Bombshell: Serious Palin vetting took place <i>one day</i> before official selection
By SilentPatriot Tuesday Sep 02, 2008 8:00am
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain's vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.
In the first and most telling executive decision of his potential presidency, John McCain makes a rash, reckless decision that, God forbid he falls ill while in office, will be disastrous for this country. Is that the kind of judgment we need in the White House for another four years?
Heather caught this video last night from MSNBC of Rachel Maddow blasting Buchanan for praising Palin... after, of course, he said her nomination would be disastrous.
Download | play 
Download | play
John Cole makes a great point:
McCain had three months free to do whatever- to fund raise, to campaign, to make the case for himself, to shore up the base, to work on the platform, and, presumably, to begin vetting his running partner.
What, then, did the McCain team do with the extra three months they had to choose their candidate? Beats me, but it sure as hell was not a careful examination of Sarah Palin.
Who do you want as Commander In Chief? An intemperate flyboy, or a cautious thinker?
What's even worse is that despite all the evidence proving the McCain did a piss-poor job of vetting Palin, McCain still insists that the background check was thorough and he's pleased with the results. Wow. Just wow.
To me, the question is no longer whether or not Sarah Palin is ready to be VP; it's whether or not John McCain has the temperament and judgment to be President. His choice of the eminently unqualified Palin pretty much answers that question.
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Country..... I'll get around to it later.
C'mon, people. He was a fucking POW!
Come on folks...she's got demonstrably more experience than Barack Obama. After all, she's a hockey mom! 'Nuf said.
Now the McCain camp is insisting that the day before was a second vetting. If this should turn out to be false like everything else, will we see the media calling him a liar on this? Please keep us up to date, SilentPatriot!
Word among Alaska politicians here in Anchorage is mccain's organization didn't contact any one of them.
McCain kept telling Palin to meet him at his house for the vetting. Never said which house. Months of confusion ensued.
Grandpa is just a lazy, unqualified old man who never learned how to work hard or think things through. It is amazing to listen the political experts try to justify Palin. Obama and Biden are sitting back silent, laughing at Grandpa, praying nothing will change, knowing they will demolish Mrs. Moose burger.
The GOP - Give Us One More Chance....
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=183781&title=the-g...
The last second of that clip was the best part of the entire thing:
"I vetted her. (hah hah)"
-Pat Buchanan
There once was a man named McCain,
Who lost what was left of his brain,
He called his new wife a cu*t,
What a shi**y little runt,
now his campaign is going down the drain.
poem by John Hulse
He might as well have chosen Michael Palin.
His judgment sucked the big one on this. He is willing to leave our country in the hands of a freakin' hockey mom if anything should happen to him. Yeah, I call bull sh*t on his country first garbage. President first is more like it and to hell with the country if he should kick off because he won't be here to see her major fu*k ups and disasters.
McC(shitst)ain is STILL a POW...
With a record of voting with the Chimp 95% of the time, Bombin' Johnnie's a "Prisoner Of "W"..."
Unless they successfully rig/steal he election, the GOPers know they're going to lose, and probably by a wide margin. This may have a lot more to do with setting up their ducks all in a row for 2012...a cynical move that they will use to manipulate as many women voters as they can in the interim. It could be an initial opening salvo in a propaganda war that they will wage in order to build brand loyalty, hoping that women voters will remember this gesture (however cynical that gesture is) in 2012. Expect the fact that McCain picked a woman (and in this regard, anybody who comes factory-equipped with a vagina would serve the purpose) to become a relentless talking point, repeated as often as the GOPers repeat their many Big Lies. An act of strategic manipulation.
Actually I can easily visualize the scene. A senior McCain campaign adviser slaps his forehead and says: We coulda had a VP.
It's so appropriate that they chose Palin for the Veep slot. What better than someone from Alaska to roll the huge ass snowballs the GOP loves to hurl at unsuspecting Americans.
Hey, isn't that a photo of those pop music sensations, Scummy and Scare?!
Moggy @ 11:
That would've gotten him the lumberjack vote.
It best to not interfere when your adversary is busy committing suicide.
