From the WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING file:

From the AP Via Yahoo News:

McCain taps Alaska governor for VP

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago

DENVER - John McCain tapped Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a conservative who shares his maverick streak, to be the Republican vice presidential running mate on Friday in a startling selection on the eve of the Republican National Convention.

In an announcement, McCain's campaign said that Palin, who has been governor less than two years, "has the record of reform and bipartisanship that others can only speak of.

"Her experience in shaking up the status quo is exactly what is needed in Washington today," the announcement said.

McCain and Palin were appearing together in swing-state Ohio later in the day.

Palin has a strong anti-abortion record, and her selection was praised warmly by social conservatives whose support Mccain needs to prevail in the campaign for the White House.

"It's an absolutely brilliant choice," said Mathew Staver, dean of Liberty University school of Law. "This will absolutely energize Mccain's campaign and energize conservatives," he predicted.

With his pick, McCain passed over more prominent contenders like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, as well as others such for former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, whose support for abortion rights might have sparked unrest at the convention that opens Monday in St. Paul, Minn.

The timing of McCain's selection appeared designed to limit any political gain Obama derives from his own convention, which ended Thursday night with his nominating acceptance speech before an estimated 84,000 in Invesco Field in Colorado.

Public opinion polls show a close race between Obama and McCain, and with scarcely two months remaining until the election, neither contender can allow the other to jump out to a big post-convention lead.

At 44, Palin is a generation younger than two of McCain's seven children. She also is considerably younger than Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, who is Barack Obama's running mate on the Democratic ticket.

She is three years Obama's junior, as well — and McCain has made much in recent weeks of Obama's relative lack of experience in foreign policy and defense matters.

In its formal announcement, the campaign pointed to her powers as head of the Alaska National Guard and the mother of a soldier herself as evidence that she "understands what it takes to lead our nation..."

McCain has had months to consider his choice, and has made it clear to reporters that one of his overriding goals was to avoid a situation like 1988, when then-Sen. Dan Quayle was thrown into a national campaign with little preparation.

A self-styled hockey mom and political reformer, Pallin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 6,500, until she became governor.

Palin flew overnight to an airport in Ohio near Dayton, and even as she awaited her formal introduction, some aides said they had believed she was at home in Alaska.

She is a former mayor of Wasilla who became governor of her state in December, 2006 after ousting a governor of her own party in a primary and then dispatching a former governor in the general election.

More recently, she has come under the scrutiny of an investigation by the Republican-controlled legislature into the possibility that she ordered the dismissal of Alaska's public safety commissioner because he would not fire her former brother-in-law as a state trooper.

Palin has a long history of run-ins with the Alaska GOP hierarchy, giving her genuine maverick status and reformer credentials that could complement McCain's image.

Two years ago, she ousted the state's Republican incumbent governor, Frank Murkowski in the primary, despite having little money and little establishment backing.

She has also distanced herself from two senior Republican office-holders, Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don young. Both men are under federal corruption investigations.

She had earned stripes — and enmity — after Murkowski made her head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. From that post, she exposed ethical violations by the state GOP chairman, also a fellow commissioner.

Her husband, Todd Palin, is part Yup'ik Eskimo, and is a blue-collar North Slope oil worker who competes in the Iron Dog, a 1,900-mile snowmobile race. The couple lives in Wasilla. They have five children, the youngest of whom was born in April with Down syndrome.

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Ok, I can see where we can redirect any accusations of racism with this pick, but seriously....WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING MCCAINT??

So much for the experience argument against Obama...no?

um...excuse me? From the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot file

H/T To Stop the ACLU


"Firefighters at the East Baltimore station where a noose was found demanded Monday that the NAACP apologize for labeling them racist. Discovery of the noose had drawn sharp criticism from Marvin "Doc" Cheatham, the Baltimore NAACP president, before a black firefighter from the station admitted that he had placed the noose there.

"The firefighters that work on his shift want Doc Cheatham to be man enough to stand up and apologize for his outrageous statements," said Bob Sledgeski, a city firefighter union official. "They're furious they were accused of being racists when it was not true."

The union, Sledgeski said, is considering filing a defamation lawsuit against the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Vulcan Blazers, a black firefighters group that said the noose symbolized racism in the department.

Henry Burris, president of the Vulcan Blazers, condemned the incident but said no apology was necessary. "I do not condone it," he said. "However, I do not apologize for the information I got concerning the noose, and, as I said when I found out about the noose, it was just a symptom of racism in the fire department."

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Stretch....stretch...stretch.....ah, there it is, they found a way to come full circle and still blame whitey for all their troubles and ills.

Going to the ARTICLE itself, one finds comments which sums this up quite readily:

The Naccp better have a apolgy how dare they drag Baltimore's Fire Department in the gutter.They over reacted on a issue that they had no evidence a white fireman did.Also I don't think they have any job being in Baltimore's afair's.If this would have turned out to have been done by a white man.Then the only one that has to deal with it would between the white fire fighter and the black fire fighter's.The white fire fighter would have had to give the black's a apolgy.But this was a set up to make all white's in the department look bad and racist.The Naccp need's to go some where else they should have no influence in how the punishment should be.This is a Baltimore thing and can be dealt with in the community.The Naccp can go try and baby sit some one else they have no right in any city afair's.As for the nosse well I was sure glad to see it was not a white man.They need to fire that black fire fighter that did it starting racial tention for no reason.

And this one

They're not going to apologize. If they really cared about doing the right thing, they would. But they don't, they're in this to force their agenda on everyone, that's all. Taking responsibility and admitting mistakes goes against everything the NAACP stands for. I'm sure they're sitting around thinking about ways to turn this around to make themselves the victims in this.

