48 Percent of the GOP Is ... Not Brilliant

United States Constitution, Article VI, paragraph 3: "[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Hey, all you Constitution-reading, all-so-tolerant elitists, [that's goes double for you, Mikey Weinstein, your blood will run wild and free with the other non-believers' in a long river] so now you're going tell us that Muslims should be allowed to run for president?

Just channeling Sarah Palin and Rod Parsley there, folks. Didn't mean to scare you.

What is scary is reading Ronald Brownstein's column in the National Journal Friday discussing the political culture where "a plurality of Republicans said Muslims should not be allowed to run for president."

In a national Time magazine poll released last week, just under half of all Americans agreed that Islam is more likely than other faiths to promote violence against nonbelievers. But that number rose to 70 percent among Republicans and nearly three-fourths among conservatives.

Fully 55 percent of all Americans said they believed that most U.S. Muslims are patriotic; but only 42 percent of Republicans and 38 percent of conservatives agreed.
Perhaps most strikingly, 43 percent of conservatives and a 48 percent plurality of Republicans said Muslims should not be allowed to run for president. Only about one-fourth of Democrats and independents agreed.

So does that 48 percent of Republicans not support the United States Constitution, Article VI, paragraph 3 stating that " .... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States"?

Here's a wild guess: These GOPers have not read the United States Constitution and they do not think about it.

To borrow from the famous exchange between William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow during the Scopes Monkey Trial (1925), a spectacle that put American ignorance on trial in a legal challenge to a Tennessee statute banning evolution being taught in public schools:

"I do not think about things I don't think about," said the confused religious fundamentalist, Jennings Bryan; to which Darrow replied caustically, "Do you think about the things you do think about?"

Much of America looks on with a mixture of incredulity, alarm and loathing as the confused later-day Bryan bigots run wild.

We hope that things are not as bad they seem. Maybe it 1998 again and only the talking heads care about this manufactured spectacle and like in '98, 70 percent of the populace is using their collective head and don't hold views comporting to the Newts, Sarahs and the like.

But face it folks, in 2010 a plurality of Republicans do not think much about the things they do think about.

Sarah Palin: Obama Is Pushing 'Myth That Racial Profiling Is Part' of Arizona Immigration Law

Amid a backlash from civil libertairans and law enforcement officials, Sarah Palin defedned Arizona's new immigration bill.

Sarah Palin appeared on Fox News and straightened out the record: No racial profiling in Arizona after-all. Sure, if you look brown and have no papers, you land in jail. The Fourth Amendment, the 14th Amendment, these rights are for wusses.

From Huffington:

Sarah Palin called Arizona's controversial new immigration bill a "reasonable...wake up call" Tuesday, and criticized President Obama for "perpetuating this myth that racial profiling is a part of this law."

In an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity -- who introduced the segment by accusing "pro-illegal immigration" protesters of not actually reading the legislation -- Sarah Palin said "there is no ability or opportunity in there for the racial profiling" in the law.

Critics have argued that the broader powers of law enforcement officials to stop and question suspected illegals who would, with this legislation, be considered to be "breaking the law" if they are in the state, will inevitably lead to racial profiling.

Palin, however, denied these claims.

"Shame on the lamestream media again for turning this into something that it is not," Palin insisted. "Governor Jan Brewer did what she had to do as the CEO of that state to help protect the citizens of her state she had to do what the federal government has refused to do and that is help secure the borders."

Sarah Palin in '12

Update: Welcome to the Republican National Committee's winter meeting -- and the GOP's alternate reality, where happy days are nearly here again. (Madden, Salon)

From Charlie Cook:

" ... From a list of 10 possible GOP contenders, respondents [in a Gallup Poll conducted post-election November 5 to 16] were asked which ones they would like to see run for president in 2012."

Running first was the party's 2008 vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, with 67 percent wanting her to run."

I say go, Sarah, go. 2012, is not 2004, nor even 1980.

More Americans than ever are disinclined to vote for ignoramuses with no idea what public policy is or why it's important. The reality-based community is thriving.

The Republicans, Which Way Forward

[Writer’s Preface: We’re going to win but we assume nothing beyond the rapacious, corrupt nature of GOP political operatives exemplified by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen determined to thwart the will of the American people. Van Hollen lost, by the way. GOTV baby, GOTV.]

