Breaking News !
this just in.
Jamie Lynn Spears has been tapped to become the new Director of Child and Welfare Services for the McCain/ Palin ticket
Last edited:
Is Sarah Palin a good choice ?
- Thread starter THE KOD
- Start date
Breaking News !
this just in.
Jamie Lynn Spears has been tapped to become the new Director of Child and Welfare Services for the McCain/ Palin ticket
Palin has hired lawyer as trooper probe continues
Posted: 05:52 PM ET
From CNN Correspondent Dana Bash
(CNN) ? Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hired a lawyer three weeks ago to act on her behalf as state legislators investigate whether she may have abused her power in firing the state police chief for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, CNN has confirmed.
A report of findings of a legislative inquiry that began several weeks ago is currently slated to be released just days before Election Day.
.............................................................
Investigations, lawyers, pregant teens, state troopers,
wow :shrug: :SIB
Posted: 05:52 PM ET
From CNN Correspondent Dana Bash
(CNN) ? Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hired a lawyer three weeks ago to act on her behalf as state legislators investigate whether she may have abused her power in firing the state police chief for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, CNN has confirmed.
A report of findings of a legislative inquiry that began several weeks ago is currently slated to be released just days before Election Day.
.............................................................
Investigations, lawyers, pregant teens, state troopers,
wow :shrug: :SIB
Breaking News !
this just in.
Jamie Lynn Spears has been tapped to become the new Director of Child and Welfare Services for the McCain/ Palin ticket
Scott, I don't mind you taking my material, but I am going to require a footnote reference at least.
..................................................................
that was a good one. I could hardly wait to find the picture and post it in here.
Then I forgot who said it. I went looking but :shrug:
are you accusing me of plagerizing your work ?
ST. PAUL - A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain?s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket.
On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.
Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state?s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.
Aides to Mr. McCain said they had a team on the ground in Alaska now to look more thoroughly into Ms. Palin?s background. A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice.
Although the McCain campaign said that Mr. McCain had known about Bristol Palin?s pregnancy before he asked her mother to join him on the ticket and that he did not consider it disqualifying, top aides were vague on Monday about how and when he had learned of the pregnancy, and from whom.
While there was no sign that her formal nomination this week was in jeopardy, the questions swirling around Ms. Palin on the first day of the Republican National Convention, already disrupted by Hurricane Gustav, brought anxiety to Republicans who worried that Democrats would use the selection of Ms. Palin to question Mr. McCain?s judgment and his ability to make crucial decisions.
At the least, Republicans close to the campaign said it was increasingly apparent that Ms. Palin had been selected as Mr. McCain?s running mate with more haste than McCain advisers initially described.
A rushed pick?
Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could name as his running mate a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.
But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates.
Perhaps more important, several Republicans said, Mr. McCain was getting advice that if he did not do something to shake up the race, his campaign would be stuck on a potentially losing trajectory.
With time running out ? and as Mr. McCain discarded two safer choices, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, as too predictable ? he turned to Ms. Palin. He had his first face-to-face interview with her on Thursday and offered her the job moments later.
?They didn?t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,? said a Republican close to the campaign. ?This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn?t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.?
Mr. McCain?s advisers said repeatedly on Monday that Ms. Palin was ?thoroughly vetted,? a process that would have included a review of all financial and legal records as well as a criminal background check. A McCain aide said that the campaign was well aware of the ethics investigation and that it had looked into it.
People familiar with the process said Ms. Palin had responded to a standard form with more than 70 questions.
?It was obviously something that anybody Googling Sarah Palin knew was in the news and there was a very thorough vetting done on that and also on the daughter,? the aide said.
................................................................
:scared :scared
On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.
Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state?s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.
Aides to Mr. McCain said they had a team on the ground in Alaska now to look more thoroughly into Ms. Palin?s background. A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice.
Although the McCain campaign said that Mr. McCain had known about Bristol Palin?s pregnancy before he asked her mother to join him on the ticket and that he did not consider it disqualifying, top aides were vague on Monday about how and when he had learned of the pregnancy, and from whom.
