Now recovering from surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor, long-time political columnist Robert Novak is taking his doctor's advice and doing what he does best: write. In a column today, Novak traces his first realization that something must be wrong when he struck a pedestrian in D.C. traffic and never knew it until he was flagged down by a bicyclist. The following day he got lost while driving to his dentist's office. At the urging of his daughter during a visit to her home in Massachusetts a few days later, he went to the hospital where his mass was discovered. Novak describes the outpouring of support he has received from all over since the news of his brain tumor came. He seems optimistic about his chances despite a prediction from his doctor that he probably had less than a year to live. As a three-time cancer survivor, he has reason for optimism. Novak takes a dig at the nasty liberal bloggers who've taken delight in his misfortune. "There are mad bloggers who profess to take delight in my distress, but there's no need to pay them attention in the face of such an outpouring of goodwill for me," Novak writes.indiana politics gay GLBT law

It was just a matter of time before Jen Wagner, former spokeswoman for the Indiana Democratic Party, returned to her old Taking Down Words ways at her gig blogging at WRTV's Capital Watch Blog. She couldnt' resist the opportunity to pounce all over Gov. Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy. The blog heading for Wagner's post tells us a lot about her familiarity with Internet porn. "From MILF To GILF: How Will This Play With The Base," Wagner titles her post. For those of you unfamiliar with these two Internet porn acronyms, "MILF" means "mother I'd luck to f___" and "GILF" means "grandma I'd like to f___." The indignant Wagner wrote on her blog posting about the 17-year-old's pregnancy:

If you were wondering what folks in Alaska do to make those long, cold nights pass faster, perhaps you should ask 17-year-old Bristol Palin, daughter of Alaska Governor and newly minted Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Mama Palin just confirmed to the media that her kid is five months knocked up with plans to keep the baby and marry the father.

That wasn't good enough for Wagner's satirical taste. She came back later with this update:

The campaign referred to Bristol Palin’s boyfriend only as “Levi” in its statement announcing the pregnancy. There are rumors swirling on the Internets that he’s significantly older — perhaps by almost a decade — than young Bristol and that their relationship began three years ago when she was 13 or 14.

If this is the tasteless political commentary we can expect from WRTV, then perhaps folks should look elsewhere for their news. Oh, that's right, they already are. WRTV is dead last in the ratings just like Abdul's radio talk show. And didn't the station recently reassign its news editor after police seized his work computer in search of illegal porn? For the record, Fox News reported Levi's age as 18, not that it matters to people like Wagner.

Scott Fluhr has a good rundown of the madness over at Hoosier Pundit.indiana politics gay GLBT law

Long-time Obama critic and author of "The Man Behind The Mask", Andy Martin, says to make no mistake that Obama is behind the Palin baby smear stories despite his protestations to reporters today to the contrary. Martin tells it like it is:

Make no mistake: The Obama smear machine is real. His campaign manger David Axelrod is one of the greatest smear artists in the history of modern American politics.

Obama smears anyone and everyone who crosses his path. Smears are an essential part of the Obama campaign. Several weeks ago, Axelrod floated the first smears about John McCain. Look for more of the same.

Me? I have been smeared by Obama for over a year.

One of Obama's favorite tactics is to use the mad billionaire George Soros as his "front." Soros in turns farms out his malignant propaganda operation to tax-exempt organizations that sling the ----. Obama has tried to smear me using disputes in a quarter-century old lawsuit. For the record, both as a public interest advocate and private litigant I have been involved in a lot of lawsuits, and I have won landmark public interest cases, as well as using litigation to expose and embarrass corrupt judges, see Andymartin.com for details. Obama has never apologized to me for his dirty tricks operation against me.

None of Obama's smears against me have any anything remotely to do with the facts I have exposed about his sordid history in the sewers of Chicago politics.

Did the anti-Palin "baby" smears originate with Obama? Indeed they did. Obama is lying through his teeth when he denies responsibility for attacking Governor Palin's teenaged daughter and, through her, her mother.

This time Obama's smears appears to have backfired. And he knows it.

Anonymous smears that cannot be sourced to the Obama campaign have, sadly, become an integral part of his political operation. That's the way they do things in Chicago. They are a standard part of any David Axelrod operation. Obama also uses left-wing toadies in the media, such as Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, Alan Colmes of Fox news and Chris Hayes of the Nation, to crank up the noise level of the smear machine.

