Canal City Japan Fountain

Leave it to the Japanese.  I tried researching this fountain but found very little on the Internet.  I was fascinated, however.

Questions for Sarah Palin

The Anchorage Daily News published an editorial recently suggesting some questions Charles Gibson should ask Sarah Palin this week.  Personally, I doubt he’ll ask any of them, but I would like to see him ask her this one:

Define “victory” in Iraq? What is the exit plan?

What questions do you think Gibson should ask Palin?

Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Her Strong “Views”

I think Hasselbeck is an untalented, vacuous tool who is able to memorize and spout off Republican talking points very well.  Why Barbara Walters allows her to do this is beyond comprehension.  I just emailed the producers of The Viewand told them I felt Hasselbeck needed to be removed from the show or they need to stop discussing politics. 

It seems what Hasselbeck did in this video is in violation of some unwritten rules by which all professionals abide.  Can you imagine how Hasselbeck would have felt had Whoopi Goldberg traveled to the DNC and said something similar about Cindy McCain?  Hasselbeck is like most ill-informed Republicans – she can dish it out, but she can’t take it.

Time for her to go.

One Principled Democrat

You probably can’t tell, but the guy under the McCain/Palin sign is Joe Lieberman.

No, Lieberman isn’t the principled Democrat referred to in the post title.  His legislative director, Joe Goffman, deserves the praise.

When Lieberman returned to the Hill today, his first day back after speaking at the RNC, he was greeted by Goffman’s resignation.

Now, that is change I can believe in.

Superficial Politics

All that talk about women voting for a woman because she was a woman.  Remember that?

It turns out the group showing the highest support for Palin?  Men!  Fancy that.  They also think she’s qualified for the job and that she shouldn’t be asked difficult questions.

Who are these people?!  Once again, these polls are taken using land lines.  I’d love to see a pollster give more demographics on the people polled.  How old are they?  What is their education level?  What is their IQ?!!!

I’m wondering whether Barack Obama is right when he claims Americans aren’t stupid.  Take a look at what Red State thinks of all this. 

Wasilla Charged Rape Victims for Tests

The Internet has changed much about life in the last decade and I’m grateful for it.  The Wasilla newspaper, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, ran an article on May 22, 2000, about a new sexual assault bill that had just been signed into law by Governor Tony Knowles.  The purpose of the bill was to protect the victims of sex crimes from having to pay for their own evidence tests.

Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla at the time and she had fired the police chief when she was first elected in 1996.  So the police chief being referred to in the article, was one hand picked by Sarah Palin.

Charlie Fannon, Wasilla’s police chief at the time, disagreed with the bill and thought rape victims should be charged for evidence tests because otherwise it was going to put an undue tax burden on the citizens of Wasilla.

My question then is this:  How many rapes occur in Wasilla anyway?  Huh?

Any bets whether Charlie Gibson asks Palin whether she agreed with her police chief’s take on this bill? 

[h/t Americablog]

Charlie Gibson, the McCain/Palin Tool

I don’t like Charlie Gibson.  Mostly it’s because I think he’s pompous, biased, and condescending.  I also don’t like Brian Williams or Katie Couric so that limits a bit where I get national news.  Actually, I don’t get much news from them.  I get way more from the various Internet sites I visit.

That being said, I don’t have much faith that Gibson will ask any tough questions.  I don’t mean “gotcha” questions, but questions the public needs answers to in order to separate fact from fiction.  Questions like  how does she feel about the separation of church and state, or an explanation of what decisions she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard.  These are legitimate questions that any candidate should be asked and expected to answer.

Do I want to know how she feels about 9/11?  Not really.  What can she possibly say that would be enlightening?  According to Politico, Charlie is going to ride shotgun with Palin for two days, following her around as she speaks at a deployment ceremony for her son and showing us her moose-antlered decorated home in Wasilla.

Of course the McCain campaign is claiming Gibson can ask questions about anything and everything and he’s being given plenty of time to do so.  On the other hand, a McCain campaign official is quoted as saying Gibson can talk to her about 9/11 and her ideas for keeping the country safe (!) as well as finding out about her vision for the country.

And then there is this:

Asked to describe her appeal, one official said: “I think she is accessible. I think she is honest. I think she is real, and I think she is fearless. In Alaska, she has been such a target because she has always fought for the interests of her constituents, because they’re her neighbors.”

“I think she is honest.”  Are you kidding?  What planet do you live on?

If Gibson makes this a Barbara Walters special, then I intend to write to ABC News and call them out on it.  In general, I’ve begun emailing news organizations whenever I see this kind of pathetic reporting. 

What’s good for the Republicans, isn’t good for the rest of the country.

Sarah’s Missing Emails

The more I learn about Governor Palin, the more I believe the difference between her and George W. Bush is lipstick.  And the ability to put three words together in the same sentence, although to be fair, I don’t think I’ve really seen her speak extemporaneously yet so I’m going to reserve judgment on that one.

Go read the post at the Mother Jones Blog.  You’ll see exactly how much like Bush she is.

Bumper Sticker of the Day

I don’t drive much anymore (I ride my bike just about everywhere) but I’m thinking about investing in one of these in the magnetic form.  They are available from Xpress Your View along with shirts and other items.  Which do you think would be more effective: something negative about McCain/Palin or something positive about Obama/Biden?

Republican Cognitive Dissonance

I was Stumbling last night and came across The Lovenstein Institute website.  There I found a page titled, “It’s Tough Being a Republican in 2008″ that was filled with statements like this:

1. Jesus loves you, but shares your deep hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.
2. A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational corporations can make decisions affecting all humankind without any regulation.
3. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.
4. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, but then demand their cooperation and money.
5. You are a conservative, but it is OK to spend like there is no tomorrow and run up deficits that your grandchildren will have to pay, while at the same time refunding as much tax money as possible to rich people who do not need it.

And there are so many more. 

Maybe it’s time for a viable 3rd party.  The current Republican Party should be renamed the Christianist Party and Eisenhower-style Republicans could take back their party.