McCain on Face the Nation

You can watch it here,

Transcript is also available at that link (look on the right hand side of the screen).

Is his 65th appearance (McCain).

Complimented McCain on his statement on change, and that McCain admitted his party is part of the problem. Here we go again with the Maverick image. Argh. Talks about him fighting special interests, how he differed from Bush on Iraq (???) etc. Odd. Has to make a strong case about change, etc.

Has the right kind of running mate to do this also.

Are you going to try to form some kind of unity government? (this is important!). He is playing his bi-partisan hand. If GOP favors this, I will give everyone on the planet $100 bucks! What a joke! Will have dems in cabinet, but doesn't know how many. Says he will have the smartest people in America (Wow... then explain Palin!). Will ask some to work for $1 / year.

On Palin: Comments on how he may have turned the evangelical community around. Also acknowledges that many republicans don't like Palin and think she is not qualified. ... Went on to do the lies thing about Palin. Gave money back to taxpayers. Who better in the political landscape than Palin to do this... and winning! I've taken them on... she's done more than I have.

Takes on the Palin/Obama experience issue. She's excited the base and Americans all over the country. Gads... talks about the personality effect etc. She is kind of what Americans have been looking for. I think being Mayor is a very important job these days... LOL. Sure thing, bud.

Her experience and background not only qualifies her...

Going to put her on Face the Nation soon... ha!

Talks about Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae. Thinks it has to be done. Example of lobbyists etc. Gads, talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Talks about cronyism. He was not taken to task about HIS lobbyists.

He talks about taxpayers being covered first. More regulation, more oversight, more transparency... mmmm. Didn't Palin say we don't need more regulations?

Congress passed laws that allowed these massive loopholes to exist. "Weare so close to the special interests that somehow Americans are completely disregarded." Wow. You mean those whining Americans????? according to you staffer?

Use of the term community organizer. Denigrating use of language. Palin talked about it too. Why was that term used in that way? In response to her being the mayor of a small town... also knows more than anyone in America about energy "at that level"...

So, you do not think it was a negative that Barak Obama was a community organizer? No I do not. Barack never took on his own party on a single issue. Which is a lie. Doesn't have the experience. Lists Georgia, Iran, I just don't think he has the judgement. I think I can make a stron case that he does not have the judgment necessary, I think Sarah Palin does.

36 black delegates out of 2300 there. How can you be a party made up of white people? We can't. We have to reach out, we have to have the Hispanic and African American voters. I'll be the president of everybody... LOL. Like he isn't GOP. We're you surprised at that? No, but I was disappointed. What are you going to do about that? education, create jobs... gads names Lincoln (the war was not started over slavery, it was an economic issue...). Sheesh.

Talks about voucher system. Education. We have to provide the kinds of opportunities. Let's get the economy back on track again... In 65 appearances, we have probably never had an economy in worse shape. BUT YOU SAID THE ECONOMY IS FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND? Because I have faith in America. Gads.

Volunteer army came up. Shouldn't there be some way in a democracy that we share this burden? That's why i fought for a national service .... give people a chance to serve their country. Like that isn't available now???? (Makes me wonder what he thinks community organizing is... he doesn't get it.)

You and Barack Obama will appear together on 911. "It's a time of solidarity for Americans." As I said in my convention speech, I admire Obama... but we're going to win this election.

Watch it and watch for his flip-flops. They are there.

Biden on Meet the Press: You should watch this!

If you missed it, watch it here. Worth watching, Biden was great. I have no idea how Palin can debate this man on real issues... he has 35 years in Congress, and as head of the Foreign Relations committe, his knowledge extends far beyond even her knowledge of geography!

I think watching this will cheer you up!

Highlights:

Biden: What does she know, what does she think, what's her record, what's she going to do?

Family is off limits and we mean it. Her silence on the issues is deafening.

Oprah refused to have her on her show.

Polls: Gallop: Obama 47%, McCain 45%, both got a bounce, going to be a tough, close race.

Obama 38 million watching convention, McCain 39 million watching.

Will they send Hillary Clinton into working class states she won in? Yes... Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana? Yep, she is a big player, and Biden hopes to be there also. Bill Clinton, likewise.

She and he (Clintons) will go side by side with both Biden/Obama variously.

Country is really tuned in like they have never seen before.

Biden: Debates will be the most watched in the history of debates. Biden thinks they can win Montana. Biden thinks they can compete and win. Town halls restrain candidates from campaigning in states they think they can win.

Talked about the surge in Iraq. Important: This will come up. An important section. Biden is talking about a time line, something McCain opposes. Biden sums it up well. If you watch this, you have to wonder how Palin would EVER keep up with Biden's knowledge. Talks about the bottom-up approach working. Policies are localizing in Iraq. Question is, how do you get Iran and Syria to stop supporting the Shia? Administration has signed on to Obama's plan in Iraq. His plan is working. Points out that John doesn't address the REGION where competing interests exist. Let's see how the regional elections go, let's hope they go well.

Talked about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and feds taking over. Very important on this issue. Joe talks about the three principles behind it. ... interesting. I believe that McCain has said they should not be bailed out... that all this should be privatized. Not sure about that, though.

Regarding agent of change. Obama on washington lobbyists... Really nailed them! Addressed McCain and his lobby staff. They take Biden to task over legislation over Delaware legislation... then go after his son. (remember the family off limits stuff?????) Talked about a MBNA bankruptcy bill that Biden supported (I am not in agreement with some Biden did on this). Biden defends himself well. Biden the first two bankruptcy bills that came up. This will come up. Is Biden in the pocket of industry? Ask them how happy they are with me! On individual wealth, he is 99 of 100 in the Senate in terms of wealth. Meaning, the second poorest.

Biden DID protect people making under $49K in the bankruptcy bill.

If lobbyists want to see Biden, the CEO has to see him.

Talked about his faith he is a RCatholic. Went over the Obama and the "pay grade" remark at Warren's. Talks about Archbishops across the country going after Pelosi. So... into the abortion issue. This section, and Biden's reply, is FABULOUS.

Biden: says he knows when it begins for him, but defends others views that do not coincide with his. He accepts the view of his faith. "For me to impost that judgement on everyone else who are equally and maybe even more devout than I am seems to be as inappropriate in a pluralistic society." He does not accept the feds paying for it. AND he says they are going to spend considerable time supporting mothers who have their children to reduce abortion. FINALLY!

They talked about Lieberman. They are good friends, Biden and Lieberman.

Biden takes it back to the issues! Yeah! Goes over taxes, foreign policy, health care, etc.

Same deal no change in reference to McCain and Bush.

