From Red State

According to sources close to the McCain campaign, the teleprompter continued scrolling during applause breaks. As a result, half way through the speech, the speech had scrolled significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech. The malfunction also occurred during Rudy Giuliani’s speech, explaining his significant deviations from his speech.

Unfazed, Governor Palin continued, from memory, to deliver her speech without the teleprompter cued to the appropriate point in her speech.

Contrast this to Barack Obama who, when last his teleprompter malfunctioned, was left stuttering before a crowd unable to advance his speech until the problem was resolved.

Yes, contrast that with Barack Obama, who has the bare minimum of his own cogent thoughts. Public speaking itself isn’t that hard - the key is knowing your subject matter, and what you want to say. Obama’s pathetic performances when he doesn’t have a script ought to make you wonder about what really makes the man.

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I am eagerly anticipating Sarah Palin’s speech. I think she has what it takes - the “vetting controversy” enabled by the MSM is largely a smoke screen, noticeably absent any substantive criticism of her.

There is also an undercurrent that the Left believes she isn’t tough enough - that perhaps she would fold under the attacks on her family, or shrink in the limelight of national politics. In fact, it has been intimated she is unsophisticated, a hillbilly, and worst of all, a bad mother. One can find no greater an unapologetic misogynist than the elitist MSM, the gimpy messenger from the far left, hypocritical to the hilt, attacking a woman like Governor Palin who, as the feminists (falsely) claim to want, has done it all. I think this line of attack constitutes a miscalculation of gargantuan proportions.

First of all, it simply makes no sense. The American people tune into politics when the season warrants it - the geeks like Sarah (Moore) and me follow it hourly. But when the American people do tune in, they expect a discussion worthy of their attention.  The Left has made fools of themselves in this attack on Palin, from US Weekly’s atrocious attack cover, to The New York Times three articles on Palin’s family, to that hack-loser Keith Olbermann, who heads the third best cable news network (out of three).

Second, Sarah Palin is tough.  In fact, anyone from Alaska is tough. Add to that she unseated a sitting Republican governor, has taken on the GOP establishment in a one-party state, is a hockey fanatic, hunts, and has successfully challenged “big oil” (as the Democrats love to call it), and you have a tough individual. Whatever experience she does not have will be made up for by her character.

In contrast, Barack Obama claims his judgment compensates for his lack of experience. There is no evidence to support this contention - if Barack Obama had ever practiced a day of law in his life, he would know he would have already been kicked out of court on summary judgment. The debate now is whether Palin or Obama is more experienced. Perhaps someone should inform Barack Obama that he is not running for vice president.

And where the heck is Joe Biden? Silent and irrelevant, it seems. If Palin was a risky, visionary pick by John McCain, Joe Biden was a safe, status quo, unexciting pick by Barack Obama. The blacktop ends for the messiah when real decisions must be made. Newt Gingrich is right - all Obama has done is talk and write, hardly the stuff of leadership and judgment.

Palin will perform well tonight, and it will be a “game changer” (the latest overused cliche, to be used once on this site, and never again). Obama’s campaign does not know what to make of her, already changing his response to her candidacy 2 1/2 times.  The roof will shake in Minnesota tonight, and the Democrats will cringe from the fallout. As of now, there are two real men and one woman in this race - after tonight, Obama has got to figure out how to re-seize the myth.

Barack Obama has inserted himself into the debate as to who has the most experience: he, or Sarah Palin.

As the head of the Democrats’ ticket, he should view himself above such a question, and focus only on his credentials to lead. Instead, he has again made the issue of experience the campaign meme, which is a factor he is going to lose time and time again, especially since he is not running against Sarah Palin for president.

This is playing out like I envisioned, and opposite to how the punditry on a sordid series of cable news shows predicted. Whatever experience Palin lacks does not take the issue off the campaign table. If Obama confronts it, it places the issue squarely in front of the voters. If he thinks that Palin is inexperienced, and pushes that attack (like he did in his initial press release on Friday), a rational voter must then wonder what he thinks of his own life preparation for the White House. If she is “inexperienced”, then what is he? Slightly less inexperienced? More inexperienced? Or perhaps it’s a wash?

