Mike Huckabee is a Liar, Too

Every single speaker that spoke at the Republican National Convention yesterday is a LIAR. Here’s Mike Huckabee lying through his teeth.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin “got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States,” Huckabee said.

But ummm, that’s not true.

Palin received 909 votes in her second and final run for mayor in 1999. Biden received the support of 2,328 delegates in the Iowa caucuses. Biden dropped out of the race after his fifth place finish there. For the record, Palin got 617 votes in her first run for mayor in 1996. Combined with her re-election bid in 1999, Palin received 1,526 votes for mayor.

Soooooo, Huckabee is a LIAR too….seems to be the trend among the Republicans these days. If the truth and the facts aren’t behind you (which they aren’t), just make stuff up. It’s easy. And idiotic people will believe you. And agian, another example of the Republican party thinking that you are all STUPID.

Sarah Palin is a Liar (Part 3)

This is just getting ridiculous. Sarah Palin actually tried to tell America last night that Barack Obama is a flip-flopper and McCain is steady and consistent. When I heard it live, my jaw seriously dropped 6 inches. If there is ONE politician in this country who has flip-flopped, pandered and changed his opinion on policies to suit his audience, it’s John McCain. This is a JOKE, people. It’s a big joke and they’re trying to see how truly STUPID we are. Well, damnit, I’m not stupid. And you’re not stupid either. So expose the LIES of this ridiculous Republican candidate.

Before I move forward, I’d like to note that there is nothing inherently wrong about a political figure changing his or her mind once in a while. It is healthy for policy makers to make decisions about issues, gather more information, and then alter their position based on this information. That’s just political…science. Policy makers come to one conclusion, they gain more information, and then they reach a different conclusion. Ok, so when I see a politician who changes his mind, I don’t automatically think he’s a flip-flopper. I try to analyze why he’s changing his mind…is it because of healthy intellectual curiosity? Or is it for political expedience?

When it comes to John McCain, I’m sorry….he’s a world class flip-flopper. His policy reversals are not sincere changes due to the gathering of more information on issues. John McCain changes his mind when it’s politically beneficial for him to do so (oh and by the way, Sarah Palin does the same thing). This is a horrible character flaw, especially in a candidate for President of the United States.

Sarah Palin: “We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.

“As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man.”

What a joke. Again, the McCain camp thinks you’re stupid and that you don’t know better and that you’ll just take whatever they say at face value. Not me. And not you. Let me just give you a run down of John McCain’s unbelievable flip-flops on IMPORTANT, VITAL policy issues.tax

This list is from The Carpet Bagger Report.

National Security Policy

1. McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.

2. McCain insisted that everyone, even “terrible killers,” “the worst kind of scum of humanity,” and detainees at Guantanamo Bay, “deserve to have some adjudication of their cases,” even if that means “releasing some of them.” McCain now believes the opposite.

3. He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion, he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”

4. In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.

5. McCain was for closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay before he was against it.

6. When Barack Obama talked about going after terrorists in Pakistani mountains with predators, McCain criticized him for it. He’s since come to the opposite conclusion.

Foreign Policy

7. McCain was for kicking Russia out of the G8 before he was against it. Now, he’s for it again.

8. McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.

9. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.

10. McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.

11. McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.

12. McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.

13. McCain was against divestment from South Africa before he was for it.

Military Policy

14. McCain recently claimed that he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”

15. McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions, concluding, on multiple occasions, that a Korea-like presence is both a good and a bad idea.

16. McCain was against additional U.S. forces in Afghanistan before he was for it.

17. McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”

18. McCain has repeatedly said it’s a dangerous mistake to tell the “enemy” when U.S. troops would be out of Iraq. In May, McCain announced that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013.

19. McCain was against expanding the GI Bill before he was for it.

20. McCain staunchly opposed Obama’s Iraq withdrawal timetable, and even blasted Mitt Romney for having referenced the word during the GOP primaries. In July, after Iraqi officials endorsed Obama’s policy, McCain said a 16-month calendar sounds like “a pretty good timetable.”

Domestic Policy

21. McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)

22. On Social Security, McCain said he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Soon after, asked about a possible increase in the payroll tax, McCain said there’s “nothing that’s off the table.”

23. McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.

24. McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.

25. He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.

26. In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.

27. McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.

28. McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting “irresponsibly.” His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.

29. McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.

30. McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.

31. McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.

32. McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.

33. In 2005, McCain endorsed intelligent design creationism, a year later he said the opposite, and a few months after that, he was both for and against creationism at the same time.

