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After hearing some more things on Palin, specifically this letter from Anne Kilkenny, a resident of Wasilla, AK regarding her time there as mayor and governor, I think I’m closer to understanding the seeming contradictions.

She claims to be a government ethics reformer but is happy to take earmarks then complains about them after the check has cleared or one who fires folks under suspicious conditions and then stonewalls the independent investigation trying to determine if there was wrongdoing.

The Anne Kilkenny letter is fairly lengthy and I look forward to it being fact checked as it makes an effort to include both positive and negatives about Palin but the general theme is nicely rounded up in this excerpt:

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the "bridge to nowhere" after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative action restored most of these projects — which had been vetoed simply because she was not aware of their importance — but with the unobservant she had gained a reputation as "anti-pork."

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah. They call her "Sarah Barracuda" because of her unbridled ambition and predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

Simply, Palin is a polarizing, high energy choice for the RNC.

Helped by McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis’ comment that this election is not  issues, some journalists are beginning to notice it as the smokescreen that it is and 538 put it in the simplest terms: "Sarah Palin is not a hockey mom; She’s a hockey player."

Watching Sarah Palin this week, and the reaction to her by both sides, and all the talk of hockey mommery, I realized that this is who she is. She skates into the corner, throws up an elbow, and the Democrats cry: “Foul!” Hey! She said Obama has never passed a major bill – this is an objective lie! Hey! She ridiculed community organizing the day after Service was the theme! Technically people should punish her by not voting for her over this infraction!

It’s whining, and whiners hit back second and go to the penalty box on top of it.

Sarah Palin is a person who by her own admission found out about the Iraq surge – the centerpiece of the McCain judgment argument – from television. Apologies to conservatives, but technically, objectively, inarguably, this alone makes her unqualified to be President. But we don’t live in that technical or objective world. Political campaigns – as distinct from policy and governance – are the NHL playoffs. It’s only about who survives the war of attrition to the finish line first. Is Brett Hull’s skate still in Dominik Hasek’s crease and was that same situation disallowed in every previous instance throughout that season? Yes, but so what? Dallas had a parade.

I think most teams have that kind of player who’s a troublemaker and gets their "heart back into it" and as soon as they’re traded, you hate their guts. Food for thought.

The double standard from the republican party talking heads is quite awesome to see side by side, thankfully, The DS did the hard work for us. To quote Jon Stewart, "I think I’ve got some clips you should see!"

I’m always curious, do these people believe this crap that they’re saying? Are people swayed? Does someone really take Karl Rove or O’Reilly’s ramblings and accept them as fact without looking things up at Factcheck, Politifact or even their local library?

Oh well, here as your moment of zen, a dramatic reenactment of the phone call where McCain asked Palin to be his running mate.

Wow, so this weekend has been amazingly hilarious in my goal to watch politics and be generally amused.

Palin is an odd choice in my opinion and I think that the shock has gotten everyone to take notice and ask lots of questions. The RNC line is that she has a lot of experience and that this kind of questioning wouldn’t be happening if the nominee was a man but the simple truth is that the questions are coming because she is an unknown quantity on the national level, not because she’s Tina Fey’s older sister from Fargo.

That said, I agree with comments that the Palin nomination has woken up the so-called-mainstream media and gotten them to try to get grounded answers to real questions.

Here is an excerpt from Dave Winer’s post on the subject:

The first sign things were crumbling was an interview Monday on CNN with McCain aide Tucker Bounds and reporter Campbell Brown who asked Bounds what international experience Palin has. He kept trying to change the subject to Obama, which I’ve seen work with these reporters for years. It’s a very typical Republican tactic.

As a result, McCain pulled out of Larry King that night, but CNN stood its ground.

Then Wolf Blitzer of all people pressed Rudy Giuiani on the same subject and wouldn’t let up. Rudy is the best skater out there, but Wolf cornered him. Lovin it!!

I just saw former Republican governor of NY George Pataki try to bullshit Nora O’Donnell on MSNBC and she (smiling all the way) wasn’t having any of it.

I don’t know what happened to give these reporters a backbone, finally — but whatever it is — don’t let it go! This is how you do it. Let’s push these guys until they start talking sense. Let’s get our national conversation grounded, at least a little, in reality.

The CNN interview of Tucker Bounds by Campbell Brown really is something to see though because she’s tenacious and all she wants to know is one example of a decision she’s had to make with/for the Alaska National Guard that counts as "foreign policy experience".

In case you were curious, like me, Major General Campbell of the Alaska National Guard did answer such a question to the AP:

"But, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, he said he and Palin play no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations."

Finally, some political information type links:

• ObamaTaxCut.com: This calculator will estimate the impact of an Obama tax plan on your return. The McCain/RNC line is that Obama will raise your taxes, while in reality, the Tax Policy Center has determined that Obama will cut taxes for 95% for Americans.
• ScienceDebate 2008 has sent a 14 question survey to Obama and McCain in order to get their thinking on topics ranging from innovation, education, genetic research, ocean health, scientific integrity and basic research. Obama’s answers have been posted and they are awaiting for McCain’s response.
• Finally, for William and without comment: John McCain is a Cylon.