Why Did Trump Give ICE 180 Billion Dollars?

The OBBB (One Bodaciously Bad Bill) recently passed by Republicans gave ICE a 180 billion dollar budget (some expenditures are spread over a 3 year period but I don't think we know the actual annual amounts).  Only two countries have annual national defense budgets that are larger than than 180 billion, the U.S. and China.  Russia's annual defense budget is estimated to be 149 billion dollars.  Germany annually budgets about 89 billion.

So ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has an average annual budget (60 billion) which puts it in range of the annual defense budgets of countries like Ukraine, France and Japan.  Only seven countries have annual defense budgets greater than 60 billion dollars.  Canada spends about 35 billion dollars a year on defense.

The current yearly funding by the Department of Defense for the U.S. National Guard is about about 40 billion dollars a year.  

The estimate of the total amount spent on state and local law enforcement in the U.S. is estimated to be approximately 135 billion dollars a year. 

What the hell does Trump really plan to have ICE do with 180 billion dollars? 

Keep in mind that ICE is going after "illegal" aliens which are not accorded the same rights as U.S. citizens.  When they grab you they don't ask you if you are a citizen.  How would you prove it anyway?  Do you normally carry your passport?  We know most detainees don't have warrants for their arrest.  ICE can treat you as illegal until you find a way to prove you are a citizen after you've been hauled away. 

Do you think Republicans in Congress know or care about what Trump is doing? 

Dollar figures come from ChatGPT.

Trump's OBBB Is Bad

The devil is in the details

Trump and MAGA Republicans (aka magettes) are trying to destroy America.  Trump's OBBB (One Bodaciously Bad Bill) that was just passed is proof.  I'm sure there are some good things in the bill, but from what we know now the harm this bill will generate will far out weigh whatever good it creates.

The bad things I've heard about include the number of people who will lose health care.  This not only hurts these people. The cuts will hurt health care in areas that depend on Medicare and Medicaid dollars.  There will also be a massive transfer of costs to the states.  Either state taxes will go up or other state priorities will be cut.  Missouri's governor is already cutting items from the state's budget to be prepared for the expected increased state costs caused by Trump's OBBB.  And he is a Republican!

Trump's OBBB cuts support of renewable energy sources.  Trump just said he wants to double electric energy creation in the US.  This is mainly because of the massive energy demands of AI (and crypto).  The fastest, cheapest, cleanest way to increase electricity production is to use renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.  So cutting support of renewable sources will make rapid increases of electricity more difficult.

China is loving Trump's OBBB.  This will make it easier for China to win the race to become the world's AI leader.

While Trump's OBBB decreases support for renewable energy it increases support for dirty energy like coal.  If you like hot summers, large wild fires, powerful hurricanes, lots of big tornadoes and massive floods then Trump's OBBB was made for you.

Trump's OBBB has lots of money for border security.  It will make ICE the single largest federal law enforcement agency.  Think about that when you hear stories about how ICE treats people they detain.  I didn't say arrest because many of the people they put into ICE detention facilities and move or try to move around the country and the world have no arrest warrants.  If you think you are safe because you are a citizen or because you have a legal status to be in the US, you are naive.

The timing of the fiscal effects of Trump's OBBB are interesting.  The parts that benefit the lower ends of the income scale are implemented quickly.  The parts that harm the lower ends of the income scale are delayed until after the mid-term election.  This should tell you who to trust and it is not Trump and his magettes.

This is, as Trump is happy to tell you, a very big bill.  We are going to hear a lot more about hidden items in the bill.  You are going to frequently hear "I didn't know that was in the bill" from politicians, including Trump.  That will be another clue about how bad this bill really is for America. The devil is in the details.

Has Trump Done Anything Right?

Donald Trump is completely incompetent.  If he does something presidential it was probably an accident.  I really believe he is trying to destroy the country although I can't figure out why other than his personal and mental deficiencies.

