or "misleading statements." That's lawyer talk.
... You want the best route? Here it is: emasculate John McCain. Use Palin to cut his nuts off. Constantly say shit like, "Am I running against John McCain or Sarah Palin?" or "If the Republicans wanted her to be president, they should have nominated her" or "Maybe Republicans are used to a vice president that runs the show" or whatever. Make McCain have to defend himself. Turn him into Palin's bitch. It'll make him insane. And if there's one thing that Republicans hate most about women, it's the perception of the castrating bitch telling men what to do (see all the shit about Hillary Clinton).
I'm all for it. How about you?
Seven Years
Craig Ferguson, a newly minted American citizen, gets it so much better than so many others who were born here and don't know what they have.
(H/T Paddy)
Lipstick On A Barracuda?
Perhaps if Obama had used the phrase "lipstick on a barracuda," we'd be a bit more understanding of the freaky-dreaky right wing frothing at the mouth insinuating he was belittling Sarah Palin. In fact, the stinky, old fish reference could've been a two-for-one shot.
Oh and by the way, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Obama for not apologizing to these bastards. A lesser candidate would've caved and said some bullshit line like, "That wasn't my intention and I apologize if it was misconstrued," which would have been a tacit admission of guilt. Nope. Not Obama. He gave them the "What the..." fill-in the blank and followed up with "Distraction: this is what they do."
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Obama - O'Reilly Factor Interview Part Three
...because I have to. Here's classic BillO playing guilt by association.
Bill, thank you so much for having "new respect for the man" after speaking with him and pointing out that had it not been for Barack Obama, there would be no Sarah Palin. "There would be no new blood in American politics." You mean besides Obama? Oh, I guess you mean there would be no new blood on the Republican side of American politics. Dipshit.
Lipstick On A Pig
Oooh, big controversy on an old phrase that Obama used during a speech in Virginia:“John McCain says he’s about change, too — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics,” Mr. Obama told his supporters here. “That’s just calling the same thing something different.”
With a laugh, he added: “You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it’s still going to stink after eight years.”
Wait a minute! Did he just call John McCain a stinky, old fish?! That's ageist! Of course, the Rovians and the Mothers of Distraction jumped on the lipstick comment as a slap in the face to the poor, defenseless pitbull, Sarah Palin. Oooh, it's sexist! How can he say such a thing?
You know what? I'm glad he said it. In my opinion there's no way that after the Republican National Convention and Palin's pithy comment about the difference between pitbulls and hockey moms being lipstick, that ANYONE in the Obama campaign would think that using "lipstick on a pig" wouldn't be twisted and misconstrued as an attack on Palin. But think about it. If Obama thought about that turn of phrase and didn't just use it off the top of his head, then I think it was a direct "FUCK YOU" to the McCain camp with plausible deniability.
Everyone's talking about how Obama isn't tough enough. Well how about now? At first I thought Obama had my blog bookmarked because I called her a pig a couple of days ago (HAHAHA!) not because she's an ugly woman, but because her attitude and meanness were ugly, as shown with her acceptance speech.
If you want another take on it, Obama could be calling McCain the pig and Palin the lipstick. You can put a pretty face out there to tell you want you think you want to hear, but it's the same old game with different players. Either way, it's a shot across the bow from someone who took the lessons of 2000 and 2004 to heart and isn't going to sit back while the American public is being lied to by pigs wearing lipstick.
And by the way, I wonder if anyone else has used that phrase recently...The reaction set off a frenzied dive into the opposition research vault. Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton sent reporters a Chicago Tribune article published in 2007 during the Democratic primaries that cites McCain criticizing Hillary Clinton’s health care plan. “I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” McCain is quoted as saying about Clinton’s proposal.
So fuck you, McCain, fuck you surrogates, and fuck you Palin! If the lipstick fits...
UPDATE (11:45am): Obama says "Enough!" of the distractions and made up controversies. BAM!
Okay, so Obama speechifies and calls this a made up controversy, which it obviously is. In my conspiratorial mind, it's just part of the plan to make the Republicans and the McCain camp look petty, silly and show proof that they remain true to their devisive political games. Or, Barack Obama took a perceived nagative and flipped it into a positive by forcing us to face the real issues instead of falling for the Mothers of Distraction. Seems like a win-win either way.
(H/T Bob Cesca and Paddy)
The Obama - O'Reilly Factor Interview Part Two
If you can stomach Bill O'Reilly flipping out because he as to pay more taxes on his multi-million dollar salary while trying to distort the record and saying that under George W. Pinhead our economy has grown more under than under Bill Clinton, then go ahead and watch part two of this four part interview. Need I mention that BillO's demeanor and attitude hasn't changed?
Benjamin Disraeli: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
What's A Maverick To Do?
