Sharing this article in honor of NOT staying silent ABOUT Sarah Palin!-Mem

Thursday, 3 February 2011

Dairygate refreshed
(Thank You Regina)

I promised to review some of original gates involving Sarah Palin and put them into the context of more recent events. Only her record as a politician would produce gates as such. The suffix entered the English language because the first of all gates, Watergate, involved a politician, not a celebrity. Celebrities may produce scandals, not gates and are not accountable to voters. That's why we can't have a Twittergate or a Facebookgate. Sarah Palin doesn't hold any political office at the moment. She was chosen by half a dozen people to do what she's doing now as a celebrity. But she was elected by the people of Alaska to be their governor and will remain accountable to them for a few more months. Let's take a trip down memory lane and shine a fresh light on some of her deeds.

The Village Is Stepping Forward One Person At A Time!

Many may think I have an obsession with Sarah Palin!  What I have is an instinct about this woman that started the moment John McCain introduced her to the lower 48 states.  The more I researched and found out about this woman the more I realized that I knew her like the back of my hand.  Being raised in the same party and the same religion I knew her mind set and I could feel her greed and need for power.

What half Governor Sarah Doesn't Want You To Know

I am always searching for information to add to my political scrapbook. Now that Saint Sarah has hinted that she will be running for President in 2012 I think that it is important that we know as much as possible about her ability to run this Country! With this in mind and the fact that she came up with the "Famous Death Panels", I really felt this article by Sarah Jones should be a part of my blog. This story also ties in with the article from yesterday!

You might be a Wing Nut when you run all over town trying to find a store that carries Green “Death Panels” for your living room!~M ® ~Mem

Sarah Palin’s Death Panel: A Conservative’s Confession
Posted on August 8, 2009 by Sarah Jones

When right wing Republicans make accusations these days, we should simply assume, “it’s the opposite of what they said”, because this proves true pretty darn consistently. Another description of Republican’s approach to the HealthCare discussion is Orwellian. You won’t believe this one. Seriously.

Yesterday Sarah Palin accused President Obama of having a “Death Panel” which might put her baby to death. While the American people spent the evening aghast and outraged at Palin, Republicans brushed it off, likening it to liberals attacks on George Bush. ‘Cuz I guess liberals said some bad things about the Synthetic Cowboy — you know, after he started a war on lies in which thousands have needlessly died, ignored intelligence which caused 4000 people to die on 9/11, mismanaged FEMA during Katrina to the point that New Orleans looked like a third world country, shamed America internationally, and plenty more.

So, naturally, Republicans, who are always nattering on about “moving forward” unless there’s a blue dress around, figure that One Day, Obama will have made the same kind of mistakes (not likely, as Bush was one of our worst presidents ever), so they’ll just go ahead and pretend like they can claim justification for the derision they heap upon him (Nazi Swastikas over his face, calling him a socialist, a marxist, a fascist) because (waa waa! You did it first!) we did it to Bush, never mind that Bush earned our derision hard way, through his consistent, costly, ineptitude.

But not one Democrat has called them out on this false equivalence.

Just HOW exactly is wanting to have a town hall to DISCUSS, like civilized human beings, providing health care for all Americans (like every other industrialized nation) such a threat that it warrants Nazi rhetoric, and exactly how are death threats on congressional representatives, unions and others justified by anyone?

They aren’t justified. So the thing to do is ratchet up the crazy by making it seem as if lives are at stake, because then it makes it at least plausible to throw Nazi accusations around. Now, I don’t know if the conservatives saying these crazy things are :

1) Stupid (believe everything they hear on Fox, and I’m including the elected officials here)
2) Liars (all of their accusations are actually confessions)
3) Lazy (never read the bill, don’t even know what they’re talking about)

In the case of Sarah Palin’s accusation against Obama, I guess I’m gonna have to go with all three (stupid, lying, and lazy), with a strong emphasis on #2, because during her administration, the state so mismanaged Medicaid that over 250 people died waiting for the program. Hundreds more did not receive treatment. Over eight lawsuits were filed against the state division, bringing the attention of the state auditors, who notified Alaskan officials on June 26 that the entire program was being shut down due to mismanagement. In fact, the Supreme court ruled last year that the state had improperly cut off or reduced services to more than 1,000 needy people.