Decoding This Election: It's All About God, Stupid!

__________________________________________________

When Palin pledged to govern with a “servant’s heart,” Christians, especially those with an Evangelical background, had no trouble recognizing one of their own, even without the convenience of a denominational label on Palin’s résumé. (It’s akin to a public figure making reference to a “near occasion of sin” or a “state of grace”; even without an official bio, Catholics would recognize a fellow member of the tribe.)
--John Allen Jr., National Catholic Reporter, 8/302008
_______________________________________________________

Code in the religious world comes in many forms. When I see the words plain reading, I expect an anti-evolution, plain reading, Bible thumping Christian that likely knows their Bible better than I do, but has difficulty in resolving its contradictions. Non-Christians wouldn't understand that word or its context. But it's not code.

When the word fundamentalist is used, I wonder just "which" kind? Would that be Islamic or Christian, and if Christian are we talking the likes of the Bakers, the Ahmansons, Pat Robertson, Falwell or Rick Warren? As if these are the only two religions that have fundamentalists. When I see the printed word screed, I auto-see creed, and my mind has to back up and start again. They are very different things. But still, this is not code.

When a GOP speaker from Texas ended with the words, "Peace of the Lord be with you," I automatically added, "And with you." He is, advertently or not, signaling I am likely either an Episcopalian or Roman Catholic. That is code.

There was so much God Bless America-ing during both conventions, God's ears must be afire. That's no accident. Everyone is signaling their belief in God, as if we observers then just check off that box on some mental form and think, 'Okay, believes in God. Next.'

That religion is an issue in American Politics is unquestionable. Early propaganda e-mails (I received many) painted Obama as a Muslim when, in fact, a little due diligence on the receiver end could have settled that question quickly. Right wing radio still stupidly bounces that idea around on a daily basis. Obama is a Christian. But in an effort to separate Obama from Christianity, the inane e-mail.

But the basis of the Obama propaganda was political code: It addressed the wounds of 911 branding all Muslims as bad, evil, plane-crashing killers. Nevermind that all Muslims didn't do that. There were 19 on the planes a far cry from the "all" that makes up the world's second-most predominant religion in all of its forms.

Timothy McVeigh was a Roman Catholic. Not all Roman Catholics bombed the Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995 killing 168 people.

Obama was sliced and diced over words from his preacher, eventually having to disaffiliate. McCain, likewise, ran into serious problems for proudly accepting the endorsement of a preacher later having to almost literally run away from that endorsement. The fiery preacher from ATLAH church in Harlem trashed Obama in the most bizarre of ways. Palin's church is now on the verge of holding the uber-whacky "Pray the gay away" program designed to "rehabilitate" gays into straight people. Don't fit in God's mold as we understand it? No problem. Change.

Now we find that Sara Palin is a member of a church that prays for the will of God as expressed through the Iraq conflict (importantly, remember that President Bush said God told him to invade Iraq) and in an oil pipeline. There is a strong difference here: These are not the words of her preacher, these are her words spoken at the Wasilla Assemblies of God Church where she was re-baptized when 12 years of age and which, in their Statement of Faith, acknowledges being a "plain reading" inerrant (read literalistic), dispensational church.

Perhaps both Obama and McCain deserved what they got. Maybe not. Surely the McCain case suggests that one should never be too desperate for religious entities to sign on just because you need the support of the evangelical community. And most certainly, never do that without proper vetting.

But Palin is different. These are her words spoken from her tongue in a language and tradition which is as much a part of her as her eye color. One really must watch the central portion of this video several times to get the real compliment. It flows as natural as a river. Remember, she is "making a deal": You go out and spread the word of God because I can't get things done unless the state of Alaska is right with God (and apparently of one religious mind). The press washed over this, but personally, I think it is the most disturbing part. It aligns God with political cause and result, the very reason our President says we are at war with Iraq. In a nutshell, Palin is saying that nothing gets done if it is not God's will. This is the same language and thinking that attributes blame to God when children are killed, hurricanes destroy, fires rage or hillsides fall onto homes. We are slicing and dicing God to serve our political purpose in the world and in all cases, exporting the blame to another. Palin is exporting the responsibility to another.

I can tell you this: If the CA governor dared insist that we cannot get a state budget done unless everyone in California was right with God, I don't know if the media would die laughing or typing.

The sculpting of God to fit political purpose has risen to a fever pitch. Evangelical blogs are ablaze, high on the new candidate that doesn't know one nation from another but can sure deliver lines well and comes off as the evangelical equivalent of an anti-abortion pro-rapture Rambo.

Liberal and progressive blogs, many of which began as religious blogs, are astounded that someone so obviously intellectually unfit was chosen and many of we women are embarassed that someone of such low caliber was chosen against some very fine intellectual and experienced GOP women who are, indeed, reformers and mavericks in the true sense--not the commercial "Coke" sense.

As well, many of we women on both sides of "the isle" are concerned about Palin being a breath away from the presidency. We don't ask each other what religion we are, nor do we care. This isn't about God, it is about the highest office in our nation; an office which can kill us, save us, bankrupt us, or help us. An office which chooses to spy on us, or respect our rights.

What began as a campaign of issues has become a farsical campaign of religious personality and has clearly reignited the culture wars. The outside world must be astounded. Would America really do somthing this stupid after eight years of lapsed judgement dragging our international reputation down a perverbial rat hole and plundering our economy?

The saddest part of all, really, is that the typically beaten will be beaten again unless we get this campaign out of the gutter of personality and back onto the issues. They cannot afford more abuse, and neither can we.

Here's my code: SOS.

AfternoonUp: McCain's bad choice, Hijacking Christianity

Andrew Sullivan, Atlantic.com, today quotes Frum in a head's up piece concluding, "Whatever few doubts I may once have still had about this election, they are resolved now. ... Obama has to win. The alternative is unthinkable." Um, yeah! The conclusion is made by McCain's pick of Palin.

This video is pretty enlightening is some ways... worth the 6min listen.



Hijacking Christianity, a topic near and dear to this heart and I know a number of yours, is addressed in this fine piece. It underlines what I have said all along--this wasn't about women, it was about solidifying the evangelical base, and if the person to do that was a woman, all the better. So, what we NOW have is an issueless campaign, divided by religion, spinning on a clueless woman that cannot even talk on issues but has one helluva gun-toting, abrasive personality. Swell.

Biden Gives Em Hell! WATCH!

You go, Joe!

MorningUp:

Good Morning:)

Weekend News Shows:

Barack Obama on ABC's "This Week," his running mate, Joe Biden, on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Republican John McCain on CBS' "Face the Nation." And, of course, you won't find Palin anywhere because she is clueless and is being kept away from all press. What a sad statement that the first woman vice presidential candidate is so poorly informed she can't go on news shows or talk to reporters.

