I thought, when the Dem Congress came to power in 2006, at least one good thing would occur: Dems would quit the crazy talk about Iraq and begin more responsible talk. I thought, with Dems in power, the Democratic Party would not want to become known as a party which pushed for American defeat. I was so naive.

Amen Gerard,

The media is so crazed about Palin; look at the way it is spinning her interview comments into headlines - but it is too late; sensible Americans are now wise to a media that already tipped its hand. The media doesn't care about experience; it just doesn't want a woman from off the liberal reservation leading the country.

I find CNN - the shrewish Campell Brown and Gloria Vanderbilt's condescending boy - particulary disgusting...

It's over for Obama. Over.

Sigh, I feel the same way. I don't think I can (perhaps never will) call myself "Republican," but I'm so repelled by the Democrats (who include by the way my friends, in fact all the people around me are pro-Obama/left), & especially the egregious media bias/distortion, that I just can't see myself voting Dem in any foreseeable future.

And what galls most is not just the despicable (or self-deluded) behavior you refer to, but the holier-than-thou self-righteous sanctimony, the conviction that it is *Republicans* (never Dems!) who lie, distort, smear, etc. A case of utter & complete projection. No motes in their eye. And a very convenient rationalization: when your opponents are "evil," of course the ends justify the means: the Dem lies, media distortions, flagrant bias & misquoting by purportedly objective journalistic institutions (who are basically full-fledged volunteers for Obama's campaign), all that doesn't "count" as unethical: for their cause is Good, and after all only defensive (necessary tactics against Republicans with no scruples at all). When all I see, clear as day, is the reverse. Ugh, ugh, ugh, so frustrating. If it weren't for the internet/blogs, I think I'd feel like I was living in the Twilight Zone. Among the "reality-constituting" community.

I was actually considering not voting in this election. But now I can't deny what I feel, more & more every day: I'm rooting for McCain/Palin with all my heart.

"And what galls most is not just the despicable (or self-deluded) behavior you refer to, but the holier-than-thou self-righteous sanctimony, the conviction that it is *Republicans* (never Dems!) who lie, distort, smear, etc. A case of utter & complete projection. "

Interesting point and ITA. It is kind of shocking to watch people, who just spent an entire week going to town on Sarah Palin with the filthiest, most easily disprovable lies, including the complete and utter nonsensical belief that she hadn't birthed her own child, try to say that the REPUBLICANs are running the dirtiest campaign they've ever seen. Really? I mean, how can I take that seriously? How can people say that and actually mean it?

What an outstanding and spot on piece. As a former lifelong Dem I can only agree 1000%.

The last 2 weeks have exceeded the normal vile and repugnant behavior and attitudes of the Democrats and the media (now 1 whole) to an extent I never could have believed possible. It is truly horrifying.

They are sick, they are insane, they are lost. How do they ever recover from this?

http://sarahpalinforpresident.blogspot.com/

My local McCain/Palin office has run out of "Democrats For McCain" yard signs.

"How do they ever recover from this?"

At a certain point, political parties don't recover but are replaced by something better that comes along. The Whigs gave way to the Repbulicans in the mid 1800s. It's been a long time since a change like that. Maybe, if the Democrats keep going down this path, there will be a new party to take their place.

kcom, you may be right. My bet is it will take a generation.

Andrea, I sympathize with your turmoil. It took me at least 6 months to come to terms with the fact that I was no longer a Democrat in name or belief and thus must be a Republican (as I understood I was at heart conservative). I reject "independent" although McCain was making that look a lot more attractive this past year. To be a disaffected Dem facing becoming a Republican, given all the negative baggage that adheres to that name when one is a good and obedient liberal, is a painful and almost ego-destroying thing. It's not at all easy and though I hate cliches, for me it truly was a paradigm shift. After it was all over, it felt good. The transition was excruciating. I was homeless for quite a while.

You'll either settle into "independence" or you will eventually reconcile yourself to what you are and the cognitive dissonance will cease.

The Democrats have become the nihilist party. There are no objective standards of decency, no fixed rules of personal conduct. Any attempt to suggest such things is seen as the ultimate in repression.

From a description of Nietszche's definition of nihilism:

The caustic strength of nihilism is absolute, Nietzsche argues, and under its withering scrutiny "the highest values devalue themselves. The aim is lacking, and 'Why' finds no answer" (Will to Power). Inevitably, nihilism will expose all cherished beliefs and sacrosanct truths as symptoms of a defective Western mythos. This collapse of meaning, relevance, and purpose will be the most destructive force in history, constituting a total assault on reality and nothing less than the greatest crisis of humanity...

Is this not the Democratic party you describe?

This is one of those essays that is so fine in its wisdom and indignation that the comment section fills with the storm surge.

Great reading and catharsis - yet again.

McCain's choice of Sarah Palin was inspired and I mean that in a spiritual sense. The MSM's and Dem's response has been exactly the opposite of inspiring, to their great detriment. I think it will be clear on Nov 5.

I don't agree with everything McCain or Palin stand for or say they believe in, but I love the content of their character. Also, I agree with them more often than not. Considering the other choice, they win hands down, and I will vote for them. There is absolutely no way on God's Green Earth I will change my mind. I most likely will never vote for a Democrat again, even if he/she is decent and down-to-earth, because they will just join what I consider to be an ugly mob anyway.

The Democratic Party seems to be a party of no values and no character these days. It certainly has no real sense of Nationhood anymore. It's ideas of what's in the national interest is repugnant to me.

Regarding the destruction of the party (as with the Whigs over a century ago), I've been saying it for years. From my blog, June 2004:

To be blunt: The Democrat Party as we know it will no longer exist in 20 years. Possibly 10 years.

Modern liberalism is in its death throes. I predict that Bush will win this fall’s election by a handy margin, and that Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential run will be the last stand for modern leftists in this country. If they win 2008 they have a few more decades; if not, they’re toast.

The name of the post was "The Way of the Whigs".

welcome brothers and sisters. I made the same discovery some years ago. I was left by the party of my parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. It takes some time to come to grips with a new political identity-but it can be done. The Democrats have no soul, as Zell Miller and Joe Liberman found out in 2004.

A fine essay. Let me make one observation. Tip O'Neill (late Speaker of the House (D)) once said that all politics is local. In the NE and Rust Belt, the Dem power flows primarily from corrupted urban political machines (see Showtime's program Brotherhood). However, there are pockets of local Democrat politics, e.g. Virginia, that make positive contributions to the commonweal. The Dems problem is that the national power structure is dominated by the toxic combination of machine politics and "progressivism" whose only commonality is the uncontrollable lust for power. Remember the DLC? Where are the Pat Moynihans, John Breauxs, and Zell Millers, to say nothing of the Joe Liebermans, in today's Democrat Party? It seems to me the problem is how can the party evolve away from its philosophical and ideological dependence on a Soviet and fascist influenced FDR and the New Deal? Can ideas and programs which arguably haven't worked well for 75 years produce positive results in the digital world of globalization? If the small pockets of sanity are to regain a position of influence in the Democrat Party, surprisingly, a John McCain administration working together with the now scattered individuals who can see their dead-end future may be able to rescue the Democrats as an honorable national political party. My thinking about the McCain nomination, once bleakly negative, is tending toward the conclusion that it may, and I stress may, be transformational for both political parties. Who'd a thunk it?

Sorry to step on beard.g's toes. Above posted by me.

The "Democratic Party" as such died 20-25 years ago. The immediate cause of death were the campaign finance "reforms" that made party unity and community less important than appeasing the various well-monied, left-wing, special interest groups that foot much of the bill these days.