34. And on gay adoption, McCain initially said he’d rather let orphans go without families, then his campaign reversed course, and soon after, McCain reversed back.

35. In the Senate, McCain opposed a variety of measures on equal pay for women, and endorsed the Supreme Court’s Ledbetter decision. In July, however, McCain said, “I’m committed to making sure that there’s equal pay for equal work. That … is my record and you can count on it.”

36. McCain was against fully funding the No Child Left Behind Act before he was for it.

37. McCain was for affirmative action before he was against it.

38. McCain said the Colorado River compact will “obviously” need to be “renegotiated.” Six days later, McCain said, “Let me be clear that I do not advocate renegotiation of the compact.”

Economic Policy

39. McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy before he was for them.

40. John McCain initially argued that economics is not an area of expertise for him, saying, “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues; I still need to be educated,” and “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” He now falsely denies ever having made these remarks and insists that he has a “very strong” understanding of economics.

41. McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal. And soon after that, McCain abandoned his second position and went back to his first.

42. McCain said in 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and falsely argued that he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.

43. McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.

44. McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a “‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded. Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”

45. McCain has changed his entire economic worldview on multiple occasions.

46. McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off economically than they were before Bush took office.

Energy Policy

47. McCain supported the moratorium on coastal drilling ; now he’s against it.

48. McCain recently announced his strong opposition to a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.

49. McCain endorsed a cap-and-trade policy with a mandatory emissions cap. In mid-June, McCain announced he wants the caps to voluntary.

50. McCain explained his belief that a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax would provide an immediate economic stimulus. Shortly thereafter, he argued the exact opposite.

51. McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.

52. McCain was for national auto emissions standards before he was against them.

Immigration Policy

53. McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. In 2007, he announced his opposition to the bill. In 2008, McCain switched back.

54. On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own bill.

55. In April, McCain promised voters that he would secure the borders “before proceeding to other reform measures.” Two months later, he abandoned his public pledge, pretended that he’d never made the promise in the first place, and vowed that a comprehensive immigration reform policy has always been, and would always be, his “top priority.”

Judicial Policy and the Rule of Law

56. McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.

57. McCain’s position was that the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.

58. McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade to saying the exact opposite.

59. In June, McCain rejected the idea of a trial for Osama bin Laden, and thought Obama’s reference to Nuremberg was a misread of history. A month later, McCain argued the exact opposite position.

60. In June, McCain described the Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush was “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.” In August, he reversed course.

Campaign, Ethics, and Lobbying Reform

61. McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.

62. In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving “feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.

63. McCain supported a campaign-finance bill, which bore his name, on strengthening the public-financing system. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.

64. In May 2008, McCain approved a ban on lobbyists working for his campaign. In July 2008, his campaign reversed course and said lobbyists could work for his campaign.

Politics and Associations

65. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist John Hagee. Now he doesn’t. (He also believes his endorsement from Hagee was both a good and bad idea.)

66. McCain wanted political support from radical televangelist Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.

67. McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.

68. McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.

69. McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.

70. In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.

71. McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.

72. McCain decided in 2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the ‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.

73. McCain believed powerful right-wing activist/lobbyist Grover Norquist was “corrupt, a shill for dictators, and (with just a dose of sarcasm) Jack Abramoff’s gay lover.” McCain now considers Norquist a key political ally.

74. McCain was for presidential candidates giving speeches in foreign countries before he was against it.

75. McCain has been both for and against considering a pro-choice running mate for the Republican presidential ticket.

Sarah Palin is a Liar (Part 2)

I know, I know, I’m only concerned about the substance of Sarah Palin’s speech. How boring of me? Maybe I’m just one of those elitist arugula eating liberals who just HAS to fact-check every little thing I hear from potential White House inhabitants. How mundane of me. I know I should just focus on how tough she spoke while looking so sparkly and chipper. I know I should rave about how energized the crowd was and how she rose to the forefront of the Republican stage last night. But alas, I guess I have my priorities askew. I only care about the wellbeing of the American people, our nation, my own future, the future of my family and friends, and global security. Shucks. I really need a check-up from the neck up, huh?

Well, here we go…Part 2 of Sarah Palin’s blatant fabrications from her speech last night.

Sarah Palin: “To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House.”

Hmmmm, that’s interesting on a number of levels. I seem to recall reading somewhere that Sarah Palin slashed funding for schools for special needs children by 62% as governor for Alaska. Oh yeah, I did read it…it was in her state budgets. Budgets: Fiscal Year 2007 (pre-Palin), 2008, 2009.