Whatever way you choose, John McCain comes out ahead. And with the economy improving, Iraq becoming more secure daily, and oil prices still trending southward, experience begins to trump change. And even still, with Palin on the ticket, change is no longer the sole provisio of Lord Obama. Even if the sycophants on MSNBC won’t acknowledge it, he and his campaign certainly realize his candidacy is in trouble.

The New York Times runs three stories on the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s seventeen year old daughter, two above the fold. The liberal collection of helium known as the blog Daily Kos ran with conspiracy stories that Sarah Palin’s youngest son was actually her grandson, which seems to (alarmingly) be where the MSM started their hunt. Local liberal bloggers claim that this evidences some sort of conservative hypocrisy, which leads the pack as to all the mind-altering, inane conclusions.

Of course, hypocrisy would be choosing abortion over life, a position the far left would usually celebrate.

Unbelievable.

We are told that children are off-limits in politics. Except, of course, when we are talking about a Republican woman and her daughter. To Barack Obama’s credit, he did not assert that Bristol Palin was being punished with a baby.

This sort of ill-placed vitriol will backfire.

The truth is that the Palin family is as morally consistent as one could hope. In two instances, life has been chosen over convenience and ambition. If anything, we know we have someone principled in the vice presidential slot. Historically, America does not take well to the unfair criticism of those who hold to their beliefs. In this case, expect some public outrage, and a marked increase in those who know Sarah Palin and like her.

In the meantime, we should all be disappointed that the outfit who claims “all the news that’s fit to print” made this story its lead, even over the transfer of Anbar province, the province that held the heart of the insurgency, from American to Iraqi security forces.

You call this a convention-worthy bump? Add to that the fact that 38 million people watched Barack Obama’s speech, and it ought to be downright depressing. Though Obama doubled our trade deficit with China on the fireworks alone, and all he got was a lousy 8 points over John McCain.

Apparently, not many were convinced.

Take that.

On John McCain…

“The only man in this campaign who has really fought for America”

Targeting disenchanted women voters…

“Hillary Clinton put 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. Well, it turns out the women of America are not finished yet”

Pro-gun, pro-life, pro-energy. Lots of good stuff.

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This just hit the inbox

(Nashville) – U.S. Senator Fred Thompson issued the following statement:

“I am absolutely delighted by this selection. Once again, John McCain has shown that he is an independent thinker who paints in bold strokes. Sarah Palin is a conservative reformer with executive experience who will bring a breath of fresh air to Washington. She will be an ideal running mate for John McCain, and will make a major contribution to our country’s future.”

So much for a second day of Obama speech coverage. The McCain campaign has played the veep selection game to perfection - plus, no one had to suffer a cheesy “you’re the first to know” 3am text messages (a d***, er, private eye move, if there ever was one).

Unconventional, sure. But Sarah Palin plays well into the campaign dynamic. Surely the Obama campaign cannot attack her experience - she has more than the junior Illinois senator does. She also brings great credibility on the energy issue and the concept of government reform. Plus, the GOP base now has something concrete to coalesce around.  Palin’s conservative bona fides are above reproach. And she is young.

Plus, she looks good on t.v.

Count me as a fan.

UPDATE Obama’s first press release was to attack her experience. That is idiotic.

I love my MSNBC. It’s like political liberal porn. And it’s free.

Keith Olbermann… so orgasmic he cannot even make sense. Chris Matthews, inspired. The FEC ought to do an equal time investigation into these jerks. Wow.

Now, Matthews compares him to Reagan as a like “unknown” (two term governor of California, highest paid private speaker in the country at the time of his candidacy … yes, the similarities abound). Throws in a military reference for good measure. Now we hear that the “other side” is “full of crap”.

Eh, I’m done.

Brooks and Dunn? Out of all the half-brained leftist entertainers’ songs to use, he picks Republicans. Heh.

Fireworks? What’s next, We Will Rock You? Maybe the 1991 Chicago Bulls intro routine?

Then again, The Imperial March might be most appropriate…

And the backdrop really does look like the Oval Office. Sheesh.