"The Republicans: Half religious zealots wanting to control every breath every citizen takes. And half ego-anarchist, libertarian cowboys shrilling for no government."
- Tony Kushner, Angels in America (2004)

After next Tuesday's historical defeat, the GOP will do a lot of soul-searching and conclude the GOP needs to drill for more oil, make more enemies abroad, and for God's sake do away with once and for all a woman's right to choose. Deep thinkers, the GOP.

No matter the post-election machinations of the amoral political operatives, I saw Republican future and its name is: Sarah Palin.

We could have not pleaded for a better figurehead.

SNL VP Debate

Comic relief is required when writing about Wall Street, the Palestinians or the shredding of the American Constitution.

GOP Just Hanging On Now

In the debate last night an inane Sarah Palin was trying to impress upon the press corp that though she lacked world knowledge and ability to formulate effective and detailed policy, she could recite talking points and rhetoric well.

Whether she succeeded is debatable, but good enough for Republican work.

From Huffington: CNN: Biden Dominates Among Undecideds... CBS Focus Group: Biden Wins

" ... (S)he got out alive, though there were white-knuckle moments along the way: questions that were answered with painfully obvious talking points that betrayed scant knowledge of the issue at hand, and sometimes little relevance to the question that had been asked. ... She looked like she trying to get people to take her seriously. He looked like he was running for vice president. His answers were more responsive to the questions, far more detailed and less rhetorical. "
- John F. Harris and Mike Allen, The Politico

Sarah Palin Coming to Your Swing State

In an effort to capture key swing states and defeat Barack Obama, the military-minded Our Country Deserves Better PAC is set to run TV spots promoting: Sarah Palin.

The group says that the United States deserves a better commander-in-chief than Barack Obama, and thus is touting Gov. Sarah Palin.

From a fundraising e-mail:

The Our Country Deserves Better Committee is producing a new television commercial that supports Gov. Sarah Palin, touts her accomplishments, and highlights her vision for a strong, vibrant and secure America.

The group plans a track through the United States holding rallies in swing states represented on the map below, asking attendees to brings resumes to highlight Obama's alleged lack of executive experience vis-a-vis Sarah Palin.

Well, it's creative.

The group plans rallies in Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay on October 22.

Reads the website:
Bring a copy of your resume to the rallies! That’s right, we’ll be collecting resumes from people at stops all across the nation, so if you have any executive experience -- either as someone who ran or started your own small business, or a housemom who raised a family, or a senior-level executive who had high-level responsibilities, etc... be sure to bring your resume with you to the rally in your community. ... We won't be subtle or vague - America's future is at stake, and it's time someone stood up to Barack Obama and told the American people why this man cannot, and must not, serve as our next Commander-in-Chief.

Standing Up ... to the Man

Robert Kuttner ask in The American Prospect, "Will congressional Democrats (and Republicans) stand up to the treasury secretary?"

The early answer is a resounding 'yes'.

From the Times:

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. received an angry and skeptical reception on Tuesday when he appeared before the Senate Banking Committee to ask Congress to promptly give him wide authority to rescue the nation’s financial system.

The time when Bush can steam-roll the Congress on anything is over. This political reality stands in glaring relief when we speak about the future of capitalism and the economic security of American families.

Good that Senators are asking some questions.

Obama's performance at a press conference today about the proposed financial rescue package in Tampa, Florida shows a confident, knowledgeable candidate asking a lot questions and laying out clear parameters, qualities of no little political significance a few days before the big debate as McCain and Palin draw press criticism for hiding from answering questions as one reporter today asked McCain whether he should rename his campaign bus the "no-talk express".

Obama Statement

Yesterday, the President said that Congress should pass his proposal to ease the crisis on Wall Street without significant changes or improvements.

Now, there are many to blame for causing the current crisis, starting with the speculators who gamed the system and the regulators who looked the other way. But all of us now have a stake in solving it and saving our financial institutions from collapse. Because if we don’t, the jobs and life savings of millions will be put at risk.

Given that fact, the President’s stubborn inflexibility is both unacceptable and disturbingly familiar. This is not the time for my-way-or-the-highway intransigence from anyone involved. It’s not the time for fear or panic. It’s the time for resolve, responsibility, and reasonableness.