Palin is taking serious hits for her speech comments dissing community organizers, yes the very community organizers that, um, organize for the GOP in some cases. Articles have popped up just about everywhere. My comment is here. I guess I was not the only one that was pissed off.

Palin makes a big boo boo costing her wee city $1.4million, needlessly. The New York Times writes about the indoor sports center and what went' wrong under Palin's leadership. "What was to be Ms. Palin's legacy has turned into a financial mess that continues to plague Wasilla." Oops, guess mayors do make mistakes, Sarah. Should have had some community organizers that knew what they were doing help out. Turns out the pitbull might be more like a poodle in business. Wonder how that $1.4 million loss looks in lipstick.

The Chicago Tribune addresses Palin's religious beliefs,
"The churches she has attended also embrace dispensation, a theological system that emphasizes man's dominion over the earth and the end times—theology that could potentially shape a believer's environmental and foreign policies." Gee, I feel so much better about her, and the fact that she's a woman, don't you?

EveningUp: Palin files complaint against self, FOF to visit Palin's Church to "cure gays", Partisanship underlines Palin

Beautiful music, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah

In an extraordinary move, Sarah Palin has filed an ethics inquiry into herself. Yes, you read that right. The L.A. Times reports today, September 6, 2008, "Ms. Palin took the extraordinary step Tuesday of filing an ethics complaint against herself, making the matter fall within the bailiwick of the personnel board. Mr. Van Flein then asked the Legislature to drop its inquiry." Palin appointed the members of the three-person board. Rather than discussed openly in the legislature, the Board does all their hearing in secret. All I can say is those GOP folks sure know how to cover up the truth, don't they? Wow.

Palin's church, Wasilla Bible Church will be holding a "curing of homosexuality" course, Love Wins Out, in mid-September promoted by the hard right religious group Focus on the Family as reported by the New York Times September 6, 2008. Wasilla Bible Church is a fundamentalist, plain reading church. Gads, what nonsense.

Partisanship is playing an important role in Palin's acceptance reports The Washington Post today, September 6, 2008. It's a good article to read to see what is going on, statistically.

Cartoon of the Day!

From: Seattle Post Intelligencer, 9/7/2008

If you read nothing else....

Read this!

This explains, from a Pew Forum Study, some of what we are seeing in the election and outside of politics. Very interesting!

Thoughts?

Afternoon NewsUP: Jobless Rate, Obama, Clinton Palin,

Jobless Rate Surges to 6.1 in August--Tell me! Read it here.

Polling on the Palin Effect:
This is actually pretty darned interesting. Look where we were before her speech:

CBS News Poll. Sept. 1-2, 2008. N=540 registered voters nationwide. MoE � 4.
					.
"Does John McCain naming Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate make a difference in whether or not you will vote for John McCain in November?" If yes: "Does having Sarah Palin on the ticket make you more likely or less likely to vote for John McCain in November?"
		More Likely	Less Likely	No Difference	Unsure
	9/1-2/08	14	13	68	5
	8/29-31/08	13	11	72	4

The next polls will probably tell a different tale.

AP Discussing Clinton Supporters and Palin
Read it here.

Palin's Speech didn't change independent voters (focus groups) (US News and World Report) or weak McCain/Obama supporters
This is an interesting piece and underlines exactly what I predicted--those that were GOP committed, got more committed, and those that were committed to Obama remain committed. Palin would drive a few one way or another, but not many and probably in equal number. But this is just during her speech time. Read it here.

Obama on Science: Answers 14 Questions

McCain has not answered yet, and God help Palin if she does, but Obama is pointed in the right direction!

As many of you know, especially those of you actively working in scientific fields or teaching science, the last eight years have been grim.

Please get this out to your science friends, colleagues, and anyone that believes that real science needs to return to the US.

The project, Science Debate 2008, has attracted every major US science association, 100 presidents of major American universities and tens of thousands of individual scientists alarmed at the current state of science within the administration, and the overall decline of real science for the last two decades, and especially the last eight years.

Read here.

Morning News Roundup: Obama, Palin, Biden

ETHICS, errr Or Lack of Same

While Palin remains involved in "Troopergate", it would appear that subpoenas may be issued for the now seven people refusing to testify. Interestingly, they will not subpoena Palin. Sound familiar?

Additionally, another complaint has been filed by the trooper's union. It would appear Palin or someone in her office illegally captured private employee files of the trooper involed Troopergate.

On the Post GOP Convention Election "Bounce"

Nothing really startling has happened YET (the bounce should show most on Monday or so, if there is a real bounce), but some preliminary information is very interesting. Read it here. Commentary and link to data. Note the positive data for Biden being added to Obama's ticket! Look at what people polled thought about the choices of Biden and Palin and cheer up!

Wilson Sisters tell McCain "Back off on using Barracuda"! File an cease and desist notice.

Gotta love it. Read here. Makes me like them (which I always have) all the more.

Alaska and Gay Rights: Let's Clear It Up Now!

There has been the most convoluted discussion on many boards about whether Alaska is pro or anti gay marriage. I want to clear this up, and I hope you will help to do likewise. First, let's go to the experts: the lgbt community IN Alaska that knows this stuff first hand:

The Log Cabin Club (gay republicans, not Alaskan homesteaders) believes that Palin's anonymous gay friend makes her an "inclusive" Republican despite her record of strong opposition to LGBT rights.

It's pre-emptive doublespeak. They label Sarah an "inclusive" Republican to hide the real problem - that her religious and political views are openly homophobic and the ticket is hostile to LGBT equality.

Alaskans know Sarah Palin's record against same-sex partner benefits, against same-sex marriage, and against LGBT civil rights. We're not fooled by the new spin. Don't you be fooled either.
--From Bent Alaska, 9/3/08

The site has information up, including a copy of yesterday's (09/03/08) Blade article, "Inclusive or Devisive?"

For an easy to understand history (with links to documents) go here, fifth red-lined issue down.

I have to tell you, some sloppy-reading evangelicals have gone nuts over this, which is really funny. But for lgbt people, they need to understand the correct history.

Now, what is the difference between Obama/Biden and McCain/Palin? Simple.

Obama/Biden don't support lgbt marriage (we have to change that!) but do support equal rights in all other ways. Neither has the horrid history on this that Palin does.

McCain/Palin both oppose lgbt marriage. Palin clearly opposes equal rights in all other ways and has a traceable history.

PLEASE get this information out, would you? There's an awful lot of misinformation out there I am reading at both straight and lgbt sites. It's time to get working for Obama!

