What McCain Didn't Know About Sarah Palin »
Posted By Neophile 1 year, 2 months ago in NewsA few days before John Kerry introduced John Edwards as his running mate, a select few members of Kerry's research staff were given five names, told to adopt the mindset of Republican opposition research, and to prepare a political dossier. What were the likeliest lines of attack that Republicans would use? What political pitfalls might the professional attorneys who conducted the vetting process have missed?
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Lurch1 year, 2 months ago
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Another totally reckless decision made by John McCain.
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Amazing what three days of research have turned up on this person. I wonder how many of those Republicans donors who donated $10M to the McCain campaign in the first 48 hours after the Palin announcement already want their money back.
This has got to be a joke, I`m sure McCain will announce his `real` VP pick soon. This had to have been a trick because nobody in their right mind could possibly have picked their VP with so little effort made to vet them.-

chevydog1 year, 2 months ago
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Whether she's a good pick we'll have to see. Though definitions are in order, I'm not sure the term reckless should apply. I remember seeing speculation about her as the VP nominee all the way back in March. It disappeared for a while, but then started up again in maybe the last six weeks. So it would appear that the thought has been in McC's mind for a while; doesn't quite fit my impression of reckless.
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McC and Palin had a campaign rally near here a couple of days ago. Pulled in something like 20,000 people. Several acquaintances, most of whom were Romney or Huckabee people, were rather impressed with her. -

mark-stevens1 year, 2 months ago
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capecoralMComment removed: Retracted by user77 Replies
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Endoscopy1 year, 2 months ago
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A little information on Mike Wooten. The Palin family BEFORE Governor Palin was Governor wrote a long list of complaints against him. Of the 13 complaints The investigators found 4 where he violated policy or broke the law. For these he was given a 10 day suspension which was cut down to 5.
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• Wooten used a Taser on his stepson.
• He illegally shot a moose.
• He drank beer in his patrol car on one occasion.
• He told others his father-in-law would "eat a f'ing lead bullet" if he helped his daughter get an attorney for the divorce.
For some reason the Palin family was a bit irate at the slap on the hand he received. What does it take to get fired there?
LOL She lowered the property tax but raised the sales tax when she was Mayor. Why forget the property tax?
Most of the rest of it is nit picking.-

bluetexasvalley1 year, 2 months ago
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I won't deny the brother-in-law is a jerk of the first order, but it is not in her jurisdiction to interfere with the employment of people in departments not directly under her. That's why it's called abuse of power.
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She should have found another way to deal with it, like through the city's police department --the taser thing, the illegal hunting, the threat .
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tdeib31 year, 2 months ago
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Oh Please, you have to be kidding me that anyone really thinks Palin is a bad choice based on normal, everyday life problems that everyone has in their familes? We had a President that was recieving blow jobs under the table, along with so much dirt it wasn't funny. As far as I'm concerned, the dirt got started by the other party, and Obama is trying to act as if he had no knowledge of such a thing. Politics are dirty, and that's just a fact.
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Om1 year, 2 months ago
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Funny that the neocons in their platform of America First have nominated the governor of Alaska who in the 90s belonged to the Alaska Independent Party, an organization which advocates secession from the United States. Will this hypocrisy and shame never end?
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gorobei1 year, 2 months ago
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And those blow jobs were from a federal employee who was "under" President Bill Clinton. Any other federal office holder exerting this sort of undue influence on a lower-ranking employee would have been out, and in the military (oh, yeah -- Bill was also the commander-in-chief) they would have been doing prison time. Yes, politics is dirty!
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dunkirk1 year, 2 months ago
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Ahhh well Blue you need to understand the working of the Republ mind. If its a Dem getting it then it has to be bad but if its a Repub then it must be good. See Pallins daughter was exhibiting "family" values of free love and sex.Now if that was Chelsea you would hear all the negative aspects of it from them. But Hypocrisy rules the Republicans.
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mntnman444Comment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned15 Replies
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automan9091 year, 2 months ago
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In case you libs didn't notice there was no surge in poles after your stupid dog and pony show last week. That spells bad news for Obama.
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So far as Obama goes, people like to see the show for the amusement of it all, but when it's over it's back to the reality of Obama being an empty suit.
His bad choices in life, like his choices in terrorists, racists, and anti-Americans as his long time friends and mentors make him as our President a ridicules joke.
A person could not even pass a security background check with those folks as friends.-