“State programs intended to help disabled and elderly Alaskans with daily life — taking a bath, eating dinner, getting to the bathroom — are so poorly managed, the state cannot assure the health and well-being of the people they are supposed to serve, a new federal review found.

The situation is so bad the federal government has forbidden the state to sign up new people until the state makes necessary improvements.

No other state in the nation is under such a moratorium, according to a spokeswoman for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

In the meantime, frail and vulnerable Alaskans who desperately need the help are struggling. One elderly woman is stuck in a nursing home, for lack of care at home. Another woman, suffering from chronic pain and fatigue, said she’s so weak, she often can’t even pop dinner into the microwave.

The moratorium is expected to last four or five months. State officials estimate about 1,000 Alaskans will be affected.

A particularly alarming finding concerns deaths of adults in the programs. In one 2 1/2 year stretch, 227 adults already getting services died while waiting for a nurse to reassess their needs. Another 27 died waiting for their initial assessment, to see if they qualified for help…

The programs cost about $250 million this year, with the federal government currently paying 61 percent of the bill.”

http://www.adn.com/life/health/story/864670.html

Those pesky feds interferring again? You betcha. This time, they shut Palin’s medicaid division down completely. Since the feds didn’t shut down FEMA in New Orleans, you really have to wonder just how bad it was in Alaska under Palin. And please note that for all of Palin’s railing about a government-run health care program being Nazi-eque, she had no problem letting our federal tax dollars fund her state program to the tune of 61%. See, she didn’t mind taking the money. She just didn’t care if the program was actually effective.

That’s a true fiscal conservative at work these days. Their main point is to prove that government under them does not work. It costs more and is less effective. We get it.

So when Sarah Palin talks about Obama’s Death Panel, what we should all be thinking is this is how a Conservative Confesses their Sins.

Accusations are the only way they can purge their soul of the evil they’ve unleashed on humanity, the very lack of basic care their policies inflict, and indeed, the deaths on their conscience.

Sarah Palin’s Death Panel for the Elderly, the Infirm and the Needy has already happened. Or, in conservative speak (insert shrill, hysterical shriek here):

“Sarah Palin’s Death Panel killed old people and Baby Trigs!”

Over 254 people died waiting for care because her administration couldn’t get its act together or just didn’t care. I guess this is like when Alaskans were starving and freezing last winter and instead of doing anything about it, she brought a plate of cookies and a preacher, posed for a photo op, and then completely ignored the problem. You know, like Bush used to do?

Death Panels, you say? She must be so proud! “Mission Accomplished!”

At least that’s one job Sarah Palin managed to finish.

See More Great Articles at Politicususa

Palin: Working-Class Hero? Programs as Governor Favored High-Income Voters

The Washington Indendent
National News In Context
By Laura McGann 10/9/08 1:53 PM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska —
On the campaign trail over the past two weeks, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been courting the working-class vote. “I know what Americans are going through,” she said after the stock markets took another dive last week. “Todd and I, heck, we’re going through that right now even as we speak — which may put me again kind of on the outs of those Washington elite who don’t like the idea of just an everyday, working-class American running for such an office.”

As economic forecasts remain bleak and the foreclosure rate continues to rise, the McCain campaign needs to shore up support among blue-collar workers in such key battleground states as Ohio and Pennsylvania. Palin’s folksy language and personal anecdotes are clearly part of that effort.
Palin often calls herself working class and a regular “Joe Six Pack.” But her income, assets and access to health care place her higher up the economic ladder. While she describes herself as a member of the working class, when faced with policy choices on issues important to blue-collar voters, Palin, over the course of her political career, rarely breaks in their favor.

