"Struggle to the Death for the . . . Soul (sic) of the [Republican] Party"

Mm. If it had a soul, that would frame well.

From the party that brought us moral AND fiscal bankruptcy! A fight to the death!


A civil war in which insufficiently rightwing very rightwing rightwingers get excommunicated, and the litmus test is -- Sarah Palin!

Sarah who? Oh you know, the winky mavericky demagoguey stealth Talibangelical! The pro-government-forced maternity gal with pesky ethics and grammar issues.

But, wait, it gets better! Sarah Palin then turns into Ronald Reagan! No, really, she does!

From the Guardian UK:

But the real bile has been saved for those conservatives who have balked at the selection of Sarah Palin.

In addition to Mr Frum, who thinks her not ready to be president, Peggy Noonan, Ronald Reagan's greatest speechwriter and a columnist with the Wall Street Journal, condemned Mr McCain's running mate as a "symptom and expression of a new vulgarisation of American politics." Conservative columnist David Brooks called her a "fatal cancer to the Republican Party".

The backlash that ensued last week revealed the fault lines of the coming civil war.

Rush Limbaugh, the doyen of right wing talk radio hosts, denounced Noonan, Brooks and Frum. Neconservative writer Charles Krauthammer condemned "the rush of wet-fingered conservatives leaping to Barack Obama", while fellow columnist Tony Blankley said that instead of collaborating in heralding Mr Obama's arrival they should be fighting "in a struggle to the political death for the soul of the country".

During the primaries the Democratic Party was bitterly divided between Barack Obama's "latte liberals" and Hillary Clinton's heartland supporters, but now the same cultural division threatens to tear the Republican Party apart.

Jim Nuzzo, a White House aide to the first President Bush, dismissed Mrs Palin's critics as "cocktail party conservatives" who "give aid and comfort to the enemy".

He told The Sunday Telegraph: "There's going to be a bloodbath. A lot of people are going to be excommunicated. David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican Party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?"

Mr Frum thinks that Mrs Palin's brand of cultural conservatism appeals only to a dwindling number of voters.

He said: "She emerges from this election as the probable frontrunner for the 2012 nomination. Her supporters vastly outnumber her critics. But it will be extremely difficult for her to win the presidency."

Mr Nuzzo, who believes this election is not a re-run of the 1980 Reagan revolution but of 1976, when an ageing Gerald Ford lost a close contest and then ceded the leadership of the Republican Party to Mr Reagan.

He said: "Win or lose, there is a ready made conservative candidate waiting in the wings. Sarah Palin is not the new Iain Duncan Smith, she is the new Ronald Reagan." On the accuracy of that judgment, perhaps, rests the future of the Republican Party.

---
Full Metal Meltdown.

Indiana Robo-Call Workers Rise Up, Refuse to Pitch RNC Smears

Sounds like they're mad as hell, and they're not gonna take it any more.

"Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at [a robo-call] center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."

Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says."

Shades of this previous recent RNC smear-fest:.

"Hello, I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC, because Democrats are dangerously weak on crime. Barack Obama has voted against tougher penalties for street gangs, drug-related crimes, and protecting children from danger. Barack Obama and his liberal allies have a disturbing history of coddling criminals so we can't trust their judgment to keep our families safe. This call was paid for by the Republican National Committee and McCain-Palin 2008 at 866 558-5591. Thank you, bye."

The workers in Indiana who refused to repeat the smear-script had to pay for it -- losing many hours of work. Sounds like in the end they made the right call.

Go Ahead, Elizabeth Hasselbeck: Make My Day!

One assumes that one's fearless readers will automatically understand why one finds perky spokesmodel 'n rightwing- semi-sex-object TV "personality" Elizabeth Hasselbeck's viewpoint so desperately hilarious.



(And one does wonder about that shade of lime green, yep, one does.)

Prayer Warrior Sarah Palin's Witch-Hunter #2: Mary Glazier

Practice the virtue of patience for the first 45 seconds, at which time the fun begins.

