Shocking what happens when you actually investigate things:
You find out they are exactly who you think they are.
by John Cole| 85 Comments
This post is in: Election 2008, Did You Know John McCain Was A POW?
Shocking what happens when you actually investigate things:
You find out they are exactly who you think they are.
Comments are closed.
[…] Thx: John Cole […]
[…] Thanks to John Cole @ Balloon Juice for the vid clip. And thanks to ABC News for re-discovering journalism. […]
[…] […]
[…] If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!I’ve written before about Disney-owned ABC’s proclivity to support the Bush Administration, and sure enough, Camp McCain picked Charlie Gibson to trust with Sarah Palin’s first TV interview. So this comes as quite a surprise. […]
Edmund Dantes
An investigation of what? Damn work blocks a lot of Video sites, but I’m guessing this is youtube.
SGEW
Yow.
matt
Is that a subtle Denny Green reference?
cleek
i can’t believe how sexist that was
SGEW
Edmund Dantes,
It’s an ABC news investigation into Sarah Palin’s attempt to ban LGBT friendly books in the Wasilla public library. Timeline:
-Palin asks librarian “how she would go about removing” certain LGBT-friendly books from the library.
-Librarian says (basically) “Over my dead body.”
-Palin fires librarian.
-Community goes apeshit.
-Librarian reinstated, but quits two years later, saying it was “too hard to work for Palin.”
Isn’t that nice? Palin’s supporter says the question was “rhetorical,” along the lines of asking your lawyer:
“Hey, this is just a hypothetical question, but if I wanted to, oh, say, get rid of a human corpse without anyone knowing, how would I do it?”
You know. “Rhetorical.”
Conservatively Liberal
“It was just too hard working for Sarah Palin.”
What a way to end that. Imagine what a Palin administration would be like. GWB would seem like the good old days.
Book banning? Just another fundie favorite! Especially if the books refer to anything gay. I am glad the librarian, and especially the town, stood up to Palin and put her in her place. From what I understand, Palin had to hire a city manager because the people of the town were getting fed up with her shit.
What a loser of a candidate. For our country. McCain should be ashamed of his choice, it reflects poorly on him and what he thinks is best for our country.
Very poorly.
Ripley
Sarah Palin – The Rhetorical Candidate
Also, what CL says, above.
SGEW
Curses! Damn strike tags.
jake
Interesting, perhaps I had inaccurate information but I originally read she wanted to know how to “hypothetically” ban books that had offensive lanugage.
But I forget, any book that features gays and lesbians not burning in a firey pit would be offensive to the knuckledraggers.
Christ, I wonder if the LCRs feel stupid enough yet.
Incertus
This will be great for John McCain.
Dreggas
TPM has more goods on troopergate and the divorce of Palin’s sister and her brother-in-law (the trooper) apparently the judge in the case warned not only the sister but Palin herself that the harrassment of the brother-in-law and the effect on the children was bordering on child abuse under Alaska law and that they were to stop or face possible child abuse charges.
Brachiator
Freedom of expression is so overrated.
If they address this at all, look for the McCain Crew to fall back on the assertion that what Palin did was perfectly legal, and besides any criticism of Palin is sexist.
cleek
you give McCain too much credit. there is no evidence that the honorable wounded warrior was ever anything more than a myth cooked up by Salter and McCain in order to sell McCain to the press.
that applies equally well to McCain. the McCain the press wants to believe in is fictional – a story loosely based on the events of the real-life McCain. but while the fictional McCain is maverick of deep integrity and honest speech, the real McCain is a thoroughly cynical liar.
Krista
Funny how the Repubs are so adamant about Iran being the enemy, all while doing their best to emulate Iran’s social policies.
Conservatively Liberal
Actually it is better than that. The judge threatened to take the kids away from Sarah’s sister and award custody to the father if her sister did not protect them from having to listen to disparaging remarks from Sarah and her family. He mentioned this in October 2005 and again at the closing of the divorce case in January 2006.
So Palin just took her grudge to the Governor’s mansion and tore into the trooper from there. Palin is a indictive little monster, eh?
This dovetails nicely into Troopergate, and backs up the assertions that Palin was angry enough at the trooper to abuse the kids and her office in her attempts to make his life miserable.
YellowJournalism
The were only two things I didn’t like about this report: that they didn’t find the librarian herself and interview her and the fact that they used a clip from the current pastor of the church.
The GOP will say something about the librarian being interviewed, like that we don’t have her side of the story, so how do we know what Anne Killney and others say is true. (I know. I know. The supporter basically confirmed it, but she was going the “rhetorical” route, so the GOP won’t touch that fact. And I also know that if they got an interview with the librarian, we’d get the “disgruntled employee” spin.)