A close examination of Palin’s record on such issues as health care, the minimum wage, taxes and retirement funds shows that she has remained silent on proposals that would channel public money to programs beneficial to working-class Alaskans. In other instances, Palin supported programs that favored wealthy Alaskans over low-income families.
Financially, Palin and her husband, Todd, are far from being members of the working class. In America, where class is usually defined by household income, a middle-class family earns about $49,000 a year. In Alaska, the median income for a family is about $60,000. The Palins made $166,000 last year, putting them in the top 20 percent of U.S. earners, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. When including the $17,000 Palin received in per diem payments as governor, the family is bumped into the 95th percentile. The Palin’s assets total $1.2 million, including a lakefront house valued at about half a million dollars, a snowmobile and a float plane.
Todd, a union worker on the North Slope, and Sarah Palin both have jobs that include comprehensive health benefits for their family. And, unlike most Americans, Todd Palin and the Palin children are entitled to federally funded comprehensive health care because of Todd’s Native Alaskan ancestry. The Dept. of Health and Human Services provides comprehensive coverage through the Indian Health Service for people like Todd Palin and his children, who trace their Yup’ik heritage back to Todd Palin’s maternal grandmother.

Many working-class advocates in Alaska say that Palin’s affinity for the working class has not resulted in increased funding for programs that benefit working families. Instead, as her supporters say, Palin has established her fiscal conservative bona-fides in resisting spending on social programs — even when the state’s budget surplus is expected to reach between $5 billion and $9 billion next year in a state of about 650,0000 people.

Palin has been specifically criticized for allowing Alaska to remain one of the least generous states in a federally backed health-care program for the children of working-class families; for remaining silent on a proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage; for tacitly supporting the privatization of public employee pensions; and for implementing a regressive tax in her hometown of Wasilla while mayor.

HEALTH CARE
Lack of health care is a hallmark of an hourly, working-class job in America.
Both Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama have taken up the health-care issue in the presidential campaign. Palin noted during the vice-presidential debate that her family has gone through periods when they were uninsured. She said she understands what it’s like for Americans “to sit around the kitchen table” figuring out how to “pay out-of-pocket for health care.”

While this may resonate with many voters, it’s unlikely that Palin or her family has gone for long without health insurance. Todd Palin has had high-paying union jobs on the North Slope for much of the Palins’ marriage. Now, as governor, Sarah Palin qualifies for state coverage. Even if they did lack insurance, the family would likely have qualified for a federally funded state-based program, Alaska Area Native Health Service, because of Todd Palin’s Native Alaskan ancestry.

Residents are eligible for the program’s free services if they hold stock in one of four native Alaska corporations, including the Bristol Bay Native Corp. According to public disclosure forms that Sarah Palin filed with the state of Alaska, her husband and their children are BBNC shareholders, meaning they would likely qualify for the health service program.
The McCain-Palin campaign has not replied to repeated inquiries, left over the course of four days, requesting comment about the native health-care program.

As governor, Sarah Palin has not sought to dramatically expand coverage for the children of working-class Alaskans.

By next year, Alaska’s state budget surplus is expected to be between $5 billion and $9 billion because of the high price of oil. Taxes on oil production and oil royalties account for the bulk of the state’s revenue. Alaskans do not pay income tax.
A separate fund of just under $40 billion holds oil royalties that are distributed yearly to all Alaskans, even children. This year payments hit $2,000 per person. The state also dispensed an additional $1,200 per person to help offset the same high energy prices fueling the budget boon.

During this boom time in Juneau, Palin has proved herself to be a staunch fiscal conservative, rather than a populist politician of the working class.
For example, Alaska is one of the nation’s least generous states when it comes to working-class children’s health-care programs, according to a report from the non-partisan health-care research group Kaiser Family Foundation.

Alaska allows children of parents earning up to 175 percent of the poverty level, or about $30,000 a year, to participate in the program. Only two states in the nation, North Dakota and Nebraska, have less generous programs. Another 40 states cover up to at least 200 percent of the poverty level, around $42,000 nationally.