While there was no sign that her formal nomination this week was in jeopardy, the questions swirling around Ms. Palin on the first day of the Republican National Convention, already disrupted by Hurricane Gustav, brought anxiety to Republicans who worried that Democrats would use the selection of Ms. Palin to question Mr. McCain?s judgment and his ability to make crucial decisions.
At the least, Republicans close to the campaign said it was increasingly apparent that Ms. Palin had been selected as Mr. McCain?s running mate with more haste than McCain advisers initially described.
A rushed pick?
Up until midweek last week, some 48 to 72 hours before Mr. McCain introduced Ms. Palin at a Friday rally in Dayton, Ohio, Mr. McCain was still holding out the hope that he could name as his running mate a good friend, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, a Republican close to the campaign said. Mr. McCain had also been interested in another favorite, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania.
But both men favor abortion rights, anathema to the Christian conservatives who make up a crucial base of the Republican Party. As word leaked out that Mr. McCain was seriously considering the men, the campaign was bombarded by outrage from influential conservatives who predicted an explosive floor fight at the convention and vowed rejection of Mr. Ridge or Mr. Lieberman by the delegates.
Perhaps more important, several Republicans said, Mr. McCain was getting advice that if he did not do something to shake up the race, his campaign would be stuck on a potentially losing trajectory.
With time running out ? and as Mr. McCain discarded two safer choices, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, as too predictable ? he turned to Ms. Palin. He had his first face-to-face interview with her on Thursday and offered her the job moments later.
?They didn?t seriously consider her until four or five days from the time she was picked, before she was asked, maybe the Thursday or Friday before,? said a Republican close to the campaign. ?This was really kind of rushed at the end, because John didn?t get what he wanted. He wanted to do Joe or Ridge.?
Mr. McCain?s advisers said repeatedly on Monday that Ms. Palin was ?thoroughly vetted,? a process that would have included a review of all financial and legal records as well as a criminal background check. A McCain aide said that the campaign was well aware of the ethics investigation and that it had looked into it.
People familiar with the process said Ms. Palin had responded to a standard form with more than 70 questions.
?It was obviously something that anybody Googling Sarah Palin knew was in the news and there was a very thorough vetting done on that and also on the daughter,? the aide said.
................................................................
:scared :scared
Locals say no one talked to them
Mark Salter, Mr. McCain?s closest adviser, said in an e-mail message that Ms. Palin had been interviewed by Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., a veteran Washington lawyer in charge of the vice-presidential vetting process for Mr. McCain, as well as by other lawyers who worked for Mr. Culvahouse. Mr. Salter did not respond to an e-mail message asking if Ms. Palin had told Mr. Culvahouse and his lawyers that her daughter was pregnant.
In Alaska, several state leaders and local officials said they knew of no efforts by the McCain campaign to find out more information about Ms. Palin before the announcement of her selection, Although campaigns are typically discreet when they make inquiries into potential running mates, officials in Alaska said Monday they thought it was peculiar that no one in the state had the slightest hint that Ms. Palin might be under consideration.
?They didn?t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn?t speak to anyone in the business community,? said Lyda Green, the State Senate president, who lives in Wasilla, where Ms. Palin served as mayor.
Representative Gail Phillips, a Republican and former speaker of the State House, said the widespread surprise in Alaska when Ms. Palin was named to the ticket made her wonder how intensively the McCain campaign had vetted her.
?I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called,? Ms. Phillips said. ?I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven?t found anybody who was asked anything.?
Trying to keep a secret
The current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne M. Keller, said she had not heard of any efforts to look into Ms. Palin?s background. And Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican Party chairman, said he knew nothing of any vetting that had been conducted.
State Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who is directing the ethics investigation, said that no one asked him about the allegations. ?I heard not a word, not a single contact,? he said.
Mr. French, a former prosecutor, said that he was knowledgeable about background checks and that, he, too, was surprised that the campaign had not reached out to state legislative leaders.