I tell ya folks...went to the pub last night to meet some friends for a few drinks...the discussion drifted to Palin...and these friends...lifelong republicans.. are just dumbfounded by McBain pic...they say that they're voting for Obama now...even admitted to having serious misgivings about McBains mental acuity for some time...and this veep pic proved to them that he's not fit for the job.
McCain wanted Lieberquisling but his masters wouldn't let it happen? Awwww...poor old Lieberquisling, always the bridesmaid but never the bride.
She has to go. Time is reporting that she wanted to ban books from the library in her little town.
AlterNet:
Thanks to Bush, the Republican Party is not strongly associated with intellectualism. But Sarah Palin has apparently taken the conservative derision for book-learnin' to a whole new level: Time reports that as mayor Palin asked the town librarian how to go about banning books from the local library. News reports from the time show that the librarian, who, strangely enough, was opposed to a tactic commonly employed by totalitarian regimes, had her job threatened for not giving her "full support" to the mayor.
She is one scary person. Hitler would have admired her.
Great way to run a country eh??
It's no surprise he made the decision on Saturday when Obama announce his VP as Biden, but was unsure how unified the DEM Convention would come out after Clinton's speech, so we they thought i was a good idea to announce it on Friday to rain (Pun intended) on Obama's parade. Karma's a Bitch and John McCain Cun't palease her.
Left&Left @ 7:
Right, and Fred Thompson actually said we were panicking over Palin? I swear, sometimes I wonder what you have to do to yourself to be able to interpret reality like that.
Comedy gold.... Ginrich rails on MSNBC reporter for knocking Palin's achievments.
Newt Gingrich - smackdown on MSNBC for Sarah Palin
MSNBC reporter: Uhh, back up to you, Keith.
Keith????
Austin along with 15 other US cities are bigger than Alaska and Chicago itself is 4 times as bigger than Alaska.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population
Palin said war in Iraq, gas pipeline are God’s will - In a speech last June in her church
Wow, banning books from the library? That is great. One can only hope these tidbits start to emerge in the MSM over the next couple of months. Dems need to be all over this in the media. Unfortunately, they probably need to be female dems so they aren't being accused of sexism.
Bottom line is that Palin was picked by the religious right and the courageous, decisive, hero
McCain is now stuck with being stubborn about keeping her, rather than be the boss. Again, only
when she and he becomes a laughing stock will they be forced to drop her and let the new decider have Lieberman.
So the big question should be........who turned it down at the last minute that caused the Repugs to consider Palin at the last moment?
People for the Ameircan Way is pissed:
“People can disagree about a lot of things, but censorship is completely beyond the pale. Our democracy was founded on the belief that government shouldn’t tell people what kinds of books to read or what kind of beliefs to hold. No one with that kind of history should be anywhere near the White House. Sarah Palin needs to clarify her stance on freedom of speech immediately, and John McCain needs to explain why he chose a running mate with so little regard for the Constitution.”
Librarians will go ballistic over this.
Does anyone think McCain is responsible for this decision, or any other? "McCain does not speak for the campaign". If they manage to steal this election, somehow pull this off, on January 20 2009, we simply unscrew the Bush 43 figurehead off the top of the White House totem pole, screw on the McCain figurehead, and on January 21 it's business as usual.
Radically Moderate @ 31:
Word has it that he was going to pick Lieberman but the head honchos for the fundies told him if he did that the campaign would go down in flames. So he let them take the reigns and they chose Palin. The old maverick gave up control and his own gut feeling and gave in to pressure from the right. A man of strength? Hardly.
Obama is going on The O'Reilly Factor on Thursday.
...which begs the question: If this capricious, reckless, delusional man has not done his homework, isn't it our responsibility to do our "own homework" and get to the bottom of this woman's past?
I would contend that it's not only essential in this case but a PATRIOTIC DUTY OF EVERY AMERICAN. After all, this is the woman who may assume the presidency of this country in the (likely) event of McCain's cancer returning and being sidlined.
I would contend that the probability that a Veep will ascend to President has NEVER BEEN HIGHER as it is in this case.
This just in....
http://tinyurl.com/596vrg
No. 44 @ 32:
Yes, librarians and every other person with the intelligence of even a small rock.
"Bombshell"??
Right. More like a dud firecracker followed by aggregate yawning among the GOP. They don't care. Mora lprobity and competence only apply to Democrats.