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Let me begin with this — I really like Sarah Palin. I love the energy she has brought to the ticket. She gave a tremendous speech last night. She has a good first name that is spelled correctly. I don’t think she is the greatest thing since sliced bread, the bee’s knees, or any other silly metaphor. But, I have no problem believing she can be the Number 2 person on the ticket. Just wanted to share my general two cents about Palin. Now for this …

Biden Plays Second Fiddle (and Attack Dog) — NPR

Biden Goes on Attack in Acceptance Speech — CNN

Biden Fills Attack Role — Yahoo! News

Obama’s Attack Dog: Outspoken Biden Joins the Democratic Ticket — The Independent

Last week during the Democratic National Convention, pundits were wondering when the attacks on Bush and McCain were going to begin. It’s been two days and still nothing! When are the Democrats going to attack McCain and his Bush-like policies? Surely Biden will go on the attack! It’s the assumed role of the Vice Presidential candidate to attack the opposition! Please, Joe … attack, attack! And, he did. Good for him.

Then, yesterday, Sarah Palin went on the attack against her opponent … again, the assumed role of the Vice Presidential candidate. Immediately, she was deemed as “insulting,” “sarcastic,” “shrill” and various other adjectives. What’s the difference between her role and Biden’s role? She did exactly what she was supposed to do! Are people just upset because she did it too well? Or, maybe the critics forget she is running for Vice President, since they keep putting her head-to-head with Obama?!

Liberals like to refer to Fox News as “Faux News” and scream obscenities at any Fox personality who dares to attend the Democratic convention and it’s all very cute and charming. However, can you seriously argue that MSNBC is any better? Actually, how can you argue it’s not worse?

O’Reilly and Hannity make no secret of the fact they are conservatives. You know that you are receiving a particular slant when watching their programs. On the other hand, people like Schuster, Olbermann, and Matthews don’t start their programs by saying, “I am a liberal Democrat and I’m not going to apologize for it. Please know this as you watch my program.” They just pant and moan every time Barack Obama speaks and let us reach the conclusion of their political leanings for ourselves.

Fox News has all of the top Democrats as guests on its network. MSNBC usually seems to find some C-list Republican goober (that is not redundant) that the host knows will not do an effective job of communicating the message. To be fair, perhaps MSNBC can’t get bigger names to appear on the network because those of consequence know that no one is watching. In so many ways, MSNBC is the Air America of cable television.

I just hope the next blogger who links to another one of Keith Olbermann’s brilliant Special Comments after just trashing Fox News realizes the amazing hypocrisy of his (or her) actions.

Democrats keep saying something like the following,

“John McCain enjoys showing the disparaging comments that Biden and Clinton said about Obama during the primaries. Just wait until McCain picks Romney. There’s no shortage of negative statements that these two guys made against one another!”

True … such statements are expected to happen in a primary. However, there’s another important component to both of the McCain ads. There are video clips of Biden and Clinton sharing the belief that McCain will be a strong, responsible leader. They both appear to be picking McCain over Obama.

Will Obama be able to create a similar ad? Does Obama have footage of Romney, Pawlenty, Pallin, Jindal, etc. saying that he will be a strong leader ready to serve on day one? Nope.

Actual statement just given by Spike Lee on MSNBC:

I believe that history that be broken down into B.B. and A.B. — Before Barack and After Barack.

And, he wasn’t trying to be silly at all.

No … there’s no messianic complex going on here!

Yes, Obama’s candidacy is an historic moment. I am not ready, however, to break down the entire history of world events based on his run for the presidency.

I hit the treadmill with my usual C-Span accompaniment this morning. The morning host was taking calls from supporters of both major candidates and discussing the election in general. Here’s my favorite call:

“Boston, MA. Welcome, caller. What’s on your mind?”

“I want to know when we are going to start talking about real issues. We are wasting so much time with this election.”

It was at this point that I expected the caller to mention something about Paris Hilton or lapel pins. Instead, he proceeded with …

“The candidates and media keep talking about abortion and the war in Georgia.”

“The most important issue is a sustainable community rail system.”

Let me say, I’m a fan of public transportation and I wish it would be expanded in all of our major cities. But, come now, caller.

Bravo, Democrats! Fine play. A hearty round of applause for the entire affair. Way to kick off your convention with direction and purpose. Keep it up!

A few thoughts …

Best Wishes
Senator Kennedy showed courage and strength in his determination to speak at the convention last night. That was inspiring. I had the opportunity to meet him when working for “the other side” and found him to be charming and genuine.

