Sarah Palin Emails - the first 2,300 pages

12:25 PM: I have deleted the embedded emails because they are slowing down the PCs of many of my readers. Instead, here's a link.

McCain Palin Campaign Snubs PSU Prez

Obama and McCain are supposed to be kicking and fighting and mudwrestling over every vote here in the Keystone state. After all, this is one of the "battlegrounds." But amazingly, at the very time that Palin was flailin' at PSU on Tuesday, some idiots in that campaign refused to allow Penn State Prez Graham Spanier to greet Palin or attend her event.

"He's a big Democrat. Why would he want to meet Palin?" is what a campaign aide allegedly asked.

There you have it. If you are a Democrat, the McCain-Palin camp wants nothing to do with you.

I'm heartbroken.

McCain Support at Stabler Demonized

Earlier today, I told you about the exchanges between McCain supporters and deriders outside Stabler arena. Exchanges of vitriol, delivered with smiles, were very much two-sided.

Mike Morrill, Dear Leader at Keystone Progress, was there, too. He's now circulating an email, with a link to a very misleading video. He includes some of the more goofy statements made by McCain supporters with no mention of the equally ridiculous taunts coming from the other side.

It is an intellectually dishonest portrayal of the exchanges. The obvious reason is to demonize McCain support.

Lehigh's McCain-Palin Rally - The View From Outside

Arriving early at Lehigh's Stabler Arena on Tuesday, I thought I'd have no problem parking and getting in line for the show. I thought wrong.

You see, most of these folks are Republicans. When they're told to be somewhere at 10 AM, they show up at 9 AM. Lots of suits and ties and good-looking women, too. Everyone was lining up along the sidewalk to nowhere, which wound all over the place. Nobody was trying to cut in front of anyone. Nobody even ducked behind a bush to take a whizz.

I was looking for the protesters, so I popped off the yellow brick road and began looking until I found a small group of about 18 "protesters" in a parking lot located just a few yards from where Republicans were queued up.

Lucky for me, this parking lot was the place set aside for VIPs like those MSM broadcast journalists. Every now and then, some really hot-looking babe would saunter by, microphone in hand, looking more like a high class hooker than a reporter. A few gave me bedroom eyes, but I was a blogger on a mission. I was there for the friendly exchanges between McCain supporters and detractors, damn it!

"I want Sarah to wink at me."

Republicans: "You got a really big crowd."

Protesters: "Our friends are all at work cuz' they have to be."

Republicans: "You're takers!"

"Baby killers."

Protesters: [to kids in Catholic school uniforms]: "Why aren't you in school?"

Republicans: "Remember September 11."

Undetermined: "Penn State sucks!" [Everybody laughs].

Republicans: "Why don't you go register some dead people?"

Protesters: "Where do you work, Wall Street?"

Republicans: "USA, USA, USA."

Protesters: "USA, USA, USA."

Cop: "Finally, they agree on something."

Protesters: "Equal pay for women."

Republicans: "Equal rights for Hillary."

"Is Nader running again? Didn't know he was still alive."

Protesters: "Didn't know John McCain was, either."

Republicans: "Bill Ayers for Secretary of Defense."

Protesters: "Read the Book of Luke. Jesus was a commie."

Republicans: "50 million babies have been killed by abortions."

Protesters: "How many babies have died in Iraq?"'

Republicans: "You can do this because my son is protecting us in Afghanistan."

And so on.

Both sides delivered all these taunts and jeers with smiles. Every now and then, one group would shout to the other, "We love you, though." I suspect there are many more similarities than differences in these two groups.

Lehigh's McCain-Palin Rally - The View From Inside

Sure, Lehigh County GOP chair Bill Platt went too far when he stressed, inside Stabler Arena, that our next Prez could be Barack Hussein Obama. The McCain camp itself condemned this "inappropriate rhetoric." But hey, it was a pep rally, not some nuanced policy discussion. Let's face it, the McCain-Palin bus drove right into the frickin' arena, and I think Palin was driving.

Cindy McCain, and not Sarah Palin, played pitbull. "The day that Senator Obama decided to cast a vote to not fund my son when he was serving sent a cold chill through my body."

Blogger's Note: Photo and report from inside provided by Ellen Solarek.

McCain-Palin to Get Warm Welcome From LV Progressives on Wednesday

When John McCain and Sarah Palin visit Lehigh University's Stabler Arena on Wednesday, they'll certainly be getting a warm welcome from the right. They'll be getting it from the left, too.

Mike Morrill, Dear Leader at Keystone Progress, has been asking "progressives" everywhere to be there. He even has a theme for everyone.

BUSH = McCain, WE CAN'T AFFORD MORE OF THE SAME.

He wants people to make signs and banners using that theme. I sure hope the LV's one man protest machine, Bernie Berg, is there. Usually festooned in Pirates or Steelers gear, this ex-priest has made a career of demonstrating against Dent and Toomey. In fact, about 100 years ago, he ran for Congress himself, pulling down about 23 votes.

His theme? "Berg - the Lesser Evil."

I disagree with Bernie, but people like him make democracy fun.