In May 2007, Palin signed a bill that re-instated 1,300 of 2,500 children who had been cut from the state’s version of the federal “SCHIP” program — the State Children’s Health Insurance Program — during tight financial times a few years before.
Under SCHIP, the federal government grants states 70 percent of the cost of providing health-care for the children of the working-class. Palin’s critics say that during a time of budget surplus the program should be expanded, not just partially reinstated.
“[SCHIP] is a very cheap way of getting health-care for working families,” said Rep. Les Gara, a Democrat from Anchorage who is critical of Palin’s policies affecting the working class. Gara said he thought Alaska should cover children up to 200 percent of the poverty level, as most other states do.

MINIMUM WAGE
One cornerstone of Palin’s campaign on the national stage has been “job creation.”
While mayor of Wasilla from 1996 to 2002, Palin supported growth and job creation as well. Her policies ushered in rapid commercial development — particularly the construction of new big box stores. Today, the biggest employer in Wasilla is Wal-Mart, employing more people than the city.

Palin supports job creation, but she has not supported government’s role in setting wages.
Though the cost of living in Alaska is higher than most other states in the United States, because most basics have to be shipped in, Gov. Palin regularly remained silent on efforts to raise the Alaska state minimum wage from $7.15 an hour to $8 an hour last year. In rural parts of Alaska, like the town of Nome, milk recently topped $7.50 a gallon and gasoline cost $5.36 a gallon. About 5 percent of the Alaska workforce makes minimum wage, some 14,000 people. Next summer the Alaska state minimum wage will fall below the federal minimum wage if it remains the same. The hourly rate is lower than that of 35 other states – and the lowest minimum wage on the West coast.

RETIREMENT PRIVATIZATION
In an interview with Hugh Hewitt last week, Palin sympathized with Americans whose retirement plans are in the market, noting how she felt the pain too.
“The relatively low number of investments that we have, looking at the hit that we’re taking, probably $20,000 last week in his 401(k) plan that was hit. I’m thinking, geez, the rest of America, they’re facing the exact same thing that we are.” When asked why things are tight for her family, she said, “It’s just the great financial crisis that America is in as our savings accounts also, and a 401(k), they’re being hit.”

Palin didn’t mention that she did not intervene when state lawmakers attempted to reinstate a state pension plan supported by labor unions and public employees, for which Palin qualifies.

In 2005 President George W. Bush wrote to state legislatures across the country urging them to privatize state pension programs. Alaska lawmakers, led by then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, adopted such a plan for all new state employees.

Three years later, there is little public support for the system. A coalition of unions, state employees and public policy analysts has formed to push the legislature to re-adopt the old system.

Though both Republican and Democratic leadership has agreed the privatized system probably does not save the state money, a vote to return to a standard pension plan broke along party lines.

“I think with some leadership,” Gara said. “We’d be able to reverse that Murkowski rule.” Gara pointed out that Palin had an 80 percent approval rating at the time of the vote, and her backing could have been vital.

REGRESSIVE TAXATION
Palin’s signature project as mayor of Wasilla was a sports complex, complete with an indoor hockey rink. The project was meant to be a community focal point, particularly in the long, dark winters here. It’s popularity has taken off recently. To pay for the rink, Palin took out a $14.7 million bond. She raised local sales tax by half a percent to cover the cost of the project.

The move perhaps paints a slightly different picture from what Palin’s has presented on the national stage. “As mayor, every year I was in office I did reduce taxes,” Palin said during the vice presidential debate. “I eliminated personal property taxes and eliminated small business inventory taxes and as governor we suspended our state fuel tax.”

At a press conference in Wasilla, the town’s current mayor differentiated the sales tax hike from other types of taxes, noting that it will be eliminated once the bond is repaid.

