The Palin interview with Couric... a snippet worth checking out.

This short snippet is scary and worth watching.

Phil Gramm and the "nation of whiners"

Former Texas U.S. Senator and chief McCain economic advisor and campaign co-chair gets a mention as a "Hot Political Mess".

A few months back, Gramm mentioned that we were imagining the recession and the American people had become a nation of whiners over the economy.

I wonder if the last two weeks have changed Gramm's thoughts on our whining and imagination?

I took great offense to the comments. Not because I have totally disagreed with Gramm for years but because his comments were far from reality. I see day after day people struggling to pay for food, childcare and basic necessities. I don't see any imagination or whining.

A couple articles have appeared this week looking back at Gramm's whining statements.

Click on the headlines to check out the following:

Who's Whining Now? Gramm Slammed By Economists

Obama hammers McCain again for Phil Gramm's "nation of whiners" quip

Echoes of Gramm by McCain in Michigan

I'm lovin Wonkette.com's headline "Sarah Palin’s Alleged Lover’s Estranged Wife’s Brother’s Former Brother-In-Law Speaks!"

Click here for Wonkette.com story "Sarah Palin’s Alleged Lover’s Estranged Wife’s Brother’s Former Brother-In-Law Speaks!"

A hot political mess from the history. President Herbert Hoover revisted.

This week George Bush has been compared to Herbert Hoover. Hoover actually had some solid credentials and a career of service before becoming President. However, he was president during the Great Depression and was not able to provide the leadership to turn the economy around. Like Bush he inherited a great economy.

I spotted three articles this week worth sharing. First is Marianne Means column "Herbert Hoover rides again but we need FDR" in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. You can locate the article by clicking here.

Politico.com discusses "Will Bush become the new Hoover". Check out here.

CBS News reports that Sen. Harry "Reid Likens McCain to Hoover" here.

Ohhh Sarah! You had a Yahoo email account?

So, you're a governor and a VP candidate and you have a free personal email account?

Yikes! Probably should have figured out something secure and a little more legit!

Check out these articles with screen shots:

Sarah's personal email
http://gawker.com/5051193/sarah-palins-personal-emails

McCain camp calls for investigation of email hack
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/17/mccain-camp-seeks-investigation-over-reported-e-mail-hack/

I have a feeling that some interesting info is going to pop up soon from the sent folder!

McCain helped create the Blackberry?

I am sure you have heard of this story by now. A couple news outlets have reported this including CNN in the article "McCain adviser: BlackBerry a 'miracle' he 'helped create".

Yesterday the economy was fundamentally sound now he claims to have helped create the BlackBerry??

Check out the CNN story http://tinyurl.com/5ty752

Seriously McCain? Chiding Obama over the Streisand fundraiser.

McCain's criticism of the Obama fundraiser by Streisand is a little much. Why don't we look at some of the interesting folks backing McCain? I am sure there would be people turned off by his list.

CNN reports on McCain's comments regarding the fundraiser here.

Four Pinocchios for your hot mess lying!

A day late but I got a kick out of the paragraph below from yesterday's "First Read with NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd". First time I have heard of the "Four Pinocchios"

"Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire? For someone who prides himself with his "straight talk" -- and whose political reputation is based in part on that truth-telling reputation -- it was a brutal weekend for McCain and his campaign. The New York Times front-paged a piece noting all the criticism he has received for "stretching the truth; the Washington Post gave him "Four Pinocchios" for asserting on "The View" that Palin has never taken earmarks as Alaska's governor; and Bloomberg News reported that the campaign may not have been exactly truthful in estimating the size of its recent crowds. Even Karl Rove said that some of McCain's ads have gone "beyond the 100% truth test." Now the Obama camp is doubling down on this criticism with a new hard-hitting TV ad that questions McCain's honor and the conduct of his campaign. "What's happened to John McCain?" the ad asks. "He's running 'the sleaziest ads ever.'. After voting with Bush 90% of the time, proposing the same disastrous economic policies. It seems 'deception' is all he has left." But here's an important question to ask: Do campaigns that complain about tone win? Are those campaigns ahead when they complain about negativity?"