John McCain and Sarah Palin Will Be at LU on Wednesday

Road to Victory Rally-Bethlehem, PA
Lehigh University
Stabler Hall
124 Goodman Drive
Bethlehem, PA 18015
Doors Open: 10:30am
Wednesday, October 8th

For free tickets, click here.

Bennett's Ties to Embattled Charlie Rangel

This comes from the Charlie Dent campaign. When I get a response from the Bennett camp, I'll post that too.

Congressman Charlie Dent today called on Democratic Congressional Candidate Siobhan Bennett to renounce the endorsement she received from ethically challenged Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel and return the donation he sent to her campaign.

As reported in the national press, Rangel has a host of ethical charges lined up against him. Rangel reportedly rented four Harlem apartments at reduced cost and used one for a campaign office, allegedly in violation of New York law. It has since been discovered that he has failed to report twenty years’ worth of rental income from an offshore rental property he owns either on his state and federal tax forms or on his Congressional financial disclosure. The New York Times also reported he received an interest-free mortgage for the beachfront property. Through it all, Rangel refuses to step down as chairman of the powerful committee that, among other things, writes the tax code.

Rangel donated $2,000 to Bennett’s campaign and he is listed on her Web page as an endorser.

“Charlie Rangel’s ethical lapses are extremely serious, and Sam Bennett clearly counts him among her friends in Washington,” Dent campaign manager Shawn Millan said. “By taking Rangel’s money and proudly proclaiming his endorsement, Bennett obviously sees nothing wrong in her association with one of the most entrenched power brokers in Congress -- someone who doesn’t think the rules apply to him; someone who would raise your taxes while he doesn’t pay his own.”

“Washington does need change – and people like Sam Bennett’s endorser and benefactor Charlie Rangel are the reason why,” said Congressman Dent’s campaign manager, Shawn Millan.

Millan explained that the Dent campaign was issuing the following challenges to Bennett:

* Return any Rangel campaign contributions she has received either from his campaign committee or from his leadership PAC.
* Remove Rangel’s name from her list of endorsers.
* Publicly call for Rangel to step down from his Chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee.

In Bennett’s commercials, she claims to oppose “more of the same” from Washington. “Unless she follows through and renounces Rangel and returns his contribution it’ll be yet another example that Sam is the same,” said Millan.

Although not mentioned in the news release, Rangel also recently referred to VP candidate Sarah Palin like this - "You got to be kind to the disabled."

What Sarah Palin and Barack Obama Have in Common

On the surface, you'd think Barack Obama and Sarah Palin have little in common. Obama's impeccable academic credentials include Columbia and Harvard Law. Palin attended far less prestigious schools, bouncing through four different colleges before getting a journalism degree. Obama started his public life as a community organizer while Palin was a sports reporter. One is black who leans left while the other is a very conservative self-described hockey mom. But as different as they are, both have been victimized by outrageous rumors.

Within hours of being named as McCain's VP running mate, Palin was savaged at Daily Kos with the absurdly reckless allegation that she had faked her pregnancy. Obama was victimized by so many palpably false smears that he had to set up a web page to counter them.

Both candidates bring out the worse in people who simply aren't ready for a black or woman. Both are from outside the Beltway and obviously lack the experience to really screw things up.

Not that long ago, this country had a presidential candidate who was also dismissed as totally inexperienced. His election was accidental because there were two Democrats running against each other. He was an outsider with an unusual accent and high-pitched voice. All the power players felt he'd be little more than a puppet.

That person's name was Abraham Lincoln.

Does Sarah Palin Understand the Bush Doctrine?

Charlie Gibson's interview with VP nominee was a lot tougher than most anticipated. She tended to fall back on talking points that must have been drilled into her, and Gibson appeared at times to be condescending. Some suggest she may have blown the question about The Bush Doctrine.

My take is that Gibson blew it himself. The Bush Doctrine really is Bush's world view, and not simply his preemptive strike policy. Here's the exchange.

GIBSON: Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?

PALIN: In what respect, Charlie?

GIBSON: The Bush -- well, what do you -- what do you interpret it to be?

PALIN: His world view.

GIBSON: No, the Bush doctrine, enunciated September 2002, before the Iraq war.

PALIN: I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made. And with new leadership, and that's the beauty of American elections, of course, and democracy, is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better.

GIBSON: The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is that we have the right of anticipatory self-defense, that we have the right to a preemptive strike against any other country that we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?

PALIN: I agree that a president's job, when they swear in their oath to uphold our Constitution, their top priority is to defend the United States of America.

Update: The Washington Post's Charles Krauthammer, the person who actually coined the phrase, shares my view. "There is no single meaning of the Bush doctrine. In fact, there have been four distinct meanings, each one succeeding another over the eight years of this administration -- and the one Charlie Gibson cited is not the one in common usage today. It is utterly different."

Sarah Palin Meets the Press

Who says she's afraid to talk to the press?

II. Rendell: If I Did What Palin Did, I'd Be Impeached

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Jim O'Toole): A lot of people vote for President or any other office on a kind of visceral level. ... In particular, how might Governor Palin play in Pennsylvania?

