You know, Washington isn't the only place where checking the index is commonplace.

As a delightful insider's joke on the inbred Washington political establishment, the [Sarah Palin] book has no index. So they can't find mention of themselves while browsing in the store. Buy it or lump it.

Academics do this all the time. Someone writes a paper in your research area? You immediately go to the bibliography to see if your paper was included in the review of previous literature on the topic. There's a very well-known economist who wrote me once a rather angry note (back before the internet was commonplace) complaining not that I had not cited his paper -- I had cited one -- but that he had a second paper I should have also included. I've heard others say "well, this paper is no good, she didn't cite me."

If only I could get people to read my papers first without looking at the bibliography. There was a time where we used footnotes with full citations and no bibliographies. But with the internet we now can just scan Google Scholar and other online indexes for who quoted us. Indeed, there's even a program for that. And it's free!

Labels: books, higher education, Sarah Palin

The Republican Party of Minnesota is releasing this PM a call for Rep. Collin Peterson to apologize for remarks about the people of his district (which is just west of where I live.) In response to a question about how his constituents feel about the Obama birthplace issue, Rep. Peterson is reported by Politico as replying

�Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down,� said Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat who represents a conservative Republican district in Minnesota. �That�s why I don�t do town meetings.�

Republican Party of Minnesota chair Tony Sutton says this is evidence that Peterson doesn't want people to know his liberal views. Of course, Peterson is best known as a Blue Dog who sold his district for thirty pieces of silver on cap and trade.

But contempt for rural conservative Minnesotans is commonplace from the Anointed. Take this letter from one Betty Johnson of Cold Spring, who wants her Anointment well-known:

We recently returned from a trip to the Middle East along with people from 16 other states. Several well-informed people asked me if I lived in the area that Michele Bachmann supposedly represents in Congress.

Then they said she is a �laughing stock� in the nation and must be and embarrassment to me! They said she talks but doesn�t seem to know the facts and that her sponsors must want people to be confused and not pay attention to the facts.

My answer was the 6th District and Stearns County conservatives don�t care what the rest of the country thinks of them and their representative! They really did vote that woman into office twice.

How embarrassing! Is she stupid? No, she is just singing the song her sponsors want her to do. Voters need to understand she does not stand for us, the people. Her sponsors are big business and coal and gas interests.

Betty Johnson to voters in the 6th District: "You're all stupid stupid poopyheads! Stop voting for her! I know better! I go to the Middle East. What is wrong with this country? Isn't anyone a real Minnesotan anymore? Why don't they listen to me? Can't they read without moving their lips?"

Explanation of link: I sent a piece of humor regarding Obama to one of my liberal aunts last night along with my father. She sends back how she gets it and it was refreshing after watching Palin's valedictory, characterizing it as "double-speak and glaring 'pseudo-humility.'" Of course, my aunt lives in Los Angeles, a place that has made pseudo-humility an art form.

It's bad enough when Hollywood thinks all of Minnesotans can be described by the natives in Fargo, Grumpy Old Men and New In Town. It's worse when the Collin Petersons and Betty Johnsons think it's their way of getting accepted in polite society or the Politico.

Labels: Democrats, Minnesota, Sarah Palin

On Monday I posted here about some of the women attacking Sarah Palin and her family. Today, the insanity continues. Now, a someone (s) has/have hacked into her personal email. How much do you want to bet this is the same group that opposes tapping phone calls to identify terrorists?

NOW comes out for Obama (I thought NOW was for the advancement of women - oops, only if the woman is a Democrat).

This article by Jeff Jacoby of Boston Globe identifies more of the feeding frenzy against Palin and her family. They can keep trying but she's made of far tougher stuff than any of them. Her internal gyroscope is stable - she's got a soul of steel.

Labels: Sarah Palin

The attacks on Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, have been ferocious and relentless. I'll ignore Charlie Gibson's condescending attitude; the unbelievably inept article in US Magazine; Team Obama sending of 30+ people to Alaska in a desperate attempt to uncover anything about a governor with an 80+% approval rating; and the ignorance of so many pundits who have not bothered examining Obama's questionable connections.

Instead, this post will focus on the incredibly narrow and one-sided view of "educated" feminists. These women would have praised Sarah's accomplishment to the skies IF she'd been a Democrat. However, she's a Republican, has five kids, is happily married, goes to a Christian church, and has succeeded where they could only dream of succeeding. Here goes:

1 - From Mary Mitchell in the Chicago Sun Times: "Palin makes me sick.....I hate that she was able to steal Barack Obama's mojo...Frankly Sarah Palin scares me.....etc." These comments along with Mary's use of selective data are the latest in the storm over Sarah Palin. If a conservative were to write like this about Obama, the conservative would be skewered by the mainstream press.

