I think we certainly can't deny the fact that there are a few red flags that have gone up...

[GimmeDANEger]

Who would physically respond to water breaking in that way? I'm no judge due to my lack of a uterus, but from everyone I've known who has gone through pregnancy, the minute the water breaks, the shit's inevitable--you can't finish what you were doing. I think that made sense. I'm a little too stoned to unravel my thoughts right now. I just think it seems impossible for any woman to be able to ignore it. Finishing the meeting or whatever it was and taking such a long flight--that, friends, is GRADE A bullshit. If Trig Paxson Van Palin (if there's one thing about her that isn't downright fanatically irredeemable or so vanilla and blah that it doesn't even make a wet fart politically, it's the fact that she named her kid after Van Halen--that's a sign of her giving less of a fuck about life than Lester Burnham) was her son, he would be a Texan. That, plus the photographic evidence, cements in my mind the FACT that another Palin was the mother. I feel like 95% sure on that one.

But here's my question: What does it all mean?

Will the voters really react to this with outrage. I mean sure, it's soapy. Half the idiots out there eat the USA TODAY shit up. But will it change people's votes? Could it even work against us? Could it be spun as "Sarah Palin protected her daughting by pretending to be the mother of her grandson" (sounds like a logic puzzle)? I'm not saying that would even have merit, but Faux News could report that the sky is green and half the fucking nation would look out their windows to make sure it was still blue. And think of the daughter. As petty as it sounds, think of how much being known as a teen mother could hurt her reputation. It's already emotional enough. If Sarah faked the pregnancy to protect her daughter with anonymity, is that really THAT terrible. I mean I know the public often takes COMPLETE BULLSHIT and turns it into ¡COMPLETE!¡OUTRAGE! (Look at all that Rev. bullshit earlier in the election...do these ASSHOLES really freak the fuck out whenever someone expresses a view they disagree with? Yes...Palin could have only created the lie to protect her moral superiority complex, but we should give her the benefit of the doubt.

I don't post often. I think it's been four years. Consider me deus ex machina or something. Or Moses. Let me lead you from the land of MOCK OUTRAGE to one of the many other legitimate lands polluted by Palin's nomination. There are more flaws in McCain's pick than there are states in the union. Need we put all of our focus on this one? It proves what--that she lies when she needs to? I'm sure she's lied about worse. I'm sure the public would experience legitimate outrage if the media actually communicated the message that McCain picked Palin WHILE under investigation for ABUSE OF POWER. It reflects just how poor and un-vetted his choice was. There are so many other things wrong with this woman!

And this issue is clogging the board. There are so many other things we should be focused on. I predict that two huge stories will come out of this convention:

1. <u>The tactics of the police thus far in Minneapolis.</u> I'm living two dozen blocks or so from the house that was raided the other night, so this hits close to home. The moment we start having trouble dividing REAL LIFE from ORWELL...that's a fucking warning sign that we're slipping into a fascist state. People should know about the levels of force being used towards "non-violent" protesters (I didn't use "peaceful" because they were planning on blocking traffic, but disrupting the peace is not a violent act).

My experiences so far have been fine. Although I saw plenty of blue during the Liberty Parade down Nicollet in Minneapolis, they were mostly peaceful and things went down without a hitch. Once the parade stopped at Loring Park, morphing into a concert featuring the amazing Dillinger 4, the police presence completely dissolved. I was able to down the six-pack I sneaked (I thought "snuck" was a real word--guess not) in without repercussion. So yay. I think we should command the police when they are KEEPING THE ORDER as much as we blame them for DISRUPTING THE ORDER (kind of like training a puppy). Maybe the MPD will realize that good police work = good press if the situations in which they don't overreach their power receive some mention. I am nervous about the coming week given the discretion used in the raids, though. Nobody (not the MPD, the GOP, the DLC, or Cable TV) wants another '68. This administration has created such an environment of distrust that I almost EXPECT something to go wrong.

2. The HUGE presence of libertarian/classic conservative activism going on outside the convention. Believe me--Ron Paul and Bob Barr are for the GOP what Nader was to the 2000 DNC. I might even sit through a Tucker fucking Carlson speech to support the giant-ass rift being torn through the media-made armor of the Republican party. They tried to make that PUMA BS a story and it blew up in their faces. If the HUGE AMOUNTS of anti-McCain/anti-fundamentalist Republicans in Minneapolis right now actually made the news, it would reflect poorly upon McCain. Giving attention to their cause can only hurt McCain's. I'd be willing to wager that a majority of these voters would have typically voted Republican. They could never amass enough votes to win the election (I hope...but my state did end up electing Ventura), so we shouldn't let them be ignored. Many of these voters would never vote Democratic because they idealistically consider it too close to socialism. We just don't seem to agree on the role of government in society. This can work to our advantage because it creates the stigma that McCain isn't even a true Republican--that he, like Bush, has fallen so far from what the Goldwater conservatives believed in that they can't even flip the switch for 'em out of blind party loyalty. Plus, the better a 3rd party can do, the better chances we have of reforming our national election system (it's about time for instant run-off voting). Drawing attention to these voters CAN and WILL help Obama win the election. Have no doubt.

These will be the two stories of the convention if we give them our attention: Our transformation into a police state and the disintegration of the GOP.

These are the things we should be talking about.

[trashcanistanista]

1. K&R Well said.