My favorite story about this is one from the "Borking" of Robert Bork by Ted Kennedy. Senator Kennedy went to the Well and blasted Reagan's nomination of Mr. Bork in one of the most (in)famous speeches ever given in Senate history: He called Bork everything but a white man. What's not widely known is the aftermath: Bork noted in his autobiography that after this speech he made the rounds of all the Senators on the Judiciary Committee, as is customary, and while in Kennedy's office he was treated civilly and professionally by the staff. Kennedy sat in on the meeting and wouldn't look Bork in the eye the entire time. Afterwards he shook Bork's hand and blurted out that it had been "nothing personal...nothing personal...just what I had to do..." and darted out of the room.

Kennedy by this time was bought and paid for, you see. He'd sold his soul to the special interest groups on the left and when they came to him and told him to "destroy" Bork, he obeyed his masters. He still felt bad about it, but what could he do except as he was told?

That's the Democrat Party today. They're in the pockets of groups that hate America, want to destroy and re-make it in their own images, and don't care who they run over in the process - even their own base.

"My poor Krell. After a million years of shining sanity, they could hardly have understood what power was destroying them."-Dr. Edward Morbius

I'm back to the Bellerophon now, there's monsters that need killin'

As bad as things are, it could be worse. Just look at Europe, where the elites have had far more success implementing the leftist agenda. As a result, Europe faces a future of civil war, fascism, dhimmitude aned civilizational decline.

Reading essays like this make me feel like I need to go reread The Fourth Turning again.

(For the record, I'm a moderate libertarian/republican who voted for Bill Clinton twice but pretty much won't ever vote for a Democrat again on any level.)

The new racism of the Democrat requires one loathe oneself first and last, and to accuse those that do not of racism.

This sounds identical to Black Liberation Theology's plan for the "redemption" of white people.

As a lifelong conservative, I sorely miss the Democratic party of yesteryear (The old party began to die when the Clintons took power). Those were days when Mondale nominated a dignified Feraro and debated actual issues in the public forum. Those were the days when Dukakis at least made an effort to keep all public debate issues-related. And, before my time, when JFK and LBJ (and to a lesser extent, the Tip O'Neils and Adlei Stevensons) believed in Country over Party, and today would likely not recognize their own political descendants.

Today, the Press is eager to crown their king and so claim they not only took part in history, they shaped it. Today, Harry Reid is more interested in demoralizing troops by saying the surge was a failure for his own political gain. Today, the current governor of Washington sits in her office having brazenly stolen it in broad daylight. Today, celebrities and Congressman parrot each other's talking points in rushing to compare Obama to Christ.

The Republican party is not a party of saints either, not by any stretch. And it too is not quite the same party I knew in my youth. But if they had behaved as the Left has behaved these last two weeks, and even in the last ten years, then I would be among those leaving similar comments above.

Sad, really.

Baldilocks!

I came here via a link from the VRWC-sphere.

Excellent, and powerful essay filled with eloquant, elaquant, el..., er, vivid imagery.

I applaud your prose and your reason.

What is the "VRWC-sphere?"

I'm a Democrat whose mother was a big wig the Democratic Womens Club in Austin, Texas for nearly a decade and whose father worked for LBJ for many years.They were hard line conservatives until the seventies and there was a decided swing left. I believe Viet Nam left such a bad taste in our mouths that it fueled the swing left. Hell, I was leading the charge. We became socialists no doubt about it. We tried to tear down every value system existing. It was going to be the Utopia it was supposed to be and we were using any method available to achieve it . We were perfecting vote fraud in amazingly simple ways. With the courts protecting our flank under the guise of disenfranchisement.

Then I began to see how rabid the hard liners were. Their agenda wasn't dedicated to equality and justice, it was only about power. They were the epitome of Big Brother. Thought control and slavery to the system. I detested the religious book burners but they had nothing on the purge of intellectual thought my fellow Democrats were planning. It wasn't the Conservatives who were so hate filled, it was us. Hating people who oppose or have the nerve to question them in any degree and vilify every action of those they deem to be heretic.

They have a totalitarian agenda and have undermined our rights, creating a fascist state inside the Democratic Party and the state at large. I voted for Bill Clinton believing he would bring change. He did, now moderate voices are shouted down within the party and the courts are the new political battleground. Starting with the Florida vote tragedy. Yes, tragedy. It was a tragedy that Gore tried an end run around the law and attacking the Supreme Court once they said to obey the law. That episode probably hurt the nation as much as 9/11. Maybe more. Then the whining over "What the eeeevil Republicans have done to our rights. If anything the Republicans have been complicit with the Clintons in turning a blind eye to the skulduggery of the Democrats and not standing up to them.

Clinton signed a slew of "Executive Orders" that undermined the bill of rights. His justice department sent federal officers and soldiers to execute an illegal warrant and siege in Waco that resulted in nearly 90 people dead. Using tactics that are decried in the capitol as torture today. The majority were children, burned to death in a suspect fire. Janet Reno killed more children than McVeigh and he got the needle. Ann Richards was governor at the time and not a peep of recrimination came from her office. What was worse, my fellow Democrats did NOTHING. I was told to shut up by my fellow party members, don't make a fuss over a few loonies. I hated Bush 41 for his heavy handed FBI and when the Feds continued kicking in our doors and killing women and children after Bill Clinton's election my opinion of him changed. He never did enough about Jihadis blowing up our citizens but he was hell on Christian separatists.

Then my party nominated Al Gore, He's the real moron. He has a high school education and some college. Flunked out twice. Pathological Liar. Raised in a household and elitist society of rabid racists. Hung with the gear in the rear in the Army. He would have been in a lot more danger if he served in Detroit or East St Louis.
Then John Kerry in a spectacle of irony that melted rational thought. Again their disbelief at not winning when their voting fraud skulduggery failed.

And now the savaging of the Palin family and excusing it with "Well if she didn't want them attacked she shouldn't have run"
So is that what it's been reduced to now?
I was taught to stand up to bullies. Isn't that something Joe Biden bragged about.
Now he promotes the bullies.

So here I am with my eyes open and without the representation I felt I once had. The money people behind the party are dangerous. Wolves in sheep's clothing. Their way or the highway. No dissent permitted.

What is the "VRWC-sphere?"

Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ...

What darwin said.

It was a play on Hillary's famous line of the "..vast right wing conspiracy."

G-money! I take it you like my idea or you're happy to see me. Or both. :-)

I think it is high time we take our parties back. It will be a lot of hard work, but we can do it. I remember, too, when the parties talked about the issues, and were truly wanting the best for America. The DNC and RNC both need work. I hope McCain/Palin will be the start for the RNC. We just need to find some decent men and women to run in the DNC.

The current democrat party makes me ashamed to have ever voted for them. Lieberman, the last sane one, should have turned out the lights when he left.

The most appalling thing is their love of hatred, they way they take glee in the misfortune or death of someone on the other side of the aisle, the refusal to acknowledge the opponent as human in any way, the dim-witted celebrities lining up to spew venom at a woman about whom they know nothing other than she allowed her last child to be born. How strange that they find this to be the unforgivable sin. There's something very Sodom-and-Gomorrah about the democrats at this point, wallowing in their vices. Be sure to shake the dust from your sandals as you leave town.

Republicans aren't perfect, being human and all, but McCain seems like decent man, with a sense of honor, striving to do the right thing and I like Sarah Palin's promise of a servant's heart.