Of course, I have my own comment at Stop the ACLU:

Wait, let me get this straight.

A black firefighter places a noose in a station, the NAACP accuses the white firefighters of racism publicly, its found out that the noose was placed by said firefighter, and now the NAACP is refusing to apologise to the white firefighters for calling them racists, then proceeds to defend themselves by saying the noose, placed by a black firefighter, is symptomatic of racism in the fire department?

Um, yeah, there is racism, but its not coming from the white firefighters.

Nuff said

Yep, Nuff said indeed

Huh....still not good enough...more on the Blamemorial, Arizona

From KVOA 4:


Panel OKs changes to state's 9-11 memorial

Associated Press - December 21, 2007 4:34 PM ET

PHOENIX (AP) - A state commission has approved another panel's plans to alter the state's Sept. 11 memorial after criticism that some inscriptions are inaccurate and inappropriate and the memorial lacks historical context.

The Legislative Governmental Mall Commission on Friday approved plans by the volunteer commission that ramrodded the design and construction effort.

Those plans would delete 2 of 54 inscriptions and add several new ones along with two new panels explaining the memorial and the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Supporters say they hope the approved changes end controversy over the memorial.

However, a legislator says he'll propose legislation to make more changes.

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For those who need a refresher course on why the Arizona 9/11 blamemorial sucks ass, should look at this post, this one, this one here, woops heres another, and here, here.

Ok, so if you clicked the links, you know a whole lot of time, effort and passion has been inserted into this by conservatives and those who have a brain.

I am still calling for the whole freaking thing to be torn down and start over from scratch, with real people manning the commission.

2 inscriptions out of the DOZENS that are anti-american and pro-islam?

I am calling Shenanigans...the good people have been taken for a ride


AGAIN


GET OFF YOUR ASSES PEOPLE, ITS TIME TO START RAISING HELL AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the crap?

I was going through some of my rarely used email boxes this morning. They are rarely used because I set them up to catch incoming spam..ie when I go to a site that I just have that feeling are going to put me on every list known to man, I use those email addresses.

I found an email from the Arizona 9-11 commission, it was dated and sent 12/14, the day before the meeting:

Thoughts on the AZ 9/11 Memorial
By Steve Speisman

It's with great sadness that I feel compelled to make this statement in response to the accusations and attacks made against the Arizona 9/11 Memorial in recent months. My only brother, Bob, was on American Flight #77 which crashed into the Pentagon. Words cannot come close to expressing the hurt I've felt these past five years. On Sept 11 of this year the Arizona Memorial for 9/11 was unveiled. At 6:oo AM that morning I attended a dedication ceremony within the memorial. There were religious leaders from all different denominations; a rabbi, a priest, a minister, a monk, a Muslim, a Native American and others all giving their blessings to the memorial and to the families who lost love one's that day. As the ceremony progressed I was moved by the retired fire fighters from New Your City, the police choir and the students from Shadow Mt. High School who sang with deep passion and the busload of students and teachers who came from my high school and greeted me with tears in their eyes. Sitting with my wife and family I felt as if I were being hugged by the state of Arizona. It was a feeling of strength and comfort I hadn't felt in five years.

During the past few months certain individuals have found it necessary to attack this memorial, claiming it doesn't represent America and is no more than a liberal political statement. They have even gone so far as to suggest they'd like to start a movement to rip it down. Let me go on record as saying that as a direct victim of the 9/11 attacks they don't speak for me. While some of the phrases displayed in the monument taken in isolation may convey different opinions and viewpoints it was never the intention of the committee to offend anyone. Personally I find the memorial healing. It's a true work of art capturing the Arizona experience in the magic of sunlight. Standing at the memorial this Sept 11 I truly felt that America is the greatest country in the world because of our ability to honor and respect diversity of opinions. This monument makes me proud to be an Arizonan and proud to be American. It's my deepest hope that as we reflect upon this monument and the events of 9/11 we can grow together, not apart.

During the planning and construction of this memorial the committee faced many challenging questions---How do we make the Arizona 9/11 experience live forever? How do we embrace the varied experiences faced throughout our state? Is this monument just for the victims who died that day? Should it be a reflection of the piece of everyone's heart and mind that was taken that day? How will future generations view 9/11? For the past three years these thoughts became the nucleus for discussions and meetings. As we moved forward with our decisions the spirit that drove us was consensus. Nothing was ever done in private. All meetings were announced and open to the public. No one's feelings were ever denied or not listened to.

I am extremely proud to have been a part of the 9/11 memorial committee and am continually awe struck by the monument we created. It was never our intention to create a headstone for those who died. We have left that task for the communities living in NY, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. Rather we have produced a work of art that embraces the Arizona experience by illuminating events and inspiring conversation. Perhaps the fact that we are still meeting and talking about its substance today is a testimony to its success. The phrases included in the monument represent both historical and emotional pieces of history. They were chosen from the research done by the graduate school at Arizona State University. While individual statements may not represent everyone's opinion they do represent the cross section of views that is Arizona.

In closing, we should not forget the piece of the World Trade Center given to Arizona Firefighters that's housed at our memorial. Nor should we forget the piece of the Pentagon that I personally carried back from the wreckage in Washington and mixed together with earth from Shankfield, Pennsylvania, to form the base of the plaque upon which the memorial poem is written. Look around and realize that very few states have achieved what we have in the construction of this memorial. It is my hope that Arizonans can continue to lead by coming together, talking and respecting different ideas. That's the America that I want to live in and that's the America that I believe we have here in Arizona.

I was feeling good about the possibility of the memorial being changed/corrected. I don't now. This email shows that the commission is only going through the motions. They never entered that building on Friday Dec 15 with an open mind, it was already made up.

Between this and other things.....I wonder why I ever gave up drinking.