As far as the pastor clip goes, I think that’s it’s too easy to argue that the church is more contraversial now versus when she was attending. But I’m sure someone could find an example of a sermon from when Palin was going there, if there isn’t already some clips like that out there. I know there’s the one of Palin herself. To me, that one was messed up enough.
People are going to argue that this is all an attack on Palin’s religion without seeing that the underlying theme is not her beliefs but the fact that she’d abuse her power to suit the needs/wants of those close to her. And that she’s hard to work with.
GSD
Mmmmmmm…..Christian goodness!
-The Ghost of Jerry Falwell
boonagain
She is one scary little martinet, isn’t she?
Zifnab
Iran isn’t the enemy, its the competition. GOoPers don’t want to be outdone.
Laura W
I wish McInsane wouldn’t fiddle with his wedding ring and pick the skin off his fingers when Palie talks.
I wish Palie wouldn’t say Eye-Rack. It makes my eyelashes hurt.
I wish MSNBC would stop beating a dead pig. (and NO, I am not calling for anyone’s assassination) and I apologize to pigs (and horses) everywhere. I fume when I hear: “swing a dead cat at”.
I wish I lived in England now more than ever. The countryside. Near the coast.
South of I-10
People who think banning books is a good idea should be banned.
Does the GOP really think women are going to vote for her because she has a vajayjay?
San
Well, a friend of mine (mother of three) declared that she likes Palin because she is a MOM, and it would be just so cool to have a MOM with little kids in the White House, that’s why she is voting for her. So yes, she is voting for her because Palin has a working uterus.
jrg
Does it strike anyone as sexist to point out that Palin is a book-burning fundie? Seriously, though… I suspect that McSame’s attacks on the media will continue, because he needs to discredit them.
Some time after McCain added Palin to the ticket, he discovered that there was a good reason she should have been vetted.
I don’t think we will know the real reason until mid-October, but I suspect it’s something that will undermine Palin’s credentials as a legitimate flat-earth theocratic pharisee. Why else would McCain be bashing the media right now? He’s ahead for the first time in months… If no scandal was brewing, McCain’s media strategy would still consist of BJs and doughnuts.
Gus
Some days I’m pissed at my ancestors for leaving Sweden, Ireland and Austria.
The Other Steve
Can you say Alberto Gonzalez?
Dreggas
So what is Michelle? Chopped liver? Oh right, she’s black and would only be first lady.
Billy K
I echo ED’s frustration at work blocks, and I make a plea for all good and considerate bloggers to think of us with blocked YouTube access.
South of I-10
I just don’t understand it. Voting for McCain/Palin is not in my (or my family’s) best interest and having the same “parts” would not have any affect on that decision.
Cris
Librarians are generally awesome like that. It’s why I will always suspect Laura Bush is probably an excellent person, even though she married a very awful person.
Conservatively Liberal
Yup, obviously the wrong color. I am glad that Obama will rid the party of the racists, that is one thing I am very happy about. Let the right have them, they deserve them.
Cols714
I don’t get it at all. The lefty blogs are all talking about different strategies for Obama and calling him out for not doing this or that. But if we had a functional media, one that tried to get the truth to the voters instead of creating stories and false equivalencies, this election would be over and Obama would win in a landslide.
I just don’t see what Obama can do in a media environment like this.
Seitz
What I find hilarious is that this “ally” has no idea what the difference is between rhetorical and hypothetical. This is the type of person who uses big words that sound right without knowing exactly what they mean.
liberal
Cris wrote,
Huh? She undoubtably supported Hubby in his runs for the White House. Given how much of a war criminal and monster he is, her hands are bloodied, IMHO.
Peter von Nostrand
Agrees.
MDee
Well, from what I’ve read so far Palin’s a really shitty MOM. I feel sorry for her kids.
Your friend is an idiot if that’s the reason she votes for a candidate. At least she’s in good company — at least 30% of Americans are complete morons and 20-25% are susceptible to the stupidity disease.
Caribou Barbie reminds me so much of a self-centered, neurotic mother I once knew…I haven’t talked to that nasty piece of work for close to 26 years.
Being biologically capable of giving birth doesn’t make you a MOM. Your friend should think about that for a moment before she bestows the title on Palin.
Bokonon
None of this matters. Didja hear that Obama called Sarah Palin a PIG???
Bright shiny object!! Pay attention! Over here!
The Moar You Know
Yes. Next question!
They may well be a majority of the voters in this country. Sad that this election, in the end, is about nothing else. It certainly isn’t about which candidate is superior – were that the case, it would be 100% of the vote for Obama.
This will be an interesting election for what it says about America.
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
Sadly, no. Cheney has children in the White House all the time…TO DRINK THEIR BLOOD!!!
Notorious P.A.T.