If you know me (and you know who you are!) you are welcome to fully copy and use that point in my stuff (second link in this post), without attribution... just copy and use it as you own, or steal the links and use it that way. Please, though, if using mine, use the entire leg history on the issue (the other stuff can remain out).

25 Years of My Life--Dissed by Palin

If there is one thing I have learned in my life it is that words matter. Words particularly matter when thousands--or millions--read them or hear them.

With that thought in mind, I realized this morning what touched me more than anything about the convention speech of Sarah Palin last night. It was this short sentence:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities"
--Sarah Palin, VP acceptance speech September 3, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First of all, for those of you that have yet to figure this out, I am a woman, now 55, who has spent most of my adult life as a community organizer both as a volunteer and for an international environmental group. I am considered a lay expert in land use among other things.

For those of you not experienced in this world, you may not realize that most of the social work on the ground done in communities by that community's members in the U.S. is done by women. I note this not to demean men in any way (we need more of you!) but just to set the stage for what follows and to have you keep that in mind along with Palin's quote as you read this.

For 25 years, I have worked on environmental and community issues in the little town where I live. There are perhaps 650 homes here, about 1800 people. We do not have a local government, thus rely on county government. The closest thing we do have to local governance is a recreation and parks board. There are three men on that board, and two women. In previous decades, it was almost always the reverse.

During these years, I have fought, and won, major community land use development battles. I have lost many, too. Monied interests seem to be attracted to our area believing we have little money and fewer smarts. But once they approach the county for advice on how to proceed with their project, many never come back. We have a reputation and we built that reputation with blood, sweat, tears and pro se litigation. If not for the source of the joke, I could have appreciated the "pit bull with lipstick" remark. Being a dog and cat rescuer, though, I would take a pit bull any day over "hockey mom" Palin.

When I was a little less than thirty years old, I was approached by a professional land use planner on a problem no one knew existed: A proposed 350-unit trailer park on a property here that remains (to this day) 320 acres of mostly wild land. 68 acres of that was set aside in 1971 for development of some kind through a "specific plan". With the exception of the 68 acres, the property is rugged as hell and incredibly gorgeous and untouched. Fossils from this property are found in paleontology displays in museums across the country.

The plan had received a "negative declaration" meaning, in short, that the county declared that there would be few if any impacts under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and any impacts that were found, were "mitigated". Well that's that's what they wrote, anyway, but that was not the case.

I had zero experience in land use at this point not really even understanding basic terms like "zone change", and I had never read CEQA law and had absolutely no interest in land use. None. After an hour-long explanation from my friend on the situation, it was clear to me this was serious. I didn't have a single clue how or what to do. He handed me a stack of papers and said, "Read this." I did.

By 6pm that night, I had devoured the paperwork and was mad as hell. I called and said, okay what do I do? Well, he explained, you have to file an appeal to the negative declaration and pay the county $150.00. An appeal? Oy.

By the time I got off the phone, the clock was ticking. I had exactly 68 hours to do something I had never done before, learn both law and planning on the fly, and get my appeal in by 5pm. That night I never went to bed. I stayed up all night reading the negative declaration against the law which controlled it, scratching notes and questions as fast as they appeared to me. At 7am the next day, I headed for the county.

There, department by department, I asked to see every document they had on file for the project. I was literally running down the hallways requesting the information, running out the door to go to another department, then returning to read the documentation. As the day went by, and the county closed, I had about half my case.

That night, again not sleeping, I sat at an old clunker IBM typewriter that was missing the "a" key (I type 80wpm, so it was a task to type removing this vowel every time). My then-partner got up and said, "Are you still typing?" Ha! I knew I would be done soon, and this whole things would be out of my hair.

The next morning, about half done, I got on the phone to my friend and asked a lot of questions. Then back to the typewriter. Much of what I had written had to be edited, so I used a razor blade on my kitchen breadboard to cut the text out that needed revision, and I would tape it back together intending to copy my finished masterpiece before submitting it. I typed, and made phone calls to various people seeking information up until it was too late to call. Now I was truly on my own and I was tired and wondering why the hell I ever agreed to do this.

I stayed awake again all night. By morning, absolutely exhausted, I had a couple sections to amplify and more questions. It had to be done with my appeal to the negative declaration by 2:00pm so I could hand write in every single "a" throughout it, make the number of copies required, pay the fee from my own pocket, then submit everything by 5pm.

When I finally walked away from the county that day, a few minutes after five, exhausted to the point it was unsafe for me to drive, it dawned on me that my life had suddenly taken a completely different course. I actually felt good about this.

When my partner returned from work that day, he found me asleep in the car, my head resting on the driver's side window.

The next several steps of my appeal involved a lot of speaking, first in community meetings and later before this huge county's Planning Commission. I had to organize the community into a force to be reckoned with which required educating them on everything. I am great at thinking on my feet and having worked as a musician for many years, public speaking was no problem for me. I made flyers of all kinds and types (each on a different color of paper), reproduced them by the hundreds and hundreds, and hired kids to take them to every door in the community. But the county process and personalities were grueling to learn, and given this was my first serious foray into the world of the whacky, I was constantly shocked at how I was treated, and how the truth was twisted.

In order to attend all the hearings (and believe me, there were many) I quit my day job and got a graveyard shift job taking a huge cut in pay that was risky for me. We won our appeal at the Planning Commission!

I was walking on a cloud largely because I was completely uninformed about what lay further ahead. Instead of the project being "over", the county required the developer to do an environmental impact report (EIR) on the project. A what? Read more law.

Months later at the completion of the EIR, it was distributed for public comment and I had thirty days to tear it apart. My comments were so massive, I alphabetized them into sections with footnotes, maps, data, photos--you name it, it was all in there. I hired a few experts. More hearings. More organizing. More education. More meetings. Gads, what had I done!

We won at the planning commission, and they denied the project. Again, walking on air ever so temporarily, I was shocked to find that the developer appealed the decision to the Board of Supervisors. Attorneys and experts were all over the place now patting me on the head saying what a nice little girl I was, but I was a wrong little girl nonetheless. Grr. I hate being patronized.

Now, I had to quit my graveyard shift job and find a swing shift job so I could attend the Board hearings. Sigh. More meetings. More hearings. More organizing. Argh! Would this never end? Plus, now I had the EIR, proponent materials and county staff reports to near memorize and comment on. My 3" of paper to understand had grown into 15" of paper to understand. I got a crate. The wonderful painting on the wall above my makeshift desk had been replaced with huge US Geological Survey maps, the coffee table books replaced with stacks of reference documents, the Highway Capacity Manual, documentation on endangered plant and animal species, copies of various state and federal laws, a dictionary and books on planning and CEQA law. Life was definitely changing.