Om1 year, 2 months ago
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Lurch1 year, 2 months ago
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Bad choices, terrorists, racists, and anti-american friends?
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I thought you wanted us to leave Bush out of this. Of course if we apply the who-you-know game to McCain, he`s just as guilty of getting 4,000 GIs killed as Bush. Only McCain should have known better. In case you haven`t heard, he was a POW. -
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ind061 year, 2 months ago
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Actually, Senator Obama received a small bump, of about 3%, the average bump for a convention is 6 to 8%, but some candidates have received no bump at all and gone on to be elected. For instance, Lyndon Johnson actually received a NEGATIVE bump of -1% and was elected handily.
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I wouldn't put too much trust in post convention bumps, Jimmy Carter got a 12% bump in 1976 and was elected in a landslide, he got a 13% bump in 1980 and was defeated in a landslide.
Currently Senator Obama is up by 6%
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/
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journeyboy1 year, 2 months ago
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CatzRit1 year, 2 months ago
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What judgemental people we have in this country. Parents with intact morals and values raise children all the time and try to instill these morals and values to help them become good people and productive members of society. So, the girl went out with her guy, things got out of hand and at that moment sometimes even the best of us lose all sense of what tommorrow will bring. This girl being pregnant shows she is human and that her mother is human as well and faces the same trials that everyday citizens do. That is what makes her real. At least the moral of living up to her responsibility stuck with the girl and I am sure she will make a great mother being she has 4 other siblings, one of whom her mother chose to keep in spite of many challenges. This is a much better slip than what Bill Clinton did. Other countries marry their girls off at 11 and 12 to start families. None of you know this girl or her maturity or her mother for that matter. So why not all of us take a deep breath, sit back, and forgive someone elses slips like we are forgiven. A baby is never an ACCIDENT or MISTAKE. An unexpected baby is a SURPRISE. Why not be real Americans and support her to see that legislation is passed to give this child the best of America to look forward to. God will take care of the judgements and you all may be on his list including me. For the conservative, religious Republicans, where is your mercy? Is it where Jesus' mercy was for you?
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rcdemler1 year, 2 months ago
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journeyboy, I totally agree that this issue of the minor child's pregnancy is none of our business (it might, however, be the business of the law if this is a case of statutory rape if it is so under Alaskan Law - don't forget the young black man in Alabama, or was it Georgia, who went to prison for have only ******** with a minor) but I also don't want anyone's decision to have an abortion to be anyone else's business either. So we leave Sarah Palin's daughter alone and Sarah Palin leaves our daughters alone - is this a deal?
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cushi1 year, 2 months ago
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Sarah Palin brought her minor into the argument. She used her own daughter's pregnancy as her defense against rumors going around about her. She threw her daughter under the bus!
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And if John McCain and you neocons had half a brain between you, you'd throw momma from the train - the so-called "straight talk express!" What a JOKE!!
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philet1 year, 2 months ago
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Looking at politician's personal lives is and has been fair game, since the beginning of politics. The public wants to find out what the "real" person is like, not just the public personae we see in speeches and photo ops. The fact that McCain picked someone whose 17 yr. old daughter is about to give birth to an illegitimate child shows not only what a bad choice she is, but, more importantly, how cavalierly and stupidly he chose this person who he barely knows. That fact, alone, will shine through and will be the death blow for McCain in the upcoming election.
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McCain's choice is also transparent. While trying to appear progressive, this clumsily calculated move to run on a ticket with "a woman" already looks dumb, considering he's no friend of women, as evidenced by his voting record. But he desperately needed something to distinguish himself. However, if he was truly seeking a qualified female running mate, why not pick someone like Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe. McCain doesn't want a strong female running mate, but one who is dumber and weaker than he is, one easily manipulable. Palin fits the bill perfectly. She's a token Barbie Doll who has admitted that she doesn't even know exactly what a vice president does! Perfect V.P. material!
Now we discover that her 17 year old child is going to have an illegitimate baby. Journeyboy, your term, "fiance", sure sounds like a nice word, but, it's not applicable here. This is a high-school kid who neglected to use birth control, as HER MOTHER should have drilled into her. What is about to happen is called a "shotgun wedding", my friend.
If the Republicans can probe into President Clinton's personal life and manipulate the situation to impeach him for it, then all other candidates should be on notice, as well. The public absolutely has a right, a duty, to look into ALL of this because it shows what bad judgment McCain uses in important matters like picking a vice presidential candidate. It also shows that Palin belongs in a trailer park and not the White House!-