Wow, great essay. I felt like drinking a Singapore Sling with a shot of mezcal on the side while reading this. The best part being that I can heartily agree with the author instead of chuckling along with a perverted intrigue in what would be said next.

I'm a 9/11 convert to Conservation, for me a lot of veils came down that day, and the big difference between both parties that I have noticed is at least Republicans throw out their corrupt politicians by not re-electing them to office.

The Democrat politicians, on the other hand, are predominately lawyers which I guess must be the reason why so many corrupt Democrats remain in office for decades.

I mean Madam Pelosi will not be demanding that corrupt Chick Rangel will not be removed as Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee?

Did not Pelosi win the House by campaigning on ending the "culture of corruption"?

Until the Democratic Party takes action to throw out its corruption then I will remain a member of the Republican Party.

Wow. This is an excellent essay. But I feel the same way about the Republican party. The first election I was eligible to vote in was in 1980; I voted for Reagan. Then in 1984 I campaigned for his re-election, wrote poetry in support of the cause for the Texas Review at UT, and participated in the campus debate. I contributed to and voted for Republican candidates for 25 years to achieve a majority in the House and Senate, and the Presidency in 2004.

And look at what happened. The Republicans completely abandoned their principles and did not govern on the platform by which they were elected. To say they spent like drunken sailors would be an insult to drunken sailors. It took only two years for them to be relegated to minority status in both houses of Congress. Talk about an utter failure to deliver.

I haven't contributed to the Republican party since, and I don't intend to either. I can't stand McCain, however given the choice between him and Obama, well, that isn't much of a choice.

You're exactly right about the current makeup of the Democratic party; it is diseased. But the only difference between it and the Republican party is the spelling.

A politician is a politician is a politician. People in positions of power make decisions based on their own interests. This is why I favor limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, and term limits. I don't want politicians in positions of power making decisions in their own interests with my money.

I think both parties need to be completely reconstructed. Throw the bums out, that's what I say. It will take time, of course, a few election cycles, but my overriding concern is that elected officials represent the people whom they were placed in office to serve. That would be the great and mighty middle class of these United States, not the monied special interests of elite diseased snobs.

I don't hold much hope for the next few years, but from what I've seen lately, electing Sarah Palin to the Presidency in 2012 would be a good start toward reforming both parties and the federal government as a whole.

Dems are definitely making huge mistakes.
I was talking with my GF - lefty as the day is long - and when I said "your candidate" in regards to Obama she corrected me saying "he's not MY candidate, so you know". Here, in deep-blue NY! First time I had any inkling on that whatsoever. I don't think she's voting at all, though.

The example of the Republicans should have taught the Obama pack that Rovean tactics always destroy the party that practices them.

Curiously, these tactics also lead to the nomination of incompetent ex-cokeheads for the office of President.

I have to agree with Beta Ochoa, the recount debacle of 2000 was incredibly damaging and enlightening. I sensed a loss of the grip on decency by the losing party that has compounded. That the country handed Congress to Reid and Pelosi only demonstrates that Republicans are (and, at this point, should be) held to a higher standard. Fred Thompson and John McCain are right, the party deserved the beatdown, but electing Obama and flipping two branches would be a disaster requiring momentous recovery. It is incomprehensible to me how Bush is compared unfavorably to Carter by otherwise sane Democrats.

Not my URL but an example of the wacko wildlife and environmental organizations jumping in to savage Palin by taking money from naive wildlife enthusiasts who think they are helping wolves and bears (Oh My!..Yes they "are off to see the wizard") when all they are doing is funding the far left's smear campaign against Palin in a desperate attempt to swing undecided voters to Obama. They have no morals! What a crock - they can put this ad on TV all they want now!

Because of all the lies and distortions that have been aired on TV and in print, nobody that matters in America will believe anything they say about Palin or even care if it is true. The "drive by" LIBERAL media has seen to that, so the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund and their cohorts in the media can all just crawl back under the rocks they crawled out from under. They are all so out of touch with America that they think someone is going to vote against McCain for President because they accuse his VP of having a vendetta against wolves in the coldest place on earth? Do they think people will fear the government will start aerial slaughter of wolves throughout the 50 states? Or are people supposed to think that it would be better if Palin fought for the wolves' "right to life". After all she chose to give life to a defective baby in her own womb. They think she has her priorities backwards. You can bet if she was for saving the wolves and murdering her defective baby in her womb, these wackos would be voting for her. Whoever is behind this brutality to wild animals smear is really seriously deranged.

Here is the truth of the matter and the real choice for you to make - would you rather vote for a war hero, patriot and dedicated lifelong public servant John McCain with a VP who believes in right to life for humans and protects livestock from wolves or would you chose to vote for the empty suit Obama who is buddies with terrorists, murderers and America hating religious con men - a no brainer for any sane American.

Speaking of wolves the Defenders of Wildlife Fund and their allies in the media are the Wolves ....in sheep's clothing. Maybe when Sarah is VP she will put a bounty on all of them! As we all know they are more dangerous to America and freedom than wolves in the Arctic! Yep, that could be their worst nightmare, first the wolves, then them, the real dangerous, vicious wild animals roaming America, "seeking whom they may devour!".

Since I like seeing desperation in the liberal establishment during this election season I'll keep the Defenders of Wildlife emails coming, but I've asked them after McCain wins to please remove me from their SUCKER list. Have a nice day!

All I can say is it does my heart good to know there are people in the Democrat party who still retain a sense of fair play and goodness towards people who disagree - sometimes vehemently - on politics. It was said by someone, "we can disagree without being disagreeable." How true, and how easily the current incarnation of the Democrat leadership has disregarded that concept.

I refuse to believe their are Democrats who march in lockstep with the extremism of todays Dem party. I refuse to believe there are Democrats who believe killing babies is no big deal. I refuse to believe there are Democrats who believe cutting and running is the way to support our military and national interests. I refuse to believe there are Democrats who think it's perfectly okay to make up the most vicious lies (spread via a like-thinking media) about an opposing candidate, while on the other hand accusing the people they are smearing with lying about them!

This thread has given me hope that there are people who can see above all this garbage.

Since the URL on my last post was shortened it does not link to the message that the Defenders of Wildlife Fund is sending out nationwide where they state they want to air their ad before the election in Nov. so they can sway the undecided vote - oddly enough you can only link to it from the link they sent out as you can not find it on their home site even if you search for it (I wonder why)Since the digest will not allow it to be displayed here I am including the email they are sending out. People should be able to see this so they can relate to what I am saying in my original post - thanks.

Email:
Sent: Friday, September 12, 2008 5:06 PM
Subject: UPDATE: Palin's Brutal Wolf Record on TV

-- It's only been a few hours, but the response to our hard-hitting new television ad highlighting Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's brutal record on aerial hunting of wolves has been phenomenal!

Thanks to the contributions of more than 4,500 caring wildlife supporters, our powerful Palin ad is already airing on television stations in Ohio. With your help, we can air it on television in another important swing state: Florida.

Can you contribute $40 or another amount to help run this ad in Florida?

Governor Sarah Palin could be just a heartbeat away from the White House. Please help us fight to provide a voice for wildlife and get the word out about her brutal record on aerial hunting before it's too late.

With Gratitude,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

P.S. Today, we've received calls from ABC, NBC, CNN, the Wall Street Journal and several Ohio newspapers -- all interested in the ad that you're helping to run. Please donate today to help ensure that even more people know the truth about Sarah Palin!

And there is more in the email (riddled with references to swing states, undecided voters, and the election)showing the TV ad with this garbiage, I mean verbiage.