Mrs. Bush ran stop sign in fatal crash
Long story short: After the boy who was killed broke up with Laura, she ran her town’s only stop sign at well over the speed limit, hit him, and killed him. Then she married a certifiable sociopath.
iluvsummr
This must mean that ABC news thinks Sarah Palin is a pig!
I await an over-the-top response from the McCain campaign about why ABC hates women and pigs.
Cris
* sigh * I guess you’re right, liberal. Even librarians can be awful.
Come on, the last five words tell it all. If you count First Ladies, there has been a woman in the White House continuously since Abraham Lincoln. But I don’t count them. Eleanor Roosevelt’s accomplishments notwithstanding, I don’t actually want the wife of the president to be deciding policy.
So yeah, I guess compared to the VP, the First Lady sort of is chopped liver. Not that there’s anything wrong with chopped liver.
Dreggas
I wish we could just banish them, along with what passes for the modern republican party to another planet or dimension. It really is to the point where I want to scream “You, Off my Planet!” and that includes my wingnut parents.
San
The sad thing is that my friend is not a complete idiot. She is not even really religious. She liked Obama before, and actually read The Audacity of Hope. She just says the MOM factor (and I suspect the fact that Palin does look Midwestern — “just like me!”) outweighs everything else.
Seriously, folks.
Xenos
I think Wooten might have a winning case if he were to re-open the custody case. Think how much Wooten’s kids have been dragged through the mud in the last two years.
Any dirt ever get discovered re. Track joining the military as a result of criminal convictions? I am guessing not, because any adult records would be public (so we would know about them already) and any juvie records would be sealed. Not that would stop Republicans from a smear campaign, of course.
Ned Raggett
I was interested to learn more about Howard Bess, the pastor quoted at the start of the piece, and have just done some scrounging. Frankly he strikes me as a pretty sharp guy all around. Put up a blog post of my own that features the Ross report but also links and talks about a slew of pieces on and by Bess. Very good reading, I thought!
John Cole
I hate to break it to you, but if what you are saying is true, your friend is in fact a complete fucking idiot.
Really no way to sugarcoat it, and if you don’t explain that to her in no uncertain terms that it is complete idiocy to vote for someone for the reasons she is stating, you are failing.
Dreggas
The VP shouldn’t be deciding policy, but alas it is what it is. I don’t want some fundy mom who’s part of, what basically amounts to a cult, to be VP. Think I am kidding about the cult bit? Go read the diaries by “dogemperor” over at DKos, he/she is an exit counselor for walk aways from the “Assemblies of God”.
Notorious P.A.T.
I do think you are right for your high esteem of librarians in general. For instance: Librarian Makes A Difference For ‘Stupid White Men’ Author Michael Moore–Michael Moore attributes the publication of his latest best selling book Stupid White Men: And Other Excuses for the State of the Nation, to the efforts of a lone librarian.
drunken hausfrau
I like the pig line… I think it should be repeated over and over — along with the stinky fish line — it is a simple metaphor that most people can understand, and it obviously STUNG McSame, which is why he squealed like a stuck pig!! Do it again.
Davis X. Machina
A McCain campaign spokesman, when asked about the allegations, responded “Moose POW baby Jesus hockey maverick tits Negro. Did I say ‘Negro’?”
Napoleon
The National Enquirer is reporting he joined because he he has a drug habit and they wanted to keep him out of site or something to that effect.
Cris
Good point. Dick Cheney made me forget that.
Jake
Well, there’s a reliable source. Still, it does seem as though the vast majority of the Palin “biography” is an epic lie. It would be funny if she were running for something other than the dude (dudesse?) who steps in if anything happens to the dude who’s running to be the next commander of the FUCKING FREE WORLD.
I caught the very beginning of this special report this AM, but couldn’t bear to watch it because I was pretty sure ABC would fuck it up. Good to see they actually did a halfway decent job, though one has to wonder what went through Brian Ross’ mind as he was chasing librarians across the Arctic refuge to ask about books being banned.
Napoleon
Here is what the NE is saying about the son who joined the military. I got the link from Jed Report, but its to long and don’t have time to figure how to post it.
PeterJ
Aren’t these all things that would disqualify you from joining the military?
ThymeZone
CNN
San
“if you don’t explain that to her in no uncertain terms that it is complete idiocy to vote for someone for the reasons she is stating, you are failing.”
I know I am :( Not to sound too defensive, I am not a native English speaker, and I have never done well in oral arguments (I also tend to lose my cool too fast and my grammar starts limping, thus negating any effect of the words).
The sad reality is, these low-information voters were always there, and they are here to stay. How to approach them is the question.
Notorious P.A.T.
They were, before our adventure in Iraq broke our army and made it so desperate for new recruits.
