Gregoire makes a good impression

While attending the Democratic National Convention in Denver last month, Governor Gregoire was being closely observed, as recorded in a guest op-ed column in Monday's Seattle P-I. The observer was Colorado policeman, Frank Vanecek, who drove and provided security for Gregoire and her staff while in Denver, and his opinion cast the governor in quite a favorable light:

Several things about the governor are remarkable -- her energy, the things that appeared to be her priorities, the way she dealt with people, including me. I was essentially a taxi driver with a badge, yet Gregoire was very thoughtful and considerate of my well-being and me.

Mr. Vanecek goes on to say:

I've spent much of my 28 years in law enforcement as an investigator, interacting with thousands of people and making judgments on their truthfulness and character.

My conclusions after spending time as a "fly on the wall" with Gregoire is that she is a person of integrity who has the interest of her state at heart and puts that interest above her own.

Since we've seen that the electorate puts a high premium on personality and likeability when choosing its candidates, testimonies like these, from a Republican nonetheless, show a governor that is an admirable person both in and out of the limelight.

Sarah Palin continues lies about earmarks

Mark Twain once said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics." In the case of Sarah Palin, any way you look at it, she's lying. This evening in a campaign stop in Albuquerque, Sarah Palin continued her lying about earmarks.

Palin claimed she "championed reform of earmark spending by Congress, and I told the Congress thanks but no thanks on that 'Bridge to Nowhere,'" she said, ommiting mention that she'd campaigned for governor supporting the bridge. "If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves."

Palin can say what she likes about earmarks, but her record and the facts show otherwise. For Governor Palin to suggest otherwise is disingenuous and an outright lie. Sarah Palin loved earmarks when it was politically expedient for her.

But records show that Palin -- first as mayor of Wasilla and recently as governor of Alaska -- was far from shy about pursuing tens of millions in earmarks for her town, her region and her state.

This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column.

[...]

Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.

So not only did Sarah Palin pursue earmarks, she hired a lobbyist with ties to a Senator who is currently under indictment for corruption.

Unfortunately, since the traditional media is still jonesing over Palin's penchant for moose burgers, and she's not taking any questions from the media, you won't find this information anywhere but in the progressive blogosphere, for now.

Rossi's math similar to McKenna's

Face it; math is just not a Republican strong suit.

If you've been following along with Attorney General Rob McKenna's back and forth about what kind of McCain showing in our state would propel Dino Rossi into the governor's mansion, we can now add Rossi's own miscalculation.

In a recent interview with KUOW's Ross Reynolds, Rossi claimed that he outperformed George W. Bush by 8% points in 2004.

Unfortunately, looking at that claim a couple of different ways, I still don't come up with 8%. The best I can give him is a difference of a little under 5%.

Political campaigns love numbers even if they don't know how to use them, and right now the numbers don't look too good for either McCain or Rossi in Washington. Beyond the numbers, McCain's own state campaign chair is publically pessimistic about McCain's success in our state and Rossi has abandoned his party's nominee and is hanging onto the coattails of Washington's likely victor, Barak Obama. Doesn't he know that will get him nowhere?

If you are a supporter of Barack Obama, you know that the change he will bring is just the opposite of the regressiveness that Rossi plans for Washington. Not only do Rossi's numbers not look so good, but neither does his vision for our state.

AM 1090 adds The Ron Reagan Show to lineup

One of our locals is back on the air (no, it's not Goldy but hopefully he's next), and a great addition to progressive talk radio. In a press release earlier today, AM 1090, Seattle's Air America affiliate made it official: the Ron Reagan show will be airing at 5 p.m. weekdays, and syndicated nationally, beginning September 8.

Ron Reagan is a longtime resident of Seattle, who has hosted radio programs here, as well as, a daily TV show on MSNBC. His voice strengthens an already stellar lineup on Air America. Here's more from the press release:

Progressive Talk, AM1090 (KPTK) has announced the launch of The Ron Reagan Show, to be broadcast live from the KPTK studios each weekday afternoon at 5:00 PM beginning on Monday, September 8. The one-hour program will be nationally syndicated through Air America Radio.

“Ron has joined KPTK and Air America during special election and convention coverage, and listeners have been pleased and excited by his insight, story-telling ability, and entertaining style”, said Paul Fredricks, KPTK Operations Manager. “He has previously hosted radio programs in Seattle and a daily TV show on MSNBC, and also did a fantastic job as the moderator of this years AM1090 Townhall Forum "We The People". “

In a related announcement, The Rachel Maddow Show, will now be broadcast weekdays from 3:00-5:00PM, PT, to allow Rachel more time to bring truth to the masses through her own nightly television show on MSNBC.

Congratulations Ron and good luck with the new show. We'll be listening.

Nancy Wilson responds to McCain campaign's use of Barracuda

Well, that didn't take long.

