Epic Fail // Current

Palin pardons turkey while birds bleed out on camera

A reporter asked Palin if she was okay with the backdrop, to which the Alaskan Governor answered, "no worries." As the... more

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Palin didn't know Africa is a continent

So just how woefully unqualified was Sarah Palin? Now that the election's over, aides to John McCain's campaign are... more

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McCain Concedes

Senator John McCain delivered this concession speech in front of supporters in his home state of Arizona.

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Palin releases medical records on election eve

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin released a summary of her medical history late on Monday... more

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Sarah Palin would not say she Voted for McCain/Palin

CNN showing Sarah Palin being interviewed after she voted. She would not say who she voted for, saying it was a "private... more

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UNCUT VIDEO: McCain Concession Speech

Uncut video from local Phoenix news channel 3TV. Live from the Biltmore.

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McCain concedes

"John McCain admitted defeat in the race for the White House Tuesday, saying: "The American people have spoken, and... more

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McCain's VA Suit On Military Ballots May Be Barred

Election Expert: McCain's VA Suit On Military Ballots May Be Barred By Zachary Roth - November 3, 2008, 8:58PM Earlier... more

WhichWayIsUp
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McCain camp sues Virginia to try to delay until some military ballots arrive after election

Here's a possible last-minute effort by the McCain camp to throw a wrench into the vote counting in a key swing state. The... more

WhichWayIsUp
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Palin billed Alaska for family church outings

The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God's will from the governor's office.

What she didn't tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.

An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate's record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.

Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.

Palin was baptized Roman Catholic as a newborn and baptized again in a Pentecostal Assemblies of God church when she was a teenager. She has worshipped at a nondenominational Bible church since 2002, opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and supports classroom discussions about creationism.

Since she was named as John McCain's running mate, Palin's deep faith and support for traditional moral values have rallied conservative voters who initially appeared reluctant to back his campaign.

On a weekend trip from the capital in June, a minister from the Wasilla Assembly of God blessed Palin and Lt. Gov Sean Parnell before a crowd gathered for the "One Lord Sunday" event at the town's hockey rink. Later in the day, she addressed the budding missionaries at her former church.

"As I'm doing my job, let's strike this deal. Your job is going be to be out there, reaching the people - (the) hurting people - throughout Alaska," she told students graduating from the church's Masters Commission program. "We can work together to make sure God's will be done here."

A spokeswoman for the McCain-Palin campaign, Maria Comella, said the state paid for Palin's travel and meals on that trip, and for other meetings with Christian groups, because she and her family were invited in their official capacity as Alaska's first family. Parnell did not charge the state a per diem or ask to be reimbursed for travel expenses that day.The camera closes in on Sarah Palin speaking to young missionaries, vowing from the pulpit to do her part to implement God's... more

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15 responses

1 month ago

McCain's Mom Gives Up - The Daily Beast

"I'm hoping he wins, for the country's sake,” McCain’s aunt said. “I figure it will kill him, but... more

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5 responses

29 days ago

McCain concedes

Republican John McCain concedes the presidential race to Barack Obama, saying the Democrat has achieved a ``great... more

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147 responses

29 days ago

Vote McCain!

McCain is not only a candidate who has astonishing views and beliefs, but someone indifferent from presidents of the past. Why... more

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3 responses

29 days ago

Man names baby 'Sarah McCain Palin' behind wife's back

A Tennessee man couldn't give much to the McCain/Palin campaign, so he gave his child's nomenclature. "I took... more

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50 responses

1 month ago

Tennessee baby named Sarah McCain Palin

A new father has secretly named his baby girl Sarah McCain Palin after the Republican ticket for president and vice president. ... more

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48 responses

1 month ago

Dumbing down of the GOP

Sarah Palin's debate performance should signal the beginning of the end of her fad. But for the moment it is worth looking at the meaning of her nomination, without the protective varnish of what conservatives usually dismiss as political correctness.

Why should we pretend not to notice when Gov. Palin's ideas make no sense? Having said last week that "it doesn't matter" whether human activity is the cause of climate change, she said in debate that she "doesn't want to argue" about the causes. It doesn't occur to her that we have to know the causes in order to address the problem. (She was very fortunate that moderator Gwen Ifill didn't ask her whether she truly believes that human beings and dinosaurs inhabited this planet simultaneously only 6,000 years ago.)

Why should we ignore her inability to string together a series of coherent thoughts? As a foe of Wall Street greed and a late convert to the gospel of government regulation, along with John McCain, Palin promised to clean up and reform business. But when her programmed talking points about "getting government out of the way" and protecting "freedom" conflicted with that promise, she didn't notice.

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Why should we give her a pass on the most important issues of the day? Supposedly sharing the fears and concerns of the average families who face the burdens of mortgages, healthcare and economic insecurity, Palin simply refused to discuss changes in bankruptcy law and proved that she didn't know the provisions of McCain's healthcare plan.

All the glaring defects so blatantly on display in her debate with Joe Biden -- and that make her candidacy so darkly comical -- would be the same if she were a hockey dad instead of a "hockey mom." In fact, the cynical attempt to foist Palin on the nation as a symbol of feminist progress is an insult to all women regardless of their political orientation.

There was a time when conservatives lamented the dumbing down of American culture. Preservation of basic standards in schools and workplaces compelled them -- or so they said -- to resist affirmative action for women and minorities. Qualifications mattered; merit mattered; and demagogic appeals for leveling were to be left to the Democrats.

Not anymore.

Actually, the Palin phenomenon is the culmination of a trend that can be traced back to Dan Quayle, the undistinguished Indiana senator whose elevation onto the Republican ticket in 1988 had nothing to do with intellect or experience and everything to do with the youthful appeal of a handsome blond frat boy. (That was how Republican strategists thought they would attract female voters back then, which must be why they believe Palin represents progress.) Quayle too was unable to articulate, let alone defend, the policy positions for which he was supposed to be campaigning. He too had to undergo the surgical stuffing of stock phrases into his head as a minimal substitute for knowledge and thought. And in the same sad way, he too benefited from the drastically reduced expectations applied to anyone whose inadequacy is so obvious.

Quayle deserved more pity than scorn, however, because he seemed to know that he was fighting far above his weight class. Palin evokes no such sympathy, with her jut-jawed, moose-gutting confidence in her own overrated "common sense" and her bullying insistence that only "elitists" would question her expertise.

As Biden showed quite convincingly when he spoke about his modest background and his continuing connection with Main Street, perceptive, intelligent discourse is in no way identical with elitism. Palin's phony populism is as insulting to working- and middle-class Americans as it is to American women. Why are basic diction and intellectual coherence presumed to be out of reach for "real people"? Sarah Palin's debate performance should signal the beginning of the end of her fad. But for the moment it is worth looking at... more