We keep reading in the press that republican VP nominee Sarah Palin is like Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle is one of our favorite political figures of all time. Mainly because he made more gaffes than Joe Biden on a bender.

Cindy McCain, during an interview with George Stephanopoulos that aired yesterday was asked about Palin's national security experience (or lack there of). She said,"Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia, so it's as if she doesn't know what's at stake here."

This, of course was echoing Fox News' Steve Doocy saying that Palin (who didn't get her passport until 2007) does have international experience because Alaska is right next to Russia.

Which does remind us of ol' Dan Quayle saying,"I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix.

Yay! We have another 9 weeks of this stuff!

This fishie's people are from Louisiana. Cajun. Whole pig roasting, gator killing, gumbo gulping, cracklin eating Cajuns. If we start talking about Katrina, we start foaming at the mouth talking about people standing on their roof tops while corpses floated by. "Heck of a job!" "Heck of a job!"

John McCain was eating cake with George Bush when Katrina touched down. That was the golden era of the GOP, before approval ratings went down to flesh eating virus levels.

Hurricane Gustav has been downgraded to a Catagory 2. It's still like punching a scab.

Here's a link to the Red Cross' Disaster Relief Fund.

TVNewser has all the coverage on the coverage.

Yesterday there was a rumor that republican VP nominee Sarah Palin's 5th child was actually her 17 year old daughter Bristol Palin's child. That Sarah Palin had wanted to spare her daughter the shame and claimed the baby as her own. Yes, the rumor was also a storyline on last season's Desperate Housewives. The scheme on the show was also carried out by a right-wing gun nut character. It just fit. Besides, when a high school girl is out of school for 7 months with mono. That's code.

Anyway, news broke this morning, very fitting for 'Labor' Day, that Bristol is 5 months pregnant now. And that Sarah, doesn't want to spare her the shame. So there's a relief.

From CNN.com:

Sarah and Todd Palin issued a statement saying they are "proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents."

The thing with being pro-choice AND anti-birth control (er pro-abstinence) is that sooner or later something is going to (ahem) give.

Republicans are in a pickle. Gee...this is fun to watch.

WaPo reports:

Staging a convention during a major natural disaster would be a public relations challenge for either political party. But GOP officials say the burden could be especially heavy for their party, whose reputation was tarred by the Bush administration's bungling of Katrina and its aftermath in 2005.

A hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico could also cast unwelcome attention on the offshore oil rigs that McCain has championed as a solution to rising gasoline prices -- they are now being evacuated in the face of the coming storm.

Fiasco. Tee hee.

Beauty queen (Miss Congeniality actually), TV sports reporter, two year governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, has been chosen by John McCain for a VP.

Drudge was 'whispering' in red about Tim Pawlenty. We knew she was on the short list - but this makes his run for president a little more interesting.

McCain has done very well for himself ditching the ahem 'more experienced' loyal, if you will, people in his life (think the woman who stuck with him when he was a POW) and choosing a hot young thing.

If there hasn't already been a movie about Palin (To Die For) starring Nicole Kidman...they will be...Okay she totally reminds us of a Nicole Kidman character. Doesn't she? Vehement, slightly creepy with amazing skin.

Sarah Palin: Stepford Wives meets Cold Mountain!

The rumor is, ahem, Drudge is reporting that John McCain's veep choice may be leaked today. Today around 3pm PST.

We think he should wait for a slower news day. Maybe a day when 15,000 reporters aren't knee deep in donkey drama in Denver. But what do we know. We know alliteration. That's what we know.

Stuart Shepard of Focus on the Family made a "Praying for Rain" youtube video. He asked his followers(?) to pray for rain at Mile High Stadium during Barack Obama's acceptance speech because he disagrees with his politics. "If God decides that rain of biblical proportions would be a good and proper meteorological condition for that evening," He says on the video. "We'll see it and we'll say that it is good."

Yeah, Focus on the Family should try focusing on their family and retire from rain dancing. Because it's 80 degrees and sunny in Denver today.

Either way it makes Stuart Shepard look like an ass.

Anyway, Joe Strupp at E&P brings us a story of the Times-Picayune looking at the three year anniversary of Katrina tomorrow while bracing for Gustav.

"Keeping a watchful eye on Gustav has caused people to be less-conscious of the anniversary than they would have been," Peter Kovacs said. "There is a sort of nervousness of 'no, not again'."

Reuters reports that some New Orleans residents may get evacuations orders by tomorrow. The storm could hit the gulf coast by Monday. That would make it make land fall the first day of the Republican National Convention.

Ouch.

CJR's Justin Peters breaks down the reporters at the DNC by the numbers. There are 15,000 journalists attending the event. Peters starts with:

14,000 are wearing terrible suits.

And continues:

1,026 are drunk. This is as it should be.

500 don't have credentials, but are trying desperately to get them. The credentialing process occurs in a Hampton Inn about a forty-minute walk from the Pepsi Center. Each morning, reporters have to come and claim their credentials for that particular day. The media members are separated by medium-newspaper reporters on one floor, magazine reporters on another, multimedia reporters on another. CJR's credentials are issued from the leftovers pile (third floor). It's Denver's answer to the Island of Misfit Toys-bloggers, activists, eighteen-year-olds, men wearing giveaway T-shirts, men complaining about having to pay eleven dollars for parking. One intrepid credentialee is so devoted to his job that he is videotaping the room, like a tourist. A DemBot hustles over and stops him. "There is a lot of sensitive material in this room," he says. There is most definitely not.

Then Peters lets us know that 7 of these journalists are having their picture taken with Captain Morgan.

Yep, that's the word from CJ 'Arrrr'.

We think it's flippant, reactionary and trivializing to call someone a racist. It's like calling someone you disagree with a Nazi. Really? They actually share Adolph Hitler's views? Or you just think they're bossy?

Anyway, we think WorldDailyNet's Craig R. Smith's 'slip' is showing:

If Barack Obama is to become our 44th president, it will be heralded as a moment of historic significance unlike any other. However, I think many are missing the real reason why.

It's because Barack Obama will be our first hip-hop president.

I can only imagine how the world will embrace the leader of the free world when he introduces other foreign leaders with, "give it up for my man Vladimir." Giving "props" for joining us in a treaty. Or the first lady Michelle talking about "my man" the "daddy of my babies" when referring to the president. That should go over well everywhere from 10 Downing Street right on down to the streets of the Middle East.

And he goes on:

After a few months on the job he can refer to his cabinet members as his "bitches." Hey don't get angry at me. Take a listen to any hip-hop song, and that is the type of endearing language you will hear. A group of playas that have no respect for the country. The same country that affords them a lifestyle most people only dream of, and all they can do is endlessly complain about it.

First - it's "baby daddy" not "daddy of my babies". And second...we think this might be uh...seriously racist. When they stop being 'points' in an op/ed and become paranoid fantasies about a group of people different from yourself...yeah, that's racism.

The buzz is that in the next couple of days - maybe tomorrow - maybe Saturday - those texts and emails will be sent out and then we'll know who's going to play second fiddle in Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

We ache at the chance to ridicule a new high profile politician.