Maybe John McCain was clever in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate. Now that their campaign is increasingly desperate, she can be his "attack dog" as they say in politics. She can say whatever she wants, things that McCain can't say. And if anyone points out that she's exaggerating or ignoring some facts, they're accused of sexism or of picking on Palin. She was quoted the other day in the "New York Times" as saying, "I was reading my copy of today's New York Times and I was interested to read about Barack's friends from Chicago." Right there, we've got a credibility problem. First of all, she was quoted as saying "reading," not "readin'." Next you'll notice that she was quoted as saying, "my 'New York Times.'" Do you really think that Sarah Palin gets the "New York Times?" If she did, don't you think that would've been one of the newspapers she could've come up with when Katie Couric asked her what she reads? You betcha it wouldda been. Some people might say that it wasn't fair to ask her what she reads, because the other candidates weren't asked questions like that. That's true, but we already knew a lot about the other candidates. We don't know much about her, and it seems like we have a right to find out about her interests and her intellectual curiosity. I know it's been a while since the Biden-Palin debate, but the networks have been rerunning it over and over again much like "Law & Order" or "Wings." For me, it's like seeing an accident on the highway. I know I shouldn't look, but I can't help looking for a moment. And now that I've seen her rerun, I'm suspicious about something. Her performance seems even more extreme, more exaggerated than it did on Debate Night. Her poor grammar, her poor diction, and her poor sentence structure are just too over the top. Here's the suspicious aspect of this: she had a great deal of time to prepare for her debate, she haed some very experienced people helping her, and she clearly practiced her lines. Don't you think, if the party professionals wanted to, they could have told her the proper way to pronounce "nuclear?" Don't you think they could've told her how to say words that end in "ing?" You're goll-darn right they could have. So here's my theory: they want her to sound like that -- not just like you and me, but dumber than you and me! They think this will endear her to voters. George W. Bush played down his Yale and Harvard education, talked in a Texas twang, and it seemed to work for him for six or seven years. It's always been interesting to me that American politicians aren't supposed to be too smart. The public doesn't seem to trust or want intellectuals, "eggheads," or professorial types. The theory is that they want someone who is "just like them." If they speak properly, if they're highly educated, if they're interested in complex issues, Americans are wary of them. Smart people are considered "elitists" who think they are "better than we are." This is crazy. I want the leaders of my country to be smart. It's fine with me if they're smarter than I am. Now more than ever, we need educated, intelligent people to help lead us out of this sad situation we're in. That's a lot more important to me than making sure that a leader likes to have a few beers when he or she goes bowling. Obviously, I don't know if Sarah Palin is purposely exaggerating her lack of intellectual curiosity and her being just a "regular person." It doesn't even matter to me if she is or not. The point is, why should intelligence be derided and being average celebrated in politics? At the October 7th Presidential Debate, John McCain called for a "commission of the smartest people in America" to help solve the economic crisis. I was shocked when I heard him make the suggestion. For one thing, how is he going to identify who the smart people are? Then was he just going to send them invitations? But, of course, what surprised me the most was that he dared to mention using smart people to solve a big problem. Maybe his campaign is really getting desperate. P Less

Sarah Palin is the hired gun for John McCain. Seems like she'll go anywhere to be the "attack dog" as they say in politics. Some of the things that she says are pretty startling. The rest are just ridiculous. She was quoted the other day in the "New York Times" as saying, "I was reading my copy of today's New York Times and I was interested to read about Barack's friends from Chicago." Right there, we've got a credibility problem. First of all, she was quoted as saying "reading," not "readin'." Next you'll notice that she was quoted as saying, "my" 'New York Times.'" Do you really think that Sarah Palin gets the "New York Times?" If she did, don't you think that would've been one of the newspapers she could've come up with when Katie Couric asked her what she reads? You betcha it wouldda been. So now, she's leading the attack, talking about a '60's radical who performed his terrorist acts when Barack Obama was eight years old. Seem like a bit of a stretch to you? But I have a theory about what Governor Palin says and how she says it: she's doing it on purpose. Ever since her debate with Joe Biden come up the networks have been rerunning it, much like "Law and Order" or "Wings." For me, it's like seeing an accident on the highway. I know I shouldn't look, but I can't help looking for a moment. Now that I've seen her performance in rerun, it seems even more extreme, more exaggerated than it did on Debate Night. Her poor grammar, her poor diction, and her poor sentence structure are just too over the top. Here's the suspicious aspect of that: she had a great deal of time to prepare for her debate, she had some very smart people helping her, and she clearly practiced her lines. Don't you think, if they wanted to, those people could have told her the proper way to pronounce "nuclear?" Don't you think they could have told her how to say words that end in "ing?" You're gosh-darn right they could have. So, here's my theory: they want her to sound like that – not just like you and me, but dumber than you and me! They think this will endear her to voters. Does this kind of thing really work in politics? Well, it worked for George W. Bush for six or seven years. Now, some of you might think I'm being partisan in all this. Absolutely not! Believe me, the next time that Joe Biden attacks John McCain because of somebody that he knows or the next time Biden talks in a way that's a poor example for America's schoolchildren, I'll criticize the Republicans, too. Less