I got a new used typewriter. Thankfully, it had an "a". My partner was supportive about it all, moving the stacks to find a place to perch feet or dinner plate. I talked to myself a lot and had strange dreams. I felt we needed to hire an attorney, so we planned and held a very successful fund raiser. We produced a fabulous 5 minute video (in the days of VHS) that brought people to tears--a photographer friend traded a photo shoot with a "Disney" voice to do the narration. It was stunning.

Then the hardest part: sitting in my County Supervisor's office (and eventually the four others) to lobby our side of the issue. Me? Lobby? Oh well, one more thing to do.

By the time of the final Board hearing, we got word (ahead of time) that our Supervisor was taking the project down to 30 units from the 350. I was excited beyond control. The proponents (in a packed house--community folks taking off work to come, and each wearing buttons we had made and distributed) got up at the first opportunity to say they were walking away from the project. It was over!

We all went out and had a huge party, then I went home and slept, packed the materials in storage boxes and thought my life would return to normal.

It never did.

25 years later, the property (after three projects we have subsequently killed, and a fourth currently in litigation after successful preliminary litigation) is still vacant. Deer still come, moutain lions and bobcats still roam, hawks still perch and fly seeking lunch in a snake or mouse. In the spring, it is a glory of yellow mustard in the disturbed (disked) 68 acre area. Non-native, but gorgeous. It is now being considered, finally, for permanent acquisition as untouchable open space. We will probably not know for a year whether that will happen, and it may depend on the outcome of the court case and whether or not the economy turns around and how soon. It ain't over 'til it's over, and things could go sideways. I remain vigilant.

In the meantime, I have worked on perhaps another 80 projects, given lectures on organizing, worked for and with other groups fighting land use projects, and been in the newspaper more times than I care to count. The photos trace my years at this.

A new generation is almost ready, now, to hand the baton over to--they have worked hard, but I am always here to help and guide. In the intervening years, I took a job with an international environmental group and worked in many US states and lectured in other countries on nuclear power and radioactive waste. I have organized many other kinds of projects in the community as well, including fighting against bad bills at the state level that would have seriously effected us, and clearing non-native vegetation in miles of creekbeds to lower flood risks and enhance native wildlife.

My life did change radically. Politicians fear me, some people like me, some people hate me. That's just the way it is.

Last night when Sarah Palin dissed Obama's community organizing work, she also dissed tens and tens of thousands of others just like me. People who gave years of their lives, and often lots of their own money, to do community work on projects from feeding the homeless, educating on HIV and working in clinics and needle exchanges, taking meals to elderly folks, cleaning up rivers and streams, working to stop hate, helping with homeless children homeless animals and anything else homeless. There are literally limitless numbers of people in limitless categories doing amazing work. Without them, the system would grind to a halt.

What a stab through the heart for those of us George Bush Sr. called the "Thousand Points of Light" working on streets, in schools, hospitals, clinics, churches and anywhere else two feet will fit.

Palin made us into 1000 points of absolute unimportance. What a shame.

But the real message she sent was that she doesn't understand who it is that does this work or what it takes.

Perhaps she'll understand how we vote.

This Will Give You a Chuckle--No Liquids Nearby Please

Palin GOP's Attack Dog: All Snark, No Substance

I am relieved the conventions are over. Gonna go have a stiff drink which, believe me, I deserve having watched the convention on C-Span for the last two days.

So, the question is, how did Palin do?

First of all, I have to tell you I wanted to like her when she was announced. I finally got to the point that I wanted to find one thing--just one wee thing--about her I liked. I was a dismal failure. I couldn't find a thing. In fact, the more I read about her (I have scoured the archives), the more alarmed I became.

I listened intently tonight. Her speech cadence was very strange (I find Obama's cadence odd, too), and I personally find her voice grating. Her cadence tonight comes, no doubt, from having to so carefully focus on a speech she didn't write (it was written by a Bush speechwriter). Remember, she has NO history on any of the issues, came into this not knowing what the vice president does, and really hasn't paid much attention to Iraq by her own admissions. Sigh.

I found her, personally, snarky and focused on criticism. She didn't cover issues, she didn't compare data. If you were looking for information on what she believes, you learned nothing.

Her gnashing at the press was pretty ugly, really. Was the American public and press supposed to just ignore her past and present?

Above all, I remain extremely concerned about her religious views and how they inform her policies. This entire election cycle has turned into a battle for God and in Sarah's case, a battle for largely unrecognized dominionism. It is very troubling.

How do I see it? McCain will probably get a bounce from this from independents that like snark. For more selective independents who care about issues, they will likely move away from Palin. Women? If choice is their major issue, they have already made that decision one way or another. Once they learn more about her views on birth control, many women will move left. For independents with concerns on energy, her "drill, drill, drill" mantra won't fly. For environmentally inclined folks and animal lovers, her dreadful stance on wolves and bear will make them flee to the left. For those seriously concerned about global warming, they could not possibly support the GOP we saw tonight. As a near-coastal dweller who spent most of my early life in the ocean, like many here, her position on off-shore drilling will never fly. I have seen the results of oil spills. I don't want more.

Because of her snark, I have to wonder how she will play with men especially undecided men older than she. If it made me uncomfortable, I have to believe it must have made many of them uncomfortable, too. She appeared nasty, attacking and hard. It is one thing to debate an issue, it is a whole 'nother to make personal attacks especially since she appears not to appreciate them much herself. When one is in the house or senate (experience lost to her), decorum is important. You won't find Olympia Snow, for instance, acting like Palin. Or Kay Baily Hutchinson, Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, etc. It just isn't done.

It seems like the GOP has culled her as their attack dog--not a pretty picture.

Her party-line mantra for more nuclear plants (especially since she doesn't live near one and knows zero about nuclear power and radioactive waste) is very troubling. That she repeated her lie about the "bridge to nowhere" makes it appear that she doesn't care, and that the public is somehow unaware (they are not) or that the real information on this is invisible. Obviously, she doesn't spend much time on the net.

Now we get to work for Obama. We have sixty days. We need to get down to it.
I will continue to update my post on her stand on issues, so keep an eye on it. It's important to know what this unknown believes.

So, now, off for that drink. We will see what the polls show soon.

Turn the lights off when you leave, please.

OMG! This is What An Open Mic Can Do!

We're not the only ones that don't like Palin! Read what two very powerful republicans said about here on a mistakenly left open microphone!

This is clean from about 4:00 today. Lordy!