Below is a list of issues where I disagree with what he is doing.  Some represent failures to honor his presidential oath, others are just illegal, some are flagrant corruption.  Many are just the result of his outrageous stupidity and ignorance.  Some are all four. 

• Incessant lying to confuse all the unpresidential actions the administration is taking. Trump lies about everything.  He lies constantly.  Add to that he can't keep his mouth shut if he thinks he can make himself look good.  This includes spilling  national security issues. 
•  The rule of law is ignored.  Due process is ignored.  Laws that Trump doesn't like are ignored.
• Disdain for the separation of powers as defined in the Constitution.
• Coercion is used to effectively neuter congressional oversight.
• Courts and judges are insulted and abused.  Judicial orders are ignored. 
• Politicization of historically independent agencies like the Department of Justice and the FBI. 
• Executive actions are often invoked to inflict pain and damage on individuals, political enemies, businesses, institutions (independent, public and private).
• Willful cruelty has become a political tool and in some cases, a policy. 
• Willful ignorance as to what made this country the "leader of the free world" and how his actions are diminishing our standing in the world.
• Disrespecting and punishing allies who are not sufficiently obsequious.
• Failure to understand that are allies are part of what make us the most powerful country.  At least we were the most powerful country.  Trump may change that. 
• Putting clearly unqualified people into important positions. 
• DOGE: Every administration is expected to fight waste, fraud and abuse.  They will try to delete, remove or improve the actions of previous administrations, but DOGE seemed like more of an attempt to destroy departments, agencies and civil service employees for no apparent reasons except maybe retribution or spite.  
• Lack of support for Ukraine.
• Reverence for authoritarians. 
• Politicization of the military.  The military is just another tool to protect himself or increase his power.
• Use of the active military for domestic police activities. 
• Politicization of the federal civil service work force. 
• His war on DEI.  His lack of respect for historical individuals and institutions that have helped to make this county great. 
• Denigrating the military service of women. 
• Removal of protections for LGBTQ+ people.  Banning trans individuals from the military.  
• His war on trans individuals, especially trans children and their families. Life can be hard enough for these people without Trump using them as political tools.
• Rewarding MAGA states, sycophants and supporters while punishing political opponents, liberals and blue states.
• Renaming military institutions to honor Confederate soldiers and politicians. 
• Rolling back protections for the environment.   Actions to increase fossil fuel production which includes opening formerly protected federal lands.  Reducing pollution controls on coal fired energy plants.
• Relying on extortion as his primary negotiation strategy.  He is not good negotiator.  He is a bully. 
• Destruction of USAID.
• Dismantling the Department of Education.
• Dismembering agencies like FAA, FDA, NIH, CDC...  
• Disdain for scientific research.  Casual destruction of research which could take years to restart.
• Ignorance of basic scientific facts and a refusal to listen to people who could help him understand these issues.   I think he hates scientists because they obviously know more than he does about their areas of expertise.
• Oblivious to the harm his rash actions cause. 
• Destroying ongoing research in many areas of study. 
• Attacks on the freedom of the press and attacks/de-funding of PBS, NPR, CPB, Voice of America and related communication agencies that promote democracy and truthful reporting around the world. 
• Tariffs.
• Disrespecting and punishing allies who are not sufficiently obsequious. 
• Attacks against out allies. Especially the bullying of  Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Panama, Europe, NATO, etc.
• Border and immigration issues.  What started as a policy to deport illegal immigrants who had committed serious crimes became actions to roundup and deport many non-citizens for no apparent reasons.  People who are here legally were also caught up in their lawlessness.  Some were arrested without warning by people who were not clearly identifiable as legal officers of the government, forced into vehicles with nothing that identified them as official vehicles and then they were moved around the country and out of the country to prevent them from getting the legal support they were entitled to. 
• Attacks on higher education.  Our higher education institutions were the envy of the world.  Trump wants to destroy them or make them subservient to the administration.  Especially Harvard which Trump clearly wants to destroy. 
• Measures were taken to intimidate foreign students in the U.S. to force them to leave the country.  That is so stupid.
• Corruption.  Using his position as president to enrich himself, his family and key supporters.
• Meme Coins.
• Special rewards for  people who buy large amounts of Trump's meme coin.
• The Qatari luxury jet.
• Openly selling presidential access. 
• Trumps relatives and friends making money off of their relation to him.
• Trump's eagerness to financially hurt working people so he can reward the rich.  
• Pardons of the January 6th rioters and other pardons seemingly to help Trump supporters. 
• Despite his outrageous boasting, Trump realizes he is not the smartest and most knowledgeable person.  Many of his actions are attempts to hide his very, very low self esteem.  This mental anguish is so debilitating he spends a great deal of effort trying to make other people convince him he is really great.  His desire for to remake the rose garden, add big flag poles around the White House, win a Nobel Prize, have his bust added to Mount Rushmore, put his picture up in multiple places in the White House, get his own opulent Air Force One are all examples of desire to cement his historical legacy and make him feel important.  It would all be very sad if his mental deficiencies were not hurting all of us. 

