could you please clarify whats she has accomplished? It is on the record that she campaigned for the bridge to nowhere and then said no thank you after she took office because she would be expected to fund it. She allowed the excess drilling that she then said : oh we should give some back to the people which is how she achieved the rebate to her citizens. She promotes drilling of the natural habitat on lands set aside as preserves, has sued the government to remove polar bears from the endangered species list, took the artic wolf off the list and promotes killing them by air, oh and lets not forget wants evolution out of the schools and only creationism taught. She also states that all abortions should be disallowed even if the mother will die, believes that global warming is a hoax and has stated that no other faith other than christianity should be allowed. In her terms in the council and as mayor she had no power to create a budget, plan the town or wield any power greater than a librarian in that city. She has no experience, is unpopular in her own state (read the latest polls), is under investigation for missuse of power and has sued the federal govt becuase they disagree with her. This is the worst pick that John McCain could have made, unless he is trying to through the election like my daughter believes.

They don’t focus on this at the request of his former wife and his children. For once the media has been kind.

Kelly, Those of us who have a dedicated Navy background (5 generations in my family) have always known that while McCain certainly served his country well, he was never a leader or leader material. This is the reason he was passed over for promotion. I think that when you examine the personalities of the two canidates that you will find that there are significant differences between the two. One can only judge on the past experiences of them, however I could not bring myself to vote for someone who divorced they wife who stood by him for 5yrs while he was a POW and he asked for a divorce when she became disabled, told his current wife he was single when he was not and applied for a marriage license prior to his divorce being finale. It just doesnt speak well of his character.

I don’t know where you all get the idea that union organizer’s, business agents, etc get huge salaries! I came out on union leave from my company to work for the union and I make the same as I did while working for the company. Actually I make less as I pay for gas, wear and tear on my car, get no overtime and go out at all hours when called. My union president definitely makes less than any CEO or upper management person. This is not the only union I am associated with, there are 6 in my company and they all make the same.

Marjorie, Sorry to burst your bubble, but it is entirely possible. I’ve known many women who thought they could not get pregnant right away after birth who did so 10mos later. Trig is suppose to be about 5mos old (not 4) and she is about 5mos preg (no diffinent time given, that was stated by the McCain camp “about 5 mos”) than it is entirely possible for her to be Trig’s mother. I am not saying that she is, only that it is possible. Look at Brittney Spears, her son’s are not 10mos apart, they are 9 1/2 mos apart.

This is the gracious reply that I expect from any one running for office. It is sad that we have to comment on how appropriate it was, the opposite being the norm.

Mary, Not all of us democrats or independents are here to bash Palin’s daughter. I respect the fact that she made a youthful mistake and has decided that having the child and getting married is the best way to deal with it. That is quite a momentous decision for a 17 yr old. We have in this blog gotten away from the issues and what is important to us in who represents us. Here is why I do not support the McCain/Palin ticket: They believe that the Bush administration has done a good job. Never mind the fact that we have the largest national debt in the history of this country and that that debt is financed by China. They do not believe that we need to pull out of Iraq anytime soon and in fact would I believe start a war with Iran. They believe that the economy will turn itself around and that the housing crisis is solely the problem of people who purchased the homes they are losing (ignoring unscrupulous lending practices, a never ending investigation showing huge mortgage fraud, appraiser fraud and real-estate professionals that just out and out lied about refinancing). They want more treaties that allow for corporations to take jobs out of the country and to do away with pensions that employers have now. They want to take the right to unionize out of the peoples hands and put it solely in the hands of companies to choose. There are more issues that I don’t agree on, but that is probably because I am not a republican. This blog was started to discuss Palin as McCain’s choice, of course people are going to discuss what is wrong or right with her. They will discuss her personal choices because that is what we do with every one running for office; be they democrat or republican. As long as I have been studying history (and living it! LOL) this has been done in this country. It is most unfortunate for anyone running for office when they have personal or family issues because they will be brought out, examined and maybe found wanting. That in itself is why we protect our freedom of the press and free speech. We want to be able to speak as we feel, which may not always be correct, but how we react.

Star, I commend you and your daughter for your stance. However, it is your “choice”. My daughter and I have both had to make that choice. I had an abortion early in my youth (age 26) and I had a child that I placed up for adoption at 35. Both decisions were hard, the later the hardest as that child is now 17 and I think of them everyday without knowing how they are. My daughter had to choose also when she was young (17) but it was her choice knowing that the entire family would support whichever choice she made. At 26 she chose to have her child even though the father deserted her. She lives with me now and my 6yr old grandson is my delight. My problem with Palin is not that her daughter is pregnant and has chosen to have the child; my issue is that she wants to take that choice away from other women.