As Andrew reported last night, after his acceptance speech last night the McCain campaign used Heart's "Barracuda" as background music to promote the image of his running mate, Sarah Palin. Andrew also noted that Heart is known for its support of the Democratic Party, and that McCain has a history of using artists' music without permission.

Here is Nancy Wilson's response to the use of her music by the McCain campaign, and the statement Heart sent out.

With that elephant in the room, Heart's Nancy Wilson felt compelled to personally respond. "I think it's completely unfair to be so misrepresented," she said in a phone call to EW.com after the speech. "I feel completely f---ed over." She and sister Ann Wilson then e-mailed the following exclusive statement:

"Sarah Palin's views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image. The song 'Barracuda' was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The 'barracuda' represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there's irony in Republican strategists' choice to make use of it there."

Perhaps McCain will use Dancing Queen next to promote Palin's image. Anybody know if ABBA supports Democrats (and yes, I know they're Swedish)?

What community organizers are doing

Last night, Sarah Palin revealed her disdain for community organizers. Today, she may have found out what community organizers can do.

Wellstone Action! made sure to inform Governor Palin of the responsibilities of a community organizer. They would know since they've trained over 20,000 of them, including me and our Executive Director, Andrew Villeneuve.

But, as Taegan Goddard reported earlier today, since Palin's speech last night the Obama campaign was on pace to raise $10 million before John McCain went on stage tonight. As for the Republicans, the best the RNC could do was $1 million, after a speech loaded with red meat designed to fire up the Republican base.

$10 million overnight isn't the result of a few large donors. It's because of community organizers, who are bringing their friends and neighbors into Barack Obama's campaign for change. It's people-powered politics, something the GOP (that's Graveyard of Progress) derides. Door by door, block by block, we're creating the change we want to see in our country, and they're afraid of us.

Notes on John McCain's speech

Well, it looks like John McCain's speech in St. Paul is finally over.

I was watching at the beginning, but I didn't want to fall asleep without taking advantage of a delicious backyard grill, so I went outside midway through to eat dinner. By the time I came back, the speech was still going, and I didn't miss one second of its conclusion, complete with the obligatory confetti and balloon drop.

A few thoughts on the speech:

• Thanks for the shout out to Team Obama, Senator McCain. It'd be a lot easier for us to respect your ticket if you would kindly tell Sarah Palin to stop telling lies about ours.
• Speaking of Sarah Palin, it sure seems like she has overshadowed McCain throughout these last few days in St. Paul. Chuck Todd, on MSNBC, opined on the post-speech broadcast that the 2008 Republican National Convention was Palin's show. It's telling that McCain's biggest applause line during his speech was his reference to his running mate.
  
• Do McCain's campaign staff not watch the Colbert Report on Comedy Central? Once again, they had McCain delivering an important primetime address to a television audience in front of a green screen (for at least part of the time). Later, it was a blue screen. My guess is, it'll soon be time for another Stephen Colbert Green Screen Challenge.
• Did the McCain camp get permission from Heart to play "Barracuda" after the speech had ended and Palin was onstage waving to delegates with him? The band, also famous for its hits "These Dreams" and "Never", is known for its loyalty to the Democratic Party. And McCain's campaign has a history of using songs without getting permission from the artists.
• In what I would call a metaphor for a bankrupt party lacking fresh ideas and substance, convention organizers tried to incorporate fireworks into the conclusion of McCain's speech, mimicking the grand Democratic finale at Invesco Field a week ago. Except the Republicans' fireworks weren't real. They were fake: a looping tape played on a screen behind McCain and Palin.
• Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is calling McCain's speech one of the worst ever from a presidential nominee - "shockingly bad", to use his word choice.
  

Finally, in what might just be the funniest and best moment of the entire night, former Pennsylvania Governor and one-time potential vice presidential choice Tom Ridge accidentally committed a major Freudian slip on MSNBC attempting to respond to a question from Tom Brokaw:

BROKAW: But the fact is, governor, that you have had eight years of a Bush administration a lot of Republicans in Congress for the last eight years, so why wouldn't the American people say, look, they had their shot, we're going to change?

RIDGE: Because John Bush - because John McCain is very much his own man.

Hilarious. Those twelve words sure say it all, don't they?

UPDATE: Obama's official response:

Tonight, John McCain said that his party was elected to change Washington, but that they let Washington change them. He’s right. He admonished the ‘old, do-nothing crowd’ in Washington, but ignored the fact that he’s been part of that crowd for twenty-six years, opposing solutions on health care, energy, and education.

He talked about bipartisanship, but didn’t mention that he’s been a Bush partisan 90% of the time, that he’s run a Karl Rove campaign, and that he wants to continue this President’s disastrous economic and foreign policies for another four years. With John McCain, it’s more of the same.

