I stand corrected

My sister sent me some information from factcheck.org regarding some of the statements I've been reporting in my blog (and in emails to family and friends) about Caribou Barbie. Turns out, some of them are wrong, and if not wrong, are just not exactly accurate.

My apologies.

Of course I can only hope that factcheck.org is accurate in what they are reporting (who sponsors that website, and does it attempt to report consistently for BOTH sides of the political debate?) I did a follow-up on Snopes.com on a couple of the issues I had discussed, and found there too that some of the information going through the media is *surprise* false...or at least stretched to within an inch of it's life.

I guess I would feel bad about this if Faux News suddenly went on air with a breaking story about how they have totally distorted virtually everything any Democratic candidate has ever done or said. I would also feel bad if key leaders of the GOP didn't regularly go on television or in speeches and hint at Obama being a Muslim, or his wife unpatriotic. I would definitely feel bad about this if at LEAST half of the "facts" Mrs. Palin herself spouted during her acceptance speech at the GOP convention last week hadn't ALSO been lies.

However, I will raise my hand and promise to do better. I will definitely try to multiple source any claims I make against her in future blogs.

This does not change the fact (and this IS the fact) that the only purpose her candidacy has is to make the voters even more divisive than ever. The GOP operatives knew full well when they decided to make her McCain's running mate that she would reignite the debate on issues that the country is clearly split down the middle on (abortion, teaching creationism in schools, more drilling in wildlife areas), and ultimately as long as the glare of the spotlight was on her, and her Jerry Springer -Goes-To-Alaska family then the spotlight would NOT be on the actual presidential candidate...who is the one we SHOULD be vetting as a nation. She is nothing more than a decoy, and the GOP powers have no intention of ever letting her be anything MORE than a cute chick who is "outdoors-y" (a direct quote from Pat Buchanon) and can clearly fend for herself if Armageddon DOES occur and she and her family have a hankerin' for roast moose followed by a good snowmobile race through a fragile arctic ecosystem.

She is the foil for McCain's "problems" with America's voters. There is no reason that his bland speech at the GOP convention would have roused the "independent" voters to boost his place in the polls...it is just the "buzz" about Sarah. She went for the jugular, and in spite of the fact that most of her direct hits on Obama were inaccurate (and you can check that on factcheck.org) the good 'ol boys and gals out there in FauxNewsLand were thrilled. She didn't abort her Downs Syndrome baby? She's a hero! She knows how to kill and dismember large animals? She spunky! She is "standing by" her pregnant teenage daughter? She's a loving, caring mother! She's a Good Christian Woman! She's a Mother! She married her high school sweetheart!

Okay. Officially. Who gives a damn about any of that? Here's what I care about:

1) The cost of gasoline in my town jumped $.15 a gallon in a matter of hours, based I assume on speculation that Hurricane Ike is going to blast the refineries near Houston to Kingdom Come. The cost of fuel for our two vehicles per month has now become our second largest expenditure...nearly tied with the cost of groceries. Will McCain/Palin put pressure on oil speculators and companies to change this? No. Their solution is to let the oil companies run amouck through what is left of our environment with drills and pipes, with the veiled promise that once our supply is bigger (which would take at least a decade if not longer) then the price of gasoline will drop! Hooray! I don't believe a word of it, of course, because then the oil companies will tack on the cost of all that infrastructure they had to build to do the new drilling and pipeline stuff. Please people....think this through!

2) The war in Iraq is an embarrassment to our country, and a travesty to the people of a nation that was NOT threatening us. We have destroyed lives, entire families, and changed the way we are viewed in the world; and meddled in the balance of power in the Middle East. We need to get out as quickly and efficiently as possible. Will McCain/Palin make this happen? McCain said in February at a town hall meeting that US Troops could be in Iraq as long as 100 years..."As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, it's fine with me and I hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day."

3) Meanwhile, back at the al Qaeda Training Ranch in Afghanistan, the Taliban has strengthened and become a volatile force again because we didn't commit the troops we needed to truly rout them out in the first place. McCain has pretty much followed the Bush strategy of ignoring the "true" war to fight the "Faux" war in Iraq.

4) Global Warming. Can't emphasize this strongly enough. This is THE main reason we can't re-elect more Republicans to the White House. Republicans pander to the notion that Global Warming is a bunch of hooey, and we should have the God-Given right to drive our super-sized SUVs any damn place we want. I just wish my kids weren't going to have to suffer the consequences of your selfish outlook on this.

5) The economy, stupid. Gas prices are high, food prices are high, people are going into foreclosure or bankruptcy...the economy is in the toilet. I thought the GOP was the party that was supposed to be GOOD for business? Huh? What the? Maybe they are only good for a few select corporations. They certainly haven't proved to be a big help to the middle and lower class in the last eight years.


We have to save ourselves people. Forget Sarah. Forget the fact that Cindy is an heiress. Forget about the fact that Obama didn't wear his "made in China" flag lapel pin for a few months. We need to stay focused on what is important...and that is making sure that the horrific decisions and policies of the last eight years are changed.

And me? I'll try to stick to the facts.