Cheney: Gitmo or Death

Former President, er, Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech Monday, June 1, that the only alternative to tossing suspected terrorists in prison at Guantanamo Bay was to kill them.

The 240 prisoners left at Guantanamo, he said, are "the worst of the worst" — including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammed — who would gladly become suicide bombers to kill more Americans.

"If you don't have a place where you can hold these people, the only other option is to kill them, and we don't operate that way," he said.

Really? The only alternative?

Biden Wows 'em at Gridiron

As seen on BuzzFlash:

As you probably know, the insider elite "punditrocacy" in D.C. was all aghast that President Obama was the first Chief Executive since Grover Cleveland not to attend the annual roast held at the Gridiron Club (sounds like a waffle to us).

Vice President Joe Biden did the honors for Obama, and delivered a script of jokes that were actually quite funny. All Joe needed was a drumstick on a cymbal at the end of each punch line.

Decide for yourself from this transcript that's making its way around the Net:

Axelrod really wanted me to do this on teleprompter -- but I told him I'm much better when I wing it. ... I know these evenings run long, so I'm going to be brief. Talk about the audacity of hope. ... President Obama does send his greetings, though. He can't be here tonight -- because he's busy getting ready for Easter. He thinks it's about him.

'I know that no president has missed his first Gridiron since Grover Cleveland. Of course, President Cleveland really did have better things to do on a Saturday night. When he was in the White House -- he was married to a 21 year old woman. ... I understand these are dark days for the newspaper business, but I hate it when people say that newspapers are obsolete. That's totally untrue. I know from firsthand experience. I recently got a puppy, and you can't housebreak a puppy on the Internet.

Palin A Drag on McCain Campaign

McClatchy Newspapers reports on a new Pew Center survey that points out just how much of a drag Sarah Palin is having on John McCain's bid for the presidency.

WASHINGTON — Sarah Palin has become a drag on the Republican presidential ticket, the first time in recent political history that a running mate has made such a difference.

Among many independents and moderate Republicans, she's raised serious questions about John McCain's judgment, become too much of a national punch line and reinforced concerns about McCain's age and health.

"Nice lady, no experience. It's so sad. She's a gigantic drag," said Chris DePino, a Republican consultant based in New Haven, Conn.

The Alaska governor does help the ticket somewhat by energizing hard-core Republicans, but polls suggest that overall "she's hurting John McCain," said Andrew Kohut, the president of the Pew Research Center.

In a nationwide survey Oct. 16-19, Pew found that 49 percent of respondents had unfavorable views of Palin, while 44 percent saw her favorably. A month earlier, 54 percent had seen her favorably and 32 percent viewed her negatively.

GOP Dirty Tricks In New Mexico?

TPM Muckraker reports that a private investigator allegedly hired by a lawyer working for a lawyer associated with the New Mexico Republican Party is out intimidating minority voters.

Guadalupe Bojorquez, who works in law enforcement in Albuquerque, told TPMmuckraker today that her mother, Dora Escobedo, was one of the ten voters whose names were released by the GOP. After this happened, said Bojorquez, her mother had been contacted by the voter registration group ACORN. Bojorquez, with ACORN's help, confirmed with the county clerk that her mother, who does not speak English, is indeed eligible to vote, and had been when she voted in June.

Nonetheless, Bojorquez said that her mother yesterday received a visit from a man who asked for her personal information, including an ID, in reference to her eligibility to vote. Bojorquez told TPMmuckraker that according to her mother, at one point the man asked what she would do if immigration authorities contacted her.

After Bojorquez's mother, frightened, refused to let him in the door, the man waited outside her house. Eventually, Bojorquez's brother arrived at the house, emboldening Bojorquez's mother to go outside, call Bojorquez, and put her on the phone with the man.

Bojorquez said the man told her he wanted to make sure her mother knew that she shouldn't be voting, and continued to ask for her mother's personal information. When Bojorquez said that no information would be handed over unless the man revealed who he was employed by, he said he was a private investigator hired by Pat Rogers. He told Bojorquez his name was Al Romero, and left a number at which Bojorquez could contact him.

Bojorquez added that in fact, her mother has already voted in the general election, by absentee ballot -- which she is eligible for because she has trouble walking -- so Romero's efforts on that front were in vain.

This may just be the tip of the iceberg as the desperate GOP attempts to thwart the democratic process.

Obama's take on the massive bailout of Wall Street

Democratic presidential nominee Barak Obama has this to say - in part - about the Bush Administration's proposal to bail out the scalawags [my term, not his] on Wall Street:

• No blank check. If we grant the Treasury broad authority to address the immediate crisis, we must insist on independent accountability and oversight. Given the breach of trust we have seen and the magnitude of the taxpayer money involved, there can be no blank check.

• Rescue requires mutual responsibility. As taxpayers are asked to take extraordinary steps to protect our financial system, it is only appropriate to expect those institutions that benefit to help protect American homeowners and the American economy. We cannot underwrite continued irresponsibility, where CEOs cash in and our regulators look the other way. We cannot abet and reward the unconscionable practices that triggered this crisis. We have to end them.

• Taxpayers should be protected. This should not be a handout to Wall Street. It should be structured in a way that maximizes the ability of taxpayers to recoup their investment. Going forward, we need to make sure that the institutions that benefit from financial insurance also bear the cost of that insurance.

• Help homeowners stay in their homes. This crisis started with homeowners and they bear the brunt of the nearly unprecedented collapse in housing prices. We cannot have a plan for Wall Street banks that does not help homeowners stay in their homes and help distressed communities.

• A global response. As I said on Friday, this is a global financial crisis and it requires a global solution. The United States must lead, but we must also insist that other nations, who have a huge stake in the outcome, join us in helping to secure the financial markets.

And be sure to check out VoteNoBailout.org [Not affiliated with the Obama-Biden campaign.]

Come Clean, Sarah Palin

It's time for Sarah Palin to come clean about her involvement, if any, in the so-called Troopergate scandal involving her ex-brother-in-law and allegations of her misuse of her office as governor to have him fired.

Even the Anchorage Daily News is saying she is stonewalling the investigation.

Gov. Sarah Palin is taking the wrong approach to Troopergate. She should be practicing the open and transparent, ethical and accountable government she promised when running for governor and boasts about now that she's on the national stage.

Instead, Gov. Palin has begun stonewalling the Legislature's attempt to get the bottom of allegations that she, her family or staff violated ethical or state personnel rules.

As a result, the Troopergate allegations hang over Palin's future and cloud her candidacy for vice president.

The allegations are that she, her family or administration improperly pressured then-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire Gov. Palin's ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten, who had been in the middle of a custody dispute with Palin's sister.

It's simple to clear the air. Just let everyone tell the truth and we can all move on.

If nothing else, the stall tactics sure make her look guilty.

Sarah Palin to Be Withheld From Media

Apparently the John McCain campaign is worried that the truth about his running mate, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, will come out, so they are preventing her from answering direct questions from the media.

From Jay Carney, TIME magazine's Washington bureau chief:

According to Nicole Wallace of the McCain campaign, the American people don't care whether Sarah Palin can answer specific questions about foreign and domestic policy. According to Wallace -- in an appearance I did with her this morning on Joe Scarborough's show -- the American people will learn all they need to know (and all they deserve to know) from Palin's scripted speeches and choreographed appearances on the campaign trail and in campaign ads.

The American people deserve better than this.