That’s not the change Americans need. Barack Obama has taken on the special interests and the lobbyists in Illinois and in Washington, and he’s won. As President, he’ll cut taxes for 95% of all working families, provide affordable health care to every American, end the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas, and eliminate the oil we import from the Middle East in ten years.

The conventions are over. Now, the final heat towards November 4th begins.

The Palin record, part 2

Since the McCain campaign only had a couple of days to vet Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, we're taking it upon ourselves to help out with that process and let the American people get to know what the McCain campaign won't tell them. So here is the another installment of the Palin record.

As Mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin fired the police chief for getting in the way of her campaign contributors, including bar owners and NRA members.

After taking over as Mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Palin fired the longtime local police chief. The former police chief, Irl Stambaugh says he was fired because he stepped on the toes of Palin's campaign contributors, including bar owners and the National Rifle Association.

Stambaugh's lawyer, William Jermain, says the chief tried to move up the closing hours of local bars from 5 a.m. to two a.m. after a spurt of drunk driving accidents and arrests.

"His crackdown on that practice by the bars was not appreciated by her and that was one reason she terminated Irl," said Jermain.

In his 1997 lawsuit, Stambaugh also alleged that his stand on restricting concealed weapons upset the NRA.

So much for the law and order image that the Republican party has carefully cultivated for the last 25 years. I say it's an image because, with many Republican lawmakers, the law typically only applies to people outside the good old boys network.

As for John McCain's emphasis on Sarah Palin's status as "Commander-In-Chief" of the Alaskan National Guard: she's never given them an order. Sure she has the title, but she has no experience actually serving in the role. In that respect, she and I have the same amount of experience, since I've never given an order to the Alaskan National Guard either.

Later, when questions were raised about Palin's lack of experience in national and international affairs, the McCain campaign pointed again to her military command experience as governor. Some reporters have tried to follow up.

"Can you tell me one decision that she made as commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard?" CNN journalist Campbell Brown asked Monday while interviewing McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds. "Just one?"

Bounds couldn't, because Palin has never personally ordered the state guard to do anything.

It's also likely that the Bush-McCain doctrine of cowboy diplomacy and war, a la the Wild Wild West, has so depleted the number of Alaskan National Guard members in the state, that there is nobody for Governor Palin to give an order. That's not her fault, it's the fault of John McCain and the Bush Administration.

And what of those earmarks that Palin so loves to say she hates?

Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.

Steven Silver was a former chief of staff for Stevens. After he was hired, Wasilla obtained funding for several projects in 2002, including an additional $600,000 in transportation funding.

That year, a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, which combs federal spending measures to identify projects inserted by congressional members.[emphasis mine]

Close ties to a Senator who is under indictment for corruption? That will merit some future research. But for now, it's clear that Sarah Palin has been lying about her opposition to earmarks.

And in the true spirit of the culture of corruption, Palin has also used public resources for campaign purposes.

In her 2002 Lt. Governor bid, Mayor Palin used city employees, telephones, computers, fax machines for campaign fundraising and literature. On her candidate registration form, she used her City Hall fax number, and her mayoral e-mail address. Records show that Wasilla city property was used to contact supporters, donors, media contacts, and media purchasing. [Anchorage Daily News, 7/21/06]

Political reformer? Maverick? No, just more of the same from the Republicans.

Is McKenna attempting to sabotage Rossi’s chances?

As reported yesterday at PolitickerWA and commented on by Andrew in an earlier post, McKenna stated that for Dino Rossi to win the governor’s race, he would need John McCain to win by ten to twelve points.

Later in the day, the spokesperson for McKenna (who is also the co-chair for John McCain in Washington state) revised the earlier statement saying that McCain only needed to keep it within a single digit loss, no more than 10-12 points, for Rossi to have a shot at the governor’s mansion.

Are you following that?

Why would Rob McKenna, who carefully chooses his words, connect Rossi to McCain? After all, Rossi keeps saying that he is making a play for Obama voters.

Observers are wondering if there is a rift in the Republican leadership. As reported by Chris Mulick at the Tri-City Herald, there is already some “behind the scenes maneuvering” in the Graveyard of Progress Party.

Clearly Rep. Erickson and party chair Luke Esser aren’t cutting the mustard.

This isn’t a new conflict. There was plenty of back-biting within the Republican Party back in the spring.

Is Rob McKenna undermining Rossi because he wants to be governor sooner than later? Maybe he just doesn’t like Rossi soaking up all of the Republican money? Maybe McKenna and other Republicans (who actually call themselves Republicans), like Ralph Munro, are upset at having their presidential candidate shunned by Rossi?

McKenna can't afford to alienate Rossi's supporters...he needs that same base for his run for governor in 2012 if Dino loses... but I wonder what he really thinks about the governor’s race. Yesterday he gave us a peek behind the curtain.