I will add more issues as I identify them.  Trump is obviously proud of his ability to break all the laws, rules and norms he can so we can all expect more outrageous acts. Please comment on any issues I've missed.

No DEI For Republicans

Republicans have been complaining for years that higher education in the U.S. is too liberal and has been treating conservative scholars and students badly.

They want to see more conservative faculty, students and administrators in higher education.  They want more respect for conservative thought and policies.  They want a full seat at the table.

Sorry Republicans, that sounds like DEI. 

I'm The President! Get Off My Yard Or I'll Nuke You!

Hey you kids, get off my yard!

When I first saw Trump's mug shot I started laughing.  My first thought was he looked like some grumpy old man yelling at the neighbor kids who were walking on his grass again.  

I'm sure he spent a lot of time thinking about what image he wanted to project and then practicing that glare until he got it just right.  He wanted to make sure that his first mug shot looked presidential.  

What a clown.

May The Best Fraudster Win

Elephant Shit

Kari Lake, a Trump acolyte and candidate for governor of Arizona, was asked if she would accept the results of the election.  She replied something like "I expect to win the election and I will accept the results".  When pressed if she would accept the results if she lost, she repeated "I expect to win the election and I will accept the results".

The fact the she basically refused to answer that simple question means she will not accept the results if she is not elected.  She obviously is a believer in "heads I win, tails you lose".

She logically can't object if her opponent makes the same election results statement.  That would mean that no matter who wins, someone is going to claim election fraud.  Of course that is insane. 

If Kari Lake really believes she can only lose if there is fraud, why is she campaigning?  Why try to convince voters you are the better candidate if you believe the other side is going to manufacture votes?  She can't know how many fraudulent votes her opponent could muster. 

If Kari Lake really believes the other side is going to produce fraudulent votes, wouldn't she be smart to tell us how the fraud will be committed so it can be prevented? Or maybe manufacture some fraudulent votes for herself? 

So extending Kari Lake's philosophy she believes both candidates will attempt to commit fraud and the winner will be the candidate that was the better fraudster.   

Kari Lake is wrong and should not be elected.  All candidates should commit to accepting the results of elections and to doing their part to make sure that elections are fair and accurate.   

 

MAGA Voting Sticker

 

On behalf of democracy loving Americans, we thank you!

 

Save Our Democracy, STOP THE BIG LIE

Republican Elephant Shit

It is clear the violent insurrectionists who attacked the Capital on January 6th were hoping to prevent the certification of the election of Joe Biden to the presidency and have Donald Trump reinstated as president.  It is becoming clear that former president Donald Trump and his allies (including some elected officials) were also trying to use quasi-constitutional schemes to prevent the certification of the election of Joe Biden and instead certify that Donald Trump had won.  How closely these two groups were working together to complete an insurrection is still being investigated.

These subversive actions were planned even though Joe Biden won the election by roughly seven million popular votes and 76 electoral college votes.  There were various recounts, court cases and certification by all states which affirmed that there was very little if any voter fraud and Joe Biden was the winner.

Yet Donald Trump and most Republicans keep spreading the Big Lie that there was widespread fraud and the election was stolen.  This lie is ominous because it seems to be setting the stage for future manipulation of election results.

The courts and congress will have the final say on how the insurrectionists should be punished and what changes are required to defend our constitution, but I have a different question.

What did the insurrectionists and the people who support them think would happen if they had been successful on January 6th?

Do conservatives think the Democrats would just say something like "Aw shucks, lost again", give up and walk away?

In 2000, Al Gore and the Democrats used all the legal actions at their disposal to get an accurate count of votes in Florida which they believed would show Al Gore won and would be the next President of the United States.  Yet when the Supreme Court (on a purely political split) stopped the Florida count and therefore gave the state to George W. Bush by a roughly 800 vote margin, Gore graciously conceded and Democrats reluctantly accepted the result.

If today's conservatives were on the losing end of a vote count like 2000, what would they do? Keep in mind former President Trump has no intention of ever conceding the 2020 presidential election.  He has made it clear that he does not believe in the peaceful transition of power.  More upsetting are the number of his supporters who agree with his actions.

Now we see Republicans in many areas trying to change state laws to make it easier to manipulate election results in the future to favor them and possibly override election results.  

Speaking for myself, if Republicans someday succeed in overruling voters and changing the results of elections, I, and I expect many other Democrats and independents, will not calmly walk away.

I would prefer that we put in laws and rules that prevent the subversion of our democracy.  If there are differences in how our democracy should be run, I would prefer that those differences be settled in the courts and legislatures, but if those processes fail to defend our democratic principles and processes, extraordinary remedies may be required.  Once a democracy is lost it is difficult to bring it back because the insurrections are even more emboldened to use their illegally won power to retain their positions.

I beg all voters, especially Republicans, who understand how radical and dangerous the Big Lie is to help defend our constitution and country.  Do not support politicians that are willing to damage our democracy to retain their political power.  Don't accept changes to election laws that are claimed to be needed to stop future election fraud.  If a politician won't publicly and clearly state there was no wide spread fraud and Joe Biden is the properly elected president, don't vote for them.  Don't accept a mealy mouthed, elephant shit answer that there were irregularities or state laws were not followed.  Politicians need to say that the states all certified their votes and Biden won. Any other answer damages our democracy.

Rubio Opposes Trump Impeachment Trial - Part 2

Republican Elephant Shit

 

By the way, Marco Rubio also believes we shouldn't impeach Trump because Trump supporters are already so riled up that an impeachment would be like throwing gasoline on a raging fire.

 Does that mean he really thinks that coercion by mob violence is a valid reason not to defend the Constitution? 

Does that mean we should ignore the fact that it was a mountain of incendiary lies built by Trump and his Republican enablers that fired the insurrectionists up?

Rubio Opposes Trump Impeachment Trial

Republican Elephant Shit

Senator Marco Rubio says that he is not in favor of holding the Senate impeachment trial of former president Trump since Trump is already out of office.

That certainly makes sense from Rubio's perspective. Although he voted against rejecting any state's electors, he wouldn't say how he would vote until near the actual vote. Now he wants to put his and his party's involvement in an attempted insurrection behind him.

Any Senator or Representative that didn't early on clearly state they would not vote to invalidate state certified electors bears some responsibility for the insurrection and riot at the Capital on January 6^th.

The trial of Donald Trump in the Senate is absolutely required. Donald Trump with the help of many elected Republican officials encouraged their supporters to take actions to overturn an election. All these people and all the insurrectionist at the Capitol need to be held accountable.

For the “what about club”, yes, there have been a few cases in the recent past where a Democrat or two has voted against a slate of electors. But those situations were different. Before this year who knew that this counting of electors process even took place or remembered who might have ever voted against a set of electors? Did any of those Democrat's encourage violence to overturn the election? How long will this year's violent insurrection and rejected elector votes be remembered? Correct answer----FOREVER!