Palin files ethics complaint against self in ‘troopergate’.
http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/03/palin-files-ethics-complaint-against-s...
Dear Lord, The MSM is in a frenzy. This Palin crap is unnerving. The fact she was not vetted properly is astonishing. This VP pick is disasterous. The more I learn about her, the more I can't believe McCain picked her. The way the Covention is covered is awful. They purposely featured the very few minorities there to make it look more diverse. Disgusting.
sophya @ 36:
Plus, McCain is the oldest first term president we have ever had. This is the most important veep ever in my opinion. And I might add, the least qualified veep candidate in a long time.
ProfitMedia will fall into line once they have their RNC talking points and marching orders. Look at the 180 that Scumborough and Buganan pulled over the past few days.
ProfitMedia will not allow the book banning, secessionist ties, absent parenting, pork barreling, creationist sort of crap to become issues,
Prepare yourselves for the "feisty former beauty queen patriot" meme.
She always sticks her hand out like that like she's signaling a right had turn in her SUV. What's she's doing is signaling a right hand turn for the country. Hasn't America been run into the ground enough already? No more right hand turns!
pissed off patricia @ 34:
We got "stuck" with Palin as a result of a pissing contest between Reichstag Karl (and Bush) and McSame. Bush castrated McSame during the primaries of 2000 and vindictive Johnny has never forgotten it. He decided he'd "fix their wagons" by pulling this reproductive rabbit out of his top hat. And we all know what happens to magicians when their tricks are uncovered, don't we? What we are seeing right now is the "uncovering process" and it ain't pretty.
Besides, my bone of contention with the WH and McSame demanding "hands off" the Palin family is the height of hubris and audacity. When was the last time we witnessed (other than the protocol of a national convention) a woman parading on stage with Mr. Mom and 5 kids to be used as nothing more than "political props". And then... her speech is full of nothing more than describing her kids with the first lie interspersed about how she said "no thanks" to congress for the bridge to nowhere.
I say this: If she uses her kids as political "props", (which she clearly did) then it's "fair game" initiated by her for americans to delve deeper. If she didn't want her unwed, nationally embarrassed pregnant daughter exploited by the media, then she should have paraded her carrying the mongoloid brother and a very suspicious "blankie" trying to cover her 5 month pregnant belly. Palin has brought this on herself by her lack of discretion and total lack of empathy for her own daughter....not to mention another very flagrant "error in judgment".
I think the media needs to do the vetting which John McSame didn't care enough to do. And right now - dig in.
Whenever I see those two side by side I think: Old Dude / Beauty Queen 08!
Lsst night I heard a soundbite from Joe Biden promising an angry voter that both he and Obama will go ahead with a criminal prosecution of the Bush regime.
Mike Malloy was quite pleased and immediately said he's definately voting Obama/Biden.
Anyone got the audio/video link?
"Who do you want as Commander In Chief? An intemperate flyboy, or a cautious thinker?"
I will take the "intemperate flyboy" (which translates to a MAN) over a "cautious thinker" (which translates to a PUSSY) any day.
Obama = total pussy = the entire Left of this country.
This goes hand in hand with McCain's gambling problem- he's gambling with 300 million of us this time!
The GOP Palintology theme:
ANY questioning of Palin’s experience — not even criticism, just questions — is “belittling” her.
More broadly (e.g., as proffered by Carly Fiorina), any detailed critical analyses of Palin’s CV whatsoever are nothing more than despicable Godless Democrat sexist politics-of-personal-destruction smear tactics. She Is All That Is Good And Pure And Righteous; McGod Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It.
Besides, they vetted her with this:
http://www.bgladd.com/McSameStore/Palintology_E-meter.jpg
Question: Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall to hear the candid conversations between McCain's closest advisors and biggest defenders, Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman about John's mental state after this choice?
If this were a longtime friend of mine, I would be wondering if, at 72, my friend was sort of losing it. This is more than a bad decision in my opinion.
National Enquirer (Did The Edward's Affair) has reporters up North, Supposedly they found juicy details and dirty secrets.
Babygate
*Sarah Palin attempted to quietly have her daughter Bristol get married before news of her pregnancy leaked out
*Palin planned for the wedding to take place right after the Republican National Convention and then she was going to announce the pregnancy.