cloud151 year, 2 months ago
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To be fair philet its been an unwritten rule that going for a candidate's children is off limits. The dems have crossed the line here. That's not to say the reps haven't done the same thing in the past, as they have, but it still doesn't make it right. Leave the kids out of it.
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Jimjn21 year, 2 months ago
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McCain has already said he new Palin's daughter was pregnant but he considered that a personal matter. So do I. This is not the first time something like this happened in a good, upright family.
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I am also sure he knew of the Stooper Trooper situation too. We will see what comes of that. If nothing,,,, then what will you foolish people cling to for hope?
So many people want Pailn to be guilty of something.
I bet they are the same ones who backed John Edwards and/or Bill Clinton when he was cheating on his wife in the White House and then lied to the public (and also technically broke the law too). At least Pailn did not.
And how about Hillary Clinton when all the those missing FBI files showed up in her office and she had "no idea they were there" . Sure, 300 files are such a small and easy thing to miss in your own office,,,, NOT!
What hypocrites you are.-
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antibrainwasher1 year, 2 months ago
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Holy crap, you are guilty as hell of the ultimate rationalization, still trying to spin the first and uttlery stupid decision that McSenile makes by talking about people NOT RUNNING for office at all. What an idiot, and then you have the lack of judgement to start projectile vomiting the work hyprocracy. You are incapable of examinining your own hyprocracy and repugnicon values, just ad hominem attack substituting for rationality. Classic.
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McSenile is INCAPABLE of running collection of right wing evangelical warmongers and greed merchants, let alone running the country. And, this discusting bitch who touts herself as reflecting morality for not aborting her fetus while she spends exactly zero time with her daughters while they shag and ruin the life a teenage boy who will now be saddled with child support as his live is exposed on every media outlet..... discusting display of stupidity and lack of judgement.
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Jimjn2Comment removed: Spam
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diogenes21st1 year, 2 months ago
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Here is what we do know about Palin and the McCain choice. These issues have nothing to do with whether you agree or disagree with her political viewpoints. They do, however, speak to questions about her sincerity, trustworthiness and fitness for office:
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From the press and the candidate:
- Palin has hired a private lawyer in the legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner;
- She was a member in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede;
- Her husband was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.
- Her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant;
- She botched a land deal when mayor of Wasilla that cost her city millions of dollars in unnecessary expenses;
- She was and is still for millions of dollars for federal earmarks aimed at Alaska, contrary to public posturing as a fiscal maverick;
- She was definitely and strongly in favor of the Stevens’ so-called Bridge to Nowhere before she was claimed to be against it;
- The reform that took place over previous corrupt Republican administrations did not originate in Palin’s office, but rather was forced upon Alaska by Federal investigators.
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diogenes21st1 year, 2 months ago
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And here is what has been admitted to by REPUBLICANS in Alaska and within McCain’s camp:
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- Palin had been selected with more haste than McCain advisers initially described (NYTimes, AP, others);
- McCain himself was pressured by top advisors not to pick Lieberman or Tom Ridge out of fear of alienating the far right, which was threatening to make a scene at the convention. McCain caved in to this pressure.
- The McCain team assigned to vet Palin in Alaska did not arrive there until the day before Mr. McCain made the announcement;
- The campaign was still calling Republican operatives as late as Sunday night asking them to go to Alaska to deal with the unexpected candidacy of Ms. Palin;
- McCain himself never met her until the day before he announced his pick. He offered her the job only moments after what is described as a brief meeting;
- Even though McCain's staff says they performed an FBI background check on Palin, the FBI itself denies this.
Lyda Green, the Alaska State Senate president and a Republican, says, “They didn’t speak to anyone in the Legislature, they didn’t speak to anyone in the business community.”
- Rep. Gail Phillips, a Republican and former speaker of the State House, says, “I started calling around and asking, and I have not been able to find one person that was called. 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.”
- The current mayor of Wasilla, Dianne M. Keller, said she had not heard of any efforts to look into Palin’s background.
- Randy Ruedrich, the state Republican Party chairman, said he knew nothing of any vetting that had been conducted.
Folks, this is all just within 4 days of the announcement. Regardless of your feelings for or against Palin, what does this say about John McCain, his judgment, his campaign and his ethical responsibility to the country?-