John Cole
Please- no talk about the kids. It was not cool when they did it to Chelsea. It was not cool a few years ago when they freaked out about Al Gore III. It was not cool when they were following Jenna and Barbara around to see if they got drunk and flashed their panties. It is not cool now with Palin’s kids.
Period. Mickey goatfucking Kaus may think the Enquirer is all the rage, but I think there are better things to talk about.
Dreggas
Nope. Not anymore. I remember when I joined I told them I had used weed. I passed the drug tests and was in. Even people with felony convictions are now being allowed in provided they get “vouchers” that allow them to join. One of the big problems in the military, and especially the Army is with gang members joining. Sure they sign a “pledge” to renounce gang activity but continue being in the gangs and recruiting other soldiers into the gangs as well. Hell we had a couple of em in my platoon outta Chicago when I was in BCT.
Standards for recruiting are basically a joke. You have to pass the ASVAB and a physical. I took the ASVAB when I was in 9th grade and passed with flying colors, it’s not exactly rocket science. Add to that the fact they are letting former convicts join, it’s becoming a joke in some regards.
Original Lee
Enjoy the subtle political commentary, folks!http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20080910&name=Family_Circus
Kali's Little Sister
Does anyone know if the trains would be expected to run on time under a theocratic dictatorship?
I lived in Italy (where nothing has been on time at all since the potted Il Duce) but I think the boyz who were runnin Afghanistan a few year back might be a better source, if anyone has some info.
Notorious P.A.T.
As if on cue:
Camille Paglia–Palin: Feminism’s greatest leap forward since Madonna
The Other Steve
Oh dear, apparently Palin doesn’t understand the rules of executivie privilege.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903044.html
I gotta say, her husband seems to be far more involved in State business than he ought to be. Whose actually the Governor up there in Alaska?
Jake
Cross-posted at The Washington Monthly:
I think we can begin to describe McCain as being a “phony”. Phony outrage, phony VP pick, phony issues, you name it.
The guy who takes so much pride in being genuine, simply isn’t. And if the media were ever to catch on to that in a serious way, it’d be bye bye McCain.
Of course that will never happen.
Darkness
Arguing doesn’t help, it solidifies the irrational position. I ran into a similar one of these the other day. Old school, long term dem that started parroting the moronic stealth muslim crap. “Oh, you know they want to take over from the inside and what better way?” I was speechless for a full minute. Fortunately someone else took over, but I think they were too cerebral to get through.
It depressed me bad enough I ran out of beer shortly after returning home and then sent me to the internet to read again about Canada’s immigration policy.
djork
I disagree.
Kevin
There was rather frightening documentary about this very subject on the National Geographic Channel last weekend. Norteños, Sureños, MS-13, you name it.
PeterJ
Compare this photo of McCain with this of Bush.
4 more years.
Darkness
Wouldn’t it be funnier if the caption were: “Daddy why does the word Rice have a W in it?”
Dreggas
I’ve seen that as well. The part that makes it worse is that gangs are encouraging members to join the military then come back and educate the rest of the gang in tactics etc. Nothing like teaching someone how to be an efficient killer then having them go back to the streets and teach their friends.
Kevin
George W. Bush, at his finest
PK
I think there are some people who will not vote democrat no matter what. I know a few such types. One will not vote democratic because he fears they will take away his guns, another is all about taxes. Although to be fair at this stage I will not vote republican even if God himself came down to earth and said he was supporting McCain/Palin.
Notorious P.A.T.
What, does he live off of deer and elk? Is he under constant attack from injuns?
Martin
I disagree with this. The modern VP does have a proactive role to play in the executive branch, not to mention being the tiebreaker in the Senate. The VP shouldn’t be exclusively deciding policy, but should absolutely be involved in policy decisions. After all, if the VP was unexpectedly promoted, they would be responsible for implementing and enforcing those policies.
We’re better off as a nation viewing this as a team rather than a President and a relief pitcher.
Davis X. Machina
Is he under constant attack from injuns?
No, from shvartsehs
jiminy jilliker
Uh, oh! Time to yank that Charlie Gibson interview until such a time that ABC is willing to treat the candidate with the respect and deference (AKA blind, mealy mouthed stenography) she deserves.
Brachiator
The Palin Evangelical Express:
Departure Time: God’s Will.
Arrival Time: God’s Will
On Time Percentage: 100%
A regular Captain Queeg from The Caine Mutiny, which is now an essential DVD purchase or rental from now until the election. Let’s see, librarian fired and later moves out of town in order to get out the way of a mayor gone wild. Palin can’t get the trooper fired and so instead persecutes his boss….
Kevin
BWAHHA! This is an awesome article about Paglia, courtesy of the late Molly Ivins.
Fledermaus
The irony of this being that they just joined the biggest, baddest gang of them all.
John Cole
The ending of that Ivins piece is awesome: