Some Wives Should Be Seen And Not Heard

Put her back on "the drugs."

When a Fox News morning host, Steve Doocy, testified to Sarah Palin's national security experience on Friday by saying that her state, Alaska, was so close to Russia, it drew hoots across the media and blogosphere (and even, no doubt, from a few Fox viewers).

This morning, on ABC in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Cindy McCain endorsed this very view.

Asked about Palin's national security experience, Cindy McCain could not come up with anything beyond the fact that, after all, her state is right next to Russia. "You know, the experience that she comes from is, what she has done in government -- and remember that Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia."

She added that Palin has "way more experience than...." but Stephanopoulos cut her off before she could say, for example, "Barack Obama" or maybe "others give her credit for."

Earlier, she said that Palin was "heavily experienced" in general, citing her going from the PTA to mayor to governor -- and having a son headed for Iraq. She actually said that she started her political career at the PTA "like everybody else."

The PTA? My mom was in the PTA and I don't see her running for anything. Thank God this woman's daddy had money!

I Choose To Refuse To Believe This

I know the air is a little different up there in Alaska. I went to a conference there and there were some strange ongoings with the mayor of Anchorage at the time. But these people aren't that backwards. There is no way that, in 2008, a family would do this. I just refuse to believe it.

Yesterday, with the news of Sarah Louise Heath Palin inexplicably being chosen as a Vice-Presidential nominee, the attentive American public was also introduced to her character. Unfortunately for all of us, it was filled with multiple instances of backtracking and outright lies. While Alaskans had been giving her an 80% approval rating, recently 87% of Alaskans polled on the subject of TrooperGate believed she was lying.

Now, I've known liars in my life. Their single core problem is not with themselves, but those around them. If they're never called out on their twisting of truths and fabrications, they simply continue to make larger lies.

Well, Sarah, I'm calling you a liar. And not even a good one. Trig Paxson Van Palin is not your son. He is your grandson. The sooner you come forward with this revelation to the public, the better.

Desperate Pick

Give me a break! This is like Harriet Meiers all over again. I don't think it will work. I doubt many Hillary supporters will abandon ship for her!

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has chosen Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, campaign officials told NBC News on Friday.

She would be the first woman to serve on a Republican presidential ticket. The pro-life Palin would also be the first Alaskan ever to appear on a national ticket.

Palin, 44, was elected Alaska's first woman governor in 2006. The state’s voters had grown weary of career politician Gov. Frank Murkowski, whom she defeated in the GOP primary.

On This Day

It was 45 years ago today that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gave his historic "I have a dream" speech. Tonight, the country saw the very first black man become the Democratic nominee for President of the United States. I don't know how things will turn out. But oh how far we've come!

Surrounded by an enormous, adoring crowd, Barack Obama promised a clean break from the "broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush" Thursday night as he embarked on the final lap of his audacious bid to become the nation's first black president.

"America, now is not the time for small plans," the 47-year-old Illinois senator told an estimated 84,000 people packed into Invesco Field, a huge football stadium at the base of the Rocky Mountains.

He vowed to cut taxes for nearly all working-class families, end the war in Iraq and break America's dependence on Mideast oil within a decade. By contrast, he said, "John McCain has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time," a scathing indictment of his Republican rival - on health care, education, the economy and more.

Polls indicate a close race between Obama and McCain, the Arizona senator who stands between him and a place in history. On a night 45 years after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I have a Dream Speech," Obama made no overt mention of his own race.

I Love You Daddy!

I got home from work just in time to see Michelle's speech (though I ended up seeing the repeat of everything again later). I loved her address and those who are still confused as to who she is and what she and Barack are about, simply want to remain confused. She nailed it!

But of course you know, Barack's baby girls had to steal the show at the end when he appeared via satellite from Kansas City. The youngest, Sasha, was oblivious to being amongst thousands of people once she saw him on the screen. She began a conversation with him as though he'd called her on the phone. Both girls made sure to scream "I love you daddy" before he disappeared from view. Sugar sweet ... family values!

The Torch Will Be Passed Again

Like many others, I was pretty choked up last night watching Ted Kennedy. Having grown up at a time when any number of black families proudly hung pictures of Bobby, Martin and John on their walls, it's hard to believe that the flame of that generation of Kennedy men is starting to flicker. He'd prepared a taped address and was advised not to make the trip, but apparently there was nothing that could hold him back. He got there, in person, and was wonderful.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy made an emotion-charged appearance last night at the launch of the Democratic National Convention, braving his malignant brain tumor to deliver an impassioned speech for Barack Obama and bringing cheering delegates to their feet and many to tears.

Looking triumphantly into a sea of "Kennedy" signs, the 76-year-old lawmaker declared: "I come here tonight to stand with you to change America, to restore its future, to rise to its best ideals, and to elect Barack Obama president of the United States.

"Nothing, nothing is going to keep me away from this special gathering tonight," Kennedy said, drawing the first of many huge cheers.

"And I pledge to you that I will be there next January on the floor of the United States Senate, when we begin to write the next great chapter of American progress.

I hope to see him next January on the Senate floor. He said this was probably his last convention. They say he's only missed two in 48 years. There are plenty of Kennedys to take the torch forward. But sometimes it's just hard to see it passed on.

Still Waiting On My Text

But it's gonna be Sen. Joe Biden.

Sen. Barack Obama has selected Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate, according to his official Web site and a text message the campaign sent to supporters on Saturday.
Delaware Sen. Joe Biden is Sen. Barack Obama's choice to be his vice-presidential running mate.

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden is Sen. Barack Obama's choice to be his vice-presidential running mate.

"Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee," the text message, sent at around 3 a.m. ET, said.

"Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois -- the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago," Obama said in an e-mail sent to supporters Saturday morning.

"I'm excited about hitting the campaign trail with Joe, but the two of us can't do this alone," he wrote. " We need your help to keep building this movement for change."

Before the text messages were distributed, multiple Democratic sources confirmed to CNN early Saturday that Obama wanted the Delaware senator as his vice president.

I came to like Joe Biden's style a few years ago watching him on C-Span during various Senate confirmation hearings and key votes. I like this choice. I guess it's officially time to "play ball!"

Stunned By Her Death

I needed to digest this for a day before posting. All of these "wow!" moments over the past couple of months is just leaving me speechless. She had a strong voice in Congress and will be sorely missed.

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a staunch supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s bid for president, died Wednesday in a suburban Cleveland hospital after suffering an aneurysm and brain hemorrhage Tuesday.

Eileen Sheil, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Clinic, which owns the Huron Hospital in East Cleveland, said the congresswoman suffered a hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm that burst and left her with limited brain function. She was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m.

“Throughout the course of the day and into this evening, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones' medical condition declined,” Sheil said in a statement from the clinic and Tubbs Jones' family.

Officials had updated her condition after conflicting reports that the congresswoman had died earlier in the day. Numerous media outlets -- including The Plain Dealer on its Web site cleveland.com, CNN and the Associated Press -- reported that Tubbs Jones had died several hours before she was pronounced dead.

Tubbs Jones was stricken Tuesday evening about 9 p.m. while driving her Chrysler in Cleveland Heights. A police officer spotted her driving erratically. When the car stopped, the officer found Tubbs Jones unconscious but breathing and she was then rushed to the hospital.

The Bachelor Saga Continues

I had decided that The Bachelor's non-existent success rate was going to keep me from watching another useless season but I may be able to stomach watching Jason give it a whirl. I still think he should be able to find love on his own but if he thinks this process will work for him, he should go for it.

He was sent home crushed after DeAnna Pappas rejected his proposal on last season's finale of The Bachelorette. But now Jason Mesnick is getting a new chance at love--with 25 ladies of his own to choose from!

Set to air in January 2009, Mesnick will star as The Bachelor in ABC's 13th edition of its popluar romantic series.

The 32-year-old single dad is an account executive in estate and legacy planning and says he is looking for a woman who has a real curiosity about the world and who can find passion in life's smallest moments.

Getting Caught And Playing Crazy

Less than an hour ago, I went into the kitchen at work to heat my lunch and overheard two Chinese folks yapping about this. All I heard was "we're just better, get over it!" Now, the only reason they were using English was because they were talking to two East Indians. I pretended I didn't hear them and went about my business. I'm not all caught up in the Olympics but are they cheating and playing crazy?

Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of "10 big new stars" who made a splash at China's Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games. In the final, "this little girl" pulled off a difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web sites, http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China's first women's team Olympic gold in gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday's uneven bars final.

Yang was also on Wednesday's winning team. Questions have also been raised about her age and that of a third team member, Jiang Yuyuan.

Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible for the games. He's birthday is listed as Jan. 1, 1992.

Chinese authorities insist that all three are old enough to compete. He herself told reporters after Wednesday's final that "my real age is 16. I don't pay any attention to what everyone says."

I will be 48 in November and just got carded the other day. I was just scraping 5ft and didn't even weigh 90 lbs when I left for college and when moving into the dorm for the first time, some of my class mates later told me they thought I was someone's little sister. I know people can look young for their age in both in body and face. But China's track record of cutting corners, cheating and stealing to get ahead (aren't Communists the enemy anyhow?) doesn't exactly give me warm fuzzies about this issue. Why should we believe them?

Okay, I'll Bite

I see the folks on my yahoogroups getting their panties and boxers all in a bunch over this so I guess I'll comment: So What! This isn't killing anyone. It's not going to change anything. She had more than her fair share of delegates and they would like to show their continued support. Can people calm the heck down?!

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's name will be placed in nomination at the party's convention in Denver later this month, giving her a prominent place in the roll-call vote that will formally make Barack Obama the Democratic nominee.

The decision, announced shortly after noon Thursday in a joint statement by the two camps, resulted from negotiations between Clinton and Obama backers over how best to recognize Clinton's historic run, while not allowing it to overshadow a party convention designed to spotlight Obama.

The statement said Obama's campaign encouraged Clinton to put her in name in nomination "as a show of unity and in recognition of the historic race she ran and the fact that she was the first woman to compete in all of our nation's primary contests."

But it was die-hard Clinton supporters who also pressed the issue publicly, circulating a petition calling on Clinton to add her name to the roll-call vote. Clinton didn't discourage the effort -- at one point even suggesting that it would provide the proper "catharsis" for her supporters who were deeply disappointed by her defeat.

One of those supporters praised the decision. "This is the way to achieve true party unity," said Rosina Rubin of Rockland County, who signed the petition and is one of 139 delegates Clinton won in New York's primary election. "One delegate is a representative of 18 million people who voted for Hillary Clinton . . . and she's the first woman who's ever come this far in her run for the presidency and that achievement should be recorded for history."

Remembering Soul Icon Isaac Hayes

Tribute on NPR.

Award-winning soul singer Isaac Hayes, who rose to the top of the charts in the 1970's on the soul-record label Stax, died August 10. He was 65.

He released his first solo album, Presenting Isaac Hayes, in 1968. His next album, Hot Buttered Soul, went gold in the 1970s, and is credited with helping pave the way for the rise of disco; his 1972 soundtrack to the movie Shaft went platinum, and the single "Theme From Shaft" won both an Oscar and a Grammy Award.

Hayes also worked as an actor, with roles in movies as diverse as the Mel Brooks comedy Robin Hood: Men in Tights and the acclaimed hip-hop drama Hustle & Flow. He found a cult following — and some controversy — playing Chef on the Comedy Central series South Park.

Bye, Bye Bernie

What a way to begin a Saturday morning. I knew Bernie had sarcoidosis and knew someone who died from complications from the disease before. I also know someone who's had a lung transplant because of the disease. Still, it's hard ...

We actually don't know yet what killed Bernie Mac,
born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in 1957, so it's hard to say just yet
what lessons grieving fans should be reading into the comedian's
demise. (Keep your weight down? Rest? Eat right? Take your statins? None or all of the above?) Mac did suffer from an inflammatory disease, sarcoidosis, that disproportionately affects African Americans and that is known for riddling the lungs with disruptive, granular growths, but preliminary reports have claimed his pneumonia was unrelated to the chronic illness.

Lead Toys, Fake Little Girls

Okay. I'm going to hell. I have been laughing at this story since I saw it this morning. The real singer isn't ugly and I think they are dead wrong for this but ...

The girl in the red dress with the pigtails, called Lin Miaoke, 9, and from a Beijing primary school, has become a national sensation since Friday night, giving interviews to all the most popular newspapers.

But the show's musical designer felt forced to set the record straight. He gave an interview to Beijing radio saying the real singer was a seven-year-old girl who had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, a patriotic song called "Hymn to the Motherland".

At the last moment a member of the Chinese politburo who was watching a rehearsal pronounced that the winner, a girl called Yang Peiyi, might have a perfect voice but was unsuited to the lead role because of her buck teeth.

So, on the night, while a pre-recording of Yang Peiyi singing was played, Lin Miaoke, who has already featured in television advertisements, was seen but not heard.

"This was a last-minute question, a choice we had to make," the ceremony's musical designer, Chen Qigang, said. "Our rehearsals had already been vetted several times - they were all very strict. When we had the dress rehearsals, there were spectators from various divisions, including above all a member of the politburo who gave us his verdict: we had to make the swap."

Seriously Though

What the hell can we do about it?

Scrambling to find ways to punish Russia for its invasion of pro-Western Georgia, the United States and its allies are considering expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of wealthy nations and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.

But with scant leverage in the face of an emboldened Moscow, Washington and its friends have been forced to face the uncomfortable reality that their options are limited to mainly symbolic measures, such as boycotting Russian-hosted meetings and events, that may have little or no long-term impact on Russia's behavior, the officials said.

With the situation on the ground still unclear after Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Tuesday ordered a halt to military action in Georgia, U.S. officials were focused primarily on confirming a cease-fire and attending to Georgia's urgent humanitarian needs following five days of fierce fighting, including Russian attacks on civilian targets.

"It is very important now that all parties cease fire," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. "The Georgians have agreed to a cease-fire, the Russians need to stop their military operations as they have apparently said that they will, but those military operations really do now need to stop because calm needs to be restored."

Condi speaks? Oh, that's right! Russia is her area of expertise. Some good that skill is doing us!

Whew! Sigh!

I'm still not back up to speed with my blog and I am failing to comment on some really good stuff ... like this! Almost everything that is going on these days is leaving me speechless!

President Bush on Monday demanded that Russia end a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in Georgia, agree to an immediate cease-fire and accept international mediation to end the crisis in the former Soviet republic.

Almost immediately after his return from the Olympics in China, Bush warned Russia in his strongest comments since the fighting erupted over Georgia's separatist South Ossetia region last week to "reverse the course it appears to be on" and abandon any attempt it may have to topple Georgia's pro-western government.

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," the president said in a televised statement from the White House, calling on Moscow to sign on to the outlines of a cease-fire as the Georgian government has done.

Michelle Obama On Her Elite Husband

Not!

In a “Good Morning America” interview, she said: “It’s funny to have anybody characterize Barack as an elitist … You know, this is the kid who was raised by a single mother, who didn’t have access to many resources, who, you know, has walked away his entire life from lucrative careers to work in the community … This guy, you know… he personifies all of what, you know, we hope that our kids can be.”

See You At The Debates Bitches!

I forgot to post this yesterday but it's "totally hot" ... and funny!

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Rain Dance For The DNC

Ahhh! More public displays of affection from our good Christian friends!

A video producer for Focus on the Family is asking people to pray for rain when Sen. Barack Obama (D-Illinois) makes his speech at the end of the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Obama is giving his acceptance speech outdoor at Invesco Field at Mile High on Thursday, Aug. 28.

Stuart Shepard made the prayer request in his latest Internet video for the evangelical Christian group.

He says he's only partly joking.

"Sure it's boyish humor perhaps to wish for something like that, but at the same time it's something people feel very strongly about. They're concerned about where he would take the nation," said Shepard.

So Funny I Forgot To Laugh

Dumb ass!