Obama is also a master of disinformation. He produced an anonymous "genius" that claimed to have "researched" the origins of "Muslim smears" against him. The Washington Post's "investigation" pointed at me, but could find no evidence I had done anything wrong. I had not. Nevertheless, the Post saw fit to publish a nearly full-page story on the "investigation" by Danielle Allen although she too was using tax-exempt facilities to conduct her "research."

After I directed pointed questions at Allen, she disappeared and has not been heard from since. The Washington Post has not apologized to me for being duped by Obama. I continue to write the truth, and carefully fact-check, my claims about Obama.

See more on the Obama connection to the Palin baby smear story at Redstate blog.

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[editor's note, by PoliSigh] I am not dealing well with these early mornings...see you later for Happy Hour.  I will have to get these ready the night before for next week!



Today's Meditation:

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the
Lord forever.

Psalm 23

Stay with us....

Adam DuVander at Webmonkey offers reasons not to name your site after yourself. Oopsie. My decision to call this place Masson’s Blog was deliberate. I didn’t want to come up with anything clever, because, frankly, the site’s idea wasn’t clever — it was going to be my blog. In addition, I did not want a [...]

Nearly 11.5% of Indiana homes with mortgages are either behind or in foreclosure. That strikes me as an enormous number. A drop in income — whether through a lost job, divorce, death of a spouse or health problems — is the No. 1 reason people fall behind on their mortgages and lose their homes. The association’s [...]

Michael Isikoff, writing for Newsweek, has a story on Palin-McCain’s efforts to stonewall the Alaska investigation in which Palin had previously promised cooperation. The team McCain sent up north appears to have had obstruction on its mind more than the thorough vetting previously thought. (Or, maybe they found something they really didn’t like in the [...]

I know the calendar requires the equinox before it’s officially fall, but in my mind the seasons are more associated with calendar months — September, October, and November for fall. Weather-wise, this feels like the first weekend of fall. Football is gearing up. I love fall — except it leads inexorably to winter and the [...]

As McCain continues to try and paint Obama as an "elitist" and criticizing him for wanting to raise taxes on those who make over $250,000 a year, perhaps it's worth pointing out that when Cindy McCain spoke to the Republican National Convention the other day the outfit she was wearing cost more than a very nice house would in most parts of the country. Some people might call that "uppity."

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I think Jason nails perfectly the overwhelming "a star is born" response to Sarah Palin from the press and Republicans:

Sarah Palin's "lipstick on a bulldog" ad lib was all too accurate, even if the substantive points of the speech were not: For starters, she was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it.

And altogether, the speech was a rather nasty piece of work, wasn't it? I suspect most commentators wouldn't be calling it "brilliant" or "a home run" if she'd had a suit, a tie, and a penis. Some commentators all but say it, too. And of course the Republican base liked it. They like anyone who attacks the Democrats and happens to be female. They like Ann Coulter, for crying out loud, so we have to admit the bar is set pretty low.

I think that pretty much sums it up. The talking heads on TV were unanimous in praising what was really a pretty mediocre speech and I think it's largely because they're afraid of being accused of either sexism or liberal bias.

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Robert Greenwald has a video interview with Dr. Philip Butler, a former POW who was imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton with McCain, in fact he was there 2 1/2 years longer than McCain. He also went to the Naval Academy with McCain. He blasts McCain for exploiting his POW status for political gain and for other things as well:

Having lived across the hall from John McCain at the U.S. Naval Academy prior to combat, Butler was a close witness to McCain's famously volatile temperament. "He was very sensitive and touchy and just easy to anger," says Dr. Butler. "John McCain is not somebody I would like to see with his finger near the red button." Butler continues, "John McCain's temperament makes it clear that he is not cut out to be President of the United States."...

Other military veterans agree with Butler's criticism of McCain's exploitation of his P.O.W. story. Writes Brandon Friedman, a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan and author of 'The War I Always Wanted': "To see McCain resort to playing the POW card when answering legitimate questions, in my mind, cheapens that experience. And by cheapening his own experience in war, he degrades all of our experiences in war. He turns the horrific incidents we've all seen, touched, smelled, and felt into a lame excuse to earn political points. And it dishonors us all."

