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By David Bentley Hart
$11.56
By Allen Barra
$18.45
$21
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AP photo / Washingtonpost.com
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As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, now the mother of a pregnant teen, cut state funds that would have helped house and support teenage mothers. This on top of the news that both Palin and John McCain have opposed teen pregnancy prevention programs.
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gawker.com
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While the webloids are busy looking into the drinking habits of young Bristol Palin, The Huffington Post has a disturbing report on Ma Palin’s right-wing church: “Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell ... and said that Jesus ‘operated from that position of war mode.’ ”
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By Eugene Robinson — John McCain and his supporters have been lecturing us about the grave and urgent dangers our country faces—Islamic fundamentalism, the resurgence of Russia and other geopolitical threats. In a menacing world, McCain says, he will keep America safe. So, at 72 and with a history of cancer, how could McCain choose a vice presidential nominee who has, let’s face it, zero experience in foreign affairs?
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AP photo / Susan Walsh
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As little as two days before he made his VP announcement, John McCain wanted to pick friend and Democratic turncoat Joe Lieberman, according to a report in The New York Times. But as in so many other decisions in his campaign, the alleged maverick caved to the far right of his party, which threatened to sink a McCain-Lieberman ticket at the convention. In the end he chose a woman he barely knew.
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If it seems like Sarah Palin Day, that’s because the McCain campaign decided to do the bulk of its news dumping during the holiday. On top of her husband’s DUI, her unmarried teen daughter’s pregnancy and her own state trooper issues, we now know about this bizarre nugget: Sarah Palin and her husband, according to the group’s chair, were once members of the Alaskan Independence Party, a political party that seeks a vote on Alaska withdrawing from the union.
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AP photo / Stephan Savoia
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Normally we try not to pay too much attention to what’s happening to the wombs of America’s teenagers, but Bristol Palin, 17, happens to be the daughter of John McCain’s VP pick. Sarah Palin thinks the government should meddle in the reproductive health of women, but in the case of her daughter, she asks for privacy.
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AP photo / Jae C. Hong
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By Chris Hedges — Barack Obama’s health care plan coddles the corporations that profit from the misery and illnesses of tens of millions of Americans. The plan is naive, at best, and probably disingenuous when it insists that we can coax these corporations, which are listed on the stock exchange and exist to maximize profit, to transform themselves into social service agencies that will provide adequate health care for all Americans.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — By all rights, there should be a revolt at this week’s Republican convention against John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate—for the very same reasons so many Republicans opposed President Bush’s selection of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court.
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AP Photo / Kiichiro Sato
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The problem with Sarah Palin, argues speechwriter Dan Conley on the Political Wire, isn’t that she’s inexperienced—it’s that she’s a total unknown. Where does she really stand on anything? Either John McCain doesn’t know, or he doesn’t want the American people to know before they have to make a decision about her.
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AP photo / Haraz N. Ghanbari
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Hurricane Gustav has given the Republicans the excuse they needed to keep the unpopular president out of his party’s big party. John McCain will be spared another awkward embrace while George W. Bush is off in Texas pestering survivors.
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Truthdig / George Edelman
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Truthdig videographer George Edelman sends us this snap of someone in Denver who didn’t seem too thrilled with all the Democrats running around. Wonder what Dr. Freud would say about this guy’s sign issues.
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news.aol.com
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By John Cheney-Lippold — The McCain camp’s announcement Friday morning that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will be the Republican vice presidential candidate is nothing more than a performance in the politics of cynicism, a cynicism that may prove to be somewhat of a strategic miracle for the Republicans as they try to follow the Democrats’ much-publicized rock concert, or national convention, in Denver this week.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — In 1948, a young Minneapolis mayor electrified Democratic delegates gathered in Philadelphia with a bold endorsement of President Harry Truman’s civil rights policies and the “promise of a land where all men are free and equal.”
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By David Sirota — When I first heard about the Democratic convention coming to my hometown of Denver, I wasn’t all that excited. For many reasons, in fact, I was pretty unhappy with the whole idea.
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By Eugene Robinson — “I cried on Monday when Michelle spoke,” Rep. John Lewis told me Wednesday at the Pepsi Center, “and I know that on Thursday night at the stadium I’ll cry again.”
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The Center for Investigative Reporting has traced the origins of a mysterious attack ad that made headlines earlier in the campaign with its portrayal of Barack Obama as an anti-Christian Muslim who refuses to pledge allegiance. It turns out that the nonsense was assembled by a hypnotherapist, a wedding videographer and a felon on the run, showing “the outsize influence that a hodgepodge collection of political amateurs can have in a national election—in this case, by accident.”
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uab.edu
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He wasn’t always known for his coolheaded leadership skills during his 16-year NBA career, but now, after almost 10 years off the court, Charles Barkley is apparently gearing up to compete in the political arena, telling the New York Daily News that he aims to run for governor of Alabama in a few years.
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commons.wikimedia.org
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Although it’s currently the Democrats’ turn in the spotlight, California’s Republican governor stole a few headlines Thursday with the news that he may skip his party’s convention next week. The Golden State is still trying to work through a budget stalemate, and it just wouldn’t do to have the star governor basking in the warmth of Republican love while his state is in fiscal turmoil.
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RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch —
Posted on Aug 28, 2008
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RJ Matson, Roll Call —
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During his speech to the Democratic convention, the aspiring veep praised the courage of his good friend, John McCain—right before twisting the knife in his back. It’s the vice presidential candidate’s job to go on the attack, and Joe Biden does his job well.