A man is being held in Florida on charges he threatened to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, according to court documents.

An affidavit filed by a Secret Service agent in U.S. District Court claims that Raymond Hunter Geisel, of Marathon, Florida, threatened to "kill, kidnap and cause bodily harm upon a major candidate for president of the United States, that is, Senator Barack Obama."

The affidavit says Geisel made the threats while attending a bail bondsman training class in Miami.

During an interview with the Secret Service, Geisel denied threatening Obama, but told agents that "if he wanted to kill Senator Obama he would simply shoot him with a sniper rifle."

He later said that comment was a joke, the agent said in the document.

The Price Of Punani

I know this is technically a crime but it is soooo stupid! All this over some punani!

A federal judge sent Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail Thursday for violating his bond moments after the mayor pleaded for forgiveness and admitted he made an unauthorized trip across the border to Windsor, Canada, on city business.

"The first day you were before me, I thought I made it clear to you that this court comes first in everything," District Court Judge Ronald Giles said. "I do understand that you're under … pressure … but I have to look at how the system should be run and perceived by the public.

Oooh! Windsor! So far away! Are they serious?

Is Angelina Jolie Pulling A Josephine Baker?

This baby collecting is getting rather old. I know they are rich and all but children need special and individual attention. How will any of them get what they need with so many others around?

For those of you keeping score at home, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt now have six kids and now they're reportedly sniffing around for more.

A source told Britain's Star magazine: "Angelina is devastated over the earthquake that occurred in China in May. She has been in constant touch with relief workers as part of her UN involvement, and even got her hands on photos of a few orphaned kids. She's made overtures offering a home to one earthquake orphan, or even two if they are siblings."

Angelina and Brad were recently paid eleventy billion to feature their new twins on the cover of People magazine. For those of you who are wondering what these two babies could possibly look like — spoiler alert — they are small and wrinkly.

Angelina is starting to remind me of Josephine Baker.

Weird And Creepy

I don't know if this dude is guilty of anything but this twist is just plain weird. Why are people so crazy?

His decades-long obsession with a college sorority may link a former Army biowarfare scientist to four anthrax-laced letters dropped off at a New Jersey mailbox in 2001, authorities said Monday in the latest twist of one of the most bizarre unsolved crimes in FBI history.

U.S. officials said Bruce Ivins' fixation with Kappa Kappa Gamma could explain one of the biggest mysteries in the case: why the anthrax was mailed from Princeton, N.J., 195 miles from the lab it's believed to have been smuggled from.

Still, authorities acknowledge they cannot place Ivins in Princeton the day the anthrax was mailed. And the curious explanation connecting the scientist and a sorority is unlikely to satisfy his friends and former co-workers who question what motive the married father of two might have had for unleashing the attack.

Ivins, 62, killed himself last week as the Justice Department prepared to indict him on capital murder charges for the deaths of five people who were poisoned by the anthrax in the weeks following 9/11. His attorney maintains he would have been proven innocent were he still alive.

The mailbox just off the campus of Princeton University where the letters were mailed sits about 100 yards away from where the college's Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter stores its rush materials, initiation robes and other property. Sorority members do not live there, and the Kappa chapter at Princeton does not provide a house for the women.

Multiple U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Ivins was obsessed with Kappa Kappa Gamma, going back as far as his own college days at the University of Cincinnati when he apparently was rebuffed by a woman in the sorority. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

If Mama Says It's Stupid

It's stupid!

Sen. John McCain may be "proud" of the Paris Hilton/Britney Spears ad released this week, but his feisty 96-year-old mother apparently disagrees.

Roberta McCain was a featured guest at a McCain campaign event on Thursday afternoon at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC. The Huffington Post obtained some audio of an exchange after the event where Mrs. McCain is asked about the Paris Hilton ad.

"Oh, well, I didn't see it -- I think it's kinda stupid," she says. "I'm just too old-hat for it. In fact, the other two, I didn't even know who they were. I knew who Paris Hilton was, but then there were other two young girls..." (Someone informed Mrs. McCain that there were only two women in the ad, and that the other was Britney Spears.)