Michael Jackson put out a song with a very hip beat a few years ago entitled “Remember the Time.” I have a question for you: Do you remember the the last time a Presidential candidate separated himself from the sitting President? How about 1992?

Bill Clinton was the sitting President and was very popular with the Democratic base even though he had just been impeached for lying under oath. Vice President Al Gore intentionally distanced himself from a popular President and it ended up costing him the Presidency. Fast forward to 2008.

Even though with the general public George W. Bush has very low approval ratings, he is extremely popular with the Republican base. Will distancing himself from President Bush cost Senator John McCain the election too? Time will tell.

Mobile post sent by shawnpwilliams using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/04/morning-minute-the-sarah-and-rudy-show/feed/ http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/04/palin-sticks-to-the-script-in-acceptance-speech/ http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/04/palin-sticks-to-the-script-in-acceptance-speech/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:21:27 +0000 Shawn Williams http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/04/palin-sticks-to-the-script-in-acceptance-speech/

By Jazzy of Because I Said So

Gov. Sarah Palin delivered a well rehearsed personal character assassination against Obama which, I expected, she is a conservative Republican, after all. I did learn a lot about her, I, I, I, I was the recurring noun for the night. For a hot second I almost forgot that she was only the Vice pick.

Seriously, with all of her executive experience (for a population of 675,000 that’s less than South Oak Cliff, Tom Leppert is better qualified) why is she not at the top of the ticket. Does her executive experience not apply to John McCain who has none as well, or does he get a pass because of his POW status. I was also disappointed by the crowds chant of “Drill baby Drill” as a resolution for energy dependence.

There were absolutely no talking points about the Republican direction for the country. I did not hear her mention or define her role as a potential Vice President. Overall the Pit Bull with lipstick delivered politricks as usual.

I have no doubt that her speech was effective for the home base but not those Republicans that have become aware that our country can not continue in the failed direction of the last 8 years. Those were the people she was brought on board to reach and I think she failed in that capacity last night.

I will be looking forward to the debates now as the conventions draw to an end. There was one thing the Republicans mothers obviously forgot to teach them at that was “Don’t poke at a hornets nest”. Another phrase my husband is fond of using and aptly applies here is if you put  yourself in a man’s place then don’t cry foul when you are treated like a man.

On a side note I was happy to see that the Republican Party is becoming more inclusive, I counted 5 Negroes and a Latino. WOW!

I got this one in my inbox and checked around the web to make sure this is legit.  Anne

Kilkenny is also quoted in the New York Times discussing Gov. Palin.

ABOUT SARAH PALIN

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a “babe”.

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out
there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She’s smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002). She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will
make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today’s
surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated”
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure
and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that
an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t
fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew
her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the
high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this
Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to
nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects–which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance–but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march
to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I’ve always operated in the belief that “Bad things happen
when good people stay silent”. Few people know as much as I do because
few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don’t have a job she can bump me out
of. I don’t belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no
fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100
or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s
attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can’t recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall–they are
swamped. So I can’t verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the
population of Wasilla, ranging from my “about 5,000″, up to 9,000. The
day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the
current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was
5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.

Anne Kilkenny
annekilkenny@hotmail.com
August 31, 2008

Washington, D.C. – (September 2, 2008)  Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson will host a training seminar for Dallas-area small business owners on Friday, September 19.  Dan Sturdivant, Assistant to the Director of Outreach at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will join Congresswoman Johnson for two sessions to present information about the Department of Homeland Security’s federal procurement process.  Jim Berish, the North Texas Small Business Development Center Network’s Technology Assistance Director, will run the third and final session, focusing on services available from the Small Business Development Center.

In May, Congresswoman Johnson hosted a similar training seminar with the U.S. General Service Administration.  Representatives from more than 130 small businesses attended that event.

What:   Small Business Training Seminar, hosted by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson

Date:   September 19, 2008

Time:   Opening Reception and Introductions, 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Opportunities Seminar: Finding Homeland Security Contracting Opportunities, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

North Texas Small Business Development Center Network session, 11:00 AM – 12:00 NOON

Location:       Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development

Hoblitzelle Auditorium (Room 1530)

1402 Corinth St.

Dallas, TX 75215

Mobile post sent by shawnpwilliams using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/03/morning-minute-sarahs-big-day/feed/ http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/03/conservatives-have-found-sympathy-all-of-a-sudden-2/ http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/03/conservatives-have-found-sympathy-all-of-a-sudden-2/#comments Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:42:16 +0000 Shawn Williams http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/03/conservatives-have-found-sympathy-all-of-a-sudden-2/ Yesterday Earnest Gates used this space to make the following assertion:

• If this had been Senator Obama’s “teenage daughter”(getting pregnant), we would have heard the words “lack of family values” ad nauseam.