Interesting that Sarah Palin slashed funding for schools that her own child will one day need. I guess she figured that by the time baby Trig was ready for school, she would be in the White House and have private tutors for him. As long as baby Trig has good teachers, screw the other special needs kids. Oh, except for during speeches and when pandering to audiences that may have a stake in getting Sarah Palin into the White House. Disgusting.

Q: Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

A: To the Rebpublican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota!

I cannot believe my eyes when I’m watching the footage! Where are the minorities that make up over 50% of our nation? Where are the young people? I see acres and acres of white people over 65! Is this a reflection of our country?! Is this a reflection of the future?! I am seriously scared.

Sarah Palin is a Liar (Part 1)

This will be the first of MANY posts because it seems that Sarah Palin (although she is not a Washington insider) sure does know how to lie like one.

From Reuters’ Yereth Rosen on 1 September 2008:

“It garnered big applause in her first speech as Republican John McCain’s vice presidential pick, but Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s assertion that she rejected Congressional funds for the so-called “bridge to nowhere” has upset many Alaskans.

During her first speech after being named as McCain’s surprise pick as a running mate, Palin said she had told Congress “‘thanks but no thanks’ on that bridge to nowhere.”

In the city Ketchikan, the planned site of the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” political leaders of both parties said the claim was false and a betrayal of their community, because she had supported the bridge and the earmark for it secured by Alaska’s Congressional delegation during her run for governor.

The bridge, a span from the city to Gravina Island, home to only a few dozen people, secured a $223 million earmark in 2005. The pricey designation raised a furor and critics, including McCain, used the bridge as an example of wasteful federal spending on politicians’ pet projects.

When she was running for governor in 2006, Palin said she was insulted by the term “bridge to nowhere,” according to Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, a Democrat, and Mike Elerding, a Republican who was Palin’s campaign coordinator in the southeast Alaska city.

“People are learning that she pandered to us by saying, I’m for this’ … and then when she found it was politically advantageous for her nationally, abruptly she starts using the very term that she said was insulting,” Weinstein said.

Palin’s spokeswoman in Alaska was not immediately available to comment.

National fury over the bridge caused Congress to remove the earmark designation, but Alaska was still granted an equivalent amount of transportation money to be used at its own discretion.

Last year, Palin announced she was stopping state work on the controversial project, earning her admirers from earmark critics and budget hawks from around the nation. The move also thrust her into the spotlight as a reform-minded newcomer.

The state, however, never gave back any of the money that was originally earmarked for the Gravina Island bridge, said Weinstein and Elerding.

In fact, the Palin administration has spent “tens of millions of dollars” in federal funds to start building a road on Gravina Island that is supposed to link up to the yet-to-be-built bridge, Weinstein said.

“She said ‘thanks but no thanks,’ but they kept the money,” said Elerding about her applause line.

Former state House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican who represented the Kenai Peninsula city of Homer, is also critical about Palin’s reversal on the bridge issue.

“You don’t tell a group of Alaskans you support something and then go to someplace else and say you oppose it,” said Phillips, who supported Palin’s opponent, Democrat Tony Knowles, in the 2006 gubernatorial race.

A press release issued by the governor on September 21, 2007 said she decided to cancel state work on the project because of rising cost estimates.

“It’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,” Palin said in the news release. “Much of the public’s attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here.”

Dr. Laura is Even Disappointed

Dr. Laura often annoys me, but I agree with her thoughts concerning Sarah Palin, motherhood, and her candidacy for VP of the US. Here it is…

“I am extremely disappointed in the choice of Sarah Palin as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Republican Party.  I will still vote for Senator McCain, because I am very concerned about having a fundamental leftist, especially one who is a marvelous orator, as President.” (ok I’m upset that she’s still voting for McCain, but that’s to be expected)

At first, I thought it amusing that McCain picked a pretty, smart, and tough female to counter the racist/sexist accusations going back and forth between parties.  I remember how Oprah Winfrey got caught in the cross-fire as she stepped up to the political table to support Obama with pride that a black man could rise to such heights in the USA, only to get slammed by feminists who told her it was gender, not race, that she should back.  Understandably, Ms. Winfrey pulled back from it all.

Forget gender and race.  I’m frankly and sadly caught in the dilemma of having to balance policy versus example in touting a candidate for the office of the First Family.  I was ferociously attacked (what’s new?) when I spoke out strongly against Bill Clinton’s dalliances in the Oval Office.  That situation quickly turned into a debate whether “private has anything to do with public.”  Nonsense.  Role models are very important.  Children and young adults look to those who are visible and successful as a road map of what is acceptable behavior and emulate those actions over the morals and values their parents and churches have taught and tried to reinforce. It’s a tough go these days, when the “bad that men or women do” is used for entertainment purposes without judgment, or is excused because of political or financial considerations.