Barack Obama responds to Sarah Palin

On the stump today, Barack Obama wasted no time in hitting back at Sarah Palin and the Republicans for their shameless political theater last night:

You wouldn't know that this is such a critical election by watching the convention last night. I know we had our week.

And the Republicans deserve theirs. But it's been amazing for me to watch over the last two nights.

If you sit there, and you watch it. You're hearing a lot about John McCain, and he's got a compelling biography as a P.O.W.

You're hearing an awful lot about me. Much of which is not true.

What you're not hearing is a lot about you.

You haven't heard one word about how they're going to make the health system work - so that when a union is negotiating with a company it's not all just a discussion about higher premiums and you guys can actually start talking about higher wages and benefits.

You haven't heard one word about how we're gonna create more apprenticeship programs like the ones we have here. Or give other people a chance to train in new trades.

You haven't heard one word about getting serious about green and alternative energy. The kind of work that is resulting in all the expansion and hiring here.

You haven't heard one word about how we're going to strengthen unions so that working people get a decent stake.

You haven't heard one word about how we're going to improve math and science education so that we can hire more engineers to create more products in green technology.

You haven't heard one word about how we're going to deal with any aspect of the economy that is affecting you and your pocket day to day.

Haven't heard one word about it. Literally. Two nights. They have not said a word about it. They have not said a word about it. They've had a lot to say about me. But they haven't had anything to say about you.

And the thing that I'm insisting on in this election is that we can't keep playing the same political games we always play.

Well said, sir. Well said!

Whereas in the past, there might have been no strong Democratic response forthcoming from the nominee, this year is different.

This year we have a champion who won't back down or cower in the face of Republican attacks and viciousness. This year we have a leader who will fearlessly lead our party into battle against the Republicans.

This year, we have Barack Obama.

And as Barack says, we have ourselves. Millions of us, who have come together to take back our country. Barack has provided the inspiration; we have provided the time, talent, and treasure in this people-powered campaign. We will continue forward, united in our efforts to win the White House this November.

And nothing Sarah Palin or John McCain can say or do is going to lower our spirits. The destruction of our common wealth by the right wing has gone on long enough.

This year, it ends.

The Palin record

Last night at the RNC, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin introduced herself to those of us in the other 49 states, since most of us only really know that she apparently eats moose burgers, is a hockey mom, has five kids and is married to some guy called the "First Dude".

Last night we found out that Palin hates community organizers.

But here's what we know about Sarah Palin the politician, and it ain't pretty.

As Mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin tried to ban books fom the library and force her religious beliefs on everyone else.

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

Threatening to fire the librarian sounds eerily familiar to the Troopergate problem Governor Palin currently faces, except the librarian wasn't a family member.

During her 2006 gubernatorial race, Sarah Palin suggested that creationism be taught in schools.

The volatile issue of teaching creation science in public schools popped up in the Alaska governor's race this week when Republican Sarah Palin said she thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution in the state's public classrooms.

Palin was answering a question from the moderator near the conclusion of Wednesday night's televised debate on KAKM Channel 7 when she said, "Teach both. You know, don't be afraid of information. Healthy debate is so important, and it's so valuable in our schools. I am a proponent of teaching both."

More recently, Governor Palin has declared American military intervention in Iraq to be God's will. Sounds a lot like a certain American President who invokes the Almighty at every opportunity.

And let's not forget that Sarah Palin is in denial about climate change.

In an interview for the September issue of the conservative magazine Newsmax, Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, said she does not believe climate change is caused by human behavior.

“A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made,” Palin said in the interview, which was posted online Friday.

As the article notes, even John McCain and the Republican Party platform don't hold those beliefs, so Palin isn't even in the mainstream of her own party.

So don't be fooled by the good looks and smile, the photo ops with the family (including tonight's view of the Governor holding her infant son on stage), the repetition of the word hockey mom or the recitation of some poll that says that Governor Palin is the most popular governor in America. Sarah Palin is a conservative extremist who will aid John McCain in continuing the failed policies of George W. Bush.

Sarah Palin is a disgrace to the United States

Just a few hours ago, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin delivered a mean-spirited speech almost entirely devoid of substance - filled instead with pathetic, schoolyard taunts and low blows aimed at Barack Obama.

Here is a sample of her rhetoric:

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.

Then there were the lies:

I told the Congress "thanks, but no thanks," for that Bridge to Nowhere.

That was about her own record - and it's not true.

She also lied about Obama:

We've all heard his dramatic speeches before devoted followers.

And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.

But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform -- not even in the state Senate.

"Not a single major law"? Let's review the record, shall we, Sarah?

While in the United States Senate - since January 2005, when he took office as the junior senator from the state of Illinois - Barack Obama has prime sponsored one hundred and thirty one bills. He has cosponsored six hundred and nineteen bills.

