<Crossposted at [redacted] and DailyKos>

Howdy all!

Alaska has a population of roughly 670,000.  The 1970 census shows that Cleveland had a population of 750,829, and the 1980 census shows a popuation of 573,912.  Then Mayor Dennis Kucinich had executive control over a population (during his term, which ran from 1977 to 1979) roughly equivalent to the modern population of Alaska.  The "Boy Mayor" was a dismal failure, leading the city of Cleveland to default on its debt.  However, he'd had a full two years running the place.  I live not far South of Cleveland, so the story is known to me.  

Sarah Palin has been in charge of Alaska for about 18 months.  Anyone care to point out to the Republicans that Congressman Kucinich was more qualified prior to winning his seat?

(Proudly cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama)

Wow! So John McCain has really proven his "feminist" street cred by picking Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his VP. Oh yes, and aren't they both such mavericks! McCain-Palin just smells like real change now, doesn't it?

Wait... Hold on. So we have some pesky facts to get in the way of a lovely corporate media narrative? Oh, darn!

Too Bad MyDD did not spend time in the Streets

When I first found out about Gov. Palin's being chosen for Vice-President I was a bit worried. I thought that because she was a women that we could not attack her and debate her the way we wanted to due to Rick Lazio's failed attacks on Hillary in 2000 and Obama and Edwards ganging up on Hillary in the New Hampshire debate. But as I find out how people are reacting to Palin's inexperienced and unknown name recognition I'm getting more optimistic about Palin being a horrible pick. To prove that, all we need is for her to say she has as much experiance as John Kennedy did when he entered the White House.

GO OBAMA/BIDEN!!!!  

I wanted to say , and I hope I am writing this to be more a topic of discussion, rather than confession - that Obama's speech really affected me on a personal level.

I have alot of personal issues, I'm a pretty bright person - I have a tendency to be sort of, well - I get caught up in occupational slumming. As a researcher, I tend to get tangled in problems I really shouldn't be working on. I do alot of "mcjobs" and sure, I get them done. But I have some important things I need to get done that usually get put off.

And I just looked at this guy from the midwest, standing up there accepting the nomination for president and I said to myself. Wow. You know. This guy is really talking about us, not himself. He wants us to do something.

It sort of hit me like, you know - ask not what your country can do for you - but what you can do for your country.

And I just said to myself. Ok. Hell. Lets get this whole thing done. And so here I am at work, occupational slumming on this blog.  And I'm going to get back to work here. :-}

And so I will leave it at that and get back to work. But I wanted to just ask, did that speech hit you where you live?

(x-Posted at Daily Kos)

For what it's worth, and since everybody's weighing in on the subject, I thought I'd post my most recent opinion column concerning Sarah Palin for your consideration. I know that there's no shortage of verbiage on this subject today, but I'd be interested to know what some of you think.

Firstly, a hat-tip to Kos and Trapper John, who variously informed/reminded me of some of dear Sarah's "qualifications" in their front page posts as I was writing this. Invaluable assistance, and greatly appreciated.

Column is below...

Today we saw who John Airbus McCain picked for as his Vice Presidential candidate.  The selection of Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin effectively negates further discussion about Barack's so-called lack of experience.  The talking heads are say that at the end of the day it's who is at the top of the ticket that folks will be voting for.  That is true, but I think that misses something very important.

Dan Quayle, met Sarah Palin.  Sarah Palin, met 1988.

This pick is a disaster in many ways.  I find that it is my civil duty to list them, so here goes:

1.  McCain experience attack meme?  Dead.  She has 19 months experience as the Governor of Alaska.  Otherwise, she was mayor of a small town, and a Beauty Queen, (love those pics, BTW).  She is now a heartbeat away from running the country.  How comforting.

2. Bush/Cheney big oil?  She's so deeply immersed in big oil, it makes Cheney look like Al Gore.  No maverick environmentalist here.  Alternative energy?  No!  Let's fucking drill some more, and some more, and some more.

3. Obama the Celebrity?  Try "Palin the Beauty Queen."  The meme is now dead.  

"Obama's a celebrity? Really? have you seen these Beauty Queen shots?"