Andrew Bolt
Sarah Palin has given her first interview since being picked as the Republican’s vice-presidential candidate. The media has scrabbled for evidence of fumbles, and evidence that a shootin’, cussin’ redneck is about to plunge the world into war.
And away they go. From the Toronto Globe and Mail:
Shooting from the hip on foreign policy, Palin raises spectre of war with Russia
Indeed, 3AW’s Neil Mitchell this morning scoffed that a President Palin would have already started “four wars”, to judge by the interview.
Really? Let’s check.
The first war a President Palin would allegedly start was with Pakistan, by invading it in the hunt for terrorists, and perhaps from the transcript you might agree the words are indeed naive and alarming:
We should start with the premise that the United States, like all sovereign nations, has the unilateral right to defend itself against attack. As such, our campaign to take out Al Qaeda base camps and the Taliban regime that harbored them was entirely justified… (I)f we’ve got (Osama bin Laden) in our sites, we should ask for Pakistan’s cooperation, we should ask Pakistan to take him out. But if they don’t, we shouldn’t need permission to go after folks that killed 3,000 Americans.
Oops, sorry. That was actually Barack Obama. This is Palin:
ABC News Anchor Gibson also asked Palin several times whether or not U.S. forces have the right to make cross-border attacks into Pakistan with or without the approval of the Pakistani government…
“In order to stop Islamic extremists, those terrorists, who would seek to destroy America and our allies, we must do whatever it takes, and we must not blink...”
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Abolish state governments, says Costa
MICHAEL Costa has called for state governments to be abolished, declaring the NSW political system is morally corrupt and no longer serves the public good.
A week after resigning as treasurer, in an exclusive essay written for The Daily Telegraph, Mr Costa said the Government was dominated by "spin merchants" and "machine politicians" unqualified to govern.
Mr Costa claims the Premier's office had tried - unsuccessfully -- to take credit for economic figures they had no control over.
Health, transport and education had become focussed on keeping doctors, rail unions and lobby groups happy instead of serving patients, commuters and the public.
In a swipe at past premiers, Mr Costa said only one of the last five had ever managed a key portfolio, which were "always under-resourced relative to public expectations".
"It is no secret if a premier wants to diminish the status of a potential rival they are given one of these portfolios," he said.
The system had become such that in these portfolios buying off interest groups was often the best strategy for survival.
"Leave a portfolio with an interest group happy and you are a success. The cost is for someone else to worry about. The strongest argument for abolishing state governments is that it would remove a layer of political interference in service delivery." - So that is what Costa was working towards. His political life has been devoted to abolishing state governments. It all makes sense, now. - ed.
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Brimble accused now living it up in Dubai
THE real estate agent facing charges over the cruise ship death of Dianne Brimble has been snapped enjoying life in Dubai.
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The sex club for six year olds
PARENTS are horrified three boys aged six ran a sex club at a school, demanding and receiving sexual favours from Year 2 classmates.
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Cold War spy admits guilt after 50 years
A US man convicted in the biggest espionage trial of the Cold War has, after more than 50 years, finally admitted his guilt, The New York Times reported today.
The revelation came as new information cast doubt on the conviction of another defendant, Ethel Rosenberg, who was executed for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
Morton Sobell, 91, always maintained his innocence throughout the half century following his conviction as one of the defendants in the 1951 Rosenberg spy trial.
But now in an interview with the Times he answered, when asked if he had spied: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, call it that. I never thought of it as that in those terms."
Sobell spent more than 18 years in US prisons, including on the infamous Alcatraz island, for passing secrets to the Soviets during World War II. But he justified his actions today, telling the daily he had given only defensive weapons at a time when the Soviet Union was a US ally in the struggle against Nazi Germany.
Sobell was also a communist, something he says he regrets. "Now I know it was an illusion. I was taken in."
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Struggling seniors demand pension rise
SENIORS want the Government to act immediately, after revelations Cabinet ignored detailed advice on increasing the aged pension.