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Balko points to this article about the new police toy in South Carolina:

The Richland County (S.C.) Sheriff's Department has acquired an armored personnel carrier complete with a turret-mounted .50-caliber belt-fed machine gun for its Special Response Team.

Sheriff Leon Lott told the Columbia State newspaper that he hoped the vehicle, named "The Peacemaker," would let the bad guys know that his officers are serious.

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King Konga is an amazing band I happened to catch on a local PBS show about 8 years ago. I immediately went and downloaded about 50 songs from them, then they split up and disappeared. Now there are a few youtube videos of them. The first is from the actual show that I saw. The song is called Dancing Girls:

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Move over Barack Obama. There's a new political star in America. And she's the real deal. Any doubts about John McCain's choice for vice president were pretty much laid to rest tonight as Gov. Sarah Palin stole the show and won over the hearts of millions of inspired Americans. Here's a gal who talks their talk and walks their walk. She speaks from the heart with conviction. Self-assured but not self-absorbed. Tender spoken but tough as nails. Thank you, John McCain for looking forward and not back.Some of my favorite passages in her speech tonight:On FamilyOur family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges and the same joys. Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.On Her ExperienceBefore I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.Blasting The Media ElitesI'm not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people.Ethics and Ending Business As UsualSudden and relentless reform never sits well with entrenched interests and power brokers. That's why true reform is so hard to achieve. But with the support of the citizens of Alaska, we shook things up. And in short order we put the government of our state back on the side of the people. I came to office promising major ethics reform, to end the culture of self-dealing. And today, that ethics reform is the law. While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for. That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay. I also drive myself to work. And I thought we could muddle through without the governor's personal chef - although I've got to admit that sometimes my kids sure miss her. I came to office promising to control spending - by request if possible and by veto if necessary.On The Hollow ObamaThis is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign. But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed ... when the roar of the crowd fades away ... when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet? The answer is to make government bigger ... take more of your money ... give you more orders from Washington ... and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world. America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it.In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change. They're the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners, or on self-designed presidential seals.indiana politics gay GLBT law

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson announced an education plan today. She wants:

• Free books, including a new one for every child, every month until they're five years old.
• Give high school students five years to graduate.
• Send more students to college by expanding the 21st Century Scholars program.

The Department of Education says it will cost taxpayers an additional $10,000 for each student who spends 5 years rather than the traditional 4-year period to complete high school. Last week, the National Education Association contributed $100,000 to Thompson's campaign. Does anyone think there is anything in Thompson's proposal that is not supported by the teacher's union?

indiana politics gay GLBT law

Hat tip to Atlas Shrugs.
indiana politics gay GLBT law

Gov. Sarah Palin, reeling from unseemly rumors from pro-Obama bloggers that her daughter and not she had given birth to her four-month-old baby son, Trig, in April, has disclosed that her 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant and plans to marry the father. According to the Reuters report, Palin disclosed the daughter's pregnancy to McCain when he discussed the vice presidential offer with her, but he did not think it should disqualify her from consideration. Reuters reports:

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins' statement said.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.

"Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media, respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates," the statement concluded . . .

McCain officials said the news of the daughter's pregnancy was being released to rebut what one aide called "mud-slinging and lies" circulating on liberal blog sites.

According to these rumors, Sarah Palin had faked a pregnancy and pretended to have given birth in May to her fifth child, a son named Trig who has Down syndrome. The rumor was that Trig was actually Bristol Palin's child and that Sarah Palin was the grandmother.

A senior McCain campaign official said the McCain camp was appalled that these rumors had not only been spread around liberal blog sites and partisan Democrats, but also were the subject of heightened interest from mainstream news media.

"The despicable rumors that have been spread by liberal blogs, some even with Barack Obama's name in them, is a real anchor around the Democratic ticket, pulling them down in the mud in a way that certainly juxtaposes themselves against their 'campaign of change,'" a senior aide said.

As I've said before, the supporters of Barack Obama will stop at nothing to win this race. They've gone way too far this time. This little stunt will boomerang big time against their candidate.indiana politics gay GLBT law

A tip o' the hat to the reader who passed along this picture worth a few thousand words. If you check out the official Indiana state government website at IN.gov, you are given a listing of the most frequently asked questions. I wonder what takes the cake under Mitch Daniels and his economy?

Oh.

As hard as I find it to believe, that sort of makes the giant picture of the little man riding his motorcycle on the front page seem even more ridiculous.

