Seein’ as how you’re so religious and all, Gov. Palin, I thought you might want to hear what the Word has to say about your recent behavior:

24 A malicious man disguises himself with his lips,
but in his heart he harbors deceit.

25 Though his speech is charming, do not believe him,
for seven abominations fill his heart.

26 His malice may be concealed by deception,
but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

Proverbs 26:24-26, NIV

Now…I know it says “man”. But it applies to women too. And it even applies to mavericky straight-talkin’ wolf-shootin’ witch-chasin’ women like you. Cuz after all, Gov. Palin, if you’re such a straight-talker and all, you should know better than to tell lies like you’ve been telling.

But you know you can tell lies and get away with it, don’t you? That’s the fault of the ignorant, booing, cheerleading pompom-wearing idiots who like their facts covered in a big pile of bullshit tailor made for their appetites.

What you and your war-hero-turned-dishonorable-demagogue running mate need to know is this: When you incite threats, hate and violence by telling lies, God doesn’t like it. He’s not inclined to be on your side.

When you and your hate-mongering dishonorable running-mate say things like this:

“This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America,” she told the Clearwater crowd. “I’m afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country.”

…you expose your wickedness in the assembly.

God’s got some stuff to say to you, but I doubt you’re listening, Governor Palin. So my friends and I are going to say it instead, as plainly and straight-talky as we possibly can. Only, we have the sense to leave the hate speech at the door.

Here’s what my Twitter friend Zik says:

When you drive a crowd into a racist froth, and incite them to want to kill the next president you don’t get to seperate yourself from them.

That’s right, gun totin’ gal. You don’t. And let’s be clear — you and your dishonorable running-mate associate yourself with some of the most destructive domestic terrorists of our time. Not just associate — SUPPORT.

That’s right, Governor Palin. Your running-mate voted to PROTECT domestic terrorists.

Let’s be clear on where I stand on this:

When you and your dishonorable running-mate look the other way when death threats, slander and hate speech are shouted out at your rallies, it is the same as doing it yourself. There is no difference.

when you and your dishonorable running-mate choose to tell outright lies about Senator Obama in an effort to stir up hate and fanatical nationalism, it is the same as if you had done it yourself. There is no difference.

When you and your dishonorable running-mate make sly racial references intended to send a dog whistle to the hate groups in this country that you are willing to be as racist as they, you ARE as racist as they. There is no difference.

IF you and your dishonorable running-mate succeed in whipping the frenzy to such a state that violence is threatened or carried out against Senator Obama or anyone associated with his campaign, volunteer or paid…

I will. not. rest. until I have done everything in my power to make sure you have no power ever again. Or that anyone associated with you has any power ever again. I will not rest until I have found a way to reach as many churches as I can and convince them to denounce your unpatriotic, dangerous and violent acts of treason on our country with your lies, malice and ‘abominations’. I will spend every last dollar I have making sure that the truth comes out about you and your dishonorable and dishonored running-mate.

Those things I will do because I’m human. God, on the other hand, may hold you accountable. You have one option to mitigate that.

Repent.

Today.

Repent.

Turn away, confess how wrong you are, and…

Make it right.

Otherwise, you’re accountable and responsible, and I will exercise my right as a citizen of this country to hold you responsible.

One of the reasons I love talking to strong women older than me: They don’t mess around with the truth. They call it as they see it, probably because when you’re 82, you don’t need to worry about what other folks think. Life is, after all, too short.

82-year old Helen, over at Margaret and Helen blog has a few observations about Sarah Palin:

She leads with this:

Governor Palin is a stupid, conniving bitch. And it’s not because she is a strong woman – I like strong women… worship them… It’s actually the opposite. She is a weak, pathetic woman who thinks big hair, winking, baby talk and self deprecation is somehow becoming of a woman who wants to lead the free world.

See, that’s it, right there for me. Well, that and her complete lack of qualification to step in if John McCain can’t finish his term. But Helen doesn’t stop there…she goes on to really put truth to the lies:

Fact: Sarah Palin is stupid. Maybe not stupid by Alabama standards but stupid enough that she managed to get herself elected Governor while never bothering to educate herself on little things like the Constitution, foriegn affairs or appropriate debating practices. She is stupid enough to have accepted a VP nomination for which she is completely unqualified and stupid enough not to admit it – even though the future of our great nation could be irreversibly damaged by the decision.

