Gustav thankfully appears to have been weaker 
than expected, and there seems to have been good preparation at all levels, from individual to state to federal. Damage is still being assessed.
The Republican convention will resume as planned. Yesterday there were protests at which a small "splinter group" [that's the police term] of anarchists began damaging property and were arrested .
This is kind of cool: a field designed so that special-needs kids, including those in wheelchairs, can play baseball . From the article: Smith helped raise some of the half-million dollars in private and county funding needed to build the field in 2004. She said she gets goosebumps whenever she watches the young players come across home plate. "The grin and smile on their faces just says it all."
Open thread -- what's happening today?
Comments :
A different view on Palin
Jerome
at MyDD argues that her selection could well bring dissatisfied Republicans who were identifying as independent back into the fold.
I guess it depends on why those quasi-independents were dissatisfied in the first place. IMHO she appeals strongly to social conservatives and somewhat to fiscal conservatives but it's not clear to me that those are the groups that were considering not voting GOP. Still, Dems who are giddy about targeting her record
need to keep in mind (or figure out!) what types of voters she's putting in play for Republicans, and respond accordingly.
I'm certainly looking forward to hearing her speech and to watching the debates.
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
I think she was a good pick -
she picks up a lot of ideological slack from McCain's wobbly history, but also has general appeal as an energetic, self-made politician and mother. From a purely superficial point of view, he couldn't have done better.
On policy, she's extremely weak, but it depends on how much people pay attention to policy. Conservatives are trying to spin her as "just as" or "more" experienced than Obama, but you have to do some real acrobatics to pull that off. One of McCain's men was on CNN yesterday claiming that Palin's leading her state's National Guard means she has more executive experience than Obama - the anchor asked the representative to name one decision she made with the National Guard, and he could not name a single one. (Rather than admit this, he kept saying "plenty!", which is good proof that "I don't know" is an extinct phrase in political punditry.)
Liberals underestimate her at their own peril, but there's a fun essay
at dkos comparing Palin's and Obama's records. It's a little unfair, skimming over some of her accomplishments, but a fun read nonetheless.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Yeah, it's a little unfair
(for example there is too much credit implied for Obama on the immigration bill) but still convincing IMHO.
There's a real danger that McCain's campaign could turn her experience into a punchline if they try to oversell it. Just be upfront about what she has and hasn't done and you'll avoid making her a late-night comedy show caricature.
Although the tinfoil hat theory I've seen floated elsewhere is that there is a deliberate attempt to bait the media and/or Dems into attacking Palin's record, to spin up a backlash. Hard to believe that anti-PC conservatives would take that road, of course...
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
Red State notes
a swing
in new polls of independents away from McCain and towards Obama.
It is the economy, stupid.
McCain's campaign hires the guy that slimed him in 2000's
S. Carolina primary election:
John McCain just hired Tucker Eskew, the guy in charge of sliming him back in South Carolina in 2000. Apparently, he'll be in charge of prepping Sarah Palin for her role as McCain's running mate. As Eric Kleefeld just quipped, what is he gonna do? Accuse Barack Obama of fathering two black children?
That's just sad....
It is the economy, stupid.
If I hadn't seen it, its new to me.
ICE arrest 600 not-white-enough, non-union workers in a unionized plant in Mississippi.
Sure, most of them were likely illegal aliens
, but how can ICE arrest nealry 600 people on unconfirmed allegations? Birds of a feather flock together, arrest them all whether evidence on an individual basis supports such action?
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Mirror, mirror on the wall....
Interesting
.
hmmm.
Hall of Mirrors
The French and Germans must be immune to such things.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Gustav was weaker, but
now we have to worry about Hannah
, possibly Ike 
, possibly Josephine 
. Hannah will hit the Carolinas later in the week; Ike and Josephine are still toss-ups in terms of where they're likely to go. It's going to be a fun hurricane season.
Photos from around New Orleans here
and here 
.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Sarah Palin, book burner & loyalty oath demander.
More history is coming out on Sarah Palin.
Apparently when she was elected Mayor of Wasilla, she asked the Librarian how she could go about banning & removing books she didn't like & claims citizens didn't like. The librarian refused and news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire her for not giving "full support" to the mayor.
Also the Wasilla Police Chief Irl Stambaugh is on his own, Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin announced Friday. The decision came one day after letters signed by Palin were dropped on Stambaugh's and Emmon's desks, telling them their jobs were over as of Feb. 13. Both Stambaugh and Emmons [Baker] publicly supported Palin's opponent, long-time mayor John Stein during the campaign last fall. When she was elected, Palin questioned their loyalty and initially asked for their resignations.