But enough numbers. Let's talk specific examples.

One of the bills Sarah conveniently overlooked in her speech was the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which Obama cosponsored and contributed substantially to. It passed the Senate unanimously and was signed into law on September 26th, 2006. Ironically, Senator John McCain was also a cosponsor, and even more ironically, he publicly thanked Senator Obama for being involved with the bill and working to ensure its passage.

Sarah also apparently hasn't heard about the Lugar-Obama proliferation and threat reduction initiative, which Dubya signed into law on January 11th, 2007. A press release from Lugar's own office credits Obama with having "authored" the law:

Authored by U.S. Sens. Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL), the Lugar-Obama initiative expands U.S. cooperation to destroy conventional weapons. It also expands the State Department’s ability to detect and interdict weapons and materials of mass destruction.

“The United States should do more to eliminate conventional weapons stockpiles and assist other nations in detecting and interdicting weapons of mass destruction. We believe that these functions are underfunded, fragmented and in need of high-level support,” said Lugar, Republican leader of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“The Lugar-Obama initiative will help other nations find and eliminate conventional weapons that have been used against our own soldiers in Iraq and sought by terrorists all over the world,” said Obama.

Gee, that sure sounds like a pretty importance piece of legislation.

Barack Obama authored it with a senior Republican senator, worked to get it through the U.S. Senate, and George W. Bush himself signed it.

What was that you were saying, Sarah?

In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change.

They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms...

Wow, apparently Barack Obama has already made it as a Washington reformer in Sarah Palin's book. All it took was some bipartisan collaboration in our nation's capitol. His name appears on a major law - the Lugar-Obama initiative!

He must be one of those people who has used his entire career to promote change. Real change, not the kind of lip service we hear from Sarah Palin and John McCain.

Next!

How about the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2005 (PDF), which Obama was the primary sponsor of. It was cosponsored by twelve other Senators, including four Republicans.

Dubya signed it into law on December 22nd, 2006.

I could go on, but I've made my point.

Sarah Palin lied to the American people about Barack Obama's record earlier tonight. She lied about Obama's accomplishments as a legislator by saying he doesn't have any. She mocked his years of selfless public service.

She derided his success. She impugned Obama's character by accusing him of not truly caring about the working families he seeks to represent.

Palin practically spent the evening projecting her own contempt for true American values and ideas onto Barack Obama. That is, when she wasn't falsely claiming that our corporate traditional media is a tool of the left.

It was a disgusting, sickening example of Rovian-style deviousness and manipulative, divisive Republican rhetoric. No legitimate criticisms, just hateful and spiteful attacks. It was right wing, Orwellian doublespeak at its finest.

The delegates undoubtedly thought Palin hit a home run with her speech chock full of red meat. But people watching are appalled. Appalled.

Republicans can't stand being backed into a corner; it seems rather obvious they've been smarting from Barack Obama's speech for days. Tonight, Sarah Palin tried to strike back by going for the gutter... being as nasty and unfair as possible.

Guess what, Sarah? I've got a newsflash for you. Your mean-spiritedness isn't going to put a damper on our optimism. Your attacks on our party and our nominee are only going to strengthen our resolve. Your hate-filled rhetoric isn't just drawing our condemnation, it's drawing our determination.

Readers, the best way to fight back is to turn words in action. Sign up to volunteer for a Democratic campaign - now. Pledge to help a candidate. Get involved.

I just did tonight - I'm going to be out there in my legislative district working to help return Roger Goodman to the State House of Representatives and send Republican Toby Nixon, his challenger, packing.

Nothing irritates Republicans more than to have to put up with resilient Democrats who won't back down or roll over.

I know firsthand - I've had Tim Eyman's sugar daddy, Michael Dunmire, scream obscenities in my face in the halls of the John L. O'Brien Building in Olympia.

He was mad because he didn't like my activism.

Judging by Sarah Palin's remarks tonight in her acceptance speech, we Democrats touched a nerve last week with our Convention.

No, make that several nerves.

Now they're trying to go on offense with a ferocious, poised counterattack. No matter; we can answer their assault by launching maneuvers of our own. In every state, every congressional district, every municipality, we can pick up our telephones, our walking shoes, our clipboards, our literature...and do our part to make a unified Democratic juggernaught victorious in 2008.

Why does Governor Sarah Palin hate community organizers?

Apparently, Governor Sarah Palin hates community organizers. Tonight, in her speech to the Republican National Convention, Palin took aim at Barack Obama's former employment, belittling the profession.

I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.

Among other things, it appears that Governor Palin isn't up to speed on what community organizers do. Here is a good place for her to go and find out what exactly community organizers do and what responsibilities they have.