He Finally Admits It
Nathan and I switched between the different networks throughout the evening. We usually enjoy MSNBC for the entertainment but, to quell the bouts of nausea, I do ask him to flip to CNN or FOX every so often. After several minutes of listening to Sean Hannity and Brit Hume, Nathan said, “Let’s go back and hear what the sycophants are saying.” Less than thirty seconds later, Keith Olbermann said, “At the risk of sounding like a sycophant …” and then proceeded to gush without apology. First, Keith … too late. You are beyond the risk of such an accusation at this point. Second, thank you for finally verbalizing your over-to-top devotion to Barack Obama. Third, kudos to my husband for his eerily accurate use of words.

She Really Loves America
I did my best to watch the speech objectively … really. And, she lost me within thirty seconds. The whole thing seemed forced. Did somebody look at Michelle Obama’s speech, count the number of times she said, “and that’s why I love this country,” and tell her to insert the phrase four or five more times? I assumed the main point of her speech was to give us insight into her husband, which she did not do at all. The most we learned about the personal side of Obama was that he is persistent when it comes to courting a pretty girl. Then, I guess we were supposed to be convinced that the Obamas are just like us. I am never going to believe, nor do I want to believe, that someone running for president is just like the rest of us. I am tired of this “I could have a beer with him” or “I bet he worries about his mortgage, too” approach towards electing politicians.

To be fair, there were a few good points. I have no doubt that she really loves her husband and daughters. I think she is a beautiful woman who would engage the imagination of many young girls just like Jackie did nearly fifty years ago. (I’ll admit … I would enjoy that aspect of an Obama administration. It’s not enough to make up for the devastating effect his policies would have on our country, but still.) And, if I became friends with her, I might be able to get tickets to the Final Four from her brother.

I don’t spend much time whining about media bias. To me, the ridiculous love affair that the media has with Obama is pretty obvious, but what are you doing to do about it? I’ve limited my writing on the subject to an occasional jab at Keith Olbermann or Chris Matthews simply because their salivating and sweaty infatuation with Obama is downright comical. I’m amused that they would consider themselves “journalists”.

Tonight on Hardball, Chris Matthews did something despicable that I cannot ignore. During his “Photos from the Trail” segment (or something like that), he showed a photo of Senator Obama and General Petraus in a helicopter flying over Iraq. Matthews then said, “And what was Senator McCain doing at this very moment?” Matthews proceeded to show a photo of McCain sitting in a golf cart with former President George H.W. Bush.

Matthews concluded the segment by saying, “It would be quite telling if you put these two photos side-by-side about who is more concerned with what is going on in the world.”

Are you kidding me??? Senator McCain has been to Iraq EIGHT TIMES!! This slimy move by Matthews is insulting and a blatantly misleading play. Chris Matthews knew exactly what he was doing and who he was helping through this ridiculous comparison. People are worried about Fox News? I shudder to think that anyone gets their political information from MSNBC! (Luckily, from the published ratings, it’s apparent that not many people do.)

Pssst … I saw this picture once of Barack Obama sitting with Al Gore. What’s the deal with that? Wasting time with a former vice-president while receiving an endorsement? Guess he doesn’t care about what’s going on in the country.

I debated whether or not to address one of the comments left on my previous post. Sometimes, it is best just to ignore misguided folks. But, when someone accuses me of abusing my child, it’s not something I can leave alone.

A couple of days ago, I described an incident in which my daughter defended herself against a child three times her age and twice her size. This child had been bullying the little ones in the center since her arrival, and I guess Catherine had had enough. Here is how one person responded:

Nice. Teaching your child to resolve conflict violence is never okay. And you are bragging about it?

Actually, sometimes you need to resolve conflict with violence. If a man ever physically assaults me, you better believe I will kick, punch, and gouge out his eyes. If someone is heading towards a school while shooting a gun, I will hit him with my car. Are these extreme examples? Yes. But, sometimes violence is required to end conflict. My daughter would be naive to think otherwise. Should she pick fights on the playground? Absolutely not. Should she be respectful and kind to everyone until her own person is threatened? You bet. But, I am also going to teach her that she has a right to take care of herself.

You have a thug in the making.

