Almost as delightful as Noonan's gaffe were the grim expressions on the Fox panel's faces as they tried to come up with something, anything good about McCain's speech. It's one amazing day when Rove's Hellspawn can't even work up enthusiasm for The Designated Candidate, much less come up with any praise-worthy-of-Talking-Point-dom.

After expressing my delight with this, I still have a question. What does he mean by 'run it up?'

Like cab305, my first thought also was that it was an abbreviation of "let's run it up the flagpole and see who salutes".

See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_it_up_the_flagpole

But I'd have to agree that Murphy wasn't using it in the original sense of "the way you run a campaign in Texas is you float an experimental choice and see how people react to decide whether you'll go with it". Instead, it seemed to me that he was making a play on the idea of "the flag" as a "patriotic" touchstone of the GOP: "in Texas, the base is so loyal that you know you can run the flag up the flagpole, and EVERYone will salute, just because it's THE FLAG."

Could be wrong. But that was how I read it.

...you needn't look any further for your "cynical girl." We've found one in Peggy Noonan.

What the entire l'affaire Palin proves (and I'm not referring to any romantic or sexual entanglements involving Sarah or Bristol) is just how intense of a stranglehold the social conservative base now has over the national Republican party.

McCain probably wanted to pick Lieberman, though he realized that wouldn't fly with most elements of the party, not just fundamentalist evangelicals. But why not Pawlenty, who as governor of the host state might have been rendered immune from intraparty sniping at the convention (guests do like to be on their best behavior, after all)? Or, as commented on the dead mike, why not Kay Bailey Hutchison, who can play the "gender card" and is in many ways a social conservative herself, but has far more experience and respect nationally than Palin ever will? No, the right-wing punks mired in the culture wars would have raised, pardon the pun, holy hell. The attack dogs wanted their red meat, and McCain gave it to them in Sarah Palin.

More and more, this reminds me of the last time the GOP nominated a fellow from Arizona to the top of the ticket, only this time there'll be no ensuing civil rights act or "southern strategy" they can use to get back on their feet.

Everyone has its own opinion.

No need to trash, but politely say... "NO" based on facts.

I agree - I do not feel comfortable with McCain's choice. Our country went through a real awful nightmare... 9-11... we need a strong, knowledgeable, and "know-how" to deal President and Vice President.

??? McCain's judgment... I see her as a future potential subject to her track records to be established.

Today and for this election -TOTALLY PREMATURE.

The real world is not a small town... where everyone knows each other... our nation grew to 300million population with how many ethnic diversity??? What is the composition in Alaska, ratio?

Changing time... to have different gender is white house is good, but subject to "qualifications, seasoned, matures"

McCain's fate is sealed now, even the republican party sees no chance of McCain winning this ellection. McCain will go down in flames just like the last time he tried to run for president.

Yes. We Americans do not believe there is such a thing as torture. Thus, Senator McCain was lying when he claimed he was tortured by the Vietnamese. Therefore, the Vietnamese were clearly telling the truth. QED

Laying aside the fact that the transcript does not sound remotely like Murphy and Noonan are engaging in satire or mimicry ...

But I didn't say it was satire or mimicry (although I don't know what you're getting at with that last one). It could be just straight, normal talk.

I'm at a disadvantage, though, since I can't watch or listen to the thing. My firewall slows it to just blips and burps.

McCain's Vietnamese captors say he was never tortured. Why would they lie?

You're joking, right?

Laying aside the fact that the transcript does not sound remotely like Murphy and Noonan are engaging in satire or mimicry ...

I'll belive Noonan and Murply are that tone-deaf, when you show me the m fallking for "look, your shoes are untied!"

But, of course, it's an accident. What a bunch of phoneys.

Oh, and...Palin?! Hilarious.

"quite plausibly

What was cut was some sort of preface along the line of "Here's what some are going to say ..."

Completely changes the context."

Oh I'm SURE that was there, especially since you can here them repeating "or, they might say..", "or...", etc. Right.

Noonan says in her column that she meant "the assumptions of the GOP that it's interests=America's interest are done", not McCain's campaign.

Wow, what a shameless piece of BS. I think I truly hate these people for their complete lack of moral compass if nothing else.

Sarah Palin's glittering ambition is matched, and the subtext is marvelous... dahling.

I knew she reminded me of someone ... then "Myra Breckinridge" name and persona came to me ...

I can just see her crying, declaring how unworthy she was for this honor (beauty queen 101) ... and TeamMcCain were so occupied reassuring the pretty lass to let her get a word in edgewise ...

Yeah, she's honored.

If Bush is any indication, we're screwed.

Re: "Since it refers to text that isn't heard. Plus, it seems to start in the middle of the conversation.

Now, what was cut?"

Yeah, let's hear it - I haven't anything from The Noonan or The Murphy to contradict what we actually heard.

Hahahahehehehohoho,

A satisfied Democrat

Obama/Biden '08

Few American politicians have disappointed me as much as John McCain.

The angry old man, having, at one time, appeared to be a beacon, a firebrand, of sanity in the US Senate - only a couple of years ago, in fact - seems to be singing drastically off-key in recent months.

Over the past 12 months, John McCain has done the most outrageously cowardly political U turns, cartwheels, on such delicate matters as immigration and clean money - the two issues on which he had taken an honest, courageous and realistic position until he fixed his beady little eyes on the White House.

Senator McCain's bizarre desperation, in his dotage, to become President of the United States increasingly leads one to wonder what else is fiction in his story.

Was he ever, truly, officer material? One may well ask... (Is it not true that he graduated 892nd out of 895 in his class at Annapolis?) Did his father (the Admiral) pull strings to get him his command?

Was it, in fact, McCain's bravery and heroism or cowardice and incompetence which allowed his men to be captured in Vietnam? Was McCain really tortured or just denied his first choice of single malt whiskey?

McCain's Vietnamese captors say he was never tortured. Why would they lie?

What did McCain do for Keating and his other Savings and Loan cronies, in return for their colossal financial support for McCain's US Senate campaigns, and their investments in joint business ventures with Cindy McCain and her father?

Touching as his public remorsefulness may be, did John McCain ever make any amends to his first wife, or to the children of his first marriage? Or was McCain just too busy chasing skirts, money and political power to do right by his first family?

We have heard about McCain's current wife's history of drug and alcohol abuse, and her recovery. But doesn't Senator McCain himself have that embattled red-faced look of an angry, maybe even demented alcoholic? How did McCain recover from his supposed traumas in Vietnam? Where are his psychiatric files? Why keep them secret, after all these years, if he has nothing to hide?

What special interests does McCain's current wife NOT support? Now Senator McCain says he supports President Bush, finally, when it serves his personal ambitions. Didn't Senator McCain even admit that he was so incensed at losing the nomination to Bush in 2000 that he and Cindy actually voted for Gore!

But where was Senator McCain when his President, and his country, needed him most?

There are too many unanswered questions about this man, McCain, aren't there?

Any way, statistically, even if all he says turns out to be true, and he wins the election, what are his chances of physically surviving in office, even if he is not already medically diagnosed as senile yet?