Voices are Peggy Noonan (writer and former primary speech writer to Ronald Reagan), and Mike Murphy, GOP political strategist who recently worked for McCain.

Listen (and read the transcript) here.

The GOP Strategy on Palin: The "Alaska Maverick"

The "Alaska Maverick", Palin's new nik. This is exactly what to expect when the GOP talks about Palin; something tying to McCain's former image as a "reformer" to Palin.

For more information on Palin lies about Obama, go here. This piece, Palin v. reality is stellar and takes lines from her convention speech targeted at Obama. You can use this in your support for Obama... lots of good stuff there and these issues will come up given Palin's convention lies.

On ethics investigations regarding Palin (a new complaint was just filed), go here for "troopergate". I am looking now for a good piece on the new complaint.

(UPDATE: BTW, read a GREAT piece on the GOP's whining about sexism/Palin here. Just another GOP strategy!)

Maverick on Pork? No.
So say it to yourself ten times. Then read her flip-flop on the "Bridge to Nowhere" which involved "pork" for the project. That pork money was never returned to the federal govenment. Read this on the ridiculous "bridge to nowhere" and her flip-flopping on the matter. It is footnoted. There is another piece here.

Maverick on Science? No.
I think we covered Palin's "Maverick" views on creationism and "Intelligent Design" (ID) here. They are hardly Maverick. She is a Biblical literalist, a creationist, and supports both creationism and ID being taught in science classes.

Maverick on global warming? No.
Palin does not believe it is caused by humans. Read about it here.

Maverick on listing of the polar bear under the ESA? No.
She obficasted scientific opinion, and lied about it, then sued to de-list them from the endangered species act. Read here. Read my thoughts here.

Maverick on civil rights for lgbt folks? No.
Palin supported (right up to 2007) marriage as defined by one man/one woman.
Here is a history, with links because this subject is a bit convoluted and tricky.

_______________Cut and USE_______________

1. "Palin said she's not out to judge anyone and has good friends who are gay, but that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment." [this bill defined marriage as man/woman] From this.

2. The language of Ballot Measure 2 (1998) can be read here.

So, Palin SAID in the article that she voted for one man/one woman definition of marriage. THERE it is.

3. 9 lgbt couples sued over Measure 2 in 1999. In 2005, the court returned an "unconstitutional" decision on the 1998 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage (actually, it affirms opposite sex marriage, but same result).

4. Then the issue got even more openly sticky and hostile.

In response to the 2005 court decision to the 1998 amendment (Measure 2), the Alaska legislature passed HB4001 and HB4002. Text of HB 4001 is here.

5. This is the Governor's press release on her veto of HB 4001 from 2006.

6. Now, as for HB 4002, Palin signed this on Dec. 20, 2006. The bill put before the voters an ADVISORY vote on benefits for same sex partners of employees and retirees. The point of HB 4002, in Palin's own words: "Palin has said that when voters approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman eight years ago, many believed they were also implying that a gay partner shouldn't get state benefits." This comment is located about half way through this article.

7. Here is the language of HB 4002 as sent to the governor.

8. Here is the governor's office release on HR 4002, and NOTE the language in it about the 1998 amendment. [interestingly, look at the DATE on this--8/29/08. This must have been put up in response to press questions? Odd. I almost have to wonder if it is original, but it does come from her office.]

9. HR 4002 mandated a vote to capture opinion on the benefits issue on April 3, 2007. The results of the Advisory referendum, held as a special election on April 3, 2007 , costing $1.2million, are here. The referendum passed (meaning, a yes vote was to limit benefits, a no vote would extend benefits to partners of same gender employees and retirees).

<______________________________>

I am still looking for the actual ballot language for Measure 2. Will post when located.

This is a story behind Measure 2 litigation and the people.

Here you can read the Alaska Law Review on the subject, including the origins of the marriage amendment, important to read. Here, is one paragraph from this work which, BTW, writers admit to supporting the man/woman marriage act (the '98 act), so brace yourself, but the history is absolutely fascinating):

"On February 27, 1998, Anchorage Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski held in Brause v. Bureau of Vital Statistics7 that under the Alaska Constitution, each person has a "fundamental right" to choose his or her "life partner," whether that partner is of the same or opposite sex.8 His unprecedented decision provoked an extraordinary reaction: the introduction and passage of a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman.9 The Marriage Amendment was challenged between its passage and the November general election, and the Alaska Supreme Court allowed a modified version to proceed to a vote.10 On November 3, 1998, the Alaska Marriage Amendment passed by a vote of sixty-eight to thirty-two percent.11"

If you need more information, please contact: http://www.bentalaska.com/

Maverick on wolves killed by aerial means? No.
Palin has supported a method to increase caribou and moose for non-subsistence hunting. There was no science in this. It was all about profit and hunting. Read about it here, and here, and here.

Maverick on Sex Education in School? No.
She is against sex education in school standing on the evangelical stance of "abstinence only", covered here and here. Update: apparently, she has shifted her views to include discussion of contraception using condoms as discussed here in the Los Angeles Time, 9/5/08.

Maverick on Iraq? No.
Palin supports the administration's failed policies in fact admits that she doesn't think about it much." To her credit, she does favor having an exit plan, something McCain does not. Read it here.

Maverick on Oil/Energy? No.
Read about it here. Palin believes we CAN drill our way out of our problem. Palin has also been a long-time supporter of drilling in ANWR. Read it here.

Maverick on Women's Reproduction Issues? No.
--Palin does not believe in the pill, the IUD, the IUS etc. Read about it here.

--Palin opposes a woman's right to choose, even in the case of rape or incest. here
Q: Under what circumstances should abortion be legal in the state of Alaska?
A: I respect the sanctity of innocent human life and am a pro-life supporter.

Maverick on the Economy? Unknown.

Maverick on the Environment? No.
Palin's singular environmental work has been on oil, which she supports the drilling of in ANWR. (See her quote under Energy, above). She has no expertience in nuclear, "clean" coal, oil shale, or renewables.

Maverick on Stem Cell Reseach? No.
Read her written comment here.

Maverick on the Death Penalty? No
Palin supports the death penalty. Read her written comment here.
Q: The platform of the Republican Party of Alaska states “We support swift implementation of capital punishment for heinous crimes and implementation of strong mandatory minimum prison sentences for all persons, including minors, committing crimes with deadly weapon(s) or deadly force.” Alaska does not have a death penalty. Will you propose the state adopt capital punishment?

A: I support capital punishment for heinous crimes and would support a Legislature that sought capital punishment.

So, tell me. What exactly is she a Maverick on?