More from NYTimes.com
Click links below:
Party?s plans are unsettled; McCain visits Gulf
TV cameras turn from G.O.P. to storm
G.O.P. rallies in support of McCain, poll shows
McCain's pick may foster bigger role for Clinton
External links
A number of Republicans said the McCain campaign had to some degree tied its hands in its effort to keep the selection process so secret.
?If you really want it to be a surprise, the circle of people that you?re going to allow to know about it is going to be small, and that?s just the nature of it,? said Dan Bartlett, a former counselor to President Bush and an adviser in both of his presidential campaigns.
Former McCain strategists disagreed on whether it would have been useful for Ms. Palin?s name to have been more publicly floated before her selection so that issues like the trooper investigation and her daughter?s pregnancy might have already been aired and not seemed so new at the time of her announcement.
Catch-22
?Had the story been written about the state trooper three months ago, nobody would care about it anymore,? said Dan Schnur, a former McCain aide who now directs the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. ?It?s a risk. No matter how great the candidate, it?s a significant risk to put someone on the ticket? who hasn?t been publicly scrutinized.
?They obviously felt it was worth the risk to rev up the base and potentially reach out to Clinton supporters,? Mr. Schnur said.
But Howard Opinsky, another McCain veteran, said calling attention to Ms. Palin?s possible candidacy during the search process would have undermined the impact of her eventual selection.
?Had her name been played out in the press for months and months, she wouldn?t have been seen as so bold,? Mr. Opinsky said. ?You either get freshness and you have to live with what you get in your vetting or you lose the freshness.?
...........................................................
Holy Shit Balls Batman :scared
Mark Salter, Mr. McCain?s closest adviser, said in an e-mail message that Ms. Palin had been interviewed by Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., a veteran Washington lawyer in charge of the vice-presidential vetting process for Mr. McCain, as well as by other lawyers who worked for Mr. Culvahouse. Mr. Salter did not respond to an e-mail message asking if Ms. Palin had told Mr. Culvahouse and his lawyers that her daughter was pregnant.
In Alaska, several state leaders and local officials said they knew of no efforts by the McCain campaign to find out more information about Ms. Palin before the announcement of her selection, Although campaigns are typically discreet when they make inquiries into potential running mates, officials in Alaska said Monday they thought it was peculiar that no one in the state had the slightest hint that Ms. Palin might be under consideration.
?They didn?t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn?t speak to anyone in the business community,? said Lyda Green, the State Senate president, who lives in Wasilla, where Ms. Palin served as mayor.
Representative Gail Phillips, a Republican and former speaker of the State House, said the widespread surprise in Alaska when Ms. Palin was named to the ticket made her wonder how intensively the McCain campaign had vetted her.
?I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called,? Ms. Phillips said. ?I called 30 to 40 people, political leaders, business leaders, community leaders. Not one of them had heard. Alaska is a very small community, we know people all over, but I haven?t found anybody who was asked anything.?
Trying to keep a secret
The current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne M. Keller, said she had not heard of any efforts to look into Ms. Palin?s background. And Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican Party chairman, said he knew nothing of any vetting that had been conducted.
State Senator Hollis French, a Democrat who is directing the ethics investigation, said that no one asked him about the allegations. ?I heard not a word, not a single contact,? he said.
Mr. French, a former prosecutor, said that he was knowledgeable about background checks and that, he, too, was surprised that the campaign had not reached out to state legislative leaders.
More from NYTimes.com
Click links below:
Party?s plans are unsettled; McCain visits Gulf
TV cameras turn from G.O.P. to storm
G.O.P. rallies in support of McCain, poll shows
McCain's pick may foster bigger role for Clinton
External links
A number of Republicans said the McCain campaign had to some degree tied its hands in its effort to keep the selection process so secret.
?If you really want it to be a surprise, the circle of people that you?re going to allow to know about it is going to be small, and that?s just the nature of it,? said Dan Bartlett, a former counselor to President Bush and an adviser in both of his presidential campaigns.
Former McCain strategists disagreed on whether it would have been useful for Ms. Palin?s name to have been more publicly floated before her selection so that issues like the trooper investigation and her daughter?s pregnancy might have already been aired and not seemed so new at the time of her announcement.