The tax, though temporary, is still regressive as opposed to progressive. There is no sliding scale adjusted for income level. Federal income taxes, for example, are structured so that those who make more money pay a higher percentage of earnings in taxes. Low-income people, with less disposable money, pay a smaller portion of their overall pay.
“The tax is unfair,” said Bob McIntryre, the director of the non-partisan Citizens for Tax Justice.
McIntyre explained that the tax disproportionately affects low-income families, who generally spend everything they make. “Things that you spend money on that are subject to sales tax goes down dramatically as income rises,” McIntyre said.
In a 2003 report, McIntyre studied Alaska tax policies from 1989 to 2002 and found that regressive tax policies are common in the state. McIntyre found that the poorest Alaskans, those making under $15,000 a year, paid 3.8 percent of their income in Alaska state and local taxes. Middle-income earners paid about 3 percent of their income. Wealthy Alaskans paid roughly 2.8 percent.

With no progressive income tax in place, working-class Alaskans end up paying a higher percent than their wealthy counterparts.

On the campaign trail, in battleground states across the nation. Palin is running as a strong advocate of the working class. This is an essential part of her message. But her record in Alaska, as both a mayor and governor, shows someone who has not been eager to push for pro-working-class policies.

Update: This story has been corrected to say Gov. Sarah Palin signed a health care bill in 2007, not 2004.

Todd's Deposition: Leaked To The Press

by Andrew Halcro-blogger from Alaska

After complaining for the last five weeks about how politics and the media had taken over the intended bi-partisan investigation into Governor Palin's firing of former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, Todd Palin's deposition was leaked to the media on the same day it was delivered to special investigator Steve Branchflower.

Apparently the first dude was trying to get out in front of a fast moving train.

In his 25 page response, Palin covers old ground about his concerns about State Trooper Mike Wooten and events that occurred years before his wife was elected governor. In fact what Palin's deposition shows is a guy who isn't concerned about the safety of his family, it's about a guy who is trying to get even and trying to use the power of his wife's office to accomplish the task.

We've broken down some of the more curious responses and half truths in his depositions, many of which we written about over the last few months.

Page 1, Line 17: "(Wooten) illegally shot a cow moose without a permit"

Palin of course leaves out the fact that his entire family knew the moose was shot illegally in 2003 but that didn't stop him and his family from butchering and eating the meat, only to file the complaint two years later when Wooten was divorcing Sarah's sister.

Page 2, Line 16: "In 2005 and 2006, State Trooper Mike Wooten was the subject of a court ordered domestic violence protective order."

Palin of course leaves out the fact that the order was granted while Wooten was out of state taking his step son to Portland. While he was away, Sarah Palin and her sister went before a judge in Palmer and convinced the judge to grant the order without any evidence of domestic violence. Upon his return, Anchorage Judge John Suddock questioned Palin's sister and immediately revoked the order, calling it an egregious abuse of the legal system.

Page 3, Line 1: "Threats against a public official, and his or her family, fall within the responsibilities of the Department of Public Safety."

True. But the last complaint of any threat occurred over a year before Governor Palin was elected.

In fact, once the divorce was final in early 2006, there were no more complaints or concerns voiced officially against Trooper Wooten.

By the time Palin was elected governor, the Wooten issue was all over except for Todd's obsession.

Page 3, Line 13: "I was not aware of the Grimes report until July 2008, after Monegan left the government."

This is a blatant untruth. Monegan made it very clear that Wooten had already been punished and that is why he couldn't take any further action unless Wooten made another mistake. This is exactly why Monegan kept pushing back when pressured because he legally couldn't take any retro-active action against an employee who had already been punished because it would have violated Wooten's employee rights.

Page 4, Line 3: "I had hundreds of conversations and communications about Trooper Wooten over the last several years with my family, friends, with colleagues, just about everyone I could including government officials."

In a July 18, 2008 press release, Governor Palin stated; “To allege that I, or any member of my family....directed disciplinary action be taken against any employee of the Department of Public Safety, is, quite simply, outrageous.