What the Polls Show

One can argue that Obama's bounce came from the convention. Fair Enough. But the recent polling was done after the choice of "That Woman" as Fran likes to call her now (!), and who I remain calling Killer Palin for her support of aerial wolf killings in her state.

Either way, here they are:



This does not relate, however, how people feel about the issues or how people view the candidates.

You can see those here.

Log Cabin Club Press Interview with Patrick Sammon: Your Thoughts?

(Update at end)

Sammon indicates that one in four lgbt voters are republican. Indicated 49% of the GOP convention delegates support lgbt rights, combined: support either marriage or equal rights but not marriage. Mmm.

They did not support Bush feeling his support of the national marriage amendment was a wedge issue putting lgbt folks in the lurch and felt they were being used.

Nonetheless, the GOP plank still has support for the federal marriage amendment. Therefore, given McCain supports state's rights to make the decision, the Lob Cabin Club will support McCain.

If you watch the whole piece (please do!), there are telephone questions offered to Sammon.



UPDATE: Media Matters has taken Sammon to task for suggesting that the Club's support of Palin rested on her veto of an amendment to refuse benefits to same-sex partners. In fact, she did NOT do it for the right reason, and has signed statements stating that she does not support same sex partner benefits and does support a state constitutional amendment on lgbt related issues (read, supports restrictions against equality). Read it here. Read it under the Country Fair.

A MUST Watch... Incredibly Funny

This is absolutely priceless... extremely funny. If, um, colorful language upsets you, well...

Palin's Daughter and Why it DOES Matter

I probably don't know a single person who does not again know someone whose child, son or daughter, has had a child in their youth. In fact, come to think of it, I am positive of that. I had my daughter at 16 years old, just ten days after my 16th birthday. Thus, everyone I know does know someone--me.

This post isn't about judgement, it is about political belief, common sense, how this intersects with religious belief, and what we can learn from it.

Where I grew up (60 miles from where I live today in one of the most conservative counties in the country), conditions on the ground in 1969--39 years ago--were vastly different both in terms of medicine and social climate. My daughter was born in September of 1969 when abortion was still illegal and when access to birth control at 15 through a clinic was non-existent. There was no birth control available to me.

Hormonal contraceptives (first known as "the pill", but now available in many forms) were not available for a 15 year-old and I knew no other teenagers who were using this form of contraception at that time (thus I was not the only one pregnant). In 1969, no one used condoms (I didn't even know they existed!), and the IUD (IntraUterine Device) was likewise unknown to me (today it is the most popular kind of birth control used in the world, though it appears modern western use of the IUD did not occur until 1974 or so, five years after my daughter was born). The IUS (IntraUterine System) followed the IUD and was unavailable in 1969. Other forms of birth control, all less effective, from spermicidals to "the sponge" were also unknown to me and came along later.

In terms of the social world, many families shipped their daughters to Mexico or Europe for abortions (if they could afford it), or children "went away" to a "girl's school", returning with no child. Some stayed and had their children openly, but this was quite rare.

I was the first pregger allowed to remain in high school in my district (I finished my junior high school year six months pregnant) in fact sewing a maternity "suit" in Home Ec for my class project. I can still see the look on my volleyball coach's face when I fell or attempted a radical move. I would look up and he would have his eyes covered or would be staring at the ground with his eyes closed. It was harder on him than me by far. He was quite a sport about it all.

I existed under the watchful eye of an entire high school of moms and dads variously practicing their parenting skills on me. When I arrived to school wet from rain, I was sent to the "nurse" or back to Home Ec to dry my clothes. In hindsight, I really appreciate their paternal and maternal caring of me even though they were often a little over the top. I was in excellent shape, an athlete and, unfortunately, pregnant and they were doing the best they knew to do. I was an experiment.

When I was growing up, unlike the parents I know today, parents never put their children on birth control when they came of age and did not give their sons condoms (which every mother of sons I know does, now). Some kids have some sort of sex education training in public school (though increasingly, they do not) and the world in it's "don't ask don't tell" mode of 1969 which cruised along until a blip occurred on a family radar has largely evolved into a more accepting society.

I never got that "talk" from my mom. Apparently, we were supposed to learn all we needed to know through osmosis. There was no sex education in school. Most kids--and that is exactly what we were--didn't even talk about it. At least the girls didn't talk about it.

So in this climate, I found myself pregnant.

39 years later, we learn that the daughter of the vice presidential candidate who is 17 years old is pregnant. When I saw the photo and eventually heard corporate media on the story, I sighed. How in the world, I wondered, does this still happen?

In writing my piece on Sarah Palin's support of teaching creationism and the non-science of "Intellectual Design" in schools, it became quite clear that she put her daughter in the same position I was in in 1969. Sarah Palin doesn't believe in birth control considered to be abortifacients which includes hormonal, IUD, IUS or other such. Sarah Palin does not support sex education in school. Sarah Palin is anti-choice. Who knows if Sarah Palin did or didn't have that "talk" with her daughter or, given her busy schedule as governor, if she even has the time for her daughter she needs.

What Sarah Palin believes in, and advocates, is abstinence only sex education in school, a common thread found in conservative, conservative evangelical, literalistic and fundamentalist Christian schools of thought and churches. It is likewise the thinking of the Roman Catholic Church. It has also invaded institutions of education, particularly in the last eight years. Another religiously motivated interference with education as I see it.

The problem is, "abstinance only" does not work in reducing pregnancy. Secondly, it also does not work in preventing inevitable sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and studies show, in fact, that abstinance only programs have lead some to abandon the use of condoms which can help in the fight against STDs.

Sarah Palin's daughter--now thrust onto the world stage--is a poster child for this observation. Not only is this making a lot of conservatives nervous, it is making a lot of the religious right downright angry--as I predicted it would. The most talked about woman in the United States who faithfully echos the religious right's mantra on sex education cannot make that mantra work.

Sarah Palin has put the GOP's and religious right's failure up on the mantle for all to see. Now we are asked to adopt this failure and admire it.

I am absolutely the last person to pass judgment on Palin's daughter. It must be rough having a mom that can't really be a mom because she is a governor simultaneous with a vice presidential candidate. Nor would I speculate or criticize her morals. But her mom, Sarah Palin, doesn't escape this easily. If a mom set her child in the street and the child was hit, would the child be at fault?

Sarah Palin is well within her rights to make these decisions for herself. But she has NO right to make this decision for others, including me. And the majority of American women agree and have agreed for decades.

The right to make decisions on contraception and abortion remains invested in the human involved, something Palin with her so-called "Maverick" (an oxymoron in her case) streak should well understand. Freedom is important to Palin, as long as everyone's definition of it matches hers. And Palin's is based on her religion which does not match my belief, and statistically will not match the the clear majority of the 90% of religious believers of various kinds and types that read this and the 10% who do not invest in religious belief at all.