2 - Cintra Wilson, Salon.com. Here we have a feminist attacking Sarah Palin's real femininity. The language in this article is foul, foul, foul. It shows the author to be oblivious that many of us are not enamored with women who think like Wilson does or that her crass description of the world matters.

3 - Wendy Doniger (O'Flaherty), professor of History of Religions at the University of Chicago's Divinity School, writing here accuses Sarah Palin with these words: "Her (SP) greatest hypocrisy is her pretense that she is a woman.... because she has a womb and makes lots and lots of babies.... She has no sympathy for the problems of other women, particularly working class women." Oh, really? And Professor Doniger does? Sarah Palin is not a working class woman?Doniger goes on to slam Palin because Palin does not buy 100% into the mantra of mandmade global warming, and the rest of leftist opinions; that Palin forces her beliefs on others. Palin's record shows that not to be true. ButDoniger's university environment is overwehlmingly of one mindset when it comes to views of women, the environment, men, politics, etc. and it's not an open mindset.

4 - A final example is the comment made by Carol Fowler, chariman of the South Carolina Democratic Party. She said that Palin's "primary qualification seems to be that she hasn't had an abortion." Excuse me - how crude can you get? It's obvious Fowler took heat for this statement because she issued a clarification of what she meant here. But she said it, it got quoted and Fowler back-pedaled.

These are just four of the numerous articles slamming Palin and her family. They omit any data that would counter their pre-disposed dislike of Sarah. The authors come across as angry people who cannot get over the fact that the Republicans picked a true leader for tomorrow.

Yet, none can deny that Sarah made her way on her own, she earned it. No one "gave her a break" because she is a mom, female, etc. She worked for her degree, married her high school sweetheart, worked on her husband's fishing boat, volunteered where her talents were needed. She obviously has a talent for leadership, decision making and juggling many jobs. But, hey, she's no feminist as defined by today's feminists because Sarah is tough, she's no victim and she doesn't blink.

Labels: Sarah Palin

Victory Time with John McCain and Sarah Palin

It's our team, they're coming to MN, we need to show them our state is FINALLY moving red. Here's the key info:

Friday, September 19th
Key Air Hanger at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport
10188 Radisson Road NE
Blaine, MN 55449

Doors Open: 9:00 AM
Event Begins: 12:00 PM

CLICK here TO RSVP ONLINE

Labels: McCain, Sarah Palin

The attacks on Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, have been non-stop since McCain announced her name on August 29. Magazines, papers, mainstream media and other pundits have slammed the conservative Sarah and her family relentlessly. Yesterday, the Nobama campaign voiced another dig at Sarah. Today, I'm sure we'll hear from his campaign that Nobama didn't mean anything by his comment about lipstick and pigs. Seems his audience knew. To view his crass comments go here.

For those with a sense of humor, Sarah's line, "You know the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? ..... Lipstick." brought down the house. Apparently the Nobama crew shows the only sense of humor it has is to attack someone who is running against Joe Biden.

KING ADDS: Politico notes that it wasn't a single instance. Sen. Obama's comment on its own would be tossed off as coincidence, at worst simply a careless remark. But more than one makes a meme.

JANET ADDS: Michelle Malkin has the killer screen capture: an August 30 post on the website of the Democratic Party with the headline: "McCain's Selection of Palin is Lipstick on a Pig." The tags include "lipstick on a pig" and "Palin."

Labels: Sarah Palin

Ed Morrissey notes this morning the attempt to hang a gaffe on Sarah Palin for saying Fannie and Freddie are too expensive. Apparently, according to her critics, it's a mistake to say money at risk is money spent. I noted in the post just below this that we knew taxpayer dollars were at risk in 2002, for example from this USAToday article from May of that year:

The companies have become so big, their failure could jeopardize the whole U.S. economy. According to the doomsday scenario, failure could drag down a U.S. banking system dependent on Fannie- and Freddie-issued bonds. Taxpayers would be on the hook for a bailout that would dwarf the savings and loan scandal.