It seems more and more that Sarah is a good little Totalitarian. That's odd from someone who in the 90's described herself as a libertarian.
Asking them to resign
as a loyalty test. If they agreed they could stay? If they said no they were canned?
It is the economy, stupid.
The Daily Kos.... ? Figures, they've had great analysis thus far
NOT!
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
well, check the embedded links
This is the direct quote
from Time:
I'll keep a open mind until an original source is confirmed, but if that's true I find it very disconcerting.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
Come on bro, I could come up with a hundred...
...articles from a source that quotes a source that could not be reached that will prove definitively BO is a Muslim, ok?
This is very vague and should be with held until the facts a confirmed.
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
What's vague about it?
Stein is the former mayor of the town. Hardly an obscure source. How does that even compare to the "Obama is a Muslim" allegation?
What I'm asking for is the original news stories, rather than the retelling in Time. Currently looking for them, but not all small town Alaska rags are archived online.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
The ex Chief of Police is quoted by name.
You can deny it happened all you want but your snide comebacks lack any kind of intelligence and don't further discourse.
But hey, you think librarians banning books is a good thing. No need to ask you which side you're on. We know.
How do you know what he thinks
about librarians banning books?
Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
Of course I'm not for banning books! Pffff...... n/t
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
See, this is what I'm talking about:
after doing some digging, I don't think the story is as bad as it looks on the surface (at least, on the library angle). Palin fired all the city officials
when she took office, so it doesn't look like the librarian was at all targeted because of a censorship issue. And the librarian ended up keeping her job 
- neither original source mentions this book banning issue. And consider that the source for the book banning story is the mayor whom she ousted in 1996.
Barring any new information, I think the book banning story is suspect at best.
That being said, her policy of demanding loyalty of non-political city officials (of librarians? really?) is grade-A creepy.
Saint, n. A dead sinner revised and edited. - Ambrose Bierce
See how lame this stuff is until...
...it is confirmed?
She has some detractors in Alaska because she did reform the government when she took office's. So if you were a lame bearucrat and didb't make the grade for whatever reason, you were gone. I mean how can you reform government with out breaking a few eggs? ;-)
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
Obama is REALLY tripping now! LOL!
When asked about his lack of executive experience, Obama actually responds by citing....(Sorry giggling fit) his campaign as his only executive experience!!
He also highlighted the latest Dem tactic - when comparing himself to Governor Palin - He refers to her "mayoral experience" and compared his campaign to the size of her mayoral staff!! ROTFL
Desperate. Disingenuous. Pathetic.
Watch carefully as the Dems are now doing this repeatedly when referring to Governor Palin as.... "Ex-mayor Palin" or "The one time mayor of a small city" etc.
Never mind Barry disrespects the public's intelligence and Gov. Palin herself by doing so, and it is at his own peril, maybe next time he can make up for it by mentioning that "Governor Palin" presides over a $9 Billion budget and manages 24,000 workers in Alaska!!
Psssst! It's GOVERNOR Palin!!
Even though it is the Republican Governors and the Bush Administration that handled this crisis and reformed FEMA, Obama amazingly somehow takes credit for Gustav successes?
The staged and contrived nature of this interview really elucidates CNN's complicity in the campaign.
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
It's Barack Red Wing, not Barry.
No matter how many McCain Campaign points you've earned you still aren't going to convince anyone that Palin is a good choice to anyone outside the religious right wing fringe.....Oh....hmm, yea....So Sorry. I forgot that's you.
Highway to the Danger Zone
getting close to more ad hominem attacks, imho of course.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
You mean on the part of Barry?
Because I would agree, his attacking Palin for everything except the issues of the day definitely qualifies!
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
Well, don't you believe in Palin's interpretation of the Bible?
She sounds like she's a match made in heaven for your ideas.
That being the case, it brings it all home as to how close these beliefs can be. You and others here believe it.
The case I was working was along the lines of:
the percentages of American Christians that believe in the Bible - all of them.
the percentages of American Christians who believe that the Bible is direct word of God and always literally true - not so much.
I call that "not so much" a fringe belief of the larger set of Christians. How is that defamatory? I'm being straight up here. Don't read more into my statement than what I wrote. I didn't say they were dumb. I didn't say they were wrong. I wrote that they are a small minority of the whole....hence fringe.
Why attack on the issues?
"This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."
Or so I am told.
We are the environment. There is no distinction. What we do to the earth we do to ourselves. —David Suzuki
Plagiarizing someone on an American Idol newsgroup?
Come on man, we can do better than this can't we? ;-)
link
skymutt: wise and powerful... enlightened...
The point is...
...the point. Simple and clear. It's like this library story, the dem's are so scared and spun out they are just making stuff up as they go along. For Barry to claim he is happy his plan is working so well, that he passed legislation, that his plans are being adopted as we speak is a lie. For him to compare his experience to Palin's Mayorial terms shows just how little he has. As for the post I tried to put that blue on it but it kept not taking it and its such an off hand comment I just got frustrated and left it.
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
I'm afraid I can't let you off quite that easy.
It's not just a matter of not including the blockquote here; you lifted several paragraphs from the guy, then reworded them a tiny bit as if that somehow made the words your own. You didn't just "leave it". Not cool.
skymutt: wise and powerful... enlightened...
Fine...
...whatever, I was trying to quote it and comment in between, when that didn't take the post was unintelligible in that form, so what you see was the result of making sense of it, the implication that I am trying anything else is "not cool", it is a silly off hand comment, not a speech.
I do see your point though, sorry bout any confusion.
As far as the original subject we are addressing, this
is a close approximation of how I feel about it all.
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
Bad news
So the interview went well, but my car died just as I got there. So now I'm stuck in the Dayton area until my car is repaired.
Unfortunately, you'll all have to do without my wit and charm for the next few days.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
Need a ride?
I could run down there and get you back home if you're stuck.
skymutt: wise and powerful... enlightened...
Thanks for the offer
I have friends in the area who are putting me up for the time being. Thanks Seth!
I hope to be home by Friday evening, but we'll have to see how long it takes. The thing started right up when the tow truck came, but I still want to get it fixed while I'm down here. If it stalled out again while I'm on I-75, I could cause a serious accident.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
What is the problem with it? n/t
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
Looks like a fuel pump
But I don't know too much about cars. The dealer is looking it over as we speak. Hopefully it won't be something that will take too long.
I never broke the law; I am the law! --
George W. BushJudge DreddI'm listening to...
Boy, hope that's it, quick fix then. Good luck buddy! n/t
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
sorry about that
Just got the domain name transferred to me and didn't change all the proper settings quick - so it was showing the godaddy page.
"To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it." AR
Congradulations.
Running a blog is almost like having a child for the amount of time & effort you have to put in on it.
You've earned it.
I put up a little diary on Daily Kos
It's pretty partisan, not a SwordsCrossed diary, but if anyone's interested...
Chris Wallace tells it like it is about the GOP
skymutt: wise and powerful... enlightened...
Post all the junk you like...
But here's what's really happening
...
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
"Coale *likes* to be called an ambulance chaser:"
Isn't Coale a little esoteric?
"Train wrecks, plane crashes, fires -- you name it, the avuncular Coale has been there, trolling for business among grieving survivors. Valujet's plunge into the Everglades in 1996 gave him several cases."
Just maybe, Coale is looking at the Presidential issue as a business venture, or he is spiteful that a longtime friend lost out on the Democratic nomination and McCain is good enough.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
She “slashed” teen pregnancy fund
The Kossified MSM has completely lost its marbles.
The Washington Post rushes out with a story that GOP Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin “slashed
” funding for teen moms.
Oh, the inhumanity!
Oh, the hypocrisy!
Oh, the conservative callousness!
One little problem, pointed out by non-deranged blogger Lonewacko
:
Wait a minute. State funding for the teen pregnancy program increased? Well, that doesn’t fit the Christofascist hypocrite/Fertilla the Huntress narrative!
What to do? What to do?
What say you, WaPo ombudsman?
M. Malkin
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
Typical liberal accounting practices ...
More money = a cut.
Republican Maverick at Large
-4:Strongly Disagree; 0:Meh; +4:Strongly Agree
"Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms"
Thats an amazing ability to diagnose misleading wording and/or inaccurate reporting from one side of the aisle.
The title should be different and the 1st paragraph should be closer to the following:
But there still is the question of what the funding was in previous years The "2006" data used as the baseline could be a decrease over previous years funds.
In our society, people are rewarded for pretending to be certain about things they're clearly not certain about. -- Sam Harris,
Bad ass anarchists... "Going the right way" LOL!
Chalk one up for the good guy's!
Peaceful demonstrations, sure.... But that's not what these guys are all about apparently.
Busting out law enforcements windows, spitting, and throwing urine on them doesn't seem to be such a good idea?
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman
Well, what do you expect from anarchists?
Isn't this normal behavior for them? :)
Republican Maverick at Large
-4:Strongly Disagree; 0:Meh; +4:Strongly Agree
LOL! Now they say they're going to kidnap a delegate...
...talk about trading up in jail time!
"A society that puts equality before freedom will have neither. A society that puts freedom before equality will get a high degree of both." ~ Milton Friedman