A handy clearinghouse of Palin rumors and their debunkings.

With all the talk about Sarah Palin’s sublime speech and the anarkids’ display of petulance, it seems we’ve pretty much missed talking about the dumbest display of the entire RNC; “True Blue Minnesota”‘s jumbotron.

Now, when TBM started talking about mounting “huge” jumbotrons high above downtown Saint Paul, on Cathedral Hill, to beam messages of goading and shame down upon the assembled delegates, I was thinking something like this:

But in fact, the effect was neither as sinister nor as grandiose.

Indeed, I can’t find a photo of it anywhere on the web (I didn’t bring a camera with me). Absent a picture, I need to come up with something to explain the overall effect.

There.

That’s it.

Andrew Sullivan – back when the MSM considered him one of the “new generation of conservative intellectuals” – was the blog that got me started as a blogger, back in 2002.

His current obsession seems to be tittering about the sex lives of the Palin family (and of course, his endless sexist, classist, classless jabbering) – after having tried to declare his own off limits in the name of basic human decency.

Patterico:

Gee, I dunno. If Obama’s had written about the scourge of homosexual promiscuity, as Sullivan has, and then had advertised himself for promiscuous homosexual sex, as Sullivan did (link is not work-safe), advertising for “One-on-One’s, 3-Ways, Groups/Parties/Orgies, and Gang Bangs” — do you really think the press would not have written about it?

At least Sullivan’s story has a hypocrisy angle among the lurid details, the pictures of his naked buttocks on the Internet, and the description of his “power glutes.” Talking about the sex life of Sarah Palin’s sister or daughter has no legitimate purpose at all.

Truly reprehensible.

Sorry, blog-dad. I’m not taking care of you in your old age anymore.

This Week on ABC is featuring an interview with Barack Obama.

When asked by George Stephanopoulos about tax cuts and the economy, Senator Obama spoke to the differences in the economic theories of his strategy versus Senator McCain’s.

Obama’s plan, tax cuts to the middle class is a bad idea, and an ill-advised one based on the notion that the economy somehow grows from the bottom up, which is in fact how Obama himself described his plan.

Ben Stein, Lawyer, Writer, Actor and Economist: I ADMIRE Barack Obama…But I am a bit worried that his knowledge of economics may not be as extensive as his legal background. In particular, he’s been campaigning with an idea of a second round of economic stimulus to combat the evident slowdown in the economy, to follow President Bush’s first round that is now wrapping up. The first round hasn’t succeeded, and Senator Obama’s ideas aren’t very promising, either.

The failure of the Bush stimuless program clearly confirms this. Tax cuts for the middle class amount to a few hundred dollars per year – essentially, another Bush stimulus check. Obama has said that he would be in favor of another stimulus package, despite recent evidence that it has failed. So how is that change? How is that different than Bush’s economic strategy?

In a nutshell, why have a stimulus program that may not — and probably should not — stimulate much consumption? And why help pay for it through taxes on a group whose members have done no moral or other wrong and who often are not particularly rich, either (not that it’s a moral wrong to be rich)?

These are complicated issues, and

I am not even remotely sure how to solve all of them myself. But some of Senator Obama’s plan is just hard to rationalize.

Our economy is fueled by consumer spending stemming from consumer confidence and job creation through the formation of new businesses. Tax cuts to those that start these new businesses have been shown time and again to stimulate the very growth that creates jobs and bolsters consumer confidence which leads to increased consumer spending and ultimately increased tax revenues.

It’s simple. Whose name is on your paycheck? Do you want the government to help this entity or person or harm them? Do you want them to be incented to hire more of you or not? Do you want them to be profitable so that they can increase your income at the next review or not?

Our economy is like a train. The engine is corporate America and small businesses – employers large and small. The train cars are working Americans – taxpayers. The caboose represents those that don’t pay taxes or are unable to work or provide for themselves.

Government? Government’s role should be to keep the tracks clear of danger and to help people get on the train, or back on the train if they get knocked off. Government’s role has however become the cargo, and to help more and more people become the caboose.

Make no mistake. We need the caboose. There are people that can’t contribute to our economy and the government should play a part in their care and protection. Liberals however are confused as to which end of the train serves the most important role in our nation and our economy.

Tax cuts and rebates to the cars in the train doesn’t make the train go any faster. Gearing our economy to the caboose hurts everyone on the train, including the caboose. Increasing government just increases the load for the engine.

So why do liberals continue to offer up this strategy as an economic policy? Votes. Political expediency. Obama is pushing this strategy to buy votes, plain and simple; just like every liberal predecessor. That’s not change either. That is the liberalism that is just another stripe in the spectrum of socialism.

What liberals don’t understand, and why usually the American electorate swings in the direction of the Republicans during economic challenges, is that in most cases, “wealthy” Americans are just regular people that took risks to leverage the American dream.