Dear Sasquatch,

We’re getting the word out to voters about Governor Sarah Palin’s barbaric record on killing America’s wildlife, especially her active promotion of the brutal aerial hunting of wolves and bears.

Since Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund released our hard-hitting video on her support for the wolf slaughter last week…

Nearly 450,000 potential voters have read our email!
More than 68,000 potential voters have viewed the video on YouTube, with many more spread the word by re-posting the video on their websites and blogs and forwarding it to friends.
CNN and other news outlets have picked up the story, running clips from Defenders of Wildlife Action fund and our sister organization Defenders of Wildlife.
To reach hundreds of thousands of swing voters who will help decide this election, we’ve created a powerful new television spot detailing Governor Palin’s efforts to kill wolves and bears. But we can only run it with your financial help today.

Click here to watch our new television ad on Governor Palin’s support for aerial hunting and help us run it on television stations starting in Ohio, one of the handful of swing states that will decide the election.

Warning: This television ad -- like the governor’s support for this brutal practice -- is disturbing.

Running a television ad during an election year is expensive. We need to raise $100,000 by September 17th to run this ad and support our work to provide a voice for endangered wildlife.

We’ve had hundreds of calls and emails from our supporters urging us to get the word out on Governor Palin’s bounty proposal to reward wolf killers with a $150 check and her support for aerial hunting of wolves and bears. Please donate $40 or whatever you can afford today to help us raise the funds we need to get the word out.

We have plenty of work to do.

As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin has proposed paying a $150 bounty for the foreleg of each dead wolf. The aerial hunting program she champions has already killed nearly 800 wolves. She’s opposed efforts to save America’s polar bears from extinction. She’s fought against efforts to save some of the world’s most endangered beluga whales.

At nearly every opportunity, Governor Palin has sided with Big Oil, mining companies, wealthy trophy hunters and other entrenched special interests in support of policies that would greatly harm the wild animals we treasure.

American voters deserve to know the truth about Governor Sarah Palin’s record that’s killing our wildlife. Please donate today to help us run our new ad in Ohio next week, a key swing state.

With the election less than 50 days away, we don’t have much time to help voters learn about the real Sarah Palin. Please donate $40 or whatever you can afford today to help us spread the word.

With Gratitude,

Rodger Schlickeisen
President
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund

P.S. We don’t have much time to get our Palin ad on the air. Please make a secure contribution online today or call 1-800-425-4632 to make your contribution by phone.

Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Donate Now | Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund Home

I just don't understand how causing McCain to lose the election will help any wild animals - Sarah Palin will still be Governor of Alaska! Go figure.

Here are some facts... decide for yourself.
Aerial Wolf Gunning 101
http://www.slate.com/id/2199140

This was an incredible article full of insight and visual imagery in its prose.

No matter what party a person is affiliated with, the bottom line of anyone's voting intent should be to make this country better. Making it better means safe, fiscally sound, challenging, having a social consciousness that does not intrude upon a person creating their own path, and implementing a compassion that augments and builds up rather than corrupts and weakens.

The democratic party, though, is built upon a philosophy of enabling in order to create a beholding contituency. It divides rather than units people in it's policy making. It seeks mediocrity rather than excellence. It looks for the bitter pill to bring people together, rather than collective gratitude to establish stronger bonds with each other.

Like the writer of this article implies, the "processed fast food" progressive democrats lure people in with has nothing but empty calories, no substance, but is, nonetheless, very addictive and hard to deactivate, once it is in place.

As a former Democrat myself, I was stunned by the accuracy with which you captured the essence of why people like you and I walked away from the party. They have come to represent all the political evils that they have traditionally and repeatedly associated with the Republicans. I, too, look back in regret to what our first party once was -- but I have no delusions about what they are now. Thank you for a truly insightful piece of writing.

I've been saying this sort of thing since I didn't vote for Bill Clinton in his second term (I did the first time, because I felt he would change things). If it hadn't been for the election of a Republican majority in Congress, I shudder to think what might have happened.

I was simply appalled at the things they were doing and the way they lied about their motives and the impacts of their efforts. Remember the "S-chip"? Going to "help us control TV". Just who was the "us"? Fairness Doctrine? Keep the naysayers from having their say, and now the same folks are trying to figure how to extend it to the Internet to stop this sort of commentary.

It's as if the Democrats think they are wearing the King's clothes, when they are really naked. Yet no one seems to see that. Gerard, you've exposed the party as well as the little boy who was unafraid to say the King was naked. KUDOS

As a lifelong pro-lifer who, in my years as a Democrat, tried to convert the party on this issue and finally gave up, it warms my heart to see so many Democrats waking up to the stinking mess that the Democrat party has become. But I have a question for all of you Democrats who are switching to McCain-Palin, and I'm asking it humbly and sincerely in hopes of understanding:

McCain-Palin are totally pro-life, and if given the opportunity to appoint a new Supreme Court justice or two, will appoint someone who is NOT ideologically committed to maintaining the abortion-through-all-nine-months regime of Roe v. Wade. Are you able to countenance voting for McCain-Palin because: a) you've always been pro-life even though you were a Democrat; b) you don't really give a damn one way or the other about the abortion issue; c) you're pro-choice but don't believe a McCain-Palin-shaped Supreme Court really would overturn Roe v. Wade; or, 4) you're pro-choice and you are worried that Roe v. Wade could be overturned, BUT you're so furious at the Democrats that even this issue won't deter you from voting against Obama.

I would sincerely appreciate everyone's input on this.

Excellent essay Mr. Vanderleun. Thank you for articulating it.

The "modern" democrat party has become a collective of crappy would-be engineers busily trying to reconstruct their dingy Tower of Babel from a slightly re-tweaked set of plans that were originally drawn up by the likes of Robespierre, Marx, Gramsci, and Mussolini.

As such, their fantastical "new" edifice is pretty much destined to either collapse in a chaotic heap during its construction phase, or to eventually cast its gray shadow over the land until such a time as it collapses under its own oppressive weight...In a chaotic heap of bones.

It's probably best that the whole project be canceled before they finish pouring the foundation.

Anyway, it has for too long been the case that one can easily identify what the democrat party apparatchiks are up to by observing what they claim the Republicans are guilty of and realizing that they are projecting like hell yet again.

This is a great and very insightful article. I think you've nailed it right on the head. The viscious statements that have been coming from the extreme leftists are just beyond the pale. There seems to be a complete lack of decency and self-control on their part. What a terrible descent into unalloyed evil on the part of a once-great political party.

However, I was enormously heartened and encouraged to read the comment on this site - I totally agree that there must be millions of decent Democrats who are repulsed by these tactics.

I truly believe that Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin were called for such a time as this. For our beloved country's sake, I pray for their success.

syn: You have a good point. The Republicans weed out their corrupt politicians (although they sometimes do it reluctantly and under public pressure to do so), while the Democrats keep re-electing Democrats-- whether they're corrupt or not. It's the emphasis on quantity over quality that will eventually do the party in if they don't do something about it-- and I'm not happy at the prospect, even though I'm a Republican. I think the country needs healthy political parties, and I'm old enough to have seen the Democrats go downhill since the '60s and '70s. I would very much like to see a re-vitalized Democrat party, but I don't know if such a thing will come back anytime soon.

By the way, In reference to "Sarah Palin's Brutality to Wolves and Bears. Yep, according to the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund they are raising money to put Palin's Awful Wolf-Killing Record on Television!" I posted earlier.

Compare the video they want to air to the truth below: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQobIUE1zTU (if this link doesn't work try clicking on Sasquatch)

The truth about their accusations in their TV ad.