*But Bristol, 17, refused to go along with the plan and that sparked a mother-daughter showdown over the failed cover-up.
*The ultra-conservative governor’s announcement about her daughter’s pregnancy came hours after The ENQUIRER informed her representatives and family members of Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol’s child, that we were aware of the pregnancy and were going to break the news.
*In a preemptive strike Palin released the news, creating political shock-waves.
Also people are so mad about troopergate in Alaska that everyone is coming forth with details and stories about Palin and her scandalous ways.
NE promises more to come!
(McCain next time do some more vetting and make a better decision)
pissed off patricia @ 42:
The "probability factor" of McSame's demise while in office (or sidelining due to chemotheraphy for his invasive melanoma which is incurable) is probably around 65% - just like Stage 2A Invasive Melanoma: 65% get 10 years. McCain's diagnosis was 2000 and it's now "year #8" so we all need to do the math.
Rand @ 48:
Makes perfect sense from the tone and tenor of your post. You would.
"Heck of a job, Paly."
Rand @ 48:
Uh, yeah...got anything of real substance?
sophya @ 54:
We all know that Rand is a racist so what's new here?
dennis @ 26:
Every point that this Fat Cat Socialist Gingrich claims as something Governor Palin has done that Senator Obama has not, could just as readily be said of Senator McCain.
The fact that the 'reporter' is unable to respond to Gingrich's fallacious reasoning does nothing to buttress his argument.
That is the problem is the lack of journalistic excellence in this country.
Obama's record is out for the voters to see, he won his parties nomination with that record.
The point here is that choice of VP is the first and potentially most important decision that the candidate for President makes.
It is now readily apparent by their own admission that this choice was hasty.
Also by their own admission this is a campaign, not of issues, but of personalities.
McCain is losing on both counts.
sophya @ 54:
My advice? Do Not Feed.
Rand @ 48:
Did school not start yesterday in some areas of the country?
Ruthless People @ 46:
When I see them together it's creepy. I can't explain it exactly but it just looks strange to me and not in a good way. For some reason I just want to turn away and not look.
Ahh ......... BARBIE for VP
Would get a lot of young votes, but if mccain dies we'd have a frigging Mattel Doll for president.
Banning books, eh? What a light weight. A true Republican would have advocated burning them.
PorridgeGun @ 47:
Hadn't heard that...I do think they should. But they need to keep that sort of thing under their hats until after they're in the WH.
John McCain is the sacrificial lamb of the GOP party elders.
Do you REALLY think they were going to use one of their prime conservative members to get slaughtered in this election year.
McCain had no business winning the nomination. He was broke and last. Ooooh...all of a sudden he gets this influx of money...c'mon guys...where the hell do you think it came from???...all of a suddent the Little Green Footballers opened their wallets?
This election was over before it even started. The media has pushed it as a horserace by using controlled polls, spun reports, lies and half truths.
They vetted a VP candidate for ONE day. Do you really think they are that stupid? John McCain IS an idiot...or at least a memory challenged old codger past his time. His ambition has blinded him to how he is being used. This VP candidate is a NOBODY...that's why she's on the ticket...just one more landmine to ensure defeat.
The GOP doesn't want to win. Why would they? Do you think they want to take over the mess they made. They'll let the Democrats clean it up, make the tough decisions, and criticise them through the whole process in the hope that by 2012 they can get back the Congress and by 2016 get back the Presidency.
It's about power.
John j @ 52:
Keep repeating this post. You're darn right the people of Alaska have Palin's number and are talking. And, they will continue to talk since this appears to be just the tip of a very shady iceberg. Palin's connections to Silver who was Abramoff's chief lobbyist as well as Palin's and who got Alaska millions of dollars (ahem) is sure to tank her; in fact, she may find herself embroiled in more than troopergate before long. And she thought that troopergate was the extent of her problems????? I guess Abramoff is talking now too. More to come......
Please keep repeating this post and reminding everyone about this woman's lurid past. Can't wait for her pageant buddies to start funneling compromising photos of her....as well as some great tales about the great tail.
John j @ 52:
Hopefully there will be no next time.
Pistol Packin' Palin speaks tonight and the world will be watching. If she starts screeching again I'll watch it in silence.