After eight years of Republican liberal fiscal policies, the American people are confused, which goes a long way to explain Obama’s popularity despite his lack of executive experience and ill-fated economic proposals.

John McCain is wise to distance himself from the Bush administration’s economic strategy and is attempting to make the case to voters that the solution to our economic woes is to shrink government, to keep money in the pockets of those that earned it and to stimulate economic growth through the creation of jobs.

Gearing our tax code to continue to penalize the “wealthy” in order to redistribute the booty to and eliminate the risks of life of those that would vote Democrat has weakened our nation and serves to drain the incentive of those that create jobs and take those risks that ultimately grow our economy.

Obama’s plan is a failure out of the box.

A couple of our loyal commenters accused law enforcement of “overreaching” during the pre-RNC house raids that uncovered various and sundry household items; asserting that the items uncovered could be used for anything.

Does Freedom of Assembly Include the Right to Carry a Bucket of Urine?

And Now She’s A Weapons Expert

The Star Tribune listed an abbreviated list of said items; conveniently omitting those that tend to be less useful for domestic chores, some of those items included throwing knives, a gas mask and filter, homemade caltrops (everyone that reads this blog surely knows what they are by now), and empty plastic buckets cut and made into shields.

Despite hundreds of arrests and the generous use of mace and teargas, the event went on without making national news for the wrong reason. Clearly this was the result of a conspicuous show of force and a proactive approach on the part of law enforcement.

But it could have been en entirely different story if it weren’t for the aforementioned approach, and as it turns out a little luck.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Two Texas men are charged in federal court in Minneapolis with illegally possessing Molotov cocktails. Authorities say the men planned to target law enforcement during the Republican National Convention.

Twenty-two-year-old David Guy McKay and 23-year-old Bradley Neil Crowder are each charged with one count of possession of firearms that were not registered to them.

The two Austin men are in custody following an initial court appearance Friday.

According to the criminal complaint, law enforcement officers overheard a conversation in which McKay said the Molotov cocktails he and Crowder made would be thrown at vehicles parked in a lot in St. Paul.

The lot was used by law enforcement, and patrolled by U.S. Secret Service and the military.

Just for fun, I would entertain anyone’s offering as to other common household uses for the molotov cocktail. Thank you in advance for your creativity as a liberal to defend almost any behavior as a personal freedom or exercise of free speech.

I ran into Leo Pusateri and his son, Leo III, at the demonstrations on Thursday.

And Leo III has a serious future in the whole “reporting” business, with his posts (here, here and here) on the demonstrations.

Take away the celebrity, the thrilling words; what’s left?

Old Ideas masquerading as change.

This is a short  campaign ad that doesn’t break any new ground in it’s content but I do think its production values are artistically relevant, submitted for your discussion.

Today, the Northern Alliance Radio Network brings you the best in Minnesota conservatism from 11AM-5PM:

• Volume I “The First Team” –Brian, Chad and John kick off from 11-1.
• Volume II “The Headliner” – Ed and I hold forth from 1-3. We’ll be doing our convention debrief, I suspect.
• Volume III, “The Final Word” – King and Michael will be dishing the Minnesota smack from 3-5.

So tune in to all six hours of the Northern Alliance Radio Network, the Twin Cities’ media’s sole guardians of sanity. On the air at AM1280 in the Metro, or streaming at AM1280’s Website, or via podcast at Townhall.

And don’t forget the David Strom Show, with David Strom and Margaret Martin, from 9-11!

Dagnabbit. I wish I would have caught this myself. Reposting this is admittedly a thinly veiled piece of plagiarism, but I dutifully submit it for your enjoyment in case you didn’t catch it in the WSJ or NYT.

I remember Sarah Palin’s commentary on Senator Harry Reid during her acceptance rout speech:

Harry Reid, the majority leader of the current do-nothing Senate, not long ago summed up his feelings about our nominee. He said, quote, “I can’t stand John McCain.” Ladies and gentlemen, perhaps no accolade we hear this week is better proof that we’ve chosen the right man. Clearly what the majority leader was driving at is that he can’t stand up to John McCain.

And Reid’s response…

Now Harry Reid is hardly thin-skinned and almost anything else Ms. Palin could have said about him might not have drawn much of a reaction. But to the former boxer from tiny Searchlight, Nev., that insinuation from Governor Palin amounts to fighting words. He sees himself as more than capable of standing up to Mr. McCain and, through spokesman Jim Manley, Mr. Reid fired back.

“Anyone who knows Senator Reid knows he never backs down when he’s fighting for what’s right and that he always stands up to John McCain when he is wrong,” said Mr. Manley. “Shrill and sarcastic political attacks may fire up the Republican base, but they don’t change the fact that a McCain-Palin administration would mean four more years of failed Bush-Cheney policies.”

