Entries for September 2008

So, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is looking forward to her debate with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday? Really? If I were her, I'd be wishing for a major storm surge in Alaska. Perhaps the latest hurricane could slip past the Gulf of Mexico and sneak up on Anchorage unannounced, giving her unassailable reason to head home. Instead, she's keeping her pompoms and pleated skirts in tow and telling reporters she's looking forward to her confab with Senator Biden.

There's been little by way of good news for Sen. John McCain in the polls these past two weeks. And the bad news just keeps pouring in.

Remember when Bullwinkle used to say to Rocky, "Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat"? A rabbit is just what John McCain needs about now to reverse his slide in the polls.

The Rasmussen daily presidential tracking poll has him 5 points down: "The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows Barack Obama attracting 50 percent of the vote while John McCain earns 45 percent. This is Obama's biggest lead since his convention bounce peaked with a 6-point advantage. In fact, on only two days since clinching the Democratic nomination in early June has Obama enjoyed a lead bigger than he has today." Gallup's daily tracking poll has Obama at 48 percent and McCain at 45 percent. McCain better hope he wins tonight's debate going away or helps bring Congress together to produce a bailout plan to everyone's liking (not likely) to get the numbers going back in his direction.

The quote of the day comes from Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat who, according to Fox News, told a Jewish audience to beware of Gov. Sarah Palin (Sen. John McCain's vice presidential running mate) because " 'anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.... If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention,' Hastings told the audience, which burst into laughter and applause, according to individuals present."

Jewish Republicans weren't too thrilled with Hastings's outspoken remarks, and the Republican Jewish Coalition strongly condemned them.

You must take a moment to watch this YouTube video showing Sarah Palin being blessed against . . . witchcraft:

I've blogged about Tennessee Walking Horse abuse many times and will continue to do so until all the "soring" and other forms of human-induced torture of gaited horses stops. Again, not all owners and trainers in the gaited horse world "sore" their animals (apply caustic chemicals to the skin so that the horses maintain exaggerated gaits to get away from the horrible pain inflicted on purpose). One gaited horse show organization contacted me to let me know they are working to wipe it out entirely. More on that in another blog post.

Meanwhile, this report from the Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader shows only a tiny amount of the harassment and threats of physical violence federal officials trying to enforce anticruelty laws endure. I reported before I knew one such federal official, whose staffer was cornered in a bathroom and threatened with torture and worse, if he kept trying to stop the abuse. There's a related incident reported in the full story.

The economic crisis hasn't been bad for every single American: Sen. Barack Obama (and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden) seem to have benefited from it. Not financially, of course, but in the polling data that continues to improve for the Democratic ticket, despite or perhaps because of economic declines. Even better for Obama/Biden, the gains are not just in the national polls but in the all-important Electoral College and battleground states.