Then check out Palin in My Prayer Group, Says Witch-Hunter #2, by troutfishing. And guess what, the New York Times has finally noticed that something's up. Took them awhile.

Hat-tip to Jesus' General.

Wonderment Du Jour

Sarah Palin. George W. Bush.

Both passionate right-wingers.

Both hard-core Talibangelicals.

Both possessing some personal charm (apparently).

Both clueless about policy.

Both spouting continuous propaganda platitudes.

Both saying un-f*cking-believably stupid things in public.

Both speaking English as if it were a second language.

Both word-salad-ing up the wazoo.


It is sticking to Mrs. Palin.

Didn't stick to Dan Quayle. And it has never stuck to Mr. Bush -- even as he drowned this country in Grover Norquist's bathtub.

Even as he lead his country deeper and deeper into moral and fiscal bankruptcy.


Why might that be, boys and girls?

Thoughts?

"Bitter Infighting Over 'diva' Palin."

Department of Too True, Too True

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The Republican team views the spending story as irrelevant.

"It doesn't matter that Palin's costing us a fortune for her wardrobe," one insider said. "What matters is that she's costing us the election."

Well, w00t!!

Mm. And besides that, the Trophy VEEP now wants to go rogue.

YO! Karl ROVE's Dressing Caribou Barbie!!! (& he has SUCH good taste! He's just a WIZARD with f*-me heels & those cunning lil' jackets! Ooh!)

So, boys and girls, who bought and paid for the Neiman Marcus/Saks 5th/Barney's/Bloomie's/Atelier upscale uptown clothes for Caribou Barbie's Excellent Sexist Sex-Object Trophy VEEP Makeover?

Why, that would be one Jeff Larson!

One of Karl Rove's perception management boys!

Quelle surprise!

Plus ca change plus c'est la meme f*ckin' chose!

Update: Palin Defends Designer Clothes Tab via the Sydney Morning Herald. Hint -- it's not about the money, it's all about sexism, and remember boys and girls, Sarah said on NBC yesterday that she's NOT a feminist! (While being a member of "Feminists (sic) for Life (sic)")



[insert massively inappropriate Palinwink -- here ---]

PS. Seems like John McCain spent over $12K on a make-up artist just last month. Sure beats those $400 Dem haircuts the Pubbies made such a stink about, eh? Palin spent over $13K last month for her make-up artist. They're both such regular Joes, are they not?

No Blood for Hubris Defends Caribou Barbie

Okay, I meant what I said in the post below, but this take is sexist, ergo wrong:"Republicans Disgusted at Palin's $150,000 Shopping Spree"?
Puh-leese.

Be disgusted at the Republican National Committee, not Palin. Her pricey wardrobe was part of the RNC agenda, not Palin's personal agenda. They make-overed her into their sex-object Trophy VEEP. They, not she, deserve blame. (Mrs. Real Pro-America, of course, deserves blame in many other areas. And perhaps for giving her consent, as reader anon points out.)

Dressing Caribou Barbie

Look, people -- do everyday hometown cookie-bakin' anti-feminazi pro-government-forced maternity Talibangelical gurrls just like to have fun?

You betcha!

[insert inappropriate wink -- here --]

Sydney Morning Herald:

Republicans spend a motza* dressing Palin

WASHINGTON: Financial records show the Republican National Committee has spent more than $US 150,000 . . . on clothes for vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the political news website Politico has reported.

The Republicans' main campaign and fund-raising organ spent tens of thousands at high-end stores such as Bloomingdale's and Barney's in New York, Saks Fifth Avenue in St Louis and New York and Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, the website said. The committee also spent $US4716 on hair and make-up during September, Politico reported.

Those kinds of expenditures did not appear in the committee's financial disclosure records before the Alaska Governor was added to John McCain's ticket in August, it said.

Politico said it reviewed the committee's September monthly financial disclosure report and found a new category, "campaign accessories", included in the report of "itemised co-ordinated expenditures" . . .