Via a spokesman (Reid was getting a pedicure) by the name of Manley.

Despite McCain’s lack of hokey Styrofoam props…and big-name rock bands, Senator McCain’s convention acceptance speech garnered 500,000 more viewers than Senator Obama’s speech the week earlier, despite being shown on less networks.

I’m thinking they were all men.

In fairness to Obama, the GOP has two smokin’ hot -er I mean rather comely ladies on the ticket – Sarah Palin, and of course first lady Cindy McCain…

…

Sorry. Sort of lost my train of thought.

…where was I?

Oh, here it is…

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain attracted a record 38.9 million television viewers to his acceptance speech last night, surpassing Democratic rival Barack Obama and McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin.

The total exceeded the 38.4 million who watched Obama accept the Democratic nomination in Denver on Aug. 28, Nielsen Media Research said today in a statement. Palin drew 37.2 million on Sept. 3 after three days of intense media coverage.

The last night of the Republican gathering in St. Paul, Minnesota, was seen in 28.3 million homes, breaking the record of the 27.7 million who watched Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. McCain’s ratings are the highest for a political convention since Nielsen began collecting data in 1960.

Combined, McCain and Palin, who is Alaska’s first-term governor, drew 76.2 million viewers, compared with the 62.4 million who tuned in to see Obama and running mate Joe Biden

The Republican nominee’s audience last night also exceeded the typical nightly viewing for the Beijing Olympics

No wonder Oprah doesn’t want Sarah Palin on her show. Her ratings would probably embarass Obama’s there too.

Nevermind.

Who gives a crap about Oprah.

We – Kevin Ecker and I – were standing about fifty yards behind the police line with about eight other civilians, most of them with cameras.  Most of the other civilians had obvious signs of non-GOP sympathy; T-shirts, buttons, whatever.  I kept my own beliefs pretty quiet all afternoon while wandering among them; I certainly kept my AM1280 ID badge in my pocket.  I figured discretion is the better part of valor thrillseeking.

A couple of cops in military uniforms walked up from behind and asked us to move north off the bridge and back off the street.  The ten or so of us turned around and started trudging up the hill.

A lingerie-model hot woman with a digital SLR quipped “so it’s a police state!”

I’d been listening to this crap all day.  I couldn’t take any more.

“If this were a police state”, I said just loudly enough for everyone to hear, “the protesters would already be dead”. 

They didn’t really talk with me anymore.

The Associated Press states the bleeding obvious; the GOP isn’t real stacked with minorities. 

The Republican National Convention showcased a Native American color guard, a black preacher and video footage of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, all part of its effort to present the GOP as a picture of diversity. What it hasn’t offered is many minorities speaking from the podium in prime time, or sitting among the delegates.

Well, tell me about it!  Here in the Fourth District, we realize the GOP’s shortcomings at reaching out to the Afro/Latin/Somali/Hmong American communities.  It’s a challenge the GOP needs to meet. 

But I think it’s worth noting that as “white” as the GOP’s body of delegates may have been, it was a lot more diverse than the clots of protesters outside, who were as close to universally white as anything this side of a Klan rally.

Just saying.

Palin is more popular than Mac or Barry O, says the latest Rasmussen poll:

A week ago, most Americans had never heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Now, following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 37% hold an unfavorable view of the self-described hockey mom.

The figures include 40% with a Very Favorable opinion of Palin and 18% with a Very Unfavorable view (full demographic crosstabs are available for Premium Members). Before her acceptance speech, Palin was viewed favorably by 52%. A week ago, 67% had never heard of her.

That’ll adjust over time, of course; they honeymoon is on, and rest assured the left and media (pardon the redundancy) will be in full slime mode for the next two months.

But if you’d told us two weeks ago we’d be at this intersection, how many people would have thought you were nuts?

I joke constantly that doing the Northern Alliance Radio Network is the easiest talk radio gig in the world, because you rarely need to do any actual show prep.  John, Chad, Brian, Ed, King, Michael and I blog about the stuff all week; we’re completely, constantly immersed in our material. Prep is almost redundant.

Counterintuitively, last night was even more so.  Palin’s speech was a huge slab of red talkradio meat that could have sustained an hour or two without any notes.  McCain’s speech had its notes as well (later post).

And the guests?

We landed Hugh Hewitt and Duane Patterson – but that’s no challenge.  They’ll do any media they can get.  They’d appear on Pacifica, I think.

We followed them up with a couple of women – east-coast Democrats, actually – who’d gone to Denver in an RV to support Hillary.  They worked hard to get the roll-call vote, and were disappointed with the treatment they felt Mrs. Clinton received.  They loaded back up in the RV, and started driving home (Pennsylvania and Delaware) – and, listening to the radio, became ever more revolted by the treatment they heard their own side giving Sarah Palin.  They got to Terra Haute before they realized they needed to do something.  They put “Saint Paul” into their Garvin (they had no idea where the city was), swerved northwest, and drove all night to get to Saint Paul, on their mission – to convince fellow Hillary supporters to turn out for the Palin/McCain ticket.  That interview was a hoot; sort of like interviewing Edith Bunker and Linda Richman.  A hilarious couple of ladies, and great people to have on your side.

And then…Paul Shanklin and Michael Ramirez.  Simultaneously.  If you’ve been hiding under a rock; Shanklin is Rush Limbaugh’s parodymonger, writing spoof songs featuring dead-on impressions of political figures (usually Democrats) for the past umpteen years; Ramirez is a big cheese at Investors Business Daily, one of the best editorial cartoonists in the business, and a pretty funny guy himself. 

The Northern Alliance – at least, Volume II, Ed and I – don’t do a lot of interviews.  But over the years on the NARN, I’ve inteviewed quite a few people that I admire a lot, in many ways; a partial list (because over four and a half years, I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few) includes David Bellavia, Mitt Romney, Victor Davis Hansen, Christina Hoff-Summers, Norm Coleman, Michelle Malkin, Mona Charen, Steven Vincent, Mike Nelson (yes, that one, of Mystery Science Theater fame), John Lott…and on, and on.  Of course, Ramirez is a giant in the field, and Shanklin – well, I used to do parody songs myself, back when I was with Don Vogel.  And Shanklin is the best ever.  And interviewing people for whom you are an unabashed fanboy is an interesting exercise; trying to sound excited but not obsequious (or worse, like Chris Farley’s awestruck cable interviewer character) can be hard, at least for me.  I try to “humanize” them – often (I’m not making this up) by remembering that their underwear is just as likely to be riding up as mine is right now. 

That usually helps.

Anyway – interviewing Shanklin and Ramirez together was sort of like sharing a table with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal (and Ed, feel free to book both of them any ol’ time here).

And after all that, we had Mac’s speech.   More on that later.

Another interview with Hugh and Duane, and it was time to head out.  Here’s the point where I give the shout-out to the Patriot crew that actually did the work this past week, the setting up and tearing down and moving stuff; program director Nick Novak, producer Matt Reynolds, promotions director Kate Fisher, majordomo Jay “Long Suffering” Larson, and Salem Radio’s extraordinary robogeek engineer Anthony Ochoa.  Since I hadn’t the faintest idea how to tear the gear down (and Ochoa would have dissected and killed me in that order if I’d tried), I retired to the “Captain’s Quarters”, a media/delegate reception area in the basement of the Wilkins Arena, with an open bar, swedish meatballs and jalapeno poppers.  It was packed with people – media, delegates, staffers, everyone.  I mixed it up for a bit – but after the week I’d had, I was too tired to socialize all that much. 

It was, truly, an action-packed evening.

Kevin and I had no idea which way the crowd was going to turn; all I knew was I didn’t want to get cut off from the Excel and have to dash halfway around the metro to get on the air at 8PM.

The crowd turned right onto the frontage road, as Kevin and I raced up to John Ireland Boulevard.  We moved across the bridge as the protest turned left, led by a group of about 20 bike cops and a dozen or so mounted officers.

They strolled out onto the bridge…

…and then things changed.  The bike and horse cops formed a line.  A squad of motorcycle cops raced down from the Cathedral to join them.  They pulled out their Hats ‘n Bats and stopped the march in the middle of the bridge over I94.

Kevin and I stayed as close to the action as we could – but after a few minutes, a couple of Bureau of Criminal Apprehension cops in military battledress pointed us back to the north approach.   We grabbed some space on the fence overlooking the bridge, and waited.

A few moments later, I heard a footsteps.  I turned – and saw over 100 cops in riot gear moving down from the History Center, donning gas masks and moving to the front rank.  It almost looked like a medieval battlefield shaping up; several ranks of infantry with sticks and armor, backed up by the cavalry…

…with artillery – half a dozen cops with 37mm tear gas grenade launchers moved up behind the whole lot.

And we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And wondered where they were going.

Until I saw more riot cops at the north end of the bridge. They had the entire march bottled up on the John Ireland bridge; no  way to go to the east or west (they were 20 feet above the freeway), or forward or back.

So we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Someone quipped “I think they’re trying to bore them to death”.  The cop I was talking with didn’t disagree.

Eventually, after over an hour of standing around on the bridge, it appeared they were starting to disperse to the north.

Nothing happened, but it was fascinating to watch it happen.

