What is with McCain and beauty pagent contestants??? I'm not trying to be humorous either. This youtube video is a MUST SEE. This is the best V.P. choice the GOP could come up with? It's a shame to use this woman in such a transparent manner. It's degrading. I really hope to see a serious woman on the ticket one day, but Palin is such a step backwards. Dang it. What was McCain thinking...I hate using this phrase, but based upon her vapid, incomprehensible answers to tough questions, Palin may actually be a "low information voter"...and he chose her for his V.P. Wow.

Perhaps someone should advise McCain to quit hanging around beauty pageants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSdFIDygFwM&feature=related

Sarah Palin's vague, evasive responses during the debate and her performance during the Charles Gibson and Katie Couric interviews confirm a vital weakness about the Republican Party and raises a few new concerns about Sarah Palin, "hockey moms," and their "soccer mom" counterparts. They are:

1 - The Republicans don't have anyone close to Geraldine Ferraro or Hilary Rodham Clinton as serious-minded contenders for the office of President of the United States, which is unfortunate for the GOP because hockey moms are an important demographic and...

2 - I have always suspected that Sarah Palin is neither well-read nor well-travelled which equates to a diminished capacity for critical analysis of complex world issues. Recall that during the Katie Couric interview she couldn't give an answer to what kind of political magazines and newspapers she reads, and mocked the intellectual-types who send their kids off to backpack across Europe. What better way to learn about the world around you?

3 - Sarah Palin is undoubtedly passionate and full of "spunk." But I don't want someone with spunk running the nation. I'd prefer a considerate, strong-willed, intelligent person.

4 - I also suspect that Palin's world view reflects that of a lot of other hockey moms - they know very little about the world around them. Perhaps being overburdened with raising families, running the house, keeping their children safe, and getting kids to and from school leaves little energy or time to consider the woes of the nation and the world beyond the ice-rink, the soccer pitch, or the cul-de-sac. One thing is for certain - the Sarah Palin demographic is a large group, they are a key swing vote, and they send an awful lot of their children into harms way via the military. I desperately want to be wrong about this one. My son shares the pitch with a lot of shiny-eyed, beautiful young people.

I am not one of the 18,000,000 Hillary supporters, but I am only one person who deeply believes that Hillary sparked a flame within the democratic national will. Therefore, I will be contributing money to HillaryClinton.com to help retire her considerable debt, and would hope that other Barack supporters will do the same. Please give whatever you can. Mrs Clinton deserves the support of us all as a charge of not only defeating the Republicans in November, but her campaign was a prodigy for the hopes of 18,000,000 democrats. Please give.

www.HillaryClinton.com

 Register to vote, and send Voltage to play at the Democratic National Convention.  We have songs that are perfect for the event already written, and I am already the number one democrat at the DNC.

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Translastion: "stooooo-PID" = stupid (just in case any Republicans are reading this). Here's a clip of conservative radio talk show host Kevin James (KRLA, Los Angeles) on Hardball with Chris Matthews. Here, he's trying to defend President Bush's attack of Barack Obama during a speech in Israel and it's clear that he has no idea what he's talking about. As Chris Matthews puts it, "This is pathetic!" This is intellectual charisma at it's worst and it's dangerous to our country when it's not properly vetted. Watch the clip and prepare to be disgusted and amused. I swear I was watching this while eating dinner and almost spit beer out of my nose with laughter.

Here's the original clip from msnbc:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23412324#24655385

or read all the comments left on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1wSZBTAXRs

Just another shameless Republican tactic against Obama and our party. Or was this just a case of three bone-heads trying to cause mischief? Regardless, it's a clear violation of the Privacy Act.

~Read Below~

------------------------

"State Department Fires Two for Looking at Obama's Files"
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008; 9:06 PM

The State Department said last night that it had fired two contract employees and disciplined a third for accessing Sen. Barack Obama's passport files.

Obama's presidential campaign immediately called for a "complete investigation."

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the employees had individually looked into Obama's passport file on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. To assess such a file, the employees must first acknowledge a pledge to keep the information private.

The employees were each caught because of a computer-monitoring system that is triggered when the passport accounts of a "high-profile person" are accessed, he said. The system, which focuses on politicians and celebrities, was put in place after the State Department was embroiled in a scandal involving the access of the passport records of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992.

"The State Department has strict policies and controls on access to passport records by government and contract employees," Casey said.

The department uses contract employees to help with data entry, customer service and other administration tasks. The employee involved in the March 14 incident has only been disciplined so far because the investigation of that incident is still continuing, an official said.

Though the workers were caught by a computer system that focuses on high-profile people, Casey said that a computer report is generated on every access to passport records and that spot checks are taken to ensure that employees are not violating the Privacy Act.

"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement. "This is a serious matter that merits a complete investigation, and we demand to know who looked at Senator Obama's passport file, for what purpose, and why it took so long for them to reveal this security breach."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032003422.html

Well, there's nothing wrong with the America. But here's what I think are real problems for our country and the voters. I have a tendency to be long-winded so I'll give you the abbreviated criticism.

1. The decay of common sense.
2. Our government holds it's citizens to a higher standard than it holds itself.
3. The inability of most people to project themselves beyond their tri-state area (I believe this is callled "Theory of Mind"?)
4. Apathy
5. Greed. I really think most of us don't know when to say, "I have enough."

(please feel free to add to the list and re-post)

The only thing that makes sense is to let Florida and Michigan replay the 2008 Capitol One Bowl Game where the Florida Gators lost 41-35 to the Michigan Wolverines. I lost $200 on that game and would support a "do-over."