Bailin’ Palin

Did she finally get the memo to get out of the spotlight? Or was national politics just too nasty for Sarah Palin?

By: Lawrence Bobo

For now, the great Republican joke of 2008 has decided to step off the public stage. At least that’s how I read this weekend’s announcement from Alaska governor and former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. What will late-night comedians do? Will Tina Fey still have a job?

Of course, some time ago, I concluded that Wasilla and the Palin family were essentially a comedian’s Full Employment Act, the trailer park that keeps on giving. From unwed, teenage motherhood and OxyContin dealers to televised turkey grinding and pointless belly-aching about the humor of late-night talk show hosts, the Palin clan managed to keep themselves in the headlines. But suddenly, the heady mix of media attention, mass adulation, criticism and biting humor seems to be too much for the one-term governor.

Bailin’ Palin....

If Obama Loses, Americans Ought to Beware White ‘Frontlash’

By: Tim Wise

Amid the polls and punditry that seem to suggest Barack Obama will be the nation's 44th president, there is still a fear, spoken of in whispers by his supporters, that the polls and the pundits could all be wrong.

Whether because of deception on the part of white voters, preening as more racially ecumenical than they really are, or because of last minute swings among independents in certain key states, or even because of voter suppression and a stolen election, an Obama loss is the prospect that dare not speak its name; the nightmare scenario for millions who feel so close to a history-making victory.

It's enough to make you want to hibernate for the next several days, so as not to have to contend with the uncertainty that still hangs over this election like fog on a cool morning. Given the racial subtext that has been a constant in this race, one has to wonder, how would an Obama loss – as much as we might not wish to contemplate it – impact the nation's fragile race relations?

With white mobs at McCain/Palin rallies advocating violence against Obama and referring to him by only the most thinly-veiled racial code words, and with the racial divisions between Obama and McCain voters so substantial (most whites will vote against Obama while about 95 percent of blacks are expected to vote for him), how might an Obama loss effect the nation's racial climate, and especially the tensions that have long animated white-black interactions?

If Obama Loses, Americans Ought to Beware White ‘Frontlash’....

Distract, Distort, Demagogue- Worried about their chances in November, conservatives are desperately seeking diversions.

By Sam Fulwood III

If nothing else, the sycophants genuflecting to the McCain-Palin presidential campaign are experts at creating diversions.

When things go bad, they call out the troops to fill the airwaves with misdirection. Or they heave Hail Mary passes, hoping to connect with their easy-to-anger supporters. In fact, they'll do just about anything except admit to the campaign's shortcomings. So now, they've dragged PBS anchor Gwen Ifill into the crosshairs of their phony efforts at sowing confusion and distraction.

On the eve of tonight's vice presidential debate, a bevy of right wingers mounted a smear campaign against Ifill. Michelle Malkin kicked it off with a poisoned-pen commentary in the National Review Online, claiming Ifill is unfit to moderate the debate because she's writing a book about Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama.

But this shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone. Washington-based journalists write books all the time, and Ifill's book was no secret. Random House plans to publish Ifill's book, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," about the time the next president is inaugurated.

"[T]here is nothing 'moderate' about where Ifill stands on Barack Obama," Malkin wrote. "She's so far in the tank for the Democratic presidential candidate, her oxygen delivery line is running out."

Then, others picked up the spear to poke at Ifill. Matt Drudge made it the lead story on his blog. Fox News trotted out its resident expert on all things black, Juan Williams, to express both admiration and admonishment for Ifill's role in the debate, noting that he thinks Ifill is a first-rate journalist but that "there's a perception problem" related to her writing about Obama.

Distract, Distort, Demagogue....