I hiked down Kellogg to the Xcel, walking through a checkpoint and past a long row of National Guard to get to Five Corners and the X.

I didn’t get much chance to blog my activities at and around the RNC yesterday – so I’m going to try to catch up now.

Around 2:15, my boss called us all into a meeting to tell us the City had told the company to send all employees home at 3PM, anticipating trouble with the 4PM “anti-war” rally.

“Score“, I thought, despairing that I’d ever  get to cover a genuine protest at this convention.

I headed out on the street, and called Marty Owings, host of Radio Free Nation over on Blog Talk Radio and started chasing leads.

And chasing.

And chasing.

We started by running to Harriet Island – where Colleen Rowley’s party had pretty well broken up.

So it was down to Mears Park, where the anarkids had massed on a couple of previous nights.  Zilch.

I figured we should just hang around the entrance on 6th and Market, which had seen so much of the action earlier in the week.

As we were crossing Wabasha, we saw a couple of “street medics” – anarkids with red crosses taped on their clothes, carrying Holly Hobby Junior First Aid kits – walking toward the Capitol, chattering on their walkie-talkies.

“Score“, again.  We followed them to the Capitol, where the 4PM “Anti-War” rally, the one we talked about in July, was about to get underway. A terrible rap/jazz band was trying to channel Rage Against The Machine, playing to a crowd that was (someone call Molly Priesmeyer) about 99.5% white.  No, I’m not kidding; I counted.  I saw exactly two Afro-Americans in the crowd, and two more later.

The “band” was trying to whip the crowd into a frenzy with their tributes to (I’m not making this up) Hugo Chavez and Eugene Debs.

There was no need to caricature them.  And given the amount of pot smoke I smelled, I don’t think there was much chance of “Frenzy”, at least not yet.

I moved up on the hill next to the stage, and watched the crowd – and the little knots of cops massing down on Ireland and Cedar.

Suddenly – around 4;30 – a group of a dozen Saint Paul bike cops rolled up the Mall through the middle of the crowd.  Thirty yards from the stage, they veered stage-right into the crowd, and apparently grabbed a couple of protesters (sources say they’d been followed after committing some act of vandalism or criminality downtown).  The entire crowd – probably 4-500 at this point – raced over around the dozen cops, who formed a circle around their quarry.

I turned around; two groups of riot cops (20-30 each) poured out of the capitol in full gear, and raced down the steps, pushing a path through the crowd and formed another circle around the bike cops.  Off to stage left, a group of mounted cops charged across the grounds, leading another group of riot cops on foot.  They formed a double cordon around the bike cops – one facing in, the other facing out, and escorted them over toward John Ireland, where a couple of Saint Paul black and whites came to take the suspects away.

I went down on the capitol grounds as the crowd went back to “enjoying” the shrill, hectoring speeches.  The cops disenagaged with a lot of synchronize shouting and banging of gear, in an almost-tribal display of macho that, I won’t lie, made me proud to be an American.  They pulled back to the top of the capitols steps, behind the stage.

I met Kevin Ecker and Leo Pusateri, about the time word came to us that their permit to use the capitol grounds was going to expire at 5PM.

As a loudspeaker truck went onto the capitol grounds to inform the crowd, the whole mass started moving south toward Constitution Avenue with almost terrifying (at the moment) speed.

That is the one word that describes Senator John McCain’s speech last night. Also, warm, humble and endearing.

My friends, I’ve been an imperfect servant of my country for many years, but I’ve been her servant first, last and always. And I’ve never — (cheers, applause) — I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn’t thank God for the privilege. (Cheers, applause.)

…and after we’ve won, we’re going to reach out our hand to any willing patriot, make this government start working for you again and get this country back on the road to prosperity and peace.

Despite a few gaffes and interruptions from protestors, it was, as it needed to be, his best ever.

By no means is John McCain a legendary orator but that made it real.

The McCain introductory video chronicled the generations of service the McCain family has given to America and featured the Senator’s 96-year old mother “a navy family is wonderful.” It served to illustrate the campaign’s “Country First” mantra while at the same time possibly standing in contrast to Obama’s lack of family history and murky genealogy.

Instead of bowing to critics and leaving out his well-worn tale of his time in the Hanoy Hilton, he delved deeper and the story was renewed, serving to fortify the case for his character and to also underpin “Country First.”

No one would have begrudged McCain taking more than a few shots at Obama and Biden, he took a couple, by name; but mostly McCain cleared a path to the highground, congratulating Obama and emphasizing what they shared in common.

And finally, a word to Senator Obama and his supporters. We’ll go at it — we’ll go at it over the next two months. You know that’s the nature of this business, and there are big differences between us. But you have my respect and my admiration. Despite our differences — (applause) — much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, and that’s an association that means more to me than any other.