What did Republicans think would happen if they had succeeded in overturning the validated results of the election? Maybe 80 million Democratic voters would just quietly accept that result? I don't think so. Clearly some insurrectionist wanted to start a real civil war that included violence. We can't afford to get that close to a civil war ever again.

All the states with electors that the Republican's planned to vote against were won by Biden. So Republicans think there was no fraud in states won by Trump? And only the presidential votes in these states were fraudulent? Votes in other contests were not affected? Some of the races in these states were won by Republicans and in other races Democrats won. In the 2020 election Democrats lost their firm hold on the House and now narrowly holds the majority. Democrats knew that they also really needed to win the Senate which they barely did. But if it were so easy for Democrats to fraudulently win the presidency by changing votes in so many states, why didn't they throw in a few more close Senate and House wins?

The idea that the presidential election was stolen was a big lie led by the biggest liar, Donald Trump. But many Republicans were complicit in convincing their supporters that the election was stolen and convincing these supporters that any action to reverse the results of the election was acceptable.

Donald Trump needs to be convicted in the Senate for his lies and actions before and after the election in support of the big lie. He needs to be barred from every running for the presidency again. Future presidents need to understand that efforts that undermine the Constitution will not be allowed.

Republicans that echoed the big lie need to admit to lying. Perpetrators of the big lie need to pay a big price. We need to make sure that big liars and big lies cannot put our democracy in jeopardy again.

Convicting Donald Trump in the Senate is a good first step.

How Do You Know That A MAGA Hat Is Authentic?

 

How do you know a MAGA hat is authentic?

 

Look for the tin foil lining.

 

 

Republicans Take Credit For Obamacare, Sort Of

Marsha Blackburn, Republican Congresswoman from Tennessee, was interviewed on TV a couple of weeks ago.  She was talking about plans to repeal and replace Obamacare.  She made two statements that astounded me.

First, when questioned about the disruption that repealing Obamacare might cause, she said that there were some good features that would be retained.

Really?

After Republicans have insisted that Obamacare was rammed down the country's throat without Republican input or votes, declared to be a complete failure, blamed for all the ills in the health care system and they tried to repeal it dozens of times because it was beyond repair, I was amazed to hear Representative Blackburn say Obamacare has some good features that the Republicans would like to retain.

When questioned further about these Obamacare features that she would retain, she explained with a wry smile, that they were actually originally Republican ideas that were included in Obamacare.

REALLY!

After six years of hyperbole about how bad and worthless Obamacare is, now you want to take credit for its "good" features?

Actually, she is correct.  There were a lot of features in Obamacare that, at one point, could rightly be called Republican ideas.  They only became vile when Democrats included them in the legislation.  The individual mandate, which Republicans still despise, was also an idea conservatives had once supported.

So now that it is their turn to govern, they want to make sure that they, the Republicans, get credit for all the good features they will keep from Obamacare.

There are dirty, low-down, ornery liars and hypocrites and then there are Republicans.

Look For Alternatives

Mark Halperin was on Hardball with Chris Matthews tonight. He wanted to give Representative Ryan credit for a plan to cut Medicare because if we don't cut it, costs will balloon and bankrupt the country.

Wait a minute. He has bought the Republican line. Medicare may need to be changed, but why isn't the possibility of adding revenue to the system an option? Couldn't there be parts of Medicare that are so valuable we might consider ways to increase funding to save them rather than cut service?

The Republicans only have two ways to solve a problem. Cut services or cut taxes. We probably will have to cut something, but there may be alternatives if we look for them.

Shared Pain

Representative Ryan has released his budget plan.

It cuts -
Social Security
Medicare
Medicaid
Taxes for business
Taxes for the rich

Give him credit. He makes sure everyone takes their share of cuts.