Go read the rest. And then leave her a comment, answering her question:

When exactly do we all get to call “bullshit”?

I’d like to know that, too, especially in light of Palin’s reckless, ugly, crap-filled comments yesterday.

(h/t Culture Kitchen)

I am a Christian. I cannot imagine being a Republican. I cannot in one million years imagine myself choosing to vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. Not only that, but I cannot imagine any Christian being in agreement with them morally, ethically or any other way. Here are my reasons:

1. The false claim that they are pro-life Make no mistake here. Someone who is pro-life respects ALL life, not simply the lives of the unborn. John McCain’s philosophy is that life is respected as long as that life agrees with him. Note, for example, that he has no compunction about starting wars pre-emptively, with or without a sound and verified reason to do so. In Iraq, the losses have been monumental, and not simply US troops and support personnel, but hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, too. Yet, the drumbeat from the McCain campaign is simply “I know how to win wars.”

   My response to that claim? If you know, why haven’t you marched up to the White House and passed that knowledge on to the guy running the country right now? And further, if you know, why can’t you define “victory” in Iraq? And even further, why won’t General Petraeus proclaim that Iraq is “winnable”?

2. John McCain lies. He has lied repeatedly, or allowed lies to be spread about his opponent for the sake of winning and winning only. This is not the hallmark of a Christian, who is instructed to “love one another”, to “turn the other cheek”, to not submit to the earthly authorities, but heavenly authorities. Christians should be very, very aware that John McCain is exactly the type of person Jesus preached against: no compassion for the poor, the sick, those in need.

   Truth-telling is a fundamental pillar of Christianity. Entire books of the Bible are dedicated to unpeeling the layers of humanity and exposing truth and wisdom. From a purely moral standpoint, lying to the country in order to achieve personal objectives is unchristian, immoral, and shouldn’t be rewarded, particularly by evangelical Christians. What message do you send when you embrace a proven liar about your own message?

   Not only that, but his transition team is loaded with representatives from the interests that are funding him. Beware, Christians, of a man who has been bought and paid for with the money of corporations.

3. John McCain, a POW who suffered unspeakable torture, endorsed torture and didn’t simply endorse it, he voted for it! Christians, Jesus was tortured. This is as fundamental as the question of respecting life. Christians do NOT endorse torture. It’s wrong. It’s inhuman. It is absolutely and completely against the principles Jesus taught. I will say it again: torture is NOT a Christian principle.
4. The Supreme Court appointments Here’s why: Roe v. Wade is not the primary concern I have with the balance of the Supreme Court, nor should it concern evangelicals. What SHOULD concern evangelicals is that the conservative court wishes to expand the powers of the executive into an unbalanced and overly-powerful state, which places each and every Christian, Jew, and Muslim at risk of persecution in a country which professes freedom of religion! Christians are to be of in the world but not in of the world; it is not our mission to create an earthly authority that we then place ourselves under, because according to Christian principles, our only authority is in heaven.

Issues that shouldn’t concern Christians, no matter what Sarah Palin and John McCain say

• Resistance to teaching creationism in the schools ¹. Why? Because these are principles to teach at home, and in a Christian home, the parents are and should be the first authority for these teachings, as well as the moral authority for their children. This is what the Bible teaches. This is what Christians should embrace. Why on earth would any Christian hand the responsbility for these subjects to the government?
• Abortion Again, the reasons are clear for this. Christians can participate in the political process but not rely upon it to teach their children about children, family, morality, or choices. Leaving abortion as a choice in the political realm does not mean Christians must submit to it. In fact, they have a duty not to.
• Homosexuality Christians are called not to judge others, lest they be judged. The mission of evangelical Christians is to bring the love of Christ to ALL people. Not just straight people and not just people they like. All people. Consequently, Christians should not consider these sorts of wedge issues or give them more weight than the true moral questions of how we treat our fellow man (torture); and whether respect for life includes all lives, at home and abroad, infant or adult.

