Via TVNewser, the clip that CBS managed to get pulled because it was a “copyright infringement” (It wasn’t; it was fair use):

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ll see how long it lasts. YouTube has a history of pulling clips when Big Media wants it to.

Obama responded this morning my whining about how this is trivial and unimportant it is, calling the ad “swiftboating.” Oh, please.

In other words: “I should get to insult people, but then they fight back, that’s negative campaigning.” McCain used the same phrase to describe Hillary Clinton’s health plan once. Obama was talking about Palin herself.

It’s beginning to look like Obama and his supporters are panicking. They spent the last few months convinced that once he won the primary, the election was in the bag. Palin’s selection has been a game changer, though. Obama supporters don’t know how to campaign against her, and the result has a stream of misogyny, much of it much worse than Obama’s pig-wearing-lipstick comment.

Even though I disagree with a number of McCain and Palin’s beliefs and actions, this Republican combination, once elected and with our help, can slow down this countries slide into populism and socialism. The Republicans, independents and many border line Democrats must be convinced to lay aside their own personal slights, jealousies, disappointments and “large” egos, tone down the “Faustian bargain made with Dobson and his ilk (See Dobson’s choice, 2/9/08) embracing most of the fundamentals on which this great country was founded and elect McCain/Palin to office.

And I have to agree. McCain spent the primary (at least the early part) telling voters that he was a different sort of candidate. he wasn’t going to trash anyone. He quickly learned how to play the game. As soon as his campaign figured out that McCain’s choice of Palin changed the game from a likely Obama win to a dead heat in the polls, the knives came out: Palin is a secessionist. Palin faked her pregnancy. Palin is a bad mother for not stayi9ng home with her kids. Palin is a gun-toting lunatic. Palin hunts endangered species. Palin had an affair. Palin. All denied and either proven untrue or died on the vine for lack of evidence.

The only reason I was considering voting for Obama is because I thought he might be the game changer we need to move us away from the hateful partisanship we’ve been experiencing from the left and right. McCain — who is NOT a Bush-style Republican no matter how much they try to make him out to be — is probably the change agent Obama tells people he is.

I can’t think of one single accomplishment of Obama OTHER than to win elections he was originally predicted to lose. Although I do believe the nation does owe him an eternal debt of gratitude for knocking Hillary Clinton out of the race.

Obama wrote two autobiographies, and not one significant piece of legislation. McCain has his name on significant pieces of legislation, whether or not you like that legislation. And McCain has a record of reaching across the aisle, not just talking about it.

McCain’s politics regarding the economy, energy, national defense and foreign relations are far closer to my own that Obama. I think McCain is honorable. He certainly would not have managed the Iraq and Afghanistan in the same way as Bush.

I don’t see McCain putting right-wing zealots with little legal brilliance on the Supreme Court. He couldn’t do it with a Democratic controlled Congress, and I don’t see him wanting to do so. I shudder for the future of gun rights and property rights with Congress giving a rubber stamp to Obama’s picks.

And McCain is on the right side when it comes to limiting the powers of the Presidency that were allowed to expand under Bush.

Again, both Obama and McCain have their pluses and minuses. Obama simply had more minuses than pluses.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yeah, “Babies, Lies and Scandal” isn’t a headline designed to accurately and fairly relay information about the contents. But since when to tabloid-style celebrity-obsessed magazines like Us Weekly gives a rat’s ass about fairness and accuracy. The standard instead is “close enough to avoid lawsuits while selling as many copies as possible.”

As opposed to serious publications, which don’t care about sales and and place a premium on accuracy like … like … um …

I’ll think of one soon. Promise.

But forgive me for thinking FOXNews is a poor choice of defender for fairness and accuracy.

And here is the winning line:

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.

Day By Day.

Well, as it turns out, not so much. The Republican-leaning blog Hot Air reports that Palin has been a registered Republican since 1982 and has never been a member of AIP. As mayor of Wasilla, she made an appearance at the AIP convention when it was held in the town.

My two cents: As a former member of the Libertarian Party, I’d hate to be remembered for that mistake. So, I’d be willing to overlook something like that. But turns out to be yet another false rumor about this woman. 

Well, it turns out that this daughter is herself five months pregnant, and plans to marry the teenage father. Aides to Sen. John McCain say the announcement was made to specifically squelch those rumors. For the mathematically and scientifically challenged, this development means that it’s not possible for the baby rumor to be true. Sorry folks.

Five bucks says the proud grandparents would just as soon be dealing with the rumor than a pregnant teenage daughter.

No doubt, there will be those who want to make a big deal out of the fact that a social conservative’s unwed teenage daughter is expecting a baby.

Meanwhile, Palin has hired an attorney to deal with the investigation into efforts to get ex-brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper.

UPDATE: Time has a wonderful, sensitive article on how this wasn’t a secret in Palin’s hometown.

“I championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress,” Palin said at her first campaign appearance. “In fact, I told Congress — I told Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ on that bridge to nowhere. If our state wanted a bridge, I said we’d build it ourselves.”

That is not how Palin described her position on the Gravina Island bridge when she ran for governor in 2006.
On Oct. 22, 2006, the Anchorage Daily News asked Palin and the other candidates, “Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?”

Her response: “Yes. I would like to see Alaska’s infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now — while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist.”

Palin’s support of the earmark for the bridge was applauded by the late Lew Williams Jr., the retired Ketchikan Daily News publisher who wrote columns on the topic. Williams wrote on Oct. 29, 2006, that Palin was the only gubernatorial candidate that year who consistently supported the Gravina Island Bridge, the Knik Arm Bridge and improvements to the Parks Highway.

In other words, she supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Have at it, commenters. Tell us all how she’s either:

1. The perfect woman for the job.
2. A dangerous right-wing lunatic who’s too inexperienced for the job.

It’s an election year, and there’s no middle ground.

1. The abbreviation stands for exactly what you think it does.
2. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, ask any high school or college age guy.
3. The site is safe for work and kids, so don’t be afraid to click on the link.

I’m predicting that former Saturday Night Live cast member Tina Fey will return to the show if for no other reason than to portray Alaska Gov./vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Either that, or star in the movie, when they make one.