I agree that the story gets more and more ridiculous. Since Palin is anti-choice, but states she is pro contraception she should have made sure that her daughter had the info needed to prevent this pregnancy. CNN stated that McCain new about the pregnancy before his announcement and that Palin and her hubby are excited about becoming grandparents. Since I have never cared whether a child is born before or after marriage, I have no problem with the girl having a baby and keeping it if that is what she wants. I would think in this case she has little choice being a minor and from the family that she has of making an informed decision without coersion. What I do think is that if Palin is going to promote herself as the moral right she should have paid more attention to her daughters where abouts and activities.

Star, yes heard about it on CNN. The quote I heard though was that the Govenor was pleased that her daughter was choosing to continue the pregnancy and that she and her husband were excited about becoming grandparents. They also stated that McCain was told of the pregnancy prior to making his announcement for VP.

At first when I started reading these comments I was surprised to see that people thought that Union’s were responsible for the loss of jobs here in the USA. The loss of jobs is two fold-government treaties that allow manufacturing to move to countries that have cheap labor and profits that would not be possible here in the US. Those profits are able to reach record levels because Corporations do not have to worry about their employees. They don’t have to worry about whether they have healthcare, can buy food or have housing. They are not limited in who they hire and how much they pay them—in other words they do not have to deal with humanity. In the US even without a union in their work place they must pay at least minimum wage, they must offer enough hours to allow the worker some semblance of being able to support themselves and they must worry about what the community thinks of them and their appearance in corporate america. I have worked many jobs in the last 30 yrs, some union and some not. Hopefully I will never work a non union job again. I have worked for my current employer for the last 12yrs. I am in a right to work state, but have a union in my work place. I have watched the union grow from 30% membership to 60%, why because in order to protect themselves the workers finally realized that they are the union and it was only as strong as they make it. I am currently out on union leave from the company and working directly for the union as an organizer. What do I tell people when they ask why they should join? “What would you do without one?”

If you read previous posts you will find that her position as Mayor was more ornamental and that she did not actually run the town, the council did. Her only official function was to cast a vote on the council if there was a tie. She has been gov. for 20 mos, check with the local Alaskan newspapers and you will find that her popularity is dropping. She is currently under investigation for misuse of her power and has changed her story now twice. The person she fired has emails that she sent and turned those over to the investigative committee on the 29th. Barak Obama spent 8yrs in his state senate, and I believe he was elected in 2004 which would mean that he has been in office 4yrs. During that time he has been on several committee’s including those that deal with health and education; oh and he has also been on the foreign relations committee. As a person who comes from a proud Navy family (5 generations, including myself have served) I wouldn’t vote for John McCain just based on his moral perpitude. Most Navy families were disgusted with him when he divorced his first wife after she became disabled. Doesn’t say much for him when she stood by him and waited for his return for 5 long years. And even though I am a Democrat, my father and brother’s have all been Republican. They are appalled at McCains choice, so it’s not just me. No Way, No How, No McCain! Obama/Biden 08

Marjorie, I’ve seen several of your posts asking what is Obama’s experience. Here is the answer. In addition to several years as a constitutional law professor and lawyer; he spent 8yrs as a State Senator and the last 4yrs as US Senator (not a yr). He has remained active in social, political and economic rights and campaigns of workers around the country. Please try not to sound as if the man has no experience at all, it makes you sound uninformed and foolish.

I have never had such fun as today in listening to the political hooplah of McCain’s choice for a VP. If he chose her simply because she is a woman, shame of him, there were much better choices with more experience. If he chose her for her conservatism, he will push voter’s even further away. Pro-life, NRA lifetime member, 18mos as Gov., believes that global warming is a hoax, is suing to get polar bears off the endangered species list and thinks it is okay to shoot endangered wolves and bears from aircraft! This is not a person I want in office. As for Obama’s lack of experience: he was a state senator for 8yrs and has been a senator for 4yrs now. Although 12yrs experience in government isn’t as much as some, it certainly is way more than some republican’s have been giving him credit for. I keep reading that Obama is muslim, he has never been muslim. His father was muslim, but he has always been a christian and was raised a christian. Let’s face it folks, McCain would be more of the same. We as American’s cannot suffer another 4yrs of mismanagement and we will certainly end up in a depression if the economic’s of this country are not changed who ever ends up in office. When I told my daughter of McCain’s choice she asked me if he was deliberately trying to loose the election. I think that statement sum’s it all up.

I also read that there are new nuclear plants that consume most of their own waste; this is a definite that we need to look into and start building in no fault (and probably no hurricaine) zones. I have been interested in Picken’s plan since I first heard of it and have start my own discussions on this in my area. In order for America to succeed we simply must start thinking outside the box.