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By Joe Conason — As the Democrats convened in Denver to celebrate Hillary Clinton and nominate Barack Obama, a tiny minority of her supporters continued to behave petulantly. They whined, they blustered, they agitated themselves and each other. But what was it about Sen. Clinton’s repeated endorsements of her former opponent that they could not understand?
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By Ellen Goodman — Democrats have provided nearly all the drama of this campaign season, an 18-month run, a narrative with two compelling leads, a race between two people to open the door of history. A door that could only admit one at a time.
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By Marie Cocco — It is worth pausing during these orchestrated partisan celebrations to look afresh at entitlements. There is no more recent evidence of their enduring value than the latest report from the Census Bureau on the number of Americans who are doing without health insurance.
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Bill Clinton reminded Democrats on Thursday why he’s one of the brightest stars in the political universe—and a great cheerleader to have on your side—with a rousing speech in support of Barack Obama.
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Flickr / BohPhoto
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It’s time to drop the presumptive. Barack Obama is America’s first African-American presidential nominee from a major political party. Hillary Clinton called for Democrats to “declare together in one voice, right here, right now, that Barack Obama is our candidate and he will be our president.” They agreed, and so did he, but it’s not officially official until Obama’s acceptance speech Thursday.
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Flickr / World Economic Forum, iowapolitics.com
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The Washington Post takes an in-depth look at all the petty, childish and absurd reasons Bill Clinton and Barack Obama don’t get along. Among them: Not enough “phone calls on a somewhat regular basis.” Of course this is probably one of those minor rifts that the media exaggerate for the sake of ratings. Remember how Hillary Clinton was supposed to lead a rebellion at the convention?
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dipdive.com
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Will.i.am’s viral hit will be performed live before Barack Obama’s historic acceptance speech in Denver on Thursday. Other musical acts expected to perform include Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Sheryl Crow and Jennifer Hudson, who will sing the national anthem. Bruce Springsteen has been rumored and un-rumored to appear, so we’ll have to wait and see. Updated.
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By Amy Goodman — Former Sen. John Edwards was supposed to speak in Denver at the Democratic National Convention, but he had an affair. Will the Democrats now forget about his signature issue?
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Hillary Clinton brought down the Pepsi Center Tuesday night with a ringing endorsement of Barack Obama. If her supporters were waiting for her blessing to back the nominee, they got a mandate instead. Update: Olbermann and Dowd differ.
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The “Shock Doctrine” author tells the Real News that while she understands why progressives are going soft on Obama, they should toughen up: “If you’ve proven that you’re a doormat, you can pretty much expect to get stomped on.”
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AP photo / David J. Phillip
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While Hillary Clinton was preparing for her big speech in support of Barack Obama on Tuesday, her husband was busy throwing the presumptive nominee under the bus. Here’s what the former president had to say in Denver: “Candidate X agrees with you on everything, but you don’t think that candidate can deliver on anything at all. Candidate Y you agree with on about half the issues, but he can deliver. Which candidate are you going to vote for?”
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AP photo / Bill Ross
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By Bill Boyarsky — Although the Democratic National Convention officially started Monday, a more significant event occurred 24 hours before at a religious service held several blocks away from the main convention hall.
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The ailing senator from Massachusetts brought many Democrats to tears in Denver with a surprise speech at his party’s convention, during which he promised to lead the fight in the Senate to finally pass a form of universal health care.
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By Eugene Robinson — If they want to win in November, Democrats have one task to accomplish this week: Snap out of it. Somehow, tentativeness and insecurity have infected a party that ought to be full of confident swagger.
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AP photo / Elise Amendola
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Hillary Clinton kicked off the Democratic convention with a plea for unity, but behind closed doors she has been busy negotiating what that might look like. One thing’s for sure: It may be Barack Obama’s big week, but there’s going to be plenty of Clinton face time in Denver.
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AP photo / Rafiq Maqbool
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By Chris Hedges — Mounting bombing raids and widespread detentions of Afghans are rapidly turning Afghanistan into the mirror image of Iraq. But these very real events, which will have devastating consequences over the next few months and years, are largely ignored by us.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — In selecting Joe Biden, Barack Obama has signaled clearly what this week’s Democratic National Convention will be about: He intends to move aggressively to ease the problems that have worried so many Democrats in recent weeks—problems, it turns out, that Obama is worried about, too.
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AP photo / Charles Rex Arbogast, file
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Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate. It’s an interesting choice, given that Obama is running a change campaign and Biden has been a Washington fixture for decades. Also because the two ran against each other in the primary, during which Biden famously had to apologize for unfortunate comments about his rival. Updated
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This week the “Left, Right & Center” panel tackles pullouts both real and imagined in Iraq and Georgia, John McCain’s many residences and more.
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Flickr / World Economic Forum
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With Barack Obama expected to announce his running mate any day now, he will almost certainly not choose Hillary Clinton. She doesn’t even appear to be on his list. A Democratic official tells the Politico, “She was never vetted. ... She was not asked for a single piece of paper. She and Senator Obama have never had a single conversation about it.”
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By David Sirota — McCain’s ads are (inadvertently) incisive commentary on the death of Jeffersonian democracy. They aim to mock Obama, but they really lampoon “presidentialism”: our paternalistic view that presidents are godlike saviors—and therefore democracy’s only important figures.
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Marching in Chicago: Resisting Rahm Emanuel’s Neoliberal Savagery
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