But yet according to Todd Palin's deposition he complained about Trooper Mike Wooten to Mike Tibbles, Randy Ruaro, Ivey Frye, Frank Bailey, Mike Nizich, John Bitney, John Glass and Audie Holloway.

In addition, during an interview with former Legislative Liason John Bitney last July, he said, "People don't know just how much weight Todd's words have. When Todd Palin makes a suggestion, it's not really a suggestion."

Having this many conversations, over two years after the last interaction with Wooten shows a pattern of Palin's obsession with getting even with Wooten.

Page 5, Line 3: "I make no apologies for wanting to protect my family and wanting to publicize the injustice of a violent Trooper keeping his badge."

This comment makes no sense when considered in the scope of his actions.

First, his family was never in danger. In fact a few months ago Governor Palin felt safe enough on her own to become the first governor to ever discontinue her security detail. Does that really sound like someone who is concerned about a rogue trooper patrolling the neighborhood?

Second, Todd Palin didn't publicize anything. In fact this didn't even become public until Monegan got fired and we broke the story on this blog.

If this really was a case of a "violent trooper keeping his badge", why in the world hasn't the governor done anything to protect the public? Why didn't she hold a press conference and talk about the need to protect the public's safety or introduce legislation or even offer an amendment to any number of suitable pieces of legislation that were making their way through the legislative process?

Why didn't Governor Palin do something, anything, to change the way Trooper's investigate their own to protect the public against future rogue troopers?

The answer is simple; this wasn't about the public being at risk, it was about the Palin's getting even.

Page 5, Line 18: "It is tragic that because Trooper Wooten told a false story to a blogger who repeated it, the legislature has allocated over $100,000 of public money to harass me and numerous other innocents."

Other innocents? Like Frank Bailey who in a recorded phone call to State Trooper Rodney Dial was trying to get Trooper Wooten fired and inferred he was calling on behalf of Todd and Sarah Palin?

In a taped interview with Anchorage Daily News Reporter Kyle Hopkins on August 14, Governor Palin stated unequivocally that Frank Bailey acted completely on his own.

"No one ever directed him to make any calls, he never disclosed he made any calls," Governor Palin said.

However this turned out to be not true.

On February 29, an email was sent from Frank Bailey to Ivy Frye just after Bailey's recorded phone call to Trooper Dial.

"Leaving pretty quick for the airport...call me though I need to give you a heads up. Spoke to Rodney and he doesn't get that kind of stuff since he's a Lieutenant, but he'd definitely pass it on."

Not only that, but Palin also told Hopkins that "Todd never told Frank Bailey or suggest he take on this mission to call a trooper."

However according to state phone logs, Todd Palin called Ivy Frye three times between 1:45pm and 3:50pm on the afternoon of February 28, the day before Bailey's call to Dial.

This set off a flurry of emails which included Todd Palin in the loop and only ended a little more than an hour after Bailey called to try and get Wooten fired.

Then, after all this, Bailey reportedly has testified that the confidential information he received regarding Wooten's personnel file that he passed along to Trooper Dial came from none other than Todd Palin.

Page 12, Lines 1 through 14, Palin talked about how he and the governor were frustrated with Monegan because whenever they need to use the Department of Public Safety King Air, it was always busy.

"We were concerned that the Department of Public Safety was retaliating against Sarah for selling the Murkowski jet that Department of Public Safety officials enjoyed using."

Just one big problem with this assertion; the jet was put on the block before any of Palin's Public Safety Officials could use it. Ironically, Palin has been using the sale of the jet to promote her fiscal prowess on the national stage, telling Americans she sold it on ebay because the department and Alaska didn't need it.

Page 12, Lines 22 to 25: There was an email on June 30, 2008 from Monegan that had the annual AST 2007 report. I was aware that Sarah was not happy with the report. Sarah was having difficulty finding out who had authored it and who was going to take responsibility for it."

The report, which outlined the state crime statistics for 2007 was compiled by the public safety department. In an interview with the Anchorage Daily News in August, Monegan spoke about delivering the annual DPS crime report to Governor Palin where she replied, "This makes me look bad."