Another $US4902 was "spent at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men", Politico noted. The spending on Mrs Palin's image emerged at the same time as reports that she has charged the state for her children to travel with her on official visits, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

Mrs Palin has charged the state $US21,012 for her three daughters' commercial flights. The charges included costs for her daughters to join Mrs Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race.

Let's hear it for perception management! w00t!

---
motza -
mot·ser /ˈmɒtsər/

–noun Australian Slang.

a large amount of money, esp. a sum won in gambling.
Also, motzer, motza.

[Origin: 1940–45; perh. alter. of Polari medzers, medzies, metzes money, pl. of medzer, madzer halfpenny, ult. < It mezzo half, mezzo]

"Stop Wasting Time With This Pig"

Guess I picked the wrong day to quit complaining about saving Western civilization (sic) through torture and savagery, eh?

I love primary sources. Check out the link to actual army documents, above (that would be "savagery').

In the meantime, ponder what it means that someone in the army thought this shit up, wrote this shit down, and made a whole shitty actual manual out of it.

It's filled with helpful directions on just the right way to hurt others.

Maybe you have to be a f*cking card-carrying buddhist to think this is totally perversely inherently morally f*cked up but I sure hope not.

Here's a teeny sample:

"The statement 'stop wasting time with this pig' means to discontinue the current training tactic and take a break."

"Us" and "them." There's a theme here. See, once you label them as "pigs" they ain't human, so you can do to them whatever you f*cking like, mm-kay? Well not just what you like. You can do whatever the manual says you can do.

There's a whole section on "DEGRADATION." This includes three sub-sections, the "insult slap," the "stomach slap," and "stripping." The insult slap target is right below the cheekbone, and you have to stop doing it if the detainee tries to duck. No really. The stomach slap is used to shock and intimidate the detainee. Stripping "consists of forceful removal of detainees' clothing. In addition to degradation of the detainee, stripping can be used to demonstrate the omnipotence of the captor [ licensed clinician part of NBFH raises an eyebrow, says neutrally, "Oh? Tell me more." here] or to debilitate the detainee."

Then, there's "PHYSICAL DEBILITATION TACTICS." These get written down in log-books. If you write stuff down it makes it official and ok, see.

Anyhow, there are more fun sections, so I'll be talking about that later, but first I have to go to work. I look forward to describing one stress position, kneeling on the ground with one's arms out holding weights. I like that one in particular because it resembles the way some abusive parents torture children, who then grow up and see me and ask me why their parents did that to them.



And pardon me while I complain as well about information suppression, PBS not daring to air the documentary "Torturing Democracy" before the election because well you know somebody in the pro-torture crowd might be offended by an anti-torture show and complain and/or somebody might have to actually deal with what we have actually done and/or why would we want an informed electorate anyway, eh? Lets just go with mob rule. Namaste to PBS, yep, my tax dollars at work supporting suppression of information about torture yep you betcha (wink wink).

Hat-tip to reader AT.

Girl Set Alight for Wearing Lipstick

Yes, you read that right.

"An 11-year-old girl has been set on fire by a relative in India's northern city of Jaipur for wearing lipstick and being inappropriately dressed.

Police say the girl suffered burns over 90 per cent of her body and her chances of survival are bleak.

They've arrested her great uncle who allegedly poured kerosene on the girl and set her alight yesterday.

Investigators say the 55-year-old man, a conservative Muslim, told the police he was enraged at the girl wearing lipstick and being scantily dressed.

But relatives have accused the man of trying to molest the girl and setting her on fire when she objected."

-------------
Send money to Arthur Silber, who is in so need of it and who writes so well.

The Vicious Mrs. (Palin) Goes Ever So Anti-American

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.



"This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."
-- Sarah Palin in North Carolina

Well, that says it all.

There's "us."

And there's "them."

On the upside, the Palin pick seems to be hurting McCain.

Even among Republicans:

In what read more like an obituary than a commentary, Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism."

(Well, I wouldn't say a "new" vulgarization, actually.)