The wolf kill came from the legislature, not the governor. The wolf kill is part of the state's wildlife management program and the governor, as executive, is responsible for executing such programs. Alaska has too many wolves. If the packs are not culled, they will decimate the populations of moose, caribou and other prey animals. The shrinking of those herds will not only impact the prey populations, but the enlarged number of wolves will then begin to starve to death. Starving is a slow, tortuous inhumane death - as I think any caring person understands.

The state is trying to keep the population of wolves to levels that allow the herds of animals that serve as prey/food to the wolves to remain at healthy levels to prevent such starvation cycles. Otherwise, not only will the moose and other herds be decimated, but large numbers wolves will be starving to death.
Dr. Dean

Kathy from Kansas at September 13, 2008 12:20 PM

Overturning Roe will not create a federal statute outlawing abortion. It will allow the states to follow their own dictates as to the disposition of the legalities of the issue.

Damn, but this piece is brilliant!

FROM THE ARTICLE:

The monsters from the id that now control the Democrat Party have transformed that party into a mob of undead extras from The Dawn of the Dead.

It s an indecent and disgusting spectacle and I suspect there s more than a few million long-time Democrats who are revolted by it.

That certainly seems to be creeping into the polls. No matter the good it once did, the Democrats today present as sick and crazed political party that is so greedy and hungry for power that it will do anything, including selling its country down the drain, to get it back....

As a party, it s a poxed whore for whom no condom is thick enough. It s a death trip.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. John McCain. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Palin. And Thank you America. Let us be nice to those that oppose sanity and offer assistance when we can help. And let us not speak ill upon others. And finally,pray for Mr.Obama he'll need it come November 5th.

I quit being a Democrat 7 years ago. I'm not a Republican yet, and I may never be. I fully support the anti-corruption crusade Palin has activated, but how far will the party go in countering the old party establishment that puts business interests ahead of the country's interest? (Illegal immigration, Mexican trucking, corporate subsidies and tax breaks, etc.) Let's say I'm excited but also skeptical.

Thank you for putting my thoughts so eloquently into words. An excellent analysis.

What? Not one dissenter posting a counter view here? It begs a question... or perhaps is instead, a confirmation.

That was the best thing I've read all year... maybe ever!

Over the years I began to think I was the problem . How could people not think things through? At what point did we excange debate, and the market place of ideas for hate and destruction? The essay above and the comments below it have affirmed my own feeling of being led astray.

This election will still come down to turn out. I can not support Obama-Biden. I will be voting for John and Sarah. I ask you to join me. Please show up and vote.

What a powerful article. It should be the wikipedia definition of the current state of the Democrat Party. I left the Democrats back in 1980, when Carter's malaise had sickened me, but it took a year or more to realize that I was, in fact, a Republican. In line with the writers astute example of a divorce, it was difficult to come to the point of parting ways, but once I had gotten over the loss it was over. I was never going back.

The Democrat Party has squandered any shred it had left of respect and decency. Its actions in the past years have surprised me again and again and taken me to new levels of disgust.

I do remember the Party of Hubert H. Humphrey, Tip O'Neil, and "Scoop" Jackson. It was a party with an agenda, but was not a party bent in anger against our countries own best interests. It was a party that answered the needs of people without racial overtones and class warfare. And it was a party that was solidly patriotic.

I still grieve its passing, but I am glad, proud even, to call myself a Republican today.

I find it amusing that this article that everyone here praises at length contains no actual discussion of anything real or substantive. You're writing abilities, as good as they are, do nothing to explain why you left or why you feel as you do.

I am proud to be a democrat and even prouder that we have a candidate that can be counted among the left of the party. The democratic parties biggest mistakes were not in taking on causes, but rather in forsaking those causes to attempt to allure to the republicans that thought of themselves as fiscal republican but social democrats. Enough of that. You don't get to have it both ways. I look forward to a president that will prioritize society and civilization over profits and "growth"; someone who will bring an honest morality into the government and look to change the polarization that has dominated our government for the last 15 years.

Perhaps you will come to your senses someday again and realize your years away from the democratic party we're akin to your midlife crisis. Rest assured we will welcome you back.

-Todd in Seattle

Oh, Todd in Seattle, in response to your comment about society and civilization vs profits and "growth", do you work for a company or own your own business? If they, or you, don't make a profit, you don't have a job for long and don't eat unless it's at the local shelter.

Also, you need to work on your grammar when using "you're," a contraction for "you are" vs "your", a progressive pronoun showing possession.

Obama's mouthpiece at Air America, a media asset since before he announced and one of disciples on speed dial, said Palin is a pedophile today.

I had never wanted to actually kill a Democrat before.

Now, there is no going back.
And nobody has a legitimate excuse for being one.

None of these comments, nor the article itself, has any supporting evidence...

It's all very self-gratifying.

I've noticed recently that the republican writers always assume everyone else agrees with them.

And what can you say about governor Palin's understanding of Russia being founded on her ability to see Russia soil from the Alaskan coast?

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerindex?id=5793131

Give me evidence of your own arguments if you want me to take you seriously.

Newsweek was keeping track, and has exposed most of the Democrat lies, if you can find it where they've hidden it.

Gibson and ABC deleted footage that showed she responded quite capably:

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/09/13/abc-news-edited-out-key-parts-sarah-palin-interview

And I don't give a damn if an Obama Democrat takes me seriously. The point is no thinking person takes that side seriously anymore.

I'm not going to waste my time supplying information to anyone so blind they can't see what's happened.

Besides, when the liberals control everything, the truth isn't going to be found at any of their sources.

So supplying links for an Obama geek to find would just bring that site under a DDOS attack, like the one Obama tried to use against the man who published photos of the flags thrown in the garbage at the "greenest convention in history."

This is Nazi Germany, ladies and gentlemen, and instead of one Goebbels, we have a whole blogosphere and media monolith.

prioritize society and civilization over profits and "growth"

It'd be interesting to see who'd volunteer to experience that kind of hell on earth: a society and civilization that doesn't have profits or growth.

I am a registered Democrat because my state has closed primaries and I live in a heavily Democrat area. If I want to vote in the primaries in a way to make sure the least insane person advances to the general election, I must remain a registered Democrat.

But lately, it makes me feel like taking a Karen Silkwood shower. Somebody hand me a Brillo pad!

I have no pension, only stock mutual funds. Obama is woefully ignorant about Econ 101 and so I must vote my pocketbook.

Obama is proposing what I call the New Slavery...mandatory volunteer service of our young people, instead of letting them be free to pursue their lives. In an era of full employment and tight labor markets, this is a totally stupid proposal. Even Clinton knew some basic economics--his welfare reform could only succeed as constituted in an era of tight labor markets.

Obama is a thoroughgoing Marxist and will destroy our country and our economy if he has his way. I am a Democrat for McCain/Palin 2008 because we should leave running the country to adults, not college bull session Marxists smoking clove cigarettes.

http://www.blah3.com/article.php?story=20080912193911820&mode=print

It feels like most of these comments are written by the same person... the rhetoric is very similar.

Although I was raised Republican i did not reject the ideas of democrats. but i did think for myself and decided what i thought was best. over the years I have watched how not just the democrats, but both parties have started on the down hill slope which shows a future of socialist/totalitarianism government if nothing is done to stop this. Both parties are now finding ways to secure themselves in power and to keep it that way: the elitist(big govt) and us, the people. We need to be sure to educate everyone we can that will listen that the people need to take back the government and not allow the government to take us. Lets get rid of the Bi-partisan system, limit the government as to what it can/cant do. lets make America the REPUBLIC it was meant to be. kill the "living constitution" and leave it as it was written. Kill racism. kill social class. why cant we just be Americans?