If the Repub speakers, keep extolling change (when did they steal "change") by pointing out the cleaning up of the corruption of half the audience, while they are dutifully applauding, I'll be applauding too!
Go get them gal! The whole world will be watching.
Moggy @ 63:
She just wanted Hillary's "It Takes a Village" tossed from the Wassila library and replaced with her bio tome "I Gave Birth to a Village."
That is, the problem is the lack of journalistic excellence in this country.
Alice X - (Chomsky Nader) - status quObama - change you can pretend in - @ 58:
sophya @ 54:
Guess he'd prefer a Left consistent entirely of brain-dead radial, revolutionary communists.
Who'd want a pussy like Kennedy when you could have a real man like Stalin?
Ruthless People @ 46:
i think there's uncle joe (he's movin' kinda slow) and bobby joe on their way to hooterville.
Biden chose his words carefully and used restrained language. But in a word, he told the YES.
Here is my question to you: Should the 18 yr old kid that got Gov. Palin underage daughter pregnant be charged, with a crime like other teens in this Country? There are teens in this Country currently serving jail time, for commenting the same offense of having sex with an underage minor that this kid is being accused of. Why isn’t the law being followed in this case? Is there a double standard for a VP candidate?
P.D. @ 41:
So true.
Grandpa is such a filthy liar. He knows full fucking well that this woman wasn't his first choice or the best the Repukes have to offer from their sorry lot. Whenever one of the Republican pundits are asked a simple question "Is Palin the best VP candidate available?" the question never gets answered.
Imagine what his cabinet would look like.
Biden chose his words carefully and used restrained language. But in a word, he said YES.
At first I thought McCain's nomination of Sarah Palin wasn't unlike having Brownie run Fema, but it's not really cronyism. Then it struck me - it's like the vetting done by the DOJ for their attorney's. It's not what you know, your talent or experience, it's if you are a "believer", towing the GOP line. Yup. Talent, skill, experience don't matter as long as Ms. Palin believes.
DebT
Bob @ 74:
Age of consent in Alaska is 16.
pissed off patricia @ 61:
This is precisely what a high percentage of americans are saying: "What's wrong with this picture".. For openers, McCain is the bane of his party, so that's entirely wrong for most republicans. They loathe McCain but would take Howdy Doody for President if that's all they're given.
Secondly, McSame clearly pandered to the reichwing christofascists with Palin's antiquated view about women's reproductive rights.....prima facie evidence: her own prego daughter who is absolutely disconsolate and miserable right now since her mother chose to make a public spectacle of her sad situation.
The fact that this woman claims to be christian and a good mother is appalling to all caring mothers in this country would would NEVER even consider doing what she has done to her own daughter - helping to make her a public spectacle. Having done so, however, opens it all up to the media who will chew this to shreds. Palin opened the door for this knowing full well that her daughter would be thrown to the wolves but her own egoic need for power trumped all consideration for her own daughters. Is this what motherhood has descended to in this country?
Now they cry foul when they open pandora's box and invite everyone in (how many references did Palin have to the members of her family as opposed to anything remotely serious going on in this country??). So she stacks her speech with allusions to her kids and husband and then cries foul when people see that they've been invited in by no one other than Palin herself. What a hypocrite and double standard here! Even stars like Britany don't subject their children to the media. This woman is a shark not a mother.
POW!
Some of these Palin supporters have no idea about her disasterous policies. The ignorance of Americans is staggering! "Oh, she's a woman, let's vote for her!" Idiots. And if she gets in, and can appoint more right wing judges, will these ignorant people be so supportive when Roe vs. Wade is tossed?
lj @ 68:
All she has to do is not fall off the stage for the Republicans to go wild over her wonderful speech and the way she gave it. They'll forget all about their criticism of Obama for being able to deliver a great speech.
I just wish to God that any of this crap mattered at all to the majority of voters. They're going to blindly walk into that voting booth and fill the McCain/Palin box because they think McCain/Palin will get abortion outlawed the day they take office. Or because they think (and I really wish this weren't true) they must vote McCain/Palin because Obama will turn this into the United States of Islam. Or because they think Obama/Biden will outlaw firearms the moment THEY take office. It just makes me so sad.
ashton @ 60:
He doesn't go to school. Got called a "pussy" too much. Can't you tell?