By now, you should see where I’m going with my bottom line. Evangelical Christians stand a far better chance of furthering their purpose and mission if they do NOT vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. These are morally bankrupt people, willing to sell themselves and every principle they may once have held dear in order to gain earthly power. This is antithetical to what we are taught as Christians, which is to respect the authority which comes from heaven and submit to it, to live in the world but not of the world, to show compassion, tend to the needy and sick…to meet people where they are and love them.

Why are Christians abrogating their heavenly authority to earthly authorities? Morality isn’t something to be legislated; it’s something to be lived. While I am not arguing that Barack Obama is perfect by any stretch, I do believe he has respect, understanding, and regard for the rights of evangelicals to live their principles, teach their children, and help them to make choices that are good, moral, and help, not harm others.

One final thought, as it relates to me. If you read back through this blog, you will discover language that is not Christian, thoughts that are unkind, inconsistent with the principles of Christianity. I own that. I’m human, just like everyone else, and I’m absolutely not qualified to run for President, just based on the hypocrisy of the language here. What I’m asking is that if you are an evangelical Christian and truly, thoughtfully concerned about what has happened to our country, that you weight the purpose we are called for against what McCain and Palin stand for. I believe you will come to the same conclusion as I.

¹This post is written specifically for Christian readers. It is not intended to disrespect people who don’t agree, but it presumes some basic Christian beliefs. I do not want to argue about intelligent design, or creationism as part of this post. I presume that the intended audience has a position on these issues and what I am arguing is whether or not it is something that Christians should look to government to teach.

I’m guessing the question of him not taking public financing will now be laid to rest.

Barack Obama is running a brilliant campaign and bringing hundreds of thousands of disaffected voters into the race. If you’re still confused about who will lead this country back to the right direction, I’d suggest comparing the campaigns.

One relies on Swiftboaters; the other on small donors giving $5 or more. Which of those is more representative of this country? Which candidate will be thinking of ordinary Americans on Day One? Which candidate will have debts to pay to special interests on Day One?

The latest negative I’ve heard is that people just don’t feel comfortable with Obama. Frankly, that’s codespeak that suggests they’re not comfortable with a black guy who gets stuff done. I strongly suggest those with discomfort try to set that aside and figure out based on facts and reality who will tell the truth and who will lie to them. The direction of the McCain campaign has certainly not erred on the side of truth since their convention.

Paul Krugman:

And now the team that hopes to form the next administration is running a campaign that makes Bush-Cheney 2000 look like something out of a civics class. What does that say about how that team would run the country?

What it says, I’d argue, is that the Obama campaign is wrong to suggest that a McCain-Palin administration would just be a continuation of Bush-Cheney. If the way John McCain and Sarah Palin are campaigning is any indication, it would be much, much worse.

Here’s a choice: Lies, more lies, and damn lies, about Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, taxes, and the economy served with a neocon twist. Or an honest effort to try to tackle some of our biggest problems and resolve them.

Doesn’t seem like much of a choice to me.

(Note: For excellent updates on the McCain campaign lies, subscribe to RoadKill Refugee’s blog. Roadkill updates the blog frequently with new lies and truths about McCain.)

Wow. On the day Palin attends a deployment ceremony for her son, she advocates for war with Russia. This is just so wrong on so many levels…

GIBSON: Let’s start, because we are near Russia, let’s start with Russia and Georgia.

The administration has said we’ve got to maintain the territorial integrity of Georgia. Do you believe the United States should try to restore Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

PALIN: First off, we’re going to continue good relations with Saakashvili there. I was able to speak with him the other day and giving him my commitment, as John McCain’s running mate, that we will be committed to Georgia. And we’ve got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable and we have to keep… GIBSON: You believe unprovoked.

PALIN: I do believe unprovoked and we have got to keep our eyes on Russia, under the leadership there.

GIBSON: What insight into Russian actions, particularly in the last couple of weeks, does the proximity of the state give you?

PALIN: They’re our next door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.

Sarah Palin on Russia:

We cannot repeat the Cold War. We are thankful that, under Reagan, we won the Cold War, without a shot fired, also. We’ve learned lessons from that in our relationship with Russia, previously the Soviet Union.