Catch-22
?Had the story been written about the state trooper three months ago, nobody would care about it anymore,? said Dan Schnur, a former McCain aide who now directs the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California. ?It?s a risk. No matter how great the candidate, it?s a significant risk to put someone on the ticket? who hasn?t been publicly scrutinized.
?They obviously felt it was worth the risk to rev up the base and potentially reach out to Clinton supporters,? Mr. Schnur said.
But Howard Opinsky, another McCain veteran, said calling attention to Ms. Palin?s possible candidacy during the search process would have undermined the impact of her eventual selection.
?Had her name been played out in the press for months and months, she wouldn?t have been seen as so bold,? Mr. Opinsky said. ?You either get freshness and you have to live with what you get in your vetting or you lose the freshness.?
...........................................................
Holy Shit Balls Batman :scared
Levi Johnston to join Palin family at convention
Bristol Palin's boyfriend left Alaska Tuesday morning
updated 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
WASILLA, Alaska - Bristol Palin's boyfriend plans to join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the convention in Minnesota.
Levi Johnston's mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska on Tuesday morning to join the Palin family in St. Paul.
Sherry Johnston also said there has been no pressure put on her son to marry Bristol Palin, the pregnant daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
"Absolutely not," Sherry Johnston told reporters outside the family's Wasilla home. Johnston said the two teens already had plans to marry before they knew she was pregnant.
Sarah Palin announced Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter was pregnant. The father was not identified beyond the first name of Levi.
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Levi is not being pressured to marry her :142smilie
The fawking reporters are camped out in front of their house . :142smilie
Obama does not have to even mention it. The press will make them crazy.
If I was Levi I would milk this for all its worth. Get your 3 months of fame. Dont marry her and stay in the news until the baby is born.
Then sell the pictures for a few million. Write a book and retire as a teenager.
What a opportunity for this young man to have committed this act, and then get rich from it.
Only in America :142smilie
In the meantime , McCain goes down the tubes.
Rather rash decision. Impulsive ? even some maverick to it.
Bristol Palin's boyfriend left Alaska Tuesday morning
updated 2 hours, 52 minutes ago
WASILLA, Alaska - Bristol Palin's boyfriend plans to join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the convention in Minnesota.
Levi Johnston's mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska on Tuesday morning to join the Palin family in St. Paul.
Sherry Johnston also said there has been no pressure put on her son to marry Bristol Palin, the pregnant daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
"Absolutely not," Sherry Johnston told reporters outside the family's Wasilla home. Johnston said the two teens already had plans to marry before they knew she was pregnant.
Sarah Palin announced Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter was pregnant. The father was not identified beyond the first name of Levi.
..................................................................
Levi is not being pressured to marry her :142smilie
The fawking reporters are camped out in front of their house . :142smilie
Obama does not have to even mention it. The press will make them crazy.
If I was Levi I would milk this for all its worth. Get your 3 months of fame. Dont marry her and stay in the news until the baby is born.
Then sell the pictures for a few million. Write a book and retire as a teenager.
What a opportunity for this young man to have committed this act, and then get rich from it.
Only in America :142smilie
In the meantime , McCain goes down the tubes.
Rather rash decision. Impulsive ? even some maverick to it.
...............................................................
here is the first picture I have seen of young Levi
RNC co-chair mistakes name of McCain's running mate
Posted: 08:36 PM ET
From CNN's Richard Allen Greene
The 2008 GOP Ticket
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) ? Republican National Committee co-chair Jo
Anne Davidson mistakenly referred to the party's presumptive vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, as "Sarah Pawlenty" at the Republican National Convention Tuesday.
Palin, the governor of Alaska, was a surprise choice to join Sen. John McCain on the Republican ticket. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty had been considered one of the front-runners for the slot.
........................................................
Damn
they are killin me with this stuff :142smilie
Posted: 08:36 PM ET
From CNN's Richard Allen Greene
The 2008 GOP Ticket
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) ? Republican National Committee co-chair Jo
Anne Davidson mistakenly referred to the party's presumptive vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, as "Sarah Pawlenty" at the Republican National Convention Tuesday.