The Gov's Tanning Bed

TPM Muckraker blog reports the secret to Gov. Palin's glowing skin ... a tanning bed in the Governor's Mansion.

It appears that Palin bought the bed with her own funds and had it installed at the mansion.

Check out the story by clicking here.

Hot Mess: The Bush Economy!

Lehman Brothers was founded in 1850. Bear Sterns in 1923. Merrell Lynch in 1914.

All survived the Great Depression! Then there were the George W. years.

MSNBC chronicles today in their report "Marking the end of an era in American business". The following video reports that "Sept. 15: Wall Street had one of its worst days on record Monday as some of the biggest names in American business went away, along with a lot of money and tens of thousands of jobs."



Then check out Chris Matthews taking on McCain's Sr. Policy Advisor and the campaigns claims that the economy is "fundamentally sound".

Hot Mess: Florida Federation of Republican Women

Check this out! The Florida Federation of Republican Women have decided to launch a boycott of the Oprah Show and O Magazine. Good luck, right?

The organization is a little peeved that Oprah will not interview Sarah Palin. Oprah says she has endorsed Sen. Obama and can't possibly be objective. Make sense?

Check out the video below.

Hockey Moms for Truth!

I loved this Swift Boat type parody on Palin.

Ed Koch says Hot Political Mess Palin scares him

Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch doesn't say "hot political mess" but he makes his fear of Palin known.

Thought I would share this video with you from CNN.

Hot Political Mess Media. Fox News.

Fox News drives progressive folks crazy. Vince Leibowitz at Capital Annex blog brought my attention to a recent study by Media Matters.

Media Matters reports that "Fox News Provided More Stump Time To Republicans Than Democrats". Click here for the report.

Fox News is definitely recognized as a Hot Political Mess for their biased one sided approach to news coverage.

Hot Political Mess: Log Cabin Republicans

The gay republican group, Log Cabin Republicans, deserves a Hot Political Mess mention.

There is certainly a need for a group to foster fair minded thinking within the Republican Party but should they go so far as to endorse the McCain- Palin ticket?

Their McCain Palin endorsement defines their hot political messiness!

For years, gay republicans have used economic issues and foreign policy as their primary justification for supporting their candidates and party. Yet, look at the disaster their party has been in both areas.

So they keep on plugging along as if everything is ok and endorse the McCain/Palin ticket. A ticket that will work against the gay community!

Check out a couple interesting items below on this topic.

The Human Rights Campaign has an entire page on the McCain record including videos and hand outs located at http://www.hrc.org/mccain

HRC also warns us of Palin's anti gay background at http://www.hrc.org/11140.htm


Check out this 365 Gay Video Roundtable video by CBS News and Logo. Joan Gary and the Exec Director of Log Cabin and the Editor of the Washington Blade. I love Joan's questions of the Log Cabin dude.

http://www.365gay.com/video/video-365gay-political-roundtable-the-republican-convention/

Here are a few things to consider about McCain:

OPPOSED Ending Discrimination Against GLBT Americans in the Workplace. Senator McCain cast a deciding vote against the federal Employment Non Discrimination Act.
OPPOSED Protecting GLBT Americans from Hate Crimes. Senator McCain voted three times against expanding the federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation.
PROPONENT of Discriminatory Military Policy. Senator McCain supports Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and does not believe that gays should serve in the military.
OPPONENT of Equal Benefits for Same-Sex Couples. Senator McCain voted for the Defense of Marriage Act which prohibits same-sex couples from receiving federal rights and benefits in any state.
ACTIVELY SUPPORTED State Ban on Domestic Partnerships. Senator McCain campaigned for a ban on same-sex relationship recognition in his home state of Arizona – even appearing in a campaign television ad.
SUPPORTED the Confirmation of Anti-GLBT Equality Judges. Senator McCain voted to confirm President Bush’s judicial nominees who had taken anti-GLBT positions. He has pointed to Justice Samuel Alito as a role model for future Supreme Court appointments.
SUPPORTED a Discriminatory HIV/AIDS Policy. Senator McCain supported a Jesse Helms strategy to cut off funding for prevention efforts aimed at the gay community and voted to prohibit foreign nationals with HIV from immigrating to the United States.