Yes, the polite girl who says, “Please,” “Thank you”, and “Yes, Ma’am” is a thug. She sure hid her thugness well last Christmas as she cowered behind me when she saw Santa Claus in the mall. My daughter will never instigate violence or bother innocent people. That’s what thugs do. DO NOT call my kind, intelligent, funny, creative little girl a thug.

Teaching a two year old that violence is not an appropriate response to someone taking a toy out of her hand would have been the appropriate response.

My daughter did politely ask for her toy to be returned. That politeness (which was the correct response) got her a push in the gut. Should she have said, “Oh, please, bully, allow me to play with the toy I was peacefully enjoying before your arrival.”? Or, maybe she should just walk away so that the bully can continue with the belief that shoving a small child is the way to get what you want.

Perhaps you need parenting classes. If you’re interested, please email us.

No, thank you. I’m certainly not a perfect parent, but I am darn good. My daughter knows that she is loved and protected by both her daddy and me. We are teaching her to love, show kindness to others, share, be respectful and explore.

I read that you once put gum on the nose of one of your students, which is child humiliating and emotionally harmful.

No, that was my middle school social studies teacher in 1988 (Mr. Vinson … still one of my favorites). If a teacher clearly states on the first day of class that gum is not allowed in his classroom and that if you are found to be chewing gum in his classroom, you will be required to wear the gum on the end of your nose for the rest of class, then there were no surprises. These were twelve and thirteen-year-old adolescents. They knew what they were doing. Emotionally harmful? Come on.

I just hope you never go back to teaching and harm anymore children.

I don’t plan to go back to teaching, but that is because I enjoy staying home with my daughter and because I cannot work in such a broken school system. Are you actually accusing me of harming a child?

As for your own child, there are organizations, mine included, (CAP= Children Abuse Prevention)
to keep an eye on women and men like you. So thanks for the heads up.

Nothing angers me more than monsters who abuse children in any way. I hope there are other organizations, obviously not your own, that actually spend time protecting children who are in dangerous situations. To threaten that you will be keeping an eye on me is absurd and a disservice to the thousands of children who are abused in this state every day. In fact, more than anything else, your response makes me sad. I hope that people who read this blog and are interested in donating money to organizations that actually help children will know not to send anything your way.

I picked up Catherine from the child watch room at the Y last week and was told by one of the workers that my daughter had been in a fight. I just went with my first instinct and asked, “Did she win?” And, apparently, she had. It was one of those “I’m so proud but need to pretend I’m not” parent moments.

Here is why my pride was at least somewhat warranted. Catherine was simply defending herself from a girl four years her senior who grabbed a toy out of her hands. When Catherine asked for it back, the girl pushed her. Turning the other cheek is not a skill that my two-year-old has mastered yet. So, she pushed back and the older girl ended up on the floor with Catherine on top of her. Catherine had to be pulled off the other child.

Bravo, I say! Catherine did not instigate the violence, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to be bullied. But, I still gave her the, “If a kid bothers you, you never hit back. You go tell an adult” speech. I felt that was an obligatory nod to keeping the peace.

A warning to all six-year-old girls out there who think they can mess with my child — do not underestimate my girl … she is tough and ready to rumble if you get her riled up!

The New York Times has an article today detailing the speech that New York Governor David “I Had an Affair, Too, But I Didn’t Pay for It” Paterson gave to the NAACP Convention in Cincinnati.

The closing paragraph of the story has a disturbing quote from Gov. Paterson –

“How are some of us, who have many times been luckier than we have been good, going to help those who unfortunately haven’t been able to receive prosperity as we have?”

So, how exactly does one go about getting in on this whole “receiving prosperity” deal? I’m just hanging out on my couch right now watching Airline on the Biography Channel. Could it be that any moment my doorbell will ring and someone will hand me some prosperity? That would be awesome.

I was under this crazy assumption that prosperity was earned through hard work, or at least accurate completion of a Publishers Clearinghouse form. I didn’t know it simply could be wrapped up in a bow and given like a gift.

It takes a twisted perspective to think that those who are prosperous did nothing but wait for someone to hand it over. Those with prosperity were just lucky to “receive” it.

Now, to the main point of Paterson’s quote, I certainly think we should make contributions to our community and help out one another. But, this involvement should not be based on guilt over being one of the lucky ones to “get” prosperity as a gift.