Comment from Max
Time: September 2, 2008, 10:32 pm

Sasha,

Here you go straight from the commander of the Alaskan National Guard, Major General Campbell.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brandon-friedman/palin-as-commander-of-the_b_123098.html

What he is saying is that State Governors only have command when they request it for emergencies, like a Louisiana hurricane or a Chicago snowstorm. They have no say in the equipping of the Guard, and no say in it’s deployment, or any aspect of it’s military functions. These are all handled by the Federal government.

Does John McCain understand this when he repeats this claptrap.

Comment from I.B.Lever
Time: September 3, 2008, 1:11 pm

Sad and Ironic: Palin Vetoed Funding for Teen Moms Yet another example of how the religious right insists babies be born, but then fails to support the babies, their mothers, and their families afterward. This is a classic story with a newly relevant twist. The WaPo:

After the legislature passed a spending bill in April, [Alaska Governor Sarah] Palin went through the measure reducing and eliminating funds for programs she opposed. Inking her initials on the legislation — “SP” — Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.9 million. Covenant House is a mix of programs and shelters for troubled youths, including Passage House, which is a transitional home for teenage mothers.
According to Passage House’s web site, its purpose is to provide “young mothers a place to live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives” and help teen moms “become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families.”
As Michelle Cottle notes at TNR, “A politician who opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and who opposes comprehensive sex education should be at the forefront of championing support systems that make it easier for young mothers to keep their babies.”

Comment from I.B.Lever
Time: September 3, 2008, 1:36 pm

Now we’re talkin’ …. these bogus bastards should be held accountable and now someone has finally taken the bit in their teeth and is willing to run.

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said yesterday that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.

Biden’s comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

But his statements represent the Democrats’ strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years.

“If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued,” Biden said during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, according to ABC.

“[N]ot out of vengeance, not out of retribution,” he added, “out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president — no one is above the law.”

Obama sounded a similar note in April, vowing that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to initiate a prompt review of Bush-era actions to distinguish between possible “genuine crimes” and “really bad policies”.

“[I]f crimes have been committed, they should be investigated,” Obama told the Philadelphia Daily News. “You’re also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt, because I think we’ve got too many problems we’ve got to solve.”

Congressional Democrats have issued a flurry of subpoenas this year to senior Bush administration aides as part of a broad inquiry into the authorisation of torturous interrogation tactics used at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp.

Three veterans of the Bush White House have been held in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to respond to subpoenas: former counsel Harriet Miers, former political adviser Karl Rove, and current chief of staff Josh Bolten. The contempt battle is currently before a federal court.