We will not repeat a Cold War. We must have good relationship with our allies, pressuring, also, helping us to remind Russia that it’s in their benefit, also, a mutually beneficial relationship for us all to be getting along.

Now, let’s unpack this just a little bit. Russia was not unprovoked. As much as McCain/Palin want to paint the conflict in Russia as the big bad wolf eating the innocent Georgia, it didn’t really happen like that. In fact, following her logic about protecting smaller democratic countries, she should pay due respect to South Ossetia and acknowledge that Georgia was annexing them even as they expressed desire to be independent of Georgia. There was plenty of provocation.

Of course, it’s much more convenient to dumb down the argument to RNC talking points and argue that Georgia was somehow being punished by Russia for joining Nato. It’s also more convenient to ignore the fact of the gas pipeline crossing Georgia that the neo-cons desperately want to control.

Oh, but then I forgot. John McCain says Palin knows more about energy than possibly anyone else in the US.

Those gosh-darn Republicans sure are given to knowing everything, aren’t they? Just ask Meghan McCain.

Keith Olbermann’s special comment last night echoed everything I’ve been saying whenever I hear John McCain pronounce that a) He knows how to win wars; and b) he will bring our troops home from Iraq after we ‘win’ and with honor.

Let me just say this here and now: I believe that our troops have honor just by virtue of the fact that they are serving, have served, have placed their lives at risk and have obeyed orders that they perhaps didn’t even agree with. Every day that they get up and put their boots on and go back out there, they serve with honor. There is absolutely nothing in the outcome to Iraq that will change the fact that these are honorable men and women serving their country with, yes, honor.

Olbermann’s special comment re: trademarking 9/11

With that said, every single time McCain makes the broad claims about victory and honor, I find myself screaming the words “Define victory!” at my television set. Or my car radio. Or even my iPod, on occasion.

The fact is, victory in Iraq is undefined now, and will forever be undefined. This is largely because there was no clearly-stated objective beyond getting rid of Saddam Hussein, and that objective was completed 5 or so years ago.

Even General Petraeus agrees. From an interview with the BBC:

Q: Do you think you will ever use the word “victory”?

Petraeus: I don’t know that I will. I think that all of us at different times have recognized the need for real restraint in our assessments, in our pronouncements, if you will. And we have tried to be very brutally honest and forthright in what we have provided to Congress, to the press, and to ourselves.

and

“This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade…it’s not war with a simple slogan.

Once again, McCain lies and distorts for political gain. Oh, don’t we all want to puff out our chests and proclaim ‘victory’. And of course, McCain has to take that tack in order to lie about Barack Obama as being a ‘quitter’ who wants to ‘give up’ in Iraq, with quips and sound bites like this one:

“This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word `victory’ except when he’s talking about his own campaign.”

Now you hear Petraeus echoing more or less what Barack Obama has said throughout the campaign — that withdrawal from Iraq must be done with caution, but that it must be done, particularly with Afghanistan at grave risk.

Make no mistake about this: John McCain’s idea of honor IS victory — HIS. And he will lie and sell out to the highest bidder to be victorious.

Each and every ad debunked in this video was an ad approved by John McCain. After watching McCain and his spin machine lie to all of us, I’m just curious about what the word “honor” means to him. After all, he’s the one who said he’d run an “honorable campaign”. Last time I looked, the definition of ‘honorable’ didn’t include lies about everything from national security to legislative meaning and intent.

McCain has demonstrated his craven desire to wield power. Here is the choice for voters: Do you want yet another proven liar in office, or are you willing to take a chance on integrity this time around.

Since the press won’t call out the lies, I will. And so will these folks.

Will you?

“…everybody acknowledges that the facts don’t matter…only matters what is said about the candidate regardless of their relationship to the truth”

“What ought to be the scandal in this campaign is the fact that John McCain is making stuff up.”

The very first blog post I ever wrote was a screed dressing down George W. Bush for even thinking about privatizing Social Security, and now we have John McCain endorsing the same policy.

Privatizing Social Security is the very worst idea the Republicans have ever brought forth. It’s nothing more than a money grab intended to take away what few retirement benefits are available to lower and middle class workers.