Hot Political Mess will be taking off Sept. 11

Please join me in keeping the families and victims of the September 11th attacks in your prayers.

Time Magazine has prepared a great piece "Sept. 11: A Nation Remembers" Click here to visit.

The Hot Mess Bridge to Nowhere!

How many times have you heard Palin say "thanks but no thanks for that Bridge to Nowhere"? I am about to lose it since it has been debunked so many times. It has now become a Hot Political Mess.

Check out NBC First Read Blog's entry "Palin Repeats Dubious 'Bridge Claim" by clicking here. Palin continues to repeat the "thanks but no thanks" after multiple fact checking and NBC First Blog's Mark Murray wrote "As NBC's Lisa Myers reported on Nightly News last night, while Palin did put the final nail in the bridge's coffin, that came after she supported the bridge during her 2006 gubernatorial campaign and after Congress essentially killed the project once it became politically unpopular."

Someone needs to write Sarah a new script with another sham Alaskan reform.

Hot Political Mess We Love: Rep. Dennis Kucinich

Pictures include a young Kucinich as Mayor of Cleveland and another picture with his new wife.

At times there are people we like who can be a "Hot Political Mess". Dennis Kucinich is one of them.

Kucinich has been in political office off and on since his early 20's. I had no idea. Check out the Wikipedia entry on him by clicking here.

His convention speech did fire up the crowd this year and I have included it for you to check out...


I love the picture on the Dallas Morning News Trailblazers blog. Check it out here. It really helps quantify why Dennis is a "Hot Political Mess".

While in Denver for the convention, I sat a couple tables over from Kucinich at dinner one late night. He seemed to be a good guy with an interesting posse of young preppy folks. His wife unfortunately was not with him. We did observe a couple stopping by to say hello and I think Kucinich invited them to join the table.

To our crazy Democratic cousin, congrats to Rep. Kucinich on being recognized as a "Hot Political Mess" who we love.

Hot Political Mess item of the week! Lipstick!

Who would imagine that lipstick would be mentioned so many times in a presidential campaign? Enough times that I am awarding lipstick the "Hot Political Mess Item of the Week".

In case you have missed the whole situation, check out the CNN Video here:



Lipstickgate has been a funny diversion. I read an article today that not only have McCain, Obama and Palin referred to lipstick in analogies but other politicos have as well. Click here for the article.

Debra the Ousted Delegate! Hot Political Delegate Mess!

Debra Bartoshevich, an elected and ousted Democratic delegate from Wisconsin, announced her intention to vote for McCain. She was ripped of her delegate status before the DNC Convention. As a Clinton delegate myself, I supported the Wisconsin Democratic Party's decision to remove her and replace with another Clinton delegate. I wrote about the situation back in July of this year on my blog. Click here for that entry.

But, the plot thickens and Debra has earned the titled "Hot Political Mess" for her appearance in a McCain for President ad.

Check out the video below. Oh Debra, you are one Hot Political Mess!

Oh Lieberman! How did you become such a hot political mess?

This is last week's news but I am trying to toss out all the recent "Hot Political Messes" to get caught up.

Lieberman's prime time speech at the RNC was odd. During the the speech, I was having flashbacks of volunteering for the Gore/Lieberman ticket back in 2000

How has he strayed so far?

I'm not going to spend too much time talking about Joe but our friends at the Huffington Post have dedicated a whole page to him. Click here.