Palin, the governor of Alaska, was a surprise choice to join Sen. John McCain on the Republican ticket. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty had been considered one of the front-runners for the slot.
........................................................
Damn
they are killin me with this stuff :142smilie
...........................................................
Hey RAYMOND
any particular order you would like to introduce the one eyed critter to ?
I think Cindys legs may have a little too much glow tan for my liking.
Levi Johnston?s mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska on Tuesday morning to join the Palin family at the convention where Sen. John McCain will officially receive the Republican nomination for president. The boy?s mother, Sherry Johnston, said there had been no pressure put on her son to marry 17-year-old Bristol Palin and the two teens had made plans to wed before it was known she was pregnant.
The young man?s presence could set off a media frenzy around the young couple as photographers and cameramen scramble for pictures of the two teenagers. :scared
On Monday, Palin and her husband, Todd, said their 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, planned to have the baby and wed a young man identified only as Levi. The family asked the media to respect the young couple?s privacy as has been the tradition with children of candidates.:mj07:
Sarah Palin is scheduled to address the convention Wednesday night and traditionally her family would join her at the conclusion of her speech.
Sherry Johnston said she was worried about her son dealing with all the attention. She said it was difficult enough for teenagers to deal with any pregnancy, having the entire nation watching made it worse.:SIB
Levi Johnston, a high school hockey player for Wasilla High School, is not listed on the team roster for 2008-2009, and his mother wouldn?t say if he graduated. She said simply he?s no longer a student and any further information would have to come from him.
The intense media scrutiny has stunned this suburban community about 40 miles north of Anchorage, with reporters camping out near the Johnston home.:SIB :142smilie
?This is out of my league,? Sherry Johnston said. ?I?m just a country gal and I want to keep it that way.?
She spoke Tuesday while standing in the driveway leading to her pale gray, two-story home situated on a densely wooded country lane. The home, like many in Alaska is adorned with moose and caribou antlers outside.
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This will be the press biggest story of the year before its over.
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McCain camp denies Palin affair, threatens lawsuit
Posted: 05:45 PM ET
ST. PAUL (CNN) ? A senior adviser to John McCain?s campaign threatened a lawsuit against the National Enquirer Wednesday over ?baseless attacks? in a cover story about Sarah Palin that included allegations of marital infidelity.
?The smearing of the Palin family must end,? said senior adviser Steve Schmidt. ?The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Governor Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false. It is a vicious lie.
?Governor Palin is the most popular governor in the country. She is a proven leader, an accomplished executive, a champion for ethics reform, and a fighter against corruption. The efforts of the media and tabloids to destroy this fine and accomplished public servant are a disgrace. The American people will reject it.
He also said that ?legal action will be considered with regard to this disgraceful smear.?
Over the past few days, the McCain campaign has issued increasingly aggressive responses to rumors about the presumptive Republican VP nominee, including some detailed public statements denying sensational stories that had not previously been reported by any mainstream media organizations.
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Stay tuned. More dirt on the way .
Vetted .... Good decision John M :142smilie
Posted: 05:45 PM ET
ST. PAUL (CNN) ? A senior adviser to John McCain?s campaign threatened a lawsuit against the National Enquirer Wednesday over ?baseless attacks? in a cover story about Sarah Palin that included allegations of marital infidelity.
?The smearing of the Palin family must end,? said senior adviser Steve Schmidt. ?The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Governor Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false. It is a vicious lie.
?Governor Palin is the most popular governor in the country. She is a proven leader, an accomplished executive, a champion for ethics reform, and a fighter against corruption. The efforts of the media and tabloids to destroy this fine and accomplished public servant are a disgrace. The American people will reject it.
He also said that ?legal action will be considered with regard to this disgraceful smear.?
Over the past few days, the McCain campaign has issued increasingly aggressive responses to rumors about the presumptive Republican VP nominee, including some detailed public statements denying sensational stories that had not previously been reported by any mainstream media organizations.
...................................................................
Stay tuned. More dirt on the way .
Vetted .... Good decision John M :142smilie
