One of the really unfortunate effects thus far with the Palin VP candidacy has been  what is happening in the Alaska senate race pitting democrat, Mark Begich, against Alaska's senator Ted Stevens.

Stevens, 84, an Alaska Republican, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington. He had been under federal investigation for more than a year on public corruption charges.

Stevens is charged with seven counts of making false statements for failing to disclose gifts and home renovations from VECO Corp., an influential Alaska oil services company, on his annual Senate financial disclosure form. The total value of the unreported benefits exceeded $250,000, according to the indictment.

(Proudly cross-posted at C4O)

I remember not that long ago, President Bill Clinton vowed to work with us to build a bridge to the 21st Century. And build it, we did! During the Clinton years, we saw record economic growth that made everyone more prosperous. We had a world community that respected us and loved us. We had a nation we could be proud of, and America was on the right track.

Sometimes humor is the best medicine.  

This is funny, I enjoyed it, I could fake more filler in this diary but this is the point.

I used to have a lot of respect for John McCain.

On top of his war service, McCain built a Senate career as a bipartisan, moderate legislator who got things done. In 2000, he campaigned as the moderate, reasonable alternative to George W. Bush, and got steamrolled by the Bush/Rove war machine for his efforts. He deserves praise and thanks for the American people for his career up through 2000.

But he learned the wrong lesson from his defeat. He learned that the only way to win the Republican nomination was to sell his soul to George W. Bush's conservative base. And so, over the past few years, he worked on transforming himself from a moderate into a conservative. He has drifted steadily rightward, until we could no longer even recognize him. Sadly, he is no longer the reformer or the moderate he used to be. McCain of 2008 has said things and adopted positions that would have horrified McCain of 2000.

Now, just two months before the election, John McCain has finally completed his transformation from a maverick, reform-minded moderate to another extremist right-winger under the tutelage of Karl Rove. His graduation prize for completing his personal transformation was the support of the extremist Christian Right. The NY Times reported a couple of days ago that McCain was looking to the Christian Right to save his campaign, but this year, that's unlikely. He can't win this year by simply turning out the base, and he's lost his chance to appeal to moderates.

That's what's so ironic about the whole campaign: after years of hard work to break with his moderate past, it turns out that he needs that legacy to win the election. Unfortunately, it's too late. John McCain would have had better luck sticking with his principles. The 2008 campaign is a sad end to a once-great career.

Today the latest figures of unemployment were released, and folks things are continuing to not look good.

With each passing day the rhetoric of the Republicans are becoming more and more openly racist. They have shed all efforts to even hide their racism. This is the naked face of conservatism.

An open letter to HEART.

I am just livid.  This is the absolute last line that has got crossed.  I, like many millions, couldn't wait to hear the song "Barracuda" play for Governor Palin, an exciting gesture to link with her fighting spirit and her nickname of years past.

Dating myself-no doubt that I knew of this song already before being played last night at the Republican's Convention.  But shocked to have learned in this mornings news, that HEART has asked the McCain/Palin campaign to stop playing their song, or for that matter, any of your music, because Governor Palin has different political positions than the music group of Heart

This will be quick and I will delete once I get an answer.  I am tryin to make a list of John McCain's and his earmarks. Does anyone know how to search for these items?