We’re dedicated to the proposition that all people are created equal and endowed by our creator with inalienable rights. No country — no country ever had a greater cause than that. And I wouldn’t be an American worthy of the name if I didn’t honor Senator Obama and his supporters for their achievement.

Instead of — (chants of “Zero! Zero!”) — instead of rejecting good ideas because we didn’t think of them first, let’s use the best ideas from both sides. Instead of fighting over who gets the credit, let’s try sharing it. This amazing country — (cheers, applause) — this amazing country can do anything we put our minds to. I’ll ask Democrats and independents to serve with me, and my administration will set a new standard for transparency and accountability. We’re — (cheers, applause) — we’re going to finally starting get — getting things done for the people who are counting on us, and I won’t care who gets the credit.

It was a brilliant move; and clearly sincere.

When he did go into after Obama, it was rarely by name, and it was brief.

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. (Boos.)

I will open — I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. (Boos.)

I will cut government spending. He will increase it. (Boos.)

My tax cuts will create jobs. His tax increases will eliminate them. (Boos.)

Now, my opponent promises to bring back old jobs by wishing away the global economy. We’re going to help workers who’ve lost a job that won’t come back find a new one that won’t go away.

Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucrats. I want schools to answer to parents and students.

If there truly was an indictment, it was delivered to both parties equally, to all of Washington; it was a complicit admission of guilt and failure. It was another brilliant move, emphasizing McCain’s reform manifesto and his reputation as an outspoken “maverick”.

You well know I’ve been called a maverick, someone who — (cheers, applause) — someone who marches to the beat of his own drum.

Sometimes it’s meant as a compliment and sometimes it’s not. (Laughter.) What it really means is I understand who I work for. I don’t work for a party. I don’t work for a special interest. I don’t work for myself. I work for you. Thank you.

I’ve fought corruption, and it didn’t matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust and they had to be held accountable. (Applause.) I’ve fought big spenders — I’ve fought the big spenders in both parties who waste your money on things you neither need nor want. And the first big-spending, pork- barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk, I will veto it. I will make them famous and you will know their names. (Cheers, applause.) You will know their names.

We need to change the way government does almost everything, from the way we protect our security to the way we compete in the world economy; from the way we respond to disasters to the way we fuel our transportation network; from the way we train our workers to the way we educate our children. All these functions of government were designed before the rise of the global economy, the information technology revolution and the end of the Cold War. We have to catch up to history, and we have to change the way we do business in Washington.

I fight to restore the pride and principles of our party. We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us. (Applause.) We lost — we lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptations of corruption. We lost their trust when rather than reform government, both parties made it bigger.

We lost their trust when instead of freeing ourselves from a dangerous dependence on foreign oil, both parties and Senator Obama passed another corporate welfare bill for oil companies. We lost their trust when we valued our power over our principles.

He failed to mention George Bush by name; honored “The President” for leading our nation through the dark times of 9/11 and in more than a symbolic gesture, his speech ran from the Bush administration, putting as much distance there as possible.

I’m grateful to the president of the United States for leading us in these dark days following the worst attack on American history — (extended cheers and applause) — the worst attack on American soil in our history and keeping us safe from another tack — attack that many — many thought was inevitable;

His case for national security hung on his experience and his family history.

I know how the military works, what it can do, what it can do better, and what it shouldn’t do. I know how the world works. I know the good and evil in it. I know how to work with leaders who share our dreams of a freer, safer and more prosperous world, and how to stand up to those who don’t. I know how to secure the peace.

My friends, when I was 5 years old, a car pulled up in front of our house. A Navy officer rolled down the window and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. I rarely saw my father again for four years.

In the end, he unified all that watched in a JFK-like call to action.

My friends, I’ve been an imperfect servant of my country for many years, but I’ve been her servant first, last and always. And I’ve never — (cheers, applause) — I’ve never lived a day, in good times or bad, that I didn’t thank God for the privilege.

I’m going to fight for my cause every day as your president. I’m going to fight to make sure every American has every reason to thank God as I thank him: that I’m an American, a proud citizen of the greatest country on Earth, and with hard work — with hard work, strong faith and a little courage, great things are always within our reach.

Fight with me. Fight with me. Fight for what’s right for our country. Fight for the ideals and character of a free people.

Fight for our children’s future. Fight for justice and opportunity for all.

Stand up to defend our country from its enemies. Stand up for each other; for beautiful, blessed, bountiful America.

Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. Nothing is inevitable here

We’re Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history.

Okay, so maybe not in your neighborhood. 

The Republicans were having some fun last night at the expense of Obama and all other “Community Organizers” across the land who are running for national office with such a prestigious entry on their resumes. 