I was a Democrat in my youth. And I am not a Republican now, but I am a conservative Independent. I have awaken from naive radicalism; knowing that politics is fraught with temptations for self-serving institutions (political parties), I will not ever again pledge fidelity to either party but will vote for those who represent through their actions (not just their words) true conservative principles.

I turned away from the Democrats during the Clinton years: the way they treated Bork, Clarence Thomas, the events at Waco and Ruby Ridge, the flacid response to terrorism, yet the politically expedient attacks on Somalia and Romania by Clinton when faced with the Lewinsky scandal. When Gore contested Florida in 2000, I knew the Demies had lost all sense of propriety. In his unabashed power-seeking, Gore endangered the essence of our Republic. (Now he is the most visible and heinous of hypocrites with his do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do "green agenda.")

When the left attacked Bush and our military in Iraq with a degree of vitriol deserving our enemies, it became obvious that the Democratic party had become the party of nihilism and anti-Americanism.

In their hatred of what they (laughingly) call "Big Oil" (ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, etc. are tiny compared to the unregulated royal Saudi oil-empire), their status as anti-capitalists became hallmark.

In their holier-than-thou policies of "no more drilling, no nukes, only clean energy" approach to energy, they proved themselves unrealistic, but beholden to an environmental extremism.

In their denial of Islamo-fascism and the threat it poses to freedoms and liberties worldwide, they prove their infantile PC-driven worldview as inadequate to manage a real world of brutality and belief-driven absolutists.

In their hypocrisy of advocating for women--but only for women willing to subjugate to what the leftist-feminist elites believe--and their failure to speak out for womens' rights in Islamic countries, they proved themselves incapable of moving beyond their own self-interest and serving a higher moral purpose in the world.

In their constant insidious attacks on Christianity and Judaism, but not of Islam, they proved that the Politically Correct agenda is an expedient form of thought control devoid of understanding of the need for principled human values and derived from a Higher-Power not of human-making.

But the Repub's are not innocent either.

When Bush signed the massive Education bill, and then the Prescription Drug benefits bill, I knew that political expediency had infected Republicans too, and they were trying to play by the "new rules" of buying votes.

Hopefully, McCain/Palin--being reformers NOT beholden to their party--represent the chance to reclaim much of what makes America great: Optimism, hard-work, innovation, economic liberty, and freedom to dissent.

In the current campaign the rightness of my deliverance to independence has been self-evident: the pornographic ugliness of the netroots and Hollywood mouthpieces does not cease, while the generic leftist-bias of the media and their outright frontal-assault on Republicans and conservatives continues unabated. Meanwhile, many Repubs have gone overboard in their own person-worship of Palin. (She is a needed, and much appreciated breath of fresh-air, but she is a human, and therefore imperfect.)

So I declared my independence from either party, while supporting McCain/Palin because they represent a potential to change the game in Washington, and they ultimately seem more principled and authentic than Obama/Biden.

And part of the reason I support McCain is that a certain degree of gridlock in Washington is desirable: the inevitable outcome of a world in which Dems rule all three branches of government---and legislate a swift slide toward socialism---is that the only way to get ahead will be to be a politician, a judge or a celebrity-socialist. People who make the country work---entrepreneurs, small businesses, and hard-working employees---will be cowed by odious regulations that increase the ratio of bureaucratic over-burden to production, and will make our country non-competitive with the tsunami of Asian-run enterprise. That will sound the death-rattle of our republic.

In the end I am encouraged to know that many have made this same journey, and that being Democrat is not necessarily a terminal disease leading to servile dementia, but is a sickness of reason from which many are recovering.

What an amazing essay! Clear, concise, perfect imagery. Thank you for that.

You are to be admired for being able to see when the tide has turned on a situation, as you did after seeing what has become of the so-called "democratic" party.

I haven't had a chance to look at your other essays, but I'm wondering if you might ever tackle trying to explain how the Democrat party changed from when FDR was in office to now. I was born in 1963, just a few days after John Kennedy was killed, and I have, in all honesty, only in the past 8 or 9 years become politically aware.

I am a bit embarrased to say that until 9/11 I had not realized how Bill Clinton's attention to his libido rather than our country's safety put me and my family in such harm's way. (Embarrassed because I voted for the man TWICE.) At that point, I finally decided to become a true Patriot and have never looked back.

Sorry to go on so long, but I am always searching for more truth, and I haven't been able to find much in the way of how the Democrat party moved from something that apparently resembled today's Republican party to what can only be described as Socialism at its worst.

Or, maybe you could steer me towards where I could find this information? You obviously have quite a grasp on reality when it comes to how the Dems behave, and I would like to bask in your knowlege a bit.

I'll be back to read more of your work.

Thanks again.

Kathy from Kansas:

The answer is, overturning Roe v Wade would NOT make abortion illegal. It would put that decision into the hands of each individual state - where it belongs.

Great article BTW and some very interesting and thoughtful comments.

I know, how terrible that someone running for high office be asked questions, and have their political decisions vetted? You monsters!

Ask questions? Fine. Fact check? Fine. I would like to see that apply to ALL candidates (especially the fact checking part).

Spread lies about incest? Not fine. Hack the candidates email account? Not fine.

Strange how in the '90s electing a hillbilly governor into the federal executive branch was cool but now it's not. Wouldn't be the "R" after her name, would it?

I found the greatest line on a left wing blog of all places - "kool aid drinking, hopium smoking obamabot".

Promoting that last observation to the sidebar. Thanks.

In college in the 1980's I was such a hopeless liberal, feminist democrat that I cringe to remember it.

Now I'm a republican and cringe to think we might elect Obama and destroy the country.

My father had a saying, "Anyone under 30 who's a republican has no heart. Anyone over 30 who's a democrat has no brain." I laugh at that observation a lot now that my own kids are flaming liberals in their early twenties.

Last big election, I wanted to make a bumper sticker that said, "Forget the Johns - Go behind the Bush!" This time I'm thinking, "Ban the Obama! They're just Biden their time!"

Todd said:

"I look forward to a president [Obama] that will... look to change the polarization that has dominated our government for the last 15 years."

How can he possibly do that when he is the single most polarized Senator in the Democrat party? That is, his voting record is the _farthest_ to the left of the political spectrum. Such a person is not a uniter.

You may have your reasons to vote for Obama, but this bizarre belief that he can "unite" everybody is just insane. He would be the most polarizing president this country has ever seen!

I was a Republican. What you wrote could apply to that part as well. The GOP really isn't much better off, sadly. While my vote may be wasted, I'm probably not voting for either of the parties and going with a third, or writing in Mickey Mouse. On second thought, a vote for who you think is best is never wasted. It gives you license to disagree and criticize. It also sends a statement, no matter how small, that there are other choices.

What a puff piece. You used a lot of pretty words in order not to say anything. It makes me doubt that you were ever a democrat. If so, I would think that you would relate some substantial points that drove you away from the party. (Rather than just naming Kerry and Edwards and giving no reason that you despise them as much as you apparently do).

What can I say, Max. You're welcome to your beliefs but they are, simply, wrong.

I'd also point out that I am not required to give you what you think you need. You're responsible for yourself. If you knew that you wouldn't be an apologist for the degenerates that currently control the Democrats.

A very profound set of observations.