Organizing is a grassroots activity. It often starts at the basic level of society among ordinary citizens where all sorts of issues arise. Regardless of their political, economic, religious, or other viewpoint, people who share a common purpose or concern often organize to achieve that purpose or to address that concern. At the local level, they may work to save a historic building from demolition, build power for a working-class community, or establish zoning regulations for a new development. At the regional, national, or international level, they may campaign to solve environmental problems, improve health care for children, or bring educational issues to the political forefront. Regardless of the issues or campaigns, they always work for change.

[...]

While organizers work with many different groups of people, they most frequently assist those at the lower end of the economic ladder - the people who historically have had the least power. The issues low-income people face may vary, but include access to health care and housing, neighborhood safety, education, race relations, economic equity and environmental conditions. Organizers do not make changes directly, but they play a variety of key roles. They serve as educators, trainers, and mentors and are sometimes viewed as agitators as well. Their job is to harness the energy of individuals and help direct it down a path that will enable the group to achieve its goals. They help develop leaders among ordinary people and train these leaders to create a local organization that will involve increasing numbers of people and be self sustaining and more powerful over time.

So let's take a look at why Governor Palin hates community organizers.

1. Community organizers work to bring people together for the common good. The only interest Governor Palin and Senator McCain care about is their own interest (and likely the rate their bank gives them).

2. Community organizers frequently assist the poor to improve their circumstances. Senator McCain, Governor Palin and their fellow Republicans only care about improving the circumstances of corporate America and the richest 1%.

3. Community organizers work for change. Barack Obama will bring us change we can believe in. Senator McCain and Governor Palin love the status quo and will bring us four more years of the same old thing.

4. Community organizers develop leaders among regular folk, like you, me and our neighbors. Senator McCain and Governor Palin fear regular people coming into power because it will put a halt to the gravy train that they and their rich friends are on, and send them off into the political wilderness.

People powered politics is all about community organizing. It's up to each of us to be our own community organizer, to talk with our friends and neighbors about the progressive future we all want and the importance of electing Barack Obama to help us start realizing that vision. We can't just be content to sit back and vote for Obama.

The choice is clear in 2008. You can vote for Barack Obama, who easily could have pulled down a six-figure salary after coming out of Harvard Law School, but chose to organize regular people for the common good. Or you can choose more of the same, and you'll continue to get screwed for the next four years. For me, that's not a choice, it's a call to action.

Palin loves pork

Ever since Senator John McCain introduced Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, she's been playing up her alleged hatred for Congressional earmarks.

"I told Congress, thanks but no thanks on that bridge to nowhere," Palin told the cheering McCain crowd, referring to Ketchikan's Gravina Island bridge.

But the evidence shows otherwise. You see, Governor Palin actually campaigned in 2006 on building the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere."

The Alaska governor campaigned in 2006 on a build-the-bridge platform, telling Ketchikan residents she felt their pain when politicians called them "nowhere."

But it doesn't end there. It's not enough to try to waste your tax dollars for a bridge to nowhere. Governor Palin still has the taste for pork, despite what she says in current political situations.

Just this year, she sent to Sen. Ted. Stevens, R-Alaska, a proposal for 31 earmarks totaling $197 million — more, per person, than any other state.

[...]

Palin's requests to Congress came at a time of huge federal deficits, while Alaska state revenue was soaring due to rising oil prices and a major tax increase on oil production that Palin signed into law in late 2007.

As a result, Alaska this year was in such a money-flushed condition — with no state income tax or sales tax and total state revenues of $10 billion, double the previous year's — that Palin gained legislative approval for $1,200 cash payments to every Alaskan. [emphasis mine]

But rather than spend the state's money on projects in the state, Governor Palin came to the federal government looking for a handout. Imagine what she would do as Vice-President, second in command, and representing a state where bringing home the bacon has become something of a sport.

McKenna: If Obama wins, Dino Rossi is toast

Washington State's Republican Attorney General, Rob McKenna, who is running for a second term this fall, told delegates at the Republican National Convention this morning that Dino Rossi would need a big McCain victory to beat Chris Gregoire:

McKenna predicted that the Democratic Party would be working incredibly hard this cycle to elect Obama, saying that "they have an inferiority complex because they've been losing," though he acknowledged that it is very rare for one party to hold the office of the presidency for more than eight consecutive years.

"It is just about turnout," he said, and brought up the Democrats fundraising advantage this time around. "We don't have that kind of budget. We have got to get out there and do it the way we have always done it, with a lot of hard work."

Finally McKenna talked about the coattail effects of the McCain-Palin ticket, and suggested it had a crucial relationship to gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi's chances.

"If he carries it, Dino wins," McKenna said of McCain, and urged the delegates to work hard to at least keep the presidential vote close. "If he fails to carry it by ten or twelve points, Dino doesn't win."

Um...wow.