Sarah Palin was especially animated given the Obama campaign’s insistence of focusing on the VP candidates tenure as Mayor of a small town while conspicuously omitting the same as Governor of a State with hundreds of employees and a 6 billion dollar budget. 

In response, Obama’s peeps felt the need to clarify just what a community organizer is. 

The ‘Community Organizer’s’ New Clothes

But the mystery of the “community organizer’s” job description was solved this morning, when an Obama campaign email, signed by the delightfully named David Plouffe, popped into our inbox. 

I wasn’t planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know it demands a response.

I saw John McCain’s attack squad of negative, cynical politicians. They lied about Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and they attacked you for being a part of this campaign. 

But worst of all–and this deserves to be noted–they insulted the very idea that ordinary people have a role to play in our political process. 

You know that despite what John McCain and his attack squad say, everyday people have the power to build something extraordinary when we come together. Make a donation of $5 or more right now to remind them. 

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin specifically mocked Barack’s experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago more than two decades ago, where he worked with people who had lost jobs and been left behind when the local steel plants closed. 

Let’s clarify something for them right now. 

Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies. 

And it’s no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.  

That’s right–community organizing consists of helping elect Barack Obama president! This fits right in with Obama’s claim, noted here yesterday, that he is more qualified to be president than Palin is to be vice president because, whereas she has run a mere town, he has run a campaign for himself. 

I personally am not so impressed with experience as I am accomplishment. I am surrounded by people that have much experience in their given occupation but little accomplishment. 

Palin’s speech included a joke that was not part of the prepared text: “You know what they say about the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.”

Perhaps someone can recast this as an Obama joke. Here’s our attempt: 

What’s the difference between a “community organizer” and a Chihuahua? A Chihuahua has a real job. 

Sarah Palin has relatively little executive experience, although certainly more than the other three candidates. What she does have, is a series of significant accomplishments that belie her young political career. She has leveraged that experience to serve someone other than herself.

As far as I can tell, Obama has leveraged his position to serve no one but himself.

If you were to extrapolate Palin’s and Obama’s career, ostensibly multiplying each candidate’s accomplishments pro forma, you would in Obama’s case, confirm the theorem that zero times zero is zero. 

Are we supposed to cast our eyes on the slums of Chicago, behold how well organized they are, and exclaim in wonder, “Wow, Barack Obama did that!”?

So maybe zero times zero is negative five? 

From the Governor’s speech last night:  

Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.  

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.  

It’s a good line, but it still doesn’t explain what a “community organizer” does. Take away the “actual responsibilities” of a small-town mayor, and you have . . . nothing. Oh wait, that’s her point, isn’t it?  

The community Barack Obama has organized is, in Plouffe’s own telling, the community of those who admire Barack Obama. He is mayor of Obamaville and aspires to be president of Barackistan. 

It is a sad state of affairs that national politics have become so polarized that a politician with no experience, a history of unsavory associations and no accomplishments to speak of can acquire so much political capital, despite the free flow of information in our connected world. Maybe Obama should have selected Al Gore as an encore VP.

He, like Obama, has done so much with so little.  

The City of Saint Paul has asked downtown businesses to send workers home in advance of the 4PM protest march.

This is the protest dealt with in the meeting I personally covered about six weeks ago:

“We worked very hard to make the Day 1 march on the Xcel something that you can bring your family to and you can all come out for the war. And we believe Day 4 is for the truly committed and for the people who really want to see change and expect that to be a little harder to come to than just showing up with the kids and the balloons.”

Other rumors are flying.

I’ll be on the air tonight from 8 til 10 on AM1280.

CNN interviewed lifelong conservative and Rock and Roll legend Pat Boone at the CNN Grill.

A couple highlights:

I thought because of the tremendous media adulation problem [over Sen. Barack Obama] and also because George Bush’s rating is low that it was like everybody seemed to think it was a slam dunk for the Democrats. And, amazingly, despite all of that adulation, hype and everything else, [Sen. John] McCain is sticking right in there with Obama, and he really hasn’t begun his campaign yet.

On Governor Palin

Here’s somebody in a party that is living its principles

Sen. Obama, I  think, showed his lack of judgment by not choosing the best-qualified woman that he could have chosen as his running mate, one who had already proven able to get 18 million votes. He passed, and he took Joe Biden, who has been in the Senate longer than McCain, which doesn’t bespeak change. Meanwhile, McCain chooses a highly qualified, attractive woman, and I think it just shows that the “Big O,” or, as I like to think, the “Big Zero,” has missed his golden chance. I think he will lose because of this.

CNN.com: Is there a Pat Boone classic you’d like to play for McCain?

Boone: I wrote and produced a music video which I’m offering to the campaign called “For My Country,” the ballad of the National Guard. It is supportive of the troops, supportive of the surge, supportive of McCain who is, whose slogan is “Country First.” And the National Guard and our military are winning the battle in Iraq, even though Obama says we did not support it, we’re winning.