Joe has become one hot political mess!

Palin. The hot mess that has us distracted.

I really don't have to get into why Sarah Palin is a hot political mess.

I am dying for her Charlie Gibson ABC News interview this week. However, will it be a sham? I am sure there were lots of conditions put in place.

Arianna Huffington sums it up perfectly by writing "Sarah Palin: A Trojan Moose Concealing Four More Years of George Bush." Click here for the full story. I agree with Huffinton that "Every second of this campaign not spent talking about the Republican Party's record, and John McCain's role in that record, is a victory for John McCain."

Palin is the hot political mess who has us distracted!

Check out this post from the Dallas Morning News blog including a hilarious bit by John Stewart of the Daily Show by clicking here. The blog entry is titled "Palin apologists: flipflop anyone?"

I also enjoyed the New York Times article "Palin and McCain's Shotgun Wedding". Frank Rich writes " The Times had it right. The McCain campaign’s claims of a “full vetting process” for Palin were as much a lie as the biographical details they’ve invented for her. There was no F.B.I. background check. The Times found no evidence that a McCain representative spoke to anyone in the State Legislature or business community. Nor did anyone talk to the fired state public safety commissioner at the center of the Palin ethics investigation. No McCain researcher even bothered to consult the relevant back issues of the Wasilla paper. Apparently when McCain said in June that his vice presidential vetting process was basically “a Google,” he wasn’t joking."

Rudy! Was one hot mess at the RNC!

Rudy Giuliani went from Time Magazine's Person of the Year to "Bitter Person of the Year". His RNC Convention speech was out of control.

Rather than deliver a keynote speech that was policy based or designed to inspire , he chose a pathetic route of political rhetoric. He was a hot bitter political mess!

Boston Globe's Politcal Intelligence Blog highlights the collection of bitter statements. Click here for the article.

CNN's Bill Schneider comments "I really think this tone is going to turn a lot of voters off – it’s ugly, it’s bitter, it’s nasty. There is a bullying tone to this speech, and to Romney’s speech, and I just don’t think it works." Click here for the full entry on CNN's Political Ticker.

An Paul Begala summed up the entire RNC convention by writing "The party of Reagan -- sunny optimism, criticism offered in folksy witticisms and the shake of a head -- is gone. This is the party of Giuliani and Palin: sarcastic, sneering, snotty and snide. I don't know why, but meanness plays with the GOP base."

Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern! Hot Political Mess from Oklahoma

Sally's hot messiness is months old but it is so worth noting on this inaugural post of Hot Political Mess.

So here is the deal on Oklahoma State Rep Sally Kern. Sally was being her conservative self and was speaking at a meeting in her district. I presume it was a pretty right wing scary group. Little did she know that someone in the audience was taping her and a little tirade against "homosexuality" was heard all over.

It wasn't just a cute little speech against the gay community, it was some freaky tirade that ABC News reports she said "the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation" and that homosexuality poses a bigger threat to the United States than terrorism. "According to God's word, that is not the right kind of lifestyle," she said."

She continued "Studies show no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than a few decades," Kern, a former teacher who sits on the education committee, added."

The funniest part is "no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than a few decades"!!!

Click here for the full ABC News story.

Her remarks landed on YouTube, ABC News and even Fox News ran a story. Click on those to hear or read about the remarks in detail. The YouTube post with Ellen below includes Sally's speech recording as well.

If you haven't had enough of Sally yet, you might want to check out the blog Pam's House Blend. Pam has a whole series of blog stories on Sally. Click here for more info. The classic on Pam's blog is the a picture of Rep. Kern with Mike Signorile. I tried to get a picture with Mike at the Democratic National Convention but I don't think I was freaky like Sally... or cute enough!

The best part of all the Sally mess is that this situation ended up on the Ellen Show. Ellen gives sweet old Sally a call. Watch the clip now ...