I don't understand what you're trying to say. You just stringed together a whole bunch of insults (The Democratic party is "sick", "crazed", "greedy", "hungry for power", filled with "race hustlers", "weak", "tepid", "chestless", etc...), but you never explained what you're so pissed off about.

When I saw this article, I thought I was going to be reading a piece pointing out the misdeeds and shortcomings of the Democratic Party, but this turned out to be just a rant which makes no actual points.

Sorry, but I just think it's immature and unproductive when people go on rants and call each other names without a reason, and your article does just that. Please write more reasoned and informed articles in the future.

if you listen to this guy please keep in mind that he is defending his interests (or those of his party). as such he will say whatever to convince you. allow me a quote: "Politics is a profession founded on and fueled by hypocrisy."

don't vote repubblican as you americans are in deep trouble already. you don't need other petrol wars if you haven't won this on yet.

Charles,

I always find it interesting when non-Americans deign to lecture Americans on how to vote in their elections. We do not do the same to your country (the use of "petrol" tells me you are likely British) and not because some of us (such as myself) have our own opinions of whom you guys have been electing to power for some time. Either way though, what you guys choose to do is not our business and what we choose to do is not your guys' business.

If anything, I am generally inclined to do the opposite of what most non-Americans tell me to do because how I vote is none of their damn business. Capiche?

Austin liberal hippies trying to pass more wasteful government programs. http://www.todaysbigfail.com/view/20080819

Wow. It's the whole children of light vs children of darkness thing. Anyone here ever read Faces of the Enemy, by Sam Keen? It's all about the impulse to paint adversaries and outsiders as demonic, evil, barely human. The title of this piece is about Monsters, and the article makes a number of generalizations about Democrats. One commenter says "I had never wanted to actually kill a Democrat before. Now, there is no going back." So, in response to this article and someone allegedly calling Palin a pedophile, at least one (presumably Republican) reader has been moved to see as an appropriate response the murder of someone because of their speech. Should give one pause.

By admitting that I am a Democrat I suppose I lose most readers here immediately. In the mind of those who seek to kill anyone exercising a dissenting opinion, the best I could be is a wolf in sheep's clothing. At worst, I am a ravenous, rabid wolf seeking to tear the flesh of innocents. I can't control someone's fantasies.

I've read horrible things written on liberal blogs, presumably by liberals. One person said Cheney should die in prison with a convict's dick up his ass. While I think Cheney, et al should be tried for war crimes, I don't wish violence to be brought against him, and while whoever wrote that comment may vote the way I do, but that is where the similarity between us ends.

We need to leave behind the children of light/children of darkness, Republicans good/Democrats evil meme. It isn't true. Some liberal wished violence on Cheney: I repudiate them. Someone here wished violence on an unnamed Democrat: I trust that most of you, in your better hours, would repudiate him. Most of us, in both groups, take care of our parents and children and friends. We want to be better than we are. We've seen injustice committed by both sides, and wished we lived in, and may even have worked to live in, a better world.

Let's cut each other some slack, and not take the most egregious examples of each other's communities to stand for the whole. And let's not make obviously false yet attractive gross generalizations about those who disagree with us.Let's not attribute the worst of motives to our opponents in every position they take. Let's assume, at the least, that we are all fallible humans. Some of us are evil, there is no doubt, and some are dangerously sick. But neither side has a monopoly on saints or scoundrels.

I am an American. Like you. Doesn't make me better or worse than anyone else in the world. But we have that in common, along with our humanity. Seems like as good a reason as any to work out our differences.

But Palin is a sorry excuse for a VP candidate. Just watch the interview with Couric. She has her strengths and virtues, but the Republican party can do better.

im a reg dem,( unfortunately,)87yr-vet of navy,army,airforce,civ con corps,35 yrs civil air partol--voted first for the only president worthy.and none worth it since.sheriff 20yr. done my volunteering all these yrs. i voted to replace corrupt republicans with corrupt dem..none of the candidates are worthy of being elected..our republic has been sold out by the idiots..i decided to vote for the republicans to keep the balance of power. the demo in congress with a demo president would have us like SOMOLIA in no time..by the way, palin is my hero. wolves are vermin. ive had 2 as pets but in the wilds they need controlling.if you raise stock you would be very angry to have wolves kill 4 or5 of your stock and eat a hind leg only and leave rest to rot..so keep in your own back yard..most of you dogooders dont complain when genocide is down on thousands of humans,but bitch when a couple of animal preditors are weeded out.. VOTE PALIN AND PRESERVE THE BALANCE OF POWER,(not much left.)

im a reg dem,( unfortunately,)87yr-vet of navy,army,airforce,civ con corps,35 yrs civil air partol--voted first for the only president worthy.and none worth it since.sheriff 20yr. done my volunteering all these yrs. i voted to replace corrupt republicans with corrupt dem..none of the candidates are worthy of being elected..our republic has been sold out by the idiots..i decided to vote for the republicans to keep the balance of power. the demo in congress with a demo president would have us like SOMOLIA in no time..by the way, palin is my hero. wolves are vermin. ive had 2 as pets but in the wilds they need controlling.if you raise stock you would be very angry to have wolves kill 4 or5 of your stock and eat a hind leg only and leave rest to rot..so keep in your own back yard..most of you dogooders dont complain when genocide is down on thousands of humans,but bitch when a couple of animal preditors are weeded out.. VOTE PALIN AND PRESERVE THE BALANCE OF POWER,(not much left.)

im a reg dem,( unfortunately,)87yr-vet of navy,army,airforce,civ con corps,35 yrs civil air partol--voted first for the only president worthy.and none worth it since.sheriff 20yr. done my volunteering all these yrs. i voted to replace corrupt republicans with corrupt dem..none of the candidates are worthy of being elected..our republic has been sold out by the idiots..i decided to vote for the republicans to keep the balance of power. the demo in congress with a demo president would have us like SOMOLIA in no time..by the way, palin is my hero. wolves are vermin. ive had 2 as pets but in the wilds they need controlling.if you raise stock you would be very angry to have wolves kill 4 or5 of your stock and eat a hind leg only and leave rest to rot..so keep in your own back yard..most of you dogooders dont complain when genocide is down on thousands of humans,but bitch when a couple of animal preditors are weeded out.. VOTE PALIN AND PRESERVE THE BALANCE OF POWER,(not much left.)

im a reg dem,( unfortunately,)87yr-vet of navy,army,airforce,civ con corps,35 yrs civil air partol--voted first for the only president worthy.and none worth it since.sheriff 20yr. done my volunteering all these yrs. i voted to replace corrupt republicans with corrupt dem..none of the candidates are worthy of being elected..our republic has been sold out by the idiots..i decided to vote for the republicans to keep the balance of power. the demo in congress with a demo president would have us like SOMOLIA in no time..by the way, palin is my hero. wolves are vermin. ive had 2 as pets but in the wilds they need controlling.if you raise stock you would be very angry to have wolves kill 4 or5 of your stock and eat a hind leg only and leave rest to rot..so keep in your own back yard..most of you dogooders dont complain when genocide is down on thousands of humans,but bitch when a couple of animal preditors are weeded out.. VOTE PALIN AND PRESERVE THE BALANCE OF POWER,(not much left.)

So what do we do when the country has become consumed with polished exteriors and substance born by experience no longer means anything. This is extremely disturbing. I live in the Middle East and believe me many here do not wish us well. The arrogance and greed in this part of the world is all consuming and even we pale in comparison. They believe this is a victory for Islam, time will tell

She deserved it. She is a joke. She is an insult to the American people. Get over it. Obama is your president, and the McCain campaign proved that he was the better choice.