antibrainwasher1 year, 2 months ago
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It says he is a senile spineless coward, incapable of standing up to his evangelcial end times insane right wing facist religious dogmatic backers, and it says he's a sock puppet with less judgement that the previous villiage idiot the repugnicons have voted for twice, with the result that hundreds of thousands terrorists were created, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are dead, thousands of americans are dead, all for a insane lie.
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There is no end to what repugnicons will do to obtain power for their pure greed and religious dogma. There is no such thing as evil, but evangelical repugnicons come as close as subhuman scum can. -
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antibrainwasher1 year, 2 months ago
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What does it take for america to realize repugnicons are incapable of governing at any level without massive greed, corruption, sexual scandal and religious dogmatic ignorance substituting for policy?
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This is classic repugnicon decision making, impulsive snap judgement based on thinking the Baby Jeeeeeesus is on your side, and cowboy gunslinging stupidity, now watch as the hyena pack tries to rationalize the stupidity by ad hominem attack on the dems.
Greed, ignorance, religious dogma, greed, fear, loathing, greed, racism, ignorance, arrogance, greed and more religious dogma. REPUGNICON values.
McSenile and Palin, what a joke. These people couldn't run a jr high school without getting half the class pregnant and the other half joining the army or the evangelical brainwashing church. She can't run her own family, neglecting her daughters and promoting failed abstenance, then praising herself about not having abortions.
You hypocrite a holes make me sick, what kind of an idiot picks a woman who would expose her children to embarassing scrutiny. Amazing display of lack of judgement, in fact, jumping in beore she was vetted is an exact parallel to the Iraq war.
Now, watch as the lies and ad hominem attacks start. Repugnicon evangelical morons.-