It's understandable why according to Todd, "Sarah was not happy with the report", it showed crime was increasing significantly in Alaska under her watch as governor.

The fact that Todd states that she wanted to know who authored it and who was going to take responsibility for it shows just how out of touch she is as governor.

As governor, the buck is stops with her. She is ultimately responsible for the rising rates of crime in Alaska, especially since she has made a fuss about trying to cut the budget at DPS.

This again makes the point that some have made for two years; this administration has been focused more on public relations than public policy....or in this case, public safety.

Your Lying Eyes

Daily Kos
by georgia10
Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 10:55:02 AM PDT

The McCain campaign just can't help itself:

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Senator John McCain has drawn some of the biggest crowds of his presidential campaign since adding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to his ticket on Aug. 29. Now officials say they can't substantiate the figures McCain's aides are claiming. [...]

In recent days, journalists attending the rallies have been raising questions about the crowd estimates with the campaign. In a story on Sept. 11 about Palin's attraction for some Virginia women voters, Washington Post reporter Marc Fisher estimated the crowd to be 8,000, not the 23,000 cited by the campaign.

The McCain campaign cited a fire marshal as the source of the "23,000" figure. But the fire marshal "said his office did not supply that number to the campaign and could not confirm it."

And according to the article, in another incident, the McCain camp claimed "10,000" people showed up for Palin's first public appearance, citing the Secret Service as the source for that figure. But, as the article notes, the Secret Service never gave any information like that to the McCain Campaign.

In lying to make Palin look like a "celebrity" (because being a "celebrity" is ok if you're a Republican), the McCain campaign just adds to its growing credibility problem, raising the question again and again--is there anything that John McCain's campaign won't lie about to win this election?

McCain Pre-Palin:Mayors and Governors

Sam Stien-Sept. 12, 2008-HuffPost

When does being a governor or mayor for a short period of time not disqualify your credentials on national security? When you are John McCain and your task is to defend your vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

When does being a governor or mayor for a short period of time ABSOLUTELY disqualify your credentials on national security? When you are John McCain and your task is to defeat primary opponents Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

Back in October 2007, when McCain's candidacy still appeared dead and buried, the Senator berated the two Republican front runners for lacking the necessary political experience to handle commander in chief responsibilities.

"I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism," the Senator declared. "I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."

Fast-forward nearly a year, and the argument McCain made back then is being used against his vice presidential pick today. Only Sarah Palin held the post of mayor of Wasilla for less time than Rudy Giuliani headed New York City. And her gubernatorial stint in Alaska is shorter than that of Mitt Romney's in Massachusetts.

McCain, not surprisingly, has changed his tune. His campaign has suggested that as head of Alaska's national guard, Palin had more national security experience than Obama. The Senator himself went on Fox News and declared:

"I'm so proud that she has displayed the kind of judgment and she has the experience and judgment as an executive... She's been commander in chief of the Alaska National Guard ... she's had judgment on these issues. She's had 12 years of elected office experience, including traveling to Kuwait, including being involved in these issues. I'm so proud she has the experience and judgment as an executive."

And yet, for critics, Palin's interview with ABC on Thursday evening was an apt demonstration of the criticisms McCain raised about mayors and governors back in October. In her first interview since being tapped as McCain's vice president, Palin showed, in some respects, the limitations of her foreign policy capacity. Time's Joe Klein wrote, "A joke... This woman clearly has no idea what she's talking about. What an embarrassment." Unable to define the Bush Doctrine and contradicting McCain on Pakistan, she acknowledged that she had only visited a handful of countries and never met with another world leader. Then, it was her turn to ridicule the lengthy Washington resume that defines McCain.

"Charlie, again, we've got to remember what the desire is in this nation at this time," she said to the ABC host. "It is for no more politics as usual and somebody's big, fat resume maybe that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they've had opportunities to meet heads of state."