Consider this: If George W. Bush’s effort to privatize Social Security had been passed, every American within 15 years of retirement could have lost over 50% of their retirement accounts in the last 8 years as a result of market fluctuation, malfeasance (think “subprime mortgage crisis”), and fees.

All it should take to convince anyone to back away from privatized Social Security is an understanding of where the money goes. Right now, Social Security is backed by the full force and guarantee of the federal government. That’s how it must remain. Privatizing it, even a portion of it, means sending money to the very same Wall Street investment banks that the federal government just bailed out.

It means the possibility of your retirement dollars invested abroad. It means there are no longer any guarantees.

When John McCain says he doesn’t understand economics, he tells the truth. He also doesn’t understand how pensions and Social Security work.

Privatizing Social Security means only one thing: The government wants to shirk the responsibility to pay guaranteed pensions to citizens who have paid into the system for their entire working lives, not to mention their employers, who match the employee contribution. Among the Republican proposals, this one is the most insidious and yes, even criminal. They lie and say they’re empowering citizens, when they’re robbing them.

McCain has walked back his statements, just a little. But not enough. Here’s what he says today:

John McCain supports supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts–but not as a substitute for addressing benefit promises that cannot be kept. John McCain will reach across the aisle, but if the Democrats do not act, he will. No problem is in more need of honesty than the looming financial challenges of entitlement programs. Americans have the right to know the truth and John McCain will not leave office without fixing the problems that threatens our future prosperity and power.

Here’s what he said in 2004:

Q: Will privatizing Social Security be a priority for you going forward?

McCAIN: Without privatization, I don’t see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits.

In addition to the veiled contradiction, his current position is dishonest. Exposing the lies:

• Social Security is not an “entitlement program“. Social Security is paid for by employees and employers, as is Medicare. The benefits provided by Social Security are earned, not given.
• Social Security can ALREADY be supplemented with personal accounts. That’s what IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k) plans and employer Profit Sharing plans are. Of all the lies, this one is the most offensive. While Republicans claim that Democrats support big government and spending out of one side of their mouths, they advocate for a mandated retirement savings program that shifts the burden of providing guaranteed and earned benefits from the government to the individual. Should every individual be saving for their retirement? Absolutely, without question. But the mechanisms are already in place for that to happen. The suggestion that a mandate will stabilize Social Security is just specious, and smacks of Big Brother intervention.
• Finally, what does he mean by “If the Democrats do not act, he will.” Will he simply bypass the Congress and will of the people with an executive order abolishing Social Security?

Here’s a hint to John McCain and the Republicans: After 8 years of seeing what little financial security they had ripped away by investment bankers’ malfeasance and Republican greed, Americans are not going to take kindly to your efforts to shear away what little tiny bit of security they might have for retirement. This is particularly true of those of us who fall into the Baby Boomer generation, who have seen Republicans slide their retirement dates from 65 to 70 over the past 10 years.

Leave Social Security alone. Shore it up, quit using it as a credit card to bury war costs into the budget. And above all, do not let John McCain and the Republicans take your retirement dollars and hand them to liars, thieves and Wall Street greed.

Tell me again that she’s vying for the vice presidency. Um…I don’t think so. I’ve bolded some of the specific reasons in the body of the letter that highlight the ambition and expectation that she will be the nominee. This letter was accompanied by Karl Rove’s charts and polls supporting her argument. Gosh, he’s everywhere lately.

Dear ___________,

The stakes in this election are so high: with two wars abroad, our economy in crisis here at home, and so many families struggling across America, the need for new leadership has never been greater.

At this point, we do not yet have a nominee – and when the last votes are cast on June 3, neither Senator Obama nor I will have secured the nomination. It will be up to automatic delegates like you to help choose our party’s nominee, and I would like to tell you why I believe I am the stronger candidate against Senator McCain and would be the best President and Commander in Chief.