And it is wholly unreasonable to expect that American taxpayers would or should hand this Administration or any Administration a $700 billion blank check with absolutely no oversight or conditions when a lack of oversight in Washington and on Wall Street is exactly what got us into this mess.

Now that the American people are being called upon to finance this solution, the American people have the right to certain protections and assurances from Washington.

First, the plan must include protections to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not used to further reward the bad behavior of irresponsible CEOs on Wall Street. There has been talk that some CEOs may refuse to cooperate with this plan if they have to forgo multi-million-dollar salaries. I cannot imagine a position more selfish and greedy at a time of national crisis. And I would like to speak directly to those CEOs right now: Do not make that mistake. You are stewards for workers and communities all across our country who have put their trust in you. With the enormous rewards you have reaped come responsibilities, and we expect and demand that you to live up to them. This plan cannot be a welfare program for Wall Street executives.

Second, the power to spend $700 billion of taxpayer money cannot be left to the discretion of one man, no matter who he is or which party he is from. I have great respect for Secretary Paulson, but he cannot act alone. We should set up an independent board that includes some of the most respected figures in our country, chosen by Democrats and Republicans, to provide oversight and accountability at every step of the way. I am heartened that Secretary Paulson appeared to be softening on this position in his testimony this morning.

Third, if taxpayers are being asked to underwrite hundreds of billions of dollars to solve this crisis, they must be treated like investors. The American people should share in the upside as Wall Street recovers. There are different ways to accomplish this, including putting equity into these firms instead of buying their troubled assets.

But regardless of how we structure the plan, if the government makes any kind of profit on this deal, we must give every penny back to the taxpayers who put up the money in the first place. And after the economy recovers, we should institute a Financial Stability Fee on the entire financial services industry to repay any losses to the American people and make sure we are never asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes again. We can ask taxpayers to make an investment in the stability of our economy, but we cannot ask them to hand their money over to Wall Street without some expectation of return.

Fourth, the final plan must provide help to families who are struggling to stay in their homes. We cannot simply bailout Wall Street without helping the millions of innocent homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

There are a number of ways we can accomplish this. For example, we should consider giving the government the authority to purchase mortgages directly instead of simply mortgage-backed securities. In the past, such an approach has allowed taxpayers to profit as the housing market recovered. This is not simply a question of looking after homeowners, it’s doubtful that the economy as a whole can recover without the restoration of our housing sector, including a rebound in the home values that have suffered dramatically in recent months.

Finally, the American people need to know that we feel as great a sense of urgency about the emergency on Main Street as we do about the emergency on Wall Street. I have repeatedly called on President Bush and Senator McCain to join me in supporting an economic stimulus plan for working families – a plan that would help folks cope with rising food and gas prices, save one million jobs by rebuilding our schools and roads, help states and cities avoid painful budget cuts and tax increases, and help homeowners stay in their homes.

Let me be clear – we shouldn’t include this stimulus package into this particular legislation, but as we solve the immediate crisis on Wall Street, we should move with the same sense of urgency to help Main Street.

It is absolutely wrong to suggest that we cannot protect American taxpayers while still stabilizing our market and saving our financial system from collapse. We can and must do both.

In summary, there is no doubt negotiations over the next few days will be difficult. I will continue to keep in close touch with Secretary Paulson, Chairman Bernanke, and the leaders of Congress to ensure that we can work in a bipartisan manner to get this done as quickly as possible. Our country is being tested by a very serious crisis. We are all in this together, and we must come together as Democrats and Republicans, on Wall Street and on Main Street to solve it. And with the proper spirit of cooperation, I know we can.

Not Qualified to Follow

The latest New York Times/CBS News poll finds that most Americans aren't buying the Sarah Palin never-blinks-and-so-ready-to-lead line.

"More than 6 in 10 said they would be concerned if Mr. McCain could not finish his term and Ms. Palin had to take over," says the Times piece.

Polling questions are not always well-formulated.

John McCain, on the other hand, after championing deregulation for decades and seeing his numbers drop, now says his "experience and leadership" will lead the way to reforming Wall Street and protecting the American people.

