Seriously, I have to stop before my head explodes. It’s Friday, we should be out drinking and getting down.

• More on her Gibson interview. This shit is priceless.
  

  PALIN: We’ve gotta keep an eye on Russia. … You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.
  GIBSON: What insight does that give you into what they’re doing inside Georgia?
  PALIN: Well, I’m giving you that perspective of how small our world is and how important it is that we work with our allies to keep good relations with all of these countries, especially Russia.

  (And here is some more on the Gibson thing. Fail indeed.)

• Palin has now linked 9/11 to Iraq.
  

  Speaking at Alaska’s Fort Wainwright on Thursday, where she hailed the combat deployment of her son’s Army unit to Iraq as a “righteous cause,” Palin explicitly and repeatedly renewed the discredited claim that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was initiated as a necessary and credible response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

  “You’ll be there to defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the deaths of thousands of Americans,” Palin told the departing soldiers.

• Even Roger Ebert hates her.
• Palin probably broke the law by using resources as mayor to run for Governor. After having someone else fined 12,000 for doing something similar. Oops.
• Finally, I linked to the tax chart yesterday — but here it is proportionally displayed. That is, the percentage of people being taxed corresponds to the thickness of the line. Now, you look at this, whomeever you are, and you see how Obama’s makes sense. It makes perfect, logical sense. And you look at McCain’s and you realize he is part of a greedy, self-serving machine. Ug.

Popularity: 2% [?]

This is like shooting fish in a barrel. Except there are only 2 fish. But one of them is young and stupid and the other is old and stupid.

• 20 lies and flipflops told by the McCain campaign. Just the fact that a list like this can be made with a straight face and without having to reach to minor quotes and strange contexts is more than a little disturbing.
• Factcheck.org is pissed at yet another McCain ad. Keep em coming.
• Oh and now the Republicans are reallllllllly reaching: Feehery claimed attacks on Palin are “kind of attacking motherhood and apple pie and everything good about America” — yes, Palin has become Lady Liberty incarnate in 1 week and to speak about her qualifications as a candidate for VP now means you are a terrorist. Holy shit, I shouldn’t have said that — come Monday morning, this will be the new party line.
• Consensus seems to be that Palin knows nothing of the world outside of Alaska. In fact, based on last night’s interview, she doesn’t even know McCain’s stances on world issues. This is not good.
• And here is a good example of why we have to repair our standing with the world: less than half the world believes that al Qaeda was behind the 9/11 attacks. Yay for us so completely fucking up Iraq that now no one believes anything we say. (In fact, the runner-up was the “US government.” The world loves Bush, clearly.)

Popularity: 1% [?]

Popularity: 1% [?]

So Palin’s interview was this evening. I haven’t watched it and only read a partial transcript form Huffington (I need to read more of it — R says there are some really choice quotes in it).

The best part is from the warm-up to this interview by McCain. The reporter asks…well, here is a transcript:

Q: Well, you say you’re sure that she has the experience, but again, I’m just asking for an example. What experience does she have in the field of national security?

McCAIN: Energy. She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America. …. And we all know that energy is a critical and vital national security issue.

Check out the entire article/video clip. This short piece doesn’t do it justice. Also: National security and energy are not the same thing. Nor a subset, nor an answer to the question. Also: I sincerely have to call bullshit on the notion that Palin knows more about energy than “probably anyone else in the United States.”

I hurt. But I can’t help to laugh a little — where I was worried previously, this just highlights how insubstantial their campaign really is.

On the flip side, here is video of Matt Damon talking about the actual logical reasons the McCain/Palin ticket is a bad idea:

This is without touching the lies nor the issues. This is based on nothing but the reality that there a staggering lack of data about what these people believe or what makes them remotely qualified to run the country. Worth your minute and a half to watch.

Oh, and lest you thought the surge was working and victory was achieved and we were all coming home: While Bush Announces 8,000 Troop Withdrawal, Leaked Draft Agreement Calls for Indefinite Occupation. Fantastic.

Popularity: 1% [?]