Furthermore, she did not receive the kind of attacks she would have received had she been a democrat. If she was a democrat, the right wing would eat her alive because her 17-year old child was pregnant (endemic of a society which makes sex the most disgusting thing imaginable and refuses to allow proper sexual education), and her husband belongs to the Alaskan secessionist party. The right-wing would accuse her of not have good enough "christian morals" and her husband would be labeled a terrorist (which he is). Her family represents the very farthest fringe of American life.

I'm sorry, but I don't want anyone anywhere near a crucially important, decision-making office who believes that Adam and Eve sired all of humanity that we see today. I don't want anyone who believes the earth is 6000 years old. I don't want anyone who doesn't believe in evolution. I don't want anyone who believes that god "on our side". This represent religious beliefs and nothing more. They show that she is either unwilling, or unable to understand facts, gather a logical conclusion from data, or accept truth when it goes against her beliefs.

I feel bad for Mrs. Palin, I really do. However, everything I saw the media report was based on facts, numbers, and video/audio record. THREE times she answered the question "what does the VP do?" incorrectly. That should be enough to quiet her supporters immediately. She got up in front of the American public and said baldfaced lie after lie at the GOP convention. Her pastor "blessed" her and asked for "witches" to not do her any harm. WITCHES!!! This isn't the 1600's Mrs. Palin! During the VP-debate she basically said I am not going to answer your questions.

What more do you need people? When will you admit that she is not a good choice for the second in command in the country??

Could it occur to you that the media reported so many negative things about her because there were a huge amount of negative things to report on?

Bravo, Bravo.
I'd like to send this piece to the few liberals I can actually tolerate - Alas, they'll probably get to the part where you voted for GB, and hit the delete key.

Jerry Pournelle has said it rather well, several times; that American politics has degenerated into a permanent contest between the Creeps and the Nuts.

One of the reasons why BHO was elected is that the GOP made themselves unelectable. Why? Because they aligned themselves (and still do) with those who want no restrictions whatsoever on megacorporations and the astronomically wealthy, and also with the rabid extremists of the fundamentalist "Christian" (really nothing of the sort) Right. Having even a chance of a creationist looney in charge of the most powerful military in the world just won't do.

Over here in the UK, we have a different problem. There is probably going to be very little change from the socialism that rules the UK, because far too many people are suckling at the government teat and trying to reverse that in the life of one Parliament is electoral suicide. And this time around it won't happen anyway, because the Tories have climbed into bed with the dhimmi watermelons who run the LibDems.

I confess to having no idea whatsoever about how to solve either problem. I could run for local office, perhaps; but my health and the fact of running a struggling business (struggling because of the combined efforts of the Wunch and a local town council that has gone collectively insane) won't permit it.

Perhaps that's why politics is infested with lawyers, accountants and "community organisers" - simply enough, they are the only people who have the time and resources to run.

Enjoy your travels, friend. Everyone seems to be on vacation but moi. Thank goodness for books.

You left your monsters, I left the vacillators in the Republican party. It didn't matter to them. We don't exist in their realm.

Thanks! for putting into better words than mine why after 45 years I am a retired Democrat.

The Democrat Party did not devolve after Roosevelt. That was it's low, expressed in a blitzkrieg of Executive Order and transfer of power from private to "public" hands. But the country recovered by parts and times, patched and bobbed and weaved, learning ways around New Deal minefields without ever clearing them.
Now the revolution has returned to take down its weakened host. Who is left to remember the engine which liberty was? Unpredictable, uncontrollable, and wildly successful, but without use or appreciation for intellectuals.

"have transformed that party into a mob of undead extras from The Dawn of the Dead."

Dissident Frogman has a couple nice Dawn of the Dead photoshops on just that theme.

Reagan was the first Republican that I voted for back in 1984. Doug Wilder (VA governor, 1988) was the last Democrat that I voted for. Barring divine intervention, he will be the last one I vote for the rest of my life.

Who gave more money to democrats generally from subprime dependent hedge funds to 'beyond petroleum'oil companies, the truth is public power, that of the Sorosphere and other non profits are allowed to run wild I do agree that letting Attlee and Cripps NHS continue was a mortal attack on small r republicanism, Thatcher tried to prune it back thirty five years late without result

I didn't, and never would, vote for McCain-Palin. The Republican Party has gone of the deep end a long, long time ago. But though a registered Democrat, I must painfully concur with much of this article.

I have not voted for a candidate in my party since 1996 when I voted for Bill Clinton's re-election. I voted against Gore, Kerry and Obama because they were all too extreme for me.

I can recall that I was once a Democrat. My first election was 1984 in which I campaigned for Walter Mondale in a area that was three-too-one for Reagan. His actavist agenda appealed too me due too the "do-what-you-want" nature in the GOP scared me into thinking society verged collapse.

I moved too the right-or at least too the center- in the late 1980's and skipped the polls in 1988 (neither bush or Ducakis appealed too me). But in 1992 I was voted enthusiastically for Bill Clinton. He seemed too be a actual solution for America.

Hardly after the 1993 inaguration I grew completely done with Clinton/Gore. I came too a stomach-turning conclusion, the same quasi-anarchist drug users and hard-partying hendonnists had become Democrats. By September 1994 I became a Republican. I have voted for Dole, Bush and McCain and have not gone Democratic since.

I can recall that I was once a Democrat. My first election was 1984 in which I campaigned for Walter Mondale in a area that was three-too-one for Reagan. His actavist agenda appealed too me due too the "do-what-you-want" nature in the GOP scared me into thinking society verged collapse.

I moved too the right-or at least too the center- in the late 1980's and skipped the polls in 1988 (neither bush or Ducakis appealed too me). But in 1992 I was voted enthusiastically for Bill Clinton. He seemed too be a actual solution for America.

Hardly after the 1993 inaguration I grew completely done with Clinton/Gore. I came too a stomach-turning conclusion, the same quasi-anarchist drug users and hard-partying hendonnists had become Democrats. By September 1994 I became a Republican. I have voted for Dole, Bush and McCain and have not gone Democratic since.

Reading this almost four years later, I am taken with the theme as it applies to the Republicans. They don't want or need my Conservative vote. The Dems don't want or need it. Hell, they can manufacture votes out of the very air.

Never in my life have I lost faith in the process, but I fear that even now, if we all came to our senses at once, it is too late to stop the momentum now gained by the cresting of the hill.

They need us now, both parties, Joan. They need us now, more than ever. They need villains, and we are theirs. We are not quite aware enough to do anything about it, because we'd like to believe that our fellow citizens are as tolerant of us as they claim to be. But, as they say at the NY Times, you can't make an omelet without cracking a few eggs.

The bears are no longer satisfied with the garbage, Gerard, they want what the privileged are having...they want their lunch and ours, too.

The first time I voted for a Republican was Reagan back in 1984. The last Democrat that I voted for was Doug Wilder for governor of Virginia (I still like that vote). I cannot see a time in the future when I will ever vote for a Democrat again.

Re-reading the early comments brings back fond memories of mid-September 2008, when McCain/Palin surged into the lead.

A few days later the bottom fell out of the stock market, which was very fortuitous timing for the Obama campaign.

Nope, no more. '08 seems so long ago now, eight years of bad road. Hard to properly register just how far I've come. A whole lot of emails, phone calls and Christmas cards no longer arrive. Family members, not so close anymore. I know there are quite a few of us out here, but I'm curious as to just how many.

I assume this is updated?