I'm not really certain what is supposed to be gained from attempting to engage in any kind of diologue with the lil' snipers club that seems to lurk within these threads but it is pretty obvious that they are very afraid of something. Barak "Hussien" (they LOVE that) Obama and his ties to terrorism indeed. Yes he's black so he's a terrorist. This is the kind of discussion they'd prefer, I guess because it's so elevating of the discourse in general. They prefer strained polemical arguments because the GOP has no platform to stand on any more.

They also seem to be impervious to the delicious irony of their inherent "superiority" BECAUSE of their psuedo-populist posturing while they lecture us about elitism because we dare nominate someone who we believe is a capable and talented and dare I say "decent" person? Yes he's a regular guy who came from very commonplace surroundings and against the odds made something rather extraoridary of himself. It's the kind of Horatio Alger story you populists should be wetting yourselves over. ...Burns yer butt, doesn't it?

Meanwhile they are corn-fed the most cynical of candidates who is a condescending caricature of middle american values who preens, winks and talks to them like children and they lap it up like love-starved puppies and drooling school boys. Go for it guys. She's the new figurehead of the coming fascist state. She's your "Mommie". Meanwhile Wall Street and Corporate America is asking you, "Who's your Daddy?

They also seem to forget that Good King George was elected with a similar appeal to the self-same yearning for a "regular Joe" as president. Are you folks happy with the last 8 years? really? You happy with expanded government and exploding debt? A trumped-up, badly handled war that has no clear objective and no end in sight? Really? A country whose economy is bottoming out as we speak because of lack of oversight and greed run amok? How about crumbling infrastructure and badly-run federal agencies filled with incompetant cronies? I could go on and on. All because of an uninvolved, incurious "regular guy" with no actual interest in governing.

You all fell for that one. Are you going to tell me that you think someone who says the word "maverick" over and over with admittedly no understanding of economics and changes his positions like some of us change our socks is the guy for the job? Really? Go for it. No one's stopping you from attending the next Palin rally.

right on. The whole Republican ethos boiled down to it's essence. 'nuff said.

It's on Daily Kos (a lefty site so beware-there may be subliminal terrorist messages hidden within).

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/21/164117/783/290/461422

and their PROMISING to raise my Taxes?? OmiGod! Sign me up!

By appealing to the most extreme ends of the base they have painted themselves into a corner where their candidates are caricatures and their platform nothing more than a series of wedge issues that promote the fake culture wars we think that we're "discussing" currently. They've become such a joke, their presidential candidates looked like the Seven Dwarves. Hint: McCain is Grumpy. But hey, now they've got Snow White!!!

No taxes. Check.

No taxes. Got it.

oh, and no taxes. uh-huh.

...Because we don't want no socialist welfare state. Okay.

Anything else? Oh yeah support the troops.

I've heard a couple of pundits, (I assume as a kind of backhanded compliment), say that although "unqualified", Ms Palin would possibly be a political force to be reckoned with for years to come. Really? I know a lot of energy has been spent examining the Sarah phenomena and it's been fun but her brand is really, really fading as she becomes associated with a floundering campaign and her true worth (to McCain), comes into sharp relief. It seems that, removed from the dynamics of this political race, she's a nonentity. Consider her "Boy Howdy" charm outside the confines of a desperate campaign where she was essentailly used as a red herring, a trojan horse or an Obama doppelganger, ("See , we got our own minority right here!") Left to her own devices, on the sidelines, are we really gonna go to Ms Palin to hear her folksy take on, for instance, the situation in Darfur? Unless she's suddenly able to speak convincingly and at some length about a variety of important topics , I'm afraid that her folksy, wink-wink schtick will have suddenly a very short shelf-life indeed. I'm afraid her MILF appeal would just vanish if she suddenly became, dare I say, statesman-like in her bearing as she delivered dry policy speeches about her special topic, energy. Face it, as long as she's not seen as some kind of finger-in-the-eye- of-the democrats- game changer, she's pretty uninteresting fodder for discussion. And let's not forget her special appeal to the adolescent sexual appetite of the republican boy's club. What's she pushing, like 45? In 4-5 years her "freshness" quotient is gonna be down considerably. Perhaps she can become a reality show contestant- oh, that's right. She IS one. Didn't she win the "I can Be Persident, TOO!," sweepstakes? You know, I give the Palin Phenom a thumbs down overall. She is last week's news. She is the flavor of the month. She is Boooring!

Maybe when all is said and done she can make a reoccurring appearance on "Desperate Housewives". Todd can play the "Pool Boy". Then he can have an expanded role as more than a cardboard cutout standing behind John Mccain...