It's looking likely that most Americans won't buy McCain's line in November.

But one has to wonder what goes on in the mind of the depoliticized American voter in ruminating about qualifications and experience to occupy the presidency.

I mean George W. Bush has been president for seven years and he is still not qualified to serve as president. What would the American public say to the is-Bush-qualified-to-lead question?

A closer look at the political views of Americans reveals that though their notions are vague, most still believe that the presidency is largely a figurehead for special interests looking out for themselves.

"About three-quarters of the population regarded the elections as largely a game played by powerful moneyed interests, party bosses and the public relations industry, which molded the candidates to act and speak in ways that would garner votes, so that it was impossible to believe the candidates even when they were intelligible," said Noam Chomsky after the 2000 elections.

I doubt though that Chomsky's empirically-based views will be presented in the corporate mainstream media no matter how widely held they are among Americans.

Isn't American democracy about the elected representatives following the will of Americans, and not the other way around?

More revealing polling questions would be:

- Just who do Bush, Cheney and McCain think they are?

- Shouldn't the government follow the will and interests of the vast number of Americans and not lead Americans in pursuit of policies serving powerful moneyed interests?

Palin the Lightweight

Speaking in apocalyptic terms to shore up the-anti-Christ-is-near vote, Sarah Palin demonstrated that she can follow political marching orders and that she is strikingly ignorant.

Sarah, Oh Sarah

Update: A religious extremist a heartbeat away from the presidency?

Sarah Palin: McCain's won't let her near a press conference or an unscripted forum facing questions.

At least let her speak in tongues.

As Steve Hanson writes:
I swore that I wouldn't pile on to the Sarah Palin story, despite her and John McCain's need to lie continually in their speeches - but I think this should be seen. I think a person's religion is their own business - but when we're being asked to elect someone who would ask her church to pray for a pipeline because it's part of her political agenda --- it raises a lot of questions.

Jon on Sarah

Republicans are hypocrites and liars, but never say that out loud or even ask questions if you want to cover the presidential election on MSNBC.

An Alaskan's View: Unequivocally unqualified to be vice president

Update: From MyDD: Rightwing writer Peggy Noonan discussing the choice of Sarah Palin with Chuck Todd says off-camera (MSNBC), "It's over."

The absurd GOP attempt to sell Gov. Sarah Palin (and former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska) and compare her intelligence and heft to that of Hillary Clinton is provoking a backlash from Hillary supporters.

Here is the text of an e-mail from a genuinely frightened Alaska resident making the rounds:

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her. The most accurate description of her is red neck.

Her husband works in the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school system.

We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country. Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is appropriate is beyond me. If you want to know more about the aerial hunting travesty, let me know and I will send some links to informative web sites. Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla, a small red neck town outside Anchorage. The average maximum education level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade.

Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about. These people don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.

Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's performance and ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn't close to the scandal of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin isn't "squeaky clean" and causes me to think there may be more issues that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn't care.

When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me. In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president.

John McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro.

Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton. To those of you who, like me, supported Hilary and were upset that she did not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you think the media and the democratic party may have done to undermine her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To those of you who are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain is to be president. To those of you who are conservative, I guess you have no choice for president. But please try to see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment.

While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone president. I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high. I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.

Nice Obama Bounce

From Pollster.com. One must believe that the Republicans are so scared that they would virtually ban Bush and Cheney from the convention, and nominate "Caribou Barbie" (that's what Stephanie Miller calls her) for vice-president and hype her national security credentials with mostly straight faces (see also the Campbell Brown interview below).

Fun times.
















Campbell Brown and a top McCain spokesman Monday night in which Brown (smiling after) asked for examples of a foreign-policy decision made by Republican vice president pick Sarah Palin.

What Did McCain Know

The vetting process that went into John McCain’s most important decision as a presidential candidate is drawing wide scrutiny, casting a shadow over his candidacy right as the GOP convention gets under way.

- Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process

- Republicans Rush In

- How thoroughly did McCain's campaign vet Palin?

Desperate McCain Becoming Conventional Wisdom

The truism that the Hillary Clinton campaign was over after the Wisconsin primary went unacknowledged by most political bloviators.

So too is the truism that McCain is on the verge of a landslide defeat in November.

