A lot of people are still scratching their heads as to why John McCain picked Sarah Palin for his VP running mate. The following article might help bring it all into focus for you:

Sarah Palin a no-show at antiabortion event, sparking some ire

So far, at least, John McCain’s camp can’t be accused of overexposing Sarah Palin.

Two days after McCain shocked the political world by tapping her as his running mate, she was nowhere to be found on the Sunday talk-show circuit. On Monday, she was kept under wraps as word surfaced of the pregnancy of her 17-year-old unwed daughter.

Today, Palin’s scheduled appearance in St. Paul, Minn., as guest of honor at an afternoon gathering by the Republican National Coalition for Life was canceled. And that didn’t sit well with a leading social conservative.

Phyllis Schlafly, who in the mid-1970s almost single-handedly derailed what had been the expected ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, told ABC News that a McCain aide notified her late Monday that Palin would not be attending the event.

“I think this is clearly somebody in the McCain campaign who doesn’t understand where the votes are coming from,” Schlafly said. “They only told me this at 10 o’clock last night, and it was a call from somebody down the line in the McCain campaign.”

She added: “The pro-lifers who paid $95 to come to this event because of Sarah Palin are going to be very unhappy.” (emphasis mine)

So, there you have it folks. This is not about democrats versus republicans. This is about democrats versus God. And in the religious-right’s tortured minds, they are fighting pure evil. This is the fight for their lives. This is a fight they must win… country be damned!

Gustav evacuees staying in Knoxville, TN., are complaining. Are their complaints legit? Is this a case of bad host or bad guests? You decide…

From a Gustav evacuee:

“Look. Look. It’s all sugar,” said New Orleans evacuee Wilmer Pappie, Jr. as he displayed a box of pastries and cookies.

He and many evacuees say since coming to the shelter, they haven’t had a decent meal. They say they aren’t getting meat, the food is cold and they’re eating so many sweets, diabetics are being hospitalized.

“I haven’t had a hot meal yet. It’s just been donuts, sugar and coffee,” Pappie said. “Sweets, this is it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

From the Knoxville Red Cross:

Red Cross shelter manager Mike Battershell says their goal is to serve two hot meals a day and a continental breakfast. He says all the pastries and cookies are supplements.

“Yesterday, we had hot lasagna for supper. We had fried chicken for lunch, which was hot,” Battershell said. “Today for lunch, we are serving hamburgers with all the fixings.”

I suppose there will be friction in situations like this. I also imagine if I were in their shoes, I myself would be proud to get whatever food they gave - period. But I’m not in their shoes, so I don’t know.

I will say though, a big “Thank You!” to all that offered up shelter for those in need.

One hell of a story. One hell of a book!

Find out more about the book, by Susan Larson, here.

Former POW says McCain is “not cut out to be President”

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McCain’s VP pick really was purely to garner votes from the far-right Christian extremists of the party. Nothing else about it makes any sense:

Palin’s small town secured big federal funds

As mayor, VP pick obtained millions in funds, a tactic McCain has criticized

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group. [...]

In introducing Palin as his running mate on Friday, Sen. John McCain cast her as a compatriot in his battle against wasteful federal spending. McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, hailed Palin as a politician “with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracies — someone who has fought against corruption and the failed policies of the past, someone who’s stopped government from wasting taxpayers’ money.”

Boy, the religious-right are going to be so pissed OK with this bit of news!

Didn’t I mention republican hypocrisy already once today?

Teen daughter of GOP VP pick is pregnant

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) — Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Sarah Palin, is pregnant and will keep the baby and marry the father, a senior aide to Sen. John McCain confirmed to CNN Tuesday.

Republican presidential candidate McCain was aware of Bristol Palin’s pregnancy before he chose her mother for his running mate, the aide said.

“Senator McCain knew this and felt in no way did it disqualify her from being vice president,” said the aide. “Families have difficulties sometimes, and lucky for her she has a supportive family.”

The 17-year-old, a senior in high school, is about five months along, in her second trimester, according to the aide.

UPDATE: Turns out VP pick Sarah Palin’s husband, Todd, has a history of driving while intoxicated.