It’s always fun, and unfortunately a novelty, to see an entertainer that is a conservative.

Mary Mitchell at the Chicago Sun-Times makes the by-now ever-more-obligatory nod to the power of Sarah Palin’s speech last night…

…but calls it “mean-spirited”.

“I love those hockey moms. You know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a pit bull — lipstick,” Palin said.

And then she showed us what she means:

“In small towns, we don’t heap praise on working people when they are listening and talk about how bitter they are and they cling to their religions and guns when those people aren’t listening,” she said.

“We prefer candidates who don’t talk to us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”

Those are the kinds of jabs the Obama campaign will have a difficult time dealing with simply because Palin is a female, and the campaign will not want to appear to be sexist.

No, Mary Mitchell.  The Obama campaign will have a difficult time dealing with those jabs because they use Barack Obama’s own words against him. 

Which, I suspect, will soon be called “racist”.

Bruce Benidt from The Same Rowdy Crowd – one of the better (read:  more readable, less drearily awful) leftyblogs in town – seems to enjoy good oratory too:

Democrats have come up against a force here. It’s the same force — absent substance — that worked for George Bush. But Palin is ten times the speaker Bush was and is.

There is no comparing the two as speakers.  Bush is, at best, an adequate orator, with immense preparation and motivation.  He’s at his best one-on-one – not an inconsiderable talent with a job that involves so many personal meetings and so much mano-a-mano armtwisting  and cajoling.

But Palin stands out – especially given the absolutely awful state of political oratory in America today.  Indeed, this campaign is blessed with two excellent orators.  The difference, I think, is that Obama is a lot like an actor; he’s at his best with the big prepared speech.  Is Palin more like the stand-up comic, capable of rolling with the verbal punches?  She as a reputation of thinking on her feet; here’s hoping.

Personal opinion — she’s competely unqualified to be president should something happen to the aged McCain, and McCain’s choice of her is reckless and rash and would endanger the country he claims to put first. And some of what she said was just a lie — Obama will raise taxes on a steelworker, for example.

Tomayto, tomahto; if Obama taxes the company that sells the steelworker the gas to run his car, the steelworker pays for it. 

But I digress.  “Reckless choice” has become the Dem meme lately, begging the question “and so why is the even-less-experienced Obama any better?”

But, she did a very good job tonight, she jabbed at Obama with zest and a smile, and in a dull field of dreadful GOP speakers, she is not just a breath of fresh air but wind and rain and sunshine all at once.

Dull, dreadful speech is epidemic in American politics. Besides Palin, the list of good American political orators is painfully short.  Offhand, I can think of only a few; Tim Pawlenty, Rudy Giuliani…

…I’ll work on it.

Palin stumbled when delivering a few sentences about foreign issues — the only time she was dull and clunky. When talking about family and state government and no new taxes and small town values, she was kickass.

I agree.  About 80% into the speech, she got into some wonky material about foreign policy, and a little energy drained out.  But she recovered and, obviously, finished big. 

She’s trouble for the Dems. A smart pick by McCain in terms of getting elected. A frightening choice for the country.

No more frightening – if experience is the arbiter – than the top of the other ticket is.

I was sitting two booths down from Hugh Hewitt last night, on Radio Row. At one point, I was in a clutch of guys – Hewitt, Dennis Prager, Duane Patterson, King Banaian, Ed Morrissey – that’d challenge anyone’s intellectual adequacy (unless you, like I, ignore the concept).

And you could tell they were elated at the Palin speech. We interviewed Duane and Hugh after the event – that’s a matter of record (and should be going up on Townhall soon). Dennis Prager had another story he shared with me that I’ll hold off on until after his show (since I’m assuming he’ll use it; it is that good).

Hewitt writing on Townhall this morning:

Until yesterday the collective MSM sneer was that Palin was “Hello Kitty,” reeling backwards under the pressure. Now she’s Gorgo, smashing up the MSM’s cars. The dismayed punditry is pondering the “meanness” of her attacks and her lack of details on health care refom. A complete triumph over the Beltway-Manhatan media elites, but they will of course regather in Mordor and try again next week.

That, again, was Duane’s salient point; her address was straight out of the Reagan playbook. It bypassed the media and went to her real audience, the American people.

Of course, nothing cheeses off Big Media like being bypassed.

The Obamains decying “mean-spritiedness” are diminishing Obama the former giant slayer turned victim. They think Sarah Palin, Rudy, Mitt and Huck are tough? Remember Obama is scheduling meetings with Ahmadinejad, Kim, and Chavez for ’09. Disarray is far too complimentary a word to use for the Obama campaign.

So here’s hoping Mac scores the kill tonight.