As a born & raised Alaskan, today has been tumultuous day.

My cell started ringing at ass-crack:30 this morning (Alaska is -1 Pacific, -4 ET) with the rumor mill, and then a little later the confirmed WTF calls. Friends and family from all over the country calling to ask about our Gov.

It was of course impossible to go back to sleep after that, so I've been tired all day. But lack of sleep isn't what caused the looming sense of dread I've felt all day.

Ok, this is not reassuring. In an attempt to sooth any nerves about Sarah Palin's readiness in international affairs, McCain Charlie Black told the New York Times that, sure, they think McCain will live the next four years

Not all the Conservatives are completely bonkers.  

David Frum is someone I normally detest in a very special way.  Today's column is well worth a read for more than this: Ms. Palin's experience in government makes Barack Obama look like George C. Marshall.  The full column @ http://www.nationalpost.com/nationalpost /story.html?id=756704 , read it for yourselves.  

After the bump I'll save you the trek to The Corner for his quick take, which is also rather savoury.

This is just a word of advice to all Democratic politicians.

If there is any flooding in the below sea level portions of New Orleans all our politicians need to remember one thing.

Whatever you do future politicians you MUST CRY.  Bite your tongue do what you must but you MUST CRY.  Onions are your friend.

Its too late to shed KATRINA tears but GUSTAV tears are almost as effective and if you CRY during GUSTAV and wear 2 different sets of clothing you may be able to convince people that you actually cried during KATRINA and earn your get out of racist free card.

We cannot as a party accept the ongoing racism of NON CRIERS.

And for God's sake if by chance there is an onion shortage and you are unable to shed GUSTAV tears you must swear a solemn oath never to cry ever again.  Even if opponents and press say you are horrible divisive figure and no one likes you.

No GUSTAV tears no crying ever again or you are just insulting KATRINA survivers in a racist way.

This has been a public announcement of the non racist movement.

I surfed over to Alegre's Corner to this diary ....

http://alegrescorner.soapblox.net/showDi ary.do?diaryId=849

I understand that these women are upset, but several were talking about voting for MCain because of Palin. I noticed that most of them were calling themselves feminists, so I decided to actually post and see if I could inject a little balance into the discussion.

I first tried to explain that Obama wasn't a party hack because Hillary had most of the superdelgates, 90% of the Black vote and endorsements of most of the Black politicians before Iowa .I then when on to note that it was a bloody primary and both side's hands were dirty.
I posted a 2 paragraph blurb where I briefly covered the following six points:

It's hard to believe the McCain team really believes they can poach many Clinton supporters by putting a Pat Buchanan pro-Creationism gun-toting Evangelical on the ticket, but clearly the Palin pick was geared to excite the extreme base.  In that sense, it is far from the maverick pick and is a complete sell-out to the part of the GOP that already has alienated many of the moderate wing who at one time saw McCain as their hope.  We've already seen Jim Leach and Eisenhower's granddaughter endorse Obama.  I wonder what the effect of this pick will have on other bigger names who have been sitting on the fence, names like Hagel, Lugar, Specter, and Colin Powell - people who have a working relationship with Obama already and are big supporters of Joe Biden. Could the desertion of a few of them from the GOP ranks move a couple of swing states into the Obama corner?  

This is an exciting campaign. No doubt about it. But while the players look and sound different, the message stays the same.

Sarah Palin is inexperienced. Yeah... so what. She's untested, that's for sure. So look for the next news stories to cast aspersions on her ethics fight. Oh wait... trooper-gate in Alaska. Gasp! Then there's her stand on choice, but even then she's got Obama beat. In fact, that's a national discussion that's not for the faint of heart.  Oh, by the way, did I mention? She's a woman!

Sorry guys... when this all shakes out, it's about the economy. And if the Dems are serious about winning, they better pivot back to it whenever they can. It's simplistic, for sure. But if there was ever a time to use the key buzzwords it's now. What's in your wallet/bank account/401K retirement plan/refrigerator/prescription drawer?

I have enjoyed this day and reading all of the comments about Gov. Sarah Palin.  I find it fascinating how various people look at candidates when they are first introduced, especially, when it is someone who is not known by most Americans.  How much do we really know about the Governor?  I truthfully cannot say that I know very much about her.

I have seen many comments about her lack of experience.  Due to the responses I have read, how about a little quiz to check out her competency and its possible impact on the election:

1.  In 1968, the two VEEP candidates were Edmund Muskie and Spiro Agnew.  Which candidate was more experienced and which one became VEEP?

2.  In 1988, the two VEEP candidates were Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle.  Which candidate was more experienced and which one became VEEP?