Those RedState idiots.

Of course it’s wrong. No different than when Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell did it. The only difference here is the grand hypocrisy of RedState staff and visitors.

(CNN) — Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler apologized Sunday for recently joking Hurricane Gustav’s expected landfall on the same day as the opening of the Republican National Convention suggested God was on the Democrats’ side.

A YouTube video of the comments posted by the conservative blog RedState.org and showed Fowler joking with South Carolina Rep. John Spratt about the timing of the hurricane while on a flight from the Democratic National Convention back to South Carolina. The person who filmed the conversation is not identified.

“The hurricane is going to hit New Orleans about the time they start. The timing is, at least it appears now, it will be there Monday. That just demonstrates God is on our side,” Fowler said, while laughing. Fowler also told Spratt that “everything’s cool.”

I really don’t know how to feel about this one. The officer did suffer minor injury, so obviously Banger rammed him pretty hard… But, then again, Banger’s very life hung in the balance.

If one of the points of punishment is to dissuade that type of behavior, I don’t think this really qualifies. How often are you being robbed, and a police officer is within sight?

I think they should leave Mr. Banger alone here.

NC motorist avoids being robbed by hitting police

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A Winston-Salem man was nearly robbed before he got the attention of a police officer — by ramming his car.

The incident happened about 4 p.m. Thursday when 34-year-old Melvin Banger agreed to give two men a ride. Police told the Winston-Salem Journal one man put a gun to Banger’s head and demanded money.

When Banger saw a police cruiser at an intersection, he ran the red light and hit the cruiser. Authorities said his passengers got out and ran.

Officer J.C. Smith suffered minor injuries, and Banger wasn’t hurt.

Police Lt. David Perry said Friday the district attorney will determine if Banger faces charges. A police spokesman said Friday that neither passenger has been found.

With the coming Gustav storm about to hit the gulf coast, people from the area were ordered to leave. Neighboring states have offered shelter for these poor souls:

Gulf Coast residents fleeing Hurricane Gustav began arriving across the state Saturday.

The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency reported that as of 6 a.m. Sunday, 2,255 evacuees have checked in at Air National Guard bases across Tennessee.

Of those 2,255, 1,404 checked in at Memphis, 577 in Nashville and 274 in Knoxville.

But not everyone is awaiting the evacuees with open arms. A commenter of WBIR.com had this to say:

CharterVol wrote: Put them on a next plane out. They are not wanted here.

Is this that great volunteer spirit I keep hearing about, but not ever seeing?

UPDATE: The offending comment has been taken down. (Screen grab)

So it’s confirmed. We now know why Lieberman has been away from the camera, and spending so much time in the cloak room with a crying towel. I’d be upset too. That bitch, McCain! Poor Lieberman. Sold his soul (and most of America) out for this second shot at the grand prize… only to have the rug pulled out from under him. Too delicious!

The constant fight we endure to keep the church from undermining and destroying our country is a constant struggle. Watching it completely take over and strangling the republican party is hilarious. If you weren’t sure before, now you know who pulls the strings on the right.

Also, I thing they got the title of the following article all wrong. It should read “Christian” instead of Conservative.

Advisers Say Conservative Ire Pushed McCain Away From Picking Lieberman

WASHINGTON — In the end, the choice of his running mate said more about Senator John McCain and his image of himself than it did about Sarah Palin, the little-known governor of Alaska whose selection has shaken up the presidential race.

For weeks, advisers close to the campaign said, Mr. McCain had wanted to name as his running mate his good friend Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrat turned independent. But by the end of last weekend, the outrage from Christian conservatives over the possibility that Mr. McCain would fill out the Republican ticket with Mr. Lieberman, a supporter of abortion rights, had become too intense to be ignored.

With time running out, and after a long meeting with his inner circle in Phoenix, Mr. McCain finally picked up the phone last Sunday and reached Ms. Palin at the Alaska State Fair. Although the campaign’s polling on Mr. McCain’s potential running mates was inconclusive on the selection of Ms. Palin — virtually no one had heard of her, a McCain adviser said — the governor, who opposes abortion, had glowing reviews from influential social conservatives.