National Security vs Politics

Senator Jon Kyle (R, AZ) and Republican Senators have put politics above our national interest by refusing to vote on the New START Treaty with Russia.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was on ABC's This Week this morning where he was questioned by host Christiane Amanpour. He unequivocally supported the START Treaty. When asked repeated questions about whether this treaty was good for the country and should be passed, he made clear that it was in the best interests of National Security that the START Treaty be passed ASAP. Even in a lame duck session. He emphatically said "ASAP".

When asked if the Republican opposition was based on politics or policy, Admiral Mullen obviously refused to comment. But it was clear from all his other comments that he saw no national security reasons for delaying ratification of the treaty.

Sometimes is hard to tell when Republican obstructionism is principled or political. In this case it is obvious.

Repeal tax cuts for rich

Republicans want to extend all the Bush tax cuts, including the tax cuts for people making over $250,000. This would be $250,000 of taxable income, after deductions, etc.

Their argument is that many of the people affected are small business owners and the extra tax burden would cause them not to grow their businesses.

Let's think about this.

First of all the, these high income people would still get the tax cut on the first $250,000 of their income. Assuming that the current tax rates on income under $250,000 are extended, the higher rate after January 1 would only be on any income over $250,000.

So if I understand the rates correctly, the rate for income over $250,000 will change on January 1, 2011 from 35% to 39.6%.

Let's say you are a small business owner, have $250,000 of taxable income and starting 01/01/2011 you have the opportunity to grow your business and raise your income from $250,000 to $350,000. At the end of the 2011, your tax bill will be $4,600 greater if the Bush tax cuts for the rich are not extended. The federal tax on that $100,000 would be $35,000 if the tax cuts are extended and $39,600 if they are not.

So Republicans think this business person would not grow their business by $100,000 and increase their after tax income by roughly $60,000 because they would have to pay an extra $4,600 a year in federal taxes. That doesn't make sense.

I know that $39,600 in taxes on $100,000 sounds like a lot, but these rates would be the rates that were in effect in 2000. Not exactly a bad year for business.

When the current lower tax rates were passed:
1) They were not paid for. These tax cuts were paid for by increasing the debt. The Chinese and others loaned us the money to cover the increased debt these tax cuts caused. Everybody got a tax cut that would have to be paid for by tax payers in the future when that debt (plus interest) was paid off.

2) The tax cuts were not made permanent when they were initially passed as part of a political ploy. The tax cuts were designed to expire in 2011 because they were so damaging to the debt. Republics used a gimmick based on how the actual cost of the cuts were calculated and reported at that time. Politicians made the total effect of these tax cuts look lower than they would actually be by making them expire in 2011 rather than making them permanent. Secretly they figured politicians in 2010 would be politically forced to extend them.

We can debate whether or not a tax rate of 39.6% on adjusted income over $250,000 is reasonable or excessive, but to argue that this change would hurt job creation is Elephant Shit.

This will be a fight. We need to balance the budget and not extending the tax cuts for income over $250,000 can help us get there. Democrats need to clearly explain why it makes sense that we do not extend the tax cuts for the rich.

Are Republics Principled Or Just Political?

Senator McConnell has announced that one of the highest priorities of Republics is to repeal health care. I thought the number one priority was jobs. I guess I just haven't been listening over the last few months.

I've heard several Republics say that they favor complete repeal of the new health care law and then they would pass a series of common sense measures to replace it.

Bull. If they are really interested in making health care better, let's demand that they explain what they are going to replace the new health care law with before they try to repeal the current law.

Everyone agreed that we needed to reform health care. Well, almost everyone. Democrats finally got an imperfect bill passed. We all agree that the current health care law was not the best we can do. We knew this sausage would need some fixing. If Republicans have better ideas, I want to hear them. I really believe they have some ideas that would help. I just want to hear these ideas debated before they try to repeal the whole bill.

What we have is not perfect, but it is better than nothing. It is a starting point that we can modify and build on.

