From a recent
GOP fundraising survey:
| "It has been suggested that the government could use voter registration to determine a person's political affiliation, prompting fears that GOP voters might be discriminated against for medical treatment in a Democrat-imposed health care rationing system. Does this possibility concern you?" |
Better yet, let's use voter registration to double Republicans' income and property taxes, force them to enlist in the Army (they should like that, anyway), eliminate their Medicare and Social Security benefits (they hate socialism, right?), charge them tolls to use our highways (again, that socialism thing), and force them to pay back their stimulus checks.
Cross-posted at
Left is RightLabels: anti-republican, hate speech
from
All Facts and OpinionsWhile the McCain/Palin camp falls over itself trying to parse language to say that
Troopergate investigator Stephen Branchflower was wrong to say that Sarah Palin violated the Alaska Ethics Act,
Time magazine reports that however one interprets the report issued Friday, it is clear Palin and her husband showed a "disturbing" lack of judgment and a great deal of self-serving immaturity.
Did Governor Sarah Palin abuse the power of her office in trying to get her former brother-in-law, State Trooper Mike Wooten, fired? Yes.
Was the refusal to fire Mike Wooten the reason Palin fired Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan? Not exclusively, and it was within her rights as the states chief executive to fire him for just about any reason, even without cause.
... But the Branchflower report still makes for good reading, if only because it convincingly answers a question nobody had even thought to ask: Is the Palin administration shockingly amateurish? Yes, it is. Disturbingly so.
The 263 pages of the report show a co-ordinated application of pressure on Monegan so transparent and ham-handed that it was almost certain to end in public embarrassment for the governor.
... A harsh verdict? Consider the report's findings. Not only did people at almost every level of the Palin administration engage in repeated inappropriate contact with Walt Monegan and other high-ranking officials at the Department of Public Safety, but Monegan and his peers constantly warned these Palin disciples that the contact was inappropriate and probably unlawful. Still, the emails and calls continued — in at least one instance on recorded state trooper phone lines.
via Time:
What the Troopergate Report Really SaysPalin and cronies insist she broke no laws because money was not involved. Clearly, they are mistaken or lying. Here is what the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act actually says:
Sec. 39.52.010. Declaration of policy.
(a) It is declared that
(1) high moral and ethical standards among public officers in the executive branch are
essential to assure the trust, respect, and confidence of the people of this state;
(2) a code of ethics for the guidance of public officers will
(A) discourage those officers from acting upon personal or financial interests in the
performance of their public responsibilities [emphasis mine].
All one needs to do is to
read the law itself. Again, it says "personal
or financial interests." Palin does not have a leg upon which to stand here. She broke the law. The governor will not go to jail over this and may escape sanction, but the truth is plain, as is her obvious personal stake in the misconduct of herself, her spouse, and her underlings.
Labels: alaska, anti-palin, anti-republican, Corruption, Elections, ethics, gop, law, McCain/Palin, political corruption, republicans, Right Wing, sarah palin, todd palin, troopergate, US Politics
from Natalie Davis' All Facts and Opinions
http://gratefuldread.nethttp://gratefuldread.wordpress.comTonight's speeches at the Republican National Convention are over, and I am exhausted, lemme tell ya. All that force-fed red meat... I'm going to have to stick to wheat germ and water for a week to feel normal again.
Seriously, were you surprised by the heartlessness of Mike Huckabee and the attacks by Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin? When it began, I figured we would get a slew of 9/11 references, anti-gay and anti-choice attacks, reminders that poor people are worthless, nods to Abe Lincoln (my 12-year-old moaned, "That's slander! Lincoln wasn't this kind of Republican!"), slick soundbites, hockey mom jokes, more references to 9/11, and outlandish claims that the party faithful won't bother to investigate for veracity. You know, the general sound and fury signifying nothing. And of course, the Grand Old Prosperity crowd roared their approval as Cindy McCain happily bounced wee Trig Palin on her knee. Whee! Well, their worldview always disappoints, and what went down in St. Paul tonight was exactly what I expected.
Did I learn anything new or useful about the Republican nominee for vice-president? Only that she is every bit as mendacious and craven and unacceptable as her number one. Ooh, she can earmark Alaska, shoot the wolves from the plane, and send every ounce of American decency down the drain... and she's a wooo-man... Feh.
Look: I stand with Palin and the insufferable McCain flack Carly Fiorino on this. No one would question a man who had five kids about his fitness for any job, so people need to leave Palin alone on that point. There are plenty of
legitimate reasons to dismiss her, which we've already covered ad nauseum. Palin is indeed a firecracker with lots of spunk and apparently limitless ambition, but she has nothing worthwhile to offer in the way of making the US a better country, and her insult-filled, substance-free speech tonight made that all too evident to me.
My recommendation to Barack Obama: Just respond substantively and ignore repugnant Republican insults. Sarah Palin speaks well and looks great, but she has nothing on the Democrat, save three more cute kids and a snarling Rudy "9/11" Giuliani over her shoulder. (Message to RG: Hope is not a strategy -- and no, hope is not Obama's strategy, but cool line, Rudy. I would much rather be hopeful than heartless and greedy, though.)
I'll break the plutocrats' pap down tomorrow if the strength and interest can be mustered. Right now, my stomach hurts, as it always does after a night of listening to rabid right wingers. As a matter of fact, I really must go and throw up. My diet is primarily whole grains, veggies and fish. Red meat in the quantities dished up tonight -- especially when it's raw -- always makes me physically ill.
Labels: anti-republican, conservative, gop, palin, Politics, progressive commentary, republican, right-wing