Today's Monday Lunch (four more to go!) focuses on Ohio: Can McCain slow Obama's momentum in the critical swing states? ALSO: What's worse, a Sixties radical or an Eighties fraud? Less

Today's Monday Lunch (four more to go!) focuses on Ohio: Can McCain slow Obama's momentum in the critical swing states? ALSO: What's worse, a Sixties radical or an Eighties fraud? Less

Tamara, a 5th-grade teacher from South Carolina, and Bert, a concerned parent from Maine, interview experts, highschool dropouts and stressed-out teachers in their search for answers to the problems of American public education. Less

Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says that he does not believe House Republicans voted against the bill due to Pelosi’s speech and jokes that if he can have the offended members names he will speak “uncharacteristically nice” with them (0:32). Share This Less

Today's Lunch takes a look at Friday's debate between Johnny M. and Barry O. The pundits say it was a snooze, but what did the voters think? Also, can Sarah P's prep fix her game in time to face Joey B? Less

Today's Lunch takes a look at Friday's debate between Johnny M. and Barry O. The pundits say it was a snooze, but what did the voters think? Also, can Sarah P's prep fix her game in time to face Joey B? Less

Citizen journalist Tamara Briggman was raised in the projects in South Carolina and made her way out on her own. Together with her co-citizen journalist Elizabeth Gotsdiner, a white college student, Tamara travels to Michigan to investigate the current state of affirmative action and race relations in America. Less

Our homeland insecurity is now of gargantuan proportions. Our economy is in ruins because of Reaganomics, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the enormous bailouts we are giving corporations and the gigantic Pentagon budget. What we spend on war in six months could eradicate poverty in this country and probably many others too, but [...] Less

Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) discusses how the $700 billion we paid for oil could have been invested domestically (0:23). Share This Less

This episode contains the 2nd part of the interview with Anne Kilkenny of Alaska on the subject of Governor Palin. The first part of this episode is a discussion of some news items, and more things about how John McCain and Sarah Palin equal a Bush-Cheney Term III. The first half of this interview [...] Less

On September 1st and 2nd I attended anti-war protests and rallies in St. Paul Minnesota, and this video contains some of the photos and videos I took while there. I’ve also included some video clips I found online of some of the violence I didn’t witness myself, and the protests on [...] Less

With guest host James Kotecki (Politico), Rob reviews ten lessons learned while covering the conventions. Special guests also include Sarah Scully and Will Rabbe (IFC), Cynthia Kopkowski (NEA) and Marta Costello (Gnooze.com). Less

With guest host James Kotecki (Politico), Rob reviews ten lessons learned while covering the conventions. Special guests also include Sarah Scully and Will Rabbe (IFC), Cynthia Kopkowski (NEA.org) and Marta Costello (Gnooze.com). Less

After two weeks of convention coverage, Rob serves up an abridged version of John McCain's speech in St. Paul. Less

After two weeks of convention coverage, Rob serves up an abridged version of John McCain's speech in St. Paul. Less

Hateration in the GOP dancerie. I'm soooo glad you all asked for commentary on Sarah Palin and made me sit through the convention last night. Thanks a LOT. Less

Protestors vandalize police cars in the streets outside the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center, Monday. Joe Johns CNN Correspondent | Bio At Fifth and Jackson streets in St. Paul, anarchists threw newspaper stands and bus benches into the streets, broke windows and otherwise created minor bedlam to accompany the abbreviated first day of the Republican Convention. As civil unrest goes–and I’ve witnessed my share–it was. . . well. . . uncivil, but hardly shocking. The police got worked up, especially when the protestors broke the windows of one of their cruisers. The officers, dressed in riot gear, and some on motorcycles, chased the troublemakers around blocks of downtown St. Paul, almost to the mild amusement of nonplussed Midwesterners. They’re not quite accustomed to this kind of thing but find it curious. “Lord no!” one man in a baseball cap answered when I asked if they’d ever had this type of excitement around these parts. When I looked up one of the anarchists was lobbing a bottle of Dasani water at a police car. Call it a Molotov Cocktail, minus the Molotov, and minus the Cocktail. A woman, who didn’t see the water bottle fly, but noticed me writing this, pointed out that “texting and walking is a danergous thing.” Some other random items: - Noticed I was walking in a small crowd of people following the anarchists. - Asked one couple: Are you just following them around to see what they do? The wife answered Yes; it was either that or go to the mall. Labor day I guess. Less

Author: AbigailsDiary Added: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:54:30 -0800Duration: 74 http://www.abigailsxratedteendiary.com John McCain's picked Sarah Palin a vice president and she's got boobs! yay for women!!!! Less