Update: It looks like Indy's favorite 'stache was all over this yesterday.

Sen. Joe Biden's son, Delaware Attorney General Joe Biden, III, made a big splash last June from afar when his office interrupted a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. in order to execute an arrest warrant against Larry Sinclair issued months earlier through a grand jury sealed indictment. As Sinclair was wrapping up his press conference where he laid out sex and drug allegations against Sen. Barack Obama, D.C. police, acting on an extradition order obtained by AG Biden, handcuffed Sinclair and took him into custody. He was held in a D.C. jail for days before Biden had him extradited to Delaware. This past week, Biden dropped felony charges against Sinclair without any fanfare. At the time of his initial arrest, the Wilmington News-Journal trumped up the arrest in a big news story. Sinclair complained that the newspaper reported facts in its original news story which never appeared in police or court documents. The newspaper's report today was very brief and referred to Sinclair as an "anti-Obama" blogger, making no mention of the connection of the Attorney General's son to Sen. Obama's vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joe Biden. The newspaper reports today:

Charges against a Barack Obama critic, who was arrested for allegedly using counterfeit money orders to pay for a three-week stay at a New Castle hotel in 2007, were dropped last week.

Larry Sinclair's Newark attorney, Fran E. Farren, said he and his client were happy that prosecutors dismissed the felony charge against Sinclair.

"All along, it was our position that this case was more 'civil' than 'criminal' and that Mr. Sinclair was guilty of no criminal act," Farren said.

"Mr. Sinclair has asserted his innocence since he was initially arrested and we are quite pleased that we were able to convince the state to dismiss the charge against him. It was the proper thing to do."

Sinclair, of Duluth, Minn., has made charges about Obama involving sex and drugs on his blog. Sinclair was arrested in June on an outstanding warrant after a Washington, D.C., news conference.

According to Delaware State Police and Delaware Superior Court records, Sinclair paid for a three-week stay at a Rodeway Inn with $2,400 in money orders.

The hotel manager later told police Wachovia refused to honor them.

The newspaper quotes Sinclair's attorney as making the point that this case had always been a civil case and should never have become a criminal case. Shockingly, Sinclair alleges that the key evidence upon which the sealed indictment was issued last February, the money orders in question, were never obtained by the AG's office until August, months after the indictment was obtained. Sinclair alleges that a state employee who is a strong supporter of Obama served as the grand jury foreman which returned the indictment against him. If this isn't a case of abuse of process, I don't know what is. Sadly, the liberals in this country who are fawning all over Obama care more about the rights of foreign, suspected terrorists being held at Gitmo than they do an American citizen like Sinclair. This story deserves the scrutiny of the mainstream media. Nobody is going to convince me that it was a mere coincidence that Biden's son would return a sealed indictment against Sinclair in February weeks after Sinclair surfaced with his charges against Obama, sit on the indictment for four months, spring it on Sinclair in the middle of his D.C. press conference at the NPC in a media-packed room, and then quietly drop all charges as soon as Sen. Joe Biden joined the Obama ticket. Stuff like this just doesn't happen. It's plotted and planned. It's got Obama/Axelrod Chicago politics written all over it.indiana politics gay GLBT law

A Howey-Gauge poll released this week suggests a close race in Indiana between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain. In red state Indiana, McCain holds only a 2-point, 45%-43% lead over Obama according to the poll. Here's my problem with this poll. For whatever reason, the pollster conducted this poll last week during the height of the Democratic National Convention. Television coverage of the DNC saturated the airwaves as the pollster telephoned Indiana voters on August 29-30. If you've been closely watching the presidential polls over the past week, you have witnessed huge fluctuations in the same poll from day-to-day. Obama got a substantial bounce last week which has been substantially erased this week following the Republican National Convention. If the poll had been taken this week, I suspect McCain's lead would have been significantly higher. Howey has been unabashedly promoting Obama's campaign to the extreme this year. I think Gauge has done credible polling in the past, but I think the timing of this poll hurts its credibility. A more accurate poll result would have been obtained if the poll had been timed before the start of the conventions or after both had concluded. The same poll showed Gov. Mitch Daniels beating Democrat Jill Long Thompson 53% to 35%, with another 3% supporting Libertarian Andy Horning.indiana politics gay GLBT law