I’m stunned – couldn’t the Republican Party find one competent female with adult children to run for Vice President with McCain?   I realize his advisors probably didn’t want a “mature” woman, as the Democrats keep harping on his age.  But really, what kind of role model is a woman whose fifth child was recently born with a serious issue, Down Syndrome, and then goes back to the job of Governor within days of the birth?

I am haunted by the family pictures of the Palins during political photo-ops, showing the eldest daughter, now pregnant with her own child, cuddling the family’s newborn.  When Mom and Dad both work full-time (no matter how many folks get involved with the children), it becomes a somewhat chaotic situation.  Certainly, if a child becomes ill and is rushed to the hospital, and you’re on the hotline with both Israel and Iran as nuclear tempers are flaring, where’s your attention going to be?  Where should your attention be?  Well, once you put your hand on the Bible and make that oath, your attention has to be with the government of the United States of America.

I am positively moved that neither Sarah nor her daughter were willing to terminate the lives of their unborn children.  This is in sharp contrast to Obama’s statement that “When it comes specifically to HIV/AIDS, the most important prevention is education, which should include…which should include abstinence education and teaching children…teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual.  But it should also include – it should also include other, you know, information about contraception, because, look, I’ve got two daughters, 9 years old and 6 years old.  I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals.  But if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.” (March, 2008)

So, one Vice Presidential candidate and her daughter demonstrate, under conditions of great stress, that babies are valued human beings, not punishment.  However, that same VP candidate came forth in April of 2008 with a proclamation for “Family Child Care Week,” in which she wrote: “These professionals are positive role models for the children they care for and the communities they serve.” Clearly, Palin sees the need for positive role models.  I suggest that they be Mommy and Daddy, and not the hired help.

Child-care facilities are a necessity when mothers and fathers (when they exist at all) are unwilling or incapable of caring for their offspring.  Unfortunately, they have become a mainstay of the feminista mentality that nothing should stand in the way of a woman’s ambition – nothing, including her family.

Any full-time working wife and mother knows that the family takes the short end of the stick.  Marriages and the welfare of children suffer when a stressed-out mother doesn’t have time to be a woman, a wife, and a hands-on Mommy.”

National Enquirer Alleges Sarah Palin Affair

Well, it won’t be nearly, if this turns out to be true. The Enquirer had the goods on John Edwards, so we’ll see how accurate they are on this one.

Naturally the McCain campaign is denying the reports…of course. But check out the National Enquirer’s response.

“The National Enquirer’s coverage of a vicious war within Sarah Palin’s extended family includes several newsworthy revelations, including the resulting incredible charge of an affair plus details of family strife when the Governor’s daughter revealed her pregnancy. Following our John Edwards’ exclusives, our political reporting has obviously proven to be more detail-oriented than the McCain campaign’s vetting process. Despite the McCain camp’s attempts to control press coverage they find unfavorable, The Enquirer will continue to pursue news on both sides of the political spectrum.”

I suspect we haven’t seen the end of the shocking revelations about Sarah Palin. Keep it locked on The Block for all the updates. I hope there’s a sex tape.

Bill O’Reilly, Jamie Spears, and Bristol Palin

December 20, 2007
Bill O’Reilly writes “On the pinhead front, 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. The sister of Britney says she is shocked. I bet.

Now most teens are pinheads in some ways. But here the blame falls primarily on the parents of the girl, who obviously have little control over her or even over Britney Spears. Look at the way she behaves…”

Hmmmmmm, wonder what Billy boy has to say about Sarah Palin’s parenting skills concerning her daughter Bristol. Pinhead, much?

Even Sarah Palin Recognizes Obama’s Strengths…Well at Least She Did a Few Months Ago

Sarah Palin should have kept the respectful, congenial tone she had in this interview instead of turning into a raving, rabid lunatic last night. Interesting how things suddenly change when she stands in front of a few thousand fire-breathing red-necks and gets the ego-trip of her life.

Joe Lieberman is Such a Panderer

Interesting how Lieberman flip-flops on his words about Obama, just as McCain has flip-flopped on every policy issue he’s ever taken a stand (or multiple stands) on.

Listen to this craziness…

THEN

“He is a blessing to the United States Senate, to America and to our shared hopes for better, safer tomorrows for all our families. As his mentor, as his colleague, as his friend, I look forward to helping him reach to the stars and realize not just the dreams he has for himself, but the dreams we all have for him and his blessed country.” — March 2006, as Obama visited Connecticut during Lieberman’s re-election campaign.”

NOW

“Senator Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who I think can do great things for our country in the years ahead. But, my friends, eloquence is no substitute for a record, not in these tough times for America.” — Tuesday night, at the Republican National Convention.