Earnest is right.  To see how conservatives felt about teen pregnancy before Monday, just look at this exchange between Rush Limbaugh and one of his callers.

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my phone call. Say, sorry to change up subjects on you, but I thought something on a little bit lighter note. What do you think about this whole… the Spears family spreading like wildfire now, the second Spears sister having a child with a man that’s old enough to go to jail for it?

RUSH: I don’t think there is anything extraordinary about the Spears family spreading like wildlife. The Spears family is not the only family spreading like wildlife. There are countless American families that have 16 years old that go out and get pregnant; you just don’t know about them because their sisters aren’t on television. Take a look at the Jerry Springer Show. That’s a good point. If you want to be concerned about — what’s this Spears name? Jamie-Lynn, is that her name?

CALLER: Yeah, Jamie-Lynn.

RUSH: Jamie-Lynn. Whatever. If you want to be concerned about her, go watch the Jerry Springer Show.

CALLER: Sure.

RUSH: Now, that’s cause for concern, because they’re practically — these families are — propagating in front of our eyes on that show.

CALLER: Sure.

RUSH: What’s happening to these people is no different than what happens to a lot of families in this country, except their lives are on TV.

CALLER: Would you tend to think that a family in this position, though, wouldn’t you think that there would be a more watchful eye as a parent to be watching over these kids so this doesn’t happen to them?

RUSH: I would certainly hope so, but it’s long past time for this to happen. The parents here are the culprits!

CALLER: (chuckles)

RUSH: I mean, the parents, they’re infected with this disease, this addiction to fame themselves. Look at Britney’s mom, for crying out loud. “Put me on TV, too! Put me on TV!” You know, celebrity parents, they can go both ways, and some of them lose whatever grounding they had as adults when their kids get famous. They want to be part of it. They like the money themselves. It’s very rare to have celebrity parents that remain grounded, but who’s going to get this family in line?

CALLER: Yeah, that’s true.

RUSH: The parents are out there making as big a mess of their own lives as the kids are. Plus, the real sick thing about it is, at the end of the day — I don’t care what the Britney Spears camp says or the Jamie whatever-her-name Spears camp — they love the attention. It’s their job to get it! That’s what’s perverse about this. You know, I have a minimal amount of fame compared to people on television and movies, and I don’t like the stuff I’ve got, but it is what it is. But these people that have to go out and get taken pictures of by the paparazzi, have to go out to these nightclub openings at two o’clock in the morning, make sure they’re photographed there.

Were a Barack Obama teenage daughter pregnant, every conservative pundit in America would talk about how he can’t control his own house less known the White House.  But we see a much more appropriate response out of the Obama camp.  Even from attack dogs like James Carville. 

Limbaugh spoke of the “put me on T.V. too” disease.  How does that jive with the news that young Palin’s boyfriend is reportedly on his way to St. Paul?  How much T.V. time will he get if he does make the trip?  How can one say family life is off limits and then consider putting them out there for all the world to see?

Here’s a quote from Dr. Laura Schlessinger (on same topic) :

• I feel sorry for children who are robbed of their childhoods of innocence by parents who are negligent or voyeuristic. I feel sorry for the unborn baby, whose precious life is bound to be a toy in the hands of these young people.

Conservatives have never thought of teen pregnancy as honorable, courageous, or of any value before yesterday.  The Focus on the Family crew that prayed for God to send rain to Invesco Field last week now has a heart of compassion for one of their own.  To bad that compassion doesn’t spread across the political divide.

It’s another example of the right changing their opinions on the fly to fit their agenda.  No wonder they have taken McCain back in so easily.

Limbaugh call from Radio Equilizer.

Mobile post sent by shawnpwilliams using Utterz.  Replies.  mp3 ]]> http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/02/the-dallas-south-morning-minute/feed/ http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/02/evangelical-hypocrites/ http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/02/evangelical-hypocrites/#comments Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:53:42 +0000 Earnest http://dallassouthblog.com/2008/09/02/evangelical-hypocrites/ By Earnest Gates

It is amazing how people can use their religion for political expediency. I could not believe how forgiving the religious right was of the out of wedlock teenage pregnancy of Governor Palin’s daughter.

If this had been Senator Obama’s “teenage daughter”, we would have heard the words “lack of family values” ad nauseam. Not only are they embracing her, but they are saying the fact that she will have the baby and marry her “Baby Daddy” is very honorable and says this shows they are an average American family.

This is one of the most hypocritical things I have seen the religious right do to date. It is early, so keep your eyes open and expect the unexpected.