It's a distinction without a difference. Just ask Robert Reich:

So who gets stuck with the tab? Investors in Fannie and Freddie have always believed that the loans issued by the two giants were guaranteed by the federal government but technically they aren't. The guarantee has always been assumed but has never been put into law explicitly, and the liabilities have never been carried on the federal books. Yes, the companies' charters give the Treasury the authority to buy as much as $2.25 billion in each of their securities in the event of possible default, and the two companies have access to the Fed's so-called Fedwire payments system allowing them to access funding if needed. But these won't keep the two afloat for long.

Perhaps her opponents would like to score a TGO (technical gaffe-out), but I would say this argument barely lays a glove. The dollars were committed many, many years ago, back in its 1960s when the government was put on the hook for this and later legislation which allowed Fan and Fred to take on investments that were never the intent of the original design. The argument being made is akin to saying your home only cost you dollars after you paid the mortgage, not when you signed for the loan.

UPDATE: Welcome HotAir readers! Also to note what both McCain & Palin are saying and what Obama has said yesterday morning:

Barack Obama objected to reports Monday that the ousted heads of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may receive lucrative severance packages and asked the Bush administration to ensure their "poor leadership" isn't rewarded.

"Under no circumstances should the executives of these institutions earn a windfall at a time when the U.S. Treasury has taken unprecedented steps to rescue these companies with taxpayer resources," Obama said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart. "I urge you immediately to clarify that the agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac voids any such inappropriate windfall payments to outgoing CEOs and senior management."

There is no significant difference in the views of the candidates on this issue, either in causation or in prescription.

Labels: economics, Sarah Palin

The best people have no fear of talent, skill, ability, success. They intuitively know that surrounding themselves with others who are good or better than they is a win/win situation. Ronald Reagan understood this principle. He simply attracted the best to work with him. Why? He recognized he could not do everything; he needed expertise in other areas and he found the best he could for every environment.

John McCain understands this, too. He picked a brilliant, relatively unknown governor who had taken on the "system." Sarah has the courage to do what is right. McCain needs this independence because he wants to get government off our backs. Over intrusive government stifles creativity, freedom, etc.

John McCain has no qualms about Sarah getting the attention because he knows what is at stake. Sarah will drive the Republican base. Sarah will give hockey (and soccer) moms a reason to return to the party of responsibility (yes, we blew it a few years ago). Sarah is every feminist's nightmare - Sarah has done everything the feminists have been whining about for 40 years but, horrors, Sarah is a Republican!!

A presidential ego that has to pick a VP who will not be a threat in any way to the top of the ticket is a losing proposition. McCain picked the future. Sarah is just the first. Surround yourself with good people - we all win.

UPDATE AND BUMP:

Michelle Obama claims that Barack also showed courage by picking Joe Biden:

"What you learn about Barack from his choice is that he�s not afraid of smart people."

People say that Hillary is intimidating. I have seen nothing suggesting that people might fear Biden because he's so smart. Obama's VP choice reveals exactly the fear of being overshadowed that is absent in McCain.

Labels: elections, McCain, Obama, Sarah Palin

My MnFMI colleague Craig Westover mails me a question:

If at the margins you love baseball more than your wife, how would you apply that economic theory to Sarah Palin's dilemma -- she can put family first and still be vice president of the United States? Do we have a teachable moment here?

Yes we do! We rationally devote time to all the things we do in life -- work, love, recreation, social networks, etc. -- up to the point where reallocating an hour from any one activity to any other cannot make us happier. Mrs. S, God bless her, doesn't try to prevent my consumption of baseball (too much -- she will remind me of the value of alternative activities from time to time) or NARN or anything else. No matter how much I love my job, the last hour I devote to it has enough disutility to make me want to spend that hour just as much with her, Littlest, or the radio guys, or my church, or any other activity which gives me pleasure. Likewise, the last hour Governor Palin spends in her job as governor or VP candidate is not something she likes, we can predict: She'd just as soon spend it with her family or moosehunting or whatever else she likes to do.

The previous paragraph draws on a lesson I use in my introductory classes, from Dwight Lee's "Take This Job and Shove It, At the Margin."

Even if you get tremendous satisfaction from your job, the marginal satisfaction can be very low, in fact negative. Well before the work day is over, most of us are tired of the grind and would love to leave work early and do something else. We would like to tell the boss, �Take this job and shove it, at the margin.�

I'm certain Governor Palin will have moments in her job -- whichever she ends up with -- where she would rather be at home with her kids. She also has moments with her family where she would like to be on a snowmobile or out hunting. It's the nature of human beings with many wants and desires. She is induced not to do so by current and potential future benefits, as is anybody else, including Senators Obama, Biden and McCain.