But just in case the Republicans have some ideas they have never told us about, let's hear what they propose to replace the current health bill with. Then we can decide if we agree before we throw out the current bill. Is that unreasonable?

This is a test for Republics. They will soon have control of the House. Republics in the House can propose and vote on any legislation they want.

If Republicans in the House and Senate show us their proposed legislation to reform health care before or when they propose legislation to repeal the Democrats health care plan, I will admit they are acting on their principles.

If Republicans propose legislation to repeal the Democrats health care plan without showing us legislation for how they will reform health care, their actions can rightly be labelled as purely political. This would prove they are more interested in scoring political points than helping people.

Let's Hear From Sarah

Senator McCain again tries to manufacture political theater rather than address issues.

He is so absorbed in the current financial crisis that he has suspended his campaign (or so he says). And his leadership is so desperately needed to resolve this crisis that he really can't afford the time to fly to Mississippi to debate Senator Obama (but it took him about 5 days to find time to read Secretary Paulson's plan).

I suggest Senator Obama tell Senator McCain that he and Senator Biden will be in Mississippi tomorrow night, so if Senator McCain can't make it to the debate, Senator McCain could send Governor Palin so she and Senator Biden can debate. Senators McCain and Obama could then have their national security debate next Thursday when the Vice-presidential debate was scheduled.

You can you put a tutu on an elephant...

This lipstick fiasco is just more of the same from Republics.

I suggest using the tactic against McCain.

Obama should use the same lead up attack in every speech, but every time change the ananolgy.

You can put mascara on a pig, but it is still a pig.

You can put tennis shoes on a turtle, but it still can't run.

You can put ketchup on baloney, but it's still baloney.


You can put a dress on lassie, but she is still a.........forget that one.

Pretty silly isn't it.

You can put a tutu on an elephant, but it is still the same old GOP.

Grandpa and Ellie Mae in '08

I don't know much about Sarah Palin, but then again who does? Probably not even John McCain. But what little I know takes my breath away.

The man who famously says he would rather lose a campaign than lose a war has chosen a neophyte to join his ticket. Wasn't Ann Coulter available? Was Angelina Jolie already under contract? Why not Phyllis Schafly? And there were would be the added benefit that it would make him look young!

For all his straight talk and claims that given his age and prior health issues he would choose someone who would be ready on day one, John McCain panicked. He went for the “Hail Sarah” in desperation. Is this an example of how he puts the country first?

Governor Palin has said she hasn’t focused much on Iraq. Here is her widely quoted statement from 2007:

Alaska Business Monthly: We've lost a lot of Alaska's military members to the war in Iraq. How do you feel about sending more troops into battle, as President Bush is suggesting?

Palin: I've been so focused on state government, I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq. I heard on the news about the new deployments, and while I support our president, Condoleezza Rice and the administration, I want to know that we have an exit plan in place; I want assurances that we are doing all we can to keep our troops safe. Every life lost is such a tragedy. I am very, very proud of the troops we have in Alaska, those fighting overseas for our freedoms, and the families here who are making so many sacrifices.

Governor Palin has a son who will soon deploy to Iraq. Governor Palin is in charge of the Alaska National Guard. The Iraq War has been the major issue facing this country over the past five years. If she hasn’t put much thought into the Iraq war, what else hasn’t she thought much about? What business does she have being a heart beat away from the Presidency?

In August, 2008, when asked about being considered by McCain to be his Vice-President, she said,

But as for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day? I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here for the rest of the U.S., before I can even start addressing that question. (Kudlow & Company)

Really!

It is bad enough that our current Vice-President doesn't believe he is part of the Executive Branch. John McCain chooses a person who wants to know how taking the job will help the people of Alaska.

Somebody wake me up! This nightmare has to end!

I’ve said several times that Republics and Democrats think differently, but there must be millions of Republics who are ashamed, dismayed and embarrassed but this obtuse selection. But then again, I’ve already heard from some die-hard Conservatives who can’t wait for the chance to vote for Grandpa and Ellie Mae.