Many pregnant teens, who find little support, end up in poverty and only 3 percent finish college before age 30.
-- ABC News, January 22, 2008

We need to clear the road for proper sex education (to include abstinance) in public schools. Perhaps we need to start with an opt-out program. But a program is absolutely necessary to give kids the information they need from lips that are not going to mix the message with any sort of religion.

Kids become sexual beings as they grow. That is just a fact. We can either deal with that truth, or we can continue to hide our heads in the sand and end up with more kids with STDs and more kid-moms. It is more economically and socially advantageous to deal with the situation that to moralize on it.

Who knows if it would have made a difference in my case, or in the case of Palin's daughter. But if it helps some kids, we should be advocating it.

Photo credit: ABC News

Palin: Drill Our Way Out of Our Problems!

Glad I'm not Sarah Palin saying something as ridiculous as this. No doubt someone is already starting a Palin quote room, if they haven't already!

But this one is a real gem:

"I beg to disagree with any candidate who would say we can't drill our way out of our problem..."

--Sarah Palin, Investor's Business Daily, July 11, 2008

Palin's Belief: God Has a Place but Honesty Doesn't

There are things in this world--odd things--that test our ability to weigh right and wrong, that help us to decide which way to go on an issue. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, currently the short term governor of Alaska (pop 670K), is turning out to be an inconsistent, self-serving puzzle if ever there was one.

Palin's religious beliefs were formed in the pentecostal Assemblies of God church where she was re-baptized at 12 years of age having left the Roman Catholic Church. Today she attends Wasilla Bible Church a church that teaches the inspired inerrant (read literalism) Word of God. This means, whether Palin has vocally admitted it or not, she is a creationist if she does, in fact, agree with her church's Statement of Faith.

As an unambiguous advocate of teaching creationism (the Biblical Genesis origins of life), and of teaching the non-science of "Intelligent" Design, Palin is living this part of her faith and suggesting others do likewise even if they are not religious, not Christian, and not literalist.

A creationist believes everything is created by God as set forth in the Genesis creation stories. All of God's creation was (is) holy. All of God's animal creations at risk through the Biblical flood were, of course, saved by humans as they were packed--in pairs of two for "unclean" animals and in three pairs of two for "clean" animals (clean/unclean standards according to Leviticus) into the Ark. For some interesting reading, peruse her baptismal Church's (Assemblies of God) thinking on the Ark.

So her faith informs her of two things: 1) All things are created by God and are holy, and 2) these Godly creations needed saving by humans during the flood.

Today, global warming is causing early and rapid loss of arctic ice flows, including in Alaska. An estimated 25% of the world's population of polar bears live in Palin's Alaska state of 670K or so people. Polar bears are dependent on ice for their survival. It is now well documented that their survival--the ice--is melting under their very paws--and fast.

Instead of working to save the polar bear's themselves, and their environment, Palin is working to save the oil industry. Palin has filed a lawsuit to overturn the bear's endangered listing under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), an act signed into law by Republican Richard Nixon.

Not only does Palin take this course, she takes it in favor of petroleum interests (not mentioned as being sacred in the Bible), and objects based on economic interests [a topic absolutely nowhere addressed, literally, in the Bible]. Of course the Bible also does not address global warming and melting of ice flows which points to the problematic approach of Biblical literalism. The Bible also does not address the literal need for honesty in Governors, though it does address honesty and, as you might predict, it certainly suggests honesty in all things is good. Conflict of interest as a Governor dealing with issues of the family's bread winner isn't a topic of the Bible, either. Literalism does have its limits.

As an aside, polar bears had to be on the Ark. They cannot spend 40 days in the water.

The governor has called a special session of the Legislature to possibly rewrite the Petroleum Profits Tax. Her proposals could have a multi-million dollar impact on her husband's employer. BP could also become a major player in the natural gas line project.

-- KTUU News

Palin's husband, Todd, works as a North Slope oil field production operator for British Petroleum (BP). In other words, her family's bread and butter comes from the energy (read, in this case, oil and gas) industry. It also explains her fervent desire to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

In order to make her ESA objection on the polar bears, Palin clearly obfuscated (actually, she lied) scientific assessment (a dishonest act) indicating the need for the adopted listing was not warranted on this basis. In case you are unfamiliar with this process, the science needed to prove listing is rigorous. In the last eight years, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) hasn't exactly gotten better about doing their work, more liberal about listings, or more lax on the science. In fact, it is generally viewed by the scientific community that the USFWS (like other environmental and health agencies) is understaffed, underbudgeted, has shifted decidedly to the political right, and, like the Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies, has been as anti-science as these agencies have ever been under any president.

In a potential breech of ethics, Palin cited green-washed studies funded in part by oil companies. Read here and note the source, which is not green media but corporate media. USFWS documentation has indicated concern for more bears seen in open seas.

"Even the Bush administration can't deny the reality of global warming," she said. "The governor is aligning herself and the state of Alaska with the most discredited, fringe, extreme viewpoints by denying this."

"She's either grossly misinformed or intentionally misleading, and both are unbecoming." "Alaska deserves better."
--Both quotes, Kassie Siegel, Center for Biological Diversity

"Essentially, she lied," said University of Alaska professor Rick Steiner, who wrangled with the Palin administration for months to obtain the documents. "She came out and said, 'our scientists agree the polar bears are fine and should not be listed'" when that wasn't the case, said Steiner, a conservation specialist who studies climate change. The McCain-Palin campaign did not make the governor available for comment.
-- ABC NEWS, August 31, 2008

Now mind you, I am an Episcopalian, non-creationist, who believes in evolution and abhors any notion of theocracy, was trained in the sciences and believes public education should be free from all religious factors, influences and interferences. I really don't care WHAT you believe in terms of faith--it's alright with me. You can worship purple pepper shakers if you like, or be an atheist. But shove your rhetoric and belief on me or the American people--or students--yes, I will take you to task. Government and religion must always have a bright, bright line between them. And no, the founding fathers did not support Christianity in the Constitution. In fact, they went WAY out of their way to prevent just that.

So, Sarah Palin, keep your religious beliefs out of the secular society you represent and specifically out of politics. And if you find you are unable to do this and unwilling to leave politics, at least be consistent under your own creationist, literalist faith. If you are proud of it, don't lie about it, don't hide it and live consistently with it. You are not doing any of these things right now.

For some great and interesting reading on polar bears, read this article.

Phot0 Credit: ABC News