So is there going to be a time when we see Palin without McCain or McCain without Palin? For the last 10 days I've seen Sarah "Pig With Lipstick" Palin with McThuselah looking over her shoulder (or elsewhere) while Miss Wasilla chirped her talking point lies by repeating versions of her heinous acceptance speech at the RNC.
Hell, I can barely stand watching these two and usually don't but can already rattle off the Palin lies:
"I said 'Thanks, but no thanks' for that bridge to nowhere." Actually, you said 'Thanks' AND 'No thanks.' Thanks for the $233 million for the bridge that you supported. And 'No thanks' when it became politically inconvenient as the "Bridge To Nowhere" became a symbol of frivolous earmarks and pork throughout Congress and the media. By the way, you kept the $233 million for the bridge you wanted then didn't want.
"That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay." Actually, while technically you did "put" the jet on Ebay, the obvious inference was that you sold it on Ebay - another lie. Yes, you sold it... through a broker... at a loss.
"...when I stood up to the special interests, the lobbyists..." Certainly Sarah Palin meant 'stood up for the lobbyists' since she used one to lobby for and receive $27 million in pork from Washington (which she's also supposedly against) for Wasilla while Mayor.
In any case, Palin is supposedly going back to Alaska tomorrow to bone up on her chicanery skills for further deceit and flim-flammery of the American public. What, oh what will John McCain do? Who will think of John McCain? Has the guy said anything in the last ten days or has he just stood behind Palin listening to her bullshit while staring at her ass? The energized wingnut base has come out to see Super Sarah over the last few days while McCain had been used to half empty school gymnasiums and press conferences in supermarket cheese aisles.
Surely he can't go back to that now? Not after feeling the thrill of a raucous crowd coming out to see someone else. The thing is that now he's hooked. He's hooked like geriatric at a Las Vegas penny slot machine. He can't get enough of that enthusiastic love... the love meant for someone else. But he was there too, dammit! They were cheering for him too. They were! It wasn't all about Sarah, was it?
We'll find out soon enough. In the meantime, Sarah Palin will take that plane flight to nowhere and practice a new stump speech chock full of fresh lies, and I'm sure she'll deliver it as she has been - like a cross between Roseanne Barr and Marge Gunderson, don'cha know.
The Rachel Maddow Show
Rachel Maddow was pretty damn good in her inaugural show, but that's to be expected as she has been a very able guest host on Countdown. And I'm glad she stopped Pat "The Living Dead" Buchanan in his tracks when Pat whined about the media attacking Palin's religion (as if that happened) and then trashed Barack Obama's former church in the very next sentence. But hey, IOKIYAR. Great first show and I'm psyched to see more.
Rachel's show can be seen on MSNBC at 9pm weeknights right after Countdown.
Palin's Scandal Du Jour
And the hits just keep on coming! Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
Just think of how many headaches the McCain campaign would have saved with a little vetting. And this is only 10 days after McCain's selection of Palin... or should I say the religious right's selection of Palin?
The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.
UPDATE (12:45pm):
TIME MAGAZINE: Sarah Palin's AlaskanomicsAlthough Palin praised John McCain in her acceptance speech as a man who puts the good of his country ahead of partisan politics, McCain pretty much proved the opposite with his selection of a running mate whose main asset is her ability to reignite the culture wars. So maybe Governor Palin does represent everything that is good and fine about America, as she herself maintains. But spare us, please, any talk about how she is a tough fiscal conservative.
...Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 2½ times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska's government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it.
...Alaska also ranks No. 1, year after year, in money it sucks in from Washington. In 2005 (the most recent figures), according to the Tax Foundation, Alaska ranked 18th in federal taxes paid per resident ($5,434) but first in federal spending received per resident ($13,950). Its ratio of federal spending received to federal taxes paid ranks third among the 50 states, and in the absolute amount it receives from Washington over and above the amount it sends to Washington, Alaska ranks No. 1.
...Palin bragged that she had vetoed "nearly $500 million" in state spending during her two years as governor. This amounts to less than 2% of the proposed budget.
...Although Palin's words side with McCain in the [oil windfall-profits tax] dispute, her actions side with Obama. Her major legislative accomplishment has been to revamp Alaska's windfall-profits tax in order to increase the state's take. Alaska calls it a "clear and equitable share" tax. The state assumes that extracting oil from the tundra costs about $25 per bbl. and takes as much as 75% of the difference between that and the sale price.
Why is a windfall-profits tax good for Alaska but not for the U.S.? Well, it's obvious, isn't it? People in [Sarah Palin's] Alaska are better than people in the rest of the U.S. ...
UPDATE (3:50pm):
For my friend, Mr. The Elvis Dingeldein, who commented the following...:Okay, it's now officially time to have Joe Biden fitted with a Matrixesque data port in his skull into which a giant upload spike might be shoved, so that he can quite simply beat the living shit out of Marty Moose with this stuff. Jack in, Biden. Jack the fuck in.
... and inspired me to quickly do this:
It's no driftglass, but he's a fucking artist.