"Well, first of all, let me say that it should be embarrassing to the Republican ticket that Jim Davis, Senator McCain's campaign manager, said this election's not about issues.

"Good Lord, with all the challenges facing America, the deterioration of the American economy, it has to be about issues. With 47-48 million Americans without health care, it has to be about issues.

"They don't want to talk about issues because they know, when the truth comes out about issues, the American people's support of Senator Obama is going to be overwhelming. So they try to make it about 'tax and spend' and all that stuff, and at the same time, they try to attack Senator Obama personally.

"Let me give you an example. They say that Senator Obama is too inexperienced to be President, but Governor Palin, because of her executive experience, as the mayor of a small, 9,000 person, town and as Governor of Alaska for twenty months, has that executive experience.

"Well, I refer you to a campaign document that they put out when Tim Kaine, the Governor of Virginia, was being considered for Vice President. They attacked Governor Kaine's inexperience. They said he was unfit to be president because he had only been mayor of the 105th largest city in the country - Richmond. So they derided Richmond because it was the 105th largest city. I think Governor Palin was mayor of the 50,000th largest city in America. They derided Governor Kane because he's been Governor of Virginia for less than - more than - two years. Virginia is one of the twenty most populous states in the union. Governor Palin has only been Governor for twenty months of a state that is in the bottom ten in terms of population. So if it's fair game for him to say that Governor Kaine was not qualified, given his credentials, then clearly Governor Palin is unqualified. She doesn't have the experience to be President and it's their words. You all received that press briefing or should look it up and juxtapose it with Governor Palin's experience.

"They try to obscure the facts about Governor Palin.

"'She's a reformer. She's against earmarks.' Well, no, she isn't. When she was mayor of that little town, she hired lobbyists and got plenty of earmarks.

"'She's a reformer. She was against the bridge to nowhere.' Well, not exactly. She was for the bridge to nowhere at first.

"'She's a tax cutter and budget balancer.' Well, she left her little town in greater debt than when she became mayor. So she's not exactly a budget balancer.

"You could go on and on and on. Make no mistake. I know her from the National Governors' Association. I like her. She's a good person. I think she has tremendous potential, but she in no way, shape or form is ready to be President of the United States.

"That's something you gotta' get across to the American people. We gotta' get across the true picture of the things Governor Palin has done and what she hasn't done.

"She's a reformer, yet she's being investigated on charges that she used her power as Governor to have - to try to order a Cabinet secretary to fire someone who went through a messy divorce with a relative of hers.

"Can you guys imagine in Pennsylvania, if I did the same thing, you'd be calling for my impeachment.

"So, I think you gotta' keep trying to get the facts across. And even a visceral attack dog like we are talking about, dissipates."

Blogger's Note: Rendell fires staffer Chuck Ardo at least once every other week.

IV. Rendell: Hillary Supporters Will Back Obama

Patriot News (Charlie Thompson): Are you concerned that some of the Hillary Clinton supporters, especially the women supporters of Hillary Clinton, are still feeling conflicted about their choices this Fall because of Governor Palin's selection, and that they may jump to the McCain ticket or stay home in November?

"No, I doubt that. I think, number one, Hillary Clinton got a lot of her supporters back with her speech. Some of them may have wavered because of the selection of Governor Palin, but when more and more about Governor Palin comes out, I think that will convince those people to support Senator Obama and Senator Biden.

"Secondly, I think you're gonna' see very active campaigning from Senator Clinton all the way from Nebraska to Pennsylvania. She's going to be a very good messenger.

"You know, just because Governor Palin's a woman - that's great and it's historic - but on the other hand, you gotta' look beyond that to the issues and what positions she takes. Once the Clinton supporters focus on those, I think 95-96-97 % will vote for the Obama-Biden ticket."

Sarah Barracuda

With friends like Ann Kilkenny, who needs enemies? Kilkenny, a Wasillia homemaker who has known Sarah Palin for sixteen years, has penned a lengthy email that brutally savages her. "I’m not angry or jealous,” Kilkenny claims.

Yeah, and I'm skinny.

Part of this email explains Palin's high school nickname, given long before Kilkenny ever knew her. "They call her 'Sarah Barracuda' because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team."

Really?

Here's another possibility. She just happened to be captain on the team that won the small school championship, making a critical free throw in the waning seconds despite a stress fracture to an ankle.

A more objective and succinct Palin primer, good points and bad, is posted at The Detroit Free Press.

America's Hockey Mom

She blew me away last night. I'll take her over McCain, Biden or Obama. She's not just a beauty queen - she's America's mom. What a refreshing and down to earth speech! It's the best I've heard in years.

I lean Obama, but loved her line about McCain.

"There's only one man in this election who ever really fought for you."

Sarah Palin, Vogue Model

Yes, she might be our next VP. No, this is not a doctored photo. She actually did pose for Vogue.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa: Thank goodness for my readers. Although Sarah Palin did pose for Vogue, the picture above is apparently doctored. Here's a link to the actual pictures. My apologies.