There is no way John McCain is going to carry Washington State by "ten or twelve points". It ain't gonna happen. Now, maybe a McCain victory is within the realm of possibility, but it's still highly unlikely.

Washington is not viewed as a battleground state by most political observers and analysts. And for good reason - Barack Obama is pretty popular around here.

So what is McKenna doing by saying this? Trying to lower expectations? How does this statement help Dino Rossi, his campaign manager, Afton Swift, or the rest of "Team 133"? If you look at Rossi's advertising, and Gordon Smith's down in Oregon, it's clear that they're making a play for Obama voters. They know they need ticket-splitters to win their races.

And so will Dave Reichert....or Rob McKenna, for that matter.

If everyone who votes for Barack also votes for John Ladenburg, McKenna is probably out as Attorney General. Is he also praying for a big McCain spread so that he can stay in office? Or does he think he's got more appeal than Rossi because he's a better salesman and he has the advantage of incumbency?

McKenna's comments are fun to talk about, but Democrats should be focused on turning them into a reality. Let's do all we can to help elect Barack and our many fine candidates running in downballot races.

Grandpa Fred thinks you should quit whining

Continuing the meme started by former Texas Senator and John McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm, that America is a nation of whiners undergoing a recession of the mind, former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson (R-Law & Order) tonight addressed the Republican National Convention and added his two cents to that line of thinking. That's right, I watch this stuff so you don't have to. And tonight, it's all sunshine and roses from Fred Thompson.

We do so while taking a different view of our country than that of the other party.

Listening to them you'd think that we were in the middle of a great depression; that we are down, disrespected and incapable of prevailing against challenges facing us.

Guess what Grandpa Fred? As usual, we're right and you're wrong. Let's look at the facts:

• Current Administration will leave the nation with largest deficit in history — The Administration’s 2009 budget will leave the country with a $482 billion deficit, trumping its previous $413 billion record set in 2004.

• Debt balloons under Administration policies — Since the President took office in 2001, the debt held by the public has swelled by $2.0 trillion, an increase of 59 percent – with most of it financed by foreign investors.

• Economic growth is anemic — GDP grew just 1.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008 – mainly because of the economic stimulus Congress passed. This follows growth of just 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2008 and revised negative growth (a contraction) of -0.2 percent in the last quarter of 2007, fueling the argument that we are already in a recession.

• Thousands of jobs lost — Private payrolls have lost 578,000 jobs since December. To date, this Administration has created just 58,000 new jobs per month on average compared with 237,000 per month under President Clinton.

• Household incomes have fallen — Real median household income has decreased by almost $1,000 under President Bush. During the Clinton Administration, real median household income rose by $6,000, or 14.0 percent.

• The President’s fiscal policies impose heavy debt burden on America’s families — The $2.0 trillion added to the public debt under this Administration equates to $26,000 in additional federal debt for every family of four in the U.S. – far more than most families have received in tax cuts.

That's not to mention that George W. Bush and John McCain have presided over the weakest economy since World War II, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

Rather, examination of a broad range of key economic indicators indicates that the economic expansion that began in 2001 was on balance, weaker than average. In fact, with respect to GDP, consumption, investment, wage and salary, and employment growth, the 2001-2007 expansion was either the weakest or among the weakest since World War II.

Moreover, the economy's performance between 2001 and 2007 was weaker, overall, than its performance in the equivalent years of the 1990s, years following significant tax increases. GDP growth was somewhat weaker than in the 1990s, and job creation, investment and wage and salary growth all were substantially weaker.

In fact, according to the same study, the only economic indicator that has grown, and grown rapidly, in the past 8 years is corporate profits. Is anyone surprised by this?

So Senator Thompson, unless you're a corporate fat cat or one of the richest, most privileged people in the country, economic times are bad. That's not some Hollywood script that you're used to reading, nor is it the little boy crying wolf, as you'd like to paint Barack Obama. That's the truth, and in the words of one of your fellow thespians, "You can't handle the truth."

Joementum for the GOP?

Zell Miller Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman (Party of One) will be addressing the 2008 Republican National Convention this evening. This is the latest of Lieberman's attempts to sell out the party that nominated him its Vice Presidential candidate in 2000.

The 2008 Republican National Convention today announced the program of events for Tuesday, Sept. 2. The program will feature speeches by U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson. Their remarks will reflect the convention's overall theme, "Country First," and the theme for Tuesday's events, which is "service."

Any evidence of Lieberman once being a Democrat is gone. He's not an independent Democrat, or whatever he calls himself. If the Senate Democrats gain enough seats in November, and Lieberman can be marginalized and irrelevant, then it's time for Senator Harry Reid to strip Lieberman of all of his committee assignments and perks of the majority party. It's time to send Joe Lieberman into political Siberia so that we'll never hear from him again.

Unless of course it's at a future GOP function.

