The Hollywood Liberal

America Last? Sarah Palin Once A Member of the Alaskan Independence Party
Palin used to belong to a party whose motto is “Alaska First — Alaska Always.”

Alaskan Independence Party

Ouch. ABC Political punch on Palin’s unAmerican past:

Officials of the Alaskan Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can secede from the United States.

And while McCain’s motto — as seen in a new TV ad — is “Country First,” the AIP’s motto is the exact opposite — “Alaska First — Alaska Always.”

It was in 1994, mind you, 14 years ago, but still. Wonder if the vetters managed to miss this, too. It’s not like this invites much confidence in the vetting process:

Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr., the lawyer who conducted the review, told The Associated Press in an interview Monday that Palin underwent a “full and complete” examination before McCain chose her. Asked whether everything that came up as a possible red flag during the review already has been made public, Culvahouse said: “I think so. Yeah, I think so. Correct.”

Okaaaaay. If I had an employee talk to me like that about work I’d given them, I’d be getting it checked, post-haste.

Unreal.

Overnight
Rock on.

The Department of Labor in the Bush Years: A Damage Assessment
Under Bush, the Labor department has been stacked against workers’ rights.

There Used to Be a Ballpark Here
Years ago, Frank Sinatra sang a song essentially in tribute to the sense of loss created by the Brooklyn Dodgers moving to Los Angeles. It was about sense of community, sense of being part of a group. Bill Bishop’s…

The Daily Muck
The House Oversight Committee yesterday questioned Pentagon and KBR Inc. officials over delays in protecting U.S. forces in Iraq from faulty electrical wiring. Oversight Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) interrogated the Pentagon’s inspector general about absolving KBR in the death…

Models of personal responsibility

I thought that these social conservatives were supposed to be models of personal responsibility? Abstinence education (that Sarah Palin supports)? I’m guessing that didn’t work. It never worked. After throwing millions of dollars into the abstinence education the rate of teenage pregnancies hasn’t dropped.

Here’s the problem – whenever you try to keep information away for people it always backfires. If you give teenagers the information about sex, sexually transmitted diseases and the like then let their parents give them the moral backbone, things will work out much better.

Drudge rules Nina Easton?s world: ?I think Drudge has gotten less partisan.?
In a book he co-authored in 2006, Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin — speaking for traditional media — wrote that the Drudge Report “rules our world.” During a media panel hosted by the Politico this afternoon in St. Paul, a questioner asked the reporters what websites they turned to first every morning to get their news. […]

In a book he co-authored in 2006, Time Magazine’s Mark Halperin — speaking for traditional media — wrote that the Drudge Report “rules our world.” During a media panel hosted by the Politico this afternoon in St. Paul, a questioner asked the reporters what websites they turned to first every morning to get their news. Nearly all the reporters said Drudge still rules their world. Fox News contributor and Fortune Magazine journalist Nina Easton had lavish praise for Drudge:

NINA EASTON: I use Drudge. I think Drudge is really, really useful on keeping up on things. If I have to go on-air in 10 minutes, and I need to make sure I’m not missing something, something didn’t break. I just click on Drudge. I think Drudge has gotten less partisan, or you know, whatever it was at the beginning. I think it really is, if you want to know what’s in the water table of the news, you gotta click on it several times a day.

Watch it:

Only Politico’s Jim Vandehei mentioned a liberal site. “Almost every day, I start by going to Drudge and then Huffington,” he said, to get an idea of “what people are popping on both the left and the right.”

Is Congress Really a Juicy Target for McCain?
Some Republicans are downright giddy these days about Congress’ unpopularity. They argue that Republicans, including the party’s presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), will be able to tag Democrats with being unwilling to deal with the nation’s problems, and they are counting on the short Congressional session after the Republican National Convention to expose divisions in Democratic ranks, as well as the party’s liberal bent. That’s exactly the argument made by Republican-political-strategist-turned-TV-commentator Karl Rove in a Wall Street Journal column late last week.