The right-leaning Politico is blowing the whistle:

He’s desperate. Let’s stop pretending this race is as close as national polling suggests. The truth is McCain is essentially tied or trailing in every swing state that matters — and too close for comfort in several states, such as Indiana and Montana, that the GOP usually wins pretty easily in presidential races. On top of that, voters seem very inclined to elect Democrats in general this election — and very sick of the Bush years.

McCain could easily lose in an electoral landslide. That is the private view of Democrats and Republicans alike.
- JIM VANDEHEI & JOHN F. HARRIS

Then again, McCain's VP pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, did head Alaska's National Guard for almost two years. So remember this when you hear the blowhards and their "inane manufactured melodrama" on the TV, as Frank Rich advises.

The Old Man and the She

Update: Most observers mention Palin’s less-than-two-year administration of Alaska's National Guard as a sardonic reference to her stunning lack of credentials to become commander-in-chief, but not Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville); Ryan hypes it.

Said Ryan in a statement: "As the head of Alaska's National Guard and mother of a soldier she understands the importance of supporting our brave men and women in uniform. … I look forward to giving everything I've got to help the McCain-Palin team win in Wisconsin, so they can bring the right kind of change to Washington." (MJS, Aug. 29, 2008) The GOP looks like some desperate dudes. Can you imagine any Democratic nominee for president or vice-president touting his/her credentials by pointing to heading the Alaska National Guard for less than two years?

Like a modern-day Santiago, the politically ailing John McCain battles the titanic forces of Barack Obama and spears his GOP the largest catch of his political life: The great marlin in the form of Governor Sarah Palin.

At least McCain managed to convincingly tap down the expectations of the GOP convention, if Hurricane Gustav does not force a postponement.

But there is no fleeting joy in McCain's vice-presidential pick, and less than 24 hours after the roll-out, the sharks and those Hillary-voting women (you know how they get), have left the political carcass of Sarah Palin as a symbol of McCain battling a man and a country with ideas whose time has come.

Really, does McCain believe every woman supporting Hillary is as dumb as former Wisconsin DNC delegate Debra Bartoshevich?

The selection of Sarah Palin is not only a colossal lapse of judgment, it is a demonstration that McCain is surrounding himself with people who can not or will not speak truth to power. Either McCain’s advisors are afraid to tell him that he is making a major mistake or, perhaps more importantly, he isn’t listening to them in the first place. Way to be a maverick John.

Or, this may be a manifestation of the fact that John McCain is not so very smart.

Gail Collins today (is she ever a meanie, can't wait to read Maureen Dowd tomorrow) has some fun in the New York Times:

... McCain does not believe in pandering to identity politics. He was looking for someone who was well prepared to fight against international Islamic extremism, the transcendent issue of our time. And in the end he decided that in good conscience, he was not going to settle for anyone who had not been commander of a state national guard for at least a year and a half. He put down his foot!

The obvious choice was Palin, the governor of Alaska, whose guard stands as our last best defense against possible attack by the resurgent Russian menace across the Bering Strait. ... The idea that women are going to race off to vote for any candidate with the same internal plumbing is both offensive and historically wrong. ... If she’s only on the ticket to try to get disaffected Clinton supporters to cross over, it’s a bad choice. Joe Biden may already be practicing his drop-dead line for the vice-presidential debate: 'I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine, and governor, you’re no Hillary Clinton.'

Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as McCain's VP

Update: TNR: Palin Denies That Global Warming Is Man-Made - In response to this question: "What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?" Palin answered: "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

Update II: U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) said: "As the head of Alaska's National Guard and mother of a soldier she understands the importance of supporting our brave men and women in uniform. ... I look forward to giving everything I've got to help the McCain-Palin team win in Wisconsin, so they can bring the right kind of change to Washington."

Inexperienced, corrupt, lacking intellect and sure to annoy the religious right, meet Gov. Sarah Palin.

Though a 44-year-old Christian rightwinger, Talking Points Memo reports that Palin vetoed ban on same-sex benefits.

Will Hillary voters flock to Palin: No way.

As John Podesta writes in the Post:

A potential vice president with the ideology of Dick Cheney and fewer qualifications than Dan Quayle should send arctic shivers up our spines.