Thanks, Google, but no thanks

Demonstrating its increasing ambition to compete in more markets traditionally dominated by Microsoft, Google this week confirmed that it is launching its own browser - Chrome - which will compete against Internet Explorer and Firefox:

All of us at Google spend much of our time working inside a browser.

We search, chat, email and collaborate in a browser. And in our spare time, we shop, bank, read news and keep in touch with friends -- all using a browser.

Because we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if we started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build.

The question we have for Google is - why should we rely universally on your products and services as opposed to Microsoft's?

It is becoming increasingly apparent that Google is in pursuit of what Microsoft has today: domination on the desktop. Eric Schmidt and Company aren't content just to be the top search engine around. They want to be the provider of choice for webmail, calendar, documents, syndicated ads, feed reading, computer search, user-submitted video, blogging, the mobile phone experience... and so much more.

Recently Google launched Knol, "a project which aims to include user-written articles on a range of topics". Gee, that sounds like Wikipedia!

And now...along comes Chrome, perhaps Google's most aggressive and ambitious attempt to wrest market share from its partners and competitors.

We have to ask - what exactly is Google's aim in taking Microsoft, Apple, and others on in so many different markets so rapidly?

And what's next? Is Google going to make the leap into hardware? Compete with Amazon.com and become an online retailer? Google is at risk of overextending itself by moving so far away from its core business of search.

It's a problem that has plagued Microsoft, which has struggled to keep its products up to date in recent years and lost market share in the process.

It used to be that Microsoft focused mainly on operating systems.

Then the company started branching out like crazy: office productivity software, dialup Internet service, webmail, online search, mobile phones, gaming and gaming consoles, digital music players. That's not even close to a complete list.

And of course there was the company's attack on Netscape in the 1990s (Netscape Navigator would eventually be reborn as Mozilla Firefox years later).

Just as we don't like the idea of Microsoft exerting unchallenged domination over the software industry, we don't like the idea of Google becoming the next Microsoft. No one company should have that kind of control in the marketplace.

The Guardian's Jack Schofield wonders if there's even anything original in Google's browser, which is receiving a lot of hype and attention:

Google can't even think up a new name: Microsoft Chrome was an old tool that allowed "Web developers to add multimedia features to HTML using Microsoft's DirectX technology".

Paul Thurott concludes:

[W]hat we've really got here is an example of Google pulling a Microsoft: Creating an unnecessary me-too product that they can use for product tie-ins. All of the features here are present in existing browsers, all of them. So what does Google really bring to the table? Not much, it seems.

And as for Chrome itself...having tried it, I can definitely say I'm not impressed. Chrome took plenty of time to install as it repeatedly butted heads with Kasperksy Internet Security, wanting access to registry key after registry key.

And based on the security prompts, it seems to me that Chrome is a bit too invasive for a company whose motto is supposedly "do no evil".

The interface is cute, but I prefer how Firefox has things laid out. Firefox is also more customizable. And I found Google's claims about speed to be totally overblown: web pages did not load more speedily than other browsers. In fact, it was the other way around. Firefox served up web pages more quickly than Chrome.

With extensions like CookieSafe and NoScript, Firefox is also much safer than Chrome, Safari, Opera, or Internet Explorer.

The genius of both extensions is that they allow a user to change security settings easily on a site-by-site basis. Adding a site to the whitelist, or "trusted" category automatically reloads the site with cookies and Javascript allowed.

Compatibility wise, Google Chrome is solid. All the AJAX and Javascript applications I tested worked fine. And Google Chrome allows you to change the default search engine to something else if you want (Windows Live, Yahoo Search, Ask, or AOL, which uses Google, are the other choices included by default).

What Chrome simply isn't is superior to Firefox. In my view, the folks at Mozilla have the best browser on the market today.

Firefox is stable, compact, and clean. It's easy to make your own, with thousands of add-ons (themes, extensions, and plugins) available for download. It performs well under heavy constraints (lots of tabs open). And it is better supported, thanks in part to broad, collaborative development.

A final note...I use Firefox, and in particular, the extensions I mentioned to protect my privacy, exposure to malware, and downloading of unwanted ads. Chrome, on the other hand, may itself be packaged with ads in the future:

17. Advertisements

17.1 Some of the Services are supported by advertising revenue and may display advertisements and promotions. These advertisements may be targeted to the content of information stored on the Services, queries made through the Services or other information.

17.2 The manner, mode and extent of advertising by Google on the Services are subject to change without specific notice to you.

17.3 In consideration for Google granting you access to and use of the Services, you agree that Google may place such advertising on the Services.

That's an excerpt from the Chrome Terms of Service.

So thanks, Google - but no thanks. I'm going to stick with the best. Mozilla Firefox is effective, fast, safe, usable, and under constant improvement. Best of all, it isn't a product owned by a company named Microsoft or Google.