And among Jewish women voters in Florida:

"[University of Florida political scientist Ken Wald points out that] 'among middle-class Jewish career women in particular, there's a resentment bordering on rage that somebody so obviously unqualified was appointed on the assumption that she would appeal to women. As women of accomplishment, they deeply resent the pandering and take it quite personally.'"

So we'll see.

Update: Guy Who Lied to UN Security Council About WMDs Endorses Obama

Department of "Oh, Puh-LEEZE"

Gag me with a spoon.

WHITE BOOMER WOMEN VOTERS PRIZED.
"Both the McCain and Obama campaigns are courting this voting bloc."

Oh. Right. And don't forget, these old broads are "feisty" but "persuadable."

Hat-tip to VastLeft.

Racist Bigot Pride With a Side Order of Deep-Fried Sociopathy Goes Global

Via the Sydney Morning Herald, Racist Image of Obama.

"A local Republican group has distributed a newsletter picturing Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on a fake $US10 bill adorned with a watermelon, ribs and a bucket of fried chicken.

The drawing harked back to racist images from decades ago in America that featured caricatures of blacks eating watermelon and other Southern foods, often suggesting they were lazy or unclean.

Linking Senator Obama, who is the first black presidential nominee of a major US political party, to such stereotypes drew denunciations from various Republican officials."

"Palin Rally Attendee Assaults Reporter," hat-tip to reader AT.

Let's Hear It For Racist Bigot Pride With a Side Order of Deep-Fried Sociopathy

I'm at work, so I can't do much right now.

But I couldn't resist this charmer.

Then there's Joe Six-Pack Speaks, at Jesus' General.

McCain Rally Preacher Erroneously Calls Buddha a "god," Prays to Christian God to Save God's Rep By Causing McCain Victory

Just another day in samsara as usual, home of passion, aggression and -- ignorance.

How offensive is this guy's total ignorance about Buddhism in particular to this card-carrying Buddhist? Mm -- very. (But in a dharmic context.) Plus his um wacko attitude toward several other religions.

Who does he think he is?

Oh, right. He's just being proud and godly, not totally incorrect and repulsive and wicked arrogant. Yuh. Blessed are the meek, dude.

Another fake Christian in need of remedial Sunday School.

Sigh. One of so many.



Dharmic context:**

13.

Even if someone cuts your head off
For having done nothing wrong,
To take on that person's negativities
Through the power of compassion
Is the practice of a bodhisattva.

Hat-tip to Jesus' General

and to TPM.

Cross-posted at Buddhist Jihad.

Todd Palin: Alaska's "Shadow Governor"

Via the Sydney Morning Herald: Todd Palin: The 'Shadow Governor'.

Hat-tip to Mr. NBFH.

RJ Eskow's "GOP's Defense: She Shot The Sheriff But She Did Not Shoot the Deputy."

There's Something Really Really Wrong With These People

More ugly Americans.

Ugly American Bushist fascists, that is, via reader AT, from Blogger Interrupted.

Thoughts on the McCain/Palin Mobs.

McCain/Palin Mobs Part 2, Woman's Child Says of Barrack, You Need Gloves to Touch Him.

John Lewis, Sowing the Seeds of Hatred and Division.

Via Austin Cline at Jesus' General: Political Mergers: Nazis & Republicans Singing Kumbaya Around the Burning Cross.

Throw the Bums Out

Via the Sydney Morning Herald, Obama Soars Ahead of McCain in Polls.

The magazine [Newsweek] reported 86 per cent of the 1212 voters polled said they are dissatisfied with how things were going in the United States. The economy was the biggest concern with 48 per cent. When asked which candidate would better handle a number of issues, Senator Obama topped every category except national security and terrorism.

"For context on just how toxic these numbers could be for the Republican Party, consider that in October 2006, weeks before the Democrats swept control of both houses of Congress, only 61 per cent of voters expressed dissatisfaction," Newsweek wrote.

Stats from Hominid Views, here.

Troopergate: Palin Abused Power

Via Alaska Mudflats:

Finding Number One:

For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) provides

“The legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust.”

Via the Sydney Morning Herald: Here goes. Watch out for the spin. In all probability, God told her to do it, which would make it all ok, ok?

Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin abused her position as Alaska Governor by pressuring officials to dismiss a state trooper, an investigator's report said.

In a 263-page report released on Friday by Alaska's Legislative Council following a six-hour closed doors hearing, investigator Steve Branchflower said Palin was guilty of violating ethics rules for public officials.

The investigator said Palin had allowed her husband Todd Palin to use the Alaska Governor's office and its resources to pressure officials to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, her former brother-in-law.

"Governor Palin knowingly permitted a situation to continue where impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired," the report said.

There's Something Really Wrong With These People

Ah, a lineful of Bushist fascists.

So sweet. So kind. So very Christian.



Are they not?

Don't they make you want to save Western Civilization? From itself?


(hat-tip to reader AT)

McCain and Palin's Lynch-Mob Tactics

More about Bushist fascist mobbism.

Anger at McCain Rally: More Ugly Americans

Still more. Still ugly.

Sarah Goes & Investigates Herself re: Troopergate: Finds Self Innocent on All Charges!

Yep. It's true. Palin has found that she didn't do it. Via Alaska Mudflats.

And it's not just Sarah.: McCain Camp Clears Palin of Wrongdoing in Troopergate.

But, then there's this at the NY Times: In all, the commissioner [Monegan] and his aides were contacted about Trooper Wooten three dozen times over 19 months by the governor, her husband and seven administration officials, interviews and documents show.

Oh!


-----
Update: Palin Abused Power re Troopergate.
(I saw this on local TV, can't find it on the internets tubes yet. Working on it.)

Obama Widens Lead on McCain; Palin Unfavorables Rise

Via the Sydney Morning Herald. Via Hominid Views.

One is not okay with the vicious Mrs. Palin's continuing race-baiting, either. No time to address this at length, but one can visualize Sarah Palin dancing around like Anita from West Side Story, and singing, "Stick to your own kind! One of your own kind!"

Here's David Brooks (a Republican, I think?) calling Palin "a fatal cancer to the Republican party." Now that's harsh.

Hat-tip to reader AT, more on Palin's Talibangelical connections.

Fiscal Bankruptcy, Moral Bankruptcy, & The Long Road Ahead

Now that we're all drowning in Grover Norquist's scum-filled Bushist fascist bathtub, what is to be done?

Stirling Newberry's Like A Bear in A China Shop.

Now Do You See What I Mean?

Yuh, Trophy VEEP.

Said so. Think so. Trophy as in sex object.

Doing trophy things apparently on purpose. Which is, you know, not okay, but is completely inappropriate. [Insert inappropriate winking and sparkly-smile here. We ARE really running for Prom Queen! Ohh! Vote for ME!]

Catch this wet-dream moment from Rich Lowry of the National Review, an adult male person, a grown-up kinda guy, who apparently still resides in Animal House.* Free of shame. Lost in a huge erotic fog, due to Palin's wink winks. And Sparkly-smile. (God Lowry must be a cheap date. ;))

Projecting through the Screen [Rich Lowry]

A very wise TV executive once told me that the key to TV is projecting through the screen. It's one of the keys to the success of, say, a Bill O'Reilly, who comes through the screen and grabs you by the throat.

Palin too projects through the screen like crazy.

I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me."

And her smile.

By the end, when she clearly knew she was doing well, it was so sparkling it was almost mesmerizing.

It sent little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms of America.

This is a quality that can't be learned; it's either something you have or you don't, and man, she's got it.

Yuh, he "sat up a little straighter on the couch," did he?

Was that Rich standing up, or . . ..?

Never mind.

I feel exactly the same way about Dick Cheney.

No really.

I do.

; )


(that would be a wink, there. ; ) )




------
* [Animal House, as in demonstrating a total lack of sexual sophistication]
Oh, and here's a nasty sexist screed from Belinda of Time Magazine on why some women (like oneself?) so dislike Palin. Surprise answer: because we are women, and women are just such bitches. End of story. Nothing about facts, just feelings. You know how broads are.