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UNIVERSAL DEFENCE
Tim Blair
“We’re above the law!” scream the Green Team (around the 2:48 mark). Indeed they are:
Six Greenpeace climate change activists have been cleared of causing £30,000 of criminal damage at a coal-fired power station …
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BEST AD YET
Tim Blair
The latest Obama campaign ad:
It’s extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn’t know how to send an e-mail.
The Boston Globe, eight years ago:
McCain’s severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes.
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PUT AN ENGINE IN IT
Tim Blair
Climate change causes less rain in Australia:
The report found about 50% of the rainfall decrease in south-western Australia since the 1950s was likely due to greenhouse gases.
And now climate change causes more rain in Australia:
A team that had hoped to break the world land-speed record for a wind-powered vehicle is blaming climate change for its failure.
Uncharacteristic heavy rain over Lake LeFroy in Western Australia has left the attempt high and dry.
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THE ONE HAS ALREADY WON
Tim Blair
Gerard Baker:
Travelling in Britain this week, I’ve been asked repeatedly by close followers of US politics if it can really be true that Barack Obama might not win.
I’m hearing the same thing here. Obama’s Unstoppable Rise is an article of faith.
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OBAMA WOULD ACE THIS
Tim Blair
Are you smart enough to be German?
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NAMES UNNAMED
Tim Blair
Charley James, the famous investigtative jouralist and trusted Fairfax contact, probes September 11. His impeccable sources include:
• “a former CIA official”
• “a source who once occupied a position close to the highest levels of the government during the Clinton years”
• “one former CIA employee”
• “a second former intelligence officer”
• “former and current CIA officers”
• “one former CIA station chief”
• “another former agency employee, now retired”
• “a retired CIA operative”
• “another former intelligence officer.”
• “a man who once held a position at the very highest levels of government”
• “sources”
• “one source familiar with the workings of moles in general”
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PRESIDENTIAL MASTERCLASS
Tim Blair
Just what Obama needs: campaign advice from Michael Dukakis.
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THE VIEW FROM BAYWATCH
Tim Blair
Hollywood’s powerful elite rises up against the Alaskan menace:
First Matt Damon, now Pamela Anderson has spoken out against Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin saying: “I can’t stand her. She can suck it!”
Pamela seems to be projecting a little. We’ve all seen the tapes. Meanwhile, the left have their latest shrieking point:
Palin is advocating nuclear war with Russia.
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TASK ACCOMPLISHED
Tim Blair
Brisbane sociologist Mark Bahnisch:
McCain’s mob have worked out how to game not just the media but also the liberal blogosphere.
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NITROBAMA
Tim Blair
This is exceptional. During a campaign stop at an ice cream store in Abingdon, Virginia, Barack Obama found himself in the same proximity as the great Don Garlits:
“Hey! Hey! Over here!” Obama yelled to the traveling band of national press.
Obama, now with his arm draped over Garlits, pronounced, “This is the father of big-time drag racing right here.”
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CRUSHING VICTORY GUARANTEED
Tim Blair
It’s Obama all the way, according to maths:
A pollster whose mathematical model has correctly predicted every winner of the White House popular vote since 1988 is banking on a decisive victory for Democrat Barack Obama in November.
Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz said today that according to his “time for change” model, Obama would secure 54.3 per cent of the popular vote against 45.7 per cent for Republican John McCain.
That margin would virtually guarantee a crushing victory for the Democrat in the state-by-state electoral college that actually selects the next president, Mr Abramowitz said.
Abramowitz’s prediction appears in the October issue of PS: Political Science and Politics. I’m guessing it was filed before Sarah Palin’s VP appointment.
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BELIEF IN FRAUD
Tim Blair
Some folks ain’t real bright:
A CNN reporter this week didn’t seem to know or care that a fake photo showing a bikini-clad, rifle-toting Sarah Palin had been widely debunked days earlier as a fraud, the latest in series of incidents involving apparent misstatements or inaccurate reporting by the news network.
“(John) McCain has been really good about painting (Barack) Obama as this lightweight … They don’t want that to come back on Sarah Palin, and people say, yes, she looks good in a bikini clutching an AK-47, but is she equipped to run the country?”
That was CNN’s Lola Ogunnaike (appearing on – ahem – “Reliable Sources") who isn’t equipped to be a reporter.
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