cloud151 year, 2 months ago
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
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"Greed, ignorance, religious dogma, greed, fear, loathing, greed, racism, ignorance, arrogance, greed and more religious dogma. REPUGNICON values.
cowboy gunslinging stupidity
You hypocrite a holes make me sick
McSenile
Repugnicon evangelical morons."
Followed by: "You hypocrite a holes make me sick" and
"Now, watch as the lies and ad hominem attacks start."
I think you got that covered my friend.....
The choice of Palin was both smart and stupid in its own ways. It re-energizes his base, but at the same time it may distance independents. It appeals to some women, while insulting others. It may bring in young voters who think its "cool" to vote for the hot mom. It takes the experience argument off the table, but it brings in someone who is seen as a reformer. Shes popular in her state, but that state was already republican. Her child's pregnancy is her family's business, children should be off limits. She has fought against corruption, and has handled the power abuse accusations very well, shes welcoming the investigation because she hasn't done anything wrong.
IMO I think the choice was a little too risky. Its going to be interesting how she handles a seasoned vet like Biden in a debate.
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Klarissa1 year, 2 months ago
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8-25-08
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We Need to Know More About Biden's Health
By Steven Lomazow, M.D.
Dr. Lomazow, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is working on a book about FDR's health problems. Click here for his blog.
The headline, from the Associated Press, May 4, 1988, read: "Biden Resting After Surgery For Second Brain Aneurysm." The story flashed the details around the world:
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. underwent surgery today to correct an aneurysm in an artery that supplies blood to the right side of the brain, a spokesman for the Walter Reed Army Medical Center said.
The spokesman, Peter Esker, said Senator Biden was awake, resting comfortably and talking with his family after the operation, his second this year to correct an aneurysm. An aneurysm is a ballooning of an artery. The 4 1/2-hour procedure was similar to that performed Feb. 12 on the left side of Mr. Biden's brain.
Under the procedure, a surgeon using a microscope pinches the aneurysm with a clip, bringing the walls of the artery together. The clip remains in the patient. Mr. Esker said there are no signs of any other aneurysms, adding that the second was much smaller than the first.-

cloud151 year, 2 months ago
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I forget where they had this, but on one of the MSM networks they brought a doctor on and asked about Biden's health. The doctor said the aneurysms aren't a concern and that there was a very small chance of there being more. He said it was like being struck by lightning for the third time.
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liv4funguy1 year, 2 months ago
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This is just the beginning of what we can expect from self proclaimed "Maverick" John McCain. The fact that this man chose this (joke) as a VP candidate after a 15 minute meeting and a phone call just goes to show his incompatence! Are Reps. that ignorant that they defend this point with the same stupid smile and and reverse psychology? I can't wait to watch this campaign fail and burn!! Wait till the Dems. start in with the numerous adulterous affairs post vietnam! This is just the beginning I promise!!!
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lloydm651 year, 2 months ago
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Every day I see young men who look like their on their last leg.They look sickly and down.On the other hand I see adult men sixty, seventy,and eightiy who are captains of industry with bright with and good attudes.I am seventy four and i intend to vote for McCain in 2012.I don't know where this age thing got started.By the way those people who gave to the republicans,is money well spent,it won't stop Marxism in its tracks,but it side track it for a while.The only cure is to send the socialist democrats ,and the weak kneed lily liverd republicans home for good
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antibrainwasher1 year, 2 months ago
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Stop marxism.......yeah, your old allright, can't tell the difference between a democratically elected senator and a russian philosopher. Typical idiot repugnicon, incapable of discerning reality, to old and calcified to examine his insane values. Perhaps you could ge a cabinet position promoting viagra in McSenile's pack of evangelical idiots.
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Georgia501 year, 2 months ago
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McCain's pick of Palin is justified by the only response MSM is capable of: faux indignation.
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It's like a cop apprehending a purse snatching suspect: "Did you steal this women's purse?" and he responds, "No, and I didn't take her expired Macy's charge card, either."
The response is all the affirmation you need.-

CRYMTYPHON1 year, 2 months ago
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Wait; is Palin the one whose purse was stolen?
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And is the cop the internet? And the purse equals the truth?
And are the dems the suspects? Where are the Republicans in the metaphore?
What was the purse made of?
Was it a silk purse?
Was the whole thing made up, out of a pig's ear?
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mntnman444Comment removed: Spammer, Hard Banned
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cleare1 year, 2 months ago
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if mccain thinks palin will bring over "disaffected" hillary voters, he's wrong. there may still be some hard feelings, but on nov 4th it'll all be sorted out.
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i don't understand at all what mccain sees as advantageous to his campaign by this veep selection. i think she's more of a hindrance than a help. -

abntv1 year, 2 months ago
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Most of the information posted here about Palin is pure BS. Palin met face to face with McCain several times back in the spring. McCain had people in Alaska in early summer.
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Randy Ruedrich knows little to nothing about what is going on in the Republican Party in Alaska..he has all but been fired.
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