Pat Buchanan Is A Vampire
That's the only explanation I have for seeing this man on every MSNBC television show. He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep. There he was on the inagural episode of The Rachel Maddow Show last night (review forthcoming) and this morning he's sitting on the panel of Morning Joe sans Joe. It's a much better show sans Joe. Maybe they should call it "Morning Sans Joe" when he's not there for a ratings boost.
Anyway, I'm guessing there's a coffin deep in the bowels of the NBC studios that Buchanan retreats to between appearances with only minor stops to the commissary along the way for a pint or two of human blood.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Enthusiam Gap Dummies
I was at a ball game the other day with a friend of mine and when you're in a space with a concentrated group of people, like a stadium or a bus or subway train, you can't help but hear their conversations. And then when I see or hear stupidity it triggers this underlying thought that I have every now and then. The Republican National Convention has given John McCain and his party a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an "enthusiasm gap" that has dogged the GOP all year. McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republicans biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points.
That thought is this: I consider myself of average to slightly above average intelligence, but when I'm in those group situations and look around me and hear what's going on around me, I feel like I'm probably in the top 10% in terms of intelligence. Try it sometime. Go to a ball game or a concert. I'll go to a Mets game and sit in my normal section and I'm probably Einstein compared to some of these neanderthals. How do I know? Because of news like this:
An "enthusiasm gap"? Are you fucking kidding me? They can exaggerate, distort the truth, flat out lie and not explain any detailed policy proposals, but as long as you can chant "Drill, baby! Drill!" and "USA!" to raise the fucking "enthusiasm gap" within your party and appeal to the lowest common denominator - the uninformed and ignorant who flip out over a pig¹ in lipstick - you can make what should be an obvious choice, a coin flip.
Then you have these so called "pundits" to give their opinion who are nothing more than political operatives. Don't believe me? The next time you hear Pat Buchanan open his mouth, take a close listen. He's not there to give you his informed, objective opinion of both sides, he's there to repeat talking points he was told to repeat. Flip to any channel and you'll get the same exact wording. That is not a coincidence.
When you have Republican "strategists" like Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan praising the Palin pick on camera, but calling it "political bullshit" and "cynical" off camera, what is the point of having them on? It's not to inform us, it's to dupe us - to pull the wool over our eyes - it's equivalent to a shill at the three-card monte game.
When that asshole Michael Steele, Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and chairman of GOPAC makes an appearance on Bill Maher (9/5 episode transcript not yet available) and says that McCain's acceptance speech was rife with details while Obama's lacked any substance, look out for the wolf that's sneaking up behind you and about to rip off your scrotum. Talk about through the looking glass! Guys like that really piss me off because here's a man who's definitely smarter than I am, but shows contempt for my intelligence by feeding us bullshit lines like that. That and the fact that he chanted "Drill, baby. Drill!" as well. Fucking asshole.
When pigs like Sarah Palin demean the work of community organizers in her comparison to Barack Obama (as if that's the only thing he's ever done), but while Obama was community organizing, Palin was running for Miss Alaska, someone has to call the bullshit out for what it is.
So go out there and spread the truth because we need to do everything we can this November to win the three-card monte game of voter suppression, electronic voting machines, absentee and mail-in ballots and caging lists. Did you get an e-mail from someone calling Obama a Muslim? Fact check it and send it back not only to the person that sent it to you, but to every person on the forwarded list. I've done it multiple times and have yet to get a argumentative response, mostly thanks for the information. Did you hear someone praising Palin at the local Starbucks? Ask them why they like her in an inquisitive, non-threatening way and let them know what she's said, debunk her lies (like the bridge to nowhere, pork, trooper-gate, Iraq War is a "task from God") and see what they have to say. Will they act surprised or blow you off because they're a wingnut? Either way, perhaps you've spread the seed of doubt to the uninformed and maybe stirred them to actually look up information on their own instead of watching Fox News.
We have to fight back, and fight back hard. (I'm loving Joe Biden's speeches and appearances, but it's time to start toning down the preemptive praise of McCain.) So the next time you're in a public place, look around. Do you think you're in the top 10% of those around you in pure brain cell count alone? You probably are. Then inform them.
_________________
¹ - That's not a mistake. After her display at the RNC, I don't consider Sarah Palin a "pitbull in lipstick" I consider her a "pig."
Biden Can't Wait To Debate
This is an awesome town hall meeting in Kalispell, Montana. I can't wait for the debates.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Palin's Prophetic Declaration
This being the Lord's™ Day and all, I thought it would be appropriate to display some Sarah Palin video and her address to the Wasilla Assembly of God. Please pay close attention to her statements.
"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."
Palin's Energy Policy? Pray.
Just prior to discussing Iraq, Alaska's governor asked the audience to pray for another matter -- a $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state. "I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.
Part One -
Part Two -
Thanks to AlecsDeLarge for posting these videos up on The You Tubes.
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