Voters in every state have made it clear that they want to be heard and counted as part of this historic race. And as we reach the end of the primary season, more than 17 million people have supported me in my effort to become the Democratic nominee – more people than have ever voted for a potential nominee in the history of our party. In the past two weeks alone, record numbers of voters participated in the West Virginia and Kentucky primaries. And with 40 and 35 point margins of victory, it is clear that even when voters are repeatedly told this race is over, they’re not giving up on me – and I am not giving up on them either.

After seven years of feeling invisible to the Bush administration, Americans are seeking a President who is strong, experienced, and ready to take on our toughest challenges, from serving as Commander in Chief and ending the war in Iraq to turning our economy around. They want a President who shares their core beliefs about our country and its future and “gets” what they go through every day to care for their families, pay the bills and try to put something away for the future.

We simply cannot afford another four – or eight – years in the wilderness. That is why, everywhere I go, people come up to me, grip my hand or arm, and urge me to keep on running. That is why I continue in this race: because I believe I am best prepared to lead this country as President – and best prepared to put together a broad coalition of voters to break the lock Republicans have had on the electoral map and beat Senator McCain in November. (See, it’s not just about her base — it’s her strong belief that she, and only she, can lead this country. Message: Obama weak; me strong)

Recent polls and election results show a clear trend: I am ahead in states that have been critical to victory in the past two elections. From Ohio, to Pennsylvania, to West Virginia and beyond, the results of recent primaries in battleground states show that I have strong support from the regions and demographics Democrats need to take back the White House. I am also currently ahead of Senator McCain in Gallup national tracking polls, while Senator Obama is behind him. And nearly all independent analyses (This is not true. She handpicked her analyses) show that I am in a stronger position to win the Electoral College, primarily because I lead Senator McCain in Florida and Ohio. I’ve enclosed a detailed analysis of recent electoral and polling information, and I hope you will take some time to review it carefully.

In addition, when the primaries are finished, I expect to lead in the popular vote and in delegates earned through primaries. Ultimately, the point of our primary process is to pick ourstrongest nominee – the one who would be the best President and Commander in Chief, who has the greatest support from members of our party, and who is most likely to win in November. So I hope you will consider not just the strength of the coalition backing me, but also that more people will have cast their votes for me. (again with the popular vote lie…way to make your case, base it all on a lie).

I am in this race for them — for all the men and women I meet who wake up every day and work hard to make a difference for their families. People who deserve a shot at the American dream – the chance to save for college, a home and retirement; to afford quality health care for their families; to fill the gas tank and buy the groceries with a little left over each month.

I am in this race for all the women in their nineties who’ve told me they were born before women could vote, and they want to live to see a woman in the White House. For all the women who are energized for the first time, and voting for the first time. For the little girls – and little boys – whose parents lift them onto their shoulders at our rallies, and whisper in their ears, “See, you can be anything you want to be.” As the first woman ever to be in this position, I believe I have a responsibility to them. (and if you don’t give me this nomination, you’ll disappoint all the little old ladies and little girls and little boys…wah.)

Finally, I am in this race because I believe staying in this race will help unite the Democratic Party. I believe that if Senator Obama and I both make our case – and all Democrats have the chance to make their voices heard – everyone will be more likely to rally around the nominee.

In the end, I am committed to unifying this party. What Senator Obama and I share is so much greater than our differences; and no matter who wins this nomination, I will do everything I can to bring us together and move us forward.

But at this point, neither of us has crossed the finish line. (Actually, one will cross the finish line on 6/3, but not her) I hope that in the time remaining, you will think hard about which candidate has the best chance to lead our party to victory in November. I hope you will consider the results of the recent primaries and what they tell us about the mindset of voters in the key battleground states (hint: they won’t vote for a black guy). I hope you will think about the broad and winning coalition of voters (White women over 50, Appalachian voters and who else? Hispanics are moving in droves to Obama…) I have built.(Because yeah, Obama didn’t build a goddamn thing, it’s all about what SHE’S built. Gimme a break, and give Bush some credit too) And most important, I hope you will think about who is ready to stand on that stage with Senator McCain, (HRC code words arguing her ‘experience’) fight for the deepest principles of our party, and lead our country forward into this new century.

I’m telling you, she’ll take it to the convention, in which case Rachel Maddow will be absolutely 100-frickin’-percent right.