UPDATE: Ed Morrissey reviews the work-family balance.

Labels: economics, Sarah Palin

The latest in your Sarah-Palin-is-a-wacko attack: She's a Pentecostal. Hide the children! Final Word producer Matt (a/k/a Antoine) explains:

While some "Bible-believers" may disagree on Theology, but they don't deride them. This is what these AP Reporters don't get. When you don't have a evangelical or even a Judeo-Christian worldview, it's extremely hard to understand the theological differences and the different style of worship that happens in a Pentecostal church. They express their worship outwardly. Maybe I can help them understand. That furrow that Chris Matthews feels for Barack Obama, that's close to how Pentecostals feel about their triune God, the Father, Son (that's Jesus) and Holy Spirit. When they feel the Holy Spirit move, it is expressed through verbal worship.

In the group I have breakfast with many mornings, this "she's a Pentecostal" thing had already reached one of our group who supports the Democratic candidate. "They do that speaking in tongues thing" he said. And another guy at the table, whom everyone knew goes to a fundamentalist church and has some different views on religion, said "so do I. What would you like to know about it?" A little education happened after that.

A third guy usually there but not that time is a pastor friend. He says, in short, while we have theological differences people who profess Christianity are spreading the Word, and we do not argue with them. There's always an opportunity to get a little education, one that I try to take.

But the vilification of Governor Palin will continue, since nobody will countenance her being more popular than the would-be Community-Organizer-in-Chief; and who think the only sisterhood that should matter should be lead by women in pantsuits. Maybe it works, but maybe the pantsuits this time will be the ones getting a little education.

Labels: Media, religion, Sarah Palin

Many of the pundits are accusing McCain of a last minute bait and switch in his selection of AK's governor, Sarah Palin as his running mate. As this article from the Washington Post indicates, Sarah was one of many who were considered by McCain's closest advisers.

Perhaps Palin was selected because she is a she. However, given the maverick's penchant to do things "outside the box" I honestly believe it was Palin's guts and instinctive ability to do what is right that attracted her to McCain. His team had plenty of time to check out her ratings, her plusses and minuses. They did. She surpassed all contenders.

McCain had met her at a governor's conference and was impressed. She along with others were vetted over the last six or so months and the list was shortened. To the McCain vice president search team's credit, very little was leaked. The pundits wanted to be on the "inside" and would grasp at any straw to be the first to break the news. No go.

As for Hillary's pants suit brigade - most won't vote for Palin. This brigade is comprised of many older women who hold leftist/socialist views. It's the latter reason they like Mrs. Clinton, the proponent of letting the government take care of everyone.

Sarah will attract the soccer moms because she is one; she juggles the family schedule; she coaches; she chauffeurs. She will attract young women because they are beginning to realize that the feminists of the left are not what they are or want to be. While I'm all for women's education and equal opportunity, I am totally opposed to equal pay for different jobs - a goal of the leftist feminists.

I say, "go for it," Sarah - no guts, no glory. This will be a truly exciting election and it's looking better every day.

Labels: Sarah Palin

It's been less than 48 hours since McCain announced his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin. We have studied her background and rise in AK politics and concluded, along with others that she knows there is more to life than what professional politicians and pundits assume is life; she comes across as real; she's truly outside the Washington beltway.

Governor Palin provides a refreshing face, independence, decent, family driven behavior and a "can-do" attitude. Sarah Palin knows how to play offense when it is appropriate to do so.

What the analytical pundits, on all sides are missing is this: everyone can identify with some part of Sarah Palin. One valuable piece of training I had while working at IBM was a course in understanding what motivates people to do something. We are not all alike. Sarah is appealing because she recognizes this fact. She knows there are more people in this great country than just talking head babblers and people who want to destroy us from within.

She "gets" the American people. As a result, money is flowing into the McCain campaign like never before. Volunteers are coming out of the woodwork. Every place I've been in the past two days, grocery, gas station, coffee shop, I've heard people commenting how excited they are about Sarah.Why? She has touched their souls - something about her is resonating with the lives of many ordinary Americans. We are excited because we have found someone we know can make a difference - she already has.

As this election cycle progresses, we will see there is far more to Sarah Palin than the negative talking heads have discussed. I'm very optimistic that Governor Palin will be able to stand up to Motormouth Biden's long track record of nasty debating tactics.

Labels: Sarah Palin